UFC on FX 8: 'Belfort vs Rockhold'

[wandshogun09]

 

FX MAIN CARD

Vitor Belfort vs Luke Rockhold

Ronaldo 'Jacare' Souza vs Chris Camozzi

Rafael Dos Anjos vs Evan Dunham

Rafael Natal vs Joao Zeferino

 

FUEL PRELIMS

Nik Lentz vs Hacran Dias

Francisco Trinaldo vs Mike Rio

Gleison Tibau vs John Cholish

Paulo Thiago vs Michel Prazeres

Yuri Alcantara vs Iliarde Santos

Fabio Maldonado vs Roger Hollett

 

FACEBOOK PRELIMS

John Lineker vs Azamat Gashimov

Chris Cariaso vs Jussier Formiga

Jeremy Larsen vs Lucas Martins

 

After a little break in the Octagon shaped land of the UFC, this one's sneaking up. Looks a good show as well, no doubt helped by the Brazilian crowd which usually makes for an electric atmosphere.

 

Belfort vs Rockhold should be exciting. It's a bit of a baptism of fire for Rockhold to be debuting against someone like Belfort on enemy soil. Rockhold's a good fighter but he really needs that big name win over an established UFC name to really push him into the title shot talk. A win over Belfort, in Brazil, would be just the ticket. But Belfort is no doubt the most dangerous opponent Rockhold will have faced so far in his career, aside from maybe Jacare. Belfort is unbeaten on home territory with stoppages over Michael Bisping, Anthony Johnson and Wanderlei Silva so this is an uphill task for Rockhold for sure.

 

Rockhold's talking a good game;

 

"I have a lot of advantages in this fight and the longer it goes, the more it turns to my favor. I think I have the best cardio in the middleweight division. I don't think there is anyone who can really keep up with me. I get stronger as the fight goes on. Vitor may think he can go five rounds with me

[jimufctna24]

Rockhold is a bit of a generalist, very good at all areas but not outstanding.

 

Luke could try his luck and discourage Belfort with a grinding wrestling approach, but I think Belfort is a step above his station in terms of boxing/striking. I predict it is highly probable Vitor can connect early and polish of Rockhold early.

[Shane O' Mac Version 2]

At a quick glance a while back I thought this was a bit of a one fight card, but Dos Anjos/Dunham should be a hell of a scrap. Excellent. Dos Anjos has improved by leaps and bounds over the past 2 years, but I'd love to see Dunham pick up the win, loved watching the guy for ages and still a bit miffed about that fight with Sean Sherk.

 

Lentz is another guy who has stepped up quite a bit in recent times. I expect to see him get the W, but Dias trains with Aldo and is 21-1-1, nothing to be taken lightly. Lentz is quite a step up in competition- I'm basing that off the fact that of his 23 opponents, only 2 are successful enough to have a Wiki page- can't be bothered to spend ages going through Sherdog

 

Belfort is just too good for Rockhold I think. Rockhold is solid while Belfort has been consistently at the top level for a long time.

[Egg Shen]

this ones sneaking up on us, after 2 weeks of no MMA im probably a little more excited for this than i usually would be.

 

Rockhold/Belfort should be abit of a treat, if Belfort goes in there and KO's Rockhold i think we can realistically throw him back in the mix for another title shot...im fancying Rockhold though via decision, pretty much the epitome of a modern day MMA fighter, i think he's gonna set a pace than Belfort can't match and he'll start to dominate after a couple of close early rounds.

 

I'd like to see Camozzi put in a decent showing against Jacare as well, Camozzi's slowly put together one of the better streaks in the division and a co-main event slot is just reward (even if it was due to an injury), a few people have shit on him taking the slot but he's earned it.

 

Should be a hot undercard as well with lots of Brazilian's involved. Could be abit of a sleeper of a card.

[wandshogun09]

I'd like to see Camozzi put in a decent showing against Jacare as well, Camozzi's slowly put together one of the better streaks in the division and a co-main event slot is just reward (even if it was due to an injury), a few people have shit on him taking the slot but he's earned it.

 

Who's shit on Camozzi taking the slot? I haven't seen much talk good or bad about this fight surprisingly. I thought there'd be a bit more buzz around Jacare's debut than there has been so far.

 

I'm finding Belfort vs Rockhold tricky to call. In a way it's similar to Belfort vs Bisping in that Rockhold is just a really good all-rounder with great conditioning. I'm swaying between a Rockhold decision and a Belfort KO in the first 2 rounds.

[Egg Shen]

5 reasons to watch UFC on FX prelims

 

little piece from Sherdog about why you should watch the prelims Saturday, thought it would be apt. as it's a bit of a star-light card. Get on it.

[wandshogun09]

Gone for Belfort by KO, Jacare by sub and Dos Anjos by decision in the poll.

 

Just done all my predictions on MMAPlayground for the upcoming cards. I noticed a few underdog bonuses where I think the underdog has a decent shot.

 

Mike Wilkinson is underdog to Rony Jason. Shawn Jordan is underdog to Pat Barry. Igor Pokrajac is underdog to Ryan Jimmo. Spencer Fisher is underdog to Yves Edwards. If the bookies have decent odds on these come fight time I might put a few quid on.

 

MMAPlayground also have Alves vs Brown as the FOX Sports main event. They have it as a 5 rounder. That can't be right, can it? I thought Dana said the Boston card would have a PPV level headliner.

 

Sorry, I've gone off track there.

[Egg Shen]

nah its a mistake, its probably the top listed fight of the ones annoucned to they've just slotted in it at the top.

[Egg Shen]

ohhh weigh in's got a bit heated. Rockhold got right in Belforts face forcing a shove from Vitor. Belfort then did the ol' throat slashing sign to the audience...

 

[wandshogun09]

I hope Vitor wipes Rockhold out. Never really liked Rockhold for some reason, seems to have just a hint of the Mir smugness about him to me.

[wandshogun09]

I hope Vitor wipes Rockhold out.

 

 

Vitor is fucking lethal. That KO was awesome, he almost Barbozad him. Rockhold was never in it. I don't think anyone can really argue that Belfort hasn't earned another crack at the title at 185 after that. Hopefully he'll leave this notion of going after the 205 belt again alone and stick with 185. Despite how the last fight ended, I still think Anderson vs Vitor 2 could be a great fight. The last fight was over before it really got going, I think Anderson would still win a rematch but Vitor is probably the only 185er I'd actually give a shot of catching Anderson on the feet.

 

Rockhold was humble after the fight, suppose he didn't have much choice though.

 

Jacare's debut was perfect. Fair play to Camozzi for stepping up, going from preparing for Rafael Natal to Jacare is a big leap in the level of opposition. He gave it a bash, he was seriously out of his depth though. Jacare is class, can't wait to see more of him in the UFC. Showed no signs of 'Octagon jitters' either, just buzzsawed through Camozzi like he was fuck all.

 

I'm knackered, can't really be arsed to go into everything. Thought Dunham was unlucky with the judges, really enjoyed the fight though and it was close, just thought Dunham probably edged it. Really enjoyed Tibau and Trinaldo's fights on the prelims amd I love John Lineker, he's a little ball of aggression and it's a nice change to see a 125er who packs big power.

 

Good bunch of fights all in all. Vitor's got the KO bonus sewn up, I'd give Dunham/Dos Anjos FOTN and Trinaldo SOTN.

[Silky Kisser]

Vitor is in such a weird position right now. Judging by his reaction when being asked about another title shot at 185lbs, it sounds as though he's not really interested in fighting Silva, or any other Brazilians, (at least that was the impression I got.) I think he would have much preferred to have gotten this match up with Sonnen, instead of Wanderlei. Saying that, the smart thing to do would be to wait around to see if Weidman beats Anderson.

 

Jacare as expected did the business and looked great whilst doing it. He got that head and arm choke like it was nothing. I'd love me some Bisping/Souza, I think that would be a great styles fight.

[textonly]

Vitor is in such a weird position right now. Judging by his reaction when being asked about another title shot at 185lbs, it sounds as though he's not really interested in fighting Silva, or any other Brazilians, (at least that was the impression I got.)

 

I took it that he was just trying to avoid hurting Anderson's precious feelings. I'm a huge Silva fan, but if Vitor had said outright he was even vaguely interested in a title fight, Anderson probably would have heard it as "we were never friends and I want to eat his children". Best to avoid all that drama again if possible, I think. Stay quiet and let the UFC make the match-up. It's not like there are a ton of better options on the table. There's no need for Vitor to play the squeaky wheel.

[Egg Shen]

BOINK, who the hell saw that coming?! Vitor remains one of the most deadly fighters in MMA, i seem to write him off but he's on fire at the moment. 4-0 at 185 since the Anderson loss with 4 finishes? Belfort is the no.1 contender. I've always wanted to see Silva/Belfort II and going off Vitor's recent form i think i'd be up for it more than i was the first one...imagine Belfort/Silva in Brazil? that would be insane.

 

I think i'll officially label Vitor the greatest finisher in MMA history though, if he hurts someone it's over, deadly.

 

 

 

 

It's a shame the TRT is slightly blemishing what Vitor's achieving at the moment but whatever.

 

* Was a perfect debut for Jacare, it felt like a showcase but he took a solid middle-tier middleweight with relative ease, it shows that he means business. I'm with Silky on the Bisping/Jacare front, lets see it.

 

* Thought the judges got it spot on with Dos Anjos/Dunham, had it 29-28 for Dos Anjos myself (first and second), good fight but it think it was rightly beat out for FOTN by Martins/Larsen which was quality.

 

* I missed most of the FX prelims as i had to squeeze shit in cause i was short on time but there's two names that stood out for me in the fights i saw. Yuri Alcantara looks the real deal at 135lb he might be the next big thing in that division, composed and fucking deadly, big at the weight too, keep an eye on him. The other was John Lineker who throws hammers at 125lb, exciting guy to watch.

 

* Zombie-man Maldonado got a win too! i didn't see it and i think he plodded it out against a guy with a style that's difficult to look good against, at least he's sticking around.

[wandshogun09]

I like the sound of Jacare vs Bisping. Great shout.

 

I missed Martins vs Larsen sounds like a belter so I'll have to track it down.

 

I really want to see Anderson vs Vitor 2. Vitor is looking in better form than before their first fight to me and I dig his more aggressive attitude lately. The TRT issue is a dark cloud hanging over all this, but at the same time Hendo is on TRT and no-one really gives him shit. Didn't Mir use it as well? Vitor is getting the aggro because he's winning but what about the TRTers who are losing like Hendo, Mir and Sonnen? Their recent performances show TRT doesn't make you unstoppable.

 

Don't get me wrong, I'm still uncomfortable with the whole TRT thing, but it's not the only reason Vitor is winning these fights. He's always been dangerous early and fades late, his last few fights have shown that's still the case. If Rockhold or Bisping dragged it into the 4th and 5th, Vitor would likely have struggled again. They couldn't weather the storm. That's always been Vitor's MO.