Reading McKeating, Tierney and Booth predict fights reminds me of listening to Jadakiss, Eve and DMX in their prime.
UFC 148: Silva vs. Sonnen II Main Card Predictions
Middleweight Championship: Anderson Silva (C) vs. Chael Sonnen
Gary McKeating: My head is saying Silva is going to teach Sonnen a lesson in stand up fighting but my gut says that the gangsta from West Linn is going to do just as he says and double leg Silva all night long. Look I love Sonnen, I can’t help it. I like the way he talks and the way he fights. This fight can go either way. Silva has been the Champ for so long now that it is hard to even imagine he could lose. Two years ago we got a glimpse of what it would take to beat the Champ and I think on Saturday night in Las Vegas we will see more of the same and I expect to see an end to The Spiders reign.
Pick: Chael Sonnen after a 5 round war!
Erin Tierney: What a week it’s been between these two already, with Silva displaying some out-of-character traits by losing his cool at both the media call and UFC 148 pre-fight presser. And we get to see them hit each other for 25 mins at the end of the week! That really is enough to let out a giant Cope –style WOO!!
What the “American Gangster” Sonnen does really well is talk, and then back it up, although we did sit horrified as Bisping came this close to beating the man whose destiny it is to take the belt off “The Spider”. Think about it. Right now we could have been faced with the horror of the attempted British humour of Bisping vs Silva. No thanks.
Sonnen really needs to have had a great camp, and a better weight cut, than what he has had previously in order to be competitive against the champ. Provided he has this, and the fact that he is in Silva’s head, really the only one who can lose this is himself (which is what we saw in those final minutes of UFC 117). Pick: Sonnen via American Gangsta beatdown.
Hank Booth: Now that the talk is over, there is just one quote that really meant anything to me after a long and wordy fight week. It was from Anderson. He said that he'll change the image of the sport tonight in Vegas. After everything he's done for this sport I may have to take him at his word. We know he has something planned. Will a relentless Sonnen allow him the space to get it off though? It doesn't matter. Silva will not let Sonnen leave the house with his belt tonight. Pick: Silva via something unforgettable.
The rest of the 'UFC 148: Silva vs. Sonnen II ' Main Card Pick 'Em can be find after the break -
McKeating: Tito was one of the first fighters I ever saw fight in MMA and Griffin was a fighter who cemented my love for this sport. Unfortunately that was a long time ago and both fighters have recently looked well past their prime. Forrest should win but he hasn’t been on a great run recently. That said with the exception of Ryan Bader, I haven’t seen Ortiz beat someone since 2006. And that was Ken Shamrock.
Pick: Griffin by decision.
Tierney: There are two types of people in the world, those who have cheered for Tito at one stage in their life, and those who are liars. No matter what you think of the Huntington Beach Bad Boy, he certainly has cemented himself in UFC history, and has given us great rivalries such as the one with Frank Shamrock.
Forrest Griffin is another misunderstood creature, sure he gets on twitter and says some stupid stuff, but hey, he gets in the cage and throws those fists around. Put these two in a cage and we are sure to get a close fight (both previous fights have gone to split decision).
In the third fight of their trilogy, Ortiz is set to retire after a somewhat disheartening end to a career, his win over Ryan Bader in July 2011 was the first since 2006 which funnily enough was against Shamrock.
Given the emotion surrounding this fight, it’s hard to go against Tito. I don’t think that he will want to leave with anything less than an impressive performance, and we could see a Tito similar to the one we saw against Bader.
Pick: Tito via decision.
Booth: It's the farewell fight for the guy who was the first real polarizing figure of this young sport. He's gonna be pumped up, this guy wants to end Forrest and take the trilogy but more importantly, he wants to end his storied career on a high note. A Baderesque finish would be the perfect way to go out but Forrest's stand up isn't going to leave opening for Ortiz to stun him like that. Watch for Forrest to go to the body more with his kicks than the legs tonight. Ortiz has been finished by body blows in both of his last two fights and Griffin had to of taken note of this. Pick: Griffin via TKO (Round 2).
Cung Le vs. Patrick Côté:
McKeating: This I think is a tough one. Le is nice to watch against fighters who are not that great on their feet. Cote is good on his feet and is an aggressive fighter who has heavy hands. Le has been KO’d twice in his last three fights. Cote has a chin made of concrete and never been KO’d. Cote wins. MMA math people. Pick: Cote By KO RD 2.
Tierney: I’m calling this one “The Movie Star vs. The third time lucky”. That’s pretty much the cliff notes for this fight. With Le coming off a loss against Wanderlei Silva, and Cote like a bull at the octagon gate, this fight will set off late 4th July fireworks and we can be sure to expect to see some spinning stuff from Le.
I think that Cote has too much riding on this fight for him not to want it a little more than Le. Given he has had almost as much chances in the promotion than a cat has lives, we will see him dominate to a decision win.
Pick: Cote via decision
Booth: Unless Le can hit Cote with some of that "spinning sh*t", I don't see how he can hang with even mid-level guys. Cote can win this one the ground with relative ease but what fun is that? He's also been on a terror lately winning is last two fights via finish for the Impact and Amazon Forrest promotions respectively. Wait a minute.... can Patrick Cote even hang with mid-level UFC guys anymore?
Cung Le needs some material for his UFC highlight reel. He'll get it tonight. Pick: Le via spinning attack
Dong Hyun Kim vs. Demian Maia:
McKeating: Maia is a wizard on the ground. If the fight goes there I expect Maia to make quick work of Dong Hyun Kim. Kim on the other hand is a 4th dan black belt in Judo. Kim is not going to be easy to get to the ground. The fight will start standing and Maia will start to win the exchanges forcing Kim to take him down where it will end quickly. Or Maia doesn’t handle his first weight cut to Welterweight, gets gassed and loses by sloppy decision to Kim. Pick: A well hydrated Maia by submission RD 2.
Tierney: Here is Damien Maia making his debut into the already crowded welterweight division and finds “Stun Gun” Kim there to welcome him with closed fists. This is a hard one to pick and really comes down to how the weight cut affects Maia.
The advantage here will be on the ground for Maia, however Kim’s takedown defence is pretty strong. In the stand-up they are almost evenly matched. The only concern for Maia is if Kim proves too hard for him to get down then frustration can lead the way to mistakes and possible KO or TKO from the “Stun Gun”. Overall I am expecting Maia to get him down ok and spend the majority of the fight on the ground.
Pick: Maia via submission
Booth: Maia is serious about making a run at 170. What impressed me the most about him at the end of his 185 stint was the steady improvements in his stand up game. He's not just fighting hard anymore, he's fighting smart. He's putting it all together and that's what will allow him to get these fights back where he wants them, on the canvas. Maia hasn't submitted anyone since he went on that sub-crazy rampage that ended with Chael Sonnen back at UFC 95. That Maia returns tonight in a fresh start against one of his new weight classmates in Dong Hyun Kim. Pick: Maia via something of the choking variety.
Chad Mendes vs. Cody McKenzie:
McKeating: McKenzie drops to featherweight and gets Mendes. Tough draw. Mendes has to look out for one thing and one thing only, the guillotine. Mendes will be meticulous in his approach to lay and pray and should safely grind out an uneventful 3 round decision without getting caught in Cody’s guillotine.
Pick: Mendes by Lay and Pray.
Tierney: I do love a good McKenzietine choke, and we can be sure that this will be on the mind of Cody as he looks to add Chad Mendes head to his wall. Mendes is one tough cookie though – suffering his only loss in his MMA career to the champion Jose Aldo. I really think the level of competition that Mendes is at will be tough for McKenzie and should get the win.
Pick: Mendes via Decision
Booth: I like this one a lot. You're pitting a team alpha-male fighter who practices guillotine defense in his sleep against a guy who is know for his patented "McKenzietine". This will give Mendes an opportunity to showcase his underrated stand-up game.
Pick: Mendes via "money" shots to the face
Pick: Mendes via "money" shots to the face
Ivan Menjivar vs. Mike Easton:
McKeating: I like Easton. Mainly because his nickname is The Hulk. However he is also a beast at Bantamweight with serious power in his hands. On top of that he also has black belts in both BJJ and Judo. I like Menjiver too and his only route to victory is a fast start where he dictates the pace of the fight and how it happens. I can’t look past The Hulk though.
Pick: The Hulk by Hulk Smash! RD2.
Tierney: Menjivar was meant to be fighting on this card with Renan Barao, as the number one contender for the bantamweight division. That in itself can’t be ignored here, now that Easton replaced an elevated Barao.
While “The Hulk” Easton is having a fantastic start in the UFC, his last fight against Jared Papazian (who took the fight on two week’s notice) proved to be more of a challenge for “The Hulk” with the fighter winning via split decision. Menjivar has had a great showing in his previous fight, securing the submission of the night bonus with a first round rear-naked choke of John Albert in Feb 2012.
I think that Menjivar has quite an advantage in both the stand-up and ground game against Easton and should win this one.
Pick: Menjivar via submission
Booth: These July 4th weekend cards always have a different feel. They give every fighter on the main card a chance to rise to the occasion. Tonight, Mike Easton will shine and earn his stripes in the process. If he can get past a crafty Bantamweight like Ivan Menjivar in impressive fashion, he will reach the point of no return. No easy fights for the little "Hulk" from here on out.
Pick: Easton via beast mode
Pick: Easton via beast mode
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