UFC 116 predictions
Fireworks are coming a day early when Brock Lesnar and Shane Carwin step into the octagon at UFC 116 on July 3, in Las Vegas for the biggest fight in UFC history.
Will it live up to the hype?
Most fans have a favorite in this fight. Those predicting Carwin will win mainly do so because they dislike Lesnar and hope he gets knocked out.
Then we have the MMA fans who would love for Lesnar to make his comeback from a one-year layoff and retain his UFC championship belt.
Lesnar said on MMAfighting.com: “I brought in Peter Welch, and we changed my stance and switched it from traditional to southpaw. It’s really worked out, helped on wrestling and shooting. We changed a lot of things, and we’ll see if they work, I guess.”
You guess? Brock said later during the UFC news conference, “I messed up announcing that I’ve been training to fight southpaw."
If Lesnar is going to fight southpaw, he is abandoning his jab, and his game plan is to out-wrestle Carwin. He would become a one-dimensional fighter. This is to Carwin’s advantage because he would need to defend only the takedown and not Lesnar's big right hand.
My prediction is that Lesnar is going to have a lot of ring rust. If the fight goes past the second round, Lesnar will win. However, if it is over within two rounds, Carwin will win. So whom am I predicting?
Carwin will win by knockout in the second round.
UFC has announced that Cain Velasquez will fight the winner of the Lesnar/Carwin fight.
In the co-main event, Chris “The Crippler” Leben has replaced Wanderlei Silva, and his opponent will be Yoshihiro Akiyama. Leben last fought in the octagon June 19 at the "Ultimate Fighter" finale. I like Leben’s chin and his ability to take punishment and stand toe-to-toe with anyone. This will be a huge upset.
Leben wins by knockout in the third round.
Chris Lytle takes on Matt Brown in a match of welterweights. Lytle took the first meeting when they fought in 2007. I believe we will have a repeat. This should be the "Fight of the Night”.
Lytle wins by decision.
Krzysztof Soszynski and Stephan Bonnar is a rematch of a fight that ended with an accidental head butt. Bonnar is one half of the greatest UFC fight ever, when he fought Forrest Griffin in the first "The Ultimate Fighter" finale. He has not been able to recreate the magic from that fight. This will be the last time we will see him in the octagon as a fighter.
Krztysztop wins by unanimous decision.
George Sotiropoulos fights Kurt Pellegrino in a good matchup of lightweights. On The MMA Hour online radio show, Pellegrino was asked whether he would retire if he loses another fight. He said: “I told my wife and daughter, if there’s someone out there who can beat me, I have to start all over again. I’m at the bottom ... and I don’t know if I can do that.” Pellegrino is on a four-fight winning streak.
Sotiropoulos wins by submission.
Share your predictions.
Kevin Richardson has been a fan of mixed martial arts competition ever since UFC 3, when 600-pound sumo wrestler Emmanuel Yarborough was beaten by Keith Hackney. Kevin will cover the world of MMA — in Baltimore, nationally and internationally. He plans to take readers into the locker rooms and MMA schools, where they'll hear from local fighters and trainers. If you have a news tip or suggestions for the blog, please 
Comments
My Prediction Is That Carwin Will Win With A Round 1 Or Maybe Round 2 KO OR TKO
Posted by: Connor Evans | July 3, 2010 6:15 AM
It Is Not The Biggest Fight In UFC History Anderson "The Spider" Silva VS Gorge "Rush" St-Pieere Is The Biggest Fight IN UFC History
I have not seen that on the UFC schedule, do you have information I do not have?
Kevin
Posted by: Connor Evans | July 3, 2010 6:17 AM
Sorry but i disagree with your main event picks. This are my UFC 116 fight analysis and predictions
Brock Lesnar vs Shane Carwin: Carwin looks real good with no defeats, but lesnar would be undefeated if not for an amateurish mistake that left him open to an ankle lock from Frank Mir. Lesnar's grade a wresting, combined with his suprising speed will cause major probles for Carwin and will prove too much for him.
Lesnar via TKO 2nd round
Yoshihiro Akiyama vs. Chris Leben: Akiyama was impressive in his last fight and with his Judo pedigree, I would say his the better fighter between the two. That being said, he is also "Sexyyama" which tips the scale towards Leben. There is a good chance that Akiyama will be stupid enough to stand and trade with leben. If he does Leben(who is hungry and trying to reclaim his top contender status) will knock him out.
Leben via KO 3rd round
Here are some of my other predictions
Krzysztof Soszynski def Stephan Bonnar
Kurt Pellegrino def George Sotiropoulos
Chris Lytle def Matt Brown
Brendan Schaub def Chris Tuchscherer
Ricardo Romero def Seth Petruzelli
For more visit me at mmaaffairs.blogspot
Posted by: Fightmaster | July 3, 2010 2:21 PM
Brock, you are the champion right now, but your really not acting like it. When you got sick last winter, did you ask "someone" for a second chance?. I sure would have and have been in your shoes before, near death three times and I have always stayed conscious (which is the key) no matter what, do not black out.
Have a good fight BOTH of you.
Posted by: J. Ortega | July 3, 2010 6:48 PM