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 UFC
110 predictions: local product Cain Velasquez's huge chance
By Phil Lanides
 We’re
down to the nitty-gritty, as UFC 110 will emanate live from Sydney,
Australia beginning at 5 PM PT. As such, I am grouping my last three
fight predictions together below. Enjoy the fights!
Joe “Daddy” Stevenson (31-10) vs. George Sotiropoulos
(11-2): Australia native Sotiropoulos has quietly
strung together an undefeated 4-0 record in the UFC, with all wins
coming via stoppage. Unfortunately for the BJJ specialist, the
victories have come at the expense fighters without much name value,
and they’ve been on the undercard of each event he’s fought on.
Well, no more…as Sotiropoulus will scrap former UFC Lightweight
title challenger Joe “Daddy” Stevenson on the main card. Stevenson
is in the midst of a career renaissance, precipitated by his move to
Greg Jackson’s MMA camp. While Sotiropoulos is a solid fighter, this
is a big leap for him, and I just don’t see him being able to quite
bridge the experience gap. “Daddy” utilizes his intense wrestling
talent to keep Sotiropoulos on his back while avoiding trouble, and
moves one step closer to another title shot -
Prediction: Stevenson by TKO
“The Axe Murderer” Wanderlei Silva (32-10-1-1) vs.
Michael “The Count” Bisping (18-2): This fight is
highly unlikely to see the end of three rounds, as both fighters
have predicted that the other will suffer a loss of consciousness
before their night is over. Silva has lost five of his last six
bouts, but his long hiatus will help to heal his body and mind, and
with this being his middleweight debut, we may see the rebirth of
“The Axe Murderer.” Bisping, for his part, recovered nicely from his
brutal KO loss to Dan Henderson at UFC 100 to brutalize Denis Kang
at UFC 105 in November. The Brazilian is not a good technical
striker, but does possess a BJJ black belt, and that may be the
difference in this fight. Bisping is in deep waters, and will be
unable to weather the striking attack of the ferocious Silva. But if
he does, by chance, look for Silva to utilize his underrated ground
skills to get the win - Prediction: Silva by KO
Antonio Rodrigo “Minotauro” Nogueira (32-5-1-1) vs. Cain
Velasquez (7-0): Many, including myself, predicted that
Velasquez was in over his head against the experience of Ben
Rothwell at UFC 104 in October of last year. Apparently, the
American Kickboxing Academy product didn’t agree, as he simply
walked through Rothwell en route to a dominant TKO victory. With
that in mind, I’m tempted to pick Velasquez this time. But Ben
Rothwell is not Antonio Nogueira. A submission wizard with solid
striking skills, he is an extremely experienced former world
champion that has faced the best heavyweights in the world. In
short, Velasquez might be in over his head. I can see him taking
Nogueira down and doing some ground and pound damage, but more
likely in my mind is “Big Nog” using Velasquez’s inexperience to
catch him in a fight-ending submission. However, I am going to land
somewhere in the middle - Prediction: Nogueira by
decision
It should be an extremely exciting night of fights! Here’s the full
revised card for UFC 110:
MAIN CARD
• Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Cain Velasquez
• Michael Bisping vs. Wanderlei Silva
• George Sotiropoulos vs. Joe Stevenson
• Ryan Bader vs. Keith Jardine
• Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic vs. Anthony Perosh
PRELIMINARY CARD
• Stephan Bonnar vs. Krzysztof Soszynski
• Brian Foster vs. Chris Lytle
• C.B. Dollaway vs. Goran Reljic
• Igor Pokrajac vs. James Te Huna
For more from
Phil Lanides check out
http://www.examiner.com/x-9970-San-Jose-MMA-Examiner
http://www.fightofyourlife.com/
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