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Jim Miller (16-2-0) vs. Mark Bocek (8-2-0)
Jim Miller has had a successful run in the UFC, defeating David Baron, Matt Wiman, Mac Danzig, Steve Lopez and Duane Ludwig, while suffering a lone loss to Gray Maynard. Jim Miller also made a lone appearance in the International Fight League, with a victory over Bart Palaszewski. Jim Miller has also competed in the Reality Fighting promotion, defeating Eddie Fyvie, Kevin Roddy, Joseph Andujar and Mushin Corrbrey, while suffering a lone defeat to Frankie Edgar. Frankie Edgar started off his MMA career in impressive fashion, with a five fight undefeated streak that had lasted nearly a year. Jim Miller will be entering the fight riding a three fight winning streak, that has currently lasted around eight months. Jim Miller will be looking to put the fight on the ground, with ten victories coming by way of submission. Mark Bocek has had a successful run in the UFC, defeating Douglas Evans, Alvin Robinson, David Bielkheden and Joe Brammer, while suffering defeats to Frankie Edgar and Mac Danzig. Mark Bocek also competed in the King Of The Cage promotion, defeating both John Mahlow and Garrett Davis. Early in his MMA career, Mark Bocek once took a two plus year break from MMA, from February 2004 to October 2006. Of his ten professional MMA fights, only one has gone to a decision for Mark Bocek, which speaks to his finishing abilities. Mark Bocek started off his MMA career in impressive fashion, with a four fight undefeated streak that has lasted over three years. Mark Bocek will be entering the fight riding a three fight winning streak, which has currently lasted over a year. Mark Bocek will be looking to put the fight on the ground, with six victories coming by way of submission.
My Prediction: Jim Miller
UFC Welterweight Division Fight
Jon Fitch (21-3-0) vs. Thiago “Pitbull†Alves (16-6-0)
Jon Fitch has had a very successful run in the UFC, defeating Brock Larson, Josh Burkman, Thiago Alves, Kuniyoshi Hironaka, Luigi Fioravanti, Roan Carneiro, Diego Sanchez, Chris Wilson, Akihiro Gono, Paul Thiago and Mike Pierce, while suffering a lone defeat to Georges St. Pierre. Prior to entering the UFC in late 2005, Jon Fitch had already fought UFC veterans Mike Pyle, Wilson Gouveia, Solomon Hutcherson, Kyle Jensen and Shonie Carter. In an interesting career note for Jon Fitch, the last six fights he had in the UFC have all ended via a decision. Prior to suffering the loss to Georges St. Pierre at UFC 87, Jon Fitch was riding a sixteen fight winning streak that had lasted over five years. Jon Fitch also competed in the MMA Mexico promotion, where he defeated Mike Seal, Jorge Ortiz and Alex Serdyukov. Jon Fitch will be looking to put the fight on the ground, with five of his victories coming by way of submission. Thiago Alves has had a successful run in the UFC, defeating Ansar Chalangov, Derrick Noble, John Alessio, Tony DeSouza, Kuniyoshi Hironaka, Chris Lytle, Karo Parisyan, Matt Hughes and Josh Koscheck, while suffering defeats to Spencer Fisher, Jon Fitch and Georges St. Pierre. Prior to entering the UFC in late 2005, Thiago Alves had already fought UFC veterans Gleison Tibau, Marcus Davis, Derrick Noble and Jeff Cox. Thiago Alves had already fought Jon Fitch at the UFC Ultimate Fight Night 5 event, losing to him by TKO. It has been nearly a year since Thiago Alves last had an MMA fight, so cage rust can become a factor in the fight. Like Jon Fitch, Thiago Alves had lost to current UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre, who lost to him at UFC 100. Thiago Alves will be looking to use his striking skills to win the fight, with ten victories coming by knockout.
My Prediction: Thiago Alves
UFC Welterweight Division Fight
Ben “Killa B†Saunders (8-1-2) vs. Jake Ellenberger (22-5-0)
Ben Saunders has had a successful run in the UFC, defeating Daniel Barrera, Ryan Thomas, Brandon Wolff and Marcus Davis, while suffering a defeat to Mike Swick. Ben Saunders also competed in the Absolute Fighting Championships, where he defeated Reggie Pena and Rick Delvecchio, while fighting Crafton Wallace and Diego Vitosky to draws. Ben Saunders also competed in the Combat Fighting Championships, defeating both Kenny Stevens and Charles Blanchard. Ben Saunders started off his professional MMA career in an odd fashion, fighting to two straight draws. Prior to suffering the loss to Mike Swick at UFC 99, Ben Saunders was on a seven fight winning streak that has lasted nearly four years. Ben Saunders got into the UFC after being a participant on the UFC Ultimate Fighter 6, which was won by Mac Danzig. Ben Saunders will be looking to use his striking skills to win the fight, with four victories coming by knockout. Jake Ellenberger has had an interesting run in the UFC, defeating Mike Pyle and suffering a defeat to Carlos Condit. Jake Ellenberg also competed in the International Fight League, defeating Ben Uker and Pat Healy, while suffering defeats to Jay Hieron and Delson Heleno. Jake Ellenberger started off his MMA career in impressive fashion, with a twelve fight undefeated streak that had lasted just under a year. Jake Ellenberger also competed in the inaugural season of the Bellator Fighting Championships, defeating Marcelo Alfaya. In the first year Jake Ellenberger competed in professional MMA, 2005, he fought in nine MMA fights. Prior to entering the UFC in late 2009, Jake Ellenberger fought UFC veteran Rick Story at a Super Fights event. Jake Ellenberger will be looking to use his striking skills to win the fight, with fourteen victories coming by knockout.
My Prediction: Ben Saunders
UFC Interim Heavyweight Title Decision Fight
Frank Mir (13-4-0) vs. Shane Carwin (11-0-0)
Frank Mir has had a successful run in the UFC, defeating Roberto Traven, Pete Williams, Tank Abbott, Wes Simms, Tim Sylvia, Dan Christison, Antoni Hardonk, Brock Lesnar, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Cheick Kongo, while suffering defeats to Ian Freeman, Marcio Cruz, Brandon Vera and Brock Lesnar. Frank Mir, currently, is the only person on the UFC roster to be a former UFC Heavyweight Champion and UFC Interim Heavyweight Champion. Outside of two MMA fights, fifteen of Frank Mir’s seventeen professional MMA fights happened in the UFC. In an interesting career note, Frank Mir never actually lost the UFC Heavyweight Title, but was stripped of the title after he got into a motorcycle accident. Frank Mir started off his MMA career in impressive fashion, with a four fight undefeated streak that had lasted nearly a full year. It is widely rumored that the winner of this Frank Mir/Shane Carwin fight will possibly face Brock Lesnar this coming Summer. Frank Mir will be looking to put the fight on the ground, with eight victories coming by way of submission. Shane Carwin has had an undefeated run in the UFC, defeating Christian Wellisch, Neil Wain and Gabriel Gonzaga. Shane Carwin is also a veteran of the Ring Of Fire promotion, defeating Sherman Pendergarst and Rick Slaton. Shane Carwin will be riding an eleven fight undefeated streak in the fight, which has lasted over four years. In an interesting career note for Shane Carwin, all eleven of his MMA fights ended in the first round, which speaks to the fighters finishing abilities. Shane Carwin also competed in the Ultimate Texas Showdown promotion, defeating Jay McCown and Chris Guillen. It has been over a year since Shane Carwin last had an MMA fight, so cage rust can become a factor in the fight. Shane Carwin also competed once in the World Extreme Cagefighting promotion, defeating Carlton Jones. Speaking of Shane Carwin finishing fights in the first round, the longest fight of his MMA career lasted just over two minutes. Shane Carwin will be looking to use his striking skills to win the fight, with six victories coming by knockout.
My Prediction: Frank Mir
UFC Welterweight Title Fight
Georges “Rush†St. Pierre (19-2-0) (Champion) vs. Dan “The Outlaw†Hardy (23-6-0)
Georges St. Pierre is the current UFC Welterweight Champion and has had a successful run in the UFC, defeating Karo Parisyan, Jay Hieron, Jason Miller, Frank Trigg, Sean Sherk, BJ Penn, Matt Hughes, Josh Koscheck, Matt Serra, Jon Fitch and Thiago Alves, while suffering defeats to Matt Hughes and Matt Serra. Georges St. Pierre also competed in the TKO Major League MMA promotion, defeating Ivan Menjivar, Justin Bruckmann, Travis Galbraith and Thomas Denny. Georges St. Pierre started off his MMA career in impressive fashion, with a seven fight undefeated streak that had lasted almost two years. Georges St. Pierre also competed in the TKO promotion, defeating both Pete Spratt and Dave Strasser in MMA competition. Despite competing in professional MMA for over seven years, Georges St. Pierre has only fought in three MMA promotions, the UFC, TKO and TKO Major League MMA. Georges St. Pierre will be entering the fight riding a six fight winning streak that has lasted over two years. Georges St. Pierre will be looking to use his striking skills to win the fight, with eight victories coming by way of knockout. Dan Hardy is currently undefeated in UFC competition, defeating Akihiro Gono, Rory Markham, Marcus Davis and Mike Swick. Dan Hardy is also a longtime veteran of the Cage Warriors Fighting Championships promotion, where he defeated Andy Melia, Aaron Barrow, Andy Walker, Lautaro Arborelo, Sami Berik, Matt Thorpe, Diego Gonzales, Danny Rushton, Alexandre Izidro, Willy Ni, Manuel Garcisa and Chad Reiner, while suffering defeats to David Baron and Yoshiyuki Yoshida. Dan Hardy will be entering the fight riding a seven fight winning streak, which has currently lasted over two years. Despite having fought four times thus far in the UFC, this fight against Georges St. Pierre will mark the first time Dan Hardy has competed in North America for the UFC. Dan Hardy could possibly have the quickest route to a title opportunity in modern UFC history, having been in the promotion for less than two years. Dan Hardy will be looking to use his striking skills to win the fight, with eleven victories coming by knockout.
My Prediction: Georges St. Pierre
(Note: I will be providing live coverage of UFC 111: St. Pierre vs. Hardy right here on PWInsiderXtra on Saturday Night March 27th at 9pm EST.)
You can contact David Tees at bigtees360@yahoo.com
