Usually I don't do predictions for the Ultimate Fighter TV series. This is because usually we don't know who's fighting ahead of time until we get to the last couple of fights. However, because Gabe punked out last week we know about two fights which are happening this week.
Fight #2 in this weeks Ultimate Fighter features Corey Hill vs Robert Emerson.
We really don't know much about Corey Hill from an MMA standpoint. He's tall, he should have a natural advantage during stand up/striking, but we really don't know how much striking he has done. He certainly looks dangerous during the show's promos. We do know that he was an extremely good wrestler at the high school level and should have done the same at college, but had some trouble.
Of course, we all saw Rob Emerson take on Nate Diaz. The fight went to a decision, but I thought it was very close with Emerson even winning some of the stand up exchanges.
So, the question with this fight is will the fight stay standing, or go to the ground. If it goes to the ground with Corey Hill on top, then it will be a long night for Rob Emerson. If the fight stays standing it could be anyone's match. I am very excited about this fight tonight.
Prediction : Robert Emerson vs Corey Hill -> Corey Hill by decision
This brings us to the first fight on tonights Ultimate Fighter 5
Fight #1 will feature Joe Lauzon vs Brian Geraghty
We all know Joe Lauzon from his articles on UFC.com and his big TKO of Jens Pulver, but that was a very quick fight and we didn't get to see Joe's whole game. I'm guessing that his game is pretty good.
Brian Geraghty has a decent record in smaller shows, but has yet to fight at the UFC level.
Prediction : Joe Lauzon vs Brian Geraghty -> Joe Lauzon by ref stoppage.