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Monday, June 18. 2007
UFC 72 Opinion
All over the net people were saying that they didn't like the UFC 72 fight card. The lack of big names and a title fight meant that many weren't going to pay the "Pay Per View" price tag. I certainly wanted to see more big names on the card, however the card itself had the potential for some entertaining fights. Well, from and entertainment standpoint UFC 72 was a complete success.
We found out several things at UFC 72.
Clay Guida would make a better 5 round fighter than Tyson Griffin, no matter who the judges gave the decision to.
Yushin Okami may be a talented fighter, but he needs to change his style a bit if he wants to be a star.
Forrest Griffin is able to fight a smart fight and still win 
Jason MacDonald is still "The Athlete", but he still has work to do.
Ed Herman looked good, but he needs to finish a higher quality guy than Scott Smith before he's truly in the 185lb picture.
Lets start off with Clay Guida vs Tyson Griffin. I thought this was the fight of the night (or afternoon if you're in the same time zone as I am). Tyson Griffin dominated the first 7 1/2 minutes and Guida dominated the last 7 1/2. It was a back and forth fight, but if there was another round tacked on, Guida would have taken it based on his superior cardio. Both fighters impressed me and I want to see both fight again. Highlights included a Clay Guida leg lock that had me turning my back on the TV (Griffin was slightly less squeamish as he hammered looping punches to Guida's ribs while Guida tried to bend his knee backwards). Another big highlight was a forward slam by Tyson Griffin. Guida was trying to get a rear naked choke on Griffin, but rode a little high and Griffin almost tried a front roll with Guida on his back, resulting in a big jolt to Clay Guida's neck, but not enough to knock him off. In the end, the judges gave it to Griffin, could have gone either way (I had Guida winning...but would not have argued a draw).
Rick Franklin dominated the entire fight against Yushin Okami (except for one late submission attempt). Franklin moved forward while Okami backpeddled. Not a very exciting fight, but for sure this one was not Franklin's fault, Okami just did not want to engage (which is standard for Okami).
Jason MacDonald was in trouble early against Rory Singer, but rode out the storm and managed to finish Singer in round 2. I wouldn't say that Jason is ready for a title shot again yet, but perhaps another win or two against a big name would put him back in the mix.
Ed Herman dominated the action against Scott Smith (again, if you ignore the choke attempt by Smith). Nuff said about this fight. Maybe Herman and MacDonald should do it again and see who the real contender is.
UFC 72 had some great fights, but really with Ultimate Fighter Finale and UFC 73 coming up it has some tough competition. Also, Shamrock vs Baroni is happening this Friday (not UFC, but I expect to see Baroni back in the UFC after he KO's Shamrock this week.
We found out several things at UFC 72.
Lets start off with Clay Guida vs Tyson Griffin. I thought this was the fight of the night (or afternoon if you're in the same time zone as I am). Tyson Griffin dominated the first 7 1/2 minutes and Guida dominated the last 7 1/2. It was a back and forth fight, but if there was another round tacked on, Guida would have taken it based on his superior cardio. Both fighters impressed me and I want to see both fight again. Highlights included a Clay Guida leg lock that had me turning my back on the TV (Griffin was slightly less squeamish as he hammered looping punches to Guida's ribs while Guida tried to bend his knee backwards). Another big highlight was a forward slam by Tyson Griffin. Guida was trying to get a rear naked choke on Griffin, but rode a little high and Griffin almost tried a front roll with Guida on his back, resulting in a big jolt to Clay Guida's neck, but not enough to knock him off. In the end, the judges gave it to Griffin, could have gone either way (I had Guida winning...but would not have argued a draw).
Rick Franklin dominated the entire fight against Yushin Okami (except for one late submission attempt). Franklin moved forward while Okami backpeddled. Not a very exciting fight, but for sure this one was not Franklin's fault, Okami just did not want to engage (which is standard for Okami).
Jason MacDonald was in trouble early against Rory Singer, but rode out the storm and managed to finish Singer in round 2. I wouldn't say that Jason is ready for a title shot again yet, but perhaps another win or two against a big name would put him back in the mix.
Ed Herman dominated the action against Scott Smith (again, if you ignore the choke attempt by Smith). Nuff said about this fight. Maybe Herman and MacDonald should do it again and see who the real contender is.
UFC 72 had some great fights, but really with Ultimate Fighter Finale and UFC 73 coming up it has some tough competition. Also, Shamrock vs Baroni is happening this Friday (not UFC, but I expect to see Baroni back in the UFC after he KO's Shamrock this week.
Friday, June 15. 2007
UFC 72 Predictions - Preliminary
UFC 72 is tomorrow (June 16, 2007) and as many of you know by now, I like to take a couple of cracks at these predictions, starting well before the actual fight night. UFC 72 is no different. In fact, I'm in a bit of a predicting mood today, so I may even give my preliminary UFC 73 predictions today as well.Let's start off with the UFC 72 Fight Card as it sits right now.
Rich Franklin vs Yushin Okami
Hector Ramirez vs Forrest Griffin
Rory Singer vs Jason MacDonald
Clay Guida vs Tyson Griffin
Jason Tan vs Marcus Davis
Tom Murphy vs Jake O'Brien
Eddie Sanchez vs Colin Robinson
Scott Smith vs Ed Herman
Dustin Hazelett vs Stevie Lynch
There are two things worth noting about the UFC 72 fight card. First, there are no title fights on the card. This is a bit of a disappointment, but still there are some worthy fights on this card.
Let's start off with my prediction for Rich Franklin vs Yusin Okami:
Most of the fans who read this page are familiar with Rich Franklin. For those of you who aren't, Rich has an excellent stand up game and heavy hands (try to forget his loss to Anderson Silva). Rich is also comfortable on the ground, but mostly in the top position.
Yushin Okami has an impressive resume, but has yet to face a fighter like Rich Franklin (you can also forget about Okami's victory over current UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva. That was a DQ victory, very early in the fight. Most of Okami's victories are by strikes, which makes this an excellent match up with Franklin.
I'm going to give the edge in this fight to Franklin, just based on the experience factory (not total fights, but who he's fought). In either case, I don't think this will be a quick or easy fight.
Prediction: Rich Franklin, probably by decision.
Hector Ramirez vs Forrest Griffin
What can I say. I will not pick Forrest against anybody but a top 5 fighter at light heavyweight. I don't think Ramirez is a top 5, so my pick goes to Forrest Griffin.
Rory Singer vs Jason MacDonald
I like both of these fighters as well, but again it's a matter of who they've fought. I'm going to take Jason MacDonald in this fight.
Clay Guida vs Tyson Griffin
Prediction : Tyson Griffin
Jason Tan vs Marcus Davis
Prediction : Marcus Davis
Tom Murphy vs Jake O'Brien
Prediction : Jake O'Brien, by boring decision.
Eddie Sanchez vs Colin Robinson
Prediction : Eddie Sanchez
Scott Smith vs Ed Herman
Prediction : if Ed Herman looses this fight he will not fight in the UFC again
Ed's gonna take this one.Dustin Hazelett vs Stevie Lynch
I don't know enough about these guys to really have a prediction on this fight. Feel free to comment with your own prediction.
Thursday, May 10. 2007
Rich Franklin vs Yushin Okami at UFC 72
Rich "Ace" Franklin takes on replacement opponent Yushin Okami at UFC 72 in Belfast, Ireland. Franklin's original opponent for this fight was Martin Kampmann. While Kampamann was a worthy opponent, he didn't present the same set of problems that Okami could for Franklin. Yushin Okami is just starting to get recognition in the UFC following his decision victory over Mike Swick at UFC 69. Okama also has recent wins over UFC names like Rory Singer, Kalib Starnes and Alan Belcher. Okami also holds a victory over current UFC middleweight title holder Anderson Silva, but that victory came by disqualification and was very early in the fight.
It's a gutsy move by Rich Franklin to take this fight. Franklin is on the fast track to a title shot, but a loss here to Okami could mean a long climb back up the middleweight ladder. I applaud both fighters for taking this one on relatively short notice.