Carlos "The Natural Born Killer" Condit and Dong "Stun Gun" Hyun Kim will battle for a shot at St. Pierre's Welterweight title, while Dennis Siver and Matt Wiman add to the nights entertainment in a lightweight bout.
The MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas is set to host UFC
132 in less than a month, and the Fight Card is stacked with great
fights. The main event is for the
UFC Bantamweight Championship, between the current UFC Champ Dominic Cruz, who
fights the former WEC Featherweight Champion Urijah Faber. The two fighters
absolutely hate each other, plus Faber is the only man to have beaten Cruz in
his career, which happened over four years ago.
The Main Card also features a number one contender fight for a
shot at St-Pierre's Welterweight title, between Carlos "The Natural Born
Killer" Condit and Dong "Stun Gun" Hyun Kim, and a fight between Dennis Siver vs Matt Wiman. Let's go ahead and break these fights down to see how these fighters matchup, and to decide who I choose for my UFC betting picks.
Carlos Condit vs. Dong Hyun Kim
Carlos
The Natural Born Killer" Condit (26-5, 12 KO's, 11 Subm, 1 Dec)
The
Fighter: Carlos "The Natural Born Killer" Condit was the last WEC
Welterweight Champion before the UFC buy out of the company. "The Natural
Born Killer" is 3-1 in the UFC and a combined 9-1 with both the UFC and
WEC fights combined together.
Carlos suffered his only loss in his first fight
in the UFC to Martin Kampmann, in a close fight that ended in a split decision
loss. After the loss he fought Jake Ellenberger and handed Jake his only
loss in the UFC, via split decision (Sept 2009).
Condit then had a poor showing
in a fight against the undefeated Rory MacDonald in UFC 115 (June 2010). Carlos was
getting out worked the whole fight until he landed a bomb at the end
of the 3rd round, resulting in a TKO of Rory and fight of the night honors.
In his last fight he faced Dan Hardy in UFC 120, where Carlos shocked
Hardy by handing him his first KO of his career in front of his home country of England.
Carlos
is a well rounded fighter that can beat you either standing or on the ground,
as his record shows with his recorded 12 KO's and 13 submissions. Condit's
take down defense might be his only weakness against "Stun Gun", as
Kampmann was able to take him down several times resulting in his only
loss in the UFC.
Career
fight stats:
Carlos
does have trouble with his take down defense, as he only is successful at
fending off his opponents 46% of the time. Condit is good at making opponents
miss with their strikes only absorbing 1.67 punches per minute, plus he defends
his opponents strikes 61% of the time for his career.
Carlos only
takes his opponents down to the mat on average 1.03 per fight, but when he does
he completes his take down 61% of the time. Carlos has 26 wins for his career
with 13 wins coming by way of submission and he averages 2.05 submission
attempts per fight.
He lands 2.61 per every minute of the
fight with a accuracy's rate of 43% for his career. Carlos has great KO power
in his hands with 12 wins (KO's) coming by turning his opponents lights out.
Tale
of the tape: Carlos is 27 year old , 6 foot 1inch and has a reach of 76
inches.
Dong
"Stun Gun" Hyun Kim 16-0 (6 KO's , 1 Subm, 6 Dec)
The
Fighter: Dong is a Korean fighter who has a 4th degree Black Belt in Judo. "Stun
Gun" Joined the UFC in 2008 where he has fought 6 times, going 5-0
with one NC. The no contest was a controversial fight he lost to Karo Parisyan
via spilt decision, but it was later overturned due to Karo's drug abuse of
pain killers.
In his last fight Kim defeated Nate Diaz on New Years Day by way of a unanimous decision. The fight with Nate Diaz, saw Kim get out landed in
the strike department 36 to 19, but he listed 3 take downs to Diaz's 1.
The way
Kim wins fights is by taking down his opponents to the mat and controling the
fights. It isn't flashy, but it's effective. Kim by using this method has won
four of his last 5 fights by decision, with only one coming by KO in his first
fight in the UFC vs Jason Tann. The game
plan for Kim should be more of the same in this fight, with Carlos having
problems with defending take downs(46%).
Career
fight stats:
Dong
has a great take down defense of 81% and is only average at defending opponents
strikes at 54% for his career. "Stun Gun" is accurate with landing
his strikes 62% of the time, he lands 2.18 punches per minute each fight. Stun
Gun averages 3.69 take Downs a fight, with a 49% success rate. Kim only
attempts a submission 0.7 time per fight.
The
spread: 5Dimes (subject to change) has Dong, "The Stun Gun" Kim ,as
a slight favorite at -150 ml vs the former WEC Champion in Carlos +110 ml.
The
fight outlook: A title shot is on the line for the winner of this fight. Carlos
has more ways to beat his opponents, plus he has more experience in tough
fights vs great competition. Former WEC Middle Weight Champion, "The
Natural Born KiIler", will find a way to win, either by submission or KO
in a close and competitive fight.
Dennis Siver vs. Matt Wiman
Dennis
Siver (18-7, 7-4 UFC overall record)
The
fighter: Dennis is 32 years old and a former German Kick Boxing Champion, who
has heavy and powerful hands. Siver's kick boxing background has helped him
secure Knock Out Of The Night Honors, twice (Nate Mohr, Paul Kelly) in his last
seven fights.
Dennis also has some abilities on the ground, with two wins by
way of rear naked chokes (Dale Hartt, Andre Winner subm. of the night). Dennis
even won Fight Of The Night in his only loss to English brawler, Ross Pearson, back in March 2010.
Siver recently fought George Sotiropoulos in the Aussies
back yard in UFC 127 on Feb 27 2011. George was the heavy UFC betting favorite and in line
for a title shot if he won, but Siver stuffed all of George's take down
attempts and kept it standing, out-striking the Aussie 74-38.
Dennis Siver is riding a
three fight win streak coming into this match-up with wrestler Matt Wiman. Dennis
has superb take down defense, that should nullify the wrestlers main weapon.
He is the smaller of the two fighters, standing only 5' 7, compared to Wiman
who stands 5'10, but Siver is a boxer who will enjoy a reach advantage of three
inches (70 to 67) in this fight.
Career
fight stats: Dennis Siver averages 3.69 punches landed per minute, but only has
a accuracy rate of 28% for some reason. Siver doesn't try to go to the mat
much, only 0.61% per fight and has a poor success rate of 29% with his take
downs. Siver does have 9 submissions wins in his career, but only attempts them
0.46 times per fight.
Defense: Siver is great at defending against
opponents take down attempts, as he defends them 73% of the time. Dennis being
a former Kick Boxing Champion, has good stand up defense, as he only absorbs 2.74
strikes per minute and defends against strikes 69% of the time.
Tale
of the Tape: Siver 5 foot 7 inches, 155lb, 70 inch reach.
Matt
“Handsome" Wiman, Orthodox stance (13-5 overall, UFC 7-3, 4TKO, 5 subm., 5
Dec.)
The Fighter: Matt Wiman is 27 years old and from Colorado, but fights out of
Tulsa, Oklahoma for Tulsa Top Team.
Matty
Wiman is a good wrestler, who fights at a intense pace and brings the action to
his opponent. He enters this fight with a three fight win streak that started when he beat
Shane Nelson by out-striking him 55-20 for a unanimous decision. Matt next faced UFC veteran, Mac Danzig, who he caught in a guillotine
and choked him out (controversially) in a 1:45 of the first round.
Wiman's
last fight was an impressive upset victory over Cole Miller, who he dominated
for three rounds- out striking Miller 76-22, for a unanimous decision victory. Wiman
will push the pace in this fight early, but should have trouble taking the
fight to the mat, because Siver has great take down defense and
showed he could stop a better Sotriopoulos multiple times. Wiman has only been
KO'd once in his career by Spencer Fisher.
Career
Fight Stats: Matt' fights have averaged 8:41 minutes. Wiman
has a pretty good stand up, and he lands about 3.3 punches per minute for a
accuracy rate of 47%. He also averages 2.67 take downs per fight (15 minutes) and
is successful 47% of the time. Wiman averages 2.04 submissions attempts per
fight and has 5 submission wins for his career.
Matt's
striking defense is strong, as he only absorbs 2.58 punches per minute and
defends opponents strikes at a 60% rate. Wiman has a good take down defense to
prevent his opponents take downs 60% of the time.
Tale
of the Tape: Matt Wiman is 5' 10", 155 lb. with a reach of 67 inches.
The
Line: Siver -155 ml and Matt Wiman +135 ml, check 5Dimes for your UFC odds and lines
The
fight out look: Siver will stop Wiman's take down attempts. The fight will stay
standing up, where the former Kick Boxing Champion Siver has a major advantage.
Siver will win by decision because Wiman has a great chin and has only been
KO'd once in his career.