UFC Live Marquardt Vs. Story Fight Picks

UFC Fight Night Live: Marquardt vs. Story is one of the more intriguing fight cards of the year. While it doesn't have a ton of big names it has well known fighters who are exciting and always come to battle.

The main event is a tough one for fight fans to pick but the Marquardt vs. Story matchup will be a competitive fight and that's what fans are always looking for, as long as it packs plenty of action as this one will.

Marquardt was exposed as lacking in his wrestling game by Chael Sonnen in their fight but Sonnen is a level above Story in terms of wrestling. He drops levels and has much better takedowns.

Against a guy like Story who usually tries to overpower his opponents, Marquardt should be fine, even though much is unknown about him at the 170-pound level. Marquardt seems tailor made to handle the wrestling of Story as long as he handles the cut well.

In the main event matchup with Story filling in for Anthony Johnson, the pick is Marquardt by unanimous decision.

Other action features includes a heavyweight tilt between Matt Mitrione and Christian Morecraft. Morecraft looks a bit clumsy but he's a huge man who can score submissions at unexpected times against smaller opponents.

Morecraft has a size edge but Mitrione is a pretty big man in his own right whose striking has been improving leaps and bounds. Mitrione was choked out easily on the TUF show but he had a neck issue at the time.

This is a bit of a leap of faith here considering that submission loss but Mitrione should be ready to go and to prove it was a fluke. He will outstrike Morecraft and win a 2nd round TKO.

Pat Barry and Cheick Kongo is a striking fan's dream with Kongo holding a height advantage. Kongo is a fearsome striker as is Barry, but Kongo will use his newfound wrestling skills to win a decision in this one.

Also on the card is a throwdown between Matt Brown and John Howard. "Doomsday" as Howard is known has a tough stylistic matchup here. While Howard is a better all-around fighter, the pick here is that Brown will win in an upset pick for the UFC Fight Night Live: Marquardt vs. Story undercard matchup on Sunday night.