gothabilly

Here is a UFC 53 preview article that I wrote. I got 6 of 8 right. Go easy on me.



Andrei Arlovski vs. Justin Eilers


I would certainly take Arlovski in this match up. On the surface the 2 are
quite similar size and record wise but I think that Arlovski is just obscene
with his power punches. Not only is he a fierce puncher but his submissions
are on target as well. He demonstrated that quite nicely when he tapped out
Tim Sylvia with an Achilles lock in his last fight.

An interesting side note, Eilers first MMA bout was against Dan Severn in
Victory Fighting Championships 3. Severn got the win with a unanimous
decision. You will later in this little review read about another fighter who
got off to a very similar start.

Winner: Arlovski


Evan Tanner vs. Rich Franklin

Franklin TKO'd Tanner in less than 3 minutes in UFC 42. I would expect a similar
result in this fight. Franklin has shown some amazing things since coming
onto the scene 5 years ago. His only loss came against undefeated Brazilian
striker Ryoto Machida in the Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye event in 2003. I think perhaps
his most impressive win was against Edwin Dewees in UFC 44. Reportedly
Franklin had a pulled groin muscle that night but that didn't stop him from
pounding Dewees in to a TKO loss.

This will be Tanner's 13th UFC appearance and don't get me wrong, he's a very
impressive fighter in his own right. I just think that Tanner's punches will
prove too much for him to handle. I do like this fight to be one of the best
on the card. I also like Tanner as a fighter because he beat that Punk ass
Phil Baroni twice.

Winner: Franklin


Forrest Griffin vs. Bill Mahood


Who doesn't love watching Griffin fight? The way that he grins through bloody
lips after taking sick shots from his opponents is great. You just want to
see the guy succeed. His fight with Stephan Bonnar in The Ultimate Fighter
finale is exactly what this sport is all about. Both fighters will be making
their UFC debuts in this event and this should be an all out war. My nod goes
to Griffin. This guy is amazingly tough and we have all seen that he can
stand and take a punch, 15 minutes worth of them in fact.

Griffin's first MMA contest was, coincidentally enough, a loss in a decision
to none other than Dan Severn in Reality Superfighting 5.

As impressive as Griffin's ability to punch and be punched are, Mahood is no
slouch in that department either. 10 of his 11 wins have come by KO. I think
however that Griffin has the advantage in the ground game. His submissions
are very effective.

Winner: Griffin


Karo Parisyan vs. Matt Serra

This should turn out to be a very interesting fight. Parisyan is a very
talented Judo player and Serra is a developing BJJ fighter. Both have very
good ground games and should provide an entertaining match for people like me
who love to watch mat work.

Parisyan in his early career was quite the submission expert, winning his
first 6 fights that way. However, recently he has become known as a guy who
will take this fight the distance and let the judges decide. This is not
really a good thing because you never what the judges are going to do. 3 of
Serra's 5 wins have come by decision so we may see 15 minutes of mat work and
then let's go to the judges.

In the end I think that Parisyan will prove to be the better fighter. He will
though, need to fight this one from a mount or side control position because
Serra is very comfortable fighting from the bottom and has been spending a
lot of time working on the triangle that proved so effective against Kelly
Dullanty in UFC 36.

Winner: Parisyan



Koji Oishi vs. Nick Diaz

Oishi has been fighting on the Pancrase circuit in Japan for several years
although he did make his MMA debut in UFC 25. He lost that fight and I have
to tell you, I don't think things are looking good in this one either. Nick
Diaz is one of the brightest young stars in the UFC today. He has proven that
his strikes can be just as effective as his incredible grappling ability. He
has 3 losses in his pro MMA career but 2 of those were based on very
controversial split decisions, most recently to Karo Parisyan in UFC 49. I
love watching this guy fight and I think that this match will be over early.

All but 2 of Oishi's wins have come via judge’s decision but I just don't
think he'll get a chance to take it that far against Diaz.

Winner: Diaz



David Loiseau vs. Charles McCarthy

This may be the easiest call of the card for me. It's quite simple, Loiseau
doesn't have a chance in Hell of winning this fight. There is no doubt in my
mind that McCarthy's UFC debut will go exactly the way he wants it to.
Loiseau is a striker who quite frankly isn't very good at striking. His fight
against Jorge Rivera in UFC 44 may be the most boring fight I've ever seen.
The only thing that McCarthy will need to watch out for is Loiseau's
incredible ability to throw short range elbows in the clinch. If McCarthy
gets caught with too many of those, the fight could easily be stopped due to
a cut.

McCarthy has spent the early part of his career mainly fighting on the
Absolute Fighting Championships circuit with a brief swim through King of the
Cage and the International Sport Combat Federation. A very gifted grappler, I
believe that he will take this fight to the mat and finish it early in the
first round.


Winner: McCarthy



Nate Quarry vs. Shonie Carter


This will be the ass kicking of the night; I have no doubt about it. As much
as I think that Loiseau has no shot at beating McCarthy, I have even less
confidence that Carter has a shot in Hell at doing anything to Quarry. Quarry
is a newcomer to the UFC and in fact to MMA in general, having only 7 fights
to his name. Carter is a veteran of the fight game but is, in my opinion, a
tomato can. He has 47 sanctioned fights in his career and has won 29 of
those. But he has really only won 2 fights against anyone with a decent game,
those being a KO against Matt Serra in UFC 31 and a decision win against Dave
Menne in Extreme Challenge 5. He has a long list of wins, many of them
decisions against fighters who even the most devout fans of the MMA would
have a difficult time recognizing.


Quarry appeared in a UFC event for the first time in a non-televised prelim
fight on The Ultimate Fighter finale. He knocked out Lodune Sincaid at 3:17
in the first round. Dana White was so impressed by his performance that he
decided to give him a shot here in UFC 53. There isn't a lot that we know
about this guy other than he is another hybrid fighter who doesn't care
whether he takes you out by KO punches or submissions. I think he will
effectively mow through Carter.


Winner: Quarry


Paul Buentello vs. Kevin Jordan


Fans of King of the Cage will recognize Buentello as will anyone who saw his UFC
debut, a first round KO of Justin Eilers in UFC 51 earlier this year. In all
honesty though, his biggest fights have come against Gan McGee and Evan
Tanner on the International Fighting Championships and Unified Shoot
Wrestling Foundation circuits. Neither of those fights turned out very well
for Buentello.

Looking at Kevin Jordan's resume is an even shorter undertaking. He only has
8 fights in his career and the only 2 that are against remotely talented
opponents were his first 2 bouts. He was TKO'd by Wesley Correira and lost a
decision to Travis Wiuff. However after that rocky start he has rattled off 6
straight wins, granted wins against competition with marginal talent but wins
nonetheless.

I think that Jordan's ground game will get the best of Buentello in the end.
This should be a good fight and who knows what could happen but I have a
feeling that Jordan will eventually be able to close the gap and tap
Buentello.


Winner: Jordan