Nick Diaz vs Carlos Condit:

What to say here? The hype for this has been amazing. Two fighters that are as game as they come. Both guys will be going for the finish here at all time and both have shown off ridiculous chins in the process. In the main event Saturday night, Diaz/Condit seems to be a barnburner to match all barnburners. I think Diaz holds the advantage on the ground and on the feet. Condit has great striking ability but I like Diaz’s ability to overwhelm his foe. Love the way that both guys bring it but I see Diaz overwhelming Condit to a TKO finish in the championship rounds. Fight of the year contender here (hopefully).

Fabricio Werdum vs Roy Nelson

Interesting fight. Both guys have a great ground game and both are adequate standing. It honestly seems like a tossup but when I look at Werdum’s best wins (Fedor Emelianenko, Antonio Silva, Sergei Kharitinov, Alistair Overeem) I believe they are superior to Nelson’s best wins (Brendan Schaub, Stefan Struve and an older Cro Cop). Also, as bad of a fight as Werdum/Overeem 2 was, Werdum held his own on his feet and looked good in the exchanges. Nelson, for all of his strengths, has never beaten a top ten guy. I also think Werdum’s strength of competition has been stronger than Nelson’s overall. Nelson is extremely durable and hard to finish (unless your name is Andrei Arlovski) so I like Werdum here in a unanimous decision.

Mike Pierce vs Josh Koscheck

A battle between solid welterweights. The one thing that worries me here is that Koscheck didn’t look good striking with Matt Hughes in his last fight. Granted, Kos won by first round KO so does it matter? I think so. Hughes was landing a lot of punches before Kos landed a big bomb. Pierce has a ton of power (rocked Jon Fitch big time in their fight a couple of years ago) and I don’t think Koscheck is comfortable yetwith getting punched in the eye area after GSP broke his orbital bone in December of 2010. Pierce hits harder than Hughes and I think it will show here. I think Pierce gets the finish here and I predict a  Pierce win by TKO.

Scott Jorgenson vs Renan Pegado

I like Jorgenson here big time. The only person to give Jorgenson trouble was in his championship loss to Dominic Cruz. Jorgenson seemed befuddled by Cruz’s movement but rebounded nicely with two big wins. Jorgenson is a top five guy at bantamweight and this is a good opportunity for him to showcase it here. I like Jorgenson here in a finish by stoppage. Jorgenson by TKO.

Ed Herman vs Clifford Starks

I’m kind of surprised this is on the main card to be honest. With all due respect to both fighters, I feel that Dustin Poirier (up and comer at bantamweight) should have gotten a showcase here and a chance to resonate with the viewing public. That being said, good luck to both gentleman and I see Herman winning a decision.

UFC 143 Preview

Will Cerrone/Diaz equal Condit/Diaz?

Per my predictions before UFC 141, I picked Donald Cerrone to win a decision over Nate Diaz. As we all know now, Diaz won the fight fairly easily. Honestly, Cerrone looked out of it from the start. As I watched the fight unfold, it became very clear to me that Diaz had gotten into Cerrone’s head. Instead of fighting a calculated and measured fight utilizing distance and leg kicks, Cerrone was lulled into a standup war that both Diaz brothers seem to thrive in. This fight baffled me so much that I’m now re-thinking my initial thoughts of how the Carlos Condit/Nick Diaz fight will unfold. Condit also seems to be a good style fight for Diaz. The pre-fight (and during) sh** talking and antics by Diaz seemed to get Cerrone fired up and pulled him out of his fighting style.

It’s been noted many times that both of the Diaz’s struggle with wrestlers. Nick had problems in losses to with Sean Sherk, Diego Sanchez and Karo Parisyian (a judo player who also excels in takedowns). Nate has recently had troubles in losses to Joe Stevenson, Dong Hyun Kim and Clay Guida. That being said, Nate landed an astounding 258 strikes in the three round war that he was in with Cerrone. The main difference in my opinion is that Cerrone never shot in for a takedown, even though Greg Jackson was pleading for him to between rounds. With no threat of a takedown, Diaz was able to stalk Cerrone and land punches at an alarming rate.

And so this leads us to Condit/Diaz. Condit is a great striker no doubt but he doesn’t seem to have a great wrestling base. If there is no threat of a takedown, shouldn’t we expect a similar fight to Diaz/Cerrone? Aren’t these fights very similar on paper? Granted, Condit is very dangerous and can win this fight but this now seems like Diaz’s fight to lose. Neither man will gas but Diaz’s volume punching and gas tank seemed to overwhelm past opponents and break them down. I’m not going on the record as of yet but this now clearly seems to be a great stylistic matchup for Diaz. I don’t believe Condit will want to go to the ground with him so this seems to be a likely stand up war. Can Condit resist the urge to brawl? Will he fight in control and measured? Can Diaz also get in Condit's head pre-fight? I guess we will find out soon what the older brother from Stockton has up his sleeve.