The Ultimate eXperience 09.04.08: Anybody Can Win!
Posted by Ryan Seymour on 09.04.2008
UFC 88: Breakthrough has so many fights that are hard to pick and are real toss ups. They are so close that this week on The Ultimate eXperience, 411's Ryan Seymour shows you the ways to victory for all the fighters on the main card.
UFC 88: BREAKTHROUGH PREVIEW!
Chuck Liddell (21-5) vs. Rashad Evans (11-0-1)
The main event of UFC 88: BREAKTHROUGH is a light heavyweight showdown between undefeated Rashad Evans and former UFC light heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell. The winner of this fight could certainly get a title shot in their next fight (more so for Chuck Liddell). Some people think it's as easy as picking between a good striker and a good wrestler but it is far more complicated then that. This is one of two massive light heavyweight showdowns that is going to change and mix up the division.
How CHUCK LIDDELL will win –
KEEP GOOD DISTANCE! – Against a good wrestler, Chuck Liddell can't afford to get to close to Rashad Evens or Evans chance of taking Chuck down will be greater. Liddell loves to through the big overhand punches, so if Liddell can create good distance between himself and Evans and throw the big overhand shots, then it will make Evans chances slimmer of winning.
LEGENDARY SPRAWL!~! – Chuck Liddell is known for his legendary sprawl. Liddell has faced great wrestlers like Tito Ortiz, Randy Couture, Kevin Randleman and Jeremy Horn and has been able to get the victory. Liddell is known to many people in mixed martial arts to be one of the hardest fighters to take down to the ground because his ‘Legendary Sprawl~!'
DESIRE TO WIN! – When Chuck Liddell lost the UFC light heavyweight title to Quinton ‘Rampage' Jackson at UFC 71, it seemed like Liddell lost a bit of the desire to win. He faced of against ‘The Dean of Mean' Keith Jardine at UFC 76 and didn't look anywhere near his best. His punches weren't as powerful and movement and defense was something that was below his normal work. Then he faced of against Wanderlei Silva, a fight which was four years in the making. Chuck was able to take his anger out on Wanderlei and get real hyped up for that fight. Will Chuck have the same desire to win against the undefeated Rashad Evans
How RASHAD EVANS will win –
GET CHUCK TO THE GROUND! –If Rashad Evans game plan is to brawl with Chuck Liddell and try to knock Liddell out, Rashad will be the one on the canvas. Although Chuck Liddell has one of the best sprawls in the business and Rashad will need to find a way to get Chuck to the ground where he can use his strengths. Of course Rashad Evans will need to stand with Chuck for a while but if Rashad is able to get Chuck to the ground, it will play a big role in Rashad Evans coming home with the victory.
ABILITY TO TAKE A HIT! – Rashad Evans is going to need to take some punches while trying to get close to Chuck Liddell, which will help Evans get the takedown. A big question is, how strong is Rashad's chin and can he take a few punches to try to set up the takedown or will Liddell be able to knock Rashad out when he is taking some punches. Of course Evans is still undefeated but we are yet to see Evans take on a powerful striker like Chuck Liddell.
205 lbs.: Rich Franklin (23-3) vs. Matt Hamill (4-1)
Here is another fight on the card which involves a strong striker and a superb wrestler. Rich Franklin makes the move to the light heavyweight division after beating everyone in the middleweight division except "The God Almighty" Anderson Silva. Franklin hasn't fought in the light heavyweight division since his win over Ken Shamrock at The Ultimate Finale 1 back in April of 2005. Matt Hamill can arguably be considered as undefeated after his only loss has happened against Michael Bisping in controversial fashion. This fight means a lot for both fighters, a chance for Franklin to start his dominance at 205 and a chance for Matt Hamill to show everybody he can hang with the best fighters.
How RICH FRANKLIN will win –
KEEP IT STANDING! – Rich Franklin is far from a one dimensional fighter as he has nine victories via submission and twelve victories by knockout. But Franklin is facing a very strong wrestler who when he gets his opponents down, he doesn't seem to let them do much. Franklin's stand up is a strong part of his game and although Matt Hamill's stand up isn't bad, Franklin clearly has the advantage in this department.
CONSTANTLY MOVE! – Rich Franklin needs to be on the move for the majority of this fight. Franklin will be the smaller build of the two competitors and Hamill is dominate and control his opponents when he gets hold of them. Franklin needs to come into this fight with a ‘Lyoto Machida' type of game plan, which is wait for the opponent to come to you and then counter punch against the opponent when your chances come.
How MATT HAMILL will win –
BE ACTIVE ON THE GROUND – Matt Hamill is an extremely strong wrestler and his game plan going into this fight is to take Rich Franklin to the ground and try to ground and pound Franklin. Hamill needs to be active on the ground because the amount of takedowns he will get on Franklin will be few and far between. Hamill needs to take advantage of the opportunities he gets to take Franklin to the ground and use his ground and pound techniques he has learned.
USE HIS BIGGER SIZE – Rich Franklin has been in the middleweight division since early 2005, Franklin was a big middleweight but now he is just an average sized light heavyweight. On the other hand Hamill is a big and solidly built light heavyweight. So when the two competitors get close to each other, Hamill needs to use his bigger frame and try to control Franklin and decide where the fight goes.
170 lbs: Karo Parisyan (18-5) vs. Yoshiyuki Yoshida (10-2)
A fight that sparks some interest but isn't getting much hype surrounding it is the fight between UFC veteran Karo "The Heat" Parisyan and UFC newcomer Yoshiyuki "Zenko" Yoshida. Karo Parisyan is coming of a shock loss against Thiago Alves while Yoshiyuki Yoshida had his first UFC fight at UFC 84 where he beat Jon Koppenhaver better known now as WAR MACHINE.
How KARO PARISYAN will win –
PERFORM TO HIS ABILTY! – Karo Parisyan has been known to slack of at trainings and this has ultimately cost him the fight. Karo has even admitted publicly that he hasn't been training like he should. "My worst enemy has always been that I've been too talented to train, and now it's catching up with me. I gotta start training or those guys will start catching up with me." Now I don't really agree that he was too talented to train but if he trains hard and his skills improve and his cardio is great, then Karo is going to be a hard fighter to beat.
BACK HIS JUDO SKILLS! – Some people believe that because both fighters have a good background in Judo that it will cancel each other out. That is completely wrong, when you have two great strikers, that doesn't cancel each other out. Karo Parisyan is considered to be one of the first fighters to successfully make the transition from Judo to MMA. Karo even tried out for the Olympics in Judo, so Karo is one of the most elite Judo fighters that are successful in MMA. Karo Parisyan needs to stick to his normal game plan and if he tries to use his Judo skills, he needs to know that his skills will probably be better then Yoshida's.
How YOSHIYUKI YOSHIDA will win –
ELEMENT OF SURPRISE! – Even though Yoshida has had twelve mixed martial arts fights, he still has the element of surprise in his favor. With only one fight in the UFC and a quick beating of ‘War Machine' Jon Koppenhaver, people probably including Karo Parisyan won't know what will be coming. Yoshida has knockout victories as well as victories via submission so Yoshida wouldn't be too afraid in both areas and Karo Parisyan isn't a fighter who has a clear strength.
PUSH THE PACE! – As stated before, Karo Parisyan has been known to have some poor cardio going into fights. If Yoshida is able to push the pace against Karo Parisyan and outwork him during the fight, it might leave an opening for Yoshida. Yoshida might not be able to finish Karo (as Karo has only been finished twice) but he might be able to find an opening for a takedown or stand up attack which will sway the judges scorecard.
185lbs: Dan Henderson (22-7) vs. Rousimar Palhares (8-1)
This is a middleweight fight between a seasoned veteran of the MMA game, former PRIDE champion Dan "Hollywood" Henderson and Brazilian submission artist Rousimar "Toquinho" Palhares. Dan Henderson is coming of back to back losses against very tough competition, at the time UFC light heavyweight champion Rampage Jackson and UFC Middleweight champion Anderson Silva. On the other hand Rousimar Palhares made his UFC debut at UFC 84 when he beat Canadian Ivan Salaverry in the very first round.
How DAN HENDERSON will win:
KEEP IT STANDING! – Dan Henderson has been known in his career for knocking fighters out, the list of Dan Henderson's KO victims is a remarkable list. Wanderlei Silva, Murilo Bustamante, Renzo Gracie, Ryo Chonan an others have fell victim to the lethal punches from Dan Henderson. Lucky for Dan Henderson, his opponent is mainly a ground fighter, so if he does indeed keep the fight on the feet, then his chances of winning the fight immensely increase.
BE THE DOMINATING HENDERSON! – Dan Henderson can be such a dominating fighter. His fight with Wanderlei Silva at PRIDE 33 was one of the best Dan Henderson's we have ever seen, he hardly gave Wanderlei a sniff in that fight. Henderson's two fights in the UFC have been alright but not at the standard we know he can be. Against Rampage there were some good passages in that fight but Henderson wasn't able to continue that dominance throughout the fight. Same with the Anderson Silva fight, Henderson had a great opening round against Silva but in the second round fell victim to the almighty Silva due to strikes and then a rear naked choke. If we can see a Dan Henderson who is constantly at his peak throughout the fight, then not many fighters can stop him.
How ROUSIMAR PALHARES will win:
SUBMISSIONS! – Plane and simple, Palhares best chance to win this fight is to get Dan Henderson to the ground and submit him. Palhares has six victories via submission, one by decision and only one by TKO which was due to the opponent having an injury. Palhares showed some great submission skills against Salaverry with an outstanding arm bar transition. Dan Henderson has only been submitted by the Nogueira brothers and Anderson Silva, so Palhares's chances of pulling a submission might not be great, but if he gets him to the ground and tries for submissions, he will end up winning on the judges scorecard anyway.
185lbs: Martin Kampmann (14-1) vs. Nate Marquardt (26-8-2)
This is another very interesting battle in the middleweight division. In one corner we have the Danish fighter Martin Kampmann who made his return at UFC 85 defeating Jorge Rivera with a sick submission in the first round. Kampmann has won nine straight fights with four of them being inside the octagon. Nate Marquardt comes into this fight after a strange fight against Thales Leites where he was deducted two points and ended up losing due to them deducted points. Marquardt is 5-2 within the UFC with his only losses being that strange fight with Leites and a loss to Anderson Silva.
How MARTIN KAMPMANN will win:
CONTROL WHERE THE FIGHT GOES! – Martin Kampmann has gone well in his MMA career so far because he has been able to dictate where the fight goes, on the feet or on the ground. People believe Kampmann shouldn't take this fight to the ground because Marquardt is a bigger fighter then his last few opponents. Fans must have forgot about Thales Leites who is a fighter with a strong fighter with a big frame. Kampmann defeated Leites by decision 29-28 by all the judges and I even had the fight 29-27. If Kampmann believes he will go better standing with Marquardt he should stick it there, if he thinks he can submit Marquardt he should back his ability and take him to the ground.
How NATE MARQUARDT will win:
USE HIS EXPERIENCE! – Nate Marquardt comes into this bout being three years older then his opponent and having an extra seventeen MMA bouts to his name. Even in the UFC, Marquardt has had more fights and has seen everything from his opponents. Marquardt has faced some great competition in his career including Anderson Silva, Ricardo Almeida, Jeremy Horn and others. Marquardt has seen every different style in the MMA game and faced some of the best. Kampmann is three years younger then Marquardt and his competition is slightly not as great as Marquardt's fights in the UFC and Pancrase.
USE HIS BIGGER SIZE! – Nate Marquardt is the same weight as Kampmann and is only an inch taller then him, but physically you can tell the difference between the two. Marquardt is a brawler and a stronger fighter then Kampmann, so if Marquardt is able to use this bigger size and better strength to his advantage he will be able to squeeze out a victory.
