Thanks to my super hectic and disorganized life I will be posting this as the undercard is underway so I will refrain for making picks for one of the most stacked prelim cards the UFC has put on this year. Now onto the main card picks tonight’s event in Oakland, California.
RAFAEL DOS ANJOS VS. CLAY GUIDA – Taking The Carpenter against my better judgment, Dos Anjos is a slick BJJ player but I’m a sucker for Guidas super aggressive style even if he doesn’t have the actual firepower to back up his pace. Hopefully he was worked on his sub defense and checking leg kicks.
Guida- via Unanimous Decision
JUNIOR DOS SANTOS VS. ROY NELSON – Nelson has the grappling advantage but when I ran across this.
I realized that Nelson may have decent boxing but can be out struck by a faster boxer. JDS is a way faster boxer. Dos Santos is going to make the Arlovski KO look G rated.
Dos Santos – via Ultra Mega Combo
RICARDO ALMEIDA VS. MATT HUGHES – Hughes is a legend and a gamer but he will turn old overnight. Depending on how dominant the finish is welterweights may stop calling out Hughes to make a name for themselves.
Almeida - via sub
Mr. Ferttita is not happy with Alves
THIAGO ALVES VS. JON FITCH – The fight that the Combat Gods did not want to happen is finally upon us. The long awaited rematch between perennial top 5 welterweights Jon Fitch and Thiago Alves is going down tonight despite weigh in shenanigans on Alves’s part. This is a tough one to call since Thiago has been out of action for over a year and Fitch hasn’t shown any signs of improvement since their first fight in which Jon finished Alves with a 2nd round tko.
If anything Fitch has gotten more cautious over time (his last finish was in 2007) and still has to rely mainly on his stifling top game and wrestling to get the W. Alves on the other hand has improved his takedown defense and to complement his slashing stand up game. That being said, I can’t pick a guy whose been out of action for this long competing at the highest levels and unable to make weight.
Fitch – via UD
Middleweight Championship
CHAMP ANDERSON SILVA VS. CHAEL SONNEN – Remarkable fight hype and trash talk aside, Silva should take this. Sonnens media antics have so little to do with how this fight plays out in the cage, but leading up to everything to most people it totally does. With that talking point taken care of this is the brass tacks of the match up.
Sonnen undoubted has the wrestling to manhandle Silva, but thats as far as his bag of tricks will go (well maybe that and conditioning/cardio but you get the idea). With his rudimentary at best stand up and lackluster submission defense, Sonnen will be lucky to make it to the 4th frame. Silva has too many offensive and defensive options along with the ability to finish in both the stand up and off his back.
Silva – via The Dance of Destruction
