UFC Fight Night 18 Picks

How am I going to get over losing my National Champion on my bracket? Well it doesn't make up for the two pools Pitt just lost me but the UFC returns Wednesday Night with a free live Fight Night and the return of the Ultimae Fighter with the new Team USA vs. Team U.K. twist, which is cool. Well after a two weeks of me screwing you over with bad bracket picks I'm hoping the karma of that will turn my MMA picks because they have been terrible as of late. So here it my UFC Fight Night 18 picks.

I like this overall card it's got a ton of fights on it and most of the fighters are either Ultimate Fighter 8 alumns or WEC crossovers and should make for a good card, I will enjoy this Wednesday night.

Here are my undercard picks

Middleweight Bout: Steve Steinbeiss will beat Ryan Jensen via desicion

Middleweight Bout: Aaron Simpson will beat Tim McKenzie via TKO in Round 2

Middleweight Bout: Rob Kimmons will beat Joe Vedepo via desicion

Middleweigt Bout: Jorge Rivera will beat Nissen Osterneck via KO in Round 2

Middleweight Bout: Tim Credeur will beat Nick Catone via desicion

Welterweight Bout: Brock Larson will beat Jesse Sanders via TKO in Round 3

Middleweight Bout: Ricard Almeida will beat Matt Horwich via submission (triangle) in Round 3

Now on to fights that I will breakdown starting with one undercard bout that should make it on the broadcast because

it should be a good fight and really deserves a main card slot.

Lightweight Bout: Gleison Tibau (28-5-0) vs. Jeremy Stephens (16-4-0)

Stephens was orginially supposed to be the co-main event of this card against Ultimate Fighter 8 lightweight winner Efrain Escadaro but Efrain pulled out with an injury so they replaced and moved this two the undercard, honestly I think they should've just added another half hour to this broadcast and make a 5 fight main card but on the fight. Tibau is a very large lightweight and he likes to take people and advance postition and get submissions. Jeremy Stephens is incredibly well-rounded, has great boxing as proven in his KO win over Rafael dos Anjos at UFC 91 but he has great ground skills, slick submissions and a good wrestling background. I think if Tibau can get this fight to the ground and overpower Stephens and get a desicion or a submission, but that isn't how I see this going. I see Stephens fighting off takedowns and staying on his feet and just overwhelm with his boxing skills which Tibau has absolutely none of, and even if it does go down to the ground once or twice Stephens' is good enough of his back to not get submitted. So I like Stephen's to just pick Tibau apart until either his hands go down or the judges give him a desicion. I see a desicion.

Jeremy Stephens will beat Gleison Tibau via desicion

Lightweight Bout: Junie Browning (3-1-0) vs. Cole Miller (14-3-0)

Oh yes, the return of Junie Browning make his first post TUF fight in the UFC and Joe Silva did him no favors by giving him Cole Miller who is leathel on the ground and has solid stand-up and he will face off with Junie who has brawling stand-up and which works pretty well for him, it got him a desicion win over Roliando Delgado on The Ultimate Fighter and he has a solid wrestling background, he wrestled in his Kentucky high school, and now has a purple in BJJ under the guys at Xtreme Couture. Now say what you want about Junie, whether or not he's a douche, whether or not he has a drinking problem, whether or not you like he's a quitter. I honestly think the Ultimate Fighter house really screwed him up, he told Dana White and Frank Mir he wanted to quit because he couldn't take the house and I would believe him because, he dominated his fight to get into the show over Jose Aguilar and he dominated Dave Kaplan in the finale after he got his three month personal training period between the end of the show and the Finale. That said, being in the Ultimate Fighter house didn't make him gas two minutes into his fight with Roli Delgadom I would question his cardio and if in the 3rd this does to the ground I would wonder if he would have the gas tank to not get submitted by Cole Miller, but then again Junie probably won't get taken down by Cole Miller and those two will just stand-up and scrap which will make for a great fight, but I like Junie to win this fight and it will probably go to desicion and this will be a great fight, say what you want about Junie the person, but Junie the fighter has skills.

Junie Browning will beat Cole Miller via desicion

Lightweight Bout: Tyson Griffin (12-2-0) vs. Rafael dos Anjos (11-3-0)

I've really been looking foward to this fight, it should've been main card in the first place it replaced the Escardo-Stephens fight. Tyson Griffin is a contender at 155, he just lost a close desicion to Sean Sherk at UFC 90. He needs to win this to stay in the title mix. dos Anjos was keeping up a close with Jeremy Stephens before Stephens landed what I call the uppercup from hell. But I think Griffin should win this fight, while keeping it interesting of course, Grffin won't get taken down and if he took dos Anjos down he won't get submitted, he's been a proven nightmare for Jiu-Jistu guys, Marcus Aurelio, Gleison Tibau, Thaigo Taveras, you know. He can take them down, he can beat them on their feet, and he can get not get submitted. I think this will be a good fight though, dos Anjos has solid stand-up, he was trading pretty well with Jeremy Stephens, so will be a good fight, but Tyson Grifiin should win pretty easily and will stay in the title hunt at 155

Tyson Griffin will beat Rafael dos Anjos via desicion

Light Heavyweight Bout: Ryan Bader (9-0-0) vs. Carmelo Marrero (10-2-1)

Ryan Bader is the Light Heavyweight winner of the Ultimate FIghter season 8, he was a 3-time All-American wrestler at Arizona State. Carmelo is a wrestler, has cut down from heavyweight. This fight really shouldn't be on the main card, Bader has one win the UFC, Marrero is 1-2 in the UFC and could barely sneak out a win as 205er in the WEC who's light heavyweight divison is like Single A to the UFC's Major League Baseball. That said, I love Ryan Bader in this fight and he's grown on me to the point where I like him as a fighter and as a personality. He was on TUF but he was just a wrestle with heavy hands but in the Finale against Vinny Maglahales he showed off great boxing, maybe it was great by comparision because Vinny's was so bad, but then I thought about how he trains at Arizona Combat Sports who maybe other wrestlers like CB Dollaway and Matt Riddle into strikers, so why not Ryan Bader. So neither of these will take each other down but Ryan Bader has far better stand-up and will probably KO Marrero and take thsi fight, so I like Bader to a get another KO.

Ryan Bader will beat Carmelo Marrero via KO in Round 2

Main Event, Welterweight Bout: Carlos Condit (23-4-0) vs. Martin Kampmann (14-2-0)

Yes in the main event, WEC Welterweight Champion Carlos Condit makes his UFC debut against Martin Kampmann who's only making his second fight at 170 in the UFC. Now Condit is definitly a top 10 welterweight, but he needs to prove more before he gets a UFC title shot. Kampmann is defeintily talented he only lost once at 185 before he cut down to 170 that was when Nate Marquardt totally overwhelmed him. These are similiar fighters incedibly similiar, they both have amazing stand-up and very good submissions, both of these guys are tough dudes, Condit proved it with his 4 round war with Hiromistu Muira at WEC 33, Kampmann proved it when he got kicked incredibly hard in the groin and he takes 4 minutes off and talks Joe Rogan just talks about guys growing turtle shells over their package and how painful getting a cup forced into your nuts is. So he's pretty f-in tough. Now Kampmann's big weakness was exposed in the Marquardt fight, when he guys come straight at him, he can't trade back he just takes the punchs. In that Marquardt fight he just took constant punishment for 2 minutes before the refs stopped it. That said Condit always comes straight foward and attacks on his feet. So I like Carlos Condit to attack Kampmann early and often and climb his way closer to a UFC title shot, because Condit vs. GSP would be great.

Carlos Condit will beat Martin Kampmann via TKO in Round 2

Those are my fight picks and now here are my post fight card awards picks

Fight of the Night: Junie Browning vs. Cole Miller

Knockout of the Night: Ryan Bader

Submission of the Night: Ricardo Alemeida

That's all I got and I hope you enjoy the fights, the rest of March Madness, and the new season of the Ultimate Fighter, I'm out.