MMA

UFC Boston ‘McGregor vs. Siver’ Pick Em: Unanimous for McGregor, Cerrone

Published

8 years ago

January 18, 2015

What a magical night it’s shaping up to be for Boston. After Tom Brady and Bill Belichick attempt to secure their 6th Super Bowl appearance since Brady took over for Drew Bledsoe in 2001, just about 30 minutes away from Foxborough, Conor McGregor will look to earn himself a title shot with a win over Dennis Siver.

Below, we’ll give you our picks for the main card, the prelim headliner starring Boston born Cathal Pendred, and our quick picks for the rest of the fights. It’s a beautiful day to be a sports fan. Enjoy it.

• Conor McGregor vs. Dennis Siver (Featherweight)

Matt LeBlanc: After all the effort that’s gone in to promoting McGregor heading in to this bout it would be an absolute disaster for the UFC if Siver finds a way to win this fight. Luckily for them, I don’t think there’s a very good chance of that happening here. I think there’s going to be a noticeable difference in hand speed the second the bell rings, with McGregor repeatedly beating to the punch. I don’t know if it will be inside of two minutes like McGregor has been predicting, but I wouldn’t at all be surprised. McGregor, TKO, Rd. 1

Dwayne Wolff: This is a tailored made fight for McGregor and one he should win if he is truly one of the top in the division. Silver is tough but very hittable and when he has faced the upper tier of fighters he has not only lost but often been stopped. Most recently Cub Swanson stopped him via a TKO in the third round. It is a little spooky how this sets up for a big upset but I am still going with McGregor via KO. If they fought a 100 times he would win 96 of them. The UFC better hope that this is not one of the other four times. McGregor via KO.

Dave Reno: Conor McGregor even has the oddsmakers “tinking” like he “tinks”. This fight should be his, but a -1100 favorite? Wow. Siver is extremely tough man. He’s not laying down for anyone and he certainly isn’t letting his opponent get into his head. Would this really be that big of an upset if Siver won? Sure. With the UFC hype machine fully behind McGregor, more so than anyone else in history for a single fight, it’ll go down as a monster upset. All of the above said, there’s something magical about this guy and guess what – I’m drinking the green kool-aid along with everybody else. McGregor via TKO – 1st round.

• Donald Cerrone vs. Benson Henderson (Lightweight)

LeBlanc: Normally I’d stay away from picking a fighter who’s making a 14 day turnaround, especially when facing opponents at the top of a division, but I’m actually leaning Cerrone for this bout. I think if anyone can have a quick turnaround and still impress us it’s him. He’s been on a tear lately and has improved immensely since the last time these two fought. I’m not as confident as I would be if Cerrone had put in a full camp leading up to the fight, but I think he gets it done in a close fight. Cerrone, Decision

Wolff: Here is why I think Cerrone walks away with the win. Cerrone via UD.

Reno: 15 day turnaround here for a guy in Cowboy who just makes this sport fun. He’s going against a guy who has beat him twice already, but everything that the media is saying is true – these guys are two truly different fighters. Cerrone seems to be at the very top of his game while Henderson, dare I say it, could be on the decline. Key word being could. These are two top five lightweights battling in a co-main event on free TV on a Sunday night. What’s not to get excited about. If either man makes one little mistake inside the distance it’s curtain. I just don’t see it happening. I’ll take Cerrone via an extremely close split decision.

• Uriah Hall vs. Ronald Stallings (Middleweight)

LeBlanc: Once again Uriah Hall is faced with a fight where he’s expected to dominate. That should scare him more than anything given his performance in similar situations. There’s also the added fear that he’s fighting an opponent with absolutely nothing to lose in Ron Stallings, who will more than likely get another much easier fight regardless of how he does against Hall. Hall should take this without too much trouble, but I wouldn’t count Stallings out to quickly. I don’t think he necessarily finds the finish, but I think he walks away with a clear decision. Hall, Decision

Wolff: Hall was the monster under the bed for the TUF 17 season. Only he turned out to be more like one from Monster High than a truly scary onein his first two UFC fights. The scary Hall showed up in the Chris Leben fight. He proved in his next win over Thiago Santos that his mental game was strong when he almost tore his toe off in the first round and gutted out the next two.

Stallings is making his UFC debut on the main card. It is one thing to debut as one of the first fights of the night. The place will be half-full at best but by the time these two fight it will be packed. This makes the octagon adrenaline dump more likely to occur. We have seen what happens when a fighter hesitates against Hall.

Look for a similar result in this fight from Hall who will get back to his spectacular ways against Stallings. Hall via spinning shit KO.

Reno: This one is tailored made for Hall to not only win, but win big. The journeyman ‘Choir Boy’ Stallings is coming into his UFC debut off a loss and certainly gets high marks for coming in on short notice to take on a killer in Hall. I like him to make a statement here in what could be a night full of upsets. Stallings via TKO.

• Norman Parke vs. Gleison Tibau (Lightweight)

LeBlanc: Parke has shown some really great raw talent so far in his UFC run, but the step up in level of competition here is pretty steep. He’s looked impressive in his five UFC appearances, but it’s worth noting that his opposition have a combined UFC record of 6-9, so it’s easy to see that it doesn’t give us a great impression of how he’ll match up against an experienced vet like Tibau. I think Parke has some impressive moments spread throughout the fight, but that Tibau ultimately controls enough of the fight to walk away with the judges nod. Tibau, Decision

Wolff: According to the UFC’s website Tibau has logged the third most amount of total time in the octagon with 4.33:38 of it. He trails only Frankie Edgar and Diego Sanchez. He also leads all UFC fighters with 80 total takedowns landed. Parke is tough but this is big step up in competition for him. Look for Tibau to use his wrestling to take a UD. Tibau via UD

Reno: Parke is undefeated over his past 12. His last loss comes to the same man responsible for being the last man to defeat Conor McGregor in Joseph Duffy. He’s facing a guy in Gleison Tibau who will be stepping into the octagon for his 24th time to do battle. With a record of 15-8, Tibau has helped “put over” many stars along the way. Parke will be another one of those stars tonight. Parke via decision.

• Cathal Pendred vs. Sean Spencer (Welterweight)

LeBlanc: I always have a rough time picking Pendred’s fights, and this bout is no different. Sean Spencer definitely has all of the tools to win this fight and may even be the better fighter in this match up, but I have a sneaking suspicion that the Irishman is going to find a way to walk away with the win here. Pendred is an extremely durable fighter and has the ability to continue to stay in a fight after taking heavy damage. I think he makes it through a few rough patches to win at least two rounds what should be a fun fight. Pendred, decision

Wolff: In this one look Pendred to use his wrestling to negate Spencer’s boxing. Pendred will get inside and take Spencer down enough to take a decision and could even get a ground and pound TKO finish. Pendred via UD

Reno: It won’t be pretty, but when are Pendred’s fights? Pendred via a hard-fought Boston Strong UD.

Prelim Quick Picks:

• John Howard vs. Lorenz Larkin (Welterweight)

Reno takes Howard, LeBlanc and Wolff take Larkin

• Zhang Lipeng vs. Chris Wade (Lightweight)

Unanimous for Wade

• Patrick Holohan vs. Shane Howell (Flyweight)

Unanimous for Holohan

• Johnny Case vs. Frankie Perez (Lightweight)

Unanimous for Johnny Case

• Charles Rosa vs. Sean Soriano (Featherweight)

Unanimous for Rosa