UFC is invading Belfast, Northern Ireland this weekend (June 16, 2007) as they hold UFC 72: Victory at The Odyssey. UFC 72 is the third event to be held in Europe and the UK, joining UFC 38 in 2002 (Royal Albert Hall in London, England) and UFC 70 in 2007 (MEN Arena in Manchester, England).
Honestly, though, UFC 72 doesn’t look as appealing on paper compared to the more recent UFC showings, but who knows, UFN 10 didn’t look appealing either and it ended up being a solid event. Nonetheless, it’s MMA so, I don’t mind.
The card for Saturday night is as follows:
Main Card Bouts
* Middleweight bout: Rich Franklin vs. Yushin Okami
* Light Heavyweight bout: Forrest Griffin vs. Hector Ramirez
* Lightweight bout: Tyson Griffin vs. Clay Guida
* Middleweight bout: Jason MacDonald vs. Rory Singer
Preliminary Bouts
* Heavyweight bout: Eddie Sanchez vs. Colin Robinson
* Welterweight bout: Dustin Hazelett vs. Stevie Lynch
* Welterweight bout: Marcus Davis vs. Jason Tan
* Middleweight bout: Scott Smith vs. Ed Herman
In an attempt to look into the future, here are some predictions from The Irish Whip!
Masson sees Franklin 2nd round TKO over Okami (w/ brutal strength domination); F.Griffin 3rd round TKO over Ramirez; T. Griffin 1st round submission over Guida; and McDonald 2nd round submission over Singer
Additional Thoughts: I don't really buy into the hype about Okami's "super strength" that everyone is saying about him. Swick and Starnes both mentioned Okami's "incredible strength" in their bouts against Okami at UFC 69 and UFC 64, respectively. But, I mean, Swick and Starnes are not exactly the biggest fighters in the MW division, they look relatively weak (from a physical standpoint). I mean, Swick is moving to WW and Starnes looked overwhelmed by Chris Leben, as far as physical strength goes. I just think people are over crediting Okami's strength. Rich Franklin is a huge middleweight, it's almost hard to believe a man his size would weigh 185, I don't see Okami being stronger than Franklin, physically speaking. Okami has no chance of overpowering Franklin in my eyes. I just don't see it. I've seen numerous videos of Franklin training in the gym, and the guy looks like an animal.
As for the Forrest Griffin vs. Hector Ramirez matchup, I think Griffin should be able to take this no problem, as long as he doesn't just "let loose" at the last seconds of the round, which cost him his last fight against Jardine. Hector Ramirez just doesn't look polished at all, he just looks like an everyday street brawler with some credible wrestling skills.
Ben sees Franklin 2nd round TKO over Okami; F. Griffin 1st round TKO over Ramirez; T. Griffin Unanimous decision over Guida; and MacDonald unanimous decision over Singer
Even if the event is all it's cracked up to be, predictions are always fun.
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