UFC 75: Champion vs Champion Results

I’m still pissed over the decision in the Bisping vs. Hamill results, so these results are going to be short. If you want a big write up, you know where to go. I’ll give you the down and dirty.

Quinton Jackson def Dan Henderson via unanimous decision – slow fight imo, a lot of ground wrestling. Very close and tough to call.

Michael Bisping def Matt Hamill via split decision – two judges scored this 29-28 Bisping, the other scored in 30-27 Hamill. Based on my view and everyone elses that I have asked, Hamill took this fight in the first two rounds. I would give the 3rd to Bisping, but not clearly. Hamill did well on take downs and striking. Bisping never tried to take the fight to the ground and didn’t push the action. Very poor decision

Cheick Kongo def Mirko Cro Cop – Cro Cop just doesn’t seem to have it anymore. His confidence looks shot after the head kick by Gonzaga. He came out well in the first round, but the 2nd and 3rd he looked clearly bored. Both fighters went for a lot of body kicks and knees in the clench. Kongo at one point kneed Cro Cop below the belt twice and Cro Cop was able to stop the fight and catch his breath, this was in the 3rd round. I thought I saw a couple of strikes below the belt in round 2 as well. Kongo pushed the pace and ultimately won the bout with very stiff body kicks.

Marcus Davis def Paul Taylor via armbar submission – this fight got submission of the night but the story was the back and forth action early on. Taylor rocked Davis with a head kick early in the fight, but Davis was able to maintain his composure (and thanks to Yves Lavigne who likes to keep fights going longer than they probably should) and able to secure an armbar for the win.

Houston Alexander def Alessio Sakara – As I predicted, Alexander came out explosive as he did in the Keith Jardine fight. Early on in the fight, Alexander got a nice knee to Sakara’s head in the clench and dropped some fists (I think our count was around 20 shots) before Yves Lavigne called the fight.

The preliminary bouts consisted of:

Jess Liaudin def. Anthony Torres via TKO (strikes) — Round 1, 4:10
Dennis Siver def. Naoyuki Kotani via KO (punch) — Round 2, 2:04
Thiago Silva def. Tomasz Drwal via TKO (strikes) — Round 2, 4:23
Gleison Tibau def Terry Etim via unanimous decision (30-27 on all three cards)

(thanks to MMA Junkie for the preliminary results)

So overall, with my betting results…

Henderson def. Jackson
Hamill def Bisping
Cro Cop def Kongo
Davis def Taylor
Alexander def Sakara
Etim def Tibau
Silva def Drwal
Siver def Kotani
Liaudin def Torres

5-4 on the night (should have been 6-3).

UFC 75: Champion vs. Champion Predictions

Quinton “Rampage” Jackson vs. “Hollywood” Dan Henderson

This is being dubbed the unification bout for the light heavyweight title at 205. On paper this is a close fight. Henderson hasn’t had a fight since his win over Wanderlei Silva at Pride 33 in February where he won the Pride light heavyweight title. Henderson also holds the Pride Middleweight belt.

Jackson is coming off of a win over Chuck Liddell where he won the UFC Light Heavyweight Title. Jackson has a five fight winning streak holding wins over Matt Lindland, Liddell, and Marvin Eastman. Henderson has a two fight win streak over Vitor Belfort and Silva.

This is an interesting bout with two men with very close styles. My pick here in Dan Henderson in what some would call a slight upset.

Matt “The Hammer” Hamill Vs. Michael “The Count” Bisping

This fight is being dubbed as the true Ultimate Fighter 3 final. In case you weren’t aware, TUF 3 had slated to have Matt Hamill vs. Michael Bisping in the finals however an injury prevented Hamill from continuing in the show. Hamill never lost. Hamill has claimed since that he was the true TUF 3 winner and asked for this rematch for sometime. Both men are undefeated in their professional MMA careers.

Both men match up pretty well in this fight with Bisping getting the nod for experience. Hamill is 5-0 in the UFC, holding wins over Rex Holman, Seth Petruzelli, Jesse Forbes. Bisping holds a 14-0 MMA record with recent wins over Elvis Sinosic, Eric Schafer, and Josh Haynes (to win TUF 3).

If this fight goes long, I give the nod to Hamill with better conditioning thanks to training with Tito Ortiz and Team Punishment. Many of Bisping’s fights have ended in the first round due to strikes. My pick here is Hamill.

Mirko Cro Cop Vs. Cheick Kongo

Cro Cop has gone on record saying his fight with Gabriel Gonzaga was embarassing. He mentioned he didn’t train in a cage and didn’t train for elbows. Both of these played a big part in his fight with Gonzaga and contributed to why he lost.

Cheick Kongo is coming off of a majority decision win over Assuerio Silva and has had more cage experience. Both he and Cro Cop are stand up strikers. Kongo has a pretty weak ground game, however I don’t see either of these guys taking the fight to the ground. It would be shocking if they do. I could see Cro Cop exposing this weakness of Kongo, but expect lots of attempted kicks by both fighters.

I pick Cro Cop to win here and work his way back up the heavyweight ladder.

In other fights on the card (my pick in bold):

Marcus Davis Vs. Paul Taylor – This is Taylor’s 2nd fight in the UFC. Davis has the experience edge in this fight and is more well-rounded.
Houston Alexander Vs. Alessio Sakara – Alexander holds a recent win over Keith Jardine in what is considered a huge upset. Look for some explosiveness coming from Alexander yet again.
Gleison Tibau Vs. Terry Etim – Local, homer pick here.
Tomasz Drwal Vs. Thiago Silva – Silva is undefeated. I see that trend continuing against Drwal. This will be Drwal’s first fight in the UFC, and has an impressive 14-1 record, but I think Silva has the edge here.
Naoyuki Kotani Vs. Dennis Siver – Kotani is a very inconsistent figter. I see Siver turning his career around with a win over Kotani.
Anthony Torres Vs. Jess Liaudin