UFC Fight Night 26 this weekend

[fitnessgeek]

Trying to bring this forum back from the dead! Have not posted here in a while and unfortunately it the MMA section is lagging severely.


UFC Fight Night 26: Shogun vs. Sonnen
Date: August 17, 2013

Location: Boston, Massachusetts

Venue: TD Garden

Broadcast: FOX Sports 1, Facebook

MAIN CARD (FOX Sports 1, 8 p.m. ET)

Mauricio Rua vs. Chael Sonnen
I'm picking Rua in this one. I think Sonnen is mentally broke and is just riding it out for a payday.

Travis Browne vs. Alistair Overeem
Going with Overeem. He has a lot to prove and I think he will. Look for a first round KTFO!

Yuri Alcantara vs. Urijah Faber
Faber easily.

Matt Brown vs. Mike Pyle
I'm rooting for Pyle becasue I can't stand Brown. But if I put money on it-it would be on Brown.

Uriah Hall vs. John Howard
Not sure on this one. If the TUF Hall shows up then he can win.

Michael Johnson vs. Joe Lauzon
Johnsons wrestling cred should get him this win. Unfortunately it won't be enough against Lauzon's superior grappling.

 

[Epicondyle]

It was a great card, glad Overeem lost, he needs to get back to basics. Chael finally won one, but he makes a better politition/WWE fighter than a UFC fighter. Sad to see him disrespect Rogan like that, no class.

 

[Optimal]

It was a great card, glad Overeem lost, he needs to get back to basics.

Agreed, two losses in a row from getting cocky and not even bothering to block strikes. Hopefully he comes back smarter because he has all the raw talent there.

Chael finally won one, but he makes a better politition/WWE fighter than a UFC fighter. Sad to see him disrespect Rogan like that, no class.

Of his last 9 fights, he has only lost to Anderson & Jones. Chael is extremely underrated and he looked incredible in that fight. No hesitation, just perfect transition in all positions.
And I really doubt Rogan felt disrespected, he doesn't need anyone projecting their feelings onto him. These guys joke around with each other all the time.

 

[Optimal]

Biggest surprise for me Michael Johnson. On TUF he only had one gameplan: go all-out strikes and hope to win before the second round hits.
Looks like he finally learned some takedown defense & pacing, didn't expect that kind of improvement but it's a good sign.
I think Lauzon needs to ditch the dream of owning his own gym for now and go train with higher level guys full-time if he wants to stay competitive.

Uriah Hall wasn't surprising at all, he fights way too passive. Very entertaining when those big hits work out but letting yourself get pushed against the cage doesn't work against higher competition.
I would love to see him go against Nate Diaz to see if he can learn from that (plus Diaz wants to try out middleweight anyway for some reason).

 

[fitnessgeek]

I like to see Uriah go train at a different gym. I think somewhere like Duke Rufus or AKA would do wonders for him.