UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva takes on former champion Rich “Ace” Franklin in the main event of UFC 77 Hostile Territory.
Franklin has shown little weakness against anyone in the UFC except for his loss against Silva at UFC 64. Expecting a repeat of the first fight would not be giving enough credit to Franklin and his team. Surely Ace has worked on getting out of the clinch to avoid another trip to the reconstructive surgeon, but he still will have problems with Silva’s dominant stand-up, which is probably the best in the UFC. Silva has looked impressive since his UFC debut with 5 of his last 6 victories coming via KO or TKO in the very first round.
Having “Home Ring Advantage” in MMA is a concept I only see being a real advantage if the fight goes the distance (see the Matt Hamill/Michael Bisping debacle) but there is zero chance that these two aggressive fighters go at it for 5 full rounds without a winner. Having the greater Cincinnati area in his corner will certainly help to motivate and focus
Franklin, but I think it will have the same effect on Silva who is not likely to be a big fan favorite anywhere he goes being a Brazilian Champion. The boos he’ll receive in Ohio will trigger him into a state that fighters rarely achieve where they either lose focus or become so focused they are literally unbeatable, when you can see it in their eyes that it is just going to be their night.
I see the later being the case for Silva who won’t even have to show that his ground game is more formidable than Franklin’s, stopping him with strikes after damaging him on the feet.
Anderson Silva def. Rich Franklin - TKO (Strikes) Round 1
With the unexpected retirement of Champion Randy Couture, the Heavyweight scene in the UFC has done a 180 over night. The fight between
Brandon “The Truth” Vera and Tim Sylvia was considered by most to be a #1 Contenders match for Couture’s belt and if the UFC had its act together they would have made it a Championship Fight to make the PPV an even bigger event. No doubt the winner will have a title shot in his next fight, possibly against Gabriel Gonzaga or the winner of Nog vs. Kongo. Either way the UFC needs to quickly get a Heavyweight Champion in place as it is possibly the most important belt.
Brandon Vera has looked impressive in all his UFC fights, especially recently with a TKO beat down of former Champion Frank Mir and a submission victory over the always-tough Assuerio Silva. Tim Sylvia ran up an impressive 8-2 UFC record including 2 stints as UFC Heavyweight Champion before most recently being dominantly derailed by Randy Couture in a fight many considered a huge upset. I think that recent performance is what most people have in their minds and not the dominant (albeit boring) title defenses that made Sylvia a multiple time champion. Vera was considered the biggest threat to Liddell’s Title before contract issues and the takeover of Pride caused him to get lost in the shuffle. With one fight in 17 months and having been inactive for almost a year, I expect a lot of ring rust to show when Vera faces by far his toughest test in Sylvia. Couture came out of retirement specifically to fight Sylvia because he felt he could exploit weaknesses in his game, which he did with flying colors. Vera should use this fight as a blueprint for success, but coming out of a great camp in MFS, Sylvia will no doubt use that fight to improve on his weaknesses.
I think Vera will come out hungry initially and might even get and early takedown, but out striking the much taller Sylvia will be a challenge. Sylvia has always prepared and often gone the distance for a 5 round fight, whereas Vera has yet to have a fight last into the 3rd round. As the fight wears on I expect Sylvia to smoother and wear Vera down with his experience, size, and length, dominating the later rounds and working his way to another title shot via a lackluster decision.
Tim Sylvia def. Brandon Vera – Unanimous Decision Rd 5
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