Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Brains Before Braun

Justin Braun won the 2011 NL MVP***
Forgive the ridiculous title, I felt like being a clever journalist today.  Today I also want to talk baseball.  The steroid issue has surrounded the game of baseball for as long as I have been alive.  There are baseball greats that have asterisks by their names due to their careers being tainted by steroid talk.  Ryan Braun of the Milwaukee Brewers is the most recent player busted for abusing steroids.

The media has done a bunch of coverage on stupid aspects of the steroid issue.  "Should Braun give up his MVP?"  "I cannot believe he lied to us!" "Who else along with Braun is going to be busted?"  These are just examples of what I consider dumb media stories.  What I want to talk about is not Ryan Braun alone, but rather get to the heart of why so many people take steroids in the first place.  The answer, there is low risk and high reward.

Now Braun and A-Rod are both probably in really big trouble and will lose considerable amounts of respect for their tainted name.  But they do not lose money.  Fiscally speaking, taking steroids was the best thing that A-Rod and Braun have ever done.  They both are former MVP, high level baseball players due to their usage of performance enhancing drugs.  Even if A-Rod were to get a lifetime ban, he still was making over $25 million for the past 5-10 years.  Throw in the endorsements he has done with Pepsi and other big market names and he is raking in $30 million a year easily.  Braun is set to make $150 million between 2011 and 2020, when he signed his two big contracts.  That is just over $16 million per year.  Now since he is suspended he will lose the rest of this year's salary.  So instead of $150 million, he will only make $140 million.  You see where I am going with this?  He lost $10 million dollars because he got busted, but if he never took them in the first place he may not have made $10 million his entire life.  The bottom line is that right now cheaters are getting a slap on the wrist.  By all means give me a slap on the wrist and have half of baseball fans hate me for $100 million or more dollars.

What can baseball do to change things?  Lifelong ban!  A-Rod is potentially the first player to face such a ban.  We will see in the near future how that works out.  But if someone is thrown out of the game of baseball forever for the usage of steroids then people won't take them.  Bartolo Colon and Melky Cabrera are two people who paid their time and sat out for half a season because they were busted for steroids.  Colon is now one of the best pitchers in baseball and will receive a big contract in the offseason, like Melky just did.  These guys took PEDs and became better ball players.  They took their punishment, and now they are rich.  Kick these people out of the game.  I know this sounds extreme, but it will work.  Maybe less extreme would be a 5 year penalty or something like that.  But a 100 game suspension is nothing compared to the upside of money these professional athletes can make.

I personally guarantee A-Rod and Braun will make the Hall of Fame that Pete Rose's name will never be in.

I also would like to say that the baseball world plays dumb way too much when talking about steroids.  Jonathan Lucroy, the catcher of the Milwaukee Brewers, claims that he knew nothing about it and supports Braun through everything.  These two were close friends and teammates for a few years.  I find it hard to believe that Lucroy was left in the dark about this the entire time.  When you play 164 game together and spend that much time with each other, you develop certain bonds with players.  It is human nature for us to tell people our deepest secrets as well.  There is a 0% chance Braun has not told ANY of his teammates that he is taking steroids.  I know that nobody likes a tattle tale, but I think anonymously disclosing information could help.  OR if you are good friends and teammates, tell him to get the hell off PEDs to his face for the good of the game.  The culture of baseball needs to change.  I am one of the most competitive people on the planet, but if a teammate of mine was using steroids I would take a huge issue to that.  Even if I were on the brutal Brewers and Braun was the only man on our team worth a crap, I still would take issue to him cheating.  I could go on about this for a while, but integrity within the locker room could restore the integrity of the game.

In addition to harsher penalty including my proposed lifelong ban, there should be financial ramifications.  First off, any awards or incentives should be paid back to the team.  If there is a bonus in a contract for incentives such as "hit 20 home runs and get a million dollar bonus" they should be paid back in full.  I do think any MVP, Hall of Fame, or even team records should be reset if a player is busted for PEDs.  The player should also be liable to legal action outside of the game itself.  Any advertiser should be able to press charges against an athlete caught using steroids, such as Pepsi using A-Rod to advertise their product.  A-Rod should apologize to the public and pay Pepsi back what they gave him.

Enough about semantics.  I am sorry I like to rant and rave about specifics and how these people should be punished.  I lastly want to look at what I said in my title: "Brains Before Braun."  People need to realize that the current situation with baseball and steroids in not that.  It is currently a "brains gets you braun which gets you money" society.  Anyone with a brain knows that steroids get muscle which allows you to play better and make some serious cash.  We need a "brains before braun" attitude with baseball.  We need people to be smarter and know that the adverse affects of steroids outweigh the physical advantage you get.  The problem is, right now it's not true.  As I said with A-Rod and Braun, their lives are better off BECAUSE they used steroids.  All of my suggested ways to halt the continued use of steroids in baseball may sound extreme or crazy or stupid to some of you.  Right now baseball is so plagued by steroid problems that it needs to get extreme, crazy, and debatably stupid to fix it.  The game may never be fixed to prevent PED usage but I would like to think it can be returned to its former glory.  Fix PED usage and fix baseball.

Monday, July 29, 2013

UFC on Fox 8 Recap

DJ secures an armar in the 5th round against Moraga.
When UFC on Fox 7 is my leader for "Card of the Year" honors, setting the record for most knockouts in a UFC event, it is going to be a hard act to follow.  Throw in the fact that the last time the UFC held a show we saw Anderson Silva get knocked out by Chris Weidman and you have high expectations entering the Fox 8 card.  I am not here to say that the card was bad, but I think it disappointed considering the solid lineup it had.

Facebook:

  • Yaotzin Meza and John Albert had a crazy entertaining submission grappling battle until Albert decided to quit mid armbar.  He gave up his back and lost what was an exciting fight up to that point.  I hope for his sake it was an injury he sustained and not a lack of heart, because Albert's UFC life depended on that fight.  Big win for Meza via RNC.  Lost job for Albert.
  • Justin Salas and Aaron Riley were the first of 4 consecutive split decisions in a row.  Crazy close fights make for entertainment, but the crowd grew restless of bad judging.  Salas via split decision in an entertaining yet disappointing match.  Salas needs to do more fighting and less running next fight.
FX:
  • Germaine de Randamie looked outstanding against Julie Kedzie despite a debatably boring strategy.  I would argue Kedzie could have won the fight, but I like the judges giving good striking the edge over a takedown with no damage done on the ground.  Huge win for Germaine.
  • Ed Herman and Trevor Smith put on a show thanks to their stupid chins.  Herman has as much head movement as a statue with his boxing.  He also has as much footwork as a man walking in quicksand. Nevertheless he took the hard hits of Smith and threw a few of his own.  It was the clinch game uppercuts and knees that gave Herman the edge in the 3rd consecutive split decision of the night.
  • Yves Edwards was aggressive and quick.  Daron Cruickshank used masterful kicks and counter striking to do more damage and take home a split decision.  This is a huge win for Daron who took this fight on short notice against a UFC veteran like Edwards.
  • Melvin Guillard looked like the champion caliber fighter again, as his roller coaster careers goes on.  The always exciting Guillard took home a bonus check for his vicious hammer fist KO of Mac Danzig.
  • Tim Means lost another fight because he is content to fight from his back.  Not a bad showing from Means but Castillo was the better fighter on Saturday.  Castillo is just another beast training with team Alpha Male in California, watch out for all of those guys.
  • Jorge Masvidal and Michael Chiesa was #4 on my 10 fights you cannot miss that might be going under the radar list.  I think it did an excellent job being both entertaining and important.  It was funny because the fight went the absolute opposite way I thought it would.  Chiesa got the better of Masvidal on the feet despite Masvidal being a top level striker.  Chiesa had him rocked and had a huge round 1.  Round two saw the "striker" Masvidal dominating with wrestling and securing a submission against an undefeated submission artist.  Chiesa tapped literally as the horn went to a d'arce choke that did not seem too tight.  It was a weird ending to a great fight similar to the Albert/Meza fight.  I think Chiesa could use this as a learning experience although he clearly needs to not be a baby if he loses again.  Chiesa has a lot of talent, but from what I saw in that fight he seems like a guy that cannot take a hit.  Like Rousimar Palhares, he turtles up and looks in tremendous distress every time he gets hit.  He needs a tougher chin if he expects to win against top guys like Masvidal.  Jorge looked amazing despite being dropped.  I think Masvidal is a legit contender in the UFC lightweight division, but not quite top 10 yet.  Have Masvidal fight Melvin Guillard next???
Fox:
  • Liz Carmouche won her fight against Jessica Andrade basically the same was Ronda Rousey beat her.  Andrade had a very tight guillotine choke on Liz but Carmouche weathered the storm and survived round 1.  Carmouche dominated with ground and pound in the 2nd by transitioning from the mount to Andrade's back very quick and smooth.  She never landed that hard shot to end it, but the accumulation of hundreds of little punches and elbows made Herb Dean step in and give Carmouche a well deserved first UFC win.  Andrade looked great despite the loss, don't count this 21 year old out of being a future contender.
  • Robbie Lawler may be a more mature fighter, but he still has his killer instinct.  Lawler took home his second KO and almost took home a bonus check for it too.  Dana White said there was a fight back stage over who deserved it but it ultimately went to Melvin.  Lawler is a monster.  His striking looked crisp as ever and Voelker had no chance in this one.  Great win for Robbie who is without a doubt a top 10 welterweight within the UFC now.
  • I almost want Jake Ellenberger to go from 3rd on my welterweight rankings to completely out of the top 10 after that awful performance.  Jake refused to engage Rory and just stood there taking jab after jab to the face.  MacDonald won a decision but shame on Rory for doing nothing else to make this fight exciting, but Jake deserves more of the blame.  Jake is sliding down the welterweight ladder and needs a few more knockouts before he gets his title shot.  Rory deserves no title shot either.  Look for Demian Maia or Matt Brown to jump in front of Rory if GSP should emerge victorious at UFC 167.
  • The main event absolutely made up for the snoozer of a co-main event.  John Moraga came into this fight a relative unknown but I felt he could get the job done against Johnson.  I was wrong.  DJ looked like a fighter on a mission.  He took down Moraga at will, despite Moraga having the better wrestling on paper.  Moraga worked admirably from his back and defended off submission after submission.  Joe Rogan called the fight a great learning experience for John Moraga and then suddenly he tagged DJ square in the nose.  It looked like Moraga might pull off a huge upset and finish Mighty Mouse in the 4th round but again Johnson shot for a takedown and rode out the 4th round.  Rather than take it easy in the 5th and win another decision, DJ went out and secured a kimura transition into an armbar that won him the fight and Submission of the Night honors and the record for latest finish in a UFC fighter ever.  DJ looks great in there and continues to be undefeated at flyweight, yet I cannot come around to pick him to win.  I picked Benavidez, Dodson, Moraga, and I plan on picking Benavidez to win the rematch if he gets it.  Benavidez vs Formiga is likely a top contender fight so tune in for that to see who DJ will face next.
Picks entering event: 95/164=58%
Picks for event: 5/12
Pick Totals: 100/176=57%

UFC Bonuses:
FOTN: Herman/Smith
SOTN: Johnson
KOOTN: Guillard

Brutal Sports Awards:
Beatdown of the Night: Lawler
Sketchiest Decision of the Night: The judges going 30-27 then 27-30 a bunch of times.  de Randamie over Kedzie seemed like the sketchy one in my books
Upset of the Night: Meza

The cut list:
  • John Albert
  • Mac Danzig

Three Stars:
  1. Robbie Lawler
  2. Demetrious Johnson
  3. Melvin Guillard

Friday, July 26, 2013

UFC on Fox 8: Johnson vs Moraga

John Moraga looks to be the 2nd
 flyweight champion in UFC history.
UFC on Fox 8 marks the second time in less than a year that KeyArena in Seattle will host a UFC event.  Last time, we saw Benson Henderson dominate Nate Diaz while Rory MacDonald and Alexander Gustafsson defeated legends.  This time around, we again have Rory taking on an elite welterweight as well as an intriguing title fight.  This Fox card does not have the huge name recognition previous cards have had, but I assure you that there are some under the radar fights that could be incredibly entertaining as well as important.  Let me break down how I see the night going:

Facebook:

  • John Moraga has been the first fighter on Facebook in his only two UFC appearances.  On Saturday the 27th, he will be the last.  John Albert and Yaotzin Meza take the stage first in the bantamweight division.  John Albert has lost 3 straight fights since winning his UFC debut.  Unfortunately for Meza, he made his UFC debut against Chad Mendes in the featherweight division and did not last long.  Will he be better at a lower weight class against a far less superior opponent?  Yes.  But this does not mean he will win either.  This is a tough one for me since I know very little about Meza.  I think Albert is sometimes careless which can help him win or get into trouble.  I am going with Albert to sink in an armbar in the first round and send Meza his second quick defeat.
  • I know absolutely nothing about Aaron Riley and Justin Salas so I am making my decision very randomly.  Riley will win over Justin Salas via decision for 2 reasons.  First off, he has gone win/loss/win/loss/win/loss/____ over his UFC career.  Naturally this trend is going to continue.  My second reason is that Justin Salas is a vegas odds favorite.  So I am putting money on Riley to win so I can win more money!  Just kidding, I only have 1 reason to pick Aaron Riley and it is the pattern.  Obviously foolproof.
FX:
  • For the first time in UFC history, not one but two women's bouts are scheduled for the same event.  The first of these will kick off the FX coverage and the other will kick of Fox.  Julie Kedzie enters the UFC coming off of two consecutive losses in Strikeforce.  Under that banner she went 0-2 while Germaine de Randamie went 2-1.  However, the far more experienced mixed martial artist Kedzie will still have the edge here.  Tate and Davis are two of the best women in the fight business and are not terrible losses.  I see Kedzie taking a decision win home here.
  • Ed Herman tried to make a name for himself by leaving the UFC temporarily to fight Jacare Souza in Strikeforce.  He was quickly submitted by the talented submission artist.  On that very same card, Trevor Smith was submitted by Tim Kennedy.  Neither of these guys is a joke, but neither will be a top middleweight.  I give the edge to Ed "Short Fuse" Herman due to his UFC experience.  He has beaten tougher guys that Smith.  I think Herman will finish Smith with a submission of some sort.  Maybe a guillotine?
  • Yves Edwards lost his original opponent just a few weeks ago and in stepped Daron Cruickshank.  Now those of you who know me or have read my past articles know that Daron is the reason I got into MMA.  He was on The Ultimate Fighter and I watched the show because he is the brother of a friend I worked with.  I fell in love with the sport while watching that season.  Naturally I pick him to win every fight by violent KO.  However, according to many sports betting websites, Daron is the slight favorite.  I found this surprising despite my faith in him winning this fight.  Yves has been around forever and is a seasoned veteran of the fight game.  This fight should be ridiculously entertaining and it is a huge statement fight for Daron to prove he is for real, or fall off as a highly touted prospect.  On a side note, Yves Edwards took home Knockout of the Night honors last time he was in Seattle.  On that very same card, Daron had a head kick KO that landed at #3 on the Sportscenter top 10.  Both were impressive although I think Daron was robbed of the nightly bonus.  Now is Daron's time to get that back by winning in spectacular fashion.  Daron Cruickshank via KO of the Night!
  • The 3rd of 5 undercard fights between lightweights features Melvin Guillard against Mac Danzig.  Melvin was on a way to a title shot before Joe Lauzon sent his world in a tailspin at UFC 136.  He has faced top competition, but has lost 4 of his last 5 fights.  Mac Danzig has only won 3 of his last 9.  Both of these guys are talented, but on the hot seat this Saturday.  I do not think the Ultimate Fighter Season 6 winner's luck is about to change.  I see Guillard winning this fight with a knockout.
  • Tim Means was on quite the winning streak before dropping a fight to Jorge Masvidal.  He has found a home on the UFC on Fox cards, now fighting on 3 in a row.  Danny Castillo enters the favorite, with many impressive wins in his UFC/WEC career including Ricardo Lamas and Dustin Poirier.  For some reason, I am leaning Means on this one.  I thought he was active from the bottom and could have gotten the nod in the decision loss to Masvidal.  He is a great fighter who is getting better every time.  Castillo is a quietly solid fighter, but I think he has holes in his game.  I like Means to sink in a triangle choke or armbar from his back to steal this win.
  • Speaking of Jorge Masvidal, he has his hands full with the Ultimate Fighter Season 15 winner.  That season meant a lot to me since it was Chiesa along with Cruickshank that made me a fan of the sport.  Chiesa had a sad story, losing his father during the taping of TUF.  But he was a great story when he went on to win the finale fight against Al Iaquinta.  Chiesa is undefeated and one hell of a wrestler and submission artist.  I put this fight as #4 on my list of "10 fights you cannot miss" list I find it so intriguing.  Masvidal is an animal who has been in there with some of the best in the game, such as Gilbert Melendez and Joe Lauzon.  Here is my thinking on this fight.  In his last 8 fights, Masvidal is 5-3 with every fight going to a decision.  Chiesa is too good of a wrestler to get dominated on the ground, and good enough a submission artist to finish off the very talented Masvidal.  Despite being an overwhelming underdog, I like Chiesa to sink in his signature submission.  Chiesa via RNC.
Fox:
  • Liz Carmouche was almost the UFC Women's Bantamweight Champion when she had Ronda Rousey's Back.  Relatively unknown fighter Jessica Andrade should have her hands full in her UFC debut.  Carmouche via Girl-rilla ground and pound TKO.
  • Robbie Lawler made a big splash in his UFC return by knocking out Josh Koscheck.  I believe this was a fluke but Lawler is known for having heavy hands.  I think Voelker was robbed by Canadian judges in his UFC debut against Patrick Cote.  These two guys can throw hands and will be very exciting.  I see the more experience Lawler securing his second straight KO win on his way to the welterweight division top 10.
  • The hype train that is Rory MacDonald enters his fight with Jake Ellenberger as a heavy favorite.  I find this shocking.  After GSP and Hendricks, Jake is hands down the best welterweight in the UFC.  Even though I do have Rory ranked 4th, he has to show me something before he is warranted his title shot.  A win for either man probably earns them the right to face the winner of UFC 167's main event that sees GSP and Hendricks squaring off for the title.  Since losing to Carlos Condit, Rory has defeated 2 lightweights in Penn and Diaz as well as defeating the oh so not talented Che Mills and Mike Pyle.  IF Rory can beat Jake Ellenberger, and that's a big if, then maybe he is legit.  But I am willing to bet that Jake tags him with his heavy hands.  I mean if you watch the Road to the Octagon you see that Ellenberger boxes at a very high level at Floyd Mayweather's gym.  He is quicker and has heavy hands.  With the odds against him, I stand to make a few bucks off of Jake!  He seems to have found a quote to live by, frequently saying, "Right now I don't know if I'm the best welterweight in the world, but I know I can beat anyone in the world."  I am definitely going with Ellenberger via 2nd round KO.
  • The main event is an interesting one for me.  I like Demetrious Johnson a lot, but for some reason I always find myself picking him to lose.  I picked Dodson, Benavidez, and am thinking about picking Moraga.  I find that like Dodson, John Moraga is very dangerous.  He is the only flyweight with two finishes.  Moraga also is a tough guy who is a dangerous striker, dominant wrestler, and has some wicked submissions.  So long as the fight is still going, Moraga has a chance to win.  However, if the 25 minutes of fury run out, Johnson will have his hand raised yet again.  I find that DJ is just not champion caliber talent.  If it were a 3 round fight, I would probably pick DJ every time.  I just cannot think of DJ as the next dominant champion who cannot be defeated.  I see Dodson, Moraga, and definitely Benavidez as being that talented.  Enough rambling though, who is going to win.  I give a wrestling edge to Moraga.  Striking, Moraga is more dangerous and just as quick.  On the ground, I think Moraga has a better top game and a better bottom game.  Moraga has said to the media that Demetrious is not faster than him, he just has great timing.  After watching DJ's fight with Dominick Cruz and John Dodson again, I have to agree with Moraga.  DJ is fast as hell, but it is his timing that makes him so great.  Moraga is game planning for this.  Moraga is prepared, poised, and ready to be the new UFC Flyweight Champion.  At 4-1 odds, I again am looking to cash in on this fight.  Moraga via 3rd round guillotine choke.  He will be the first person to finish DJ.
Picks entering UFC on Fox 8: 95/164 (58%)
Award Predictions:
KOOTN: Cruickshank or Ellenberger
SOTN: Chiesa (unless Moraga pulls off the upset)
FOTN: Lawler/Voelker

Monday, July 22, 2013

10 Fights You Cannot Miss

Brad Pickett has a reputation for being one of
the most entertaining fighters on the UFC roster.
There are a bunch of fights that everybody wants to see.  Weidman vs Silva 2 or GSP vs Hendricks are two fights everyone is looking forward to.  I am here to tell you 10 fights in 2013 that are going under the radar that look to be both hugely important heading into 2014 and incredibly entertaining.


10. Court McGee vs Robert Whittaker-UFC on Fox Sports 2
         -Result: McGee wins by split decision (30-27, 27-30, 29-28)  FOTN in my opinion
  9.   Conor McGregor vs Max Holloway-UFC on Fox Sports 1
          -Result: McGregor decision (30-27)x3 Holloway
  8.   Jussier Formiga vs Joseph Benavidez-UFC on Fox Sports 3
          -Joe Benavidez wins via 1st round TKO
  7.   Nate Marquardt vs Hector Lombard-UFC 166
  6.   Sara McMann vs Sarah Kaufman-UFC on Fox Sports 2
          -CANCELLED
  5.   Jacare Souza vs Yushin Okami-UFC on Fox Sports 3
          -Jacare Souza via 1st round TKO
  4.   Michael Chiesa vs Jorge Masvidal-UFC on Fox 8
           -Result: Masvidal SUB 2 Chiesa
  3.   Erik Koch vs Dustin Poirier-UFC 164
           -Result: Poirier wins decision 2x(29-27), (29-28).  FOTN in my opinion, Round of the Year
  2.   Khabib Nurmagomedov vs Pat Healy-UFC 165
  1.   Brad Pickett vs Michael McDonald-UFC on Fox Sports 1
                     -Result: McDonald SUB 2 Pickett.  SOTN and FOTN

Monday, July 15, 2013

Down Goes Anderson Silva

Chris Weidman celebrates arguably
the biggest upset in UFC history. 
Every so often sports fans are treated to a great moment.  Sports are always entertaining, but there are some of those epic moments that only come so often that leave you wondering, "What the hell did I just see!"  That happened to me and many others on July 6th.  Anderson Silva was not just defeated, but laying on the canvas completely unconscious.  He was goading Weidman to hit him to set up his counter striking and was tagged on the chin.  The longest title reign in UFC history has come to an end.  Is it the end of an era?  Or is it just one gigantic bump in a legendary fighter's career?  Below is my take on the entire main event of UFC 162 and what I see happening going forward.

Just to reiterate, the man that most people consider to be the pound for pound best fighter of all time is Anderson Silva.  For the first time in his UFC career, Silva has lost a fight.  It is not the mere fact that he lost that is causing such a stir in the MMA world, but the way it happened.  People knew Chris Weidman was good.  People thought Weidman might win the fight.  But to knock out such a crazy good striker like Silva in his own game was something else entirely.

The entire main event was somewhat of an emotional roller coaster for me.  Obviously I am someone who is very passionate about mixed martial arts.  For UFC 162, I was at a bar with a friend who does not share the same passion for the sport that I have.  However, whenever Anderson Silva enters the Octagon that you are in for a treat, MMA fan or not.  He is the best fighter of all time and moreover, a great entertainer.  He put on a spectacle for us all on July 6th.

So it is time for the main event to start.  The commercial that shows all these fighters like GSP, Moraga, and kind of Rashad picking Weidman played for the 50th time.  Then enters Weidman with an American flag on 4th of July weekend.  Love it!  He enters to the tune of Tom Petty's "I Won't Back Down."  Love this!  That is one of those walkout songs that epitomizes the moment the fighter is going through.  Weidman said again and again that he is not going to be the fighter that is beaten before the fight begins.  That walkout song was perfect for the situation.  On a side note: Ronda Rousey's walkout song of "Bad Reputation" by Joan Jett was another walkout song that epitomized a moment and brought a tear to my eye.  Props to both for doing so in the biggest fights of their lives.

So after the American made his fearless entrance I started to believe he could win the fight.  Cue DMX, enter Silva.  "Ain't No Sunshine" begins to play as it always does when Silva walks into the Octagon.  I do have to say that waiting in the cage for him to enter while this song is playing has to be the most terrifying experience in sports.  Knowing this monster of a human being is about to knock you senseless has to be the only thought in your head. I again thought Weidman was done for, but he seemed poised.  Anderson Silva does not touch Weidman's glove when Herb Dean instructed them to do so, fight time begins.

Quickly Weidman secured a takedown and went to work with nasty ground and pound.  He landed hard shots and controlled Anderson on the ground.  He rolled into a heal hook that was not too far from being finished, but lost the position in doing so.  Anderson then went on to clown Chris on the feet like he did to Demian Maia.  He put his back on the cage and his hands on his hips.  Silva laughed when he was punched by Weidman.  It was bizarre that Silva would do such a thing against a quality opponent like Chris.  At this point I figured that Anderson felt Weidman's hands and felt no danger.  When Silva lowers his hands, the fight usually ends in spectacular fashion shortly after.  I thought Weidman's consciousness in this fight was on the brink of ending at this point.  Nevertheless both men were standing and in good shape.  Silva went on to kiss Weidman as they went back to their corners at the end of the round.

Round 2:  Silva was yelling violently at Weidman.  I could make out the words, "listen, stand up, and come on" coming off Silva's lips.  He was telling Chris that the fans wanted to see a stand up fight and wanted Chris to bring it.  To be honest, this strategy worked for Silva.  Chris Weidman did not look for a single takedown in round 2.  However, he would not need it.  Silva was hit and pretended to go jelly legged.  Then he was hit again and went limp.  Weidman had done it!  Weidman had knocked out Anderson Silva.  I was sitting there, jaw on the floor.  I could not believe what I had just seen.  It was not that Chris had won, it was the way he did so.  Silva played a risky game with Chris and lost.  I loved Weidman's celebration and I felt a sense of joy and terror at the same time.  The bar I was at erupted into cheers at the expense of Silva's cockiness.  Bruce Buffer announced the NEW UFC Middleweight Champion of the world and I was so rattled by what had just taken place.

Out came the conspiracies.  UFC fixed the fight.  Silva purposely lost.  The post fight interview of Silva where he said he was "tired" and did not want to be champion anymore made it seem this way.  Silva did not look like he was trying to win.  I can tell you that there was no fix and no fight was thrown.  I too was temporarily one of the conspiracy believers that Silva did not want to win.  But I thought back to his fights with Maia, Griffin, and Bonnar and realized that it is just the way he fights.  He goads people into getting wreckless so he can counter strike.  And as I said earlier, his strategy worked.  Weidman stopped taking him down!  His risky game just cost him because Weidman has punching power that Silva had not felt before.  Silva went down and that is that.  Silva deserves no scorn for his loss and Weidman truly deserves all the praise in the world.  Welcome to the top 5 pound for pound list Chris Weidman, you have arrived.

The questions now focus on the rematch.  UFC 168 has only announced 2 bouts, but it has all the potential to best UFC 100 and UFC 129 as one of the greatest cards in UFC history.  Both the aforementioned cards had 2 title fights, as with 168.  100 had GSP and Lesnar while 129 had Aldo and GSP.  168 will feature Weidman/Silva 2 as well as Rousey/Tate 2.  To better UFC 100, they have to put another huge fight on that card too.  The fight before the co-main events in UFC 100 and UFC 129 feature 2 of the greatest KOs in UFC history.  100 featured Dan Henderson destroying Bisping and 129 had the jumping front kick of Machida ending the career of Randy Couture.  The UFC has all of the potential to put together another historic event like the two I keep referencing.

So second time around will Silva win?  I think he will be more serious and will keep his hands up at least a little bit more.  He probably will still clown a little bit, and put his hands on his hips and put his face forward.  But he has to be  more cautious.  So a more serious Silva means an easy knockout win for the former champ?  No.  I am predicting it now.  Weidman will take Silva down early in every round and will get a TKO finish of Silva with ground and pound.  A Rousey armbar might be in order that night too, but expect Tate to put up a tough fight as she did the first time.

Ok so Weidman wins the rematch: What does Silva do?  He can fight Vitor again.  He can take on Nick Diaz, Cung Le, or Michael Bisping.  Maybe experiment at light heavyweight?  A boxing match with Roy Jones Jr could be in the mix.  He has fun fight options for sure.  Meanwhile, Weidman has a bunch of contenders like Vitor, Bisping, Souza, and others to take on.  Maybe even Chael or better yet Rich Franklin can get back into a title fight now that Silva is gone from his thrown.  If Silva is beaten twice by Weidman, he can always get back into a title fight if someone were to beat Weidman.  For example: Weidman could lose his second title defense to Vitor Belfort and Silva can step in as the challenger in that fight to get his belt back.  But after losing twice it would take some work before Silva could fight Weidman a third time.  There are options if this is the case.  It might actually be the best situation for the UFC if Weidman wins due to ease of scheduling and the birth of a new star.

So Silva wins the rematch?  Silva goes back to defending the belt like nothing even happened.  Chris Weidman would definitely get the trilogy fight eventually.  But an immediate threematch would be too ridiculous.  Weidman is good enough to win a pair of fights to merit his trilogy.  This would actually complicate things for the UFC scheduling title fights at middleweight.  But the money of a trilogy would be a best case situation for the UFC financially.

No matter what happens with the rematch or potential trilogy, the UFC won big with UFC 162.  Silva's legacy is not tarnished despite the loss to Weidman.  One of the craziest fights in UFC history has just taken place and all it did is lead to a super hyped and super crazy rematch.  Weidman is a great guy and a true American boy.  I would love to see Chris become the next greatest of all time.  He is undefeated and has handled Maia, Munoz, and Anderson with ease.  Maybe even he could be interested in a super fight with Jon Jones in the future.  Stay tuned for UFC 168 and other crazy exciting fights to finish out 2013.  Don't forget that GSP has his toughest fight to date against Hendricks at UFC 167 a month prior to this much anticipated fight card.  2013 might be the year of the dethrone, as I mentioned it could be earlier this year.

UFC 162 Recap

The end of an unbeaten streak.
Holy. Crap. That is the only thing that could be said following the main event.  Anderson Silva, the greatest fighter in UFC history, was defeated by Chris Weidman.  More to come on that.  As for now, let us recap the UFC 162 event on a whole, and bestow fighters with a bunch of Brutal Sports Awards that mean nothing!

Facebook:
  • Mike Pierce continues his winning ways by stopping John Mitchell.
  • Brian Melancon looks very impressive by stopping Seth Baczynski in his UFC debut.
FX:
  • Edson Barboza wins his second career fight via leg kick TKO.
  • Gonzaga knocks out Herman in only seconds.
  • Norman Parke looks incredible in his decision over Kazuki Tokudome.  Tokudome has one hell of a chin though!
  • Craig did not look impressive, but neither did Leben.  Craig was able to pull off a decision win.
PPV:
  • Cub Swanson and Dennis Siver was one of those fights that I hyped up so much that it could do nothing but disappoint me.  Or it could just deliver because Cub is awesome!  Siver actually held his own in the standup and on the ground.  Cub was just too resilient and could handle everything Siver was dishing out.  Much like Dustin Porier, Siver is a winner despite the loss to Cub.  You can do everything right and still lose to Cub because he is on another level right now.  The big question after this fight is, "Does Cub deserve a title shot?"  My answer is yes.  Cub has now rattled off 5 wins in a row since his loss to Ricardo Lamas in late 2011.  Lamas is the other man who may deserve a title shot.  Here is the thing with that.  Lamas was a top contender scheduled to fight to Zombie for a shot at the winner of Pettis/Aldo.  A knee injury sends Pettis back to lightweight and Zombie gets a title shot.  Lamas has 4 HUGE wins in a row against tough, top guys in Swanson, Hioki, and Koch.  However, it is his inactivity that is preventing him from being the next guy in line for a title shot.  He has 2 wins since besting Cub, while cup has 5 wins since losing to Lamas.  I like Cub to get the Zombie/Aldo winner and I would like to see Lamas take on the winner of Guida/Mendes for a title shot.
  • Munoz made a huge statement in his win over Tim Boetsch.  The Barbarian looked good in spurts, but Munoz out powered him with wrestling and ridiculous ground and pound.  Munoz is back to being a threat for the title going forward.  Tim is still a great fighter, but he is on the outside of the top 10 looking in at this point.
  • Kennedy and Gracie was super boring.  Good for Kennedy to neutralize Gracie's submission game and use superior wrestling to squeeze out a victory.  Boring fight but huge win for Tim.
  • Frankie Edgar and Charles Oliveira put on a show winning Fight of the Night.  Edgar finally is able to get into the win column is his first non title fight in a long time.  Props to Oliveira for hanging in tough, but Edgar's wrestling and striking was too much for him.  The youngster has a bright future and Edgar is still a top talent in the UFC.
  • Anderson Silva was knocked out by Chris Weidman.  More to come on this fight later.  But holy cow was it a sight to see.
Picks entering UFC 162: 88/153
Picks for UFC 162: 7/11
Pick totals: 95/164=58%

UFC bonuses:
FOTN: Edgar/Oliveira and Swanson/Siver
SOTN: None
KOOTN: Weidman
 
Brutal Sports Awards:
Beatdown of the Night: Mark Munoz
Sketchiest Decision of the Night: Craig/Leben (close but I think they got it right)
Upset of the Night: OBVIOUSLY CHRIS WEIDMAN

The cut list:
  • Dave Herman
Three Stars:
  1. Chris Weidman
  2. Cub Swanson
  3. Mark Munoz

Saturday, July 6, 2013

UFC 162: Silva vs Weidman

Weidman's win over Munoz put him in this spot.
Whenever Anderson Silva enters the Octagon it truly is a treat.  He is getting up there in age but he is still the most dominant fighter in UFC history.  Is Chris Weidman finally going to be the guy to get a win and end Anderson's unbeaten streak?  Or is he just a good wrestler receiving too much hype?  Throw in a bunch of great fights at 145 (despite losing Zombie and Lamas from the card) and a top 10 middleweight bout you have a great night of fights.

As always, we start on Facebook:
  • Dave Mitchell began his UFC career 0-2 before winning in Chicago.  Pierce on the other hand, has only 3 UFC losses in 11 fights.  With losses to Fitch, Hendricks, and Koscheck (2 of those were split decisions) you could argue that Pierce is actually a top of the food chain welterweight.  Pierce is has no wins over top competition, but has handled anyone else with relative ease.  I see Pierce keeping his winning ways going with a decision over Mitchell.
  • Seth Baczynski in his last fight was one of Mike Pierce's victims.  However, Baczynski also was the last person to best the red hot Matt Brown.  His opponent Brian Melancon is a guy that I know very little about.  He is another Strikeforce guy looking to win his UFC debut.  He looked good in his split decision loss to Isaac Vallie-Flagg but I don't know that he is good enough to best Seth.  I will take Baczunski via submission. (triangle choke)
On the FX the night only gets better:
  • Edson Barboza was given an easy opponent for the second time in a row since his only loss to Jamie Varner.  Rafaello Oliveira is not the toughest opponent and Barboza should make quick work of him.  Edson Barboza via first round KO.
  • Dave Herman was once a man who did not believe in jiu jitsu until Big Nog had something else to say about that.  Gonzaga is not only a power puncher, but a BJJ black belt as well.  He has been putting his submission game to good use lately despite the loss to Browne in his last fight.  I am taking the bigger man to sink in a choke.  Gonzaga via guillotine choke.
  • Norman Parke was the British winner or TUF the Smashes and he is looking to build off that.  Kazuki Tokudome had an impressive win in his UFC debut and is looking to build off that as well.  I am predicting Parke to keep his 7 fight unbeaten streak alive for at least one more win.  Parke via decision.
  • Chris Leben has had ups and downs in his professional fighting career.  His last fight against Brunson, he really laid an egg.  The much taller Andrew Craig could be able to pull off an upset and send Leben his packing papers.  Craig is my horse in this fight, although I am not incredible set on this.  I would like to see Leben return to his former self.  Either way, Craig via decision.
Onto the PPV the event really heats up:
  • Fight of the Year honors so far belong to either Stann/Silva, Brown/Mein, or Grice/Bermudez right now.  Cub Swanson vs  Dennis Siver could be joining that list of amazing fights after tonight is over.  Cub is one of those guys that will beat you even when you do everything right.  Dustin Porier fought a great fight and still ended up on the short end of a decision against Cub.  Siver is a hell of a kickboxer but Cub is on a mission to get a title shot.  Swanson is known for submitting blackbelts with ease.  I fully expect a crazy submission of the night to seal this fight for Cub.  Cub Swanson via awesome submission.  (gogoplata? d'arce choke?)
  • Mark Munoz and Tim Boetsch actually were originally scheduled for prelims.  That is a joke because this fight has fireworks written all over it as well.  Two of the more exciting and powerful middleweights will be going at it in this one.  I love Munoz and his savage ground and pound, but I have to go with The Barbarian in this fight.  Boetsch is a monster looking to bounce back from a weird loss to Costa in his last fight.  Munoz might be the next guy like Fitch, Hominick, Evans, or Stevenson that cannot bounce back from a tough knockout.  Boetsch via TKO.
  • Tim Kennedy is a good fighter and should give Roger Gracie fits in this fight with his wrestling.  That said, 3rd round trangle choke win for Gracie.  Huge comeback win for him.
  • Frankie Edgar 30-27 decision win on all 3 scorecards in his first non-title fight in years.
  • Anderson Silva is the best fighter of all time.  He is the unbeatable, unflappable champion of the UFC middleweight division.  Since defeating Chris Leben followed by Rich Franklin, Anderson Silva has never looked back.  He has but one weakness, and that is pure wrestling.  Chael exposed this only to be submitted in the 5th round of their title fight.  Weidman is good, and I do have to admit the UFC did such a good job hyping him.  I am buying the hype to a degree, but I still know that Chris Weidman is no better than men like Henderson or even Chael that Silva has beaten before.  I actually consider Weidman to be a lot like Nate Marquardt, a man who was knocked out in the first round by Silva.  Will he at least make it interesting, I can only hope.  Nevertheless, Silva via 4th round Knockout.

UFC Fighter Rankings (7/4/13)

Anderson Silva is on top yet again, but for how much longer?
The UFC has only put on two shows since the last rankings.  However in addition to those, the WSOF, Bellator, and other organizations have put on shows that have impacted the rankings.  Here is how Brutal Sports ranks the MMA world heading into July:

Note: I was going to wait until after UFC 162 to do this, but it could be Anderson Silva's last time as the P4P king so I did the rankings now.


Pound for Pound:

  1. Anderson Silva (1)
  2. Jose Aldo (2)
  3. Jon Jones (3)
  4. Georges St. Pierre (4)
  5. Dominick Cruz (5)
  6. Cain Velasquez (7)
  7. Demetrious Johnson (8)
  8. Ronda Rousey (9)
  9. Renan Barao (6)
  10. Benson Henderson (10)
Heavyweight:
  1. Cain Velasquez (1)
  2. Junior Dos Santos (2)
  3. Fabricio Werdum (4)
  4. Daniel Cormier (3)
  5. Travis Browne (5)
  6. Mark Hunt (7)
  7. Stipe Miocic (NR)
  8. Frank Mir (9)
  9.  Roy Nelson (6)
  10. Antonio Silva (10)
Dropping Out: Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (8)

Light Heavywight:
  1. Jon Jones (1)
  2. Lyoto Machida (2)
  3. Alexander Gustafsson (3)
  4. Glover Teixeira (4)
  5. Phil Davis (5)
  6. Rashad Evans (7)
  7. Dan Henderson (6)
  8. Shogun Rua (8)
  9. Gegard Mousasi (9)
  10. Ryan Bader (10)
Middleweight:
  1. Anderson Silva (1)
  2. Vitor Belfort (2)
  3. Chris Weidman (3)
  4. Yushin Okami (4)
  5. Ronaldo Souza (5)
  6. Michael Bisping (6)
  7. Costa Philippou (7)
  8. Tim Boetsch (8)
  9. Luke Rockhold (9)
  10. Mark Munoz (10)

Welterwight:
  1. Georges St. Pierre (1)
  2. Johny Hendricks (2)
  3. Jake Ellenberger (3)
  4. Rory Macdonald (4)
  5. Demian Maia (5)
  6. Carlos Condit (6)
  7. Dong Hyun Kim (7)
  8. Matt Brown (8)
  9. Martin Kampmann (10)
  10. Josh Burkman (NR)
Dropping Out: Tyron Woodley (9)

Lightweight:
  1. Benson Henderson (1)
  2. TJ Grant (2)
  3. Gilbert Melendez (3)
  4. Anthony Pettis (4)
  5. Josh Thompson (5)
  6. Michael Chandler (6)
  7. Pat Healy (7)
  8. Gray Maynard (8)
  9. Khabib Nurmagomedov (9)
  10. Donald Cerrone (10)

Featherweight:
  1. Jose Aldo (1)
  2. Chad Mendes (2)
  3. Ricardo Lamas (3)
  4. Cub Swanson (4)
  5. Chan Sung Jung (5)
  6. Pat Curran (6)
  7. Frankie Edgar (7)
  8. Erik Koch (8)
  9. Dustin Poirier (9)
  10. Conor McGregor (10)

Bantamweight:
  1. Dominick Cruz (1)
  2. Renan Barao (2)
  3. Urijah Faber (3)
  4. Eddie Wineland (4)
  5. Brad Pickett (5)
  6. Michael McDonald (6)
  7. Rafael Assuncao (8)
  8. T.J. Dillashaw (7)
  9. Scott Jorgensen (9)
  10. George Roop (10)
Flyweight:
  1. Demetrious Johnson (1)
  2. Joe Benavidez (2)
  3. John Dodson (3)
  4. John Moraga (4)
  5. Jussier Formiga (5)
  6. Darrel Montague (6)
  7. Ian McCall (7)
  8. Louis Gaudinot (8)
  9. John Lineker (9)
  10. Darren Uyenoyama (10)

Women's Pound for Pound:
  1. Ronda Rousey (1)
  2. Cristiane Santos (2)
  3. Sara McMann (3)
  4. Cat Zingano (4)
  5. Jessica Aguilar (5)
  6. Miesha Tate (6)
  7. Alexis Davis (8)
  8. Sarah Kaufman (7)
  9. Marloes Coenen(9)
  10. Liz Carmouche (10)