UFC 83 Predictions

by Robert Sargent & Daniel Regan

Making its way north to Canada for the first time, the Ultimate Fighting Championship enters the Bell Centre in Montreal for UFC 83, which is headlined by a Welterweight Championship rematch between Georges St. Pierre and Matt Serra.

MMARising.com looks over the card, which has moments of promise and others of mediocrity, with predictions for each of the fights.


Daniel: Here we go with a very lackluster card. In fact, this is the worst card the UFC has put together since it thought Bisping was a main eventer. Of course, the big fight that makes this even considerable is Georges "Rush" St. Pierre vs Matt "The Terror" Serra.

Rob: Serra has only one chance in this fight, and that is a repeat of the previous bout. He needs to land one good punch early on, or this will be a long night for him.

Daniel: It was a fluke. Serra defeating GSP was a fluke and I think it's a travesty that he's held on to the belt for a year without defending it. The only way that Serra can have a chance Saturday night is if GSP slips on the Toyo Tires logo again and eats another big one.

Rob: If Serra can manage to catch St. Pierre with hard punches early on, he has a chance, but he is outclassed in every aspect. Serra is very skilled on the ground, but he is not going to submit Georges St. Pierre. St. Pierre has better striking and vastly superior wrestling, and I don't see Serra making it out of the second round. Prediction: St. Pierre by TKO in round two.

Daniel: Serra is amazing on the ground as long as it's not in MMA. He's never been able to transfer his Jiu-Jitsu to the Octagon. GSP by TKO, round one. I think he'll throw a few strikes, take him down and pound him out. We saw what GSP did to the best welterweight ever, so imagine what he'll do to one of the worst. Hilarious how the UFC still adds seven non-existent wins to Serra's record. Prediction: St. Pierre by TKO in round one.



Rob: The next fight of the night is a very meaningful fight for both fighters' careers, but almost completely irrelevant to the UFC's middleweight division. Former champion Rich "Ace" Franklin takes on the man who somehow managed to miss weight and still largely dominate Anderson Silva, "The Serial Killer" Travis Lutter.

Daniel: I completely disagree with him dominating Anderson Silva. Silva said he wanted to let him take him to the ground to avenge his training partner's loss to him. With Pele getting submitted by Lutter, he found it appropriate to submit Lutter. Franklin should come out looking strong here. Lutter is good on the ground, but his overall MMA game has always been weak. I expect a slow fight here due to both having suffered horrible losses recently that will play on the mental game. Prediction: Franklin by long, boring Decision.

Rob: Lutter will obviously look to take the fight to the ground because his striking is horrible, while Franklin is actually reasonably decent on the ground. I do not see Lutter submitting Franklin, and Franklin is too strong to be muscled around like Silva was in the early stages of the fight against Lutter. Franklin should completely dominate this fight. Prediction: Franklin by TKO in round one.



Daniel: The next fight is Nate "Rock" Quarry vs Kalib Starnes. A decent matchup of skill but I feel like it should be on the undercard. When people like Nakamura/Sokoudjou are on the undercard for UFC 84, it's hard to see this. I've got a feeling that Nate Quarry will start coming in to his own a bit and take this fight. Prediction: Quarry by Decision.

Rob: I disagree, as Quarry's best weapon is his punching power and Starnes has a very good chin. With Quarry coming off of an incredibly severe back injury, and looking terrible in his fight with Pete Sell until landing the come-from-behind KO punch in round three, I see Starnes taking this one in a walk. Prediction: Starnes by KO in round one or early in round two.



Daniel: Next up is "Chainsaw" Charles McCarthy vs Michael "The Count" Bisping. Honestly, this is a fight just to pad Bisping's record and to give him confidence after his loss. Bisping showed A LOT of promise in his TUF season but has looked lackluster since then. Maybe something will click and he'll TKO McCarthy round 1. Either way, I don't see McCarthy standing a chance, even if a bad Bisping shows up. Prediction: Bisping by TKO in round one.

Rob: I agree that Bisping is clearly the favourite to win the fight, especially with McCarthy having not fought since the TUF 4 Finale and coming off of reconstructive knee surgery. However, I really see an upset here. McCarthy should not win this fight, but I feel that he will. While Bisping will likely dismantle McCarthy, I'm going to take McCarthy by shocking TKO in round two. Call it a random hunch. Prediction: McCarthy by TKO in round two.



Daniel: Over to Mark Bocek vs Mac Danzig now. Seriously, I have actually lost interest in Danzig since he did TUF. He went from fighting Sakurai to random guys. I want to see him fight people like Guida, Edgar, Fisher, Huerta, etc. Prediction: Danzig by TKO in round two.

Rob: I agree on all counts, but I see him finishing this in round one. Bocek is a tough guy, but isn't in the same league as Danzig. Danzig needs to be put against some tougher competition really soon. Prediction: Danzig by TKO late in round one.



Daniel: On to the undercard, a rematch between Joe "El Dirte" Doerksen and Jason "The Athlete" MacDonald. Prediction: Doerksen by Submission in round two.

Rob: MacDonald has already defeated Doerksen once, and Doerksen looked poor in his recent fight with Ed Herman. Neither fighter is likely to ever be a champion in the UFC, but MacDonald has the edge. Prediction: MacDonald by TKO in round two.



Daniel: Next is Jason "Dooms" Day vs Alan "The Talent" Belcher. Prediction: Belcher by Name Recognition.

Rob: Haha, well the problem is that Day has no business being in this fight. This should be David "The Crow" Loiseau taking on Belcher, but Loiseau was brutally robbed in his fight with Day in February. Belcher is probably going to handily win this, but he is one of the fighters I least like watching, so I hope that Day pulls off a fluke upset. Prediction: Day by Submission in round two.



Daniel: On to Demian Maia vs Ed "Short Fuse" Herman. Prediction: Maia by TKO in round one.

Rob: Maia by TKO, that's priceless. Maia is an absolute wizard on the ground, and Herman's biggest weakness is submissions, so this should be an easy victory for Maia. If he wins this by TKO, though, that would be hysterical. Prediction: Maia by Submission in round one or early in round two.



Daniel: Next up is Sam "Hands of Stone" Stout vs Rich "No Love" Clementi. Prediction: Stout by TKO in round two.

Rob: Clementi has a very good chin for absorbing Stout's punches, but Stout has been working hard on his wrestling and should survive any time on the ground. Eventually, I see Stout catching Clementi and putting him down for a stoppage. Prediction: Stout by TKO late in round two.



Daniel: The next fight is between two debuting heavyweights, in Brad Morris vs Cain Velasquez. Prediction: Morris by Aussie Death Carriage in round one.

Rob: Velasquez has worlds of hype behind him, and is the clear favourite to win, but I'm also going to take the underdog in this one. Prediction: Morris by TKO in round two.



Daniel: The final fight is Kuniyoshi Hironaka vs "The Road Warrior" Jonathan Goulet. Prediction: Hironaka by Better Hair.

Rob: Hair will undoubtedly play a huge role in this fight! Seriously, though, this is a battle between iron chin and glass chin. Hironaka's striking is poor, but he can take incredible punishment. Goulet is very well-rounded, with excellent takedowns and grappling, but has a very weak chin. I don't think Hironaka hits hard enough to knock Goulet out. Prediction: Goulet by Decision.



UFC 83 airs live on pay per view this Saturday.