UFC 96: Jackson vs Jardine

[Marquis]

Main Card

Light Heavyweight bout: Quinton Jackson vs Keith Jardine
Heavyweight bout: Shane Carwin vs Gabriel Gonzaga
Welterweight bout: Matt Brown vs Pete Sell
Light Heavyweight bout: Matt Hamill vs Mark Munoz
Lightweight bout: Gray Maynard vs. Jim Miller

Preliminary Card

Welterweight bout: Tamdan McCrory vs Ryan Madigan
Middleweight bout: Kendall Grove vs Jason Day
Light Heavyweight bout: Tim Boetsch vs Jason Brilz
Light Heavyweight bout: Brandon Vera vs Mike Patt
Lightweight bout: Aaron Riley vs Shane Nelson

Quinton Jackson vs Keith Jardine. No doubt this one will end by KO or TKO. Both of these guys like to stand and bang and keep going till one of them is laid out across the floor. Many people I'm sure are counting Jardine out of this one, and why wouldn't you? Jardine has unorthodox boxing while Rampage has crisp technical boxing, but i sincerely think rampage is gonna have harder time then most expect with Jardine. His unorthodox style and leg kicks will catch Rampage off guard. Do i think it's enough to get the win over Rampage? Not really, but never count Jardine out. I'm gonna go out on a limb and say Jardine 3rd round TKO(good thing I'm not a betting man, safe bet would no doubt go to rampage).

Shane Carwin vs Gabriel Gonzaga. Definitely the fight I'm looking most forward to on this card. Even though Gonzaga brutally head kicked my favorite fighter, I'm still a big fan of Gonzaga. I really think Shane won't fair well at all against Gonzaga. Stand up i give the advantage to Gonzaga, and on the ground no doubt i give the advantage to Gonzaga. Only way i can see Shane getting the win is if he manages to take down GG and control him on the ground till he manages to get a TKO or a decision. I say Gonzaga will ether KO him or land some strikes to drop Shane then jump on him and sub his ass. Gonzaga via round 1 submission.

Matt Brown vs Pete Sell. Boy Matt Brown sure likes fighting as soon as possible. On the ground no doubt Sell has the advantage. Standing to be honest I'm not to sure. I would probably give Brown the slight edge on stand up. I'll say Matt Brown Via TKO round 1. Surprised this fight is on the main card.

Matt Hamill vs Mark Munoz. Munoz is a great prospect for the UFC. Great wrestling credentials and has showed decent stand up. I think Hamill is gonna have a hard time with Munoz. Hamill's stand up has been coming along and assuming hes been practicing his stand up since his last fight, i think he stands a good chance of getting the TKO. I say Hamill via TKO.

Gray Maynard vs. Jim Miller. Both great wrestlers, but if Maynard gets the takedowns then Miller is in for a long night. I enjoy watching Miller and i am quickly becoming a fan, but i don't think he can take on Maynard at this point. Maynard by UD, but I'll be cheering for Miller.

I'll write my thoughts about the preliminary card later.

 

[jmt225]

The undercard really interests me, but that main event pisses me off a little to be honest. I mean, why is Rampage fighting Jardine? Rampage just kicked Wanderlei’s ass, and Wanderlei before that killed Jardine. And it’s not like Jardine looked great against Vera, either, to actually earn a main event on pay-per-view. Rampage, in my opinion, deserves either a shot at Evans or a rematch against Forrest, while Jardine should still be fighting his way up.

Anyway, I hope Gonzaga, Hamill, Saunders, Maynard, Grove, and Shane Nelson can all win their respective fights. I’m fucking split on the Brown/Sell fight, but I expect that to be a war and possibly Fight of the Night.

 

[Kasey]

Main Card

Light Heavyweight bout: Quinton Jackson vs Keith Jardine
I'm going to pick Jackson with this one. The only way I can see Keith pulling this one out is if he stays outside and eeks out a decision using kicks and an in-and-out strategy like he implemented against Liddell. If he tries to trade head-on, then it'll look like a replay of the time he stood in the pocket with Wandy (minus the Rape-Choke, of course).

Heavyweight bout: Shane Carwin vs Gabriel Gonzaga
I'm picking the rookie in this one. Gonzaga has had marked trouble with large wrestlers (see: Randy Couture) and anyone with decent striking and a passable gas tank (see: Fabricio Werdum). Carwin owns the athleticism in this one and as long as he can avoid the grappling and thai kicks, then he just has to wait through the half-way point of the fight and then he can pick up the pieces.
Welterweight
bout: Matt Brown vs Pete Sell
Sell has been in some wars. However, they were at 185 and Pete's not know for his astounding head movement (see his Rock-em Sock-em Robot duet with Nate Quarry). I think he has the ground game edge in this one...not to mention having the noisiest fucking cornerman in the history of Earth. But Brown is a resilient dude who definitely knows how to hold his chaw.

 

[jmt225]

Only read the results thus far, but it seemed like a hell of a good show.

I’m glad to hear that Rampage won. I was hoping he’d knock Jardine out, but from what I read, Rampage pretty much controlled the entire fight, so it’s just as well I guess. Anyway, I can’t wait to see him take on Evans. That should be a great fight. I’m pulling for Rampage, but I’ll NEVER underestimate Rashad Evans ever again.

Unfortunately, Gonzaga ended up getting his ass whooped. I guess Shane Carwin is the real deal. I look forward to see what he does next.

From what I read, Matt Hamill absolutely destroyed Munoz with a head kick. I cannot wait to see that one! I’m super happy for Hamill. Hopefully, he gets some real competition his next fight. For whatever reason, he just wasn’t himself against Rich Franklin. If you watch that fight, you can easily tell that there was something seriously wrong with him. But even so, he still fucked Franklin’s face up, big time. Hamill's an animal and if he can keep his head on straight, he's going to be a HUGE force to be reckon with at 205.

And I’m happy Sell, Maynard, Shane Nelson and ESPECIALLY Kendall Grove (who I’m a huge fan of) were all able to get impressive victories.

 

[Minor League Brian]

I'll only speak on the main event, simply because its the only one that interested me.

Although Rampage won this fight, he was off the ENTIRE match. It was as if he was afraid of Jardine, or afraid of losing. I don't know how to explain it, but he just didn't do a whole lot and Jardine realized this early on and used it to his advantage. Jardine won the first round, and I'd say tied the second only because he got a low blow which should have deducted a point. It wasn't till the last minute that Rampage seemed to get out of his funk, and started t-ing off with Jardine, and by then it was too late. If he had done it even a few seconds earlier he'd have had another TKO under his belt, instead of a decesion victory.

As much as I hate Evans, I'm not sure if he'll be beaten yet. If Rampage shows up with that scared pussy ass offense he showed against Jardine, Evan's will pick him apart. But if we get the Bulldog Rampage, Evan's will have to count on more then those quick hands, because I think Rampage will just straight up over power him. Personally I cannot stand Evan's, he's too damn cocky and the only thing that's savin' him are his fast hands. I pray Rampage will knock him out, but I don't see it if this Rampage is the "new" Rampage.