Dominick Cruz vs. Demetrious Johnson

In his latest challenge for the bantamweight title Dominick Cruz finds Demetrious "Mighty Mouse" Johnson ready to vy for the top spot in the division. However in many ways Johnson represents much the same attributes as the last contender, Urijah Faber, did. The only major differences between them are Mouse's speed, as well as being much shorter with less reach. This has all the makings of a great fight, but something tells Me it won't top the Faber fight in overall competitiveness. As it stands right now I don't see anyone in the division able to give Cruz the kind of fight Faber did this most recent time out. I see the reach being a real disadvantage for Mouse in this fight, especially with the way Cruz is never stationary. Being unpredictable is an advantage for Cruz here in that it's going to take a round or so before Johnson is able to get a feel for what he's doing or get a lock on him, if at all. Striking is split here between the fighters. Cruz has an advantage in technical striking, as well as his elusiveness while Demetrious will have a power striking advantage. Wrestling is essentially a wash but we cannot ignore Cruz' striking style playing into the wrestling game with that knee tap he likes so much. Overall grappling I give to Johnson mostly because he has spent significantly more time there, and he has shown better submissions than Cruz, mostly due to the first part. I see this fight playing out alot like the Jorgensen fight for Mighty Mouse. He's going to get a few licks in but for the most part he's going to find Cruz is much harder to hit than most of the fighters he's fought before. He will probably find himself wondering what to do three rounds in when Cruz is still coming in from wierd angles and mixing his strikes with his takedowns. However Mouse will be more able to address and adapt to it than Jorgensen was. All in all though I think Cruz will just keep doing what he does and use the reach advantage he's going to have enroute to a decision victory.

Prediction: Dominick Cruz by Decision


Charlie Brenneman vs. Anthony Johnson

Fresh off the main event upset at UFC on Versus 5 over Rick Story, Charlie Brenneman matches against Anthony "Rumble" Johnson. At first thought Johnson has three notable advantages in size, reach, and striking power. However Charlie is a grinder in the truest sense of the word. He's going to test Rumble's gas tank if it goes the distance, and probably get knocked out if it doesn't. Given the circumstances I think Rumble should be favored but Brenneman is definitely a game opponent here. Wrestling here is going to come down to who has the better base and the bigger heart. Gut instinct says Johnson should be the better wrestler because he's bigger and stronger, but the same could have been said about Story last time out. I honestly see this going one of two ways. Either Johnson elects to stand and ends up rocking Brenneman hard, and knocking him out or taking him down for top control; or Charlie can grind Rumble down and get himself a decision. That said I'm going to go out on a limb and pick Charlie for the upset.

Prediction: Charlie Brenneman by Decision


Stefan Struve vs. Pat Barry

It's rare that you have a somewhat relevant fight that has all the attributes of a freak show. But with Stefan Struve being 6'11 and Pat Barry being 5'11 this fight certainly fits that description at first glance. It's hard to say what will happen here, I definitely give the striking advantage to Barry, but this is the heavyweight divsion where everyone packs a punch. On the ground Struve is far and away the better fighter. It's looking like either Barry knocks Struve into "bolivian" to steal a line from the Slammin' Salmon, or Struve can get Barry down and taps him out. Struve's reach cannot be overlooked here. He'll have a foot in height over Barry and may elect to stick a jab in his face while he tries to figure out how he's going to go for the takedown without getting blasted. However if you've seen the videos on youtube then you know Barry has been training for Struve's height Unfortunately for Struve I tend to think Barry can work him over with leg kicks and set up a big overhand right that ends the Dane's night.

Prediction: Pat Barry by (T)KO


Matt Wiman vs. Mac Danzig

Back in June of last year these two met only to have the fight stopped by controversey. Since then he has gone on to destroy Cole Miller, and lose a not so close fight to Dennis Siver. Some have claimed he should have won the Siver fight because he secured more takedowns but the reality is he only did anything with one of those takedowns, and only enough to win one round 10-9. Back to the matchup though. I doubt either of these guys is looking for a stand up war here, instead they will look to secure top control from takedowns and look for submissions and ground and pound while their at it. It should be noted that while neither is an especially accomplished striker that Wiman is the harder puncher without a doubt. On the ground Wiman is the stronger wrestler while Danzig is the better submission fighter. Both of them have good scrambling ability, but I think it will be Wiman scoring early and often with takedowns. He'll just have to try and keep his neck out of guillotines to avoid letting Danzig return the favor with one. I expect this to be a back and forth fight in which one fighter just edges the other out in a split decision type scenario. I'm going with the stronger wrestler who has the ground and pound to sway judges.

Prediction: Matt Wiman by Decision