The Ultimate Fighting Championship kicks off a busy weekend with a trip to the new Revel Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey for UFC on FX 4. A key lightweight contest headlines the card with former title challenger Gray Maynard taking on Clay Guida in a five round bout.
Clay Guida vs. Gray Maynard
Maynard (10-1-1) finally gets to fight someone other than Frankie Edgar for the first time since August 2010. He will also be looking for his first win since then after fighting to a draw and suffering a knockout loss to Edgar during two bouts in 2011. Guida (29-12) saw his four fight winning streak come to an end in a decision loss to Ben Henderson in December 2011.
Maynard is a powerful wrestler who has continued to develop his striking as demonstrated in his trilogy with Edgar. Guida is known for his high energy and unorthodox offensive attack. I don’t expect this to be a standup battle as both fighters prefer the ground game. Instead look for both lightweights to use their striking to close the distance. Guida’s goal is to put his opponents on their back and wear them down but this tactic could be difficult against a wrestler of Maynard’s caliber. The x-factor will be cardio over five rounds and if Guida can push the pace. This will be a close fight but Maynard will win the ground game while landing the more damaging strikes on the way to a unanimous decision.
Sam Stout vs. Spencer Fisher
This will be the rubber match of a rivalry that begin at UFC 58 in 2006. Stout (17-7-1) earned a split decision win that night in an event that marked his debut in the UFC. Fisher (24-8) would even the score with a unanimous decision win at UFC Fight Night 10 in 2007. Most recently, Fisher has lost four of his past five fights while Stout has victories in four of his last six outings. Despite the nickname of “Hands of Stone”, Stout has finished just one opponent since 2007. However, Stout does possess technical striking and the advantage of youth which should help to carry him to a unanimous decision win over Fisher.
Brian Ebersole vs. T.J. Waldburger
Ebersole (49-14-1) carries a ten fight winning streak into his welterweight clash with submission specialist Waldburger (15-6). Yes this fight will go to the ground and more than likely be finished there. Expect Waldburger to threaten with submissions particularly early in the bout, however, it will be the wrestling of the veteran Ebersole that is the difference. Ebersole emerges victories with third round ground-and-pound finish.
Ross Pearson vs. Cub Swanson
This featherweight match-up is a tough call. Swanson (16-5), a WEC import, picked up his first win in the UFC with a technical knockout of George Roop at UFC on Fox 2. However, he has not notched consecutive wins since 2008 as he has alternated wins/losses over his last seven bouts. Pearson (13-5), the Ultimate Fighter 9 winner, has earned a 5-2 mark inside the Octagon. Both are well-rounded fighters but Pearson is the pick based on his boxing.
UFC on FX 4 Main Card Predictions is a post from: MMA Interplay UFC News
Source: http://www.mmainterplay.com/ufc-news/ufc-on-fx-4-main-card-predictions-58594/
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