UFC 88: When Your Hot Your Hot

UFC president Dana White approached the podium this week, tears staining his home silk-screened Rob Base and DJ E-Z Rock T-shirt, to announce that he had consulted the oracle and found that the ghost of Lance Hahn would accept the temporary naming of UFC events after Jerry Reed songs.

I didn't write anything about the last UFC because I was in Florida watching it in Hi-Def. Brock Lesnar almost looked sub-human. To the fights.

Lee vs. Boetsch: It doesn't really matter. Nobody knows anything about Lee except that he got subbed by Vernon White. Boetsch still has that highlight reel feed sack toss over David Heath. I dig his straight kicks. Boetsch by vicious beating in the 2nd.

Kim vs. Brown: Matt Brown growing to folk hero status among his housemates was the most interesting part of TUF this season. I liked his fights. Kim is an unreal fighter. He is no joke. He has more balance than PBS. His top game rules. He wins by savage smashing from the top in round 1.

Carneiro vs Chonan: This one is hard from me. Chonan has been around so long he seems like part of the sport itself. He also threw a flying heel hook on Anderson Silva. In addition, his name has a completely counter intuitive reading. I just am not sure that he has it anymore. Roan Carniero lost his last match embarrassingly. He, a BJJ black belt, was subbed by a blue belt. Ouch. He has also lost to Chonan before in DEEP. I think that, at this point in their careers Carneiro has more going for him. I really can't call it but I will go Carneiro by sub in the 1st.

Pellegrino vs. Tavares: Both of these guys are solid, exciting fighters coming off of losses. Another one that is rough. Pellegrino was scary yelling and punching Alberto Crane. I call him by enduring craziness leading to a decision. I am looking forward to this one.

Parisyan vs. Yoshida: Cancled due to injury. Was going to be a judo showdown.

Henderson vs. Palhares: Palhares is a legend in the making. He's coming. The question is, does it begin now, or after Henderson. His armbar transition from the back against Salaverry was rad times two. All of this being said, I still believe that Henderson is the best athlete in the sport. The common wisdom is that he is better at 205 then 185. Either way he is the solid right hand of iron, a hard chin and a lot of skill. Palhares trick is that he is a real BJJ guy with true wrestling skills. That usually switches the balance in his favor, but is it really against Henderson? I don&t see Henderson getting taken down. If he is, Palhares gets the fight. I see Henderson hanging in, reisiting subs from the bottom and, at some point knocking Palhares out. Let's say....Henderson by KO in the 3rd.

Hamill vs. Franklin: Poor Rich Franklin, just when he was dominating the sport, the UFC went out and signed Anderson Silva and his jock full of kryptonite. Ohio doesn't know which way to split on this one. Franklin ruled the middleweight division by being able to cut a ton of weight effectively. Now, he is going back up to 205, where he isn't big. Matt Hammil is big, and strong. I believe in Hamill's skills. If I am not driving his bandwagon, I am at least riding my skateboard and holding the bumper. Hamill has more raw physical skills than Franklin. Franklin is known as a training machine. Does this really help him as much know that he is up in weight though? Franklin is also reputed to have a very good ground game. I can see Franklin winning by sub as Hamill gets to excited on top. I can see Franklin winning by picking Hammil apart in the stand-up for 3 rounds. But, what I predict, is that Hammil takes him down at will and surprises Franklin with some bog right hands. Hammil by decision.

Marquardt vs. Kampmann: This is probably, since Yoshida/Parisyan was canceled, the fight that I am most looking forward to. Marquardt is like a PBJ sandwich for lunch, you will probably never go wrong picking him. He is good at everything. He is really good at everything. He dominated in Pancrase for a while, which is not easy. Kampmann, however just looks so slick to me. He also holds my fan-hood forever for his arm-triangle on Drew McFedries. Sometimes in a fight, when both of the competitors are good, their size comes heavily into play. If Marquardt comes out and looks like Pellegrino did next to Alberto Crane, then he will probably win the fight. If Kampann can&t out physical him, it will be rough. I'm going to call this one for Kampmann though by arm-triangle in the 3rd.

Lidell vs. Evans: Chuck Lidell vs a wrestler. Haven't we heard this one before? What Lidell are we going to see though. He might be slipping. Might. He looked good against Silva. Evans is a wrestler, but he is quick and has some nice stand-up. The thing about Rashad's wrestling ,however, is that his take-downs aren't quick double legs like Lesnar or from the clinch like Couture. Evans utilizes long, grinding, take-downs that take him from one side of the cage to the other. He wears himself down. At some point, this strategy is going to open up an opportunity for the trusty Chuck bolo punch. Two factors in Evans favor. Lidell is coming off of a hamstring injury. That takes a while to heal and pops back up when you don't want it to. It can also really effect your training. Second, Evans trains with Greg Jackson who is very good at game planning. If you see Evans come out and he looks like he is fighting a different game, the advantage might be going to him. If Lidell seems to be hesitant in his sprawl, it could go Evans way. But, I 'm going to call it for Lidell by KO in the 2nd.

That's it kids. Dig out your Smokey and the Bandit pajamas, brew up some pop-corn, call Arash Markazi and tell him I wrote his article for him (with more typos).