FACEBOOK TWITTER RSS APP PODCAST Opinion & Analysis : Staff Columnists BENT: Previewing UFC 93: Jeremy Horn vs. Rousimar Palhares

Jan 12, 2009 - 6:40:39 AM
By: Jason Bent, MMATorch Columnist
If you like your action on the ground, this opening bout of UFC 93 should prove capable of getting you up off of your couch and onto your feet. In Jeremy Horn, you have a grappling expert who has fought in more contests than the UFC has had events; and in Rousimar Palhares you have one of the best practitioners of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu currently competing in MMA. Both men are usually at a decided advantage if they can get their opponent down; but this fight will not be over as soon as it hit's the ground, rather it will have just begun.

Jeremy Horn likes to fight. With over 100 fights to his credit this should not be hard to see, but it could definitely mean that his desire to fight may linger longer than his ability to do so. Horn is a driven competitor and holds victories over such names as Chuck Liddell, Chael Sonnen, Josh Burkman and Forrest Griffin. He made it to the scorecards against Anderson Silva while losing by way of unanimous decision, but has also gone the distance against such fighters as Randy Couture and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. He has literally been in there with everybody, and in terms of the gym wars he has gone through it is likely that his body feels every bit as shopworn. However, he is still a cagey fighter who is more than capable of pulling off the victory against Palhares so long as he arrives in shape and fully focused on the task at hand.

Rousimar Palhares is coming off of a loss to Dan Henderson at UFC 88 and should be more than motivated to find himself back in the win column against Horn. Palhares has everything that it takes to be an absolute nightmare for Horn as he is simply better in each and every aspect of the game. In terms of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, he is a black belt and is nothing short of deadly on the ground, which is why Henderson elected to not battle it out on the ground in September and chose to win it by standing. However in this case it is Palhares who has the better stand up to go along with a decided strength advantage. The main advantage that Palhares has over Horn is that he is the modern MMA athlete who is well rounded, and Horn is a dinosaur from ages past who never fully evolved.

For Jeremy Horn to win this fight it is going to take a performance we have not seen from him in some time, and for changes to have been made in his training. Horn has been training so long that he is probably like "Fred the Baker" from the old Dunkin' Donuts commercials, in that each morning when he rises to train he probably mutters something along the lines of "time to make the donuts" before heading off to do the same damned thing that he has always done. For now one would have to imagine that he is doing whatever he can to try and bounce back from two straight submission defeats, but after 100 pro fights it is likely that this is not the case. A dedicated and devoted Horn who is in shape could prove to trouble Palhares, and for him to take this one it is going to take a bigger fuel tank than he has ever shown us, and a desire to win that greatly exceeds his desire to simply fight.

For Rousimar Palhares to win this fight he must forget his loss to Dan Henderson and begin climbing the ladder once more with hopes of adding the name of Jeremy Horn to his resume. Palhares has the luxury of being able to defeat Horn at every aspect of the game, but this does not mean he can simply waltz in there and count on getting the victory just handed to him. He is going to have to outwork Horn, but there is absolutely nothing to suggest that he should not be capable of doing so; and in terms of talent it should be his fight to win. The main thing is just how Palhares will elect to battle Horn. He could keep it standing for a while and try and batter his foe, or he could immediately opt to take it to the ground and use his strength and ability to break Horn and his will at once. Palhares should look to grind it out and try to wear Horn down before going for and sinking in the submission.

Bent's Prediction: Palhares by way of submission in the 2nd round.

In all honesty I see this one being a first round decimation of Horn, but I must give the veteran his due and imagine that he should at least be able to take this one past the opening stanza. Jeremy Horn is a veteran who should be respected, but he is a poster child for what an MMA fighter once was, and a glaring example of how a one trick pony can no longer thrive in this sport. Odds are that he will continue to fight well past this one but this one will probably be his last appearance inside of the Octagon.

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