2012 UFC 148 Picks & Predictions for Silva vs. Sonnen II
By Drew Sharper
LAS VEGAS, NV – UFC 148 takes place on Saturday night and we have some free picks to consider for the event.
UFC 148 will have its main card air live on PPV at 10PM ET. The bouts will be held in the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
UFC Middleweight Championship – Anderson Silva (31-4) vs. Chael Sonnen (27-11-1)
Chael Sonnen owned Anderson Silva for 23 minutes in their first meeting before getting caught in a submission. Silva claimed he had injured ribs during that bout, but the fact remains that Sonnen made Silva look human. Sonnen is the only opponent Silva has struggled with and Silva is clearly emotional going into this fight given he has physical contacted Sonnen during face-to-face photo ops this week. For Sonnen to win, he will have to grind out the 25 minutes. He doesn’t tend to finish opponents. That gives Silva five rounds to finish this fight. If this goes the distance, Sonnen surely wins. His problem is he struggles to defend submissions and Silva has one punch/kick KO power. Ultimately, I don’t see Sonnen going 25 minutes without making a mistake, giving Silva the victory. FREE PICK – Anderson Silva -275
UFC Light Heavyweight Bout – Forrest Griffin (18-7) vs. Tito Ortiz (16-10-1)
This is the third fight between these two. The first two fights were very close, with each man getting the nod once. The big factor here is that this is Ortiz’ retirement bout. I look for him to come out very motivated and very aggressive. I don’t see Griffin have the one-punch KO power to finish Ortiz, as Ortiz can take a punch. I see Ortiz scoring takedowns and doing enough to win the decision and go out on a high note. FREE PICK – Tito Ortiz +250
UFC Welterweight Bout – Dong Hyun Kim (15-1) vs. Demian Maia (15-4)
Maia is making his welterweight debut after contending as a middleweight for years. Maia is one of the best submission fighters in the world and that should work well against Kim, who tends to rely on wrestling as opposed to striking. Kim is a big fighter, but so is Maia. I see Kim taking the fight to the ground but eventually falling into the submission traps of Maia. Look for Maia to win by submission in the later rounds. FREE PICK – Demian Maia +115