Welcome back for another episode of Viperz Venom. As usual I am greatful for each and every single one of you taking time out of your busy day to read this and I will continue to reply to each and every one of you that leaves me a comment, concern, criticism, or any post of any kind! With that being said we are here to breakdown the final UFC card before the UFC 200 weekend of doom begins. I'll tell you the weekend of July 7th,8th, and 9th is going to be one where I basically do not move from my couch with weigh ins and fights and not to mention a column everyday here at themmacommunity.com by yours truly. I am actually having physical anxiety waiting for that weekend. Anyways, with that being said we've gotta get through this card to get to that one so lets do it!
Ali Bagautinov 9-4 vs Geane Herrera 9-1
Going 1-1 since signing with the UFC Herrera has looked less than the somewhat of a phenom he was expected to be. Bagautinov is coming in with a 2 fight losing streak that may even see him get bounced from the UFC with a loss. I don't see that happening here. Bagautinov's accomplishments alone cast a very large shadow against relatively unknown opponents like Herrera and this fight should only serve as making Bagautinov look good enough to get another top 10 opponent.
Pick: Ali Bagautinov via Unanimouos Decision
Colby Covington 8-1 vs Jonathan Meunier 7-0
What a great fight this is going to be. Meunier steps in never having gone the distance with an undefeated record against an always game Covington. Meunier has reach and switches his stance alot to throw his opponents off. There are two saying here making this decision so hard. Some people say " There is nothing more dangerous than a fighter coming into his first fight back after his first career loss". The other one being "There is nothing more dangerous than an undefeated fighter". Covington has the big show experience and Meunier has the fact that he trains at Tristar. I expect Meunier to spend most of the fight on his back with Covington on top of him.
Pick: Colby Covington via Unanimous Decision
Randa Markos 5-4 vs Jocelyn Jones-Lybarger 6-2
Markos is a well rounded fighter. She competed very well on her season of TUF and had she not dropped that razor close decision to Jessica Penne she would be ranked much higher than just 14th. Lybarger had a bad outing against Tecia Torres last time around basically going through the motions and not doing her best which we can chalk up to her stepping in on extremely short notice. This time around I see it to be different. Markos doesn't care enough to make weight and with this new system there is absolutely no excuse whatsoever. I expect Lybarger to completely outfight Markos to a Unanimous Decision victory.
Pick: Jocelyn Jones-Lybarger
Elias Theodorou 12-1 vs Sam Alvey 26-7
Is it just me or is it not extremely entertaining to watch Alvey fight? One of the only guys who can get punched in 5-8 punch combonations and still never have that smile leave his face. Theodorou on the other hard has gotten better and better each time we've seen him. Theodorou is way to technical for Alvey though. Another one sided decision.
Pick: Elias Theodorou via Unanimous Decision
Chris Beal 10-2 vs Joe Soto 15-5
I honestly believe Joe Soto is one of the most game martial artists in the entire sport. Debuting for the biggest MMA promotion in the world he stepped in on 24 hours notice to face the champion of his weigh division and not only did he show a ton of hear, he earned the respect of nearly every hardcore out there. Unfortinatley he's making a habit of stepping in on short notice. This will be Soto's 4th bout in the UFC and the 3rd he has taken on short notice which doesn't bode well for him considering he has yet to put together a win inside the octagon. Chris Beal on the other hand started his UFC career 2-0 and then decided to drop a weight class where he has went 0-2 since doing so. This will be Beal's first fight back in the weight class that got him to the dance against a late replacement opponent. I expect a welcome back to that weight class with a decision victory over a tough Joe Soto.
Pick: Chris Beal via Unanimous Decision
Tamdan McCrory 14-3 vs Krzysztof Jotko 17-1
McCrory is a name hardcores will remember from over half a decade ago when he debuted with the UFC with a record of 8-0. After going 3-3 he was released and disappeared for 5 years and now after putting together 2 great performances in Bellator he was resigned by the UFC and caught Josh Samman in the 3rd round of their war with a nicely set up triangle choke. Jotko is 4-1 in the UFC and riding a 3 fight win streak himself. Both of these guys are talented and are brown belts in brazilian jiu jitsu. I give the grappling edge to McCrory and I believe thats how he gets it done in this fight.
Pick: Tamdan McCrory via 2nd Round Submission
Misha Cirkunov 11-2 vs Ion Cutelaba 11-1
Someones gonna fall here. Cutelaba loves to charge forward and put guys to sleep. Cirkunov is a threat everywhere and is riding a 6 fight win streak. I predict that 6 fight win streak comes to and end tonight. Don't blink guys.
Pick: Ion Cutelaba via 1st Round KO/TKO
Jason Saggo 11-2 vs Leandro Silva 19-2-1
Silva is to Brazil what Smith is to Canada? Fair assessment? Anyways Silva is riding a 4 fight win streak including a win over Efrain Escudero. He will be looking to get going early in the fight but I expect it to be to no a Butvail. Saggo will have the crowd behind him and will use them to power through with a Unanimous Decision victory.
Pick: Jason Saggo via Unanimous Decision
Valerie Letourneau 8-4 vs Joanne Calderwood 10-1
I sat down and tried to invision how Isee this fight playing out. Most likely a decision, if its finished how will it happen? When? I came up with picking Letourneau to win by submission in the 4rd round. How? I honestly have no clue. Calderwood has more accolades as far as grappling goes and can strike with everybody in the division. Well lets just chalk this one up to intuition.
Pick: Valerie Letourneau via 3rd Round Submission
Olivier Aubin-Mercier 8-2 vs Thibault Gouti 11-1
Not alot is known about Gouti other than he recently moved his camp to JacksonWink. Mercier is coming off a loss and seems beyond focused for this one. He's just one of those guys that is just a natural athlete. I can't pick Gouti with a clear head here so I'm going to go with Mercier.
Pick: Olivier Aubin-Mercier via Unanimous Decision
Steve Bosse 11-2 vs Sean O'Connell 17-7
Bosse has the kind of power that most guys only dream of. Being able to remove a guy from consciousness with just a glancing blow is every guy who has ever been in a fight's dream. O'Connell though also with KO power is a little bit more well rounded than Bosse finishing fights in a variety of different ways. Bosse has great takedown defense from his time in the NHL so I don't expect grappling to be a factor. Bosse by KO.
Pick: Steve Bosse via 1st Round KO/TKO
Donald Cerrone 29-7 vs Patrick Cote 24-9
Cerrone is as we know one of the most active fighters in the history of the UFC, winning 9 of his last 10 he has beaten nearly everyone there is to beat besides the champion who absolutely destroyed him back in December of last year. Patrick Cote is on a resurgence tour in his career and is one of the most difficult guys to put away in his division. Never being stopped with strikes is definitely a point of pride for any mma fighter with more than 10 fights let alone over 30 of them. Cote has a serious chance of winning this fight with the improvements he has made over the past year and a half. Cerrone is going up to welterweight for this fight and I expect him to not be able to handle Cote's power.
Pick: Patrick Cote via 1st Round KO/TKO
Rory Macdonald 18-3 vs Stephen Thompson 12-1
I expect Macdonald to do everything he can to get this fight to the ground as soon as humanly possible. Unfortunately for him Thompson has such great takedown defense and has the worst style for a wrestler to compete against. I think Rory is going to have to call up Johnny Hendricks after this one to ask him what happened. Thompson is just too good to not steamroll Macdonald and eventually take out the champion as well.
Pick: Stephen Thompson via 2nd Round KO/TKO
Well thats it for me guys. I hope you enjoyed reading as much as I did writing and once again don't forget to leave me a comment and let me know what you thought. Until the biggest fight weekend in UFC history, I'll see you then.
Ali Bagautinov 9-4 vs Geane Herrera 9-1
Going 1-1 since signing with the UFC Herrera has looked less than the somewhat of a phenom he was expected to be. Bagautinov is coming in with a 2 fight losing streak that may even see him get bounced from the UFC with a loss. I don't see that happening here. Bagautinov's accomplishments alone cast a very large shadow against relatively unknown opponents like Herrera and this fight should only serve as making Bagautinov look good enough to get another top 10 opponent.
Pick: Ali Bagautinov via Unanimouos Decision
Colby Covington 8-1 vs Jonathan Meunier 7-0
What a great fight this is going to be. Meunier steps in never having gone the distance with an undefeated record against an always game Covington. Meunier has reach and switches his stance alot to throw his opponents off. There are two saying here making this decision so hard. Some people say " There is nothing more dangerous than a fighter coming into his first fight back after his first career loss". The other one being "There is nothing more dangerous than an undefeated fighter". Covington has the big show experience and Meunier has the fact that he trains at Tristar. I expect Meunier to spend most of the fight on his back with Covington on top of him.
Pick: Colby Covington via Unanimous Decision
Randa Markos 5-4 vs Jocelyn Jones-Lybarger 6-2
Markos is a well rounded fighter. She competed very well on her season of TUF and had she not dropped that razor close decision to Jessica Penne she would be ranked much higher than just 14th. Lybarger had a bad outing against Tecia Torres last time around basically going through the motions and not doing her best which we can chalk up to her stepping in on extremely short notice. This time around I see it to be different. Markos doesn't care enough to make weight and with this new system there is absolutely no excuse whatsoever. I expect Lybarger to completely outfight Markos to a Unanimous Decision victory.
Pick: Jocelyn Jones-Lybarger
Elias Theodorou 12-1 vs Sam Alvey 26-7
Is it just me or is it not extremely entertaining to watch Alvey fight? One of the only guys who can get punched in 5-8 punch combonations and still never have that smile leave his face. Theodorou on the other hard has gotten better and better each time we've seen him. Theodorou is way to technical for Alvey though. Another one sided decision.
Pick: Elias Theodorou via Unanimous Decision
Chris Beal 10-2 vs Joe Soto 15-5
I honestly believe Joe Soto is one of the most game martial artists in the entire sport. Debuting for the biggest MMA promotion in the world he stepped in on 24 hours notice to face the champion of his weigh division and not only did he show a ton of hear, he earned the respect of nearly every hardcore out there. Unfortinatley he's making a habit of stepping in on short notice. This will be Soto's 4th bout in the UFC and the 3rd he has taken on short notice which doesn't bode well for him considering he has yet to put together a win inside the octagon. Chris Beal on the other hand started his UFC career 2-0 and then decided to drop a weight class where he has went 0-2 since doing so. This will be Beal's first fight back in the weight class that got him to the dance against a late replacement opponent. I expect a welcome back to that weight class with a decision victory over a tough Joe Soto.
Pick: Chris Beal via Unanimous Decision
Tamdan McCrory 14-3 vs Krzysztof Jotko 17-1
McCrory is a name hardcores will remember from over half a decade ago when he debuted with the UFC with a record of 8-0. After going 3-3 he was released and disappeared for 5 years and now after putting together 2 great performances in Bellator he was resigned by the UFC and caught Josh Samman in the 3rd round of their war with a nicely set up triangle choke. Jotko is 4-1 in the UFC and riding a 3 fight win streak himself. Both of these guys are talented and are brown belts in brazilian jiu jitsu. I give the grappling edge to McCrory and I believe thats how he gets it done in this fight.
Pick: Tamdan McCrory via 2nd Round Submission
Misha Cirkunov 11-2 vs Ion Cutelaba 11-1
Someones gonna fall here. Cutelaba loves to charge forward and put guys to sleep. Cirkunov is a threat everywhere and is riding a 6 fight win streak. I predict that 6 fight win streak comes to and end tonight. Don't blink guys.
Pick: Ion Cutelaba via 1st Round KO/TKO
Jason Saggo 11-2 vs Leandro Silva 19-2-1
Silva is to Brazil what Smith is to Canada? Fair assessment? Anyways Silva is riding a 4 fight win streak including a win over Efrain Escudero. He will be looking to get going early in the fight but I expect it to be to no a Butvail. Saggo will have the crowd behind him and will use them to power through with a Unanimous Decision victory.
Pick: Jason Saggo via Unanimous Decision
Valerie Letourneau 8-4 vs Joanne Calderwood 10-1
I sat down and tried to invision how Isee this fight playing out. Most likely a decision, if its finished how will it happen? When? I came up with picking Letourneau to win by submission in the 4rd round. How? I honestly have no clue. Calderwood has more accolades as far as grappling goes and can strike with everybody in the division. Well lets just chalk this one up to intuition.
Pick: Valerie Letourneau via 3rd Round Submission
Olivier Aubin-Mercier 8-2 vs Thibault Gouti 11-1
Not alot is known about Gouti other than he recently moved his camp to JacksonWink. Mercier is coming off a loss and seems beyond focused for this one. He's just one of those guys that is just a natural athlete. I can't pick Gouti with a clear head here so I'm going to go with Mercier.
Pick: Olivier Aubin-Mercier via Unanimous Decision
Steve Bosse 11-2 vs Sean O'Connell 17-7
Bosse has the kind of power that most guys only dream of. Being able to remove a guy from consciousness with just a glancing blow is every guy who has ever been in a fight's dream. O'Connell though also with KO power is a little bit more well rounded than Bosse finishing fights in a variety of different ways. Bosse has great takedown defense from his time in the NHL so I don't expect grappling to be a factor. Bosse by KO.
Pick: Steve Bosse via 1st Round KO/TKO
Donald Cerrone 29-7 vs Patrick Cote 24-9
Cerrone is as we know one of the most active fighters in the history of the UFC, winning 9 of his last 10 he has beaten nearly everyone there is to beat besides the champion who absolutely destroyed him back in December of last year. Patrick Cote is on a resurgence tour in his career and is one of the most difficult guys to put away in his division. Never being stopped with strikes is definitely a point of pride for any mma fighter with more than 10 fights let alone over 30 of them. Cote has a serious chance of winning this fight with the improvements he has made over the past year and a half. Cerrone is going up to welterweight for this fight and I expect him to not be able to handle Cote's power.
Pick: Patrick Cote via 1st Round KO/TKO
Rory Macdonald 18-3 vs Stephen Thompson 12-1
I expect Macdonald to do everything he can to get this fight to the ground as soon as humanly possible. Unfortunately for him Thompson has such great takedown defense and has the worst style for a wrestler to compete against. I think Rory is going to have to call up Johnny Hendricks after this one to ask him what happened. Thompson is just too good to not steamroll Macdonald and eventually take out the champion as well.
Pick: Stephen Thompson via 2nd Round KO/TKO
Well thats it for me guys. I hope you enjoyed reading as much as I did writing and once again don't forget to leave me a comment and let me know what you thought. Until the biggest fight weekend in UFC history, I'll see you then.
