swope's last minute UFC 58 picks

[swope]

rich franklin v david loiseau

franklin by third round tko. the crow is a flashy, wild fighter who can end just about any fight with his elbows, but franklin is at the top of his game. expect solid domination from bell to bell by franklin, who will keep distance with the crow and pick him off with strong counter punches until he can make an opening for a solid ko.



GSP v BJ penn

there were 17,000 votes for this on mmaweekly a few days ago, with less than .5% variance in the result. personally, im leaning towards gsp. penn's recent fights show a serious lack of explosive energy. he went 3 rounds with renzo, all on the ground pretty much, and while that may have been an act of respect on his part it doesnt explain his inability to get over on lyoto, who seemed to be sparring the entire match.

there is no denying that penn is a thousand times more talented than gsp, but im unsure if penn is really at a point in his mma career where he is ready for someone of gsp's caliber.

im going to go on the record with an unpopular prediction; gsp by boring decision.

swick v vigneault

swick is like -600 in this fight for a reason. if you have 600$ handy, head on over to pinnacle and make a hundred bucks.


macdonald v lambert

this is the money shot. macdonald is like +225 last i checked, and will almost certainly demolish lambert. not as tasty as as burkman v fickett at +350 but a very nice potential money maker regardless.


murphy v midoux
murphy 1st round ko.

fisher v stout

fisher *should* win this handily, but stout is a good striker.. id still pick fisher tho.

marquardt v doerkson

nate should win this, probably by decision, simply on the basis of fight styles. the judges like standup, and nate will probably keep this fight on its feet and spend the entire fight counter punching his way to a boring UD, just like he did with salaverry.

yves edwards v hominic

yves by aburdly outclassing his opponent in just about every way you can name.

[swope]

edit: midoux is out (injuries)

this card is clearly cursed.