FIGHT! Pick: UFC 105 Couture vs. Vera

The main event of UFC 105 features two fighters looking to find their way. Randy Couture drops back down to light heavyweight in order to compete against guys his own size and Brandon Vera looks to recapture some of the magic he had when he talked with a straight face about holding titles in two weight classes. This card doesn’t feature the biggest names but the four main card matches are compelling in their own ways. Odds courtesy of BestFightOdds.com:

Randy Couture will be fighting someone roughly his own size for the first time in a while. Vera is facing his worst nightmare in Couture, a fighter who can not only neutralize his striking with the clinch but do damage on the inside with dirty boxing. Couture has to get inside of Vera’s range, first, and therein lies the rub. If Vera truly returns to form in this fight, I think he keeps Couture from utilizing clinch work and takedowns with a varied array of strikes.
FIGHT! Pick: Vera.

Mike Swick is good but Dan Hardy is better. Hardy hasn’t really been tested on the ground and he would probably be at a serious disadvantage to Swick’s Guerilla Jiu Jitsu there, but I don’t think this fight leaves the feet unless someone gets separated from his consciousness. Look for Hardy to cement his place near the top of the GSP Waiting List.
FIGHT! Pick: Hardy.

Just a few years ago fans were clamoring for a union between Kang and the UFC. Now we’re left wondering what the big deal was. He definitely has the athleticism and skills to be a contender but he has a tendency to make boneheaded decisions or get caught in subs so telegraphed you have to wonder if he is maintaining focus in the ring or cage. Bottom line, Kang has been on a slide and besides getting starched by Dan Henderson at UFC 100, Bisping has been looking good. Take the hometown boy.
FIGHT! Pick: Bisping.

Matt Brown doesn’t stand out as a fighter who does anything exceedingly well. In fact, the only thing that stands out about him is that he is a hard ass. Which is not to be confused with a tough guy. No, the hard ass is his own strain of American hero. A tough guy gets in bar fights; a hard ass fights terrorists barefoot in Nakatomi Towers. Which is all a roundabout way of saying that I can’t tell you why I bet on Matt Brown, but I keep doing it, and he keeps coming through except for UFC 96, and I was in Atlanta when he got decisioned by Dong Hyun Kim and thought that decision was B.S. Yippie kai-a, motherfuckers.
FIGHT! Pick: Brown.