MMA Roundup: UFC 92 Preview and Predictions
It’s official, UFC 92 is my favorite UFC card ever. Here are my early top three picks for Ultimate 2008:
(Editor’s Note: UFC 92 takes place on December 27, 2008 live on Pay-Per-View from the MGM Grand.)
First we have my personal favorite fighter and monster truckowner in Quinton “Rampage the streets of LA” Jackson fighting Wanderlei “The Ax Murder” Silva (known around these parts as Clay Face).
Unless your an MMA, junkie you may not have heard about an organization known as Pride F/C, but these two fought there twice before. Both times Rampage got knocked out by Clay Faces’ knees.
Rampage is different now, and until he went crazy after his loss to Forrest Griffin, he was
a more focused and better fighter then he had ever been. Clay Face on the other hand seemed to be on his way down the ranks until his brutal “grab him by the throat and punch him until he can’t move” beating of Keith “Overrated” Jardine.
My Pick – Rampage in 2nd via TKO
Also on this card we see former Heavyweight Champion Frank Mir fighting the Interim Heavyweight Champion “Minotaro” Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.
We all know the only reason this fight is happening is because they were the coaches of The Ultimate Fighter this season. More importantly, we also know that whoever wins has the daunting task of taking that interim title and facing Brock Lesnar to unify the heavyweight titles.
So in my estimation, whoever wins this fight is actually losing. That being said, these are two of the great submission artists in the heavyweight division. All of us BJJ fans out there this should find this to be a great match-up.
If you dont know who to cheer for look at it this way: Nogueira is like a zombie (credit goes to the video below and Frank Mir), and Mir has already beaten Lesnar. So If you don’t like Lesnar go for Mir; if you do like zombies go for Nogueira.
My Pick – Nogueira in 3rd vis submission after having his ass whipped by Mir for 2 1/2 rounds
The last fight I want to look at is the main event “Sugar” Rashad Evans Vs. Light Heavy Champ Forrest Griffin. I’m still a bit bitter about Griffin beating the common sense out of Rampage back in July and taking his title.
That being said, I like Forrest and think he comes off as a genuinely good guy who works as hard as anyone could to be the best at what he does. We all know the man can take a beating and keep on fighting. With Evans we don’t have a lot of history to work with. Yeah he’s the season 2 TUF winner, fought Ortiz to a draw, he started as a pure wrestler, and has since developed a stand-up game that seems to be one of the best in the sport.
Everyone talks about his knock out of Chuck Liddell, and while it was beautiful, it wasn’t that impressive. You have to be a Liddell fan boy or have never watched the sport to think that Liddell is half the fighter he used to be.
Let’s face it, Liddells‘ fight against an aging Clay Face was much closer then the UFC allows people to think it was, he got beat by “Over Rated” Jardine, and Rampage didn’t even let Chuck outta the first round. Not knowing that Evans was going to win would have been like not knowing you were 9 months pregnant.
When all is said and done, this should be an ultimate slug fest. Evans will try and take Griffin down, but Griffin wont let him and it will end up being toe to toe most of the fight.
My Pick – Forrest Griffin retains the 205lbs Belt by decision after having the snot pounded out of him
Here is a little video Preview:
Tags: Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Forrest Griffin, Frank Mir, Rampage Jackson, Rashad Evans, ufc, Ultimate 2008, Wanderlei "The Ax Murder" Silva
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