UFC 134 Silva vs Okami Preview & Picks
What better way to round out the summer than with a stacked UFC card in Brazil? UFC 134 should be something special.
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Here are my picks for the top three bouts of the night.
Promotion – Ultimate Fighting Championship
Event – UFC 134: World Bantamweight Championship – Silva vs Okami
Date – Saturday August 27, 2011
Time – 9pm ET/6pm PT
Venue – Rio de Janeiro, Brazil at the HSBC Arena
Broadcast – Pay-per-view
Bet on UFC 134
UFC MIDDLEWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP: Anderson Silva (30-4) vs Yushin Okami (26-5)
UFC 134 odds: Silva -450, Okami +350
Time for Yushin Okami to prove his last “win” over Anderson Silva wasn’t a fluke. The Japanese import holds the honor of being the last man to technically defeat Anderson Silva.
The victory came more than five years ago; Silva has won 14 straight bouts since then. But not many wins come with the victor lying on the ground, unconscious. 
Silva knocked Okami cold with an illegal upkick and was disqualified.
There’s a camp of bettors and experts that believe Okami is just the man to take Silva’s title. He’s one of the largest middleweights in the world; he rarely takes major damage on his feet; and his Judo gives him a shot to get Silva to the ground and manhandle him the way Chael Sonnen did.
After all, even though Silva knocked him out, Silva was on his back, so clearly Okami was doing something right to put him in that position.
I’m not one of those people who believe in Okami for this Saturday. Okami is a solid fighter but he’s not extraordinary in any one area. He’s nowhere near the champ’s league in the striking game. He may be the stronger man but Silva has beaten two Olympic-caliber wrestlers, Dan Henderson and Sonnen, with his Jiu-Jitsu and submissions.
Most importantly, there’s just no way Silva, one of the sport’s best showmen of all time, doesn’t show up for a fight on his home soil in Brazil, He should be fired up and ready to do something spectacular. Pick: Silva -450
Light heavyweight: Mauricio Rua (19-5) vs Forrest Griffin (18-6)
UFC 134 odds: Rua -220, Griffin +180
The second biggest fight at UFC 134 is also a rematch and, like with Silva and Okami, the guy who won the first fight is the underdog the second time around.
So why is Forrest Griffin an underdog against Shogun Rua? It’s not as much Forrest’s fault. He’s been more up than down recently, riding consecutive wins against Tito Ortiz and Rich Franklin and going 5-2 over his last seven fights.
It’s more that Griffin didn’t fight the “real” Shogun back in 2007, when he choked him out to complete of the greatest upsets in UFC history. Shogun injured his knee in that fight and had absolutely no gas tank.
The current Shogun is expected to be in peak form on Saturday. After Jon Jones dominated him to win the light heavyweight belt off him in March, Shogun should be angry and motivated.
He’s back training with Rafael Cordeiro, the man who made him the devastating Muay Thai striker he is today, and that’s bad news for Griffin.
Griffin has the size and conditioning advantage over Shogun but Shogun’s striking and combinations are virtually unmatched when he’s on his game. Griffin could try taking Shogun down but Shogun, a BJJ black belt, should handle himself fine if his conditioning is up to snuff.
I’ll assume that Shogun shows up ready and in shape this time and beats Griffin with his superior striking. Pick: Rua -220
Heavyweight: Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (32-6-1, 1 NC) vs Brendan Schaub (8-1)
UFC 134 odds: Nogueira +180, Schaub -220
It’s the legend versus the legend killer in what could be a No. 1 contender match at heavyweight. If Antonio Rodrigo “Minotauro ‘Nogueira wins, he may need another “W” to earn a shot at the heavyweight belt. However, a victory could put Brendan Schaub at the top of the latter and ready to meet the winner of Cain Velasquez and Junior Dos Santos. [ad-3573245]
It’s Schaub’s fight to lose. All he has to do is keep the fight standing and avoid Nogueira’s submissions. Schaub should be stronger everywhere else, as he hits harder, he’s younger, he’s the better athlete and he’s stronger.
Most importantly, Schaub has less tread on his tires. Nogueira was famous for taking major punishment and overcoming it to pull off miracle submissions – but that style has taken its toll.
As we’ve recently seen with other legends like Chuck Liddell and Mirko Cro Cop, whom Schaub knocked out in March, most fighters hit a point at which their chins just give out.
In two of his last three bouts, Nogueira was viciously knocked out. He had never been stopped in a fight prior to those defeats.
I like Schaub to score a KO and add another legend to his list of victims. Pick: Schaub -220
UFC 133: OFFICIAL FIGHT CARD
Main Card
Middleweight Championship: Anderson Silva (c) vs. Yushin Okami
Light Heavyweight bout: Maurício Rua vs. Forrest Griffin
Heavyweight bout: Brendan Schaub vs. Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira
Lightweight bout: Ross Pearson vs. Edson Barboza
Light Heavyweight bout: Luiz Cane vs. Stanislav Nedkov
Preliminary Card (televised in Brazil/Spike TV/Sportsnet) UFC.tv in the UK
Lightweight bout: Thiago Tavares vs. Spencer Fisher
Middleweight bout: Rousimar Palhares vs. Dan Miller
Preliminary Card (televised in Brazil/Facebook)
Welterweight bout: Paulo Thiago vs. David Mitchell
Bantamweight bout: Raphael Assunção vs. Johnny Eduardo
Welterweight bout: Erick Silva vs. Luis Ramos
Featherweight bout: Yuri Alcantara vs. Felipe Arantes
Bantamweight bout: Yves Jabouin vs. Ian Loveland
