The Muskoxen

In my blog post earlier this week I completely omitted the fact that the UFC has a PPV event this Saturday (June 13).  The event is in Germany, so the live broadcast is at 3PM ET, with a rebroadcast at 10PM ET.

I'd like to take this time to offer my opinions/predictions of the fight card.  Feel free to agree, disagree or bite me.

The full fight card (including fights that may not be televised) can be seen on the UFC's official page, here:

http://www.ufc.com/index.cfm?fa=EventDetail.FightCard&eid=2008

Main Event:

Rich "Ace" Franklin vs. Wanderlei "The Axe Murderer" Silva (Catch Weight 195 lbs):

This is a battle of two future MMA Hall of famer's.  This one will be a brawl, for sure!  Franklin has more of a precision striking style, whereas Silva utilizes an all out brawling style (they don't call him The Axe Murderer for nothing!).

This is a very important fight for both of these fighters, a win will keep them relevant, but a loss would be detrimental to either of their careers.  They're meeting at a catch weight of 195lbs, so the winner still can go at either 185 or 205lbs, but the loser may never get a UFC title shot again.

With Franklin coming off his controversial loss via split decision to Dan Henderson earlier this year, I'm guessing that he wants to bounce back from that loss with a big win in this fight.  Although, who DOESN'T want to win a fight?  Even if he hadn't lost his last fight, he wouldn't want to lose this one, either, huh?   Franklin will have to implement a smart game plan against a savvy veteran in order to win.  He knows Wanderlei will be swinging for the fences, so expect a lot of jabs and low kicks to keep his opponent at a distance.

Franklin is a superb striker who is multi-talented but doesn't fare well against Muay Thai fighters and seems to never have a decent defense for knees, unless you consider blocking them with your face a good idea...  Silva knows this and will throw plenty of knees, which could be problematic for Franklin.  However, I've heard that Rich Franklin is training with Anderson Silva for this fight (not confirmed) and if that's the case, he will have undoubtedly worked on some sort of defense for this attack seeing as how Silva kneed Franklin in the face... ooooh... about 987 times  (conservative estimate) in their title fight.

Wanderlei's last fight in the UFC was also a loss.  He lost to Quinton "Rampage" Jackson last December, when Rampage finally got his revenge for all the ass beatings Wanderlei gave him in the Pride Fighting Championships in Japan.  While Wanderlei ruled in Pride for years, the UFC has not been so kind to him, he's 1-2 in his last 3 fights in the UFC and if he loses here, there is a remote possibility (however small) that the UFC may not invite him back to fight again.  I seriously doubt it, but it could conceivably happen, that's all I'm saying.  Wanderlei knows this as well, so his game plan will be to try to KO Franklin to make a statement.

Having said all of that, my vote is for Rich Franklin to win via decision. 

Cheick Kongo vs. Cain Velasquez (Heavyweight):

This fight is a definite contender for Fight of The Night.  These guys are both great strikers and will undoubtedly slug it out. Velasquez being the newer fighter hasn't beaten the level of fighters that Kongo has, but Velasquez is a beast.  I think he's the future of the heavyweight division.  I believe Kongo may have made a mistake by taking this fight, actually. However, if Kongo does win, he should get a title shot.  I'm leaning towards Velasquez winning via KO, though.

Mike "Quick" Swick Vs. Ben "Killa B" Saunders (Middleweight):

This is another interesting fight to me.  If they stand, Saunders has the reach advantage, but Swick is very adept in the stand up game.  If they go to the ground, it's Saunders fight for the taking.  Saunders won't have an answer on his feet for Swick and Swick won't give Saunders the chance to submit him.  I'll go Swick via decision.

Marcus "The Irish Hand Grenade" Davis Vs. Dan "The Outlaw" Hardy (Welterweight):

This fight has Knockout of the Night written all over it.  These two love to stand and bang.  Someone's getting KO'd, trust me.  Hardy's quick, but Davis hits _hard_.  I'll say Davis by knockout, but it's really a coin toss.   Don't blink or you might miss it! 

Spencer "The King" Fisher Vs. Caol Uno (Lightweight):

This matchup has Fight of the Night potential written all over it.  Fisher is a great fighter who goes 100% every fight, and is always a game opponent but I don't think he's quite as skilled as Uno.  Uno is a relative unknown to newer UFC/MMA fans, but he has fought in the UFC before - he had a stretch of UFC fights in the early 2000's where he fought the likes of Jens Pulver, BJ Penn and Hermes Franca (lost to all, but in a rematch against Penn he earned a draw).  Since then he's fought in K-1 and DREAM and is a very well rounded fighter.  I think Uno's the more diverse fighter and that he'll win via submission.

Mirko Cro Cop Vs. Mostapha Al Turk (Heavyweight):

Al-Turk is a good striker but doesn't do well on the ground and he didn't look impressive at all against in his previous fight (a first round loss by TKO to Chieck Kongo).  Cro Cop is a question mark for me, as I'm not sure which Cro Cop will show up.  My guess is that Cro Cop will win by TKO... Al Turk's last outing was not impressive at all, and I want to believe that Cro Cop will return to form and start kicking heads in.  However, if Cro Cop comes in out of shape or lackadaisical, Al Turk could knock him out.  I think Cro Cop returns to form and wins via TKO, though.

The down and dirty wrap up:

Franklin via decision

Velasquez via KO

Swick via decision

Davis via KO

Uno via submission

Cro Cop via TKO

If you have opinions or predictions of your own, I'd love to hear them.  Post a comment!