A few predictions for tonight

Here are a few fight predictions for some of tonight’s fights.

Dan Henderson by TKO R2/3 – I think Henderson will employ the same game plan he used against Anderson Silva back when they fought. Try and get an early takedown and wear out Shogun and then as the fight wears on try and land a big combination and finish the fight from there.

Wanderlei Silva by KO R1 – Cung Le is dangerous from range. Wanderlei’s at his best when he’s wading into close quarters winging bombs and while it’s possible he gets caught coming in, I think he will catch Cung before that happens…I hope.

Urijah Faber By Unanimous Decision – I think Faber has a few ways to win here; he can both work the quick strike game get in get out and mix with takedowns. Or he could try and get the fight to the ground and work his top game. I think he’ll outwork Bowles who will be looking to land that one big shot.

Rick Story by Unanimous Decision – Kampmann has a tendency to play his opponents game and Story is great at playing the takedown and control game. Charlie Brenneman was able to throw off Story’s game and use his own wrestling to beat him, but I don’t think Kampmann’s wrestling will be able to stop Story here.

Stephan Bonnar by TKO R3 – Pure fan pick here, I want to see another finish pose by Stephan.

Eddie Alvarez by TKO R3/4 – I think Mike Chandler uses his wrestling and really looks good early in this fight but the longer it goes on Alvarez will start finding his groove and finish it in the later rounds.

Hector Lombard by KO R1 – Lombard is a vicious puncher and I think Trevor Prangley is in for a short night. Lombard is one of the few top guys in a division that the UFC doesn’t have.

Post UFC On Fox Thoughts.

The fight between Clay Guida and Ben Henderson was everything I thought it would be. Lots of energy, lots of hair, and the fight of the night. In the end Bendo was too strong for Clay and avoided a few submissions en route to clinching his title shot against Frankie Edgar in Japan. Now being a fan of both guys it sucked to see Clay lose but I was happy for Ben Henderson at the same time. He had been written off and left for dead by most after Pettis landed the showtime kick to clinch their fight in the fifth round in their amazing WEC fight. He earned his title shot and I will be rooting for him when he does fight Frankie Edgar.

I'd say I was surprised by Junior Dos Santos beating Cain Velasquez but I wasn't. The guy is an absolute monster and that shot he landed around Cain's ear would put down most if not all other heavyweights in my opinion. I have no doubt Cain will be back and will someday get his rematch.

Big week coming up another huge UFC card from San Jose. Hendo/Shogun Rua, Bowles/Faber, Le/Wanderlei Silva and that's for starters. Not to mention you've got two of the top fighters outside of the UFC on the same card for Bellator in Eddie Alvarez and Hector Lombard. It will be yet another great weekend for MMA fans and I can't wait.

Favorites Clash

This weekend’s UFC on FOX features something rare happening in my world of mixed martial arts. Two of my favorite guys scrapping for a possible chance at a world title shot somewhere down the line. Clay Guida and Ben Henderson will meet this Saturday in what I believe will be a great matchup. Guida brings relentless pressure and a smothering top game and Henderson is very comfortable and very good in every facet of the game.

I’ve grown to be a fan of both of these guys over the years, so this fight presents some interesting conundrums for me as a fan. I can’t root for one guy over the other, I want them both to have a title shot but that’s not possible. So the only answer is really to root for them to have a fight of the year candidate. Hopefully they have a fight of the year candidate and are able to pickup some extra coin for it along the way. I expect a high paced bout as both guys have great cardio and are very active.

I won’t make any prediction for the fight, like I said I’m a big fan and I’m just hoping they have a great fight. One that gets some attention from fans and media and gets some light shined on these guys. They deserve it.

UK Heartbreak

The UK hasn't been kind to Chris Leben, and today was no exception. There were several moments where it looked like he might pull out the victory but he took too much punishment and was left unable to see after the second round. It sucks and pretty much ends any chance of him contending for the title but he's still my favorite fighter.

What a great main card though, five fights and five finishes. If you're the UFC you couldn't really have asked for anything more. Big time win for Renan Barao over Brad Pickett, Barao was all over Pickett after hurting him with strikes and was able to secure the submission. Che Mills came out and destroyed Chris Cope, possibly putting an end to the woo'ing but I'm sure Cope will get another fight.

6pm rolled around and I turned on the second show put on by the reborn ProElite MMA promotion. Some decent fights but nothing really to write home about. Reagan Penn was dominated by Evan Cutts, it looked like Penn's cardio was an issue. Andrei Arlovski fought a pretty safe fight against Travis Fulton. Fulton didn't attack Arlovski's achilles heel with the overhand right enough in my opinion. Arlovski was able to finish the fight with a brutal headkick knockout with one second left in the fight which almost made up for the rest of the fight.

In the main event the old Tim Sylvia showed up, he was in shape and he was in old UFC form smothering his opponent against the cage and pretty much not allowing his opponent to get much off. He ended up winning an easy decision.

Next week two of my favorite fighters face off in Ben Henderson and Clay Guida. I don't know who is going to win this one and this is one fight I'm looking forward to as an MMA fan but as a HUGE fan of both I'm not looking forward knowing one of these guys is losing next week.

Putting my money where my mouth is

Not much but hey I'm a state employee.

Almost fight time

A little over six hours until the prelims begin for UFC 138 and I just wanted to get some thoughts down. The stare down between Mark Munoz and Chris Leben was pretty intense. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Chris like that at a weigh in. The banter as they were separated consisted of Leben telling Munoz it was his time and Munoz replying that he was going to take it away from him. I was already pumped for this fight and seeing the intensity took it to another level.

It’s going to be interesting to see what happens, I’m expecting Munoz to use some feinting to get Leben to commit and then taking him down from there. Leben I think needs to use the strategy he used against Aaron Simpson. Pace himself and let Munoz wear himself out trying to go for takedowns and as the fight goes on up the pressure.

Thiago Alves didn’t make weight on his first attempt; I’m not too concerned at this point. He went back and made it on the second try. The fact that he was only a pound over and went right back to get rid of it and made the weight is good enough for me. I’ve heard good things about Papy Abedi that leads me to believe this could be a kickboxing match and I’m pretty excited for this fight in general.

I don’t think Brad Pickett versus Renan Barao is getting enough love. I think it’s because both guys aren’t really well known and that probably won’t change with this fight with the way the UFC has promoted this card. I expect Pickett to take Barao down and pound on him and win a decision. I’m also looking forward to the return of Cyrille Diabate. The guy hasn’t had a boring fight in the UFC yet, he might not be the greatest on the ground but his stand up is awesome.

UFC 138 isn’t the only show in town for me this weekend; HDnet is showing the second event put on by the recently reborn ProElite. This event has some names the casual crowd will know such as former UFC Heavyweight champions Andrei Arlovski and Tim Sylvia. Arlovski is going up against MMA’s Iron man Travis Fulton who according to Sherdog.com’s fight finder has a 247-48-10 pro MMA record. That’s pretty insane when you think about it. Also on the card is Reagan Penn, I shouldn’t have to tell you who he’s related to. He’ll be fighting professionally for the second time against Evan Cutts.

These unknown cards usually turn out pretty good and I’m excited to have a full night of MMA. I hope to put something out tomorrow recapping my night while watching these fights. I always get nervous when people I like fight, I’m not feeling it yet but I’m sure as it gets closer to Leben’s fight it will start.

Intro

A little background on me before I start the MMA talk, so people will have an idea of what they’re getting themselves into while reading this blog. I’m 27; I work fulltime in an underpaid state position. I’m a father to a 2 year old boy and obviously I’m a huge MMA fan. I grew up on professional wrestling so I tend to appreciate fighters with personalities. I’m the biggest Chris Leben fan on the planet, win or lose he’s my favorite guy. I also tend to root for guys that are either from Oregon or who do train or have trained up here.

What I’m looking for this to be is a take from the perspective of someone who gets a little too involved into this thing. I have my favorites, I get really hyped up to watch them fight and if they lose I tend to get a little bummed. I’m not afraid to admit that and I think this blog will show the range of emotions someone crazy like me goes through while watching.