UFC 63: HUGHES vs. BJ PENN
September 23, 2006 @ the Pond in Anaheim
Matt Hughes vs. BJ PennBJ, you may recall, went up a weight class to take on the champion Hughes. Matt may have taken BJ too lightly due to size and strength, but a cagey rear-naked choke ended the fight with BJ standing over the stunned champion. BJ then quit the Octagon, and headed home to Hawaii. Hughes kept the title despite losing … and now BJ is back!
And if there is one fight that Mr. Hughes wants, it is to redeem his upset loss to BJ. Matt had nothing to gain by beating St. Pierre again, if he could. But, his pride (and title) is on the line tonight. This one should be interesting.
The UFC Monster likes Matt HUGHES (-200 on the betting line) to retain his welterweight title with a second round TKO over the smaller, softer submission specialist. BJ's takedown defense is awesome, but there is not a welterweight on the planet that can avoid the powerful onslaught of Matt Hughes, and a highly motivated one at that! BJ's strategy will be to get Matt's back again. And, if he does, history will repeat. But, Matt knows that and he will use his unbelievable brute strength to control his smaller opponent. Revenge is sweet tonight.
The undercard also features an interesting match-up with phenom, Mike "Quick" SWICK (11-1), a graduate of the Spike TV UFC Ultimate Fighter show from a few years ago, taking on David "the Crow" LOISEAU (15-5). The Canadian Loiseau lost his last fight to Middleweight Champion, Rich Franklin. The UFC Monster was in attendance in Las Vegas and witnessed a rather gutless performance from the Crow, who basically danced and ran from Franklin for five full rounds. Franklin won a unanimous decision despite breaking his hand in the fight! Tonight will be a different story.
These two fighters will stand toe-to-toe when the fight starts. Neither cares to go to the ground, though both are very capable once there. "Quick" Swick got his nickname from ending fights so quickly, Mike Tyson style. Loiseau got his reputation as the master of throwing elbows in his ground-and-pound attacks. This one should be a good one, if you like blood. Who will be the hungrier fighter?
I'll roll with the more experienced and slight underdog here. I'm placing my hard-earned cash on David "the Crow" LOISEAU (+115) to win a first round TKO by flying elbows.
Tonight also features the return of the lightweights, as five of the nine fights will feature the re-constituted Lightweight (155 lbs) division in the UFC. And, a former champion of that division has returned. Yes, that man is Jens "little Evil" PULVER (21-6-1). The sacrificial lamb designated to fight him is Joe LAUZON (12-3, with 11 wins by submission). But, this one isn't going to end in a submission. Pulver is a rare lightweight with awesome punching power. The Miletich fighter was a high school state wrestling champ and even wrestled a year at Boise State. But his MMA career is ripped with KO's.
With all due respect to Lauzon, there is a reason they have brought Jens Pulver back to fight in the UFC, and it isn't to lose tonight. I'll "bridge jump" with PULVER (-675) in his comeback.
An unbeaten Rashad EVANS (9-0), former college wrestler and Ultimate Fighter grad, will be tested with a battle against Jason LAMBERT (22-5), who is more experienced, having fought (and lost to) Marco Ruas, Tim Silvia, Cabbage Correira, and Chael Sonnen. Lambert has won 12 of his last 13 fights and is on quite a roll himself. But, despite the experience edge (three more years of MMA fighting), I think Lambert is a bit too small for Evan's power. This one should be entertaining. I'm going with EVANS (-190) to stay unbeaten.
And, in the final "live" PPV fight, Melvin "the Young Assassin" GUILLARD (38-6-3) takes on Gabe "Godzilla" RUEDIGER (unknown record), who claims to have studied Guillard's fights and will expose "technical errors" in his style. Well, Guillard's style, even for a lightweight, is to stand and slug. Most of his wins are by KO, and he wants a first rounder here! Ruediger's last loss was to Hermes Franca, no disgrace for sure. But it was by KO at 36 seconds into the fight, and Franca isn't a puncher, rather he is an unbelievable submission artist. And, if Franca can take him out, the door is wide open for the much more experienced Guillard. The UFC Monster is going with the mild favorite again, GUILLARD (-170) gets his 1st round KO. "Godzilla" goes back to the drawing board.
In the other preliminary fights, here are my thoughts:
Tyson GRIFFIN (7-0), a highly touted former high school and JUCO wrestler, who trains with David Terrell, will stay unbeaten as he puts away Britain's David LEE (5-1), who's fights have all ended in submission. GRIFFEN (-585) ends that streak tonight with a first round KO!
Jorge GURGEL (12-1), whose only loss was to Canadian Mark Homminick, has also won all of his fights by submission. Danny ABBADI (2-2) must be in over his head here, based on the betting line. I'll pass, but GURGEL (-725) will get the job done.
Eddie SANCHEZ (7-0), a late substitution for Gabriel Gonzalez will see his unbeaten string end as he gets submitted by MARIO NETO (9-3), who studied under the legendary Carlson Gracie. There is no betting line on this fight.
Roger HUERTA (16-1-1) will get a KO over Jason DENT (12-6), who is another late sub for Jason Reinhardt. Huerta claims to be a college student with one year left at Augsburg! He trains with Dave Menne. I'll pass again, but HUERTA is the big (–600) favorite.
Well, that's it for now. Enjoy the fights and know that our wrestling heritage has contributed greatly to the explosive popularity of Mixed Martial Arts fighting.
More later.
The UFC Monster
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