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Make your predictions for UFC 123 at The Palace at Auburn Hills

By Zach Arnold | November 19, 2010

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Spike TV matches

Main card

Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 44 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |

44 Responses to “Make your predictions for UFC 123 at The Palace at Auburn Hills”

  1. CapnHulk says:

    Quick thoughts:

    I’m excited to see Karo back.

    Sotiropoulos/Lauzon should be fun.

    Hughes/Penn feels irrelevant. I was hoping BJ would finally stick to lightweight as he will never be champion at welterweight. Barring an act of God, of course.

    I love Rampage, but he seems set on a Hollywood career at this point. I don’t know if he can win this after that loss to Rashad.

  2. Zack says:

    I disagree with Hughes vs Penn being irrelevant. It’s actually one of the only fights I’m excited about on the horizon. It’s a total legacy fight.

  3. 45 Huddle says:

    I’m looking forward to Hughes/Penn 3. The first 2 fights were both really fun to watch. This is a perfect time in both of their careers to do this rubber match.

  4. David M says:

    Machida KO 2
    BJ KO 2
    Harris decision
    Davis decision
    Lauzon decision in an exciting fight
    Hallman TKO when Karo doesn’t make it to the cage due to a panic attack.
    Simpson decision.
    Mendes brutal KO.
    I dont know who Nik Lentz is but I assume Griffin will put him on his ass for 3 rounds and win a UD.

  5. edub says:

    BJ, Sotiropolous, Machida… Hopefully I’m wrong about machida and Sotiropolous.

  6. 45 Huddle says:

    Rampage/Machida is an interesting fight. Before Machida’s loss, I would say there was no way of Rampage beating him. But I see Machida being tentative because of that loss and getting caught with a big punch.

    Hughes/Penn is also another interesting fight. So many variables due to where both are currently in their careers.

    Rampage, Hughes, Harris, Davis, Sotiropoulos, Foster, & Simpson.

  7. Chromium says:

    Tyson Griffin vs. Nik Lentz
    Griffin should move down to 145 after this whether he wins or loses. He\’s too small for LW but could be a real contender at FW. Lentz\’s performance in his last fight was so bad that it\’s basically the same as a loss. With the LW division being incredibly crowded right now, I could totally see him cut if he lost badly here.

    Paul Kelly vs. TJ O’Brien
    I\’m tentatively gonna go with Kelly here, who is likely on the chopping block if he doesn\’t win.

    Edson Mendes Barboza Jr. vs. Mike Lullo
    I don\’t know who either of these guys are. Why is the UFC hiring so many more LWs when the division is about to be crowded beyond belief from the WEC merger? Their records are pretty similar so I\’ll take Barboza because his name makes him sound like more of a badass.

    Karo Parisyan vs. Dennis Hallman
    Assuming he actually shows up, I think Karo should be able to beat Dennis Hallman.

    Spike TV matches

    Aaron Simpson vs. Mark Munoz

    Matt Brown vs. Brian Foster

    Main card

    George Sotiropoulos vs. Joe Lauzon
    Lauzon is good, and this match-up could go either way, but I think people are overrating Lauzon because he beat the living shit out of his last opponent who took the fight on short notice.

    Phil Davis vs. Tim Boetsch
    Almost a mismatch. This is Davis\’ fight to lose.

    Gerald Harris vs. Maiquel Jose Falcao Goncalves
    Really, the Sotiropoulos/Lauzon fight should be third from the top, since it\’s a much more relevant fight.

    Matt Hughes vs. BJ Penn
    Hughes seems like his mind is still totally into MMA, even if he\’s not in the title mix anymore. Penn I really wonder about.

    Quinton “Rampage” Jackson vs. Lyoto Machida
    Rampage is training in an office for this fight. I understand that he wants to be closer to his kids, and I respect that, but he has the money and location to have all sorts of elite trainers but he still chooses to just train with guys who make him comfortable, instead of people who will really, really push him hard.

    Some people might question where Lyoto\’s head is at with him training with Steven Seagal, but I\’m guessing that was just a mutual publicity stunt, and they probably spent all of a few hours together. I really don\’t see anything to indicate that he isn\’t still as disciplined as they come when it comes to training, and he should be extra motivated to get back into title contention.

    I like Rampage, I think he has superstar charisma, and he is still one of the hardest hitters in the division, with heavyweight strength and striking power, but he has little more than a puncher\’s chance here. This is Lyoto\’s fight to lose.

  8. mr. roadblock says:

    I think Machida/Rampage will be unwatchable for 1 round. Then Machida will pick him apart with short kicks and stop Rampage late.

    Hughes by GNP.

    Sotiropolos by decision.

    Griffin by decision.

  9. Rampage could beat Machida if he was willing to come forward, push the action, and throw combinations. You know what? Look back at Rampage’s career. Did he do that against Forrest Griffin? No. Shogun? No. Ninja Rua? No. DONG? No. And that’s not even a complete list. He’s a headcase and he too often fights the other man’s fight. He does the same with Machida. I expect over 3 rounds that Machida just wins 30-27. Rampage has a helluva chin.

    Penn is a better athlete than Matt Hughes and has shown the ability to trouble him standing and on the mat. He’s been more active in the last couple years against top competition and been more dominating against similar level of competition. Hughes also has two bad knees. And yet, Penn’s decision to return to having friends train him and making complaints about being an undersized welterweight make me believe that he too is headed for defeat again. Throwing combinations, especially the straight right, and coming forward could easily work against Hughes. I somehow expect this to be a lousy bout with Hughes on top protecting himself against Penn’s rubber guard while grinding out a decision. Don’t get me wrong though, I still like this match and I think the possibilities for it are so random that anything can and might happen.

    Davis does everything Boetsch does much better. He smashes the guy. Best I can hope for is that he gets more than one round out of work.

    Sotiropolous shouldn’t be fighting sub top 25 guys, but I guess he is. Again – he does everything better than Lauzon. Not good enough necessarily to finish him, but enough to beat him. Unanimous decision.

    Harris/Goncalves: Harris is being set up to win, so he probably will.

    Spike TV fights are irrelevant.

    Last fight at LW for Tyson Griffin will be a win. Last fight in the UFC for Parisyan will be an L.

  10. Also, I suspect that Rampage retires after losing. We see him fight again in 2014.

    • robthom says:

      “Also, I suspect that Rampage retires after losing…”

      For a couple of months.
      (if he loses, longer if he wins.)

      Then hint up to and fight 12 months later.

      Standard “rampage” issue!

  11. The Gaijin says:

    Machida, Penn, Falcao, Sotiropoulos, Davis.

    Also – further proof that the gregarious, self-deprecating Forrest is all just a show and he’s really just a snivelling little bully @ss-hole.

    http://1067thefandc.cbslocal.com/2010/11/19/mixed-martial-barts-111910/

    How DARE anyone ask him about his Anderson Silva fight, EVER. What a b***h.

  12. robthom says:

    LOl @ parysian!

    Longtoot and false drama!

    The Zuffa media blitzkrieg sure front loaded on that one!

  13. robthom says:

    COD blackops is really grotesque IMO.

    It features a scenario were you assassinate Castro, which was disturbing enough.

    (CAn I play as assassinate obamer, or w? Dont think so!)

    Now during the UFC broadcast they show fat chicks and nerd doods winning the “vietnam” war to the tune of the rolling stones.

    Its really venal!

    • IceMuncher says:

      You wouldn’t have liked CoD MW2. I feel pretty inured when it comes pretend video game violence, but that game had a level which even made me a little uncomfortable. You can youtube the level if you want, it’s called “No Russian”.

    • Brad Wharton says:

      Grow a pair man. You never rampaged through the Mushroom Kingdom before? How do you think all those Koopa Troopa’s wives and kids felt when they heard that daddy had been squashed by your fat, red-overall-wearing ass?

    • edub says:

      Ha loose comparison of Obama to Castro. Not the smartest thing to do.

  14. CapnHulk says:

    Oh Karo.

    Poor Karo.

  15. robthom says:

    That oversized biker dude has got to be my fave 3rd man outside of Herb Dean!

  16. 45 Huddle says:

    Based on the scoring criteria, Rampage should win the fight 2 rounds to 1.

    The first 2 rounds, he won both agression and octagon control. Not enough striking or grappling to counteract those two elements.

    • 45 Huddle says:

      And the judges actually got it right. I know the fans will protest this one to the end, but it was the right decision.

      Machida did absolutely nothing but run for 2 rounds and he lost the fight himself.

  17. Ajax says:

    I say fire both Machida and Rampage for that garbage.

    • 45 Huddle says:

      Why fire Rampage? He was trying his hardest to fight for the entire 15 minutes.

      Machida ran backwards for 12 minutes…. He was the one at fault here. He showed he was a better fighter then Rampage, but you shouldn’t be able to win when you refuse to engage for basically the entire fight.

      • David M says:

        Scoring is about effective aggression, not just aggression. Walking forward and not landing anything is not really a rationale to give someone a fight. I thought Machida edged out the first round with lots of kicks, Rampage won the 2nd, and Machida clearly dominated the third. A fight like that you can’t really complain either way about the scoring. I wish mma judges weren’t so loathe to give 10-10 rounds.

        Obviously under Pride scoring, Machida would have won, but that is neither here nor there.

        • 45 Huddle says:

          Who was more effective in their aggression? The guy moving forward trying to fight? Or the guy literally moving backwards trying to avoid the fight for the first 12 minutes? Sure Rampage wasn’t doing good…. On a scale of 1 to 10, he was probably a 2. But he still beat Machida who was a 1. Which means Rampage still wins that catagory. And he won Octagon control as well.

          And I have seen a few people comment on “if this was Pride”. Well, it’s not. And both fighters know EXACTLY how the fights are scored. It’s completely Machida’s fault for running during the fight and then expecting the decision.

        • David M says:

          Rampage didn’t do anything except for an uppercut in the 2nd round.

          He said himself Machida whooped his ass and he was shocked when he was announced the winner.

          I don’t think either was particularly effective in their aggression, but I think a bunch of kicks edge out moving forward and missing.

        • 45 Huddle says:

          Rampage had a takedown. The fight didn’t even happen an hour ago. Forget so soon?

          The striking counts in the striking category. There are 4 categories total. Rampage won Aggression. He won Octagon control. He won the grappling in the 2nd round. The grappling was basically neutral in the 1st.

          And most people who even think this was a bad decision had Rampage winning the 2nd round.

          Is it so hard to figure out that Machida going backwards for the entire 1st round and literlly trying to avoid the fight burnt him in the end.

          Fans should be CHEERING this decision as a fantastic thing for MMA. This is the judges saying you have to engage in order to win the fight. That is exactly what people have been asking for, right? But when they get it, they still complain.

          Too funny….

        • Rampage did a great job controlling the ring in this fight. He took center ring IMMEDIATELY and cut off the octagon and kept Machida at a distance he liked. He was sloppy punching in the third and that almost made the difference, but Rampage is a tough, tough man. No one is gonna one punch KO him. No matter what.

          Loved the event. Just watched the Martinez/Williams II fight and WOW. Didn’t expect that.

        • David M says:

          He did nothing with that takedown. Did you not see the fight? Regardless, I don’t feel like arguing about something I don’t particularly care about; it was a very close fight and it could have gone either way.

          Dude, the categories aren’t weighed equally, unless a judge is retarded. If aggression equated to victory, Leonard Garcia would be world champion. This isn’t a sloppy fucking bar fight where two guys are just supposed to charge forward and punch until someone falls down; go watch Toughman if that is what you are interested in. Machida did more damage than Rampage in the first round, and neither had any particular ground advantage, so he won the round on my scoresheet.

          I think Lyoto was gunshy at first and seemed to get his confidence back as the fight went on; I don’t really want to see a rematch between them, and these 3 round main events really leave a lot to be desired.

          I think they will match the Machida against loser of Bader-Jones and Rampage against winner of that fight for a title shot against winner of Shogun-Rashad.

        • 45 Huddle says:

          Correct, the categories are not weighed equally. But when there is no grappling and almost no striking… Then the aggression becomes a big factor.

          Just like in Couture/Vera. It was a boring fight where almost nothing happened. But Couture pressing the action won it for him.

          In either fight, if the less aggressive guy had even one really good flurry in each round, they would have easily won. But without it, they fail.

      • David M says:

        Machida did a lot more damage than Rampage in the first round, so I don’t really understand why walking forward should constitute something on the scorecards.

        Rampage says it isn’t the Ultimate Elusive Championship it is the Ultimate Fighting Championship, but it also isn’t the Ultimate Stalking Championship or the Ultimate Walk Forward and Miss Championship.

    • That fight was awesome. I don’t know what you want out of this sport.

  18. Jonathan says:

    In a fight where there is no clear, decisive winner, you cannot really complain about the results.

    • klown says:

      I definitely agree, it’s fair to debate the decision, but the fact it went to decision means there’s a good chance it wasn’t a decisive fight.

      I scored R1 to Machida for outstriking Rampage, and R2 could have been either way. I’d give it to Rampage for the sake of favoring wrestling even when it’s ineffective, as judges tend to do. And R3 was spectacularly Machida.

  19. Chuck says:

    Too bad about Karo. He will NEVER be a top fighter ever again. Anywhere. And I think that whole “Matt Hughes is BACK” movement got shut down pretty damn quickly.

    I saw the HO fight tonight. That was a fucking BRUTAL KAYO! Martinez knocked out Paul Williams in the second round with a sickening left hook. Beautiful punch, but it was a sickening knockout. That has to win KO of the year with RING Magazine and, well, everyone else.

    First the decision over Kelly Pavlik, and now that knockout, I say Sergio Martinez made a case for himself for fighter of the year. It’s out of him, Pacquiao, Lucian Bute, Andre Ward, Giovani Segura, Ponsaklek Wonjongkam, and maybe even Juan Manuel Lopez.

    • Martinez beat two world class guys he was in with. Ward will finish the year having beaten one and two OK guys. Bute beat a lot of OK guys. Segura beating Calderon is nice, but sub 127 the talent levels are so low that you can’t reasonably compare it to beating the two best 160lb fighters active. Pong has the same problem, except the guy he beat wasn’t as P4P good as Calderon, just a lot more popular. He’s a first ballot hall of famer, but that doesn’t mean that getting another easy defense over a random Thai that matches the like 20 he has like that is good now.

      Regardless of what happens the rest of the year, its Martinez in my mind. The guy that could break in is Jean Pascal – he has a december fight with B-Hop, and if he matches that up with the win over Dawson, man – that’s an impressive list. Plus in a strange twist of fate, the man who holds Dariusz Michalczewski’s linear claim is now a Dibella fighter (Zsolt Erdei). That loose end might get closed now.

      • Chuck says:

        Ah, I forgot about Jean Pascal. I agree. If he can beat Hopkins next month then he should be in the running. But as it stands, my money is on Martinez for fighter of the year.

  20. Zack says:

    Main events have to be 5 rounds. That was really a waste of time. Should’ve just been a draw.

    • Chuck says:

      Pretty hard to get draws in odd-numbered round fights, especially considering that most judges refuse to use 10-10 rounds.

  21. Zack says:

    Almost nothing happened in the 1st. How can a 10-9 in the first be equal to Machidas 10-9 in the 3rd? Boxing scoring for 3 round fights is total bullshit. Sometimes I think Zuffa should’ve worked to fix the sport before expanding it.

    • 45 Huddle says:

      But Machida and Rampage both know this. So when Machida backs up for the entire round barely trying to fight, he is leaving it up to the judges to decide if he did enough.

      The system is so simple. Win 2 rounds. That’s it!! If a fighter can’t do that, even by the smallest or margins, they don’t deserve to win.

      The scoring doesn’t need a change.

  22. klown says:

    I’m glad Machida got the loss. This fight will be even more of a wake-up call to him than the knockout to Rua was. Machida has learned a lesson over his career, that taking fights to decision is the surest path to victory. Now he knows evasiveness is not enough to win fights.

    As he showed in the R3, Machida is a better fighter than Rampage. Why did he wait until the end of the fight to unload?

    Machida must learn to become a more aggressive fighter.

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