Looking at the card for tomorrows UFC pay per view has me thinking just one thing: other than BJ Penn there is no one here the UFC wants to see fight for a title. Just look at these fighters and how unmarketable they are and see what I mean. Do you think the UFC wants to see Jon Fitch win and possibly get a shot at the welterweight title and GSP? The answer is of course not because Jon Fitch is the most boring fighter on the planet who admits to "grinding out opponents." How do you market a guy to fans when he admits to not trying to finish people?
Fitch isn't the only fighter the UFC doesn't want to see succeed though. Jorge Rivera and Chris Lytle are both too old to have much more of a career in the sport and neither would make a great champion. Dennis Siver and GST (not spelling Sotiropoulos every time) are both excellent fighters but Siver doesn't speak English and GST doesn't like dealing with the media as evidence by his recent interview with Ariel Helwani. Michael Bisping has potential but it seems everyone outside of the UK hates him and he has still yet to beat anyone of note.
Anybody who thinks I'm wrong needs to take a step back and look at who GST is fighting. This is a guy who has won 8 fights in a row (7 of them in the UFC) and instead of being put in the title picture or being given a legit title contender the UFC gives him Dennis Siver? Don't get me wrong Siver is a legit fighter and is no push over but when you list off the top 10 lightweights in the UFC does he make the list? His biggest wins are Spencer Fisher and Andre Winner who aren't exactly elite level fighters.
The UFC makes these fights for a reason and its easy to understand why. They are running a business and trying to sell a product. In order to sell that product to more people you need charismatic champions that you can market and none of these guys, with the exception of BJ Penn, fight that description. I can tell you right now that I would not spend money on a PPV that was headlined by Michael Bisping or GST.
Having said that I am really looking forward to the fights tomorrow. They should all be exciting and the fact that "the cookie" from Shoeless Joe's will be involved makes the anticipation almost unbearable. Here are my predictions:
Kyle "KO" Noke (18-4-1) vs. Chris "Kamikaze" Camozzi (14-3)
Both of these guys came into the UFC via The Ultimate Fighter Season 11 and both are undefeated since the show finished. Noke is from Australia and will have the fans support which, along with his advantage in terms of experience, should be the difference in the fight.
I don't think Noke has such a superior advantage that he will be able to finish the fight but he is an all-around better fighter and I think he will pull out the decision (hopefully the only decision of the night).
Prediction: Noke via Decision
Chris "Lights Out" Lytle (30-17-5) vs. Brian "Bad Boy" Ebersole (46-14-1)
This fight was supposed to be Lytle vs Carlos Condit but Condit got injured and so Ebersole has stepped in. If I were Lytle I would be pretty pissed because a win over Carlos Condit moves him up in the rankings (although as I stated above he has no chance of a title shot) while a win over Ebersole does little to help his momentum.
The only upside for Lytle is that Ebersole has had over 60 professional fights and has never fought in the UFC before so he should have no problem finishing him and possibly collecting another fight of the night/knockout of the night bonus.
Lytle will be turning 37 this year so I don't know how many more fights he has in him so its kind of sad that one of his last has to be against such a jobber like Ebersole. This fight should stay on the feet and whenever that happens it is always a safe bet to pick the former professional boxer.
Prediction: Lytle via TKO
George Sotiropoulos (14-2) vs. Dennis Siver (17-7)
Poor GST. Even if he beats Siver he is still 2-3 wins away from a title shot. I love how the UFC does this. They pick a great fighter like GST and stick him against a guy that he is clearly going to just walk over and outclass and try and build up enough hype that eventually you say to yourself "yeah I could see Siver pulling this off." Its a tactic they use all the time with whoever is fighting Anderson or GSP. They make you think the opponent has a chance and then they get dismantled and you kick yourself for ever buying into the hype.
GST is filthy on the ground and he has shown that he can stand long enough to eventually get the fight to the ground. Siver is primarily a stand up fighter and he loves to throw that spinning back kick to the ribs. I like Siver but in this fight he is above his pedigree and GST is going to use the hometown crowd going nuts to propel him to victory.
The only real question GST has to ask himself is whether he wants to take Siver's arm or his leg home with him?
Prediction: GST via Submission
Michael "The Count" Bisping (20-3) vs. Jorge "El Conquistador" Rivera (19-7)
This is the fight I am most looking forward to and its not because I am a Jorge Rivera fan. I hate Michael Bisping. Hate him. When Dan Henderson knocked him out and then hit him with that vicious cheap shot I had a smile on my face that could not be wiped off for weeks. To this day it remains one of my top 5 sports memories ever. It was magical.
Never has a fighter been more overrated than Bisping. People always talk about how he is so good and how he has knockout power. I have yet to see this "power" people speak of. Since he has been in the UFC he has never knocked anybody out. I have seen every one of his fights and can never remember him hitting someone with a big punch that sent them to the floor. He swarms guys and finishes them with punches but he doesn't knock people out like an Anderson Silva or Shane Carwin. He is a big piece of shit that talks too much and can't back it up by beating anyone of note and don't dare try and say Akiyama is a noteworthy win.
So here is hoping that Bisping circles into the power hand of Rivera like he did with Henderson. He does like to circle to his left and at least once per fight he gets tagged with a big right hand. So my fingers are crossed Rivera can do that to him tomorrow and finally put a stop to all of this 'Bisping as a contender crap.'
Prediction: Rivera via KO (don't think it will happen just want it to sooooo badly)
BJ "The Prodigy" Penn (16-7-1) vs. Jon Fitch (23-3)
Before writing my predictions I like to check some of the major MMA sites and see what their experts think is gonna happen. Every single person said the exact same thing "Fitch via decision." And that's probably what's going to happen because there is no one in the UFC that is better at dragging people to the ground and holding them there while not inflicting damage than Jon Fitch. Gray Maynard has tried to take the title as "WrestleFuck" king but to his dismay Fitch just keeps on laying and praying.
Since entering the UFC Fitch has been in 14 fights. 10 of those have gone to decision including his last 8 in a row. The guy just doesn't know how to finish people and to be honest I don't think he wants to. He just loves getting in the cage and wrestling for 15 minutes. Maybe it reminds him of his college days and he is constantly trying to regain his youth. Who knows? All I know is that its boring as shit.
Yet people continue to defend him and say he is the #2 welterweight in the world. If he is so damn good why didn't he finish Ben Saunders, Mike Pierce, Akihiro Gono or Chris Wilson? If he is so talented and dominant why can't the guy put anybody away? It's not so much that he doesn't finish fights its that he doesn't even try. He is so content to sit in the half guard and rain down weak punches and hammerfists to the point where the guy on the bottom is more annoyed than hurt. Its just so hard to watch.
Fitch usually uses his size to control fighters because when he steps in the cage he is usually at 185-190 but now that he is on this new vegetarian diet he is said to be walking around at 173 so maybe that might be something to keep an eye on.
With BJ Penn it always comes down to the same question: which BJ shows up? Is it the BJ Penn that walks through people and then licks blood off of his gloves or the BJ Penn that seems like he wants to be anywhere but in the cage?
BJ has better stand up than Fitch and his BJJ is world class so there are ways Penn can win. If he can avoid the take downs (which he is great at) and keep the fight standing, he wins. If he can force Fitch to make a mistake on the ground, he wins. So BJ does have a chance to win this fight and I really hope he does because if I have to watch Jon Fitch lay on somebody for 15 minutes I am going to snap.
Prediction: Penn via Submission
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