UFC 116 Predictions

As Mike Goldberg would say "here we go!" as yell tap mma returns for UFC 116 and our predictions on this huge event. The Headliner on this card is the biggest heavyweight fight in UFC history between Interim Heavyweight Champion Shane Carwin and Heavyweight Champion the man hated by many loved by few Brock Lesnar. Lets get to the picks

Main Event
UFC Heavyweight Championship
Interim Champion Shane Carwin vs Reigning Champion Brock Lesnar


This will literally be the biggest heavyweight fight in UFC history as Carwin and Lesnar prepare to throw XXXXL and XXXXXL dukes in the center of the Octagon.  This will be Lesnar's first fight back since his life threatening battle with Diverticulitus and the cards in my opinion aren't nearly stacked in his favor. Lesnar and Carwin come from the same wrestling molds but both use them in different ways Lesnar to take his opponents down and make their faces look like freshly ground beef off the Lesnar farm in South Dakota. While Carwin uses his wrestling more like a Randy Couture to close distance keep the fight standing and clinch up and use his super human power in the dirty boxing relam. I think that at some point in this fight unless Carwin or Lesnar can clip the other early that Lesnar will be able to put Carwin on his back, but can he keep him there unlike Frank Mir who really didn't look to get up while Lesnar was on top of him how will Lesnar respond to a huge man with great power looking to get up it may be something a little different than anything Lesnar has felt before.  On the feet though I definitely feel that Carwin has the advantage in the stand-up as for no reason else than his power while I do think Lesnar can hold his own I'm just not 100% sold on Lesnar having the kind of power standing that Carwin has. Lesnar has already admitted that he will be fighting in the southpaw stance for the fight which really says he will be looking to shot in on Carwin. One alarming thing that Lesnar said though is that it is easy to bring someone in to mimick Shane Carwin which I don't believe true because you simply can not simulate power like Carwin's. I think in the end after Carwin gets up from being taken down by Lesnar the two will slug it out and Carwin will connect with his cinder block hand and put Lesnar down.

Yell Tap prediction: Carwin via 2nd round KO




Co-Main Event
Middleweight Division
Chris Leben vs Yoshihiro Akiyama
A lot about this fight can be told by Akiyama's attitude towards it since Wanderlei Silva pulled out. Akiyama almost wanted to pull out of this fight which is a telling sign that his heart isn't into this fight and it honestly could kill him against the heavy handed Leben who comes into the fight just 2 weeks after his last one. Akiyama is an elite judo player and really should look into that as his blue print for winning this fight because trading fists with the iron chinned Leben is not a bright idea and would crush Akiyama. While the feet are the advantage for Leben as was said earlier Akiyama should have the advantage on the ground and he should fight this fight like his with Melvin Manhoef by weathering the storm on the feet and getting a take down and submission. I don't think that will happen though as Leben is a more well rounded fighter than Manhoef.

Yell Tap Prediction: Leben via 2nd rd TKO


Welterweight Division
Matt Brown vs Chris Lytle
The throwdown of the will take place in this fight a rematch of a 2004 meeting between these two brawlers. Lytle has been around for what seems like forever and already holds a win over Brown in 2004, but I see this fight going a little differntly as I think Browns progression since their last bout and Lytle's willingness to brawl will hurt him here.

Yell Tap Prediction: Upset Special Brown via 2nd rd TKO


Light Heavyweight Division
Krystof Soszynski vs Stephan Bonnar
Another rematch here as Bonnar will attempt to get revenge on Soszynski for a controversial TKO loss at UFC 110 when a head butt from Soszynski caused a cut stoppage on Bonnar. This fight will look a lot like their first one but I'm gonna step out of the box and say Bonnar pulls this one out with his UFC career on the line.

Yell Tap Prediction: Bonnar via Unanimous Decision

Lightweight Division
Kurt Pellegrino vs George Sotiropoulos
The grappling battle of the night will take place in the opening bout of the evening and honestly I believe that this one comes down to the training and Kurt trained with better people "cough" Marcello Garcia "cough" and it will show at the end of the night.


Yell Tap prediction: Pellegrino via Unanimous Decision


Spike TV Prelims
Heavyweight Division
Brendan Schaub vs Chris Tuchscherer- Schaub via 2nd rd TKO


Light Heavyweight Division
Ricardo Romero vs Seth Petruzelli- Petruzelli via 3rd rd Submission


Prelims
Middleweight Division
Goran Reljic vs Kendall Grove- Reljic via TKO 3rd Rd


Welterweight Division 
Daniel Roberts vs Forrest Petz- Petz via Unanimous Decision


Heavyweight Division 
Jon Madsen vs Karlos Vemola- Vemola via 1st rd KO

UFC 112 Predictions

Well today is UFC 112, the main card is taking place live at 1 pm from Abu Dhabi the prelims start at 10 A.M. and coverage of those can be found on mmajunkie.com. Here are my picks for tomorrow

Main Event UFC Middleweight Championship
Demian  Maia (Challenger) VS Anderson Silva (Champion)

This fight is the classic example of a striker vs grappler matchup, but in hindsight Silva doesn't have the average strikers ground game. Though that ground game is honestly nowhere near that of multiple time jiu-jitsu champion Demian Maia. Although a friend of mine always brings up one point and that is that every fight starts on the feet and Maia will need to take Silva down to truly have any chance of winning. During the course of the fight I can see Maia getting a takedown, but it wont be enough as Silva laserbeams Maia in the 3rd round.
Anderson Silva by TKO 3rd Round


UFC Lightweight Championship
Frankie Edgar (Challenger) VS BJ Penn (Champion)

Truthfully to me on paper this fight doesn't look very fair because everything minus wrestling that Frankie does well BJ just does it better. That includes boxing, jiu-jitsu, and just overall control.  In the past I would have said that if Edgar pushes the pace he could win the latter rounds, but since Penn's move to train with the Maronviches his cardio has been great.  This fight should look a whole lot like the Diego vs BJ fight only with Penn finishing earlier.
BJ Penn by Submission 4th Round Rear Naked Choke




Renzo Gracie vs Matt Hughes

This fight might be the one I'm most looking forward to on the card as two legends will battle. Tons of backstory here as Hughes has beaten not only Renzo's cousin Royce, but also two of his star students in Matt Hughes and Ricardo Almedia while Renzo has beaten Hughes's former trainer Pat Militich. One thing disturbs me about this fight, and that is that almost all MMA reporters are counting Renzo out of this fight. I think that is a mistake even though he hasn't fought in 3 years his opponent in Hughes has only fought 1 time in two so that almost rules out ring rust on both sides, and I also feel that Hughes is just to confident thinking that Renzo is gonna be like Royce, but thats not the case as Renzo is probably the most game of all the Gracie's. Expect Renzo to use his stand-up to stifle Hughes into shooting and looking for Renzo to lock up his patented Guillotine to elicit the tap.
Renzo Gracie by Submission 2nd Round Guillotine Choke


Terry Etim vs Rafael Dos Anjos
A great clash here in the lightweight division as I think the stand-up of Etim will get the better of Dos Anjos for a TKO.
Terry Etim via 2nd Round TKO

Mark Munoz vs Kendall Grove
Look for Munoz to close the distance and test Groves chin which will falter into a 1st round KO.
Mark Munoz via 1st Round Knockout

Preliminary Card
Alexander Gustaffon vs Phil Davis- Davis via 2nd Round TKO
Rick Story vs Nick Osipczak- Story via Decision
John Gunderson vs Paul Taylor- In an upset Gunderson via Decision
Matt Veach vs Paul Kelly- Veach via 3rd round TKO
Mostapha Al Turk vs John Madsen- Al Turk via decision on  premise of tougher opponents

Jon Fitch vs Thiago Alves set for UFC 115

Thiago Alves was kept out of his UFC 111 fight with Jon Fitch due to a brain abnormality, but now the two welterweight monsters are scheduled to clash again this time in Vancouver at UFC 115. After Alves was scratched from the fight with Fitch he went onto outpatient surgery while Fitch defeated replacement Ben Saunders.  This is a fight many hardcore fans have been waiting for ever since Fitch won the first battle, and it will be an intresting battle between the suffocating control of Fitch against the killer Muay Thai of Alves.

Is Roy Nelson what the UFC needs?

He was public enemy number 1 in the eyes of most casual UFC fans in October of 2009, but now is he slowly becoming a superstar? The man that I'm speaking of is Roy "Big Country" Nelson.  In October of last year the pot bellied heavyweight entered into the homes of millions on The Ultimate Fighter 10 Heavyweights, and he was matched up in the preliminary round against internet street fighting sensation Kimbo Slice.  In the lead-up to this fight Roy came off as cocky, but I will plead the other side that he was just confident that his well-rounded MMA skills could overcome Slice's brawling ability, but this made most fans of the sport including UFC president Dana White hate him a little more and say why did Nelson a full fat 265 pound heavyweight feel this way.  Well honestly Nelson proved his worth in not only the Kimbo fight, but also in his fights against Justin Wren, James McSweeny finally impressing White in the McSweeny fight.
After these two wins he was in the finale fight against a man who looked like a wrecking machine on the show that man being Brendan "The Hybrid" Schaub who had ko'd or submitted all his competition on the show. Most pundits thought that Nelson would take down Schaub, but were they wrong as he stood in Schaub's line of power and traded bombs eventually dimming the lights of The Hybrid.
Now before I discuss Big Country's most recent fight I'll take a look into why I believe that the MMA community has shunned him.  My theory is pretty simple look at Nelson, he's as fat as you will see anyone in MMA, and possibly the fact that he doesn't train at a big camp erks people the wrong way. The fact of the matter is even though Nelson may have the worst physique in MMA or pro sports for that matter his cardio is amazing for a heavyweight.  Secondly to be honest Roy Nelson if you take him for what he is which is a fun loving big guy is hilarious.  I mean look at the guy he trains out of his house that he calls the "Country Club" which has weight equipment, grappling mats and punching bags, but he also brings a BJJ blackbelt into the mix which is dangerous for a guy his size. When he's in an interview he says funny things like saying in advance of his upcoming fight for Stefan Struve who is 6ft 11in tall that he was trying to get into touch with NBA star Shaq or that to get used to the height he would spar with guys standing on chairs. Truly if you watch or read an interview with him and at least not crack a smile.
Now this brings up his most recent fight against the aforementioned Struve a tall rangy heavyweight who is working his way up heavyweight rankings despite only being 22 years of age. As the two co main evented UFC Fight Night on SPIKE everyone expected a battle of attrition between these two, but Big Country had other plans using his punching power to KO Struve in only 39 seconds.  This fight brings me to think maybe Nelson is what the UFC needs a funny guy to to the routine that Forrest Griffin did before Keith Jardine rape choked him into being serious. Roy can provide comedy, but also deliver in the octagon with KO's or his suffocating ground control in the end Roy Nelson is a complete fighter and the real deal in my humble opinion and I cant wait for him to take the step up in competition which could be in his next fight against the likes of Gabriel Gonzaga or Junior Dos Santos.

Sorry for the Delay

Sorry for an almost 2 week break in-between news. I was caught up with school and other things, but now will be back and posting not only news but articles so stay tunned and remember to follow yell tap on twitter.

Demacio Page out vs Antonio Banuelos at WEC 48 Scott Jorgensen in

Once again Demacio Page has had to pull out of a fight. This time it comes against Antonio Banuelos, but the WEC had an ace waiting in the wings in Scott Jorgensen. Jorgensen is fresh off his 31 second submission of Chad Geroges in Columbus at WEC Bowles vs Cruz. This fight is going to be a rematch of Banuelos and Jorgensen's meeting at WEC Brown vs Faber 2 last June. The fight was closely contested and the victory went to Banuelos in a controversial split-decision. In my opinion the winner of this fight could possibly get the next crack at the WEC Bantamweight Championship as WEC matchmaker Sean Shelby said he's not 100% sold on a rematch between Joseph Benavidez and new divisional champion Dominic Cruz. This leaves Page now open for a different fight and in my opinion and should fight Miguel Torres once his cut is healed.

The UFC wil NOT counter Strikeforce April 17

Bloodyelbow.com is reporting that the UFC will now not counter Strikeforce's second CBS show on April 17. This can really be attributed to the lack of a big name main event and in reality after the loss of the Swick vs Serra fight the UFC had almost no reason to continue the attempt at this show because there were no truly intriguing fights that could be put together on such short notice.