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[Boogie]

Well, it’s time again for another UFC, and so I am once again giving y’all the lowdown on how I think this is going to play out.

First of all, the UFC needs to fire whoever came up with the lame name for this event.

This card seems to have been cursed. It wasn’t really a superstar-studded event to begin with, but with three fighters pulling out due to injuries mere weeks before the fight, the UFC was sent scrambling to salvage the event.

Now, I’m not saying that the event won’t be exciting. On the contrary, the matchups look good, so the fights should be solid. But there just aren’t any big hype fights. The closest one for me is the welterweight bout of Matt Hughes vs. Georges St. Pierre, but I just don’t think it’s enough. The UFC really needs to get some champions in their vacant weight classes, it’s that simple.

Ah well, on to the fights:

Marvin Eastman (6-3) vs. Travis Lutter (4-1)

Marvin Eastman is most well known for getting his forehead split apart by Vitor Belfort’s knee. Not exactly a promising sign, but Eastman has some decent wins over Vernon White, and a raw Quinton Jackson. His opponent, Travis Lutter, is the token “Who the hell is he?” fighter who I’ve never heard of for this card. He’s a Brazilian Jiu-jitsu black belt who’s got wins over nobodies and a loss to Jorge Rivera. He also weighed in at 200 pounds, indicating that he probably didn’t cut weight for the fight and that Eastman will have a size advantage over him. Also, Lutter was called in because of the reshuffling of fights because of injury, so he’s only had about a week to prepare. I say Eastman by KO, round 2.

Tony Frykland (11-3) vs. Ivan Salaverry (9-3)

Frykland was also called in basically on a moment’s notice, and also weighed in light yesterday. Nonetheless, he’s a solid fighter with various submission and TKO wins on his resume. I don’t know too much about Salaverry, outside of his loss to Matt Lindland a couple years ago. I’m thinking Salaverry takes it because he’s been preparing to fight. Salaverry by TKO, round 3.

Rich Franklin (14-1) vs. Jorge Rivera (8-2)

Rich Franklin (aka Jim Carey’s evil twin) was becoming a force in the light-heavyweight
division before taking a fight in Japan and getting knocked out by Ryoto Machida. He’s had a couple of wins since then, and now he’s back in the UFC, but has moved down a weight class. Can he pull a Randy Couture and dominate after moving down? Personally, I think he can. He’s very well-rounded, having several KO and TKO wins, and many wins by submission. In fact, if you take a look at his record, you’ll notice that not one of his fights have gone to a decision. That’s right, he’s finished off everyone he’s ever stepped into the cage with, minus Machida, of course.

Jorge Rivera was last seen in the UFC walking right into a triangle/arm bar combination against Lee Murray. Rivera’s a dangerous striker, but I don’t think he has what it takes to take out Franklin. On the other hand, the Red Sox did just beat the Yankees, which might just give Rivera the morale boost he needs to win. Naw, Franklin by submission, round 2.

Renato “Charuto” Verissimo (4-1) vs. Frank Trigg (11-2)

Verissimo is a BJJ black belt who trains with BJ Penn and gave Matt Hughes all he could handle in a controversial (but boring) decision in his last outing in the UFC. I’m not quite sure if he matches up well against Frank Trigg, though.

Trigg is a strong, skilled wrestler with good striking power. Although Verissimo does have a good chance at subbing Trigg, I think that Trigg is going to be too strong for him. Trigg by TKO, round 3.

Evan Tanner (26-3) vs. Robbie Lawler (7-2)

Robbie Lawler is moving up in weight to fight Evan Tanner, who recently moved down in
weight. Anyone else think that’s a bad combination for Lawler? Tanner has tons more
experience than Lawler, but seems to have a weak chin, as he doesn’t react well when he gets hit, and Lawler’s strength is his punching power.

I must admit, I was not thrilled with Tanner’s last performance against Baroni. He won
the fight, but he seemed to have the express gameplan of fighting only to win a decision, and that annoys me. Nonetheless, I see Tanner getting the clinch and raining knees on Lawler, then taking him down and pounding him from mount. Tanner by TKO, round 1.

Co-Main Event: Welterweight Championship Bout:

Matt Hughes (32-4) vs. Georges St. Pierre (7-0)

Matt Hughes, once the most dominant champion in MMA, looks to gain back his title, though
not from the man who took it from him. The UFC has stripped BJ Penn for fighting in Japan, and now Hughes and St. Pierre will fight for the vacant title.

Hughes has the experience in this fight. He’s fought nearly 40 times. He has top-level wrestling skills that has put almost everyone he’s ever fought on their backs. However, he’s also coming off of his loss against BJ Penn, and a win against Verissimo in which he did not look very impressive, in my opinion.

Georges St. Pierre is a rising star out of Canada. Undefeated in 7 fights, he has choked out Pete Spratt, neutralized Karo Parisyan, and quickly dismantled wrestler Jay Hieron. He is very well-rounded. He has dangerous strikes, as seen in his win over Hieron, he wrestles with members of Canada’s Olympic wrestling team, and has rapidly improving Jiu-jitsu skills. There is no question in my mind that he is a future champion. The only question is, is he taking on Hughes too soon?

There is no doubt that St. Pierre is a big underdog going into this fight. Nonetheless, I am
picking him for the upset. Maybe I’m just rooting for him out of national pride, but I think St.Pierre is going to take it. The key, in my opinion, is his superior stand-up. I believe that he can come out aggressive with his striking, keep Hughes off balance, and his wrestling may be good enough to neutralize Hughes’ take down attempts. Maybe I’m crazy, but I’m calling St. Pierre by TKO, round 3 or 4.

Co-main event:

Tito Ortiz (10-4) vs. Patrick Cote (5-0)

Hey, what happened to Guy Mezger? Turns out he had “stroke-like symptoms” and had to pull out. So, instead of a fairly meaningless main event, we have a completely meaningless main event, meant only to give Tito a win and an ego boost.

Cote is a teammate of St. Pierre’s. He has heavy punches, but his wrestling and Jiu-jitsu skills are probably not up to the level needed to fight Tito. If he manages to knockout Tito, I’d be thrilled, but I’m not so much of a blind Canadian flag-waver to actually think it’s going to happen.

Tito by ground and pound TKO, round 1.

.......Ah well, at least there’s only a week and a half until Pride.

 

[Boogie]

*Paging Biff Hardbody and Minotauro*

 

[Asbel]

Aarghh! I was gonna see this at my friends but apparently only his regular cable work, without digital cable, he can't get ppv's he says. Guess I'll just check results online again. :/ Now if we can see Pride next week...

For this UFC, I mostly want to see Charuto win. Yes, Charuto!

 

[Boogie]

Okay, this is my last bump of the topic before the event starts. Go St. Pierre!

 

[gtmax]

I'm waiting for Pride's next event come Haloween. I like Pride better for some reason, though i'll pick up UFCs dvd once they come out on Best Buy.

 

[Biff Hardbody]

Hey, I missed this till now. The event is going on, but I didn't order it. Anyhow, my picks on a few matches. Keep in mind, I think they'll all be wrong except for the main event. But, I'll go with em. I'm in a weird mood tonight.

Marvin Eastman (6-3) vs. Travis Lutter (4-1)

I think Lutter was a student of one of the Machado's. Carlos I think. His guys have great Jiu Jitsu skill. This isn't Jiu Jitsu though. Anyhow, Eastman looks focused for this one. But fuck it, I like Carlos's guys so I'll say Lutter by sub round 1.

Renato “Charuto” Verissimo (4-1) vs. Frank Trigg (11-2)

I dig Charuto. I actually enjoyed his match with Hughes. I thought he won it, and he may have had he fought in Pride instead of the UFC. Trigg might have a little to much experience for him though. I'll go out and say Charuto's performance against Hughes was no fluke though. Charuto by triangle round 2.

Evan Tanner (26-3) vs. Robbie Lawler (7-2)

Not sure about this. While Tanner has good knees, he isn't that great of a striker. Tanner turned away from Baroni's hits in his last fight, and Baroni hjad neither the technique or the gas to follow up. I haven't seen enough of Lawler to say if his punching technique is better then Baroni's (standing). He seemed wild, and I thought his "power up posing" for hits in the ring was a stupid move that'll get him KOed against someone with decent striking. Tanner really doesn't really have dynamic striking, and he does make a terrible mistake by turning away. Still, he used his reach well and semi technical boxing to beat Baroni last time. That plus his experience and natural size makes me think he takes the decision over the younger, wilder Lawler.

Matt Hughes (32-4) vs. Georges St. Pierre (7-0)

Interesting fight. I think that its to early for Pierre to be fighting Hughes. I like that Pierre handled Karo (who is no slouch), but Hughes is just a powerhouse with so much experience. Hughes by UD.

Tito Ortiz (10-4) vs. Patrick Cote (5-0)

What a lame main event. Its even worse then Shamrock/Kimo. I don't like Ortiz at all, and I've never seen Cote fight. Tito commented something like "Guys fear made his body shut down", so it would be great if Cote KOs him and send him into 'Bolivian (Poor Tyson joke). I don't think that will happen though. I heard Cote said he had a hard time training with St. Pierre....

Tito by G&P rd 1.