Post yours! I got Fedor, Arlovski, Johnson, Villante, and Overeem
check out the full breakdowns and picks at http://www.total-mma.com/2011/02/12/strikeforce-fedor-vs-silva-predictions/
Some interesting predictions:
Fedor Vs. Silva:
JF: The five-to-one underdog Antonio Silva is not being given the credit he deserves from odds makers — he poses the greatest challenge, aside from Werdum, for Fedor in recent memory. An enormous heavyweight who cuts down to the 265lb limit, Silva is a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt with a nasty top game. He has also displayed greatly improved striking skills, outboxing the Freddie Roach-trained Andrei Arlovski. Against Mike Kyle we saw how he reacted from adversity coming back from a disastrous first round to claim the T/KO victory in the second. While Fedor’s submission loss to Werdum is not a sign of a diminishing skill set; it is a sign that the heavyweight division has caught up to him. By his own admission, Fedor refuses to change his training methods and regimen and this will prove to be a mistake. Silva will keep the pace slow, avoiding the big bombs Fedor is known for while looking for the clinch. If Silva can effectively close the distance and utilize the cage to score takedowns, it will be a long and eye opening night for Fedor and the MMA world in general. Silva has been rocked before as witnessed in his last fight against Kyle and will likely get rocked in this bout. However, expect him to show the same resiliency to rally and outwork Fedor in the clinch, score takedowns, and smother Fedor with his suffocating top control.
The pick here is Silva by decision in what will be another huge upset.
on Arlovski vs Sergei:
GD: Arlovski did not look good at all in his last outing. Before the Antonio Silva fight, I always figured that Arlovski was one of these gifted athletes that just picked the wrong sport - that if he didn’t have a glass chin, he’d win all of his fights based on better technique and faster hands and feet. Antonio Silva, whilst a good fighter, is not a fast man, his striking is not that technical, and yet he out struck Arlovski for three rounds. Arlovski might have proven that his chin isn’t really all that glassy, but he also proved that he wasn’t really the fighter that I thought he was. Kharitonov is tough as nails and is pretty solid anywhere the fight goes. He hasn’t really looked in great shape for the past couple of years, with a loss to Monson in MMA and a couple of losses to middle tier K-1 guys. My theory is that he is still sad because PRIDE is no longer with us (I know I am). Hopefully, the opportunity for him to really put himself back the map and fight against guys who he fought in PRIDE will wake him up. My bet is that it will.
I have Kharitonov via TKO in the 3rd.
On Johnson vs Del Rosario:
AP: Both fighters in this matchup have backgrounds in Muay Thai, and this fight should be an exciting standup battle. Rosario appears to have an edge on the ground along with his crisp striking and good footwork, but for this fight I am picking the slightly bigger and slightly more experienced fighter.
Look for Johnson to use his reach and weight advantage to keep Del Rosario on the outside and land power punches and win via T/KO or KO in round 3.
ttt
Thanks Burro! the 3rd one (AP) was done by me and all the picks are very well written
just waiting to see the fights and compare results!!
Fedor
Kharitonov
Overeem
That's all I'm confidant picking right now.
Matthew Battle - Fedor
Kharitonov
Overeem
That's all I'm confidant picking right now.
hahaha awesome name
but good picks, I just can't stay too confident in the Kharitonov/Arlovski
elburrogrande - Some interesting predictions:
Fedor Vs. Silva:
JF: The five-to-one underdog Antonio Silva is not being given the credit he deserves from odds makers — he poses the greatest challenge, aside from Werdum, for Fedor in recent memory. An enormous heavyweight who cuts down to the 265lb limit, Silva is a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt with a nasty top game. He has also displayed greatly improved striking skills, outboxing the Freddie Roach-trained Andrei Arlovski. Against Mike Kyle we saw how he reacted from adversity coming back from a disastrous first round to claim the T/KO victory in the second. While Fedor’s submission loss to Werdum is not a sign of a diminishing skill set; it is a sign that the heavyweight division has caught up to him. By his own admission, Fedor refuses to change his training methods and regimen and this will prove to be a mistake. Silva will keep the pace slow, avoiding the big bombs Fedor is known for while looking for the clinch. If Silva can effectively close the distance and utilize the cage to score takedowns, it will be a long and eye opening night for Fedor and the MMA world in general. Silva has been rocked before as witnessed in his last fight against Kyle and will likely get rocked in this bout. However, expect him to show the same resiliency to rally and outwork Fedor in the clinch, score takedowns, and smother Fedor with his suffocating top control.
The pick here is Silva by decision in what will be another huge upset.