UFC 93: Franklin vs. Henderson Picks & Predictions
Written January 16, 2009 by Jason Lowry
With a little over a day remaining till UFC 93: Franklin vs. Henderson, we thought it would be a good idea to give you one last preview of the fight with our predictions on some of the bigger fights taking place this weekend. The event is scheduled to take place this Saturday January 17th live from Dublin, Ireland. For those of you watching in the states make sure that if you are looking to place a bet on the MMA action that you do so early, as the fights will have already taken place by the time it airs on pay-per-view. The main event has a much anticipated match up between former UFC Middleweight powerhouse Rich Franklin and the pride of PRIDE Dan Henderson, also Mark Coleman is back in the UFC for the first time in 10 years to take on Mauricio “Shogun” Rua in a rematch that has been in the making for a couple of years now. Other fights scheduled for the main card in this one are Alan Belcher vs. Denis Kang, Marcus Davis vs. Chris Lytle, and Jeremy Horn vs. Rousimar Palhares. Here is a quick overview of the two big fights, and our predictions on the other 3.
Current Line: Dan “Hendo” Henderson (-125) vs. Rich “Ace” Franklin (-105)
This is a fight the fans have wanted to see for some time now, and it has all the make up of one of the best fights this year. Henderson comes in at 23-7, while Franklin is a very impressive 26-3 in MMA action. While Henderson might be nearing the end of his days as a fighter, this guy can still throw punches with the best of them, and if he lands one of those devastating right hands, it could be game over for Franklin. Taking out Franklin will not be an easy task, as this guy comes in to a fight as prepared as it gets, and is coming off two big knockout wins over Travis Lutter and Matt Hamill. Knocking Henderson out is no easy task, but we believe that Franklin is going to prove to be the much better fighter in this one, and win this fight by unanimous decision.
Prediction: Franklin -125
Current Line: Mark “The Hammer” Coleman (+335) vs. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua (-415)
There is a lot of bad blood between these two fighters, and what better way to settle this dispute than in the octagon. Both of these fighters have spent at least part of their career fighting in PRIDE, and that is where these two fighters first squared off back in 2006, with Coleman walking away victorious by breaking the arm of Rua. Coleman will have to prove that at the age of 44 he still has something left in the tank, but beating “Shogun” this time around will be no easy task. We are with the oddsmakers on this one, as we think Rua is going to absolutely dominate this fight, and for those of you who forget Rua was once considered one of the fastest rising stars at the 205 pound weight class. We look for Rua to rattle Coleman early and end this fight with a couple devastating shots by the end of the 2nd round.
Prediction: Rua -415
Other Fights: (Predictions in Bold)
Belchar +215 vs. Kang -275
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