UFC 158 Tomorrow - Current Champ GSP VS Nick Diaz

Alright boys and girls, fight fans of all ages - it’s that time again where we have a big fight on the horizon with big names and a 170lb belt up for grabs. As always, I have a good post for you putting out some bold predictions to compliment my past winning record predictions.

This Saturday’s fights UFC 158 on PPV are between some of the top MMA fighters in the world, don’t be a pussy, comment and put yourself out there and tell me what your predictions are for these big Welterweight bouts! 

Major Preliminary Card fight – Broadcast on FX

Patrick Côté VS Bobby Voelker

Okay, I may be a bit biased on this fight because I tend to lean towards fighters I have some type of connection with. I was able to see Bobby Voelker fight a couple of times a few years ago before moving down to Arizona and he is a pretty well rounded fighter. However, only having 4 fights in the last 3 years (three of the four against Roger Bowling), I’m not sure if he is completely ready for Côté. Patrick Côté only has one loss in his last six fights. Coming off a first round victory over Alessio Sakara due to Sakara’s disqualification and a loss to Chung Le, I’m pretty sure Côté will be coming back ready to swing with a ‘Win’ in near sight.

Prediction: Côté wins in Round 2 by TKO

Major Preliminary Card fight – Broadcast only on PPV

Jake Ellenberger VS Nate Marquardt

This is another fight where I had the opportunity to see one of these fighters throw down in person. I believe it was in February 2006 at VFC 12: Warpath in Council Bluffs, Iowa I saw Ellenberger defeat Mark Bear by way of TKO and a cut. Ellenberger is coming off a win over Jay Hieron last October, who I also enjoy watching fight ever since I saw him take a knock out punch and wake up to grab a takedown on the way to falling on the mat. Daniel Nisley is also a big fan of Jay, who fights out of Las Vegas, NV. Despite snatching the Strikeforce welterweight belt from Tyron Woodly by 4^th round KO last July, Marquardt gave it up to Tarec Saffiedine on his next and most recent fight in January, 2013. Marquardt is now returning to the UFC for the first time since his win over Dan Miller in UFC 128, he should be motivated for this big show welterweight fight trying to make his way back up the ladder since re-signing with UFC.

Prediction: Marquardt wins in Round 3 by TKO.

Carlos Condit VS Johny Hendricks

When Condit sees GSP for the first time since he lost to unanimous decision last November, I can only assume he is building up his motivation to fight GSP once again sometime soon hopefully using Johny Hendricks as a live punching bag. I’m sure it is a little bitter-sweet for Condit knowing that he beat Nick Diaz in February 2012 and then lost to GSP in November – now Diaz and GSP fight right after this bout. Winning 13 of his last 15 fights, Condit has made a name for himself in the UFC and hopes to get another title shot – there is only one problem. His name is Johny Hendricks. With a long standing OSU wrestling background, Hendricks has skills on the ground and power in his hands – he went 56-0 his senior year at Ohio State in 2007. Now sitting at a pretty 14-1 MMA record, Hendricks is in a direct line for the title shot against GSP (assuming he doesn’t lose immediately after his fight with Condit to Nick Diaz). With notable wins over Martin Kampmann, Josh Koscheck and 12 second KO over Jon Fitch, Hendricks is on a B-line for the welterweight belt.

Prediction: Hendricks wins in Round 2 by TKO (ground & pound after big head shot)

UFC 158 Welterweight Title Fight

Georges St-Pierre (Champ) VS Nick Diaz

The fight the world has been waiting for, GSP’s dark side to beat Nick Diaz down (assuming the soccer mom in Lodi, CA hasn’t already done it, see pre-fight conference call). If you have a chance to listen to the call, Diaz try’s to defend his ‘good guy, hard working past’ but eventually digs himself deeper by opening his mouth and getting loud with GSP (it could have been Geoff from Craig Ferguson late show) on the phone. Long story short, GSP came back to the UFC after a long injury and looked bigger and better than ever against Condit last November. Having not lost since 2007, GSP needs to not let his dark side over-commit to Diaz as he could land some hard counter punches and upset the 7 time defending champion.  

I’m not a big fan of Nick Diaz, nor his brother Nate; however I do know that Nick has been in the fighting game for a long time and his most recent fights other than losing to Condit have been more than impressive. I’m thinking that GSP will want to bring this fight to the ground and not want to bang it out with Nick, which hopefully they will give the fans a show and keep it on their feet.

Predication: Diaz wins by TKO in 4^th Round (GSP’s dark side is going to over-commit and get him KTFO)

Watch Joe Rogan and Dana White Podcast about GSP and Diaz fight