UFC on Fox: Shogun vs. Vera

[DixieDestroyer]

Here's the card for UFC on Fox (4) on Saturday for Los Angeles...

• Light Heavyweight bout: Maurício Rua vs. Brandon Vera
• Light Heavyweight bout: Lyoto Machida vs. Ryan Bader
• Flyweight bout: Ulysses Gomez vs. John Moraga
• Light Heavyweight bout: Phil Davis vs. Wagner Prado
• Heavyweight bout: Phil De Fries vs. Oli Thompson
• Lightweight bout: Joe Lauzon vs. Jamie Varner
• Featherweight bout: Manvel Gamburyan vs. Michihiro Omigawa
• Welterweight bout: Mike Swick vs. DaMarques Johnson
• Featherweight bout: Josh Grispi vs. Rani Yahya
• Featherweight bout: Cole Miller vs. Nam Phan

http://www.ufc.com/event/FOX4#/fight


***The Destroyer from Dixieland will be for Rua, Darth Bader, Swick, Miller, and Prado.

 

[Anak]

They shelved Gustafsson instead of matching him up against either Shogun, Machida or Evans. Now he's not even getting the title shot and they still don't have a fight lined up for him. Ridiculous. He was wanting a summer fight too.

Also ridiculous that Silva can choose opponents, he flat out turned down the Weidman fight. Now how does he get the option to do that while still retaining the title? If he wants to pick and choose and duck fighters then he should be forced to vacate his belt.

I'll be rooting for Machida over Bader, first time I'll be rooting for a non-White fighter over a White fighter but Bader just isn't that good. In his Rampage fight he didn't even look good, just lay and prayed him. Machida has a much better chance at defeating Jones which is the most important factor.

 

[Hawkeye2]

I disagee, Bader dominated Rampage, from start to finish. Bader has koed fighters in the past and he is to dependant on his wrestling at times mainly because he doesn't have a good striking coach, but the rule is exploiting the other guys weaknesses. He might have a problem with Machida, who is very elusive.

 

[Liverlips]

I disagree too. Bader is very good and has beaten Rampage and Nog. I think he grinds out a decision over a much smaller Machida (who only weighed in at 201).

Thank God Grispi didn't fight Aldo. He has faded badly and needs to take a trip to Bellator to tighten his game.

 

[Hawkeye2]

Grispi fights at MCgym, if he ever wants to advance his career he needs to go to one of the bigger gyms, His takedown defense has been awful in the last three fights.

 

[Hawkeye2]

They gave Phil Davis a guy who has never fought anyone with a winning record, instead of him fighting Te Huna or maybe even a rematch with Gus. Joe Silva is so bias.

 

[Liverlips]

Davis hasn't won a fight now since March 2011 (when he squeaked by Lil Nog). Prado landed a nice shot before the eye poke.

 

[Liverlips]

I see Gustafson getting a fight with Lil Nog or Forrest. He will dominate either guy. In the long run - it might work out better as the Swede needs a tad more seasoning before challenging Jones.

Would like to see if Rua or Bader can do a bit better against Jones this time.

 

[Liverlips]

I imagine Prado v. Davis will happen again. It is strange they give a top 10 guy like Davis a newbie.

 

[Liverlips]

I think Phan will beat Cole Miller. Not a fan of that guy and he looks physically very weak at 145.

 

[Liverlips]

Miller getting tooled as I thought he would. He needs to go back to 155 - and then join Grispi in Bellator.

 

[Hawkeye2]

That just goes to show how good Jim Hettes is. When he fought Phan he destroyed him I had the fight 30-25 Hettes.

 

[Hawkeye2]

Swick should win, but he has had a ton of health and digestive problems, as well as injuries.

 

[Liverlips]

Nice KO for Swick!

 

[Liverlips]

I'd like to see Varner win. He is a more complete fighter than Lauzon.

 

[Anak]

I'd like to see Varner win. He is a more complete fighter than Lauzon.

I much prefer Lauzon. He's a really intelligent guy and I like that he has a 100% finish rate in his wins. Varner took the fight on short notice so it wouldn't drop his stock as much.

 

[Liverlips]

Very good fight - just when Jamie seemed he was turning it on.

Lauzon needs more consistency. Enough of this win 2, lose 1 BS.

 

[Liverlips]

War Bader! War Rua!

 

[Liverlips]

Didn't like the first round. Both guys not doing much. Machida scored with a few kicks though.

 

[Liverlips]

Oh well. I thought Bader had a chance but his standup is still not there and he didn't use his wrestling in the clinch.

205 is still our weakest division. I hope Gustafson can change that.

 

[Anak]

I don't think Gustafsson needs any seasoning, he would tool Jones in the standup. The only question is his TDD which seems to be very good. He should have been facing Shogun or Machida tonight, the UFC is ridiculous in their handling of him.

 

[Liverlips]

I agree that Gus should be in there over Bader and Vera. But he doesn't have any top 10 wins yet (Hamil, Thiago Silva and Te Huna) are more top 15 IMO.

Looks like Rua or Machida get the next shot anyway so he might as well take apart Lil Nog or Forrest. Personally, I'd like to see Gus fight Griffin as that guy is a loss waiting to happen. I'd rather see a fellow white KO Forrest rather than Evans or Davis.

 

[Hawkeye2]

The problem with facing Machida is the same problem people have with Anderson, there aren't that many people that emulate that style, as a result there aren't many training partners to spar with to prepare for the fight. Randy Couture said that was his biggest problem, he had to bring in Mauy Thai, K-1 black belts, and even those guys didn't posses the TDD that Machida and Silva posses.

 

[Liverlips]

I do hope Machida can beat Jones if they fight again (unless Dan pulls the surprise).

 

[Hawkeye2]

I think styles make matches, Gus probably would do better against Machida or Shogun because of his range and striking, but i think, bases on his performce against Phil Davis, he might struggle against Jones or Rashad.