UFC 101: Declaration - Preview and Predictions

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) will present UFC 101: Declaration, on August 8, 2009 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The fight card will feature one championship bout when lightweight champion B.J. Penn takes on #1 contender Kenny Florian in the main event. There will also be an intriguing light heavyweight match-up when UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva moves up in weight to battle former UFC light heavyweight champion Forrest Griffin.

The first bout on the main card is a lightweight bout that puts Josh "The Dentist" Neer against Kurt "Batman" Pellegrino. Neer is a veteran with 32 MMA fights. He has had two stints in the UFC. His first stint was in 2005 to 2006 but it didn't go very well, as he lost to Drew Fickett, Josh Burkman, and Nick Diaz. Neer would battle in a couple of other organizations before returning to the UFC. In his second stint with the UFC, Neer would pick up his first UFC win against Din Thomas by decision. After losing a close decision to Nate Diaz, he most recently had the best performance of his career, submitting Mac Danzig in the second round. Pellegrino has a lot less experience in MMA than Neer but more fights in the UFC. Pellegrino also lost his first UFC fight against Drew Fickett but rebounded well, scoring first round submissions over Junior Assuncao and Nate Mohr. After losing his next UFC fight against Joe Stevenson, Pellegrino would earn his fight knockout win against Alberto Crane. Pellegrino would pick up his third loss in the UFC against Nate Diaz but again rebounded well against Thiago Tavares, picking up the unanimous decision, as well as "Fight of the Night" honors. Pellegrino's latest fight has also been one of his best performances, submitting Rob Emerson in two rounds. Both fighters are coming into this fight at the peak of their careers. They are both submission experts with 18 total submissions combined. Expect many submission attempts in this fight. Pellegrino by third round submission.

The second match is a middleweight fight between Kendall "Da Spyder" Grove and Ricardo "Cachorrao" Almeida. Grove is one of the most entertaining and controversial fighters in MMA today. After every knockout victory, Grove celebrates by pretending to dig a grave and bury his opponent, a stunt originally adapted by Tito Ortiz. Grove was the Ultimate Fighter 3 winner after defeating Ed Herman by unanimous decision. The win earned him a six-figure contract with the UFC. Grove won his first three fights in the UFC, two by submission, before losing two straight by first round KO. But Grove bounced back nicely, winning a wide unanimous decision over Evan Tanner and a first round KO over Jason Day. Almieda has an experience advantage over Grove, starting MMA in 2000. He got his first three fights in the UFC in 2001 but lost two of the three. After fighting in other organizations and going undefeated in them, Almieda would come back to the UFC in 2008, submitting Rob Yundt in the first round. He would lose a close decision to Patrick Cote but bounced back nicely, winning a unanimous decision a few months ago against Matt Horwich. Grove has fought the better competition throughout his career and has the better stand-up skills with Almeida having the advantage on the ground. This fight could go either way. Grove by split decision.

The third bout is a welterweight match-up between Amir Sadollah and Johny Hendricks. Both of these guys are new to the UFC and the MMA in general but Sadollah is already being groomed as the next UFC superstar. Sadollah had very little MMA experience, amassing a record of 4-0 in the amateurs, but impressed Dana White enough to get a shot on the Ultimate Fighter 7. Sadollah wasn't considered a threat by the other Ultimate Fighters and might of been taken lightly. He won all four preliminary fights to advance to the Ultimate Fighter Finale. Sadollah won the Finale by first round armbar submission over C.B. Dollaway in his only professional MMA fight. This was the second consecutive match that Sadollah submitted Dollaway by armbar. Sadollah is a submission expert, with all wins in the Ultimate Fighter by submission. Hendricks started in various MMA organizations, going 3-0 as a pro, before signing a multi-fight deal with WEC (World Extreme Cagefighting). Hendricks beat Justin Haskins at WEC 37 and won a decision over Alex Serdyukov at WEC 39. Just when Hendricks was beginning to be a big player in the WEC, the company decided to dissolve the welterweight division to focus on lighter fighters. Hendricks next logical move was to sign with the UFC. He comes into this fight with a record of 5-0 but largely untested. Should be a great fight. This will be the biggest test of Sadollah's young MMA career. I am going with Hendrick pulling off the upset. Hendrick by second round TKO.

The co-main event is a light heavyweight bout when UFC middleweight champion Anderson "The Spider" Silva takes on former UFC light heavyweight champion Forrest Griffin. This will be Silva's second fight in this weight category, the first one being a first round KO against James Irvin. Silva is currently the top pound-for-pound fighter in the world and holds the record for he record for most consecutive victories in the UFC at nine. Before arriving at UFC, Silva fought in Cage Rage and PRIDE, winning the Cage Rage middleweight title and defending it three times. In Silva's UFC debut, he easily dominated top contender Chris Leben, stopping him in under a minute with punches and knees. Silva got a title shot in his second UFC fight against Rich Franklin. Silva would knock out long-time champ Franklin in one round with brutal knees to win the UFC Middleweight Title. After defending the title twice successfully against Travis Lutter and Nate Marquardt, Silva fought Rich Franklin in a rematch. The second fight between these two was reminiscent of their first encounter. Silva knocked out Franklin again with brutal knees to the face, to solidify himself as one of the best pound-for-pound fighters. Silva would later beat top contenders Dan Henderson and Patrick Cote. But Silva had the most lackluster performance of his career in his last fight against Thales Leites, and went the full five rounds for the first time. Leites did not want to seem to engage in any offense and the crowd booed both men for their performances. Silva is undefeated in his UFC career. Griffin gained notoriety for competing in the original Ultimate Fighter. He won a six-figure contract after beating Stephan Bonnar in one of the greatest fights in UFC history. After beating two over-matched opponents by first round stoppage, Griffin would get the toughest opponent in his career, in former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Tito Ortiz. Griffin would lose a controversial split decision but gain many fans. After winning a unanimous decision in a rematch with Stephan Bonnar, Griffin suffered the worst loss of his career, getting knocked out by dangerous Keith Jardine, late in the first round. Griffin rebounded nicely with a decision win over Hector Ramirez. After the win, Griffin would next fight Mauricio "Shogun" Rua at UFC 76. Rua was the #1 light heavyweight fighter at the time and was a huge favorite in the fight. Griffin, against all odds, dominated Rua for the majority of the fight, before submitting him by rear naked choke with 15 seconds left. Griffin next became an Ultimate Fighter 7 coach, fighting Quinton "Rampage" Jackson at the end of the series. Griffin peppered Jackson with leg kicks and punches for most of the fight, defeating Jackson to win the Light Heavyweight Championship. Griffin would lose the title in his first title defense against Rashad Evans. Evans stopped Griffin by third round TKO after ground and pound. Griffin and Silva have contrasting styles. Griffin prefers stand-up while Silva prefers to fight on the ground. This fight might steal the show and win Fight of the Night Honors. Silva by unanimous decision.

The main event of the night is a lightweight championship fight between UFC Lightweight Champion B.J. "The Prodigy" Penn and #1 contender Kenny "KenFlo" Florian. Penn has been a stable at the UFC and has had an illustrious career in MMA. Penn has fought a total of 14 times in the UFC, winning nine times, losing four times, with one draw. Penn has fought with the best in the UFC and usually came out victorious. Penn began his career in the UFC and earned his nickname, The Prodigy. Penn got two shots at the UFC Lightweight Championship early in his career but lost a close majority decision to Jens Pulver and had a draw against Caol Uno. Penn won the UFC Welterweight Championship in a huge upset against Matt Hughes by first round submission. After getting stripped of his UFC title for fighting in other organizations, Penn returned to the UFC and fought Georges St-Pierre. Penn lost a close split decision but earned a shot against Matt Hughes and the UFC Welterweight Championship. Penn was stopped for the first time in his career by Hughes in the third round. In his next UFC fight, Penn fought another rematch, this time with Jens Pulver. Both were coaches against each other on The Ultimate Fighter 5. Penn won the rematch by submission in the second round, after dominating the whole fight. Penn would win his second championship, this one in the lightweight division, against Joe Stevenson. He made his first successful defense against Sean Sherk. Penn most recently had a rematch with GSP, but was dominated to the point that he didn't come out for the fifth and final round. Penn is only the second fighter to win UFC titles in two different weight classes. Florian got his start in the UFC on the first season of the Ultimate Fighter. To earn his title shot, Florian has won six consecutive fights in the UFC, beating top contenders Joe Stevenson, Roger Huerta, and Joe Lauzon. On paper, this looks like a B.J. Penn mismatch. But lack of interest and lack of training, combined with not taking MMA serious anymore by Penn might make this match more interesting. I am still going with Penn but would not be that surprised if Florian can pull off the big upset. Both fighters are submission experts but Penn has the advantage in punching power and flexibility. Penn by fourth round submission.