I left these a little later then I wanted to and I apologise to all of you who want to look good to your friends by stealing my in form predictions, but the De La Hoya retirement put it back a few days. There’s only really two fights on this card worth going into, actually there’s only one but the other is for a title so this won’t be as in depth as some of my other predictions articles. Basically this card consists of a mismatch title fight between one of the best (if not the best) pound for pound fighters in MMA against a guy who hasn’t really proven himself against top competition. Thales Leites is an excellent fighter, but he quite simply isn;t ready for a title shot against a dominant champion like Silva. Why Okami didn’t get his shot this time around I have no idea as Leites hasn’t been that much more marketed. The real fight on this card is the Chuck Liddell vs Mauricio Shogun battle in the co-feature which sees the former UFC Light Heavyweight champion against the PRIDE 2005 Middleweight Grand Prix Champion. The rest of the card will be entertaining for sure, but nothing with any major implications.
Main Card
Anderson Silva vs Thales Leites
(UFC Middleweight Championship)
Prediction- Silva by 1st round KO
Anderson Silva didn’t look that motivated in his last title defence against Patrick Cote and seemed to cruise through the bout until Cote busted his knee. With another soft touch (compared to Silva anyway) I think Silva needs to and will make an example of Leites to basically say that he needs a challenge and it’s not safe letting these guys anywhere near him. Leites is a solid ground fighter with good power standing up and a good chin, but his stand-up is technically retarded, his wrestling is pretty average and his stamina is questionable. His top game is as good as anyones in MMA. He transitions to the back with ease, his ground and pound is world class and he has very strong submission abilities. In saying that, I really think his stand-up is that bad that if Silva opens with a barrage he’ll take Leites out.
Chuck Liddell vs Mauricio Shogun
Prediction- Liddell by 2nd round KO
I want to try and educate some of those who haven’t seen much of Shogun. The man is a ground and pound fighter. He is not and never will be a Muay Thai gun like so many claim. His hands are awful as evidenced by the fact that Coleman repeatedly caught him with his Great Grandpa jab. Shogun’s strength has always been his knees in the clinch, his striking from on top and his escapes from the bottom. We all know what Liddell’s strengths are; he avoids clinches and takedowns like they’re AIDS and he knocks mother fuckers out. I think this fight is a bad matchup for Shogun stylistically. I’m definately not one of those people who think Shogun was always overrated because the Shogun that brutalised Alistair Overeem and Ricardo Arona at PRIDE Final Conflict 2005 would stand a chance with any man. Shogun I don’t think trains as hard as he used to when he was fighting out of Chute Boxe and his physical strength doesn’t match up to Liddell’s. ‘The Iceman’ should wear him down while avoiding the clinch where Shogun is most dangerous and finish him off in the 2nd round. I’d love to see Shogun return to form and retire Liddell (not because I don’t like Liddell, not at all) so all those Shogun haters can be silenced but this fight is a bad matchup for him.
Kryzstof Soszynski vs Brian Stann
Prediction- Stann on points
Antoni Hardonk vs Cheick Kongo
Prediction- Hardonk by 2nd round KO
Luiz Cane vs Steve Cantwell
Prediction- Cane by 1st round KO
Preliminaries
Vinny Magalhaes vs Elliot Marshall
Prediction- Magalhaes by 1st round submission
Xavier Foupa-Pokam vs Denis Kang
Prediction- Kang by 2nd round submission
Jason MacDonald vs Nate Quarry
Prediction- Quarry by 2nd round KO
Ed Herman vs David Loiseau
Prediction- Herman on points
David Bielkheden vs Mark Bocek
Prediction- Bocek on points
Ryo Chonan vs TJ Grant
Prediction- Grant on points
Sam Stout vs Matt Wiman
Prediction- Wiman on points
