AG's UFC 108 Quick Picks (1/2/10)

Main Card
* Light Heavyweight bout: Rashad Evans vs. Thiago Silva
Silva by decision
* Catchweight (172 lb) bout: Dustin Hazelett vs. Paul Daley
McLovin by sub
* Lightweight bout: Joe Lauzon vs. Sam Stout
Lauzon by Sub
* Lightweight bout: Jim Miller vs. Duane Ludwig
Miller by decision
* Heavyweight bout: Junior dos Santos vs. Gilbert Yvel
dos Santos by KO

Spike TV Card
* Welterweight bout: Martin Kampmann vs. Jacob Volkmann
Kampmann
* Lightweight bout: Cole Miller vs. Dan Lauzon
Lauzon

Preliminary Card
* Middleweight bout: Mark Munoz vs. Ryan Jensen
Jensen
* Welterweight bout: Mike Pyle vs. Jake Ellenberger
Ellenberger
* Lightweight bout: Rafaello Oliveira vs. John Gunderson
Gunderson

TUF 10 Finale (12/5/09) - AG's Quick Picks

Preliminary Card
* Lightweight bout: Mark Bocek vs. Joe Brammer
He'll be a long way from Iowa, but the bright lights of Vegas won't affect Brammer in his UFC debut against Bocek.

* Welterweight bout: John Howard vs. Dennis Hallman
Would it be wrong of me to say who cares?? Howard, decision.

* Light Heavyweight bout: Brian Stann vs. Rodney Wallace
Stann better win because I REFUSE to accept that some unknown from SC (Rodney Wallace) is using 'Sho Nuff the Master' as his nickname!!!

* Heavyweight bout: Jon Madsen vs. Justin Wren
I like Wren in this one

* Heavyweight bout: Darrill Schoonover vs. James McSweeney
McSweeney KO's "Titties"

Main Card
* Heavyweight bout: Marcus Jones vs. Matt Mitrione
I wanna see 'Big Baby'/'Darkness' beat the crap out of 'Meathead'. Should be a quick win once Jones gets to the ground. I see a Kimura in Meathead's future in the 1st.

* Lightweight bout: Frank Edgar vs. Matt Veach
I liked the match-up better when it was Pellegrino v Edgar. Frankie gets back on track with this one handing Veach his first professional loss (by decision).

* Catchweight (215 lb) bout: Kimbo Slice vs. Houston Alexander
OOOOHHHHH Y'all know I wanna pick Kimbo! And y'all KNOW the only reason this bout is on the main card is BECAUSE everyone wants to see Kimbo (whether to KTFO Houston or to get KTFO by Houston). It'll be a slugfest that will do nothing more than fulfill the bloodlust of the fans watching the bout. Alexander gets the cleaner shot in and rocks Kimbo's world... but not until the latter part of the 2nd round.

* Light Heavyweight bout: Matt Hamill vs. Jon Jones
I like Matt... a lot... but Jones... *sigh*, tough to pick against. Jones takes this one in the 2nd (TKO)

* Heavyweight bout: Roy Nelson vs. Brendan Schaub
Nelson's experience proves to be the edge here. I like Schaub's chances to take this to a distance but will fall short.

UFC 103 Quick Picks

There may not be any titles on the line tonight. What we can expect is a shuffling of the rankings in many divisions (esp. welterweight and lightweight) which will shape the list of contenders for each weight class' championships.

Emerson v Dos Anjos (Lightweight - 155 lb)
[Dos Anjos via submission - Round 1]

Matyushenko v Pokrajac (Light Heavyweight - 205)
[V-Mat via TKO - Round 3]

Marshall v Brilz (Light Heavyweight - 205)
[Marshall via sub - Round 3]

Story v Foster (Welterweight - 170)
[?]

Oliveira v Lentz (Lightweight - 155 lb)
Giving the edge to Minnesota MMA's own Lentz
[Lentz via decision]

Jim Miller v Lopez (Lightweight - 155 lb)
[Miller via decision]

McFedries v Drwal (Middleweight - 185)
[McFedries via KO - Round 2]

Escudero v Cole Miller (Lightweight - 155 lb)
[Escudero via sub - Round 1]

Griffin v Franca (Lightweight - 155 lb)
Should be an exciting fight. Fight of the Night contender here.
I say Griffin by decision
[Griffin via decision]

Koscheck v Trigg (Welterweight - 170)
I'm rooting for Trigg but Koscheck should win this by decision. Kos will have his hands full and will lose if he gets sloppy or cocky.
[Koscheck via decision]

Kampmann v Daley (Welterweight - 170)
[?]

CroCop v Dos Santos (Heavyweight - 265)
I question CroCop's motivation here. Dos Santos is hungry and needs a big win on his resume, CroCop will do.
[Dos Santos via sub - Round 2]

Franklin v Belfort (A "catch weight" bout at 195)
Belfort needs to apply pressure on Franklin in the first round and if he can rock Ace at least once, Belfort should be able to finish the fight in the 2nd via T/KO. If he's tentative and doesn't challenge Ace, then Franklin can pull off the decision once he's comfortable and can dictate the pace of the fight.
[Belfort via T/KO - Round 2]

Alan's Quick Picks for UFC 102

Hey fight fans,

Sorry for the silence the past couple of weeks. It's been a busy time for us on this end. If you haven't checked out Jorge's picks for UFC 102 (this Saturday: UFC 102 - Couture v Nogueira), check them out here.

Here are my picks:

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Main card:
- Randy Couture vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
This is a match we would have loved to see a few years ago. Though a little less significant now, it's still going to be a fun main event to watch. Hard for me to imagine Couture finishing off "Big Nog" in 3 rounds. Also, Nogueira seemed to have lost a step in his previous two bouts. I give the decision victory to "The Natural"

- Keith Jardine vs. Thiago Silva
Jardine is an enigma. Some fights he is able to come out with his unorthodox striking and befuddle opponents. Other times he looks completely outmatched and outclassed (see: v. Houston Alexander, v. Vanderlei Silva). Thiago Silva on the other hand has been the model of consistency who happened to run into the buzzsaw known as Lyoto Machida. Can't see Silva giving up much to Jardine. Yet at the same time I can imagine a scenario where Jardine may frustrate Silva to the point where he makes one little mistake and gets caught.

I may do better by flipping a coin but I'm going with my brain rather than my gut and saying Silva by TKO in the 2nd.

- Nate Marquardt vs. Demian Maia
I am VERY excited about this match-up! Presumably, the winner of this contest will be the next challenger to the Middleweight champion whether it be Anderson Silva or Dan Henderson (rumored for UFC 105). This is a HUGE step up in competition for Maia and I personally liked what I've seen from him and think he could take it to Marquardt.

Marquardt has done a decent job of working his way back into title contention but my bias will kick in here and I'd like to see someone new step up to try and take the middleweight championship. Nate "The Great" will always be in the upper echelon of the division but whether he is ready to be champion could be revealed in this fight.

I'm calling Maia by mild upset with a sub in the 1st.

- Brandon Vera vs. Krzysztof Soszynski
Vera cannot afford to be lazy against a game opponent in Soszynski. Soszynski also cannot expect to pull off subs the way he has in many of his UFC bouts recently. Also, when Krzysztof has fought anyone that would qualify as a "step up" in competition, he has fallen short. I suspect that someone as talented and road-tested as Vera will give him fits. I give the edge to Vera and call it by TKO in the 1st round.

- Chris Leben vs. Jake Rosholt
Leben is back in action almost a year after his loss to Bisping in the UK at UFC 89. He had tested positive for steroids after that bout. It's hard for the casual fan to determine what kind of shape Leben will be in or even how his training has changed in this past year.

Rosholt is a dynamic wrestler who looked pretty good in his last bout in the WEC (despite getting beaten in the standup) vs Nissen Osterneck and looked very pedestrian against Dan Miller in his UFC debut back in February.

With both men looking to comeback from a tough loss (and presumably to avoid the dreaded roster cuts that may follow this bout for the loser), I expect Leben to step up and take control of this fight with constantly pushing the pace and being the aggressor he's been been in the past. He may be taken down by Rosholt but he is no slouch on the ground and his superior striking should be the edge needed to pull out the victory over Rosholt (TKO: 3rd round)

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Prelims:
- Gabriel Gonzaga vs. Chris Tuchscherer
Like Jorge said, Gonzaga by any method he wants! lol... I'm calling Gonzaga via submission in the 2nd.

- Aaron Simpson vs. Ed Herman
Herman via armbar in round 1

- Justin McCully vs. Mike Russow
Russow by guillotine round 2

- Tim Hague vs. Todd Duffee
My regular anti-ATT pick: Tim Hague by striking (b/c ATT guys can't take a punch)

- Nick Catone vs. Mark Munoz
Catone by TKO Round 2 (Munoz needs to be more selective about how aggressive he is in the cage)

- Marcus Aurelio vs. Evan Dunham
Dunham by decision - possibly FotN (Aurelio is tougher than the average ATT guy but between Xtreme Couture and ATT I'll go with Couture every time)

Our Predictions for Strikeforce: Carano v Cyborg

Strikeforce: Carano v Cyborg
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Main Card-
1) Mike Kyle v Fabricio Werdum
Alan G: Werdum
(can't see him losing this one to Kyle and he's hungry for his title shot)
Jorge A: Werdum
(better BJJ and has gotten a lot better in kickboxing from training with Cro-Cop)
Miko A: TBD

2) Jay Hieron v Jesse Taylor
Alan G: Taylor
(Seems like Taylor will have the strength advantage thus canceling out the wrestling aspect of the bout. I like the the upset here)
Jorge A: Heiron
(Awesome wrestling, did well in IFL and he's one of Couture's main trainers in Las Vegas)
Miko A: TBD

3) Gilbert Melendez v Hitsuhiro Ishida
Alan G: Melendez
(and hopefully to take on Thomson before the year's end)
Jorge A: Ishida
(I'm torn on this one but I'll go with Ishida)
Miko A: TBD

4) Renato 'Babalu' Sobral v Gegard Mousasi
Alan G: Mousasi
(Mousasi is a beast and Babalu "won" the belt with a doctor stoppage on a nasty elbow to Bobby Southworth last year. Another upset IMO)
Jorge A: Sobral
(Better in the ground and standing. I expect takedown and g-n-p)
Miko A: TBD

5) Gina Carano v Cristiane 'Cyborg' Santos
Alan G: Carano
(Hard to pick against Cyborg but conditioning may be the key here and I trust Carano's training at Xtreme Couture over Cyborg's at Chute Boxe)
Jorge A: Carano
(Both great stand up fighters. Santos' only loss came via submission which is not Gina's strength. I think Gina needs to keep it technical and not brawl with the more aggressive Santos. She needs to use her take down defence and maintain the center of the ring. Santos on the other hand has to pressure Gina and turn it into a brawl, and work for the takedown. Santos has to watch for the counter punching and possible leg kicks. This may be a biased and perhaps an ill fated prediction but the first women's champ should be a woman, so Gina FTW)
Miko A: TBD