UFC 193 Picks

As I said previously when Ronda Rousey fights it's not just another fight it's not just another card it's an event. UFC 190 pretty much sold sole on who popular Ronda is was the best selling UFC PPV in over a year. Now's she headling a massive arena show. And this is a loaded card so here are my picks

UFC Bantamweight Championship Ronda Rousey © 12-0 MMA 6-0 UFC vs. Holly Holm 9-0 MMA 2-0 UFC- This fight has been talked about for years. By now we all know Rousey's story Judo Champion Olympic Bronze Medal winner who becomes the top Women's MMA Fighter in the world. Holm was a top ranked boxer and held numerous world championships. She also came in MMA and you would hear her name brought up long before she signed with the UFC. Well know we are getting that fight. Of course now people are bashing it because they feel the need to bash Rousey and anything the UFC does. But that's another story.

Rousey last fought in August at UFC 190. She was paired with Bethe Correia. The fight had become very personal. Correia had mocked Rousye's friends she made some pretty tasteless comments about Rousey. The champion had talked about wanting to drag out the fight and Punish her challenger. And she kind of did since the fight went 34 seconds as opposed to 14 or 16 her previous two had. Going into the fight the thought was Correia's only chance was if it was a brawl. Rousey made it a brawl went right into Correia's face and than landed a powerful punch right to the side of the head. The challenger fell down face plants eyes wide open but the brain had turned off. Holm's last fight was July at a UFC fight night. She dominated Marion Reneau on the way to a decision win. Some will focus on “She's beat two mid level fighters and not finished either.” Me I'm looking at the fact she looked much more at ease and her style could give the Rowdy One trouble.

This time I'm going to have to split the striking advantage. In terms of knockout power with the hands that goes to Rousey. She has 3 KO's and the last two were due to her hands. She rocked Alexis Davis and just destroyed Corriea. But in terms of technical striking that is Holm's edge. We see it with Rousey she usually goes straight forward trying to swarm and crush her foe. Holm didn’t' have many Knockouts as a boxer but her punches are good and crisp and her footwork is great. If Rousey tries to swarm her I could see Holm cutting angles and countering her wild shots. In terms of knees and kicking. Well Rousey has the one knee to the body win over McMann but Holm's kicks are great. She already has four career wins thanks to using kicks. Also unlike most MMA fighters who relay solely on roundhouse kicks Holm mixes it up. You see her use side kicks and front kicks. Another key if she can get the kicks going she can keep Rousey on the outside taking away that clinch. So striking overall advantage Holly Holm.

Its really a no contest in terms of grappling and ground game. There are some things Holm has going for her. Like I said her kicks could keep the fight at range and keep Rousey from clinching up and she does have great take down defense. But Holm does not have a grappling background. She has never won a fight via submission. Rousey you all know this by now Judo world champion, Olympic Bronze Medal Winner in 2008 and two time team member (04, 08) been training on the mat since she was a little girl. She has nine career submission wins all thanks to the armbar. Also she gets the arm in different position. No doubt grappling huge advantage to Rousey.

Let's talk about trainers. Rousey its the usual Glendale Fight Club team. Her boxing/head coach Edmond Tarverdyan. BJJ with Rener Gracie and judo with many of her old coaches from Judo. GFC has become a bit of hot spot for fighters lately but really only Rousey has has huge success out of there. It clear Tarverdyan and Rousey have a great connection he understands her and gets the most out of her. Holm a member of Jackson WinkleJohn. Greg Jackson one of the best MMA coaches ever a great game planner. Mike WinkleJohn was also her trainer as a boxer they have a great connection as well. You have two contrasts Holm is in the big camp with a lot of names while Rousey in the smaller camp that is more built around her. Now if this goes more than one round Greg Jackson won't be Bryan Caraway going “She's breaking” to exhausted fighter.

Another huge factor will be the fact Holm has never been in a fight this big. First this is taking place in a big arena. Holm was a world boxing champion but the truth women's boxing doesn't draw huge crowds. Most of her fights have taken place in New Mexico where she is from. Rousey has main e vented many shows she was in the Olympics twice. Plus add in the amount of press and attention going into this. For Rousey that is old hat. So advantage Rousey.

So who to pick? Let me say this. I think Holm stylistic can be an issue for Rousey. That said I feel like she is going to have to be perfect. If there is any little hole left open I feel Rousey will go through it and beat her. Plus with someone like Rousey you just can't pick against her until you see someone real special as well. My pick Ronda Rousey I think this goes to the ground and Rousey uses that arm bar. That said I have side prediction this fight goes more than one round.

UFC Strawweight Championship Joanna Jedrzejczyk © 10-0 MMA 4-0 UFC vs. Valerie Letourneau 8-3 MMA 3-0 UFC- We often debate who is the best this or that in MMA. And it very well could be Jedrzejczyk. The Polish born former Muay Thai champion has put on clinches in her two UFC title fights. Now she looks to make her second defense. We thought it was going to be against Claudia Gadelha who had a very close fight with Jedrzejczyk and also just beat Jessica Aguilar to become number 1 contender. But than the dominoes fell. Carlos Condit got hurt moving a welterweight title fight off this card and moving Rousey's fight to it. The plane had been for both womens title to be defended on the same card. So they moved Jedrzejczyk to this card and because Gadelha is dealing with injury and Letourneau is coming off a big win she gets a title shot.

Jedrzejczyk last fought in June on a UFC Fight Night card. It was the first time a UFC title had been defend on Fight Pass. She just beat the living hell out of Jessica Penne. It was another Muay Thai clinch by the champion. By the end Penne was badly bleeding. Finally in the third round the fight was called off after Jedrzejczyk landed some big punches and knees. Letourneau last fought in August on a UFC Fight Night Card. She beat Maryna Moroz giving her the first loss of her career. Moroz was coming off a stunning upset over highly ranked Joanne Calderwood.

If we are talking about striking there is no doubt that Jedrzejczyk gets the advantage. She was a world champion in Muay Thai there was talk of her being a member of the Polish Olympic Boxing team. Now it should noted they each have four career wins via knockout. But the little of Letourneau that I have seen she doesn't appear nearly the same level of striking that Jedrzejczyk does. Maybe against most MMA fighters her striking would be enough but not someone with such a heavy striking background.

The ground game doesn't really come up much for either fighter. Both each have a single submission win. But it was years ago Letourneau it was in her fourth career fight and that was back in 2009. Jedrzejczyk it came her in second career MMA fight that was back in 2012. I am giving the edge to Jedrzejczyk because she has shown really good takedown defense. We see it she sprawls and lands some good elbows to the head.

If there is one edge I can give to Letourneau its her team. She fights out of American Top Team. That is one of the top team in MMA it has a lot of good female fighters. Meanwhile Jedrzejczyk trains out of her gym in Poland. Yes she has been successful but you do wonder how good is the total coaching she is getting. Now this is a tough pick. So far Jedrzejczyk has looked great. I haven't seen much of Letourneau so it's hard to know if she is cable of hanging with the champion. But I have to pick Jedrzejczyk just based on her striking. I think we see a similar fight to what we have seen in the last two fight. Jedrzejczyk hits a lot of high volume strikes wears out her opponent and TKO's her.

Antonio Silva 19-7 1 NC MMA 3-4 1 NC UFC vs. Mark Hunt 10-10 1 NC MMA 5-4 1NC UFC- December 7^th 2013 at a UFC Fight Night in Brisbone Australia these two fought for the first time. Given the background of both men you hoped it could be an exciting fight what we got was one of the greatest fights of all time. As that fight played out over five rounds they just kept hitting strikes that you are thinking sooner or later had to result in a knockout. But some how they kept fighting. The fight was scored a draw. It was so amazing people wanted a rematch. And it appeared we were going to get but than it came that Silva had elevated testosterone. Turns out he was getting unapproved TRT treatments as a result he was suspended Hunt moved onto other fights and Silva was suspended. But now after both men have had some ups and some downs we are getting the rematch.

Hunt last fought in May at a UFC Fight Night card he lost a very one sided decision to Stipe Miocic. To show how one sided it was Hunt only landed 48 strike while Mocico laned a UFC record of 361. That puts him at two losses in a row. His lone win was over Roy Nelson. While Hunt made a real comeback in his UFC Career you are starting to worry how much he's got left. Silva last fought in August at UFC 191. He was hurt early in his fight wit Soa Palelei but in the second round he came back and got the KO win. It was his first win since 2013.

Striking you gotta give the edge to Mark Hunt. Of course he was a K-1 champion. The man has tremendous knockout power in his hands and his tree trunk like legs deliver devastating leg kicks. He's the only guy to ever knockout Roy Nelson. Now Bigfoot Silva does have 14 career wins via knockout but he's also lost 6 times via knockout. This guy does not like to get hit. I know he lasted in the first vs. Hunt but I don't know if he can do it again. Hell in his last fight it feel like Palelei tiring out had more to do with his win. He got rocked early and you wonder if vs. someone else if he could lasted. The striking advantage goes to Hunt hands down.

When it comes to ground game the edge goes to Bigfoot. While he does only have 3 wins via submission he's a BJJ black belt. He's never lost Ia submission as well. Hunt has improved on the ground game a lot of the years. But he has six submission losses. Miocicio managed to control him on the ground he never got back up. Hunt has also never won a fight via submission. I don't this fight spend much time on the ground but if it does advantage Silva.

Truth is this is not an easy pick. Both guys have had issues. I don't know if this fight will come any where near the level of the first fight. Both men have a lot of miles on the body. But I am going with Hunt. I just don't trust Bigfoot's chin. I think this time Hunt lands the big punch he was looking for and gets the knockout win.

Uriah Hall 12-5 MMA 5-3 UFC vs. Robert Whittaker 14-4 MMA 5-2 UFC- Which Uriah Hall shows up? Do we get the force of nature, human highlight reel we saw on TUF and against Mousasi or do we get the unsure guy that can't pull the trigger we saw against Howard and Natal? For Robert Whittaker this is a big chance. Originally he was supposed to face Michael Bisping but now he faces a guy coming off a huge win. All that momentum Hall just built he can steal. And oh yeah Whittaker is from New Zeland so he's got a home court fight here.

Hall just fought in September at UFC Fight Night Japan. He scored the biggest win of his career. He knocked out former Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion Gegard Mousasi. That puts him at two wins in a row. As I have and will talk about there is always an issue with mental state. Early on Mousai was looking good he got Hall down. But this time Hall didn't break. He recovered and in the second round spinning jump kick followed up with a flying knee and the knockout win. Whittaker last fought in May he knocked out Brad Tarves in 44 seconds. That wins puts him at 3 in a row and two knockouts in a row. Since moving up to middleweight he seems to be finding his grove.

People rave about Hall's striking. His only loss via knockout came to Chris Weidman the current UFC champion in there early career. Of course Hall has 9 of his career wins via knockout. But he's not just throwing a good one or two or round house kick. He's spinning and jumping and hitting guys with techniques that seem more out of a movie fight than a real fight. But do not sleep on Whittaker's power he's got 7 career wins via knockout. Both men only have lost once via knockout. Gotta give the edge to Hall just the power and that ability to pull of spectacular moves. Plus Hall will have a huge reach advantage. Gonna give the edge in grappling to Whittaker. He's got 5 career submission wins. Hall's only got the one. But it doesn’t seem like the ground game will be much of a factor in the fight.

The big X-Factor in this fight is Hall's mental state. When this guy is on you think he could beat 100 men. When he's off you wonder why picked a career. And the scary thing is he's off nights really are against guys he should have beat easy. In a strange way this feels like a trap fight. But I'm going to pick Hall. This guy is so good I think he did turn a corner last time out.

Stefan Struve 26-7 MMA 10-5 MMA vs. Jared Rosholt 13-2 MMA 5-1 UFC- Struve making a fairly quick turn around he just fought in August at UFC 190. On the plus side he scored first win since 2012 against one of the biggest names by getting a decision over Big Nog. On the down side he didn't look good in that fight. And Big Nog is that classic legend that held on way to long. Why is only 27 he's got a lot of hard miles on his body. Rosholt last fought in August in a UFC Fight Night. Again on the plus side he's on a two fight winning streak. On the down side he's not facing even really mid level contenders. The UFC is starting to make some cuts and both guys need a win to keep there name on roster.

Striking I am giving the edge to Struve. He's the tallest guy on the roster he's got a huge 84.5 inch reach. He's got a Muay Thai background. Now he's not a perfect striker. He's never developed a great jab we have seen guys get in on him. He's won only 7 times via knockout and been knocked out 6 times. But Rosholt he only has 4 career knockouts. Why I don't see Struve at this stage turning into the great striker. I think he will be able to do just enough.

Grappling again the edge goes to Struve. Why is only ranked as brown belt in BJJ he does have 16 career wins via submission. And he's only been submitted once. Rosholt has three career submission wins and he's never lost via submission. But at the end of the day I am more likely to see Struve getting a submission than Rosholt. Well I've given the edge to Struve in two different catergores. So yeah he's my pick. I think the boat has long sailed on Struve becoming a contender I do think he's good enough to still beat Rosholt.