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Patrick “The Predator†Cote (13-5-0) vs. Alan “The Talent†Belcher (15-6-0)
Patrick Cote has had an unsuccessful run in the UFC, defeating Scott Smith, Kendall Grove, Drew McFedries and Ricardo Almeida, while suffering defeats to Tito Ortiz, Joe Doerksen, Chris Leben, Travis Lutter and Anderson Silva. Patrick Cote returns to the UFC after a nineteen month layoff after suffering a knee injury during his bout with current UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva. Patrick Cote also had a long run in the TKO promotion, defeating Yan Pellerin, Steve Vigneault, Bill Mahood, Ricardeau Francois and Jason Day. Patrick Cote was also a contestant on the UFC Ultimate Fighter 4, which was won by both Matt Serra and Travis Lutter. Patrick Cote started off his MMA career in impressive fashion, with a five fight undefeated streak that had lasted nearly two years. Patrick Cote will be looking to use his striking skills to win the fight, with six victories coming by knockout. Alan Belcher has had a successful run in the UFC, defeating Jorge Santiago, Sean Salmon, Kalib Starnes, Ed Herman, Denis Kang and Wilson Gouveia, while suffering defeats to Yushin Okami, Kendall Grove, Jason Day and Yoshihiro Akiyama. Early in his MMA career, Alan Belcher won the Extreme Fight League 3 Tournament, defeating Travis Fowler, Roger Kimes and David Franks. Prior to entering the UFC in late 2006, Alan Belcher fought UFC veteran Marvin Eastman at a World Extreme Fighting event. Alan Belcher has had a long run in the UFC, competing in the promotion for nearly four years, starting in August 2006. Alan Belcher is also a veteran of the World Extreme Fighting promotion, defeating Marcus Sursa and Evert Fyeet, while suffering a lone defeat to Marvin Eastman. Alan Belcher will be looking to use his striking skills to win the fight, with eight victories coming by knockout.
My Prediction: Patrick Cote
UFC Heavyweight Division Fight
Kevin “Kimbo Slice†Ferguson (4-1-0) vs. Matt Mitrione (1-0-0)
Kimbo Slice is currently undefeated in UFC competition, having defeated Houston Alexander at the UFC Ultimate Fighter 10 Finale. Kimbo Slice was a longtime veteran of the Elite XC promotion, defeating Bo Cantrell, Tank Abbott and James Thompson, while suffering a lone defeat to Seth Petruzelli. Kimbo Slice was a contestant on the UFC Ultimate Fighter 10, which was eventually won by Roy Nelson, whop ousted Kimbo Slice from the reality show. Of his five professional MMA fights, only one has gone to a decision for Kimbo Slice, which speaks to the fighters finishing abilities. Kimbo Slice will be looking to use his striking skills to win the fight, with two victories coming by knockout. Matt Mitrione is also undefeated in UFC competition, defeating Marcus Jones at the UFC Ultimate Fighter 10 Finale. Matt Mitrione was also a contestant on the UFC Ultimate Fighter 10, which was eventually won by Roy Nelson. Matt Mitrione will be looking to use his striking skills to win the fight, with his lone MMA victory coming by knockout.
My Prediction: Kimbo Slice
UFC Lightweight Division Fight
Sam “Hands Of Stone†Stout (15-5-1) vs. Jeremy “Lil’ Heathen†Stephens (16-5-0)
Sam Stout has had an interesting run in the UFC, defeating Spencer Fisher, Per Eklund, Matt Wiman and Joe Lauzon, while suffering defeats to Kenny Florian, Spencer Fisher, Rich Clementi and Terry Etim. Sam Stout is also a longtime veteran of the TKO promotion, defeating Stephane Laliberte, Yves Jabouin, Steve Claveau, Dave Goulet, Joey Brown, Tyler Jackson, Donald Ouimet, Jay Estrada, Fabio Holanda and Martin Grandmont. In the last six years, Sam Stout has only fought in two MMA promotions, which are the aforementioned TKO and UFC promotions. Sam Stout will be entering the fight riding a two fight winning streak, which has currently lasted over a year. For the first three years of his professional MMA career, Sam Stout only had MMA fights in Canada, making his North American MMA debut against Kenny Florian at the UFC Ultimate Fighter 2 Finale. Sam Stout will be looking to use his striking skills to win the fight, with eight victories coming by knockout. Jeremy Stephens has had an interesting run in the UFC, defeating Diego Saraiva, Cole Miller, Rafael Dos Anjos and Justin Buchholz, while suffering defeats to Din Thomas, Spencer Fisher, Joe Lauzon and Gleison Tibau. Jeremy Stephens also competed in the Downtown Destruction promotion, defeating Ted Worthington and Chris Caleb, while suffering a lone defeat to Chris Mickle. Jeremy Stephens also competed in the Midwest Cage Championships promotion, defeating Kendrick Johnson and Chris Mickle. It has been a little under a year since Jeremy Stephens last had an MMA fight, so cage rust can become a factor in the fight. Early in his MMA career, Jeremy Stephens went on a nine fight winning streak, which had lasted just over two years. Jeremy Stephens will be looking to use his striking skills to win the fight, with twelve victories coming by knockout.
My Prediction: Sam Stout
UFC Welterweight Division Fight
Josh “Kos†Koscheck (14-4-0) vs. Paul “Semtex†Daley (23-8-2)
Josh Koscheck has had a successful run in the UFC, defeating Chris Sanford, Pete Spratt, Ansar Chalangov, Dave Menne, Jonathan Goulet, Jeff Joslin, Diego Sanchez, Dustin Hazelett, Chris Lytle, Yoshiyuki Yoshida, Frank Trigg and Anthony Johnson, while suffering defeats to Drew Fickett, Georges St. Pierre, Thiago Alves and Paulo Thiago. Josh Koscheck has been competing in the UFC for over five years and has competed in sixteen fights in the promotion. Josh Koscheck was a cast member on the inaugural season of the UFC Ultimate Fighter, which was won by Diego Sanchez and Forrest Griffin. Prior to entering the UFC in April 2005, Josh Koscheck had defeated UFC veteran Luke Cummo at a Ring Of Combat event. Josh Koscheck started off his MMA career in impressive fashion, with a four fight undefeated streak that had lasted over a year and a half. Josh Koscheck will be entering this fight riding a two fight winning streak, which has lasted around eight months. Josh Koscheck will be looking to put the fight on the ground, with five victories coming by way of submission. Paul Daley is currently undefeated in UFC competition, with victories over both Martin Kampmann and Dustin Hazelett. Paul Daley also competed in the Cage Rage promotion, defeating Xavier Foupa-Pokam, Jess Liaudin, Joey Van Wanrooij, Dave Strasser, Ross Mason, Sol Gilbert, Paul Jenkins and Mark Weir, while suffering defeats to Jean Silva and Luiz Azeredo. Paul Daley also fought for the inaugural Elite XC Welterweight Title, losing to Jake Shields by way of submission. Paul Daley also fought in the Strikeforce promotion, defeating UFC veteran Duane Ludwig by knockout. Paul Daley will be entering this fight riding a four fight winning streak, which has currently lasted over a year. The winner of this fight between Paul Daley and Josh Koscheck will earn a UFC Welterweight Title fight against Georges St. Pierre, which if Paul Daley wins, means that Georges St. Pierre will face two straight UK based fighters in a row, as he recently fought Dan Hardy at UFC 111. Paul Daley will be looking to use his striking skills to win the fight, with eighteen victories coming by knockout.
My Prediction: Josh Koscheck
UFC Light Heavyweight Title Fight
Lyoto “The Dragon†Machida (16-0-0) (Champion) vs. Mauricio “Shogun†Rua (18-4-0)
Lyoto Machida is the current UFC Light Heavyweight Champion and is also undefeated in UFC completion, having defeated Sam Hoger, David Heath, Kazuhiro Nakamura, Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou, Tito Ortiz, Thiago Silva, Rashad Evans and Mauricio Rua. Lyoto Machida also competed in the K-1 promotion, defeating Michael McDonald, Sam Greco and BJ Penn. Prior to entering the UFC in early 2007, Lyoto Machida had already defeated UFC veterans Rich Franklin, BJ Penn, Stephan Bonnar and Vernon White in non-UFC fights. Despite competing in professional MMA for over seven years, this fight against Mauricio Rua will mark the first rematch in the career on Lyoto Machida. Lyoto Machida also fought in a New Japan Pro Wrestling event, defeating Kengo Watanabe by unanimous decision. Lyoto Machida will be entering the fight riding a sixteen fight undefeated streak, which has lasted over five years. Lyoto Machida will be looking to use his striking skills to win the fight, with five victories coming by knockout. Mauricio Rua has had an interesting run in the UFC, defeating Mark Coleman and Chuck Liddell, while suffering defeats to Forrest Griffin and Lyoto Machida. Mauricio Rua is a longtime veteran of the PRIDE promotion, defeating Akira Shoji, Akihiro Gono, Yasuhito Namekawa, Hiromitsu Kanehara, Quinton Jackson, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, Alistair Overeem, Ricardo Arona, Cyrille Diabate, Kevin Randleman and Kazuhiro Nakamura, while suffering a lone defeat to Mark Coleman. Prior to entering either PRIDE or the UFC promotions in his career, Mauricio Rua had competed against top MMA fighters Evangelista Santos and Renato Sobral. Mauricio Rua once to a year and a half break from UFC competition to heal from two separate knee surgeries, it occurred following a loss to Forrest Griffin at UFC 76. Mauricio Rua had fought in PRIDE for over three years and competed in thirteen fights, only losing once in all of those appearances. Mauricio Rua will be looking to use his striking skills to win the fight, with fifteen victories coming by knockout.
My Prediction: Lyoto Machida
You can contact David Tees at bigtees360@yahoo.com
