This has all the makings of a stand-up war. Wanderlei Silva and Brian Stann are two fighters who almost solely rely on their striking. According to FightMetric, Silva and Stann average 0.99 and 0.12 takedowns in every 15 minutes of action. The only likely way that this fight goes to the ground will be if one of them is knocked down. Therefore, the winner of this fight will be determined by who gets the best in the stand-up. Despite his aging years, Silva's power, aggression and muay thai clinch are still potent weapons. However, his willingness to trade and diminished chin will likely be his downfall against a power puncher like Stann. I see Stann fighting at range and being able to get in and out whilst landing his power combinations en route to a decision win or TKO.
Winner: Stann
Mark Hunt vs. Stefan Struve
For me, the most intriguing fight on the card. A sound argument can be made for either fighter. Both Mark Hunt and Stefan Struve have clear methods of winning. What's unusual in this fight is that this is determined by each fighters glaring weakness, rather than their strength. Struve has a questionable chin, his 3 losses in the UFC have all been via 1st round TKO's. Whereas, Hunt has a very limited ground game. 6 of his 7 career losses have been via submission, all in the 1st round. Logic seems to suggest that this fight will end in the 1st. The question is, will Hunt will able to knockout Struve before he is taken down and submitted. This fight is a toss up, but i think Struve has no desire to trade and will look to take this fight to the ground until he gets the submission.
Winner: Struve
Takanori Gomi vs. Diego Sanchez
A return to lightweight for Sanchez. It's easy to forget that his last fight at this weight was for the title against BJ Penn at UFC 107. Barring any significant problems from the weight cut, which he recently tweeted was 50 pounds, i see Sanchez being too aggressive and busy for Gomi.
Winner: Sanchez
Yushin Okami vs. Hector Lombard
With middleweight contenders falling by the wayside, this fight could very well provide the division with a new no.1 contender. That being said, i believe there is only going to be one victor in this fight, Lombard. His illustrious Judo career means he has incredible takedown defense. Considering Okami has a wrestling orientated game, i foresee him having great difficulty dictating where the fight takes place. Lombard should be able to keep the fight standing and his striking will be too much for Okami.
Winner: Lombard
Mizuto Hirota vs. Rani Yahya
Yahya has only ever lost to elite competition, something Hirota isn't. Yahya's grappling is on another level to Hirota's and i see him using that to either submit him early on or to control the fight.
Winner: Yahya
Dong Hyun Kim vs. Siyar Bahadurdaza
A classic grappler vs striker match up. The Korean has been able to control talented strikers in the past and i suspect he will be able to do the same against the Afghan.
Winner: Kim
No comments:
Post a Comment