Prologue by GMarquee.
The Summer for many American sports fans can often be a disappointment due to the NBA ending and the slowness of the summer sports like Baseball, and the foreignness of Soccer ,Tennis, etc to this generation. Many anxiously await the return of NFL and College Football in the Fall, but until then, all we hear are the complaints. Sports like Boxing and MMA, though they seem like niche sports due to the infrequency in which they air, often have some exciting cards and explosive fights scheduled. Over the next couple of months we're going to try to generate interest in all of these sports through our blogging and hope to reach as wide an audience as we can.
Prelims by @MulattoBawse
UFC 148 is quite possibly the
biggest card in 2012 with the middleweight title on the line in the most
anticipated rematch in UFC history. Anderson Silva puts his belt on the line
with the biggest rival of his long tenured MMA career, Chael Sonnen, in what
may possibly be the biggest grudge match since Rampage vs. Rashad, and of all
time. But before Silva and Sonnen lock horns, there are still many very
intriguing matches on the undercard and prelims…I'll now preview the
preliminary card which can be viewed on FX in America.
Rafaello Oliveira vs. Yoislandy
Izquierdo
Both fighters are coming off losses
and will be fighting to keep their spot in the UFC. Oliveira's run in the UFC
has been pretty lackluster as he compiled a record of 1-4. He is most recently
coming off back to back losses to Yves Edwards and Glesion Tibau whereas Cuban
native, Izquierdo, is coming off the first loss of his MMA career to top
prospect Reza Madadi. I expect both fighters to put it all on the line as
neither wants to risk the chance of getting cut by the UFC. I believe that
Izquierdo will get the victory here by TKO. I see more potential in Izquierdo than
I do in Oliveira, whose ship has sailed. Oliveira tends not compete to the best
of his abilities on the big show and he’s going to have problems with
Izquierdo's nice stand up. In order for Oliveira to win he needs to do what
Madadi did and expose Izquierdo's weakness on the ground, but only if his wrestling
is up to par. I don't believe it is, so I see Izquierdo eventually catching
Oliveira and finishing him.
My Prediction: Yoislandy Izquierdo,
TKO in the 2nd Round
Shane Roller Vs. John Alessio
In another bout where both fighters
could be fighting for their job, 3 time All-American wrestler Shane Roller
faces long time MMA veteran John Alessio. After a nice run in the WEC, Shane
Roller hasn't seemed to find his niche in the UFC. Despite winning
"Knockout of the Night" against UFC veteran Thiago Tavares, Roller
has dropped 3 in a row and if he losses to Alessio he will likely be cut. After
fighting his way back into the UFC after a 6 year run in the independent
organizations, Alessio made his UFC return against the highly underrated Mark
Bocek, losing by decision. Both need a win here badly, especially Shane Roller.
Roller has knock out power (as displayed in the Tavares fight), but still has a
lot of holes in his stand up. Alessio is very well rounded in all aspects and
has the advantage in the stand up to pick Roller apart… Roller needs to use his
collegiate wrestling background and control Alessio on the ground. I believe
Roller will be smart in this fight seeing that he will be cut if he loses. He will
have to return to what brought him to the dance and outwrestle the Xtreme
Couture product throughout the fight.
My Prediction: Shane Roller,
Unanimous Decision
Constantinos Philippou Vs. Riki
Fukuda
In a bout which promises to move
either fighter up the middleweight ladder, the blazing hot Matt Serra product, Constantinos
Philippou, faces tough and highly skilled Japanese veteran Riki Fukuda in a
very intriguing match. Since losing in the fights to enter the house on
Ultimate Fighter Season 11 and his debut bout against Nick Catone (a fight he
took on short notice), Philippou has won 3 straight against tough competition,
defeating extremely tough fighters like Jorge Rivera and Jared Hamman in which
he made a name for himself amongst the MMA community. But his biggest win to
date was against Court McGee, who was the winner of the Ultimate Fighter season
in which Philippou failed to even make it past the preliminary bouts.
Riki Fukuda has been a name fight
fans has recognized for years, but it wasn't until last year until he finally
got a chance to fight for the #1 promotion in the world. Fukuda is known for
his wrestling, but has shown he can brawl and mix it up… As well as his
toughness and chin. In his debut he was robbed against Nick Ring in what fans
and experts thought was the worst decision in UFC history. But Riki wasn't
fazed by it and bounced back and gave Steve Cantwell the pink slip exit out of
the UFC in his home country of Japan.
Both fighters are very well
rounded… Constantinos hands really impressed me and that has to be credited to
Ray Longo. In the McGee fight he was able to counter him and push the pace of
the fight and land at a nice rate. Matt Serra seems to have Constantinos on the
way to contending and I don't think Riki Fukuda will derail him. I see
Constantinos keeping Riki at bay with his boxing and controlling the fight.
Even if Riki is able to take Constantinos down, I see him scrambling back to
his fight. Riki can keep it close and maybe steal a round, but ultimately I see
this as Constantinos fight to lose.
My Prediction: Constantinos
Philippou by Decision
Melvin Guillard Vs. Fabricio Camoes
Anyone who has followed Guillard
throughout his whole career will all tell you the same thing. His tools give
him potential to be the champion of the lightweight division.. He's extremely fast,
powerful and athletic, but his main problem is his mental breakdowns. When
Melvin is put in tough positions or is pushed by other fighters he folds, not
to mention his questionable ground game, especially his submission defense.
Melvin appeared to have gotten things together in going on a 5 fight win streak
with wins over big names like Jeremy Stephens, Evan Dunham, and Shane Roller.
In fact most people were saying he was next in line for a title shot, until he
was derailed by Joe Lauzon. In his next fight against Jim Miller, he looked like
vintage Melvin where he was winning the fight with his speed and athleticism
until trying something flashy and getting taken down and submitted easily.
On paper, Melvin is facing a
fighter whose strength is his weakness. Fabricio Cameos is an accomplished BJJ
black belt under the legendary Royler Gracie. On top of his grappling abilities
Fabricio is known for his toughness… Early in his career he went 25 minutes in
bare knuckle MMA bout in Brazil against the man who will one day become quite
possibly the greatest fighter in MMA history, Anderson Silva. Camoes hasn't
been TKO'd since 1997, which says a lot about this 15 year veteran’s career in
the sport. Despite a draw to legendary Caol Uno in which he would've won if he
didn't get points deducted for illegal kicks, and a submission loss to Kurt
Pellegrino, Fabricio was able to bounce back and earn a spot back in the UFC.
He defeated UFC veterans Steve Lopez, and Ultimate Fighter winner Efrain
Escudero in the independent organization. In his first bout back he was able to
defeat undefeated fighter Tommy Hayden by first round submission marking his
first win in the UFC.
In this fight I can't see Guillard
being able to finish the tough Camoes early and will eventually crumble and be
submitted by the Brazilian in the 2nd round. Guillard will put the heat on
Camoes early, and his speed and strength will cause Camoes problems, but once
he realize that Camoes won't quit… I expect Camoes to put Guillard to the
ground and get the submission win.
My Prediction: Fabricio Camoes, 2nd
Round Submission
Gleison Tibau Vs. Khabib
Nurmagomedov
This is one of the most under the
radar fights on the card which will finish off FX's live preliminary bouts
programming. Very interesting fight in the lightweight division and a win will
help secure either fighter a top lightweight fight in the near future.
Gleison Tibau is one of the biggest
lightweights in the division, who walks around 180+ lbs at fight night. On top
of that he is a long time UFC veteran with 15 bouts under his belt, with wins
over solid fighters like Rich Clementi, Terry Etim, Jeremy Stephens, Josh Neer,
Caol Uno and Rafael dos Anjos. Coming from American Top Team, Gleison is good
at all areas of MMA, but his main strengths are his ground game where he uses
his size advantage and his black belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. In his 25 wins,
he has 11 by submission but his stand up game isn't horrible either. He has
shown he can throw hands (like he did against a top 10 level Lightweight Jim
Miller), but needless to say, Gleison prefers to use his size advantage and
take the fight to the ground.
Khabib Nurmagomedov is one of the scariest
and interesting prospects in the Lightweight division. At only 23 years old, he
has been able to remain undefeated in 17 bouts in which he finished 13(by
submission or knockout), and 10 of them have been in the first round. In his
first fight in the UFC, he DESTROYED accomplished wrestler Kamal Shalorus which
was one of the most impressive UFC debuts of the year. Even though the Russian
still trains with some of his home country’s coaches, he has traveled to the
American Kickboxing Academy in San Jose and AMA Fight Club in New Jersey to mix
things up.
I see this fight as a coming out
party for the young Russian, Nurmagomedov. While I think Tibau is a good step
up for the young fighter, I feel he has few advantages and will not be able to
use his wrestling skills and strength against the Judo black belt and Sambo World
Champion. This fight will put the lightweight division on notice that Khabib
Nurmagomedov is on the come up and ready for all challengers. I see him
eventually stopping Gleison after Gleison puts up a tough solid fight.
My prediction: Khabib Nurmagomedov,
TKO Round 3
This rounds out my preliminary
card, but stay tuned as I preview the main card, co main event and the main
event.
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