UFC 87 Predictions

I'm really looking forward to tomorrow night's UFC 87 card. There are several evenly matched fights that I am really excited about. It'll be interesting and hopefully exciting to see how they go.

Jason "The Athlete" Macdonald (20-9-0) vs. Demian Maia (7-0-0). MacDonald has the experience, but Maia is undefeated. MacDonald is bigger and a better striker, but Maia's jiu-jitsu is supposed to be top notch. Seems more folks are leaning towards MacDonald to stop Maia's win streak. Since I hate to see win streaks end, and I have a soft spot for the underdog, I'm leaning towards Maia.
+++++
Kenny Florian (9-3) vs Roger Huerta (22-1). This could not only be the fight of the night; it could be the fight of the year! The crazy thing is, that there are just as many folks saying that Florian is over-rated as there are saying the same about Huerta. There's an even bigger group saying that both are two of the best fighters entering the cage on Saturday.

The one real intangiable for me is the press that Huerta has been getting leading up to the fight. He was pretty upset [and made it known] with the way a promo was cut making it appear that he said that fighting Florian would be a cakewalk. Huerta was also quoted as saying he didn't care if he was fighting in the UFC or another organization. You can imagine Dana White's reaction. I'm still leaning towards Huerta; I just hope he stops giving interviews between now and the fight!
+++++
Brock Lesnar (1-1) vs Heath "The Texas Crazy Horse" Herring (29-13-1). This could prove to be very interesting. I wasn't a Herring fan until recently. He did impress me with his win over Cheick Congo and he seems to be taking his career more seriously. The first few times I saw Herring fight, he appeared to be a big guy with some skills, but more interested in his nickname, wild hair style and trademark duster jacket than being a well-rounded fighter.

Lesnar is a beast. He went in against former heavy-weight champ Frank Mir in just his second MMA fight and floored him with a jab! It was Lesnar's lack of experience that cost him the fight. He nearly had Mir out with a punishing ground-and-pound seconds after the fight started.

So the question is, has Lesnar gained enough experience to stay out of trouble if the fight goes to the ground? And it will go to the ground. Lesnar's takedowns are brutal. Herring's only hope is that he can survive the initial barrage that will come and then look to submit Lesnar from the bottom. If by some chance, Herring can take it late into the round [or fight], then he may be able to try and test Lesnar's chin. That's a lot of "if's."

I see Lesnar winning by TKO or KO. And should Herring find a way to win, my cowboy hat goes off to him!
+++++

George St. Pierre (16-2) vs Jon Fitch (21-2-1). Fitcch is without a doubt the #2 welterweight in the UFC (maybe the world). The thing of it is, he's fighting the number one guy. GSP is in a league of his own right now. Of course the same thing was said when GSP stepped in against 8-1 underdog, Matt Serra. We all remember how THAT turned out. This should be a very entertaining fight with GSP once again showing why he's the champ.