What's better than watching mixed martial arts with a couple of friends with a beer in hand?  How about watching it FREE at your friend's house with his beer in your hand?  This Saturday, Spike TV will be televising UFC 75: Champion vs Champion for FREE since it's on tape delay from London.  The FlamingBaby was once again ready to tell you how it was going to be come fight time.  That is, until the staff started talking amongst themselves.  Four letter words were used, names were called, and a few moms were slandered.  So, we'll have two of our staff give you their takes on the fights and you can decide where to place your bets.  Either way you look at it, we'll be on the money.

Alessio "Legionarius" Sakara (11-5) vs. Houston "We Have A Problem" Alexander (7-1)

The night will be starting out with an interesting 205 pound match.  Houston Alexander is coming off a stunning first round KO of “Dean of Mean” Keith Jardine.  In that fight Jardine said he was unhappy fighting a “conehead” like Alexander when he felt he should be contending for the LHW title.  Alexander apparently heard this proceeded to use his conical head to channel the power of East Saint Louis into his hands.  He then proceeded to beat the Dean of Mean into unconsciousness with about 15 unanswered uppercuts.  After beating Jardine, Houston then stood over him and taunted his downed opponent.  Lesson learned, Jardine now takes anyone from Remulak a bit more seriously.

Alession Sakara is from Italy, Rome to be more specific.  To show this he has taken to getting his body tattooed up like a 2nd century Roman Legion recruiting poster.  He’s beaten “The King of Rock and Rumble” Elvis Sinosic by a three round decision, and most recently KO’d Victor "the Matrix" Valimaki in just under two minutes. 

 Bauh4us' stance:

This one will probably be a war, and is a possible candidate for fight of the night.  Both of these guys are going to be coming out looking to prove something, and both like to prove themselves with their fists.  Sakara was a pro boxer and Alexander has an unorthodox but very powerful style.  I expect them both to come out swinging until one of them (probably Sakara) is leveled by a huge right hand.  Look for Houston Alexander to prove that East Saint Louis is a tougher town than Rome.

Alexander by 1st Round KO

Yohnstoppable's stance:

Alexander is a brawler with KO power, but the superior boxing skills definitely go to Sakara. Just look at the target Sakara gets! Punching Alexander in his gigantic melon should be about as easy as pissing in a bath tub. Houston did show some pretty impressive barking skills vs an unconscious Jardine, though, so you can't count him out completely. I look for a wild Ghetto Conehead to be picked apart by Sakara, before getting knocked out late in the first round.

Sakara by 1st Round KO

Michael "The Count" Bisping (13-0) vs. Matt "The Hammer" Hamill (3-0)

Michael “The Count” Bisping is looking to prove that he was the toughest TUF 3 cast member.  Matt Hamill was also on TUF 3 and was giving everyone fits with his superior wrestling ability.  He seriously used to do drills where he defended take downs from the rest of the cast one handed.  Bisping took this a bit more personally than some of the others and thus the UFC dream feud of deaf wrestling prodigy vs British guy nicknamed after the toughest muppet on Seasame Street was born. 

Since those wrestling drills, Bisping has went on to win TUF 3 by beating Josh “Bring the Pain” Hayes (now a contestant on a celebrity bull riding show on CMT, I’m not making that up) and won victories over Eric Schafer and the UFC’s favorite TUF gate keeper, Elvis Sinosic.  Hamill is also 3-0 in the Octagon, with victories over Jesse Forbes, Seth Petruzelli, and Rex Holman.  Hamill’s competition has been slightly easier than Bispings, but it has given Hamill time to develop as a complete fighter as opposed to a wrestler. 

 Bauh4us' stance:

This fight is going to come down to which one of the fighters is better at imposing their will.  Bisping is going to want to strike it out and KO the wrestler.  Hamill is obviously going to want to take the fight to the ground and use all that ground and pound technique he learned from Tito.  Bisping is pretty game at avoiding takedowns from lesser fellows, but Hamill’s takedowns are pretty beastly… at least for the first round.  Hamill used to have a problem with his gas tank, if this has been fixed (which is should be since he trains at Big Bear with Tito and Rampage) it will be a long night for Bisping.  The Count’s best shot is to try to land a big punch, while Hamill is going to be relentless in trying to stalk the Brit around the cage.  In the end I think Bisping gets impatient, gets sloppy and Hamill takes him down and pounds out the decision.

Hamill by decision

Yohnstoppable's stance:

The TUF 3 finale we didn't get to see finally comes to pass. Hamill will look to take this one to the ground, while Bisping will try and rely on his superior standup. Now, while Hamill has the better wrestling, he could actually be outmatched once this fight hits the mat. Bisping has very underrated submission skills, and could easily catch "The Hammer" in something. Hamill also has a tendency to try and slug it out with his opponents, which I see happening later in the fight when he is winded.  He may have gotten away with doing this in previous fights, but Bisping will eventually catch him and put him away.

Bisping by 3rd Round KO

 

Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic (22-5-2) vs. Cheick "Kongo" Guillaume Ouedraogo (10-3-1)

This is the fight that is supposed to be “Fight of the Night”.  On paper it has it all, two brutal strikers going at each other, one looking to keep his job in the UFC, the other looking to redeem himself after a brutal KO loss.  These two are supposed to go at each other and no let up until one is lying prone on the Octagon floor.  Too bad that’s not going to happen.

The fact is Cro Cop is in a MUST WIN fight.  After being dropped like a sack of potatoes by Gabriel Gonzaga (who was then on the wrong end of a Randy Couture prison rape) he must win here in order to keep his reputation, title hopes and probably career alive.  Cro Cop said he was going to retire if he did not win the Pride Open Grand Prix.  He did that, he’s on top of the world, and then he walks into the UFC gets one win over Eddie “The Guy Brought in to Lose to Cro Cop” Sanchez and then gets stuck on the wrong end of the most played KO highlight of the last 3 years.  If Cro Cop somehow loses this one he might just hang up the gloves.

 Bauh4us' stance:

Why would Cro Cop risk striking with someone who has arguably similar standup skills?  Especially after being KO’d?  Kongo’s ground game is so freaking pathetic it’s almost nonexistent (see his fight with Carmello Marrero for more details).   Cro Cop is going to use his relatively unknown but quite good ground game to take Kongo down and submit him, and I bet he does it in the first round.

Cro Cop by 1st Round Submission

Yohnstoppable's stance:

I see this fight having a longer than normal feeling out process before really taking off. Kongo has some great Muy Thai, and is a huge black guy named Kongo, but he hasn't fought anyone the caliber of Cro Cop.  Depite the obvious sucktitude of Kongo's ground game, I see this one being a standup war. Crocop's ground game is mostly defensive, and as shown by the Hunt fight he is hesitant to take any fight to the ground.  This one starts out slow, before Crocop gains confidence, and sends Kongo's head into the upper deck.

Cro Cop by 2nd Round KO 

Quinton “Rampage” Jackson (27-6) vs. Dan “Hollywood” Henderson (22-5)

This is a fight to really look forward too.  Rampage is just coming off the biggest win of his career where he made KO’ing Chuck Liddel look easy.  Hendo is also coming off the biggest win of his career where he KO’d Rampages arch nemesis Wanderlei Silva.

Jackson is the bigger and the stronger of the two (Hendo also owns the 185 lbs Pride Belt).  He has KO power in either hand and is famous for his ability to slam an opponent to the mat in spectacular fashion.  That power alone might be bad news Hendo, who will probably be outweighed by 15 to 20lbs on the night of the fight.  Most people are taking Jackson based on these facts. 

Hendo is faster and has the better submission acumen.  He is also the tougher of the two.  In 27 fights Hendo has never been KO’d or TKO’d.  Fighting bigger men is also no problem for him.  He has wins over Silva, Vitor Belfort, Babalu Sobral, and new UFC acquisition Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.  While he (arguably) does not have the KO power of Jackson, his hands are by no means light (see highlight KO of Silva).

 Bauh4us' stance:

I think Hendo is going to come to the fight with a game plan for Quinton.  I think Hendo will fight the smarter fight, pick Jackson apart with punches and end the fight by TKO in the 4th.  Jackson is the better athlete, but Hendo is like a smaller Randy Couture, fighting more with his head than his hands.

Henderson by 4th Round TKO

Yohnstoppable's stance:

This fight can really go either way. Rampage has quite a strength advantage, which should get him out of some troublesome situations.  However, Henderson is an amazing Greco-Roman wrestler, which poses huge problems for Jackson. Rampage has been controlled in the clinch many times in his career, including fights with Silva, Ninja, Shogun, Sik, and Lindland. If Henderson expects to win, he needs to pick his shots with that right hand, and outwork Rampage in the clinch. This is no easy task, however, as Matt Lindland found out against Rampage last year. I expect Rampage to out-muscle Henderson, and win the striking exchanges with his superior boxing. Neither of these guys will get knocked out, as they both have chins of granite. Without the Pride Judges to grant Henderson an early Christmas present, I see Rampage getting the nod after controlling the pace of this fight.

Rampage by Decision  

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