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UFC 87: Looking to 'seek and destroy' the books

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  • UFC 87: Looking to 'seek and destroy' the books

    SBR Forum, Costa Rica
    Aug 10 2008



    UFC 87: Looking to 'seek and destroy' the books


    08/09/2008 11:07 AM
    By: Bread | sbrforum.com


    The Welterweight Championship is on the line tonight at UFC 87,
    slated for a 10:00 p.m. (Eastern) start time from the Target Center in
    Minneapolis. Montreal native Georges St. Pierre is the heavy favorite
    to take the belt against Indiana flatlander Jon Fitch in the main
    event. On the undercard, Brock Lesnar meets Heath Herring while Kenny
    Florian takes on Roger Huerta in what might be the closest bout of the
    evening.
    The only things more amusing than some of the outrageously silly UFC
    fighters' names are the slogans associated with many of their pay per
    views. UFC 87: Seek and Destroy, carries on the torch of dopey
    nicknames.

    What is not dopey, however, is the stacked fight card. Saturday night UFC fights¦Let's get it on!


    Georges St. Pierre (-360) vs. Jon Fitch (+300)
    Our main event just happens to be for the Welterweight Championship.
    It also just happens to feature one of MMA's most enthralling
    fighters, Georges St. Pierre (16-2-0). He even has fitting nickname,
    `Rush.' Watching this talented Canadian in the octagon can certainly
    be rush inducing.

    After a shocking loss to reality show meathead Matt Serra, who was an
    11-1 underdog, St. Pierre has been untouchable. He laid the beatdown
    on Jeff Koscheck and Matt Hughes. Then four months ago he exacted
    some revenge on Serra in impressive fashion, en route to regaining his
    belt.

    Because of guys like St. Pierre, Anderson Silva and Mike Tyson, I will
    never again take anyone with a little girl's voice lightly. It
    wouldn't end well for Bread.

    Opponent Jon Fitch (21-2-0) is certainly no slouch. Riding a 15-fight
    winning streak, Fitch's last loss came in Dec. 2002. To put that in
    perspective, Pat Venditto wasn't even in high school yet. He has
    victories over some impressive names: Josh Burkman, Thiago Alves,
    Diego Sanchez. Most of those victories are followed with one of the
    sport's best celebrations ` Fitch running around the mat like a
    lunatic with a freakish crazy eye. I look forward to it.

    Unfortunately, I don't think I'll be seeing that celebration tonight.
    Look for St. Pierre to continue his dominance. Georges St. Pierre
    -360.

    Brock Lesnar (-240) vs. Heath Herring (+180) Big Brock Lesnar (1-1-0)
    is back. Listed at 6-3, 265 lbs, the man is just a monster. The UFC
    wants this guy to do well. He brings with him a huge fanbase from his
    WWE days. Heck, he even lists that as a personal accomplishment on
    the UFC website: "WWE Champion." Um, should someone tell him that pro
    wrestling is all fake? I'm not going to be the one, but someone
    should.

    Lesnar's first pro MMA bout was against someone named Min Soo Kim.
    Don't worry, I had no idea who he was either. Brock pummeled him into
    submission by strikes in less than two minutes. Enter the UFC, where
    Frank Mir exposed the big guy's weaknesses. Mir took a pounding for
    most of the first round, until landing a leg lock on Lesnar for the
    victory.

    No problem. Lesnar was then setup for a patsy match against a
    43-year-old UFC Hall of Fame inductee, Mark Coleman who saved himself
    the embarrassment of enduring senior citizen abuse and injured
    himself. Enter Heath Herring.

    Herring (29-13-1) is not the patsy that I think the UFC wanted to help
    propel their newest big name. He is an inch taller than Lesnar, and
    about 15 pounds lighter. He was born in Waco, TX, so you know he's
    crazy. Herring sports a variety of crazy hair colors and styles. He
    looks like a space cowboy bar brawler. He carries his own personal
    silly nickname, `The Texas Crazy Horse,' very well.

    Nowhere was Herring's insanity levels on more display than New Year's
    Eve 2005. During his K-1 pre-fight staredown with opponent Yoshihiro
    Nakao, Nakao made the bird-brained decision to lean in and give Heath
    a kiss on the lips. Herring promptly knocked his suitor out with a
    blow to the jaw. The fight was declared a no contest.

    In his last fight, he took a split decision from the physical specimen
    that is Cheick Kongo. Lesnar seems to have no respect for his latest
    hobby. Unlike most fighters who praise their opponents leading up to
    a match, Lesnar has the `I'll beat everyone I have to, to make it to
    the top, I don't care who it is' attitude. Sadly for Brock, unlike in
    the WWE, you cannot be declared a champion in the UFC by the writing
    team.

    The UFC has even put this card in Lesnar's hometown of Minneapolis,
    where he wrestled collegiately and even had a brief stint with the
    Vikings. The crowd will be pulling for him hard. I don't think they
    will be going home happy. Heath Herring +180.

    Kenny Florian (-160) vs. Roger Huerta (+130)
    UFC President Dana White has already said that this is his personal
    pick for fight of the year. I would tend to agree with him. Kenny
    `Kenflo' Florian (9-3-0) will be bringing his elbows of death with
    him. He has lost only to Sean Sherk and Diego Sanchez in `The
    Ultimate Fighter 1' finale. All others are usually defeated in bloody
    fashion. With a background in Muay Thai and Jiu-Jitsu, Florian is no
    joke.

    Roger Huerta (22-1-1) is known as `El Matador.' I believe that is
    French for `doormat.' I could be wrong. Either way, the Sports
    Illustrated cover boy is 6-0 in the UFC. His last victory against
    Clay Guida was an exciting bout from beginning to end. Huerta was
    getting smacked around for much of the fight, before catching Guida in
    a nasty third round choke hold.

    ***

    Florian seems like a nice enough kid from Boston. He even stepped in
    and did color commentary in Joe Rogan's absence for UFC 83. It would
    be great if one day he could save my bleeding ears from Rogan's
    screaming. Huerta has the Alcoholics Anonymous third step prayer
    tattooed on his right forearm. What does any of this have to do with
    anything? Not much. Dana White is right; this fight is a tough call
    either way. For such a closely contested bout, go with the value.
    Roger Huerta +130.

    Demian Maia (-285) vs. Jason MacDonald (+225)
    For the wife and me, our favorite running UFC theme is to keep track
    of all the redheads, or dark dirty blond fighters. There are tons of
    them. I guess when you are born with orange hair, you have to learn
    how to fight at a young age. The fun part about them is, 30 seconds
    into the fight these guys look like they have some major pigmentation
    issues. Giant red splotches all over their body. What can I
    say¦we are easily amused.

    Well they don't come more flaring bright orange than Canadian fighter
    Jason MacDonald (21-9-0). He possesses one of the weaker nicknames in
    the game, `The Athlete.' How far away are we from someone dubbing
    themselves as `The Human?' This is getting ridiculous.

    MacDonald's opponent for this middleweight matchup is Demian Maia
    (8-0-0), a Brazilian fighter influenced by the legendary Gracies. The
    majority of his victories are achieved by some form of a choke out.
    Maia has stated that his favorite technique is to, "Submit my opponent
    without him hurting me, or me hurting him.' Well that's no fun.

    I highly anticipate the moment when Maia is choking out poor
    MacDonald, forcing his face to turn shades of red and orange never
    before seen by mankind. It will be a giddy moment in the Bread
    household. Demian Maia -285.

    Manny Gamburyan (-320) vs. Rob Emerson (+260)
    The battle of the Lightweights pits Manny `The Anvil' Gamburyan
    (9-3-0) against Rob `The Saint' Emerson (9-6-1). It's a draw on the
    worst nickname.

    Gamburyan reminds me why I don't fight little guys when I go out. In
    dress attire, standing at a whopping 5-5, 155 lbs, I would almost want
    to take it easy on the guy. Then I would be dismantled in sad
    fashion. No thanks.

    Manny's actual name is Manvel. He was born in Armenia. He likes to
    enter the ring to the music of Armenian band System of a Down. If Joe
    Rogan's decibels don't make your ears bleed enough, perhaps Manvel's
    music can help.

    Gamburyan lost in The Ultimate Fighter championship to Nate Diaz.
    Manny was beating him up pretty good until dislocating his shoulder.
    That was a bad night for Bread. Manny has won two in a row since
    then.

    Dana White must love Rob Emerson for some reason. On the reality
    show's fifth installment, he first lost out to Diaz. Then he returned
    as a replacement for an injured fighter, and lost to Corey Hill. Then
    on the finale's undercard, he was slammed to the mat by Gray Maynard
    and submitted. Problem was, Maynard slammed his own head too hard and
    fell unconscious. The fight was declared a no contest. Emerson
    hasn't shown anything, but like the Terminator, he keeps coming back.

    This will be an easy victory for Gamburyan. The only concern would be
    the karma train. In his last bout with Jeff Cox, Manny broke the
    unspoken rule of professional fighting. He faked the glove tap than
    many fighters do to begin a round, and smacked a spinning leg kick at
    his opponent. Not good. Fortunately for gamblers, Emerson will not
    be the one to avenge the karma gods. Manny Gamburyan -320.

    http://www.sbrforum.com/Betting+Articles/BE TTING/8639/ufc-87-looking-seek-destroy-books.aspx
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