UFC 102

When I first saw this card announced I wasn't all that interested in it. It just didn't to seem to have the big fights to warrant me throwing down 50 bucks to watch it. I guess I have been caught up a bit in the UFC hype machine because I am contemplating buying the fight anyway.

Couture vs Nogueira was a compelling fight 4 or 5 years ago. Now it almost seems like the senior tour. I think that is what makes it work though. We know neither of these guys are in their primes but I think they are probably right about the same level.

I know it has been said before, but Randy Couture's age will have to catch up with him at some point. I think this could be the fight that does it. When is the last time you saw Randy beat up on a top notch grappler? Don't say Gabe Gonzaga. While he does have some decent jiu jitsu I have seen him tapped out by the much smaller Maia. I think Nog could give Randy fits on the ground. He also has show then will to withstand punishment while still working his ground game. Things could really turn in Nog's favor if he is able to sweep and get some sort of dominant position. Nog looked really bad against Mir but from what I understand he was not able to have much of a training camp for that fight due to a staph infection. I just think that at some point Randy's run has to come to an end and the beating he took from Lesner could be the end of Captain America's insane career

Nog by sub in Round 3

Maia vs Marquardt is the fight I am looking forward to the most. as Fish put it "The real main event"
Nothing more can be said of Maia's BJJ. So here are some highlights:


Marquardt is a well rounded fighter with a lot of experience, a good wrestling background, a black belt in jiu jitsu, and a solid striking game, I just think that Maia will be able to impose his game on Marquardt and turn this into submission grappling event.

Maia by triangle in round 2

Is anyone really interested in the Thiago Silva/ Keith Jardine fight?
I guess Jardine has fans. He seems to be the definition of a gatekeeper; if you beat him you get to move on to face the elite of the 205 division. All I am really hoping for is that at some point Jardine pretends to be the techno viking. Hopefully Silva will have learned from his last fight with Lyoto Machida and will remember that he is a jiu jitsu stylist and not a brawler.

I give this one to Silva via Sub in round 3.

The other fight I am looking forward to is the Krystof Soszynski v Brandon Vera fight. I always liked Vera for his vicious kicks but he never has seemed to live up to his hype. The polish experiment lacked the hype coming up that Vera did but worked through his season of the ultimate fighter with workman like precision. Having finished 3 of his last 4 fights via Kimura lock I look for him to do the same to Vera in Round 1.

I am 4-1 in fight picks so far (Damn you Forrest Griffen!) so lets keep it up!

Looking back at my predictions here I realize I picked all the fights to end by sub. That is extremely unlikely, but wouldn't it be sweet?

I have been trying to find out what the most number of submission victories ever in one UFC event, No luck so far but I think there is a chance that this event becomes the new submission standard in the UFC.

Podcast failings

I finally show my true technical abilities (none) by unsuccessfully posting a podcast. The free hosting I used cannot seem to locate the file (this is after they sent me an email with a link to said file) So hopefully sometime this weekend I can figure out where this all went wrong and get the podcast up and running. I know some of you are interested in some fantasy football draft advice!