UFC 74: Respect
Saturday, August 25 - 10PM EST
Mandalay Bay Events Center - Las Vegas, Nevada
Main Event:
UFC Heavyweight Champion Randy Couture (15-8) vs. Gabriel Gonzaga (8-1)
Main card:
170 lbs.: Georges St. Pierre (13-2) vs. Josh Koscheck (9-1)
155 lbs.: Joe Stevenson (27-7) vs. Kurt Pellegrino (10-2)
185 lbs.: Kendall Grove (8-3) vs. Patrick Cote (10-4)
155 lbs.: Roger Huerta (18-1-1) vs. Alberto Crane (8-0)
Under card :
185 lbs.: Thales Leites (11-1) vs. Ryan Jensen (11-1)
205 lbs.: Renato “Babalu” Sobral (27-7) vs. David Heath (7-1)
Hvywt.: Frank Mir (9-3) vs. Antoni Hardonk (5-2)
155 lbs.: Marcus Aurelio (14-4) vs. Clay Guida (21-8)
UFC 74 Predictions courtesy of Damon "Beast" Daniels and ChrisZacher (not sure if Chris has a cool nickname yet).
The Preamble
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The Zacher Factor
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Beast |
Let's just get to the picks already.
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Well, well, well…so it’s time for another edition of The
Zacher Factor vs. I.M.O.S.H.O. It’s
nearing the end of August, it’s hot as hell, and on a personal note, I’ve been
out here for a full year (okay, it’ll be a year on the 26th, but
close enough!). I probably won’t be as
light-hearted as I’ve been off my apple juice for some time now. That and I’ve been walking around this place
with a big-ass chip on my shoulder. Or
is it the axe I keep beside my chair?
Seriously…I keep an axe beside my chair.
It’s primarily used as a prop. It
keeps certain people from bothering me for too long. But for the ladies, they seem to enjoy it, so
it keeps them around me for a while.
Heh, heh…something about a man carrying an axe, I suppose. Getting back on track, you all are about to
witness a massacre. I intend to use my
words and predictions as an axe, and chop Mr. Zacher down to midget-like
proportions. No disrespect to midgets,
though.
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UFC Heavyweight Champion Randy Couture (15-8) vs. Gabriel Gonzaga (8-1) |
Beast - Couture
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The Zacher Factor - Gonzaga |
| Here we are…the final showdown. The reason we are all here now. The Natural vs. Napao. Age and Experience vs. Youth and Intensity. I’ll agree that Gonzaga is a better fighter than the one dimensional CroCop, however, CroCop is the same guy that got KO’d by Kevin Randleman, a one-dimensional wrestler. Couture has all the tools to hand Gonzaga his first defeat in the UFC. His striking is a lot better than what it was against Rodriguez and Barnett, and his all-around dominance and control is second only to Fedor. Yes, I said it. Second only to Fedor. And if anyone is calling foul on that one, just remember, while no one has done it yet, Fedor CAN be KO’d. Fedor CAN be dominated (see Fujita and Lindland, please). You’ll see Randy break Gonzaga down round after round, until Gonzaga’s will to win is completely and totally in possession of Randy ‘The Natural’ Couture. |
This of
course is the main event, and in it is the man I called would beat Cro Cop (by
ground and pound, not by the mean high kick though), and who I feel is going to
win this fight. I mean come on people, I know Randy has godhood status amongst
some of you all, and hey I like him too, but you can not ignore the past, and
what the man has said on his own. He felt Cro Cop would have been a better
opponent for him then Gonzaga, and you
can thank that to two people Ricco Rodriguez and Josh Barnett. Randy always has
had a hard time with heavier world class grapplers, and that is what’s going to
happen this time.
I think
this fight is going to put Randy into permanent retirement, unless of course
someone is holding a belt in the LHW division that he could beat, then maybe he
can be handed a title shot…again.
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| 170 lbs.: Georges St. Pierre (13-2) vs. Josh Koscheck (9-1) |
The Zacher Factor - St. Pierre
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Beast - Koscheck |
| Ok this
fight is something I am looking forward to. Both of these fighters have so many
good qualities that this fight has all of the makings of a war. No wait, let me
think again, naw I take that back. How the hell could it be a war on Josh
Koscheck’s part when he couldn’t even move against a fighter who has a bad case
of staph infection? There was nothing more horrible then that fight. Josh
looked more scared then I would look if I was confronted by Josh K for writing
this. But you know what, fighters fight slow fights sometimes, but to act like
Side Show Bob from the Simpsons afterwards, jumping around acting like you just
broke a fighter who was unbeatable before is just lame.
In my
opinion, I think Diego would of won that fight if he would not have had staph. GSP
is not going just circle Josh, he is going to engage him, and I really don’t
think that Josh’s wrestling, although good, will not be good enough to finish
it on the ground. I am going to call it, GSP TKO/KO Rd 1. Afterwards Josh will
be laying on the ground like that episode of The Simpsons where Side Show Bob
was drunk and passed out, but this time just add a cheesy mouth piece that had
KOS written on it.
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“Diego had a staph infection! That’s why he lost!” Get real!
I guess that staph infection is what made Diego try to start a fight at
the weigh-ins, huh? If the infection was
so bad, why did he fight? No honor in
fighting wounded like that. To say it
was a bad fight is just wrong. Kos had his game plan, and executed it. He didn’t have to do much, because he knew in
order for Diego to win the fight, he had to take him down. Fat chance.
Just like GSP is not going to take Kos
down. He’s not going to knock Kos out, either. Kos is going to take GSP down, then begin unleashing a
hell to rival that of a malicious Fedor.
Not to say Kos is on Fedor’s level, but
the beating he’ll unleash on GSP is going to be extremely brutal and
unforgiving. And he won’t gas out
either. I’m going to go out on a limb
and hope for a war, but in the end, it’ll be Josh Koscheck vs. the winner of
Matt Hughes and Matt Serra. GSP is going
to really need his Sports Shrink after this fight. The abuse will be thorough and complete.
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| 155 lbs.: Joe Stevenson (27-7) vs. Kurt Pellegrino (10-2) |
The Zacher Factor - Stevenson
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Beast - Pellegrino |
| The main
lesson to walk away form this fight is the fact that no matter how much you dye
your hair, or look like some raver got lost and found themselves in a UFC cage,
it does not mean you will beat Joe “daddy” Stevenson.
Joe
Stevenson is the future UFC LW champ; yeah you heard it here first. Joe at 170
is lazy, and not in shape, Joe at 155 is in shape and probably IMO one of the
best LWs out there. I think he could beat many of the top tens if pitted
against them, and the thing is he has so much experience and is so young! I
hope after this fight the rumored BJ fight will happen, so that Stevenson can
take the belt. Oh if you noticed I haven't talked about Kurt, nothing bad about
the guy, he just doesn’t stand a chance.
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All right ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls. It’s time for another episode of “When
Keeping It Real Goes Wrong”. On today’s
episode, Chris calls out to the high heavens that Joe ‘daddy’ (with all
lower-case letters) Stevenson will be the next LW champ. After a fit of laughter, I wipe the tears
from my eyes and begin to settle in. Joe
will not be champ. Why? No hands.
Yeah, he’s a good wrestler and is strong as hell, however, that’s
it. Kurt is a BJJ fighter. The ground is his world. Oh, and he is an enthusiastic wrestler as
well. Enthusiastic, meaning he loves to
slam people, too. I say to all, look
forward to an all out war, with Kurt’s multi-colored hair and hand raised. Kurt by Unanimous Decision. And to say that Joe would beat Penn is an
insult. If I were there right now, I’d
have to throw one of my Harry Potter books at you!
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185 lbs.: Kendall Grove (8-3) vs. Patrick Cote (10-4) |
| The Zacher Factor - Grove |
Beast - Cote
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| Kendall
Grove is on fire, while Cote is just trying to
score wins to get a win in the UFC. He is currently 1-4 in the UFC, and
has
scored some wins in smaller shows scattered in between his UFC
appearances. Kendall on the other hand has become a 100% better fighter
since he was in The Ultimate Fighter Season 4, and has crushed the two
opponents in front of him.
Ladies and
gents, this fight is going to be nasty for Cote.
Grove is going to come in there and want to crush Cote, while Cote is going to
be wondering why he can’t set the pace, and will end up a human wreck
afterwards. Maybe afterwards he can come back to Colorado Springs CO ,
and get that free meal he was promised the first time out here. Hopefully after
this loss we won’t have to see Cote in the UFC
anymore. The way he was acting after the Smith fight was just as lame as the
fight itself.
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Now, now, Chris. I
would hardly say that Kendall is “on fire”
with only two fights. Let’s keep it
real. Who in the hell has Grove fought
since coming into the UFC? His toughest
test to date was Ed Herman. It went the
distance. Cote
has got the big fight experience, and nothing left to lose. Yeah, he beat Scott Smith, and yeah, he’s 1-4. But…Tito is no slouch. Doerkson is no slouch. Lutter is not a slouch. Come on, now.
Against the more aggressive fighter, Grove isn’t a standout. Against Joe Riggs, KO. Against Savant Young, he was choked out. Against Hector Ramirez (yeah the one Forrest
just tooled), KO. There comes a time
when you’ve gotta sit and let reality hit you dead on. Cote by TKO in the second round.
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| 155 lbs.: Roger Huerta (18-1-1) vs. Alberto Crane (8-0) |
The Zacher Factor - Huerta
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Beast - Crane
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Okay, do I need to even type the
reasons why Huerta is going to take this fight? Really, you want me to? Fine then, here we go.
First
things first, I think it is obvious this guys is being molded to be the next big
UFC star aimed at the Hispanic demo graph. Not to knock him, but he is definitely
being handed wins, with opponents who are undefeated, but have not been tested
by the likes of Huerta. Crane did have one win again Vasquez, but the main
reason he got that is because Vasquez injured his knee in the fight. I will
chalk this to Huerta via being fed an opponent. Hopefully he will learn his
lesson from his last fight, and not take him lightly in the first round.
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Now, I can almost agree that ‘El Matador’ is being spoon-fed opponents. However, Mr. Zacher, I believe Crane is going to cause Dana to pump his brakes on the Huerta train via surprise submission. Let’s say something like a…rear naked choke. Looking at fight histories and such, Crane has taken some time off. Dude’s probably been training, as he owns two BJJ schools in New Mexico, so you can only imagine, if he’s so well versed that he’s got not one, but two schools, he is a very dangerous opponent for Huerta. I say that Huerta is going to come out swinging for the fences, get taken down, then put to sleep. The audience will be completely stunned, and much like one Houston Alexander in the light-heavies, there will be yet another force to be reckoned with in the lightweight division. Submission in the first by Crane. |
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