UFC 100: A Centennial of Striking, Grappling, and Grounding and Pounding

Dan Henderson over Michael Bisping, Georges St. Pierre over Thiago Alves, and Frank Mir over Brock Lesnar.

It’s a wish list not prophecy.

Only the divinely-inspired are infallible but that won’t stop anyone from predicting the outcome of anything. The hype leading to the Ultimate Fighting Championship has been as relentless as Wanderlei Silva stalking Kazushi Sakuraba and as Dana White insisting that Anderson Silva is the world’s pound-for-pound best MMA fighter. There have been press conferences, a weigh-in, a top 100 UFC fights series, match-up predictions – lots of MMA on the buffet table – that you just get the urge to come up with your own crystal-ball gazing.

Free-For-All’s 10 cents’ worth comes from a fan’s perspective more than from a fight analyst’s point of view.

I am biased towards Henderson for his pug and pit-bull approach to fighting. He will try to knock you out as quickly as he can. If he has to use his formidable wrestling skills to do it, he will. But Henderson relies more on his striking than his wrestling, no doubt about that.

I also like St. Pierre’s workmanlike attitude and careful strategic preparation for a fight. He will study his opponent and set a plan on how to devastate his foe. His athletic abilities would not matter if his mental approach to the fight game were not at par.

I am a sucker for underdog. Mir is smaller and less powerful than Lesnar. More people believe Mir will lose to Lesnar. Mir was gone from MMA for about a year and a half after breaking his knee in a motorcycle accident. He fought again but lost two of his first three comeback fights. He did not quit and won all of his next three fights including a kneebar submission victory over Lesnar and a stunning win by strikes over legendary Brazilian jiujitsu black belt Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.

Mir’s rise from the ashes of his terrible accident and discouraging early comeback defeats is inspirational. He was known for his world-class grappling and submissions but has added a standup game to his arsenal.

After the bells and whistles, Free-For-All’s look into the future less than 12 hours from now:
Henderson will win via knockout in Round 2; GSP by submission in three; and Mir by submission in two.

Don’t bet on it.