The Doggy Bag

Everyone answers to somebody, so we, the staff at Sherdog.com, have decided to defer to our readers.

“The Doggy Bag” gives you the opportunity to speak about what’s on your mind from time to time.

Our reporters, columnists, radio hosts, and editors will chime in with our answers and thoughts, so keep the emails coming.

This week, readers weigh in on Sunday’s Yushin Okami-Mark Munoz bout at UFC on Versus 2, the level of striking in MMA and how Strikeforce ace Alistair Overeem would fare against UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar.

---

I'm seeing Mark Munoz is an underdog to Yushin Okami from +175 up to almost +200. Am I crazy for thinking this is a big time oversight? The only time Okami had to deal with a great wrestler in the Octagon, Chael Sonnen easily beat him to a decision. Munoz is bigger and stronger than Okami and should have the tools to take him down like Sonnen did. Why is Munoz being so overlooked in this fight?
-- Adam from Santa Monica

Jordan Breen, FightFinder Czar: Not all wrestlers are created equal. To be sure, Munoz is a very good one; if he wasn't, he wouldn't have won a national title at Oklahoma State. However, there's a big gap between what Sonnen has proven routinely able to do to very good opponents, and what Mark Munoz has been able to do in his MMA tenure.

Sonnen's forte is in Greco-Roman wrestling, and you saw it against Okami. He put Okami in an awful position, as Okami normally excels in the clinch, and was now completely outmatched by Sonnen's able dirty boxing and takedowns.

However, in his young career, Munoz has predominately been a power double-legger. He changes levels, explodes, and drives. The problem for Munoz is that so far, his wrestling hasn't been that dominant. He couldn't stick Matt Hamill to the canvas, he was outwrestled by Nick Catone in a fight he should have lost, and struggled to take down Kendall Grove, who is notorious for ending up on his back. Thus far, Munoz's best asset has been how powerful and vicious his ground-and-pound can be, but his actual wrestling in MMA has actually been fairly underwhelming given his collegiate career.

On top of that, Munoz has shown he's extremely hittable. Ryan Jensen smashing aside, he's been dropped in all of his UFC bouts, and it isn't as though Grove and Catone are big home-run hitting threats. Given how low Munoz carries his left hand, he may prove perfect fodder for Okami's telephone pole right jab. Munoz has also shown a big penchant for eating knees, which Okami can throw well with or without a collar tie.

The ball is in Okami's court here. If Okami is passive, and backs himself up into the fence -- something he does have a history of -- he might give Munoz an advantage. But if he's as aggressive and offensive as he was in March against Lucio Linhares, Okami should land an awful lot of stiff jabs on Munoz and be able to force him into ugly shots from the outside, which he'll ably sprawl on to victory.