Cung Le beating on Scott Smith
The big news this past weekend was that Cung Le avenged his loss to Scott Smith at Strikeforce. He won by TKO in the second round with a vicious spinning back kick to the mid-section. Scott Smith wants a rematch, but even if he gets it, I think it will go the same way. Cung Le was just tired the first time around, and quite honestly, I don’t think he cares anymore; he’d rather go to Hollywood.
Also, Fedor Emilianenko lost for the first time in ten years. Fabricio Werdum caught him with an armbar at around 69 seconds into the fight. You can see the Gracie analysis (along with the fight) over here:
Everyone loses at some point, so I’m not so surprised. I think Fedor is actually past his prime anyway. His last few fights have looked really bad with him taking damage from all kinds of angles.
So my fight predictions for this Saturday’s UFC 116 (haha…and I’m aware that at least a few people have told me to get out of the prediction business, pointing to my atrocious record).
Shane Carwin will knock out Brock Lesnar. Lesnar has been out for a long time and will suffer from ring rust. Carwin is a bit too quick, and he has stand up knockout power, which Lesnar doesn’t. The only way I see Lesnar winning is to take down Carwin and slam him with his fists–like he did to Mir–but I think Carwin is prepared for that and will keep him at bay with his cage boxing. I know that Lesnar is really strong and a very good wrestler, but I still can’t get over that he almost lost to Couture. I acknowledge that he’s probably learned from that mistake. Still, I see Carwin winning. Carwin by KO in Round 2.
Yoshihiro Akiyama will beat Chris Leben. I like Leben a lot, but dude, he just fought two weeks ago! The cage is inhospitable to submissions–things could be better for Akiyama in a ring rather than a cage–and Leben’s head is inhospitable to knockouts (although he has lost by KO before). So most likely they’ll be jumping around the cage and punching each other the whole night. If Akiyama doesn’t gas out, he will win by decision.
And these are my only two predictions. I would call Kendall Grove and say that he’ll win somehow, but he took such a bad beating by Mark Munoz last time (after dishing out a bad beating to Mark Munoz in the beginning) that it could be anyone’s game. (This was one of the best fights ever. Check it out online if you can find it.)
(Cung Le pic from here)
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But here is an...
I agree with everything you said. About #1…I think...
I think the Lesnar v. Carwin fight is actually won on the ground. Unless of course Carwin catches Lesnar cold which happens to be your prediction, however I just don’t see Lesnar being that unprepared for the bombs Carwin will throw. The question to me is who will win the wrestling match, the D-I guy or the D-II guy? It isn’t normally as simple as it looks on paper, but I would have to guess Lesnar finds a way to win. Although I have looked at this fight a couple of times and find it to be a toss up. Which 6’3″ big ass fugg white dude with a championship wrestling background is going to win? Probably the guy who hits without getting hit back.
*Side note Carwin has been wobbled before, if my memory serves me correct. Don’t think Lesnar would know what to do if he got chin-checked though either. TOSS UP!
You’re totally right, Frank, this is a toss up. Had Lesnar not become sick, and had he not had a 12 months off, I might give it to him. The ring rust combined with his smaller body combined with Carwin’s knockout power in stand up make me favor Carwin.
If it does go to the ground, it’s possible that Carwin’s quick twitch fibers could tire, and then he might lose his ability to throw those quick, short power punches. He’s not been tested past the first round, so…I don’t know.
I would place a bet with you, but ever since publicly predicting fights on this blog, my record has been terrible.
Cung Le’s not entering that middleweight tournament:
http://www.mmaweekly.com/absolutenm/templates/dailynews.asp?articleid=11908&zoneid=13
“You know tournaments, let those young guys do the tournaments,” Le stated. “I’m 38 years old, and even though I looked 28 on Saturday, after I put that pizza, chocolate chips, and cookies in my stomach, I feel like a 38-year-old. I’m just happy that I’m with Strikeforce, and I’m happy that Scott Coker supported me in the 21 months that I had off.
“I want to sit down with Scott Coker and see what he has in store for me, but I definitely didn’t take that much wear and tear in this fight, and you go through that tournament and you’re fighting a lot. There’s going to be a lot of wear and tear, and I’m not sure exactly what I want to do at this point.”
He’s 38 years old, and he might as well protect his body for the years ahead. I agree with his decision. Haha…if he wants his title back, he might as well just beat up the guy who wins the title. But then again, I don’t know if he cares–after all, he gave up the title to make time for Hollywood. That’s where most older MMA fighters want to go, so more power to him!
Holy Jesus. Did I ever miscall this one.