Dansby's Dirt: UFC 108 Pre-Fight Prognostications
The following entry was written by BSN Assistant Vice President and Kickboxer Stuart Dansby.
BSN is the official nutritional supplement provider of the UFC.
To read more of Dansby’s Dirt, go to BSNOnline.net.
UFC 108 Pre-Fight Prognostications:
So if you’re sitting at home and your pants are way too tight, your wallet is way too thin and you feel way too hung over from either alcohol, sugar or massive amounts of carbohydrates in general, then it must be the holidays. And that must mean somewhere around here there has to be a UFC fight right? Somehow give me a fight card, any fight card… any athletic distraction that will make me feel like I’m in there and still in shape. Because the deluge of 150 Humanitarian, Doritos, Orange Soda Bowls featuring two 6-4 teams is not my idea of a great sporting event.
As requested, the UFC has complied with UFC 108, which takes place this Saturday from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada and live on Pay-Per-View. Now I ain’t here to spin this as the greatest fight card in UFC history. It’s two to three good fights deep. But hey, it’s a UFC professional MMA fighting experience, and that my friends is what the good stuff is all about. And the main event features two very worthy and hungry opponents.
“Suga” Rashad Evans (13-1-1) versus Thiago Silva (14-1-0)
We all know the deal here. Both of these guys are beasts and top-level light heavyweights. They both sport only one loss. They both got knocked out by the same guy. That guy is the current UFC 205-pound champion… one Lyoto “The Dragon” Machida. So I won’t go into the whole redemption and revenge thing… blah blah blah. Let’s just look at the fighters and the fight. Either guy can win, it’s just that simple. Why? For the same reason that any NFL team can beat any other NFL team on any given Sunday (or Monday night, or Thursday night, or Saturday if it’s in December… oh hell you get the point). These two guys are more like two NFL playoff teams that are one game away from the Super Bowl. Thiago is just plain mean, intense and loves to brawl. He also has excellent Muay Thai skills, BJJ and of course ground-and-pound. Lastly… he has one-punch knockout power.
“Suga’s” skill set is just as well-rounded if you insert wrestling for Jiu-Jitsu. He is, however, more of a stylistic showman that Silva and loves to throw fakes, jukes and frustrate his opponents before he dismantles them. For smart and mentally tough athletes, a devastating loss can be the best thing that ever happened to them. Rashad wins this one because his camp is too good to let him make the same mistakes twice. He will have evolved into a more well-rounded and less mistake-prone fighter. More cautious? Yes. More lethal? For sure! Perhaps more important is that Rashad has also been the winning coach on this past season’s TUF show, and teaching makes you a better athlete (unless your name is “Rampage” and you really don’t give a s*#@ about your fighters anyway)! Many people don’t realize it because coaches don’t coach until they retire in most professions. In the sport of fighting it allows you greater visibility into strategy, right and wrong, what works and what doesn’t. Your brain works on a more cerebral level of fighting and subsequently you see what your strengths and weaknesses are with more clarity. This along with the strength of the Greg Jackson training camp will be the difference in this fight. And like most people I don’t see it going the distance.
The other really cool fight to check out is Dustin “McLovin” Hazelett (12-4-0) against UFC newcomer Paul “Semtex” Daley (22-8-2). This is a classic matchup of a Jiu-Jitsu ace and submission artist against a kickboxer and knockout specialist. Daley has sick power and speed. He is an intense, brutal kickboxer… with highly suspect ground game. Hazelett’s the opposite. He’s cerebral and calculating. Daley should win this one, but if he gets careless, emotional or underestimates Dustin it could be over as quickly as you can say tap, tap, tap!
So sit back, unbutton that top button in your way-too-tight jeans, grab the low-calorie libation of your choice and enjoy the show ladies and gentlemen. You have until Monday before your New Year’s Resolutions officially kick in and drag your ass back into your local favorite gym that is now immensely overcrowded with thousands of other newbies that are determined to get in shape. Relax… most of them will be gone by March.
Thanks for reading and have a powerful day!
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