By Joe Ferraro
If things were normal right now, I’d either be in Las Vegas covering UFC 141 in person, or perhaps back in Canada monitoring the daily happenings during fight week. Instead, I’m on “vacation” visiting family in Italy and cannot get this virus that is MMA out of my system. While they all rest, I’m online trying my best to catch up with all that is happening with Friday night’s event. To wit – I’m glad I’m here, but a piece of me wishes I could watch some of these fights go down in person.
The Battle of The Beasts
Much is being made about the main event between former UFC Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar and his opponent, Alistair Overeem, a title holder with Strikeforce, Dream and K-1. Fans and pundits seem to be divided on who will emerge victorious. “The Demolition Man” brings with him an abundance of experience to his octagon debut, while Lesnar, the UFC veteran, pales in comparison. But hang on.
Since making his organizational debut in 2008, Brock has gone 4-2, defeating the likes of Frank Mir, Shane Carwin and Randy Couture. During that same timeframe, Alistair has gone 9-0-1, with victories over Fabricio Werdum, Mark Hunt and Brett Rogers. Read between the lines here. Overeem is a favourite in Vegas, but something is telling me he shouldn’t be. He’s a monster, no ifs, ands or buts, but I am wondering out loud if it’s actually Lesnar who should be the favourite despite what the bookies are saying.
This fight is tantilating for so many reasons, but one especially. It’s your prototypical style vs style matchup. The wrestler vs the striker. Can Brock secure the takedown? Or will he eat a viscous knee that will end his night, the moment he launches into a double leg attempt? If he does put Alistair on his back, can Overeem get back up, lock in one of his famous guillotines, or be able to withstand Lesnar’s ground and pound? If Lesnar’s takedown attempts are thwarted, can he land the lucky bomb that most believe he will require to solidify the age old adage “a puncher’s chance”?
Buckle your seat belts folks – this one is going to be a fantastic bout to watch. Then again, your seat belts will already be on because of the co-main event. Read on.
Clash of the Lightweight Titans
When the UFC first announced the Donald Cerrone and Nate Diaz bout, I was with my UFC Central producer Jacob Clark. The look on his face mirrored the rumbling from the thousands of fans who took to Twitter, Facebook and the MMA message boards to voice their near unanimous approval. Ladies and Gentlemen – this is a fight for the ages.
Diaz is as real as they get. Stockton raised and long lost is the shadow and burden he once wore as the younger brother of Nick. Nate is a man of few words, but one of many actions. He does his speaking inside the cage, that is, if you step up to him in person. It does not take much provoking to get him fired up, and believe me, I’ve seen him go from the gentlest of souls, to the street soldier and warrior in the blink of an eye. He’s always reppin’ and ready to throwdown, and this time, he may have met his match.
Cowboy Cerrone walks to the beat of his own drum. I’ve seen it in Vegas, Houston, Los Angeles and many other cities. This guy will first serve justice before taking any names. He is neither the bully, nor the one who should and would be bullied. His demeanour when Diaz punked him at the pre-fight press conference told me a few things, namely, he was not going to disrespect his employers. I may have thought they were going to rumble right there on the stage, but thankfully, Dana White squashed that spark instantly; it could have been a forest fire if he did not.
Any one else out there believe leg kicks will be the course du jour when Cerrone and Diaz meet on Friday night? Or do you believe Nate will out strike Donald? How about the ground game? Does “Cowboy” check his ego at the cage entrance, or does he decide to match grappling wits with the Gracie brown belt?
I’m getting an erie feeling about this tilt. Let’s just say that there will be extra security on hand to make sure things do not escalate into an all out brawl.
Welterweight Storylines
Jon Fitch, the best welterweight in the world south of Georges St-Pierre, will make his long awaited return to the octagon. For those that have known me long enough, do not bother trying to tell me his style it’s boring. It’s not. Go to wrestling class or go through the history of MMA evolution to understand why his style works, and why he’s only lost one fight out of fifteen in the UFC. If you can’t appreciate ground and pound, positional dominance and an outright blue collar grinding blue collar work ethic, then quite frankly, let’s just agree to disagree.
Fitch will be taking on Johny Hendricks, a fighter who definitely has all the tools to defeat the #2 welterweight in the world. But to do so, he will have to put Jon on his back. Not usually an easy task, but the element of surprise is strong in wrestlers. Set-ups and switches pay dividends, but above all, perhaps Hendricks will want to see if his striking speed and explosiveness can get the better of Fitch, and of course, if he does get the takedown, aim to secure back control while raining down some ground and pound. That’s how BJ Penn was able to stun Fitch, and on the surface, that may be how Johny can defeat Fitch.
But if he cannot, look for Jon to do what he does best, pound away until sunrise. Fitch is riding the same “have to finish” train that GSP seems to have been forced on. Mark my words, he will try, but if he cannot, the haters will hate until the fingers can no longer type on their keyboards.
The other bout featuring 170 lbers I will be paying close attention to is Toronto’s Sean Pierson, who will be taking on Dong Hyun Kim. Both fighters are coming off disappointing knockout losses and will be looking to showcase that those bouts were anamolies.
Pierson is the better wrestler in this fight, as well as the better striker. Kim boasts the better judo, and if he gets top control on Pierson, it could get ugly for the Canadian. Then again, trying to hold Sean down has often proved to be very difficult for many of the sports best. Just head on over to the TriStar gym in Montreal, to see what I mean. He has a pesky style, with freakish strength, not just in his grappling, but in his left hand. Providing he doesn’t start off slow, don’t be surprised if the three to one underdog pulls off the upset.
Final Thoughts and Predictions
Brock Lesnar vs Alistair Overeem: I’ll go with the underdog, Brock Lesnar via TKO
Donald Cerrone vs Nate Diaz: Cerrone by leg kicks en route to unanimous judges decision
Jon Fitch vs Johny Hendricks: Fitch wins two rounds to one
Vladimir Matyushenko vs Alexander Gustafsson: going with the youngster with the long reach, Gustafsson via decision, but the it would not surprise me if the veteran gives “The Mauler”, a mauling.
Nam Phan vs Jim Hettes: Jim should consider 135 lbs, but if he gets Phan to the ground, he will continue to fight at 145 lbs (need I explain further?)
Sportsnet Prelims (starting at 9pm EST / 6pm PST)
Anthony Njokuani vs Danny Castillo: reach has me thinking Njokuani, but Castillo’s savvy is very underrated. I’ll go with Danny
Ross Pearson vs Junior Assuncao: Providing Pearson’s cardio is not affected by the new weight class, he should pitch a three round shutout.
Facebook Fights
Sean Pierson vs Dong Hyun Kim: Pierson pulls off the upset via TKO
Efrain Escudero vs Jacob Volkmann: Volkmann ruins Escudero’s UFC comeback
Matt Riddle vs Luis Ramos: Ramos via decision – what happened in his UFC debut should not affect him
Manvel Gamburyan vs Diego Nunes: Nunes by decision in what could be a fight of the night candidate
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