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Eddie Bravo Previews on UFC 47: It's On!
Reported By: Boxing Insider - 02/01/2005 06:13 PM
Boxinginsider.com: UFC 47: It's On! Chuck vs. Tito is this weekend. What can we expect?
Eddie Bravo: I think it's another exciting card put together by Joe Silva. Finally it's on. Chuck Liddell vs Tito Ortiz -- people have wanted this fight for a couple of years now, and it's finally on.
Boxinginsider.com: The main event is Chuck Liddell vs Tito Ortiz. How do you see that match unfolding? What are the keys to victory for Tito Ortiz and Chuck Liddell?
Eddie Bravo: Well for Tito to win, on paper and based on his last fights, he's got to take Chuck down and win in the Tito Ortiz fashion -- ground and pound against the cage. If he can do that, he has a really good chance of winning. Most people don't think Tito can stand with Chuck, based on the training sessions they had a few years ago -- but that was a long time ago, and who knows? I wouldn't be surprised if Tito rocks Chuck standing, but the odds are that the only way Tito is going to win is if he can take Chuck down, keep him down -- and it's hard to keep Chuck down -- and ground and pound him into the cage.
Chuck Liddell's got to do the opposite. He's got to stay on his feet and prevent the takedown and just stay on the outside and set up his big right hand. That's the obvious game plan for Chuck. He said he wants to stand, and that's probably his best chance for victory, if he can keep the fight up. If he gets taken down he has a really good ability to get back on his feet, so even if he does get taken down it's not the end, he can get back up. If he can keep getting back or avoid getting taken down altogether there's a really good chance that Chuck will win.
Boxinginsider.com: If you were going to bet this fight, if you were going to make a prediction, who would you pick? How do you think this fight is going to unfold?
Eddie Bravo: It's a really hard one to call. A lot can change over a period of time in training. Who knows? Maybe Tito's standup is just as good as Chuck's now, and maybe Tito will hurt Chuck standing. Who knows? Or maybe Chuck takes Tito down and grounds and pounds Tito. That could easily happen. You don't really know what's going to happen. If I had to pick a fighter I would probably go with Tito based on the fact that Randy dominated Chuck and took him out --TKO'd him -- and Randy never really hurt Tito. Although he dominated position he never really hurt him. Based on the fact that Tito did a lot better with Randy, I would have to go with Tito on this one, although anything can happen.
Boxinginsider.com: The other big fight on the card is Tim Sylvia takes on Andrei Arlovski for the Vacent UFC heavyweight title. What are Tim Sylvia and Andrei Arlovski's keys to victory?
Eddie Bravo: I think Tim Sylvia really has to use his reach advantage in this fight. Arlovski is a really talented standup fighter, excellent, powerful striker, and Tim Sylvia is going to have to keep Arlovski on the outside with punches and really utilize his reach and prevent Arlovski from taking him down because Arlovski does have really good ground skills and Tim Sylvia could be in danger on the ground. Basically he just has to keep the fight up, use his reach, try to land that right hand just like the one Pedro Rizzo landed on Arlovski to knock him out.
As I see it, Arlovski can win in two different ways. He might be able to get inside of Tim Sylvia and really land some combinations and hurt Tim Sylvia, but Tim Sylvia has a good chin, so Arlovski may not be able to hurt him that easily. Cabbage couldn't really hurt Tim Sylvia and he landed a lot of left hooks so there's a chance that Arlovski might have to take Sylvia down and submit him. I think Arlovski has a chance of winning on his feet as well as on the ground.
Boxinginsider.com: How much do you think that the steroid controversy surrounding Tim Sylvia has affected his training and game playing coming into his fight?
Eddie Bravo: I don't think that's affected his training at all. If anything, he's training harder than ever. I'm sure that Tim Sylvia wants that UFC championship belt back more than ever. I'm sure he's not taking Arlovski lightly and I'm sure that the whole steroid controversy is behind him now. So expect Tim Sylvia to be in top shape and ready to go.
Boxinginsider.com: Robbie Lawler takes on Nick Diaz in a welterweight belt. How do you see this match unfolding?
Eddie Bravo: I've been impressed with Nick Diaz in the local grappling tournament scene. He seems to be sweeping up locally here on the west coast. His jiu-jitsu is coming along, and I'm impressed, but I don't think his jiu-jitsu is good enough yet to take out a wild animal like Robbie Lawler. Robbie Lawler is super explosive, hard to control, and he's got dynamite in both fists. It's going to be hard for Nick Diaz to utilize his jiu-jitsu on Robbie Lawler.
Boxinginsider.com:Cabbage Correira takes on Mike Kyle?
Eddie Bravo: Mike Kyle has been doing pretty well on the smaller B shows around the country and he's always in good shape. I think he had a chance to play professional football, so he's a real tough guy, explosive. He takes care of his body. But I think Cabbage is going to be too much for Mike Kyle. Cabbage has an iron chin, hard to hurt, a good left hand, and he's good at throwing up knees from the clinch and is very hard to take down. So I'd have to bet the house on Cabbage winning this fight.
Boxinginsider.com: Yves Edwards vs Hermes Franca?
Eddie Bravo: That has the makings of the best fight of the night. Yves Edwards is a vicious kickboxer, probably one of the best strikers in the world in MMA at 155 lbs, and his jiu-jitsu is pretty good too. He's very hard to submit. Matt Serra couldn't submit him. When you combine the striking of that caliber with really good jiu-jitsu, that's a dangerous combination. Hermes Franca, is not going to be able to stand Yves Edwards at all. He does have a big right hand that can hurt you. He did hurt Josh Thomson and he did hurt Caol Uno, but I don't think it would be a good idea to stand and trade with Yves Edwards. Hermes Franca is going to have to take Yves Edwards down and try to submit him, and that's not going to be easy. I love Hermes Franca to death, but I'll have to give the edge to Yves Edwards in this fight.
Boxinginsider.com: Can you give us any insight on how Joe Rogan got his black eye at the last UFC?
Eddie Bravo: He was trying to mug an old lady and it turned out that the lady was a black belt in jiu-jitsu and she kicked his ass, mounted him, and dropped elbows right in his eye.
Boxinginsider.com: Tell us about your video that's sweeping the mixed martial arts world.
Eddie Bravo: I just released a DVD. It's called The Twister, and it's basically a compilation of 17 of my favorite fights that I have on video. It starts off when I was a blue belt when I knew only two techniques. I'm in a high school gym with five people in the audience. I'm struggling along. Slowly you get into the fifth or sixth fight, there are a few more people in the audience and I'm starting to figure out the game, and by the tenth fight there I am with my purple belt, there's a big crowd, people starting to recognize me. Then it goes up into the North American trials that I won, and all of a sudden it's serious business -- it's not just a high school gym with five people in the audience. It's serious business. I'm in the Abu Dhabi trials and if I win it I get the chance to fight the greatest in the world like Royler Gracie, and I did win it and I did fight Royler, and that's how the DVD ends, with my fight with Royler with Portuguese commentary, so it's pretty interesting to watch. You can't get that version anywhere else.
Boxinginsider.com: What other projects are you working on right now?
Eddie Bravo: I'm in negotiations for a major book deal. So far all of the jiu-jitsu books, that have been released have been on minor labels. But now there's a couple of majors out there noticing that these jiu-jitsu books are selling like hot cakes and they want a jiu-jitsu book on their label too, so I'm in negotiations right now with a couple of the majors. It could be a big step for jiu-jitsu -- the first jiu-jitsu book ever on a major publishing label. Hopefully it will all work out. Nothing is signed yet but it looks like it’s going to happen.
Boxinginsider.com: And what are your final thoughts going into this weekend's show?
Eddie Bravo: Like all shows, I can't wait. I'm just counting the days. It's going to be an awesome card and I'm lucky that I get to be there to watch it live.
Eddie Bravo is a regular boxinginsider.com contributor. Eddie can be contacted at twisterbravo@sbcglobal.com
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