Fight Picks – Sean Sheehan vs Tommy Toe Hold

This event’s “Sean Sheehan Vs” sees Sean taking on MMA cartoon legend Tommy Toe Hold in a battle of UFC 175 fight picks.

Every UFC event Sean and his opponent will break down the reasoning behind their main card picks and will give quick picks for the undercard.

We start with the main event, Weidman vs Machida for the middleweight championship

Chris Weidman (c) vs. Lyoto Machida

I smell a shock. Lyoto Machida, the former UFC light-heavyweight champion, has earned himself the opportunity to follow BJ Penn and Randy Couture to become only the third two-division champion in the history of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. In his way is champion Chris Weidman; the man who brought down Anderson Silva the longest reigning champ in UFC history. Weidman is an all-American wrestler who has honed his MMA skills under the tutelage of Ray Longo and, former UFC welterweight champion, Matt Serra in New York. Slick submissions and power striking have been added to his elite wrestling and have seen him notch up an unbeaten eleven fight start to his career. Machida has had a long career and fought some of the best fighters in the world. He is a karate specialist who is extremely hard to hit, strikes hard and pounces on the smallest of mistakes. In the past, Machida has had success against wrestlers because of his unusual style and toughness to get on the floor. If Weidman want to win he’ll have to find a way of catching the Brazilian early and often. It will be tough for Weidman to win the fight on the feet as Machida will be weary of his power. On the ground, Weidman should dominate – getting it there is the problem. If Machida has a good gameplan and sticks to it I think he can catch Weidman and beat him.

Sheehan’s pick – Machida via TKO/KO

This is really an interesting fight and I honestly have no fucking clue what’s gonna happen. Lyoto Machida is the biggest mystery in mixed martial arts. He’s the Stonehenge. He’s the pyramids at Giza. He’s the pimento in the olive. Whether Weidman has the solution to that problem is completely anybody’s guess, but it’s very hard to pick against a man who has decimated Anderson Silva two times and never lost a fight. I’m going with the champ via SUB.

Tommy’s Pick – Weidman via Submission

Ronda Rousey (c) vs. Alexis Davis

This fight is basically happening because there is nobody else to fight Ronda. Holm and Cyborg aren’t signed yet, Zingano is still out and Gina Carano was probably just using the UFC for publicity. Rousey is better on the feet, better in the transitions and, despite Davis’ black belt in jiu-jitsu, better on the ground. This isn’t a matter of who will win, it’s a matter of how quick will it happen. My pick is the first half of the first round.

Sheehan’s pick – Rousey via submission

Joan Jett. Mean face. Fast walk. Judo toss. Armbar. First round. Expendables 3.

Tommy’s Pick – Rousey via armbar

Stefan Struve vs. Matt Mitrione

First and foremost it’s great to see Stefan Struve back after a heart condition which could have threatened his career, or worse. He has a tough comeback assignment against Matt Mitrione. Standing at seven feet tall Struve is a mean task for anyone. Mitrione will need to get inside and back out quickly if he wants to test the sometimes suspect chin of the Dutchman and win this fight. At range, Struve will pick the former NFL player apart. On the ground too, Struve is light years ahead and will finish Mitrione off quickly if it goes down. The only issue is how will Struve look after such a long lay off?

Sheehan’s pick – Struve via submission

What an awesome fucking story. I’m so happy that Struve gets to come back to MMA after his health issues. He’s had a long lay off but is made of some sort of space metal that cannot be destroyed so I think this one goes three rounds and will probably be the most fun all night. That said, Struve tends to get hit a whole bunch, and Matt Mitrione is a fucking Mack truck so I assuming he will be teeing off on the giant for the better part of those three rounds.

Tommy’s Pick –Mitrione via Decision

Uriah Hall vs. Thiago Santos

The question here is which Uriah Hall will show up? The bona fide killer who strikes fear through the division with his power hitting or the tentative, slow Hall which UFC president Dana White labelled as not being a real fighter. It’s hard to know. If the bad Hall shows up, Santos, as he showed his his last fight, is well able to make him pay. But if Hall is firing he shouldn’t have too much trouble. This one is likely to play out on the feet with both men throwing bombs. If Uriah decides to fight I see him getting the finish.

Sheehan’s pick – Hall via TKO/KO

Sorry Adam. I believe in Gotham City. I believe in Uriah Hall. The dude is a born killer. I think he wins via super flying cartwheel spinning death shin knockout.

Tommy’s Pick – Hall via KO

Marcus Brimage vs. Russell Doane

The biggest talking point coming into this fight is how it pushed Urijah Faber and Alex Caceres into the prelims. The answer, basically, is that it’s the UFC’s MO recently. Put a big fight headlining the prelims to improve ratings, make Fox happy and hopefully draw people into the PPV. With that said, this should be a fun little scrap. Doane won his one UFC outing to date but Brimage, who moves down to Bantamweight after losing to Conor McGregor, is the toughest test of his career. I see Brimage using his wrestling to grind out the win here.

Sheehan’s pick – Brimage via decision

Marcus Brimage vs Russell Doane

I fucking love Marcus Brimage. Anybody who walks around with a scouter on their head from Dragonball Z is someone that I want to be my best friend. He’s got the experience here. He had a tough loss against Conor McGregor and some close decisions prior to that. This Doane guy is coming in pretty hot after his debut Submission of the Night back in January. I’m going against my heart here and saying Doane via submission.

Tommy’s Pick – Doane by submission

BJ Penn vs. Frankie Edgar

Ok we’ve decided to stick Penn/Edgar 3 in here because it deserves to be here. The first two fights were very Frankie Edgar looking. He ducked and weaved bamboozling Penn with speed he’d never seen before. Some people thought BJ won the first fight, everyone knows Frankie won the second. What makes this different, though, is that it’s at 145 pounds. The thought is that Penn will have to be in optimal shape just to make the weight thus bridging the gap of the last meeting. I don’t see it that way. He may be slighter now but he’s also older and after some heavy beatings. Edgar, on the other hand, is just settling in to his new division after some close decision losses. This is last chance saloon stuff for BJ Penn and maybe that’ll make him dangerous. In my opinion to win this fight BJ must get Frankie down and submit him. I don’t think he’s fast enough on the feet to trouble Edgar with his power or over the twenty-five minutes to take a decision. Frankie, though, is notoriously hard to firstly take down and then hold down. I expect Edgar to box like he normally does, coming in and out with speed over five rounds to take the decision.

Sheehan’s pick – Edgar via decision

This one makes me sad. I love BJ Penn. He’s one of my favorite fighters of all time. Just an absolutely awesome fighter who always entertains. I really like Frankie too. Dude is a Rocky movie in every fight. The first two fights were pretty definitive I thought. Frankie was just faster. BJ didn’t have an answer for the…answer? It’s been 4 years since those fights took place. I can’t imagine that even with the lower weight class BJ has gotten faster as he gets older. With much sadness, I am choosing Frankie Edgar via DEC.

Tommy’s Pick – Edgar via decision

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Sheehan’s undercard quick picks:

Urijah Faber (winner via TKO/KO) vs. Alex Caceres

Kenny Robertson (winner via decision) vs. Ildemar Alcantara

Chris Camozzi (winner via decision) vs. Bruno Santos

George Roop (winner via decision) vs. Rob Font

Luke Zachrich vs. Guilherme Vasconcelos (winner via submission)

Kevin Casey vs. Bubba Bush (winner via decision)

Tommy’s undercard Picks:

Urijah Faber vs Alex Caceres – Urijah Faber via SUB

Kenny Robertson vs Ildemar Alcantara – Keny Robertson via TKO

Chris Camozzi vs Bruno Santos – Chris Camozzi via DEC

George Roop vs Rob Font – George Roop via DEC

Luke Zachrich vs Guilherme Vaconcelos – Luke Zachrich via DEC

Kevin Casey vs Bubba Bush – Bubba Bush via TKO

Rules: Every correct pick made is equal to 1 point. If the competition ends in a draw then method of victory will be used to decide a winner

And for the Sean Sheehan bet of the week…

For my bet of the week I’m trying to get a big one up in the bookies with a treble of underdogs Kenny Robertson, Marcus Brimage and Lyoto Machida which works out at around 8/1.