UFC 105 Predictions
On November 14, live from the M.E.N. arena in Manchester, England, and sorta live on Spike TV in the US, We get UFC 105, headlined by “The Natural” Randy Couture taking on Brandon “The Truth” Vera. Also on the card are some interesting and exciting matches featuring some familiar faces and a good deal of Brits. For the sake of time and me being lazy, I am just going to make picks for what I assume is the main card, so let’s break down UFC 105 and make some predictions!
Ross Pearson VS Aaron Riley
TUF 9 winner Ross Pearson enters the octagon as an official UFC fighter for the first time since his victory over Andre Winner back in the summer. His opponent, Aaron Riley, is a man with a record of 40 fights, as opposed to the dozen of MMA matches Pearson has had. Riley is a veteran who has been fighting since 1997, back when Pearson was only 13 and just discovering his first pubic hairs. However, I do not think that experience will help out Riley too much, and Pearson will simply be a younger and faster fighter and be able to finish Riley by the second round. It will be a good test of Pearson to see how he does handle himself with a fighter as experienced as Riley, and I for one think he is up to the task.
James Wilks VS Matt Brown
Speaking of TUF 9, this is James Wilks debut bout in the UFC since his win at Ultimate Fight Night cemented his place in the company, and he is being given a pretty rough test against “The Immortal” Matt Brown. Despite Brown’s inconsistent record, he is a tough customer and unlike a lot of his past fights, he has a had a nice gap of time in between them to rest and prepare, something he has never really had the comfort of doing for whatever reason. The question is will this downtime affect his performance negatively or positively?
Wilks, much like Napoleon Dynamite, has lots of skills and he also has much to prove, since who wants to lose their first official UFC bout? Brown is an exciting fighter but I see Wilks being just as explosive and taking this by submission.
Michael Bisping VS Denis Kang
You can not have a card in England without “The Count” MIchael Bisping? Add to the formula Denis Kang, who has fought internationally is easily more recognizable to overseas audiences, and you have a very good matchup on your hands. This is probably the match I am looking forward to the most. I was a Bisping fan at one point. Sure, he was smug, but he could back it up. Lately though, his wins have been questionable and when it comes to fighters with more experience, he can’t cut the mustard, or whatever the British equivalent of that is. I don’t think any of us are going to forget the knockout that Dan Henderson served to Bisping anytime soon, but I am sure he will be hellbent on helping us erase that with his performance at UC 105.
Denis Kang is a fighter with much more experience and has fought some big names with winning results, despite being 1-1 in his UFC career thus far. After fixing some travel issues, Kang has finally returned to ATT in America to pick up where he left off some time ago, and I think going back will mentally pick him up and will liven his training.
I will give this one to Kang and it will be a hard-fought win over Bisping. Mentally, I feel that Bisping is looking for retribution while Kang is reinvigorated and inspired thanks to his time with ATT and I think that will give him more confidence and a better mental edge. As far as the tools go, both are well-rounded, but Kang is a smarter fighter and should stay in an advantageous position through the fight.
Mike Swick VS Dan Hardy
The road to the Welterweight title is a long one, with so many great fighters in that weight class. In a match that should help determine who is closer to getting to the top of the food chain, Mike “Quick” Swick will meet Dan “The Outlaw” Hardy.
Both men are currently enjoying nice winning streaks and it is unfortunate that for one man, it will have to end. Neither Swick or Hardy are afraid to bang, but Swick is also intelligent enough to know when to respect someone else’s abilities. To win this, Swick will have to outmaneuver and outwrestle Hardy, that is assuming he gets the chance.
Hardy has great striking ability, just look at his record to see that. Heck, he punches so hard, according to sherdog.com’s FightFinder, he beat Danny Rushton by TKO (retirement) back in 2006! Swick has good hands but Hardy is a better overall striker and is going to look for a killshot. Swick will be a step-up in competition for Hardy and I think “The Outlaw” is up for it. I like both fighters a great deal and I am really looking forward to this match. I think Hardy will pick up the win and I am going to go on a long shot and say he will make Swick kiss the canvas. If Swick wants to win, he’s going to need to keep Hardy grounded and I can see it happening but Hardy might have a little Crocop in him and have the ability to get back to his feet if that happens. I will say this, if it goes to decision and Swick squeezes a win out of it, there will be a riot in the parking lot.
Randy Couture VS Brandon Vera
It is hard to make picks when Randy Couture is in the mix. Whenever I pick him, he loses. Whenever I pick against him, he wins. Couture has made a career of this habit, being the underdog and coming out on top, or being the favorite and losing. With that said, Vera’s career can often mirror his opponent at UFC 105.The three times Vera has tasted defeat has been against opponents who many thought his abilities would be superior to, and he was hyped up nicely for his match for the UFC heavyweight title against Tim Sylvia, where he fell flat on taking the gold.
Both fighters have great skills, there is no denying that, both also have excellent instructionals and seminars that you can find online, but I am not here to review DVDs. The biggest factor here is the age of Couture. With all of his tools, can a 46 year old man overcome a 32 year old who is getting ready to take on the greatest challenge of his career? I certainly hope so. Pardon the cliche, but Randy has proven that you can teach an old dog new tricks and I think he will be able to keep up with Vera. I do not see Randy being able to finish Vera, and there is a slim chance Vera could connect with a blow that drops Randy but it is very slim. Otherwise, I expect a three round dog fight with Randy winning a split decision.
So there you have it, my picks for the main card at UFC 105 are Pearson, Wilks, Kang, Hardy and Couture. If I am wrong, too bad. I never said I was great at picks, I just like watching fights. If Randy wins, he might be set up with a rematch against Lesnar for the heavyweight title, but at Couture’s age, I think we are going to learn alot about how he can handle himself and an opponent in this bout with Vera. Furthermore, the winner of Swick VS Hardy should see a showdown with GSP in their future, but I do not think either have the abilities to make the welterweight champ sweat too much. But those are forward thinking statements, we have to see how the show unfolds first before we start predicting a few events ahead!
How about yourself? Who are your picks for this show?
