UFC 87 SEEK and DESTROY Predictions

This Saturday, Georges 'Rush' St-Pierre defends the UFC® Welterweight Championship at UFC® 87: SEEK AND DESTROY, as number one contender Jon Fitch steps up to take on the newly crowned champion. Then, hometown hero Brock Lesnar returns to the Octagon™ to seek redemption in the Heavyweight Division. Plus, in what could end up being the matchup of the year, lightweight contenders face off as Kenny 'KenFlo' Florian battles Roger 'El Matador' Huerta.

Here are my predictions for the main card.

Georges St-Pierre Vs. Jon Fitch
This is without a doubt going to be a great fight. While GSP has had some perfect match ups, I think this one may surprise people. We'll either see GSP showcase his ability or we'll see Jon push GSP to limits until now unseen.

GSP will enter the fight with a record of 16-2 with some major wins under his belt. Those wins include Matt Serra, Matt Hughes (twice), Josh Koscheck, Bj Penn, Sean Sherk, Frank Trigg and Karo Parisyan. His two losses were against Matt Serra and  Matt Hughes.  I need to make the disclaimer that I'm a huge  Matt Serra fan, but having said that his win over GSP was a fluke, in my opinion.  He trains with some big guys and heavy hitters such as Rashad 'Sugar' Evans and Keith "the Dean of Mean" Jardine.

Jon  comes with a record of  19-2 with wins over Chris Wilson, Diego Sanchez, Thiago Alves, Alex Serdyukov and Shonie Carter. Jon has a wrestling background (at Purdue) and is a jiu-jitsu black belt.

Fitch began his career at Light-Heavyweight with a record of four wins, two losses, and one No Contest. Understanding that the sport required cross training in the martial arts, Fitch soon left for San Jose, California to train with the American Kickboxing Academy and has been undefeated since.

In his next seven fights, Fitch amassed wins over fighters such as Shonie Carter, Alex Serdyukov, and Jeff Joslin. After failing to make the selection process for the first season of The Ultimate Fighter – a last-minute decision by the production team that left Fitch stranded in an airport with his luggage already boarded – he earned a shot in the Ultimate Fighting Championship on October 3, 2005 where Fitch defeated Brock Larson in a middleweight bout.

Soon after, Fitch dropped to the welterweight division and won his next six fights. With victories over Josh Burkman, Thiago Alves, Luigi Fioravanti and Diego Sanchez, Fitch was now seen as a welterweight contender. On march 1st, 2008 Fitch defeated Chris Wilson by unanimous decision at UFC 82. This marked his 8th consecutive victory in the UFC, tying the record set by Royce Gracie for most consecutive wins in the UFC. UFC President Dana White has recently praised Fitch's performances inside the Octagon, and indicated that Fitch would fight the winner of the GSP vs Matt Serra Welterweight title fight.

My prediction is this fight will come down to two things. GSPs overall athletic ability and the fact that Jon is known for having a late start, I predict GSP takes this win and continues to hold the belt.

Brock Lesnar Vs. Heath Herring
There's one thing you can say about Brock and that is he's a great and established wrestler. And wrestlers do well in MMA... He wrestled throughout his four years at college (University of Minnesota on a full wrestling scholarship) and at the end of his college career has a record of 106-5 taking some key titles such as two-time NJCAA All-American, two-time NCAA All-American, two-time Big Ten Champion, and the 2000 NCAA heavyweight champion.
After college he made a career in the WWE. I'm not going to go into depth with his "titles" while in the WWE because I don't really think much of it. Sorry, but it's true. It's fake.
After leaving the-so-fake-WWE he entered the NFL and "played" for the Minnesota Vikings.
But since entering the world of MMA he has a record of 1-1. He won his first fight against Min Soo Kim, whom Brock defeated by submission (via strikes) in under two minutes of the first round. During his second fight (and first in the UFC) was against Frank Mir. When they met at UFC 81, Lesnar secured an early takedown, but was deducted a point for hitting Mir at the back of the head. Brock this is MMA/UFC not WWE! Following another takedown by Lesnar, Mir managed to secure a kneebar and force a submission at 1:30 of the first round. And the kicker is Brock was paid $250,000 for losing the fight whereas Frank Mir received $80,000.

Heath "the Crazy Horse" comes to us with a record of 28-13. And none of his fights included a folding chair or costumes. To be honest, I'm not quite sure why Brock Lesnar, at 1-1 in his MMA career, is favored over Heath Herring at 28-13. I would be all over this. Heath has fought the best and toughest at heavyweight, and often made it very close. He's on a new strength and conditioning program and is coming off a victory over a very big and strong Cheick Kongo, so he knows how to fight bigger and strong opponents. Herring did have some problems with a wrestler when he lost to Jake O'Brien over a year ago, but I think his experience and toughness will win this fight for him. I don't think Brock has what it takes yet to compete with a veteran like Herring. My predictions for this fight goes to Heath.

Kenny Florian Vs. Roger Huerta
I'm most looking forward to this fight!

KenFlo comes to this fight with a record of 10-3 and is on a four fight winning streak. His three losses are with big name fighters that went to the judges decision with the exception of Diego Sanchez.  As Joe Rogan likes to say, Kenny has elbow strikes that are "razor sharp" and known to leave his opponents bloody and beaten.

Roger "El Matador" Huerta has a record of 25-1-1-1. Since entering the UFC he has won all six of his fights with his latest fight against Clay Guida.

His one and only loss came as a result of a dislocated jaw early in the finals of the SuperBrawl 36 tournament against Ryan Schultz on June 18, 2004, his third match of the day.

This is a tough one to predict, but I'm going to give this to Kenny, and I do think it's going to the judges.

Comments

[Shankar]

I agree with you on the St.Pierre prediction, it's probably going to the judges and st.pierre will probably pull off a unanimous decision (28-27). I disagree with the next two: I think it'll be Brock Lesnar via Brute strength!!
And Huerta's competitiveness and will to win is grossly under-rated and that is what will win him this fight.

[Chemical "Eric Diaz"]

Fitch Over GSP TKO or Decision
Fitch is extremley under estimated GSP looked great on his past 2 bouts vs matt serra and matt hughes but who are they Fith will be ready.

Kenny Over Huerta TKO Submission
Kenny has been in the ring with sean sherk and other great fighters he has the expierence and his ground game is no joke.

Brock Over Heath Herring
Brock way to strong period!