UFC 143: Picks And Predictions
Josh Koscheck vs. Mike Pierce
Coming off of a first round knockout over UFC Hallf-of-Famer, Matt Hughes, Josh Koscheck will enter to cage against Mike Pierce looking to build off an incredible victory. After a second failed attempt at champion, Georges St. Pierre, Koscheck was quick to make it clear that he was still very motivated to compete with the best of the best and hopefully earn his way to another title shot.
Mike Pierce on the other hand will be looking to land the biggest win of his career, having lost to the biggest names currently on his resume in Johny Hendricks, Jon Fitch and Mark Munoz.
Both of these fighters come from wrestling back ground and neither are unfamiliar with knockout finishes. Since stepping into the UFC however, Pierce has found tougher competition harder to stop, earning only two stoppages in his seven battles. Koscheck appears to be in the midst of his prime having finished four of his last six victories, three of them in the first round. Koscheck has a clear advantage in experience, and has the ability to take this fight wherever he find’s necessary to maintain control and get a win. Josh Koscheck by Unanimous Decision.
Roy Nelson vs. Fabricio Werdum
Roy Nelson, an underrated striker, with a hugely underrated cardio will look to continue his campaign towards the upper echelon of the heavyweight division after finishing UFC veteran, Mirko Filipovic, with a third round TKO. After winning his first two in the UFC over Brendan Schaub and Stefan Struve, Nelson ran into a buzz saw when he met two of the UFC’s top heavyweights, Junior dos Santos and Frank Mir. Following up his UFC 137 victory with a win over Werdum would throw his name back in the hat for another top-ten fighter.
Fabricio Werdum, on the other hand, has built up a solid resume with Strikeforce, since first departing from the UFC in 2009. With wins over Mike Kyle, Antonio Silva and the first to end Fedor Emelianenko’s amazing run, Werdum was starting to receive a lot of hype; that was until Alistair Overeem derailed his hype train in a three round decision. Werdum will look to carry-over his success and roll it back into the UFC.
Tough fight for me to call. Nelson, a black-belt BJJ fighter, will be near impossible to submit, and more likely to take down. Nelson, also near impossible to finish by knocking him out, has an incredible tolerance for punches and can take a beating like no one else. Werdum unable to take this fight to the mat, unable to do anything with it there, and unable to knock out Nelson appears to be just waiting for Nelson to land one of his signature bombs sending him to the mat. Roy Nelson by TKO.
Nick Diaz vs. Carlos Condit
Very interesting match-up between Nick Diaz and Carlos Condit; also a very difficult fight to call. The winner of this one will truly have proven that he is the best opponent for the current champion, Georges St. Pierre.
Condit and Diaz are both very competent fights in BJJ, though neither of them prefers much to showcase it. Both fighters would rather stand and bang, so we won’t consider this fight hitting the mat. Standing, these fighters are completely different animals. Diaz is a phenomenal boxer, picking his shots, landing combinations with extreme precision, but nothing of too unimaginable strength. Condit however, posses knock-out power and is capable of stopping this fight with a single punch (or flying knee showcased at UFC 132) at any moment. This truly is quality (power) vs. quantity (volume).
Carlos Condit stands his best chance coming out in a hurry and immediately putting the pressure on. In each of his last fights, Diaz’s opponents (Penn and Daley) got out to a quick start, and then either gassed or let their guard down. Condit’s speed and power, will be too much for Diaz to fend off early in the fight. If Diaz does survive, however, both of these fighters have proven they can go the distance, and both fighters have been able to finish fights in the later rounds. Regardless of how this fight goes, I expect it to be amazing start-to-finish. I’m siding with Carlos Condit by TKO.
