Call 'em Like I See 'em

Let me start off by saying I am GEEKED about this Saturday, and for good reason. GSP defends his title against Jon Fitch, Lesnar gets in the ring to lose it or prove it, and Huerta and Florian will undoubtedly be one of the best matches of 2008, all in one show.

I am a very, very happy girl. :)

I'm gonna go on record and speculate as to who will walk away the victors of their bouts on Saturday:

Jason MacDonald Vs. Demian Maia
I don't know either guys fighting style well enough to make an educated call on this fight so I won't. I will comment on how MacDonald (21-9-0) has fought nearly 4x more than Maia (8-0-0) which tells me one of 2 things. MacDonald is going to be the proverbial sacrificial lamb for Maia, a possible rising star OR they gave MacDonald some noob to kick around in his UFC debut. Not sure if Maia is a noob or not (although if I weren't being such a lazy bum right now I could look it up) but either way I can't get too excited about a couple of guys that I don't know that well.

Manny Gamburyan Vs. Rob Emerson
Ok. I will try and keep this short. Manny Gamburyan should have won TUF 5. He was clearly winning the finale fight when his shoulder popped out of place when he went to shoot for Nate Diaz's legs. I want a freakin' rematch Dana White!

Anywho, Gamburyan is going to murder Rob Emerson, who I might add got his ass handed to him TWICE in the show and for some strange reason he still got a contract! Maybe Dana sees something I don't, but I am 100% positive he will be on the worse end of an ass whopping from Gamburyan.

I call this one for Gamuryan early on in the fight. Maybe White will ditch Emerson for a better fighter on the UFC roster.

Kenny Florian Vs. Roger Huerta
This one is going to be a bit harder to call. I am a HUGE Roger Huerta fan. His fight against Guida is one of my favorites, but Kenny Florian is not Clay Guida and he is a formidable opponent.

I am still going to call this one for Huerta, but I think its going to be a nail biter of an event, I tell you what. (That was my Hank Hill impression...)

Brock Lesnar Vs. Heath Herring
Ah, yes. The "fake" wrestler who just so happens to be a 2-time NJCAA All-American, 2-time NCAA All-American, 2-time Big Ten Champion, and the 2000 NCAA heavyweight champion. His record aftter 4 years? 106-5. Not quite so "fake", huh?

His MMA record is a different story. He is currently 1-1 with no victories in the octagon so far. He was clearly very strong, very fast and very agile in his first fight with Frank Mir. The ONLY reason he lost (in my humble opinion) is because he is still very, very green. He got caught in what I've been told was a pretty easy submission to protect against.

But how will this still green fighter fare against the "Texas Crazy Horse" who has 10 years worth of MMA experience? Lesnar is bigger, stronger, faster than Herring (again, my humble opinion), but we have yet to see what Lesnar's endurance is. His match with Mir didn't even go into a 2nd round. And anyone who has been paying attention to the UFC roster, White isn't keeping losers. Either Lesnar pulls this one out of his ass and becomes a contender in the UFC Heavyweight division or he eats canvas and goes to another league (for a lot less money, might I add).

I call this one for Herring because of his experience, but I am really hoping for an upset. I like Lesnar and what he stands for and I wish him the best of luck in whatever he pursues.

Georges St-Pierre Vs. Jon Fitch
The cherry on my sundae. The feather in my cap. The light at the -- you get the idea. Watching GSP fight is watching a master at his craft. Clearly one of the best pound for pound fighters in MMA, GSP will face a very tough opponent in Jon Fitch. This fight is going to be up, down, against the cage, from the clench, from the guard and if it were possible for them to spill into the audience I believe they would do just that. As good as a fighter I think Fitch is, I don't think there is anyway he can beat GSP. Simply put, as it has been said over and over in the last weeks up to this fight, GSP is never the same fighter twice. He is always (for the exception of the Serra fight to which he admits he was not mentally there) a BETTER fighter than in his last match up. I have no reason to believe that will not ring true on Saturday. GSP will come in and give a great show as the Welterweight Champion, and he will leave the same way. As the Welterweight Champion.

All in all, Saturday will be a fantastic PPV undoubtedly one of the best of the year. I think there is so much opportunity for this show to blow our socks off. UFC has an opportunity to really shine here. Let's hope they don't disappoint.