Monday, March 24, 2008

this week in MMA

Good looking week coming up, especially since I don't have to pay extra to watch it.
On Wednesday, WEC puts their Light Heavyweight belt on the line setting up Doug "Rhino" Marshall vs. Brian "I fight for my fallen brothers" Stann. I'm not too comfortable making a solid call on that fight...Stann has some strong, fast hands, but Marshall is experienced at hanging onto his belt. If I was forced to pick, I'd go for Stann via TKO in the third or fourth round, but I'm not in love with the pick. Marshall can obviously end a fight with his hands as well.
Chael Sonnen fights Bryan Baker, a last minute replacement for Paulo Filho, who either had a nervous breakdown or a 'roid withdrawal-induced freakout, depending on what you listen to. Chael Sonnen could have some trouble here as he's spent weeks prepping for Filho who he nearly beat a couple months ago. I'll still take Sonnen, he's a big, strong middleweight from a great camp. Baker is a tough up and comer who really can't lose in this fight...if he puts up a good showing and loses, good job! He's young and exciting and should have a number of fights coming up if he continues to develop.
One guy I'm VERY excited to see is Ed 9mm Ratcliff. I don't know his opponent, so of course it could end up a mismatch/style clash one way or the other, but 9mm looks like the real deal.
There's some other fights "downcard" that could be interesting, but I'm not in love with WEC on Versus' ability to get the best fights onto the aired portion.

On Friday (3/29)(edit: I had the wrong day! Its NOT Saturday.) Strikeforce/EliteXC gives us Shamrock vs. Cung Le, battling for ownership of San Jose. It airs on Showtime. I don't think Cung Le can beat Frank Shamrock. But I didn't think Sokoudjou could beat lil' Nog or Arona. Or Patrick Cote could avoid being submitted by Kendall Grove, so that's why they fight the fights. Also on the card is Jake Shields who'll finally get to wear a championship belt after finding a way to beat a cagey Drew Fickett.
Nick Diaz's fight against "The Korean Icepick" Jae Suk Lim is probably the most important fight in Diaz's career so far. If Diaz loses, he's officially a gatekeeper. Even if he wins and looks lackluster, like he did against Aina, his stock drops precipitously. If he looks dominant and subs or KO's JSL, he's back in the hunt for a rematch with KJ Noons.
Gilbert Melendez is on the card against someone I don't know, I'm looking forward to seeing him fight.
Sorry my updates suck so much ass. I'm going to try to spend more time working the blog.

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