Quick Picks: Strikeforce: Rockhold vs. Jardine

Dave’s Picks

Champ Luke Rockhold vs. Keith Jardine: Jardine by TKO in round 3.

Adlan Amagov vs. Robbie Lawler: Lawler by KO in round 1.

Lorenz Larkin vs. Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal: Lawal by TKO in round 2.

Jordan Mein vs. Tyron Woodley: Woodley by unanimous decision.

Tarec Saffiedine vs. Tyler Stinson: Tarec by unanimoud decision.

Sam’s Picks

Luke Rockhold vs. Keith Jardine = Rockhold by 4th round TKO.

Robbie Lawler vs. Adlan Amagov = Lawler by 2nd round KO. My pick for KOTN!

Lorenz Larkin vs. Muhammad Lawal = King Mo by unanimous decision.

Jordan Mein vs. Tyron Woodley = Woodley by unanimous decision.

Tarec Saffiedine vs. Tyler Stinson = Saffiedine by unanimous decision.

Sam's UFC 141 Recap

Before we begin on the main card, we start with the biggest winners on the prelims. Sadly, the stacked prelim wasn’t very exciting but it did have a few exciting moments. The very first fight of the night, a fight that should have been on the main card in the first place, wasn’t as good as it could have been as Diego Nunes squeezed by Manny Gamburyan with a 29-28 unanimous decision. Escudero’s return to the UFC was spoiled as he took on tough contender, Jacob Volkmann. Volkmann, with his deceptively strong wrestling, dominated Escudero for two and three quarters of the fight. Escudero pulled off an extremely tight power guillotine on him with a minute left, and it seemed that Volkmann was going unconscious but he squeezed out to take the unanimous decision victory. He called out Frankie Edgar and Barack… again. Dong Hyun Kim dominated the whole fight with Sean Pierson while constantly looking for the crane kick KO. He threw it six times throughout the fight, with only one of them landing, nearly knocking him out with ten seconds left in the second round. The Spike prelims weren’t anything special except the Njokuani and Castillo fight had its moments. It was a close fight where it could have gone either way but Castillo squeezed by him for the Split decision victory. Ross Pearson was impressive in his win over Junior Assuncao but it wasn’t anything special.

Jimy Hettes has SUCH a bright future ahead of him. In a fight that I thought was going to be very tough for him against Nam Phan, he ran through him. I said that it was a very hard fight to pick, but my brother Dave said it wasn’t. He thought that Hettes didn’t have chance against Phan but I saw a lot of potential in Hettes. Jimy Hettes absolutely destroyed Phan en route to a unanimous decision victory, two of them 30-25, the other 30-26. Be looking for this kid to be fighting elite guys soon and for the belt. If his standup gets better, he will be a force, and only 24 years old!

Speaking of 24 year olds, Alexander Gustaffson easily ran through the highly experienced Vladimir Matyushenko. I knew that Gustaffson was going to win but not as easily as he did, and I didn’t think that he would beat him on the feet! I thought he would play it smart by going to the ground for the submission. After not much action, momentum and gravity did their jobs when Matyushenko ran in to close off the distance, only to be dropped by running into a jab. Gustaffson will be fighting Jon Jones in the next year or two, considering Jones will still be champ (it seems as such).

Upset of the year anyone? Johny Hendricks blasted Jon Fitch in only 12 seconds by KO. Jon Fitch has fought the likes of Thiago Alves (twice), Diego Sanchez, Georges St. Pierre, Paulo Thiago, Mike Pierce, Ben Saunders, and B.J. Penn. He won all those except GSP and a controversial draw against BJ Penn. Impressive? Hendricks is impressive himself but know one saw this fight going they way it did, no one. Hendricks launched himself into title contention with one huge left hand.

In a fight that we all expected to be a closely contested fight, wasn’t at all. Nate Diaz fought like he left off with his fight with Gomi. He absolutely dominated Cerrone for the unanimous decision victory with absolutely amazing boxing, crisp and beautiful to watch. Cerrone looked absolutely flat footed. He was slow and this could have been a cost of an adrenaline dump due to high emotions. This was a grudge match in a fight that Cerrone did most of the talking. In the pre fight stare down, Cerrone gave Diaz the finger instead of touching gloves. But after two extremely dominant rounds turned in by Diaz, Diaz returned the favor by giving Cerrone the two birds leading into the third round. The third was just like the other two, dominant. Believe it or not, they actually touched gloves and hugged each other at the end. It’s hard not to respect a guy after you two just went at it for 15 minutes. Diaz keeps looking more and more impressive in every fight back at lightweight.

Alistair Overeem proved that he belongs with the top of the UFC’s heavyweight division with a dominant performance against Brock Lesnar. Overeem showed off his MMA skills with the easily stuffed takedown of Brock Lesnar, something people did not expect. He then showed off that K-1 level striking with beautiful standup, and a deadly liver kick that ended it. After that fight, Lesnar retired after having a very hard few years with his internal disease and getting really beat up. Thank you Lesnar for helping the UFC gain lots of power in the mainstream media world and all the exciting fights you delivered.

Happy New Year everybody!!!

UFC 141 Predictions

Sorry this is so last minute! Holidays and traveling set us back!

Sam’s Picks

Brock Lesnar vs. Alistair Overeem: What a way to finish off the year! The last two fights are great match ups for the next title contenders for the heavyweight and lightweight divisions. Everyone is saying that whoever wins this fight wioll get a title shot against JDS. I believe that Overeem deserves it after winning seven in a row to some top level guys including Fabricio Werdum, Brett Rogers, and Todd Duffee, but Brock lost by getting absolutely destroyed by former champ, Cain Velazquez. Not only did Brock lose but that fight also happened a very long time ago, over a year! Overeem has the clear standup advantage while Lesnar has the better wrestling prowess. The submission game is unclear but I think that Overeem will win this fight decisively based on his better standup and Brock’s weak chin = Overeem by 2nd round TKO. My pick for KOTN!

Nate Diaz vs. Donald Cerrone: I absolutely love this fight and I believe that whoever wins this fight should be considered one of the next lightweight title challengers. This fight could also be a potential fight of the year candidate, and I know last time I said this , the fight only lasted 7 seconds but both these guys’ chins are good and they are both so tough, there is no way this fight will be finished. Diaz looked absolutely unstoppable in his fight with Gomi, he destroyed him on the feet, making Gomi go a takedown only to fall into a triangle that was then beautifully transitioned into a arm bar for the finish, but that is only one fight since losing two in a row at welterweight. While Diaz destroyed Gomi, Cerrone was lighting the lightweight division on fire with his crisp standup and a slick ground game. In a fight that was supposed to be tough for both Cerrone and Dennis Siver, Siver was supposed to win the standup and Cerrone was going to have the ground advantage but Cerrone shut up all his stanup doubters by nearly knocking out Siver on the feet than proving his supporters right by synching up a RNC for the finish. That fight made for his 6th in a row. Cerrone is his prime, this is his moment, Diaz will be tough, but not tough enough = Cerrone by unanimous decision. My pick for FOTN!

Jon Fitch vs. Johny Hendricks: A wrestler versus a better wrestler with the better wrestler coming out on top = Fitch by unanimous decision.

Alexander Gustafsson vs. Vladimir Matyushenko: The new breed versus the experienced. A handing of the torch fight, I love these kinds of fights. Gustafsson has proved to be a future title challenger in beating some top level guys and being at the ripe young age of 24. Matyushenko his still pretty good at his age but that’s all he’ll be, pretty good = Gustafsson by 2nd round submission (choke). My pick for SOTN.

Jim Hettes vs. Nam Phan: This one is hard for me to pick. Hettes looked really good in his fight with Caceres but Nam Phan is the favorite but also looked really bad in his fight with Mike Brown. People are doubting Hettes, you shouldn’t doubt him. His ground skills are extremely impressive and Phan showed weaknesses on the ground in his fight with Brown. Standup is in favor of Phan while the ground goes to Hettes, hard pick = Hettes by 3rd round submission.

Junior Assuncao vs. Ross Pearson = Pearson by unanimous decision.
Danny Castillo vs. Anthony Njokuani = Njokuani by unanimous decision.
Dong Hyun Kim vs. Sean Pierson = Kim by unanimous decision.
Efrain Escudero vs. Jacob Volkmann = Volkmann by unanimous decision.
Luis Ramos vs. Matt Riddle = Ramos by unanimous decision.
Manny Gamburyan vs. Diego Nunes = Nunes by split decision.

Dave’s Picks

Brock Lesnar vs. Alistair Overeem: This is one of the hardest fights to predict in years. There are some major unknowns, the biggest ones being with Brock Lesnar. Brock has not fought in over a year BUT he also got life changing abdominal surgery. Now he can fight at 100% for the first time in his short career but my concern is can the invasive surgery actually hinder him. Abdominal surgery is a big deal (I know personally) and some people are never the same when it comes to mobility and agility. With Alistair he has never fought in the UFC and that can affect even the most experienced fighters. Plus Alistair hasn’t faced stiff competition in awhile and he’s never faced a wrestler on the level of Brock. People are saying that this won’t go the distance but in my opinion there are too many unknown factors to even say that. If Brock can get the takedowns and keep Alistair on the ground it could go the distance and I think that’s Brock’s best game plan. Alistair arguably has the best standup in all of the UFC but he can’t use it fully because he needs to be constantly defending takedowns. Normally if it’s a tossup I go with the wrestler due to the ability to control but due to Brock’s long layoff and inability to take a punch I got to go with Overeem = Alistair Overeem by guillotine choke in round 2.

Donald Cerrone vs. Nate Diaz: this fight should be a great technical brawl. Both these guys are very similar to each other. They both have great rangy standup and fast and slick ground games. This fight could end anywhere but both a very hard to finish. I’m not sure who has the upper hand in any area but Cerrone has just been blasting competition lately and Diaz’s win against Gomi was amazing but Cerrone is just too hot = Cerrone by split decision. My Pick for Fight of the Night!

Jon Fitch vs. Johny Hendricks: first off I love Johny because he is a 2 time NCAA National Champion from OSU. Now on paper Johny should truck Fitch. Johny has the stronger punches, better wrestling and he is a BJJ black belt. But Fitch just knows how to win MMA fights. He has made a formula which cannot be cracked by anyone not named GSP. I really hope Johny crushes him and goes on to great things but until Fitch starts to have a bad skid I can’t vote against him = Fitch by unanimous decision.

Alexander Gustafsson vs. Vladimir Matyushenko: This is such a cool fight. Alexander is destined to be a future title challenger and Vlad is an old-school warrior that has never had a boring fight in his life. I met Vlad recently (which you can read about in my UFC 140 Recap!!) and he is an intimidating figure. In this fight im assuming Vlad will have the strength and wrestling advantage but Alexander will has the striking advantage but Vlad should have more KO power. I like both of these guys, especially Vlad, but I just think Alexander will use Vlad as a huge stepping stone on his way to fighting Jones = Alexander Gustafsson by unanimous decision.

Jim Hettes vs. Nam Phan: Hettes will most likely have a big future in the UFC but until he starts beating guys like Phan in the UFC I can’t pick him. However, if this goes to the ground I wouldn’t be surprised to see Hettes submit Phan. But the way I see it going is a somewhat entertaining standup battle that Phan wins by simply outpointing Hettes = Phan by unanimous decision.

Prelims

Junior Assuncao vs. Ross Pearson: Pearson by TKO in round 2. KO of the Night!

Danny Castillo vs. Anthony Njokuani: Castillo by submission in round 1. Submission of the Night!

Dong Hyun Kim vs. Sean Pierson: Kim by submission in round 2.

Efrain Escudero vs. Jacob Volkmann: Volkmann by unanimous decision.

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

Manny Gamburyan vs. Diego Nunes: Nunes by unanimous decision. (WHY is this fight not on the main card?!!!!!)

Have a great New Year everyone!!

UFC 140 Recap

So, since we went to this event live, we decided to give you guys a big recap!

                                                         Day 1: Weigh-ins

Mark Munoz and Mike Goldberg

We left the house around 7am and went straight to Toronto. We were first in line for the weigh-ins at the Air Canada Centre and got first row seats. We had early access due to our fight club membership. We were treated to a really cool Q and A with Mark Munoz. He was a really cool and incredibly nice guy. Mark talked about his friendship with K-Sos and his amazing ground and pound. Talked about his interesting experience training with Anderson and a little bit about his interactions with Chael Sonnen. It was overall very interesting and Mark is an amazingly nice person.

Mitch Clarke

Then the weigh-ins started. First up was Mitch Clarke (pictured left) who came on stage dripping in sweat and huffing and puffing and looked like he was going to pass out. He obviously was cutting weight right up until he came on stage. Funny thing is that he actually weighed well under the limit. The next few fighters made weight until Dennis Hallman went up. He was well over the mark by a whole 2.5 pounds. He was booed badly for that one. After that everyone made weight and there were some good stare downs between Lil Nog and Tito, Mir and Big Nog, and Jones and Machida. All stare downs were intense and exciting.

Henderson, Mitrione, Munoz

After the weigh-ins we made our way down to Chapters bookstore and bought a copy of the UFC Encyclopedia, which is a great buy, and were first in line to meet and get autographs from Ben Henderson, Matt Mitrione and Mark Munoz. They were all very nice and fun to talk to. Munoz promised us to “destroy” Chael Sonnen. We then wished Ben Henderson good luck in Japan and he was thankful. Then we made our way back to Buffalo.

Day 2: Fight Night

Vladimir Matyushenko

We (Sam, Dave, our other brother Andrew and my nephew Stephen) left the house around 7am and made our way to Toronto. So, we headed straight to the Real Sports store right next to Air Canada Centre; which is where the fights were to take place. We were first in line to meet, take pictures with and get an autograph from Wanderlei Silva and Dan Hardy. We were super excited to meet Silva because not only is he one of our favorite fighters but he is an absolute legend in MMA. It went really well and they were both extremely kind guys. Sammy got to talk to Dan Hardy and learned some news, “There’s a good chance I may be fighting in Las Vegas in May but I’m not sure who I am fighting yet.” After that we grabbed some food and then kept track of Dana White’s twitter feed because he was updating regularly on scavenger hunt details. We almost won 2 times but were a second late. But while we were looking for a clue we bumped into Vladimir Matyushenko and I (Dave) got a picture with him.

Then we went in for the fights. It was a crazy night of exciting fights and brutal finishes. First fight of the night was Mitch Clarke vs. John Cholish. The fight went into the second round with little action in the first. However, the ending was an amazingly fast scramble that started with Cholish going for a kimura and Clarke sweeping and then Cholish swept and somehow took Clarkes back. Cholish then proceeded to TKO Clarke. Mitch Clarke did not look UFC caliber but Cholish could have some success but he will need to fight stiffer competition in order to truly tell where his skill level is.

The second fight was Rich Attonito vs. Jake Hecht. Rich was a big favorite coming into this fight because not only was he 3-1 in the UFC but Hecht took this fight on short notice. Rich dominated the first round with some decent ground control but never really tried to finish it which was a big mistake. In the second round Attonito went for a takedown up against the fence and Hecht caught him with an elbow to the temple that dropped Attonito and Hecht swarmed on him and got the finish by TKO. It was a quick and surprising ending. Rich is getting older and has to really reevaluate his long term career. But for Hecht he could do some damage against the lower tier on the welterweight division.

Third fight of the night was Mark Bocek vs. Nik Lentz. It was another boring fight for Lentz but for the first time in his UFC career he was on the losing end. Bocek smothered but never went for a finish. Lentz on his back couldn’t produce anything but guillotine attempts. It was a decent win for Bocek due to the fact Lentz was undefeated in the Octagon. Lentz will never be more than a low tier guy. His style will never garner fans and if he can’t handle Bocek he won’t be able to handle 75% of the lightweight division. Bocek is a solid gatekeeper with great grappling skills. We see him staying in that spot for awhile.

Yves Jabouin vs. Walel Watson was up next. This fight was actually very entertaining. It was a back and forth brawl. Jabouin won most of the standup but Watson won every second it was on the ground. Watson had a couple extremely tight submissions on but Jabouin, hearing his home country crowd cheering him on, was able to power through and end up on top by a split decision win. Jabouin will not accomplish a whole lost in the UFC but Watson may be able to have a future based on his finishing ability and reach.

Dennis Hallman vs. John Makdessi was a one sided affair. Makdessi was instantly takendown and controlled until Hallman sunk in the rear-naked choke to end it less than three minutes in. Hallman is a good enough veteran to run with a lot of guys in the lightweight division. Makdessi needs to work on his ground game very badly. He can still be a force but maybe a drop down to featherweight would be a good idea because he is very small for lightweight.

Constantinos Philippou vs. Jared Hamman was again another 1^st round stoppage and again a one sided affair. Philippou from the start connected with a hard punch and rocked Hamman. For the rest of the fight Hamman was running backwards trying to regain his composure. The fight only lasted 3:11 and it was brutal. Hamman will have to fight lower-tier guys from now on. Philippou has a decent future ahead of him. He has heavy hands and good grappling.

Igor Pokrajac vs. Krzysztof Soszynski was most likely going to be a short brutal knockout but it wasn’t the most likely person that won. Soszynski was also a 3-1 favorite but he only lasted 35 seconds. Igor came out furious. No one at home could see this but as Soszynski was getting padded down and walking to the cage Igor was stalking the cage and staring at him. It was like looking at an angry lion in a cage. But this fight was a classic case of a fighter coming out too hot without covering up and he got caught. K-Sos needs to regroup and work on his head movement but he is still a solid gatekeeper. Igor has had an up and down UFC career but he needs to be more consistent to move up the ranks.

So the next fight was Chan Sung Jung vs. Mark Hominick and everyone there was rooting extremely loud for the hometown Hominick. Hominick was also a 3-1 favorite. Sadly the hometown crowd would get silenced pretty quick because the Korean Zombie ended this fight by knockout tying the fastest KO in UFC history at 7 seconds. 7 seconds!!! It was a crazy night so far because the last 4 fights all ended in under 7 minutes combined. But Hominick is still a great fighter with a big future but he needs to focus next time. Jung has been working hard on perfecting his style and he has looked extremely good lately. Jung will most likely be fighting for the title very soon.

Then Brian Ebersole vs. Claude Patrick happened and settled everything down…for a little while. It was a somewhat boring fight where netiehr guy went for a finish and both played it rather safe. It went to a split decision and I thought it could have gone either way. This will keep Patrick in the lower ranks for awhile longer but he has the skills to be something more. Ebersole had a very disappointing showing here but he may be able to establish himself as a solid gatekeeper.

But then the rest of the night was insane!

Lil Nog vs. Tito Ortiz went the way I wanted it to go! I know Tito has done some good for the UFC and for gaining notoriety but I do not like him as a person at all. I can’t stand him and I love the Nogueira brothers. Lil Nog won every second of the fight. But the end started when Nog caught Tito with a crazy knee right in the same spot Rashad caught him at UFC 133. It was brutal. Nog jumped on top and starting whaling on his hurt ribs until Tito just went into the fetal position crying uncontrollably. All in the first round, it was a beautiful thing! Tito has one more fight on his contract so he should lose once more than retire. Lil Nog could be a title contender, he just needs to be more consistent.

Then it was the Co-Main Event: Francisco Miranda :) vs. Big Nog! Nog is one of my top 5 favorite fighters of all time. Not only because he is a great person but because he has put on some of the most entertaining and courageous fights in the history of combat sports. This fight was crazy from start to finish. Nog looked a million times better on the feet than he did in their last fight at UFC 92. Nog caught Mir flush and Mir stumbled to the ground Nog was raining down big punches and Mir looked to be out but then Nog went for a guillotine choke and slipped off. Mir was able to gather his wits and locked in a kimura that will live infamy. Mir snapped Nog’s humerus in half. It was loud and nasty. That fight was only 3 minutes and 38 seconds. Nog wont be back for nearly a year, which is horrible because he is not getting any younger. Mir is still hovering around title contention but there is no way he could beat either JDS or Overeem. We will see.

The Main Event of the evening!!

Lyoto Machida vs. Champion Jon Jones. We have wanted this fight for awhile and now it was happening! So, the first round was mostly a “feeling-out” round. Machida won but mainly due to his higher volume of strikes. The second round got nuts. Jones came out much more aggressive and late in the round caught Machida with a short elbow and cut him very badly. Then Jones caught Machida really hard with a left that dropped Machida. Machida tried to stand up but was caught it a super tight guillotine choke. Jones had it in tight and then referee John McCarthy stopped it and Jones let go of the choke and Machida slumped to the canvas out cold! The crowd went insane. It was a big night for Jon Jones and left no questions that he is top 5 pound for pound and leaves one wondering who can even compete with this kid?

Overall a crazy night of fights. Out of 12 fights 9 of them were stoppages with 6 being in the first round! It was an amazing card. But that wasn’t the end of our nights!

We made our way to Boston Pizza where we met Phil Davis. He was signing some autographs so we decided to take advantage of it and got some plus pictures. And then we went back to our car but on our way to the parking garage something amazing happened! We actually got to meet Dana White! He was finishing up his post-fight press conference and then he came outside and met with my group plus around 8 other people. It was fantastic he all got autographs and pictures. Our group pictures did not come out well but I got one of him signing my autograph . He was very nice and talked to us and answered our questions genuinely. Then we left.

Overall it was one of the greatest experiences of my life and im glad I spent it with my family. The UFC never disappoints!

Quick Picks: Strikeforce: Melendez vs. Masvidal

Dave’s Picks

Champ Gilbert Melendez vs. Jorge Masvidal (for lightweight title): Melendez by unanimous decision.

Champ Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos vs. Hiroko Yamanaka (for women's featherweight title): Santos by KO in round 1.

Gegard Mousasi vs. Ovince St. Preux: Mousasi by split decision.

Billy Evangelista vs. K.J. Noons: Noons by unanimoud decision.

Roger Bowling vs. Jerron Peoples: Bowling by TKO in round 2.

Caros Fodor vs. Justin Wilcox: Wilcox by unanimous decision.

Sam’s Picks

Champ Gilbert Melendez vs. Jorge Masvidal (for lightweight title): Melendez by 3^rd round TKO.

Champ Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos vs. Hiroko Yamanaka (for women's featherweight title): Santos by TKO in round 2.

Gegard Mousasi vs. Ovince St. Preux: OSP unanimous decision.

Billy Evangelista vs. K.J. Noons: Noons by 2^nd round TKO.

Roger Bowling vs. Jerron Peoples: Bowling by split decision.

Caros Fodor vs. Justin Wilcox: Wilcox by unanimous decision.