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Friday, March 2, 2007

UFC 68 Picks

UFC 68 Picks for the UFC event taking place in Columbus, Ohio on March 3rd:


Tim Sylvia vs. Randy Couture

Pick: Tim Sylvia

Why are people even considering Randy Couture as a threat to Sylvia in this fight? Randy is a better wrestler than Tim but, that's about it. Randy comes from the past and not the present. Sure Randy trains with other fighters on a daily basis however, he is not on top of "The Game" as he is on top of "His Game". His game is as old as he is and the only strategy Randy has to win in this bout is by decision through racking up a higher number of takedowns than Sylvia does. Exciting stuff huh? Not! Even if Randy was working on his submissions to surprise big Tim, don't you think it's a little late in the game for Randy to try something new? Jeff Monson couldn't submit Sylvia so why do we think Couture can? Not gonna happen.

Tim Sylvia will fight smart again and force Randy to bring the fight to him just like Chuck Liddell does with his fights. Neither of those two are as nuts as Cro Cop stalking an opponent but then again, Mirko is one in a million. I like to draw comparisons with Tim and Chuck because both are sprawl and brawl fighters which are not easy to defeat when a wrestler comes at them. It's a styles make fights, rock, paper, scissors thing and Tim's style and execution of said style is enough to win this fight.

I am sorry to say this but Tim Sylvia needs to knock out Randy Couture to increase his stock as a future pay per view draw. The UFC fans don't like big Tim as well noted on the UFC 68 fight poll page by giving Randy Couture a 68.5% chance of beating Sylvia. I think most people bought into the negative press about Tim and never really dug deeper into what Tim was doing in his fights. Maybe it's because Tim wears his belt to bed with him at night or that he sports a 90's boy-band- beard. Whatever the outside the octagon nonsense exists, Tim knows that he must knock out Randy Couture or else, Dana is gonna sick Cro Cop on his ass and Tim isn't quite ready for that just yet in my opinion.

Matt Hughes vs. Chris Lytle
Pick: Matt Hughes

Lytle has all the tools in his toolbox to win this fight yet he never really opens up the toolbox when he fights. Dana White said in the UFC 68 preview that the only problem with Chris is that he just needs to bring it when he steps in the octagon. I concur.

On the flip side, Hughes is coming off a devastating loss of his Welterweight Championship crown and also the realization the God isn't always on his side when he fights. Matt is still an arrogant prick who believes he is the greatest fighter of all time so expect to see the same Matt Hughes with the same abundance of confidence coming into this fight with a winning attitude.

Lytle has an MMA career built on taking a high percentage of his fights to a decision so we can expect this one going the full three rounds IF, Lytle has the conditioning to do so. If Lytle brings it to Hughes, possible split decision in Hughes' favor after the three rounds are done but I have a stronger feeling that the decision will go unanimous for Matt Hughes.

Rich Franklin vs. Jason MacDonald
Pick: Jason MacDonald

Yeah, I know... you must have thought this was a mistake on my part for choosing MacDonald over Franklin. Well, I did choose Jason 'The Athlete' MacDonald over Franklin because I am still not convinced that Franklin is all that and a bag of chips. Franklin has gone on record to say that he'll knock out MacDonald in the first round then he tells NBC Sports that it will not be an easy first round knockout kind of fight.

Let's face it, Rich Franklin is damaged goods. Rich couldn't defeat David Loiseau and was fortunate to walk away from his 5 round decision win with his Middleweight belt and a crushed left hand that required surgery, including a metal plate and screws. The next fight for Rich was against Anderson Silva which resulted in surgery due to a nasal fracture and loss of his Middleweight belt. Rich is a beaten man and I'm not talkin' about his body, I'm talkin' about his psychological fighting state of mind. What do you think Rich will think of first when he passes through the Octagon door to enter the ring in front of a packed house in Columbus, Ohio? Anderson Silva's knees and the fact that he was beaten like an egg at breakfast.

MacDonald is an up and comer who has impressive submission wins over TUF 3 fighter, Ed Herman and TUF1 fighter Chris Leben. MacDonald is a tough fighter who can take a shot. Here is what it says for his UFC strengths profile: Conditioning, clinch, submissions, and standup. Well, Rich Franklin only has two of those four as he lacks in submissions and of course, the clinch. Expect the fight to stand up for most of the first round and watch to see how Franklin reacts to punches thrown toward his nose which is going to throw Rich off his game. I am sure we will see the fight on the ground at some point with Rich losing by way of rear naked choke. Jason MacDonald is very quick with this transitions on the ground and he is a force to be reckoned with in the middleweight ranks.

Expect to see MacDonald fighting Anderson Silva for the Middleweight title for his next fight.

Martin Kampmann vs. Drew McFedries
Pick: Martin Kampmann

Renato “Babalu” Sobral vs. Jason Lambert
Pick: Renato Sobral

Matt Hamill vs. Rex Holman
Pick: Matt Hamill

Jon Fitch vs. Luigi Fioravanti
Pick: Jon Fitch

Gleison Tibau vs. Jason Dent
Pick: Gleison Tibau

Jamie Varner vs. Jason Gilliam
Pick: Jamie Varner

2 comments:

  1. I don't know how you can say that Rich didn't defeat David Louiseau, which he did, in a five round unanimous decision. Maybe he didn't FINISH Louiseau, but he sure beat on his face for 5 rounds.

    Rich dominated that fight. Perhaps you don't remember the size of the knot on Louiseau's head, reminiscent of Hasim Rahmans' dome against Evander.

    The only way Rich doesn't win this fight is if he doesn't come mentally prepared as you suggested.

    Franklin over McDonald by TKO.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I'm not big on decision wins/losses and neither are the fighters. No fighter wants to leave the fight up to the decision of the judges.

    Cro Cop Vs. Fedor - that went to decision and I'm sure they want to have another shot to see who the better fighter is without relying on the judges.

    This will be the fight of the night. So far in 2007, there have been many remarkable upsets so this one has the greatest potential to be just that, an upset.

    This fight can go either way. It's a fair match up an I can't wait to see what happens.

    ReplyDelete

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