My UFC 107 Predictions

Not knowing what my schedule will be like over the next few weeks, I decided to go ahead and share my brilliance with all of you a bit earlier than usual.

UFC 107, which will be held December 12 at the Fed Ex Forum in Memphis. will be the second UFC even in the state of Tennessee. In April, UFC Fight Night: Condit vs.Kampmann drew over 10,000 fans to the Sommet Center in Nashville.

The main event of UFC 107 was originally scheduled to be a grudge match between two former UFC light heavyweight champions—Rashad Evans and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, who were chosen as opposing coaches on the latest installment of The Ultimate Fighter.

The UFC chose Memphis because Rampage is from the area and specifically asked for a fight in front of his hometown fans. Unfortunately for all involved, Jackson is off filming movies.

As has been the case many times before, the UFC stepped up big time. Now occupying the main event slot will be a battle for the UFC lightweight championship.

Champion BJ Penn will square off against Diego “Nightmare” Sanchez in what should be an exciting bout to determine lightweight supremacy.

On to my predictions:

Paul Buentello vs. Stefan Struve —Heavyweights

Struve is filling in for an injured Todd Duffee. Struve was last seen submitting Chase Gormley at UFC 104.

Standing at 6′ 11″ tall, he is the tallest fighter in the UFC. Struve uses those long legs to catch his opponents in submissions. In fact, fourteen of his 21 victories have come by tapout. Eleven of those submission has been either a triangle choke or rear naked choke.

Buentello makes his return to the UFC after a three and half year hiatus. Buentello is by the far the much more polished striker of the two, having won sixteen times by knockout.

There is a nine inch height advantage here. If Buentello can get close enough, he could easily knockout Struve. If this fight goes to the ground, I can easily see Struve slapping on another triangle.

At only twenty one years old, Struve has already had 24 career bouts. I really like how he handled himself while on his back. I see another choke out here for the “Skyscraper.”

Stefan Struve via second round submission.

Kenny Florian vs. Clay Guida —Lightweights

Both men are coming off of losses. Florian squandered his second opportunity at the UFC lightweight championship, while Guida came up short against Diego Sanchez in what may be the fight of the year.

This is going to be an all out war in my opinion. Florian has the edge in striking and submissions, Guida has the edge in wrestling.

Look for Florian to follow the same strategy that Sanchez had against Guida when he was on his back. Kenflo has some of the nastiest elbows in all of MMA.

There is no question that Guida can hang with anyone in the lightweight division, but can he beat the elite?

I don’t think he can. The fight will definitely be competitive and very close, but Florian just has way too many tools.

Kenny Florian via unanimous decision.

Jon Fitch vs. Mike Pierce —Welterweights

A battle between two former collegiate wrestlers. Pierce was slated to take on Fitch’s teammate, Josh Koscheck and Fitch was set to rematch with Thiago Alves. With all the injuries that have occurred, the UFC did some reshuffling and matched these two up.

Fitch is the more experienced of the two and has faced stiffer competition. He is riding a three fight win streak since losing to Georges St-Pierre at UFC 87 last August.

Pierce had an impressive UFC debut at UFC Fight Night 19. He defeated UFC & WEC veteran Brock Larson in what many people considered an upset

Pierce has knockouts (5) in ten career bouts, while Fitch only has four.

Fitch is one of the toughest fighters in the UFC, as evidenced by the beating at the hands of GSP. Fitch does not know the meaning of the word quit.

I think Fitch’s experience and tenacity will be too much to overcome for Pierce, who has the potential to be a very good fighter. Fitch is not a finisher, so I think it’s safe to say the judges will be involved in this one.

Jon Fitch via unanimous decision.

Frank Mir vs. Cheick Kongo — Heavyweights

Mir is looking to bounce back after having a golden horseshoe removed from his a** courtesy of Brock Lesnar.

I am not sure what the usual recovery time is for such a procedure, but it will be interesting to see how he performs.

Kongo is also licking his wounds after being punched in the head over 200 times at UFC 99 by Cain Velasquez.

The French Kickboxer did show just how tough he was, as he refused to allow Velasquez to finish the fight.

Kongo is one of the most powerful strikers in the UFC, but his ground game is basically non-existent. Mir’s striking is nowhere near as good as Kongo’s.

That should be enough to tell everyone just where Mir will look to take the fight. My bet is he’s successful.

Frank Mir via second round submission.

Diego Sanchez (Challenger) vs. BJ Penn (Champion) —UFC Lightweight Championship

Besides the fact that I am a huge Sanchez fan and I do not like Penn all that much, this fight interests me just about as much as any fight this year.

Judging by his fight with Florian at UFC 101, Penn seems to have improved his conditioning greatly. It was Penn who was the aggressor as the fight went instead of Florian.

Sanchez, like Guida, is a ball of energy. He doesn’t have a first or second gear, he completely skips over them. He will have to be much more careful against Penn, who has power in both hands.

One thing we do need to keep in mind, is Sanchez has never been finished. Both career losses have come by decision.

As good as Diego can be, Penn is just that much better. There isn’t one area, other than cardio, that Sanchez has an edge over Penn.

The fight will be competitive and exciting, but in the end, Penn shows he is the best 155 pound fighter in the world.

BJ Penn via unanimous decision.

On another note, I will be interviewing both UFC light heavyweight Ryan Bader and Strikeforce middleweight champion, Jake Shields in the upcoming week. If anyone has any questions for either fighter, let me know.