UFC 78 - Validation

[presto]

UFC 78:

-Rashad Evans vs. Michael Bisping
-Karo Parisyan vs. Ryo Chonan
-Spencer Fisher vs. Frankie Edgar
-Houston Alexander vs. Thiago Silva
-Joe Doerkson vs. Ed Herman

-Thiago Alves vs. Chris Lytle
-Akihiro Gono vs. Tamdan McCrory
-Joe Lauzon vs. Jason Reinhardt
-Marcus Aurelio vs.  Luke Caudillo

[presto]

Rashad Evans (-275) vs. Michael Bisping (+215)
The main event with two TUF (the ultimate fighter) undefeated champions. TUF2 winner Rashad Evans takes on TUF3 winner Michael Bisping.

Rashad is comming into this fight after a draw against Tito Ortiz last time out at UFC 73, though has been on a roll since his TUF victory, with wins over Bonnar, Lambert and Salmon.
Bisping has had victories over Schafer, Sinosic and a controversial win over Matt Hammil (i say controversial as he clearly lost the fight IMO).

As for the fight, this could be very tricky for Bisping and style wise Evans has the advantages. Evans is a good, strong wrestler, not bad with his hands and has a strong chin. Bisping has the stand up advantage with the better punches / kicks / knees, yet has vunerabilities to the takedown.

On paper this could be compared to Bispings last fight with Hammil - i,e, the stand up vs the wrestler, however on that occasion the wrestler didn't look too bad throwing the punches. I reckon that this fight may also go the distance.

So by analysis Evans gets the win, though that isn't always how it happens. I do beleive that Evans looks the more likely to get the win here, but the odd's make Bisping look quite an attractive 'value' bet @ +215.

VERDICT - BISPING

Karo Parisyan (-345) vs. Ryo Chonan (+275)
A clash of styles in this fight with the non-stop fast paced action of Parisyan vs the counter attacking style of Chonan. Chonan may be a new name to many UFC fans but he has plenty of experience in the 'former' pride organisation.
neither fighter has a big advantage at any particular disciplin, however i feel the fast paced action of Parisyan will catch the judges eye for a points decision.

VERDICT - PARISYAN

Spencer Fisher (+120) vs. Frankie Edgar (-150)
The lightweights never fail to exite and this fight should be no different, in what looks a great match up. Fisher may have a slight stand up advantage, however Edgar can stand, and i give him the wrestling advantage which could be important in this fight. Overall i give Edgar the advantage.

VERDICT - EDGAR

Houston Alexander (-155) vs. Thiago Silva (+125)
Just how impressive has Houston Alexander been so far in the UFC? VERY - he made short work of Keith Jardine, then followed up with another demolition job of Alessico Sakara. Silva also has heavy hands and is a BJJ blackbelt, so in theory has the more well rounded skills as all we have seen from Alexander is KO hands.

As for the fight i really want to see this go a couple of rounds at least, so Houston Alexander can be asessed more as to his potential in the 205lbs division. can he take a punch? does he have the cardio to last? what can he do off his back? etc..... Will the fight go a few rounds? that is another matter.

To be honnest Alexander has been a lot more impressive than Silva so far in the UFC, and i can see Alexander carrying on his fast paced KO action in this fight.

VERDICT - ALEXANDER

Joe Doerkson vs. Ed Herman


VERDICT - HERMAN

[presto]

UNDERCARD

Thiago Alves vs. Chris Lytle
Akihiro Gono vs. Tamdan McCrory
Joe Lauzon vs. Jason Reinhardt
Marcus Aurelio vs.  Luke Caudillo

[presto]

RESULTS

MAIN CARD:

-Frank Edgar def. Spencer Fisher via Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26) after 3 Rounds.
Edgar really dominated the fight with his wrestling.
 
-Ed Herman def. Joe Doerksen via KO (punch) at 0:39 of Round 3.
Herman opened a cut on Doerkson early with a glancing blow, and was in charge for the majority of the fight, in the dying seconds of the 2nd round Doerkson locked a triangle / armbar on Herman who was saved by the bell. 3rd round and Herman ducked and weaved to land a KO punch.
 
-Karo Parisyan def. Ryo Chonan via Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) after 3 Rounds.
Not a great fight, but a workman like effort from Parisyan to land the decision.

-Thiago Silva def. Houston Alexander via TKO (strikes) at 3:25 of Round 1.
Houston started this fight pretty calm, unlike his previous fights where he wen't out with guns blazing. he did however show a weekness (and a telling one) from on his back, he seemed inexperienced and lacked any ground defence, from which Silva got the full mount and a KO.

-Rashad Evans def. Michael Bisping via Split Decision (29-28 Evans, 29-28 Bisping, 29-28 Evans) after 3 Rounds.
For two TUF winners with 15-0 records this was a poor fight, the stand up was tentative and pretty much lacking from both fighters, though Bisping did land a few knees. Evans did get quite a few takedowns yet did nothing with them, credit to bisping there. Both fighters seemed lacking in cardio aswell. Overall a very 50/50 fight with 3 close rounds. i scored it rd1 -evans, rd2- bisping, rd3- evans (round 3 was very close), so a split decision was an accurate and understandable result.

Prelim Fights:

-Akihiro Gono def. Tamdan McCrory via Submission (armbar) at 3:19 of Round 2.
-Marcus Aurelio def. Luke Caudillo via TKO (strikes) at 4:29 of Round 1.
-Joe Lauzon def. Jason Reinhardt via Submission (rear naked choke) at 1:14 of Round 1.
-Thiago Alves def. Chris Lytle via TKO (cut stoppage) after 2 Rounds.

[presto]

as for the bets: (selection in bold, winning bet in blue, losing bet in red)

-Rashad Evans vs. Michael Bisping
-Karo Parisyan vs. Ryo Chonan
-Spencer Fisher vs. Frankie Edgar
-Houston Alexander vs. Thiago Silva
-Joe Doerkson vs. Ed Herman

-Thiago Alves vs. Chris Lytle
-Akihiro Gono vs. Tamdan McCrory
-Joe Lauzon vs. Jason Reinhardt
-Marcus Aurelio vs.  Luke Caudillo

[presto]

7-2 means yet another profitable nights bets.

[presto]

Fight of the Night - Chris Lytle and Thiago Alves, ($55k bonus)

Knockout of the Night Ed Herman, for his third round knockout of  Canadian Joe Doerksen. ($55k bonus)

Submission of the Night Akihiro Gono for his armbar victory over Tamdan McCrory. ($55k bonus)