UFC 74 Predictions/Results

[Trojan97]

Well the fighters have all been weighed in and the day has finally come. UFC 74 is upon us!

This looks to be a very solid card with alot of potential for action from start to finish. Couture/Gonzaga & Koschek/St.Pierre are definitely the spotlight fights but Stevenson/Pellegrino should be extremely competitive and with Clay Guida fighting you can expect an absolute war as he looks to avenge his last two controversial defeats. Also fighting are Roger Huerta and Kendall Grove who look to leap forward and cement themselves near the top of their respective weight classes.

Here's the card: *My predictions bolded*

Gabriel Gonzaga (252) vs Randy Couture (228.5)
Josh Koscheck (170) vs Georges St-Pierre (170)
Joe Stevenson (155) vs Kurt Pellegrino (155)
Kendall Grove (184) vs Patrick Cote (184.5)
Alberto Crane (155) vs Roger Huerta (155)
David Heath (205) vs Renato ‘Babalu’ Sobral (204)
Frank Mir (255) vs Antoni Hardonk (244)
Thales Leites (186*) vs Ryan Jensen (185)
Marcus Aurelio (155) vs Clay Guida (155)


Thoughts:
-I expect Couture to come out and set the pace of the fight early on. If Gonzaga is able to come out and put Couture on his heels things could get very interesting and it could be a long, frustrating night for the Champ. I do think though, that Randy is a smart enough fighter to keep Gonzaga at bay until the later rounds where he can grind him down and steal a victory. Fight could very easily go either way.

-Koscheck/St. Pierre should be FOTN IMO, not only does the winner get a shot at the title but the loser finds himself in a very unwelcome position. Both fighters are coming off extremely poor performances and neither can really afford to lose this bout so I'm expecting a ton of heart from both sides. Koscheck can wrestle with St. Pierre all day long but no other part of his game can come close to matching the Frenchman. I expect it to be back and forth early with St. Pierre pulling ahead in the 2nd and 3rd round to cruise to victory.

-Dissapointing to see Huerta face yet another "can". UFC is really babyfeeding him opponents it seems which is unfortunate because of all the good fighters that are fighting at 155. I'd much rather see him fight someone like Florian or Tyson Griffin then watch him against yet another fighter making his debut.

-I have a feeling Cote/Grove will be awesome. I don't know why though. It looks like it should be a walk for Grove but I think Cote will be ready for a war considering his UFC contract will almost certainly not be renewed should he lose his 5th of 6th fights.

-Guida will be awesome as always. The guy has guts and you gotta love that win or lose.

-Mir/Hardonk & Sobral/Heath will be interesting to keep an eye on as all 4 fighters are coming off of a loss and are fighting to stay alive within the company.

Should be a great night of fights. Seems like everyone has lots to gain and even more to lose.

[HOOT]

I am thinking the same as you except for the first fight. I think Couture will get worn down by Gonzaga, he is just to young(er) and powerful.

Gabriel Gonzaga (252) vs Randy Couture (228.5)
Josh Koscheck (170) vs Georges St-Pierre (170)
Joe Stevenson (155) vs Kurt Pellegrino (155)
Kendall Grove (184) vs Patrick Cote (184.5)
Alberto Crane (155) vs Roger Huerta (155)
David Heath (205) vs Renato ‘Babalu’ Sobral (204)
Frank Mir (255) vs Antoni Hardonk (244)
Thales Leites (186*) vs Ryan Jensen (185)
Marcus Aurelio (155) vs Clay Guida (155)

[kipperfan]

Gabriel Gonzaga (252) vs Randy Couture (228.5)
Josh Koscheck (170) vs Georges St-Pierre (170)
Joe Stevenson (155) vs Kurt Pellegrino (155)
Kendall Grove (184) vs Patrick Cote (184.5)
Alberto Crane (155) vs Roger Huerta (155)
David Heath (205) vs [B]Renato ‘Babalu’ Sobral (204)
Frank Mir (255) vs Antoni Hardonk (244)
Thales Leites (186) vs Ryan Jensen (185)
Marcus Aurelio (155) vs Clay Guida (155)

I picked the Natural to win because I really want him to, but I am not so sure it will happen. Either way this card looks great.

[demzor]

Frank Mir (-170) v. Antoni Hardonk (+140) - Heavyweight
Frank Mir has never done anything except break Sylvia's arm. I guess you got to go with him over Hardonk though. Hardonk looked really bad against Justin McCully. His only chance is to keep it standing... and yeah.. fat chance.


Thales Leites (-270) v. Ryan Jensen (+210) - Middleweight
I've never heard of Ryan Jensen.. so im picking Thales Leites.
Though.. Jensen does hold a win over Mr Indestructable.. MARLON SIMS. He has a good record.. and it looks like it rarely leaves the first round. Heck.. he could be a good bet! I need a bookie. :lol


Clay Guida (-120) v. Marcus Aurelio (-110) - Lightweight
I think Aurelio is a little overrated (because he has a win over Gomi/Pride factor) and I like Guida.. so I'm goin with Guida. I'd hate to have money on this fight. Both guys are coming off 2 straight losses. This should be a real scrap.


Renato Sobral (-210) v. David Heath (+170) - Light Heavyweight
I'm still a Babalu fan... and David Heath looks like he should be fighting at 185lb to me. I think Babalu is going to make quick work of Heath.


Patrick Cote (+200) v. Kendall Grove (-260) - Middleweight
This is one of my upset specials.
I think Cote hits hard.. and I dont think Kendall likes to get hit. Thats all there is to it. I dont think Kendall will sub Cote.. and I know he isnt going to knock him out.
Is there any good places to bet online anymore? Anyone?


Roger Huerta (-450) v. Alberto Crane (+300) - Lightweight
The Roger Huerta express should keep on rolling as long as Roger doesnt have it on cruise control. Hopefully he learned a bit from that first round of his last fight.


Kurt Pellegrino (+235) v. Joe Stevenson (-295) - Lightweight
Upset special #2!
Pellegrino is always impressive. Decent size.. good wrestling.. great jj. I may be underestimating Stevensons strength.. but i think Kurt is going to surpise.
BATMAN


Josh Koscheck (+180) v. Georges St. Pierre (-220) - Welterweight
I think GSP is going to take KOS down.. and pound him.. maybe get a sub. Think Frank Trigg.


Randy Couture (+105) v. Gabriel Gonzaga (-135) - UFC Heavyweight Title Match
I dont fricken know
Tough tough fight to pick.
I predict a boring grind em out fight. If it goes to a decision I think Randy comes out on top. Any earlier.. Gonzaga is the winner.

[jam26]

I use Bet365 now and prefer it to SportsInteraction. Have my money on Gonzaga and got in at -125. It's currently -145 with the late money coming in on Gonzaga. I hope Couture doesn't get destroyed though - you have to love that guy.

[Gugstanley]

I just hope Captain America has discovered a hole in Gonzaga's game. Gonzaga should bring a lot more talent then Silva so Randy could get in trouble. I'm not sure about the Kos v st pierre fight. Kos has a way of making every fight boring.

[jam26]

Great night of fights! I'll take the loss on Gonzaga to see Couture win. What an incredible person he is. Way to go GSP!

[Ro]

I want to know why they didn't show the fight that produced the copious amount of blood that was inside the ring all night.

[kipperfan]

Originally Posted by Ro

I want to know why they didn't show the fight that produced the copious amount of blood that was inside the ring all night.

Yeah me and my buddies were talking about that all night. Great card though! Couture is an amazing person in every way. GSP taught that little puke Koscheck a good lesson too!

[spydermal]

From tsn.ca :Editors Note: The blood was from a preliminary bout between Renato Sobral and David Heath.

[Trojan97]

Originally Posted by spydermal

From tsn.ca :Editors Note: The blood was from a preliminary bout between Renato Sobral and David Heath.

Yeah, apparently Heath got busted up pretty good on his forehead and spent the majority of the fight on his back. It looked like they had slaughtered a cow in there though.

[Trojan97]

Just a side not from the PPV, Babalu has been fined 25,000 by UFC for his chicken extended choke on Heath after he had tapped. The fine cuts into his contract money AND his bonus money which is quite a stiff fine. Babs deserves everything he gets though, that was a ridiculous move on his part.

[lifer]

Originally Posted by Trojan97

Just a side not from the PPV, Babalu has been fined 25,000 by UFC for his chicken extended choke on Heath after he had tapped. The fine cuts into his contract money AND his bonus money which is quite a stiff fine. Babs deserves everything he gets though, that was a ridiculous move on his part.

How long did he hold on to the choke after the fight was over?

[Freeway]

Originally Posted by lifer

How long did he hold on to the choke after the fight was over?

5 seconds or so. Apparently Heath wore a shirt to the weigh-ins bearing the image of Babalu's recent mugshot. Sobral was not pleased.

[lifer]

thanks. It was a cheap thing to do, but if Heath wore a shirt like that I'm glad he took a solid beating anyway.

[jam26]

I read on another site that Babalu did that to "teach Heath some respect." If so, he should be penalized very heavily.

[Canada 02]

[mrdeeds]

For some reason I cannot see Babalu being dropped altogether. I remember in the old UFC when a guy named Tank Abbot used to cross the line, but the crowd loved him. This is a different era, but this will only serve to increase the hype around Babalu and maybe even a rematch.

[Drunk Skunk]

Here's the video of the entire Babalu/Heath fight. It's very graphic, be warned. The amount of blood spilled is pretty intense. Babalu is an idiot. This is exactly what the sport doesn't need. All the detractors will now be pointing to it and saying, "This is why UFC should be banned, how long until someone dies?" Thanks for setting MMA back years, you moron.

Heath Vs. Sobral

[fredr123]

That was brutal. Looked like Heath had problems seeing due to blood of Eli Roth proportions gushing forth from his head. I'm sure I've seen fights stopped, at least momentarily, for smaller cuts with less blood. Perhaps the UFC needs to talk to the ref and ensure that more control is exerted in the future. Still doesn't excuse Babalu from hanging on that long though. Ass.