...OH, ONE MORE THING - PLEASE BOOKMARK US & VISIT DAILY!
Who wins the Cub Swanson-Dustion Poirier bout at UFC on Fuel 7, and how?
DAN MOORE, MMATORCH UK CONTRIBUTOR
Although Swanson vs. Siver was itself an excellent original fight, this one has the potential to easily eclipse it. Swanson has been on an absolute tear recently with three wins in 2012, over George Roop, Ross Pearson and Charles Oliveira which has really catapulted him into the title mix.
His power and explosiveness have been evident recently and with Greg Jackson in his corner, he'll be fully prepared for anything Poirier has to offer. However, Poirier is an exceptional opponent who even in defeat to Chan Sung Jung last year still looked fantastic. Despite the great potential, unlike his last fight with Jonathan Brookins, one thing Poirier can't afford to do is stand in front of Swanson and exchange punches for too long. He will inevitably come off second best.
Poirier's best chance of victory is on the ground and if he's tactically astute on the night, he's got a great chance of pulling off a submission victory. Whilst Swanson has a very impressive stand up game which could end the fight at any moment, I still back Poirier to get the win here. He's had more than enough time to prepare for this fight as a replacement and I expect him to earn the upset victory.
FRANK HYDEN, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR
I think Poirier pulls out the narrow decision win. Both of these guys are on a roll, but I give Poirier a slight edge. I think this is a really good, close fight.
TONY BECERRA, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR
This is a great fight with two extremely talented athletes, that said, I think Poirier will have his hand raised via 2 round Submission.
ERIC HOBAUGH, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR
Poirier has OK stand up with good BJJ and is a brown belt. Swanson has been around for a long while because he smart and durable fighter. He has fought most of the elite fighters in the division. Swanson's stand up will be too much for Poirier. This has fight of the night written all over it. Swanson should win this by early KO.
BRAD WALKER, MMATORCH COLUMNIST
Cub Swanson will knock Poirier out in the first round. Poirier got hurt by Brookins in his last bout and Swanson is packing a whole lot more power than Brookins ever will. Swanson is going to get Poirier's back to the fence and unleash all hell with his hands to take home a huge victory.
(Attention MMATorch app users: Make sure to upgrade to the latest edition of the MMATorch app on your iPhone, iPad, or Android device!)
Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
STAFF COLUMNISTS: Shawn Ennis - Jason Amadi
Frank Hyden - Rich Hansen
Chris Park - Matt Pelkey
Interested in joining MMATorch's writing team? Send idea for a theme to your column (for Specialist section) or area of interest (i.e. TV Reporter) along with a sample of writing to mmatorch@gmail.com.
