MMA Hot Stuff

Strikeforce: Fedor VS Rogers Predictions

Here we are, only a few days until MMA returns to primetime television on CBS and Fedor makes his debut with Strikeforce! We're also treated to a title fight for the Strikeforce Middleweight Championship, vacated by Cung Le, between Jake Shields and the always colorful Jason "Mayhem" Miller. We also get to see Gegard Mousasi and Fabricio Werdum return to the cage in action against Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou and Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva respectively.

So you know the drill... my predicted winners in GREEN! 

Fedor Emelianenko vs. Brett Rogers

Does Rogers have a chance? Yes, just like all 31 of Fedor's previous opponents had a chance, and only one of them came away with a win (by TKO / Cut, hardly a win). You don't pick against a 97% winning percentage, and I'm not picking against Fedor.

Fedor is technically superior everywhere. Even though some say his striking isn't very technical (which it may not be by boxing or muay thai standards), he puts it all together so well that for MMA it is technical when you give consideration to takedown defense and set up. Rogers has power, and in a sport of 4 ounce gloves and multiple ways to finish a fight he certainly has a shot. As Mark DellaGrotte said in Kevin Iole's article on Yahoo! Sports "A perfectly placed punch can knock anyone out. Anyone". The problem is that Rogers has to land a perfect or near perfectly placed punch, which will be tough to do on Fedor given his footwork and agility. Ultimately I think this fight will go to the ground where the experience gap will shine through. Fedor wins by TKO / Referee Stoppage on the ground.

Disclaimer: Now if we're talking about betting the spread with my new shoe money, I'd bet on Rogers. I like the long-shots for the big payout! According to betus.com the current spread is Fedor -550 and Rogers +375! OH and because I AM a girl, I count my chickens before they're hatched/shoes before they're purchased: Here's what I want to get. Aren't they gor(geous)?LOVE!

Jason "Mayhem" Miller vs. Jake Shields (for vacant Strikeforce middleweight title)

Miller is a funny guy, the problem is Shields isn't laughing. Miller has proven that he can go the distance avoiding submissions against some of the best (see Jacare fight in DREAM), but Shields' isn't your typical Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. He's all about pressure, passing guard, and making your life miserable if you're under him. The knock on Shields has always been his lack of ability on his feet, but in his fight against Robbie Lawler he showed he's not afraid to be there. Miller could use his reach and striking to avoid the takedown, but he will only be able to keep Shields at bay for so long. Look for Shields to secure the takedown, pass the guard, and finish Miller via submission.

Champ Gegard Mousasi vs. Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou (non-title match)

Mousasi will dominate. Did you see Babalu? Out cold. Mousasi is a stud (at multiple weight classes). Technically sound. I see this one ending by TKO. Look for Mousasi to hurt Sokoudjou on his feet and finish him on the mat.

Antonio Silva vs. Fabricio Werdum

Even though Silva has a chin the size of a Rhode Island, look for Werdum to finish this one on the ground. His Jiu Jitsu is just too good. 

So gents, there's no need to leave your girls at home to hit the bar to watch this event on PayPerView. Since it's on CBS, throw a Strikeforce party at your house and get your girl engaged. Show her the shoes above and I promise she'll be hooked. On my site and the sport. Tell her more shoes with next week's predictions for UFC 105. 

While Roger's win against Fedor would allow those shoes to come home with me, I also have a bet consisting of bragging rights with Franklin McNeil! If you're not following him on twitter you should be. Did you see who he picked to win this weekend? If not, check out his picks on today's ESPN MMALive!

Friendly reminder, follow me on Twitter!

 

Affliction Banned VS UFC Fight Night 14: Anderson Silva makes his light-heavyweight debut!

As many of you know, Affliction is set to make its MMA debut with "Banned" on July 19th from the Honda Center in Anaheim, CA. They've got a pretty damn good line up for their first promtion, with fighters like Fedor, Tim Sylvia, Andre Arlovski, Matt Lindland, Ben Rothwell, Mike Whitehead, Babalu, and Josh Barnett. Not too shabby... oh yeah, and they have "The Donald" as one of their financial backers.

But what kind of company would the UFC be if they didn't offer up some competition? Did you think the UFC was just going to sit back and let Affliction, a clothing company by nature, come in and steal MMA fans away from them? Hell no... So what do they do? They create Ultimate Fight Night 14, scheduled for July 19th from Las Vegas, and (here's the kicker), it's said to be airing for free on SPIKE TV.

Now I know what you're thinking, "I thought UFN 14 was in September", well the word is that will now be called UFN 15, and we'll still get to see Nate Diaz take on Josh Neer. But for now, UFN 14 on July 19th is reported to have some good fights for us MMA fans that like free TV. As reported by MMAJunkie, UFN 14 will feature:

• Anderson "The Spider" Silva VS James "The Sandman" Irvin - More on this below!
• Jake O'Brien VS Cain Velasquez
• Brandon Vera VS Reese Andy
• Anthony Johnson VS Kevin Burns

Not a bad card for an event pulled together at the last minute. But that's clearly the strength of the UFC, they have a number of high quality fighters under contract which they can call on at any time to step up in situations like this.

After tearing through every middleweight fighter put in front of him, the question remained, "What do you do with Anderson Silva?". The only logical thing seemed to be having "the Spider" move up to light-heavyweight to see if his skills really are so amazing that they woudl negate a weight and / or strength advantage of his opponent. Although James Irvin isn't necessarily the dream opponent that we'd all like to see Silva fight (Chuck maybe?), it will be an interesting introduction into the new weight class. Irvin is a heavy hitter with a good chin. He doesn't spend much time on the ground and would much rather stand and trade punches. This plays well for Silva, as we know his striking is probably the best in all of MMA, but his ground game is also great as we saw in his fight with Dan Henderson. So if he gets in trouble on his feet, if he's overpowered by a bigger fighter, he can likely take it to the ground where Irvin isn't as comfortable.

Some of the other fights are quite interesting as well. Click to read more!

UFC 85 and Predictions (UPDATED)

I gave my predictions based on the original UFC 85 card, but given all the changes, I need to make an updated version with my new predictions.  Winners in Green!

Matt Hughes Vs. Thiago Alves - If I hear Matt Hughes ramble on about how Thiago is "young" I think I'm going to vomit in my mouth. He says it as if it's a bad thing to be the ripe age of 24 in this sport. Thiago has beat some good fighters, including; Karo Parisyan. And if you want to play the connect the dot game, Karo beat  Matt Serra and Matt Serra beat GSP and GSP killed Matt Hughes. Not to mention I don't like Matt Hughes. Thiago wins this bout. There I said it. Phew.

Michael Bisping Vs. Jason Day - Michael is going to continue to mark his territory in the middle weight class. He's taking this win home with him. Doesn't hurt that he's clearly a crowd favorite with his "home" octagon advantage.

Marcus Davis Vs. Mike Swick - Marcus has beaten his last few opponents in the first round by either KO or submission, where as Mike's fights have gone to judge's decision. Given Marcus' skills as a boxer (that's where he got his start) I think he is going to win by KO.

Nate Marquardt Vs. Thales Leites  - Nate is 26-7 & 2. He clearly has A LOT of fights under his belt. Has Thales' hand fully recovered from the break? They both like to submit their opponents so this will be a good match up. I expect to see it on the ground most of the time. I'm picking Nate for this one.

Fabricio Werdum Vs. Brandon Vera - I'm sure everyone recalls the management dispute that prevented Vera from stepping into the Octagon for almost a year. His last fight was against Tim Sylvia where Vera lost the fight via unanimous decision and also broke his left hand in the first round of the fight. I think Brandon is going to win this fight.... and reclaim his presence in the UFC!