UFC has a GREAT card for UFN... only most of the good or interesting fights won't be shown. Not only that, but why oh why is Nate Marquardt on the card? I guess the UFC wants to reward the juicers, while letting the good fighters who play by the rules *cough* Ivan Salaverry*cough* waiting in the wings? Anyway...
Card and Meyer's Picks:
Ross Pointon Vs. Rich Clementi
Pointon is known for very heavy hands, and very little submission defence... Oh and he is hard to understand.
That's pretty much it... He fought mostly in his native England in the Cage Warriors organisation where he was taped out by Micheal Bisping, and.. Christ, everybody taps this guy out.
Rich Clementi was the first eliminated in the last season of TUF, loosing a decision to Shonie Carter. A fight that he should have won with out a problem, by the way. Rich is a BJJ guy who wins a lot by submission. He also wins a lot by KO. Rich is a well rounder fighter, that is having trouble finding his rhythm lately. He has lost his last two fights, one by decision to Carl Uno, and the other by RNC to Din Thomas. Rich seems to be the guy with tons of talent, who can never get it together in the big fight. He has a very respectable 25-11-1 record, fighting all kinds of big names... and mostly loosing to them.
I think that this time Rich is matched up with someone that he can take. Rich by RNC first round.
Clay Guida Vs. Din Thomas
Clay almost got caught in a Justin James armbar before getting loose and catching Justin with a RNC. Clay is all about cardio, and fights like his hair is on fire... Clay is 21-6, with all but one of his losses coming by submission. Clay simply out works you in the fight. He keeps coming and coming and coming. He is fun to watch.
Din Came off of a huge RNC win over Rich Clementi to make his return to the octagon official. Din trains with American Top Team in Florida, and is known for his strong boxing and quick submissions. He seemed to have improved his striking during the show, and that only supplements his game. Din has fought everybody at 155, and has a "win some, loose some" record in the UFC. He beat Jens Pulver, but got knocked out by BJ Penn. He beat Matt Serra, but lost to Carol Uno. His overall record is 21-6.
While Clay is fun to watch, I don't think that Thursday will be his night. Din trains with the best MMA submission team in the USA, and will be fighting in front of a home town crowd. If Justin can almost catch Clay, Din will tear him apart. Din by armbar first round.
Ed Herman Vs. Chris Price
Ed has been kind of a disappointment for the UFC. He first lost to Kendal Grove in the TUF final, then got caught in a triangle choke by Jason MacDonald, a guy Ed was supposed to walk through. Ed trains with Team Quest, and, surprise, is known for his wresteling and G&P. Ed normally will use his wrestling and the G&P to set up a armbar or a RNC. His record is 17-6.
Chris Price was Kendal Grove's first victim after winning TUF. Chris really is an unknown, we did not get to see much of his style vs Kendal. Chris is 9-1.
Again I think that Chris was brought in to be destroyed by Ed Herman. That is the only reason that I can come up with. Ed by armbar first round.
Chad Reiner Vs. Josh Burkman
Chad... I train with Chad, and of course you will get the usal biased opinion from me. Chad and I used to trade submission for submission, but lately his cardio has gotten so good that he simply takes his game to a higher physical level, and he is able to stymy me. I still give him fits standing up though. Chad has ran through all of the fighters locally, and then went on to do very well against national competition. He made it to the semi final match in the Extreme Challenge 170 tournament, loosing his only loss to Dusin Hazelet by KO in the final. He beat BJJ black belt Jay Jack in Ring of Fire, and holds the Victory Fighting Championship welterweight belt.
Josh Burkman is a Team Quest fighter, who has a big mouth. So big in fact that Jeremy Horn choked Josh completely out then spit on his unconscious body. Despite the big mouth Josh is super tough. He beat Josh Neer by decision, beat Melvin Guillard by decision, and choked out Drew Fickett. His record is 17-4.
The telling thing in this fight is that all four of Josh's losses are by submission. Chad is no Drew Fickett, but he has a definite chance of putting Josh on his back and finishing the fight. I have to go with my man here, Chad by armbar second round!!!
Dean Lister Vs. Nate Marquardt
Dean Lister nearly put us to sleep by boredom during his last fight (win decision) with Yuki Sasaki. I love a good ground match, but this was a clinic in the Lay and Pray style of fighting. Not normally Dean's style though. Of Dean's 9 wins, only one is by decision, the rest he settles by submission. Dean is a BJJ black belt and an active competitor in the big grappling events around the world. His stand up is not really that great, but his ground game more than makes up for any weakness there.
Nate is on a winning streak lately, winning his last 5 fights. Nate is too known for his ground game, BUT he is not known as a dynamic fighter. He is a very patient ground fighter taking few risks, and typically grinds out the long decision win after holding on to top position. Of those 5 fights that he won, 3 were by decision. Oh and he has been known to supplement with Vitamin "S."
This should be a good ground fight, however if the fight is decided on the ground, Dean Lister is walking away with the win. Dean over the cheater by heel hook.
Hermes Franca Vs. Spencer Fisher
Hermies!!!!
BJJ Black Belt Hermies Franca is on FIRE not loosing a fight in 2006, and he had seven fights. Oh, and he did not go the distance in any one of those fights. Two KOs, one triangle, and four armbars. Hermies is the king of submissions in the UFC, getting them from any angle. He was getting beaten in his fight with Jamie Varner, then pulled some crazy armbar completely out of his neither regions in the third round to win the fight. Hermies is one of the principal instructor/owners of the Armory in Florida, but keeps close ties to former teams of American Top Team and Brazilian Top Team. He has been training with both Nog brothers, Marcus Aurelio, and Bustamante to get ready for this fight. Hermies' record is 17-5.
Spence is 5-1 in the UFC, his only loss coming by decision to Sam Stout... oh and he did not have time to train for that fight, he took the fight on two days notice, and he fought two weeks before at 170, and he had to cut 25 lbs the day before the fight. Spence is an animal. He has good submissions, and heavy heavy hands. I like him because I got to see him fight so often around here.
Spece trains out at MFC with Matt Hughes, Tim Sylvia, and Josh Neer. All respect his punching power and solid wrestling. His record is 19-2.
This will be a very good fight. Spence is very tough to finish. So tough in fact that no one in his two losses has done it. Spencer has won in all ways, but he favors the triangle choke and the KO. I don't think that Spencer will want to get on the mat with Hermies, not when he has such a huge advantage over Hermies in the stand up department. Hermies is not known for his great takedowns, and the reason he was loosing to Jamie Varner is that Hermies tired himself out trying to take Jamie down. For sure Spence hits harder than Jamie, and for sure Hermies has been working on his takedowns, and his cardio. Tough call, and even though I like Hermies a lot, I think that Spencer is a bad fight for him. Spencer by ref stoppage KO third round.
Jake O'Brien Vs. Heath Herring
Jake is 11-0, and starting to catch his stride in the UFC going 2-0. He has defeated Kristof Midoux by KO and most recently Josh Shockman by decision. Ok, that's all I have on Jake. Seriously, I don't know much about the guy.
Heath Herring was the number four man in PRIDE before he left the organisation. True, he was so completely dominated by the top three that no one in their right mind would give him a rematch with any of them, but he still was in there giving everything he could. Heath is a very strong kickboxer, his right high kick has put down many good fighters (Tom Erickson and Mark Kerr to name two). He also has a very strong submission game tapping several opponents out (13). Heath is 26-11.
This is an interesting fight. Jake is no push over, but he has never faced anybody like Heath Herring before. Heath has faced the greatest in the world, Jake is not going to scare him. While I think that Jake will be game, he is no Fedor, Nog or Cro Cop. Heath by KO first round.
Rashad Evans Vs. Sean Salmon
Rashad finally got a finish in his last fight knocking out Jason Lambert, and, after eight straight decision wins, it was a welcome sight.
Rashad is very methodical in his fighting. He uses his considerable wrestling talent to ground his opponents, where he works them over with a solid position game and good striking. He just has very little power on the ground. He is very strong on the ground, he just can't punch from there. He was able to catch Jason Lambert with a big right hand to end the fight, but before then the fight went as all his other fights go. Big double leg, good positioning, tiny tiny smacks, stand up, repeat. Rashad is undefeated at 14-0.
Sean is a wrestler out of Wisconsin, who makes his debut in the UFC. A virtual unknown, Sean has yet to fight anybody of importance. His 9-1 record is impressive, but only half of the fighters he has faced even have winning records. One guy was 5-22.
Honestly the UFC is really stretching if they want us to take this fight seriously. On paper it is such a miss-match that had I been a Florida Athletic Commission offical I would have voted not to allow this fight. Salmon is a very small fish (pun!! pun!!), while Rashad is the next big thing in the UFC's 205 weight class. I think that the UFC just brought somebody in so that Rashad can finish them, so he can beat his reputation of being a "Lay & Pray" fighter. Rashad by RNC first round.
There it is!! Go CHAD!!!! I hope the fights go quick enough so that we get to see you fight!
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