Welcome 6th Rounders, to my picks and predictions for UFC 96. “Jackson vs. Jardine” will air Saturday evening via pay-per-view beginning at 9 pm E.T. UFC 96 includes a main event with big career-long implications for Quinton Jackson and Keith Jardine. A solid line-up calls for solid picks, right? Whether you agree or disagree, leave your thoughts by commenting.

As a lead writer here, there’s a certain “responsibility” for making quality peeks into the future. That being said, anything can (and does) happen in mixed martial arts. With an overall 46-35 record thus far since our launch, let’s get into how I, Gray D., see the action inside the Octagon going down on March 7 from Columbus, Ohio.

Check back Saturday night beginning at 7 pm ET for LIVE (we’ll be there in Ohio) fight results!

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Update, pick outcomes were 4-6 (crazy under card!)

UFC 96 picks and predictions:

Quinton “Rampage” Jackson vs. Keith Jardine: Jardine is a great spoiler and I believe has the gameplan to create another upset victory. Unanimous decision win for Keith.

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Matt Hamill vs. Mark Munoz: Munoz is great, but does not have the UFC experience Matt does. Munoz will look good, but be defeated by a third round TKO.

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Matt Brown vs. Pete Sell: Brown has superior Muay Thai skills which I tend to think will lead him to a second round KO victory.

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Shane Carwin vs. Gabriel Gonzaga: Carwin will join the ranks of Keith Jardine on Sat. night by causing an upset win over Napao. The man’s size, speed, and dedication will be too much for Gonzaga. Carwin by TKO in the first.

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Gray Maynard vs. Jim Miller: Maynard is a great wrestler but has not shown much outside of that. I’m going with Miller via submission in the second round.

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Ryan Madigan vs. Tamdan McCrory: Great match-up here, but “The Barncat” will show his Octagon experience and win via submission in the first.

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Jason Day vs. Kendall Grove: Grove is a good fighter, but will not be able to handle Day’s power and technique. TKO in the first.

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Tim Boetsch vs. Jason Brilz: Boetsch we saw live when we traveled to UFC 88 in Atlanta, and boy did he look good. Brilz will feel this man’s power and lose via unanimous decision.

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Mike Patt vs. Brandon Vera: Vera has not given me enough confidence to make him my pick in this fight. Sorry Brandon, but Mike will score another upset victory of the night by way of unanimous decision.

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Shane Nelson vs. Aaron Riley: Aaron was fantastic against Jorge Gurgel and will show the Hawaiian some world class striking. Riley by TKO in the second.

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Gray D. is 122-78 in his overall picks here at 6th-Round.com and pens this column before every major MMA event. Outside of writing, he is a fitness/nutrition enthusiast and runs the site’s Twitter account @6thRound.