Picked Nate Marquardt:
Wanderlei Silva: “I think Marquardt is a more complete fighter. He has good hands and I think this is going to be the difference.”
Alessio Sakara: “I would say maybe Marquardt will pull this one off. He seems to be focused after his loss to Sonnen, and he has a lot of momentum at this moment.”
Kendall Grove: “I think Nate has been in these situations before and will keep his head better. It will be tough, I think Nate will finish it in the third round.”
Tom Lawlor: “Both men will be able to control the fight at different times in all realms, with Marquardt winning by Split Decision despite being taken down each round.”
Kyle Noke: “Easy – Nate! He’s one of my training partners. Nate has been a terror in sparring, I feel a little sorry for Okami.”
Alan Belcher (via Fighters Only): “My pick is Marquardt. However I wouldn’t mind seeing Okami take the win so we could set up a rematch with him and me for my comeback fight.”
Picked Yushin Okami:
Michael Bisping (via Fighters Only): “I think Okami will take Nate down, hold him there, beat him up a little and basically do more damage. Okami may have been a little unlucky not to have gotten a title shot yet, but now his destiny is in his own hands and I think we’ll see the best of him at UFC 122.”
Couldn’t decide:
Anderson Silva: “I can’t pick a winner. I look forward to defending my UFC middleweight title against him in the New Year.”
Chris Leben: “These are two of my favourite fighters in the middleweight division. I love watching them fight. I really can’t pick a winner, but I think Okami’s size will be a big factor if it goes to the third round.”
— Check out the full write-ups at Fighters Only.