The UFC will broadcast another excellent free fight card on Fox Sports One on Wednesday, September 4th, as a lead in to the new season of reality show “The Ultimate Fighter”. The card includes two fighters that causal fans do not recognize by name, but who are two of the most dangerous men in their divisions, and each should become legitimate title contenders if they are able to secure wins on Wednesday night. The card comes to us live from Mineirinho Arena in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, and the card features several Brazilian fighters, who will have the backing of the always rowdy Brazilian crowd. I have been on a hot streak as of late, and went (17-6-1) on my picks during last week’s two UFC cards, so I hope to be able to continue my hot streak. Let’s get to the picks:
Preliminary Card (Facebook): Yuri Villefort OVER Sean Spencer
Preliminary Card (Fox Sports One): Ivan Jorge OVER Keith Wisniewski, Lucas Martins OVER Ramiro Hernandez Jr, Joao Zeferino OVER Elias Silverio, Edimilson Souza OVER Felipe Arantes
Main Card (Fox Sports One):
Marcos Vinicius (20-4-1) vs. Ali Bagautinov (12-2) – Flyweight Bout – Ali Bagautinov is a promotional newcomer, but he is a well known competitor in Russia, where he is a sambo champion. Bagautinov is a talented fighter, but the UFC is a major step up in competition, and he drew a tough debut opponent in Brazilian Marcos Vinicius. A contestant on “The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil” Marcus Vinicius is (1-1) in the UFC, winning by knockout over Wagner Campos, and getting knocked out by Johnny Bedford. Having a sambo background is great, but based on history Ali Bagautinov will struggle to stay alive with Marcos Vinicius which the fight goes to the ground, and Vinicius has 13 career submission victories. I think he adds another to his resume on Wednesday night. THE PICK: Vinicius By Submission In The Second Round
Rafael Natal (16-4-1) vs. Tor Troeng (16-4) – Welterweight Bout – During the last season of “The Ultimate Fighter” coach Chael Sonnen repeatedly stated that Tor Troeng was the best fighter on his team, and if he was not clipped and knocked out by one punch, he would have been a legitimate threat to win the entire tournament. He was successful in his first UFC fight, when he submitted fellow TUF cast member Adam Cella by submission in the first round, but he faces his most difficult challenge yet in Rafel Natal. A UFC veteran with seven career fights with the promotion under his belt, Natal has complied a (4-2-1) record, and is a winner of two consecutive fights. I think this will be a close fight, and think it will go to a decision, but in his hometown of Belo Horizonte I think the more explosive Natal lands more significant strikes and controls the action to get the win. THE PICK Natal By Decision
Francisco Trinaldo (13-2) vs. Piotr Hallmann (13-1) – Lightweight Bout – Francisco Trinaldo is a UFC veteran who competed in “The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil” and has been impressive in his fights with the promotion, with a (3-1) record and is massive as a lightweight who has fought at middleweight. His lone loss came by decision to Gleison Tibau, who is climbing the lightweight ranks, and has given many fighters in the division trouble. Piotr Hallmann is a Polish fighter, who is making his UFC debut, he is a well-rounded fighter who has won seven fights by knockout, five by submission and one by decision. Although Hallmann is a very talented prospect, the massive Trinaldo has major advantages in power and explosiveness, plus he will have the home crowd behind him. I think that Piotr Hallmann’s UFC debut will be a short one, and expect Trinaldo to knock him out. THE PICK: Trinaldo By Knockout In The First Round
Joseph Benavidez (18-3) vs. Jussier Formiga (15-2) – Flyweight Bout – Joseph Benavidez is one of the most exciting and talented Flyweights in the UFC today, he received a title shot at UFC 152 against champion Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson, which he lost by a controversial spit decision. Since that disappointing defeat, Benavidez is (2-0), with wins over top Flyweights Ian McCall and Darren Uyenoyama, as he climbs the ranks, as he climbs the ranks looking for another shot at gold. Jussier Formiga is also a talented flyweight, who is (1-1) in the UFC, his lone loss in the UFC coming against Jon Dodson by way of TKO. Although I think Jussier Formiga has a chance, especially if he get the fight to the ground where he has seven submission victories, Benavidez is clearly the better overall fighter in my opinion. I think that Benavidez has a significant striking advantage, and expect him to win the fight by TKO, catching Formiga and finishing him with punches. THE PICK: Benavidez By TKO In The Second Round
Yushin Okami (29-7) vs. Ronaldo Souza (18-3-1) – Middleweight Bout – In an excellent matchup between two of the top middleweights in the world, UFC veteran Yushin Okami takes on the extremely dangerous Jacare Souza, in his native Brazil. UFC fans are very familiar with Okami, he has been a member of the roster since UFC 62 in August 2006, and has an excellent (13-4) record with the promotion, with wins over talents like Hector Lombard, Alan Belcher, Nate Marquardt and Mark Munoz. Okami’s only defeats in the UFC have come at the hands of Rich Franklin, Chael Sonnen, Anderson Silva and Tim Boetsch, some of the best middleweights that the UFC has seen, and he has a knack for winning big fights. Not many causal fight fans know Jacare Souza, but believe me when I tell you that he is one of the best middleweights in the world today, and is one of the best Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioners alive. Jacare is the former Strikeforce Middleweight Champion, he has always been excellent on the ground and with submissions, but he has become very dangerous with his hands over recent years and coaches have raved about his improvement in that area. If Yushin Okami can keep this fight standing, he can easily win, as he is the much more experienced striker and will be able to control the action. If the fight goes to the ground, Okami has never lost via submission, but I think that streak comes to an end on Wednesday night. I think Jacare submits Okami, as he continues to climb the rankings in the middleweight division, he is a matchup that nobody in the division will want going forward. THE PICK: Souza By Submission In The Third Round
Glover Teixeira (21-2) vs. Ryan Bader (15-3) – Light Heavyweight Bout – Glover Teixeira is the most dangerous fight for Light Heavyweight Champion Jon Jones, he does not have the name recognition of some of the other top contenders, but I know for a fact that several top lightweights in the UFC want to part of a fight with Teixeira. If it was not for visa problems, which kept the Brazilian out of the United States and the UFC for several years, many more fans would know his name today. In fact, I think that if Teixeria had fought in the UFC earlier, he would have already held the UFC Lightweight Title. Teixeira started out his MMA career at (2-2), but since his last loss in March of 2005, he has rattled off an unbelievable 19 straight victories. He was finally able to get his visa issues resolved in 2012, when he debuted in the UFC, and he is a perfect (4-0) since with wins over James Te-Huna, Rampage Jackson, Fábio Maldonado and Kyle Kingsbury. Glover Teixeira is an extremely well rounder fighter, he has punishing hands, is an excellent wrestler and is a second degree Black Belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, plus he has shown major toughness throughout his career. Ryan Bader is an excellent wrestler, who has an impressive UFC resume, his only losses coming to Jon Jones (submission), Tito Ortiz (submission) and Lyoto Machida (knockout). Bader has notable wins over fighters such as Keith Jardine, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira and Rampage Jackson, but I think that he is in big trouble against Glover Teixeira on Wednesday Night. I expect Teixeira to put away Bader quickly, either by knockout or submission, on his way to a shot at the lightweight title. If Teixeira gets a shot at the gold, whoever the champion is at that time could be in trouble, nobody in the UFC wants to fight Teixeira. THE PICK: Teixeira By Submission In The First Round
OVERALL RECORD:
Preliminaries (112-82-2) Main Card (95-60) Overall (207-142-2)
Main Events (25-6)
MMA PICKS RECORD (by event):
UFC 164: Henderson vs. Pettis –
Preliminaries (5-2) Main Card (3-2) Overall (8-4)
UFC Fight Night: Condit vs. Kampmann –
Preliminaries (4-1-1) Main Card (5-1) Overall (9-2-1)
UFC Fight Night: Shogun vs. Sonnen –
Preliminaries (4-3) Main Card (3-3) Overall (7-6)
UFC 163: Aldo vs. Korean Zombie –
Preliminaries (4-3) Main Card (4-1) Overall (8-4)
UFC on Fox: Johnson vs. Moraga –
Preliminaries (4-4) Main Card (4-0) Overall (8-4)
UFC 162: Silva vs. Weidman –
Preliminaries (4-2) Main Card (1-4) Overall (5-6)
UFC 161: Evans vs. Henderson
Preliminaries (2-4) Main Card (3-2) Overall (5-6)
UFC on FuelTV: Nogueira vs. Werdum
Preliminaries (4-2) Main Card (3-3) Overall (7-5)
UFC 160: Velazquez vs. Silva –
Preliminaries (4-3) Main Card (4-1) Overall (8-4)
UFC on FX: Belfort vs. Rockhold –
Preliminaries (5-4) Main Card (3-1) Overall (8-5)
UFC 159: Jones vs. Sonnen –
Preliminaries (5-1) Main Card (3-2) Overall (8-3)
UFC on FOX: Henderson vs. Melendez –
Preliminaries (4-4) Main Card (2-2) Overall (6-6)
The Ultimate Fighter Finale: Team Jones vs. Team Sonnen –
Preliminaries (3-4) Main Card (3-2) Overall (6-6)
UFC on FuelTV: Moussasi vs. Latifi –
Preliminaries (2-5) Main Card (3-3) Overall (5-8)
UFC 158: St-Pierre vs. Diaz –
Preliminaries (5-2) Main Card (3-2) Overall (8-4)
UFC on FuelTV: Sliva vs. Stann –
Preliminaries (2-3) Main Card (3-3) Overall (5-6)
UFC 157: Rousey vs. Carmouche –
Preliminaries (5-3) Main Card (4-1) Overall (9-4)
UFC on FuelTv: McDonald vs. Barao –
Preliminaries (1-5) Main Card (3-3) Overall (4-8)
UFC 156: Edgar vs. Aldo –
Preliminaries (3-3) Main Card (3-2) Overall (6-5)
UFC on FOX: Johnson vs. Dodson –
Preliminaries: (4-2) Main Card (2-2) Overall (6-4)
UFC on FX: Bisping vs. Belfort –
Preliminaries (3-3-1) Main Card (2-2) Overall (5-5-1)
Strikeforce: Marquardt vs. Saffiedine –
Preliminaries (5-1) Main Card (4-1) Overall (9-2)
UFC 155: Velasquez vs. dos Santos –
Preliminaries (6-1) Main Card (0-5) Overall (6-6)
UFC on FOX 5: Henderson vs. Diaz –
Preliminaries (2-5) Main Card (3-1) Overall (5-6)
UFC 154: St-Pierre vs. Condit –
Preliminaries (5-2) Main Card (2-3) Overall (7-5)
UFC on FUEL TV: Franklin vs. Cung Le –
Preliminaries (1-2) Main Card (4-1) Overall (5-3)
UFC 153: Silva vs. Bonnar –
Preliminaries (5-1) Main Card (4-2) Overall (9-3)
UFC 149: Faber vs. Barao –
Preliminaries (4-2) Main Card (2-3) Overall (6-5)
UFC 148: Sliva vs. Sonnen II –
Preliminaries (3-2) Main Card (5-1) Overall (8-3)
UFC 146: Dos Santos vs Mir –
Preliminaries (4-3) Main Card (4-1) Overall (8-4)
UFC on FOX 2: Evans vs. Davis –
Main Card (3-0)
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