UFC 84....Ill Will

Alright. Once again a fantastic night of fights is abouts to begin. So I thought I would share my meaningless predictions for tonight's UFC 84 "Ill Will" at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Let's start at the bottom and work our way up this time.

Rich Clementi vs. Terry Etim
Okay, although Etim and his lanky ass has only only been beaten once out of eleven pro fights. I can't find it in my heart to give him a win against a pretty tough and well rounded Clementi. Rich has over four times as many fights against much tougher opponents and is coming off a good couple of wins against Sam Stout and Melvin Guillard. He also has only been submitted five times in his career and I personally don't see Etim catching him, even though nine out of his ten wins are by submission. Rich by a relatively dominant Uni.

John "War machine" Koppenhaver vs. Yoshiyuki Yoshida
To be honest, I am lacking in any form of knowledge of Yoshida. Although what I do know tells me he is a tough s.o.b. But so is the war machine. As he displayed in a crazy emotional win against Jared Rollins. Yoshida just seems to be more versatile in his wins and experience. I must give him the win here. Although this has the makings for a bang-out fight, Yoshida in the second, TKO.

Thiago Silva vs. Antonio Mendes
With the overwhelming atmosphere of the huge UFC crowd and the closing of the octagon, it takes a large toll on new fighters. And I don't see Mendes coming in that comfortable against an always aggressive Thiago Silva. Thiago by an easily achieved TKO/KO in the first.

Christian Wellisch vs. Shane Carwin
This is Shane's first fight in the UFC also, but I am not expecting as many jitters from this undefeated 6'4 muscle packed machine. Although he came in a bit light for the weigh-ins, he still outweighs Wellisch by almost thirty pounds. Their experience is similar, but Wellish is on his fourth fight in the UFC with two wins and one loss. But his losses were against stronger opponents and Shane could have Christian packing his bags. Carwin by first round sub.

Rameau Sokoudjou vs Kazuhiro Nakamura
These two former pride stars are going at it in the octagon tonight. That is pretty crazy in itself. Together, these two have fought a plethora of named fighters. Soko knocking most of them out while KazNak loses most to a close decision. But both are tougher than nails and both are coming off losses to "Lyota" Machida in their last UFC fights. Although KazNak has the experience here, I can't help but think that Soko will be the aggressor and try standing with his fellow jukoka. But in the end I see another cautious fight resulting in a Uni for Soko.

Dong-Hyun Kim vs Jason Tan
Alright, simply put, Kim has the hands while Tan has the ears. Haha. Just foolin' but seriously Mr. Dong can throw down although at times a bit cautious. He also has great td defense. Tan is also a well rounded fighter and is pretty aggressive to boot, but I think that Kim's cautiousness will prevail and he will eat out a Uni.

Ivan Salaverry vs. Rousimar Palhares
Ivan Salaverry is still fighting. This will most likely be his one fight for the year, but hey. The guy has been fighting for a pretty long time and has a descent game. He just seems to get KOed from time to time. Palhares, who is knew to me and the UFC, is an up and coming middleweight with a black-belt and only one loss to his name. He is strong and has good subs is what I hear. I must pick him. By submission at the end of round two. Yeah that sounds good.

Wilson Gouveia vs. Goran Reljic
Another new comer with a black belt on the card. Crimony. Croatian Goran Reljic is the Euro-Gracie Champ at 205 and is a pretty tough mofo from what I understand. But I do believe that the experience will play a role in the bout. That is where the not-so-bad himself Mr. Gouveia will pick up the slack. A guy who has twice as many fights and has yet to be submitted. He is on his sixth fight in the UFC, where I believe he is becoming more and more comfortable. I believe he has the tools to rock the undefeated Goran where he could finish the fight by TKO/KO in the second.

Keith Jardine vs. Wanderlei Silva
OOOOOOOhhhhhh baby. This one makes me all warm inside. This is one of those unpredictable, end of a round robin, type of fights. Keith picks apart Liddell, while Liddell beats up Wandy and now we see this. I must go with what I know. And that is that Jardine is a methodical hard hitting well rounded pissed off individual. While Silva is a psychopathic hard hitting well rounded annihilator. I just have a problem with Silva though. He doesn't seem to live up to his hype in the octagon. I must see something different from his tonight. And so leaves me with a clear Uni for The Dean of Mean. Good luck to both.

Tito Ortiz vs Ryoto Machida
I think this fight is the easiest to call. At least the winner will be. Who knows how it will end. Tito has fought everybody and beaten a lot of good fighters. But as of late I believe it is pretty well known that Tito is now a fighter for the money. While Lyoto is a fighter for the respect and goal-minded inspiration. Lyoto has also fought and beaten the likes of great fighters such as B.J. Penn, Rich Franklin, Stephan Bonnar, Soko, KazNak to name a few. But I believe Tito will try not to get knocked out and will go out of his last fight with the UFC as a showman and not a fighter. Too bad. Mach by Uni.

Main Event B.J. Penn vs. Sean Sherk
And the fight we are all waiting to see. Will the freak of nature prove his past steroid use does not effect the true fighter that he is. Or will the now driven B.J. Penn show everyone that he is truly the best pound for pound fighter in the world. I can't wait either way. Sean hasn't fought in over a year but will most likely prove to be a control freak while Penn has fought a couple of toughies to snag the lightweight belt. In my eyes, that time off added to the fuel that has driven B.J. equals a win for Penn. Submission (rear naked?) round three.

So there we have em. Good luck to all fighters and we will see how well everyone does after a matter of hours. I'm pumped.

If you have a need to bet real or fake money, don't forget to check out MMAPlayground.com. And if you are looking for betting advise, check out what FIGHT! Magazine's beautiful and talented Mr. Perfomify has to say in the magazine or head over the best MMA informative website in the world, MMAJunkie.com where he posts his past betting articles and his picks also.