Gerald Harris (-240) vs. Maiquel Falcao (+230)
Gerald Harris (17-2 MMA, 3-0 UFC) is a former three time NCAA national tournament qualifier and Cleveland State’s all-time winningest wrestler. Nicknamed “Hurricane”, Harris was on “The Ultimate Fighter” season 7. On the reality show he was eliminated by eventual winner Amir Sadollah via TKO in round 2.
After losing his bid to win a UFC contract on the show, Harris continued to fight in smaller promotions such as C3 Fights and Shark Fights. His only 2 career losses are to BJJ specialist Fabio Leopold and Benji Radach. Once he got a 2nd shot in the UFC he has done quite well, winning via TKO or KO in all 3 fights. John Salter, Mario Miranda and Dave Branch have all been finished by “The Hurricane”. He had an amazing slam to knockout Branch at UFC 116 and won the KO of the night award.
Maiquel Falcao (25-3 MMA, 0-0 UFC) is making his UFC debut following his impressive career so far. Falcao fights out of the Chute Box team. If you aren’t familiar, this is the same team that has produced Shogun Rua, Anderson Silva and Wanderlei Silva. Watching some of his footage Falcao has some very fast hands and mean ground and pound. Of his 25 wins, 23 of them were in the first round and only one of them was a submission. 2 of his 3 losses are to new UFC prospect Fabio Maldonado. Maldonado won his debut over James McSweeney.
Harris is going to need to use his wrestling in this fight to get a dominant position quickly. He is not going to want to stand and trade with this striker. I feel that if Harris can’t or does not try to get the takedown we will witness a fairly big upset. I like Falcao here, in value, but I’ll take Harris for the win. I have a hard time picking against a good wrestler considering Falcao likely hasn’t faced anyone in the same league in regards to wrestling prowess. I’m expecting Gerald Harris to secure a takedown and get a TKO in the 2nd via ground and pound.