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UFC Fight Night: Silva Vs. Irvin
By Jason
July 19, 2008 3:00 am
Bumping this top the top as the fight night is today
UFC: JULY 19, 2008 IN LAS VEGAS
venue: The Palms in Las Vegas, Nevada
Main Card Bouts:
-Anderson Silva (#1 Middleweight in the World)* vs. James Irvin (at Light Heavyweight)
Absolutley brilliant matchmaking. This fight is an example of the excellent booking that helps keep the UFC at the top of the MMA world.
Silva, the uncontested #1 middleweight in the world, is moving up to 205 pounds to fight James Irvin.
Here’s why this such a brilliant fight.
1) The UFC gets to showcase one of their best and most popular fighters on television and therefore exposing him to an even bigger audience.
2) Silva moving up in weight makes for an interesting sub plot to this fight. It also puts the wheels in motion for potential super fights in the future (Silva/Lidell, Silva/Jackson and Silva/Silva)
3) Irvin is the perfect match up for Silva. Irvin isn’t a total scrub by any means, but he’s still someone Silva should be able to dominate. In fact Irvin’s style is conducive to a highlight reel K.O (with Irvin being on the KO’d side of the equation.) And as we have learned big knockouts = big ratings.
4) This whole card is Dana Whites big middle finger to Donald Trump and the Affliction Organization. While Afflictions Fedor /Sylvia card (airing the same day) is better it’s not free and not as readily available as the UFC.
I expect Anderson Silva to win handily. Siva (channeling my best Joe Rogan) is a big dude. He probably walks around slightly 200 pounds anyway, the weight factor won’t be an issue. In fact he might be fresher from not having to cut weight. While Irvin is an explosive striker, he’s also a sloppy striker. When your fighting the most technical sound striker in the history of the sport that’s not a good thing. And to add the icing on the cake if, for whatever reason, Irvin is controlling the stand up game Silva can take it to the ground where has a tremendous advantage.
All in all this adds up to a highlight reel K.O by Anderson Silva and one very happy Dana White.
-Brandon Vera vs. Reese Andy
I believe this is going to be a light heavyweight fight. A move to light heavyweight is needed for Vera. Listen I’m all for a guy wanting to fight the top guys. however, as a heavyweight Vera is simply outmatched. 205 is going to be his new home and a division where he can do a lot of damage.
Andy is a somewhat unknown commodity. At 7-1 he is a veteran of the IFL, this will be his UFC debut (UFC jitters anyone?) He has a strong wrestling background and is a three time All-American wrestler. He also has two first names which means you can’t trust him.
How do I think the fight will go? Well, In Vera’s own words.
“I see Reese Andy taking me down, and me getting back up. Him taking me down, and me getting back up and then submitting him. That’s how I see it going down.”
I find myself agreeing with him. Vera is an excellent ground fighter and if he is able to get Andy on his back he should be able to submit him. Remember wrestlers get very uncomfortable when they find themselves on their back.
Besides a submission advantage Vera has a significant edge in striking. Vera is a m a 2x Pan-American Champion, Abu-Dhabi veteran, 8x Grapplers Quest Champion, W.K.A. Muay Thai National champion, Lloyd Irvin Brown Belt. Pretty impressive resume.
Andy is going to look to work ground and pound and probably more likely the less popular lay and pray. However I don’t see him being able to keep Vera on the ground. I expect Vera to win by submission or knockout.
-Frankie Edgar vs. Hermes Franca
Fight of the night. No questions asked.
If you have ever read my previews you know I love lightweight fighters. They are cardio machines, move at insanely fast speeds and always are exciting. Edgar and Franca are no exception.
I first saw Frank Edgar fight live when I went to Reality Fighting 14 and I remember walking away very impressed. Edgar exploded on to the UFC landscape with a major upset victory over Tyson Griffin at UFC 67. To prove that victory was no fluke he went on to beat Mark Bocek and more impressively Spencer Fisher. Edgar, is however coming off a loss to Grey Maynard.
Edgar is a very well rounded. His best attribute might be his cardio which is off the charts. He’s a great wrestler, ju-jitsu fighter as has solid striking.
Franca is another personal favorite of mine. After his title fight agaisnt Sean Sherk he tested positive for a banned substance, he was suspended and hasn’t fought since. After not fighting for nearly over a year “ring rust” might be a major factor in this fight.
Francas strength is his ju-jitsu ability, which is world class. He’s an adequate wrestler not tremendously overpowering and has displayed decent stand up ability.
Look for Edgar to try to keep this fight on it’s feet. He runs a risk of being submitted on the ground. If Edgar can win the exchanges standing I expect him to grind out a decision.
-Jake O’Brien vs. Cain Velasquez
“Irish” Jake O’Brien is the definition of a “one dimensional fighter. He happens to excel at that dimension (wrestling) but outside of that the toolbox is empty.
Velasques has one UFC win under his belt and sports a 3-0 record. He’s only been training for a year and a half and is a Two-time All-American in wrestling for Arizona State, Two-time Pac-10 Champion, junior college national champion for Iowa Central Community College.
I’m not positive who’s going to win this fight but I am positive the boo birds will be out in full force. Bad matchmaking on the UFC’s part. It’s going to turn into a wrestling match and a lot of lay and pray.
I’ll give O’Brien the edge based on experience. However, whoever can control the take downs will win this fight.
-Anthony Johnson vs. Kevin Burns
Anthony Johnson, 5-1, is an explosive welterweight fighter. He has had two very impressive KO victories in the UFC.
Burns is a Ju-jitsu fighter sporting a 7-1 record.
This is a classic striker vs ju-jitsu fighter match up. Usually the winner of these is decided by the take downs. I’ll give the edge to Johnson because he is so explosive. However his submission defense was exploited by Rich Clementi.
Should be a very fast paced fight. I like Rumble adding another impressive highlight reel KO to his resume.
-Jesse Taylor vs. C.B. Dollaway
Now this is an interesting fight. If anyone watched this season of the ultimate fighter they know a lot about both fighters.
Dollaway was Rampage’s prodigal son and first pick of the competition. He’s an outstanding wrestler, with great strength, cardio and decent stand up. He lost in the Semi-finals agaisnt Amir Sadollah on the Ultimate fighter. However, he was given a second chance when, you guessed it, Jesse Taylor got himself kicked off the show. Dollaway beat Tim Cedur and took Taylors spot in the finals.
So now how fitting is it that Taylor gets to extract some revenge on both Dollaway, while redeeming himself in the eyes on the fans and UFC management.
Taylor is a scrappy fighter and similar to Forrest Griffin in many ways. He’s not the best at anything but just finds ways to win.
I thought Dollaway would win the Ultimate Fighter. I predicted him to beat Amir in there rematch only to have him lose the exact same way he did on the show (getting caught in an armbar.) Dollaway is a physically dominating fighter, he posses the same qualities that elite guys like Koscheck, GSP and BJ Penn have.
And so Dollaway gets a chance to break my heart again because I’m giving him the nod in this fight. In the fight game I’m always going to pick physical dominance over scrappyness. Sometimes it comes back to bit you in the ass (ie Jackson/Griffin) but more often than not it doesn’t.
I’ll take Dollaway by decsion (and hopefully avoid wiping the egg off my face.)
Preliminary Bouts:
-Rory Markham vs. Brodie Farber
-Nate Loughran vs. Johnny Rees
-Brad Blackburn vs. James Giboo
-Dale Hartt vs. Shannon Gugerty
-Tim Credeur vs. Cale Yarbrough
Main card airs live on Spike TV
Topics: MMA, The Ultimate Fighter, UFC, UFC 86: Jackson/Griffin, Uncategorized |