UFC 75 'Champion Vs. Champion' Preview and Predictions

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Welcome to my predictions for UFC 75. I went 6-4 earlier in the week for WEC 30 and hopefully I can improve on that. My coin was 5-5 and hopefully it can decline in accuracy, that was a close call. For those interested, I’m using the same coin as I did for Wednesday’s show which is a U.S. quarter, a 1979 quarter to be exact.

Lightweight Bout (Dark):
Naoyuki Kotani: 25, 5'8, 155, 17-6-5
Vs.
Dennis Siver: 28, 5'7, 155, 10-4-0
A trouble bout for both of these men because the loser drops to 0-2 in the UFC and is at risk of not being brought back. Siver is a kick boxer primarily. As is the case with a majority of the fighters in the dark bouts I’m not overly familiar with either. I believe Kotani is the more well-rounded of the 2 and I tend to favor those types of fighters.
Winner: Naoyuki Kotani
Coin Picks: Dennis Siver
Welterweight Bout (Dark):
Anthony "The Crush" Torres: 29, 5'10, 170, 5-1-0
Vs.
Jess "The Joker" Liaudin: 33, 5'9, 170, 11-8-0
At UFC 70 I predicted that Liaudin would lose to Dennis Siver because Siver was fighting out of Germany and Liaudin out of France and we all know how that contest between nations usually goes. Then Liaudin who is actually English proceeded to own Siver beating him by first round submission. Torres is making his return to the UFC after a year plus layoff. Torres was a replacement for Anthony Johnson. I’m predicting Liaudin as a way of apologizing for my error the last time.
Winner: Jess Liaudin
Coin Picks: Jess Liaudin

Lightweight Bout (Dark):
Gleison Tibau: 23, 5'10, 155, 25-3-0
Vs.
Terry Etim: 21, 6'1, 155, 9-0-0
Etim is 1-0 in the UFC defeating Matt Grice at UFC 70 while Tibau is 1-1 overall. I’ve not really got a lot to say about either fighter, but I’m going to predict an Etim victory because he’s the homeboy.
Winner: Terry Etim
Coin Picks: Terry Etim

Light Heavyweight Bout (Dark):
Thiago Silva: 24, 6'1, 205, 10-0-0
Vs.
Thomas "Travolta" Drwal: 25, 6'1, 205, 14-1-0
Drwal is making his UFC debut. Silva defeated James Irvin at UFC 71 when Irvin blew his knee out. I’ve heard nothing but good things about Thiago Silva and don’t really care for Drwal’s nickname. Therefor, I will predict a Silva win.
Winner: Thiago Silva
Coin Picks: Thomas Drwal

Welterweight Bout Dark:
"Relentless""Paul Taylor: 27, 6'0, 170, 8-1-1
Vs.
Marcus "The Irish Hand Grenade" Davis: 33, 5'10, 170, 17-4-0
I guess since they’re not in Ireland this time, Marcus Davis can be the Hand Grenade again instead of the Celtic Warrior. Marcus Davis is riding a 4-fight winning streak in the UFC and is facing Paul Taylor who was victorious in his UFC debut. Taylor may or may not be the brother that Euan was yelling at on the podcast a few weeks ago. For his sake, I hope he’s not because if he were then a vicious humbling would be in order.
Davis was written off as a Welterweight since his stint on the Ultimate Fighter 2 but has really come on. It isn’t that he’s great at one thing in particular but he does a lot of things very well. It is this versatility that will make the night rough for Mr. Taylor.
Winner: Marcus Davis
Coin Picks: Paul Taylor

Light Heavyweight Bout:
Houston "The Assassin" Alexander: 35, 6'0, 205, 7-1-0
Vs.
Alessio "Legianarious" Sakara: 25, 6'1, 205, 15-4-0
Oh, we all remember Houston Alexander at UFC 71. We all remember how we were writing him off and making jokes about Nasa disasters. We remember how he owned Keith Jardine in less than 1 minute and made us all look very stupid. We then remember him cutting a wacky promo and having the charisma of many men. We remember this because while Sakara is a good fighter, we’re not making that mistake a second time.
Winner: Houston Alexander
Coin Picks: Houston Alexander

Heavyweight Bout:
Cheick Kongo: 6'4, 240, 20-3-1
Vs.
Mirko Cro Cop: 32, 6'2, 220, 22-5-2
Both of these men fought on UFC 70. It was a case of polar opposites because where Kongo was victorious in a boring fight, Cro Cop was humbled in a big way in an exciting fight. We learned at UFC 70 that Cheick Kongo’s takedown defense sucks a big giant bag of suck with extra suck sauce and king sized suck soda. That’s ok though because Cro Cop isn’t going to want to take this to the ground. They are both strikers and this should be a fun fight while it lasts. Kongo is more effective in the clinch but Cro Cop is good at keeping his distance and hitting punishing blows. A standup war makes sense and a Cro Cop victory by fustigation also makes sense.
Winner: Mirko Cro Cop
Coin Picks: Cheick Kongo
Light Heavyweight Bout:
Michael "The Count" Bisping: 28, 6'2, 205, 14-0-0
Vs.
Matt "The Hammer" Hamill: 30, 6'1, 205, 5-0-0
This was the fight we appeared headed for on the Ultimate Fighter 3 before Matt Hamill suffered an injury and was taken out of the contest. Hamill has a good wrestling background but doesn’t have much of a striking game and lacks experience. Bisping has had difficulty with his last 2 opponents in Eric Schafer and Elvis Sinosic but has recovered nicely to bet them both. Hamill’s hope for a win is to take Bisping down and hold him there which would make for a boring decision victory. On the good side though, that would make for a not boring Euan review of the match. However, Bisping’s fighting in front of the hometown crowd, has the experience edge and is a more complete fighter. That spells bad news for Hamill.
Winner: Michael Bisping
Coin Picks: Michael Bisping

Light Heavyweight Championship Unification Bout:
"Dangerous" Dan Henderson: 37, 6'1, 205, 22-5-0
Vs.
Quinton "Rampage" Jackson: 28, 6'1, 205, 27-6-0
The Unification bout we’ve all been waiting for and you had better enjoy it because it is potentially the only one you’re going to get.
Both of these men have a wrestling background but both would prefer to use it to avoid takedowns and would rather stand and trade. I’m not sure that this is the best idea for Henderson. I’ve been thinking about this since my Henderson pick on the audio show and really I’m not going to go against Rampage in a standup battle. He knocked out Liddell for crying out loud and Henderson is no Liddell on the feet. I could live to regret changing my mind, but I’m flip flopping from the show and am taking Quinton Jackson.
Winner: Quinton Jackson
Coin Picks: Quinton Jackson

Join Wandering Euan Taylor for a recap of this event. You can see the rest of the staff’s picks for this event by click here


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