UFC 64 Picks and Predictions

Kurt Pellegrino and Assuncao may not be hoary veterens in the MMA world, but both of them have been competing at a top level in other venues for yars. Despite leading off the night, this should be a close and technical match, on the matt. Pellegrino should be able to use his superior wrestling to dominate position and submit, but Junior is no slouch. Pellegrino by submission round 2


Clayton Guida may not be the best in the world, but he's an incredible talent. He should be able to dominate this fight, Guida submits James round 1.

I don't understand the Okami vs. Kalib fight. the UFC doesn't really care about promoting Japanese fighters, especially not by giving them wins over TUFers. I suspect that they know something I don't and Kalib is going to surprise me and beat Okami. That said, I can only pick based upon what I DO know, so I say Okami decisions Kalib.

Keith Jardine is ugly as sin, just like Nickel's standup. From looking at them, I"m surprised these two are even in the same weight class. Jardine is going to throw off any wrestling attempts by Nickels, and work him standing. Jardine by TKO in the first.

Spencer fisher is being given a stepping stone here. Several of his wins are more impressive than Lauzon's entire career. I expect Lauzon to continue to try to drag the fight to the ground, only to get beat up by Fisher. Fisher by KO round 1.

Kongo is huge and exciting. He should be able to KO his opponent here, but from the ground skills he's shown me, he can lose at any time if it goes to the mat. With his athleticism though, I think Kongo can avoid this and march to victory. Kongo by KO round 1.

Hironaka is goign to upset Fitch. Hironaka by decision.

Sean Sherk is a wrestling monster and should be very powerful for the LW division. Florian may look like a Wendy's cashier and have gotten lucky several times in the octagon, but the skills he has are real. That said, Sherk should be able to throw him around and rough him up badly. I would laugh to see the faces of the anti-TUF crowd if Florian can slap on a sub, since sherk is still questionable at the very-top level, but I don't think Florian will be the one to expose him. Sherk by TKO gnp round 1.

Rich has two advantages over Silva. First, he should be the much bigger man, as he is with most in the division. Secondly, he should have the edge in wrestling. How much of an edge is what's going to decide the winner of this fight, in my mind. Rich's best bet is if he comes out and can show some great GnP. He's not going to submit Anderson, and I doubt he's going to be able to drop him with strikes. If Rich wants to win, it's going to have to be by muscling anderson around until time is up or he's worn him down and out. Anderson has the skills to finish this fight on the feet, but it's going to be hard with someone the caliber of Rich. If rich gets duped into kickboxing with Anderson, he's going to go down hard. This fight is going to be very rough, no matter who wins. Anderson Silva by TKO round 3.