Sunday, July 2, 2017

UFC 213 Nunes vs Schevchenko & Romero vs Whitaker - Picks & Predictions

So, the Countdown show mentions that this card follows UFC Fight Week and that previously it has been a slot for monumental cards. Then mentions Anthony Pettis, and tells us we're seeing a rematch as a fight for a belt and an Interim belt being handed out because Bisping was healthy enough to fight GSP but not anyone else. Curious.

At any rate, despite my Negative Nancy monologue going into this card, the UFC hype train almost has me interested in this card if nothing else in that by crowning an Interim champ Bisping will, possibly, have to fight Romero, a guy he has straight ducked for a minute now. I don't really care because Romero for all his God this and God that soft spoken talk somehow in the cage finds every opportunity to bend or break the rules with everything from feigning eye gouges or groin shots to fence grabbing to staying late on his stool between rounds. He also has curiously been injured for periods and his gas tank has noticeably decreased since USADA took effect. His last few fights have looked like a guy who knows he can only throw perhaps 5 punches and kicks for the first 2 rounds, and defend perhaps two takedowns, and save something for a 3rd round.

Well, despite my mountain of misgivings....here....we....are.

I think Nunes looks best if she can hurt and intimidate her opponent early. I think the 3rd round scare however and the southpaw stance and legitimate all around skills of Schevchenko have her on the backfoot psychologically in this bout. I think Schevchenko coming back from being convincingly down 2 rounds showed Nunes something about Schevchenko that a front runner like Nunes doesn't have. I think Schevchenko pulls out a Unan. Dec. over a closely contested 5 rounds but that Schevchenko's gas tank prevails.

I think Whitaker beats a Romero who is doing almost nothing by rounds 4 and 5. The fight between Blaydes and Omielanczuk I can't pick b/c I honestly don't recall any previous bouts on these guys and nor do they ring a bell. Overeem vs Werdum.....man. I also don't like a long-time cheater like Overeem, but he is crafty.....hmmm. I'm gonna go with Werdum for this one.
Miller was stopped by Chiesa in a strange fight but was basically picked apart and eventually battered by the much longer, rangier Chiesa. That is not Pettis's skillset as he likes to fight off the backfoot and fend off takedowns. I have to think that Pettis turns the corner here and gets a win over the even more mileage packing Miller.
Travis Browne is and should be fighting for his UFC job at this point. Especially after losing a fight he was winning against Derrick Browne. I think Browne pulls it off against third tier and mid level guys unless he's just completely lost his edge.

The rest of the card....as I mentioned is the leftover pieces of other PPV's or Fight Night event prelims....and I can't pretend I'll be going out anywhere to watch these fights. I wouldn't even order this on PPV with a bunch of guys I train with to watch this card. This is a straight up lay in your bed, eat ice cream, relax in comfort and watch it PPV because I don't watch other professional sports. So this is my Saturday NFL or Nascar or NBA regular season game day that I watch because I'm simply a fan of mixed martial arts. That being said, I don't know if it's programming saturation/audience fatigue, or simply the plain hard cold fact that a lot of events are simply mediocre to mid-level at best. I dunno, I just have a hard time telling myself a lot of emphasis went into this card.

Also, waiting til midnight to see these co-main events.....I can't make any promises. By the time the prelims pass, and the undercard goes through, being awake at midnight to see 2 potentially 5 round fights? Yeesh. 

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