My guesses:
Joe – Submission in the second, like he said, there is no way he is standing with Luke. Way too easy for Luke to get a knee up to Joe’s head.
Brad – He is just too big for Rashad. This one may go three rounds but Brad will win via either knockout or decision.
Diego in the second via ground and pound KO.
The winners will be Xyience and Right Guard. Ultimate Fighter 2? More like Ultimate Product Placement 2. I’ve been seriously irritated this season, with what seem to be scripted conversations extolling the virtues of Right Guard and Xyience. With the utter lack of non-fight drama and several total dogs of fights, this season has been truly dull.
I’ve been wanting to bitch about that for weeks now. I feel so much better.
As to the fights, I think Luke will win. He’s shown himself to have a standup game and a ground game. It’ll go the distance or close to it but I think he’ll win. Brad will turn Rashad into dust, and I will enjoy it very much becuse I hate Rashad.
I haven’t seen much of Diaz but from what I have seen I think Sanchez is going to whup him. Sanchez is just so overwhelming. I do hope Diaz gets in some good shots, though, to punish Diego for that stupid shit he’s doing with his hair. Seriously Diego, that hair is ass.
The two fights I have seen from Diaz were both Diaz victories - when Joe went to interview Diaz all Diaz was doing was primping his hair. Too funny!
brad’s bigger than rashad, but he’s slower and has no ground skills. rashad by grappling dominance in a decision.
joe by submission
diaz by tko
While my brain says Joe by submission, my heart wants Luke by KO. You’ve got to love the underdog with all of his little quirks.
If Brad can hurt Rashad enough in the first so he can dominate the second and third, like he did against Seth, he should win again. Of course, Rashad has a good chance if he fights like he did last time. So I’ve no idea who will win, which is nice.
I really question Brad’s stamina and heart. I don’t think he has the conditioning to get to the third round. Rashad has proven he can go the distance even when hurt badly.
I want Luke to win–he’s another that just keeps fighting and is really scrappy.
I’ll say Rashad by decision after clinching and using leverage on the ground from his wrestling. He may the first round if he wants to play stand up like he usually does, but I really think his conditioning will pay off.
I think Luke will lose, but I hope he doesn’t. Isn’t Nate Quarry in a major fight? Who is he fighting?
Rich Franklin on Nov 19th.
Oh god, don’t even get me started on those chin pubes Diaz is sprouting. Hey Diaz, a little tip for you? When you have a head shaped like a cheese wedge, you probably don’t want to grow something off the end of it to make it look even longer and pointier.
Quarry may be in over his head on that one. ouch. franklin took care of Tanner twice with ease. I guess it was a good decision to drop that weight class.
Joe will win by Submission.
Brad will win by TKO.
Diaz will win by whatever he wants over Diego. I find it very difficult to believe that Diego is on the same level as Diaz.
In one of the interviews they asked Quarry if he was ready for a title fight and he answered “you take any title fight you can get” which to me is not exactly a strong “Yes”. If I were Rich I’d look to rattle him early and get things moving my way.
I agree–the only problem is that Franklin doesn’t seem to get rattled. Tanner took the fight to him and he just took the punishment and waited until Tanner got gassed.
I am betting Diego gets knocked out in the second. I don’t think he’s ready for Nick Diaz’s hands or sprawl. Diaz held his own against Tito.
Yeah, there’s hella more product placement this season. I just bought Season 1 on DVD and noticed how much more reality show was going and how much shorter the fights were. (First season had two rounds as opposed to three in the current season). It’s harder with the time scheduled to have as much housing drama that they did with season 1. Especially without Leben making an appearance.
Here’s a complete line-up of Saturday’s fights and I’m bolding who I think will win:
Diego Sanchez Vs. Nick Diaz
Brad Imes Vs. Rashad Evans
Luke Cummo Vs. Joe Stevenson
Kenny Florian Vs. Kit Cope (???)
Kerry Schall Vs. Keith Jardine
Melvin Guillard Vs. Marcus Davis
Sammy Morgan Vs. Josh Burkman
(PS, what’s with the annoying nicknames… nicks should be earned and not just made-up on a whim, dammit).
I’m all set for the day-long marathon of season 2 with some friends coming over for chili and beer.