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Junior “Cigano†Dos Santos (11-1-0) vs. Roy “Big Country†Nelson (15-4-0)
Junior Dos Santos is currently undefeated in UFC competition, having defeated Fabricio Werdum, Stefan Struve, Mirko Cro Cop, Gilbert Yvel and Gabriel Gonzaga. Junior Dos Santos also competed in the XFC Brazil promotion, defeating the duo of Edson Silva and Joaquim Ferreira. Junior Dos Santos started off his MMA career in impressive fashion, with a five fight undefeated streak that had lasted over a year. Junior Dos Santos also fought in the Demo Fight promotion, gaining victories over Jailson Silva Santos and Geronimo Dos Santos. Despite competing in professional MMA for over four years, Junior Dos Santos did not make his North American MMA debut until UFC 103 in September 2009. Junior Dos Santos will be entering the fight riding a six fight winning streak, which has lasted over two years. Despite competing in twelve professional MMA fights, none have gone to a decision for Junior Dos Santos, which speaks to the fighters finishing abilities. Junior Dos Santos will be looking to use his striking skills to win the fight, with eight victories coming by knockout. Roy Nelson is also undefeated in UFC competition, with victories over both Brendan Schaub and Stefan Struve. Roy Nelson was a longtime veteran of the International Fight League, defeating Vince Lucero, Shane Ott, Bryan Vetell, Antoine Jaoude, Fabiano Scherner and Brad Imes, while suffering a lone defeat to Ben Rothwell. Roy Nelson got into the UFC after winning the UFC Ultimate Fighter 10, defeating Brendan Schaub in the finals. Roy Nelson started off his MMA career in impressive fashion, with a six fight undefeated streak that had lasted well over a year. Roy Nelson also fought once in Elite XC, suffering a defeat to former UFC Heavyweight Champion Andrei Arlovski. Despite not competing in the UFC until late 2009, Roy Nelson had already fought UFC veterans Andrei Arlovski, Ben Rothwell, Fabiano Scherner, Brad Imes and Jeff Monson. Roy Nelson will be entering the fight riding a two fight winning streak, which has lasted over nine months. Roy Nelson will be looking to use his striking skills to win the fight, with eight victories coming by knockout.
My Prediction: Junior Dos Santos
UFC Welterweight Division Fight
Ricardo “Cachorrao†Almeida (12-3-0) vs. Matt Hughes (44-7-0)
Ricardo Almeida has had a successful run in the UFC, defeating Eugene Jackson, Rob Yundt, Matt Horwich, Kendall Grove and Matt Brown, while suffering defeats to Matt Lindland, Andrei Seminov and Patrick Cote. Ricardo Almeida is currently on his second run in the UFC, with an six year plus gap between the two UFC runs. Ricardo Almeida also competed in the Pancrase promotion, defeating Osami Shibuya, Ikuhisa Minowa, Yuki Sasaki, Kazou Misaki and Nate Marquardt. Ricardo Almeida also took a near four year break from all active competition from 2004 to 2008, which he used to focus on his family and train other perspective fighters. Ricardo Almeida also competed once in the PRIDE promotion, defeating Ryo Chonnan by unanimous decision. Ricardo Almeida will be entering the fight riding a three fight winning streak, which has lasted over a full year. Ricardo Almeida will be looking to put the fight on the ground, with five victories coming by way of submission. Matt Hughes has had a very long run in the UFC, defeating Valeri Ignatov, Marcelo Aguiar, Carlos Newton, Hayato Sakurai, Gil Castillo, Sean Sherk, Frank Trigg, Renato Verissimo, Georges St. Pierre, Joe Riggs, Royce Gracie, BJ Penn, Chris Lytle, Matt Serra and Renzo Gracie, while suffering defeats to Dennis Hallman, BJ Penn, Georges St. Pierre and Thiago Alves. Matt Hughes is also a two time former UFC Welterweight Champion, defeating Carlos Newton and Georges St. Pierre to win the championships. Matt Hughes is also a two time coach on both the UFC Ultimate Fighter 2 opposite of Rich Franklin and UFC Ultimate Fighter 6 opposite of Matt Serra. This fight against Ricardo Almeida will mark the first time in nearly three years that Matt Hughes has fought twice in a one year span. Matt Hughes will be entering the fight riding a two fight winning streak, which has lasted over a whole year. Matt Hughes will be looking to put the fight on the ground, with eighteen victories coming by way of submission.
My Prediction: Ricardo Almeida
UFC Lightweight Division Fight
Rafael Dos Anjos (14-4-0) vs. Clay “The Carpenter†Guida (26-11-0)
Rafael Dos Anjos has had a successful run in the UFC, defeating Robert Emerson, Kyle Bradley and Terry Etim, while suffering defeats to Jeremy Stephens and Tyson Griffin. Rafael Dos Anjos also competed in the Fury FC promotion, defeating Danilo Cherman, Gabriel Veiga and Takafumi Otsuka. Despite competing in professional MMA for nearly six years, Rafael Dos Anjos didn’t make his North American MMA debut until UFC 91 in November 2008. Rafael Dos Anjos also fought in the XFC Brazil promotion, defeating both Thiago Meller and Mauricio Reis. Rafael Dos Anjos will be entering the fight riding a three fight winning streak, which has lasted nearly a year. Rafael Dos Anjos also competed in the Juiz De For a promotion, defeating Felipe Arinelli and Johil De Oliveira, while suffering a lone defeat to Adriano Abu. Rafael Dos Anjos will be looking to put the fight on the ground, with seven victories coming by way of submission. Clay Guida has had a successful run in the UFC, defeating Justin James, Marcus Aurelio, Samy Schiavo, Mac Danzig, Nate Diaz and Shannon Gugerty, while suffering defeats to Din Thomas, Tyson Griffin, Rogert Huerta, Diego Sanchez and Kenny Florian. Clay Guida also competed once in the World Extreme Cagefighting promotion, defeating Joe Martin by unanimous decision. Clay Guida is the brother of MMA veteran Jason Guida, who once had a brief appearance on the UFC Ultimate Fighter. Clay Guida also fought in the Strikeforce promotion, defeating Josh Thomson and suffering a defeat to Gilbert Melendez. Clay Guida also competed in the first ever UFC On Versus event, defeating Shannon Gugerty in a preliminary card fight. Clay Guida will be looking to put the fight on the ground, with thirteen victories coming by way of submission.
My Prediction: Rafael Dos Anjos
UFC Welterweight Division Fight
Thiago “Pitbull†Alves (16-6-0) vs. Jon Fitch (22-3-0)
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. Thiago Alves hasn’t competed in over a year, due to a brain injury that was detected during a medical test by the New Jersey State Athletic Commission. Thiago Alves also competed in the Champions Night promotion, defeating Wilson Belchoir and suffering a defeat to Gleison Tibau. Prior to entering the UFC in late 2005, Thiago Alves had already fought UFC veterans Derrick Noble, Gleison Tibau, Marcus Davis and Jeff Cox. It has been well over a year since Thiago Alves last had an MMA fight, so cage rust can become a factor in the fight. Thiago Alves will be looking to use his striking skills to win the fight, with ten victories coming by knockout. Jon Fitch has had a successful run in the UFC, defeating Brock Larson, Josh Burkman, Thiago Alves, Kuniyoshi Hironaka, Luigi Fioravanti, Roan Carneiro, Diego Sanchez, Chris Wilson, Akihiro Gono, Paulo Thiago, Mike Pierce and Ben Saunders, while suffering a lone defeat to Georges St. Pierre. Early in his MMA career, Jon Fitch won the first MMA Mexico Tournament by defeating Mike Seal, Jorge Ortiz and Alex Serdyukov. Prior to entering the UFC in 2005, Jon Fitch had already competed against UFC veterans Mike Pyle, Wilson Gouveia, Solomon Hutcherson and Shonie Carter. Jon Fitch already holds a victory over opponent Thiago Alves, whom he defeated via TKO at UFC Ultimate Fight Night 5 in June 2006. In an interesting career note for Jon Fitch, the fighter made his UFC debut on the same event that Thiago Alves made his UFC debut at, which was UFC Ultimate Fight Night 2 in October 2005. Jon Fitch will be entering the fight riding a four fight winning streak, which has lasted well over a whole year. Jon Fitch will be looking to put the fight on the ground, with five prior victories coming by way of submission.
My Prediction: Thiago Alves
UFC Middleweight Title Fight
Anderson “The Spider†Silva (26-4-0) (Champion) vs. Chael Sonnen (24-10-1)
Anderson Silva is the current UFC Middleweight Champion and is also undefeated in UFC competition, spanning four plus years. Thus far in his UFC run, Anderson Silva has defeated Chris Leben, Rich Franklin, Travis Lutter, Nate Marquardt, Dan Henderson, James Irvin, Patrick Cote, Thales Leitas, Forrest Griffin and Damien Maia. Anderson Silva won the UFC Middleweight Title at UFC 64, when he defeated then champion Rich Franklin by TKO. Anderson Silva also had a short run in the PRIDE promotion, defeating Alex Stiebling, Alexander Otsuka and Carlos Newton, while suffering defeats to Daiju Takase and Ryo Chonnan. Prior to entering the UFC in June 2006, Anderson Silva had already fought UFC veterans Hayato Sakurai, Roan Carneiro, Carlos Newton, Jeremy Horn, Ryo Chonnan, Jorge Rivera, Yushin Okami and Tony Fryklund. Anderson Silva will be entering the fight riding a twelve fight winning streak, which has lasted over four years. Since becoming UFC Middleweight Champion in October 2006, Anderson Silva has only had two of his ten title fights go to a decision, only Damien Maia and Thales Leitas took him the distance. Anderson Silva will be looking to use his striking skills to win the fight, with fifteen victories coming by knockout. Chael Sonnen has had a successful run in the UFC, defeating Trevor Prangley, Dan Miller, Yushin Okami and Nate Marquardt, while suffering defeats to Renato Sobral, Jeremy Horn and Damien Maia. Chael Sonnen also competed in the World Extreme Cagefighting promotion, defeating Alex Stiebling, Bryan Baker and Paulo Filho, while suffering a lone defeat to Paulo Filho. Chael Sonnen started off his MMA career in impressive fashion, with a five fight undefeated streak that had lasted just under a year. Chael Sonnen has had two separate runs in the UFC, with a two plus year gap in between each individual run. Prior to entering the UFC for the first time in 2005, Chael Sonnen had fought UFC veterans Jason Miller, Akihiro Gono, Trevor Prangley, Forrest Griffin, Jason Lambert, Jeremy Horn and Terry Martin. Chael Sonnen will be entering the fight riding a three fight winning streak, which has lasted over a full year. Chael Sonnen will be looking to use his ground and pound skills to win the fight, with seven victories coming by knockout.
My Prediction: Chael Sonnen
(Note: I will be providing live coverage of UFC 117: Silva vs. Sonnen right here on PWInsiderXtra on Saturday Night August 7th at 10pm EST.)
You can contact David Tees at bigtees360@yahoo.com
