Tag: UFC 129 (Page 2 of 3)

UFC 129 Picks & Predictions

April 30, 2011 / Drew Ellis

UFC 129 takes place tonight from the Rogers Centre in Toronto featuring a very exciting card with two title fights.

Here are my picks for each of the five main-card bouts. The PPV begins at 9PM ET.

UFC Welterweight Championship – Georges St. Pierre (21-2) vs. Jake Shields (26-4-1) – Shields may be the toughest opponent St. Pierre has faced in a while, but I still see the champion running through him. Shields’ striking is miles behind GSP and Shields’ takedown ability is nothing St. Pierre hasn’t seen before. I see St. Pierre keeping the fight standing and picking Shields apart before finishing him in the fourth round by TKO.

UFC Featherweight Champion – Jose Aldo (18-1) vs. Mark Hominick (20-8) – Aldo is an absolute beast and seems unstoppable. Hominick has very quick and powerful hands, but he has not had to deal with someone that has the leg kicks of Aldo. I see Aldo landing a few leg kicks in the first and throwing Hominick off his strategy. From there, look for the champion to pounce and eventually knock the challenger out in the second round.

Light Heavyweight Bout – Randy Couture (19-10) vs. Lyoto Machida (16-2) – My heart says Couture, but my head says Machida. I think Couture will have a good strategy and look to leave it all in the cage, but Machida has some solid grappling ability and will be too elusive in the striking to allow Couture to really implement his game plan. Give me Machida by decision in Couture’s retirement fight.

Lightweight Bout – Mark Bocek (9-3) vs. Ben Henderson (12-2) – Henderson is making his UFC debut and looking to make a statement against Bocek. I see Henderson controlling the fight on his feet and on the ground as he will be too strong for Bocek in both areas. Henderson is smart enough to stay out of submission attempts by Bocek, and that is all the Canadian really has to offer. Give me Benson by decision.

Light Heavyweight Bout – Vladimir Matyushenko (25-5) vs. Jason Brilz (18-3-1) – This fight should be competitive, but I like Brilz to win by decision. He has a good chin and he is relentless with his pursuit to grapple. I suspect once Brilz gets a hold of Matyushenko, he will be able to consistently get him to the ground and get the win in the judges’ eyes.

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Events, Fighters, UFC

Ben Henderson Georges St. Pierre Jake Shields Jason Brilz Jose Aldo Lyoto Machida Mark Bocek Mark Hominick Randy Couture UFC 129 Vladimir Matyushenko

UFC 129 Weigh-In Results: All but one make weight

April 29, 2011 / Drew Ellis

The weigh-ins for UFC 129 took place on Friday and all 24 fighters made weight, with the exception of lightweight Ben Henderson.

Henderson weighed in at 156.5 pounds, which is ½ a pound over the limit the athletic commission allows a fighter for a non-title lightweight bout. Henderson will be taking on Mark Bocek on the PPV card Saturday night. If Henderson is unable to make weight after two hours from when he originally weighed in, he must surrender a percentage of his purse to the athletic commission and Bocek. Henderson, a former WEC champion, is making his UFC debut against Bocek.

In the main event, both Georges St. Pierre (169.5) and Jake Shields (169) came in under the 170-pound limit for their welterweight championship bout. GSP received a big ovation from the Toronto crowd while Shields tried to milk up the bad guy role.

Same can be said for the co-main event as Jose Aldo (145) was the villain to local Mark Hominick (145) as both hit their weigh-in marks for their featherweight championship contest.

For complete weigh-in results for UFC 129, check out the jump.

Events, Fighters, News, UFC

Ben Henderson Georges St. Pierre Jake Shields Jose Aldo Mark Bocek Mark Hominick UFC 129

Updated UFC 129 Odds: Shields closing the gap on GSP

April 29, 2011 / Drew Ellis

UFC 129 takes place from the Rogers Centre in Toronto and all 12 bouts now have betting odds.

I gave the early money lines last week, and now Sportsbook.com has posted the latest odds for all the fights for tomorrow night.

In the main event, Georges St. Pierre opened as the clear favorite against Jake Shields with a money line of -500, but now that line has fallen back all the way to -350. Shields opened with a line of +300 and that is now down to +275. Perhaps betters are starting the believe the hype that this fight is the toughest of GSP’s career.

In the co-main event, UFC Featherweight Champion Jose Aldo opened with odds of -500 but that money line keeps climbing, and is now up to -575. The challenger, Mark Hominick has a money line of +375 after opening at +300. Aldo appears to be unbeatable in the division, which is why his money line just keeps growing.

In one of the other featured bouts, Hall of Famer Randy Couture (+240) is an underdog against former champion, Lyoto Machida (-300). “The Natural” opened with odds of +250 and is now starting to close the gap on Machida, who opened with odds of -325. Knowing this may be his last fighter, betters are expecting Couture to put on one of his best performances to date.

Click on the jump to find all the odds for UFC 129.

Events, Fighters, News, UFC

betting odds Georges St. Pierre Jake Shields Jose Aldo Lyoto Machida Mark Hominick Randy Couture UFC 129

A look back: GSP’s first MMA bout

April 27, 2011 / Drew Ellis

As Georges St. Pierre preps for what could be his final bout at welterweight this Saturday at UFC 129 against Jake Shields, I found the current UFC champion’s first MMA contest.

GSP stepped onto the scene on Jan. 25, 2002 when he took on Ivan Menjivar at UCC 7.

While St. Pierre wasn’t crisp in all areas, he still showed the promise to become the great champion he is today.

Even for a first-time fighter he showed a rare combination of diverse strikes and solid takedown defense. Typically a debut fighter is strong in one area and lacking in the other.

Unfortunately, the fight ended with a bit of controversy, but GSP was still clearly winning the fight and it was the beginning of a historic career.

Events, Fighters, UFC, Videos

Georges St. Pierre Ivan Menjivar Jake Shields UFC UFC 129

Top 5 storylines heading into UFC 129

April 25, 2011 / Drew Ellis

In just six days the UFC will put on one of its biggest shows of all time in UFC 129 from the Rogers Centre in Toronto.

The card is solid from top-to-bottom and filled with intriguing storylines. Here are the top 5 storylines I will be looking out for on Saturday night.

1. Is Jake Shields really a threat to GSP? I am a Georges St. Pierre mark. I won’t deny that. The man is my favorite fighter. Watching Jake Shields fight Martin Kampmann at UFC 121, I thought to myself “is this guy really supposed to contend with GSP?” He looked tired. He looked very poor with his striking. He basically didn’t look like a contender. But, then you look at his past and realize he dominated Dan Henderson for four out of five rounds and still got past Kampmann despite fatigue. Shields clearly does one thing well, and that is wrestling and submission. But, is Shields really any different than Jon Fitch in terms of grappling skills? GSP ran through Fitch and I think Shields’ striking ability is even worse than Fitch’s. GSP was taken down by Josh Koscheck at UFC 124, but Koscheck has a lot of explosion in his takedowns that I don’t see from Shields. Saturday night will really show if Jake Shields is as good as his record says he is.

2. Will Randy Couture go out on top? I am also a big fan of Randy Couture. I think he has been one of the best strategists in all of MMA in terms of finding holes in his opponents and exploiting them. Randy has been far better at being the underdog than being the favorite, but I wonder just how he is going to solve the Lyoto Machida puzzle. Couture can’t afraid to chase, but he also has to remain active. I think Couture can out-grapple Machida, but Machida has under rated strength and takedowns in his own right. After watching Couture fight for most of his career, I would prefer to see him end his legendary run on top. I would like him to retire knowing he could still contend in the division. I don’t want to see him with a broken nose and a glazed look in his eyes while he thanks the fans for their support like he did at UFC 57.

3. Does Jose Aldo have a weakness to exploit? I know I am being repetitive, but I love Jose Aldo too. His kicks are devastating and his hand speed is right up there with any pro boxer. He is a fighter that truly breaks his opponents down and then finishes them. He took out the leg of Urijah Faber and he slowly picked apart Manny Gamburyan in his last two title defenses. Now Aldo faces Mark Hominick. Hominick isn’t what one would consider a pound-for-pound great, but he has done very well against strikers. Hominick’s weakness has been grapplers, while Aldo is yet to be tested by a technically sound striker like Hominick. I have always been one to believe that it would be a strong wrestler that would spell the end of Aldo’s reign, but when looking at his fight history, you haven’t seen Aldo face a legit boxer with the skills that Hominick has. While I still think Aldo will win this fight, Hominick is the one guy that can land a powerful jab in Aldo’s face when the champion throws one of his signature leg kicks.

4. Where does Ben Henderson rank among lightweights? This Saturday marks the UFC debut of former WEC lightweight champion, Ben(son) Henderson. Henderson takes on dangerous grappler, Mark Bocek. The WEC got a bum wrap coming into the UFC, as some felt they weren’t good enough to compete in the octagon. However, fighters like Donald Cerrone and Shane Roller have already picked up wins over UFC vets, and Henderson owns wins over both those men. Bocek has been somewhat of a gate keeper in the division. He has beaten some quality fighters, but lost to more of the top-tier guys. A win for Henderson on Saturday would show that he can be a legit threat to the UFC lightweight crown.

5. Diaz or McDonald – Which welterweight can sneak into the top 10? – In one of the featured prelim fights on Saturday, welterweights Rory McDonald and Nate Diaz will square off. McDonald, a native of Canada, is considered one of the rising stars of the division. He took Carolos Condit to the limit before losing by TKO late in round three at UFC 115. McDonald is just 21-years-old while Diaz is 25. Nate Diaz is 2-1 since his move to welterweight but coming off a close decision loss to Dong Hyung Kim at UFC 125. Diaz is a lot like his brother, Nick, but has struggled with grapplers. If Diaz can stay off his back, he can win. If McDonald can use his wrestling to his advantage, he will win. Whichever fighter wins, they should move up into the top 10 of the UFC welterweight division and probably land a big fight in their next outing.