UFC 127 Results

I missed this event, so I'm just going off reports and what I caught via the Interwebs.

BJ Penn vs Jon Fitch (majority draw)
Majority draw? What's up with that? Two had it 28-28, one had it 29-28. Was there really a 10-8 round for Penn? Probably not, which means two judges had it 29-28, really, for Penn, but since one round was 10-8 Fitch, it was 28-28. Ugh. (0-0-1)

Michael Bisping def. Jorge Rivera (TKO 2)
The only fight I did see. Hard to judge this one, 'cause there's no telling what impact that CRAZY illegal knee had on Rivera. He looked a little lost after that, just kinda winging his punches and not able to take the slightest abuse. Bisping isn't known for his power and yet he had Rivera wilting easily. Wonder what the docs thought of his condition. (0-1-1)

Dennis Siver def. George Sotiropoulos (TKO 2)
Bugger. George had little to gain and much to lose in this fight. And he lost. Bad first round cost him. (0-2-1)

Brian Ebersole def. Chris Lytle (unanimous)
Lytle couldn't finish him, so he lost yet another decision. (0-3-1)

Kyle Noke def. Chris Camozzi (sub 1)
Didn't see it. (1-3-1)

Ross Pearson def. Spencer Fisher (unanimous)
Gotta wonder if Spencer has lost a step. Bit of a surprise that the vet got beat. (1-4-1)

Alexander Gustafsson def. James Te Huna def. (sub 1)
Gustafsson impresses again. Bit of a mismatch, really. (2-4-1)

Nick Ring def. Riki Fukuda (unanimous)
Ring is good enough to finish guys. He needs to do that to stick around and get noticed. (3-4-1)

Anthony Perosh def. Tom Blackledge (sub 1)
Another quick one for Perosh. (4-4-1)

Tiequan Zhang def. Jason Reinhardt (sub 1)
Is Reinhardt a choker? Crazy good record, but loses both of his UFC fights in lightning quick submissions. WTFH? (4-5-1)

Mark Hunt def. Chris Tuchscherer (KO 2)
Maybe I didn't give Hunt enough props. Dominated the tough guy. (4-6-1)

Curt Warburton def. Maciej Jewtuszko (unanimous)
Stats tell a different story. Strange. (4-7-1)

Ugh. Crappy record.

UFC 127 Penn vs Fitch Picks

In a bit of a hurry, so gonna have to make this quick.

BJ Penn vs Jon Fitch (welterweight)
I honestly don't know how Penn earned this number one contender's fight. He loses to GSP and Hughes, drops to lightweight, gets another crack at GSP for some bizarro reason, gets slaughtered, loses his lightweight title to Frankie Edgar, loses AGAIN to Edgar to prove it wasn't a fluke, moves back up to welterweight and beats Hughes - a fighter who can't seem to beat any top ten fighter these days - and he gets this fight as a reward? WTF? How about beating some real fighters first? Fitch, meanwhile, has stayed in the top 5, beaten tough guys, but still hasn't earned a rematch with GSP, probably because he got smoked the last time out. Since losing to GSP, he has beaten Thiago Alves, Paulo Thiago, Ben Saunders and Mike Pierce. Penn has beaten Hughes. WTF? If Penn wins, he theoretically gets GSP for a third time (though that won't happen, whether GSP wins or loses). Penn getting a shot only makes sense if GSP beats Jake Shields, moves up to middleweight and vacates the belt. THEN a victorious Penn might deserve to fight for the title against...uh...who? Penn might jab Fitch to death the way GSP did, but if Fitch fights smart, he'll take this to the ground and wear Penn out. I'm picking Fitch.

Michael Bisping vs Jorge Rivera (middleweight)
Two fighters who have never really been to the top of the middleweight heap. Bisping hasn't improved all that much since his UFC debut. He still has no KO power to speak of, relying on a quick pace to get him through his fights. This is usually accomplished by running backwards and getting decisions. Rivera, on the other hand, is on his way up in the twilight of his career. A top guy? No, not really, but dangerous. If Rivera catches Bisping, it may end quick. If Bisping can keep his distance and fight his usual fight, he could get the decision. I'm gonna go with the upset and pick Rivera.

George Sotiropoulos vs Dennis Siver (lightweight)
This is a step back for George. He deserves to be ranked higher than Siver, which means he probably has more to lose than to gain from this fight. If he can submit Siver quickly, maybe he gets more respect from the match makers. I'm picking Sotiropoulos.

Chris Lytle vs Brian Ebersole (welterweight)
Lytle's original opponent (highly-touted Carlos Condit) had to back out, so in steps the experienced but relatively unknown Ebersole. Ebersole's biggest win may have been his recent decision nod over former UFC champ Carlos Newton; not exactly a top dog these days. He seems like a relatively dangerous fighter with submission skills, but I'm still picking Lytle.

Kyle Noke vs Chris Camozzi (middleweight)
A TUF reunion. Camozzi has a decent record, but Noke has fought tougher guys. He holds a win over George Sotiropoulos (a loss, too) and Brian Ebersole who is fighting Lytle. I'm picking Noke.

Ross Pearson vs Spencer Fisher (lightweight)
This could be fun. Pearson has done well, but Fisher is a tough test. Fisher has had a tough time recently, it seems, but is coming off a win, whereas Pearson is coming off a loss. Fisher lost to Siver, while Pearson beat him. Toss up. I feel a war coming, with a decision in the balance... I'm picking Fisher.

James Te Huna vs Alexander Gustafsson (light heavyweight)
Gustafsson is super dangerous, having only lost to Phil Davis by choke (no shame there). Otherwise, he destroys guys in the first or second round. Te Huna is decent, too, but hasn't faced anyone tough. I'm picking Gustafsson.

Nick Ring vs Riki Fukuda (middleweight)
Gotta go with the Canadian in this one. I'm picking Ring.

Anthony Perosh vs Tom Blackledge (light heavyweight)
Who? Both are 10-6. Perosh is a BJJ guy who wins or loses fast, Blackledge is a banger who wins or loses fast. I've heard of Perosh. I'll pick Perosh.

Tiequan Zhang vs Jason Reinhardt (featherweight)
The lighter boys. Reinhardt was undefeated until he fought Joe Lauzon at lightweight in his UFC debut. Tough start. ALL of his wins were in the FIRST ROUND. Wow. Zhang is 12-1 with some WEC experience. I like Reinhardt, so I'll pull for him.

Mark Hunt vs Chris Tuchscherer (heavyweight)
BIG boys. Chris has a good record, but, from what I understand, ought to be 0-3 in the UFC, what with his controversial win over Tim Hague. Hunt is coming off 6 straight losses (against some top Strikeforce guys, mind you) but SOMEHOW is getting a UFC spot. WTF? Oh...he's from New Zealand and the card is in Australia. See, this is where the UFC gets itself in trouble. Hunt has NO BUSINESS on this card. The UFC promotes itself as the best of the best and they bring in this guy? I call bullshit. I'm picking Tuchscherer.

Maciej Jewtuszko vs Curt Warburton (lightweight)
Who? MJ is a tough dude with an unblemished record. CW is a British banger who can knock you out, but has been submitte din less than a minute. I'm picking Jewtusko.

And I'm outta here!

Strikeforce Heavyweight Tournament - Pt 1

Just watched the Arlovski-Kharitonov and Bigfoot-Fedor fights on YouTube - 'cause Strikeforce, in all its wisdom, can only be seen on Super Channel in Canada (which only a small percentage of the population does).

The big news was that Fedor lost - again. Yikes. Two losses in a row for the previously "undefeated" Emperor has him contemplating retirement, it seems. Bigfoot mashed him up good, such that the doctors stopped the fight after the second round because Fedor's eye was swollen completely shut. Could he have continued? Maybe. It would not have been safe (but how safe is MMA anyways?). Koscheck kept fighting with a messed up eye (though it wasn't completely shut), but this looked almost worse. Fedor's corner didn't seem to object, either.

But this wasn't just Fedor getting caught in a submission while pounding on a guy like in the Werdum fight. Bigfoot smashed the Last Emperor on the feet and with the ground and pound, beating Fedor at his own game. In fact, I had Silva narrowly winning the first round (he had two takedowns and was only on his back when he wanted to be) and winning the second one 10-8 easily. I've long said Fedor is on the wrong weight class and should cut to 205 if possible. This fight really showed how size matters and how Fedor is at a disadvantage almost every time out.

This result was BAD news for Strikeforce who were obviously hoping for a Fedor-Overeem match-up. Not gonna happen now. Now Bigfoot Silva will meet either Overeem or Werdum in the semis.

On the other side of the bracket, Andrei Arlovski suffered a fourth straight loss, this time to Sergei Kharitonov who was in some respects the X factor in this tournament. He had some big wins but hadn't fought much in recent years. Arlovski looked decent for the first couple of minutes, but his glass jaw has been exposed and it took only one good flurry by Kharitonov to put the former UFC champ to sleep. It looks like Andrei's career is beyond salvaging at this point and he may be forced to retire.

So now Kharitonov faces either Josh Barnett or Brett Rogers in the semis.

What struck me in the aftermath of the Fedor fight was not so much the result, but the amount of time it took for the result to be made known to the fighters. The doctor spoke to the ref who waved off the fight. But it took a good minute or so for that info to reach the fighters who were still prepping for the next round. Makes you wonder: who's running the show inside the cage for Strikeforce anyway? We've seen in the past that cage management is not their strong suit...

UFC 126 Results

Pretty good event. Some interesting fights and quality finishes.

Ok, how'd I do?

Anderson Silva def. Vitor Belfort (KO 1)
Wow. Highlight reel finish for sure. Straight kick to the face? Nice. It's a move that is rarely used, and then normally for defensive purposes. I like it, because guys often expect the side kicks but leave themselves open to this kind of attack. Worked beautifully for Silva. Everyone expected fireworks, but not like this. Too bad Belfort didn't get to show more. He had Silva on his heels when he did attack - he just took too long to do it. Should have gone berserker on Silva sooner. (1-0)

Forrest Griffin def. Rich Franklin (unanimous)
I saw it 29-28 for Forrest as well. He used his size to bully Franklin around a little, got him down and pounded out a decision. Not exciting, but effective, and smart. Really, it's what he should have done against Silva. Franklin didn't do much except get some counter jabs in - that's not gonna win you too many MMA fights. Does this do much for Forrest? We'll see. Something tells me his loss to Silva is going to haunt him and keep him out of the title mix for a long time. (2-0)

Jon Jones def. Ryan Bader (sub 2)
This fight was all Jones. Once Bader was on his back, it was over. Typical werstler's weakness. Aftre the fight, it was announced that Jones would replace the injured Rashad Evans against champion Shogun Rua next month. Great PR move, but not sure it's deserved. There are only so many guys who can take a fight on short notice, but Jones has beaten no one of significance (Bader included). Bader had actually faced tougher guys and this fight was supposed to determine who was "for real" not who was going to get the next shot. I may be biased, but it seems to me that Forrest would have been the more deserving choice, if he could step up. Forrest has beaten Rua before and lost his title to Evans. Like I said, it appears the Silva fight will haunt Griffin. (3-0)

Jake Ellenberger def. Carlos Eduardo Rocha (split)
Not even sure I remember this one. I think Rocha was doing well at first, but didn't fight smart. he let Ellenberger dictate and he took the fight. (4-0)

Miguel Angel Torres def. Antonio Banuelos (unanimous)
Pretty boring fight, but what do you want when one guys has such a ridiculous reach advantage? Of course he's going to keep his distance and jab his way to victory. Banuelos just couldn't seem to let go and risk going inside, despite his corner's encouragement. Some guys just don't seem to be willing to take a punch and risk the KO. (5-0)

Donald Cerrone def. Paul Kelly (sub 2)
Not a bad fight, but once it went to the ground, it was over. Kelly is a stand-up brawler and so he stood little chance against Cerrone's BJJ. Once again, Cerrone stood for longer than he should have. (6-0)

Chad Mendes def. Michihiro Omigawa (unanimous)
Mendes dictated the fight, Mendes won. Omigawa stuck in there and had a shot, but just did not fight smart. (7-0)

Demetrious Johnson def. Norifumi Yamamoto (unanimous)
Had to lose one sometime. Don't remember much... Underdog didn't pay. (7-1)

Paul Taylor def. Gabe Ruediger (TKO 2)
Can we PLEASE send Ruediger home now? Please? He clearly does not belong in the UFC. (8-1)

Kyle Kingsbury def. Ricardo Romero (KO 1)
Wow. This was a quick, brutal fight. Kingsbury looked possessed, swarming the dangerous Romero and knocking him out before he could really get a shot off (stats say he landed one punch in those 21 seconds). Should garner Kingsbury some more attention. (8-2)

Mike Pierce def. Kenny Robertson (KO 2)
Once again, the dog didn't pay. Picked the new kid against the boring wrestling vet and of course the boring wrestler won. At least he did it by TKO. (8-3)

Well, well: 8-3. Not bad at all.

UFC 126 Picks

Ok, here we go - back to predictions.

UFC 126 has a fairly decent card, with some interesting fights in the main events.

Anderson Silva vs Vitor Belfort (middleweight)
Anderson Silva has dominated the middleweight division for some time. But let's face it: it's a pretty weak division. Has he really faced the level of competition that other title holders have? For the most part, he has faced guys who are tailor-made for this style: stand-up guys with little knock-out power or jiu-jitsu guys with little to no wrestling ability. Not hard for a guy with crazy reach and KO power to dodge. Wrestlers have given him a harder time. Travis Lutter looked decent until he gassed and fell into a triangle. Chael Sonnen was kicking Silva's ass for 4.5 rounds until he also had a brain fart and got caught with a punch from the back followed by a triangle. I sense someone like Randy Couture could beat Silva. Even GSP, if he could get inside. But this is the first time Silva will face a guy with crazy KO power. We've seen Silva get stunned by punches before and not by powerful guys. If Belfort can crack Silva just once, that might be the end of it. Question is: can he get close enough to the champ? Belfort has only been TKO'd twice - by Randy Couture, a guy who grounded and pounded him to death first. That's not Silva's style. This is a great match-up, as both guys will be looking to bang. It'll be a matter of who connects best, first. Don't be surprised if Vitor KO's the champ. Still, I don't like the way his career has been up-and-down, and I'm not quite convinced he has earned this title shot. But, like I said, it's a weak division. I'm picking Silva, but I'll be cheering for Belfort.

Forrest Griffin vs Rich Franklin (light heavyweight)
Another interesting match-up. These two have very similar styles - stand-up guys, with not the greatest KO power. Franklin has the edge in the KO potential department, while Griffin will have a size advantage which may help if he plays it smart and takes Franklin down. I like both of these guys, but I've always been a big Forrest fan. I can't bet against him, even though I sense Franklin might get the TKO. I'm picking Forrest by decision.

Ryan Bader vs Jon Jones (light heavyweight)
Yet another fascinating match-up. The flashy, powerful Jones versus the powerful wrestler Bader. Two young guns with perfect records (forget that Matt Hamill nonsense) looking to move up the ladder in the UFC's deepest division. Can Bader get inside and take Jones down? Will Jones pull off some crazy move for the highlight-reel victory? Jones dominated Hamill, so why should this fight be any different? Bader has been impressive, but he hasn't faced someone with Jones' skills. This will be a big win for one of these fighters, moving them into the upper tier and perhaps two fights away from a title shot. I really like Bader, but my money's on Jones.

Jake Ellenberger vs Carlos Eduardo Rocha (welterweight)
Ellenberger is a wrestler with a very good record, though not huge wins. Rocha is a Brazilian jiu jitsu guy with a perfect record and zero important wins. He's super dangerous on the ground it seems, but he has very little experience. So should we believe the hype or will he fold to the veteran? One would think that the wrestler would avoid the ground and rely on his KO power. I'm guessing Ellenberger's not an idiot, so I'll pick him. Ellenberger by TKO.

Miguel Angel Torres vs Antonio Banuelos (bantamweight)
A WEC import fight. Personally, I'm a bit disappointed that the UFC has folded the WEC into the main house, since it means featuring the bigger guys less and making name recognition just that much more difficult. I can't say I know too many of these light guys, and it'll take some time to make them household names - at the expense of up-and-coming big men. Torres was the man at bantamweight for a while, of course, seemingly unbeatable - until he lost. Twice. Banuelos is known for some big fights in WEC as well as an early appearance on the TapouT talent hunt show. His record would suggest he's not quite in the same class as Torres, but he does have some fight in him, form what I recall. Still, I'm picking Torres to get his career back on track now that he's in the big show.

Donald Cerrone vs Paul Kelly (lightweight)
Should be a good fight. Both of these guys are active, stand-up guys, but Cerrone likes the ground, too. Kelly keeps surprising me, but I haven't seen his recent fights to know how he has handled himself. Cerrone is a guy who tends to stand more than he should. He has very dangerous ground skills which should serve him well in this fight. I'm picking Cerrone by submission.

Chad Mendes vs Michihiro Omigawa (featherweight)
9-0 versus 12-8? Seems like an obvious pick, right? Omigawa doesn't have the best record, but that's deceptive - most of his losses came early in his career and he's on a pretty good run right now. He also has power, which is unusual at that weight. But I'm not convinced that the Pride fighters are able to adapt to the octagon. Omigawa has fought twice in the UFC before, both losses. Mendes is a wrestler and has a perfect record. That's it: I'm picking Mendes.

Norifumi Yamamoto vs Demetrious Johnson (bantamweight)
Johnson is a wrestler with submission skills. Yamamoto is a wrestler with muay thai skills. That means Yamamoto ought to be able to keep this on the feet and use his power advantage. I'm gonna go against the grain and pick Yamamoto.

Paul Taylor vs Gabe Ruediger (lightweight)
Not sure why Ruediger is getting yet another fight in the UFC. He has shown nothing. Despite the fact that he has lost 5 of 7, Taylor sticks around because he goes all out and gets Fight of the Night honours. I'm picking the bigger Taylor to knock Ruediger out. I bet the loser gets cut.

Kyle Kingsbury vs Ricardo Romero (light heavyweight)
Kingsbury was a TUF competitor and has had mixed results since, but is coming off a FotN win. Romero, though, is no joke. He essentially has a perfect record, his only loss being a DQ when he soccer kicked a downed opponent. I'm picking Romero.

Mike Pierce vs Kenny Robertson (welterweight)
Pierce is a wrestler who almost always goes to decision. Boring, but he's 13-3. Robertson (no Wikipedia page) has a perfect record and submission skills. Let's hope he can put them to good use and show the wrestler that fans don't like boring. I'm picking Robertson.

UFC Live - Fight Night for the Troops

Ok, once I catch up with this I can go back to making predictions - stay tuned.

This event actually turned out pretty well, with some upsets and surprises to keep it interesting. Glad I didn't pick this in advance.

Melvin Guillard def. Evan Dunham (KO 1)
Upset of the night, for sure. Guillard has crazy punching power, but has long been known for having a weak ground game and game plan. Smart fighters look to get him off his feet and submit him. Dunham didn't really get the chance, I guess, as he got caught early and Guillard put him out. Afterwards, it was somewhat comical to hear everyone fawning over the victor who has done little to earn a spot in the upper echelons of the UFC's lightweight division. And yet it seems a title shot may not be that far off if Guillard can get another big win. Me? I'm not convinced.

Matt Mitrione def. Tim Hague (KO 1)
It took Mitrione exactly one second longer to get his win than it did Guillard. Mitrione keeps looking pretty good on his feet, but he has yet to face decent opposition. We Canadians love Hague, but I think he has proven yet again that he simply does not belong with the sharks. If he gets invited back it'll be simply to stuff a Canadian card.

Mark Hominick def. George Roop (KO 1)
The shortest fight of the night. Hominic stalked Roop and put him on his ass fast. Roop simply looked outclassed. If he is supposed to be a somebody in the featherweight division, then Hominic has certainly earned his title shot. He looked great.

Pat Barry def. Joey Beltran (unanimous)
Am I the only one who thought Beltran won this fight? I had him winning the first two rounds relatively easily due to Barry's lack of action. Beltran did himself no favours when he collapsed at the end of the fight from leg kicks. Still, he was CLEARLY the more active fighter, landing more strikes throughout and I felt he should have gotten the decision.

Matt Wiman def. Cole Miller (unanimous)
The wrong Cole Miller showed up, I guess. Miller has been hot and cold, looking great in some fights and terrible in others. Wiman, on the other hand, looked terrific, with crisp stand-up and he generally controlled the fight as Miller withered.

Yves Edwards def. Cody McKenzie (sub 2)
Most folks probably can't decide if McKenzie loked good or terrible. He was getting pummeled on his feet and didn't look much better on his back, but whenever the fight was on the ground he looked insanely dangerous. he did everything he could to drag Edwards down and at times looked like he was going to pull off the submission; but one miscalculation cost him the fight. Edwards sunk in the rear naked and McKenzie went out. Still, it was the Fight of the Night.

I didn't see any of these other fights.
DeMarques Johnson def. Mike Guymon (sub 1)
Rani Yahya def. Mike Brown (unanimous) - Brown loses AGAIN.
Waylon Lowe def. Willamy Freire (unanimous)
Charlie Brenneman def. Amilcar Alves (unanimous)
Chris Cariaso def. Will Campuzano (unanimous)

UFC 125 Results

Okay, okay - I've been totally slacking. It's been busy at my paying job, so the volunteer work has had to take a back seat.

Pay me for this and I'll be posting like clockwork.

...Please!

Let's catch up with UFC 125. I didn't see it because of New Year's Eve celebrations out of town, but I did catch some stuff.

Frankie Edgar vs. Gray Maynard (draw)
Wish I had seen this. Sounds like Maynard was smoking Edgar in the first round but failed to finish. Apparently it was easily a 10-8 round, maybe an unheard of 10-7. Either way, Maynard did not get the job done and may have gotten a bit too comfortable with his lead or may have even tired himself out a little. The draw sets up a rematch - their third fight, actually - with Edgar yet to secure a win over Maynard. Now that Maynard has a five rounder under his belt, the rematch bodes well for him. He may be the favourite in the next fight.

Brian Stann def. Chris Leben (TKO 1)
Looks like Leben went toe-to-toe again and lost. No style points for the guy. He just sticks his chin and fists out. Stann capitalized and was able to KO the troubled fighter. Kudos to him. Leben was on the rise and this is a nice feather in Stann's cap. Will the Leben-Wanderlei fight still happen?

Thiago Silva def. Brandon Vera (unanimous)
Vera was gien his walking papers after this one. A massive fall for a guy who came in with such promise and was boasting he'd be the first guy to hold the heavyweight and light-heavyweight belts at the same time. Not so much. He hasn't improved and looks timid in the octagon. That won't keep you employed at the new and improved UFC. Silva keeps looking good. his only major setbacks have been against future champs.

Hyun Dong Kim def. Nate Diaz (unanimous)
The stats suggest Diaz did well, but Kim got the nod. Another example of Diaz just not fighting smart? He needs to avoid getting taken down. He's way too comfortable there, but it never looks good in the judge's eyes to be on your back.

Clay Guida def. Takanori Gomi (sub 2)
Not surprising that the ultra slow Gomi could not keep pace with hyperactive Guida. Gomi has not impressed me and yet this win has people buzzing about a title shot for Guida. THIS fight? Well, maybe if he defeats Anthony Pettis in his next fight...

Jeremy Stevens def. Marcus Davis (KO 3)
Poor Davis. Apparently, he was clearly winning the fight until he got caught in the third round. The loss got him cut from the UFC even though he has always been a good performer and this was his first fight at lightweight. Tough break. No doubt a direct result of Zuffa merging the WEC with the mothership and the resulting surplus of lightweights in the UFC.

Dustin Poirier def. Josh Grispi (unanimous)
Ok.

Brad Tavares def. Phil Baroni (TKO 1)
F***ing retire already! What was this guy doing back in the UFC?!

Diego Nunes def. Mike Brown (split)
Remember when Mike Brown was a somebody?

Daniel Roberts def. Greg Soto (sub 1)
Ok.

Jacob Volkmann def. Antonio McKee (split)
Can't bet on Volkmann.