ufc 96, scheduled saturday, march 7th looks to have a pretty solid fight card. since i seem to be on the losing side of time of late, lets skip the usual banter and get right into the meat and potatoes of this, shall we?
matt "the hammer" hamill vs mark "the filipino wrecking machine" munoz
matt hamill has been featured in one of my previous blogs. he is one of the fighters i look forward to watching in any ufc event. he has excellent wrestling and utilizes "dirty" boxing well in the clinch. he can take a good beating, and does not show that he's hurt, which can confuse some opponents. another advantage matt has is that he has fought relatively recently, his last fight being a tko victory december 27, of the 08 season. he will be facing the undefeated wec fighter mark munoz. this fight will be marks 6th professional fight, debuting in the ufc with an undefeated record. his strengths are wrestling and muy that, which matches well against matts wrestling and improved boxing. marks last 2 fights ended up with tko's over his opponents. for this matchup, i would put my money on the hammer, as i do believe will be the greater wrestler. if hamill can stay close to avoid long range strikes, he should win by tko late in the 2nd round.
gabriel gonzaga vs shane carwin
gonzaga is a brazillian heavyweight fighter who has had his ups and downs in the ufc. one of his wins that stands out in my memory is a ko victory over mirko "crocop" filipovic. gabriel is an excellent jiu jitsu fighter, but is more well known for his hard hitting leg kicks. out of his last 8 ufc fights, he has only lost to fabricio werdum, and the great randy couture. most of his wins are from tko with only 2 wins via armlock. he faces undefeated shane carwin, who has a good wrestling background, paired with good cardio. on paper, gabriel does look to be the better fighter, but this is a heavyweight matchup. in this division, anyone can knock anyone out. gabriel seems to gas out in the later rounds, and if shane can avoid enough damage, he does have the advantage in the later rounds. with that said, my prediction for this fight is gabriel winning by tko late 1st/early 2nd round.
quinton "rampage" jackson vs "the (ahem) dean of mean" keith jardine
this looks to be one of the better matchups i have seen in the last few months, so i'm just going to say it now...rampage jackson is one of the most exciting fighters to watch in the ufc. rampage has highlight reels that go all the way back to pride fighting in japan. he was a force to be reckoned with in japan using his wrestling mostly to win his fights. since he has been to the ufc, he has vastly improved on his boxing, and bjj defense. he will be facing the enigmatic, but always exciting keith jardine. having beaten forrest griffin (forrest actually cried and ran to the dressing room after the match) and chuck liddell, jardine is an established fighter in his division. although he has devastating knockout power, as well as with vicious kicks and good takedown defense, he does seem to have a vulnerable chin. i believe this fight will end in the 3rd round. jardine will win the 1st round with hard kicks to the body. rampage should win the 2nd round with some hard punches and a few takedowns. i see this fight going to rampage in the 3rd round via ko.
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