,在我们Junie发热,应该指出的是,大卫卡普兰并不是最战斗机。 The only people who seem to think so are Frank Mir and Kaplan. I'd like to see a rematch with Escudero before I proclaim Junie "The Next Anderson Silva". It will also be a test to see how he handles winning his first UFC fight. Coming into the fight he had a lot to prove. How will he handle things when the doubters aren't as loud?
-Jules Bruchez needs to find a new line of work. He might have an excellent work ethic, but his talent is lacking. If someone asked me yesterday what they should do with a trillion dollars, I would have told them to put it on Eliot Marshall.
-Other than Marshall and Junie, the only other non-finals fighter I see sticking around is Krzysztof. He looks cool and has moderate talent, which should translate to 2-3 fights on undercards before he gets cut. (read more)
TUF Finale Predictions
Here are some quick picks for tonight's Ultimate Fighter Finale. I'm not gonna pick any of the non-televised fights because all that would do is pad my prediction record. A retarded monkey could pick those winners.
Phillipe Nover vs Efrain Escudero -Nover Wins by 1st Rd TKO Ryan Bader vs Vinicius Magalhaes -Magalhaes Wins by 2nd Rd Submission Anthony Johnson vs Kevin Burns -Johnson Wins by Unanimous Decision Jason MacDonald vs Wilson Gouveia -MacDonald Wins by Unanimous Decision Junie Browning vs Dave Kaplan -Browning Wins by 3rd Rd TKO (read more)
Babalu vs Sokoudjou
In typical fashion, Affliction "announced" than quickly sorta "unnanounced" a major bout for their January 24th Day of Reckoning PPV. The fight was added to Affliction's website, but they did not bother to officially announce it. This led MMAJunkie to ask Tom Atencio if the fight had been signed and he gave his usual "kinda" answer.
"We're working on it right now. It hasn't been finalized, but we're definitely working on it. They jumped the gun like always. We're finalizing an agreement now. It's just a matter of how many fights and making sure that we all come to mutual agreements."
For anyone who hasn't seen it, go check out Corey Hill's leg break in half at UFC.com. It's one of the worst injuries I've ever seen. You usually see stuff like this in football. However, there the injury happens on the ground when some one falls onto another player's leg. This was much worse to watch. The picture above makes me think of someone swinging a sock with a bar soap at the end. This made Al-Hassan's broken arm seem like a unnoticeable zit.
It turned out to be an interesting show. Here are my thoughts.
- I told you Miller was going to be good. To dominate like that on short notice makes me think two things. First, he is a legitimate contender in the coming years. Two, Wiman was overrated. As to the second point, it all has to do with Thiago Tavares. When Wiman knocked him out, Tavares was seen as a rising star. It seemed like Wiman must be extremely solid to defeat an opponent like that. Well, at UFC 88 against Kurt Pellegrino, we found out Tavares was not as good as we all thought he was. I'm not saying Wiman is a bum of Reese Andy-like proportions. He just isn't at the elite level it seemed.
-Matt Wiman probably should have been disqualified for holding onto Jim Miller's shorts. I'm glad it didn't happen, but it definitely was within reason. He should have at least been penalized a point.
-Why was Mario Yamasaki dressed like a magician last night?
-Chris O'Donnell did a PSA! He's still working!!!
-Ben Saunders win over Brandon Wolff was vicious, but it was not on Anderson Silva's level. It also wasn't on Wanderlei Silva's level, who was not even mentioned somehow.
-Razak Al-Hassan reminded me of the early days of the UFC when you'd see a guy enter the cage and you just knew it was going to end badly for him. Cantwell should be ashamed of himself for not knocking that guy's afro off. Rogan could have KO'd that guy and he's like two feet smaller than him. It was cool when he broke his arm. I felt no remorse for Al-Hassan because I picked him to win, despite not knowing a single thing about him.
-Why does Cantwell continue to use "The Robot" as his nickname? My Dad always refers to immobile quarterbacks as robots. Every time I see Cantwell I think of Vinny Testaverde getting shelled by a 300 pound lineman.
-As always, Maggie Hendricks is an idiot . There is a difference between a fighter being injured by an opponent or by a random act (like Corey Hill). Cantwell broke Al-Hassan's arm with a legal jiu-jitsu maneuver. He should not regret it at all. If Brandon Wolff would have started dancing around the Octagon when Hill's leg broke, it would be a different story. If this sort of thing bothers you, I suggest you cover another sport like ping pong or darts.
-Yoshida went with the Al-Hassan/Credeur striking method and never bothered to tuck his chin. It's pretty bad when Mike Goldberg is giving someone striking advice. Credeur gets away with it because he's an awkward fighter. Yoshida is just a stiff. (read more)
1.25 Million Buys
Manny Pacquiao's blistering TKO victory over Oscar De La Hoya took in at least 1.25 million PPV buys (total expected to rise with final tally). This makes it the third highest non-heavyweight fight and ninth highest overall. It's a staggering total which illuminates the potential of boxing when big fights come together. For a boxing match between a non-viable aging vet and a guy who barely even speaks English to rake in this much cash, it shows us that MMA remains a distant 2nd in terms of PPV revenue. (read more)
Huerta Is Back
Roger Huerta and the UFC have agreed on a new five fight contract . The two sides had been at each other's throats since Huerta spoke out against the company this summer. It did not help that he went on to lose his fight with Kenny Florian a week later. He has been rotting on the shelf since then with one fight left on his UFC contract. The UFC loves using this tactic with fighters they dislike.
At some point Huerta must have realized it was idiotic to continue being at war with the only viable MMA promotion who can afford him. He probably also saw how the UFC dealt with Jon Fitch and decided it was better to end this before he found himself unemployed. I'm glad Huerta is back. He's always fun to watch and should only get better. Fighting Florian was his first taste of the big time and even though he did not win, the experience will help him in the future. (read more)
Troops Preview
I don't think I could be less excited for an MMA event. There are two things that could make this worth watching: Wiman and Miller have an all-out brawl, Yoshida puts on a judo clinic and Koscheck is cut the next day. Other than that, I just don't see the draw. Oh well, here are my predictions.
Tim Credeur vs Nate Loughran -Credeur Wins by 2nd Round Submission
Steve Cantwell vs Razak Al-Hassan -I'm going with Al-Hassan in an upset. I have zero knowledge of him, but the fact Cantwell is such an overwhelming favorite (-350) makes me suspicious. Cantwell is an average fighter. Unless he was fighting a twelve year old girl with Multiple Sclerosis, I wouldn't list him as that much of a favorite. The UFC does not put twelve year old girl's with MS on main cards, so I'm thinking this guy might turn out to be better than expected. Al-Hassan Wins by 1st Round TKO.
Mike Swick vs Jonathan Goulet -In another fight I could care less about, Swick and Goulet will finally get a chance to meet. Apparently they have been trying to fight each for some time, but like me no one really cared enough to book it. Goulet is overmatched in this one. I'm not sure why he campaigned so hard for the fight on the "web" , as he calls it. Swick bores the hell out of me. I like how in his UFC profile it lists "Aggression" as one of his "Strengths". Who the hell put this thing together Maggie Hendricks from Yahoo!? Anyway, Swick Wins by Unanimous Decision.
Matt Wiman vs Jim Miller -Finally a fight worth watching. Before reading any more, you should know I am a huge Miller believer, so this will be very biased. Wiman impressed lots of people with his knockout of Thiago Tavares in June. Tavares' stock has since fallen and that win isn't looking so great any more. On the feet, Wiman should have the edge. Miller can hold his own, but he does not have the type of striking that will scare Wiman. The biggest difference between the fighters is on the ground, where Miller excels. He's a submission machine and needs to take the fight to the mat to win. Whenever I look at two closely matched fighters, I almost always go with the fighter who has the bigger edge in one department. In this fight, Wiman has a decent edge in striking. On the ground, Miller takes it by a larger amount. I'm going with that logic. Either way it'll be the first time this event catches my attention. Miller Wins by 2nd Round Submission.
Yoshiyuki Yoshida vs Josh Koscheck When I heard Koscheck planned on fighting twice in rapid fashion, my immediate thought was, "If he loses both, his UFC career is over." It just didn't strike me as a good idea. The fact he has to fight a slightly unknown commodity, who happens to be a judo expert, does not alleviate my concerns. There is also the ongoing problems between his handlers and the UFC over image licensing. He's facing a deep hole to climb out of and I don't think it's gonna happen. I expect him to go back to what he knows best and try to squeak out a decision against Yoshida. The problem he will run into is Yoshida will counter his wrestling with throws. To me the only thing more exciting than a knockout is seeing one fighter throw the other on his head. I wish more fighters took up judo because it is a pleasing style to watch. Koscheck will have his moments of laying on top and barely doing any damage, however, they will pale in comparison to the multiple times he lands on his head. Yoshida Wins by Unanimous Decision. UFC cuts Koscheck within a month. (read more)
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