here ya go Weasy. Give ya something to read. I agree with this fellow picks as of now especially Kelly.
UFC - Lightweight 3 rounds - San Diego Sports Arena, San Diego, California
Sun 8/1 1501 Paul Kelly +105
6:00PM 1502 Jacob Volkman -125
I went back today and watched the last few fights for these guys. I'll start with Jacob ?Christmas? Volkman. For those that don't know, he got his nickname because his friends said he reminded them of Jim Carey's character, Lloyd Christmas, in Dumb and Dumber.
Volkman is 10-2-0 in his pro career, but 1-2 in the UFC. Volkman has a very successful wrestling background including:
3 time MN high school wrestling state champ
3 time All-American wrestler for the Minnesota Gophers
USA FILA National Grappling Champion in 2008
Here are the fights and some things I noticed in them.
Jacob Volkman:
vs. Paulo Thiago
He kept his left hand a little low.
He showed some good body punching from the clinch
He was rocked at the end of round one and would have been finished, but was saved by bell.
It seemed that he lost his position easily and could not maintain control.
He was rocked again during standup in round 3.
Lost by Decision.
vs. Martin Kampmann
He was rocked early with straight rights.
Took shots from his back and turned into guillotine choke.
Loss by Guillotine choke
Vs. Ronys Torres
He was taken down early, but was able to get up fairly quick. He ended up getting taken down a few times.
He had a good takedown in the 3rd.
He did a better job in this fight mainting position and controlling the fight.
Winner by Split Decision
Paul "Tellys" Kelly:
Paul Kelly is a British fighter who is known for being very tough and physically strong with good ground and pound. He gets the nickname ?Tellys? because people say he walks around with his arms out, appearing as if he is carrying two televisions under his arms. Kelly is 10-2 in his mma career. 4-2 in the UFC. His only losses are to Marcus Davis and Dennis Siver, both very good fighters.
vs. Troy Mandaloniz
Kelly displayed good punching while in clinch
Several very nice lefts to the body. Excellent ground and pound in round 1 (elbows)
Dominant 2nd round. Busted Mandaloniz open with elbows.
He was taken down in the 3rd, but regained position and continued dominant ground and pound.
Winner by unanimous decision.
vs. Roli Delgado
Got into some bad positions against Delgado, who is trained in Brazilain Jiu Jitsu, but displayed solid defense and avoided a choke, triangle attempt, and later in the fight he escaped a pretty deep armbar.
He got back to his feet and rocked delgado a couple of times.
Winner by Unanimous Decision
vs. Dennis Siver
Even after taking a few kicks and shots to start the fight, he continued to push the pace.
A failed takedown attempt ending in a clinch, he threw some good knees.
He got a good takedown in at the end of the first round. Siver with very good countering in rnd 1.
Siver lands a huge spinning back kick to the midsection. Kelly goes down and barely able to stand. It appeared he had broken ribs. He was able to finally stand, but was finished almost immediately.
Loss by TKO
vs. Matt Veach
He was taken down early and Veach had his back and had him flattened. Kelly was able to regain position and starting landing very good elbows.
Kelly attempted a guillotine and rolled into side control where he dropped some heavy elbows that opened Veach up. Kelly was landing punches in bunches at the end of the round. He rocked Veach again at the start of the 2nd round. He got back into Veach's guard and continued to hammer away, before finishing him off with a guillotine.
Winner by Submission
My Pick
Even with his wrestling background, it seems to me that Volkman had too many failed attempts at takedowns and preventing takedowns. He seemed unable to maintain dominant position once he gained it. He seems susceptible to straight right hands. His stand up is a weakness for him and he has zero knockouts in his career, so I would not worry about a flash KO here.
Kelly is a stronger fighter, in my opinion. He has excellent ground and pound and his elbows are vicious. He also seemed to stay in control of his fights, push the pace, and had good defense when he did allow himself to get into a bad position. I can see him landing a big right hand on Volkman then finishing him off with his ground and pound.
After watching all of these fights today, I do not see how Volkman is considered the favorite here.
8/1/2010 6:00 PM UFC Fighting 1501 Paul Kelly* +105 vs Jacob Volkman
Let's watch the line a little, since we have two weeks. This will be my play, I just want to try to get the best number as well. I want to keep an eye on this line, and see if it goes up.
