Stefan Struve v. Chase Gormley

Hey, you know what the most important part of this fight is? Stefan Struve royally sucking. Listen, I’m all for giving guys with unique physical attributes more leeway than anyone else, but Struve hasn’t shown anything during his UFC career. His last fight was a win in a desperation fight against Denis Stronjic at UFC 99. Before that he was absolutely smashed by Junior Dos Santos. Struve is 6′11, but that is the only reason that he is in UFC.

As for Gormley, he’s an elite heavyweight prospect who is currently 6-0. He was supposed to to take on Ben Rothwell at Affliction: Trilogy. Then, when the promotion went under, the UFC picked up the fight and planned on putting on UFC 104 undercard. Then, when the Brock Lesnar-Shane Carwin fight was made, Rothwell was moved to take on Cain Velasquez. So, by the way of all this chaos Gormley will get an easy win.

Prediction: Gormley via TKO

Kyle Kingsbury v. Razak Al-Hassan

Kingsbury is best known for his stint on TUF 8 and being involved in the great “semen sushi” incident. He hasn’t fought since losing to Tom Lawlor at the TUF 8 Finale. I’m sure that this is a make or break fight for him. He doesn’t have many good wins, and outside of his wrestling, his entire game is mediocre.

Al-Hassan was 7-0 before losing to former marine Steve Cantwell at Fight For The Troops. After a long layoff, he is back. As for his skills, they aren’t exactly prototypical. He comes from a judo and taekwondo base, so that means that he isn’t very good. This will be an easy win for Kingsbury.

Prediction: Kingsbury via unanimous decision

Jorge Rivera v. Rob Kimmons

Rivera was on season four of TUF 4. His M.O. is that he’s good until he faces a fighter with any kind of real talent. He’s lost to Chris Leben, Terry Martin, and Martin Kampmann. The only name fighter the he has been in his UFC stint is Kendall Grove. He is solid all-around, and trains in Boston with Mark Dellagrotte at Sityodong.

Rob Kimmons is 2-1 in his UFC career with his loss coming to an underrated fighter in Dan Miller. He’s got a pretty well rounded game and trains with Xtreme Couture, but the question is just how talented is he. For once, I am going to go with the veteran rather than the young fighter.

Prediction: Rivera via submission

Yushin Okami v. Chael Sonnen

I think this may be the fight of the night, and it’s not even being shown on TV. These are two fighters who are excellent wrestlers and cases can be made for both of them.

Okami is coming back after a really long layoff. He hasn’t fought since defeating Dean Lister at UFC 92. He’s a bizarre fighter, as there aren’t that many Japanese wrestlers in MMA. He is an absolute huge 185 and many will remember when he was fight Mike Swick, Swick came back to the corner and said “he’s too strong for me.” Okami has some great wins on his record, like Lister, Jason McDonald, Evan Tanner and Alan Belcher.

Sonnen is best remembered for the contreversy revolving around his win over Paulo Filho in WEC. Sonnen was supposed to fight Filho for the title, but Filho didn’t make weight. Sonnen went on to win a non-title fight. Since coming to the UFC, he’s 1-1. He lost to Demian Maia and then defeated Dan Miller.

In this fight, I can see the wrestling canceling each other out and becoming a sloppy standup war. However, I don’t see that happening. I think that we will see a real good fight where Sonnen can win in an upset, but probably won’t. That’s why it’s called an upset.

Prediction: Okami via unanimous decision

Antoni Hardonk v. Pat Barry

Remember when everyone in the MMA world was all over Antoni Hardonk? How did that work out? Not well is the answer. Hardonk is 4-3 in the UFC, and I beleive that he would have been cut after going 1-2 if he wasn’t a heavyweight. He’s coming off a smackjob at the hands of Cheick Knogo. His all-around game is weak, but if I had to choose his best asset, I would say it’s his kickboxing.

Barry is 1-1 in the UFC, coming off a loss to Tim Hague at UFC 98. Remember Tim Hague? He’s the guy that got knocked out by Todd Duffee at UFC 102. Barry is also a kickboxer, and he is trained by a legend in the sport in Ernesto Hoost. What we will get in this fight is two big, slow white guys banging. We’ll be lucky if someone scores a KO, but I don’t see it.

Prediction: Hardonk via unanimous decision

Ryan Bader v. Eric Schafer

This is the fight that will be the centerpiece of SPIKE TV’s coverage of the prelims. Bader is one of the winners of TUF 8, and may have more potential than just about any TUF winner since Michael Bisping. He’s a national championship level wrestler who trains with a great team in Arizona Combat Sports. He’s 2-0 in the UFC right now, with a decision victory over Carmelo Marrero in his last contest.

Schafer is a BJJ expert who is 3-2 in the UFC so far. He’s defeated Houston Alexander and Antonio Mendes his latest stint, but also fought in the UFC previous. After defeating Rob McDonald, he lost two in a row to Stephen Bonnar, and Michael Bisping.

There is a interesting question here, and it’s a tale as old as time. Assuming that Bader wants to take Schafer down, he’ll be stepping into the best part of Schafer’s game: his guard. Does this lead to a submission victory for Schafer? Or, does Bader chose to stand on his feet and try to test his improving boxing? I think the ground game is still a better option, but “Darth” will stay alert.

(Quick side note: While looking at 3SS sponsor, Bet.us, Jason saw that Bader was a huge favorite at -500. He’s good but is he really that good? I think not.)

Prediction: Bader via unanimous decision

You want main card predictions? We got main card predictions.

Looking for UFC 104 walk-out shirts? We got ya covered in The 3rd String Store.