UFC 100: Frank Mir, Brock Lesnar in main event
By: Bread - 07/10/2009
Dana White and the UFC have both come a long way in a very short time. And Saturday night at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, the Ultimate Fighting Championship will hold a benchmark event with UFC 100. The main event features Brock Lesnar against Frank Mir, and Bread has invited two more MMA aficionados - the lovely Robyn and perfectly coiffed Hoff - to join in the pre-fight analysis and picks.
Finally, UFC 100 is here and we’re bringing out all the big guns for this one. MMA aficionados The Hoff and the lovely but dangerous MMA Robyn will be joining me to offer their opinions on this momentous event. But why stop there?
We have the UFC 100 Capping Contest going on with cash prizes. We have more prop bets to choose from than the Super Bowl. We’ve even got the greatest ring announcer ever dropping hints of giving us the debut of the Bruce Buffer 360! I’m giddy! On to the fights!
Brock Lesnar -225 vs. Frank Mir +185
Robyn: Although I am not a fan, I am going with Mir at +190 for this fight. Lesnar is a force to be reckoned with, however I feel that Mir is a more seasoned opponent who is mentally ready for the battle. I predict that Mir wins by submission in the second round.
Bread: Oh crap I’m picking against Robyn right off the bat. One of these days I will have a better record than her in an MMA event. I can feel it coming.
Frank Mir (12-3-0) looked awfully impressive in his last outing, giving Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira his first early stoppage loss in 38 fights. What jumped out at me was how nasty his striking game was. We all know how dangerous Mir’s submissions are, as proven with his life saving leg lock victory over Brock Lesnar (3-1-0) last year. Mir was in the process of getting pummeled before he did what he does best. But against Nogueira, Mir was connecting and ringing his bell like he was trying to impress his girlfriend at the carnival.
But you know what? It just doesn’t matter. Lesnar is a beast, the likes of which have never been seen. At 265, he has 25 lbs of massive muscle on Mir. You have to think that he has learned from his carelessness and been training hard on how to avoid Mir’s tomfoolery. Remember the motorcycle crash that sidelined Mir for two years a while back? That will seem like a walk in the park once Lesnar is done slapping him around.
Hoff: Are you pissed that Brock Lesnar got a title shot in his fourth MMA fight? Are you pissed because he didn’t “put in his time” like Frank Mir did? Do you hate that Lesnar was in the WWE? Do you hate how Lesnar doesn’t have any MMA skill and is only an enormous athletic specimen as well as a freak of nature? Well boo hoo. There’s no stopping this freight train.
Boys – Lesnar. Girl – Mir. Oh no.
As a native Minnesotan I can tell you just what we do up here all winter - stay inside. Our state slogan is “Come freeze your ass off.” Brock has been living and training in the small town of Alexandria, about 2 hours NW of the Twin Cities. I’ve been there. Not much to do. I can tell you exactly what Brock has been doing up there the last half year. Brock has been training MMA, bed wrestling with Sable, and killing animals with his bare hands.
Odds-wise, I have to say Frank Mir +190 is the pick. But that’s based on value and stats and all those other token gambling fallacies. Well guess what? I’m doing it the way it should be done - picking a winner based on gut feeling and betting who I want to win the fight. BROCK LESNAR -225.
Georges St-Pierre -310 vs. Thiago Alves +255
Hoff: Georges St-Pierre makes me question my sexuality. I’m kidding…I think. One of the greatest pound for pound fighters in the world, GSP has destroyed all challengers. He has stumbled twice, but avenged those losses violently.
GSP is built like a brick poophouse (censored). Thiago Alves is built like two brick poophouses (censored). Alves is powerful, no denying it. He has that one punch capability to put GSP in lala land. But I have to go with quickness in this fight…just like I do in bed. GEORGES ST-PIERRE -310.
Bread: I love me some GSP, oh yes I do. The guy is simply amazing. I enjoyed every second of his last fight, where he demoralized B.J. Penn into a crying baby, throwing in the towel and whining about too much Vaseline. The way he got roughed up, you would think he would take all the Vaseline he could get.
As much as I love St-Pierre (18-2-0), I don’t want to be left holding the bag on a -310 favorite either. That’s never fun. And as much as I hate to admit it, I think this could be a fight that has everyone saying “I didn’t see that coming” at the end of the evening. Since losing to Fitch over three years ago, Thiago Alves (22-4-0) has been on a mission, winning seven straight, many by nasty early stoppage.
God bless Brazil
In looking at GSP’s UFC record, I realized something. His first opponent was Karo Parisyan, who is Armenian. Since then, he’s faced 14 straight American opponents. Besides two losses to Matt Hughes and Matt Serra (which were both avenged tenfold), GSP has turned the “red, white and blue” black and blue. And these were no schleps, as he has handled America’s very best in Hughes, Serra, Penn, Jon Fitch, Sean Sherk and Josh Koscheck. St-Pierre is a Canadian, and I’ve learned recently that our neighbors-to-the-north possess a passionate disdain for Americans. Just ask SBR poster Betlom. I know, I couldn’t believe it either!
Another thing that is hard to believe is that GSP has never faced a Brazilian opponent in his career. You would think with the abundance of Silvas and Thiagos in MMA these days that this would’ve happened by now. I’m going with Brazil and the money.
Dan Henderson -220 vs. Michael Bisping +180
