UFC 103 Picks

Ok time for the good stuff, picks for UFC 103. There are a lot of good fights on this card so let’s jump right in.

PRELIMINARY CARD:

Efrain Escudero v.s Cole Miller – This has the potential to be a very solid fight. We have the ultimate fighter 8 winner going up against a solid UFC fighter. Miller who is 4-1 in the UFC holds recent wins over Jorge Gurgel and Junie Browning with submission wins. Miller is good at submissions but he also hasn’t faced difficult challenges. His biggest challenge was Jeremy Stephens and he lost that fight. Escudero on the other hand is still undefeated in his MMA career and has shown great talent in the ultimate fighter tournament. I think Escudero takes this one.

Escudero def. Miller by unanimous decision

Andrew McFedries v.s Tomasz Drawl – McFedries has made a solid name for himself in the UFC with a 4-4 record. However, when we look at his losses, they are all to very difficult middleweights such as Mark Kampmann, Patrick Cote, and Thales Leites. McFedries is for sure in that sort of gatekeeper area where lesser fighters are easily taken care of but better fighters just can’t be taken down. Drawl meanwhile is 2-1 in the UFC but has no notable wins. Both fighters are able to finish fights early, so this one is really tough. I give the edge to the veteran.

McFedries def. Drawl by TKO at 2:00 of the second round

Jim Miller v.s Steve Lopez – While miller spouts a 3-1 record in the UFC his only notable win is against Mac Danzig and that’s not really saying much given that Danzig sucks now. However, he did have a solid match against Gray Maynard going the distance for all 3 rounds. Given that i know nothing about Lopez i’m gonna play it safe and give Miller the win.

Miller def. Lopez by unanimous decision

Rafaello Oliveira v.s Nick Lentz – Oliveira will be making his UFC debut at UFC 103 strolling in with a good record of 10 wins and only one loss. Nick Lentz also making his debut will be spouting a much longer record of 20 wins and 3 losses. Both these fighters are ground specialists so it’s obvious that this will be going to the ground and will most likely stay there for a good 95% of the match. Given the defense both of these guys have I can’t see a submission getting sneaked on. Therefore I’ll give the edge to the veteran to hold it out for a decision win.

Lentz def. Oliveira by split decision

Rick Story v.s Brian Foster – Though Story has solid wrestling skills he does not have the ability to finish fights and get the job done. Given the fact that he is taking the spot short notice adds to the edge that Foster will be getting. Foster who will be making his debut is a freestyle fighter with a MMA record of 15-3, has the ability to finsih off Story. Foster has never been to a decision and most of his wins are in the first round. I think Foster is going to make this one quick and painless for Story.

Foster def. Story by KO 1:30 of the first round

Elliot Marshall v.s Jason Brilz – I’m liking Elliot Marshall for this fight. He’s a very solid fighter and is currently 2-0 in the UFC with a big win over TUF favorite Vinny Magalhaes. Marshall has really good brazilian ju jit-su and though Brilz is a very solid wrestler and has good defense, I think Marshall’s well rounded status to win on the ground or standing gives him the edge in this fight.

Marshall def. Brilz by TKO (strikes) at 3:00 of the third round

Vladimir Matyushenko v.s Igor Pokrajac – Who the hell are these guys?

Matyushenko def Pokrajac by unanimous decision

Rob Emerson v.s Rafael dos Anjos – Quite personally I don’t think either of these guys is very good. Emerson hasn’t won against anyone notable and Anjos has two losses in a row to decent tiered fighters. I’ll give them edge to Emerson, at least he was able to KO Gray Maynard even though it was a double KO.

Emerson def. Anjos by KO at 2:30 of the second round

MAIN CARD:

Tyson Griffin v.s Hermes Franca – Griffin who has a current record of 6-2 in the UFC is looking good in this fight. He holds a big win over Clay Guida and his only 2 loses in the UFC were against lightweight notables Sean Sherk and Frankie Edgar. Hermes Franca is looking just as good with a UFC record of 4-2 with his 2 losses being to the same exact people that Griffin lost to. This fight is going to go to the ground and with a black belt in BJJ I think Franca will be able to pull off a submission win.

Franca def. Griffin by submission (armbar) at 3:30 of the third round

Josh Koscheck v.s Frank Trigg – The 6 year younger Koscheck will most likely have the edge in this fight. His wrestling will be able to neutralize Trigg’s boxing which I think Frank likes more than his ground game. In the end there won’t be anything flashy in this fight, both these fighters like to drag it out and go all the way. The name of the game will be to play it safe and just chip away at each other. That being said I think Koscheck will be able to do it better than Trigg can.

Koscheck def. Trigg by unanimous decision

Martin Kampmann v.s Paul Daley – Daley simply just doesn’t have enough time to get himself ready to take on Kampmann. If this fight was still against Swick than there would be something to talk about, but quite frankly Daley has his work cut out for him and unfortunately I don’t think he’ll be able to pull it off.

Kampmann def. Daley by submission (guillotine choke) at 4:00 of the second round

Cro Cop v.s Junior Dos Santos – While Cro Cop has been unable to show his greatness from the days of old I still think he is one of the best in the game. However Dos Santos is going to be quite a challenge for the legend. This guy has an 8-1 record and hs never been past the first round. That’s pretty impressive. Given his 10 year youth edge on Cro Cop he for sure has a good hand at winning this. It’s tough however to just ignore Cro Cop’s insane kicking ability. I’m going with the legend.

Cro Cop def. Dos Santos by KO (head kick) at 1:30 of the first round

Rich Franklin v.s Vitor Belfort – Old Vitor Belfort for sure has the ability to strike fear in most people’s hearts by winning against fighters like Couture, Abbot, and Hearing. However new Vitor was unable to take out fighters like Hendo, Liddell, and Ortiz. These are all fighters that I would throw Franklin in there as well. If Vitor is at the top of his game then I can see him winning this match, but I think his hiatus from UFC talent will cost him. As long as old school Vitor doesn’t show up then Franklin has this one in the bag.

Franklin def. Belfort by unanimous decision

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