It’s the weekend of the Big Game, and the Ultimate Fighting Championship wants to (literally) kick off the festivities by showcasing two of the more dangerous legs in MMA today. Let’s break things down with my not-so-analytical analysis, shall we?
Once again, all records are the “official” UFC stats.
Name (Wins – Losses – Draws, Age, Residence)
Main Event for the UFC Middleweight Championship
(C) Anderson “The Spider” Silva (17-4, 31, Curitiba, Brazil) vs “The Serial Killer” Travis Lutter (12-3, 33, Fort Worth, TX)
In terms of style, Lutter is probably the worst kind of opponent for Silva – a grappler who has gained almost all of his victories by submission. Silva, of course, is a dangerous striker and 12 of his victories have been due to KO or tapout from strikes. With that being said, his long limbs leave him vulnerable to submission attempts, and since his fights rarely go past the first round, it will be interesting to see what happens as the fight progresses further.
Live Matches
Lightweights: John “The Hurricane” Halverson (13-4, 34, Des Moines, IA) vs “El Matador” Roger Huerta (17-1-1, 23, Minneapolis, MN)
Because there are two dangerous kickers fighting, (and they’re expecting something huge out of Cro Cop) I guess they need this fight in between since these guys should bring something different. Halverson is a former boxer, while Huerta is a well rounded fighter. Lightweight fights are generally pretty exciting, so this should keep the momentum going for the Main Event.
Heavyweights: Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic (21-4-2, 32, Zagreb, Croatia) vs Eddie Sanchez (8-0, 24, Temecula, CA)
If you think you’ll be disappointed if Cro Cop wins by something other than kicking Sanchez in the head, raise your hand.
…
Yeah, thought so.
Light-Heavyweights: Quinton “Rampage” Jackson (25-6, 28, Irvine, CA) vs Marvin “The Beastman” Eastman (13-6-1, 37, Las Vegas, NV)
Way back in the year 2000, a young fighter named Quinton Jackson lost his first fight against MMA rookie Marvin Eastman. Since then, Rampage has built a name for himself in Japan with his entertaining interviews and fights, while Eastman has kept a day job and toiled away in what I suppose is the “minor leagues”. Rampage happens to own a win over Chuck Liddell (albeit in a PRIDE ring), so the ideal result here would be for Rampage to emerge victorious and then set up a money rematch between him and the Iceman. Me, I’m just hoping to see Jackson bust out the powerbomb.
Middleweights: Patrick “The Predator” Cote (9-4, 26, Quebec City, QC) vs “Hands of Steel” Scott Smith (12-2, 27, Elk Grove, CA)
Patrick Cote has never won in the UFC, compiling a perfect 0-4 record in the Octagon. Scott Smith was very nearly in the same boat, but a last ditch punch saved him from that. If history is any indication, I’m expecting some “much too friendly” exchanges during the fight, and a slugfest that won’t reach the third round.
Dark Matches
Middleweights: Terry Martin (16-2, 26, Chicago, IL) vs Jorge “El Conquistador” Rivera (14-5, 34, Milford, MA)
Lightweights: “The Answer” Frankie Edgar (5-0, 25, Toms River, NJ) vs Tyson Griffin (8-0, 22, Santa Rosa, CA)
Light-Heavyweights: “The Alaskan Assassin” Sam Hoger (6-2, 26, Davenport, Iowa) vs Lyoto Machida (8-0, 28, Belem, Brazil)
Machida is a part of Anderson Silva’s Casa Preta team. Aside from that, I don’t know much about him, but over in another forum people have thrown out comments such as “Machida is so horribly boring that he threatens to suck the entire ring into the black hole of boredom that he creates during his matches”. So apparently, he’s the MMA version of Horatio Sanz. But he does hold wins over Rich Franklin, BJ Penn and Michael “not the Doobie Brother” McDonald. Styles make fights, and Hoger’s style is… also boring. This is likely to not make the live show.
Lightweights: Diego “The Octopus” Saraieva (9-3-1, 24, Atlanta, GA) vs Dustin Hazelett (9-3, 20, Cincinnati, OH)
Saraieva is a replacement for Melvin Guillard, and the fight suddenly goes from the live card to curtain jerking dark match. I guess we know where Hazelett stands in the grand scheme of things.
Predictions
Silva def Lutter
Huerta def Halverson
Cro Cop def Sanchez
Rampage def Eastman
Cote def Smith
Rivera def Martin
Griffin def Edgar
Machida def Hoger
Haxelett def Saraieva
