I know I usually do these a week before the fight but I am going to be out of town between Saturday-Tuesday and I wanted to give yall a treat before I left haha. I made it the shortest ive ever done so I think you guys can actually enjoy this one without getting bored haha.
Joe Stevenson Vs. Diego Sanchez
Name: Joe Stevenson
Height: 5' 7" (170 cm)
Weight: 155 (70 kg)
Record: 34-9-0
Nickname:"Daddy"
Name: Diego Sanchez
Height: 5' 11" (180 cm)
Weight: 155 (70 kg)
Record: 21-2-0
Nickname:"Nightmare"
I think this fight will be a great one, Both of these guys match up very well both good strikers, both excellent on the ground. This will be Diego Sanchez's first fight at 155 so you have to wonder how well he will do at Lightweight, Another fact in this fight is that Diego Sanchez has wins over much bigger names in bigger weight classes than Joe Stevenson for example Jorge Santiago at Middleweight and at Welterweight, Nick Diaz, Karo Parisyan, Joe Riggs, and Luigi Fiorvanti. I think this is the best thing Diego can do for his career because he was totally over sized in his fight with Jon Fitch and would of been even more undersized if he fought Thiago Alves and now as I said he will be the bigger fighter. If Diego comes out and does to Joe Stevenson what he did to all off his wins in the UFC, I think Diego will be the biggest threat to the Lightweight title in the division. But Joe Stevenson is no chump, Stevenson has the sickest guillotine choke in the game and he can destroy you with his ground n pound even in the guard he stacks you against the fence and just lays down bombs for example the Yves Edwards fight, Edwards was a mess and was totally destroyed by Stevenson also he has a very heavy jab, it took that jab to set up the submission win over Melvin Guillard. I do believe Joe is the underdog in this fight but you got to realize he has been in there with the top dogs at 155 in BJ Penn & Kenny Florian so he well be very relaxed and dont be surprised to see him win.
Prediction: Diego Sanchez via Unanimous Decison
Nate Marquardt Vs. Wilson Gouveia
Name: Nate Marquardt
Height: 6' 0" (183 cm)
Weight: 185 (84 kg)
Record: 30-8-2
Nickname:"The Great"
Name: Wilson Gouveia
Height: 6' 1" (185 cm)
Weight: 185 (84 kg)
Record: 12-5-0
I believe this will be fight of the night, to fighters who come out of probably the two best Mixed Martial Arts camp in the world. Nate Marquardt comes out of Greg Jackson's camp and Wilson Gouveia comes out of American Top Team. Nate Marquardt in my opinion is the best fighter in the Middleweight division under Anderson Silva and he has only lost two fights in the last 5 years but one of those fights he lossed due to a technicality. Marquardt is a also a very well rounded fighter excellent wrestler, ju-jitsu top notch and has very crisp striking if Marquardt can overwhelm the less experienced Gouveia like he has done to many of his opponents then Nate Marquardt could be well on his way to another title shot. Wilson Gouveia though less experienced is an animal in the Middleweight division himself, he is coming of a T.K.O victory over a very experienced and tough fighter in Jason Macdonald. Wilson has also fought at 205 for most of his career in fact he fought to a close decison with Marquardt's training partner Keith Jardine and He believes that the Jardine fight is in Marquardt's head because Wilson bloodied and battered Jardine in fact he won the first round in that fight due to the judges score cards. Wilson is a BJJ black belt but he is coming along in his striking and has very heavy hands he also has only lost 1 fight in the last 5 years. This fight will be very exciting and I believe it is all about who engages and impliments the perfect gameplan.
Prediction: Nate Marquardt via Unaimous Decison
Demian Maia Vs. Chael Sonnen
Name: Demian Maia
Height: 6' 0" (183 cm)
Weight: 185 (84 kg)
Record: 10-0-0
Name: Chael Sonnen
Height: 6' 1" (185 cm)
Weight: 185 (84 kg)
Record: 23-9-1
This fight has a chance to steal the show but personally I do not believe it will. Chael Sonnen comes out of Team Quest and is very experienced, he was the last WEC Middleweight Champion and plans to make a huge splash in the UFC's Middleweight division. But he is getting a heavy dose of the UFC's Middleweight division really early in Demian Maia who i believe is the dark horse of the Middleweight division. Demian Maia in my opinion has the best ju-jitsu game in the UFC he has a very credible resume when it comes to ju-jitsu and trains with Wanderlei Silva now at Xtreme Couture. Chael Sonnen is going to want to keep this fight on the feet which really isnt his forte but if he goes to the ground against and ju-jitsu phenom like Demian Maia it could spell trouble, if he can use his wrestling to stay on his feet and avoid the ground at any cost then Chael could take this fight but if Demian Maia can pull guard at least one time, Sonnen will be in deep trouble because I believe Maia can catch you in anything he chooses because he is very methodical off his back he was able to submit a great submission artist in Jason Macdonald so dont think for a second he couldnt catch Chael Sonnen who has been submitted in the past most notably by Renato Sobral at UFC 54. We will see what happens.
Prediction: Demian Maia via Submission rd 2
Josh Koscheck Vs. Paulo Thiago
Name: Josh Koscheck
Height: 5' 10" (178 cm)
Weight: 170 (77 kg)
Record: 14-3-0
Name: Paulo Thiago
Height: 5' 11" (180 cm)
Weight: 170 (77 kg)
Record: 10-0-0
Now many people dont know who Paulo Thiago is but I have read alot about him and word is that he is a submission wizard, he has only gone to decison twice in his career and in all of his other wins are via submission and all were under 3 minutes. I believe that Josh Koscheck is not getting any cupcake here I believe Paulo Thiago is a legitment opponent though untested, But i dont know much about Thiago's striking ability where Koscheck has improved leaps and bounds on his striking he is coming off one of the highlight knock outs of 2008 over Yoshiyuki Yoshida. In my opinion I think Koscheck should do in this fight what he did in the Yoshida fight and that is stand up and use his striking ability to win the fight because i believe if he goes to the ground he could be in serious trouble against Paulo Thiago. But I think lack of experience and lack of big time shows will get to Thiago and Koscheck will go through him as long as he stays on his feet.
Prediction: Josh Koscheck via T.K.O rd 2
