Tweet
Date: March 2, 2013 7:30 PM EST
Location: Saitama, Japan
Venue: Saitama Super Arena
Wanderlei Silva vs. Brian Stann
Mark Hunt vs. Stefan Struve
Takanori Gomi vs. Diego Sanchez
Hector Lombard vs. Yushin Okami
Mizuto Hirota vs. Rani Yahya
Siyar Bahadurzada vs. Dong Hyun Kim
Riki Fukuda vs. Brad Tavares
Bryan Caraway vs. Takeya Mizugaki
Cristiano Marcello vs. Kazuki Tokudome
Alex Caceres vs. Kyung Ho Kang
Marcelo Guimaraes vs. Hyun Gyu Lim
1-3 last time out being a little pissed about the Hendo decision. No respect for Machida's running away style. Yes, it's effective, but damn it's boring to watch. Was wrong about fading Court McGee - likely the last time I'll do that at any price. He's really developing into a great fighter!
I really love the second fight. I LOVE Struve and have been a big fan of his. He's really worked on his reach and technical striking versus guys who throw bombs, and he's becoming more well-rounded vs a one-trick pony. I see this fight aiming up to be something similar to Struve's fight vs Lavar Johnson. He knows Hunt hits like a ton of bricks so will try to set him up for the takedown. I like him to be able to get it. Struve has won four in a row vs big strikers like Stipe Miocic, Johnson, Dave Herman, Pat Barry. Meanwhile Hunt on a three-fight win streak of his own dispatching Chris Tuchscherer, Ben Rothwell, and Cheick Kongo. Hunt's losses include Mousasi, Manheof, Alistair Overeem, Fedor, Barnett, and wins over Cro-Cop, and Wandy. Hunt is a fan favorite over in Japan from his Pride days.
The main event should be alright mainly because the Japanese crowd loves Wandy. But Wandy struggles vs American fighters. Franklin, Leben, Franklin, Rampage, Liddell, Hendo, Tito. All great competition, but nonetheless. I think this boils down to Silva headlining because of his past, obviously not because of his future. Dana wants ticket sales, and he's probably got them. This fight is at 205 where Stann will just be massive, and I think his punching power and dirty boxing will key off on Wandy. This will be an all-out war and yes Stann can get caught, but I think Stann is a little less likely to throw with all-out abandon. We'll see.
Other notes: Diego makes his return to 155 but ends up missing weight at 158. Oops.
Location: Saitama, Japan
Venue: Saitama Super Arena
Wanderlei Silva vs. Brian Stann
Mark Hunt vs. Stefan Struve
Takanori Gomi vs. Diego Sanchez
Hector Lombard vs. Yushin Okami
Mizuto Hirota vs. Rani Yahya
Siyar Bahadurzada vs. Dong Hyun Kim
Riki Fukuda vs. Brad Tavares
Bryan Caraway vs. Takeya Mizugaki
Cristiano Marcello vs. Kazuki Tokudome
Alex Caceres vs. Kyung Ho Kang
Marcelo Guimaraes vs. Hyun Gyu Lim
1-3 last time out being a little pissed about the Hendo decision. No respect for Machida's running away style. Yes, it's effective, but damn it's boring to watch. Was wrong about fading Court McGee - likely the last time I'll do that at any price. He's really developing into a great fighter!
I really love the second fight. I LOVE Struve and have been a big fan of his. He's really worked on his reach and technical striking versus guys who throw bombs, and he's becoming more well-rounded vs a one-trick pony. I see this fight aiming up to be something similar to Struve's fight vs Lavar Johnson. He knows Hunt hits like a ton of bricks so will try to set him up for the takedown. I like him to be able to get it. Struve has won four in a row vs big strikers like Stipe Miocic, Johnson, Dave Herman, Pat Barry. Meanwhile Hunt on a three-fight win streak of his own dispatching Chris Tuchscherer, Ben Rothwell, and Cheick Kongo. Hunt's losses include Mousasi, Manheof, Alistair Overeem, Fedor, Barnett, and wins over Cro-Cop, and Wandy. Hunt is a fan favorite over in Japan from his Pride days.
The main event should be alright mainly because the Japanese crowd loves Wandy. But Wandy struggles vs American fighters. Franklin, Leben, Franklin, Rampage, Liddell, Hendo, Tito. All great competition, but nonetheless. I think this boils down to Silva headlining because of his past, obviously not because of his future. Dana wants ticket sales, and he's probably got them. This fight is at 205 where Stann will just be massive, and I think his punching power and dirty boxing will key off on Wandy. This will be an all-out war and yes Stann can get caught, but I think Stann is a little less likely to throw with all-out abandon. We'll see.
Other notes: Diego makes his return to 155 but ends up missing weight at 158. Oops.
Comment