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UFC 83
PREDICTIONS – ODDS
UFC 83: Serra vs St-Pierre 2 is an upcoming mixed martial arts event to be held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship. The event is taking place April 19, 2008, at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. UFC 83 will be the UFC’s first event in Canada.
It will be headlined by UFC Welterweight Champion Matt Serra and UFC Interim Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre. Several prominent Canadian fighters are set to fight, including Kalib Starnes, Mark Bocek, Jason MACDonald, Sam Stout, and Jonathan Goulet.
Here are my predictions for the fight:
MAC Danzig vs. Mark Bocek
Mark Bocek is a Canadian born fighter who has a professional record of 5-1. He is 1-1 in the UFC, and his only loss has come against a very Game Frankie Edgar. That being said, his experience level isn’t anywhere near the caliber of a guy like TUF 6 winner, MAC Danzig. Danzig is 17-4 and has been competing in mixed martial arts since 2001. I don’t see Bocek pulling off a win, and I believe he will be overwhelmed by Danzig’s octagon cage/ring experience.
Odds :
Danzig -500
Bocek +300
Prediction: Danzig – Choke – Round 2
Michael Bisping vs. Charles McCarthy
Bisping will be dropping from light heavyweight to middleweight for this bout. After two lackluster performances at light heavyweight, Bisping may have felt that he was being overpowered by guys like Matt Hamill and Rashad Evans. Bisping is another TUF winner, and is looking to rebound after suffering his first career loss to Rashad Evans. Charles McCarthy has a 10-4 MMA record and is 1-1 in the UFC. McCarthy has not fought since November of 2006 when he submitted Gideon Ray with an arm bar. He looked sharp then, but some time has passed and I expect that Michael Bisping is going to give him a lot of trouble. Bisping has good hands and good wrestling, so as long as his weight cut goes smooth, I expect a TKO of Charles McCarthy.
Odds :
Bisping -325
McCarthy +250
Prediction: Bisping – TKO – Round 2
Nate Quarry vs Kalib Starnes
After suffering a vicious knockout loss to Rich Franklin in 2005, Nate Quarry took almost two years off to have back surgery. When he got back into the cage and fought Pete Sell last September, there was some definite signs of ring rust early on. Soon enough, though, Quarry settled in and ended up knocking out Pete Sell and proved to the world that he still has something left to give to the world of MMA. Quarry will be fighting Kalib Starnes, a good submission fighter from Canada. He is coming off of a loss against Alan Belcher and has problems when pitted against strong fighters. Quarry is strong and has pretty good hands. I don’t think he will have much trouble handling Starnes and will deliver another TKO victory.
Odds :
Quarry -300
Starnes +220
Prediction – Quarry – TKO – Round 1
Rich Franklin vs Travis Lutter
There was a time when you watched RIch Franklin fight and you thought he was unstoppable. He was mowing down opponents left and right and retained his middleweight championship several times before running into a roadblock known as Anderson Silva. Rich Franklin has only 3 losses, and two of those losses are owned by Anderson Silva. He is 22-3 in his MMA career, and is one of the most well rounded middleweights in the world. When he takes on Travis Lutter, he will have to be careful to not get caught in any submissions. Franklin’s takedown defense is good and strikes his opponents at unorthodox angles. Travis Lutter’s stand up Game isn’t anything to brag about so he will probably go for takedown after takedown. Franklin has won 9 of his fights by submission, so he knows a thing or two when it comes to the ground Game. Unless he makes a major positional mistake, Rich Franklin should own Travis Lutter.
Odds :
Franklin -330
Lutter +260
Prediction – Franklin – UD Round 3
Matt Serra vs Georges St. Pierre
When Matt Serra knocked out GSP and completed his road to a comeback, the whole world was shocked. He caught GSP right on the chin , stunned him, and followed up with a barrage of strikes. GSP has admitted that he didn’t come into that fight mentally prepared , and it showed when he was lying flat on the octagon canvas. GSP is coming off of a complete dismantling of former UFC welterweight champion Matt Hughes and earned a rematch with Serra. A focused GSP is a scary GSP. We have seen him in this position before in his second bout with Matt Hughes, and GSP controlled every second of that fight.
Still, Matt Serra is no pushover. He is a Renzo Gracie black belt and, as we have seen, he has some pretty heavy hands. Like the rest of the world, I want to see whether this victory was a fluke or if Matt Serra is a name that is going to be around MMA for awhile.
It’s hard to call this one, but I think a refreshed, invigorated GSP is going to pull off a victory. For some reason I am thinking head kick.
Odds :
St Pierre -450
Serra +300
Prediction – GSP – TKO – Round 3
Larry Vollmer Jr. is a mixed martial arts blogger for the JOurnal News. Check out his blog at .
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