Here is our FINAL analysis after reading all the facts, listening to each fighter, and listening to all opinions. Some of our predictions have changed based upon what we feel is the more likely result after more analysis (not just raw emotion):

Wanderlei’s style will lead to his defeat. Chuck is excellent against aggressors and has a long reach which will allow him to pick apart Wanderlei and wait for the KO. While Wanderlei is the more well-rounded fighter - I do not believe he will get close enough to Chuck to prove that.   The Iceman by TKO

Matt Hughes is looking to solidify his reputation with a win. He has a new training camp (his own) and heavyweights like Lawler and Horn who have been training with him. He is not going to let a punch or kick rock him like in the last bout. He will withstand St. Pierre’s onslaught and catch him with a slam to the floor.   Hughes by submission

While Machida is quite elusive and showed exactly how great of a fighter he is against Houston, Sokoudjou is just too powerful. The African Assassin is going to finish this fight.   Sokoudjou by TKO

Guillard and Clementi have some BAD blood. Guillard is looking to knock out Clementi quick and early. I think this will be Melvin’s downfall. Clementi is a solid fighter and will be patient while Guillard expends his early-round energy. Clementi has a good chin and much more experience in the octagon.   Clementi by submission

These are the fights we care about… Why? Yes, we know there are other fights on the card that will be awesome to watch. These fights, however, are what we have MONEY on That makes them important. Since we have money riding, we have done the bulk of the research on these fighter’s fight styles and conditioning. The rest of the fights we did not research enough to put our money down on.

Bookmark It

The Canadian Press has yet another great story. The nice thing about this story is that there are quotes from all over the place from Hughes, Liddell, and others about the upcoming fights. It is really a coupling of many sources, but a very good read and nice to see in a concise format (instead of reading every article on the web).

Chuck Vs Wanderlei Story

Bookmark It

Quite simply an awesome interview with Georges St. Pierre. This article is a great read if you are ‘on the fence’ as to which fighter to bet on in UFC 79. Although I am convinced that Hughes is going to beat GSP in the December 29 fight, this article nearly tore my decision. It is a must read, the Canadian press did a great job of getting to the meat of the story.

Georges St. Pierre Story - Canadian Press

Bookmark It

Matt Hughes sounds supremely confident in his recent interview with Thomas Gerbasi of UFC.com. He speaks very highly of his fan base which frequent his website forum and, in his words, ‘Write my paychecks.’

Matt’s quote on the upcoming GSP fight says it all:

“There are quite a few reasons. Number one, I was in great shape when I got the phone call about Serra (being injured), so I wanted to fight. And I do want that rematch with Georges – I want it bad. I want that rematch just as much as Georges wants that rematch with Matt Serra. I could have taken a lesser opponent, but nobody really would have been happy there. This is the fight the UFC wants, this is the fight I want, and this is the fight the fans want, so this is a no lose situation the way I look at it, and that’s how I made my choice, because everyone’s a winner in the end.”

Matt goes on to talk about Georges’ strategy and fighting style:

“He’s very athletic and that’s probably the biggest difficulty right there. He’s not a great wrestler, and to be honest, he’s not a super great striker, but he’s just very athletic and he mixes things together very well. That’s how he was able to outwrestle (Josh) Koscheck – he could tie everything together very well. If you go back and watch the fight with Matt Serra, you could honestly say Matt Serra could have been winning that fight before knocking him (St-Pierre) out. Matt Serra came in there with a great game plan and Georges was hopping around there and never really landed any effective strikes, and Serra did get some hands on him, so Georges wasn’t winning that standup war when he got caught. He’s very athletic, very good with his hips, and that’s the biggest problem right there with Georges St-Pierre. He’s also got great endurance, so you can count on him being in there the whole time; I don’t think he’s ever gonna get tired.”

This interview shows that Matt Hughes is READY for this fight and believes that he has the right tools to win. Our predictions STANDS!!!! Matt Hughes will win this fight by submission - look for GSP to get slammed to the matt on more than one occassion in this battle.

Bookmark It