Upcoming UFC 126 Anderson Silva vs. Vitor Belfort February 5th, 2011 from Las Vegas, Nevada
This really is an INSANE card! There are huge fights. I definitely had a hard time picking my winners for each fight. I can see any of the three I’m about to talk about win fight of the night. This is a sold out event in Las Vegas and it will not disappoint.
Anderson Silva vs. Vitor Belfort - middleweight championship
I wont get too much into my opinion on Anderson Silva, you can read it here on an older post I made about him after his fight against Chael Sonnen in August of 2010 here (Anderson Silva Blog). In recent interviews Silva has said its not about the belt, its about going into the cage and showing what you have. Being an inspiration and good influence to young fighters. When I have voiced my opinion about Silva's showboating some people have said he's the champ, he doesn't have to prove anything to anyone. Which made sense as much as I hated it, if you can win a fight by dancing around then go for it, if you're that good then good for you. But now he is saying he wants to be a good influence?!! Maybe his last fight did light a bit of a fire under him. He was completely dominated for four and a half rounds and pulled off the submission victory in the last round. He said it himself, now people can see he is human and he can be hurt. So maybe (fingers crossed) we will see the old Anderson Silva. The one that would dominate and finish guys in one punch. If that Silva shows up and wins I wont be disappointed. One reason being that Dana White has announced that the much anticipated GSP vs. Silva fight could potentially happen this year if both fighters win their next bout; Silva over Belfort and GSP over Jake Shields. I'm not sure if I want to see that fight happen but I can get into that in another post. The fight at hand is going to be a tough one for Silva. Belfort is one of the veterans, he fought on early UFC cards against guys like Chuck Liddell and Randy Couture in 2002 and 2004. Since then he hasn't been around a whole lot, and didn't fight in any professional bouts in 2010. But that doesn't make him any less of a threat. He was ridiculous striking power and although he is 2 inches shorter than Silva, his build looks a lot bigger. Either way this fight goes I just want it to be exciting.
Forrest Griffin vs. Rich Franklin - light heavyweight
This is one fight I really really don't want to decide on. I love BOTH of these fighters!! They are both in my top five. Griffin won the first season of TUF in one of the best fights of all time against Stephan Bonnar. He isn't much taller but has quite a bigger build than Franklin. He has said in interviews that he has never been one to control the fight, he is confident in all his abilities to compete where his opponent wants. If he's fighting a boxer, he'll stand and box, if he's fighting a wrestler, they'll be on the mat. Franklin more often takes the fight where he wants it, where he feels his strengths lie against any certain opponent. His most recent fight was a KO win over UFC vet Chuck Liddell in June of 2010. Griffin did not fight at all in 2010 and his three previous fights have been a loss to Anderson SIlva and Rashad Evans and most recently a split decision win over Tito Ortiz. Both Griffin and Franklin have held a belt (Griffin the light heavy belt and Franklin the middle) but have never met in the cage. Rogan describes them as two dogs that have been starring through the cage at each other for a long time. Franklin describes the matchup pretty perfectly "You've got a pretty well rounded with some knockout power on his feet and is very tenacious. And as the fight goes on he fights harder" did he just describe Forrest Griffin or himself? That is exactly what's going to make thisfight so exciting. These aren't just two boxers or two wrestlers or even a wrestler and a boxer, these guys do it all. I feel like this fight will go wherever Franklin wants it and I think that control is what is going to win him the fight. Either way I don’t see this fight being boring by any means and I think it will be over within the first two rounds.
Jon Jones vs. Ryan Bader – light heavyweight
Another one where I like both fighters! Bader is a little more traditional in his style while Jones throws crazy spinning elbows and weird combinations. Jones’ only loss was a disqualification for throwing illegal elbows (straight up and down) against Matt Hamill in 2009. Bader is undefeated taking out big names like little Nog (Antonio Rogerio Nogueira) and Keith Jardine. I think that is Bader goes in calm and doesn’t panic when Jones starts jumping around I think he can pull off the win. Here is another one where I will not be disappointed if my pick doesn’t win I just want a good fight.
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