UFC 116 Picks

Well, I have decided to post my picks for UFC 116. Since there are a lot of toss-up fights on this card, maybe I can finally get some luck. Let's go to the fights:

Karlos Vemola vs. Jon Madsen - A fight between two undefeated fighters. Madsen was on the Ultimate Fighter, which means he's kind of already been defeated since he didn't win the show. Vemola looks a lot meaner, so it's probably best to go with him. Vemola by TKO.

Forrest Petz vs. Daniel Roberts - Forrest Petz has been around forever, and he's back in the UFC after a dominating performance at Moosin: God of War (the fantastic MMA card that put Mariusz Pudzainowski vs. Tim Sylvia). He's beat some solid guys, and lost to some solid guys. Daniel Roberts was undefeated before getting knocked out in his UFC debut by John Howard. Since I don't think Petz will knock him out, I'll pick Daniel Roberts. Roberts by Unanimous Decision.

Dave Branch vs. Gerald Harris - Dave is another undefeated fighter, and he trains under Renzo Gracie. I was not able to find out whether he's related to Deon Branch, so I'll assume that he is. Gerald Harris has decided to be a straight-up G when fighting and has been knocking out everything in sight. That sounds like a guy that I should probably pick to win a fight. Harris by TKO.

Kendall Grove vs. Goran Reljic - Grove has won some matches and lost some matches. He's beaten surprisingly good competition and lost to surprisingly bad competition. Because of this, I am not comfortable picking any of his fights. Luckily, he is fighting Goran Reljic, who is Croatian. Since I never pick against a fellow Croat, this decision is easy. Reljic by KO.

Seth Petruzelli vs. Ricardo Romero - Petruzelli is best known as the Kimbo Killer, you know, back when some (and by some, I mean morons) thought Kimbo was actually good. Romero is basically undefeated as his only loss was for being disqualified for an illegal kick. Could Petruzelli be known as the Romero Romper? No. Romero by Submission.

Brendan Schaub vs. Chris Tuchscherer - These guys are both best known for being losers when they had chances to be immortalized. Schaub lost in the Ultimate Fighter Finale, and Tuchscherer lost in the finals of YAMMA Pit Fighting. Could both of them lose this fight? Maybe. What's actually more interesting about this fight is that Schaub trains with Shane Carwin and Tuchscherer trains with Brock Lesnar. Is this a preview of the main event? Not at all, these guys would get smashed the main eventers. Am I just rambling on to waste people's time? It would seem that way. Schaub by Unanimous Decision.

Kurt Pellegrino vs. George Sotiropoulous - For technical skill, this will probably be the top fight of the night. Pellegrino is good on the ground and Sotiropoulous is great on the ground. In his last fight, he put on a clinic against Joe Stevenson. Pellegrino lost to Stevenson about three years ago, which would seem to give the advantage to Sotiropoulous. But that would be neglecting the fact that Pellegrino's nickname is Batman (also, he probably has better wrestling). Pellegrino by Unanimous Decision.

Stephan Bonnar vs. Krzysztof Soszynski - Wow, this is apparently the card where they tried to put everybody who has a hard name to spell on it. Soszynski busted open Bonnar last time, but it was an illegal strike so they're going to have a rematch. This could be for Bonnar's career in the UFC as he hasn't won a fight in like three years, but did manage to test positive for steroids in that time. Bonnar went to Vegas to start really training, so I'm going to say that Bonnar can get his revenge against the guy who's name I don't feel like typing out again. Bonnar by Unanimous Decision.

Matt Brown vs. Chris Lytle - I would probably say this is the odds-on favorite to be fight of the night. It's two guys who love to stand and bang. Lytle has better boxing skills, so if he can keep distance, I think he will probably have an advantage despite Brown's reach advantage. If it gets inside, I would put Brown as having an advantage. Just looked up their fight records, and apparently this is a rematch. Lytle won the first time, so let's set up the trilogy. Brown by Unanimous Decision.

Yoshihiro Akiyama vs. Chris Leben - I'm so disappointed that Wanderlei Silva had to pull out of this fight that I don't want to discuss this fight. Akiyama by Unanimous Decision.

Brock Lesnar vs. Shane Carwin - I always try to find negatives in people's games that will cause them trouble when I am deciding a close fight. Brock Lesnar struggled with Randy Couture, who I think Carwin would steamroll. Carwin struggled with Gonzaga who Lesnar would steamroll. They both annihilated Frank Mir. Looks like I'm back to square one. I think Lesnar is the better athlete, but I think Shane Carwin has a better training camp. What I think this comes down to is that Lesnar just has too many ways to win this fight, he could win it by powerbomb:

He could also win it by the classic F-5.

Hell, he could even win with a Shooting Star Press.

Okay, maybe not a Shooting Star Press, but he'll still win. Lesnar by TKO.

-Joe


P.S. This was a very heavy sports week on the blog, mostly because I am extremely long-winded when trying to fix the Cubs. I'll be attacking popular culture more next week.

P.P.S. If you're unemployed like me or just have a lot of free time, I would highly recommend listening to the Daves of Thunder podcast. I think I might be retarded for getting so much enjoyment out of it, but I really can't help it.