The Sleeper 05.19.09: Soszynski vs. Gusmao
Posted by George J. Poole on 05.19.2009
411’s George J. Poole takes a look at UFC 98:Evans vs. Machida, and a fight that is not getting much coverage and that could potential steal the show over the weekend, Krzysztof Soszynski v Andre Gusmao! Check out the full rankings for all the details!
With the Bellator Fighting Championship going into week eight and having two finishers looking to be strong candidates for Knockout (Yahir Reyes spinning backfist) and submissions (Toby Imada's inverted triangle) of the year, the UFC returns to MGM Grand for their 98th Event. Initially this card had the highly anticipating rematch in the heavy weight division between Frank Mir and Brock Lesnar slated, but due to a knee injury had been pushed back to the July Ppv to give Mir time to recover. A match that the majority of the die-hard MMA fans will say is a better match up is the replacement bout between Lyoto Machida and Rashad Evans.
Evans is always taking up the underdog role and keeps upsetting the odds with his decimation of both Chuck Liddell and Forrest Griffin along the way to becoming the light-heavyweight champion and still having no blemishes on his record apart from a controversial draw with Tito Ortiz back in July 2007. Machida finally gets his chance at UFC gold after giving fellow Brazilian Thiago Silva his first loss and in emphatic style. Machida will look to give Evans his first loss and capture the title on Saturday by trying to neutralize the counter offence of Evans that know one in the MMA world has been able to unravel, maybe "The Dragon" has the combination to break into the safe and become the new champion.
This card has been ripped apart by the injury bug with Yushin Okami, Josh Koscheck, Houston Alexander & James Irvin all being removed, but lucky enough we still have are two main fights intact. The main event is set for fireworks and along with the fiercest rivalry in the last few years as it is set for collision course between the TUF 6 coaches Matt Hughes and Matt Serra. Other stand out fighters on show Saturday include Sean Sherk, Frankie Edgar, Philippe Nover, Brock Larson and Chael Sonnen
Some fighters are making it a trend to jump in and out of the octagon as quickly as possible to either get the taste of defeat out of their mouth or continue winning ways and pursue their quest up the rankings as fighters Brock Larson, Xavier Foupa-Pokam and Soszynski are doing on Saturday.
My selection for the sleeper bout for this week is on Saturday's under card for UFC and is:
Krzysztof Soszynski v Andre Gusmao
Krzysztof Soszynski:
This veteran has been around for some time, but didn't come into the main picture until his stint in the TUF series. The Polish born fighter has fought some of the top guys in both in the heavyweight and light-heavyweight division with names such as Ben Rothwell, Matt Horwich, Mike Kyle & Mike Whithead to name a few. Soszynski has a respectable record of 18-9-1 with the majority of his wins coming from submission and favours his submission game as evidence showed against former WEC light-heavyweight Brian Stann by finishing the newest addition of the Jackson camp in the first round with a Kimura.
Some people know Soszynski from his days in the IFL fighting for Bas Rutten's anacondas and now has aligned himself with Dan Henderson at Team Quest. Krystof has been slowly climbing the division unnoticed with this being his 3rd fight in 6 months and with people forgetting about his unsuccessful time in the Ultimate Fighter, he is on the brink of breaking through to fight some of the top tier fighters in the division if he can get the victory over Gusmao.
Andre Gusmao:
He might of suffered from the octagon jitters that some many fighters say they endure upon their debut in the UFC, but Gusmao was beat in every department when he lost a unanimous decision to the young gun Jon Jones at UFC 87:Seek and destroy.
A former member of Renzo Gracie's IFL pit bulls and training out of New York, Gusmao holds double stoppage victories over the Mike Ciesnolevicz back in the IFL and one submission win over John Swangler in 2006. The Brazilian will look to add "The Polish Experiment" to that list and put his stamp on the division or face the axe if he goes 0-2 inside the octagon.
The 5-1 BJJ black belt and caporeira expert will feel a bit hard done by, as he might have had an easier time with his original opponent Houston Alexander because of his reach advantage and grappling skills that seem to be big holes in the assassins game. Although Gusmao is known as a grappler there wasn't main glimpses of his ground game against Jones and the only success he had was in the clinch in small patches.
Conclusion :
To the average UFC fan this looks a boring under card fight and an easy fight for Soszynski, but on paper the edge goes to Gusmao from his fight credentials being a top BJJ guy and good indications of a tight stand up game when he engaged with Jones. Krystof does have a size advantage that could give him the edge on the ground to smother Gusmao and churn out a ground and pound victory. It could end up being a stand up war and in that case be a hard one to call, as Krystof isn't shy of letting his hands go. My heart is saying a decision victory for the Polish born Canadian Soszynski, but my mind is sensing a knockout for Gusmao for some reason to notch his first win in the UFC.
Prediction: Gusmao by TKO in Round 3
With a victory for Gusmao, look for a match up later in the year with the returning TUF winner Ryan Bader.
