Before we get to the preliminary card UFC 144 picks, just a reminder that because of the time difference, UFC 144 from Japan on Sunday will start on Saturday night in North America. The main card is headlined by Frankie Edgar defending his lightweight title against Ben Henderson. The other main card bouts have Quinton Jackson against Ryan Bader, Mark Hunt against Cheick Kongo, Jake Shields vs. Yoshihiro Akiyama, Tim Boetsch against Yushin Okami, Hatsu Hioki vs. Bart Palaszewski and Anthony Pettis vs. Joe Lauzon. Now let’s look at the preliminary card.
Norifumi Yamamoto vs. Vaughan Lee
The Kid has lost four of his last five fights but he should be helped by the fans in Japan. We’ll look for Yamamoto to get a much needed win.
Riki Fukuda vs. Steve Cantwell
It hasn’t gone well of late for Cantwell who has lost his last four bouts by decision but this should be a win for him. Fukuda is experienced but Cantwell is too strong.
Takanori Gomi vs. Eiji Mitsuoka
This is the one all Japanese matchup as Mitsuoka comes in at 18-7-2 while Gomi is 32-8. This is not a particularly compelling matchup so we’ll pass.
Chris Cariaso vs. Takeya Mizugaki
This fight has the potential to be one of the better ones on the preliminary card as each one likes to put on striking displays. It would seem that in a striking war that Cariaso has the edge so we’ll take him to get the win here.
Issei Tamura vs. Zhang Tiequan
Tamura stepped in late to fill in for the injured Leonard Garcia to take on Tiequan. Even though he is coming in at the last minute, Tamura has a shot to get the win so we’ll take him at plus money.
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