UFC 70

UFC 70 will be replayed tonight at 8pm on Spike TV

Wow, I am extremely confused. Here's a quick recap of the UFC 70 action.

Let me start with Michael Bisping vs Elvis Sinosic.

Michael Bisping came out strong, but a little wild, missing punches. Sinosic was more accurate, but wasn't doing much damage with his shots. Once the fight hit the ground, it was a different story, Bisping seemed to calm down a bit and landed a large number of shots on Sinosic.

Sinosic survived the first round and the second round continued much like the first. In the second, Bisping almost got caught in an arm lock, then again by rear naked choke, he ended up reversing postition and finishing Sinosic with strikes on the ground.

Michael Bisping defeats Elvis Sinosic by ref stoppage

Andrei Arlovski vs Fabricio Werdum
In my opinion, there wasn't a clear winner in this fight. I suppose that Arlovski took it because he knocked Werdum down twice, but I don't think Werdum was really hurt. Neither fighter really engaged in what was a disappointing battle. With the skill sets these two possess, this should have been the fight of the night.
Andrei Arlovski wins by decision

Mirko Cro Cop vs Gabriel Gonzaga
The fight started with a few missed punches by Gonzaga. Cro Cop then landed a good kick to the body, but Gonzaga caught it and took Mirko to the ground. Gonzaga dominated on the ground, landing punches and elbows. The ref stood them up with about 30 seconds left in the first round and...
Gabriel Gonzaga KO'd Mirko Cro Cop with a right high kick to the head

From UFC.com

UFC 70 Weigh-In Results
Official weigh-in results for UFC 70 – Nations Collide, which will take place Saturday night at the MEN Arena in Manchester, England.

Main Event
Gabriel Gonzaga (243) vs Mirko Cro Cop (225)

Lyoto Machida (199) vs David Heath (205)
Elvis Sinosic (205) v Michael Bisping (204)
Fabricio Werdum (233) vs Andrei Arlovski (238)
Assuerio Silva (241) vs Cheick Kongo (229)

Matt Grice (155) vs Terry Etim (154)
Junior Assuncao (155) vs David Lee (155)
Victor Valimaki (203) vs Alessio Sakara (204)
Dennis Siver (167) v Jess Liaudin (168)
Edilberto Crocota (169) vs Paul Taylor (169)

UFC 70 Nations Collide Predictions

For this UFC I'm only going to do predictions on the main fights

Mirko Cro Cop Vs. Gabriel Gonzaga
In my opinion, this is an easy pick. Mirko will take this one either by KO or decision.

David Heath Vs. Lyoto Machida
Both of these guys have stellar MMA records with both submission and TKO victories to their credit. The difference is the competition they've faced with Machida having the edge in that category. I'll take Machida.

Michael Bisping Vs. Elvis Sinosic
Apart from the Cro Cop fight, this is the easiest pick of the night. I'll take Michael Bisping over Elvis Sinosic with the following caution. When/if Bisping takes him to the ground he'd better be careful. I thought Bisping was dangerously close to getting caught his last time out and Sinosic is under rated as a submission guy.


Andrei Arlovski Vs. Fabricio Werdum
My personal pick for Fight Of The Night both of these guys are excellent MMA fighters. I give the edge in stand up to Arlovski and the edge on the ground to Werdum. It really depends on where the fight goes. I'm going to take Febricio Werdum in this fight based on his wins over Alistair Overeem and Aleksander Emelianenko. If Andrei Arlovski wins this bout, I'll be the first to jump back on the Pit Bull's bandwagon.

Assuerio Silva Vs. Cheick Kongo
Since I don't see Cheick Kongo submitting Assuerio Silva and although it is possible that Silva will submit Kongo, I believe that this bout will be decided in the stand up. It's going to be a killer match up. Since Silva has the advantage on the ground I'm going to lean that way.
Assuerio Silva by submission

UFC 70 - Nations Collide will be held in the UK. More specifically in Manchester. It will feature some of the best fighters the UFC has to offer and in the United States (and hopefully Canada) it will be available free on Spike TV. Other locations it will be available as a PPV.

Here is the card:

Feature Fights
Mirko Cro Cop Vs. Gabriel Gonzaga
David Heath Vs. Lyoto Machida
Michael Bisping Vs. Elvis Sinosic
Andrei Arlovski Vs. Fabricio Werdum
Assuerio Silva Vs. Cheick Kongo

Other Fights (May not be broadcast)
Matt Grice Vs. Terry Etim
Junior Assuncao Vs. David Lee
Victor Valimaki Vs. Alessio Sakara
Dennis Siver Vs. Jess Liaudin
Edilberto Crocota Vs. Paul Taylor

Initial UFC 70 Predictions
I'm not going to do all predictions right now, but here are a few. With just about every fighter in the UFC today over hyped, it's difficult to pick predictions in some of these fights. There are some clear cut favourites though:

Mirko Cro cop is the most obvious favourite. The UFC didn't pay him that mountain of cash to have him lose before his title shot. Look for a victory here, then a match up with Randy "The Natural" Couture.

Michael Bisping should be able to take care of Elvis Sinosic fairly easily. However, don't forget that Sinosic is pretty good on the ground. Tito Ortiz was way too much for Elvis, but Bisping isn't Tito...at least not yet.

I know this has been reported a milllion times elsewhere, but tonight is the first time that I've officially seen it. Spike TV showed it tonight during the UFC Fight Night show.

Wahoo! UFC 70 Free on spike TV. Bring on Cro Cop!

UFC 70 Saturday April 21st

David Heath will take on Lyoto Machida in UFC 70. Forrest Griffin is out with a severe staph infection in his knee.

David Heath sports a 7-0 MMA record, featuring victories over Sean Salmon by submission and in his two UFC appearances, a submission victory over Cory Walmsley and close decision win over Victor Valimaki.

As for Forrest Griffin, he needs to get back up on that horse after a decisive loss to Keith Jardine.

You remember Matt Hamill's rant about how Bisping has yet to prove that he's the real Ultimate Fighter Season 3 champ? Hamill could not continue due to an injury suffered. "The Count" has fired back a little on his most recent update on UFC.com








Bisping Says:

The fighter in question - I forget his name - is a good wrestler but has no BJJ and couldn’t strike a match. He’s the one who produced the most embarrassingly amateurish performance of the entire season, where even though he won he couldn’t continue in the competition as he was so bashed up.

This straight from UFC.com

ULTIMATE FIGHTING CHAMPIONSHIP®
ANNOUNCES UK FIGHT CARD

UFC 70: NATIONS COLLIDE

MIRKO “CRO COP” vs. GABRIEL GONZAGA
MICHAEL BISPING vs. ELVIS SINOSIC
ANDREI ARLOVSKI vs. FABRICIO WERDUM
FORREST GRIFFIN vs. LYOTO MACHIDA

LIVE FROM MEN ARENA SATURDAY, APRIL 21