Hey all, time for neo-GAFs first MMA thread, and we have quite a treat, with UFC 48 and Pride: Critical Countdown on the same weekend. As usual, Im here to give you all the preview of both events, with my own predictions. Im coming off picking 8 for 8 at the last UFC and 7 for 8 for the last Pride, so lets see if Ive still got the magic touch 
Too bad I wont be able to see most of tonights UFC because Im working nights this weekend. Stupid campground.........
Also, since Pride is on 24-hour delay for broadcast in North America, it might be a good idea to spoiler tag the Pride results until the event has aired in North America.
Anyway, Ill start with UFC 48:
Overall, I think UFC is the weaker event of this weekend, mainly because of the unnecessary main event of Kimo vs. Shamrock, but its still a solid card that should provide lots of excitement and entertainment. Lets look at the match-ups.
Pre-lim bout: Curtis Stout (7-3-1) vs. Trevor Prangley (6-1)
As is tradition, the UFC always has to have at least one prelim bout consisting of fighters Ive never heard of, as is the case here. Stout has been in the UFC once before, with a decision loss to Phil Baroni. Its a shot in the dark here, but Im going to flip a coin and pick Prangley.
Georges St. Pierre (5-0) vs. Jay Hieron (3-0)
St. Pierre is a rising star from Canada, with wins over UFC veteran Pete Spratt, and a win in his first UFC appearance over the submission wizard Karo Parisyan. I dont know much about Jay Hieron, other than that I think he trains under Renzo Gracie, so hes probably great on the ground. Im going to have to go with St. Pierre by TKO in round 3 because of his greater experience against better competition.
Matt Serra (4-3) vs. Ivan Menjivar (13-2)
Serras record may not look impressive, but all but one of his fights has been in the UFC, and most against top competition. Serras got great jiu-jitsu skills, but his takedowns and striking can really only be described as adequate. Although this is Menjivars first UFC appearance, he has lots of experience in Canadas UCC/TKO organization. One other factor may be that Menjivar usually fights in the 145 pound weight division, while the fight is taking place at 155, so Serra might have a size advantage due to cutting more weight. Nonetheless, Im going to say that Menjivar takes the fight in a win by decision.
Matt Hughes (31-4) vs. Renato Charuto Verrisimo (4-0)
Matt Hughes, one of MMAs most dominant champions ever, is coming off the loss of his title to B.J. Penn in a huge upset. (Penn has since been stripped of the title for fighting in K-1. Long story) Despite the loss, Hughes is still one of the sports best, with a stellar record. His strength is his wrestling, but his stand-up striking is solid. If he has a weakness, it is to submission, as he has been submitted twice by Dennis Hallman, and once by B.J. Penn, something Verrisimo may be able to exploit. Verrisimo is a Brazilian-Jiu jitsu expert, and is actually Penns BJJ trainer, which is definitely an advantage to have trained the person who beat Hughes. Verrisimo is coming off of wins against Gil Castillo and Carlos Newton, and may have the tools to beat Hughes. Despite this, I think that Hughes is going to rebound strongly from his loss to win by TKO in the third
round.
Dennis Hallman (26-8-2) vs. Frank Trigg (10-2)
This fight is actually a re-match. In their first bout, Trigg kicked Hallman in the crotch, and
Hallman was unable to continue. Instead of disqualifying Trigg, Trigg was given the win for the match. Both of these guys are solid fighters, but Hallman has two wins over Matt Hughes, while Trigg lost to Hughes. Now, that may mean nothing, but Im still going to go with Hallman by submission.
Phil Baroni (5-3) vs. Evan Tanner (25-3)
In yet another rematch, Phil Baroni and Evan Tanner are set to resolve their differences from their first highly controversial fight, where Tanner got a questionable stop to check a cut when he was rocked, and then the ref stopped the fight prematurely when Baroni was getting pounded by Tanners elbows with mere seconds left in the first round. Now, Phil Baroni punches hard, and.....actually, thats it. He punches hard. After his initial flurry, he usually gasses. Now Tanner is a good all-around fighter, except that he really doesnt react well to getting hit. So this match will boil down to whether Baroni can knock Tanner out early, or whether Tanner can weather Baronis early storm, get the clinch and start kneeing, or get the takedown and pound Baroni from mount. I dont like Baroni, but admit that he has a good chance if Tanner cant get the takedown. I still think Tanner will take it though, by TKO in the second round.
Heavyweight Title Bout: Tim Sylvia vs. Frank Mir (7-1)
With all of Tim Sylvias steroid problems, perhaps we shouldnt assume this match will happen until Sylvia and Mir actually step into the cage, but assuming it does, this should be an exciting match. Tim Sylvia is a huge fighter, with solid boxing skills, knockout power, and excellent takedown defence, a combination which made him a UFC champion, and could give him a long reign. I like Frank Mir. Hes a skilled jiu-jitsu fighter whos always going for a submission. That being said, Im not sure if he has what it takes to beat Sylvia. His wins havent come against top competition, and he had some trouble putting away the skill-less Wes Sims. If Mir can get the takedown, he has a good chance, but quite frankly, I expect Sylvia to frustrate all of Mirs attempts, and knock him out, probably in the first round.
Main Event: Kimo Leopoldo (8-3-1) vs. Ken Shamrock (25-8-2)
And now for the re-match and main event that absolutely no one was clamouring for. Neither fighter is anywhere near a top contender anymore, and there isnt really any bad blood between the two, but thats not stopping Ken Shamrock from acting like hes on a mission to right some wrong against him and jump into the title picture. Ken won their first fight ages ago, but since then Kimo has improved a lot. Im going to go out on a limb and call Kimo by TKO in the second round.
Too bad I wont be able to see most of tonights UFC because Im working nights this weekend. Stupid campground.........
Also, since Pride is on 24-hour delay for broadcast in North America, it might be a good idea to spoiler tag the Pride results until the event has aired in North America.
Anyway, Ill start with UFC 48:
Overall, I think UFC is the weaker event of this weekend, mainly because of the unnecessary main event of Kimo vs. Shamrock, but its still a solid card that should provide lots of excitement and entertainment. Lets look at the match-ups.
Pre-lim bout: Curtis Stout (7-3-1) vs. Trevor Prangley (6-1)
As is tradition, the UFC always has to have at least one prelim bout consisting of fighters Ive never heard of, as is the case here. Stout has been in the UFC once before, with a decision loss to Phil Baroni. Its a shot in the dark here, but Im going to flip a coin and pick Prangley.
Georges St. Pierre (5-0) vs. Jay Hieron (3-0)
St. Pierre is a rising star from Canada, with wins over UFC veteran Pete Spratt, and a win in his first UFC appearance over the submission wizard Karo Parisyan. I dont know much about Jay Hieron, other than that I think he trains under Renzo Gracie, so hes probably great on the ground. Im going to have to go with St. Pierre by TKO in round 3 because of his greater experience against better competition.
Matt Serra (4-3) vs. Ivan Menjivar (13-2)
Serras record may not look impressive, but all but one of his fights has been in the UFC, and most against top competition. Serras got great jiu-jitsu skills, but his takedowns and striking can really only be described as adequate. Although this is Menjivars first UFC appearance, he has lots of experience in Canadas UCC/TKO organization. One other factor may be that Menjivar usually fights in the 145 pound weight division, while the fight is taking place at 155, so Serra might have a size advantage due to cutting more weight. Nonetheless, Im going to say that Menjivar takes the fight in a win by decision.
Matt Hughes (31-4) vs. Renato Charuto Verrisimo (4-0)
Matt Hughes, one of MMAs most dominant champions ever, is coming off the loss of his title to B.J. Penn in a huge upset. (Penn has since been stripped of the title for fighting in K-1. Long story) Despite the loss, Hughes is still one of the sports best, with a stellar record. His strength is his wrestling, but his stand-up striking is solid. If he has a weakness, it is to submission, as he has been submitted twice by Dennis Hallman, and once by B.J. Penn, something Verrisimo may be able to exploit. Verrisimo is a Brazilian-Jiu jitsu expert, and is actually Penns BJJ trainer, which is definitely an advantage to have trained the person who beat Hughes. Verrisimo is coming off of wins against Gil Castillo and Carlos Newton, and may have the tools to beat Hughes. Despite this, I think that Hughes is going to rebound strongly from his loss to win by TKO in the third
round.
Dennis Hallman (26-8-2) vs. Frank Trigg (10-2)
This fight is actually a re-match. In their first bout, Trigg kicked Hallman in the crotch, and
Hallman was unable to continue. Instead of disqualifying Trigg, Trigg was given the win for the match. Both of these guys are solid fighters, but Hallman has two wins over Matt Hughes, while Trigg lost to Hughes. Now, that may mean nothing, but Im still going to go with Hallman by submission.
Phil Baroni (5-3) vs. Evan Tanner (25-3)
In yet another rematch, Phil Baroni and Evan Tanner are set to resolve their differences from their first highly controversial fight, where Tanner got a questionable stop to check a cut when he was rocked, and then the ref stopped the fight prematurely when Baroni was getting pounded by Tanners elbows with mere seconds left in the first round. Now, Phil Baroni punches hard, and.....actually, thats it. He punches hard. After his initial flurry, he usually gasses. Now Tanner is a good all-around fighter, except that he really doesnt react well to getting hit. So this match will boil down to whether Baroni can knock Tanner out early, or whether Tanner can weather Baronis early storm, get the clinch and start kneeing, or get the takedown and pound Baroni from mount. I dont like Baroni, but admit that he has a good chance if Tanner cant get the takedown. I still think Tanner will take it though, by TKO in the second round.
Heavyweight Title Bout: Tim Sylvia vs. Frank Mir (7-1)
With all of Tim Sylvias steroid problems, perhaps we shouldnt assume this match will happen until Sylvia and Mir actually step into the cage, but assuming it does, this should be an exciting match. Tim Sylvia is a huge fighter, with solid boxing skills, knockout power, and excellent takedown defence, a combination which made him a UFC champion, and could give him a long reign. I like Frank Mir. Hes a skilled jiu-jitsu fighter whos always going for a submission. That being said, Im not sure if he has what it takes to beat Sylvia. His wins havent come against top competition, and he had some trouble putting away the skill-less Wes Sims. If Mir can get the takedown, he has a good chance, but quite frankly, I expect Sylvia to frustrate all of Mirs attempts, and knock him out, probably in the first round.
Main Event: Kimo Leopoldo (8-3-1) vs. Ken Shamrock (25-8-2)
And now for the re-match and main event that absolutely no one was clamouring for. Neither fighter is anywhere near a top contender anymore, and there isnt really any bad blood between the two, but thats not stopping Ken Shamrock from acting like hes on a mission to right some wrong against him and jump into the title picture. Ken won their first fight ages ago, but since then Kimo has improved a lot. Im going to go out on a limb and call Kimo by TKO in the second round.
