Bellator 73 Predictions

Dave’s Picks

Main Card

Marcos Galvao vs. Luis Nogueira: Luis by split decision.

Attila Vegh vs. Travis Wiuff: Wiuff by unanimous decision.

Ryan Martinez vs. Mike Wessel: Wessel by TKO in round 2.

Mike Mucitelli vs. Matt Van Buren: Van Buren by unanimous decision.

Prelims

Cosmo Alexander vs. Harry Johnson: Johnson by unanimous decision.

Brian Albin vs. Jacob Noe: Noe by unanimous decision.

Amaechi Oselukwue vs. Kelvin Tiller: Tiller by unanimous decision.

Andy Uhrich vs. Joe Williams: Williams by split decision.

Jay Black vs. Brian Hall: Hall by submission in round 2.

Chris Coggins vs. Zach Underwood:  Coggins by unanimous decision.

Sam’s Picks

Main Card

Marcos Galvao vs. Luis Nogueira: Luis by unanimous decision.

Attila Vegh vs. Travis Wiuff: Wiuff by unanimous decision.

Ryan Martinez vs. Mike Wessel: Wessel by KO in round 1.

Mike Mucitelli vs. Matt Van Buren: Van Buren by split decision.

Prelims

Cosmo Alexander vs. Harry Johnson: Alexander by TKO in round 2.

Brian Albin vs. Jacob Noe: Noe by unanimous decision.

Amaechi Oselukwue vs. Kelvin Tiller: Tiller by TKO in round 1.

Andy Uhrich vs. Joe Williams: Uhrich by split decision.

Jay Black vs. Brian Hall: Hall by unanimous decision.

Chris Coggins vs. Zach Underwood: Coggins by submission in round 3.

Titan FC 24 Predictions

Free Anthony Johnson Autograph Photo Contest click here!

Dave’s Picks

Main Card

Anthony Johnson vs. Esteves Jones: Johnson by TKO in round 2.

Chris Holland vs. Braulio Estima: Estima by submission in round 1.

Andrew Whitney vs. Cody Gibson: Gibson by split decision.

Brian Davidson vs. Joe Murphy: Davidson by unanimous decision.

Matt Uhde vs. Matt Foster: Uhde by unanimous decision.

Jose Vega vs. Adam Stickey: Vega by KO in round 1.

Sam's Picks

Main Card

Anthony Johnson vs. Esteves Jones: John by TKO in round 1.

Chris Holland vs. Braulio Estima: Estima by submission in round 1.

Andrew Whitney vs. Cody Gibson: Gibson by unanimous decision.

Brian Davidson vs. Joe Murphy: Murphy by unanimous decision.

Matt Uhde vs. Matt Foster: Uhde by split decision.

Jose Vega vs. Adam Stickey: Vega by TKO in round 3.

Don't Look Past These Guys: UFC Dark Horses

As the UFC continues to add to their already dense roster, there are a lot of mid-tier fighters that are being overlooked and not being given the respect they deserve. Every division has several dark horse title contenders and several constant underdogs.

These guys are starting to prove to us that they aren’t who we really think they are, but actually a force to be reckoned with. I have personally chosen my dark horse title contenders in who I believe will be challenging for the title as everyone else overlooks them.

Photo via MMAJunkie.com

Heavyweight: Stefan Struve -  “Skyscraper” is really starting to find his grove in the MMA world. After his KO loss to Travis Browne at UFC 130, people started to write him off as a wasted talent.  People knew he had an immense amount of potential, but we never saw it come into fruition, until now. 

After his loss to Browne, he decided he is now going to fight smart. Fight IQ has been his biggest opponent since his UFC debut against Junior dos Santos. With extremely slick BJJ and technical striking, Struve has what it takes to be a future champion, but his chin has been saying otherwise.

Now riding a 3 fight win streak against Pat Barry, Dave Herman, and Lavar Johnson, he’s looking for a rematch with the champ but he’ll have to get through top heavyweight prospect in Stipe Miocic.

Photo via MMAWeekly.com

Light Heavyweight: James Te Huna – This New Zealand born knockout artist has been making statement after statement in the UFC. With a record of 4-1 under the UFC banner, with his only loss to title contender Alexander Gustafsson, he is riding a 3 fight win streak with wins over Ricardo Romero, Aaron Rosa, and a fight of the year candidate against Joey Beltran, including a TKO win over Igor Pokrajac in his UFC debut.

Not a lot of people are talking about Te Huna and the title picture, but that time is certainly coming sooner, rather than later.

With immense KO power in his hands that also hold technical prowess, Te Huna may be the next guy to beat at 205, and I see a top-10 opponent in his next fight.

Photo via MMAJunkie.com

Middleweight: Francis Carmont – Training out of a place like Tristar gym can get you immediate attention, especially when you’re an up and comer, but there is one man that is starting to hog the spotlight from the other up and comers. His name is Francis “Limitless” Carmont and this 30-year-old Frenchman is really starting to turn some heads, and showing that his nickname is rather apt.

Although his standup is not technically sound, but rather powerful, his ground game is his bread and butter. With 19 professional wins with 10 by submission, he is the type of fighter where you want to avoid his ground game.

After coming off a spectacular submission win over Karlos Vemola, who is a Czech national wrestling champion, Carmont is looking to take a step up in competition against the charismatic, Tom Lawlor. If he passes, he could be looking at a top-15 or even top-10 opponent.

Photo via MMA Sun

 Welterweight: John Hathaway – At only 25 years old, Hathaway has a ton of time to improve his all around game, which is quite scary considering he has already beaten Diego Sanchez (who was coming off of a title shot), Rick Story, and Paul Taylor. His only loss is to Mike Pyle, who absolutely dominated the fight, but that is simply a learning experience for the young Hathaway.

Following his two lackluster bouts with Pyle and Kris McCray, Hathaway made a strong comeback against submission specialist, Pascal Krauss as UFC on Fox 3.

This young man has an insane amount of potential and it has yet to be tapped into, perhaps we will see it against John Maguire on September 29^th.

Photo via MMAJunkie.com

Lightweight: Tim Means – This one might come as a surprise to many. Tim Means has only had two fights in the UFC and against relative unknowns in Justin Salas and Bernardo Magalhaes. But, don’t be mistaken, Tim Means is immensely talented. His standup is insanely accurate and his takedown defense is great. His finishing ability is also fantastic as he has 13 (T)KO, 3 submission, and only 2 decision wins. His crazy reach and height can’t hurt either and Tim Means is continuing to make a name.

Although his next fight is against UFC debutant, and relative unknown, Abel Trujillo, Tim Means deserves recognition and with a win over Trujillo, he may finally receive some.

Photo via MMAJunkie.com

Featherweight: Antonio Carvalho – Going into UFC 149, Carvalho was expected to be rather easily disposed of by Daniel Pineda. It didn’t exactly go that way. Carvalho blitzed Pineda and knocked him out with a beautiful head kick followed by a barrage of punches in only 71 seconds. Although this only makes him 1-1 in the UFC, this win showed that he clearly had a bad case of the UFC jitters heading into his fight with Felipe Arantes.For a guy who is known for his ground game, Carvalho’s standup looked pretty fantastic against Pineda. 

Believe it or not, Carvalho actually has a win over Hatsu Hioki back in 2007. Even though it was only a split decision, a win is a win and that win is huge. If Antonio Carvalho can continue to look as good as he did against Pineda, we are looking at a potential champion at 145.

Photo via MMAWeekly.com

Bantamweight: Alex Caceres – Alex Caceres, or otherwise known as Bruce Leeroy, has looked great since his drop down to 135. After losing his first two bouts to Mackens Semerzier and Jimy Hettes in the UFC, he decided it was time for another drop. And it’s done wonders.

He won his bantamweight debut against former WEC featherweight champion in Cole Escovedo, and he won dominantly. He ended up losing his next fight to Edwin Figueroa, but it was highly controversial and it was a bizarre fight overall. He ended up easily submitting former WEC star, Damacio Page, in the second round with a triangle choke. With his extremely well rounded MMA game, Alex Caceres is one of the most underrated fighters in the UFC today.

Photo via MMAJunkie.com

Flyweight: Chris Cariaso – Cariaso is another one of those fighters that simply hasn’t received enough praise. The guy is a very good fighter. His ground game is strong and his standup is underrated. With wins over Takeya Mizugaki, Vaughan Lee, Will Campuzano, Josh Ferguson, and a very close fight with a top-5 bantamweight in Michael McDonald, Cariaso is for real.

I think his fight with McDonald truly speaks to his skill. That fight was extremely close throughout the fight and Cariaso had a huge disadvantage in the size category, giving up 5 inches in height. He stayed in there with McDonald and actually won some of the standup.

After his successful 125 pound debut against Josh Ferguson, Cariaso is just one win away from a title shot. He has what it takes to really give any 125er a run for their money.

CR Exclusive Interview with Isaac Vallie-Flagg

Photo via MMAJunkie.com

On May 19^th of this year, Isaac Vallie-Flagg burst onto the MMA scene with a split decision victory over Gesias “JZ” Cavalcante, which proved as one of the biggest upsets of the year thus far. The Jackson’s MMA product came into the bout while many viewed him as a stepping-stone for the former DREAM lightweight star. 

He changed that after 15 minutes of an amazing fight.

Although JZ clearly won the first round, Vallie-Flagg came back to win the second two rounds on two of the judges scorecards, many journalists, and us at CR.

Isaac is looking to continue his hot 10-0-1 streak as he will be fighting Adriano Martins on September 29^th. And we got an interview with him on this upcoming fight.

Championship Rounds: So your next fight is with Adriano Martins at Strikeforce: Melendez vs. Healy. Talk about this fight, how has training camp been going?

Isaac Vallie-Flagg: I’m excited for my fight with Adriano. He is another tough dude and a real test! Even though people haven’t heard of him, he is legit.

Training camp is going well, I spent my first bit of it with Cub Swanson and his boxing coaches, Joel Diaz and Antonio Diaz working on some stuff. Now I’m in Albuquerque training at Jackson’s with my great team and then going to Gracie Barra in New Mexico with some real beast jiu-jitsu guys.

CR: How do you envision the fight going?

IVF: I envision the fight like this: we are both going to punch each other in the face several times (laughs). This fight honestly could go anywhere but I want to dictate where it goes.

CR: You pulled off a huge upset against Gesias “JZ” Cavalcante in your last fight. How does the underdog status affect you?

IVF: I love being the underdog. I fight better when I’m the underdog. I have been the underdog my entire career and it feels good to prove people wrong.

CR: Your fight with JZ was a barnburner, what was your mentality going into that fight?

IVF: I am a fan of JZ. I knew how tough he is and what he is capable of. I knew I was just as capable and had better conditioning so my mentality was to push this dude hard for 3 rounds no matter where the fight goes, just attack. And it ended up being an entertaining fight from what I saw.

CR: After beating a big name like JZ, where do you believe you stand in the lightweight title picture in Strikeforce?

IVF: You know, I hope my name is getting thrown around to compete for a Strikeforce belt sometime, but the task at hand is beating Adriano, so that is what I’m focused on.

CR: Most people scored the fight for you, 29-28. What was going through your head when they announced the 29-28 score for JZ?

IVF: I really felt like I should have gotten the unanimous decision over JZ. He won round 1 for sure but 2 and 3 were mine, but that is judging for you. You never want to leave it in judge’s hands if you can avoid it

CR: What is it like training at Jackson’s MMA with so many champions? Who are your training partners most of the time?

IVF: Training at Jackson’s is great. Our talent pool speaks for itself. My main training partners are usually everybody; I like to get looks from every person in the gym. It’s a huge benefit to have so many guys and girls that are top caliber fighters. I would like to name drop more but I would have to put a huge list of big names as well as some super talented up and comers.

CR: Are there any names that we should keep an eye on fighting out of Jackson’s MMA that we might not know?

IVF: Guys you should keep an eye out for at Jackson’s are Rustam Habilov, Hunter Tucker, Landon Vannata, Clint Roberts, and Nick Urso: the Jackson 5. Oh, also there is this guy Cub Swanson that you should for sure keep an eye on (laughs).

CR: Who’s Cub Swanson?

IVF: Eh, just some dude that looks like Diego Brandao.

Thanks again to Isaac Vallie-Flagg for the great interview. He’s a great guy with a charismatic personality, he also just happens to also be one of the best up and comers in MMA.

Go follow him on Twitter @ikevallieflagg and watch his fight on September 29^th!

CR Exclusive Interview with Erik Perez

Photo via MMAJunkie.com

The 22-year-old Jackson’s MMA fighter, Erik “El Goyito Perez”, just turned himself from prospect to contender. At UFC 150, Perez posted the fastest KO at 135 in either the WEC or the UFC with a 17 second knockout over Ken Stone.

Surprisingly, Perez was a small underdog heading into this fight, but an underdog nonetheless. “I’ve been the underdog before, [the underdog status] didn’t affect me”, Perez said, “I was already motivated [heading into the fight]”.

Although he looked very motivated for the quick finish, he didn’t expect it, “Yes, I wasn’t expecting [the quick finish]’, said Perez, “I just want to fight great and have a war if I have to. I’m always prepared for 3 rounds”.

Perez talks about his life since his two quick finishes under the UFC banner, “It hasn’t changed too much, but the experience has been great. I’m not sure [what I’m going to accomplish by the time I’m 30], I’m living the life right now and living the dream”.

Now that he boasts a 2-0 record in the UFC by two 1^st round finishes, Erik Perez is taking it easy and letting the UFC decide his next fight, “Everyone is good at 135 so whomever the UFC says is fine with me. I’m fine fighting with whoever.”

Before the interview was over, Erik Perez explained how he got his nickname: “El Goyito”, “Gregorio is my middle name and ‘Goyo’ is short for Gregorio. When I started fighting professionally I was very young, only 16-years-old, so everyone started calling me “Goyito” for little Gregorio. “

Thanks again to Erik Perez and make sure you guys go follow him on Twitter @Goyito_Perez. Keep him on that list of future title contenders.

Legacy Fighting Championships 13

Sam’s Picks

Derrick Lewis vs. Jared Rosholt = Rosholt via 1^st round submission.

Evan Cutts vs. Sean Spencer = Cutts via split decision.

Chris Tickle vs. Doug Frey = Tickle via 2^nd round TKO.

Donnie Bell vs. Clayton Robinson = Robinson via unanimous decision.

Steven Peterson vs. Matt Hobar = Hobar via 3^rd round submission.

Hayward Charles vs. Russell Brewer = Brewer via split decision.

Randy Villareal vs. Ryan Benoit = Benoit via 1^st round KO.

Dave’s Picks

Derrick Lewis vs. Jared Rosholt: Rosholt by submission in round 2.

Evan Cutts vs. Sean Spencer: Cutts by split decision.

Doug Frey vs. Chris Tickle: Tickle by KO in round 1.

Donnie Bell vs. Clayton Robinson: Bell by unanimous decision.

Matt Hobar vs. Steven Peterson: Peterson by submission in round 3.

Russell Brewer vs. Hayward Charles: Brewer by TKO in round 1.

Ryan Benoit vs. Randy Villareal: Benoit by TKO in round 2.

Strikeforce: Rousey vs. Kaufman

Sam’s Picks

Main Card

Ronda Rousey vs. Sarah Kaufman: Sarah Kaufman seems to be extremely overlooked heading into this fight. She has amazing striking with great cardio and amazing chin. Of course her ground game is her one weakness and that is Ronda’s specialty. Rousey still hasn’t shown much improvement in the striking department, as it is still rather rudimentary. I’m sure that she has diligently at that aspect of her career but Kaufman will certainly be better on the feet. Although I do see Rousey continuing her dominance = Rousey via 1^st round armbar.

Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza vs. Derek Brunson: Once again, another big underdog that shouldn’t be so overlooked. Brunson is a very powerful wrestler but that could very well be his downfall. Souza is arguably the best BJJ in MMA today. Although Souza did technically lose to Grove, Dave didn’t watch that fight, I did and Brunson won that fight, even the cocky Grove admitted it to Derek afterwards. But that doesn’t change much heading into this fight. I see Brunson going for the takedown early and Souza snapping on the triangle = Souza via 1^st round triangle.

Roger Bowling vs. Tarec Saffiedine: Now this is an awesome fight. I agree with Dave on the fact that Tarec is one of the more underrated fighters in MMA. Bowling is extremely explosive but if Saffiedine can survive the first round onslaught, he should take an easy decision after picking him apart and even possibly finishing him = Saffedine via unanimous decision. (For our interview with Tarec click here)

Lumumba Sayers vs. Anthony Smith: Sayers has really impressed me lately with his KO power and submission skills. Because he has such heavy hands, I can see him knocking Smith out early as Smith’s chin is very suspect = Sayers via 1^st round KO.

TJ Cook vs. Ovince St. Preux: OSP has a very bright future ahead of him. With only 1 loss in his last 9 to Gegard Mousasi, OSP is very well rounded and TJ Cook hasn’t beaten anyone with a name to show me that he can beat someone like OSP. Cook’s submission defense is very bad so I see a submission after a close first round = OSP via 2^nd round guillotine.

Prelims

Julie Kedzie vs. Miesha Tate = Tate via unanimous decision. (Click here for the prelim preview)

Bobby Green vs. Matt Ricehouse = Ricehouse via split decision.

Adlan Amagov vs. Keith Berry = Amagov via 1^st round submission

Germaine de Randamie vs. Hiroko Yamanaka = Yamanaka via unanimous decision.

Dave’s Picks

Main Card

Ronda Rousey vs. Sarah Kaufman: This one is for the 135-pound title. This fight will be amazing and a ton of fun. Rousey is arguably the best female fighter alive and I think her perfect streak will continue here. Rousey has won every fight by way of first round armbar and if you include her amateur career that is 7 armbars in a row…and by the way all of those came in the first round! She is an incredible athlete and Kaufman will be overwhelmed here. I think at this point in their careers Meisha Tate is better than Sarah Kaufman and Rousey just broke Tate’s arm in half. = Rousey by armbar in round 1.

Ronaldo Souza vs. Derek Brunson: Souza is a BJJ freak and he is facing a guy who just lost to Kendall Grove. Not much to think about in this one. Brunson’s only chance is to land a big punch or kick and KO Souza but if Souza can take out Robbie Lawler then he can handle Brunson. = Souza by submission in round 2.

Roger Bowling vs. Tarec Saffiedine: This fight is going to be a brawl. Tarec is a very good technical striker with a great chin and a very solid grappling style. He is one of the most underrated fighters in the sport and is incredibly well rounded. Bowling is more of a sloppy brawler and has a chance to win but Tarec is better in every aspect and has never been KO’d. I see Tarec picking him apart and, if need be he can take it to the ground and control him there. = Tarec by unanimous decision. (For our interview with Tarec click here)

Lumumba Sayers vs. Anthony Smith: Sayers has been impressive as of late with his KO of Antwain Britt in 28 seconds and submitting Scott Smith in 1 minute and 34 seconds. Smith did not have a great start to his career but has gone 11-2 in his last 13 fights. However Sayers has faced and defeated better competition than Smith and I think he will take this one. = Sayers by TKO in round 2.

T.J. Cook vs. Ovince St. Preux: OSP is a superb athlete and is pretty well rounded. Cook, in my opinion, has not proven himself enough to say he could hang with OSP. I think Cook has a problem with submission defense and OSP has good enough submissions to pull it off. = OSP by submission in round 3.

Prelims

Julie Kedzie vs. Miesha Tate: Tate by submission in round 2. (Click here for the prelim preview)

Bobby Green vs. Matt Ricehouse: Green by unanimous decision.

Adlan Amagov vs. Keith Berry: Amagov by TKO in round 1.

Germaine de Randamie vs. Hiroko Yamanaka: Hiroko by unanimous decision.