UFC fight night picks

[dkr77]

Alright gentlemen thought I would try and liven up the board a little so here are my picks for tomorrow nights fights

1-Salmon over Evans-An emotional pick since I dislike Evans

2-Fisher over Franca-very competitive fight could go either way but Fisher I think takes it

3-Marquart over Lister-Lister will have trouble getting Nate down and then keeping him down. Marquart I believe is also the better striker.

4-Burkman over Reiner-Don't know anything about Reiner but Burkman has looked pretty impressive in the past.

5-Price over Herman-Don't like Herman and don't know anything about Price.

6-Guida over Thomas- Guida is a tough relentless wrestler that I think will wear Thomas down for a decision.

7-Clementi over Pointon-Clementi is more well rounded than Pointon but Pointon has a punchers chance.

8-Herring over Obrien-I hear Obrien is undefeated but I doubt he's faced the competition that Herring has.

Those are my picks. Anyone else care to make a prediction?Edited by: dkr77

 

[White Shogun]

These are some tough fights to pick, because the guys I want to win aren't necessarily those that I think will win.

But here they are, my picks to win tomorrow night. Fights marked with an asterisk are caste significant.

Pointon v Clementi:
A fight between two TUF strikers. My pick: "No Love" Clementi.

Guida v Din Thomas*:
Thomas was one of the black contestants at the TUF house during season four: the retreads. Clay Guida lost a decision in '06 to Gilber Melendez, who is head and shoulders above Thomas. My pick: Guida.

Herman v Price:
Price is the guy who got beat up by Kendall Grove last October. Herman lost to Jason MacDonald in his last fight. MacDonald is good, but the Price isn't right. My pick: Herman.

Reiner v Burkman:
I recognize more of the names on Burkman's resume, so..My pick: Burkman.

Lister v Marquardt:
Marquardt has the edge in experience, but Lister has faced some tough competition in fewer fights. My pick: Lister.

Franca* v Fisher:
Both these guys are good, but I'm taking what some consider the underdog: My pick: Fisher.

Herring v O'Brien:
Herring has fought the likes of Cro Cop, Fedor, Nog, Vovchanchyn...and I have never heard of O'Brien. Not that that means anything, he could be a great fighter for all I know. And Herring's great fights were all several years ago. Let's just hope O'Brien doesn't try to kiss Herring during the staredown. My pick: Herring.

Rashad* v Salmon:
This has all the markings of a caste setup. The Babied Black Fighter (BBF) versus a handpicked opponent in a fight designed to hype the BBF as The Best Ever. Fortunately, the setup often fails (see any of Cheick Kongo's fights in the UFC), but not this time. My pick: Rashad.

 

[White Shogun]

****SPOILER ALERT****</font>

I have the results for the Ultimate Fight Night on Spike TV. Green is a fight I picked correctly, red a fight in which I picked the fight incorrectly.

There is a lot of red.

Clementi</font> over Pointon, RNC 2nd.
Thomas</font> over Guida, UD.
Herman</font> over Price, sub by armbar 1st.
Burkman</font> over Reiner, UD.
Marquardt</font> over Lister, UD.
Franca</font> over Fisher, TKO 2nd.
O'Brien</font> over Herring, UD.
Evans</font> over Salmon, KO 2nd.

The Clementi win over Pointon is not really surprising.

Din Thomas probably won the fight by being more 'explosive' but the fight was not aired during the show, so I have no idea how the fight really went.

Franca beat Fisher in what I think was a very lackluster fight. Both guys appeared slow, telegraphed their punches, and neither really pressed the action. After the fight, Franca went to his knees and begged Dana for a shot at the title. Sean Sherk is the champion in that weight class... somebody has to fight him but my early prediction is Sherk by brutal beat down.

Anyone surprised that Marquardt / Lister went to a decision?

O'Brien over Herring is a big surprise, but Herring looked overweight and unable to do anything at all to prevent O'Brien's takedowns. Herring almost KO'd O'Brien in round one with a lazy jab, but he jumped on O'Brien who immediately rolled Herring and gained control. The rest of the fight was just a redux Herring rushing in throwing haymakers and O'Brien taking him down. They picked the wrong guy to play the role of can for Herring, and we were hoping the same thing would happen in the main event.

But it wasn't to be. Rashad brutally KO'd Salmon in Rd. 2 with a high kick to the head that caught Salmon along the jaw and temple. Salmon hit the canvas hard, his head rebounding off the mat for the 'rigor mortis' KO. Salmon was clearly out and in true TNB style, Rashad hit Salmon twice more in the face before the ref could step in.

As brutal as the KO was, Salmon won round one. He took Rashad down several times, controlled the action on the ground, and landed the better strikes. May not seem like much, but you'd have to have seen the fight. Salmon was short, fat, and lumpy, with stubby arms and slow-as-molasses strikes. He managed to duck and dodge several of Rashad's punches, grabbed what few kicks to the body that Rashad threw, and took him down. It looked like Salmon might actually pull off the upset.

But he was way too out of shape. He was huffing and puffing mid-way through round one, and by the start of round two his hands were halfway down to his waist. Hence the high kick to the head and the KO.

And Rashad Evans is the guy they're grooming to fight Chuck Liddell?? Give me a break.

The problem is Rashad's stock just went way up for the casual fan because of the highlight reel kick to the head. He is going to be even more hyped now than ever.

 

[dkr77]

WS, I've been busy wiping egg off my face over here

5 of the 8 picks wrong! I too was shocked at Herring's performance tonight. This sure didn't look like the Herring who beat Mark Kerr. He had no guard game, no sprawl and no striking offense besides throwing a lazy jab out while he squatted down!!??
I wasn't impressed with Evan's either. His opponent, Salmon looked like he needed to be in the 185 lb weight division, had no striking offense and still easily won the first round. I also noticed Evans looked VERY uncomfortable on his back. A more capable ground fighter could have ended that fight in the very first round tonight. Well, maybe I'll make better picks next UFC.

 

[White Shogun]

dk, it's getting harder and harder to pick these fights. Too much can happen between a fighter's last fight and his current bout. Too many young guys fighting out there who, unless you're a true MMA junkie and keep up with all the KOTC, ROTR, WEC and other orgs, you won't really know much about them. And even then.. O'Brien's 9-0 looks much better than Salmon's 8-0, that's for sure.

I agree with you about Evans. There are people out there picking Evans over Tito. Ortiz would own Evans. Rashad would spend the whole night on his back. Chuck would KO Rashad; Babalu would submit him and Randy would gnp him. The love they're showing Rashad is getting pretty ridiculous. His opponent in a main event had never even been on an undercard in the UFC. That's pretty damn sad, if you ask me.

 

[White Shogun]

Sean Salmon update

by Dave Meltzer

Dave@wrestlingobserver.com

"UFC officials reported after tonight's Ultimate Fight Night show in Hollywood, FL, that Sean Salmon was okay.

Salmon suffered a devastating knockout from a kick to the head by Rashad Evans in the main event of the show.

It was a scary looking situation, as Salmon didn't move for approximately seven minutes in the ring, nor as he was carried out on a stretcher. They went off the air without acknowledging the extent of the knockout. Evans, in his post-match interview, only indicated being uncomfortable that Salmon was down and not moving. They never shot near where Salmon was, so the television viewers would not have known the seriousness of the situation.

He was rushed to a local hospital where it was reported that he was conscious and talking, and seemed to be fine."

 

[dkr77]

Some of the other boards are saying Guida was robbed. Apparently it was a very close fight.

 

[DixieDestroyer]

Ya'll made some good points above. Salmon was didn't have the cardio or standup game to match well with Rashad. It goes to say when you start gassing, the hands drop & form suffers. Salmon does indeed need to cut down to 185 to better his chances of success in MMA. With that being said, Rashad's ass would get throttled by the Iceman. YOshad isn't in Chuck's league.

 

[Triad]

I had the same opinion as many of you did about Fight Night. Salmon looked incredibly out of shape (gasping after about 2 minutes of shadow boxing) but still easily won the first round. The fact he was even in the main event was indeed a joke, he looked like someone they grabbed out of the audience. I believe an MMA fan who actually watched the fight has less of an opinion of Evans; however, most people will only see the highlight kick and think he is awesome. I want to see Evans in there soon with Liddell or Ortiz.

 

[White Shogun]

wtf was Salmon thinking when he threw that comical karate kid jump kick at Evans, who was like 10' away. We all went "Whaaaaat the f*** is he doing???" He looked completely retarded and amateurish and barely maintained his balance.

The fact he was even in the main event was indeed a joke, he looked like someone they grabbed out of the audience.

LOL! Good one! I thought he looked like a couch potato. Looks can certainly be deceiving; I think if Salmon has any cardio at all he wins the fight by decision.

 

[White_Savage]

Well, the best fight of the evening was Ed Herman's win. How many times have we seen the situation where a guy gets back mount, the other fellow can defend the choke, and the fighter with the mount has nothing? But Herman pulled some Jujitsu 101 out and got a beautiful armbar. Maybe since loosing to McDonald he's learned you got to bring your brains to the fight.

Matching Salmon up with Evans is just silly, no one has heard of this man, and he'd probably be a middle or even a welter if he trimmed that fat. Yet he was not afraid, and actually managed to win round one.

Franca vrs. Fisher was sad, but what can I say? Sometimes even though what you're throwing is sh*t, it lands.