Holy shit, I haven’t put out a blog post for more than a
month, almost two now. I know, its because Angel Hesseltine and I have
been waking up in the middle of the night for three months with our new baby Colton! (who besides the lack
of sleep, he is simply amazing)
So what better way to get back into the blogosphere by
giving you some of my pre-fight predictions for UFC 164 going down tomorrow
night, Sept. 1, 2013 on PPV. Arizona
native Benson Henderson currently holds the lightweight belt and if you do not
know the history behind this fight, I urge you to watch this video of the kick heard round the world.
Anthony Pettis jumped off the cage in WEC 53 in 2010 and took the championship
bout from Henderson.
The fight won ‘Fight of the Night’ AND ‘Fight of the Year.’
Enough about that, lets get into the predictions shall we?
Benson Henderson (c) VS
Anthony Pettis (Lightweight)
Both Henderson (@BensonHenderson) and Pettis (@showtimepettis) are very
skilled fighters and have a lot of wins under their belts, Pettis may have the
advantage by having already beat Henderson in WEC 53 but on the flip side, I’m
sure Henderson wants his revenge to avenge the loss. Pettis carries a 3rd
degree black belt in Taekwondo and a Purple belt in BJJ as well as a
professional MMA record of 16-2 while Henderson has a black belt in both as
well as an All American Wrestler in NAIA and a 19-2 record. This is going to be
a close fight. In a recentarticle posted on Yahoo! Sports, Pettis’ coach compares to Pettis a MichaelJordon of MMA. Not sure if he has the accreditation to cite those claims
but it does give you an alternate view of Pettis and his history.
Looking at the opponents that each have fought, Henderson
has notable wins over Nate Diaz, Clay Guida, Jim Miller, as well as Frank Edgar
and Donald Cerrone twice each in the last three years. Pettis, however, lost to
Clay Guida but also has some victories over big names including Donald Cerone
as well, Joe Lauzon, my boy Jeremy Stephens but the kicker is, he has already
beaten Benson Henderson.
Prediction: Pettis, Round 4, TKO
Frank Mir VS Josh
Barnett (Heavyweight)
Okay I’m not too sure about this fight; Frank Mir (@thefrankmir) has
been a top contender in the Heavyweight spotlight for a number of years even
holding the belt at one period of time (UFC 48, June 19, 2004 defeated Tim
Silvia to be exact) however Josh Barnett (@JoshLBarnett) hasn’t fought in the UFC
since 2002 – THAT’S MORE THAN 10 YEARS AGO!
Don’t discredit Barnett just yet though,
he has fought 24 separate times since his last UFC appearance so it’s not like he
has been sitting naked in a beanbag eating cheetos for ten years – however, he hasn’t
been fighting top opponents like he will be facing tomorrow night in the UFC against
Mir. Frank is coming off duel losses against Daniel Cormier and Junior dos Santos so he is looking
to take another rung out of the UFC heavyweight ladder.
Prediction: Mir,
Round 2, Submission (probably triangle choke)
Chad Mendes VS Clay Guida (Featherweight)
This fight will be a huge challenge for Chad Mendez (@chadmendez), he has
a good winning record but not over any big names or top contenders. In the blue
corner, Clay Guida (@clayguida) has fought more than 40 documented fights in the cage and
been against the toughest in the featherweight weight class.
Having won
multiple submission and fight of the nights, I think this fight should be a walk
in the park for Guida. Facing a guy who has a good record but hasn’t seen any top
contenders other than Jose Aldo which he lost the featherweight championship to
in 2012, this punch-fest should end with Guida’s hand in the air.
Prediction: Guida, Decision
Ben Rothwell VS Brandon
Vera (Heavyweight)
From 2002-2006, Brandon Vera (@Verafied) was one of the UFC’s top
emerging contenders with an 8-0 record during those four years; then he met Tim
Sylvia and that all changed. Since his first loss in 2007, Vera has won only
four of his last 11 fights, not the best record around the UFC heavyweight
division.
However, Big Ben Rothwell (@RothwellFighter) demolished fighters in the IFL but hasn’t had
the same streak in the UFC. Rothwell has had only five fights it the UFC, his
first in 2009 against Cain Velasquez which he lost in the second round. Since
then, Big Ben is 2-2 losing to Gabriel Gonzaga, Mark Hunt and defeating Brendan
Schaub and Gilbert Yvel at UFC 115 in Canada. Rothwell has had more than
40 fights and has shown some tremendous heart but I’m not sure if he is going
to pull this one off.
Prediction: Vera,
Round 2, TKO
THINK YOU HAVE BETTER PICKS? COMMENT THEM BELOW AND THEN RETURN AFTER THE FIGHTS TO SEE HOW YOU LOST ALL FOUR MENTIONED IN THIS POST!
