Updated Fighter Rankings (3-6-13)

Renan Barao keeps destroying top bantamweights
on his way to a superfight with Dominick Cruz.

A little bit late on the March update for fight rankings but here is how Brutal Sports ranks the MMA world:

Pound for Pound:

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

Heavyweight:

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

Light Heavywight:

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

Middleweight:

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

Welterwight:

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

Featherweight:

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

Bantamweight:

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

Flyweight:

1. Demetrious Johnson
2. Joe Benavidez
3. John Dodson
4. John Moraga
5. Darrel Montague
6. Jussier Formiga
7. Ian McCall
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. Alexis Davis
9. Marloes Coenen
10. Liz Carmouche

Top 5 noise makers since last rankings:

1. Mark Hunt
2. Cub Swanson
3. Ronda Rousey
4. Renan Barao
5. Yushin Okami

UFC on Fuel TV: Silva VS Stann

Wanderlei Silva (blue gloves) and Rich
Franklin put on a show like always.

The UFC is putting on the 2nd of 3 fun cards scheduled for Fuel TV in 2013 from Japan this Saturday night. A legend of the sport meets a highly respected middleweight at 205 lbs in the main event.  Wanderlei Silva is one of the pioneers of the sport and has one of the biggest fan bases of any fighter.  He is a Pride legend known for his very violent and action packed fighting style.  He has taken some serious damage over the years because of this style, but he has taken in a tremendous amount of fans in doing so.  Another fan favorite will be standing across from Silva in the main event.  Brian Stann is a well respected war hero in America.  Not a lot of people dislike this guy because of his service to this great country and for his exciting fighting style.  He is a well rounded guy who is great in every discipline in mixed martial arts.  Wrestlers and grapplers have gotten the better of him in the past, but Wanderlei is not about to turn this into a wrestling match.

Every weight class from featherweight through heavyweight will get exactly one fight on the main card which I like.  Sometimes a card is heavy on a certain weight class (like UFC 158 being 50% welterweight) but this one is a perfect mix of weight classes.  The night will start in the welterweight division.

• Both Dong Hyun Kim and Siyar Bahadurzada are coming off of wins over Paulo Thiago in their last fights.  Despite a 7 fight win streak and a lot of promise being shown, I do not like Siyar's chances in this fight.  He has some solid striking and KO power, but Kim is one of those guys whose grappling is on another level.  He does not let you breathe and is relentless in smothering you on his way to a win.  So long as he does not have another fluke muscle spasm like he did against Maia, I see Kim winning via decision.
• WEC veteran Rani Yahya has battled some of the UFC's top bantamweight and featherweight fighters over the years.  He will be taking on Mizuto Hirota who will be making his octagon debut.  After Lawler beat Koscheck I told myself I will never bet agaisnt a Strikeforce guy making his UFC debut again.  However Hirota went 0-1 in his brief tenure in Strikeforce and I do not see him winning against a veteran like Yahya.  Yahya via submission. (north/south choke or RNC?)
• The next fight will take place between 2 middleweights looking to skyrocket up the rankings with a win.  Hype machine Hector Lombard disappointed in his octagon debut but he really made a statement in his second fight with a nasty KO win over Palhares.  Yushin Okami is one of those guys that is a relentless grappler who is stronger than the majority of middleweights.  He spoiled Alan Belcher's title hopes with his stifling style of fighting and will be looking to do the same against Lombard.  In his last appearance in his home country of Japan, Okami looked dominant through 2 rounds only to have Joe Rogan jump out of his seat in excitement as Tim Boetsch knocked him out early in the third round.  I have picked against Lombard in his first 2 UFC fights, and I am going to do it for a third time.  I think he is too small to avoid the bigger and stronger fighter in Okami.  Like Belchar, Lombard will have the skills to beat Okami but will be held helplessly against the cage or on the ground by the experienced grappler.  Okami via decision.
• After a 2-2 record in the welterweight division, Diego Sanchez is returning to lightweight where he was only bettered by BJ Penn in a fight for the title.  Gomi is coming in off a 2 fight winning streak and looking to make it 3.  Gomi had success in Japan back in his Pride days, but has not had too much success in the UFC thus far.  I like Gomi and would like to see him climb the lightweight ranks again, but I think Diego will handle him with relative ease.  Sanchez via decision.
• The skyscraper Stefan Struve will be taking on the Super Samoan Mark Hunt in a very important heavyweight match.  Hunt only has an 8-7 MMA record with a 6 fight losing streak in the middle of his career, but he is not to be underestimated.  Especially since 4 of those losses were to Mousasi, Overeem, Barnett, and the great Fedor Emelianenko.  The man on a 3 fight winning streak even holds a win over main event fighter Wanderlei Silva.  Meanwhile his opponent Struve is coming off a highlight reel KO over formerly undefeated Stipe Miocic.  All but 1 of Struve's fights have been finished, win or loss.  Look for these two to go to war, and look for the KO.  I like Hunt but Struve will have one of the most ridiculous reach advantages you will see in a fight.  I am taking Struve via head kick KO.
• Wanderlei Silva is definitely a fan favorite and a winner in Japan.  However, his UFC record is a less than stellar 3-6.  In his last 2 fights he almost finished Rich Franklin but lost that fight to a decision, and came back from a beating to knock out Cung Le.  You have to love this guy but that does not mean he is going to win this fight.  Stann's last 3 losses have been to top guys in Davis, Sonnen, and Bisping.  He is a beastly middleweight who is fighting at 205 on Saturday.  This is a temporary move because he is getting a chance to face a legend in Silva.  I only see good wrestlers (like Davis, Sonnen, and Bisping) being good enough to beat him.  Stann will stand and bang with Silva like he did with Leben and should clip him at some point.  I will take Stann with a 3rd round KO.  Wanderlei may have to retire in front of the capacity crowd in Japan.  He will always be a legend of the sport and hopefully it is not his last time in the octagon.

Predictions are at 31/63 entering Japan's event.  Looking to get at least 5 out of 6.  Very confident in this event.

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.