UFC 106 Preview and Predictions-Preliminary Card

November 21, 2009 | Tim | Comments 1

George Sotiropoulos vs. Jason Dent: Both are former cast members of The Ultimate Fighter, Sotiropoulos in season six, and Dent in season nine. Sotiropoulos made his lightweight debut at UFC 101, defeating George Roop with a Kimura in the second round. Prior to his drop to lightweight, Sotiropoulos had a 2-0 record as a welterweight. Overall he’s 10-2 in his career. He is mostly known for his Brazilian Jiu Jitsu skills. Dent had lost his only two UFC appearances before going on the show. He got his first UFC win at The Ultimate Fighter season nine finale, defeating Cameron Dollar with a first-round Anaconda choke. He’s a fairly well-rounded fighter, though I think Sotiropoulos is better in almost all areas. Dent is tough and should hang around for a round or so, but Sotiropoulos will eventually catch him. Sotiropoulos via submission in the 2nd.

Caol Uno vs. Fabricio Camoes: Uno is in his 2nd UFC run. In his first run, Uno went 3-3-1 with wins over Yves Edwards and Din Thomas, and losses to B.J. Penn, Hermes Franca, and Jens Pulver. A rematch with Penn at UFC 41 ended in a draw. He made his return to the UFC at UFC 99, losing a close decision to Spencer Fisher. He’s 27-12 overall in his MMA career. Camoes will be making his UFC debut, and is 10-4 overall in his MMA career. He has a seven-fight winning streak dating back to late 2006. He’s a black belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu under Royler Gracie. Camoes is definitely dangerous on the ground, but I think Uno’s wrestling and grappling will be able to control Camoes for the majority of the fight. I also think Uno is slightly better standing. Uno via unanimous decision.

Brock Larson vs. Brian Foster: Larson is coming off a loss to Mike Pierce at UFC Fight Night 19. That night he was unable to get anything going for him, and Pierce took the unanimous decision. Overall, Larson is 26-3 in his career, with his only losses coming to Pierce and welterweight contenders Jon Fitch and Carlos Condit. He’s an excellent wrestler and grappler. Foster lost his UFC debut at UFC 103 in an entertaining battle with Rick Story. He’s 12-4 overall in his MMA career, and trains with Matt Hughes at the HIT squad in Granite City, Illinois. I don’t think his takedown defense is good enough to stop Larson from imposing his will on him for the duration of the contest. Larson via TKO in the 2nd.

Kendall Grove vs. Jake Rosholt: Grove needs to rebound from a dissappointing unanimous decision loss to Ricardo Almeida at UFC 101. Prior to that contest, Grove had back-to-back wins over Jason Day and Evan Tanner. Overall, Grove is 10-6-1 in his MMA career. He is a solid striker, though he doesn’t use his significant size and reach advantage as much as he really should. His wrestling is average at best, though he has shown himself to be somewhat dangerous off his back. Rosholt has a great wrestling pedigree, winning three national championships at Oklahoma State University. He lost his first UFC fight to Dan Miller at UFC Fight Night 17, getting choked out in just over a minute. Rosholt rebounded to beat a seemingly disinterested Chris Leben at UFC 102. It looked as if his striking had improved, though it was still very sloppy. He also didn’t look for the takedown as much as I thought he would. The 27-year old Rosholt is still pretty young in his MMA career, and still has many holes he needs to fix in his game. I think Grove is a pretty safe pick here. Grove has his own weaknesses, but Rosholt has shown in the past that he doesn’t always have the smartest gameplan. If Grove can utilize his reach advantage to keep Rosholt out of range for the takedown, the fight could be all his. I think there’s also a chance that Grove submits Rosholt from his back. Grove via TKO in the 2nd.

Marcus Davis vs. Ben Saunders: Davis will be making a rare appearance on U.S. soil, as each of his past seven fights have taken place at UFC events overseas. Overall in his UFC career, Davis is a solid 8-2. He last fought Dan Hardy at UFC 99, losing a split decision. Davis comes from a boxing background, and prefers to keep his fights standing. However, he has also shown himself to be decent on the ground. Saunders is coming off a TKO loss to Mike Swick at UFC 99. He was on the sixth season of The Ultimate Fighter, and has gone 3-1 since the show ended against lower-end competition. He’s pretty tall for the welterweight division, and his length and reach give him an advantage in the striking department. However, like I mentioned with Grove, he doesn’t always utilize that advantage as much as he should. If Davis can close the distance on Saunders, he’ll have the advantage. If the fight hits the ground, Davis will have a very big advantage. However, I expect the majority of this fight will take place standing. Eventually, Davis will catch Saunders and will end the fight. Davis via TKO in the 1st.

Popularity: 3% [?]

Share and Enjoy:

UFC 106 Preview and Predictions-Preliminary Card

Comments (1)

Leave a Reply