UFC 81 Predictions - What we are betting on
While all the lines are not out yet, these are still the fights we will be betting on. Whether the lines are favorable or not, we will still win a little money we think with the following ‘Breaking Point’ picks! Make sure you check out the latest UFC 81 Betting Lines.
Tim Sylvia is a man with heavy hands, but that is basically where his strength ends. He has long arms due to his enormous size and typically uses his jabs to keep his opponents away while hoping for a good stunning punch. Nogueira, on the other hand, is a very accomplished jui-jitsu expert and has an excellent ground game. He also has a very strong chin and has been working very hard on his stand-up game.
This match is only interesting because Sylvia is so tall. He would have to get very lucky to pull out a knockout punch on Nogueira and that is the only way he will pull this one off. I see it taking Nogueira some time to get Sylvia to the ground, but in the end: NOGUEIRA BY SUBMISSION - END OF ROUND 2.
Frank Mir is a submission guy all the way. While he trains for all aspects of fighting, this is his bread and butter. Brock Lesnar, though only 1 fight under his belt, is an NCAA wrestling champion who will likely use a ‘ground and pound’ technique against his smaller opponent.
This is an interesting fight in many respects. MIR, once the heavyweight champion after breaking Sylvia’s arm, lost several fights in quick fashion on his return to the Octagon (Cruz & Vera). The last fight he had with Hardonk is the only fight in recent history where he appeared to be the Frank Mir we all knew he could be. Brock Lesnar must use his strength to fend off Mir’s superior ground-skills and HAS to get on top using his wrestling ability to pound Mir into submission. I see Brock taking Mir to the ground and losing quickly to submission. MIR BY SUBMISSION - ROUND 1.
Jeremy Horn is a submission specialist and loves the ground game where he has excellent defense. Nate Marquardt is also a submission specialist and loves to choke out his opponents.
This fight is very tough to call.. Jeremy has not fought in quite a while and his last several fights have not been stellar. However, he has pulled off some great wins in the past and even went several rounds with Chuck Liddell. Nate is the stronger fighter and could use that strength when this fight inevitably goes to the ground. This could be a long fight, but we predict: Marquardt BY SUBMISSION - ROUND 2.
Tibau has both Jui-Jitsu skills and wrestling skills. He has won his last 3 fights in the UFC (in 2007) and will be looking for a rear choke in this fight, IMO. Tyson Griffin loves the ground and pound with his Jui-Jitsu and wrestling ability. He also has great hands due to his boxing and Muay Thai training.
This fight is not so tough to call for us. Tyson is just too strong and too aggressive for Tibau. While Tibau and Griffin match up rather well and Tibau is the taller man - Griffin is just too dominant a fighter with his agressive stye. Our Prediction Griffin BY TKO - ROUND 1.
Since Rob Yundt recently took the Almeida fight for Belcher - These will be the only fights we predict.
newbie (January 29, 2008 @ 9:02 am)
Hello - new here
Relatively new to UFC fighting, but love watching it.
While I am not an expert at all - I do tend to over-research everything I talk about, so it can’t be too bad, right?
I think Sylvia is a little better than given credit here. He has taken care of a few opponents when he was definitely the underdog. AND he has really good takedown defense (although that didn’t help him with Frank Mir). I think he may be able to hold off Nogueira all the way to the end - and if that happens, Sylvia will win by decision.
I think you have the Frank Mir fight picked well, though. Brock is a big man, but not really that much bigger than Frank if the specs are right above (which appear to be identical to the ufc81 site. Remember, he will likely cut weight (wrestler style) before the fight. I think that it will still take Frank a while to get the submission due to Brock’s wrestling ability - so I think it will be a later round - maybe round 2 before Mir finally submits Lesnar.
Well — that’s it for the newbie’s picks! hahah. I hope nobody bets based upon my picks, but that is actually what I am going to bet on.
newbie!
Rajiv (January 29, 2008 @ 10:51 pm)
i think the predictions given are acurate. when we look at past fights of nougeira hes fought much bigger and much taller opponents before and beaten them. but sylvia is one bad ass mother, so it wont be the same, and besides in my opinion nougeira aint the fighter he used to be, so who knows sylvia might end victorious. UFC is really unpredictable so we will never know till the end, after the Griffin vs Rua fight i stopped predicting as i knew that in MMA anything can happen.
newbie (January 30, 2008 @ 8:23 am)
Yeah, good point about ‘anything can happen’. I am going to bet on Sylvia and Mir so far. Not that I have confidence 100%, but my gut says that will be the result.
Definitely the Griffen/Rua fight was crazy. Rua looked tired as hell and Griffin had enough energy for the both of them. I really had Rua winning that fight (as did the whole world, I think). Shows just how unpredictable the fights can be!
onthefence (January 31, 2008 @ 7:56 am)
Suitable enough name?
I am ‘on the fence’ about a couple of these fights. Sylvia / Nogueira for one. I just get this feeling that Sylvia is going to rock Nogueira with one of his long-reach strikes.
I am also ‘on the fence’ about the Griffin / Tibau fight. I think this one will be a lot tougher than most people seem to think. Yep, Griffin is awesome. However, Tibau is really a larger fighter who dropped weight to get into this division. I think he is stronger and just as aggressive a fighter. This could be an upset.
The rest…
Brock to win by KO (lucky punch) - Yeah, I said it…. a punch. He is very strong and may get lucky.
Marquardt to beat Horn. Horn is tough, but not enough.
George (February 2, 2008 @ 11:52 am)
Ha! Funny name ‘onthefence’. I’ll disagree,tho. Noguera wins this one no doubt in my mind. Sylvia could get lucky, but Noguera is too good for that. Griffin kicks Tibau’s butt - don’t forget he just fought a fighter from the same camp recently and beat him. Brock loses to Mir and all wrestling fans will be crying. Horn will beat Marquardt despite everything thinking otherwise.
admin (February 3, 2008 @ 7:26 am)
Good round of predictions! Some were spot on, others not. But all were at least the correct victors. Hope all of you bet on them like we did
Fun night of fights! Especially the Nogueira fight. Damn that boy can take a beating!
Mir got a good pounding too before finally getting the foot lock. Very nice win for him, but I think it does prove that Lesnar could be a great heavyweight once he learns better ground defense.