UFC Fight Night 35 Quick Picks

Yoel "the Soldier of God" Romero will look to be one of many
middleweight title contenders following this event.

It did not go well for Luke Rockhold in his UFC debut, but the way Vitor Belfort is fighting who can blame him for the loss.  He takes on Costa Phillippou in a very fun card full of entertaining fighters.

Fight Pass (which I do not like because I no longer get free Facebook prelims!!!!)

• Charlie Brenneman is back and I could not be happier.  W for him all day via afro submission.  Sorry Beneil Dariush, but your undefeated streak is coming to an end.
• Vinc Pichel had no idea who he signed up to fight when he took on Rustam Khabilov in his UFC debut.  I do not see Garett Whiteley suplexing Vinc to death.  Pichel via violent KO.

FS1 Prelims:

• Alptekin Ozkilic looks like he could be a legit threat at flyweight.  Win via decision.
• Trevor Smith did not look technical in his last fight but he looked exciting.  I see him landing that power punch on Brian Houston and taking home a KO win.
• Isaac Vallie-Flagg is my boy, win via 4 consecutive split decisions.
• Unless he is completely overmatched I will always pick Justin Edwards via guillotine.  Ramsey Nijem sucks so I am going with Justin Edwards via guillotine? Yes.

FS1 Main Card:

• I love both Cole Miller and Sam Sicilia.  Therefore I am protesting this pick.  Either Sicilia via KO or Miller via submission is my prediction I guess.
• John Moraga is more my boy that IVF.  I'll take him over the rising star Dustin Ortiz.
• Yoel Romero is my boy as well. Always will be picked by me.  KO over Derek Brunson.
• TJ Dillashaw is totally my boy.  Fight of the Night victory over Mike Easton who I hope does not get cut.
• Lorenz is my last name so Lorenz Larkin is most definitely my boy.  KO win over Brad Tavares.
• Luke Rockhold is still a top 10 middleweight despite his brutal loss to Vitor.  He has beat some tough guys like Tim Kennedy and Jacare Souza so expect him to demonstrate that in this fight.  Costa Phillippou looked awful in his last fight against Carmont, so he will be hungry for a bounce-back win.  My boy Luke will get it done with wrestling and kickboxing to get the decision win.

I am 1 for 1 so far in 2014!!!  Hopefully I will continue to be correct and win some money on MMA this year.

Fighter of the Year: Vitor Belfort

Vitor showed off his new kicking game in 2013.

There are many people who had an impressive 2013 in the UFC and other fight organizations but Vitor Belfort stands alone as the best.  Not only was Vitor 3-0 against top middleweights and a light heavyweight, but he won all of them with headkick knockouts in a combined 10 minutes and 16 seconds.  Throw in that Dan Henderson was known as a guy who is impossible to knock out and his latest win is even more impressive.  There is no denying Vitor had a great year headlining cards in Brazil and that is why he is the Brutal Sports Fighter of 2013.

There are many people that had similar years to Vitor in wins, but nobody won as impressively as Vitor.  There is something about a headkick KO that really speaks to the superiority of Vitor's game. There is a reason Vitor will be the next man to fight Weidman for the middleweight title.  Yes there is controversy about his TRT use and complaints that he only fights in Brazil, but it does not diminish from the quality of Vitor Belfort's wins in 2013.

Runners up:

• Urijah Faber (4-0):  He won 4 fights including a top contender fight with Michael McDonald earning him a title shot on February 1st against Renan Barao.  No doubt he had a great year, especially considering he finished 3 of those fights with a submission.  Look for the California Kid to have a big 2014 as well.
• Demetrious Johnson (3-0):  DJ defended his belt 3 times in 2013.  He won a decision against Dodson, submitted Moraga, and knocked out Joe Benavidez.  If that is not impressive I do not know what is.
• Anthony Pettis (2-0):  He finished Cerrone with a liver kick in Chicago and beat Benson Henderson with a 1st round armbar to win the lightweight belt.  He had a bad year with injuries and the media due to his pulling out of the Aldo fight and stealing TJ Grant's title shot.  I say he will not still be champ in 2015 if he ever comes back from injury.
• Chris Weidman (2-0):  The dude beat Anderson Silva, the greatest fighter in UFC history, twice.
• Johny Hendricks (1-1):  He beat Condit in a Fight of the Night performance and SHOULD HAVE WON against GSP in another Fight of the Night that ended in a controversial decision.

End of 2013 Fighter Rankings

Chris Weidman is still the best middleweight and is
even higher on the pound for pound list now as well.

2013 was a great year for MMA.  The 2 greatest pound for pound fighters on the planet have fallen from the top of the totem pole and new stars have emerged.  This is how my rankings are heading into 2014.  (Not taking Lim/Saffiedine into effect until next rankings)

Men's Pound for Pound:

1. Jose Aldo (1)
2. Jon Jones (2)
3. Chris Weidman (5)
4. Georges St. Pierre (4)
5. Renan Barao (6)
6. Demetrious Johnson (8)
7. Cain Velasquez (7)
8. Anderson Silva (3)
9. Urijah Faber (14)
10. Johny Hendricks (9)
11. Vitor Belfort (10)
12. Anthony Pettis (12)
13. Dominick Cruz (11)
14. Chad Mendes (15)
15. Junior Dos Santos (16)
16. Benson Henderson (18)
17. Frankie Edgar (19)
18. Gilbert Melendez (20)
19. Joe Benavidez (13)
20. Michael McDonald (17)

Heavyweight:

1. Cain Velasquez (1)
2. Travis Browne (2)
3. Daniel Cormier (3)
4. Fabricio Werdum (4)
5. Junior Dos Santos (5)
6. Mark Hunt (6)
7. Stipe Miocic (7)
8. Antonio Silva (9)
9. Gabriel Gonzaga (10)
10. Josh Barnett (8)
11. Stefan Struve (11)
12. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (12)
13. Frank Mir (13)
14. Alistair Overeem (14)
15.  Roy Nelson (15)
16. Ben Rothwell (16)
17. Brendan Schaub (17)
18. Cheick Kongo (18)
19. Shawn Jordan (19)
20. Soa Palelei (NR)

Dropping Out: Vitaly Minakov (20)

Light Heavywight:

1. Jon Jones (1)
2. Glover Teixeira (2)
3. Alexander Gustafsson (3)
4. Rashad Evans (4)
5. Phil Davis (5)
6. Gegard Mousasi (6)
7. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (7)
8. Ryan Bader (9)
9. Emanuel Newton (8)
10. Shogun Rua (13)
11. Rampage Jackson (10)
12. Dan Henderson (11)
13. Chael Sonnen (12)
14. Attila Vegh (14)
15. Jimi Manuwa (16)
16. Rafael Cavalcante (17)
17. James Te-Huna (15)
18. Thiago Silva (18)
19. Muhammed Lawal (19)
20. Ryan Jimmo (20)

Middleweight:

1. Chris Weidman (1)
2. Vitor Belfort (3)
3. Anderson Silva (2)
4. Ronaldo Souza (4)
5. Lyoto Machida (5)
6. Tim Kennedy (6)
7. Michael Bisping (7)
8. Alexander Shlemenko (8)
9. Mark Munoz (9)
10. Yushin Okami (10)
11. Yoel Romero (11)
12. Thales Leites (12)
13. Tim Boetsch (13)
14. Luke Rockhold (14)
15. Cung Le (15)
16. Alan Belcher (16)
17. Francis Carmont (17)
18. Costa Philippou (18)
19. Rich Franklin (19)
20. Lorenz Larkin (20)

Welterwight:

1. Georges St. Pierre (1)
2. Johny Hendricks (2)
3. Carlos Condit (3)
4. Matt Brown (4)
5. Robbie Lawler (5)
6. Dong Hyun Kim (6)
7. Rory Macdonald (7)
8. Jake Ellenberger (8)
9. Jake Shields (9)
10. Demian Maia (10)
11. Ben Askren (11)
12. Tyrone Woodley (12)
13. Martin Kampmann (13)
14. Nick Diaz (14)
15. Tarec Saffiedine (15)
16. Hector Lombard (16)
17. Steve Carl (17)
18. Josh Burkman (18)
19. Josh Koscheck (19)
20. Brandon Thatch (20)

Lightweight:

1. Anthony Pettis (1)
2. Gilbert Melendez (2)
3. Benson Henderson (3)
4. Josh Thomson (4)
5. TJ Grant (5)
6. Khabib Nurmagomedov (6)
7. Rafael dos Anjos (7)
8. Michael Chandler (8)
9. Eddie Alvarez (9)
10. Nate Diaz (10)
11. Jim Miller (13)
12. Donald Cerrone (11)
13. Gray Maynard (14)
14. Edson Barboza (16)
15. Joe Lauzon (17)
16. Melvin Guillard (15)
17. Norman Parke (19)
18. Rustam Khabilov (20)
19. Bobby Green (NR)
20. Pat Healy (12)

Dropping out: Tatsuya Kawajiri (18)

Featherweight:

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

Bantamweight:

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

Dropping Out: Scott Jorgensen (8) (due to change in weight class)

Flyweight:

1. Demetrious Johnson (1)
2. John Dodson (3)
3. John Lineker (4)
4. Joe Benavidez (2)
5. John Moraga (5)
6. Ian McCall (6)
7. Jussier Formiga (7)
8. Darrel Montague (8)
9. Ali Bagautinov (9)
10. Tim Elliot (10)
11. Zack Makovsky (NR)
12. Scott Jorgensen (NR)
13. Louis Gaudinot (NR)
14. Dustin Ortiz (NR)
15. Alptekin Ozkilic (NR)

Women's Pound for Pound:

1. Ronda Rousey (1)
2. Cristiane Santos (2)
3. Sara McMann (3)
4. Jessica Aguilar (4)
5. Alexis Davis (5)
6. Cat Zingano (6)
7. Marloes Coenen(8)
8. Jessica Eye (9)
9. Sarah Kaufman (10)
10. Miesha Tate (7)
11. Barb Honchak (20)
12. Michelle Waterson (11)
13. Liz Carmouche (12)
14. Jessica Penne (13)
15. Amanda Nunes (14)
16. Carla Esparza (15)
17. Zoila Gurgel (16)
18. Shayna Baszler (17)
19. Jessica Andrade (18)
20. Rosi Sexton (19)