UFC Predictions - UFC 72

UFC 72 Opinion

nospam@example.com (UFC Ultimate Fighter) — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 06:47:14 -0700

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.

UFC 72 Results

nospam@example.com (UFC Ultimate Fighter) — Sat, 16 Jun 2007 15:27:45 -0700

Here are the UFC 72 Results

Rich Franklin (185) vs Yushin Okami (185)
Winner : Rich Franklin by Decision

Forrest Griffin (204) vs Hector Ramirez (204)
Winner : Forrest Griffin by decision

Jason MacDonald (185) vs Rory Singer (186)
Winner : Jason MacDonald

Tyson Griffin (155) vs Clay Guida (155)
Winner : Tyson Griffin

Marcus Davis (169) vs Jason Tan (169)
Winner : Marcus Davis

Ed Herman (186) vs Scott Smith (185)
Winner : Ed Herman

I'll post the other results as I get them
Eddie Sanchez (234) vs Colin Robinson (238)

Dustin Hazelett (169) vs Steve Lynch (170)

UFC 72 Predictions - Preliminary

nospam@example.com (UFC Ultimate Fighter) — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 08:57:00 -0700

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.

UFC 72 Results

nospam@example.com (UFC Ultimate Fighter) — Thu, 31 May 2007 05:58:00 -0700

UFC 72 will take place on June 16, 2007. This is a placeholder for the UFC 72 Results immediately following the fight. In keeping with our new tradition, we will feature the actual UFC 72 Results immediately following the link, so that we don't spoil anyones day.

Until then here is the UFC 72 Fight Card:

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
Continue reading "UFC 72 Results"

Upcoming UFC Events

nospam@example.com (UFC Ultimate Fighter) — Wed, 23 May 2007 06:01:40 -0700

Just a quick update on a bunch of different things:

Upcoming UFC events
UFC 71 - Chuck Liddell vs Quinton Jackson May 26th
UFC Fight Night Live - Sam Stout vs Spencer Fisher June 12
UFC 72 - Rich Franklin vs Yushin Okami June 16th
Ultimate Fighter 5 Finale Jens Pulver vs BJ Penn June 23rd
UFC 73 - Tito Ortiz vs Rashad Evans July 7

Looks like the next month and a half will be extremely exciting for the UFC fans out there. Also, lets not forget the debut's of Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Mauricio Shogun Rua. Also Forrest Griffin, Keith Jardine, Heath Herring, Anderson Silva, Nate Marquardt, Kenny Floirian, Chris Leben, Sean Sherk, Hermes Franca and a number of other big names are spread across these cards. Keep tuned here for predictions on all the big fights.

Also, post a comment on who you'd like to see Shogun face first in the UFC. I think he should warm up with Stephan Bonner.

UFC 72 Fight Card

nospam@example.com (UFC Ultimate Fighter) — Mon, 14 May 2007 12:21:53 -0700

UFC 72 is a Pay Per View event being held in Belfast Ireland. The main event match features Rich Franklin vs Yushin Okami. The winner of this match may very well challenge for the middleweight title later this year.

Rich Franklin vs Yushin Okami
Hector Ramirez vs Forrest Griffin
Rory Singer vs Jason MacDonald
Clay Guida vs Tyson Griffin
TBD vs Marcus Davis
Tom Murphy vs Jake O'Brien
Eddie Sanchez vs Colin Robinson
Scott Smith vs Ed Herman
Dustin Hazelett vs Stevie Lynch

Rich Franklin vs Yushin Okami at UFC 72

nospam@example.com (UFC Ultimate Fighter) — Thu, 10 May 2007 08:02:14 -0700

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.

UFC 72 Will be on PPV, not SpikeTV?

nospam@example.com (UFC Ultimate Fighter) — Wed, 9 May 2007 13:05:52 -0700

I see nothing about UFC 72 being available on SpikeTV on UFC's web site. Here is the info about UFC 72

UFC® continues to take Europe by storm as UFC 72: VICTORY hits Northern Ireland! Rich “Ace” Franklin continues his quest to regain the UFC Middleweight Championship as he takes on another top middleweight contender, Yushin Okami. Plus, Light Heavyweight favorite Forrest Griffin returns to the Octagon to face Hector “Sick Dog” Ramirez. UFC 72: VICTORY will be live, Saturday, 16 June, from The Odyssey in Belfast LIVE on pay-per-view in the USA, Canada and the United Kingdom.

Martin Kampman injured his knee.

nospam@example.com (UFC Ultimate Fighter) — Mon, 7 May 2007 16:35:33 -0700

It looks like Rich Franklin will be facing somebody other than Martin Kampman at UFC 72 in Belfast on June 16th. Kampman suffered a knee injury during training. The UFC is looking for a worthy opponent to take on Franklin.

Jason MacDonald vs Rory Singer

nospam@example.com (UFC Ultimate Fighter) — Fri, 27 Apr 2007 11:45:35 -0700

At UFC 72 in Belfast Ireland, it looks like TUF veteran Rory Singer will face Canadian Jason MacDonald. This should be an interesting fight between two well matched guys. Personally, I pick MacDonald to take this one, but you can't tell what his attitude will be like after the beat down that Rich Franklin gave him in Ohio.

This is according to full contact fighter radio.

Ed Herman vs Scott Smith added to UFC 72

nospam@example.com (UFC Ultimate Fighter) — Thu, 26 Apr 2007 11:56:29 -0700

UFC 72 in Belfast, Ireland has added a bout between Ed "Short Fuse" Herman and Scott "Hands of Steel" Smith. This is a nice fight between two rising stars in the UFC 185 LB middleweight division. Herman is best on the ground, while Scott Smith is best known for his punching, including his last ditch effort KO of Pete Sell.

UFC 72 will be shown on Spike TV on June 16th.

UFC 72 In Ireland

nospam@example.com (UFC Ultimate Fighter) — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 11:59:49 -0700

There have been rumours about this all over this place, but today UFC.com made it official. UFC 72 will be held in Belfast, Ireland and will feature the following two bouts.

RICH “ACE” FRANKLIN vs. MARTIN KAMPMANN
FORREST GRIFFIN vs. HECTOR RAMIREZ

UFC 72 will be held on Saturday June 16, 2007.