Saturday, September 27, 2014

UFC 178 Preview/Predictions

This picture...WOW! via Dana White Twitter
Ladies and gentlemen, we have a stacked card on our hands.  Had the originally scheduled title fight between Jones and Gustafsson (or Jones/Cormier) still been the main event, we would be looking at potentially the greatest card ever.  The always exciting Cowboy is fighting longtime Bellator king Eddie Alvarez.  Oh and this Conor McGregor guy is fighting a super talented and exciting Dustin Poirier.  Oh and don't forget the return of Dominick Cruz, a top contender women's showdown, a match made to ruin Kennedy's title aspirations, a dope lightweight fight, and of course Wonderboy Thompson.  Did I forget anything?  Oh duh, the title fight that nobody cares about. Ready, let's pick em'!

Fight Pass prelims:

  • Manvel Gamburyan was runner up to Nate Diaz on TUF season 5.  Since then he dropped to featherweight and now bantamweight.  He has had his ups and downs but never really contender for anything other than a fun fight.  I do have to say he looks to be in the best shape of his life thanks to hard work and the Dolce Diet.  His opponent Cody Gibson is 1-1 is his brief and weird UFC career. He lost a short notice fight to the ultra talented Aljamain Sterling then won a VERY controversial fight over "Brutal" Bedford (it was bullshit).  This is a "show me what you can do" fight for Gibson.  He will either emerge as a legit bantamweight fighter or be exposed as a pretender.  I take the savvy vet Gamburyan to bury him with ground and pound.  Gamburyan 1st round TKO.
  • Jon Tuck and Kevin Lee have 1 thing in common.  They both lost to Al Iaquinta.  Tuck has an excuse seeing as that his fight was 1 round and he finished that round despite a screwed up toe.  So what's your excuse Lee?  So this is where I would normally pick Tuck to win a split decision....BUT I gotta go with the hometown boy.  Grand Rapids, Michigan's own Kevin Lee via split decision!
Fox Sports 1 prelims:
  • Brian Ebersole may not be better than John Howard, but his chest hair is best in the business.  I can't not pick this guy to win.  Ebersole collects win #51 with a unanimous decision.
  • Stephen "Wonderboy" Thompson via something amazing KO.  Sorry Cote.
  • Jorge Masvidal is one tough SOB.  He can endure anything the slick and talented James Krause throws at him to get the nasty decision win.  That is unless something weird happens like in Krause's last 2 fights (a groin kick TKO and a broken ankle TKO).  Masvidal/Krause should be bloody, weird, awesome, and important.  Masvidal via decision.
  • Dominick Cruz is back after just under 3 years absence.  Takeya Mizugaki has done nothing but win. Throw them together and the winner gets a title shot right?  Wrong.  Barao, Assuncao, and Faber have other ideas of what is happening next.  We shall see how it all shakes out.  There is no telling if Cruz will even be good in his return.  He may get injured again.  However, when I see the commercial on TV of Cruz throwing current Flyweight Champion Demetrious Johnson through the air, I can only imagine a UFC with Cruz on top again.  Cruz picks Mizugaki apart with his footwork and speed to win a decision 30-27.
PPV:
  • Cat Zingano, like Cruz, had an injury derail her career for some time.  But she is back and ready to re-earn that title shot she already earned.  Across from her is no joke in Amanda Nunes.  I hope to see a slugfest between two women who desperately want a shot at Ronda Rousey.  Expect this to be awesome.  Zingano via TKO.
  • Yoel Romero may be 40 but he is a rising "prospect" in the UFC middleweight division.  He is finally getting a high-profile fight and is doing the UFC a favor in the process.  While I like Tim Kennedy and respect his talents, he has put on snoozers in his recent fight career.  They put an amazing wrestler and athlete across from him to shake things up.  Yoel defends the takedown and uses his pure athleticism to knock Kennedy out cold within 2 rounds.  Should be a dandy.
  • Conor McGregor is fighting 3rd from last, but do not be confused.  THIS IS THE MAIN EVENT OF UFC 178!  The man who has drawn the attention of the world is not just talk, he can fight like a killer.  Additionally, what he does best is where his opponent Dustin Poirier struggles.  Let me explain.  First, Poirier always guards his head by placing his arms on both sides of his head.  This leaves him susceptible to uppercuts, one of Conor's best weapons.  Second, Poirier gets tagged in literally every fight.  Let's focus on his last 6.  Jung, Brookins, Swanson, Brandao, and Corassani all tagged him and Koch almost submitted him with a triangle.  Dustin was able to use his incredible chin and heart to come back and win 4 of those 6 fights.  Losses to Swanson and Jung are nothing to be ashamed of and I do believe Dustin is the real deal.  However, McGregor will put him away if Poirier gets in trouble.  When looking at shared opponents, they both put Brandao away in the 1st round in almost identical fashion.  Max Holloway was submitted wonderfully by Poirier and decisioned by McGregor. Long story short, Poirier has more ways to lose than he has to win.  If Poirier has an advantage in this fight, it is in his wrestling and submission game.  However, his anger and desire to punish McGregor for his trash talking may get in the way of a smart game plan.  That is the beauty of McGregor, he is competent, confident, and knows how to win.  McGregor via 1st round TKO.
  • Donald Cerrone is on a tear and looking to fight, and win, 6 times in 2014.  He very well may do that.  With 2 head kick KO's and a submission victory already, Cowboy looks to get #4 over Eddie Alvarez.  The longtime Bellator champion was involved in many wars outside the UFC.  I love him and his style, but I am not a believer.  I thought he lost both fights to Michael Chandler and I don't believe in the competition he went up against too much.  Also, the anticipation of being in the UFC after so many years could get to him, especially being in a co-main event slot.  Cowboy is no slouch of an opponent either.  I think Cowboy rocks Alvarez on the feet and gets another submission victory.  Look for that knee up the middle to be thrown often by Cerrone.
  • DJ will beat Cariaso guaranteed.  The only question is how fast will he get him out of there.  I say 20 seconds.  DJ slick right hand followed by a flurry of punches.  Expect this fight to be a replay of Rousey vs Alexis Davis.

Friday, August 1, 2014

Updated Fighter Rankings (8/1/14)

I've been a lazy writer lately, but the rankings must go on!!!

Men's Pound for Pound:
  1. Jose Aldo (1)
  2. Jon Jones (2)
  3. Chris Weidman (4)
  4. Demetrious Johnson (3)
  5. Cain Velasquez (5)
  6. Anderson Silva (6)
  7. Johny Hendricks (7)
  8. Vitor Belfort (8)
  9. Anthony Pettis (9)
  10. Dominick Cruz (10)
  11. TJ Dillashaw (11)
  12. Renan Barao (12)
  13. Chad Mendes (13)
  14.  Urijah Faber (16)
  15. Frankie Edgar (17)
  16. Gilbert Melendez (18)
  17. Jacare Souza (19)
  18. Junior Dos Santos (14)
  19. Luke Rockhold (20)
  20. Lyoto Machida (15)
Heavyweight:
  1. Cain Velasquez (1)
  2. Fabricio Werdum (2)
  3. Junior Dos Santos (3)
  4. Stipe Miocic (4)
  5. Travis Browne (5)
  6. Mark Hunt (6)
  7. Antonio Silva (7)
  8. Josh Barnett (8)
  9. Roy Nelson (9)
  10. Stefan Struve (10)
  11. Alistair Overeem (11)
  12. Gabriel Gonzaga (12)
  13. Ben Rothwell (13)
  14. Frank Mir (14)
  15. Matt Mitrione (15)
  16. Shawn Jordan (16)
  17. Vitaly Minakov (17)
  18. Alexander Volkov (18)
  19. Soa Palelei (19)
  20. Brendan Schaub (20)
Light Heavywight:
  1. Jon Jones (1)
  2. Daniel Cormier (2)
  3. Alexander Gustafsson (3)
  4. Rashad Evans (4)
  5. Glover Teixeira (5)
  6. Anthony Johnson (6)
  7. Ryan Bader (7)
  8. Dan Henderson (9)
  9. Emanuel Newton (10)
  10. Rampage Jackson (11)
  11. Ovince St. Preux (12)
  12. Chael Sonnen (13)
  13. Shogun Rua (14)
  14. Phil Davis (15)
  15. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (8)
  16. Muhammed Lawal (16)
  17. Jimi Manuwa (17)
  18. Tito Ortiz (18)
  19. Rafael Cavalcante (19)
  20. Ryan Jimmo (20)
Middleweight:
  1. Chris Weidman (1)
  2. Vitor Belfort (2)
  3. Ronaldo Souza (4)
  4. Anderson Silva (5)
  5. Luke Rockhold (6)
  6. Lyoto Machida (3)
  7. Gegard Mousasi (7)
  8. Tim Kennedy (8)
  9. Yoel Romero (9)
  10. Thales Leites (10)
  11. Yushin Okami (11)
  12. Michael Bisping (12)
  13. Cung Le (13)
  14. Alan Belcher (14)
  15. Alexander Shlemenko (15)
  16. C.B. Dollaway (16)
  17. Mark Munoz (17)
  18. Costa Philippou (18)
  19. Rich Franklin (19)
  20. Nate Marquardt (20)
Welterwight:
  1. Johny Hendricks (1)
  2. Robbie Lawler (3)
  3. Rory Macdonald (4)
  4. Dong Hyun Kim (5)
  5. Carlos Condit (6)
  6. Matt Brown (2)
  7. Ben Askren (7)
  8. Tarec Saffiedine (8)
  9. Demian Maia (9)
  10. Tyrone Woodley (10)
  11. Hector Lombard (11)
  12. Jake Shields (12)
  13. Jake Ellenberger (13)
  14. Martin Kampmann (14)
  15. Nick Diaz (15)
  16. Rousimar Palhares (16)
  17. Josh Burkman (17)
  18. Gunnar Nelson (NR)
  19. Brandon Thatch (19)
  20. Stephen Thompson (20)
Dropping out: Josh Koscheck (18)
 
Lightweight:
  1. Anthony Pettis (1)
  2. Gilbert Melendez (2)
  3. Khabib Nurmagomedov (3)
  4. Benson Henderson (4)
  5. Donald Cerrone (6)
  6. TJ Grant (8)
  7. Michael Chandler (9)
  8. Eddie Alvarez (10)
  9. Josh Thomson (5)
  10. Jim Miller (7)
  11. Nate Diaz (11)
  12. Rafael dos Anjos (12)
  13. Rustam Khabilov (13)
  14. Edson Barboza (19)
  15. Bobby Green (16)
  16. Gray Maynard (14)
  17. Joe Lauzon (15)
  18. Abel Trujillo (17)
  19. Michael Johnson (18)
  20. Jorge Masvidal (NR)
Dropping out: Daron Cruickshank (20)

Featherweight:
  1. Jose Aldo (1)
  2. Chad Mendes (2)
  3. Cub Swanson (3)
  4. Dustin Poirier (4)
  5. Frankie Edgar (5)
  6. Dennis Bermudez (9)
  7. Ricardo Lamas (6)
  8. Conor McGregor (7)
  9. Chan Sung Jung (8)
  10. Shinya Aoki (11)
  11. Dennis Siver (12)
  12. Paticio Freire (13)
  13. Nik Lentz (14)
  14. Jeremy Stephens (15)
  15. Clay Guida (10)
  16. Pat Curran (16)
  17. Daniel Straus (17)
  18. Darren Elkins (18)
  19. Charles Oliveira (19)
  20. Tatsuya Kawajiri (20)
Bantamweight:
  1. T.J. Dillashaw (1)
  2. Dominick Cruz (2)
  3. Renan Barao (3)
  4. Urijah Faber (4)
  5. Rafael Assuncao (5)
  6. Takeya Mizugaki (6)
  7. Michael McDonald (7)
  8. Iuri Alcantara (8)
  9. Eduardo Dantas (9)
  10. Marlon Moraes (10)
  11. Bibiano Fernandes (11)
  12. Joe Warren (12)
  13. Johnny Eduardo (14)
  14. Eddie Wineland (15)
  15.  Alex Caceres (13)
  16. Sergio Pettis (17)
  17. Bryan Caraway (18)
  18. Erik Perez (19)
  19. Tyson Nam (20)
  20. Aljamain Sterling (NR)
Dropping out: George Roop (16)

Flyweight:
  1. Demetrious Johnson (1)
  2. John Dodson (2)
  3. Joe Benavidez (3)
  4. Ian McCall (6)
  5. Jussier Formiga (5)
  6. Zack Makovsky (7)
  7. John Lineker (11)
  8. Brad Pickett (4)
  9. Ali Bagautinov (8)
  10. Dustin Ortiz (9)
  11. Kyoji Horiguchi (10)
  12. Tim Elliot (12)
  13. Louis Gaudinot(13)
  14. John Moraga (14)
  15. Chris Cariaso (15)
  16. Patrick Holohan (NR)
  17. Darrel Montague (16)
  18. Scott Jorgensen (17)
  19. Danny Martinez (20)
  20. Neil Seery (NR)
Dropping out: Alptekin Ozkilic (18), Josh Sampo (19)

Women's Pound for Pound:
  1. Ronda Rousey (1)
  2. Cristiane Santos (2)
  3. Jessica Aguilar (4)
  4. Cat Zingano (5)
  5. Marloes Coenen (6)
  6. Sarah Kaufman (7)
  7. Sara McMann (8)
  8. Barb Honchak (9)
  9. Michelle Waterson (10)
  10.  Alexis Davis (3)
  11. Miesha Tate (11)
  12. Jessica Eye (12)
  13. Jessica Penne (13)
  14. Amanda Nunes (14)
  15. Carla Esparza (15)
  16. Jessica Andrade (16)
  17. Shayna Baszler (17)
  18. Tecia Torres (19)
  19. Bethe Correia (20)
  20. Claudia Gadelha (NR)

Tuesday, July 1, 2014

Updated Fighter Rankings (7/1/14)


TJ Dillashaw is now #1 at 135 and among the P4P best.
2 months have come and gone since the last time I updated the rankings.  Renan Barao lost his title and many others were involved in huge fights (Soa Palelei and Neil Magny were involved in 2 fights!).  With 2 title fights on the 5th and a stacked Fox card on its way, here is how I see the rankings entering a busy July:

Men's Pound for Pound:
  1. Jose Aldo (1)
  2. Jon Jones (2)
  3. Demetrious Johnson (5)
  4. Chris Weidman (4)
  5. Cain Velasquez (6)
  6. Anderson Silva (7)
  7. Johny Hendricks (8)
  8. Vitor Belfort (9)
  9. Anthony Pettis (10)
  10. Dominick Cruz (11)
  11. TJ Dillashaw (NR)
  12. Renan Barao (3)
  13. Chad Mendes (12)
  14. Junior Dos Santos (13)
  15. Lyoto Machida (14)
  16.  Urijah Faber (15)
  17. Frankie Edgar (16)
  18. Gilbert Melendez (17)
  19. Jacare Souza (18)
  20. Luke Rockhold (19)
Dropping out: Alexander Shlemenko (20)

Heavyweight:
  1. Cain Velasquez (1)
  2. Fabricio Werdum (2)
  3. Junior Dos Santos (3)
  4. Stipe Miocic (4)
  5. Travis Browne (5)
  6. Mark Hunt (6)
  7. Antonio Silva (7)
  8. Josh Barnett (8)
  9. Roy Nelson (9)
  10. Stefan Struve (10)
  11. Alistair Overeem (11)
  12. Gabriel Gonzaga (12)
  13. Ben Rothwell (13)
  14. Frank Mir (15)
  15. Matt Mitrione (17)
  16. Shawn Jordan (18)
  17. Vitaly Minakov (19)
  18. Alexander Volkov (20)
  19. Soa Palelei (16)
  20. Brendan Schaub (14)
Light Heavywight:
  1. Jon Jones (1)
  2. Daniel Cormier (3)
  3. Alexander Gustafsson (2)
  4. Rashad Evans (4)
  5. Glover Teixeira (6)
  6. Anthony Johnson (7)
  7. Ryan Bader (11)
  8. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (8)
  9. Dan Henderson (5)
  10. Emanuel Newton (9)
  11. Rampage Jackson (10)
  12. Ovince St. Preux (19)
  13. Chael Sonnen (12)
  14. Shogun Rua (14)
  15. Phil Davis (15)
  16. Muhammed Lawal (17)
  17. Jimi Manuwa (18)
  18. Tito Ortiz (NR)-Yes, that happened!
  19. Rafael Cavalcante (13)
  20. Ryan Jimmo (20)
New weight class: James Te-Huna (16)

Middleweight:
  1. Chris Weidman (1)
  2. Vitor Belfort (2)
  3. Lyoto Machida (3)
  4. Ronaldo Souza (4)
  5. Anderson Silva (5)
  6. Luke Rockhold (6)
  7. Gegard Mousasi (10)
  8. Tim Kennedy (8)
  9. Yoel Romero (9)
  10. Thales Leites (11)
  11. Yushin Okami (13)
  12. Michael Bisping (14)
  13. Cung Le (15)
  14. Alan Belcher (16)
  15. Alexander Shlemenko (7)
  16. C.B. Dollaway
  17. Mark Munoz (12)
  18. Costa Philippou (18)
  19. Rich Franklin (17)
  20. Nate Marquardt (NR)
Dropping out/Not making with new weight class: Clint Hester (19), Tim Boetsch (20), James Te-Huna (16-light heavyweight)

Welterwight:
  1. Johny Hendricks (1)
  2. Matt Brown (2)
  3. Robbie Lawler (3)
  4. Rory Macdonald (7)
  5. Dong Hyun Kim (5)
  6. Carlos Condit (6)
  7. Ben Askren (9)
  8. Tarec Saffiedine (10)
  9. Demian Maia (13)
  10. Tyrone Woodley (4)
  11. Hector Lombard (11)
  12. Jake Shields (12)
  13. Jake Ellenberger (8)
  14. Martin Kampmann (14)
  15. Nick Diaz (15)
  16. Rousimar Palhares (16)
  17. Josh Burkman (17)
  18. Josh Koscheck (18)
  19. Brandon Thatch (19)
  20. Stephen Thompson (20)
Lightweight:
  1. Anthony Pettis (1)
  2. Gilbert Melendez (2)
  3. Khabib Nurmagomedov (3)
  4. Benson Henderson (4)
  5. Josh Thomson (5)
  6. Donald Cerrone (6)
  7. Jim Miller (7)
  8. TJ Grant (8)
  9. Michael Chandler (9)
  10. Eddie Alvarez (10)
  11. Nate Diaz (11)
  12. Rafael dos Anjos (12)
  13. Rustam Khabilov (16)
  14. Gray Maynard (13)
  15. Joe Lauzon (15)
  16. Bobby Green (17)
  17. Abel Trujillo (18)
  18. Michael Johnson (19)
  19. Edson Barboza (20)
  20. Daron Cruickshank (NR)
Dropping out: Erik Koch (14)

Featherweight:
  1. Jose Aldo (1)
  2. Chad Mendes (2)
  3. Cub Swanson (3)
  4. Dustin Poirier (4)
  5. Frankie Edgar (5)
  6. Ricardo Lamas (8)
  7. Conor McGregor (6)
  8. Chan Sung Jung (7)
  9. Dennis Bermudez (9)
  10. Clay Guida (10)
  11. Shinya Aoki (11)
  12. Dennis Siver (12)
  13. Paticio Freire (13)
  14. Nik Lentz (18)
  15. Jeremy Stephens (14)
  16. Pat Curran (15)
  17. Daniel Straus (16)
  18. Darren Elkins (17)
  19. Charles Oliveira (NR)
  20. Tatsuya Kawajiri (20)
Dropping out: Hatsu Hioki (19)

Bantamweight:
  1. T.J. Dillashaw (6)
  2. Dominick Cruz (2)
  3. Renan Barao (1)
  4. Urijah Faber (3)
  5. Rafael Assuncao (4)
  6. Takeya Mizugaki (11)
  7. Michael McDonald (5)
  8. Iuri Alcantara (13)
  9. Eduardo Dantas (8)
  10. Marlon Moraes (9)
  11. Bibiano Fernandes (10)
  12. Joe Warren (12)
  13. Alex Caceres (15)
  14. Johnny Eduardo (NR)
  15. Eddie Wineland (7)
  16. George Roop (16)
  17. Sergio Pettis (18)
  18. Bryan Caraway (NR)
  19. Erik Perez (14)
  20. Tyson Nam (19)
Dropping out: Mike Easton (17), Francisco Rivera (20)

Flyweight:
  1. Demetrious Johnson (1)
  2. John Dodson (2)
  3. Joe Benavidez (3)
  4. Brad Pickett (5)
  5. Jussier Formiga (6)
  6. Ian McCall (7)
  7. Zack Makovsky (9)
  8. Ali Bagautinov (4)
  9. Dustin Ortiz (11)
  10. Kyoji Horiguchi (20)
  11. John Lineker (12)
  12. Tim Elliot (13)
  13. Louis Gaudinot(14)
  14. John Moraga (10)
  15. Chris Cariaso (15)
  16. Darrel Montague (8)
  17. Scott Jorgensen (18)
  18. Alptekin Ozkilic (16)
  19. Josh Sampo (17)
  20. Danny Martinez (19)
Women's Pound for Pound:
  1. Ronda Rousey (1)
  2. Cristiane Santos (2)
  3. Alexis Davis (3)
  4. Jessica Aguilar (4)
  5. Cat Zingano (5)
  6. Marloes Coenen (6)
  7. Sarah Kaufman (7)
  8. Sara McMann (8)
  9. Barb Honchak (9)
  10. Michelle Waterson (10)
  11. Miesha Tate (11)
  12. Jessica Eye (12)
  13. Jessica Penne (13)
  14. Amanda Nunes (14)
  15. Carla Esparza (15)
  16. Jessica Andrade (16)
  17. Shayna Baszler (17)
  18.  Zoila Gurgel (18)
  19. Tecia Torres (19)
  20. Bethe Correia (20)