So I’ve been pretending the last couple days that UFN 19 didn’t happen, but when I started doing this writeup it brought back horrible memories of myself frequently refreshing the play-by-play to see my undercard bets go down the hole. The bed was shat in and I had to lay in it. I’m hoping this weekend turns out a little better, not only for my sake but for the ppl around me while I’m watching the fight as I will definitely make it as painful for them to watch if things don’t go my way! As I’ve seen some guys on here talk about these fights, I’ve noticed that I’m in the minority for most of my picks – And if Saturday goes anything like Wednesday then you will all have a very profitable night! Onto the picks…
Rich Franklin vs. Vitor Belfort
Well where to start with this one. There’s so many variables going into this fight that it’s hard to get a good grasp of what to expect to happen. Let’s start with Vitor – he’s looked extremely impressive in his last 2 fights since dropping down to 185lb, especially the last one where he disposed of the #2 (or #3 depending on where you looked) ranked middleweight at the time in Matt Lindland. However, I really don’t know what to think of Vitor yet as he hasn’t been pushed at all recently. Vitor is known for being extremely explosive, taking out opponents quickly. When that doesn’t seem to work, he gets a little discouraged. But – I’m making these assumptions based on the Vitor of years ago, when he had a lot of turmoil going on in his life and he didn’t have a strong camp behind him. I’m thinking (and hoping) that he has corrected a lot of these past issues through his work with Xtreme Couture. As for Franklin, he has no doubt been steady in his last couple fights, but he hasn’t really done anything to impress me. I actually hate the Jim Carrey-gone-bad-nose-job wannabe and was thoroughly disappointed when a fighter truly dear to my heart named Wanderlei Silva could not dispose of this wretched fellow.
I look forward to seeing this again on Saturday
Truthfully, I don’t feel he brings anything to the table that puts Vitor in immediate danger. People may look to his last fight against Wanderlei Silva as a comparable stylistic matchup, but I have to disagree. Wanderlei throws wild looping punches, rarely jabs, and usually stands tight in the pocket with little head movement – none of these are characteristics of Vitor. Franklin has never faced a guy with the handspeed or boxing technique that Belfort possesses – other than Anderson Silva and we know how well that ended up. I don’t see this fight going to the ground, and I think Vitor has the right tools to finish Rich in the early rounds. If this goes into round 3, Ace Ventura may steal my money again with a judges decision
My Pick: Vitor Belfort (+130) 2 units to win 2.6 units
Mirko CroCop vs. Junior Dos Santos
I see a lot of people writing Mirko off, saying he is done, claiming that Dos Santos is the next big thing. Hey I’ll give you this, Junior has a bright future in the UFC, although his hairline is starting to fail him at quite the young age! But I don’t think he is going to be using the Croat as a stepping stone. There is a lot of hype behind Dos Santos and for good reason. He trains with probably the best camp in the world in Team Nogueira and he’s decimated his first 2 opponents in the UFC within a combined total time of 2 minutes. Problem is he knocked out 2 Jiu-Jitsu practioners with limited standup ability – one being an extremely out-of-shape Werdum and the other being a Euro-Ethopian bean stock. Let’s be serious - Mirko CroCop’s legs are bigger than Stefan Struve’s waistline. Dos Santos has never fought outside of the first round – Mirko CroCop went three full rounds and gave Fedor Emelianenko his toughest fight ever. Sure that was some time ago, but I haven’t seen anything to say that Mirko’s skills have diminished so badly to say he’s ready to start a new profession of peddling money on the sandy beaches of Croatia. He has looked tentative in his first couple UFC fights, and he got his block knocked off by Gonzaga. But I think he knows that this is it for him. He sounds much more motivated and he’s been training exclusively in a cage for the past several months. The latter is a big deal – Mirko seemed lost in finding his angles in his first few UFC fights. I think he’s fixed that, and knowing that this fight is going to take place on the feet, I can’t be convinced to bet against one of the most feared strikers in heavyweight history. I don’t think Cigano is experienced enough to handle Mirko in the standup game at this point in his career. Gimme a KO please Mirko. Be scared Dos Santos, be very scared.
My Pick: Mirko Filopovic (+220) 2 units to win 2.4 units
Raphael Dos Anjos vs. Rob Emerson:
I think there is some definite value here in the undercard. I dunno why, but I seem to have hate for a lot of the TUF guys and here is another one. Rob “The Saint” Emerson is a complete douchebag. He runs his mouth a lot, he’s been associated with gangs and he lists his job before fighting MMA as “A Scrapper”. God I loved watching Maynard drop him on his head…As for his fighting ability, he has some decent power in his hands and good takedowns if he wants to use them. However, there isn’t much to his ground game and if he ends up on his back, he’s a fish out of water. And the biggest downfall for him is his cardio. He looked horrible after the first round in the Nakamura fight and Pellegrino didn’t give him time to gas. Dos Anjos (isn’t that a fun last name to say?) has faced 2 tough opponents so for in the UFC and has shown a lot of promise in both fights. He almost pulled off the big upset against a beast in Tyson Griffin the last time out with a nasty leg compression. His jiu-jitsu is top level, however his takedowns are lacking. In the stand-up, he moves his feet well but his head stays pretty steady leaving himself open to getting hit – good thing he has a solid chin. I think the longer this fight goes the better as Emerson always comes out strong in the first round and fades quickly. Raphael’s gas tank is endless and he shouldn’t have a hard time securing takedowns once Emerson gases out. I’ll go with a rear naked choke in the 2nd round for Dos Anjos.
My Pick: Raphael Dos Anjos (-120) 2 units to win 1.7 units
Efrain Escudero vs Cole Miller
To tell you the truth, when the line for this fight first came out I was in love with Miller. Not in a flowery and skipping through puddles type of way, but I think you catch my drift. For some reason as time went on I started to like it a little less. However my overall opinion of the fight hasn’t changed. The Mexican Lucha Libre extraordinaire looked good in his fight against Hype Machine Nover, although I’m not sure exactly what that tells us. Efrain used his takedowns to control that fight and did a good job in avoiding some of Nover’s valiant submission attempts. In this fight, he’ll be facing a guy who I believe is much more dangerous on the ground and has faced much stiffer competition.
This to hoping Gumby lays the wood
He may look like Gumby, but Cole Miller has proven to be the real deal. He has an excellent ground game, and his striking has improved fight after fight. He seems to do especially well in the clinch, mostly due to the fact that he towers over his opponents and has long spaghetti noodle limbs. I’m hoping that he will use his reach more in this fight than in the past, as I believe that Efrain may be a little hesitant to take this one to the ground right away. If Efrain goes back to old reliable, I think Cole can be dangerous from the ground and eventually work a submission.
My Pick: Cole Miller (+145) 1 unit to win 1.45 units
I may add the fight between McFedries and Drwal but I need to see what Drwal looks like at the weigh-ins since he is coming down in weight. Fade away friends!
Rich Franklin vs. Vitor Belfort
Well where to start with this one. There’s so many variables going into this fight that it’s hard to get a good grasp of what to expect to happen. Let’s start with Vitor – he’s looked extremely impressive in his last 2 fights since dropping down to 185lb, especially the last one where he disposed of the #2 (or #3 depending on where you looked) ranked middleweight at the time in Matt Lindland. However, I really don’t know what to think of Vitor yet as he hasn’t been pushed at all recently. Vitor is known for being extremely explosive, taking out opponents quickly. When that doesn’t seem to work, he gets a little discouraged. But – I’m making these assumptions based on the Vitor of years ago, when he had a lot of turmoil going on in his life and he didn’t have a strong camp behind him. I’m thinking (and hoping) that he has corrected a lot of these past issues through his work with Xtreme Couture. As for Franklin, he has no doubt been steady in his last couple fights, but he hasn’t really done anything to impress me. I actually hate the Jim Carrey-gone-bad-nose-job wannabe and was thoroughly disappointed when a fighter truly dear to my heart named Wanderlei Silva could not dispose of this wretched fellow.
I look forward to seeing this again on Saturday
Truthfully, I don’t feel he brings anything to the table that puts Vitor in immediate danger. People may look to his last fight against Wanderlei Silva as a comparable stylistic matchup, but I have to disagree. Wanderlei throws wild looping punches, rarely jabs, and usually stands tight in the pocket with little head movement – none of these are characteristics of Vitor. Franklin has never faced a guy with the handspeed or boxing technique that Belfort possesses – other than Anderson Silva and we know how well that ended up. I don’t see this fight going to the ground, and I think Vitor has the right tools to finish Rich in the early rounds. If this goes into round 3, Ace Ventura may steal my money again with a judges decision
My Pick: Vitor Belfort (+130) 2 units to win 2.6 units
Mirko CroCop vs. Junior Dos Santos
I see a lot of people writing Mirko off, saying he is done, claiming that Dos Santos is the next big thing. Hey I’ll give you this, Junior has a bright future in the UFC, although his hairline is starting to fail him at quite the young age! But I don’t think he is going to be using the Croat as a stepping stone. There is a lot of hype behind Dos Santos and for good reason. He trains with probably the best camp in the world in Team Nogueira and he’s decimated his first 2 opponents in the UFC within a combined total time of 2 minutes. Problem is he knocked out 2 Jiu-Jitsu practioners with limited standup ability – one being an extremely out-of-shape Werdum and the other being a Euro-Ethopian bean stock. Let’s be serious - Mirko CroCop’s legs are bigger than Stefan Struve’s waistline. Dos Santos has never fought outside of the first round – Mirko CroCop went three full rounds and gave Fedor Emelianenko his toughest fight ever. Sure that was some time ago, but I haven’t seen anything to say that Mirko’s skills have diminished so badly to say he’s ready to start a new profession of peddling money on the sandy beaches of Croatia. He has looked tentative in his first couple UFC fights, and he got his block knocked off by Gonzaga. But I think he knows that this is it for him. He sounds much more motivated and he’s been training exclusively in a cage for the past several months. The latter is a big deal – Mirko seemed lost in finding his angles in his first few UFC fights. I think he’s fixed that, and knowing that this fight is going to take place on the feet, I can’t be convinced to bet against one of the most feared strikers in heavyweight history. I don’t think Cigano is experienced enough to handle Mirko in the standup game at this point in his career. Gimme a KO please Mirko. Be scared Dos Santos, be very scared.
My Pick: Mirko Filopovic (+220) 2 units to win 2.4 units
Raphael Dos Anjos vs. Rob Emerson:
I think there is some definite value here in the undercard. I dunno why, but I seem to have hate for a lot of the TUF guys and here is another one. Rob “The Saint” Emerson is a complete douchebag. He runs his mouth a lot, he’s been associated with gangs and he lists his job before fighting MMA as “A Scrapper”. God I loved watching Maynard drop him on his head…As for his fighting ability, he has some decent power in his hands and good takedowns if he wants to use them. However, there isn’t much to his ground game and if he ends up on his back, he’s a fish out of water. And the biggest downfall for him is his cardio. He looked horrible after the first round in the Nakamura fight and Pellegrino didn’t give him time to gas. Dos Anjos (isn’t that a fun last name to say?) has faced 2 tough opponents so for in the UFC and has shown a lot of promise in both fights. He almost pulled off the big upset against a beast in Tyson Griffin the last time out with a nasty leg compression. His jiu-jitsu is top level, however his takedowns are lacking. In the stand-up, he moves his feet well but his head stays pretty steady leaving himself open to getting hit – good thing he has a solid chin. I think the longer this fight goes the better as Emerson always comes out strong in the first round and fades quickly. Raphael’s gas tank is endless and he shouldn’t have a hard time securing takedowns once Emerson gases out. I’ll go with a rear naked choke in the 2nd round for Dos Anjos.
My Pick: Raphael Dos Anjos (-120) 2 units to win 1.7 units
Efrain Escudero vs Cole Miller
To tell you the truth, when the line for this fight first came out I was in love with Miller. Not in a flowery and skipping through puddles type of way, but I think you catch my drift. For some reason as time went on I started to like it a little less. However my overall opinion of the fight hasn’t changed. The Mexican Lucha Libre extraordinaire looked good in his fight against Hype Machine Nover, although I’m not sure exactly what that tells us. Efrain used his takedowns to control that fight and did a good job in avoiding some of Nover’s valiant submission attempts. In this fight, he’ll be facing a guy who I believe is much more dangerous on the ground and has faced much stiffer competition.
This to hoping Gumby lays the wood
He may look like Gumby, but Cole Miller has proven to be the real deal. He has an excellent ground game, and his striking has improved fight after fight. He seems to do especially well in the clinch, mostly due to the fact that he towers over his opponents and has long spaghetti noodle limbs. I’m hoping that he will use his reach more in this fight than in the past, as I believe that Efrain may be a little hesitant to take this one to the ground right away. If Efrain goes back to old reliable, I think Cole can be dangerous from the ground and eventually work a submission.
My Pick: Cole Miller (+145) 1 unit to win 1.45 units
I may add the fight between McFedries and Drwal but I need to see what Drwal looks like at the weigh-ins since he is coming down in weight. Fade away friends!
. CroCop makes me sad 
.