UFC 87 Preview

UFC 87 will be held this Saturday at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. All fighters made weight, with Brock Lesnar weighing the heavyweight limit at 265.

WW Champ Georges St. Pierre vs. Jon Fitch- GSP at (16-2) is one of the best athlete's in the game and has some of the best overall skills in MMA. In his last three fights he has destroyed Matt Serra, beat up Matt Hughes, and out wrestled one of the best wrestlers in Josh Koscheck.

Jon Fitch at (18-2) has rattled off 8 straight victories of his own inside the octagon. However, a couple have been split decisions, and were very close. Fitch has a complete all-around game and will have to use it in this fight. I see the fight taking place on the feet, with GSP unleasing a fury.

Brock Lesnar vs. Heath Herring- In Lesnar's (1-1) first fight he worked over Min So Kim in K1. In his second effort he beat up Frank Mir, until Mir sensed Lesnar stand up while in guard, grabbed his leg and pulled off a submission. Herring (28-13) has gone 2-2 in the UFC with all four fights going to decision. His last fight was an ugly decision victory over Cheick Kongo.

Lesnar has proven he can get takedowns in MMA. He hasn't proven that he can avoid submissions. I think Lesnar will overwelm Herring and get a TKO early. The fight won't go past the second round.

Kenny Florian vs. Roger Huerta- Florian at (9-3) has looked dominant in his four straight wins inside the UFC. He has beaten Joe Lauzon, Din Thomas, Alvin Robinson and Dokonjonosuke Mishima winning each by early stoppage. Huerta at (20-1) has not beaten the same level of competition as Florian. Huerta is an extremely exciting fighter and most likely will keep it standing. This fight could end up being a muay thai/kickboxing battle on the feet.

Rob Emerson vs. Manny Gamburyan- Manny Gamburyan (8-2) looks healthy and has won two straight since his injury loss against Nate Diaz in the TUF 5 finale. Emerson is coming off a decision win over Keita Nakamura in UFC 81.

Jason MacDonald vs. Demian Maia- Jason MacDonald is coming off a big win over Joe Doerkson after his loss to Yushin Okami. Maia is a perfect (7-0) a submission wizard, with BJJ blackbelt. MacDonald holds some impressive submission victories as well. The winner will likely be put up near a top contender spot.

-Undercard-
Luke Cummo vs. Tamdan McCrory
Dan Evensen vs. Cheick Kongo
Jon Jones vs. Andre Gusmao
Steve Bruno vs. Chris Wilson
Ben Saunders vs. Ryan Thomas

*Picture of GSP kneeing a downed Matt Serra

*Picture of Lesnar from the WWE days

Anderson the Destroyer - UFC 82 Results

UFC 82 had three pretty great fights and two well fought decisions. I've been able to watch most of the undercard fights on Ultimate MMA Videos, see friend links on the right side. The fight of the night went to Anderson Silva and Dan Henderson for good reason. KO of the night went to Chris Leben. Anderson also got the submission of the night. Despite being on the undercard, Arlovski and Diego got quite a reception in Ohio. Here are the results:

Anderson Silva def. Dan Henderson via submission (rear-naked choke) — R2, 4:52 - Dan Henderson was able to win the first round after a body lock takedown and controlling Anderson for the rest of the round. This was accomplished by elbows and short hammerfists to the face, but Anderson looked calm and waited for the bell.

In the second, Anderson landed leg and body kicks to Henderson. Henderson threw punches that failed to meet their mark. They both traded blows before Henderson caught a knee to the head and was taken down. Henderson was dazed and the rear naked choke was sunk forcing Dan to tap. Anderson has secured his legacy as one of the best UFC fighters of all time.
**MMA Blaster pollsters were correct - 29 voted correctly, 25 were wrong!
**MMA Blaster pick correct


Heath Herring def. Cheick Kongo via split decision - After Herring tagged Kongo with a punch to the face, Kongo took Herring down and was controlled the rest of the round. The second and their rounds saw Herring controlling the ground game and winning the split decision.
**MMA Blaster pick incorrect

Chris Leben def. Alessio Sakara via TKO (strikes) — R1, 3:36 - Sakara seemed to land more punches and have better technique, but Leben landed a powerful left hook that sent Sakara to the canvas, Leben pounced and finished Sakara off for the victory.
**MMA Blaster pick correct

Yushin Okami def. Evan Tanner via KO (knee) — R2, 3:00 - After a couple minutes of boxing, Okami was able to knock Tanner to the canvas and then control him for the first round. The second saw Okami work Tanner over in the Thai clinch landing a knee directly to Tanner's head.
**MMA Blaster pick correct

Jon Fitch def. Chris Wilson via unanimous decision - Fitch controlled most of the fight by getting more takedowns and controlling the action on the ground. Wilson was able to land some combinations. It was a fairly lackluster fight.
**MMA Blaster pick correct

Andrei Arlovski def. Jake O’Brien via TKO (strikes) — R2, 4:17 - O'Brien tried extremely hard for a takedown in the first round, absorbing some punishment before finally getting one. In the second, while pushed against the fence, Arlovski scored a trip takedown from a body lock. From there Arlovski rained down punches before looking at the ref. A couple more shots and the ref stepped in. I originally thought it was a quick stoppage, but O'Brien was definately hurt lying on the ground and didn't look to know where he was afterwards.
**MMA Blaster pick correct

Luigi Fioravanti def. Luke Cummo via unanimous decision
**MMA Blaster pick incorrect

Josh Koscheck def. Dustin Hazelett via TKO (strikes) — R2, 1:24 - After a pretty even first round, Kos overwelmed Hazelett in the second and got the TKO from strikes.
**MMA Blaster pick incorrect

Diego Sanchez def. David Bielkheden via submission (strikes) — R1, 4:42 - Diego fired out of the gate getting the takedown and systematically found the mark with his strikes.
**MMA Blaster pick correct

Jorge Gurgel def. John Halverson via unanimous decision
**MMA Blaster pick incorrect