The Sunday Sprawl 8.03.08: Vol. 10 - UFC 87: Seek And Destroy

Posted by Alex Mattis on 08.03.2008

We're scannin' the scene in the city tonight, we're lookin' for you to start up a fight...

Welcome back one and all to "The Sunday Sprawl." We MMA fans have really been spoiled as of late, we got two excellent shows 2 weeks ago and now we're moving on to one of the biggest UFC cards of the year. It's UFC 87: Seek And Destroy. You know Affliction had Megadeth and now UFC is naming an event after Metallica.... coincidence???? Anywhoo let's take a look at the three main fights on the card.


It's been a while in the UFC since we have seen the true #1 and #2 fighters in any weight class fighting for the title. I don't see any disputing the fact the GSP and Jon Fitch are the #1 and #2 welterweights in the world. This fight was bound to happen. Will GSP cement his spot as one of the best in the world, or will he crumble in his first title defense again?

Since losing his first title to Matt Serra, St. Pierre has racked up some dominating victories over Josh Koscheck, Matt Hughes, and most recently winning his 2nd title over Matt Serra. GSP has shown that his wrestling skills have grown far superior to anyone who he has crossed paths with and it seems that there may be no stopping him. But what he has also shown is that he is very gun shy. He seem very tentative, some could say scared, to stand and bang but this hasn't appeared to be detrimental yet. Will St. Pierre turns this around in this one and try to take Fitch out standing? If he were to stand and trade I believe the advantage would go to GSP, he is (was) one of the most devastating strikers in the welterweight division. Now looking at GSP's latest challenge; for the past couple years or so Jon Fitch has been creeping up the welterweight division and truly became the dark horse of the whole division. The man has put in his work and has undoubtedly earned this title shot. The man is on a ridiculous 15 fight win streak, getting some wins over quality opponents like Josh Burkman, Thiago Alves, and Diego Sanchez in the process. He is shown that he is an incredibly well rounded fighter and is always ready for whatever the fight brings.

Styles make fights and GSP style has seemed predictable since being KO'd. I'm not saying that's a bad thing, he destroyed 3 top names with this style. What I am saying is that Fitch knows what he is in store for and is going to be ready for what GSP is going to bring. Fitch has great wrestling but it remains to be seen if his 100% readiness can stop GSP dominance. Fitch has made it clear that he will be willing to throw down, but it has become apparent that GSP has no interest in trading blows anymore. St. Pierre is going to want to take it down and ground and pound. I think GSP is going to have much more trouble taking down Fitch than Serra, Hughes, or Kos. I truly believe that Fitch is going to be ready and is going to cut GSP off at every pass. Because of this I'm calling for an upset and for Jon Fitch to be the new UFC welterweight champion of the world. This could just be my heart talking; there can always a difference between who I want to win and who is going to win. It could be argued that while Fitch is great in every area, he just isn't on the same level as St. Pierre. Well come August 9th we're going to see if the hard work and determination of Jon Fitch will pay off or if GSP truly is the king of the 170 pounders.


Man Dana & Co. weren't kidding when they said "Lesnar is gonna fight real guys." As if Frank Mir didn't oppose enough of a threat in Lesnar's first UFC fight, they give him Heath Herring in his second fight. Lesnar is a freak of nature, but with Herring you're talking about one of the toughest, most experienced heavyweights in the world. Heath has been in there with Cro Cop, Nog, Fedor the best in the world and that's got to give him some sort of an advantage. Heath has plenty of KO's under his belt and has shown his durability time and time again. In his last fight Herring put his strength and toughness on display in his victory over the bigger Cheick Kongo. Once again Herring is going to be the smaller heavyweight, but like he has stated this isn't anything he hasn't experienced before. Heath can NOT start this fight the way he has started the past several he has had. Heath likes to charge head on at his opponents, if he does that with Brock he's going to get his ass slammed. Same thing goes for Brock, he just went crazy in the beginning of his fight with Mir and it cost him. Both men just need to be a bit calmer. Now it's very hard to say what Brock is capable of because all we have seen is wrestling and brut strength, he may be a great striker and we don't know it. What we do know is that Herring is a devastating striker and can end a fight at anytime. I don't think Brock is going to want to stand and trade with Heath but I think Brock is going to have a hard time finishing Herring if he is to get him on the ground. I think we're either going to see a (T)KO win for Herring or Lesnar will take Heath down and lay on him for 3 round and win a decision victory. I can't see Lesnar wanting to lay n' pray though, he wants to show what he's got because this may be his last chance. I expect this one to very exciting but in the end I have to give it to the more experience "Texas Crazy Horse."


This one has "Fight of the Night/Year" written all over it. This is the chance for Roger Huerta to prove that every bit of the hype is true, whereas Ken-Flo will be looking to keep his hot streak alive. This fight definitely has title contention ramifications. Of course with the recent turn of events this may be Huerta's last fight in the UFC, but that's another topic for another day. For the time being let's take a look at who is going to take this fight. Florian has finished every fight he has won in the octagon but looking at his list of W's I don't think he has fought anyone as tough as Huerta. Roger is coming off of a huge win over Clay Guida, a man I feel is the one of the gamest lightweights in the world. Huerta took a beating and was on the edge of losing but showed his heart and toughness and proved that he is dangerous at all time. If Kenny has Roger hurt at any point he has to be very careful and not get over confident cause it could come back to bite him in the ass. I give the stand up advantage to Roger, and the ground advantage to Ken-Flo. I think if Huerta can keep this fight from becoming a Jiu-Jitsu battle then he should be able to pick Kenny apart. I'm pretty sure this one will not go to the decision and I have to give this fight to "El Matador."

And my predictions for the rest of the card...

Manny Gamburyan Vs. Rob Emerson
Jason MacDonald Vs. Demian Maia
Luke Cummo Vs. Tamdan McCrory
Cheick Kongo Vs. Dan Evensen
Andre Gusmao Vs. Jon Jones
Chris Wilson Vs. Steve Bruno
Ben Saunders Vs. Ryan Thomas

Well that's it for me this week.

I'll see you right back here next week with my thoughts on the event.

Feedback, as always, is welcome at [e-mail]

Take care,
-Alex