Hello again everybody for the next edition of Viperz Venom! I am unfortunately slightly less excited for this fight card as I was 2 weeks ago as I'm sure everybody knows why. Losing that main event was a giant blow, not to mention losing the co main event as well. All in all the prelim fights and main card fights are enough to carry this card on Fox for the casual and hardcore mma fan but, that's about the only bright point that can be taken away from the plague that has hit this card. So why don't we dive right in and get to the meat and potatoes shall we?
Elizeu Zaleski Dos Santos 14-5 vs Omari Akmehdov 15-3
These two fighters come in with nearly identical height, reach, age, and professional records. A great way to start off the card. Akmehdov is a master of sports in both hand to hand combat and sambo which tells you he is a deadly threat in nearly each and every single position. Santos on the other hand has power in both his hands and his feet and he just recently earned his black belt in bjj. From what I could take away from the weigh ins, Akmehdov isn't all there. As a father I know that missing my child's birthday even to do something I love would devastate me, simply because I'd have to go through the phone call of my son crying on the phone angry that I'm not there. Santos looks focused. I expect Santos to use his technical combinations to stifle Akmehdov and leave him frozen.
Pick: Elizeu Zaleski Dos Santos via Unanimous Decision
Oluwale Bamgbose 6-1 vs Cesar Ferriera 9-5
Powerhouse Oluwale Bamgbose steps up on short notice to face off against the TUF brazil 1 stand out Cesar Ferriera. I could sit here and analyze this fight all night but the facts state that 4 out of the 5 losses on Ferriera's record came by KO and Bamgbose is a ridiculously unorthodox and extremely powerful guy. Enough said.
Pick: Oluwale Bamgbose via 1st Round KO/TKO
Randy Brown 7-0 vs Michael Graves 5-0
Brown came to UFC by way of Dana White's youtube show "Lookin For A Fight" showing he had some skill Uncle Dana scooped him right up and now we are about to see if he can sink or swim against another mediocre fighter in Graves. In my humble opinion I can't see a reason for giving Graves a UFC contract in the beginning. He didn't look very good in the TUF house and hasn't looked very good since. Brown was the current champion of his former league and had defended that belt twice successfully. Graves may be durable, but not durable enough to last the whole fight.
Pick: Randy Brown via 2nd Round KO/TKO
John Dodson 18-7 vs Manvel Gamburyan 18-9
Gamburyan is an overwhelming underdog here but why? Dodson has a long list of accomplishments and is very fast but Gamburyan has been on a terror as of late winning 4 of his last 5 fights (no contest to steroid user Dennis Siver not included). Gamburyan has been forced out of every single fight against big opponents with injuries his entire career up until this one. I'll tell you right now that if your thinking about taking this fight as a parlay with Dodson to win I wouldn't do it. Alot of extreme underdogs have been shocking the world lately and if Gamburyan can get a hold of Dodson he will drain him and take the decision home with ease. I still am predicting that Dodson wins here but I wouldn't even come close to calling it a sure thing.
Pick: John Dodson via Unanimous Decision
Court McGee 18-4 vs Santiago Ponzinibbio 22-3
Fireworks! This is going to be a crazy fight! First of all congrats to McGee for 10 years sober and turning his life around. I got the feeling at the weigh ins that Ponzinibbio isn't really taking McGee seriously which is obviously a mistake. Both men have one of their very few loses in common by way of Ryan Laflare so as to tell each other the style that is most likely to beat one another. My biggest issue here is that McGee hasn't finished a fight since 2011, Ponzinibbio on the other hand has only 3 decision wins on his entire record. 19 of 22 were stoppages which shows just how dangerous a guy Ponzinibbio can be. McGee does have a 3 inch reach advantage here but I just don't see it helping him at all. McGee more than likely has the heart to last until the final bell as he himself has never been finished but it won't be pretty.
Pick: Santiago Ponzinibbio via Unanimous Decision
Bethe Correia 9-1 vs Raquel Pennington 6-6
Correia returns after being brutally knocked unconscious by Rousey to face an underrated fighter in Pennington. Pennington reminds me of a girl I grew up with (who subsequently turned out to be a lesbian as well). She would fight guys and just destroy them her whole life, and for all sake and purpose she was just one of the boys. Since making her way into the UFC Pennington's losses have been close fights one of which she avenged already. She had a razor close split decision loss to Holy Holm as well and of course she is one of only 4 fighters in UFC history to win a fight via bulldog choke. Correia is a nightmare for anyone on the feet if they don't really know what they are doing but if Pennington can hang with Holm I have all the faith in the world she can hand with Correia too. I expect big things from Pennington in this fight.
Pick: Raquel Pennington via Unanimous Decision
Beneil Dariush 12-1 vs Michael Chiesa 13-2
Realistically speaking both of these guys haven't lost very many fights and in my eyes its a brilliant matchup. Had both of these guys had more exposure this could be a co main event type fight. To some on the outside looking in this could be looked at as Dariush taking a step back in competition after his controversial split decision win against Michael Johnson but in actuality he faces someone who though much sloppier than him is just as dangerous no matter where the fight takes place. Chiesa has made himself reasonably well known by choking everyone in the TUF house unconscious and winning the first live season of the TUF show. Chiesa is a massive guy to make lightweight and uses his size to easily create scrambles that he himself is a pro at capitalizing on. Though Chiesa is the bigger fighter I expect Dariush to wrap him up in a bow by the second.
Pick: Beneil Dariush via 2nd Round Submission
Cub Swanson 21-7 vs Hacran Dias 23-3-1
Swanson is coming off of losses to two of the best in his division and Dias is riding high on a 2 fight win streak. Swanson has been the guys who have been at the top of the division and realistically he hasn't fought in a year. Taking time off to really work on your problems is always beneficial. I believe Swanson is reinvigorated and I expect him to end Dias very quickly.
Pick: Cub Swanson via 1st Round KO/TKO
Khabib Nurmagomedov 22-0 vs Darryl Horcher 12-1
The oh so great position of the unknown. Nurmagomedov is coming off of an impressive performance where he pretty much destroyed the guy who is now the champion with ease. He has had the worst injury luck ive ever seen. Honestly I don't doubt that Horcher is dangerous, hes just not dangerous enough to be a legitimate threat to Nurmagomedov. The only thing I know is Nurmagomedov is an absolute BEAST and in my opinion could rip the head off anyone at 155 current or past.
Pick: Khabib Nurmagomedov via 2nd Round Submission
Rose Namajunas 6-2 vs Tecia Torres 7-0
Who else is as excited about this fight as I am? Torres is a decision fighter who barely got through her last test in Jocelyn Lybarger but does hold a victory over Namajunas from their Invicta days. Unfortinatley for Torres that win means absolutely nothing as Namajunas has improved to a level that far exceeds any silly decision fighter. With all of her wins coming by stoppage Namajunas took who everyone thought was an up and comer in Paige Van Zant and beat her like a red headed step child. Namajunas is going to take one of Tecia's limbs home with her. In my opinion this would be a great place to put that guarenteed parlay fight.
Pick: Rose Namajunas via 1st Round Submission
Glover Teixeira 24-4 vs Rashad Evans 24-4-1
I took Evans here and instead of breaking down each fighter and giving you some optimism I'm going to tell you why. Rashad Evans is a stylistic nightmare for Teixiera. He's fast, he has elite wrestling and top control, and he can hold his own in the pocket. Rashad has really only ever struggled against guys that were much taller than him or able to take him down which Glover is neither. Expect this one to go the full 5 guys and watch Evans change his gameplan halfway through to counter what Teixiera is doing right in the fight to completely shut him down all the way.
Pick: Rashad Evans via Unanimous Decision
Well that brings us to an end of another episode. I'd like to apologize as "The Hat" was sick this time around and was unable to come over to help write his portion of my column. As usual I hope you all enjoyed reading as much as I did writing and please feel free to leave me comments and constructive criticism below.
Elizeu Zaleski Dos Santos 14-5 vs Omari Akmehdov 15-3
These two fighters come in with nearly identical height, reach, age, and professional records. A great way to start off the card. Akmehdov is a master of sports in both hand to hand combat and sambo which tells you he is a deadly threat in nearly each and every single position. Santos on the other hand has power in both his hands and his feet and he just recently earned his black belt in bjj. From what I could take away from the weigh ins, Akmehdov isn't all there. As a father I know that missing my child's birthday even to do something I love would devastate me, simply because I'd have to go through the phone call of my son crying on the phone angry that I'm not there. Santos looks focused. I expect Santos to use his technical combinations to stifle Akmehdov and leave him frozen.
Pick: Elizeu Zaleski Dos Santos via Unanimous Decision
Oluwale Bamgbose 6-1 vs Cesar Ferriera 9-5
Powerhouse Oluwale Bamgbose steps up on short notice to face off against the TUF brazil 1 stand out Cesar Ferriera. I could sit here and analyze this fight all night but the facts state that 4 out of the 5 losses on Ferriera's record came by KO and Bamgbose is a ridiculously unorthodox and extremely powerful guy. Enough said.
Pick: Oluwale Bamgbose via 1st Round KO/TKO
Randy Brown 7-0 vs Michael Graves 5-0
Brown came to UFC by way of Dana White's youtube show "Lookin For A Fight" showing he had some skill Uncle Dana scooped him right up and now we are about to see if he can sink or swim against another mediocre fighter in Graves. In my humble opinion I can't see a reason for giving Graves a UFC contract in the beginning. He didn't look very good in the TUF house and hasn't looked very good since. Brown was the current champion of his former league and had defended that belt twice successfully. Graves may be durable, but not durable enough to last the whole fight.
Pick: Randy Brown via 2nd Round KO/TKO
John Dodson 18-7 vs Manvel Gamburyan 18-9
Gamburyan is an overwhelming underdog here but why? Dodson has a long list of accomplishments and is very fast but Gamburyan has been on a terror as of late winning 4 of his last 5 fights (no contest to steroid user Dennis Siver not included). Gamburyan has been forced out of every single fight against big opponents with injuries his entire career up until this one. I'll tell you right now that if your thinking about taking this fight as a parlay with Dodson to win I wouldn't do it. Alot of extreme underdogs have been shocking the world lately and if Gamburyan can get a hold of Dodson he will drain him and take the decision home with ease. I still am predicting that Dodson wins here but I wouldn't even come close to calling it a sure thing.
Pick: John Dodson via Unanimous Decision
Court McGee 18-4 vs Santiago Ponzinibbio 22-3
Fireworks! This is going to be a crazy fight! First of all congrats to McGee for 10 years sober and turning his life around. I got the feeling at the weigh ins that Ponzinibbio isn't really taking McGee seriously which is obviously a mistake. Both men have one of their very few loses in common by way of Ryan Laflare so as to tell each other the style that is most likely to beat one another. My biggest issue here is that McGee hasn't finished a fight since 2011, Ponzinibbio on the other hand has only 3 decision wins on his entire record. 19 of 22 were stoppages which shows just how dangerous a guy Ponzinibbio can be. McGee does have a 3 inch reach advantage here but I just don't see it helping him at all. McGee more than likely has the heart to last until the final bell as he himself has never been finished but it won't be pretty.
Pick: Santiago Ponzinibbio via Unanimous Decision
Bethe Correia 9-1 vs Raquel Pennington 6-6
Correia returns after being brutally knocked unconscious by Rousey to face an underrated fighter in Pennington. Pennington reminds me of a girl I grew up with (who subsequently turned out to be a lesbian as well). She would fight guys and just destroy them her whole life, and for all sake and purpose she was just one of the boys. Since making her way into the UFC Pennington's losses have been close fights one of which she avenged already. She had a razor close split decision loss to Holy Holm as well and of course she is one of only 4 fighters in UFC history to win a fight via bulldog choke. Correia is a nightmare for anyone on the feet if they don't really know what they are doing but if Pennington can hang with Holm I have all the faith in the world she can hand with Correia too. I expect big things from Pennington in this fight.
Pick: Raquel Pennington via Unanimous Decision
Beneil Dariush 12-1 vs Michael Chiesa 13-2
Realistically speaking both of these guys haven't lost very many fights and in my eyes its a brilliant matchup. Had both of these guys had more exposure this could be a co main event type fight. To some on the outside looking in this could be looked at as Dariush taking a step back in competition after his controversial split decision win against Michael Johnson but in actuality he faces someone who though much sloppier than him is just as dangerous no matter where the fight takes place. Chiesa has made himself reasonably well known by choking everyone in the TUF house unconscious and winning the first live season of the TUF show. Chiesa is a massive guy to make lightweight and uses his size to easily create scrambles that he himself is a pro at capitalizing on. Though Chiesa is the bigger fighter I expect Dariush to wrap him up in a bow by the second.
Pick: Beneil Dariush via 2nd Round Submission
Cub Swanson 21-7 vs Hacran Dias 23-3-1
Swanson is coming off of losses to two of the best in his division and Dias is riding high on a 2 fight win streak. Swanson has been the guys who have been at the top of the division and realistically he hasn't fought in a year. Taking time off to really work on your problems is always beneficial. I believe Swanson is reinvigorated and I expect him to end Dias very quickly.
Pick: Cub Swanson via 1st Round KO/TKO
Khabib Nurmagomedov 22-0 vs Darryl Horcher 12-1
The oh so great position of the unknown. Nurmagomedov is coming off of an impressive performance where he pretty much destroyed the guy who is now the champion with ease. He has had the worst injury luck ive ever seen. Honestly I don't doubt that Horcher is dangerous, hes just not dangerous enough to be a legitimate threat to Nurmagomedov. The only thing I know is Nurmagomedov is an absolute BEAST and in my opinion could rip the head off anyone at 155 current or past.
Pick: Khabib Nurmagomedov via 2nd Round Submission
Rose Namajunas 6-2 vs Tecia Torres 7-0
Who else is as excited about this fight as I am? Torres is a decision fighter who barely got through her last test in Jocelyn Lybarger but does hold a victory over Namajunas from their Invicta days. Unfortinatley for Torres that win means absolutely nothing as Namajunas has improved to a level that far exceeds any silly decision fighter. With all of her wins coming by stoppage Namajunas took who everyone thought was an up and comer in Paige Van Zant and beat her like a red headed step child. Namajunas is going to take one of Tecia's limbs home with her. In my opinion this would be a great place to put that guarenteed parlay fight.
Pick: Rose Namajunas via 1st Round Submission
Glover Teixeira 24-4 vs Rashad Evans 24-4-1
I took Evans here and instead of breaking down each fighter and giving you some optimism I'm going to tell you why. Rashad Evans is a stylistic nightmare for Teixiera. He's fast, he has elite wrestling and top control, and he can hold his own in the pocket. Rashad has really only ever struggled against guys that were much taller than him or able to take him down which Glover is neither. Expect this one to go the full 5 guys and watch Evans change his gameplan halfway through to counter what Teixiera is doing right in the fight to completely shut him down all the way.
Pick: Rashad Evans via Unanimous Decision
Well that brings us to an end of another episode. I'd like to apologize as "The Hat" was sick this time around and was unable to come over to help write his portion of my column. As usual I hope you all enjoyed reading as much as I did writing and please feel free to leave me comments and constructive criticism below.
