Saturday night marks the Ultimate Fighting Championship's first foray into the pacific northwest as Seattle plays host to Ultimate Fight Night 24, at the former home of the team currently known as the Oklahoma City Thunder (back when they were called the SuperSonics) Key Arena. The main card will be shown on Spike TV, as preliminary fights will be streamed via Facebook starting at 9 pm. After a 2-2 performance at UFC 128, I'm hoping to turn my fortunes as I've been a disappointing 11-12-1 on the year when it comes to picks. Let's see :
The Main event features Antonio Rogerio "Lil Nog" Noguiera taking on blue chip prospect "Mr. Wonderful" Phil Davis. This is Noguiera's first fight since Ryan Bader stopped his 7 fight win streak back at UFC 119, while Davis, whom was scheduled to fight Matt Hammil in Toronto (before several switches to that original fight), slips into this main event to replace Tito Ortiz, who was originally scheduled to face the Brazilian before suffering a cut during training that required stitches.
Davis isn't an "freak" athlete in the vein of new 205. lb Kingpin Jon "Bones" Jones, but his athleticism and wrestling skill give him a distinct advantage over the Brazilian. Noguiera, despite his win streak, has looked every bit of his 34 years (and more) lately, looking stiff in fights against Luiz Cane and Jason Brilz before that fight vs Bader. Though Noguiera has a ton of experience, its hard for me to look past the youth and talent of the American. The Pick : Davis by decision.
The co-main event features welterweight mainstays Dan "The Outlaw" Hardy and Anthony "Rumble" Johnson. This is Johnson's first fight since 2009, when he lost out to Josh Koscheck via rear naked choke (after Koscheck faked an eye poke and subsequently got 2 ring girls released), while the Brit steps into the cage for the first time since he was walloped by Carlos Condit at UFC 120 last October. The main issue surrounding this fight has been as much both men's distaste at being just the co-feature as well as Johnson's weight issues, as the American has a history of not making it, though Hardy says he'll fight either way. There will be a lot of fisticuffs in this contest. Expect the leather to fly, with Hardy being on the receiving end of another KO. The Pick : Johnson by knockout.
TUF graduates Amir Sabdollah and DaMarques Johnson get it on in the 2nd fight on the main card. Johnson is coming off a win vs. Mike Guymon in the last Spike televised Fight Night in January, while Sabdollah is looking to improve his MMA record to 5-2 having last fought on UFC 122 last November. Expect the TUF 7 winner to overwhelm Johnson in the early going, though the "US vs UK" veteran will weather the storm and ultimately grind it out.
The pick : Johnson by decision.
In what was fight of the year on many people's lists in 2010, Leonard Garcia will fight Chan Jung Sung, who saw a spike when it cames to selling his "Korean Zombie" t-shirts from that first encounter. Sung is a late replacement for Nam Pham, who was expected to fight Garcia before an injury suffered in training. Sung is also fighting for the first time since getting floored by George Roop at WEC 51 last September (which, oddly enough, killed that spike in his t-shirt sales!).
I see this fight going a lot similar to their first encounter, with wild punches being thrown and technique being thrown out the window. I also expect it to finish with the same outcome.
The pick : Sung by decision.
-In other news, Jon "Bones" Jones made an appearance on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno last night. Wonder if he tried to slap a figure 4 on the talk show host?
-Strikeforce, Showtime and UFC executives all held a meeting together for the first time since Zuffa purchased the California based promotion just 2 weeks ago. Scott Coker said the meeting was "productive" according to MMAJunkie.com. Did you expect him to say anything else?
- Coker was also quick to point out that "Daley vs. Diaz" tickets sales jumped due to the advertising on UFC 128 PPV broadcast. Again, what did he honestly expect? People would eat dog food if it were advertised by Dana White.
- Fedor Emelianenko is set to star in the film "The Salamander Key" opposite veteran actors Michael Madsen and Rutger Hauer, which debuted in Russia last night, March 24th according to MMAjunkie. I don't even think the fact that I am such a huge fan of the Russian could save it. MMA fighters should NOT try to act! I don't care if you're Randy Couture or Rampage Jackson, you earn your money in the cage. If a guy is following you around with a camera documenting your life, that's one thing...but to try to do make believe? that's a whole different thing.
Questions? Comments? Want to get back to me? email me at mmarmaggeddon@gmail.com
Until next time, Fight fans!
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