UFC 118: Don’t Call it a Preview

__________________________________________________________________________

MMA | 2 Comments

The tagline for UFC 118 is Penn vs. Edgar 2, but the drawing power is all coming from a “Boxing vs. MMA (really?)” showdown pitting UFC stalwart Randy Couture against Boxing, um, legend James Toney. 

The lightweight division is already overlooked enough, which comes with the territory of being the ‘little guy’, but the worst thing to happen to that division will be if the consummately boring Frankie Edgar emerges as its next great champion.  Should that happen, that strap will be borderline invisible.

B.J. Penn (-300) over Frankie Edgar. B.J. Penn just didn’t look like himself  in their last fight.  Well, actually he did look like himself as not training hard for a fight has become a staple in B.J.’s career.  B.J. Penn has had some of his best fights coming off losses thus giving him the added motivation that he really needs to be the best B.J. he can be.

This fight will be closer than many think, however a B.J. Penn loss could very well signal the beginning of the end for the Prodigy.  I think Penn takes this fight in four rounds via submission, but Frankie Edgar will go down swinging and could even connect with one of those lethal strikes.

Randy Couture (-190) over James Toney. James Toney’s only chance in this fight will be to land one of those heavy hands on Couture’s noggin within the first minute of the half of this fight.

But Randy’s too smart for that.  Expect Couture to test Toney’s questionable (to say the least) takedown defense early and often.  Do not expect a decision.  This fight should be filled with clinching, takedowns, smothering, dead time, and heavy breathing (mostly from Toney) as Couture fights a fundamentally sound bout that puts the Boston faithful (who isn’t passed out from Guinness) to sleep.

Demian Maia (-190) over Mario Miranda. If you thought Philly booing Santa Claus was brutal, just wait until the city of Boston is done crucifying this one.  Two Jui-Jitsu fighters equals bad news in most UFC fights.  Anderson Silva taught us that.

The cumulative record of fighters in Big Nasty’s fight club is exceptional, with the only loss being Demian Maia’s loss, as an understudy for Vitor Belfort, to Anderson Silva at UFC 112.

Maia should avenge the loss, meaning every fighter in our fight club would have had one or more victory, with a submission or decision victory over the impressive yet more up and coming Mario Miranda.

Gray Maynard (+130) over Kenny Florian. Learn to love it (or tune out in droves), but Wrestling very well may be the most effective specialty in all of MMA.  Sure wrestling makes for boring fights, but takedowns make the judges wet, and a wrestler knows how to control a fight.  Kenny Florian is a rear naked choke machine, and seems to have his sights set on a rematch with B.J. Penn.

To be honest, he very well may get that rematch with B.J. but it may be because both men lost and are trying to fight their way back into the title picture.

Gray Maynard’s excellent wrestling should ground Ken-Flo (who looked a bit dainty at the weigh-ins) and his excellent Jui-Jitsu (see first four and a half rounds of Silva/Sonnen) as Maynard wrestles his way to a possible rematch with Frankie Edgar.  It’s worth noting that Frankie Edgar suffered his lone loss to Gray Maynard.

Nate Diaz (-250) over Marcus Davis. This one should be a certified slugfest with Diaz emerging bloody, bruised, yet victorious.  The Diaz brothers are the benign form of cancer in MMA, but nobody can deny their talent and potential.  However if Nate loses this one (which would be awesome), he may want to get Scott Coker’s cell phone number from Nick Diaz.

Related Stories

• 08/27 -- CLIP NASTY: UFC 118 Weigh-in Results: Toney/Couture, Edgar Crucified (0)
• 08/26 -- CLIP NASTY: James Toney Trash Talk Express Punching On (0)
• 04/09 -- Fight Night Eve: UFC 112 (0)

Tags: B.J. Penn vs. Frankie Edgar, Randy Couture UFC 118, Randy Couture vs. James Toney, UFC 118