UFC 73: Stacked - PREVIEW

Finally the UFC has a decent name tagged onto one of their PPV's. Not only a decent name, but one that finally means something. No pun intended, but this really could be one of the most stacked cards in recent ages. Anderson Silva defends his Middleweight Championship, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira finally comes to the states to fight in the octagon, the big ticket seller, Tito Ortiz is in action, and not to mention, Sean Sherk will be defending his Lightweight Championship.

I'm going to give you guys a rundown on the televised card, give you a few notes on the undercard, and throw out my predictions. I'm going to start keeping track of how well I do on my picks, maybe I'll build up a good record and Matthew Mcconaughey & Al Pacino can make a movie about me.

Anderson Silva(c) vs Nathan Marquardt - Middleweight Title:
This is going to be a very interesting fight. Two very different fighters who will walk into Sacramento with completely opposite game plans. Silva will look to stand and utilize his Muay Thai, and excellent striking. Marquardt will look to take Silva to the ground where he can attempt to muscle out a decision with ground & pound, as well as a nice submission arsenal.

Most people probably know UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson "The Spider" Silva by now. Mainly for his continuously replayed knockouts of Chris Leben & Rich "Ace" Franklin. I don't think I've ever seen someone's knockout highlights played more on Spike TV.

More experienced fans of MMA, will remember him from his early days & his victories over the likes of Hayato "Mach" Sakurai, Carlos Newton, & Jeremy Horn. What a lot of people don't know, is that he has had some pretty memorable losses as well. Ones that come to mind are the flying heel hook loss to Ryo Chonan, and the triangle he got caught in from Daiju Takase.

Nathan Marquardt is a seven time King of Pancrase Middleweight Champion. Marquardt hasn't lost since he got choked by Ricardo Almeida & then subsequently kicked in the face by Renzo Gracie for hitting Almeida after the fight was stopped. Since then, Nate "The Great" has been on an absolute tear starting with wins over Kazuo Misaki, the highly touted Ivan Salaverry, Joe Doerkson, & former ADCC Champion, Dean Lister.

I look for this fight to go one of two ways. Either Marquardt will be able to take Silva to the ground and control him forcing a TKO... Or Silva is going to simply dance circles around him and systematically knock him out.

I was a strong believer in Travis Lutter's chances against Anderson Silva at UFC 67. To be honest, I wasn't all that wrong. Lutter was able to take Silva to the ground and control him. After round one he looked like he was on his way to getting a decision over Silva, but he got chocked out instead. A lot of people like to always point out that Silva has a BJJ Black Belt from the Nogueira brothers, but I've still never thought his BJJ was that great. My view on that still hasn't changed, and I think if the fight goes to the ground Marquardt will punish him. There is much difference between Nate "The Great" and Travis Lutter. First of all, Lutter struggled with weight before the fight and didn't even clear it forcing a non-title fight against Silva. Marquardt will come with his game face on, and will have something to fight for. He has also faced the much better competition in his career than Lutter.

PREDICTION:
I'm not taking anything away from Anderson Silva & I personally view him as the best striker in the entire Middleweight division. I've just never been a true believer in his ability to stop a guy like Marquardt. Nate is an absolute bulldog, and I look for him to take Silva to the ground and control him until he tires Silva out. From there I see Marquardt pulling out a submission for the victory. I'm going to catch a lot of flack for this, but I have to go with my gut.

Marquardt takes the UFC Middleweight Championship from "The Spider" via submission in round 3. Remember, you heard it here first!




Tito Ortiz vs Rashad Evans
What a fight, I absolutely can not wait for this one. Out of all the great fights on the card, this one is easily the one I'm most excited about. There isn't as much on the line in this fight as some of the others but it's easily the most intriguing fight in my opinion. A good clash of personalities & some big questions that need to be answered. Is Tito Ortiz going to prove he's still a contender? Or will he become just another novelty fighter? Will Rashad Evans step up in his biggest fight ever to the upper echelon of the Light Heavyweight division? Or will he prove to be just another "TUFer"?

Ortiz is one of the most marketable fighters out there right now. He's known as one of the guys who worked helped bring MMA to the mainstream by working his ass off. He's also known to bite off a little more than he can chew. He's one of the cockiest guys in the business, and his girlfriend is one of the cockiest women in business.. Yes, pun was intended there.

"The Huntington Beach Bad Boy" is coming off of a disappointing rematch loss to Chuck "Iceman" Liddell. Prior to that, Tito had only one two other losses in his previous 13 fights. One loss to Randy "The Natural" Couture, and his first loss to "The Iceman". His most recent wins include a pair against an aging Ken Shamrock, and a controversial decision win over Forrest Griffin.

Tito simply hasn't impressed me as of late. There isn't much pride in beating up an over the hill Shamrock. He also didn't help his case by almost dropping a decision to Griffin. His last fight was against "The Iceman", and he didn't look like he learned much from the last time Chuck knocked him out.

If Tito has been less than impressive in his last outings, "Sugar" Rashad has been the complete opposite. Fighting out of Greg Jackson's fight camp, Rashad sports an impressive 10-0 record. Five of those wins coming in the UFC, not including all the wins he piled up on the Ultimate Fighter. He has piled up impressive decisions over TUF alums Brad Imes, Sam Hoger, & Stephan Bonnar. More recently he's shown he can finish fights, by absolutely destroying Jason Lambert & Sean Salmon.

Rashad has shown that his collegiate wrestling career at Michigan State has really paid off. I've yet to see someone out wrestle Rashad in the octagon thus far, and he's really been able to manhandle every fighter he's come in contact with. Albeit, he hasn't had the toughest of competition yet, but he surely hasn't been fighting cans. Another thing he's shown recently is an incredible stand up game. I'm not sure what Greg Jackson puts in the water down there in Albuquerque, but his fighters gain skill at an incredible level. Jackson's team has fallen upon rough times lately, but their future as a top school is intact.

PREDICTION:
This is a very hard fight to call. These guys have certain skill sets that will prove to clash in a very strange way. Tito will look to take the fight to ground in order to unleash his famous ground and pound, and utilize his trademark cardio. The only problem I see here, is Tito trying to take down a decorated wrestler like Rashad. Although we haven't seen Rashad go up against anyone on the level of Tito, I still don't see Tito being able to get on top of him. Rashad's balance and years of wrestling may prove to be too much for Tito. If Tito isn't able to get Rashad to the ground, Rashad will completely outclass him in a stand up war.

Once again, a very hard fight to call, but I have to give it to Rashad Evans by an incredibly hard fought decision. This one will be fight of the night.




Sean Sherk(c) vs Hermes Franca - Lightweight Title:
Another very intriguing fight. Two very highly touted Lightweights going at it for five rounds. I don't think we'll see this fight go the distance, but I think it could be one of the better fights of the night. Sean "The Muscle Shark" Sherk attempts to make his first successful defense, while Hermes Franca looks to finally gain some well deserved spotlight.

Sherk became the UFC Lightweight Champion in an absolute war with Kenny Florian. Although Sherk was cut, and bloodied bad, he was still able to control Florian for five rounds. Sherk has been getting a lot of play from us Internet fiends, and people have been hyping him up a lot. Six months ago you wouldn't even hear his name mentioned with guys like Takanori Gomi & other upper echelon Lightweights, yet now, many people out there think he could beat any of them.

While I'm not one to usually feed into the hype, he's one guy that truly is for real. He just looks so damn strong and overpowering at Lightweight. Sherk has lost only twice in 36 fights, and those losses were to Welterweight studs George St. Pierre & Matt Hughes. He holds two victories over Karo Parisyan, a win over Nick Diaz, & a plethora of other wins from above average talent.

Hermes Franca is one of those guys who's always kind of just floated around. His first run in the UFC started out in 2004 with two straight wins, including one over then title contender, Caol Uno. He then proceeded to drop his next two fights in the UFC, and wasn't seen again until 2006 where he made his return and has stringed together three victories, including one in the WEC against Lightweight Ultimate Fighter winner Nathan Diaz.

After beating Miletich product Spencer Fisher by TKO, Franca got down on his knees and begged Dana White to give him a title shot. Well Hermes, all I can say for you is be careful what you wish for buddy. You very well may have bitten off more than you can chew with "The Muscle Shark".

PREDICTION:
I think this is going to be a four round war. I don't think it will go to the decision because I don't think Franca will be able to withstand the onslaught from Sherk. Although Sherk wasn't able to finish Florian, I think a lot of it had to do with the cut that could have been messing with his game plan. Hermes will look to test Sherk on his feet, but I think each round will be a short test. Sherk should easily be able to overpower Franca and hold him on the ground. Franca will succumb to the punishment, and Sherk will retain the title.

A very good fight, will be a nice mixture of BJJ, Strking, & Wrestling. Sean Sherk will defend his title, and get the win via TKO in round 4.




Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs Heath Herring
Finally "Big Nog" will make his UFC debut. For any of you guys out there who don't know who Antonio "Minotauro" Nogueira is, you soon will. He is the former PRIDE FC Heavyweight Champion, and the #2 ranked Heavyweight by MMAWeekly. Heath Herring is mostly well known by the causal fan for the big "Kiss" incident, where Yoshihiro Nakao leaned in and kissed Herring during a stare down. Herring didn't take to kindly to it, and proceeded to knock Nakao out before the fight even began.

"Minotauro" Nogueira is known to have one of the greatest Brazilian Jiu Jitsu games in all of Mixed Martial Arts. He's also commonly referred to as one of the only guys out there that people believe can beat Fedor Emelianenko. He's dropped two decisions to Fedor already, but people still feel he has the best chance out there.

"Minotauro" has been in the ring with the best the Heavyweight division has to offer, and has been able to beat nearly everyone. He has wins over Mirko Cro Cop, Josh Barnett, Fabricio Werdum, Sergei Kharitonov, Ricco Rodriguez, Dan Henderson, Bob Sapp, and the list goes on and on. Oh, and I forgot to mention, he's beat Heath Herring twice.

"The Texas Crazy Horse" Heath Herring has had somewhat of a disappointing career. He's had some serious ups, but has hit rough times as of late. You really just never know what Heath Herring your going to get. It could be the vicious and incredibly aggressive one that destroyed legends like Mark Kerr, Enson Inoue, Gary Goodridge, and decisioned Igor Vovchanchyn.

Or we could get the sluggish, and incredibly slow starting Herring that has seen him lose to Bobby Hoffman, & more recently in his UFC debut to Jake O'Brien. I haven't had the time to see his most recent decision win over Brad Imes yet, but I've heard good things. One thing I noticed in his first UFC fight with O'Brien was that he wasn't too used to the octagon. Herring really hurts by not being able to unleash his trademark knees from the North-South position while fighting under UFC rules.

PREDICTION:
While I'm a big fan of the "Texas Crazy Horse", I don't see him being able to stop Nogueira. He hasn't been able to do it the last two times they fought, and I don't see this as any different. The only thing different about this, is "Minotauro" is hungrier than ever, and is making his big debut. His stand-up is too good for Herring, and whether Herring is taking Nogueira to the ground, or Nogueira is simply pulling guard, "Minotauro"'s ground game is simply unmatched.

A decent, but one-sided fight. Antonio "Minotauro" Nogueira defeats Heath Herring for the third time, this time by submission in round two.




THE UNDERCARD:

Alvin Robinson vs Kenny Florian:
Yeah, yeah, I know this is going to be a televised fight, but to speak frankly, I don't know enough about Alvin Robinson to make a big run-down on it. I simply haven't seen much of him, although I was able to find a highlight of him. Based on the highlight, he looks like he has some very good take downs, and looks very aggressive. Apparently, he's also a Brown Belt in BJJ under good ol' Royce Gracie. Learning BJJ from Royce surely can't hurt your chances in MMA. Only problem is, "Ken-Flo" has a black belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu from Roberto Maia from Gracie Barra Boston.

Based on the highlight, it looks like Robinson has some good strikes, and like I said earlier, some pretty sick take downs. Before Kenny Florian choked out Dokonjonosuke Mishima, and before he gave Sean Sherk a war, people used to clown on "Ken-Flo" a lot. I think his image has changed a lot lately, and the guy actually gets some respect now a days.

At first I thought this would be an easy fight to call. It looked like Ken-Flo was fighting some random can, but after looking at Robinson's highlight, and finding out he's a Royce Gracie Brown Belt, it becomes a little bit harder to call.

Prediction:
Sadly, a highlight isn't going to be enough to convince me this guy can compete with Florian. Let's go with "Ken-Flo" by decision.




Frankie Edgar vs Mark Bocek:
Alright, I'm somewhat in the dark on this fight. Of course I saw the Frankie Edgar & Tyson Griffin fight at UFC 67. It was a very impressive showing by Edgar, as he came through and beat a very game Griffin. A lot of people don't know that Tyson Griffin is the only guy who has beat Urijah Faber as of right now. So, Edgar beating Griffin in his debut was very impressive.

I don't know much at all about Mark Bocek. I know he trains with Nova Uniao, a team full of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu studs such as Vitor "Shaolin" Ribiero, Thales Leites, & Gleison Tibau. The only thing I could find on Bocek was a small highlight of him in a BJJ contest. He's got a 4-0 record, but his opponents are pretty much a bunch of unknowns.

Prediction:
Don't know you to well Bocek.. But I do know Frankie Edgar pretty well by now. Edgar displayed some good striking skills against Griffin, and pure Jiu Jitsu guys like Bocek don't like to get hit in the face very much. Frankie Edgar by TKO in round two.




Chris Lytle vs Jason Gilliam:
First and foremost, let me say that I was very impressed with how well Chris Lytle was able to prevent Hughes from finishing him off for three rounds. Let me also state, that I was very unimpressed with Jason Gilliam's very quick loss to Jamie Varner at UFC 68.

From what I've seen of Gilliam, he's a decent striker, he likes to work some ground and pound, and he really just likes to bang. He doesn't have the experience nor the skill of Chris "Lights Out" Lytle. Gilliam is also taking the fight on short notice, as Lytle was scheduled to fight Drew Fickett.

Prediction:
Lytle will withstand an early surge from Gilliam and finish him off in the 1st round with a choke variation.




Jorge Gurgel vs Diego Saraiva:
Ok, let me start off by saying that Jorge Gurgel became one of my favorite fighters back before his Ultimate Fighter days in his King of the Cage fight with Jason Ireland. Anyone who knows me, knows that it was one of my favorite fights of all time. I encourage you to watch the fight in it's entirety. Now, the problem it seems with Gurgel is that ever since the Ultimate Fighter show and his surgery, it seems like he hasn't had the same aggression he had in his early fights. I think he's had some serious time to heal now, and I think you'll see a brand new Gurgel at UFC 73.

From what I know of Diego Saraiva, he has some good jiu jitsu, and some decent striking. Only problem is, Jorge Gurgel is a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Black Belt, and a world class teacher. Oh yeah, Gurgel also has some pretty good strikes himself. I didn't see Diego's fight with Dustin Hazelett, but I know he lost a decision.

Prediction:
Jorge Gurgel has something to prove. I think he can be a force at Lightweight if he comes with his head in the right place. Jorge Gurgel by submission in round three.




Stephan Bonnar vs Mike Nickels:
It makes a lot of sense that this is the opening fight of the night. I don't like to fighter bash, but this fight is a complete joke. Bonnar has never impressed me with his sloppy boxing, and awful sense of humor. Not to mention, the moron tested positive for steroids after his 2nd fight with Griffin. This guy is a joke, and doesn't deserve to be in the UFC anymore.

Nickels is another guy I really don't think should be on a UFC show, or even opening a UFC show. I think this guy is a joke, and I don't think he has much talent at all. I really could care less about this fight, or who wins.

Prediction:
Stephan Bonnar by steroid loaded sloppy looping punches in round two.




I hope you guys enjoyed my first MMA Fight Card Review. I hope some of this will help you out when you consider placing bets, or help you learn a little more about the fighters. Please, please, please, if you have any comments, be them negative or positive, LEAVE ME A COMMENT! I will respond to all comments, and I'd love to hear what you guys have to say about some of my picks. Thanks!