(Photo courtesy of Zuffa, LLC.)
This Saturday night, the world’s premier MMA promotion, the UFC, returns to its home stomping grounds of Las Vegas, Nevada to bring fans an evening filled with promising match-ups courtesy of UFC 130: Rampage vs. Hamill. The card was originally headlined by the rubber match between reigning 155lbs. king “The Answer” Frankie Edgar (13-1-1) and “The Bully” Gray Maynard (10-0-1) for the UFC Lightweight Championship, but both competitors were forced to withdraw from the fight due to injury. Leave it up to the UFC though to ensure that, despite unforeseen circumstances – even those that could very well make an event held by any other promotion crumble – the fans still are guaranteed one hell of a show. A light heavyweight tilt between former PRIDE superstar “Rampage” Quinton Jackson and “The Hammer” Matt Hamill has been promoted to main event status, while an original preliminary card fight between knockout machine “The Pitbull” Thiago Alves and rising contender “The Horror” Rick Story got a bump, too, as it now will open up the main card on Pay-Per-View. UFC 130 also boasts a heap of big names with former UFC heavyweight champ Frank Mir taking on the badass with a belly “Big Country” Roy Nelson, the aptly-named “Skyscraper” Stefan Struve meeting vicious ground-and-pounder “Hapa” Travis Browne, and honorable USMC soldier “All-American” Brian Stann going to war with former Sengoku champ “Sandman” Jorge Santiago. It’s virtually impossible to predict exactly how the night may go – it’s MMA, anything can happen. But, that doesn’t stop MMA Gospel from trying! After the jump, MMA Gospel’s staff gives their predictions of just how the card may go down. ——————————————————————————————————————————————–
Dan Griffin, MMA Gospel CEO
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Mallory Mejia, MMA Gospel Editor-in-Chief
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Spilled Bag of Ice, MMA Gospel Columnist/MMA Gospel Radio Co-Host
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Cole Moorman, MMA Gospel Staff Writer
Quinton Jackson vs. Matt Hamill: Jackson via Unanimous Decision, Round 3
Frank Mir vs. Roy Nelson: Mir via Unanimous Decision, Round 3
Stefan Struve vs. Travis Browne: Browne via TKO (Strikes), Round 1
Brian Stann vs. Jorge Santiago: Stann via KO (Punch), Round 1
Thiago Alves vs. Rick Story: Alves via TKO (Strikes), Round 3
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TJ Martinez, MMA Gospel Staff Writer
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Patrick Guera, MMA Gospel Staff Writer
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Brian Da Silva, MMA Gospel Staff Writer
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Tony Saade, MMA Gospel Staff Writer
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Ronald Young Jr., MMA Gospel Staff Writer
Quinton Jackson vs. Matt Hamill: Rampage via KO (Punch), Round 1
Frank Mir vs. Roy Nelson: Mir via TKO (Strikes), Round 2
Stefan Struve vs. Travis Browne: Browne via TKO, Round 2
Brian Stann vs. Jorge Santiago: Stann via Unanimous Decision, Round 3
Thiago Alves vs. Rick Story: Alves via TKO (Strikes), Round 2
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Gary Friedman, MMA Gospel Radio Host
Quinton Jackson vs. Matt Hamill: Jackson via Unanimous Decision, Round 3
Frank Mir vs. Roy Nelson: Mir via Submission (Rear Naked Choke), Round 2
Stefan Struve vs. Travis Browne: Struve via Submission (Armlock), Round 2
Brian Stann vs. Jorge Santiago: Santiago via TKO (Punches), Round 1
Thiago Alves vs. Rick Story: Alves via Unanimous Decision, Round 3
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