UFC 82 Picks

[Tom O'Brien]

This is a great card - I will take a stab at it:

Date Time: 03/01/2008 7pm PT / 10pm ET
Event Type: PPV Live
Location: Nationwide Arena, OH


UFC 82

Anderson Silva v Dan Henderson
Heath Herring v Cheick Kongo
Alessio Sakara v Chris Leben
Yushin Okami v Evan Tanner
Chris Wilson v Jon Fitch
Jake O'Brien v Andrei Arlovski
Luigi Fioravanti v Luke Cummo
Dustin Hazelett v Josh Koscheck
David Bielkheden v Diego Sanchez
John Halverson v Jorge Gurgel

Disclaimer- don't bet my picks.

Thanks,
Tom

[Stevebjj]

UFC 82

Anderson Silva v Dan Henderson
Heath Herring v Cheick Kongo
Alessio Sakara v Chris Leben
Yushin Okami v Evan Tanner
Chris Wilson v Jon Fitch
Jake O'Brien v Andrei Arlovski
Luigi Fioravanti v Luke Cummo
Dustin Hazelett v Josh Koscheck
David Bielkheden v Diego Sanchez
John Halverson v Jorge Gurgel

Kongo is very one dimensional, and I think Herring will be able to win if he takes it to the ground. I think Arlovski will win, too, as he's pretty much a free agent. He has a lot of incentive to win, so that he's as marketable as possible.

I've like Luke Cummo since he was on TUF... he's a strange dude, but tough as hell. Conversely, I have not liked Jorge Gurgel since he was on TUF. He's never impressed me.

[Incredible Bulk]

UFC 82

Anderson Silva v Dan Henderson
Heath Herring v Cheick Kongo
Alessio Sakara v Chris Leben
Yushin Okami v Evan Tanner
Chris Wilson v Jon Fitch
Jake O'Brien v Andrei Arlovski
Luigi Fioravanti v Luke Cummo
Dustin Hazelett v Josh Koscheck
David Bielkheden v Diego Sanchez
John Halverson v Jorge Gurgel

[Raven001]

UFC 82

Anderson Silva v Dan Henderson
Heath Herring v Cheick Kongo
Alessio Sakara v Chris Leben
Yushin Okami v Evan Tanner
Chris Wilson v Jon Fitch
Jake O'Brien v Andrei Arlovski
Luigi Fioravanti v Luke Cummo
Dustin Hazelett v Josh Koscheck
David Bielkheden v Diego Sanchez
John Halverson v Jorge Gurgel

Jorge has never impressed me much either. After his last fight he dominated the 1st round then just did nothing I was seriously thinking his contract isnt going to last long

[duderanch182]

This looks to be an awesome show and the title fight is going to be amazing.

Here are my picks

Anderson Silva - will be the first to ko Henderson
Heath Herring - is not a one dimensional fighter like Kongo
Alessio Sakara - I'm finding it difficult to guess a winner for this one
Yushin Okami - will be too strong for Tanner
Jon Fitch - Fitch is in the top 3 in the ww division imo
Andrei Arlovski - don't know Jake O'brien so a bit of a guess this one
Luke Cummo - great striker and the fight will not go the distance
Josh Koscheck - can't stand the guy but is a good fighter sadly
Diego Sanchez - this is the beginning of a winning streak for Sanchaz
John Halverson - really don't rate Gurgel

[Sever]

Anderson Silva v Dan Henderson - Hendo by decision. As great a striker as Silva is, I don't see him having the power to drop Henderson. All Henderson has to do is use his wrestling advantage, rather than trying to stand up with the superior striker which he has a tendency to do sometimes

Heath Herring v Cheick Kongo - Herring by sub or GnP stoppage. Kongo has no ground game and despite Herring's recently less-than-stellar performances, he's pretty good on the mat

Alessio Sakara v Chris Leben - Sakara by decision. He's a great technical striker, far superior to Leben but he seems to lack KO power. If he's got the gas to go three rounds and can avoid getting his slightly glassy chin felt by one of Leben's haymakers, this fight's his to lose

Yushin Okami v Evan Tanner - This should be a great fight. An on-form Tanner would most likely take Okami apart, but he's not fought in a long time, not trained for a fair bit of that and has had some pretty major personal issues in that time. I'm hoping for a Tanner TKO, but the headbones tell me it's an Okami decision

Chris Wilson v Jon Fitch - Fitch will run through this guy. He'll then go back to twiddling his thumbs wondering where the hell his title shot is

Jake O'Brien v Andrei Arlovski - If Arlovski comes to fight, he'll take this by KO in the first exchange, if he doesn't, he'll be blanketed all the way to a decision loss

Luigi Fioravanti v Luke Cummo - Cummo, probably. Don't care about this fight

Dustin Hazelett v Josh Koscheck - Koscheck. Don't care about this one either

David Bielkheden v Diego Sanchez - Sanchez by something or other. This undercard is not exciting me

John Halverson v Jorge Gurgel - Gurgel by decision, probably

Good main card, shoddy undercard though

[callsignfuzzy]

John Halverson v Jorge Gurgel: Gurgel. Going with who I know. I agree with Sever, UD.

David Bielkheden v Diego Sanchez: Sanchez. Ditto. And I really believe he's that good. I see sub, R1.

Dustin Hazelett v Josh Koscheck: Kos. Hazelett sounds familiar, but if he didn't leave a strong impression on me, he probably didn't have a great showing. I'd like to see Kos finish this fight, but my gut tells me it'll probably be a UD.

Luigi Fioravanti v Luke Cummo: I actually like this match. And I want Cummo to win. Seems that he only looses when his head's not in the game. Here's hoping it is. (T)KO, R2

Jake O'Brien v Andrei Arlovski: I'd love for Arlovski to go out with a bang, but I don't see it. O'Brien, LNP UD.

Chris Wilson v Jon Fitch: Sever said it so well, I'll repeat it:

Fitch will run through this guy. He'll then go back to twiddling his thumbs wondering where the hell his title shot is

Yushin Okami v Evan Tanner: They're giving Tanner a tough fight in his first match back. I wish him well, but he's no Couture. Okami isn't the most exciting fighter, but all of his opponents have commented on how strong he is. I think he'll be able to control this and get a UD out of it, though I think Tanner will probably put him in trouble a few times. And I hope Okami turns it on earlier than R3 and shows us something.

Alessio Sakara v Chris Leben: Leben, (T)KO R3. I think he's got the power to put Sakara away, and he's got a grinding style that I think will cancel out his long-ranged strikes. Of course it's not in the bank. Leben's sloppy and Sakara might catch him. However the only guy to actually KO him was Silva. Unless it's an absolute boxing match, I just think the volume of Leben's punches and some wear-down damage in the clinch will win the fight for him.

Heath Herring v Cheick Kongo: Part of me wants to see Kongo continue his rise in the UFC just to see him continue his success. Not gonna happen against Herring, though. If Herring's smart he'll take him down and beat him up on the ground for a TKO... I'll say late in the first.

Anderson Silva v Dan Henderson: wow, I analyzed this on another thread. Now it's decission time. Ummm....errrrr..... screw it, Hendo by Immovable Object.

[dbowles]

Anderson Silva v Dan Henderson
Heath Herring v Cheick Kongo
Alessio Sakara v Chris Leben *
Yushin Okami v Evan Tanner
Chris Wilson v Jon Fitch
Jake O'Brien v Andrei Arlovski
Luigi Fioravanti v Luke Cummo
Dustin Hazelett v Josh Koscheck*
David Bielkheden v Diego Sanchez*
John Halverson v Jorge Gurgel

*I don't really like any of those guys, so that is why I'm picking against them :woo:

[Tom O'Brien]

Heath better bring his 'A' game because he is gonna have his hands full with Kongo.
But cmon I have to root for my namesake - Jake. If he gets Arlovski down he might win. hey he might be a distant cousin or something.
Thanks,
Tom

[KempoFist]

Anderson Silva v Dan Henderson
Heath Herring v Cheick Kongo
Alessio Sakara v Chris Leben
Yushin Okami v Evan Tanner
Chris Wilson v Jon Fitch
Jake O'Brien v Andrei Arlovski
Luigi Fioravanti v Luke Cummo
Dustin Hazelett v Josh Koscheck
David Bielkheden v Diego Sanchez
John Halverson v Jorge Gurgel