UFC 119 : Early Predictions and Breakdowns

UFC 119 is set for September 25 at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana. This is the first UFC to ever be held in Indiana. The UFC has scheduled an overall great fight where every fight is intriguing, but none just stick out.

There are no title fights, nor number one contender matches. Although, every fight tells where one fighter stands (at least on the main card).

An overview of the fights are the debut in the UFC of Mark Hunt, The dark horse fight in the Heavyweight division, Sean Sherks attempt to comeback, a great war at lightweight, Serra's return, a new top conteder at LHW, and of course the new imrproved and motivated Frank Mir.

The card is overall very good and should make for some very good matches.

11. Mark Hunt vs. Sean McCorkle

Mark Hunt has to be the most confusing fighter in all of mma. He does hold wins over Wanderlei Silva and Mirko Cro Cop, but holds a 5-6 record in mma. Hunt is a very good stand up fighter and has competed in boxing (0-1-1) and Kickboxing (30-13).

Although he is talented on his feet he has lost his last five fights all in the first round. He has been submitted four and knocked out once in his last five fights. He has been fighting tremendous competition (Fedor, Josh Barnett, Alistair Overeem, Melvin Manhoef, and Gerard Mousasi) but has lost to all of the min the very first round.

Sean is undefeated in mma with a 9-0 record. McCorkle has four by knock out and four by submission, although three of his four submissions were due to strikes.

This is not a very difficult fight for me to call

Prediction : Mark Hunt TKO 2nd

10. TJ Grant vs. Julio Paulino

TJ Grant has been in the UFC since UFC 97 when he fought a close decision victory against Ryo Chonan. TJ has a 15-4 record and has only been finished once. In his UFC campaign he 2-2. He fought to a majority decision loss to Johny Hendricks, he has knocked out "The Fire" Burns, and before that lost to strong Dong Hyun Kim.

However, the Canadian mixed martial artist was becoming well for his ground game wih 12 of his 15 wins coming by submission. He is yet to prove his ground game in the UFC, in having no submission victories.

 Paulino is 17-3 with 10 knockouts and 6 submissions. He has only fought once in the UFC with a loss coming to Mike Pierce. Paulino has never been finished and is very good on his feet.

This fight Paulino struggles against TJ nearly every where the fight goes, with TJ's stand up getting pretty good also.

Prediction : TJ Grant UD (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)

9. Steve Lopez vs. Waylon Lowe

Steve Lopez is a very talented fight and could had very well defeated the dangerous Jim Miller if he would not have gotten injured. Steve is a very well rounded fighter with fast stikes and good takedowns. He has a 12-2 record with 5 knockouts and 3 submissions.

Waylon Lowe was a collegiate division II wrestler, and became very accomplished as one. He has trained with Matt Lindlan and Randy Couture. He also has a 1-0 amatuer career and trained among Team Gurgel and Team Vision.

Lowe's debut in the UFC was on short notice against Melvin Guillard. He was finished in the first round by a vicious knee in the first round.

This fight is more of a toss up than some people might assume. I will go with the favorite however.

Prediction : Steve Lopez UD (30-27, 30-27, 30-27

8. Thiago Tavares vs. Pat Audinwood

Thiago Tavares is one of the many submission experts on this card. He holds 10 submission victories over his 14 victories. However, he has lost 3 times in his career, twice by submission and once by a decision. His last fight went to a  draw against Nik Lentz, but before that he won a decision over, featherweight contender, Manny Gamburyan.

Pat "Awesomely Awesome" Audinwood better live up to his nickname, or he is going to be in for the fight of his life. Audinwood is an undefeated fighter with 4 submission, 5 decisions, and 1 draw. If he cannot defeat Thiago on his feet, he cannot pull out a victory on the ground.

Should see a nice submission victory by one of these fighters.

Prediction : Thiago Tavares sub. 2nd

7. Matt Mitrione vs. Joey Beltran

This is what I am calling a dark horse for the heavyweight title. Obviously, both fighters would have to win one or two more fights against some better competition to recieve the title shot. They are both on the right track.

Matt Mitrione was on the cast of The Ultimate Fighter and defeated Scott Junk and then lost to James McSweeney by guillotine choke. Matt has fought twice in the UFC and TKO'd Marcus Jones and Kimbo Slice. He is a former Purdue football player and played pro for New York Giants and Minnesota Vikings. He has arose as a good stand up fighter with some nice leg kicks (Kimbo Slice). He also fought a very nice fight against Jones. Matt is a 2-0 fighter with both wins coming by TKO.

Joey Beltran Has won two fights in the UFC as well defeating Tim Hague and upsetting Rolles Gracie. He holds a TKO over Gracie and won a decision victory over Tim Hague. He also held wins over Houston Alexander, Wes Combs, and Sherman Pendergast all by TKOs.

Joey is a heavy handed striker with pretty well rounded skills. Both of these fighters will be the biggest test for one another it should be a good fight and an interesting one.

Prediction - Joey Beltran TKO 2nd

6. C.B. Dollaway vs. Joe Doerkson

CB stands with a record of 10-2 with a record of 4-2 in the UFC. He has came short against Amir Sadollah (Armbar) and Tom Lawlor (guillotine). Although he has won his last two fights over Goran Reljic and Jay Silva. Dollaway was also a state champion at the 171 lb division. Dollaway competed in wrestling at Arizona State University and became an all-american in 2006. He went on to get 5th place at the 184 lb division as a 10th seed.

Dollaway has a very well rounded game. He has a good wrestling game with some jiu jitsu skills. He also has five knockouts to prove his decent power, however he has only once tko'd a fighter in the UFC.

Joe Doerkson is the much more experienced fighter in this match up. A canadian fighter with 33 of his 45 wins by submission. He has a total of 57 fights, and has been finished 8 times, 5 by tko or ko. He has lost to some of the best fighters in mma, to name a few, Matt Hughes, Joe Riggs, Nate Marquardt, and Paulo Filho. He has also defeated some nice competition over Brian Foster, Tom Lawlor, Ed Herman, Patrick Cote, Chris Leben, and Denis Kang.

He has won his last seven fights, including a win over Tom Lawlor who defeated CB. Joe has 33 submissions, CB has been submitted twice... You do the math.

* Submission of the Night

Prediction - Joe Doerkson submission 1st

5. Melvin Guillard vs. Jeremy Stephens

This is a fight that any fight fans would want to see. Stephens and Guillard are both action heroes to the sport, both always bring an offensive style and always collide. Them fighting one another is a great match up.

Stephens started amatuer mma at the age of 16, and went to full time training at 18 years of age. He has an 18-5 record with 13 by knockout and 3 by submission. He has compiled a 5-3 record in the UFC, winning his last two fights (Sam Stout and Justin Buchholtz). However, he has lost 3 of his 5 losses by submission. Stephens holds some nice awards by winning knockout of the night twice and holds one fight of the night.

Guillard is also an action fighter. He is an very experienced fighter with good stand up skills. He is 24-8 and like his opponent has never been knocked out. 14 of Meilvin's 24 wins come by knockout, along with it he has 3 wins by submission. However, with his 8 losses, 7 of them come by submission. He holds one knockout of the night honor when he knocked out Dennis Siver. Melvin contains a 8-4 record inside the octagon, only going to 2 decisions. He also is credited with a blue belt brazilian jiu jitsu, and a brown belt in judo.

Prediction : Stephens TKO 2nd (ground and pound)

4. Sean Sherk vs. Evan Dunham

Early candidate for fighter of the year, and it promises to entertain. Sean Sherk is setting out to prove that he is still a force in the lightweight division, and a big win over up and comer Evan Dunham could surely prove that. Sherk is very strong, in great shape, and has very nice takedowns. Evan Dunham is very well rounded with his stand up and ground game.

Dunahm is a brazilian jiu jitsu black belt. He is 11-0 with four wins in the UFC over Ekland, Aurelio, Escudero, and Tyson Griffin. His most recent performance was a split decision over Tyson Griffin in a competitive fight. Being a black belt in jiu jitsu he contains 6 victories by submission, 3 by decision, and a merely 2 by knockouts.

Sherk is a veteran of the game, he has compiled an awesome record of 33-4. Sherk has 10 knockouts victories, 12 submission, and 11 decisions. He has fought the best of the best with victories over Tyson Griffin, Kenny Florian, and Nick Diaz. However, he has 4 losses, 2 being by knockout. Although he has lost to the best a well, falling short in fights against Matt Hughes, GSP, BJ Penn, and Frankie Edgar. Which are all current or former champions. Sherk has not fought since UFC 98, but plans to return better than ever, and a win here will definently put him back into some big fights.

Evan has fought a close fight against a similar fighter in Tyson Griffin. Sean Sherk has proved he is superior to Tyson as well. This fight goes back to I have not seen enough of Evan to predict him victorious. Should be a very entertaining fight.

* Fight Of The Night

Prediction : Sean Sherk SD (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)

3. Matt Serra vs. Christ Lytle

Two veterans of the game who have already squared off once, will square off again. This is the third fight in a row that could steal fight of the night. Even though both fighters are brazilian jiu jitsu black belts,. not too many people are expecting either to prove that.

Lytle, a former boxer, is a fantastic stand up fighter, with 19 or his 29 wins by submission. Chris Lytle has an 8-10 record in the UFC, although he has won his last three fights. Chris Lytle has been awarded 4 fight of the nights, 1 knockout of the night, 2 submissions of the night, and was finalist on the Ultimate Fighter, here he competed against Matt Serra. Lytle has lost 17 fights in his career, but always gives his all. He has lost to Matt Serra via split decision at the finale of The Ultimate Fighter.

Matt Serra, with heavy hands, is a submission expert. 5 of his 11 wins have came by submission, with only 2 coming by knockout. He has beat some of the top fighters in the world as well (GSP, Frank Trigg, Jeff Curran, Yves Edwards). He has also lost to some of the best fighters in the history of the game : Matt Hughes, Georges ST. Pierre, BJ Penn, Karo Parisyan, Shonie Carter, and DIn Thomas. With several jiu jitsu credentials on his side a stand up war is expected. Serra was not known for his power until he knocked out GSP (which was his first knockout ever). Then, more recently, he put Frank Trigg out prvoing his stand up game is a force.

Prediction : Chris Lytle SD (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)

Why : Chris Lytle can hang with him long enough on his feet to impose his will. Lytle is a little wild with his punches, but is very good a sticking and getting out. If he can do that for a little and finish rounds with easy, unexpected takedowns he has this fight in a close one. In the contrary of what I said in the first paragraph Lytle should consider taking down Matt Serra, instead of banging it out in every round (although he very well could win there.)

2. Antonio Rogerio Nogeria vs. Ryan Bader

Lets push it to four fights in a row that could take fight of the night. Ryan Bader has been improving his stand up game, and Nogueria against Brillz looked awful and could make him try to impress in this fight. Both hit hard and both have a great ground game, difficult fight to pick.

Bader was a collegiate D1 wrestler and had a career total of 120 wins ranking him 8th all time at ASU. He has not fought the top competition in the UFC, but he has destroyed who he has fought. Most recently he decisioned Eric Shaefer and knocked out Keith Jardine. He is an undefeated fighter at 12-0 with 5 by knockout. If he hits Nogueria with the shots that Brillz hit him with, Nogueria gets knocked out. If he can't defend Brillz's takedown, he can't defend Bader's.

Nogueria really needs to erase the terrible memories of his fight with Jason Brillz. He was taken down at will and at times outstruck by the slower, less accurate Brillz. In my opinion, we all witnessed a pitiful decision, where they had Nogueria winning a fight he was obviously beaten in. Nogueria is a black belt in jiu jitsu, but other than his brother he focuses around his stand up game a little more. He has 19 wins with just 3 losses. He has pulled out 2 quick wins in the UFC with a knockout and a decision. Nogueria should prepare for another Brillz, that hits harder, and takes you down and controls you easier.

* Knockout of the Night

Prediction : KO 2nd

Why : Looking at Nogueria's last fight he has a horrible problem with wrestlers. If Bader can prove he can take him down at will, Nogueria will began to watch for the takedowns and get hit alot more. Bader has proved that he can take your head off and I can see him doing it in this one, and putting the stamp on Nogueria.

1. Frank Mir vs. Mirko Cro Cop

This is one of those fights everyone wants, but for some reason is overlooked. Due to an injury causing Big Nog to pull out of the fight, Cro Cop steps up and takes on the much bigger Frank Mir. Cro Cop, seems a lot more dedicated and ready following his huge, inspiring victory over Pat Berry. Although, he is going up against one of the best heavyweights in the game, Frank Mir.

Mir is a  black belt in jiu jitsu, along with a black belt in Kempo Karate. He holds 13 wins with 5 losses with 8 of those wins coming by submission. Mir is a much more focused stand up fighter now (rocking Brock Lesnar and Cheick Kongo, and knocking out Nogueria the first time they fought). Frank Mir has a very impressive stand up game and could give Cro Cop a run for his money even on the feet. If somehow the fight does go to the ground, Mir should be able to take care of business off his back or on top.

Cro Cop, obviously one of the best kickboxers in the mma game ever. 20 or Mirko''s 27 wins come by knock out. He has knocked out some of the sports best as well knocking out : Wanderlei Silva, Josh Barnett (submission, but due to strikes), Eddie Sanchez, and Heath Herring. However, Mirko has been submitted 2 time and knocked out 2 times in his career as well. Cro Cop is going to have to hit Mir with a big one as fast as he can, because of the dedication Frank now has, along with his size, and gameplan makes a difficult opponent for anyone.

Prediction : Frank Mir sub. 2nd

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