WSOF 10 Predictions

                                             

WSOF 10 Predictions

June 17, 2014

By Ryan Porzl

Nick LoBosco vs. Lance Palmer

Nickname:                                          None            |     The Party      
Height:                                                  5'7              |          5'5
Age:                                                       29               |          26
MMA Record (WSOF):                   7-0 (1-0)        |      7-1 (0-1)
Arm Length:                                      63.5 in.         |        69 in.
Team:                                         St. Charles MMA | Team Alpha Male    
Weight Class:                                     Featherweight (145 pounds)                          

Notes:

Preview: LoBosco is undefeated with seven wins. His recent win was over Fabio Mello by TKO at WSOF 6 (October 26, 2013). Palmer is coming off a loss to Georgi Karakhanyan by submission at WSOF 7 (December 7, 2013).

Prediction: Palmer. Palmer is coming off a loss but the loss was to Georgi Karakhanyan who is one of the best featherweights in the world and huge step up in competition for Palmer. LoBosco should be a better fight for Palmer at this stage of his career. Despite the loss, Palmer is a talented prospect with a lot of potential. He comes from Team Alpha Male which is one of the best gyms in MMA and should help Palmer prepare for this fight. Palmer is a great athlete and a great former All-American wrestler who can be explosive and move very well on the ground so he should have the advantage there. Palmer is also a very good submission fighter specifically with chokes. While Palmer is not known for being a striker and never won a fight by knockout, he's not a bad striker and will have a five inch reach advantage.

Luiz Firmino vs. Tyson Griffin

Nickname:                                        Buscape        |        None
Height:                                                   5'8            |         5'6
Age:                                                        32             |         30
MMA Record (WSOF):                  17-6 (1-0)      |     17-7 (0-1)
Arm Length:                                       69.5 in.       |        69 in.
Team:                                                Blackzilians | American Kickboxing Academy   
Weight Class:                                        Lightweight (155 pounds)                          

Notes:

Preview: Firmino is riding a four fight win streak. His recent win was over Jacob Volkmann by unanimous decision at WSOF 6 (October 26, 2014). Griffin is coming off a loss to Gesias Cavalcante by TKO at WSOF 4 (August 10, 2013)

Prediction: Griffin. I'm picking Griffin but not with a lot of confidence. Griffin hasn't looked good in years. He's 2-5 since 2010, has been knocked out or TKOed three times, and I know little to nothing on Firmino. However, Griffin still could pull it off. Losing to Takanori Gomi and JZ Cavalcante by (T)KO is nothing to be ashamed of. Nor is split decision losses to Nik Lentz and Evan Dunham. Griffin is a good wrestler with good ground skills and he can strike and hold his own standing. Though he hasn't finished an opponent in years, Griffin is capable of knocking opponents out as he has six wins by way of knockout and four wins by submission. Griffin also has very good submission defense as he's never been submitted in his career. Firmino may have a difficult time winning this fight. Though Griffin has been (T)KOed three times in recent years, Firmino doesn't possess a lot of knockout power as he's only won one fight by knockout and that was twelve years. Firmino has won most of his fights by submission but, once again, Griffin has never been submitted. Griffin has also faced many Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belts, wrestlers, and fighters who have won most of their fights by submission like Rafael dos Anjos, Marcus Aurelio, Nik Lentz, Evan Dunham, Urijah Faber, and Hermes Franca and none of them could submit Griffin.

Jessica Aguilar vs. Emi Fujino

Nickname:                                              Jag              | The Kamikaze Angel   
Height:                                                     5'4             |        5'3
Age:                                                          32              |        33
MMA Record (WSOF):                    17-4 (1-0)       |   13-7 (0-0)
Arm Length:                                          61 in.          |    Unknown  
Team:                                      American Top Team | Wajutsu Keishukai GODS 
Weight Class:                                 Women's Strawweight (115 pounds)                           

Notes: For the WSOF Women's Strawweight Championship

Preview: Aguilar is riding an eight fight win streak. Her recent win was over Alida Gray by submission at WSOF 8 (January 18, 2014). Fujino is coming off a loss to Mizuki Inoue by unanimous decision at DEEP Jewels 2 (November 4, 2014).

Prediction: Aguilar. I don't know anything about Fujino but Aguilar is arguably the best women's strawweight in the world. She's an excellent grappler with eight wins by submission and a gold medalist in FILA. Aguilar is also very hard to finish as she's never been knocked out and her only submission loss was in her debut fight. From what I've heard and read about Fujino, she's done kickboxing but wasn't an elite fighter. In her MMA career, she's never won a fight by knockout so Aguilar doesn't need to have to worry about suffering a nasty knockout. Fujino has won six fights by submission but it's doubtful her grappling is anywhere near the level of Aguilar's. Aguilar is training at American Top Team which should give her better coaches and sparring partners.

Georgi Karakhanyan vs. Rick Glenn

Nickname:                                        Insane                     |  The Gladiator   
Height:                                                5'8                         |      6'0
Age:                                                      29                         |      25
MMA Record (WSOF):               23-3-1 (2-0)                |  14-2-1 (2-0)
Arm Length:                                      69 in.                     | Unknown   
Team:                                           Millennia MMA          | Roufusport   
Weight Class:                                 Featherweight (145 pounds)                          

Notes: For the WSOF Featherweight Championship

Preview: Karakhanyan is riding a nine fight win streak. His recent win was over Lance Palmer by submission at WSOF 7 (December 7, 2013). Glenn is unbeaten in twelve fights (11 wins, 1 draw). His recent fight was a win over Artur Rofi at WSOF 5 (September 14, 2013).

Prediction: Karakhanyan. Karakhanyan is one of the best featherweights in the world and has a lot of good skills. His biggest strength is his jiu-jitsu as most of his wins are by way of submission. If this fight goes to the ground, then Karakhanyan should have the advantage. He's also not only scored many submissions wins but he's won with a variety of submission holds including triangle chokes, north-south choke, armbars, kimuras, rear-naked chokes, and guillotine chokes so Glenn should avoid the ground because Karakhanyan could catch him with something. Despite being mostly known for his grappling, Karakhanyan can hold his own standing. He's good with leg kicks and he can box. He most recent knockout win was only two years ago in a fight that he won in only a minute. Karakhanyan is also very hard to put away. He's never been submitted in his career and his only knockout loss was three years ago against Patricio Freire who is one of the best featherweights in the world. Glenn has also shown weaknesses in his WSOF debut fight last year. He got taken down multiple times in the first round, he was nearly submitted a few times, he got clipped, and was on his way to losing by decision until getting the knockout win in the third round.

Dave Branch vs. Jesse Taylor

Nickname:                                            None          |     JT Money

Height:                                                   6'1             |        6'1
Age:                                                        32              |         31
MMA Record (WSOF):                   13-3 (3-0)      |   27-9 (1-0)
Arm Length:                                        79.5 in.       |     73.5 in.
Team:                                  Renzo Gracie Jiu Jitsu |  Team Quest   
Weight Class:                                   Middleweight (185 pounds)                         

Notes: For the WSOF Middleweight Championship

Preview: Branch is riding a three fight win streak. His recent win was over Danillo Villefort at WSOF 5 (September 14, 2013). Taylor is riding a seven fight win streak. His recent win was over Elvis Mutapcic by unanimous decision at WSOF 7 (December 7, 2013).

Prediction: Branch. This is a hard pick but I'll go with Branch. Branch is a very good grappler as he comes out of Renzo Gracie's team and has very good Brazilian jiu-jitsu and has won awards in BJJ. While Branch isn't a striker, his reach could possibly help him. He's also shown to be a very good grinder and grind out decisions. Branch is also tough to finish as he was knocked out once via a slam and submitted once but to Rousimar Palhares with a leg submission and Palhares is known for leg locks. Though he hasn't won a fight by submission in a long time, Branch could still pull off a submission. Taylor is a good grappler but is a submission magnet as eight of his nine losses are by way of submission.