Tag: UFC 132 (Page 2 of 3)

      UFC 132 Preview: Chris Leben vs. Wanderlei Silva

      June 29, 2011 /

      nullThe idea of Chris Leben and Wanderlei Silva fighting each other is enough to get any fight fan excited.

      However, a fight that gets this kind of hype rarely lives up to expectations.

      Still, this contest should be a slugfest and has me excited for Saturday.

      Here is a breakdown of the fight.

      Wanderlei Silva (33-10-1) – Silva hasn’t fought in over a year since he won a decision over Michael Bisping. He is one of the top strikers of all time as he has some pretty notorious KO victories. Over recent year, Silva has struggled with a weaker chin, as he was KO’d in three of his last five losses. Silva is also just 2-5 in his last seven fights, but he is still one of the most feared men in all of MMA.

      Chris Leben (25-7) – Leben is coming off a TKO loss to Brian Stann at UFC 125, which derailed a nice train of momentum he had going for him. Leben has some big hands, but tends to struggle with grapplers and crisp technical strikers. Stann, Michael Bisping, and Anderson Silva each picked Leben apart in the octagon.

      Who Will Win: When I talk about technical striking, Wanderlei Silva isn’t necessarily in that discussion. He loops big punches that take a long time to deliver. Leben isn’t necessarily real technical either. This basically comes down to which fighter will land the big punch first. I think Leben has a real good shot to win, but my gut just won’t let me pick him. I will take Silva by TKO in the second round.

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      UFC 132 Preview: Dominick Cruz vs. Urijah Faber

      June 28, 2011 /

      nullCan Dominick Cruz learn from past mistakes or is history doomed to repeat itself?

      That’s the main storyline heading into Saturday’s UFC Bantamweight Championship bout.

      Faber beat Cruz by submission in just 1:38 back at WEC 26 on March 24, 2007. Cruz is now a much different fighter, but will it matter against his rival?

      Here is a breakdown of both fighters and my pick for this contest.

      Dominick Cruz (17-1) – The bantamweight champion has won his last eight bouts since the loss to Faber. He has been on a tear as of late, dominating each of his opponents. Cruz uses a lot of footwork with his striking as he keeps his opponents from being able to settle in. Cruz also has very explosive takedowns, which he likes to use late in rounds to put an exclamation point on his dominance. Cruz has managed to easily defeat strikers and grapplers in his recent string of wins.

      Urijah Faber (25-4) – Faber is one of the all-time greats for the lighter weight fighters. He has very quick hands and a strong wrestling base. He also has developed solid submission skills over his storied career. Faber has had 20 of his 25 wins come by stoppage with 13 coming by submission. Typically Faber likes to use his quick hands to work jabs and combinations. If the fight goes to the ground, Faber uses his strength to control the fight and usually finds a way to work in a submission.

      Who Will Win – Both men are unorthodox, but I don’t see a scenario where Cruz isn’t able to use his style and make Faber have to take chances. That will open the door for Cruz to get his takedowns and control the fight. Faber may have the quickest hands Cruz has ever faced, but Faber has yet to fight someone that has the style that Cruz currently has. It was a problem for his teammate, Joseph Benavidez, and I see it being a problem for him as well. I will take Cruz to successfully defend his title by unanimous decision.

      Events, Fighters, UFC

      Your weekly MMA TV schedule update

      June 27, 2011 /

      nullA Sunday UFC event threw off our weekly TV update, so here it is on Monday night.

      This week, the TV focus is solely on UFC 132, as the premiere MMA organization puts on a pretty strong card on Saturday night in Las Vegas.

      – On Wednesday, the Countdown to UFC 132 premiers on SpikeTV at 1:12 p.m. ET. The UFC lists the time, which seems like an odd time to begin a show. The show will go in depth about the key bouts of UFC 132. It will re-air on SpikeTV on Thursday at 11 p.m. and Saturday at 6 p.m. It will also re-air on Versus on Thursday at 7 p.m.

      – Prior to the UFC PPV on Saturday, SpikeTV will air UFC 132 Prelims Live at 8 p.m. The two free prelims on SpikeTV are expected to be a pair of lightweight showdowns as Melvin Guillard faces off with Shane Roller and George Sotiropoulos takes on Rafael Dos Anjos.

      – At 9 p.m. ET, UFC 132 airs live on PPV. The main event of the card features a bantamweight championship bout between Dominick Cruz and Urijah Faber. In the co-main event, strikers Chris Leben and Wanderlei Silva meet in a middleweight clash. Light Heavyweights Tito Ortiz and Ryan Bader will also face off in a featured bout.

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      Early UFC 132 Betting Odds: Cruz Favored over Faber

      June 27, 2011 /

      nullUFC 132 takes place this Saturday night from Las Vegas and our friends at BetOnFighting.com have released their odds for six of the bouts on the card.

      In the main event, UFC Bantamweight Champion Dominick Cruz is a slight favorite to beat challenger Urijah Faber. Cruz has odds of -130 while Faber has a money line of +100.

      Faber is the only blemish on Cruz’ record, but Cruz is a much different fighter now and Faber has somewhat underwhelmed in his short time at bantamweight.

      In the co-main event, Wanderlei Silva (-185) is favored to beat Chris Leben (+155) in what should be a slugfest in the middleweight division. Both men are standup fighters that like to trade punches. You would expect someone to get KO’d in this one.

      Silva has the more impressive wins list, but his chin is not nearly as strong as it once was. Leben isn’t a great technical striker, but when he hits you, it does a lot of damage.

      In what could be Tito Ortiz’ final bout with the UFC, he is a heavy underdog (+365) in his contest with wrestling standout Ryan Bader (-465).

      Bader has just one loss in his career, to current champion Jon Jones. Ortiz hasn’t won a fight since beating Ken Shamrock in October of 2006. He hasn’t beaten anyone currently relevant since he beat Forrest Griffin in a close decision in April of 2006.

      Check out all the current odds for UFC 132 after the jump.

      Continue reading »

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      Ortiz and Mitrione get into verbal exchange at UFC Summit

      May 12, 2011 /

      Something interesting happened at the UFC Summit this weekend, and it wasn’t Dana White explaining to fighters how to do their taxes.

      None other than “Big Country” Roy Nelson caught this little verbal exchange between Matt Mitrione and Tito Ortiz.

      Now, the background behind this encounter is that Mitrione had some unflattering remarks that he made about Ortiz’ wife, Jenna Jameson.

      Mitrione was joking that Ortiz would pull out of his upcoming UFC 132 fight with Ryan Bader and let Jameson take the fight instead, claiming she is good off her back and has amazing top control.

      Now, granted, I wouldn’t want someone talking about my wife like that and would be pretty upset if they did. However, if I married the world’s most famous porn star, I would probably expect that to happen.

      Instead of going after a younger and stronger fighter in Matt Mitrione, Ortiz should just remain focused on Bader and ending a four year winless streak.

      Then again, Ortiz is probably just trying to set up another fight for himself after he loses to Bader.

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