UFC on FOX 3 : Diaz vs. Miller

[nford]

Not as much star power, but I'm guessing this will be the best FOX show. This is a very interesting 4 fight main card. I could really see all of these fights going either way.




UFC on FOX 3: Diaz vs. Miller

Date: May 05, 2012


Location: East Rutherford, N.J.
Venue: IZOD Center
Broadcast: FOX, FUEL TV and Facebook

MAIN CARD (FOX)
•Nate Diaz vs. Jim Miller

Dana stated that this fight would earn Diaz a shot at the title if he wins. Miller is still a win or two away. A year ago I would have probably picked Miller, but Nate has really looked amazing in his past two fights. Diaz is one of the best strikers and bjj guys in the division. Miller is a very good wrestler with great bjj. Diaz has always had problems with great wrestlers. I don't think Miller will be able to keep Diaz down. I think Diaz has the better stand up and a big reach advantage so I see Diaz picking Miller apart from the outside. I think Diaz earns the TKO round 5.

•Johny Hendricks vs. Josh Koscheck

Similar to the main event this fight would earn Hendricks a shot at the title if he wins, but not for Kos. This is a great match up. Hendricks is coming off the big KO over Fitch and Kos is on a 2 fight win streak since his last shot at the title. I'm really interested in seeing how this fight plays out. Both guys are D 1 wrestling champions. I'm going to say Kos does a good job of making it a technical striking match. I guess my pick comes down to if Kos can avoid being put to sleep by Hendricks. I feel like Hendricks will land the big punch at sometime in the fight, but will Kos be able to recover and atleast get to the end of the round. Kos by decision 29-28.

•Alan Belcher vs. Rousimar Palhares

Winner of this fight will earn a top 5 opponent? Belcher is on a 3 fight win streak and 4 out of his last fights has earned fight night bonuses. Palhares has some of the best heelhooks and kneebar submissions in mma. I think the longer this fight goes the better it is for Belcher. I think Belcher needs to avoid the power or Palhares and avoid going to the ground with him. Palhares via heelhook round 1.

•Pat Barry vs. Lavar Johnson

KO of the night. I could see this going either way. I think that the longer Barry can drag this fight out the better chance he has of winning. I think Johnson will have the power advantage and will look to utilize the clinch along the cage to keep the smaller Barry in bad positions. Barry needs to use legkicks to wear Johnson down and finish him off with the power in his hands. Johnson via TKO from a punch that stuns Barry in the clinch and finishes the fight on the ground.

PRELIMINARY CARD (FUEL TV)
•Tony Ferguson vs. Michael Johnson
•John Dodson vs. Tim Elliott
•John Hathaway vs. Pascal Krauss
•Louis Gaudinot vs. John Lineker
•Danny Castillo vs. John Cholish
•Dennis Bermudez vs. Pablo Garza

[timmanis2000]

I agree with you, all4 fights could go either way. I think Diaz has looked great lately, so I think he will win.

[timmanis2000]

I picked Diaz and Hendricks

[BengalHawk62]

Originally Posted by nford

Not as much star power, but I'm guessing this will be the best FOX show. This is a very interesting 4 fight main card. I could really see all of these fights going either way.




UFC on FOX 3: Diaz vs. Miller

Date: May 05, 2012


Location: East Rutherford, N.J.
Venue: IZOD Center
Broadcast: FOX, FUEL TV and Facebook

MAIN CARD (FOX)
•Nate Diaz vs. Jim Miller

Dana stated that this fight would earn Diaz a shot at the title if he wins. Miller is still a win or two away. A year ago I would have probably picked Miller, but Nate has really looked amazing in his past two fights. Diaz is one of the best strikers and bjj guys in the division. Miller is a very good wrestler with great bjj. Diaz has always had problems with great wrestlers. I don't think Miller will be able to keep Diaz down. I think Diaz has the better stand up and a big reach advantage so I see Diaz picking Miller apart from the outside. I think Diaz earns the TKO round 5.

•Johny Hendricks vs. Josh Koscheck

Similar to the main event this fight would earn Hendricks a shot at the title if he wins, but not for Kos. This is a great match up. Hendricks is coming off the big KO over Fitch and Kos is on a 2 fight win streak since his last shot at the title. I'm really interested in seeing how this fight plays out. Both guys are D 1 wrestling champions. I'm going to say Kos does a good job of making it a technical striking match. I guess my pick comes down to if Kos can avoid being put to sleep by Hendricks. I feel like Hendricks will land the big punch at sometime in the fight, but will Kos be able to recover and atleast get to the end of the round. Kos by decision 29-28.

•Alan Belcher vs. Rousimar Palhares

Winner of this fight will earn a top 5 opponent? Belcher is on a 3 fight win streak and 4 out of his last fights has earned fight night bonuses. Palhares has some of the best heelhooks and kneebar submissions in mma. I think the longer this fight goes the better it is for Belcher. I think Belcher needs to avoid the power or Palhares and avoid going to the ground with him. Palhares via heelhook round 1.

•Pat Barry vs. Lavar Johnson

KO of the night. I could see this going either way. I think that the longer Barry can drag this fight out the better chance he has of winning. I think Johnson will have the power advantage and will look to utilize the clinch along the cage to keep the smaller Barry in bad positions. Barry needs to use legkicks to wear Johnson down and finish him off with the power in his hands. Johnson via TKO from a punch that stuns Barry in the clinch and finishes the fight on the ground.

PRELIMINARY CARD (FUEL TV)
•Tony Ferguson vs. Michael Johnson
•John Dodson vs. Tim Elliott
•John Hathaway vs. Pascal Krauss
•Louis Gaudinot vs. John Lineker
•Danny Castillo vs. John Cholish
•Dennis Bermudez vs. Pablo Garza

This is a heck of lineup for a Fox broadcast. I agree with your picks except for the Main Events. I'm going with Hendricks TKO'ing Kos and Miller grinding out a decision against Nate "I talk like a girl with a bad lisp" Diaz. The rest of card I think is stacked! I'm most interested in seeing Palhares fight again. That guy is a beast and one bone headed move away (the fight against Nate Marquart) for fighting for the title.
I'd rather see the Tony Ferguson vs. Michael Johnson fight on the main card than Pat Berry vs. LaVar Johnson fight.

[nford]

Originally Posted by BengalHawk62

This is a heck of lineup for a Fox broadcast. I agree with your picks except for the Main Events. I'm going with Hendricks TKO'ing Kos and Miller grinding out a decision against Nate "I talk like a girl with a bad lisp" Diaz. The rest of card I think is stacked! I'm most interested in seeing Palhares fight again. That guy is a beast and one bone headed move away (the fight against Nate Marquart) for fighting for the title.
I'd rather see the Tony Ferguson vs. Michael Johnson fight on the main card than Pat Berry vs. LaVar Johnson fight.

I'm pretty interested in the Ferguson vs. Johnson fight, but how can you not be happy about seeing two Heavyweights who are known mainly for their striking who plan on going in their and getting the KO.

I feel like Johnson is going to get destroyed by Ferguson. I think he has a similar skillset, but with lesser skills. I see it ending badly for Johnson.

[PApinhead]

I think this is a good card and am looking forward to tonight.

My picks:

Diaz vs Miller - I hate to pick Diaz as I really can't stand him, but I think his striking is better than Miller's and that will be the difference. I really hope I'm wrong!!

Hendricks vs Koscheck - I think this could be a really good fight. Both great wrestlers with Hendricks being the better wrestler, but I think Kos has a slight edge in striking and also has an edge in experience. I like Kos and want him to win, but I bet ya he gets "poked" in the eye at least once. LOL!

Belcher vs Palhares - Another good fight. I too think Palhares wins by submission.

Barry vs Lavar Johnson - Could be another good fight. I think Barry catches Johnson.

Ferguson vs - Michael Johnson

Dodson vs Elliott

Hataway vs Krauss

Gaudinot vs Lineker

Castillo vs Cholish

Bermudez vs Garza

[nford]

Originally Posted by nford

I'm pretty interested in the Ferguson vs. Johnson fight, but how can you not be happy about seeing two Heavyweights who are known mainly for their striking who plan on going in their and getting the KO.

I feel like Johnson is going to get destroyed by Ferguson. I think he has a similar skillset, but with lesser skills. I see it ending badly for Johnson.

I was off on that prediction!

Wow. Nate couldn't have really looked much more impressive. Miller has only lost to Edgar and Ben Henderson and neither of them stopped him.

While I was watching the Kos vs. Hendricks fight I'm pretty sure I gave rounds 1 and 3 to Kos. I will have to rewatch that fight to see if I agree with the decision. It was a really good fight though.

Belcher also looked very impressive.

[PApinhead]

Originally Posted by nford

I was off on that prediction!

Wow. Nate couldn't have really looked much more impressive. Miller has only lost to Edgar and Ben Henderson and neither of them stopped him.

While I was watching the Kos vs. Hendricks fight I'm pretty sure I gave rounds 1 and 3 to Kos. I will have to rewatch that fight to see if I agree with the decision. It was a really good fight though.

Belcher also looked very impressive.

Yeah, I was off on a number of picks.

Nate did look good. You might want to sit down Nford, but I am actually starting to not dislike Nate so much. I thought he actually showed some class after the fight and it looks like he might actually be growing up a bit. He was nowhere near the punk he has been in the past. I won't go so far as to say I like Nate, but I was impressed with how he handled himself afterwards.

I also thought the Kos vs Hendricks fight was a good one. Like you, I gave rounds 1 7 3 to Kos, but then I thought maybe I just gave him 1 because I liked him. It was really close and this was one time that I did not mind a split decision. Looks like Hendricks may end up being a force to reckon with.

Belcher looked really good. I thought he could beat Palhares, but didn't really think he would. I don't mind at all that I was wrong on that one.

[Robbie Sharp]

Originally Posted by PApinhead

Yeah, I was off on a number of picks.

Nate did look good. You might want to sit down Nford, but I am actually starting to not dislike Nate so much. I thought he actually showed some class after the fight and it looks like he might actually be growing up a bit. He was nowhere near the punk he has been in the past. I won't go so far as to say I like Nate, but I was impressed with he handled himself afterwards.

I also thought the Kos vs Hendricks fight was a good one. Like you, I gave rounds 1 7 3 to Kos, but then I thought maybe I just gave him 1 because I liked him. It was really close and this was one time that I did not mind a split decision. Looks like Hendricks may end up being a force to reckon with.

Belcher looked really good. I thought he could beat Palhares, but didn't really think he would. I don't mind at all that I was wrong on that one.

I gotta agree, Diaz is growing on me a bit as well, the talent is undeniable. Cards like this one should create a lot of new MMA fans.

[PApinhead]

Originally Posted by Robbie Sharp

I gotta agree, Diaz is growing on me a bit as well, the talent is undeniable. Cards like this one should create a lot of new MMA fans.

Yep!! If Nate continues to act like he did after that fight, I could actually watch him without getting irritated with him. That ended up being a really good card.

[nford]

Originally Posted by PApinhead

Yep!! If Nate continues to act like he did after that fight, I could actually watch him without getting irritated with him. That ended up being a really good card.

I don't see the change you guys are seeing. If anything Nate is getting cockier in my opinion, but thats because he feels so comfortable on his feet now that he can actually taunt during the fight. I think its less a change in attitude, I'm guessing it has something to do with the suprising improvement you have seen in Diaz skills over the last few years and like Robbie said Diaz has undeniable talent. Nate and Nick both usually show respect to a fighter after the fight and have really always done that. I remember Nate usually being respectful to opponents after the fight all the way back to being on the Ultimate Fighter and his early UFC career. It's usually been his prefight/ during the fight taunts that have gotten under people's skin.

[timmanis2000]

It was a great card. FOX will have a hard time topping it.

[nford]

Originally Posted by timmanis2000

It was a great card. FOX will have a hard time topping it.

But the ratings were by far the worst of all the FOX shows so far. Great show though. Too bad people missed out on it.