UFC Fight Night: Diaz vs. Guillard Predictions

By Adam Brubaker

UFC Fight Night 19: Diaz vs Guillard will take place tonight Sept.16 at the Cox Convention Center in Oklahoma City, Ok. The event will air live  and for free on Spike TV with an epic main card and talent strong enough to be a pay-per-view event.

Predictions:

Nate Quarry (11-3) vs. Tim Credeur (12-2)
Both fighters are former TUF cast members who have been successful in MMA in spite of the fact that they did not win the show. Credeur is 3-0 in the UFC, holding victories over Cale Yarbrough, Nate Loughran, and Nick Catone. Credeur will definitely have his hands full with UFC veteran, Nate Quarry. Quarry is no slouch in the talented UFC middleweight division. In fact he is 6-2 in the UFC holding victories over Drew Mcfedries, Pete Sell (2x), Shonie Carter, Kalib Starnes, including an extremely impressive TKO victory over Jason Mcdonald. This will be a great fight to start out a promising night of fights. Nate Quarry will most likely win via unanimous decision due to his experience and brutal ground and pound skills.

Carlos Condit (23-5) vs. Jake Ellenberger (21-4)
Former WEC welterweight champion Carlos Condit was forced to move to the UFC after the WEC dropped three of the heavier divisions. He is now looking to get back on the horse after a devastating loss to Martin Kampmann via split decision.  Condit was originally scheduled to fight UFC veteran Chris Lytle but an injury forced the talented former boxer out of the fight. Taking his place will be UFC newcomer and IFL veteran, Jake Ellenberger. Although both fighters have equally impressive fight records Condit fought more  top competitors than Ellenberger. Moreover, Condit holds victories over Carlo Prater, Hiromitzu Miura, Brock Larson, John Allesio, and Frank Trigg. Regardless, anything can happen in MMA and Ellenberger deserves this opportunity just as much as Condit. A lot of people have yet to see him fight so hopefully he can shock the world by putting on a great performance to ensure future fights in the world’s top MMA promotion. Condit will most likely take the win via submission due to his excellent ground game.  He knows exactly what to do to neutralize and expose Ellenberger’s weaknesses.

Gray Maynard (7-0) vs. Roger Huerta (20-1)
This bout is a lightweight showdown between two of the top lightweights of the UFC and  should have been the main event in my humble opinion. Both fighters are hungry for a title shot. However, this will be Roger Huerta’s last fight on his UFC contract. Huerta has stated numerous times, that he is at a crossroads between staying in the UFC or pursuing a career as an actor/model. He did in fact land a role as “Matador” in the upcoming “Tekken” movie, which should hit theaters sometime in early 2010. Moreover, he was the first MMA fighter to ever be featured on the front cover of “Sports Illustrated magazine”. There is no doubt that Huerta  earned that kind of honor due to high caliber fights. Nevertheless, no fighter is invincible and Huerta recently lost to Kenny Florian via unanimous decision. That does not diminish his previous victories over Clay Guida, Leanard Garcia, and Alberto Crane. Huerta is known for his superior stand up skill, but has an extremely underrated ground game. Maynard seems like the ideal opponent since he was a finalist on “TUF 5”. Even though Maynard’s record may not be as impressive as Huerta’s, he has faced top quality opponents in his last three bouts. He holds victories over Rich Clemente, Jim Miller, and Frank Edgar. This fight could go either way considering that both fighters have fought top caliber opponents. Maynard will most likely try to neutralize Huerta’s stand up and finish the bout with a good does of ground and pound.

Main Event:Nate Diaz (10-4) vs. Melvin Guillard (22-7-1)
This fight is another clash between two former “TUF” cast members. Nate Diaz was the winner of season 5, and had five wins in the UFC before tasting defeat. Diaz is currently on a two-fight losing streak after bouts with Clay Guida and Joe Stevenson. Previous victories include wins against Josh Neer, Kurt Pelligrino, Manny Gamburyan, and Alvin Robinson. Nevertheless, Diaz is now in desperate need of another win. But so is his opponent, Melvin Guillard. Guillard was a cast member of TUF in season 2 and was best known for knocking out current welterweight star, Marcus Davis. Moreover, he holds victories over Gleison Tibau, Eric Regan, and Dennis Siver. Diaz will most likely try to secure the win via triangle choke.