They say the road to Hell is paved with good intentions. I had every intention on having three separate columns this week, but my daughter seems to dictate my schedule. Blame her.
UFC 62: LIDDELL VS. SOBRAL PREVIEW
I’ve decided to officially shitcan doing predictions in the traditional sense. I never liked doing them…it’s all just guessing; educated or not.
If you don’t know who these two are, or what they have accomplished as fighters, you’re too far behind to catch up now. I would recommend just ordering the pay-per-view and enjoying the action. “The Iceman” Chuck Liddell, the Undisputed UFC Light Heavyweight Champion, will face his toughest opponent to date in Renato “Babalu” Sobral.
That’s not to take anything away from Randy Couture or Tito Ortiz, but Chuck doesn’t have a lot of experience against BJJ experts. Granted, Liddell defeated Sobral at UFC 40 with a first round KO, but Babalu isn’t the same fighter he was in 2002. In fact, Sobral has not had a loss since UFC 40. He’s also won 6 out of his last 10 fights by submission. Liddell has never been submitted in his career. If he underestimates Sobral, we could see Chuck choked out (which I’m sure will make a lot of fans happy).
Chuck Liddell has only had two title defenses since winning the belt in 2005. While he is a dangerous striker, it’s all people know from him. We’ve heard about his wrestling and his submissions, but we never see them. We know his takedown defense is very impressive, but a BJJ expert is a different animal than a wrestler. If Liddell doesn’t knock Sobral out in the first round, it could be his downfall tomorrow night.
Babalu hasn’t had a fight go past the second round since 2004. Liddell has only had two fights since 2003 that have gone past the second round. It’s going to be an all-out war, and I don’t see it going to a decision. I don’t want to hop on the “Fuck Chuck” bandwagon that seems to be going around, but I like the underdog in this one.
This is a rematch that just about everyone who watched season one of The Ultimate Fighter is dying to see. Their first fight was almost too close to call, but Griffin got his hand raised in victory at the end. Since then Griffin has gone on to have some very memorable fights in UFC. Bonnar, on the other hand, became the poster child for Ultimate Fight Night, with a string of controversial decisions and lackluster performances. Granted, his first round submission victory over James Irvin was impressive, but his most recent fight (and loss) to Rashad Evans was an awful display of Bonnar’s abilities.
It will be extremely hard to recapture the magic of their first fight, but hey, that’s sequels for you. I’m just hoping this is more Die Hard 2 and less Meatballs 2, if you know what I mean. I’ve always liked Bonnar, for whatever reason, but I see Griffin being unstoppable tomorrow night. This one won’t go to a decision.
Kongo is a French fighter who made his UFC debut just last month. His victory over Gilbert Aldana moved him up the ladder in the struggling Heavyweight division, and he’s back already to fight again. This time he challenges UFC newcomer Wellisch.
Both competitors have been fighting for about five years now. Other than that, I don’t know enough about them to make an honest assessment. If I had to guess, I’d go with Kongo, solely based on more victories, but both men are said to have heavy hands. This could get interesting.
Franca is another fighter who just fought at UFC 61. The lightweight has been around UFC, on and off, since UFC 42. After fighting for five years he has a lot of experience (15-5-0), but has struggled against top lightweights like Yves Edwards in the past. Varner, who is making his UFC debut, has only been fighting for a little over three years, but has a solid 11-1-0 record already. This kid is motivated.
Both fighters love submissions, so it’ll either be a “grind-n’-hump-fest,” or an exciting fast-paced bout. I’m hoping for the latter. I have to go Franca on this one, but I;m looking forward to seeing what Varner can do.
The Undercard:
*Thiago Alves suffered an illness and had to withdraw from the card. Nick Diaz stepped in to replace Alves against Josh Neer.
UFC 62 airs live on pay-per-view tomorrow night, Saturday, August 26, 2006, from the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, NV.
TWO DAY-OLD BREAKING NEWS! GSP OUT, PENN IN.
The UFC announced on Wednesday that Georges St. Pierre is out of UFC 63 due to a groin injury. BJ Penn will replace GSP against Matt Hughes. The title remains on the line.
Will history repeat itself? We’ll find out at UFC 63 on Saturday, September 23rd from the Arrowhead Pond in Anaheim, CA.
UFC/PRIDE SUPERCARD GOES TO SHIT
Neil Davidson of the Canadian Press spoke to UFC President Dana White earlier this month about the highly anticipated fight between Chuck Liddell and Wanderlei Silva, which was announced at UFC 61. The potential for an all-out UFC vs. Pride supercard got MMA fans drooling, but it only took a month for the whole thing to start slowly falling apart.
“I don’t even know if Silva’s going to happen,” Dana White said, without a hint of regret for once again promoting another organization and getting nothing out of the deal (okay, I’m assuming, but I guarantee I’m right). “Obviously there are a lot of things going on,” White said of the Pride situation. “I’ll [tell] you this, the Japanese are very hard to do business with and you never know what’s going to happen.”
Reps from Pride were still promoting the potential fight as a sure thing earlier this month, and as of yet have not responded to White’s comments. Of course, those comments were made to a Canadian news outlet.
White said UFC 65 will instead probably feature Liddell in a rematch against Tito Ortiz. I guess that all depends on the outcome of tomorrow night’s main event.
