UFC 102 Preliminary Match Previews and Free Picks

UFC 102 will feature two legends of the sport fighting for the first time. Randy Couture will face Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira in the main event. I’ve cover that fight in a future post. Let’s have a look at the preliminary matches first.

Nick Catone vs. Mark Munoz – Middleweight

Nick Catone                                      +155
Mark Munoz                                      -190

Nick Cantone comes into this fight sporting a 6-1 record with only one fight going to a decision. Cantone is 1-1 in the UFC dropping his last fight to Tim Credeur. His opponent Mark Munoz is dropping down to middleweight from light heavyweight after being on the receiving end of a crushing Matt Hamill head kick in his UFC debut. Munoz, like Cantone, comes from a wrestling background so this fight will come down to who will get ground control.

BetUS.com has Munoz favored but I’m going to go with the dog Nick Cantone on this one, as the extra weight cut may be too much Mark Munoz to overcome.

Tim Hague vs. Todd Duffee – Heavyweight

Tim Hague                                        +110
Todd Duffee                                      -140

Tim Hague, this tough Canadian and King of the Cage veteran is fighting for the second time in the UFC. He won his first fight by choking out a then undefeated Patrick Barry. The favorite in this fight is American Top Team heavyweight Todd Duffee who will be making his UFC debut. Duffee is a solid striking having finished all of his fights via KO or TKO.

BetUS.com favors Duffee in this fight but again I’m going to take the dog Tim Hague in this one. We’ve seen a lot of much better fighter than Todd Duffee come into the octagon and lose their debut.

Justin McCully vs. Mike Russo – Heavyweight

Justin McCully                                  +200
Mike Russow                                     -260

Mike Russow is making his much-anticipated UFC debut vs. Justin McCully. Russo is highly favored in this matchup winning his last seven matches with six coming via submission. Justin McCully is 9-4 overall and 2-1 in the UFC. McCully holds a big wins over Antoni Hardonk and Eddie Sanchez but I don’t think he’ll have what it takes to beat Michael Russow and his strong submissions. I’ll side with BetUS.com here and take Russow.

Gabriel Gonzaga vs. Chris Tuchscherer – Heavyweight

Gabriel Gonzaga                               -350
Chris Tuchscherer                            +250

In what’s shaping up to be the night of the heavyweight, Gabriel Gonzaga has been relegated to the undercard after suffering a KO loss to heavyweight title contender Shane Carwin. He’ll face Chris Tuchscherer who is making his UFC debut.  Tuchscherer sports a 17-1 record but with all his fights coming from third tier promotions, it will be hard to know what to expect.

I’m leaning towards Gonzaga in this but the -350 is a lot of chalk to lay for a fighter who has been so inconsistent in the past couple of years.

Ed Herman vs. Aaron Simpson – Middleweight

Ed Herman                                          -150
Aaron Simpson                                 +120

UFC veteran Ed Herman is hoping he has things turned around after a win over David Loiseau at UFC 97, he’ll face 5-0, Aaron “The A-Train” Simpson. Simpson won his UFC debut beating an always-tough Tim McKenzie.

Herman is favored by BetUS.com and I’ll agree with them. Herman’s past two losses were to Alan Belcher and the undefeated submission machine Damian Maia.

Remember to make your picks at BetUS.com

I will be back later with the main card bouts.