Dustin Hazelett
Tamdan 'The Barn Cat' McCrory
Tamdan McCrory and Dustin Hazelett will do battle in the Welterweight division as both fighters look to establish themselves as contenders in this talent filled division. Hazelett is coming off of an impressive submission victory in his last fight after securing a flying armbar on Josh Burkman, which won Hazelett submission of the night honours. He will be looking to secure a victory over McCory in this fight after suffering mixed fortunes thus far into his UFC career, with a record of 4-2 Hazelett lost his UFC debut to Tony DeSouza before stringing together a 3 fight win streak, Dustin looked to be well on his way to a title shot before suffering a TKO loss to Josh Koscheck at UFC 82. With another win under his belt in his most recent fight, Dustin will need to put together another winning streak if he is have any chance of getting a shot at the welterweight championship.
Tamdan McCory is also coming into this fight off of a victory after previously losing his undefeated record against Akihiro Gono at UFC 78. McCory re-bounded quite well from his loss by defeating Luke Cummo at UFC 87 and he will need to keep this momentum going to show that he is a force to be reckoned with in the UFC’s Welterweight division. McCory’s best strategy for this fight will be to try and keep Dustin standing where he can then use his superior striking to control the bout. Hazelett on the other hand will want to take McCory down as soon as the chance presents itself as he will have a significant advantage in this area and if he can get the takedown then this fight could be all over.
My Prediction: McCrory via TKO
Nate 'Rock' Quarry
Demian Maia
Demian Maia will be looking to build upon his impressive 9-0 unbeaten record as he takes on one of his toughest challenges yet in Nate ‘Rock’ Quarry. Quarry will be extremely keen to impress in this fight after a less than stellar performance during his last fight in the octagon, in which Nate was literally forced to run after his opponent Kailb Starnes, trying to get him to engage in a fight. I severely doubt that Maia will pose the same problem as the Brazilian always comes ready to fight and a win against Quarry will take Maia a step closer to earning a fight for the title against his fellow countryman Anderson ‘The Spider’ Silva.
Quarry’s possesses an obvious advantage in this fight in the striking department, his stand-up is a lot more fluid than Maia’s and with KO power in his hands he should look to use his wrestling skills to keep Maia from taking him down and then punish Maia on the feet where he could end up getting the KO against the undefeated fighter. Although Quarry has the advantage standing up, the same cannot be said if this fight goes to the ground as Maia is clearly the better submission fighter, 6 submissions in 8 victories emphasizes this along with a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. When Maia gets his opponents on the ground it usually doesn’t take very long before he is able to impose his game and secure the submission. I think the outcome of this fight will be decided by whether or not Maia can get Quarry to the ground, if he struggles to do this then Nate’s superior striking should win him the fight, however if Maia does get a takedown look for him to capitize and walk away with the submission .
My Prediction: Demian Maia via submission
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Gabriel Gonzaga looks to continue getting his career back on track after ending his losing streak in his last fight by beating Justin McCully. He will be taking on Josh Hendricks, who will be making his UFC debut, in this heavyweight battle. Gonzaga has experienced one of the highest points of his career as well as one of the lowest points in the last 2 years, he was suddenly thrust into title contention after knocking out Mirko Cro Cop back in April 2007, who came into the UFC with a massive reputation and was widely considered as the favourite to beat Gonzaga prior to that fight. Gabriel then went on to lose his next 2 fights to Randy Couture and Fabricio Werdum respectively therefore making his next bout a must win if he wanted to remain in the UFC. Gonzaga duly won his next fight against Justin McCully in the 1st round by submission and now he will look to build upon this by attempting to stop Josh Hendricks, a King of the Cage veteran, who has not lost in ten-straight bouts.
Hendricks will be making his first appearance in the UFC after fighting for several smaller organizations, he is primarily a submission fighter with 10 of his 15 victories coming by way of submission. This will be an extremely tough test for Hendricks in his first UFC fight as Gonzaga is also excellent on the ground, he currently holds a black belt in BJJ, and as evidenced in his fight against Cro Cop he also possesses good stand-up skills . If this fight stays standing then I expect Gonzaga will have too much power for Josh too handle, Josh’s best chance at causing the upset in this bout is to somehow get Gonzaga down & try to control the Brazilian while using his ground and pound to maybe force a stoppage, even though Henricks is good at submissions I can’t really see him catching Gonzaga, who can more than hold his own on the ground. At the end of the night I think that Gonzaga will keep this fight standing where he can dictate the pace & look for the KO.
My Prediction: Gabriel Gonzaga via TKO
Kenny 'KenFlo' Florian
Joe 'Daddy' Stevenson
Kenny Florian will look to cement his status as the number one contender for BJ Penn’s lightweight title when he takes on Joe ‘Daddy’ Stevenson. Florian has won his last 5 fights and was widely considered to be Penn’s next opponent after his fight against GSP before this bout was ever announced, but not content to sit on the sidelines and wait, Florian will be stepping into the Octagon and putting his contender spot on the line when he fights Stevenson. Joe will be looking to climb the title ladder again after losing to Penn in the 2nd round via submission in his first hit at the title, Joe has since beaten Gleison Tibau at UFC 87 and a win against Kenny will put him right back up there in contention for another shot at the lightweight title.
Kenny’s skills have been well documented, he has excellent Muay Thai & is equally comfortable on the ground where he has a BJJ black belt. Stevenson is also well rounded but not quite as well rounded as Kenny, Stevenson possesses stronger wrestling skills & a deadly guillotine choke but other than that I feel that Florian has more advantages in this fight. If Stevenson can take Florian down then he could do some damage in this fight, I expect him to be the physically stronger fighter in this bout and he may be able to control Florian while using his ground and pound. Joe will have to be careful though as Florian will not hesitate to attempt a submission if Joe gets careless, he will also need to watch out for Kenny’s elbows which are extremely dangerous and have the potential to end the fight at any point. If Kenny can prevent the takedown then I feel that his striking will be too much for Joe and he will be on his way to a point’s victory.
My Prediction: Kenny Florian via decision
Randy 'The Natural' Couture
Brock Lesnar
The main event of the night sees UFC Heavyweight champion Randy ’The Natural’ Couture return to the octagon for the first time since UFC74 back in August 2007 to defend his title against Brock Lesnar. Couture has been away from the octagon for a long time, during which he was embroiled in a court battle with the UFC over his pay and the UFC’s failure to sign Fedor Emelianenko. When the court case looked to be going nowhere fast, Couture decided to re-sign with the UFC on an improved 3-fight deal with the first fight taking place against Brock. A lot of people believe that Brock doesn’t deserve a title shot this early into his MMA career after having only 3 professional fights under his belt, regardless of this fact Brock brings something that a lot of other UFC heavyweights don’t really have at this point in time and that is main-stream recognition, even casual fans and people who rarely watch MMA have heard of Brock Lesnar and like it or not Brock will bring ratings. This isn’t the only thing that Lesnar brings to the table though and anyone who underestimates him will be in for a shock come fight night, Brock is one of the biggest heavyweights in the UFC today, having to cut weight just to make the 265lb heavyweight limit, and not only is he big and strong, he is extremely quick and agile for his size. I’m sure Randy already knows all of this and will be preparing a specific game plan to combat these strengths, but at 45 how long can Couture keep defying father time? With over a year spent on the sidelines, just how much will this ring rust affect ‘The Natural’?
This is a really tough fight to predict, I’d expect Couture to try and close the gap early in this fight and attempt to use his dirty boxing to try and wear Brock down, however, as good as Couture’s boxing is it’ll be difficult for him to control Lesnar without expending a lot of energy himself. Therefore he will need to go for the takedown at some point & this could very well decide the fight, if Randy can get Brock on his back, a position that we are yet to have seen Brock in, then he may have a chance at controlling the fight and getting a decision. I can’t see this fight staying on the feet for too long, seeing as both fighters tend to look for an opportunity to take the fight to the ground when possible. Brock looks to start his fights explosively and it won’t be long before he attempts to take ‘The Natural’ down himself, despite Couture’s wrestling background with Brock’s strength advantage & wrestling ability I can see him taking Randy down pretty easily in this fight, the big question will be just how much Brock has learnt since his submission loss to Frank Mir? If he can avoid any of Randy’s submission attempts then he should be able to dominate on the ground.
Couture is one of the greatest fighters in MMA today but I just can’t see him defying the odds yet again at this point in his career, I think that Brock’s physical strength and raw power will cause Randy real problems. Whenever Randy has fought bigger wrestlers than himself in the past he hasn’t faired too well (losing to both Ricco Rodriguez and Josh Barnett) and Brock will be the biggest wrestler he has ever had to fight. This should make for a interesting fight and is one of the hardest that I’ve had to predict but at the end of the night I think we’ll have a new UFC heavyweight champion.
My Prediction: Brock Lesnar via decision
