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 4th
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 4th Round
(GSP’s dark side is going to over-commit and get him KTFO)
