UFC 109: Relentless goes down Saturday night at The Mandalay Bay Events Centre, in Las Vegas, Nevada.

It’s an event highlighted by various divisional contender bouts and will be capped off by a main event that is nearly thirteen (13) years in the making, as UFC Hall of Famers Randy “The Natural” Couture takes on Mark “The Hammer” Coleman.

My thoughts and predictions for each bout are listed below; I’d like to read your thoughts and predictions in the comments field, so get your thinking caps on and let’s do this.

Main Event: Mark Coleman (205) vs. Randy Couture (205)
As many of you recently saw on MMA Connected, Nate Marquardt and Rashad Evans told me it comes down to the wrestling. Yesterday, Dana White told me it’s all about who can get the top position on the ground. Strangely enough, I believe that between Couture’s Greco-Roman and Coleman’s Freestyle wrestling, the one who controls the standup will likely pull off the victory. I look for Couture to punish Coleman with his boxing, fatigue his foe then finish him off via TKO on the ground.

Chael Sonnen (185) vs. Nate Marquardt (186)
Unless Sonnen can execute his gameplan of sucking the will to win out of Marquardt, I believe Nate’s well rounded style will have his hand raised in victory, likely by TKO or submission in the third round.

Paulo Thiago (170) vs. Mike Swick (171)
Swick looked pumped at the weigh in and cannot afford to lose to Thiago. His back is against the wall in this fight (as is Thiago’s) but the real pressure is on Mike. I look for a three round war here with Swick winning two rounds to one; I believe Thiago will pull off the the third round, but it will be too little, too late. 

Dan Miller (185) vs. Demian Maia (186)
Maia’s submissions are simply on another level, even though I give a ton of respect to Miller’s recent achievement of earning his BJJ blackbelt. If Miller can avoid the urge to but Maia on his back and keep the fight standing, he should win this fight. If he does not, Maia should submit him. While Jim Miller (Dan’s brother) told me it will be Dan by flying gogoplata, I’m going to go on a limb here and say Miller by split decision.

Frank Trigg (171) vs. Matt Serra (169)
I rarely pick against Trigg, but after seeing how fatigued he looked at yesterday’s weigh-ins, I’m thinking he will suffer the consequences of a drastic weight cut if the fight goes more than two rounds. With that being sad, I will not put it past Frank to pull a fast one on all the acute observers who noticed how relieved he appeared to make 171 lbs. If this is the case, and it was just a mind game, I bow down to this Tom foolery. As for a victor, I’ll go with Matt Serra via TKO in round three.

Prelim Fights on Rogers Sportsnet

Justin Buchholz (156) vs. Mac Danzig (156)
Buchholz loves to press the pace, while Danzig is a methodical genius. I’ll go with Danzig to pull off a comeback victory in round three by submission. 

Ronys Torres (156) vs. Melvin Guillard (155)
Torres is a scrappy submission fighter, but the UFC rookie jinx may play into this fight. He’s a veteran of not only Shooto, but also the viscous Jungle Fight events in Brazil. That alone is hardcore enough to prove to me this guy is a warrior, but in facing Guillard, he better be able to withstand one of the fastest punchers in the sport today. Melvin’s handspeed is simply magical to watch, so if his stamina his up to par, he should be able to KO Torres. If his cardio fails him, he’ll be submitted the instant these two fighters lock up.

Rest of Pre-lim Card

Rob Emerson (155) vs. Phillipe Nover (155)
Sporting some insane ink, Emerson comes into this fight with a warrior spirit like no other, and I look for him to pressure the pace against Nover. Emerson is fearless, and will punish Nover everytime they exchange. Nover still hasn’t sold me on his skill set, so Emerson gets my nod for a TKO victory in the second round.

Phil Davis (205) vs. Brian Stann (205)
On paper, this fight is Brian Stann’s all the way, but Davis is a high level wrestler from Penn State that may bypass the UFC rookie jinx and beat Stann convincingly. Davis is 4-0 and never seen the second round of a fight. Stann’s experience is a lot overcome in this fight, and his stand up is tight enough to punish Davis, should the ladder be unable to takedown the veteran. It’s a tough fight to call, but based on Davis’ incredible wrestling acumen, I’m going completely against all MMA analytics here and picking the rookie to pull off the upset via unanimous judges decision.

Chris Tuchscherer (263) vs. Tim Hague (263)
Hauge has had a great training camp preparing for Tuchscherer, a stablemate of UFC heavyweight champion, Brock Lesnar. At yesterday’s weigh ins, Hague looked calm, cool and collected, while Tuchsherer did not look good at all. He looked far larger in this fight than he did vs Gabriel Gonzaga, where at UFC 102, he weighed in at 258 lbs. I’ll go on the assumption the added weight was to combat Hague’s bigger frame than Gonzaga’s, but it didn’t appear muscular…it appeared more flabby. With Lesnar being off for the majority of Chris’s training camp, and Hague having one of the best camps of his career, I’ll go with “The Thrashing Machine” by TKO in Round Two.

Joey Beltran (238) vs. Rolles Gracie (247)
Beltran steps in on short notice, while Rolles is as hungry as one can be to make his UFC debut. Look for a rear naked choke by Gracie, late in the first round.
That’s it for me…now let’s read some of your thoughts and predictions.

- Showdown Joe Ferraro

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