UFC 139: Picks And Predictions
The UFC is heading to San Jose this weekend for UFC 139 featuring two dominant PRIDE veterans when former UFC light heavyweight champion, Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua takes on Strikeforce light heavyweight champion, Dan Henderson. Also featured in this event is a middleweight matchup between hard-hitting Wanderlei ‘The Axe Murderer’ Silva and dominant kick boxer, Cung Le, a bantamweight fight between Urijah Faber and Brian Bowles with both men posturing for a title shot, a struggle to stay relevant among the upper echelon of the welterweight class when Martin Kampmann meets Rick Story, and a light heavyweight showdown when Stephan Bonnar takes on Kyle Kingsbury. Looking ahead to the stacked UFC event, l’d like to dig in and layout how I picture these fights will go.
MAURICIO RUA Vs. DAN HENDERSON
Starting with the headline event, we find two well decorated PRIDE veterans and former PRIDE champions. Dan Henderson has won six of his last seven fights, his last four all by knock-out. Throughout his thirty-six career matches, Henderson has never been knocked-out.
Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua enters this fight with an 80% win percentage holding seventeen of his twenty career wins by KO/TKO. Rua had been classified by some fans, with many other MMA fighters that have aged and are now finding themselves retiring from the sport no longer to compete with today’s younger athletes. A dominant performance at UFC 134 however, finishing former champion, Forrest Griffin with a devastating first round KO has proven otherwise.
Both men are dominant strikers, and this one looks to be a stand-up war. Henderson however, seems to walk through damage, and keep on delivering unlike any other. Although Rua may be a little quicker early in the fight, I imagine Hendo catches Rua off guard and puts a close to this one. Dan Henderson by TKO.
WANDERLEI SILVA Vs. CUNG LE
Wanderlei Silva is another PRIDE veteran facing the scrutiny of being an aged fighter unable to keep up with current competition. Wanderlei has lost six of his last eight four by knockout, and many predict that another loss will lead to his retirement. Even if Wanderlei chose not to retire, it seems obvious the he’s on a “must-win” status with the UFC if he’d like to avoid being cut. This man another dominant striker could knock-out almost anyone if they didn’t knock him out first.
Cung Le owns a perfect record in kickboxing, and a near perfect record in MMA, losing only once to Scott Smith, a loss which he later came back to avenge. Le owns seven career wins in MMA, finishing all of them by KO/TKO.
At this point in Wandy’s career, it seems difficult to see how he escapes this one. I have enjoyed watching him for a long time, and continue to root for him as a fighter, but he seems outmatched in this one. Cung Le by KO.
URIJAH FABER Vs. BRIAN BOWLES
Urijah Faber, a dominant wrestler and grappler, holds twenty-five career victories of his thirty matchups, finishing twenty of his fights by submission or KO/TKO. Four of Faber’s losses have come in his last eight fights, but all of them were title fights, losing twice to Mike Brown and once to Jose Aldo at featherweight before cutting down to bantamweight losing to champion Dominick Cruz to decision in a close fought battle.
Former WEC bantamweight champion, Brian Bowles owns ten wins with only one loss, also a title fight giving up his title to Dominick Cruz. Of Bowles’ eleven career fights, only one has gone the distance, and only one other made it to the third round.
Although Bowles has an impressive resume across his limited number of fights, Faber completely outweighs him in experience. Bowles has never faced a wrestler as decorated as Faber. I expect Faber to be able to take this fight to the mat where he will punish Bowles on the floor for the entire three rounds and earning a unanimous decision. Urijah Faber by UD.
COMPLETE PREDICTIONS:
Dan Henderson def. Mauricio Rua by TKO.
Cung Le def. Wanderlei Silva by KO.
Urijah Faber def. Brian Bowles by UD.
Martin Kampmann def. Rick Story by UD.
Stephan Bonnar def. Kyle Kingsbury by TKO.
Ryan Bader def. Jason Brilz by UD.
Michael McDonald def. Alex Soto by TKO.
