The UFC will be traveling to Tampa for the first time as the Sun Dome will be hosting UFC Fight Night 17 on February 7. This event will be broadcast for free on Spike TV.
The main event will be a lightweight match between Joe Lauzon and Jeremy Stephens.
The following is short examination of the main card;
Joe Lauzon vs Jeremy Stephens
Joe Lauzon(16 - 4) is 24 years old, 5 feet 10 inches tall, with a reach of 70 inches. He holds a Bachelor's degree in computer networking and use to work as a network administrator before he began training full time in MMA. He now runs a MMA gym in Massachusetts and has been competing in Mixed Martial Arts competitions since 2004.
Lauzon is great ground fighter. His Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is top notch and he has ended 13 of his matches by submission. His stand up isn't as good but is better than most competitors. His take down ability is what makes him really dangerous as he can take opponents down in unpredictable ways like the way Lauzon used a flying scissors heel hook to take Kyle Bradly down in his last fight at UFC Fight Night 15.
Jeremy Stephens(16 - 3) is 22 years old and 5 feet 9 inches tall.. He has been training in MMA for 6 years and began competing in 2005. He is the former Universal Gladiator Championships and Midwest Cage Championships 155 pound champion before relinquishing the titles as he joined the UFC in 2007. Stephens is taking this match on short notice since Hermes Franca had to withdraw from the match due to injury.
Stephens last fight was in November 2008 at UFC 91 where he was able to score a brutal KO victory over Rafeal dos Anjos using a powerful right hand uppercut near the end of the 3rd Round. This knock out earned him the Knock Out of the Night honors.
Stephens KOs Anjos
A majority of Stephens victories come by KO, 12 to be exact. But he also has a solid ground game that stems from his wrestling abilities. He is capable of pulling off submissions brilliantly like getting an Armbar from the guard position
Prediction: Joe Lauzon by Submission
Jeremy Stephens has a chance to make a big name for himself in this match up, but in order to do that he most avoid the brilliant take downs from Lauzon. The stand up battle will be even but Lauzon will be able to get a take down in the middle of an exchange and pull of a submission.
Cain Velasquez vs Denis Stojnic
Cain Velasquez(4 - 0) is 25 years old, 6 feet 1 inch tall with a reach of 77 inches. He is a 2 time All-American collegiate wrestler from ASU and a Junior College National Champ. He began his MMA career in October 2006 with Strikeforce. In 2008 Velasquez joined the UFC and in his debut match he defeated Brad Morris in the 1st Round by TKO (strikes).
In his last fight Velasquez came out strong againist Jake O'Brien at UFC Fight Night 14. The match quickly went to the ground where Cain was able to trap O'Brien's one arm with his legs and the other with his head leaving O'Brien's head open for some powerful pounding. The match was over at 2:02 of the 1st Round, a TKO victory for Velasquez.
Denis Stojnic(5 - 1) is 28 years old and 5 feet 11 inches tall. He is kickboxer and samba practitioner fighting out of Bosnia. This will be Stojnic's debut match in the UFC.
A majority of Stojnic's wins come by Decision. He has competed in several MMA organizations in Europe including Shooto Holland and Obracun Ringu.
Prediction: Cain Valasquez by TKO(strikes)
It's hard to predict this match with so little information on Stojnic. But considering the dominance of Valasquez wrestling ability and the fact that Stojnic's wins come by decisions.
Mac Danzig vs Josh Neer
Mac Danzig(18 - 5 - 1) is 28 years old, 5 feet 9 inches tall with a 70 inch reach. Mac has competed in several MMA organizations in the past 8 years including Gladiator Challenge, World Extreme Cagefighting and King of the Cage. He was then accepted into The Ultimate Fighter 6 where he won the lightweight division. He currently trains at Xtreme Couture and is a proud Vegan.
Danzig is a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu practitioner and an amazing Boxer. He has won 10 fights by Submission (mostly by Rear Naked Choke) and 4 by KO. His grappling game is top notch so look forward to seeing him work this game against Neer.
Josh Neer(24 - 7 - 1) is 25 years old, 5 feet 11 inches tall with a 73 inch reach. He has competed in several MMA organizations since 2003 fighting for a few groups before joining the UFC in 2005.
Neer practices Muay Thai and has a strong wrestling background. He is a great striker with powerful punches and he uses his wrestling abilities to achieve great position on the ground for some ground and pounding.
Prediction: Josh Neer by Unanimous Decision
Neer has the wrestling ability to negate Danzigs grappling. With excellent striking skill he should be able to pull off the victory.
Luigi Fioravanti vs Anthony Johnson
Luigi Fioravanti(13 - 4) is 28 years old, 5 feet 8 inches tall with a 70 inch reach. He is a former Marine who began training in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and kickboxing while stationed in California and Iraq. He is currently a member of American Top Team.
His last match was a catchweight match with Brodie Farber at UFC Fight Night 16 where he won by Unanimous Decision. In that match Fiorvanti was able to use superior grappling skills to dominate Farber on the ground almost catching Farber in a few chokes.
Anthony Johnson(6 - 2) is 24 years old, 6 feet 2 inches tall with a 78 inch reach. He began his UFC career in 2007 at UFC Fight Night 10 winning in his debut match against Chad Reiner by KO. He is currently 3 - 2 in the UFC.
Johnson has won 4 of his matches by KO. His speed and power make his striking a dominant force in the ring. He has good wrestling ability that helps him control fighters in the clinch or grapple on the ground.
Prediction: Anthony Johnson by Split Decision
Johnson's size will make a big difference in the bout. When Fiorvanti goes for some grappling he'll wear himself out against the bigger opponent. Plus with an 8 inch reach advantage Johnson should dominate the stand up.
Those are the main events there should be few good matches. I'm looking forward to the Johnson bout and seeing how well his striking game is.
Anyways which fights are you looking forward to? Think any of my picks are wrong?
No comments:
Post a Comment