Champions Beware

GSP after his fight with Condit.

The road to a title shot is not an easy one.  You have to work hard in training, take out multiple top fighters who possess different skill sets, and sometimes even talk a little smack.  Marketability can help a fighter get a title shot a little bit faster than a guy nobody knows too much about.  However, even an unknown fighter can get a title shot if he wins enough.  An example of this is that Nick Diaz is getting a shot at GSP over Johny Hendricks due to his marketability and rivalry with GSP.  Meanwhile, virtually unknown John Moraga was slated to fight for the flyweight title prior to Johnson's injury.

It is this drive to get the belt that allows contenders to improve so much.  They have to fight a few top guys to earn their shot.  In these contests they face guys with different specialties.  Wrestlers, strikers, BJJ blackbelts, and well rounded fighters all give top contenders different challenges.  It is these challenges that prepare top contenders for battle and allows them to grow into potential champions.  Fighters like GSP, Jon Jones, Jose Aldo, and Anderson Silva have looked nearly untouchable over their title reigns.  However, champions have faced some serious competition as of late.  It is no longer simply the champion putting on a clinic and showcasing their talents, but also the challenger really giving them a test.

Although champions are 4 for 4 in defending their belts so far in 2013, it has not been a walk in the park.  Dodson really rocked Johnson twice in the second round of their title fight, but DJ ultimately escaped Dodson with a close decision win.  Jose Aldo looked good early but lost the last 2 rounds to Edgar whose wrestling was too much for Jose to handle.  Renan Barao took a serious barrage of heavy punches from Michael McDonald before sinking in the 4th round arm triangle choke.  Ronda Rousey gave up her back and almost was finished by a rear-naked choke/neck crank before she shook off Carmouche and won with her signature armbar.  These were not easy wins for the champions which shows that the top contenders are getting better.  At the same time, these fights show why the champions are the best in the world.

Even going back to last year, JDS lost the belt in horrible fashion to a man he knocked out in under 2 minutes the first time they fought.  GSP was rocked by a head kick by Carlos Condit that almost saw him lose his welterweight belt.  And who can forget Vitor Belfort almost finishing Jon Jones with an armbar at UFC 152?  It is not the same easy road for champions in the UFC anymore.  People like BJ Penn used to be champions who relied on talent and not hard work.  BJ Penn is outclassed by the modern day fighters who are constantly in the gym working hard on every area of mixed martial arts.  There is no easy road into being a top fighter in the UFC, and every champion better be on his heels because a list of top contenders is knocking down the door at every weight class.

GSP against Nick Diaz is the next title fight the UFC is going to put on.  This is a relative joke of a title fight because Hendricks is dominating the ranks of the welterweight division while Diaz is coming off a drug suspension and a loss to the man GSP had just finished beating.  However Georges still needs to be on his A game to stay the king.  Following this is Strikeforce Champion Gilbert Melendez taking on UFC Champion Benson Henderson.  This is a tough fight for both guys, and it should be something Ben Henderson should be weary of.  Melendez in his own backyard in San Jose should be a serious threat to the lightweight belt.  Chael vs Jones is the fight following the lightweight one.  Chael is not being taken seriously, but again he is not a guy you should sleep on.  Throw in an improved Bigfoot in a rematch with Velasquez and a battle between top lightweight Anthony Pettis against Jose Aldo and you have an action packed year of title fights.

There are no guys in the UFC that are bad at fighting.  Some are better than others, but anybody who underestimates their opponent is asking to get clocked on the side of the head.  Anderson Silva can lose any given day despite his "invincibility" so far in the octagon.  Anyone who is a champion in the UFC has to keep working hard.  There are too many scary dudes (and some ladies) looking to dethrone a championship today in the UFC.  Champions should beware of the rush of contenders on the way, for being on top cannot last forever.

UFC 157 Recap

Bermudez (blue trunks) hits Grice (red trunks)
in an early favorite to win Fight of the Year 2013.

History was made Saturday night at the United Center when Ronda Rousey fought Liz Carmouche in the first ever UFC women's fight.  Here is how UFC 157 played out for those who missed it, or just want an avid fight fan's take on how things went down.

I must confess that I was unable to get my computer to work during the preliminary Facebook fights at 7pm. I heard all 3 fights were pretty entertaining and the Facebook portion of the night went well.

• Nah-Shon Burrell missed weight by a few pounds but came up the winner over Yuri Villefort by unanimous decision.
• TUF Carwin Vs. Nelson fighters went at it next.  Magny edged out Manley with a unanimous decision.
• The 3rd fight on Facebook I did see, since it aired on the PPV after the Faber/Menjivar fight.  Kenny Robertson won Submission of the Night with a nasty kneebar win over Brock Jardine.  Kenny looked like he is for real, showcasing some serious grappling and submission expertise.

Moving on to FX, the UFC put on one of the best prelims of recent memory.

• UFC veteran Sam Stout was able to edge out Strikeforce's Caros Fodor with a controversial split decision.
• The Fight of the Night and potential Fight of the Year candidate followed Stout's victory.  Matt Grice took on Dennis Bermudez in a featherweight bout that received little to no attention in the media.  I personally had not heard of either of these guys prior to Saturday night.  Bermudez was known by a few for his stay on The Ultimate Fighter, but from now on he will be known for his fight with Matt Grice.  The first round showed Grice taking it to Bermudez, throwing elbows and left hooks while pushing the pace.  However he slipped on a takedown attempt and ended up on the bottom of Bermudez in the full mount with an arm trapped.  Bermudez repeatedly landed hard left hands and destroyed Grice's face with over 40 significant strikes in about a minute.  Grice got back to his feet and was able to again dominate the standup.  He landed a few combos and eventually tagged Bermudez with a nasty left hook that sent him to the ground.  His legs were not under him and Grice kept bringing pressure.  Bermudez was able to survive the first round.  The second round is the only reason why another fight could potentially edge this one out for Fight of the Year.  The 2nd was not nearly as exciting, but both guys still threw crazy strikes and did damage with an active clinch game.  This was yet another tough round to score but I personally had Grice winning the first 2 rounds.  Joe Rogan seemed to be in agreement with me since he kept pointing out that Bermudez would have to finish Grice if he wanted to win.  Well about a minute or two into the final round, it seemed like that is exactly what would happen.  Bermudez landed a couple of wicked uppercuts from the clinch and really staggered Grice.  The cage kept him on his feet for a second, but Bermudez took him down and had active and effective ground and pound.  Grice held on for his life as Bermudez kept pushing the pace and landing heavy shots.  Somehow Bermudez did not finish the fight, and Grice was about to survive some of the nastiest punches while he was already staggered.  They swung it out for the final seconds until the fight had to come to a conclusion.  It took a minute for the judges to give their final decision but ultimately it was Dennis Bermudez edging out Matt Grice in another controversial split decision.  Grice and Bermudez took home $50,000 for their Fight of the Night performance, as well as plenty of new fans.  This fight was crazy and if you can find it on the internet, it is worth your 15 minutes.
• TUF Live winner Michael Chiesa took on Anton Kuivanen and they had a tough act to follow.  Chiesa is a fan favorite due to his amazing story from TUF where he won despite the loss of his father during the show.  Chiesa and Kuivanen had an even first round and I immediately started thinking, "here comes another split decision."  Chiesa, however, decided he had seen enough of the judges.  Mike got the back of Anton and finished with his signature rear-naked choke to stay undefeated.  This was an impressive win for the up and coming lightweight Michael Chiesa.
• Heavyweights Brendan Schaub and Lavar Johnson closed out the so far incredible FX card.  Expectations were that Schaub would demonstrate his chin is not made of glass by standing with Lavar and knocking him out.  Schaub then decided to take Johnson down at will and lay in his half guard for days.  He stayed in the half guard and did not look to pass or posture up at any point in the fight.  Boring unanimous decision for Schaub.

The PPV card was a historic one, and it lived up to the hype.

• Robbie Lawler came out swinging in his return to the UFC picking up a huge upset win over UFC veteran Josh Koscheck.  Kos looked for the takedown against the cage for a while but was unsuccessful.  Lawler caught him with a hard shot that stunned him and kept pounding his face until he got the 1st round TKO finish.  There was some controversy on the stoppage being too early, however it seemed like Herb Dean got this one right.  Lawler landed some hard shots and Koscheck was not defending himself adequately.
• Due to Manny Gamburyan being forced to withdraw from his fight with Chad Mendes, the fight between Court McGee and Josh Neer was promoted to the PPV portion of the night.  Court looked great in his welterweight debut, breaking Nick Diaz's record for strikes landed in a welterweight fight. Anyone but Neer probably would have been finished by Court in this fight.  McGee really put on a show and went on to take a unanimous decision victory.  He had his UFC life on the line in this fight, but after the win he is looking to take on a top 10 guy next.
• Urijah Faber made a statement with his huge win over Ivan Menjivar.  He showed he is still a top guy and is not on the decline.  Anyone not named Renan Barao or Dominick Cruz should fear this guy.  The question is what is next for Urijah?  Maybe a match with Michael "Mayday" McDonald?  Faber could end up being the bar test for fighters who want title shots.  He cannot get over the hump and win the UFC title, and yet he is undefeated in non-title fights.  Stay tuned to Urijah's career because he still thinks he is getting better and plans on getting that belt from Cruz.
• Lyoto Machida and Dan Henderson fought in the co-main event knowing a potential title fight was on the line.  This win for Machida ended up being the 3rd controversial split decision of the night.  Nonetheless he will get the winner of Jones and Sonnen.  I am going to have to watch this fight again more closely to score it and see if I agree with the judges or not.  I think it was pretty apparent Henderson took the 3rd round with his takedown and ground control.  In the first 2 rounds he was the more aggressive fighter who brought the fight forward.  Lyoto has always been a counter striker so he was content in sitting back and waiting for Dan.  Hendo pushed the pace but he definitely took more damage.  This is one of those fights where the fans are disappointed no matter who wins the decision. I am a Henderson fan who gave Lyoto no chance of winning, so needless to say I was upset.  Dan's future will definitely be a question.  At 42 will he still aim for the belt?  Will he switch back to middleweight or try heavyweight?  We will find this out soon.  As for Lyoto, good luck beating either Jones or Sonnen in your title fight.  Both guys are bad matches for him and if he loses another title fight he will probably be forced to drop to middleweight.
• The historic main event of Ronda Rousey verses Liz Carmouche could not have gone any better for everyone involved.  The women's community as well as the LGBT community could not be happier after the first women and gay fighters entered the octagon.  Liz Carmouche proved she is for real.  She came out swinging and prevented Ronda's judo hip toss from sending her to the ground.  She even grabbed a hold of Ronda's back and tried to go for the same finish Urijah Faber used to defeat Ivan Menjivar.  Rousey lost her mouthpiece and had her neck cranked as hard as Liz could pull.  Liz had teeth marks on her arm after the fight causing a little bit of a stir.  All of it seemed accidental so nothing should be taken away form Ronda for shaking this submission off.  Once on the ground, Ronda entered the dangerous guard of Carmouche and eventually got a hold of the arm.  Once the arm is in Ronda's hands, the fight is over.  They did a little roll over and Liz fought it off for a while, but Ronda eventually pulled the arm and got the submission win.  This is another first round armbar win for Rousey.  The fight was entertaining, Liz became a star in a loss, and Ronda showed resilience in coming back from danger for the first time in her career.  These three things will do wonders for the future of women's MMA.  As I mentioned before, this main event could not have gone any better

Of the Night honors were just $50,000 for this event:

Fight of the Night: Matt Grice and Dennis Bermudez

KO of the Night: Robbie Lawler

Submission of the Night: Kenny Robertson

My 3 stars of UFC 157:

1. Urijah Faber
2. Court McGee
3. Grice/Bermudez

As for my predictions, I was just 6/12 on the night.  I believe I was robbed by the 3 split decisions all going against me.  Had Fodor, Grice, and Henderson got the nod over their opponents by just 1 more judge, then I would be a much improved 9/12.  The upset of Lawler over Koscheck did not help either.  This brings my blogging career total to 31/63 in an upset heavy UFC of late. (49%)

UFC 157: Rousey VS Carmouche

Rousey submitting Miesha Tate with her signature armbar
to become the Strikeforce 135lb Champion.

On Saturday February 23rd, the UFC is taking a giant leap forward in hosting its first ever women's fight.  Ronda Rousey destroyed every opponent in her amateur and professional career with a first round armbar on her way to a Strikeforce Championship.  The UFC has decided with the folding of Strikeforce and the domination of Ronda that it is finally time to have women in the octagon.  She is destroying gender barriers on her way towards greatness.  Although she is a heavy favorite and the future of women's MMA almost depends on Rousey defending her belt, Liz Carmouche is going to do everything within her power to beat her.  Carmouche is ranked towards to bottom of the women's division, but this does not mean she is someone to be underestimated.  She only has lost 2 fights in her career: first for the title against crafty veteran Marloes Coenen and then to Sarah Kaufman.  In the Coenen fight, Liz dominated the first 3 and a half rounds before being caught in a brilliant triangle choke.  The fight was eerily similar to Chael Sonnen's first fight with Anderson Silva but obviously did not draw as much hype.  In addition to being part of the first UFC fight in the women's division, Liz is the first openly gay fighter in the business.  Dropping boundaries and making history is what the UFC will be doing with this main event on Saturday night.  Oh yeah, did I mention Dan Henderson is fighting Lyoto Machida.  There is a whole card full of great fights to go along with these great main and co-main events.

The night will start on Facebook:

• When welterweights Nah-Shon Burrel and Yuri Villefort square off, they will be battling for their UFC lives.  Both guys are coming off of losses and the UFC just made a major statement by cutting 16 fighters, including top welterweight Jon Fitch.  If Fitch is out of the division, you can almost assure the loser of this fight is canned as well.  I am taking Burrel to win this fight with a TKO victory just because of the fact that Yuri has never really beat anyone of substance.  Burrel should keep the Strikeforce train rolling with his win.
• Another pair of welterweights will follow up the opening fight.  Both Jon Manley and Neil Magny will be fighting for the first time since appearing on the most boring season of TUF ever.  Manley showed decent talent but was dominated but the season's winner Colton Smith in the semifinals.  Meanwhile, Magny was one of the top guys on the show before getting knocked out by finalist Mike Ricci in the knockout of the season.  Manley struggled against a wrestler but Magny is more of a stand and throw guy.  I see Manley winning a decision by pushing the pace and avoiding damage just because Magny could come out tentative after being knocked out in his last fight.
• The UFC's welterweight division is probably the most loaded division in the business right now as I have mentioned before.  The third fight on Facebook is between welterweights Kenny Robertson and Brock Jardine.  Brock "the Machine" Jardine has showed a lot of potential despite losing his last fight to Rick Story.  Meanwhile, Kenny Robertson is undefeated outside of the UFC, but 0-2 in the octagon so far.  This one is a toss up for me, so I am just going to take Brock "the Machine" Jardine to win a decision just because of his name.  Brock "the Machine" Jardine just sounds so much better than his brother Keith "the Dean of Mean" Jardine's nickname.  I really have nothing to back my pick of Brock since I have never seen either guy fight but I am sticking with Brock and hoping for the best.

At 8 PM the FX preliminary card will continue showing fights:

• UFC veteran Sam Stout will try to cool off the Strikeforce fighters winning their UFC debuts against Caros Fodor.  Stout has a lot of Fight of the Night bonuses including those from his trilogy with Spencer Fisher.  Stout also has a lot of losses.  He has losses to Jeremy Stephens, recently cut Terry Etim, Thiago Tavares, and most recently John Makdessi.  None of these guys are really considered top talent, but you cannot ever sleep on a veteran like Stout.  Fodor has 2 career losses, including his last fight where he was choked out by Pat Healey.  I believe this guy has enough talent to keep the train rolling and get Strikeforce fighters another win to their impressive start in the UFC.  Fodor wins it via decision and Stout gets cut from the UFC, just like the other 3 losers on the Facebook card.
• Since losing on the TUF 14 season finals, his 3rd consecutive loss, Dennis Bermudez has found his game with wins over Pablo Garza and Tommy Hayden.  All 3 of his professional losses have been by submission, but at UFC 150, he took home the Submission of the Night honors.  Lucky for him, he is not going against a crazy submission guy.  Matt Grice is a solid fighter with Ricardo Lamas being the only man to beat him in his last 6 fights.  (Ricardo Lamas is on a mission to ruin the dreams of top featherweight fighters lately.)  This is a tough one for me to call, but I am going to go with Matt Grice to win a decision.
• Speaking of the Ultimate Fighter, TUF Live winner Michael Chiesa finally gets back in the octagon for the first time since submitting Al Iaquinta to win the 15th season.  He is undefeated so far in his brief career and has made a living with rear-naked choke finishes.  On the show, Chiesa was one of the most likable guys in the house and you couldn't help but root for him with the passing of his father while he was at the house.  His opponent, Anton Kuivanen is no slouch in the submission game either. Kuivanen has talent, but ultimately I do not see him able to win this fight.  When I was watching Chiesa on the show I could not believe how good his takedown offense and defense were, in addition to having a wicked submission game.  I think Chiesa will stay undefeated with a RNC victory.
• Brendan Schaub against Lavar Johnson, in my opinion, does not belong on a preliminary card ever, regardless of who is on the PPV card.  If it were up to me I'd swap this fight and have Court McGee and Josh Neer fight on the prelims.  Enough of that though, Schaub wins by KO.  No analysis is needed for this fight, they will slug.  Schaub can take him down if he gets bettered in the stand up which is why I see him winning.  This will probably be a huge KO leaving fans on the edge of their seats, so don't blink.

Following an entertaining group of fights on Facebook and FX, it is time to go to your local bar, or order up the PPV.  UFC 157 should be a dandy.  History will be made, and the fights will be great.  I do not see this card being a flop whatsoever.  Here is my take on how the main card will play out:

• Again we go back to the welterweight division.  For the first time ever I am taking a Strikeforce fighter to lose his UFC debut.  They have done great so far, but the first fight on the main card is a huge mismatch.  Josh Koscheck will be taking on Robbie Lawler to kick off UFC 157.  Koscheck has won 5 of his last 7, with losses to GSP and top contender Johny Hendricks.  Some even say he beat Hendricks in that split decision loss, but at the same time it can be argued he lost that split decision win over Mike Pierce too.  Either way, Josh is still a great wrestler and striker looking to pop his name back into the mix near the top of a deep division.  As for Lawler, I do not understand why the UFC signed him at all.  He has lost 5 of his last 8 fights despite it being against top competition.  Jake Shields, Babalu, Jacare Souza, Tim Kennedy, and Lorenz Larkin are the 5 guys to beat him.  Dropping to welterweight should help, but he is still outmatched by a more talented and more experienced fighter in Josh Koscheck.  Lawler will probably hold his own in the standup before Josh decides to take the fight to the ground and grind out a decision win.  Koscheck via unanimous decision.

• Next up is the fight I mentioned earlier: Court McGee against Josh Neer.  Court is a solid fighter, dropping from middleweight into that packed welterweight division I keep talking about.  You think there are a lot of welterweights on this card, get ready for UFC 158 in Montreal!  Back to McGee though, his only three losses are to very talented middleweights Jeremy Horn, Costa Philippou, and Nick Ring.  No shame in losing to these much bigger guys, but it is time for Court to start making some noise at welterweight.  His opponent Josh Neer has been around for a while, but on Saturday he will be fighting for his UFC life.  More cuts are expected to be made to make room for the Strikeforce guys coming over, and the fact that Jon Fitch got cut is making a lot of fighters worried they need to start winning and winning impressively.  When you have 2 guys coming off of 2 consecutive losses (which again qualifies this as a preliminary card fight!) it makes things difficult to predict.  These are talented fighters that currently are lacking confidence.  I think Court has some serious talent and now that he is fighting at a better weight class for him, I think he should get an impressive win streak started.  Court McGee via decision is my prediction for this fight, but anything could happen.

• The fan favorite Urijah Faber steps into the octagon next against Ivan Menjivar.  These two met back in 2006 where Mejivar took a DQ loss.  Now it is time for them to battle it out for real.  The crafty veteran Ivan Menjivar is nobody to take lightly, but Faber is still one of the best in the sport despite what many believe.  Faber only has 6 losses in 32 fights, and 5 of those were in WEC or UFC title fights.  He is the only man to better Bantamweight Champion Dominick Cruz and is one tough competitor.  I think Faber will put on a show and finish Menjivar with a highlight reel KO.  Yes, you read that correctly.  A bantamweight fighter with KO power is not a myth.  Barao, McDonald, Faber, Pickett, Jorgensen, Wineland and other 135 guys have the ability to knock guys out, so be ready for this one on Saturday.

• Women in the UFC has already caused a stir.  So many people are outraged the main event is the women's fight and not this one.  Nevertheless, the MMA legend Dan Henderson will put his chin to the test against Lyoto Machida in the co-main event of the evening at UFC 157.  Let me start by discussing the curious case of Lyoto Machida.  He is easily the most elusive guy in the light heavyweight division, using is karate and crazy movement to keep opponents off balance.  Only Jon Jones and Shogun Rua have been able to truly solve this complex puzzle inside the octagon.  However, his status in the 205 division is equally puzzling.  Is this guy a top 3 guy at 205?  Or is he not even in the top 10?  Here is an interesting breakdown of Lyoto and his current status.  Since becoming the undefeated and undisputed champion back in 2009 when he knocked out Rashad Evans, Lyoto's career has been a confusing one.  At UFC 104, he "defended" his title against Shogun.  But let's be real, anyone who saw that fight knows Shogun should have won that decision.  The fight was not even close.  The UFC saw this and rewarded Shogun for being graceful in his "defeat" and gave him an immediate rematch.  Shogun basically said screw you judges and went out and knocked Machida out in the first round to give him his first official loss.  Lyoto then lost to Rampage in Detroit on a controversial split decision.  In his next fight he had one of the most spectacular knockouts of all time with a flying kick to the face of Randy Couture.  Couture is a legend and an impressive name on a hit list; but again, when looking at that fight it is not a huge deal that he won.  He knocked out a 47 year old man who has taken a ton of damage over his years of fighting.  The next time Lyoto was in the cage he lost to Jon Jones by an embarrassing standing guillotine choke that dropped him limp to the matt.  So really after another spectacular KO to Ryan Bader, where does Machida now sit in the division?  He is arguably 2-4 in his last 6, if you give Shogun credit for the win he deserved in their first fight.  By the way, Shogun, Bader, and Rampage are all ranked outside the top 7 in the light heavyweight division.  A win for Machida does not mean he should get a title shot over Gustafsson.  Henderson however, should get a title shot if he wins on Saturday.  As I mentioned before, Henderson deserves a shot at UFC gold.  Unfortunately for Hendo, Bigfoot is now slated to take on Cain for the Heavyweight Championship next at UFC 160.  Sorry Gustafsson, but if Dan Henderson beats "the Dragon" on Saturday night, he should get the title shot he deserves.  In that very same article I wrote before, I also basically said Lyoto has no chance to win this fight.  Obviously I am just a big fan of Hendo, and have tremendous confidence in him.  He is an insane wrestler that has a chin made of steel.  He has stupid knockout power and I do not think Lyoto is elusive enough to dodge the H-Bomb all day.  Henderson will land the H-Bomb and take home KO of the Night on his way to potentially taking the belt from Jon Jones.  As I said above, Lyoto is a curious case, but I just do not think he is that good.  He is now a solved puzzle that presents a little bit of trouble because of his elusiveness and unorthodox attacks.  This is no trouble a MMA legend like Henderson hasn't already seen before. Dan Henderson steals the show at UFC 157 with this win.
• Finally comes the main event of the night: Ronda Rousey against Liz Carmouche for the first ever women's fight in the UFC for the UFC Women's Bantamweight Championship.  Where do I even begin?  6 professional fights: 6 first round armbar victories.  That is the resume Ronda Rousey comes into this fight with.  She is the perfect storm of beauty, personality, and she is also one hell of a fighter. The UFC had everything come together so perfectly, the only thing that is left is the actual fight.  Rousey is responsible for bringing women's MMA to the biggest stage, the UFC.  Liz Carmouche knows that everyone is against her, including the UFC who is supposed to be unbiased.  She is a huge underdog and most of the people following women's MMA see nothing she brings to the table Rousey can't handle.  There are a couple things that make this fight really interesting.  Ronda Rousey has had the media attention on her relentlessly since she signed with the UFC.  She is the biggest media attraction the UFC has ever seen.  Is the training, the dieting, and the media going to wear her out before she walks into the octagon Saturday night.  Can she deal with her insane schedule wearing her to the ground, or is this just another challenge for her to overcome?  Is the pressure of the UFC going to get to her?  The future of women's MMA depends on her winning this fight.  She has the world on her shoulders.  This kind of pressure could make even a fighter as dominant as Ronda crack.  As for Carmouche, she is not a fighter to be underestimated.  She is not just known as the first openly gay fighter in the UFC, she is known for being one bad chick.  She has 2 professional losses to Marloes Coenen and Sarah Kaufman.  In the Coenen fight, she stepped up on short notice to take on the Strikeforce Champion.  Coenen was a veteran and heavy favorite, but Carmouche dominated her for the entire fight before being tapped out by a triangle choke in the 4th round.  She learned from these losses and looks to be ready for this fight.  Unlike Ronda the judo and armbar specialist, Liz is ready to fight whatever was she can.  She has wrestling, jiu jitsu, striking, cardio, and is ready no matter what happens.  Can Liz defend the armbar or Ronda Rousey?  She has to be practicing armbar defense every day for 5 hours if she expects to survive this girl's armbar.  Let us just say hypothetically she can defend the armbar: will Ronda have a plan B?  Can Ronda win fights after the first round?  Even though she has never needed to leave the first, based on the UFC Primetime and UFC Countdown shows, it looks as though Rousey is in excellent condition and has worked her boxing to a really high level.  Rousey looks as untouchable as Jones and Silva right now but you can never ever underestimate a fighter.  Liz Carmouche will be a more than game opponent for Ronda and I really look forward to this fight.  Despite my faith in Carmouche and my desire for a great fight, I have no choice but to predict Ronda Rousey wins with another 1st round armbar.

As I said before, order this PPV or go to the nearest bar that has this fight, it will be a dandy.

On a side note: I finally had a good event of predictions with UFC on Fuel 7.  I went 4 for 6 on the night raising my total to 25/52 (48%)

Can Price "Carey" the Habs Into the Playoffs?

Carey Price stopping pucks against Boston

Right now the Montreal Canadiens sit on top of the East Conference of the NHL.  This has to be a surprise to most hockey fans, even the ones who live in Montreal.  The Canadiens have very little offensive output with their very lackluster roster of players.  Their offense relies on Plekanec, Pacioretty, Galchenyuk, Markov, Diaz, and Subban to score the majority of their goals.  None of these names are considered to be one of the elite goal scorers of the game.  Montreal also does not boast the strongest system of prospects in the NHL either.  It seemed as though only dark days were in the future of the Montreal Canadiens as a hockey club.

One man gives the fans of Montreal the hope and excitement that their team will be good for years to come: Carey Price.  The once maligned goalie who was vastly unpopular in his early years with the team has truly made strides to become one of the most elite goalies in the game.  When Halak put on a sensational performance on his way to taking the Habs to the East Conference Finals, everyone in Montreal was all for dumping Price and sticking with the Slovakian net minder going into their future.  Rather than make the popular PR more, the Canadiens' GM made the right move and traded Halak to St. Louis for Lars Eller.  No disrespect to the very talented Jaroslav Halak, but Price is definitely the better of the two goalies.

So far on the year, Carey Price is boasting by far his best career numbers sporting a solid 9-3 record, 92.5% save percentage, 1.98 goals against average, and a shutout.  These numbers have been inflated by a 6-0 loss to Toronto.  Without that game in his stat column he has a 9-2 record, 93.9% save percentage, 1.60 goals against average, and a shutout.  These are truly astounding numbers, especially on such a weak team.  He has little help in front of him both offensively and defensively.  Carey Price is not overachieving; he is this good.  We are seeing all the potential and all the talent Carey possesses finally all being put together.  He is definitely capable of carrying the team on his back, but at what point does he breakdown from fatigue. As the season goes on, games will get more important.  The Canadiens will start playing him on back to back nights and long road trips.  He could be capable of playing in top form all season long and through the playoffs, or he could get fatigued and break down.

Jonathan Quick of the Los Angeles Kings had to be his team's MVP last year on their way to a Stanley Cup win.  He was the only reason the Kings squeaked into the playoffs, and he was even more dominant when his team got to the postseason.  Carey Price will have to be this guy for the Habs to be a contender.  He will really have to be on his A game every single night to carry his team to a playoff birth.  If they sneak into the playoffs, they could be a very scary team.  Let's not forget it was Carey Price and the Canadiens that went into game 7 overtime against the Boston Bruins the year that Boston won the cup.  I personally am shocked that Montreal is sitting on top of the east.  However, so long as Carey continues to play the way he has thus far, the Habs will have a good year and a bright future moving forward.

NHL Power Rankings (1 of 4)

Through just 12 games, we are through the first quarter of the shortened NHL season.  Some teams have played as few as 10 while others have played 14, but most teams are about 12 games in so here is how the league stands as of now.  My personal power rankings:

1. Chicago Blackhawks
2. Boston Bruins
3. New Jersey Devils
4. Anaheim Ducks
5. Vancouver Canucks
6. Carolina Hurricanes
7. San Jose Sharks
8. Nashville Predators
9. Toronto Maple Leafs
10. Pittsburgh Penguins
11. Ottawa Senators
12. Detroit Red Wings
13. Montreal Canadiens
14. New York Rangers
15. Dallas Stars
16. Phoenix Coyotes
17. St. Louis Blues
18. Tampa Bay Lightning
19. Edmonton Oilers
20. Minnesota Wild
21. Winnipeg Jets
22. Los Angeles Kings
23. Philadelphia Flyers
24. Florida Panthers
25. Calgary Flames
26. Buffalo Sabres
27. Colorado Avalanche
28. Columbus Blue Jackets
29. New York Islanders
30. Washington Capitals

Here is a quick breakdown of each division:
Atlantic:
New Jersey is surprising people by being at the top of the division despite a 41 year old goalie and the loss of Zach Parise.  Pittsburgh and New York are off to slow starts but still doing solid.  The Flyers are struggling to keep the puck out of their net and the Islanders are doing what everyone expected.  Outside of New Jersey no surprises here.

Northeast:
Boston has looked dominant and Toronto is playing tough hockey under new coach Randy Carlyle.  Toronto looks talented and looks mean despite Phil Kessel not putting up sick numbers.  Toronto is surprising people early, but stay tuned.  Ottawa is staying the coarse and looking to be a low seed playoff team while Montreal is relying on Carey Price to throw the team on his back.  They showed signs of offense early but are already back to looking talentless, and needing Carey to win every game for them.  Buffalo looks flat out awful outside of Vanek and Pominville.  They should strongly consider dishing Ryan Miller, as it seems his best days are behind him.

Southeast:
Like usual, Washington is on top of the division. Just kidding, they are pathetic and will not make playoffs.  Oates will be fired and everyone in Washington should feel shame for the horrible season they are about to go through.  Carolina is doing well with the addition of Semin and Staal, despite Cam Ward's numbers being mediocre.  Tampa Bay is inconsistent but could be dangerous.  They dropped 5 straight games after a 6-1 start.  Winnipeg is hanging in there but the travel of only having east conference games will catch up to them eventually.  Florida is coming back to earth after an exciting season last year.

Central:
Chicago is the cream of the crop.  They are undefeated in regulation through 13 games and only 3 of those were home games.  8-0-2 on the road is absolutely incredible.  There are no shootouts in the playoffs, so this team is looking indestructible.  We will see how long they can keep it up, especially with Corey Crawford overachieving in net.  Nashville had a bizarre start to the year.  They had a blowout win, 2 shutout losses, and 5 games that went into shootouts.  They really are back to playing defense first hockey and Rinne is showing why they paid him 49 million dollars.  Detroit and St. Louis have surprised me, mostly because of their games against one another.  They meet for the 4th time tonight, and Detroit surprisingly has won 2 of the 3 games so far.  This defensive team in St. Louis should be better with Halak back in net while Detroit is overcoming their bad defense thanks to Zetterberg and Howard winning games by themselves.  As for Columbus, the good news is GM Scott Howson is finally canned.  Better luck next year.

Northwest:
Vancouver is on top again in this division.  It would be a miracle if someone else were to win this division.  The young Oilers are looking solid in second while Minnesota is also playing mediocre enough to be kind of in the mix.  Calgary sucks and needs to trade Iginla and Kipprusoff in order to rebuild and become relevant again.  Colorado still has not signed RFA Ryan O'Reilly, and are struggling because of it.

Pacific:
Anaheim is a huge surprise on top.  Never underestimate the power of a contract year.  Perry and Getzlaf are both about to be unrestricted free agents so expect them to have a big year and get a big pay day when it is over.  Teemu is making his last years count and Viktor Fasth is on the verge of stealing the starting job in net from Jonas Hiller.  The ducks could be a sneaky team come the end of the year.  San Jose started 7-0 looking invincible, only to go 0-3-3 in the next 6.  Which Sharks team will show up on any given night?  Who knows.  Dallas is doing alright and they will only get better with Benn signed and Roy back from offseason surgery.  Phoenix is winning by keeping the puck out of the net, but they need more goals to make playoffs.  LA has been a disappointment early, but Anze is not 100% yet and Quick is coming off of back surgery (from throwing the team on his back all last season).  Stay tuned to see if the Kings can bounce back from a slow start to make playoffs.

Dan Henderson Vs Cain Velasquez??

Dan Henderson hits an unconscious
 Michael Bisping for good measure.

Dan Henderson is one of the most legendary and beloved fighters in the history of mixed martial arts.  People in Japan love him for his Pride fights.  People in America love him for his Olympic wrestling and knockout power.  Everyone loves Dan Henderson except for a few people in Britain that hate him for the KO of Michael Bisping (pictured above).  He is 42 years old and has a limited window of opportunity.  He deserves a title shot, and he needs to get it after he defeats Lyoto Machida at UFC 157.  Now I am not usually one to say "after he beats this guy then he should...."  The fight business is too dangerous and anyone can lose any given day except Anderson Silva.  However, I am going to dismiss Lyoto Machida as a serious threat to Dan Henderson for the sake of this article.

So after Dan Henderson beats Lyoto the debate will immediately begin: Will Henderson fight the winner of Jones vs. Sonnen? (Yes I am assuming Henderson will beat Machida but not assuming Jones will defeat Sonnen.)  Or Will Alexander Gustafsson get the title shot assuming he beats Gegard Mousasi?  Gegard is definitely a serious threat to beat Gustafsson so again I am not assuming he will win this fight in his own backyard in Stockholm, Sweden.  Dana White has flipped flopped and basically said that the winner of Hendo/Machida will get a title shot, yet at the same time has said Gustafsson will get the shot if he beats Shogun (which he did.)  This situation has presented an extremely complex situation in the light heavyweight division.  Gustafsson has said time and time again that he does not like to have a lot of time off, which is why he took this fight instead of waiting for Jones/Sonnen.  He has now rattled off 6 consecutive wins since his only career loss to Phil Davis.  He definitely is deserving of a title shot and is a great matchup for Jones due to his equally impressive reach.  Henderson has only lost to unbeatable Anderson Silva, Rampage Jackson in his prime, and former Strikeforce Middleweight Champion Jake Shields in his last 12 fights.  Throw in his impressive list of victims like Vitor Belfor, Wanderlei Silva, Michael Bisping, Rousimar Palhares, Rich Franklin, Babalu, Feijao, Shogun, and Fedor Emelianenko.  Every one of those fighters is a world class fighter and none of them are fights to be taken lightly.  Dan Henderson is a monster.

The last fighter on the list of victims for Dan Henderson is Fedor Emelianenko.  He has since then defeated Shogun, but I listed Fedor last for a reason.  This fight featured Dan Henderson in his only official heavyweight bout against the greatest heavyweight in the history of mixed martial arts.  Fedor was coming off of back to back losses to Fabricio Werdum and Bigfoot Silva, but Dan Henderson is the only person ever to knock out the "Last Emperor" in Fedor.  Prior to his 3 fight skid, Fedor was an astonishing 34-1 with 1 no contest.  Most of these fights were against the greatest heavyweights in the sport.  He even defeated some super heavyweights in open weight fights.  Dan Henderson knocking out Fedor in the first round is absolutely an unbelievable accomplishment on an already accomplished fighter's career.

So why do I put so much emphasis on the Fedor fight?  Because of the situation with the UFC and the old age of Henderson closing his window of opportunity to win a UFC title.  The controversy between whether Gustafsson or Henderson deserves the title shot with Jones creates some serious problems.  Meanwhile, the heavyweight division features a completely different situation.  Cain Velasquez has dethroned Junior Dos Santos for the heavyweight title.  The top contender in the division is Cain's teammate Daniel Cormier.  The next guy in line was supposed to be Alistair Overeem, but his overconfidence got him knocked out in his fight to earn a title shot.  Bigfoot made a tremendous statement with his KO of Overeem, but just 3 fights ago he was mauled by Velasquez.  The rematch would definitely be a little more intriguing than the first match, however I do not think this is a fight the fans or the UFC wants just yet.  Junior Dos Santos does not deserve an immediate rematch so that leaves Cain patiently awaiting an opponent.

DAN HENDERSON.

Dan Henderson should be the next guy to fight for the UFC Heavyweight Championship of the world.  He is deserving of a title shot, as is Alexander Gustafsson.  Erase the controversy by letting both guys fight for a UFC title.  Jones/Sonnen winner verses the Gustafsson/Mousasi winner and Henderson versus Velasquez.  Henderson has never been knocked out; all his losses were by way of decision or submission.  Cain has no submission victories and only 2 decision victories.  Arguably the best chin in the history of combat sports will be put to the biggest test yet.  Cain will have his hands full with Dan's Olympic wrestling and his unreal chin.  Dan has the power of a heavyweight, even when he fights at middleweight.  He was the Pride Welterweight and Pride Middleweight Champion of the world at the same time.  He never backs down from a challenge and I find him a surprisingly good fit in the heavyweight division despite being a little bit shorter than most heavyweights.  His win over the best heavyweight ever in Fedor gives him more credit as an elite heavyweight than Frankie Edgar and Anthony Pettis who had their first fights at featherweight being for the title.  Also, the fact that Pettis texted his way into a fight in a different weight class rather than wait for his lightweight title shot is something Dan Henderson should keep in mind.  If he does not get Jones or Sonnen, he should definitely call out Cain and the fans an Dana would probably be all for Henderson versus Velasquez.  Bottom line is that Dan Henderson deserves a title fight and Cain Velasquez needs an opponent.  This is a highly unlikely scenario, but it should be one to be considered.

Please Lyoto Machida, do not make me look stupid by beating Henderson....
And please UFC, give Hendo the title fight he very rightly deserves.

UFC on Fuel TV: Barao VS McDonald

Interem Bantamweight Champion Renan
 Barao kicking Scott Jorgensen in the head.

I am not going to go into too much depth for this Fuel TV card, but here are my picks for Saturday, February 15th in London:

• Che Mills defeats Matt Riddle via TKO
• James Te-Huna KO win over Ryan Jimmo
• Gunnar Nelson gets a RNC win over Jorge Santiago
• Two talented strikers will go at it at 205.  I am taking Jimi Manuwa to KO Cyrille Diabate.

Cub Swanson and Dustin Poirier are some of the best fighters in the UFC today, and the most exciting.  It is impossible to hate either of these guys for their entertaining fights.  Swanson has piled up a few losses in his career, but with Lamas, Mendes, and Aldo as the only guys to better him in his last 10 fights, you cannot say he is doing too bad.  He has crazy KO power for a 145 lb fighter and will look to stand and exchange with Poirier.  Dustin has crazy finishing ability through submissions, although he is not afraid to stand and bang either.  The Korean Zombie is the only one to beat him in the UFC and he took home Fight of the Year honors in that loss.  These guys will stand toe to toe and go at it for a potential title shot, or top contender fight with Ricardo Lamas.  I think Dustin will be able to avoid getting tagged in the standup exchanges and take this fight to the ground for a submission finish.  Poirier by arm triangle.

The battle for the UFC Interim Bantamweight Title will feature a 22 year old on an impressive 8 fight winning streak versus a talented Brazilian on a 29 fight unbeaten streak (28 wins, 1 NC).  Barao outclassed Urijah Faber for 5 rounds in Calgary to take the interim title.  He is a machine training with Featherweight Champ Jose Aldo.  I love this guy and see him potentially dethroning Dominick Cruz when he comes back from his knee injury.  Barao has not really even been in danger in his brief UFC career so it seems like the only way to beat him is to grind out a decision.  McDonald has been a finisher in the past, but this is a huge step up in competition.  I find it unlikely this youngster can handle the pressure of the title fight and the skills of Barao.  He also has rarely gone deep into fights, so 5 rounds could be trouble for him.  Despite cardio never being an issue in his past, it can be seen that even the best conditioned athletes gas in their first title fights.  John Dodson at UFC on Fox 6 is the perfect example of someone with seemingly endless cardio gassing in the championship rounds.  I do not think McDonald will retire without getting a UFC belt, however it will not be this soon.  Barao should outlast him and eventually sink in a submission.  4th round RNC for Renan Barao.

UFC 156 Recap

Herb Dean saving Overeem from Bigfoot

UFC 156 was a stacked card that the UFC was happy to put on for Super Bowl weekend.  This is traditionally one of the best cards of the year for the UFC, and it had a roster of great fighters again this year.     The preliminary cards really put on a show with some great battles and a lot of finishes.

• Francisco Rivera destroyed Edwin Figueroa with some elbows and punches in the 2nd round.
• Dustin Kimura showed his excellent grappling and submission skills by finishing Chico Camus with a rear-naked choke.
• Isaac Vallie-Flagg wore Yves Edwards down to take a split decision.
• Bobby Green put on a show and choked out Jacob Volkmann.
• Tyron Woodley knocks out Jay Hieron in 35 seconds to show it was not a fluke that he was the Strikeforce Welterweight Champion.
• Evan Dunham takes a split decision over Gleison Tibau

I will be a little more in depth in my analysis of the main event fights.  The night started with Joe Benavidez fighting Ian McCall.  The flyweight division is a top heavy 4 man division, and both of these guys are fighting for the first time since losing to the current champ Demitrious Johnson in the inaugural tournament.  The first round saw Benavidez showing his superior striking and catching Ian with many kicks and ducking overhand right hands.  He had a couple inadvertent shots that hit Ian McCall in a bad area, but he was tough and just fought through it.  First round was definitely 10-9 Benavidez although Ian got loose in the standup late in the round.  The 2nd was much of the same, with Benavidez utilizing the clinch more to throw some knees and stay out of danger.  He tried to take the fight to the ground only to have Ian slip under and take Joe's back.  He held him and landed some big hammer fists which did some damage to Benavidez.  He took the 2nd round so we were looking at a 19-19 match heading into the 3rd.  Benavidez again showed off his superior striking and used takedown defense to stall McCall and take home the victory.  He and McCall put on a show that was the 2nd consecutive flyweight fight that had fans on the edge of their seats.  Ladies and gentlemen, the 125lb division is exciting!  Benavidez takes the fight via unanimous decision 29-28.

Following the flyweight striking battle, two of the UFC's best grapplers went at it for 3 rounds.  All three rounds were much of the same in this fight.  Demian Maia shot for an early takedown against decorated wrestler Jon Fitch and secured a dominant position for the rest of the fight.  He had Fitch's back for the entire first round.  Hanging on his neck with a body triangle as Fitch tried to shake him off without getting choked out.  Fitch is well known for the best submission defense in the UFC and he showed this off in his fight against Maia.  However, defending submissions did not win him this fight.  For 3 rounds Demian Maia dominated a dominant wrestler and really proved he is at the top of a stacked welterweight division.  UFC president Dana White put it best, "Demian Maia out-Fitched Jon Fitch."  Fitch is well known for being on top of fighters and staying there on his way to grinding out a decision.  Maia did this to Fitch winning all 3 judges scorecards 30-27.

Alistair Overeem and Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva were the next duo to step into the octagon.  These two mammoth sized heavyweights really did not like each other.  Overeem is an arrogant Dutch kick boxer who is well decorated in grappling as well.  He is the former Dream, Strikeforce, and K1 Champion.  He defeated Brock Lesnar to earn a title shot against Junior Dos Santos, only to have a failed drug test knock him out of the picture for a while.  If he beat Silva, which he was a heavy favorite to do, the title shot against Cain Velasquez would be his.  Bigfoot has fought only the best in his last couple of fights.  In his last 5 fights, he defeated one of the best heavyweights of all time in Fedor Emelianenko, lost to undefeated Strikeforce Champion Daniel Cormier, lost to current UFC Champion Cain Velasquez, defeated formerly undefeated monster Travis Browne, and on Saturday he took on Alistair Overeem.  It is really testament to his confidence in his abilities to continuously take on such dominant fighters despite meeting adversity in those fights.  He was not afraid to take on a giant challenge in Overeem.

You could see from the intro at the beginning of the PPV broadcast and his entrance into the octagon that Overeem was not taking this fight seriously.  Whenever a fighter steps in the octagon he should respect his opponent, especially someone as big and powerful as Bigfoot.  This is a mistake Overeem cannot undo.  He utilized knees from the clinch and superior striking for the first round to take it easily.  The second round saw Silva get taken to the ground by a judo hip toss.  Overeem clearly was toying with Silva and only did this to show that his black belt in judo meant nothing.  Overeem laid some good ground and pound on him but Silva limited the damage and looked to throw elbows from his back.  He finally got stood up by Herb Dean and in the last 30 seconds there was an exchange that saw Silva tag Overeem with a muy thai knee to the head.  At the end of the 2nd round there was a violent stare down between the two fighters.  Silva looked mean and looked like a man on a mission.  He was clearly down 20-18 in the fight, and needed to finish Alistair in the 3rd round if he wanted to win.  This took a solid 35 seconds to do.  He caught him with his hands low and threw some nasty counter punches that rocked Overeem.  He put him against the fence and threw more combos and two nasty uppercuts.  Finally he threw the finishing blow that send Overeem to sleep only to have Herb Dean using all of his might to pull Bigfoot off Overeem.  He started yelling over an unconscious Alistair Overeem until Herb finally got him under control.  Clearly there was bad blood but I do not blame Silva at all for having something to say.  He just had a lot of emotions in this fight, as he just upset a huge favorite and a huge punk.  Bigfoot changed the complexion of the heavyweight division with this fight.  Up next for these guys could be anything.  Despite getting clowned by Velasquez in the first fight, Dana is not against giving Bigfoot a title shot.  Overeem could be up against Junior in his next fight.  Anything could happen, but right now there is not a clear #1 contender in the heavyweight division.

The co-main event of the night was a snoozer.  Rashad thought he could stand and exchange with the Olympic boxer Little Nog.  Rashad basically threw a job out there to be caught over and over again by Nogeuira  Rogerio Nogueira did not look any more impressive than Rashad.  He lost one round because of a takedown by Evans, but the other two rounds he won by pushing the pace and being slightly better at boxing.  It was a non-eventful fight and it really disappointed many fans.  More important than the fight itself, is the situation Rashad's loss has caused.  People were saying Evans could compete with Anderson Silva in a super fight.  The idea of him dropping to 185 to fight the pound for pound best of all time is laughable now that he has looked unimpressive in two consecutive decision losses.  Since the Lyoto Machida fight that saw Rashad losing his title by being knocked out, Evans has looked tentative and boring.  He clearly has lost that desire to win at any cost.  He would much rather lose a decision than go out on a shield trying to finish his opponent.  This is similar to GSP, who has not finished any opponents since the upset loss to Matt Serra.  Rashad really needs to reevaluate where he is in the fight business and try to get his career back on track.  He has too much talent to lose in such unspectacular fashion to guys at the bottom end of the division.  In his next fight, he should look to fight someone who forces him to bring it.  A guy like Shogun, who is also coming off a loss, always brings it and forces the action to the other guy.  He could corner Evans and bring out the beast we all know is inside of him.  As for Nogueira, he just beat a guy who was considered one of the top 5 guys in the light heavyweight division. However, this should not move him too far up the ranks due to the unspectacular fashion in which he did so.  He is near the top 10 and is a win or two away from making noise, but as for now he still has some work to do.  He should look to fight someone like Matt Hamill to prove he can beat a dominant wrestler.  Wrestlers have been his achilles heel in the UFC so he has to beat a good wrestler before he can be considered in the top of the division.

The main event of the night saw a super fight between two of the top pound for pound guys on the planet.  The current Featherweight Champion Jose Aldo took on the former Lightweight Champion, Frankie Edgar.  Edgar is coming off of back to back losses to Ben Henderson, the 2nd one being a controversial decision.  He pushed the pace early, and it seemed like trying to get Aldo to gas out was his gameplan.  He knew in the Mark Hominick fight that Aldo can be gassed out and finished late.  Edgar was not nearly as dominant a striker as Aldo, or even Hominick.  He throws solid leg kicks and punches, but has little power.  He also utilizes good footwork and head movement.  However, this is not a problem for the dominant champion Jose Aldo.  The first two rounds saw Edgar pushing the pace only to have his takedowns shrugged off and his strikes evaded and countered.  Counter striking and violent leg kicks won Aldo the first two rounds easily.  In the third round, Aldo landed a wicked front kick to Edgar's face which caused his nose to bleed all over the place.  What good is a Frankie Edgar fight without his nose leaking like a faucet?  Late in the fight Aldo was gassing a little bit.  Edgar caught a leg kick to get a takedown so this took away Jose's best threat.  Edgar also picked up Aldo and slammed him in impressive fashion.  Edgar arguable took the final two rounds, but it was not enough to win the decision.  Edgar hung tough like always but was outclassed by a dominant champion and better all around fighter.  Aldo showed he is still dominant, and one of the best fighters in MMA today.  He may need to move to lightweight in the future, but as for now he will reign supreme in the 145lb division.

The future for both Edgar and Aldo is unclear.  Usually it is pretty obvious who is next in line for the champion and it is back to the drawing board for the contender.  However, UFC 156's main event is a different situation.  Had Koch defeated Lamas, the answer would be more clear.  However with Koch out of the picture, Lamas needing a few more victories under his belt, and the Korean Zombie on the injury reserve, nobody at 145 makes too much sense.  Also, Aldo's ability to cut to 145 remains an issue.  In a surprise turn of events, Anthony Pettis texted Dana White to give him the title shot next.  He was up next to fight the winner of Henderson versus Melendez at 155, but he does not feel like waiting.  He would rather fight a more dominant champ at a weight class he has never fought at before than wait for his shot at 155.  This is a very very interesting matchup and it should be nothing but fireworks.  Dana has made it pretty much official this is the next fight for Aldo.  This is a low risk fight for Pettis, who should get a title shot at 155 after he fights Aldo win or lose.  Aldo will have his hands full with Pettis who is a dominant fighter no matter where the fight goes.  As for Edgar, Dana White made it clear he does not want him to return to the weight class where he was the champion.  He wants him to stay at 145 and work his way up the ranks, or even drop to bantamweight if he can make it that low.  At bantamweight he will need probably two wins in a row to get a chance at a title shot.  At featherweight Edgar is probably in his best physical form but he has some serious work to do to climb back to the top of the heap.  I love Edgar as much as anyone, but he is really a long ways away from his next title fight.

It is worth noting this event was a tremendous disappointment for the Blackzilians and a tremendous accomplishment for the Brazilians.  Brazil went 4/4 on the main card, and scored some serious upset wins.  Rashad and Alistair went 0/2 for the Blackzilians.

Fighter bonuses for UFC 156 went as followed:
Fight of the Night: Edgar/Aldo
KO of the Night: Bigfoot Silva (Woodley got screwed)
Submission of the Night: Bobby Green

Predictions: 5/11 on the night.  45.6% overall (21/46)

Updated Fighter Rankings (2-3-13)

Two of the world's best fighters.
Anderson Silva (left) and Jose Aldo (right)

January and the first week of February saw a ton of top contenders go down.  Here is how I see the divisions stacked up heading into a busy February.

Pound for Pound:

1. Anderson Silva
2. Jose Aldo
3. Jon Jones
4. Georges St. Pierre
5. Dominick Cruz
6. Benson Henderson
7. Cain Velasquez
8. Renan Barao
9. Demetrious Johnson
10. Dan Henderson

Heavyweight:

1. Cain Velasquez
2. Junior Dos Santos
3. Daniel Cormier
4. Fabricio Werdum
5. Antonio Silva
6. Frank Mir
7. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
8. Josh Barnett
9. Travis Browne
10. Alistair Overeem

Light Heavywight:

1. Jon Jones
2. Dan Henderson
3. Alexander Gustafsson
4. Lyoto Machida
5. Glover Teixeira
6. Phil Davis
7. Rashad Evans
8. Shogun Rua
9. Ryan Bader
10. Gegard Mousasi

Middleweight:

1. Anderson Silva
2. Chris Weidman
3. Vitor Belfort
4. Yushin Okami
5. Michael Bisping
6. Tim Boetsch
7. Luke Rockhold
8. Costa Philippou
9. Alan Belcher
10. Mark Munoz

Welterwight:

1. Georges St. Pierre
2. Johny Hendricks
3. Nick Diaz
4. Carlos Condit
5. Rory Macdonald
6. Demian Maia
7. Tyron Woodley
8. Martin Kampmann
9. Dong Hyun Kim
10. Jake Ellenberger

Lightweight:

1. Benson Henderson
2. Gilbert Melendez
3. Anthony Pettis
4. Gray Maynard
5. Jim Miller
6. Michael Chandler
7. Eddie Alvarez
8. TJ Grant
9. Nate Diaz
10. Jamie Varner

Featherweight:

1. Jose Aldo
2. Ricardo Lamas
3. Chad Mendes
4. Chan Sung Jung
5. Dustin Poirier
6. Frankie Edgar
7. Erik Koch
8. Denis Siver
9. Cub Swanson
10. Clay Guida

Bantamweight:

1. Dominick Cruz
2. Renan Barao
3. Michael McDonald
4. Urijah Faber
5. Eddie Wineland
6. Scott Jorgensen
7. Brian Bowles
8. Brad Pickett
9. Rafael Assuncao
10. Mike Easton

Flyweight:

1. Demetrious Johnson
2. Joe Benavidez
3. John Dodson
4. Ian McCall
5. Darrel Montague
6. John Moraga
7. Jussier Formiga
8. Darren Uyenoyama
9. Chris Cariaso
10. Louis Gaudinot

Women's Pound for Pound:

1. Ronda Rousey
2. Miesha Tate
3. Cristiane Santos
4. Jessica Aguilar
5. Sarah Kaufman
6. Sara McMann
7. Jessica Penne
8. Megumi Fujii
9. Marloes Coenen
10. Liz Carmouche