UFC 74 – Respect
Well, it’s been quite a while since the last UFC PPV event and I am more than ready for some new bouts. On August 25th, we have UFC 74 – Respect. Shortly after that, there will be UFC 75 taking place in England which is supposed to be a free presentation on Spike TV. Anyway, on to UFC 74 – the matchups…
Main Event – Gabriel “Napao” Gonzaga challenges Randy “The Natural” Couture for the heavweight title. Of course the big tagline for this fight is that Gonzaga knocked out Mirco Cro Cop. Although it was an impressive and unexpected knockout, it could have been a lucky kick as well. I don’t see Couture suffering the same fate. Couture is successful because of his mental game and physical preparation – he is in phenomenal shape for any age, let alone a guy in his 40’s. Gonzaga is a highly skilled fighter as well and he does have as good a chance as many to beat Couture, but I don’t see it happening. Couture can be a little bit short lived when it comes to belts, it’s as if he just wants to prove a point and then let it go sometimes. Anyway, I’m still going with Couture in this one.
Georges “Rush” St Pierre vs Josh Koschek. St Pierre will likely win this one, he is too hungry to get the belt back after losing, Koschek is still very young and has lots of time to make his move to champion status. Something to watch for — watch St. Pierre and the low blows. He has a tendency to do this in his fights. The only way I seeing Koscheck winning this fight is in a borefest with two overly cautious fighters, otherwise, Pierre will catch him with a knockout or win by decision. I don’t see Koscheck being submitted.
Renato “Babalu” Sobral vs David Heath. I really would like to Sobral make a comeback. He has a great record and has only really lost to champions. It’s an important fight for Babalu, if he loses, he will need to fight some scabs to make his way back up.
Two Lightweight bouts: Roger Huerta vs Alberto Crane and Clay Guida vs Marcus Aurelio. All I can say is that I hope they show both of these fights, because the lightweights usually end up stealing the show.
Once again, I will likely not order this only because Rogers does not show these events in HD. If Rogers makes this available in HD, they can consider me a monthly subscriber to them, but until then, I’m not paying $40 for a regular quality tv broadcast.