Kevin Iole of Yahoo Sports has taken the time to break down the upcoming Rashad Evans vs. Michael Bisping at UFC 78. I’ll spare you the suspense, he gives the edge to Evans which can be summed up by him as,

“Bisping is a light heavyweight who can make middleweight; Evans is a light heavyweight who used to fight at heavyweight. Size is going to be an issue, and Evans figures to take Bisping down and stop him late via ground and pound.”

I completely agree with Kev on this one, especially with Matt Hamill exposing Bisping’s over-rated striking abilities. I don’t see much of a way out for Bisping except for a big punch/kick or surprise armbar that catches Evans.

Here is what Iole’s says Bisping will need to do in order to win at UFC 78:

1. Stay standing: The fight completely favors Evans when it hits the ground.
2. Hook off the jab: Evans will be ready for a piston-like jab, but Bisping has to add in a hook that could catch Evans unaware.
3. Scramble: If he’s taken down, Bisping needs to scramble as quickly as possible to get back to his feet.
4. Use his kicks: Bisping is a powerful kicker who needs to use his legs to keep Evans at a distance.

Check out what Iole things are Rashad’s keys to victory on the Yahoo Sports website.

Tonight Dallas will hold its largest MMA event to date, Art of War 3 and will feature 10 fights which include a few UFC veterens.  The main event will see two former UFC heavyweight figthers, Jeff “The Snowman” Monson, who earlier this year challenged Tim Sylvia for the UFC title, and Pedro “The Rock” Rizzo who is a former UFC champion from back in the early days. Other UFC vets include Jeremy Horn and Ron Waterman.

Main Card Line-Up for Art of War 3:

• Jeff Monson (USA) vs. Pedro Rizzo (Brazil)
• Jeremy Horn (USA) vs. Jorge Santiago (Brazil)
• Ron Waterman (USA) vs. Mario Rinaldi (Brazil)
• Hector Munoz (USA) vs. Cristiano Marcello (Brazil)

Not that interested in this smaller MMA event?  Maybe some fight predictions from a cute girl might help you get a bit more excited.

We usually write-up our own picks but this time we are going to “outsource” our UFC preview.   We too a look around and found that Jeff Hamlin over at MMA Maddness has put together a pretty good analysis. It’s informative, not too long winded, and he’s a credible source. His picks include Gonzaga, GSP, Huerta, Stevenson, Grove, Leites, Heath, Mir, and Guida.

You’ll have to visit MMAMadness.com to find out how each of his picks will win and get an fight analysis of each UFC 74 match-up.  Click Here.

UFC.com contributor Michael DiSanto has written a nice little piece breaking down the UFC 73 Title Match between Anderson Silva and Nate Marquardt.  The complete article covers more ground, but here are his key points:

Keys for a Silva Victory -  Hold off on the clinch

It isn’t a stretch to think that Silva’s game plan for UFC 73 involves clasping his hands around Marquardt’s neck and unloading knee strike after knee strike until the fight is over. Nevertheless, that is not the best approach to beating a guy like Marquardt, not early in the fight anyway.

Marquardt may be the most technically sound ground fighter in the UFC 185-pound division. Before folks begin running around their respective computer screens screaming bloody murder at the preceding statement, take a look at his January bout against Dean Lister.

Lister, who is universally recognized as a master submission grappler, was outclassed in every facet of the fight, including grappling. Marquardt always appeared to be thinking at least two moves ahead of Lister. He easily defended anything the former Abu Dhabi Submission Wrestling Champion threw at him, and then put Lister in bad position after bad position seemingly with ease. For fight savants, that is about as good as it gets in terms of praising a fighter’s ground skills.

So, what does that have to do with Silva’s keys to victory? Everything and nothing.

It means everything because Silva, who holds a black belt in jiu-jitsu, does not want to put his ground skills to the test against a guy like Marquardt. Sure, they looked great in a non-title bout against Travis Lutter at UFC 67. But Lutter was a shell of himself that night after failing to make weight, and those excellent ground skills were basically nonexistent in his two of his four career losses, both of which occurred in Japan via submission.

Regardless, Marquardt’s exquisite ground skills mean nothing if the Greg Jackson-trained fighter cannot take the fight to the canvas. And that should be Silva’s focus on Saturday night, which means striking from a safe distance early in the fight to avoid the takedown.

As a result, Silva would be well served to eschew the clinch until he has softened up Marquardt with punches and kicks from a distance. There is little doubt that Silva will dominate that position. Yet, if he isn’t careful when moving in to secure the back of Marquardt’s head, the Brazilian could find himself scrambling on the canvas after a takedown, and that would be disastrous for his chances at victory.

Keys for a Marquardt Victory - Get to the ground and take your time

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