UFC On Fuel TV 4: Munoz vs. Weidman is just about 24 hours away, and it promises to be an exciting event. It doesn't have the headline appeal that the recent UFC 148 had what with the title fight between Anderson Silva and Chael Sonnen, but the Bay Area and California are represented on both the night's main card and undercard. For a full look at the fight card, refer to our previous article.
Chris Cariaso is the only person on the card who is actually from the Bay Area - he was born and raised in San Jose, and he'll be on the Facebook preliminary card up against Josh Ferguson in a flyweight bout. Cariaso is 13-3 for his career and is coming off an impressive victory over Takeya Mizugaki at UFC 144. His lone UFC loss was to Michael McDonald, and that one doesn't look so bad after "Mayday" starched Miguel Torres in the first round at UFC 145.
Bloody Elbow, one of SB Nation's stellar MMA sites, posted their predictions for the event early Tuesday, and all five participating picked Cariaso to win. Two of them picked a submission victory, while two others picked decision (the fifth did not provide reasoning). Dallas Winston provides his thoughts on the fight:
Dallas Winston: As it turns out, Cariaso is kind of a beast. He's coming off a -- weird, but -- huge decision over perennial top-10 bantamweightTakeya Mizugaki and gave the surging Michael McDonald all he could handle. I like Ferguson because he's a gamer but this is his toughest opponent to date and he's dropped 3 of his last 4. Chris Cariaso by submission.
Outside of Cariaso, there are other California ties on the card. Mark Munoz, T.J. Dillashaw, and Joey Beltran are all based in California. Munoz is hoping to earn a title shot with a victory over Weidman, and the Bloody Elbow staff is split on that one - with three picking Munoz and three picking Weidman.
Beltran has been a gamer in the UFC, always coming to "war," but he really does not inspire much confidence at this point in his career. James Te Huna just seems more motivated and better at this stage, and all six picked him to best Beltran. Four of them picked Dillashaw, a competitor on The Ultimate Fighter: Team Bisping vs. Team Miller, while one of them picked his opponent, Lee.
For more on mixed martial arts in general, check out everything we have to offer over at MMA Fighting and Bloody Elbow. And don't forget to check up on their predictions for UFC On Fuel TV 4: Munoz vs. Weidman.