Ronda Rousey Gets TUF with Tate

Rousey and Tate doing one of many stare downs.

Just a short time ago, Miesha Tate made her UFC debut against Cat Zingano fully expecting to win that fight and get a title shot against her arch rival Ronda Rousey.  The coaching job for the first season of The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) on the new Fox Sports 1 channel was also on the line.  Tate did not win that fight against Zingano.  However, she will get the coaching job as well as a UFC title shot.  This is my take on how it all went down, how it could have been handled, and what to expect going forward.

First things first, if you have not seen either Rousey vs Tate in Strikeforce, Rousey vs Carmouche, or Tate vs Zingano then please watch them at the links I have provided.  MMA is a pay-per view sport so it is not a simple process to find the fights, and also why I could only find 2 of the 3.  All three of these were incredible fights and a big reason why I think women in the UFC are here to stay.

Back to the matter at hand.  So after losing to Zingano, how did Tate get the nod in her place?  Obviously the knee surgery Zingano underwent had something to do with it.  But why Tate instead of another girl?  Quite simple, her name.  Like Chael Sonnen, Tate is a top level fighter who is the biggest name in the division outside of the champ.  Tate is also a tough fighter that only thinks about the champion.  Like Chael did to Silva in many of his interviews, all Tate does is call out the champ.  The casual fans do not know who Sara McMann or Alexis Davis are.  Plus other top contender Sarah Kaufman has just one split decision win since her last fight with Ronda.  The choice was simple for UFC President Dana White.  Miesha Tate is still a top level talent and will make for some seriously entertaining TV.  Unlike Chael, I feel like Tate will be an absolutely awful coach and her team will hate her.  But the rivalry aspect of Tate vs Rousey will be awesome.  It would be more comparable to Faber vs Cruz than Sonnen vs Jones as far as the coach rivalry is concerned.

As far as the title shot, does this diminish the integrity of the sport?  Again I will answer it by comparing this to Chael Sonnen's UFC 159 situation.  Chael Sonnen moved up a weight class and received an immediate title shot that may have called into question the integrity of the light heavyweight title picture.  Nick Diaz similarly received an unwarranted title shot against GSP.  Tate getting this title shot is not as ridiculous.  Sara McMann is probably the only person who can really be upset about this.  McMann is undefeated and like Rousey, is an Olympic athlete.  She was very unimpressive in her UFC debut despite the first round finish.  Sara needs a few more fights under her belt before she can take a chance at the champ.  As far as Tate's debut, she may have been stopped but she was still impressive.  The fight won Fight of the Night honors and if it had gone to the judges scorecards, she likely would have won.  Had Bigfoot not caught Overeem then Alistair would have gotten a title shot against Cain.  Similarly, Tate was one round away from a win.  Because of this, she was never far from title contention.  I think the fans and athletes can agree, Tate deserves to be in the title picture.

So what could the UFC have done instead of this?  Nothing really.  They made the right call for the good of keeping the division moving despite a top contender being injured.  At least one bantamweight division should have an active champion, because we all know Cruz and interim champion Renan Barao aren't about to fight for another year.  The UFC really could have pulled out all the stops and convinced Rousey and Cyborg to finally go at it.  But with Cyborg looking to win the Invicta FC crown against Coenen in July and Tito Ortiz being Cyborg's stubborn manager, that is next to impossible to arrange.  The other option, that I think should have happened, is that the UFC could have scrapped the idea of the two women being coaches.  Have Ronda and Tate (or Zingano) coach the next season.  I am sure there are other options for coaches that could have pulled in great ratings for Fox Sports 1.  Maybe GSP and Hendricks?  That would get my interest.  But I don't know all the work and promotion that goes into it.  Maybe the season is already under way?  In that case, Miesha is the only one that made sense.  Timelines often make us settle, but if watching Tate vs Rousey 2 is settling then I will settle all day.

We as fans should not fret nor worry about Zingano being injured.  She will be back and ready to go when she is healthy.  In the meantime we get to watch two girls who are at the top of the division put a heated rivalry forward on a brand new sports channel.  It does not get much better than that.   Whether Tate wins and we get a rubber match in the future, or Rousey rips her arm off again, it should be an enjoyable roller coaster ride.  Women's MMA is here to stay, and these two girls will be front and center.

Updated Fighter Rankings (5/30/13)

TJ Grant flew up the rankings by finishing Gray Maynard.

I must confess, there is something fun and exciting about ranking people.  When you judge a performance and decide if it helps, hurts, or does nothing for someone it is enjoyable to have that power.  Oh and dropping out of fights drops you spots, and scheduling a fight can raise you a spot.  I have no mercy!  Once again, here is my own rankings independent of the UFC rankings or any other sources.  My take on the MMA world for you to take or leave:

Events since last rankings:

Belfort vs Rockhold

UFC 160

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. Renan Barao (6)
8. Demetrious Johnson (8)
9. Ronda Rousey (9)
10. Benson Henderson (10)

Heavyweight:

1. Cain Velasquez (1)
2. Junior Dos Santos (2)
3. Daniel Cormier (3)
4. Fabricio Werdum (4)
5. Travis Browne (6)
6. Roy Nelson (8)
7. Mark Hunt (7)
8. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (9)
9. Frank Mir (10)
10. Antonio Silva (5)

Light Heavywight:

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

Middleweight:

1. Anderson Silva (1)
2. Vitor Belfort (3)
3. Chris Weidman (2)
4. Yushin Okami (4)
5. Ronaldo Souza (7)
6. Michael Bisping (6)
7. Costa Philippou (8)
8. Tim Boetsch (9)
9. Luke Rockhold (5)
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. Tyron Woodley (9)
10. Martin Kampmann (10)

Lightweight:

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

Dropping out: Eddie Alvarez (8), Jim Miller (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. T.J. Dillashaw (7)
8. Rafael Assuncao (8)
9. Scott Jorgensen (9)
10. George Roop (NR)

Dropping out: Mike Easton (10)

Flyweight:

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

Dropping out: Chris Cariaso (8)

Women's Pound for Pound:

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

As if one picture wasn't funny enough.

UFC 160 Recap

Mark Hunt proved he is for real in a losing effort to JDS.

UFC 160 was a night capped off by two hugely important heavyweight fights, but the card featured much more than that.  A lightweight top contender was named, as well as another lightweight star established.  Also, a light heavyweight cemented his position in the top 5 of the division.  I had been red hot on my picks entering UFC 160, but thanks to stupid Facebook I slipped a little bit.

As always the night began on Facebook:

• Payan showed off his blood, and that's about it.  Stephens destroyed him in his featherweight debut to keep his job.
• Brian Bowles looked amazing in the first round of his much anticipated comeback.  He had Roop rocked but could not finish him.  In the second, Roop rocked, and finished Bowles for a HUGE win.
• Thompson beat Burrell in a fight I did not see via decision.

On to FX where I started to get picks right:

• Khabib Nurmagomedov is no longer just an up and coming undefeated lightweight with an awesome name.  He tossed Trujillo around like a rag doll with suplex after suplex to secure a dominant decision win.  So long as making weight is not a problem in his future, he looks to be a force in the division.  Welcome to the top 10 Khabib.
• I admit, when I picked Robert Whittaker to catch Colton Smith with a shot and finish him, I did not even believe that it would happen.  It did.  I picked Whittaker out of principal because Smith was a boring fighter on a boring season of TUF.  I really thought his wrestling would win him a decision in this fight but I picked Whittaker anyway.  Throw in the fact that Smith is a tough ass kid and there is no way I would actually expect him to be stopped.  Whittaker stopped him with his excellent striking. Huge statement for Whittaker and this fight helps Smith too.  Smith gets experience in striking and humbled.  He also dumped his reputation as a snoozer of a fighter, as this was one of the better fights all night.
• The best fight of the year thus far was between Dennis Bermudez and Matt Grice.  Bermudez did not top his last fight, but he definitely was exciting again.  He edged out Holloway to earn a split decision.  This is the second exciting split decision for Bermudez in a row.  He is getting lucky but I cannot even hate on this guy because he puts on a show.
• Story and Pyle made it no easier for the judges in the final FX fight.  Pyle edged out Story in a split decision fight that was weird and quite frankly hard to score.  I was half paying attention because my steak had arrived at this point of the night, but I scored it in favor of Story.  I would have to watch it again to judge it better but meh, who cares about this fight anyway?

On to the PPV where the action did not stop:

• Donald Cowboy Cerrone dominated Noons in an exciting striking exchange.  He actually mixed in takedowns and ground and pound to make his game more well rounded.  He is anticipating Josh Thompson to be his next opponent.  Love both of those guys and would be torn on who to pick and root for, but I still want this fight to happen.  Winner would be on a fast track to a title shot.
• Speaking of the lightweight title, Gray Maynard only had TJ Grant in his way to secure a title shot against Benson Henderson.  Only TJ Grant had another thing planned.  Maynard looked really really good early landing some heavy shots.  A few uppercuts, hooks, jabs, and a lot of them tagged Grant early.  I was thinking to myself, "Wow Maynard is a lot better striker than I thought!"  I saw TJ's last fight live in Chicago and he put on a striking expo that night.  Then Maynard was smoking him in the first minute.  In that Chicago fight against Matt Wiman, it was his elusiveness that impressed me most.  Although he was less elusive against Maynard, he showcased his iron chin.  He ate hard shots from a very powerful Gray Maynard and kept walking forward.  After a minute of Maynard dominating, it only took Grant a minute to show Maynard a thing or two.  He rocked Gray and sent him back to the cage rattled, very similar to the way Frankie Edgar  finished him at UFC 136.  Grant stayed patient, picked his shots and knocked Maynard out to make a HUGE statement.  His fight in Chicago turned a lot of heads as his best performance yet.  He put that performance to shame at UFC 160.  Grant is for real and has the chin and striking to be a champion in the lightweight division.  On a side note: I said if Maynard is smart and wrestles Grant instead of exchanging with him he would win.  He chose to stand with him and look what happened.  I should be in his corner next fight eh?  Probably not.

My exact quote on what Maynard should do:   "If Gray is smart, he will take this fight to the ground with that Michigan State wrestling.  He does have tremendous confidence in his hands, due to his incredible power.  I believe Grant is the better striker and arrogance could cost Maynard if he does not take Grant's striking seriously."

• Enough of me talking about how brilliant I am for now.  When it comes to light heavyweight sluggers Glover Teixeira and James Te-Huna, only a brilliant human being like myself would pick Teixeira.  Just playing, most people picked Glover, and rightfully so.  Glover is on a tear and is a monster in the cage.  When the fight is over he is like a child on Christmas morning.  Especially after submitting James in the first round and hanging out with his idol, Mike Tyson.  Glover is on his way to the top and is becoming beloved by fans across the world on his way.  Look for him to take on UFC 161's main event winner in his next fight.  A win over Rashad or Hendo will pretty much guarantee him a title shot.  Te-Huna still has promise, he just needs a refined submission game if he wants to hang with guys like Glover, Jones, Davis, or even Gustafsson.  I wouldn't mind seeing him take on Ryan Bader or Vinny Magalhaes in his next fight.  Those are brilliant matchups if you ask me.
• I don't want to quote myself again, so just click here to see my brilliant take on the JDS/Hunt fight.  I basically said the winner of this fight gets Cain next and the Fight of the Night honors will likely be handed out to these two fellas.  I also threw something in there about Hunt having a stupid chin and elite striking.  If there is ever a fight that has two winners it is this one.  Junior tagged Hunt early with the same overhand right that finished Velasquez.  Hunt fell only to bounce right back up.  Any human being not named Mark Hunt or Roy Nelson go to sleep after getting hit with that shot by JDS.  Hunt ate a few jabs and that same overhand right a few more time.  JDS landed his signature uppercut that knocked out Werdum for good measure.  Hunt stood tall nonetheless.  Hunt landed his signature left hook and clipped Junior a few times himself.  Let us not forget the ridiculous chin that JDS showed off by not being finished by Cain in their second fight.  Junior has a chin to be respected too. They engaged in wild and crazy exchanges but JDS had the edge after 2 rounds.  Round 1 he won with the shot that dropped Hunt.  Round 2 was won with the takedown and the last minute of that round being spent on Hunt's back.  JDS could have jabbed his way to a decision like he did to the former interim champ Shane Carwin.  He was having none of that though.  He threw a spilling back kick similar to Vitor Belfort's knockout over Luke Rockhold.  After that Hunt was down and only one more punch was necessary before the ref pulled Junior off the unconscious Mark Hunt.  Hunt tried to get back up only to stumble his way into the cage in a funny display of just how hurt he was by JDS.  Hunt was game, and he is for real.  JDS is just better, and that is why he is getting the rubber match with Cain in his next fight.  Junior had KO of the Night locked up by Dana and Lorenzo, but Mike Tyson begged to differ and so TJ Grant was the recipient of that award.  Dana should have just pulled out the checkbook and given them both a bonus, but oh well.
• Cain dismantled Bigfoot for the second time.  Not too much to say about this one.  This time he did it standing up instead of with a takedown and elbows.  Bigfoot may have landed a net total of 1 strike in the two fights.  Bigfoot is still awesome and I cannot wait to see him in the cage again, but he is not up to the top level of Cain or Junior.  The stoppage was also a big premature, but there is still no doubt in anybody's mind that Velasquez is the better man.  I would like to see Bigfoot take on Mark Hunt next to be honest with you.  It could be an interesting match that could send one of these guys right back into the heap of things at the top of the FINALLY (THANK THE LORD!) talented heavyweight division.  Mir and Couture ran things for a long time, along with Big Nog, Brock Lesnar, and Tim Sylvia.  Come on, those are subpar fighters.  People like Nelson, Hunt, Browne, Bigfoot, Cormier, Werdum, and of course JDS and Cain are truly elite fighters that this division deserved to have a long time ago.  I guess Overeem is ok too, although I still hate him.

At UFC 160 I went 0-3 on Facebook, 3-1 on FX, and 4-1 on PPV for a net total of 7/12.  Over .500 works for me.  Entering total was at 69/118.

Predictions post 160: 76/130=58.5%

UFC bonuses:

Fight of the Night: JDS/Hunt

KO of the Night: JDS TJ Grant

Submission of the Night: Glover Teixeira

My new awards to be given out at every event starting now:

Beatdown of the Night: Jeremy Stephens

Sketchiest Decision of the Night: Holloway/Bermudez split decision

Upset of the Night: George Roop (Grant is a close second)

Another segment that will be new due to the vast array of cuts in the UFC:

The cut list: (Payan can stay because of his heart in not being finished)

• Nah-Shon Burrell
• KJ Noons

Three Stars: (as if there aren't enough awards)

1. TJ Grant
2. George Roop
3. Khabib Nurmagomedov

Honorable mentions to JDS, Hunt, and Whittaker.

NHL Playoffs: Round 3 Quick Picks

One of the biggest goalie mismatches in NHL history
between Crawford (left/bad) and Quick (right/amazing).

Not that I am biased or anything....

Last round I nailed the East down, although I underestimated how quickly they would oust their opponents.  I picked a pair of upsets in the West, only to be let down in a pair of game 7's.  The Wings blew a huge 3-1 series lead and the Sharks just could not score enough on Quick to win a game in LA.  Round 3 Picks:

East Conference Finals:
1. Pittsburgh Penguins vs 4. Boston Bruins- Bruins in 7

West Conference Finals:
1. Chicago Blackhawks vs 5. Los Angeles Kings- Kings in 6

UFC 160: Velasquez vs Bigfoot 2

Bigfoot after the beating Cain gave him in the first fight.

UFC 160 features a stacked main card and an intriguing preliminary card.  Much like the UFC on Fox 7 card that is the early favorite for MMA Event of the Year, this event has a lot of stand and bang style fighters.  The heavyweight co-main and main event should be spectacular.  Throw in powerful light heavyweights and very talented lightweights fighting for a title shot and you have an incredible card.

The night begins on Facebook as always:

• Jeremy Stephens has a 3 fight losing streak he is looking to snap against Estevan Payan.  Payan is knocking people out like crazy and is looking to just be the next Strikeforce import to impress in his UFC debut.  As for Stephens, he is on a losing streak that includes losses to top fighters in Cerrone and Pettis.  Yves Edwards followed those losses up by becoming the first man to knock Edwards out.  He is on the downside of his career and I think his stay in the UFC could be coming to an end.  He is trying to drop to featherweight to gain a size advantage in this fight, but Payan is doing the same.  I see Payan rocking, but not finishing Edwards.  After a few rounds of wild exchanges I am taking Payan to win a split decision.
• Following the featherweight bout will be a bantamweight fight between George Roop and Brian Bowles.  Roop bounced back from a 2 fight losing streak in his bantamweight debut against Ruben Duran in his last fight.  Bowles is fighting for the first time since 2011 where he lost a top contender fight to Urijah Faber.  The talented Bowles will probably start slow due to ring rust, but I think he will find his range and squeak out a decision victory.  Bowles also by close decision.
• The last fight on Facebook will be between welterweights Stephen Thompson and Nah-Shon Burrell. Burrell missed weight for the second consecutive fight.  Like his UFC debut, he should disappoint at the weigh ins but impressed come fight time.  Thompson was undefeated until he lost to red hot Matt Brown.  I do not know a whole lot against Thompson, but I think Burrell is a tough customer.  I see Burrell using his power to win a decision.  After this fight Burrell might have to "Rumble" his way up to middleweight.  No finishes predicted by me on Facebook, but stay tuned to the fights later on this card.

On to FX at 8 pm:

• Back to back fights resulted in missed weight.  The guilty party this time is undefeated lightweight Khabib Nurmagomedov.  A 19-0 record is spectacular in the fighting business, but only Shamhalaev, Shalorus, Tibau, and most recently Tavares are fighters of note.  Abel Trujillo is another scary lightweight prospect who looked very impressive in his UFC debut.  Although I believe Trujillo is here to stay, I do not see him winning this fight.  He won with devastating knees in his UFC debut, but is in the Octagon with a whole other animal on Saturday.  Despite missing weight and forfeiting 20% of his purse to Trujillo, Nurmagomedov is a man on a mission to be the world champ at 155.  Nurmagomedov has all the skills needed to do so.  I predict an early TKO stoppage in favor of Khabib.
• TUF 16 winner Colton Smith will take on TUF: The Smashes winner Robert Whittaker.  Both of these guys won the reality show welterweight tournaments.  Whittaker is one tough Aussie who should be able to handle the wrestling of Colton Smith.  Smith has very few weapons outside of his wrestling. I see Whittaker catching him and securing a TKO finish.
• As of now, Dennis Bermudez and Matt Grice have a lock on Fight of the Year in my books.  Bermudez will fight for the first time since that unreal split decision victory.  Since losing on the TUF finale, Bermudez has rattled off 3 consecutive wins.  The very talented Max Holloway will be his opponent in Vegas.  Holloway has only lost to top featherweight Dustin Porier and looks to be a promising prospect.  I love this matchup and I think both guys will have bright futures.  That said, Holloway is the more technical striker.  I think Bermudez will try and build off the Grice fight and try to brawl Holloway.  Max should catch him with a good shot and finish him with some ground and pound.  2nd round TKO for Holloway.
• Mike Pyle has come a long way since losing his professional MMA debut to Rampage Jackson.  After dropping down to 170, he has had tremendous success.  The former WEC Welterweight Champion will look to keep his winning ways going with a win over Rick Story.  I like Story and would hate to see him go.  He is the lone blemish on the record of top contender Johny Hendricks.  His talents have not always translated into wins lately however.  That said, I do not really have a great assessment of this matchup but I have a feeling Pyle will be the winner.  I guess Pyle via decision?

On to the Pay-Per View portion of the card.  Boy is UFC 160 a treat!

• Lightweight strikers KJ Noons and Donald Cerrone will put on fireworks to kick off this card.  Kicking off Noons is what Cerrone will likely try to do.  Noons is a tough customer though.  Despite his lackluster record, he has some serious talent.  I would not be surprised to see either of these guys knocked out but I always have to side with my boy, Cowboy (except against Pettis...shhhhh!).  I am predicting a head kick knockout from Donald in the third round.
•  Gray Maynard and TJ Grant will follow this up with a lightweight title eliminator.  Maynard's only blemishes in his professional career were in the title fights with Frankie Edgar (1 tie, 1 loss).  Despite the blemishes, he proved in those fights he is championship caliber material.  He was just a dominant wrestler who now has great striking.  Grant is a great striker also, demonstrating that to his best abilities in a win over Matt Wiman in Chicago.  Grant is a big underdog, but do not sleep on him.  Since dropping from welterweight, he is 4-0.  I really like both of these guys and this fight could go either way.  If Gray is smart, he will take this fight to the ground with that Michigan State wrestling.  He does have tremendous confidence in his hands, due to his incredible power.  I believe Grant is the better striker and arrogance could cost Maynard if he does not take Grant's striking seriously.  I predict a smart game plan from Maynard.  Wrestling wins it, Gray gets a title shot and Henderson.  Maynard via decision.
• This PPV is just better and better with each fight.  James Te-Huna and Glover Teixeira go at it next.  Teixeira also impressed with a win over Rampage on that Chicago card.  He is getting another slugger to go at it with Saturday night.  The New Zealander, Te-Huna is 4-0 since being submitted by Gustafsson.  I really like James, and hope he is a serious contender in the future.  I LOVE Glover, and want to see him squaring off with the champion sometime soon.  Teixeira is one of those genuinely nice guys that are so rare in professional sports.  Despite this, he is a killer in the cage.  After a couple wild exchanges, Glover will wise up and take the fight to the ground.  I do not think he will sink in a submission there, but do enough to come up with a decision win.  Teixeira via decision.
• After all these wild fights the Fight of the Night honors have to be locked up right?  Wrong.  Former champion Junior dos Santos will take on Mark Hunt in a fight that could produce the next top contender.  JDS recently lost the belt to Cain Velasquez at UFC 155.  Hunt rides the UFC heavyweight division's longest winning streak after his jaw breaker KO of Stefan Struve in Japan.  For the longest time I have gone back and forth with this fight.  Hunt is a killer and should not be looked over.  His chin is incredible and so is his striking.  JDS is an elite striker as well.  I am sticking with what I said back before he lost the title.  I said JDS and Cain might only be able to beat each other, because nobody else in the division can touch them.  I still believe this despite Overeem, Bigfoot, Hunt, Cormier, Nelson, and Browne moving on up in the division.  Junior is a world class talent and I think he jabs Hunt's face into oblivion like he did to Shane Carwin.  JDS via decision.
• I guess with my assessment of JDS and Hunt you know where I stand on Cain Velasquez vs Bigfoot Silva.  I am a Bigfoot fan for all of the same reasons I like Glover.  He is a genuine good dude that is a killer when the cage doors close.  He pulled off a huge upset of Fedor.  He pulled off a huge upset of Overeem.  He pulled off crazy victories in the past.  However, he is not Junior dos Santos.  Therefore, he will not beat Cain.  Velasquez has beat him once.  Cormier, his training partner and friend also beat Bigfoot.  Both of those fights were not even competitive.  This fight should see Bigfoot fare much better, but not good enough.  It will take longer than 1 kick, 5 seconds in for Cain to put Bigfoot on his back, but he will put Silva on his back.  Velasquez will finally defend the title of "Baddest Man on the Planet" on Saturday night.  Velasquez via 3rd round TKO.

Bonus predictions:

FOTN: JDS/Hunt

SOTN: no submissions?

KOOTN: Donald Cerrone

Picks entering UFC 160: 69/118 (58.5%)

Belfort vs Rockhold Recap

Vitor finishes Rockhold with a spinning heel kick.

Vitor Belfort headlined an event from Brazil and for the second time in a row, it went well for him.  You can say anything you want about him and TRT, but the bottom line is he is winning fights and is incredibly entertaining.  Here are the quick results on the prelims:

• Lucas Martins knocks out Larsen in the Fight of the Night
• Jussier Formiga outworks Chris Cariaso for a 29-28 decision
• The always entertaining John Lineker TKOs Azamat Gashimov
• Fabio Maldonado edged out a decision against Roger Hollett
• Yuri Alcantara finished Santos in round 1 with a TKO
• Paulo Thiago 29-28 on all three cards against Prazeres
• Gleison Tibau finished Cholish with a 2nd round gullotine (Cholish retired)
• Trinaldo submitted Mike Rio with a first round arm triangle choke
• Nik Lentz takes a close decision over Hacran Dias

On to the main card, there was a pair of decisions followed by a pair of finishes:

• Joao Zeferino had a good first round but gassed almost immediately.  Rafael Natal looked tired too, but had just enough in the tank to win the 2nd and 3rd round.  Natal has had a promotional newcomer fill in as his opponent twice in a row now, so look for him to get a step up in competition next time.  He is winning but does not look particularly dominant.
• Evan Dunham knew when he took a fight in Brazil against Rafael dos Anjos that he would be up against the odds.  Despite being very even in talent and ability, the crowd and apparently the judges were siding with the Brazilian.  Although the fight was super close and really could have gone either way, Dunham definitely has an argument that he won the fight.  Nevertheless, dos Anjos will take home a controversial unanimous decision victory.
• Chris Camozzi entered his fight on an impressive win streak, coming off his most recent win to Nick Ring.  He was supposed to take on Rafael Natal, but jumped at a chance to fight in the co-main event when Costa was forced to pull out of his fight.  Jacare Souza was the former Strikeforce Middleweight Champion and a world class BJJ specialist.  His much anticipated UFC debut went without a hitch when he quickly finished Camozzi with an arm triangle choke in the first round.
• Speaking of the former Strikeforce Middleweight Champion, Luke Rockhold was the last man to hold that title.  He also was the last man to defeat Jacare Souza.  He made his much anticipated UFC debut against the king of Brazil, Vitor Belfort.  After finishing Michael Bisping with a head kick knockout, Vitor decided he enjoys head kick finishes.  This time it was more spectacular.  Not only did he finish an incredible AKA (American Kickboxing Academy) fighter in the first round, but he did it with a spinning heel kick.  This kick was followed up by a barrage of punches that left the Brazilian crowd happy.  Vitor Belfort will likely get Anderson Silva next if he wins at UFC 162.

After UFC on FX my picks are at 69/118 (58.5%)

Three Stars:

1. Vitor Belfort
2. Jacare Souza
3. John Lineker

UFC on FX 8: Belfort vs Rockhold

Jacare and Rockhold look to keep
Strikeforce in the W column with 2 big wins.

When Saturday night is all wrapped up, we may have the man in line to face UFC 162's main event winner.  Luke Rockhold will take his undefeated Strikeforce record and Strikeforce Middleweight Championship to the UFC to make his debut.  Vitor Belfort will look to become Urijah Faber-like by staying dominant in all non-title fights.  There is a very good chance the winner will get Anderson Silva, assuming he wins at 162.  Of course Weidman says he will win that fight and give Anderson an instant rematch, but let's not get too far ahead of ourselves.  I debated whether I would only do the main card or the entire card and decided to do picks for every fight.  Usually I only do the entire card for PPV or Fox cards, but I am feeling daring this week.

This card, along with the newest season of TUF, will play a huge role in filling out the UFC's two weakest divisions.  Those of course are the flyweight and women's bantamweight division.  Although TUF is featuring 135 lb men, TUF competitors often spend the majority of their careers a weight class beneath where they compete on the show.  I mention this because 2 of the 3 Facebook fights are between flyweights.

Facebook:

• The night starts between two lightweights so unheard of I couldn't even use Wikipedia to look them up.  I of course am talking about Lucas Martins and Jeremy Larsen.  I actually remember Larsen a little bit from The Ultimate Fighter 15, Cruz vs Faber.  He seemed to be a tough customer but lacked a lot of technique.  As for Lucas, he tallied up a bunch of TKO wins in Brazil before losing his UFC debut there to Edson Barboza.  Edson is an absolute monster so there is no shame in that loss to Lucas.  I think he rebounds and shows the world why Brazil is still the premier country in MMA.  Martins via first round TKO.
• Next comes the first of two flyweight fights, and I actually know these guys.  Jussier Formiga will take on Chris Cariaso in a sneakily important fight.  Formiga last fought Dodson in a title eliminator that saw him knocked out cold in the 2nd round.  His only other loss was to another top flyweight in Ian McCall back in early 2011.  As for Cariaso, he also lost a title eliminator in his last fight.  John Moraga was able to pull off the front choke submission.  Unlike Formiga, Cariaso is a UFC/WEC veteran who has been fighting up a weight class most his career.  I like him a lot and think he has plenty of talent.  However, he is susceptible to submissions and has no knockout power.  Of his 4 losses, 3 were to top level competition.  Being submitted by current Interim Bantamweight Champion Renan Barao and flyweight top contender John Moraga is not a big deal.  And dodging the talented striking of Michael McDonald enough to lose a narrow split decision shows he is no joke in the striking game.  This is a tough one for me but I think the submission specialist survives Cariaso's good, but not dangerous striking game and wins the fight.  Formiga by way of submission.  (rear-naked choke)
• The following fight is also a pair of 125 lb fighters.  Brazil's John Lineker finds himself up against Russia's Azamat Gashimov.  The Russian is looking to rebound off his UFC debut loss to Ivan Menjivar.  Since he is fighting at a smaller weight class, he hopes to be a bigger and better fighter.  Lineker enters this fight with a 1-1 UFC record.  I was impressed by Lineker in his loss to Gaudinot and even more impressed when he edged out Urushitani.  His loss won Fight of the Night honors and he was clearly the better striker.  He also gets a badass award for not tapping when Gaudinot had a deep guillotine sunk in; technical submissions are awesome.  He has some talent and I think the hometown boy takes this fight of prospects. I wouldn't be surprised if he got the knockout but I am taking Lineker via decision.

The fights now move to the wonderful network of Fuel TV:

• I must say none of these fights are as intriguing as the main card, or even the Facebook fights.  However, I am still itching for some good fights since that UFC on Fox 7 card blew me away and is the early favorite for "Event of the Year" honors.  A pair of light heavyweights kicks of the Fuel portion of the night.  Fabio Maldonado is on the very of receiving the dreaded UFC pinkslip.  His heroism in the one sided beat down given to him by Glover Teixeira is the only reason Dana White is giving him this last shot at employment.  Roger Hollett was the receiver of a beating of his own.  However it was not as bloody, and rather boring.  Also, Matt Hamill is no Glover Teixeira.  The quality of the opponent who kicked his ass was way less.  I do not really know or care who is the better man in this fight.  All the winner will do is lose his next bout and be dropped from the UFC.  Hopefully I am wrong and desperation makes these two put on a show.  I see Maldonado being the stronger fighter and winning with a violent TKO.
• Iliarde Santos and Yuri Alcantara will put on a Brazil vs Brazil matchup at bantamweight.  This one is a no brainer for me to pick.  Santos has a loss to John Lineker, the flyweight fighting on this card.  Yuri Alcantara has a knockout win over the current featherweight top contender Ricardo Lamas.  He also has a win over Trinaldo, who is fighting later on this card.  Hacran Dias has a win over Yuri, but I'll get into how good Dias is in a second.  Yuri is the bigger, stronger, and better fighter.  At 135, he still has power.  Yuri Alcantara should make quick work of Santos, first round KO.  On a side note, Yuri's brother is a welterweight who just submitted Wagner Prado at 205.  These Alcantara brothers are legit and they will only get better at their natural weight.
• Another pair of Brazilians square off when Paulo Thiago takes on Michel Prazeres.  Thiago is obviously the bigger name of the two fighters, with big wins including a knockout of Josh Koscheck.  Michel, however, is undefeated entering the UFC like Paulo once was.  Prazeres is getting a huge step up in competition for his UFC debut in Thiago.  I see the veteran dodging the unemployment line by sneaking away with a decision over Prazeres.  Thiago by unimpressive decision.
• Gleison Tibau is one of the most physically imposing lightweights, but he is far from one of the most dominant.  The UFC veteran should have his hands full with John Cholish.  Tibau has been in the Octagon with some serious competition, such as Nick Diaz and Jim Miller.  Despite often being on the losing end of fights against top competition, he still manages to beat enough undercard guys to be a newcomer gatekeeper kind of guy.  Cholish has a 1-1 UFC record, and a history of solid submission victories in his past.  While he might become a better fighter down the line, I think Tibau is better now.  Gleison will utilize his strong clinch game and take this one.  Tibau via decision.
• Francisco Trinaldo takes the stage following the fights of the only two guys who have bested him.  Only Gleison Tibau and Yuri Alcantara hold wins over Trinaldo.  His opponent, Mike Rio was by far my least favorite person in the 15th season of TUF.  I mentioned season 15 earlier when I was talking about Larsen.  Well I enjoyed everyone on that season with the exception of Chris Tickle and Mike Rio.  I think this guy is a wimp.  He is a solid wrestler and I give him that, but I will never pick a man with no heart to win in the UFC.  Trinaldo via TKO due to Rio quitting Tito Ortiz (vs Chuck Liddell) style.
• Last time Nik Lentz visited Brazil he played the role of spoiler successfully against Diego Nunes.  Now 2-0 since dropping to featherweight, he will have his hands full withy my man, Hacran Dias.  With a 21-1-1 record, Dias is coming off a win in his UFC debut against Yuri Alcantara.  Lentz is the real deal and this should be an explosive and exciting fight.  I am taking my boy Hacran to steal Submission of the Night honors with an arm triangle choke.

Main card on FX:

• I must say, Rafael Natal against Joao Zeferino belongs on the main card of absolutely no UFC card regardless of network.  I know Chris Camozzi was promoted to the co-main event when Costa was injured, but come on.  Joao is supposedly a crazy BJJ specialist.  Seems weird, as he only has a submission in about half of his fights.  Against real competition, Zeferino should be outmatched.  Natal is a solid wrestler that has a solid submission game of his own.  Not the most exciting fight, but definitely should be a technical one.  Natal should outwork the UFC newcomer.  Natal via decision.  This is the second consecutive fight Natal lost his opponent who was replaced by a promotional newcomer.
• The lightweight division is one of the deepest divisions of the UFC.  Near the top you will not see the names of Evan Dunham or Rafael dos Anjos but believe me, they are near the top in talent.  Dunham has wins over Tibau and Lentz, who both fight on Fuel.  His only losses were to Sherk, Guillard, and Grant.  These are by no stretch bad opponents.  Two of those losses even saw him take home Fight of the Night honors.  In dos Anjos, you have a fighter who lost to Gleison Tibau.  MMA math does not work so you cannot say Dunham has this fight wrapped up.  Rafael has won 3 straight and he is a crafty BJJ blackbelt with serious submission skills.  Dunham should have a slight edge in the standup but I think the Brazilian takes this fight home.  Rafael dos Anjos via triangle choke.
• I mentioned Chris Camozzi was promoted to the co-main event when Costa Philippou went down with an injury.  Camozzi is coming off a controversial split decision win in his last fight against Nick Ring.  I would have given him the edge against Natal, but his new opponent is another animal.  Friend and training partner of Anderson Silva, Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza was the former Strikeforce Middleweight Champion before Luke Rockhold took that strap from him.  He is a veteran submission artist who has fought some of the best middleweights and light heavyweights over the years.  He also submitted Marcelo Garcia who is widely considered to be the pound for pound best submission grappler of all time.  Jacare has some striking and power to compliment his sick ground skills.  Expect Jacare to be doing his signature alligator crawl when this fight is over.  Souza by first round RNC.
• In the main event, Strikeforce Middleweight Champion Luke Rockhold will not just look to win, but look to catch the eye of Anderson Silva with a dominant win over Vitor Belfort.  Getting up there in age, Belfort is looking at a rematch with the pound for pound best fighter on the planet.  With Chael Sonnen recently getting blasted by Jon Jones, some are saying he is the new P4P best, but those people are forgetting about Vitor.  While Jones was in a deep armbar against Vitor, Anderson was laughing and remembering his front kick KO in the first round of their fight.  Vitor knows him and Anderson both only have a few years left, so he needs to impress also to get that rematch.  After coming up short against Jon Jones, Vitor knocked off top contender Michael Bisping in Brazil.  Staying in his home country, Vitor and his good friend TRT and looking to blow by Rockhold to secure another title shot.  Remember just a minute ago when I was tooting the horn of Jacare Souza?  Yeah, Luke Rockhold beat that guy.  (Also Gegard Mousasi beat Souza with an upkick; also a beastly fighter).  Rockhold is still looking unbeatable and is making his debut against the Phenom.  His first 8 professional fights ended in the first round, but he showed he has the talent and cardio to go the full five rounds when he took the belt from Jacare.  Rockhold is a sick kickboxer training at AKA in California.  This California boy has serious talent, but again, he is fighting the Phenom.  The quick hands of Vitor are now complimented by a kicking game and submissions.  Vitor is still getting better at age 36, which is a scary thought.  The kick that caught Bisping off guard will not catch Rockhold.  I see Luke being patient and handling himself in the hostile environment of Brazil.  Rockhold is a man of the future, but also the man of today.  I think he silences a rowdy Brazilian crowd and not only defeats, but knocks out Vitor Belfort.  TRT abuser or not, Vitor Belfort's hopes at one more title fight end Saturday night.  Rockhold with a championship round KO!

Picks entering UFC on FX 8: Belfort vs Rockhold are at 58/105 (55%)

On a side note: SHAME ON YOU PAT HEALY!!!! Smoking weed has now cost you $130,000 and a win over Jim Miller.  Hope your high was worth it.  (You could have done $130,000 worth of drugs if you just waited until after the fight silly!)