Georges St. Pierre vs. Josh Koscheck

Ludo; A fight many have been waiting on for quite some time. Some view Koscheck as St Pierre's only challenge outside of perhaps Jake Shields. Since they last fought both have improved to the point that another meeting was nearly inevitable. In the first fight Koscheck among others were shocked when he was out-wrestled by the French Canadian. Since then they have compiled a combined 12-2 record in the UFC. The only two losses by Koscheck to Paulo Thiago and Thiago Alves.

Expect a grueling fight to take place here. Georges would like to put an exclamation point on this fight and finally shut Josh up. Koscheck has done a fine job of painting himself the villain for this fight. He represents the only fighter in the division today who even stands a chance at stuffing St Pierres shot and who knows how many times he can do it. In the wrestling the advantage has got to be given to Georges simply because he uses it much more frequently and effectively than Koscheck does. Striking is an interesting area in this fight. As far as pure technique goes St Pierre has the advantage but speaking from a power standpoint Josh has shown more knockout ability in his strikes. That said I don't think this will be much of a striking fight.

Prediction:Georges St Pierre by decision

Wolfgang ; Georges St. Pierre has been three steps ahead of Josh Koscheck in everything else leading to the conclusion of this competition, and I have no reason believe the fight itself will be any different. From the head games that backfired to the coaching of their respective teams, everything Koscheck does GSP saw coming and countered. The fight will be much the same. No matter where Kos has improved, he hasn't improved in karate or the principles it teaches. GSP will read Koscheck and his impending techniques like a book, but will show him none of the mercy he's shown other fighters.

Prediction: GSP gets off the schnide here and stops Koscheck inside the third round.


Thiago Alves vs. John Howard

Ludo ; Something tells Me that this is going to look similar to the Ellenberger fight without the takedowns. Thiago is likely going to impose his striking game and stuff takedown attempts in the mean time. I have been saying for quite a while now that Howard needs to drop down to the Lightweight division because he is simply not big enough for Welterweight. Now going up against one of the biggest welterweights Howard is likely going to find himself in a fair bit of trouble here. Alves owns the striking advantage as well as the brute strength advantage. Even if Howard were to succeed in a takedown Alves has shown more than adequate ability to scramble back to his feet. The only real way I see for Howard to win this fight is assuming the weight cut is as draining on Alves as it has been in the past. Beyond that it is likely this fight ends in a knockout for Thiago.

Prediction: Thiago Alves by TKO

Wolfgang ; Seems like a gift wrapped fight for Alves, who should be looking better than he did against Fitch. Barring a weight cut issue this should be a concussive knockout for Thiago Alves.

Prediction : Alves by Knockout.


Jim Miller vs. Charles Oliveira

Ludo; Oliveira's fight against Escudero has opened many pairs of eyes. He has gained alot of attention after doing what he did to a highly hyped Ultimate Fighter Winner. He could pose many problems for almost anyone with his brown belt jiu jitsu game and erratic striking patterns anchored with leg kicks. My only concern with Oliveira is that he has said before he doesn't bring wrestlers in to train with because he believes jiu jitsu to simply be a superior grappling style. This may hurt him even in this fight. Miller is very much a game opponent who has no issues with making fights ugly. I believe the undefeated streak of Oliveira may end here as Miller has all the tools and durability to gum up the works and control him for three rounds if he has to.

Prediction: Jim Miller by Decision

Wolfgang ; as good as Jim Miller may be, I think there are levels in MMA and Miller is a notch just below elite. I think this is the same issue his brother faces. On the one hand, it's hard to argue against that many wins in the UFC, but Oliveira's got a little too much phenom going on to be derailed by Miller.

Prediction : Oliveira by decision.



Joe Stevenson vs. Mac Danzig

Ludo; This fight could become interesting. Stevenson has never been a world beater however he has only ever lost to high level competition. Danzig is fighting for his job here though, we don't know exactly how that is going to effect his performance. However Stevenson is coming off a ten month layoff as well as an injury. I don't see many paths to victory for Danzig here. Stevenson is better at just about everything than Danzig, even in the wrestling and grappling game which is usually Danzig's calling card. Though despite that I don't see Danzig being finished here, he has shown a tough chin and is fairly difficult to submit.

Prediction: Joe Stevenson by Decision

Wolfgang; This is a fight between two TUF winners, but I think the real story here is this is a do or die fight for both of these fighter's careers. A loss puts Danzig at 3-7 in his last 10 bouts, and a loss for Stevenson would having on a similar 3-5 run. That said, Stevenson has both lost to and beaten better fighters than Danzig could ever be during that period, and barring ring rust shouldn't have any trouble ending Danzig's UFC career.

Prediction : Stevenson by Submission.



Stefan Struve vs. Sean McCorkle

Ludo ; With all the talk McCorkle has done in regards to Struve he has placed a lot of pressure on himself. This is a battle between a consistent mid tier fighter and a giant question mark. McCorkle used to fight as a super heavyweight as heavy as three hundred and twenty pounds. Many times he would gas before the end of the first round as do many fighters in that division. His background is in Jiu Jitsu and his striking is mostly just power shots. The striking advantage goes to Struve with both reach and technical ability. Grappling advantage I give to McCorkle however I don't see him submitting Struve, who has shown a solid ground game himself. I expect the first round to consist of Struve establishing his reach but not comitting too much while he waits for McCorkle to wear himself out.

Prediction: Stefan Struve by TKO

Wolfgang ; Stephan Struve should have a huge advantage in the stand up department, and I think his new found strength and size should help him keep the fight in that range. Look for Struve to send McCorkle back to the ninjasplace.com forums.

Prediction: Struve via TKO

Dan Miller vs. Joe Doerksen

Ludo ; Possibly the only fight not made with the hopes of alot of action, or at least what the casual fan would call action. Doerksen is the definition of a journeyman while Miller knew championships in the IFL. Since coming to the UFC Miller has had varied success as has Doerksen. This will likely be the most interesting ground battle of the night. Both men are very well versed in grappling and submissions and this one may come down to a positional battle. It is definitely possible that either could submit the other were one to be caught out of position though I don't think it is very likely.

Prediction: Dan Miller by Decision

Wolfgang; There are levels in MMA, and El Dirte is a notch below Dan Miller in this case. While his performance against Tom Lawler earlier this year was one of the gutsiest displays of grit and heart from a grizzled MMA veteran as you'll ever find, I think there is little in the way of offense he can offer that Dan Miller can't counter.

Dan Miller by submission.

Ricardo Almeida vs. T.J. Grant

Ludo ; This should prove to be a decent rebound for Almeida. Grant is a decent grappler in his own right but Almeida is in the elite class of grapplers in the world. Grant seems taylor made for Almeida here in the regards that he's not an incredibly strong striker and he has a tendency to struggle against top control grapplers who are hard to submit. Grant will want to go to the ground just as much as Almeida here and thats not a good thing for Grant. If Grant can get on top he may be able to squeak a decision. A more likely scenario is Ricardo takes T.J. down and either controls from the top or submits him.

Prediction: Ricardo Almeida by Submission


Wolfgang; While I think Almeda is heavily over valued as a fighter, this fight has submission of the night written all over it. Grant's losses were to high level grapplers and Almeda has more than enough wrestling to impose his game and catch Grant in a submission during the scramble.

Prediction : Almeda by submission.