Tyson Griffin (14-3-0) vs. Takanori “The Fireball Kid†Gomi (31-6-0)
Tyson Griffin has had a successful run in the UFC, defeating David Lee, Clay Guida, Thiago Tavares, Gleison Tibau, Marcus Aurelio, Rafael Dos Anjos and Hermes Franca, while suffering defeats to Frankie Edgar, Sean Sherk and Evan Dunham. Tyson Griffin started off his career in the Gladiator Challenge promotion, defeating Ryan Frost, Cody Williams, Urijah Faber, Jorge Evangelista and Chuck Kim. Tyson Griffin enters the fight as a late replacement for Joe Stevenson, who pulled out of the fight after suffering a training camp injury. Tyson Griffin also fought once in the Strikeforce promotion, defeating Duane Ludwig by TKO in the opening round. Tyson Griffin started off his MMA career in impressive fashion, with an eight fight undefeated streak that had lasted over two years. This fight against Takanori Gomi will mark only the second time in Tyson Griffins four year UFC run that he isn’t competing on a pay-per-view card. Tyson Griffin will be looking to use his ground and pound skills to win the fight, with six victories coming by knockout. Takanori Gomi is currently winless in UFC competition, suffering a defeat to Kenny Florian at UFC Ultimate Fight Night 21. Takanori Gomi had a very long run in PRIDE, defeating Jadyson Costa, Ralph Gracie, Fabio Mello, Charles Bennett, Jens Pulver, Luiz Azeredo, Jean Silva, Tatsuya Kawajiri, Hayato Sakurai, David Baron, Marcus Aurelio and Mitsuhiro Ishida, while suffering a lone defeat to Marcus Aurelio. Takanori Gomi started off his MMA career in impressive fashion, with a fourteen fight undefeated streak that had lasted nearly four years. Takanori Gomi also fought in the Sengoku promotion, defeating Duane Ludwig and Seung Hwan Bang, while suffering defeats to Sergey Golyaev and Satoru Kitaoka. It has been nearly a year since Takanori Gomi last won a professional MMA fight, last defeating Tony Hervey at a Vale Tudo Japan event in October 2009. Takanori Gomi will be looking to use his striking skills to win the fight, with eleven victories coming by knockout.
My Prediction: Tyson Griffin
UFC Welterweight Division Fight
John “Doomsday†Howard (14-4-0) vs. Jake Ellenberger (22-5-0)
John Howard is currently undefeated in UFC competition, defeating Chris Wilson, Tamdan McCrory, Dennis Hallman and Daniel Roberts. John Howard also competed in the International Fight League, defeating Nick Calandrino by TKO in the third round. John Howard started off his professional MMA career in impressive fashion, with a five fight undefeated streak that had lasted nearly two years. John Howard also competed in the Ring Of Combat promotion, defeating Jose Rodriquez and Charlie Brenneman, while suffering a lone defeat to Dan Miller. Prior to entering the UFC in January 2009, John Howard had already competed against UFC veterans Dan Miller and Nick Catone. John Howard will be entering this fight riding a seven fight winning streak, which has lasted over two years. John Howard also competed in the Combat Zone promotion, defeating Jason Dublin, Les Richardson and Mandela Kponou. John Howard will be looking to put the fight on the ground, with six victories coming by way of submission. Jake Ellenberger has had an interesting run in the UFC, defeating Mike Pyle and suffering a defeat to Carlos Condit. Jake Ellenberger also fought 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 over a year. Jake Ellenberger also fought once in the Bellator Fighting Championships, defeating Marcelo Alfaya by knockout in the opening round. Jake Ellenberg also spent some time in the M-1 Challenge promotion, defeating Farouk Lakebir and Doo Won Seo. Jake Ellenberger will be looking to use his striking skills to win the fight, with fourteen victories coming by knockout.
My Prediction: Jake Ellenberger
UFC Middleweight Division Fight
Mark “The Phillipine Wrecking Machine†Munoz (8-1-0) vs. Yushin “Thunder†Okami (24-5-0)
Mark Munoz has had a successful run in the UFC, defeating Nick Catone, Ryan Jensen and Kendall Grove, while suffering a lone defeat to Matt Hamill. Mark Munoz also went undefeated in the World Extreme Cagefighting promotion, defeating both Chuck Grigsby and Ricardo Barros. Mark Munoz started off his MMA career in impressive fashion, with a five fight undefeated streak that had lasted well over a year. Mark Munoz also competed in the Palace Fighting Championships, defeating Austin Achorn and Tony Rubalcava. This fight against Yushin Okami will mark the first time in Mark Munoz’s year plus UFC run that he has competed at a non-UFC pay-per-view event. Mark Munoz will be entering the fight riding a three fight winning streak, which has lasted nearly a full year. Mark Munoz will be looking to use his striking skills to win the fight, with four victories coming by knockout. Yushin Okami has had a successful run in the UFC, defeating Alan Belcher, Kalib Starnes, Rory Singer, Mike Swick, Jason MacDonald, Evan Tanner, Dean Lister and Lucio Linhares, while suffering defeats to Rich Franklin and Chael Sonnen. Yushin Okami also spent time in the Greatest Common Multiple promotion, defeating Kyosuke Sasaki, Hidehiko Hasegawa, Kazuhiro Hanada, Kosei Kubota, Brian Foster, Nick Thompson, Damien Riccio and Izuru Takeuchi. Yushin Okami has been competing in the UFC for nearly four years and this fight will mark the second time he has competed on a non-UFC pay-per-view event. Yushin Okami also holds a victory over current UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva, which happened at a Rumble On The Rock event. Yushin Okami will be looking to use his striking skills to win the fight, with nine victories coming by knockout.
My Prediction: Mark Munoz
UFC Light Heavyweight Division Fight
Jon “Bones†Jones (10-1-0) vs. Vladimir “The Janitor†Matyushenko (24-4-0)
Jon Jones has had a successful run in the UFC, defeating Andre Gusmao, Stephan Bonnar, Jake O’Brien and Brandon Vera, while suffering a defeat to Matt Hamill. Jon Jones also competed in the Battle Cage Xtreme promotion, defeating both Carlos Eduardo and Moyses Gabin. Jon Jones started off his MMA career in impressive fashion, with a nine fight undefeated streak that had lasted nearly eight months. Early in his MMA career, Jon Jones fought three times in thirteen days, winning all three of those fights in under fourteen minutes. Jon Jones also headlined the first UFC On Versus event, defeating Brandon Vera by TKO in the opening round. Jon Jones also competed in the World Championship Fighting promotion, defeating Parker Porter by knockout. The lone loss in the MMA career of Jon Jones came to Matt Hamill at the UFC Ultimate Fighter 10 Finale after Jon Jones used illegal elbow strikes. Jon Jones will be looking to use his striking skills to win the fight, with six victories coming by knockout. Vladmir Matyushenko has had a successful run in the UFC, defeating Yuki Kondo, Travis Wiuff, Pedro Rizzo, Igor Pokrajac and Eliot Marshall, while suffering defeats to Tito Ortiz and Andrei Arlovski. Vladmir Matyushenko is also a former International Fight League Light Heavyweight Champion, who defeated Dwayne Compton, Justin Levens, Aaron Stark, Tim Boetsch, Alex Schoenauer and Jamal Patterson in the promotion. Vladmir Matyushenko started off his MMA career in impressive fashion, with a seven fight undefeated streak that had lasted over two years. Vladmir Matyushenko also competed in the final Affliction MMA pay-per-view, suffering a defeat to Antonio Rogerio Nogueira. Vladmir Matyushenko will be entering the fight riding a three fight winning streak, which has lasted over a year. Vladmir Matyushenko is a fighter who is comfortable wherever the fight ends up, with fourteen victories coming by knockout and submission.
My Prediction: Jon Jones
(Note: I will be providing live coverage of UFC On Versus II this Sunday August 1st at 9pm EST. right here on PWInsiderXtra.)
You can contact David Tees at bigtees360@yahoo.com