There will be no free undercard fights on Spike this time. UFC 107 kicks off in Memphis, Tennessee. This card was supposed to feature Quinton “Rampage” Jackson vs. Rashad Evans in a battle of the coaches from TUF (The Ultimate Fighter) season 10. Alas, Rampage is filming the A-Team movie. I pity the fool. The good news is that it has been announced that he will return to the UFC to fight Evans sometime next year.
Paul “The Headhunter” Buentello vs. Stefan “The Skyscraper” Struve
Buentello is a 35 year old, 6’2″ fighter who has been in the fisticuffs business since 1997. Struve, his 6’11″ opponent was 9 when Buentello made his debut. The Headhunter is a kickboxer who made his name by going for the high kick. I don’t think that type of strike is on the table for this fight. Struve (21 for those of you who suck @ math) also has a kickboxing background, but has won 8 of his last 10 fight by submission. I think Buentello is kinda washed up at this point and was only signed because he has somewhat of a name and Dana White wanted to put him in these matches against young, up & comers. I’m taking The Skyscraper by submission.
Kenny “Kenflo” Florian vs. Clay “The Carpenter” Guida
Florian is coming of his loss to Lightweight Champion BJ Penn, while Guida is coming off his loss to Diego Sanchez – both of whom are fighting in the main event. This is an opportunity for either fighter to get back into the title contention picture. Guida is known for his relentless pace and wild fighting style. Always a crowd pleaser. Florian has very sharp Muay Thai and solid Jiu-Jitsu. He is the more seasoned and technical fighter. Look for Guida to push the action and try to take Florian down. I think that Florian has good enough ground skills to submit him, and has the edge in the striking department. I’m leaning towards Florian winning a decision that could also be “Fight of the Night”.
Jon Fitch vs. Mike Pierce
Quick Wikifact: According to a recent interview, his preferred nickname is “OOUAH”, which was given to him by a group of Thai fighters he was training with. Due to the fact that he threw up several times in his first practice with the team, they made the name up as a way to playfully mock Fitch. The name itself, “OOUAH”, is meaningless except as an onomatopoeia of the sound of a man vomiting.
This is Pierce’s 2nd UFC fight. He’s a wrestler out of Portland State. Fitch is one of the best welterweights out there and aside from a 5 round decision loss to Georges St-Pierre (the best welterweight on the freaking planet) he hasn’t lost since 2002. I don’t know what Pierce did to piss off the MMA Gods, but it might have involved someone’s daughter and a Wiffle ball bat. He’s being fed to the lions in this one folks. Thanks for donating the body Mike.
Cheick Kongo vs. Frank Mir
This is a classic “styles make fights” match. Kongo is one of the best strikers in the heavyweight division. Mir is one of the best submission specialists. Both men are coming off losses and looking to get back in the mix. Mir has been trying to add muscle and looked noticeably bigger in the countdown show. I’m interested to see how this new conditioning will effect him. If Kongo can keep the fight on the feet he will knock Mir TFO. Mark it Dude. But, if Mir can take Kongo down he will simply abuse Cheick on the ground. For a professional MMA fighter Kongo has an embarrassingly absent ground game, I think it’s cause he’s French. This is a situational coin flip, but I’m gonna go with the former Champ – Frank Mir by submission.
B.J. “The Prodigy” Penn vs. Diego “Nightmare” Sanchez
This one is for all the marbles. We better get a full Buffer for this one. The Champ B.J. Penn is defending against a very talented Diego Sanchez. This fight comes down to 1 thing. How good is B.J.’s conditioning? If he shows up in the type of shape he was in for the Florian fight, then it’s gonna be a rough night for Dirty, I mean, Nightmare Sanchez. Diego’s only hope is to ground & pound Penn (the only weakness in his game that was exploited by Matt Hughes & GSP). From what I’ve seen, I don’t think he can out box Penn. B.J. is notoriously hard to take down, and I don’t think Dirty’s (damn, did it again) Jiu-Jitsu is anywhere near the level of Penn’s. The problem is that Sanchez is very well rounded, but Penn is on a different level when he’s in shape. I got The Prodigy by rear naked choke.
“My main objective is to be professional but to kill him.”
Wow! You called it for all these fights. You should have gone to Vegas Baby!