UFC Fight Night: Florian vs Gomi

[Ross]

Live on Fuel TV this Thursday at 11AM EDT, replay is at 9pm that night.

Main card
Lightweight bout: Kenny Florian vs Takanori Gomi - really cool to see Gomi in the UFC but I worry that it might be a few years too late, he hasn't been overly impressive in any of his fights since PRIDE folded and Florian is probably the worst possible opponent you can have when you haven't fought with elbows allowed before, going with Florian to open Gomi up with an elbow here and then choke him out
Heavyweight bout: Roy Nelson vs Stefan Struve - going to be quite the sight here with short and fat Big Country against the tall and lanky Struve, Struve proved me wrong in both of his last two fights but Nelson might be too much here, going with him by decision though if anyone can lock a body triangle in on Roy it's Struve
Middleweight bout: Nate Quarry vs Jorge Rivera - Quarry by TKO
Lightweight bout: Ross Pearson vs Dennis Siver - should be a decent fight, Siver's strung together a few good wins on the prelims of the Euro cards but last I watched him he got smoked out in under a minute by Guillard, Pearson was a completely different fighter against Riley to what we saw on TUF, going with him by TKO

Prelims
Lightweight bout: Andre Winner vs Rafaello Oliveira - Winner by TKO
Lightweight bout: Jacob Volkmann vs Ronys Torres - tough to call, I thought Torres got stiffed in his debut last month while Volkmann hasn't looked great in either of his UFC appearances and is cutting to 155 for the first time, leaning towards Torres by sub
Lightweight bout: Rob Emerson vs Nik Lentz - not sure, Lentz by decision I guess
Lightweight bout: Caol Uno vs Gleison Tibau - Uno hopefully, Tibau by decision through "top control" wouldn't surprise me though
Middleweight bout: Yushin Okami vs Lucio Linhares - Okami by decision
Middleweight bout: Gerald Harris vs Mario Miranda - bit of hype around Miranda, he tried out for TUF this season but the UFC bypassed him through there and signed him to a contract instead, Harris though has been on a roll since his appearance on TUF and won't have octagon jitters so this could be close
Welterweight bout: Charlie Brenneman vs Jason High - not sure here, High has been knocked completely cold twice in the few times I've seen him, most notably from a brutal Zaromskis head kick, he hasn't fought since that loss so I'm not sure why the UFC signed him, I know nothing about Brenneman but will go with him by TKO

One interesting thing that might have an impact on the results of this card is that the North Carolina commission requires fighters to weigh in again on the morning of the fight with the rule being that they can't weigh a certain percent more than they did the day before. That's going to be rough on somebody like Tibau.

 

[RobbyRoy]

Main card
Lightweight bout: Kenny Florian vs Takanori Gomi - Gomi isn't what he used to be and Florian's as good as he ever will be, so I'm going with him. Florian will try to get it to the ground, which is easier said than done, and work some gnp or a submission. I think he might get a sub in Rd 2.
Heavyweight bout: Roy Nelson vs Stefan Struve - This is a tough one. Nelson is way ahead of Struve at the moment in both experience and skills, but his striking could be nullified by Struve's reach. Struve's also dangerous on the ground, although Nelson would have the advantage. I think Big Country will be able to do enough for a decision.
Middleweight bout: Nate Quarry vs Jorge Rivera - Quarry will be too classy for Rivera and probably win a decision or late TKO.
Lightweight bout: Ross Pearson vs Dennis Siver - Pearson made me look stupid against Riley but I have to go against him again. I'm a big Siver fan and I'm going with a TKO in the 2nd.

Prelims
Lightweight bout: Andre Winner vs Rafaello Oliveira - This is a fight Winner can't and shouldn't lose. I rate him highly and he needs to roll through opponents like Oliveira like he did to Delgrado.
Lightweight bout: Jacob Volkmann vs Ronys Torres - I have no idea. In a fight like this I usually go the wrestler but I'm not confident due to the weigh-in thing.
Lightweight bout: Rob Emerson vs Nik Lentz - Emerson looked solid against Nover so I'm going with him. TKO 2nd.
Lightweight bout: Caol Uno vs Gleison Tibau - The weigh-in thing may affect Tibau but Uno shouldn't challenge him at this point. Tibau decision
Middleweight bout: Yushin Okami vs Lucio Linhares - The Sonnen loss was a major setback so Okami needs to win impressively here.
Middleweight bout: Gerald Harris vs Mario Miranda - I know nothing of Miranda but his record looks impressive. Harris is a beast though so I'm not sure about this one. I look forward to seeing it.
Welterweight bout: Charlie Brenneman vs Jason High - Besides the highlight reel knockouts, High looks like a solid fighter. I don't know Brenneman so I don't really know.

I would've liked to see Winner, Uno or Okami on the main card but who cares, it's free.

 

[_GJ_]

Main card
Lightweight bout: Kenny Florian vs Takanori Gomi - Gomi isn't what he used to be and Florian's as good as he ever will be, so I'm going with him. Florian will try to get it to the ground, which is easier said than done, and work some gnp or a submission. I think he might get a sub in Rd 2.
Heavyweight bout: Roy Nelson vs Stefan Struve - This is a tough one. Nelson is way ahead of Struve at the moment in both experience and skills, but his striking could be nullified by Struve's reach. Struve's also dangerous on the ground, although Nelson would have the advantage. I think Big Country will be able to do enough for a decision.
Middleweight bout: Nate Quarry vs Jorge Rivera - Quarry will be too classy for Rivera and probably win a decision or late TKO.
Lightweight bout: Ross Pearson vs Dennis Siver - Pearson made me look stupid against Riley but I have to go against him again. I'm a big Siver fan and I'm going with a TKO in the 2nd.

Prelims
Lightweight bout: Andre Winner vs Rafaello Oliveira - This is a fight Winner can't and shouldn't lose. I rate him highly and he needs to roll through opponents like Oliveira like he did to Delgrado.
Lightweight bout: Jacob Volkmann vs Ronys Torres - I have no idea. In a fight like this I usually go the wrestler but I'm not confident due to the weigh-in thing.
Lightweight bout: Rob Emerson vs Nik Lentz - Emerson looked solid against Nover so I'm going with him. TKO 2nd.
Lightweight bout: Caol Uno vs Gleison Tibau - The weigh-in thing may affect Tibau but Uno shouldn't challenge him at this point. Tibau decision
Middleweight bout: Yushin Okami vs Lucio Linhares - The Sonnen loss was a major setback so Okami needs to win impressively here.
Middleweight bout: Gerald Harris vs Mario Miranda - I know nothing of Miranda but his record looks impressive. Harris is a beast though so I'm not sure about this one. I look forward to seeing it.
Welterweight bout: Charlie Brenneman vs Jason High - Besides the highlight reel knockouts, High looks like a solid fighter. I don't know Brenneman so I don't really know.

I would've liked to see Winner, Uno or Okami on the main card but who cares, it's free.

Florian is a stupid prick. Just another midget talking himself up in the lightweight division.

 

[Vendrell]

Florian is a stupid prick. Just another midget talking himself up in the lightweight division.

WTF are you on about? Florian's humble and intelligent. He's the number 2 lightweight in the world. He'd even TKO Aoki if he came to the UFC.

 

[Arecsa]

That's a lot of prelims, I wonder how many we'll see. Really looking forward to seeing Big Country again, aswell as the successful UFC debut of Gomi when he outclasses Kenny and KO's him.

 

[daicos21]

WTF are you on about? Florian's humble and intelligent. He's the number 2 lightweight in the world. He'd even TKO Aoki if he came to the UFC.

Yep, Florian IS humble and itelligent. He is however the number 3 lightweight. George has surpassed him

 

[Magnum]

WTF are you on about? Florian's humble and intelligent. He's the number 2 lightweight in the world. He'd even TKO Aoki if he came to the UFC.

He's definitely humble and intelligent, not sold on the #2 in the world though. Aoki might lose to him in the UFC, but I think Aoki would beat him in Japan. And Aoki’s bulk of work over the last two years should solidify as #2 ranked LW. I also think that Eddie Alvarez, Crusher Kawajiri and even Gil Melendez would be difficult matchups for Florian. But I do see Florian as top 5

 

[Magnum]

As for my picks:

Main card
Lightweight bout: Kenny Florian vs Takanori Gomi – A couple of years too late for Gomi in the UFC and HUGE first fight for him. It would be a miracle for him to pull this off against a peaking and polished veteran in “KenFlo” (urggh). In any case, I’d just like to see something from Gomi, to show that he’s still got fire and ‘potential’ with some extra experience in the cage to make a run. Gomi is a hugely entertaining lightweight but I think his best years are behind him. I also think people underestimate the difficulty in adjusting from Japanese ring+rules+scoring system to the US cage+rules+scoring system. Yes it’s still MMA fighting, but in many cases its like a transition from formula one to V8 supercars. Not necessarily going to be smooth depending on your style. Florian, sub round 3, when Gomi starts to gas.
Heavyweight bout: Roy Nelson vs Stefan Struve – Nelson will take this with a takedown and pass to gut-on-face position for the TKO.
Middleweight bout: Nate Quarry vs Jorge Rivera – Great fight, Quarry by TKO
Lightweight bout: Ross Pearson vs Dennis Siver – Agree with Ross’s analysis.

Prelims
Lightweight bout: Andre Winner vs Rafaello Oliveira - Winner by TKO
Lightweight bout: Jacob Volkmann vs Ronys Torres – Christmas has had two very tough fights coming into the UFC straight up. Thiago which he was decisioned in a competitive fight, and Kampmann who is a gun, and great at everything. He’s also just too small for 170, so I’m hoping for showing at LW as the guy is pretty good. So long as Volkmann doesn’t gas or get sloppy with subs, I’m taking him by Decision.
Lightweight bout: Rob Emerson vs Nik Lentz – Lentz here. Guys got skills.
Lightweight bout: Caol Uno vs Gleison Tibau – Agree with Ross. Gotta go for Uno, but likely Tibau will win by ‘takedowns’.
Middleweight bout: Yushin Okami vs Lucio Linhares - Okami by TKO
Middleweight bout: Gerald Harris vs Mario Miranda - Decision
Welterweight bout: Charlie Brenneman vs Jason High – hard to pick, I’ve seen High KO’d and TKO’d in Dream and Affliction, but he did make it the the finals in Dream and word is he’s had a good camp and he has faced the competition at the higher levels.

And good point on the weigh ins Ross. Tibau may lack cardio if Uno can take it to the later rounds (which he will). By then though, Tibau can probably just “defend” a 2-0 round advantage (a criticism I have about 3 round fights being scored round by round).

 

[Vendrell]

Good points about the transition to the cage Magnum. Fedor said he should've trained in the cage for the Brett Rogers fight and Shogun admitted that he struggled with the cage against Forrest.

Gomi has had trouble making the 163 lbs cut in Japan lately so 155 should be extremely tough for him.

 

[Magnum]

Apparently he made the cut and looked quite skinny. Be interesting to see how much he cut, but I think he pace will be higher than what he's used to.

 

[Vendrell]

Isn't there some new double weigh-in rule in North Carolina where they have to make weight the morning of the fight too?

Found it, they can't put on more than 13 pounds between the 2 weigh-ins. That's why a lot of the fighters were wearing clothes and accessories on the scales.

 

[RobbyRoy]

Gomi looked good I thought. A little skinny maybe, but not sickly.

 

[RobbyRoy]

Gomi looked terrible I thought. That was even worse than I imagined. He had no answer for Florian's jab and all he offered were ridiculous hooks with massive wind-ups. Florian looked crisp and I think he's going to be more than a handful for any LW not named Penn.

So much for my prediction than Struve's reach will cause a problem. The fight looked ridiculous but Nelson impressed. Not exactly the biggest challenge in the world but he went for the kill from the get go and got his reward.

Pearson again surprised and impressed me, and unless he faces a top guy next fight I won't be tipping against him. Lastly, I think Quarry is done. Rivera is a tough guy with solid striking but he's no world beater and to be destroyed like that by him isn't a good sign. Decent event overall, but the main event brought it down a bit.

 

[Magnum]

Yeah Gomi looked flat out terrible. He's not top 20 let alone a contender for the title.

I pretty much thought it would go like that, even predicted out, but I didn't expect him to look as bad.

 

[Arecsa]

Gomi Awful. Florian finally caught a taste of Gomi's power in round 3 and didn't want another bar of the standup, he was all over him when he took him down, very disappointing stuff from Gomi.

Big Country looked fantastic though, got in there on Struve and smashed him.

 

[Vendrell]

Gomi was just sad. Rogan was right when he said Florian's boxing made Gomi look like an amateur. The guy was just swinging wild. It looked to me like Gomi's feet kept sliding around on the mat too.

But Florian continues to impress with every fight. He keeps getting better in all aspects of mma and works with the best coaches and training partners. It's a shame BJ is just too good but you never know what could happen.

Pearson looked good again. His stand up is crisp and his defence on the ground was good. He needs a tougher opponent.

BIG COUNTRY FTW!!!!!!!!! How can you not love this guy? We haven't even seen his bjj in the ufc even though he's a black belt. It was great to see Renzo in his corner enjoying the victory as much as Big Country. I LOL'd when he called out James Toney.

 

[Vendrell]

Joe Rogan's twitter during the blackout:

"Arianny plugged her vibrator in backstage and crushed the circuit breaker"

 

[Ross]

Gomi looked pretty much how I thought he would. Only surprise was how badly he got picked apart by Florian in the first round, but given the rate Kenny has improved over the last few years even that isn't too surprising. Would love to see Florian vs Sots next but I'm guessing it'll be Maynard.

Nice win for Roy, the crowd went nuts when he put Struve down. Struve could be good in a few years but he has no idea how to use his height at the moment. He backed up to the cage and just let Big Country wade in and crack him. Needs to make use of his legs and a jab to keep the distance, as well as circle away instead of backing up. Rumour is that it could be Roy vs JDS next.

Quarry looked slow and clumsy in there, I think this was the case more than it being any kind of career revival for Rivera like others have suggested.

Pearson's stand-up continues to impress. Not sure how he'd do against a good wrestler but he'll probably end up proving me wrong there as well.

Poor Uno looked two weight classes smaller than Tibau, with no wins in three appearances he's probably done in the UFC. It'd be cool if he could cut to 145 and take some fights in the WEC but I don't see it happening.

Perhaps the surprise of the night was the absolute beating Okami put on Linhares on the feet. He lit him up constantly, dropped him once and staggered him several other times as well. Fight was stopped after Linhares had a pretty bad cut right above the eye. Timing of the stoppage in the Harris and Miranda fight was debatable, Miranda got put down three times in a row but each time he got straight back up he wasn't out off the last shot but Harris probably would have laid him out if the ref didn't step in.

 

[Crimson Azure]

Would like to see Big Country at LHW, its not like he would have trouble getting to that weight it wouldn't even get rid of all his fat. Only problem might be his love for fatty foods & carbs.

He would be hard to beat at 205 as he hasn't relied on his weight in the last 2 fights (although they were not top level guys).

 

[gytre]

Lightweight bout: Kenny Florian vs Takanori Gomi - Absolutely agree that Gomi was awful. Like a number of these ex-Pride fighters, his first UFC fight was a fizzer. Just a total domination by Florian, who destroyed Gomi with his jabs, before finally choking him out.

Heavyweight bout: Roy Nelson vs Stefan Struve - Big Country continues to roll. Reach advantage to Struve, be damned!
Middleweight bout: Nate Quarry vs Jorge Rivera - I was surprised by this fight. Ok, Rivera was good, but Quarry looked a shadow of the fighter that we have seen previously. Not sure what's going on with him, but Quarry should have enough credits to be given another shot in the UFC.
Lightweight bout: Ross Pearson vs Dennis Siver - Definitely the best fight of the four that were shown. Pearson continues to impress, but it was also a gallant effort by Siver, who I thought might have edged Pearson in the last round. But a deserved points win by Pearson.