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Aug 7, 2009 - 9:24:25 PM By Frank Hyden, MMATorch Contributor
Prediction Contest
Jesse Lennox vs. Danillo Villefort- Lennox by Decision
George Sotiropoulos vs. George Roop- Sotiropoulos by Submission in the 2nd round
Matthew Riddle vs. Dan Cramer- Cramer by TKO in the 2nd round
Thales Leites vs Alessio Sakara- Sakara by Decision
Tamdan McCrory vs. John Howard- McCrory by Submission in the 1st round
Shane Nelson vs. Aaron Riley- Riley by TKO in the 2nd round
Josh Neer vs. Kurt Pellegrino- Neer by Decision
Kendall Grove vs. Ricardo Almeida- Almeida by Decision
Amir Sadollah vs. Johny Hendricks- Sadollah by Submission in the 2nd round
Anderson Silva vs. Forrest Griffin- I'm basing my prediction on the assumption that Silva is coming to fight. He's had a few lackluster fights recently and he really needs to show what he's got. It's certain, though, that he won't be able to toy with Forrest like he's toyed with Patrick Cote and Thales Leites. If Silva messes around he's going to get beat. He needs to bring it, and bring it early. Forrest isn't going to tire out and he's not going to be tentative. Silva needs to revert to the form he had in his first few fights in the UFC, when he tore apart Chris Leben and Rich Franklin. I don't know if anyone in MMA has a harder head than Leben and he got pummeled by Silva. Leben was basically "knocked out", in MMA terms, 3 separate times during that fight. And the fight only lasted 49 seconds. Silva also ripped Franklin apart, after Franklin had basically cleared out the Middleweight division. If Silva fights like that, the fight will end early. I'm going out on a limb here, predicting an early finish, but I think Silva can do it.
Prediction- Silva by TKO in the 1st round
BJ Penn vs. Kenny Florian- This is a fight I've been waiting a long time for. KenFlo finally gets his long-awaited title shot. He should have had this shot months ago, but BJ was too busy trying to chase Georges St. Pierre. BJ is an overhyped fighter who believes his clippings, and Kenny's going to capitalize on that. BJ also never has good conditioning. Instead of accusing GSP of using steroids, maybe BJ should look in the mirror and spit out the cupcake. I don't think the fight will last this long, but if it does go into the championship rounds, Kenny has the major advantage. BJ's a really good fighter, but he relies too much on his freakish natural ability. The guy's a Gumby fighter, but he should try to better himself whenever he can. Kenny has the advantage standing. BJ has good striking, but Kenny is great. It's really close on the ground, but I give the edge to BJ. The conditioning, of course, goes to Kenny. BJ has more big fights under his belt, but Kenny knows what he needs to do and he won't be intimidated. I think BJ's time is up and a new era begins in the UFC. It's Kenny Florian's time to shine.
Prediction- Florian by TKO in the 2nd round
Betting Contest
$500 on Kenny Florian (+210)
$100 on Forrest Griffin (+100)
$115 on Amir Sadollah (-115)
$175 on Tamdan McCrory (-175)
$100 on Kendall Grove (+130)
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