By Luke Parks on November 14th, 2008
UFC Uncut returns after a long hiatus. I started this blog a few months ago with the hope of previewing almost every UFC PPV. It didn’t turn out as I had hoped with me taking on too much. Now that I’m done coaching football for a while, I figured I would strike this bad boy back up and give the readers my insight to mixed martial arts. A quick note before we get started, Amir Sadollah’s fight with Nate Catone was taken off of the card due to a leg infection from Sadollah. Dustin Hazelett & Tamdan McCrory were moved to the main card but this preview was done prior to that happening. Nonetheless, here we go!
Middleweight Bout: Nate Quarry (USA) vs. Demian Maia (Brazil)
Quarry is a former Ultimate Fighter guy. He was on the show until he injured his ankle but stuck around to help coach. Since then, he’s 5-1 with his only loss coming against Rich Franklin for the UFC Middleweight Championship. Maia on the other hand is undefeated. He’s 8-0 but only 3 of those fights have been in the UFC. All of his UFC victories have been by submission so Quarry will need to be on the lookout for that. Quarry is a freestyle fighter while Maia is a proponent of the ever-successful Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. These two will compliment each other well, since Maia likes submissions and most of Quarry’s victories are by knockout. It’s a tough one to call by from my knowledge of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Quarry could be in trouble…big trouble.
My Projected Winner: Demian Maia
Heavyweight Bout: Gabriel Gonzaga (Brazil) vs. Josh Hendricks(USA)
Gabriel Gonzaga is known more for knocking out Mirko Cro Cop. For those that didn’t see it, go look it up on YouTube. It’s a kick to the head followed by Cro Cop dropping like a sack of sh*t. I don’t know too much about Hendricks. Gonzaga suffered two setbacks with losses to Randy Couture and Fabricio Werdum before defeating Justin McCully at UFC 86. I think Gonzaga’s a future Heavyweight champ. He can get back on the winning track with a victory over Hendricks. That’s why I’m taking the Brazilian.
My Projected Winner: Gabriel Gonzaga
Lightweight Bout: Kenny Florian (USA) vs. Joe Stevenson (USA)
Kenny “Ken-Flo” Florian is on a roll. He’s won 8 of his last 9 fights. Does he deserve another title shot? I think so. Enter Joe Stevenson. He’s won 5 of his last 6 fights with his only loss to BJ Penn for the UFC Lightweight Championship. The going word is that the winner of this fight will face Sean Sherk to determine the #1 Contender for the UFC Lightweight Championship. To say this was a big fight would be another understatement. Ken-Flo was on the first season of the Ultimate Fighter while Stevenson was on the second season. These two guys are home-grown UFC talent. I know a little more about Florian so that’s who I’m going with in this one.
My Projected Winner: Kenny Florian
UFC Heavyweight Championship
Randy Couture © (USA) vs. Brock Lesnar (USA)
This is a match that’s peaked my interest quite a bit. Brock Lesnar is a former NCAA wrestling champion. Randy “The Natural” Couture is former collegiate, armed forces, Olympics, etc. wrestler. He’s also a 6-time UFC Champion and UFC Hall of Famer. To say Lesnar is an underdog on paper would be an understatement. Lesnar is 2-1 in his young MMA career. I think he’s been rushed to a title shot a little early. It looks as if Dana White & Co. are striking while the Lesnar iron is hot to get him a title shot. Lesnar seems like one they could build the depleted heavyweight division around. Couture is an aging fighter. I read his book “Becoming the Natural” and I’ve got a whole new respect for the man. He’s been through a lot. I for one am glad to see him back in the UFC. I’m not going to lie; he’s got his work cut out for him. Lesnar is a physical specimen who could kill the average person with his bare hands. I’m not exaggerating that one. These types of fights are tough to predict. I’m still trying to figure out why I’ve taken on this responsibility. As for the outcome, I think Couture’s experience will prevail in the end. When Lesnar walked into the knee bar in his fight with Frank Mir, it seemed like inexperience. I think that will be the same with his fight with Couture. The winner will go on to face the winner of the interim fight in a few weeks between Frank Mir and Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira. I’m going with Randy “The Natural” Couture in this one.
My Projected Winner: Randy Couture
That’s this month’s UFC Uncut. I should be back next month with a preview of UFC 92 which features two championship fights! Have a great weekend!
Tags: Couture, Florian, Gonzaga, Maia, UFC 91, UFC Uncut
|
November 15th, 2008 at 12:06 pm
I don’t know what’s up with the lack of comments but I for one am very much looking forward to tonight’s UFC show. I do not follow MMA near as much as I should as my life is pretty much dominated by the pro wrestling scene, however, Lesnar vs. Couture is a very intriguing match up. There are so many storylines with Couture coming out of retirement to defend the UFC Heavyweight Championship and with Lesnar’s quick rise to fame in UFC by destroying Heath Herring. I’m picking Lesnar for the fight but I think that it’s going to be close. Good blog as always Luke!
November 15th, 2008 at 12:31 pm
It is pretty wild. You’re right in the storylines.
You’ve got Couture retiring as champion.
A new champ is crowned in Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira.
Lesnar debuts and loses to Frank Mir.
Mir gets a shot at Nogueira’s title.
Lesnar beats Herring & gets a shot at Couture’s title.
The winners will face each other to crowned an undisputed champion. We could see Lesnar-Mir 2.
Very interesting stuff!!!
November 15th, 2008 at 2:21 pm
Although Brock vs Couture is going to be huge, I think Ken-Flo vs Stevenson will be fight of the night. Just to correct you Luke, the winner of that fight will fight B.J. Penn for the light weight title.
November 15th, 2008 at 2:48 pm
I think the lack of comments is because most of the normal’s from the other comment boards are wrestling fans more then UFC fans. I’ve seen afew matches and I’m always impressed. I’ll have to see the main event match. Sounds epic.
November 15th, 2008 at 2:53 pm
I too am a caual MMA Fan. However this is one PPV I’m looking forward to. As people have mentioned the two championships have almost a pro wrestling storyline to it which is very interesting.
November 15th, 2008 at 6:37 pm
Sharpshooter, just to correct you, as I said in the blog Sean Sherk has been lobbying to face the winner to determine who would face Penn, hints why I said ‘the going word is.’ Penn will face Georges St. Pierre for the Welterweight title in January. Whether the winner will go straight to facing Penn is debatable, seeing as how Stevenson just got a title shot earlier in the year and how Sherk defeated Floridan to capture the title. If Florian wins, maybe. If Stevenson wins, I doubt it.
November 15th, 2008 at 10:21 pm
Demian Maia (Brazil) def. Nate Quarry (USA) via submission (rear naked choke)
November 15th, 2008 at 10:33 pm
Gabriel Gonzaga (Brazil) def. Josh Hendricks(USA) via TKO
November 15th, 2008 at 11:37 pm
Kenny Florian (USA) def. Joe Stevenson (USA) via submission (rear naked choke)
November 16th, 2008 at 12:10 am
Brock Lesnar (USA) def. Randy Couture (USA) via TKO (strikes) to become the new UFC World Heavyweight Champion
November 16th, 2008 at 12:31 am
Appreciate the live updates. I ordered and while it wasn’t that good of a PPV, another excellent showing for Brock Lesnar. He’s going to be tough to beat!
November 16th, 2008 at 12:45 am
I gotta say…I love MMA!!! But why Brock ever deserved a title shot i will never know. Congrats to him for sure…. He took it to Couture… but it just seems like to me that UFC was simply playing the money card here..which in my opinion takes away from the credibility of the sport…it’s lending it’s ear more towards the WWE way of generating the big buck than by focusing on the sport itself and sports logical placements of championship opponents.
November 16th, 2008 at 9:11 am
But Kris, in Lesnar’s defense, he dominated the UFC Heavyweight Champion and proved he was worthy of the shot. Who can you see beating him based on his last two fights?
November 16th, 2008 at 12:50 pm
Lesnar did dominate. The fight wasn’t exactly one-sided but he’s a damn beast. His punching power is what got Couture down. He caught him just right. Couture looked good. He’s the greatest fighter ever and a class-act. He gave nothing but props to Lesnar. He said he was fine with the size difference. Lesnar got on the mic afterwards and talked about how God had given him these gifts. He said he didn’t want to come across as cocky but rather confident.
As far as playing the “money card,” they made over 4 million dollars at the gate last night. Throw in money from PPV revenues and they’re rolling in the dough. Lesnar will face Mir or Nogueira in a few months. What will be cool to see is Mir-Lesnar 2.