Tonight is finally the night that MMA fans get to watch live or on pay per view the matchup we have all been waiting for as Quinton "Rampage" Jackson will defend his UFC Light Heavyweight Championship against the original Ultimate Fighter Forrest Griffin at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. Here are our picks for this match and the rest of the main card for this special event.Light Heavyweight Championship match.
Quinton "Rampage" Jackson (28-6) vs Forrest Griffin (15-4)
Nelo's pick - Quinton "Rampage" Jackson by Split Decision. Forrest Griffin will definitely prove that he can hang with the best just like he did against Tito Ortiz two years ago and may give Rampage some fits, but Rampage in the end will be too much for Griffin to handle. Thus; retaining the gold.
Narcisist pick- Forrest by Decision. People all week argued with me about Griffin having no chance in this fight at all, those same people said the same thing when he fought Shogun Rua. I have been talking about this with Nelo for about 2 months now. Before you say I'm crazy I picked Serra over GSP and Forrest over Shogun based on the same reason, body language. People underestimate this factor and base fights only on skill even after 2007 showed us no one is unbeatable (Except Fedor).
Josh Koscheck (10-2) vs Chris Lytle (25-15-5)
Nelo's pick - Josh Koscheck by Unanimous Decision. Both Koscheck and Lytle won their last fights in impressive fashion by way of TKO, but I see this fight being a bit of a stalemate with Koscheck dominating each round for the victory.
Nelo's pick - Josh Koscheck by Unanimous Decision. Both Koscheck and Lytle won their last fights in impressive fashion by way of TKO, but I see this fight being a bit of a stalemate with Koscheck dominating each round for the victory.
Narcisist's pick- Chris Lytle by T/KO. Chris Lytle knows this may very well be his last chance in the UFC to show he is able to make a run into the UFC's upper echelon. Lytle stopped his passive style of fighting four fights ago after his loss to Matt Hughes and has won 3 of those fights. His only loss coming to Thiago Alves in a controversial stoppage by cut.
Tyson Griffin (11-1) vs Marcus "Maximus" Aurelio (16-5)
Nelo's pick - Marcus "Maximus" Aurelio by Submission (Armbar) 2nd Round. Tyson Griffin didn't really look that great in his last matchup with Gleison Tibau and should he decide to go to the ground with Aurelio I believe he will eventually be submitted. "My upset pick of the night"
Nelo's pick - Marcus "Maximus" Aurelio by Submission (Armbar) 2nd Round. Tyson Griffin didn't really look that great in his last matchup with Gleison Tibau and should he decide to go to the ground with Aurelio I believe he will eventually be submitted. "My upset pick of the night"
Narcisist's pick- Tyson Griffin by decision. I'm a big Griffin Fan boy with all his posters in my room and I scream like a 13 year old girl when he comes on screen. Alright its not that serious but I have a lot of respect for the guy but I will agree with Nelo and say he hasn't fought to his potential lately, Aurelio can easily win this by decision or submission. "My fight of the night pick"
Joe "Daddy" Stevenson (28-8) vs Gleison Tibau (15-5)
Nelo's pick - Joe "Daddy" Stevenson by Unanimous Decision. Tibau did very well in his last fight against Tyson Griffin taking him down at will, but Stevenson is just as tough as Griffin and very active. Stevenson however will be the one taking down Tibau at will and get the win, so he can once again work his way back up to a UFC Lightweight title fight.
Narcisist's pick- Joe "Daddy" by decision. This is a bad fight pick wise because these guys strengths are similiar except in one place... striking. Joe Daddy's is a lot better than Tibau who had trouble against Tyson Griffin, where he was dominated standing.
Patrick Cote (12-4) vs Ricardo Almeida (9-2)
Nelo's pick - Patrick Cote by TKO (Punches) 2nd Round. I look for Cote to keep this fight standing leaving Almeida with no choice but to try and get to Cote on the inside, but Cote could prove to be even more dangerous should he get in a clean shot in the clinch to knock down Almeida and finish him on the ground.
Narcisist's pick- Almeida by submission round 1. Make no mistake this is a statement fight for both these fighters, if they want a shot at Anderson Silva after Yushin Okami they be better impressive. Patrick Cote's comeback story is one of
great heart and it kills me to say it, but we haven't seen him in his win streak against a submission fighter. Every interview I have seen with him he is talking about knocking out Almeida. Even when talking about training he never once mentions training for submission defense. Almeida has talked about submitting him but is prepared to stand as shown in interviews and behind the scenes looks.I like a fighter who trains for every possibility and Cote has proven his submission defense is bad. Almeida is a Gracie Jiu-Jitsu teacher this doesn't look good for a guy who got choked out in the first round of the TUF 4 finale.
Undercard
Nelo's picks - Gonzaga def. McCully, Hill def. Buchholz, Guillard def. Siver and Gurgel def. Miller.
Narcisist's picks- Gonzaga, Hill, Guillard and Miller.
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