UFC 79 Predictions

Once again, I am very impressed with Joe Silva's match-making prowess. After reviewing these fighters' pro histories, several of the matches are simply coin tosses. From the Clementi/Guillard fight to the bottom of the card, I relied on indicators like: fight frequency (rusty vs. fresh), caliber of past opponents, size advantage, and in which rounds they tend to finish fights. Not easy to choose winners for most of these! Major mega props to Joe Sliva! I am very impressed with how evenly he matched these fighters.

Here are my predictions. Obviously, any details beyond win/lose don't mean anything, but they're fun to predict too.

[Correctly guessed fights in blue; incorrect are in red.]

Hughes vs. St. Pierre - St. Pierre by decision *
Liddell vs. Silva - Liddell by early stoppage R2 **
Machida vs. Sokoudjou - Machida by early stoppage R3 ***
Clementi vs. Guillard - Clementi by early stoppage R2
Palelei vs. Sanchez - Palelei by early stoppage R3
Cane vs. Irvin - Irvin by early stoppage R2
Mohr vs. Gamburyan - Mohr by decision
Radev vs. Lister - Lister by early stoppage R3
Carneiro vs. DeSouza - Carneiro by decision
Bocek vs. Evans - Evans by decision ****

* This will be the fight of Hughes' life, and it will go the distance. Unfortunately, it won't be enough to give Hughes the victory. St. Pierre by decision.

** This is the fight of Liddell's life. Silva will look to end the fight early, and he will rock Liddell once or twice in the first round. Having sized up Silva in the first round, Liddell will go in for the kill and catch Silva with counter strikes, putting him way before the bell of R2. Liddell by early stoppage.

*** Machida--the human phantom--will frustrate Sokoudjou with his Flash-like ability to elude takedowns and strikes. Sokoudjou's inexperience in the octagon will work against him here in his debut (but only in his debut!), and he will gas early from nerves. Machida will surprise us all in R3 by rocking Sokoudjou, then finishing him. Machida by early stoppage.

**** These guys are so evenly matched, that it's a toss up. I picked Evans because he has one more pro fight under his belt, and he lasted longer against Huerta than Bocek did against Edgar. Aside from those two arbitrary indicators, it's a coin toss. Evans by decision.