BJ "The Prodigy" Penn Vs. Sean "The Muscle Shark" Sherk
BJ Penn is coming off a rear naked choke victory over Joe Stevenson at UFC 80. That fight was for the UFC Lightweight belt. That is the belt that Sean Sherk was forced to give up after being caught with steroids in his system. Sherk was caught after successfully defending his belt at UFC 73 in a decision victory over Hermes Franca. After that fight, both fighters tested positive for anabolic steroids and were suspended for 6 months by the California State Athletic Commission. This is a very tough fight to call in my opinion. BJ Penn is a better striker and submission artist. He is the definition of a mixed martial artist. He has had one glaring problem in his MMA career however. He has been known to gas in the middle of a fight. Anyone who has watched Matt Hughes-BJ Penn 2 and his fight with Georges St-Pierre knows what i'm talking about. On the contrary, Sean Sherk has one the best gas tanks in all of MMA. He has defended his belt twice by 5 round decisions against Kenny Florian and Hermes Franca. His best attributes are his wrestling and overall strength. He just keeps coming at you with takedown attempts. His takedowns are also very hard to stop with all the force he uses to get them. This shown by the wrestling clinic he put on against Franca. One of the problems he will have is taking down BJ Penn though. Penn has one the best takedown defenses in all of MMA. This is a guy that Matt Hughes had ridiculous amounts of trouble to takedown. That being said it will be very hard for Penn to submit Sean Sherk. In 34 MMA fights, Sherk has never been submitted. I feel this fight will most likely come down to the fighters overall energy. I feel Sherk has the better gas tank and will take a hard fought Unanimous Decision in the main event.
Wanderlai "The Axe Murderer" Silva vs. Keith "The Dean of Mean" Jardine
Wanderlai Silva is coming off a tough decision loss to Chuck "The Iceman" Liddell at UFC 79. Keith Jardine is coming off an impressive split decision victory over Chuck Liddell at UFC 76. Wanderlai Silva is a fan favorite due to his exciting fighting style. He is known as a striker who uses both his knees and his fists to knock his opponents out cold. He is always looking for the big knockout and will keep charging to get it. This strategy can be very dangerous. It can keep leave you open to shots if your opponent can counter at the right time. There are a few more problems with Wanderlai's fighting style also. He is known to have very little ground game and can be picked apart by more accurate strikers. The ground game problem most likely won't affect him in this fight. The being picked apart by more accurate strikers most likely will however. This is why he lost his last fight against Chuck Liddell. He was going for the knockout shot while Liddell was looking to counter. Keith Jardine is also a good striker but is more patient with his strikes. He like to mess with his opponents by mixing in some of his strong leg kicks. He won his last fight by sticking to using body kicks and lower leg kicks to outpoint Liddell. Keith's ground game isn't really that great either. No one is expecting this fight to hit the canvas though. Keith Jardine also has a few chinks in his armor however. His chin is not the best there is in MMA. He has a good chin but he can be dropped. This is shown in the fight he lost to Houston Alexander. He was dropped by some of Alexander's strong hooks and uppercuts. I think Jardine will be very cautious in his approach and keep distance. He will use his jab to counter Silva's power shots and earn himself a Unanimous Decision.
Goran Reljic vs. Wilson Gouveia
Goran Reljic has a pretty good MMA record to fall back on. He is 7-0 with 5 wins by submission. Every source I have looked at on him has said he is slick on the ground with decent striking skills. He is very good at isolating an opponent's arm and producing a victory. All of his submission victories have come by armbar, kimura, or triangle arm choke. There is one problem however. He has not faced tip top competition in his early proffesional MMA career. Wilson Gouveia is a well-rounded fighter with some very impressive victories in his MMA carreer. He has finished his opponents in 9 of his 10 victories (4 by TKO, 5 by submission). He is the last person to defeat Jon Fitch. Not only did he beat Fitch, he knocked out Jon Fitch. All this being said I believe experience will help Gouveia stop this up and coming UFC newcomer. I think Wilson beats Reljic by TKO in the 2nd Round of the fight.
"The Huntington Beach Bad Boy" Tito Ortiz vs. Lyoto "The Dragon" Machida
Tito Ortiz is coming off a draw against Rashad Evans. A fight that he had won but decided to hold the cage to stop one of Evan's takedowns but the referee stepped in and took a point away. Therefore the fight ended in a 28-28 draw on the judge's score cards. Tito is a very talented wrestler and like to take his opponents out via ground and pound. Which he is good at what he does. He was reigning champion in the UFC until a man named Chuck Liddell came along. He is one of the faces of the sport and will always be one of the fan favorites wherever he fights. He has a couple problems in his fight game. He is a fairly weak striker and has consistently gotten outstruck by his opponents. He was never able to beat Liddell due to his lack of striking and Liddell's outstanding takedown defense. Lyoto Machida is coming off a second round submission victory over Soukoudjou, one of the sport's most promising prospects. He made Soukodjou look like he had never fought before. Then again it was his first fight in the UFC and that can be cause for some jitters. Lyoto Machida is a fight that is well-rounded. It is strange though because a lot of his fights seem to go to decision. 3 of his last 4 fights have gone to decision. His striking is very good and seemingly neutralizes any advantage his opponent has standing up. He is very hard to hit and seems to take very little damage when he fights. He has an awesome ground game. He can submit almost anyone he fights and can stop his opponents from finishing him on the ground. He seemingly has no weakness and has not been exploited yet in his MMA career. His weakest asset in his arsenal may be his seemingly slight knockout power. In my opinion if he can stop Tito from getting takedowns he can take this fight fairly easilly. I think Machida will take this highly anticipated battle via unanimous decision.
Thiago Silva vs. Antonio Mendes
Antonio Mendes seems to be a strong striker with a decent ground game. 7 of his 14 wins have came by TKO and 4 have come by submission. He has some very good wins in his MMA career but no huge wins in my opinion. I don't feel he has fought anyone nearly as tough or well-rounded as Thiago Silva. Thiago Silva has a black belt in jiu jitsu and is an awesome striker. He is undefeated in his MMA career. He has wins over Houston Alexander and James Irvin in his career. I don't see a way that Mendes can win this fight. It really doesn't seem like a fight that belongs on the main card but that is not the UFC's fault. This fight was supposed to be Thiago Silva vs. Rashad Evans in a battle of the undefeateds. Then Maricio "Shogun" Rua was forced to pull out of his fight against Chuck Liddell at UFC 85. The UFC found Rashad Evans a neccessary replacement for Shogun and changed the matchup. I would expect Thiago Silva to win this fight by TKO in the 2nd Round of the fight.
If you have any comments leave one. Send me your picks on these fights if you disagree.
Kurt Hall's myspace: http://www.myspace.com/krthll1
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