by Kurt Hall of MMA-Underground.com
Urijah Faber vs. Jens Pulver
Urijah Faber is coming off a second round submission victory over Jeff "The Big Frog" Curran. He boasts a 20-1 record with his one loss coming to UFC standout Tyson Griffin. He has just 3 wins via decision, while with the other 17 he has finished his opponents (10 via submission, 7 via TKO). He is the clear number one featherweight fighter in the world right now. He is coming into the fight with a 12 fight winning streak obliterating every fighter he has taken on. During this streak not one of his fights have went past the second round. Urijah Faber's main strengths are his outstanding submissions, amazing takedowns and lightning fast hands. He has one of the hardest rear naked chokes to defend against in all of MMA and has a very tight guillotine. This was shown in his last victory over Jeff Curran. He synched in a tight guillotine choke on Curran who's main strength is his ground game. Urijah also features some outstanding takedowns. When Faber takes you down, you are going to feel it. He has some of the hardest throw-downs in the featherweight division. He has even been known to create his own takedowns. His atomic butt drop is a good example. Jens Pulver is coming off a submission victory over Cub Swanson. He beat Swanson by guillotine just 35 seconds into the fight. That was Pulver's first fight in the featherweight division in a couple of years. He moved down to the WEC's featherweight division after getting beaten by BJ Penn at the Ultimate Fighter 5 finale. Jens Pulver is undefeated in the featherweight division (8-0). Jens Pulver's main strengths as a fighter are his great left hand, the great opponents that he has fought against, and he is a great grappler. If you need proof of his great left hand just ask John Lewis. He knocked out Lewis with a left hook just 15 seconds into the fight at UFC 28. Pulver has fought some of the toughest fighters in the world. He fought against Din Thomas in his prime, Caol Uno, Takanori Gomi, and BJ Penn twice. Jens is also an outstanding grappler. Only 3 fighters have submitted him and their names just so happen to be Din Thomas and BJ Penn; Two awesome grapplers in their own right. I believe this fight will be an all out war between two of the best fighters in the division. Urijah Faber is an outstanding fighter with almost no weaknesses. Jens Pulver's only real glaring weakness is that he can be knocked out. I believe that Jens Pulver's experience will overcome Urijah's relentless attack. I pick Pulver to win via TKO in the fourth round.
Yoshiro Maeda vs. Miguel Torres
Yoshiro Maeda is coming off a first round KO victory over Charlie Valencia. Maeda has a 23-4-2 MMA record. Fourteen of Yoshiro's wins are by TKO and 2 of his victories are by submission. Seven of his MMA victories are by decision. Yoshiro's main strengths are his strong standup game and he has loads of experience. Maeda has 29 fights on his resume and is a Deep and Pancrase veteran. His strong standup is by far his best strength. He has been known to consistently control the fight on the feet and win the fight using his hands to stop opponents in their tracks. Maeda does have some issues as a fighter however. He goes to decision a lot and he isn't what I would consider a top level grappler. He can handle his own on the ground but he isn't going to submit most of the people he fights. Miguel Torres is coming off a first round submission victory over Chase Beebe. That fight won Torres the bantamweight title of the WEC. Torres' main strengths as a fighter are his good striking, his awesome submissions, and good knee strikes. Miguel is probably the most well rounded fighter in the WEC other than Paulo Filho and Urijah Faber. He controls the fight wherever the fight goes and is an elite fighter boasting a 33-1 MMA record. Torres has not lost a fight nearly three and a half years. His striking is really good but he really knows how to use his knees and can knock you out. The ground is where he prefers to have his fight. He will give up a takedown just to get it to the ground and work to get in a better position to win the fight. I do not think that Maeda's experience will make a huge difference in this fight. I think Torres is a better fighter wherever the fight takes place. I expect Torres to win this fight and keep his belt via submission in the second round.
"The Reverend" Chuck Grigsby vs. Mark Munoz
Chuck Grigsby is coming into this fight on an 8 fight winning streak. He boasts a 13-3 MMA record. He has 5 wins via TKO, 6 wins via submission, and 2 victories by unknown means. Grigsby?s main strength in his fight game is his strong standup game. All of his TKO wins have come within the first round of his fights. He starts out quickly swinging for the big knockout. However he seems to have a couple of weaknesses. He is an average grappler. Two of his losses are by submission in the second round. Mark Munoz is boasting an undefeated 3-0 MMA record. His main strengths are his strong wrestling and good Muay Thai. However he has one thing holding him back in this fight; he has very little experience and has not been tested, especially against a tough guy like Grigsby with 13 more fights under his belt. I expect Chuck Grigsby to take this fight via TKO in the first round.
Kenneth "The Black Ninja" Alexander vs. "Razor" Rob McCollough
Kenneth Alexander is a fighter who boasts a 5-2 MMA record. He has 2 wins via submission, 2 wins via TKO, and 1 win via Decision. Alexander's main strengths are his outstanding wrestling and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. The problem with Kenneth Alexander is that he is an average striker. Rob McCollough is an outstanding fighter who lost his WEC lightweight belt to Jamie "The Worm" Varner. "Razor" Rob's strengths are his world class striking and his sharp jab. He also is very hard to takedown. However Rob can be rocked in a fight. This is shown in his last fight with Jamie Varner. I expect Kenneth Alexander to struggle in this fight even though he beat McCullough before. I expect "Razor" Rob to take this fight via KO in the third round.
Richard "Cleat" Crunkilton vs. Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone
Richard Crunkilton is coming off a decision victory over Sergio Gomez. He boasts a 16-2 MMA record. He has 7 wins via TKO, 6 wins via submission, and 3 wins via decision. Crunkilton's main strengths as a fighter are his striking ability and his very good takedowns. However sometimes he doesn't follow the game plan. This was shown in his fight with Rob McCullough. He decided to stand and trade with "Razor" Rob and got knocked out in the first round. Donald Cerrone boasts an undefeated 7-0 MMA record. All of his wins have come via submission in the first two rounds. His main strengths as a fighter are his decent striking and awesome triangle chokes. Donald Cerrone does have one problem in his fight game, however. He has been known to give up takedowns which will play into the hands of Richard Crunkilton. I would expect Cerrone to give Crunkilton fits on the ground and take this fight via submission in the second round.
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