5 Flyweights the UFC Needs to Sign Part I

The flyweight division is the most recently added weight class to the UFC. It ranges from 116 lbs. to 125 lbs. So far, the UFC has failed to sign any of the best flyweights outside the UFC despite Yasuhiro Urishitani and Ian McCall. Not only is the weight class possibly the most entertaining in combat sports, but it also holds some of the best fighters in the world.

I am making a list of all the flyweights that the UFC should sign as soon as they have the chance, not only to make the class deeper, but to also let these guys join the biggest MMA promotion ever and show why they are considered the best in their division. I will also give a rating of 1-10 in how much they need to sign them with 10 being the best and 1 being the worst

Photo by Sherdog

Jussier da Silva: Easily the best flyweight outside the UFC, whom holds a record of 13-1 with wins over Mamoru Yamaguchi, Danny Martinez, and Michael William Costa (twice) along with training at Nova Uniao. He was once ranked as the #1 flyweight in the world until Ian McCall came and scored a huge upset. Da Silva not only holds, arguably, the best BJJ game at 125, but he also has very underrated striking. Personally, I was surprised to see Urishitani in the tournament, rather than Jussier da Silva. The UFC needs to sign him the first chance they get. Rating: 10/10

Photo by MMATKO

Mamoru Yamaguchi: Most of the time when a fighter is known for constantly being a very flashy and crazy fighter inside the cage, they typically aren’t very good. Yamaguchi is an exception. He not only has one of the best afros you will ever see, ever, but he also is immensely talented and experienced. In fact, he may be the most experienced fighter at 125. He holds a record of 26-6-3 and wins over both Yasuhiro Urishitani and Fumihiro Kitahara and 10 KO’s overall. Although he may be old for the weight class, 35, he still is one of the most entertaining, and powerful, fighters at 125. Rating: 10/10

Photo by Bleacherreport

Darrel Montague: The former Tachi Palace flyweight champ is a young gun with a bright future ahead of him if the UFC decides to sign him. He is only 24 years old with an impressive record of 11-2 with the two losses coming to Ian McCall and the oversized Robbie Peralta. He defeated Ulysses Gomez to take the belt, something that is not easy to do, but then lost it to Ian McCall. Montague will be challenging for the UFC title in the coming years after they sign him. Rating: 9/10

Photo by Sherdog

Nam Jin Jo: Although he holds a very unimpressive record of 6-5, most of those losses come at bantamweight, in which he is undersized. He ranks among the top 10 of flyweights in the world and even holds a decision win over fellow top 10 flyweight, Shinichi Kojima. He is very well rounded as he holds 2 TKO wins and 3 submission wins. He made his pro debut at 17 years of age and amateur when he was only 14! He is only 21 now and has a lot of time to improve as a mixed martial artist and deserves a contract with the UFC once he racks up a couple wins, for he just lost a split decision at bantamweight. Rating: 8/10

Photo by MMAJunkie.com

Dustin Ortiz: An underrated and well-rounded mixed martial artist, Dustin Ortiz has fought to two close decision losses to Josh Robinson and Ian McCall. Although he has lost 2 of his last 3, he is still one of the bigger names at 125 and is a very well rounded mix martial artist. With 8 wins, he has 4 KO/TKO and 4 submission wins, showing he is also very entertaining with finishing ability. He would make an immediate dent at 125 in the UFC. Rating: 8/10

UFC 148 Prelim Preview: Guillard vs. Camoes

Melvin Guillard

Our first prelim preview is going to be for the co-main prelim on FX, Melvin Guillard vs. Fabricio Camoes.

In the classic “striker vs. grappler” matchup, Melvin Guillard is looking to put his last two losses by RNC behind him as Camoes is looking for a step up in competition. Although Camoes boasts an unimpressive record in the UFC of 1-1-1, he is a highly underrated fighter with one of the best ground games at 155. That ground game is going to be a big problem for Guillard as he will have a clear disadvantage on the ground as 9 of his 10 losses are by submission.

Guillard was on the best win streak of his career when he ran into Joe Lauzon in one of the biggest upsets of all time, at UFC 136. Guillard came out as an intense aggressor, only to be caught by a jab coming in and being submitted at 47 seconds of the first round. Following that devastating loss, he was matched up with Jim Miller on the first main event on FX. The fight was going Guillards way until his back was taken and the fight was ultimately finished by RNC at 3:04 of the first round.

This is what makes the fight so interesting. Guillard’s losses are mainly by submission and Camoes has an extremely good ground game with half of his wins coming by submission.

Let’s take a look at Camoes’ recent fights. He is riding a three-fight win streak with wins over TUF season 8 winner Efrain Escudero (unanimous), UFC vet Steve Lopez (TKO in 23 seconds), and BJJ specialist Tommy Hayden (RNC). Before that, he went 0-1-1 with a draw against Japanese legend, Caol Uno and a decision loss to Kurt Pellegrino in the UFC. Following his hard fought decision loss to Pellegrino, he was surprisingly released by the UFC, but went on to do what I mentioned above.

This fight could truly go either way, as Guillard’s ground game has looked weak but with incredible standup and Camoes with one of the best ground games at 155.

Tune in for our predictions in the following week!

CR Exclusive Interview with Dakota Cochrane!

Photo by MMAFighting.com

Dakota Cochrane is best known for his short stint on TUF Live when he lost a controversial split decision to the ever improving James Vick in the fight to get in the house. Dakota may be on a two fight losing skid, but he is looking to put that behind him with a win over The Ultimate Fighter Season 2 winner, Joe "Daddy" Stevenson on June 30 at RFA 3 (Resurrection Fighting Championships).

Dakota is looking for a future UFC contract after his last win was over Jamie Varner this past September. He was gracious enough in agreeing to do an interview, taking time from training for the biggest fight of his career.

Championship Rounds: Hey Dakota! Thanks so much for taking time to do this! So, Joe Stevenson is a really big name. Do you believe that a win over him could launch you into a UFC contract. 


Dakota Cochrane: Joe Stevenson is a big name and it is an honor to be able to fight him. Now that is said, I believe it will take a couple more wins to get a contract.  Joe is a big name but was cut for a reason. After losing my last fight I believe I will have to show the UFC a little more than beating Joe daddy.


CR: How do you envision your fight with Joe going?


DC: The fight will be a tough one for sure. I don't plan on losing and neither does he I'm sure.  He will probably try to take me down and submit me while I will try to keep the fight standing.  Game plans can always change during the fight though.


CR: I personally scored your TUF fight 10-9 for you over James Vick. Why do you think the judges gave the fight for Vick despite the fact that you were out grappling him for a majority of the 5 minutes?


DC: I'm not one to complain but I also believe I won that fight through aggression and octagon control.  Honestly, [I'm] not sure what the judges saw to give him that fight.


CR: How has training been going for your fight at RFA 3? Anything different?


DC: Training has been really tough for RFA 3 because I need to show my true potential against Joe Daddy, win or lose.  Not a whole lot of differences [in training], but I'm putting my game all together.  I tend to stand up or take it to the ground, so just trying to work on my middle game.


CR: Your last win was against Jamie Varner, which is very impressive. Talk about how it felt to defeat a former WEC champ.


DC: Beating Jamie Varner was very fun, but that is not what I want my career to be based around.  I want to be known for beating several people at that level instead of just Jamie Varner.


CR: How was the experience competing on the first live season of TUF? How were the auditions?


DC: The experience on TUF was priceless.  I couldn't have gotten that much practice doing auditions and interviews anywhere else.  I'm still not good at them but definitely a little more confident.  Only being there the first week, I didn't get to see the house which kind of bummed me out. But I was super happy to be back home with my family.


CR: Which of your accomplishments means the most and why?


DC: My biggest accomplishment is taking care of my family: making sure there is food on the table, roof over their head and clothes on their back.  As far as fighting goes I go out to every fight and give my best effort no matter who it is.  Sometimes it doesn't go the way I would like but I know I gave it my best and trained my ass off.


Thanks to Dakota Cochrane for the interview. Make sure you follow him on Twitter @DakotaCochrane and on Facebook!

CR Exclusive Interview with Steven Siler!

                                Siler celebrating his win over Joey Gambino (Joe Camporeale-US PRESSWIRE)
 

Steven Siler just won a huge fight against the highly touted prospect Joey Gambino, on UFC on FX 4, by absolutely destroying him and finishing him with a guillotine choke within 3 minutes. Siler is now 3-0 in the UFC and has huge wins over both Micah and Cole Miller. He is an exciting prospect himself and is only 25 years old with endless potential. He was kind enough to take time with us and do an interview. (CR in bold)

1) A lot of people were hyping Joey Gambino coming into that fight. How happy are you with your performance after you completely destroyed him?
I’m very happy with my performance. I really wanted a finish this fight and I got one against a very tough up and comer.

2) What was going through your head when you went for the guillotine on Gambino? 

I just kept thinking "wow I have this deep but it’s very slippery maybe I should let go" but I luckily stuck with it and finished the fight.

3) Where do you rank yourself among the UFC featherweights?
I’m not really sure where I would rank myself right now. I’m still very new with only 3 UFC fights, but I’m happy to keep climbing up the rankings until I get to the top.

4) You were the underdog going into your fight with both Micah and Cole Miller and destroyed them both.  How does the underdog status affect you?

I’m used to it; even in the local fights I feel when people came and watched me fight they were just assuming I would lose the next fight just because I don't look tough. And I’m happy with people thinking that way because then maybe I’ll continue to be taken lightly.

5) How long have you been training in MMA?
I have been fighting for a little over 7 years now and have been training a little over 5 years.

6) What was your first martial art?
When I started training I went to a BJJ school. So, I guess I’d call that my background.

7) You mentioned that The Pit is making a comeback. Is there any particular fighter that we should pay attention to? 

The Pit has a solid group of guys up and coming. We already have me, Brock (Jardine), Ramsey (Nijem) and Court (McGee) in the UFC. Plus, Josh Burkman is on his way back hopefully. We also got Rad Martinez over in Bellator and a bunch of young guys learning everyday with great coaches with Jason Mertlich and John Hackleman.

8) If you absolutely had to choose a fighter for your next match, who would it have to be?
Whoever the UFC tells me is next they are the boss. But I’m gonna take some time away and get married and go on my honeymoon before I worry about something like that.

Great interview with a great fighter. We cannot wait for his next fight.

Enjoy your wedding and honeymoon! You have big fans here at CR!

UFC 147 Main Card Recap

                                  (Wanderlei Silva vs. Rich Franklin)             Photo by Sherdog.com

Yuri Alcantara vs. Hacran Dias: This fight was the most disappointing in my opinion. I thought that it would be an awesome fight but it was a very lackluster with Dias winning every round. His standup was clearly inferior to Alcantara but his ground game was much better, although Yuri’s armbar attempt was beautiful. Eventaully Dias won by unanimous decision.

Possible matchups for Dias: Dias is for real. Alcantara was starting to be considered a title contender but then Dias took his place. Dias should fight the always-entertaining Diego Nunes to let us know exactly where he ranks among the UFC featherweights.

Possible matchups for Alcantara: Alcantara is still a very good fighter. He just needs to work on his takedown defense. He could face off against fellow Brazilian, Rani Yahya who is a very underrated featherweight in the UFC but hasn’t fought since 133.

Fabricio Werdum vs. Mike Russow: This fight was just completely pointless. The only real point that it served was to show where Mike Russow could take his career. I can say this, he won’t be challenging for the title. Werdum showed off his ever improving striking with his dominant first round TKO of he extremely durable Russow.

Possile matchups for Werdum: This was a hard one to find but someone talked about him having a rubber match with Overreem. This actually makes 100% sense. Because Overreem’s drug test put him down a couple notches on the ladder, Werdum had shown, in my opinion, the best striking improvement in a very short amount of time. If Overreem truly feels that he deserves that title shot, he should finish the series with Werdum.

Possible matchups for Russow: Russow will always win a few and take a step up in comptetion, but lose. Another fighter that came off a recent 1st round loss is Dave Herman. Herman is very unpredictable and this could be a rebound fight for both of these guys.

Rony “Jason” Mariano Bezerra vs. Godofredo “Pepey” Castro: Jason came out with the best walkout that I have seen in years. He came out extremely emotional and was crying on his way out to the Octagon. It gave me goose bumps. You don’t often see a fighter so openly emotional right before the biggest fight of their career. But sadly this fight was not very good. Pepey, like I said before, has some of the sloppiest standup that I have ever seen and Jason took advantage of that, eventually winning a unanimous decision.

Possible matchups for Jason: Jason is very good. Although he was underwhelming in this fight (which was most likely the UFC jitters), he trains at Black house and earlier in his career, fought to a very close split decision loss to Renan Barao. Jason will be challenging for the title in the coming years but his next fight is his first step. A fight against fellow rising star in Jimy Hettes would undoubtedly be a very closely contested and entertaining fight that would be action packed in every area of the fight.

Possible matchups for Pepey: What I got out of his fight with Jason was that he simply isn’t UFC material. He pulls guard only to do nothing. He throws with bad intentions, only to miss by 10 feet. The kid has very good BJJ but he needs to work on his standup desperately. Although Matt Grice looked good in his last fight, he still hasn’t beaten anyone that good. If he could beat Pepey, that would be impressive.

Cezar “Mutante” Ferreira vs. Sergio Moraes: This fight was amazing. Mutante easily won the first but Moraes knew how to put on a good fight and nearly finished Mutante with strikes, which was very surprising. Moraes came out aggressive again in the 3rd but was dropped in the last seconds of the fight, sealing the unanimous decision for Mutante.

Possible matchups for Mutante: Daniel Sarafian was injured and pulled out of his fight with Mutante, and I was going to go with Sarafian. Sarafian deserves a shot at Mutante to let us know who the true Ultimate Fighter is.

Possible matchups for Moraes: Moraes is an entertaining fighter with some of the best BJJ at 185 but he was unable to show that. Instead, he showed powerful standup and incredible heart. Chris Camozzi was losing most of his fight with Catone before landing the one knee. Fight with Camozzi could show us if Moraes is UFC material.

Wanderlei Silva vs. Rich Franklin: This fight saved this PPV. It lived up to the hype of being another barnburner. Franklin won every round in my book while Wanderlei won the 2nd with a 10-8 due to the knockdown and flurry. Franklin looked great though: awesome footwork and accurate striking. He landed jab after jab in the later rounds.

Possible matchups for Franklin: He was originally scheduled to face Cung Le at 148 but saved the day once again. He should face off against the winner of Le and Cote at 148.

Possible matchups for Silva: If he doesn’t retire after this fight, then why not try and get him and Vitor to face each other?

UFC 147 Prelim Recap Click Here

UFC 147 Prelim Recap

                               (Damm vs Anistavio “Gasparzinho” Medeiros)    Photo by Getty Images

Felipe Arantes vs. Milton Vieira: Vieira came into this fight with some hype behind him. He is virtually unknown but has been in the cage with Hayato Sakurai, Jake Shields, and Johnny Eduardo. He is most famous for having credit for inventing the anaconda choke. Vieira did impress… for five minutes. The first round was arguably a 10-8 in favor of Vieira but after that, Arantes had a decently easy fight. Once the fight made it to the judges, it ended in a split draw.

Possible matchups for Arantes and Vieira: Although not completely necessary, this fight was entertaining enough that I wouldn’t mind seeing a rematch between the two.

Marcos “Vina” Vinicius vs. Wagner “Galeto” Campos: For the better part of two rounds, Galeto was dominating Vina with ease. He would land the better shots and then take the fight down. He even tried to knock him out Fedor/Arlovski style after Vina went for a flying knee. After the 2nd round, Vina’s corner told him that he needs to blitz Galeto to win this. And blitz him he did. Vina came out and barraged Galeto with beautiful clinch work, eventually knocking him out on his feet for the finish early in the 3rd round. It was a great comeback that scored him an extra $65,000.

Possible matchups for Vina: Vina showed a lot of heart and knockout power in his fight. Finding a matchup for him is a little hard but I think that if they don’t cut Macapa Teixeira then that fight would a be fun scrap between two crazy featherweights.

Thiago “Bodao” Perpetuo vs. Leonarda “Macarrao” Mafra: This fight was really fun. Mafra came out as a very aggressive fighter, winning the first round with better striking and takedowns. The second was much closer but I leaned more towards Bodao based on the fact that Mafra never really did much but Bodao landed some solid shots. Bodao came out like Vina did earlier in the 3rd; he wanted a finish. Bodao instantly caught Mafra and dropped him. Mafra was saved at 41 seconds into the 3rd after a violent attack of hammerfists.

Possible matchups for Bodao: Thiago is a very good striker; technical and powerful. A fight with fellow middleweight winner, Massaranduba would show us who is ready to step out of the shadow of TUF.

Hugo “Wolverine” Viana vs. John “Macapa” Teixeira: This fight was really fun. Both of these guys are fast paced fighters with wild standup and a slick ground game. I scored the first round for Wolverine but the second was very close. I eventually scored it for Macapa but it could have gone either way. The third had Macapa stalking Wolverine for most of the five minutes as Wolverine had visibly slowed down. The 3rd round was clearly Macapa’s and I thought that he had won, but like I said earlier, it could have gone either way. Wolverine ended up winning a razor thin split decision.

Possible matchups for Wolverine: Wolverine was at a clear disadvantage in size in this fight but still won. Wolverine was one of the bets fighters on this season but he is a natural bantamweight. He has a ton of potential and he should instantly fight someone with a name. He should fight the winner of Roland Delorme and Francisco Rivera to let us see where he is in the rankings.

Francisco “Massaranduba” Drinaldo vs. Delson “Pe de Chumbo” Heleno: Drinaldo is a prospect that we all really need to keep our eyes on. Not only is he a huge a thick middleweight, he fights at 155. That’s pretty crazy that he is such a ripped middleweight but is actually a lightweight, which scares me. The guy threw around 185ers but is a typical 155er. Anyway, Massaranduba completely dominated this fight from the opening bell. He eventually finished Pe de Chumbo with hammerfists after Heleno was clearly already gassed out.

Possible matchups for Massaranduba: I am going to assume that he is going to make the cut down to 155 but that might be tough. The guy has almost no body fat. His next fight might be at welterweight but lets go with 155. Him and Tibau have very similar body types but Tibau’s next fight is with rising star Khabib Nurmagomedov. I think Drinaldo should fight the winner of that fight.

Rodrigo Damm vs. Anistavio “Gasparzinho” Medeiros: This fight was the only grudge match from the season. Typically TUF grudge matches are close but this one was absolutely dominant. Damm controlled the standup and eventually dropped him. Damm showed that he is a true veteran of the sport as he went for the rear naked choke rather than trying to finish him with strikes.

Possible matchups for Damm: Although Damm entered TUF with a lackluster record of 9-5, you have to look at who those losses are to: Eiji Mitsuoka, Gilbert Melendez, Justin Wilcox, Maximo Blanco, and Luciano Azevedo (by split). All of those guys have names in the sport, except for Azevedo but he is a veteran (he s the only one to defeat Jose Aldo, and it was by 2nd round submission. WOW!). Anyway, Damm was unable to continue on TUF due to medical reasons, and he was well on his way to the Finale. He said that he believes that he would have won the season, and I believe him. I think that he deserves a fight against a talented fighter. Fellow Brazilian and TUF winner Brandao is coming off a loss and Damm has the skills to be a top guy in the UFC at 145.

Main Card Recap Click Here

UFC on FX 4 Main Card Recap

                                                                                                   Photo by Joe Camporeale via US Presswire

Ross Pearson vs. Cub Swanson: This fight wasn’t as important as Hioki vs. Lamas but we all knew it was on the main card because it was going to be a barnburner. And it lived up to that expectation. It was a fun fight that ended with Cub TKOing Pearson in round 2. The first round was most likely Pearson’s but it was close and then Cub had a nasty flurry that forced the ref to jump in.

Possible matchups: Pearson is an odd fighter. He beats people when he is an underdog but loses when he is the favorite. Not sure what to make of him. But I can see him fighting  either Nam Phan or Javier Vasquez. I think Cub should keep fighting these types of crazy brawling fights and a fight with Diego Brandao would be perfect.

Brian Ebersole vs. T.J. Waldburger: This one was a close one but in the end Ebersole took the razor thin unanimous decision. Waldburger has nothing to be ashamed of; he looked great at moments. Ebersole has mentioned that he might move down to 155. I’m not sure if that is the best decision because he is not the fastest guy in the world and at 155, guys might be running circles around him.

Possible matchups: I think Waldburger should stay roughly where he was after this fight. I want to see him against Claude Patrick or Sean Pierson. Ebersole keeps winning and I would like to see him face off against either Mike Pierce or Aaron Simpson. Those matchups would let us know whether or not Ebersole can handle the big wrestlers at 170.

Sam Stout vs. Spencer Fisher: This fight was the last in their trilogy and it was another fun fight to watch. Stout ended up winning a relatively dominating 30-27 unanimous decision victory. Stout looked good and showed off some good footwork. Fisher had his moments as well but his age has caught up with him. Fisher has thrown around the idea of retirement and that might be for the best. Fisher had a great career but has nothing left to prove.

Possible matchups: Fisher should retire but Stout is only 28 and has a lot of fights left in him. Stout is now 7-6 in the UFC which is not great but he is in the lightweight division which is the best division in the UFC. Stout could face off against Jamie Varner or TJ Grant.

Main Event Clay Guida vs Gray Maynard: This fight was pretty disappointing but it was a close one. I scored it for Guida because although he ran like crazy he did land more effective punches. It was an interesting fight in that it was the first fight that Guida had to put up his long hair for. And Maynard grabbed onto that hair many times and used it to land knees and some ground and pound off his back. I am not saying he did it on purpose but maybe on a sub-conscious level? Either way this fight failed to live up to the lofty expectations.

Possible matchups: Guida is on downhill slide but his losses are to champ Henderson and #3 Maynard. I think Guida should fight Jim Miller. That fight should be Fight of the Night no matter what card it is on. And help catapult one of them back up to the top. I think Maynard should rematch Nate Diaz. They fought once on season 5 of TUF and Nate won. Then they fought again at UFC Fight Night in January, 2010. That time Maynard won by a close split decision. I think that fight would be great and Gray would have his hands full because Diaz has truly found himself and perfected his craft. That fight would also give one of them a title shot for sure.

Good night of fights, especially for a free card.

For Prelim Recap click here

UFC on FX 4 Prelim Recap

                                                                                   Photo by Joe Camporeale, US PRESSWIRE

Dustin Pague vs. Ken Stone: This fight was not the most exciting but Ken Stone won by split decision over Pague who took this fight on one week notice. Ken Stone really does not gain much from this fight due to that fact and Pague barely loses any steam in the UFC brass’ eyes because he took it on extremely short notice.

Possible matchups: I can see Ken Stone facing off against Nick Denis because Stone is moving up and Denis just came down the rankings. Pague should face Jeff Hougland. That fight will determine who is UFC caliber and who needs to go.

Ricardo Funch vs. Dan Miller: This fight could have been voted Fight of the Night. It was back and forth both standing and on the ground. Every round was close and then Dan Miller pulled of a guillotine choke out of nowhere.

Possible matchups: Funch simply is not UFC quality but if he was to stay around I would say a fight with Jake Hecht in a loser gets cut match would be acceptable. Miller would have a good fight with either Brock Jardine or James Head. Both of those matchups interest me.

Matt Brown vs. Luis Ramos: This was a fun fight as well. All Matt Brown fights are fun! Matt Brown is not the best fighter in the world but can beat almost anyone at 170 when he is on. In this fight we saw Matt Brown’s endless assault finally take out Ramos in round two after a flurry of uppercuts and knees that left Ramos a bloody mess.

Possible matchups: Ramos needs to get cut and get some wins outside the UFC. Brown should fight either Rich Attonito or John Maguire. Both of those matchups would be very competitive and help us understand where Attonito and Maguire stand in the rankings.

Chris Camozzi vs. Nick Catone: This fight was okay. It was back and forth but ended with the always unsatisfying stoppage due to a cut. Chris Camozzi caused the stoppage with a brutal knee in round 3. It really sucked for Catone because he was fighting in his hometown.

Possible matchups: Camozzi keeps on winning somehow despite the fact that his skills lack technique and polish. But Camozzi has won two straight and is 4-2 in the UFC and that’s pretty dang good. I can see him facing off against Clifford Starks who is a very tough guy. Or maybe Brad Taveres who is another fighter who is not very technical but is 3-1 in the UFC.

Joey Gambino vs. Steven Siler: Going into this fight Gambino was very highly touted even though it was his Octagon debut. I know he trains at Tri-Star but I did not believe his hype. I do like Siler a lot and knew he was the real deal. Both Sam (the other writer here at CR) and I knew Siler would dominate. A lot of people disagreed with us but in the end we were right. Everyone wants to put down Siler. Before his fight with Cole Miller everyone counted him out and once he won everyone was like “Cole Miller sucks anyway, that win doesn’t mean anything”. So, ridiculous. But anyway, Siler absolutely killed this poor kid and it was a brutal, bloody display.

Possible matchups: It is time for Siler to get a contender. I think Siler should fight Jonathan Brookins. That fight would be fast and sick! Plus it would catapult one of them into title contention. For Gambino, he needs to face someone a little less seasoned. Someone like Pat Schilling. That would be a good loser goes home match. However, Gambino could always make his way back to the UFC and make a name for himself but he looked bad in this fight.

Rick Story vs. Brock Jardine: Pretty boring fight with the ultra-seasoned Rick Story taking on UFC newbie Brock Jardine. First off Brock Jardine is a crazy MMA name mixing Brock Lesnar and Keith Jardine but anyway…The fight just showed that this was a mismatch and the UFC wanted Rick Story to get back to his winning ways.

Possible matchups: Story needs to get a matchup with a guy on his own level. Someone like Jake Ellenberger or the winner of Demian Maia/Dong Hyun Kim. Both of those fights would be fun and help give some order to the welterweight division. Jardine should get someone closer to his level as well. He could take on Che Mills or Carlo Prater.

Ramsey Nijem vs. C.J. Keith: Keith looked okay in the first 45 seconds but then Nijem went on a tear and destroyed Keith at 2:29 of the first round. It was a brutal loss for Keith because he also missed weight and had to give up 20% of his purse to Nijem.

Possible matchups: Keith is not UFC caliber and after an ugly loss and not making weight he will most likely get cut and he probably should. Nijem keeps impressing me. After his horrible loss to Ferguson, I didn’t think he had much of a future but he has now won two easy victories. I think Nijem needs a step up in competition. A fight with Tim Means (our exclusive interview with Means) would be a ton of fun and prove us Nijem can handle a deadly striker.

Hatsu Hioki vs. Ricardo Lamas: Everyone and their mother told us we predicted this way wrong. Even some of the biggest MMA news sites all voted for Hioki but Sam and I were not convinced due to his other efforts in the Octagon. I have always liked Lamas, even when he was an undersized lightweight. He is always fun to watch and he has a great fighting spirit. Lamas looked great by winning the standup and almost submitting the submission ace. Ricardo ended up taking a unanimous decision. I loved how we called this correctly and it shows are MMA brains off.

Possible matchups: No doubt that Lamas fights the Korean Zombie and Hioki fights Dustin Poirier. Those fights make perfect sense with both Lamas and Zombie getting big wins and Poirier and Hioki coming off big losses. Both of those fights would be a ton of fun and I would pay to see those for sure. Make it happen Dana!

For the Main Card Recap Click here

Fedor Emelianenko Retires

                                                                                     Photo by Showtime

Fedor Emelianenko has retired today. It is an end to the most interesting career in the history of MMA. A man considered for years as the best Pound for Pound fighter on earth yet will most likely not be remembered.

We have all heard before that history is determined by the winners. Dana White saw Fedor as an enemy for many years. They tried for years to come to a contractual agreement but never came close and it ended horribly.  Eventually Dana won out when Fedor was submitted in the first round by Fabricio Werdum on June 26th, 2010 (My wedding day!). Because of this he won't be highlighted in the UFC video library or highlight reel packages. He will definitely not make the UFC Hall of Fame. For instance look at Frank Shamrock, Don Frye and Pat Miletich; all who should be in the UFC Hall of Fame. How many casual fans know who they are? Almost no one. How man casual baseball fans know the pioneers (Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Ty Cobb) of their sport? A big portion because baseball properly remembers them but not in the UFC. How many baseball fans that are born today will know about those same pioneers? A decent portion. Will Fedor be remembered by anyone becoming fans now and into the future? Probably not. Although it is very wrong and not fair whatsoever, Dana does not handle this stuff correctly. But Fedor’s decision to follow his management blindly was a mistake on a few levels. Mainly, in my opinion, is that he looked somewhat weak or afraid not going to the UFC. Dana said Fedor wasn’t as good as people thought and that Fedor would not win in the UFC. Fedor never came over and it made him look scared. All of Fedor’s foes came over to the UFC. Big Nog, Cro Cop, Heath Herring, Mark Hunt and Mark Coleman. They all came over and got wins.

But aside from that, Fedor had one of the best careers ever in our young sport. He ruled over the heavyweight division for a long time and defeated a handful of legends during that reign. He was unbelievably fun to watch and his cold demeanor made him someone that we wanted to see pummel people.

I will remember Fedor as a great warrior with an incredible amount of skill and talent. I just hope that somehow everyone else will too.

UFC 147 Predictions

Sam’s Picks

Main Card

Rich Franklin vs. Wanderlei Silva: Two fading legends looking to revitalize their careers will clash this Saturday on possibly the least star studded PPV of all time. I seriously just don’t see Silva winning this. I really don’t. Franklin still has some fight left in him but Wanderlei probably only has about 2 fights left in him after this one = Franklin by 2nd round KO. My pick for KOOTN!

Cezar Mutante vs. Sergio Moraes: both of these guys have a lot of potential but there is one main thing that really makes me lean towards Mutante in this fight, Moraes is a replacement. Mutante won his way to the finals but Moraes lost during the show, Mutante should take this one = Mutante by unanimous decision.

Rony “Jason” Mariano Bezerra vs. Godofredo "Pepey" de Oliveira: Jason was my favorite to win the show when I heard that he was competing on it. Pepey also has a very good chance of winning this fight because his BJJ is very good. I’m going with Jason on this one because Pepey showed some very bad standup, very sloppy and ugly = Jason by 2nd round TKO. My 2rd pick for FOTN!

Mike Russow vs. Fabricio Werdum: Russow is really being counted out in this fight. He is a real threat against anyone in the heavyweight division and is highly underrated. Werdum on the other hand, looked absolutely amazing in his last fight against Nelson. I’m going with Werdum in this fight, but I will not be surprised of Russow wins = Werdum by unanimous decision.

Yuri Alcantara vs. Hacran Dias: Alcantara is probably the biggest under the radar title challenger that I have ever seen. He is a name that almost nobody knows and is a serious threat for the title in the coming year. Dias is going to be a very tough test for him but Alcantara should win = Alcantara by unanimous decision.

Prelims

Rodrigo Damm vs. Anistavio "Gasparzinho" Medeiros = Damm by 1st round submission. My pick for SOTN!

Francisco "Massaranduba" Drinaldo vs. Delson "Pe de Chumbo" Heleno = Pe de Chumbo by split decision. My 2nd pick for FOTN!

John "Macapa" Teixeira vs. Hugo "Wolverine" Viana = Macapa by split decision. My 1st pick for FOTN!

Leonardo "Macarrao" Mafra Teixeira vs. Thiago de Oliveira Perpetuo = Perpetuo by unanimous decision

Marcos Vinicius "Vina" Borges Pancini vs. Wagner "Galeto" Campos = Vina by 3rd round TKO.

Felipe Arantes vs. Milton Vieira = Arantes by 2nd round submission (choke).

Dave’s Picks

Main Card

Rich Frankin vs. Wanderlei Silva: Wow, how did we end up back here? Another major injury to opposing coach Vitor Belfort made Franklin take his place. Rich is used to fighting on short notice because the UFC has asked him to do it many times before. Rich is coming off a very disappointing and boring loss to Forrest Griffin over a year ago. While Silva is coming off a great comeback KO over Cung Le. I say comeback because he was rocked prior to winning. This fight is actually hard to pick for me. The first time they fought they went the distance and Rich won but both of their chins are so bad now and Silva has more power in his fists. I think is Silva lands he could KO Rich but Rich could execute the same game plan as before and still win because Silva never changes his fighting style. This one is hard for me because I can see Rich getting KOed but if Rich can last past a few rounds Silva may fade after awhile because it is 5 rounds. But I can also see Silva being so pumped up because he is fighting in Brazil…geez = Rich by unanimous decision.

Cezar Ferreira vs. Sergio Moraes: Moraes is a great BJJ practitioner and is extremely deadly on the ground. Ferriera has dynamite in his hands and has looked like an animal. This fight is hard to pick for me but I’m going with my gut. = Ferreira by TKO in round 2. My Pick for Fight of the Night!

Rony Mariano Bezerra vs. Godofredo de Oliveira: Rony has looked pretty impressive but so has Oliveira. Rony to me has been the more well-rounded fighter and has an amazing training camp (Nogueiras). So, this could be a close one. = Rony by unanimous decision.

Mike Russow vs. Fabricio Werdum: This fight is pretty interesting. Werdum is rated in the top 5 heavyweights for some people and Mike Russow can be found outside the top 20. But in reality this fight should not be close. Werdum has the skills to put him away quickly. However, Werdum can have trouble finishing guys he should be able to finish and Russow can beat people he should not be able to beat. There is a chance Russow could pull of another crazy victory but voting against Werdum here is just dumb. = Werdum by submission in the 2^nd round. My Pick for Submission of the Night!

Yuri Alcantara vs. Hacran Dias: This fight will be amazing. This is the fight that actually makes me want to watch this horrible PPV.Both of these guys are highly entertaining and so much fun to watch. But Alcantara has faced the tougher competition and has beaten them. I think it will be close and I wouldn’t be shocked if it went the other way. = Alcantara by unanimous decision. My Pick for Fight of the Night!

Prelims

Rodrigo Damm vs. Anistavio Medeiros: Damm by unanimous decision.

Francisco Drinaldo vs. Delson  Heleno: Drinaldo by split decision.

John Teixeira vs. Hugo Viana: John by split decision.

Leonardo Mafra Teixeira vs. Thiago de Oliveira Perpetuo: Perpetuo by TKO in round 2.

Marcos Vinicius Borges Pancini vs. Wagner Campos: Pancini By submission in round 1.

Felipe Arantes vs. Milton Vieira: Arantes by unanimous decision.

UFC on FX 4: Guida vs. Maynard Predictions

Sam’s Picks

Main Card  

Clay Guida vs. Gray Maynard: This fight is tough. Both of these guys are coming off losses and are looking to launch themselves into the title picture with a win. Now we have to look at something, this is the main event, meaning it is a 5 round fight. Maynard has always had trouble with cardio while Guida is known for having some of the best in MMA. This is how I see the fight going. Maynard comes out strong and lands a few big punches with not much action and wins the first. Guida comes out to take a round and he is the busier fighter and lands more punches, winning the second. The third is very close with both fighters scoring takedowns and landing solid shots. Maynard is now visibly slowing down and Guida capitalizes, winning the fourth and fifth handily. Maynard gets the first and Guida gets the second fourth and fifth with the third being very close = Guida by split decision. My 3rd pick for FOTN!

Spencer Fisher vs. Sam Stout III: This fight is undoubtedly going to be very fun. Their first two fights are known for being some of the best in UFC history and also being very, very close. The first fight has some people saying that Fisher was robbed of a win when he lost by split decision. The second was close again but this time Fisher did win. The third will be different though. Stout has been creeping towards title contention, despite a recent loss to Thiago Tavares. Fisher, on the other hand, is getting near retirement. He has lost 4 of his last 5 fights. Stout will be quicker, landing more combos and possibly takedowns = Stout by unanimous decision. My 2nd pick for FOTN!

TJ Waldburger vs. Brian Ebersole: This fight is one of the easier fights to pick on the whole card. Although Waldburger has a huge amount of potential, Ebersole is just simply to experienced for a young gun like Waldburger. Waldurger will enter title contention one day but Ebersole is just simply too unorthodox = Ebersole by 3rd round TKO.

Ross Pearson vs. Cub Swanson: I am very confused why this fight is on the main card when Hioki/Lamas isn’t. Two title contenders on the prelims while two guys trying to get there on the main card? Weird. Anyway, this fight has all the works to be fight of the night (which probably answers my question). Both of these guys are two of the most entertaining fighters at 145. It’s also a very hard fight to predict. Swanson looked amazing in his fight with Roop while Pearson looked okay against Junior Assuncao. Swanson could definitely win this but I am going with Pearson = Pearson by unanimous decision. My 1st pick for FOTN!
 

Prelims
Hatsu Hioki vs. Ricardo Lamas = Lamas by unanimous decision
C.J. Keith vs. Ramsey Nijem = Nijem by 1st round submission (choke). My pick for SOTN!
Brock Jardine vs. Rick Story = Story by unanimous decision
Joey Gambino vs. Steven Siler = Siler by 2nd round TKO
Matt Brown vs. Luis Ramos = Brown by 1st round TKO. My pick for KOOTN!
Chis Camozzi vs. Nick Catone = Catone by unanimous decision
Ricardo Funch vs. Dan Miller = Miller by unanimous decision
Dustin Pague vs. Ken Stone = Pague by 1st round submission (RNC)

Dave’s Picks

Main Card

Clay Guida vs. Gray Maynard: This should be an interesting fight. Gray will be stronger, have better wrestling and most likely, he will also have the better boxing. But Guida will have much better cardio. I think Guida and the Jackson camp will try to emulate Frankie Edgar’s game plan that helped him defeat Maynard. But Guida does not have the skills to mirror Edgar. Edgar was champ for a reason, his boxing is slick. Maynard was able to land and land hard against Edgar but then got tired quickly. We all know that Maynard can go three rounds easy but when he gets to the championship rounds (yea I wrote that) I think he will fade fast against the cardio machine that is Guida. Guida has never been KO’ed and he has fought some tough guys and I don’t think Gray will be the first to do that. This one will be very close and this is a hard pick but I’m going with the underdog. = Guida by unanimous decision. 

Spencer Fisher vs. Sam Stout: this is the final fight of their trilogy and it has been a great couple of fights. Both were very entertaining. In the first fight Stout won a very close split decision; I thought Fisher won. Then in their second meeting Fisher won by unanimous decision. Fisher has had a great career but it is winding down quickly he is 1-4 in his last 5 (23-4 before that). He is 36 years old and his prime is over with but he still had fast and technical hands. Stout did not look good in his last fight but his fight before that, against Yves Edwards, was one of best KO’s of the year. I think Spence might still have the speed advantage and could actually win but if Stout can get his reach and timing down he will win for sure. = Stout by split decision. My Pick for Fight of the Night!

Brian Ebersole vs. T.J. Waldburger: Waldburger has looked great since his loss to Hendricks in the beginning of 2011. On the otherside, Eberosle did not look great in his fight with Claude Patrick. However, Ebersole has defeated some stiff competition in the past and should be able to handle Waldburger. Ebersole should be able to win as long as he does not end up on his back. I see Ebersole dictating the standup and taking a relatively easy decision. = Ebersole by unanimous decision. 

Ross Pearson vs. Cub Swanson: This should be a fun fight. Cub is a strong and fast brawler and Pearson is a technical and methodical boxer. I think Cub is more well-rounded in the wrestling and submissions but Ross should have the edge on the feet. Ross had defeated the tougher competition and I feel more comfortable picking him. I think if Pearson can keep it on the feet he will win a close decision. = Pearson by unanimous decision.

Prelims

Hatsu Hioki vs. Ricardo Lamas: Lamas by unanimous decision.

C.J. Keith vs. Ramsey Nijem: Nijem by unanimous decision.

Brock Jardine vs. Rick Story: Story by unanimous decision.

Joey Gambino vs. Steven Siler: Siler by submission in round 2. My Pick for submission of the Night!

Matt Brown vs. Luis Ramos: Brown by split decision.

Chis Camozzi vs. Nick Catone: Catone by unanimous decision.

Ricardo Funch vs. Dan Miller: Miller by unanimous decision.

Dustin Pague vs. Ken Stone: Pague by submission in round 2.