UFC

Here's my UFC: 133 main card predictions...

Rashad Evans vs. Tito Ortiz – Evans, DEC
Vitor Belfort vs. Yoshihiro Akiyama – Belfort, TKO, R1
Dennis Hallman vs. Brian Ebersole – Hallman, DEC
Jorge Rivera vs. Costa Philippou – Philippou, TKO, R2
Rory MacDonald vs. Mike Pyle – MacDonald, DEC

UFC 133: Evans vs. Ortiz


Rory MacDonald v Mike Pyle
This looks like a great fight to get things started as both are great wrestlers which would normally ring the alarm bells but this could be a good fight pitting the experienced 35 year old Pyle 21-7, 16 subs against the impressive up & coming 22 year old MacDonald 11-1, 4 KO's 6 subs.
Pyle has been submitted only 4 times & KO win/loss is 2-2 with a 3-1 decision MacDonald is 4-1 KO's 6-0 subs 1-0 decision so this looks like being over inside the distance, I could try & break this down but I can only the last of MacDonald's 3 UFC fights when he Dominated Nate Diaz so I'll leave it to just a prediction, I wanna say MacDonald decision but neither of them like going the distance so I'll get a little excited & say . - MacDonald TKO... Or submission

Jorge Rivera v Costantinos Philippou
Jorge Rivera is a run of the mill fighter & at 39 one more loss may mean end of the road. I've never heard of Cypriot Philippou who tried out for TUF Team Liddell vs. Team Ortiz back in 2010 but didn't get past the first fight to get on the show. His first 9 fights were in Ring of Combat before making & losing his UFC debut in March his record is 7-2, 4 KO's 1 sub with both losses by decision. Guessing Philippou is the younger man (I don't know his age) I'll say - Philippou decision

Dennis Hallman v Brian Ebersole
35 year old Hallman's got a lot of experience with 43 wins in 59 fights 33 of which are by submission & has never been submitted he's also fought in most organizations but all his opponents have been in what would be the equivalent of the middle of the UFC divisions.
Brian Ebersole burst on the scene in February by dominating the dangerous Chris Lytle down in his adopted homeland of Australia, the 30 year old has had a massive 63 fights winning 47, 13 KO's 20 subs 14 decisions, his 14 losses are 9 subs 5 decisions.

His first 31 fights were on small shows in the USA & Mexico before he moved to fight in Australia & other than Carlos Newton & Chris Lytle his opponents are fighters I don't know by name but if his UFC debut & record is anything to go by then at only 30 he could be the next big thing in the UFC fighting at welterweight but having fought as high as heavyweight & has lost only 1 of his last 13, none of his last 8.
With a combind total of 121 fights 86 wins & 53 submissions between them this tells me this is going the distance & having fought in International Fight League, Strikeforce & the UFC I think Dennis Hallman's experience may be the deciding factor although like I said if Brian Ebersole's UFC debut is anything to go by then this guy is gonna be a great fighter. - Hallman decision

Vitor Belfort v Yoshihiro Akiyama
Interesting fight this as Vitor will obviously be looking to go straight for the kill but Akiyama is no slouch with 5 KO's from 13 wins & only 1 KO loss, he favours the submission which means Vitor is always gonna be within inches of either winning the fight or losing it.
Akiyama's lost his last 2 to Bisping & Leben prior to these was on a 14 fight unbeten streak & his last 3 getting fight of the night while Vitor after a mid career wobble has won 5 stright before his KO by Anderson Silva in their title fight .
This is a funny one to call as either fighter could win it in a few seconds, but I think the speed of Vitor could be the difference (I'm trying to convince myself this is correct) - Vitor TKO

Rashad Evans v Tito Ortiz
I've not seen any of the build up other than the clips on here but if Ortiz thinks 1 win in 55 years (Typo but I left it in after reading it back, 5 years) puts him back at his 2001 level then he's very much mistaken. One thing Rashad is good at is fighting to a strategy. Tito's last 3 KO/TKO's have been against Ken Shamrock & other than these it was way back in 2001 against Elvis Sinosic. His best bet is for a decision as Rashad isn't the type of fighter to put himself in the type of situation that Ryan Bader did.
Rashad has 5 KO's in his 15 wins & for somone who's a skilled wrestler he's only ever submitted 2 fighters & they were his 1st & 2nd fights, 8 of his fights have gone to a decision.

Since they fought to a draw in 2007 their records read. Rashad Evans, 5-1 unanimous decision 2 split decision 1 KO/TKO 2 with 1 KO loss, all but 2 fights have gone to the 3rd round, he won the light heavyweight title in the 3rd & lost it in his first defence in round 2.
Tito Ortiz, 3-1, 1 round 1 sub win 2 unanimous decision losses & 1 split decision loss.

So this fight will obviously start on the feet with Evans probably trying to keep it there for as long as possible & time his shots to back Tito up against the cage so he can get him in the clinch or put him on his arse against the cage to give himself the chance of a TKO. Tito will be looking for the takedown as soon as possible so he can get to work on figuring out when is the best possible time to start his groundnpound style, although this may not be easy due to the wrestling skill of Evans thus meaning this fight has the potential to be a drawn out stand off or holding affair although I think Evans will be more eger to force the issue at some point. - Evans Decision

Predictions133

Main card

Mike Pyle vs. Rory MacDonald - MacDonald KO Round1

Jorge Rivera vs. Costantinos Philippou - Rivera Decision

Brian Ebersole vs. Dennis Hallman - Ebersole Decision

Vitor Belfort vs. Yoshihiro Akiyama - Akiyama Sub Round 1

Rashad Evans vs. Tito Ortiz - Evans KO Punches Round 2

(06-08-2011 15:40 )mitchell Wrote:  Rory MacDonald v Mike Pyle - MacDonald TKO... Or submission
Jorge Rivera v Costantinos Philippou - Philippou decision
Dennis Hallman v Brian Ebersole - Hallman decision
Vitor Belfort v Yoshihiro Akiyama - Vitor TKO
Rashad Evans v Tito Ortiz - Evans Decision
3 out of five, I'll yake that

Rory MacDonald v Mike Pyle
A good fight this for all it lasted. Joe Rogan says he's may have the skills to better GSP??? Well with the way the UFC are now handing out title shots or contender fights it may not be long before the youngster gets his chance, 2 more impressive wins like this & he may be fighting his training partner for the welterweight title. I like the fact he started out training in all forms of MMA rather than the state wrestling or whatever.
Jorge Rivera v Costantinos Philippou
Rivera's gone & Constantinos needs a lot of work be he may do ok fighting out of Matt Serra's gym.
Dennis Hallman v Brian Ebersole
I liked Brian Ebersole after he made his debut & I like him even more now, he reminds me of an early post TUF Forrest Griffin. He's only 30 & has a crazy amount of experience & showed it in this fight. He's now only lost 1 of his last 14 & is on a 9 fight win streak & has seen off two tough UFC opponents in style So a step up in fighters in his next fight may not make much difference.
If he wins his next two fights the way he's won his first two then I can see him fighting someone like Rory MacDonald in a contender fight & who knows maybe a future Anderson Silva Opponent??? Stranger things have happened in the UFC.
Vitor Belfort v Yoshihiro Akiyama
This is a funny one to call as either fighter could win it in a few seconds, but I think the speed of Vitor could be the difference (I'm trying to convince myself this is correct) - Mitchell. I'm convinced & I was correct!!!
Rashad Evans v Tito Ortiz
As I thought Rashad Evans was more eger to force the fight whereas Tito didn't look like he had much momentum going forward, I thought given he only fought for 1:56sec 35 days ago he'd still be in attack mode but he never looked like troubling Evans other than the guillotine.
The fight turned when Evans got the power slam in the first & at that moment I think Tito knew it wasn't gonna be his night especially when the choke attempt failed as it was all Evans after that & the knee was the deciding factor.
Rashad looked on top of his game & I think if Jon Jones manages to beat Rampage then Jones v Evans could be a classic.

All in all I thought it was a decent show although I didn't stay up to watch the prelim fights they showed but the main card was decent.

3/5

(07-08-2011 02:00 )groundnpound Wrote:  Mike Pyle vs. Rory MacDonald - MacDonald KO Round1

Rashad Evans vs. Tito Ortiz - Evans KO Punches Round 2

Don't all cheer at once Precision predicting right there lads lol

What a knee from Rashad last night,i almost felt that myself when it landed.Jones (because he'll beat Rampage) vs Evans will be a quality fight.Evans is superb in my book.

Can't wait for that fight.

What with the new Liverpool signings you speak of in the LFC thread & now Rashad Evans your book must be getting pretty full groundnpound.

The rumour mill is in full swing with Chael Sonnen, Brian Stann & Vitor Belfort being talked about as the next opponent for Anderson Silva if he beats Yushin Okami at UFC 134 on 27 August in Rio, Stann v Sonnen is set for UFC 136 8th October.

GSP V Nick Diaz's October 29th fight at UFC 137 could be the next fight to feature in the popular UFC Primtime series, as long as Diaz agrees to play ball.

The thing about Diaz is he’s never been one to play the promotional game all that much. He doesn’t like to do interviews. He doesn’t like to hype fights. But he loves to fight and he’s damn good at it.

Diaz being Diaz is as appealing to television ratings as it is a nightmare for the UFC’s promotional staff. He’s notorious among the media for being late for interviews and conference calls, if he bothers to show up at all.

“It’s gonna be very unpredictable,” said White. “I don’t ask him to say anything special, to change who he is or whatever, but you’ve heard me say it a million times, give me that much. Play the game. Do what you’re supposed to do professionally and this will all work out.”

As White stated, he’s not asking Diaz to all of a sudden like unicorns and rainbows, he’s asking him to put up with the film crews, partake in interviews, and in general, promote the fight.

He doesn’t even have to read Dale Carnegie’s “How to Win Friends and Influence People.”
“I don’t ever ask anybody to not be themselves,” stated White. “I don’t ever tell people what to say. I don’t ever do anything like that. He is who he is and he can be who he is, but you have to play by the rules.”

And if he doesn’t? Well, that could make for the most dramatic UFC Primetime yet.

Poor old Jon Fith is struggling for a fight after saying he's only interested in fighting top contenders who either own or have owned a belt but the UFC are not looking at him as a top contender & Dana White has pretty much said that Jon Fitch will fight whoever he's told to fight whether he likes it or not!!! Oh dear.

(08-08-2011 01:06 )mitchell Wrote:  What with the new Liverpool signings you speak of in the LFC thread & now Rashad Evans your book must be getting pretty full groundnpound.

Spot on mate! I knew Rashad would finish Ortiz in the 2nd (with punches) Also told u we wouldn't go near any of that mediocre list of players that No1scruff was raving about.We've stayed well clear!! I'm never far off with what we need Occasional howler aside No need to mention Coentrao,Mata and Wickham lol

Think i've just been installed as favourite for the UKBCF EPL Prediction league aswell

Diaz should get a grip and get on with it or piss off back to Strikeforce.Doing primetime and being in front of the camera is all part of being in a UFC Title fight.I'd imagine it'll be his only Primetime show so he should make the most of it.

Just read that Matt Hammill's hung his gloves up after losing on Sat night.

Didn't realise how many top guys he'd fought.He fought and lost to Michael Bisping on a split decision @ UFC75.Then he lost to Rich Franklin @ UFC88.He followed that up by beating Mark Muñoz,Jon Jones (Jones disqualified),Keith Jardine and Tito Ortiz in just over a year.

Thought he was terrible against Rampage @ UFC130 and he got beat the other night.

This lad was deaf from birth and still carved out a quality career in the UFC.

An interesting character with an impressive record.

think we've all forgotten the biggest event in mma this weekend, Alex Reid vs somebody i can't remember his name the consensus is it was a fix/ staged

Pat Barry's training for Struve is going well

Good job groundnpound. Only seen Evans/Ortiz II, Belfort/Akiyama and Ebersole/Hallman. Belfort/Akiyama was all about the finish even though Belfort threw some punches to the back of the head. Evans/Ortiz II was a really fun fight which turned out better than I thought it would. Less said about Dennis Hallman's attire the better! I found it really funny that Dana White awarded a 75 grand bonus to Ebersole for taking Hallman out quickly.

Thoughts on Jim Miller/Ben Henderson this weekend? I wouldn't be surprised if Henderson pulls it off. If anyone's seen Henderson's WEC fights, he escaps the tightest of submissions. Miller's won seven straight and if he beats Henderson, he's next in line for the UFC Lightweight Championship which is such a tight competitive division.