UFC Rio (134) Results

Hm. Think I took a bath on this one... Let's see.

Anderson Silva def. Yushin Okami (KO 2)
Honestly. What are these guys thinking? I'm big, I'm a wrestler, I think I'll stand and bang with Anderson Silva. Are you f***ing retarded? Think. We know wrestling works against Silva - why do people insist on standing back and waiting to be knocked out? Ridiculous. Waste of a fight. (1-0)

Mauricio Rua def. Forrest Griffin (KO 1)
Again, what was this guy thinking? Griffin should have taken down Rua fast and worn him out, but instead stands with another heavy hitter and gets put on his ass. Way to go. Anyone else think Forrest might retire soon? Although I'm not sure what else he'd do... (1-1)

Minotauro Nogueira def. Brendan Schaub (KO 1)
Schaub had Nogueira hurt but couldn't finish before getting caught. Schaub doesn't make the leap into the top echelon of the division, but still looked like he could hang with Nogueira. (1-2)

Edson Barboza def. Ross Pearson (split)
Finally an upset that paid off. Pearson pressed the action, but Barboza had the more effective strikes, I thought. I gave it to him on a thin decision. (2-2)

Stanislav Nedkov def. Luiz Cane (TKO 1)
Cane looked good early and had Nedkov on the ropes but did not finish and got caught. (2-3)

Thiago Tavares def. Spencer Fisher (TKO 2)
Fisher is in trouble, dropping too many of these fights. The stoppage may have been premature, what with Fisher taking no damage (though he was turtled), but he wasn't exactly lighting up Tavares. (2-4)

Rousimar Palhares def. Dan Miller (unanimous)
Palhares looked as good as you can without finishing a fight. He didn't seem to go for too many submissions but he beat the crap out of Miller for most of the fight and got either two 10-8s or an unheard-of 10-7 from one judge. (3-4)

Paulo Thiago def. David Mitchell (unanimous)
Didn't see it, but it sounds like Thiago dominated. (4-4)

Raphael Assuncao def. Johnny Eduardo (unanimous)
Assuncao didn't impress much, it seems, but got the nod in the end. The fight might have been closer than the scorecards suggested. These failed upsets are killing me! (4-5)

Yuri Alcantara def. Felipe Arantes (unanimous)
Whatever. (5-5)

Yves Jabouin def. Ian Loveland (split)
This fight was close, it seems, with Loveland providing wrestling while Jabouin looked for highlight finishes. Strangely, Jabouin gets the decision despite one judge giving all three rounds to Loveland. (6-5)

Somehow I missed the Erick Silva vs Luis Ramos fight in my picks. This had a wicked KO with Silva getting the win.

So, 6-5 is not terrible and better than I thought I was going to do, considering many of my upsets didn't pan out. I'm not gonna celebrate, though. :P

UFC Rio picks

So apparently this event is so cool that they aren't giving it a number? Whatever. (It's UFC 134) Let's get to the picks.

Anderson Silva vs Yushin Okami (middleweight)
It's nearly impossible to go against Silva these days, especially because few fighters in the division have the tools to beat him. Sonnen is at least one fight away, so Silva gets another sacrifice. Does Okami have a chance? Sure, if he presses the action. But I bet he gets KTFO before he gets close. I'm picking Silva.

Forrest Griffin vs Mauricio Rua (light heavyweight)
I hate betting against Griffin, but I don't like his chances in this one. Rua is coming off big fights while Griffin has been MIA promoting books and such. Still, I'll pick Forrest just so that I don't root against him.

Brendan Schaub vs Minotauro Nogueira (heavyweight)
Schaub has KO power and that's his key to victory. He won't outwrestle Nogueira and he certainly can't BJJ the guy. Can Nog get Schaub down? Maybe. But I think Nogueira is way past his prime these days and Schaub will connect. I'm picking Schaub in the upset.

Ross Pearson vs Edson Barboza (lightweight)
I like Pearson, but he isn't god's gift to MMA. Barboza is relatively unknown but TKO's guys with kicks! That's crazy. This ought to be a slugfest and I'm picking Barboza.

Luiz Cane vs Stanislav Nedkov (heavyweight)
Stanislov who? The guy hasn't fought in over a year and was rarely fighting before that. Great record, but you'd think he'd need more seasoning... Anyhow, he's a BJJ black belt and knocks guys out fast. But with the ring rust... Cane is dangerous but has underperformed in the past. He, too, is a BJJ black belt with KO power. Not sure where to go here. I'll pick experience and go with Cane.

Thiago Tavares vs Spencer Fisher (lightweight)
Could be fight of the night. Both of these guys were impressive a few years ago, but have fallen on hard times since. I expect this to go to decision with Fisher getting the nod.

Rousimar Palhares vs Dan Miller (middleweight)
Both of these guys have black belts in BJJ but Palhares is on a different level. His kneebars and ankle locks are sick. Can Miller avoid them? We'll see. I'll pick Palhares.

Paulo Thiago vs David Mitchell (welterweight)
Thiago was a rising star not so long ago, but has lost two in a row - usually signifying a must win match. Mitchell is a submissions guy who won a decision in his UFC debut. I think he's being thrown to the wolves here, though - I'll pick Thiago.

Raphael Assuncao vs Johnny Eduardo (featherweight)
Assuncao is a bit of a name, though he has lost a few recently. Eduardo is a nobody but has a string of victories and is used to fighting in Brazil. Neither of these guys blows me away. I'll go with the upset again and pick Eduardo.

Yuri Alcantara vs Felipe Arantes (featherweight)
This is getting ridiculous. The UFC featherweight division is so thin that neither of these guys has a profile on the website. Alcantara has a sick record and finishes guys fast. Arantes doesn't even appear on Wikipedia. Fuck that guy, I'm picking Alcantara.

Yves Jabouin vs Ian Loveland (bantamweight)
Loveland has been doing well recently and has some power, but gets submitted easily. Good thing for him, Jabouin is a striker, too. Jabouin really needs a win. Since I hate going against Canadians, even transplanted ones, I'll pick Jabouin.

UFC 133 Results

I didn’t get a chance to get my picks in for this one, but let’s recap anyway.

Rashad Evans def. Tito Ortiz (TKO 2)

This was one of those fights where one guy had nothing to gain and everything to lose. Unlike many of those past fights, though, the guy still won. Rashad dominated Ortiz for the most part – the exception being the seemingly tight guillotine choke from which Evans escaped. Ortiz was given this fight thanks to a late notice injury. Frankly, he did not deserve it otherwise. Sure, he beat Ryan Bader but that was more of a Matt Serra-like fluke. Ortiz simply is not in the same class as these top guys he’s been allowed to fight. Hell, even Bader is overrated and has flaws. I’m not sure where Ortiz goes from here, but based on his Bader win and popularity, he’s likely to be given at least one more decent fight.

Vitor Belfort def. Yoshihiro Akiyama (KO 1)

No way Akiyama deserved this fight. With the exception of his loss to Anderson Silva, Belfort has been a monster while “Sexyama” has been mediocre at best. Getting submitted by Chris Leben should not get you into Belfort’s sights. But the division is pretty thin and good fights are scarce. The right guy won and won in highlight reel fashion.

Brian Ebersole def. Dennis Hallman (TKO 1)

I would have been tempted to pick Hallman in this one, but he has disappointed me in the past. Both of these guys have insane records, but haven’t really made splashes in the UFC. That seems to be changing for Ebersole who now has had a couple of impressive wins.

Constantinos Philippou def. Jorge Rivera (split)

I would have been tempted to pick the rejuvenated Rivera, but he, too, has disappointed me in the past. I didn’t watch this fight too closely, but what I did see of it led me to believe the right decision was made. In fact, Rivera survived to a decision thanks to some generous refereeing, I believe.

Rory McDonald def. Mike Pyle (KO 1)

Wow. McDonald is looking impressive. Good for the young Canadian. Let’s hope he gets some bigger fights.

Alexander Gustafsson def. Matt Hamill (KO 2)

Despite a decent record, Hamill has been unimpressive of late. His retirement announcement on Monday seems to confirm that his heart just wasn’t in it anymore. Congrats to him for making the UFC and having a decent career, but, yes, it was probably the right time and the right decision.

Chad Mendes def. Rani Yahya (unanimous)

Didn’t watch it too closely, but this appeared to be the right decision.

Ivan Menjivar def. Nick Pace (unanimous)

Didn’t see it.

Johny Hendricks def. Mike Pierce (split)

Didn’t see it. Good for Hendricks, but the split makes me wonder how impressive he was. He’s usually pretty stellar.

Mike Brown def. Nam Phan (unanimous)

Surprised this one wasn’t on the main card, considering how weak the card was and the names involved. Looks like this one was a blowout, though. Not sure Phan is ready for former champs yet.

Rafael Natal def. Paul Bradley (unanimous)

Another decision. Looks like the undercard kinda sucked. Didn’t see this one.

Hm. Think I might have gone 8-2 in this one had I got my picks in. Darn.