ufc 54
 

Chuck "The Iceman" Liddell vs. Jeremy "Gumby" Horn (Light Heavyweight title fight)

Liddell wrestled in college but he's a pure kickboxer now. Much like Cro-Cop he relies on his takedown defense rather than ground skills. Once taken down he has an amazing ability to get back to his feet. He has ko power in both hands. As good as his stand-up is he's not unbeatable. Randy Couture and Rampage Jackson both badly outstruck him in decisive victories. Chuck does everything in his power to keep this standing and hopes to ko Horn before his questionable cardio comes into play.

Horn is actually a natural 185er fighting for the lhw crown. He rivals Ritch, Severn and Fulton for sheer volume of fights. He'll fight anyone, anywhere. He's a submission fighter with improved standup. He actually choked Liddell out at UFC 19 but Chuck was a relative newcomer at that time and has improved exponentially since then.

This fight hinges on two questions. Can Horn take Liddell down and keep him there? Can he withstand Chuck's onslaught long enough for Chuck to tire out? I don't think so.

Chuck via tko rd 1


Frank "Twinkle Toes" Trigg vs Georges "Rush" St. Pierre

Trigg has a wrestling base but he has surprisingly good striking. He's faced stud bjj practitioners in Renato Verisimo and Dennis Hallman and pounded both into submission. He's faced current champ Matt Hughes twice and been choked out both times, though he had his moments in both fights.

St. Pierre is also very well-rounded with strong bjj, muay thai, wrestling and boxing. He has wins over Pete Spratt and Karo Parysian. He, too, was looking good against Matt Hughes before being submitted, suffering the only defeat of his career.

This fight is just too close to call. The winner attains clear #1 contender status. Trigg is the better wrestler and has crushed guard players from top position so i suspect St. Pierre will try to keep this standing. This is an absolute guess:

Trigg via decision



Diego "The Nightmare" Sanchez vs Brian "TBA" Gassaway

Most people only know Sanchez from TUF but he's 18-0 in mma. He's primarily a submission wrestler who can submit an opponent or pound them from guard or mount. He has good jj which he showed against Marcelo Garcia at ADCC. He has improved standup which can best be described as unorthodox. He holds wins over fellow TUF contestants Alex Karalexis, Josh Rafferty and Kenny Florian.

Gassaway has fought, and lost to, some pretty good fighters. That's what he's here to do. The UFC will keep hand-picking opponents for their breakout TUF stars. Sanchez gets an easy win here.

Sanchez via sub rd 1



Randy "The Natural" Couture vs Mike Van Arsdale

This is Couture's first fight since suffering a knockout defeat at the hands of Liddell. He has dominant wrestling skills as well as top-notch striking, usually consisting of accurate short strikes and effective dirty boxing from within the clinch. Early in his career he suffered a few submission losses to inferior fighters but he's learned the ground game in the interim and has only lost to much bigger fighters since. He dropped down to lhw and dominated the division until being koed for the first time in his career by Liddell. He holds wins over Tito Ortiz, Liddell, Vitor Belfort and Pedro Rizzo (X2).

Van Arsdale will actually be fighting someone older than he is for once. He's a former NCAA champion wrestler with a 10-1-1 record in mma, his only loss to current Pride mw champion Wanderlei Silva. His most recent victory came against John Marsh at UFC 52.

If this was a wrestling match Van Arsdale might stand a chance. Unless this is the fight in which Randy's age finally catches up with him it should be a one-sided victory for The Natural.

Couture via tko rd 1



Tim "The Mainiac" Sylvia vs Tra "Trauma" Telligman

Sylvia is a huge (6'8", 260) fighter who does his business standing. He's not particularly athletic but he's got a huge right hand. He brutally knocked out Gan McGee and former hw champ Ricco Rodriguez. Despite his flabby appearance he's been suspeneded twice by the NSAC for steroid use. Sylvia fights for the Miletich team which means he receives some of the best instruction in the sport. Sylvia's star has been falling as of late after suffering a grotesque injury at the hands of Frank Mir and being drilled and then subbed by current UFC hw champ Andrei Arlovski. He needs an impressive win here to vault himself back into contender status.

Telligman is a UFC veteran with some legit stand-up skills. He has shown impressive boxing against Pedro Rizzo and Igor Vovchanchyn. No one has ever discussed Telligman without mentioning the fact that he's missing a pec and I'm not about to break the streak. Tra only has one pec.

While Tra is dangerous he's merely a gatekeeper at this point. I expect Tim's height and reach advantages to lead to a fight-ending right hand from Sylvia.

Sylvia via ko rd 2

note: telligman may have pulled out of this fight but i can't confirm that.



Matt "The Law" Lindland vs Joe Doerksen

Lindland, the former champ, is a world-class Greco-Roman wrestler with excellent takedowns and control and improved stand-up. Of his 3 losses two were via flash ko and the third was at the hands of a prime Murilo Bustamante. He's beaten the likes of Ricardo Almeida, Phil Baroni (X2), Pat Miletich, Ivan Salaverry, Travis Fulton and Tony Fryklund. While rarely entertaining, he's almost always effective.

Doerksen trains in boxing, muay thai and bjj. His notable wins include TUF fighter Chris Leben and a submission of Patrick Cote. When he loses it's usually to top fighters such as Matt Hughes and David Loiseau.

Doerksen looked very uncomfortable when Joe Riggs nearly g'n'ped him to death from within his guard. That's precisely what Lindland plans on doing unless Doerksen can stop his takedowns, which he cannot.

Lindland via tko rd 2



Travis Lutter vs Trevor Prangley

Wrestler (Prangley) vs BJJ (Lutter).

Prangley via decision



James Irvin vs Terry Martin

Who gives a shit?

Martin via ko rd 1

These guys rock my night! :thumbsup

Chuck by first round ko is also my prediction

Excellent predictions can't wait to see if they pan out! Till then! This is my moment of Glory. With the Man Randy Couture :thumbsup
http://www.alexandrabelle.com/images...y-Couture3.jpg

Nice cameltoe, Lance.

This UFC is shaping up to be a classicly mediocore event, which is usually when the UFC shines... or pulls off an embarrassing KOTC-style snoozefest.

Tre Telligman only has one pec.

In the main event, Horn is getting lit up like a christmas tree. I've seen him fight live more than any other fighter (what are chances of that? good, very good.) and he's got an inhuman ability not to get hit. Well, hopefully this will finally be the night he catches one on the chin. Laws of probability say he's past fuckin due.

My buddy already has it ordered for Sat night....should be cool to watch.

Havent seen one in years...

This thread has no money giveaway, no pictures, an unassuming title, and an excellently written post. It was doomed for failure.

when you're there it doesn't matter; even the boring fights are exciting. slap some sense into your woman.

dude with cameltoe??

uhm.. i just found a new niche :1orglaugh :1orglaugh

i predict all matches will end as animal mother has predicted. but it IS the u.f.c., so who knows.

maybe I need to find a new woman that doesn't need the sense slapped into her all the time.

perhaps you'll stumble across a unicorn during the search.

this is an exciting match.