What: UFC 120: Bisping vs. Akiyama
Where: 02 Arena, London
When: The main card starts at 8 p.m. in London (3 p.m. ET) and will be shown on tape delay on Spike starting at 8 p.m. ET.
Predictions on the five televised fights below.
Michael Bisping vs. Yoshihiro Akiyama
It's a battle between the most important fighter to the UFC's plans in Europe and the most important fighter to the UFC's plans in Asia. After a fight in Australia and one in Las Vegas this year, Bisping is back in his familiar spot headlining an England card, and I expect him to control Akiyama for 15 minutes and win a fairly one-sided decision.
Pick: Bisping
John Hathaway vs. Mike Pyle
I consider this the most significant fight of the card because it's such a big opportunity for Hathaway. Coming off a unanimous decision victory over Diego Sanchez, Hathaway is 14-0. If he beats Pyle in front of the British fans, he could begin the process of shoving Bisping aside and becoming the No. 1 Brit in MMA. I like him to do just that, and I think the sky's the limit for Hathaway's future.
Pick: Hathaway
Dan Hardy vs. Carlos Condit
Hardy is trying to bounce back from his loss to Georges St. Pierre in March, and he's doing it against a tough opponent in Condit, who has won 10 of his last 11 fights, with the only loss coming by split decision to Martin Kampmann. Hardy's ground game is a little suspect, and it's easy to see a scenario in which Condit takes him down and submits him, but I like Hardy to come out swinging and win an action-packed decision.
Pick: Hardy
James Wilks vs. Claude Patrick
Wilks is a former Ultimate Fighter winner whom the UFC would love to promote as an up-and-coming English star, but I don't think the 32-year-old Wilks has a very promising future. I look for Patrick, who's 12-1 with nine wins by submission and three by TKO, to finish Wilks on the ground.
Pick: Patrick
Cheick Kongo vs. Travis Browne
This should be a lot of fun. The 10-0 Browne is a fierce striker who has knocked out most of his opponents, while the muscular Kongo knows how to throw a punch himself. I look for Kongo -- who's a lot better than anyone Browne has ever faced before -- to ground and pound Browne into a TKO win.
Pick: Kongo
Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Akiyama
Condit
Hathaway
Patrick
Kongo
i'd have to disagree on hardy's ground game. gsp just spent 5 rounds trying to submit him and couldn't pull it off. for that reason i dont like condits chances, even though i'd like to see him win.
Diffrence is Condit will break his arm while Grease'S'Pieces was too scared to snap it
gsp didnt show the cleanest technique, but thats been corrected. look for gsp to crush koscheck. when these two guys were training, koscheck looked about 185, gsp looks to be walking around 205. i think he's going to move up to mw after this fight. meanceinpractice, come on with the grease stuff, it dis credits your otherwise good observations, seriously. if penn had thought that made any difference he'd be crying for a rematch. penn doenst want anything to do with gsp because he got the hell beat of of him.
I agree, its clear that gsp does not have the killer instinct and bailed on a couple sure submissions. GSP is an athlete and a sportsman, not a killer. Condit will let his adrenalin go once it goes to the ground and beat Hardy with a series of Elbows that will TKO or lead to submit Hardy. I have Hardy 4-1 underdog.
Does anyone really care about Bisping?
NO, not really
I care. I love to see him get laid out like he did against Dan Henderson.
Carlos is too battle tested and always tries to find a win. There's no way Hardy outpoints him to a decision. If Hardy wins it'll be a stoppage, but I see Carlos fighting for a submission or even a decision on his end.
And I really hope that Akiyama's time with Greg Jackson pays off. I hate Bisping but he's a huge MW compared to Sexyama. He could easily win with his size playing a huge factor.
I agree with frost i'd love to see bisbing laid out or at least beatin up for 3 rounds,plus I would rather see more of akiyama in the future,bisbing is boring.
What a crap card
At least it's not a PPV
It's not bad at all, and its free
What a crap comment by a pretend MMA fan...
If you're fighting a Brit on Saturday, don't let it go to a decision.
Bj want's no part of him reguard less richardbikle...My point is Gsp would have destroyed him no matter what so there was no need for Phil Nurse to rub vaseline one his FACE THEN HIS BACK you can not tell me you didn't see that it was so obivisous
meanice, i saw it. except for a 1st rd takedown, gsp landed in side control and penn never had position. that touch of vasoline made no difference in that fight. silva could have gotten more vasoline on him from penns face. i just really think its a non issue. the guys that cheat put it on an hour or so early and let it sweat out.