UFC 100 Preliminary Card Predictions
MMA Record-144-84 (63%)
Shannon Gugerty vs. Matt Grice : Grice was an outstanding high school wrestler, but didn’t wrestle in college due to an auto accident. He is 1-2 in the UFC, and is likely fighting for his job in this one. He last fought at UFC Fight Night 17, and was beaten by Matt Veach, who was making his UFC debut. Shannon Gugerty is 1- 1 in the UFC. He defeated Dale Hartt at UFC Fight Night 14, and lost to Spencer Fisher at UFC 90. He is a brown belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and he is a pretty good striker too. Grice’s only chance in this one is to utilize his wrestling to control Gugerty and try to grind out a decision. However, I think Gugerty is good enough on his feet and with his submissions to win this fight relatively easily. Gugerty via submission in the 2nd.
C.B. Dollaway vs. Tom Lawlor : Dollaway was a decorated college wrestler in Junior College and then at Arizona State University, and he now trains at Arizona Combat Sports, home to rising heavyweight prospect Cain Velasquez. He was the runner up in Season 7 of “The Ultimate Fighter,” losing to Amir Sadollah. He has a 2-0 record in the UFC since the loss to Sadollah. Lawlor is also an alumnus of “The Ultimate Fighter.” He was eliminated by eventual champion Ryan Bader in the 2nd round of the show. Like Dollaway, Lawlor comes from a wrestling background, having been an all-state wrestler in high school and three time National Collegiate Wrestling Association champon at the University of Central Florida. Dollaway should control this fight from the beginning. He is the better wrestler, and neither are skilled as a striker. Lawlor is dropping down from light heavyweight, so you would think he would have the strength advantage here, but I don’t think it will matter. Dollaway via TKO in the 1st.
Dong Hyun Kim vs. T.J. Grant: Grant was a late replacement on this card for the injured Jonathan Goulet. Unfortunately for Kim, he now gets a much tougher opponent. Grant scored an upset victory over MMA veteran Ryo Chonan at UFC 97 in his UFC debut. He is a brown belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu under Jorge Gurgel, and the majority of his wins come by way of submission. Kim is coming off a dissappointing performance against Karo Parisyan at UFC 94. He lost the fight, but because of Parisyan testing postive for banned substances after the fight, it was changed to a no contest. Regardless of the outcome, Kim didn’t look all that impressive in the performance. He is a large welterweight and uses his Judo skills well, but the other assets of his game didn’t look up to par.. He struggled in a split decision win over Matt Brown prior to his fight against Parisyan, and looked very average in the striking department. Grant is no Thiago Alves by any means, but even he could present some problems for Kim. I think Grant has the ability to pull another upset in this one. I think Kim is thought of a little too highly because of his outstanding Judo skills, but I think Grant’s active guard and solid striking give him the advantage. Grant via submission in the 2nd.
Jon Jones vs. Jake O’ Brien : Jones is the flavor of the week in the UFC, coming off two solid performances in victories over Andre Gusmao and Stephan Bonnar. He has a very exciting fighting style, and takes a lot of risks. He’s only 21 years old and has a great future ahead of him. Jones comes from a wrestling background, winning the Junior College championship while at Iowa Central Community College. O’Brien also comes from a wrestling background, wrestling with Jon Fitch at Purdue University. He is much more one-dimensional than Jones is however. He is moving down from the heavyweight division, and should have a strength advantage over Jones. The question here is what will happen if O’ Brien is able to utilize his wrestling to keep Jones on his back. He doesn’t possess much Jiu Jitsu prowess, and I’m not sure how he would react. However, I don’t think Jones will allow O’ Brien to take him down at will. Jones will utilize his speed and unorthodox striking to keep O’ Brien from being able to shoot in on him. Jones via unanimous decision.
Mac Danzig vs. Jim Miller : This is a fight of two pretty evenly matched guys in my opinion. Both are pretty well-rounded, with Danzig being the slightly better striker and Miller being the better wrestler. Both are adept at submission and submission defense. Danzig, champion of season six of “The Ultimate Fighter,” is likely fighting for his job in the UFC. He has lost his last two fights to Clay Guida and Josh Neer, and can’t afford another loss. Miller is 2-1 in the UFC, with wins over David Baron and Matt Wiman before he lost to Gray Maynard at UFC 96. In that fight, Miller was out wrestled by Maynard, which was expected. However, he was also beaten badly on his feet. Danzig is a pretty solid striker, and could give him problems. Miller needs to be careful when he is in top position on Danzig as well, as Danzig is dangerous from the bottom. I can see a scenerio where Miller grinds out a decision win, but I think the more likely scenerio is Danzig controlling the fight on the feet for the majority of the time. Danzig via unanimous decision.
Stephan Bonnar vs. Mark Coleman: Bonnar is coming off the loss to Jon Jones which I mentioned above. He was outclassed in the first two rounds before rebounding a bit in the 3rd. I think it partially can be explained by the fact that it was Bonnar’s first fight after knee surgery and he was rusty and his timing was off. I also think Jon Jones is really, really good and that threw Bonnar off. Regardless, Bonnar is looking to get back in the win column here. To do it he’ll have to take out UFC hall of famer Mark Coleman. Coleman is coming off a TKO loss to Mauricio “Shogun” Rua at UFC 97. He gassed about two minutes into the fight (as did Shogun) and the rest of the fight was a battle of attrition. Hopefully Coleman took his training a little more seriously for this fight. Bonnar is by far the more well-rounded of the two. He is a solid striker with quick hands and trained Brazilian Jiu Jitsu under Carlson Gracie. Coleman is one of the pioneers of “Ground N’ Pound” in MMA, and was crowned the UFC heavyweight champion at UFC 12. He is a solid wrestler, but doesn’t bring much else to the table in this one. He will have a strength advantage over Bonnar, but Bonnar should be quicker on his feet. I’m expecting Bonnar to control this one with his superior striking, and if he does get taken down, he can be dangerous with his submissions as well. An in shape “Shogun” would have KO’d Coleman in the 2nd, and that’s where I think Bonnar ends this one. Bonnar via TKO in the 2nd.
Popularity: 1% [?]
Related posts:
- UFC 100 Weigh-In Results
- UFC 100 Recap
- UFC Fight Night 19 Preliminary Card Predictions
- UFC 100 payouts
- Ultimate Finale 10 Preview and Predictions-Preliminary Card
Filed Under: Event Previews
