GSP vs Hughes For Welterweight Title At UFC 79!

Well that couldn't have gone much better. We now get to see the "rubber match" between Matt Hughes and Georges St. Pierre. Granted, its for the Interim Welterweight Championship but it is a 5 round affair none the less.

The chain of events began when current champ Matt Serra had to pull out of the scheduled December 29 title fight with Hughes after injuring his back. Now it seems Serra's injury is worse than previously thought and he may be out for 6 months or more. With the 170 lb. division stacked with so much talent and an open spot on the UFC's year ending card, it only made since that GSP and Hughes had their 3rd fight (with both winning one previous bout) and the interim title guarantee's a future bout when the healthy Serra returns. Many fans wanted this match in the 1st place before Serra snuck in and got the upset TKO of GSP in their fight.

Matt Serra got his title shot against GSP by winning the reality show The Ultimate Fighter, a shot many felt was undeserved, but made good on the opportunity by stopping GSP in the 1st round with devastating strikes. Back to the reality show went Serra this time to face rival Matt Hughes for the title upon its ending. Now the injury to the champion forces the consensus top 2 Welterweights in the world together one final time for a title that may be worth more than the one Serra is holding.

After the match and either GSP or Hughes is holding the belt, people are going to begin to call it the real title, and Serra's the fluke one. Mark my words its coming. Eventually, when all the dust is settled and the titles are united into one again it will not matter, but I believe Serra is going to hear many months of being "paper champ" while GSP or Hughes is considered the real champion because of their better records and higher levels of competition (not to mention they didn't win a competition against "comeback" fighters to get the shot).

Oh the Jersey accent is going to get louder, but until then, we have our dream match up between possibly the two best Welterweights of all time! Due to unfortunate circumstances, Matt Serra is going to be eclipsed, even with the "real" title while we crown what most will consider to be, the true Welterweight Champion.

Matt Serra Out Of UFC 79 With Injury

UFC Welterweight Champion Matt "The Terra" Serra, shown here with a pre-fight erection, has had to withdraw from his UFC 79 title fight with Matt Hughes due to injury. An MRI revealed herniated discs in his lower back preventing him from further training for the December 29 match up.

"This is the hardest thing I've ever had to do," Serra said in a statement on UFC.com. "I've never had a back injury before; I could hardly get off of the MRI table. There is no way I can train through this, and I'm devastated, especially because this was such an important fight. I was looking forward to fighting Matt Hughes. All my training was going phenomenally until Monday. All I can do now is to get better and to fight again as soon as possible."

Matt Hughes responded with the class he was once known for saying, "I believe Serra is actually hurt, so I don’t think this is just a ploy not to fight. Before my Royce fight, I had three bulged discs that I was able to repair enough to fight. As everybody knows you never go into a fight 100%. So, I’m just going to continue to train until I find out what’s next."

The UFC has not named a replacement for the Co-Main Event and it isn't even sure that Matt Hughes would accept a different fight. There are possible replacements if an agreement can be reached.

• Georges St. Pierre (14-2), the former Welterweight Champ is coming off a victory over Josh Koscheck in August so he would be healthy and we could conclude the GSP/Hughes rivalry with the inevitable "rubber match" coming as an early X-Mas gift for the fans. Is GSP in shape and ready for this fight would be the question.
• Jon Fitch (15-2) is coming off an October win over Diego Sanchez and has stated many times he would love to fight Matt Hughes.
• Thiago Alves (13-3) name has also been thrown around after his TKO (cut) win over Chris Lyle, though he did suffer a swollen eye and the fight wasn't very long ago. Also, Thiago isn't even ranked in the Welterweight Top 10.

Karo Parisyan was promised a title shot against Hughes years ago but suffered a broken hand in his recent fight with Ryo Chonan. Josh Koscheck is coming off a loss to GSP and Diego Sanchez is also coming off a loss to Fitch, and possibly going down in weight to 155 lbs. so neither seems a likely candidate.

Its up to the UFC and Matt Huges now and time is of the essence as there are currently 36 days to train for the possible bout. There is a great opportunity for any fighter to step up and face the greatest Welterweight of all time on a mega PPV card.

Fedor vs Hong Man Choi On New Year's Eve!

M-1 Global has pulled a bit of a surprise out of their hat and announced that they are putting on a show with many of the employees from the former Pride FC on New Year's Eve! Headlining the card will be none other than Fedor Emelianenko 6'1 230 lbs., will face Japanese giant, Hong Man Choi who stands 7'2 352 lbs. Choi is a Ssirum Champion and K-1 kickboxing star who has one his only MMA bout he won by TKO last December. Fedor is coming off his Sambo Championship defense in November and his last MMA bout was a submission win over Matt Lindland in April via submission.

This is a bit of an oddity match, something the Japanese have come to love and revere. They enjoy watching sumo wrestlers like 6'8 484 lb. Akebono get defeated by a 6'0 175 lb. Royce Gracie or Giant Silva the 7'2 385 lb. Brazilian being TKO'd by Japanese hero Ikuhisa "The Punk" Minowa who is 5'9 181 lbs. The "David vs Goliath" or "Freakshow" match has been a staple for a long time. Who can forget little Genki Sudo at 5'9 155lbs. taking on the "Round Mound of Pound" Butterbean (5'11 370 lbs.) and actually submitting the American boxer!

Fedor himself has been down this road facing and destroying Zuluzinho who tips the scales near 400 lbs. in only 26 seconds! Still, Hong Man Choi is no Zulu. SSirum is a form of wrestling in which he was a master, and had competed against the very best in K-1 including wins over Mighty Mo, Gary Goodridge, Semmy Schilt, and Bob Sapp. Choi can fight left or right handed with great power and of course his tremendous reach. Fedor is Fedor. "The Last Emperor" knows what to do in this situation and I have little doubt that he will strike his way into a clinch, take the giant down, and tap him out. Anything can happen in a fight, so come December 31st, we shall see. It is an interesting opponent though not one that will satisfy the fans who want Fedor to return to fighting Top 10 Heavyweights.

Also on the card are supposed to be Brazilian Ricardo Arona, Strikeforce Lightweight Champion and #2 World Ranked Gilbert Melendez , Lightweight Phenom Tatsuya Kawajiri, veteran Mach Sakurai (who is signed with the UFC so this is suspect), Mitsuhiro Ishida former Shooto Lightweight Champ, Kazuo Misaki 2006 Middleweight Grand Prix Champion, Luiz Azerado, Shooto Champion and much feared Shinya Aoki, Dutchman Joachin Hansem and perhaps Red Devil teammates Aleksander Emelianenko and Roman Zentsov. Depending on the matchmaking, these names lend to an exciting event and perhaps a little farwell for Pride FC under the new M-1 Global banner.

UFC 78 GIFS for you (Gono & Thiago)

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UFC 78 Valid-....well not really

We see here the greatest weigh in picture of all time with Thiago Silva giving a little "I know something you don't know" which is the floor game, not to mention the two interesting features to the far left, but I digress. Thiago had reason to be a little smug as he came in and straight exposed Houston Alexander in dominating fashion. Houston came out cautiously while Thiago stuck and moved until Alexander got the take down. That was a bad idea as the ju jitsu blackbelt quickly got control and then mount and from there Silva just did as he pleased until Alexander was unconcious. I mean Houston looked like he had no idea what to do on the floor and it showed one fighter, Silva, ready to contend in the Light Heavyweight scene, and Houston with a gaping hole in his game and a perfect blueprint on how to beat him in the future.

Karo Parisyan defeated Ryo Chonan in a defensive decision match and nobody seemed to notice Dan Henderson cornering Ryo, and his old Team Quest buddy Randy Couture in Karo's. Not the flashiest fight of all time but Karo got the win and still deserves a title shot. The guy has walked through hell (GSP, Matt Serra, Nick Diaz, Diego Sanchez, Nick Thompson, Chris Lytle, etc) so give him a break if he coasts to a win. He is owed a title shot. And its great to see Ryo come over from Japan and we hope to see him get more comfortable in the Octagon and his new Welterweight class.

Frankie Edgar laid on Spencer Fisher for 15 minutes in route to a unanimous decision win. It was to say, boring as hell, with the near perfect wrestling of Edgar displayed as he time and time again took Spence down and Fisher just couldn't do anything from his back.

Thiago Alves got a win over a newly aggressive Chris Lytle in a great exciting bout that was stopped far too early via a cut over Lytle's eye. The cut was big but above the eye and not hindering him in any way. Even the broadcasters called foul but once a decision is made, forget it. What should be remembered here is Lytle looked great and as aggressive as a Wanderlei Silva with constant pressure and attacking strikes he's not known for. Thiago got his pace in the 2nd after being dominated in the 1st and began to land some of the sickest leg kicks in the business. It could've been a great fight if not for the early stoppage. Here's to a rematch.

Joe Lauzon obliterated Jason Reinhardt in 1:14 via rear naked choke. Jason looked so small out there and a trip to the WEC lighter divisions is in order. J-Lau gets an easy W on his record.

Ed Herman survived some scary moments in his rematch with Joe Doerkson and out of nowhere KO'd the crafty vet cracking his orbital bone! Short Fuse is improving and needs an opponent like Martin Kampmann to see where he stands in the Middleweight division.

Maximus Aurelio got the TKO over Luke Caudillo and his 1st win in the UFC.

In the surprisingly most exciting "Fight Of The Night," Akihiro Gono absorbed the onslaught of the "Barn Cat" Tamden McCrory in a barn burner and was patient as Tamden slowed and Gono began to employ the leg kicks in his zebra striped briefs. Akihiro then got the fight on the floor, mounted, and secured an odd angled armbar that almost ripped McCrory's arm from its socket. Impressive fight and impressive debut in America for the "Asian Sensation."

Oh I almost forgot, there was a main event between Rashad Evans and Michael Bisping. It went as all expected, boringly, and with a controversial split decision. Rashad won the 1st with take downs and not much else. Bisping won the 2nd once he got his sprawl going and landed punches. The 3rd was the what mattered and an exhausted Rashad tried for take downs which Mike either sprawled out of or reversed and landed a couple of strikes. It was close but boring and I scored it 29-28 for The Count. The judges disagreed and gave it to Rashad and nobody really cares because neither are Top 10 Light Heavyweights and it was an awful fight to watch.

Well that PPV sucked, but the UFC did announce that Dan "Hollywood" Henderson will defend his Pride FC Middleweight Title against Anderson "Spider" Silva the UFC Middleweight Champ, in a title unification fight. Sounds good and UFC 79 is a sick card so just ignore this card. Still a difficult PPV to pick and we went 7-2 so there's that bit of solid information everyone is clamoring for. Well, that Validiated absolutely nothing, enjoy the veal.

Strikeforce Tournament Of Odd Results?

Strikeforce held their Middleweight 4-Man Tournament with the winner not receiving a title shot at Middleweight Champion Frank Shamrock. Their next show will feature two of the best Lightweights in the world when Strikeforce Lightweight Champion Gilbert Melendez defends his title against Josh Thompson. Tonight though was one for not the caliber of fights, but odd occurrences, controversy, and near tragedy.

Jorge Santiago began the tournament by KOing Sean Salmon (known for being devastatingly KO'd by Rashad Evans) just seconds into the fight causing not only the loss for Salmon but in ring seizures. Sean was rushed to the hospital and seems to be fine with no brain bleeding or skull fractures. Sean started the year with the infamous KO loss to Evans, followed it by losing to Alan Belcher, and went on to fight a total of 9 times this year, 3 in the month of September alone! He has won 5 of 4 this year but this disastrous KO may prove to be the end of his career as the California State Athletic Commission stated he may not be allowed to compete again. We wish only the best to the fallen fighter who may have just pushed himself to far in one year. Good luck Sean.

In the 2nd tournament bout, Trevor Prangley got the win over Falaniko Vitale when Prangley accidentally scratched Falan's eye causing the doctors to end the fight. Here's where it gets weird. The two rounds fought were close but Vitale definitely won the 1st round. The judges scored the bout 19-19, 19-19, and 20-18 for Vitale ruling the bout a Majority Draw. Thus, the referee makes the final call and awards the fight to Prangley! Vitale is understandably enraged.

Light Heavyweight Champion Bobby Southworth lost his title to Anthony Ruiz by TKO (cut). Bobby came out and dropped the challenger in the 1st and looked for a finish but Ruiz survived to the round. Anthony came out like a man possessed throwing bombs and with an incidental headbutt caused the cut to end the fight. Didn't I just do a story on cuts ending fights? Anthony Ruiz is your new champion with a 18-10 record and Light Heavyweights all over the world picking up the phone calling Strikeforce for a title shot.

Alistair Overeem became the Heavyweight Champion as he came out and straight dominated Paul Buentello with knees and punches after a trip to the floor. Paul tries to come back in the 2nd but those Muay Thai knees to the body floor him and he taps out! Wow, he taps out and Alistair gets a much needed win and trinket.

The Tournament finals begin and the fresh Jorge Santiago comes out landing punch after punch and two knees to the body (knees to the body in back to back fights for a finish?) putting Trevor Prangley out for the count. Jorge Santiago is your tournament winner and everyone is turning around to each other saying, who? Jorge won the tournament in a total of 2:55 taking his record to 16-7 and looking shockingly impressive.

In the main event (thank god), Cung Le just absolutely had his way with Sam Morgan like Kobe Bryant does with groupies. Cung threw and kicked the living crap out of Morgan for 3 rounds before mercifully ending the fight with a liver kick that TKO's Sam for good. Cung Le now feeling his oats, calls out Middleweight Champion Frank Shamrock who accepts his bid for a title shot.

Somewhere in the back there is a confused Jorge Santiago wondering why did I just win this tournament again? Frank is already slated to rematch Renzo Gracie in early '08 and then fight Cung Le? I guess the tournament champ is just outta luck. What an eventful evening on an unimpressive card.

UFC 78 Validation Breakdown

Many are talking about the lack of star power on this Pay Per Noob* event, but this is one of the most competitive and hardest to predict cards of the year. Even the odds makers have kept things close for most of the fights and many blogs are afraid to make true picks. We are not most blogs.

Rashad "Sugar" Evans 15-0-1 vs Michael "The Count" Bisping 15-0 As the old saying goes, an "O" has to go. One of these fighters is going to lose that undefeated streak. Rashad is coming off the Tito Ortiz loss, er I mean Draw, where Tito's cheating cost him a fight when Rashad looked like a deer in headlights. Now, Rashad is cockier and better after having faced a notable opponent and he can really add the confidence he needs. Bisping is coming off his controversial Split-Decision win over Matt Hamill in which the Internet world cried foul (learn to score fights people Bisping won). Both are looking for "Validation" (hey that's the name of the event!) and one will achieve it. Rashad is the wrestler that plagued Mike so much in his last fight only with a better gas tank and stand up skills. Evans takes the fight to the floor after being rocked on the feet and from there, he pounds out the old fashioned victory. I just can't see Mike getting the submission on the floor though he is good at getting back to the feet. Rashad knows this and and floor is where the fight is won, so he is training to stay on top at all costs.

WINNER-Rashad Evans by decision

"The Planet" Houston Alexander 8-1 vs Thiago Silva 11-0 I don't like this fight between two great exciting up and comers for Silva. Houston has already proved he is so strong and deadly in the clinch where Thiago likes to fight. Silva just doesn't have the power to contend with the barrage attack of Alexander. If, and that's a big if, Thiago can take the fight to the mat, he's got a far better chance of winning with his ju jitsu blackbelt against a stand up fighter who has been in the Octagon for barely over 2 minutes in 2 fights. However, the Chute Boxe member loves and wants to strike on the feet but he doesn't have the one punch power of his opponent though he does have 9 KO's, they are accumulative in nature.

WINNER-Houston (I can't believe I'm picking against my boy)

Spencer "King" Fisher 21-3 vs Frankie "The Answer" Edgar 7-0 Nobody is tougher than the King but Frankie is an explosive super quick and agile wrestler who can just maul people on the mat before they know what happened. Once again, Fisher is so tough and has fought the best and is more well rounded, its just that impressive ground expertise of Frank that scares me. But my rule is go with the percentages, and Spence just has so many more ways to pull out the win that you have to lean (barely) in his favor. The King is also close to a title shot and that has to motivate him in this fight. A cut for the always bleeding Fisher is also a concern but always go Irish when unsure.

WINNER-Spencer Fisher by ??????????

Karo "The Heat" Parisyan 25-4 vs Ryo Chonan 14-7 The Heat welcomes Pride FC alum Ryo to the UFC with his ever growing anger at not receiving his due and once promised title shot. Ryo holds a win over Anderson Silva which he will always be remembered for, but is going to be thrown around like Dana throws around curses. Karo's got this one and in impressive fashion.

WINNER-Karo by judo chop

Ed "Short Fuse" Herman 15-4 vs Joe Doerksen 39-10 Bit of a discrepancy in number of fights here but before I forget, I told you Herman would get off the snide in '07 and he is back in the Middleweight picture. Joe comes in as a last minute replacement and is a submission machine who has fought everyone! His experience is immense and could really pull off a big upset here. He was riding a 7 fight win streak before he ran into the tank known as Paulo Filho, but he always struggles with top tier fighters. This is Herman's chance to become mentioned in the top tier of Middleweights, oh and by the way, Doerksen beat Herman in 2004 so revenge will definitely be on his mind.

WINNER-Ed Herman by redemption!

Chris "Lights Out" Lytle 34-14-4 vs Thiago Alves 18-4 After a good performance/loss to Matt Hughes, Lytle has bounced back with a couple wins and is looking to get his 18th submission win. That's how he has to do it because Alves with take him apart on the feet. Who imposes their will takes this fight. The American Top Team member spoils the day for Chris with great sprawl and greater hand speed.

WINNER-Thiago Alves by decision

Joe Lauzon 14-3 vs Jason Reinhardt 18-0 Jason has 12 1st round submissions to his cred! Amazing but Joey isn't exactly a slouch on the floor either. Joe made a name for himself KOing Jens Pulver and then doing well on The Ultimate Fighter. Jason has been fighting on smaller shows for a while so he is a bit of an unknown but the little fella normally fights at 135 lbs.! His record is sick with no fight ever getting past the 2nd round but they are not against any fighter worth mentioning. Lauzon is going to use his reach to bitch slap this guy down to the WEC where he could be competitive.

WINNER-Joe Lauzon by submission

Marcus "Maximus" Aurelio 14-5 vs Luke Caudillo 15-8 Marcus known for being the most recent man to defeat Takanori Gomi went on to lose his next 3 fights on close decisions. He's due for a win against a guy who likes to strike and is susceptible to submissions which is Aurelio's game.

WINNER-Maximus by submission (I hope) but probably decision

Akihiro Gono 27-12-7 vs Tamdan McCrory 10-0 Welcome the highly entertaining on ring entrances alone, Akihiro Gono to the UFC everyone. The Pride FC veteran and Roy Jones Jr. super fan is known for being flashy and trains with 2006 Middleweight Grand Prix winner Kazuo Misaki. I have a seldom needed rule where I do not pick fighters with the nickname the "Barncat" to win, so Tamdan you're out.

WINNER-Gono by decision and flare

This PPV is ridiculous as far as close fights to pick are concerned and is really a pretty solid card top to bottom. I'm not expecting to do well on my picks this time but I won't cower away like everyone else seems to be doing.

*Pay Per Noob is in reference to the Pay Per View being most interesting to "Noobs" or people who know little about MMA but watch the Ultimate Fighter and thus recognize the main event names. An inside joke for the UG (slaps head).

Cuts End Fights

Many MMA fans who saw the last Elite XC show were upset when not 1 but 2 fights were stopped due to cuts, myself being one of them. However, as they used to say at that once proud franchise Pride FC, "fighter safety is paramount."

Fighters like Nick Diaz will always want to continue no matter their condition, and sometimes given the opportunity like in his war with Takanori Gomi, they will. Nick had been dropped by a punch much like the one that floored him by KJ Noons, cut badly, and came back to win the bout. In that fight, the cut was below the eye and thus blood didn't interfere with his vision. In the Noons fight he had 2 cuts above the eyes on the eyelids which is the worst spot for fighters (bottom right). Still, if you notice, once the fight was stopped and Diaz rose to his feet in anger, the corner had stopped the bleeding and he could have continued. The only true question is whether or not he could see out of the fast closing left eye. If you can only see out of one eye, you risk disaster much like Wanderlei Silva did when he continued with a completely closed eye against Mirko Cro Cop, and could not see the oncoming left high kick that knocked him into next week. If he could see, the fight continues, if not, the docs made the right call.

We also have some pics here of fights that were stopped by cuts that were not protested in anyway. Seth Kleinbeck's cut (top left) was not only huge, but the skin was hanging and the eye completely swelled shut. He did not complain about the stoppage. Good call.

Kalib Starnes lost his last fight when the doctors were able to see all the way to his skull (top right). Kalib asked to continue but wasn't allowed to. Good call.

Marvin Eastman earned his cut (bottom left) from a Vitor Belfort that even gained its own name ("the vagina") on the Internet. Marvin didn't know where he was anyway. Good call.

Its happened to many a fighter, including the legendary Fedor Emelianenko causing the only blemish on his record. Sometimes its about how you come back from losses, rather than how you handle the wins. The medical staff is there to protect the fighters from their opponents, and themselves.

So was the call Saturday night in Nick's case a good one? Maybe. Either way the record book is set and Nick employed a hands down sluggish game plan that allowed for the abuse and subsequent loss. It does set up a nice little bit of controversy and of course fans will be clamoring for a rematch.

Fedor Scares Away Competition To Defend Sambo Championship

Fedor Emelianenko successfully defended his Sambo Champion Title in the Open-Weight Division in the 31st Annual event. Fedor's 1st opponent did not show giving Fedor a bye into the semi-finals where he choked out his opponent. Then the man who won his way to the finals failed to appear as well giving Fedor his 10th Championship medal!!!!

780 fighters showed for the competition from 45 countries and yet only one man had the cojones to step in with the "Last Emperor." The Red Devil Fight Club leader won the largest Sambo event ever which kept him from signing with the UFC and going to M-1 Global instead. Looks as if the UFC erred by worrying about Fedor making it through the event uninjured and for those who say Fedor is not the #1 Heavyweight fighter in the world, well, your daddy is just fine and you wish you could suckle at the tit of the master.

KJ, Kimbo, & Jake Highlight Elite XC

Well, in the main event at Elite XC Renegade, KJ Noons became the Lightweight Champion defeating Nick Diaz after the ref stopped the fight after 1 round due to cuts. An obviously upset Diablo left the cage with arms in the air flipping that oh so sacred bird to the ref and whomever else he was mad at. He came out sloppy just like his last fight, and went for telegraphed takedowns which KJ had prepared for and stopped well. KJ used his boxing experience to tag Diaz and land a big knee that cut Nick's right eye prompting a doctor's check. The fight continued and it was just more of the same as Diaz shot in eating punches and got his other eye opened up as well as a cut over the nose. The round ended and as little brother Nate was imploring Nick to clinch up before attempting the takedown, the ref called an end to the fight without even consulting Diaz. The cut men did their job and Nick seemed ok, but it was not his choice. One eye was almost completely closed and that may have led to the stoppage. Upsetting as it is to see a title fight end on a cut, KJ did his job and becomes the Champion. I can only assume we will be hearing a barrage of anger from Diaz soon, and hopefully a rematch as well.

Kimbo Slice had Bo Cantrell obviously terrified before the bell even rang. Bo went for a nice spinning back fist and then Kimbo stalked his prey into the fence. There he landed a brutal shot followed by an elbow that sent Bo to the canvas and immediately tapping as Kimbo dropped down with a punch just to make certain the fight was over. Kimbo is a scary motherfucker but Bo wanted out as well so we can't tell much yet about Kimbo's potential. Still, it was impressive and his star power/stock can only rise from this swift win.

Jake Shields came out and rolled with Mike Pyle as both men showed great skill scrambling on the floor. The problem is that Jake will eventually catch you and that is exactly what he did with a rear naked choke deep in Pyle's neck forcing the tap. Jake called himself the uncrowned Welterweight Champ and who can argue with him? Elite XC gave him a great opponent tonight and he ended it easily in 1 round! Someone has to come in just to justify making a Welterweight Title for Shields to win.

Kyle Noke proved my upset pick correct by defeating Dr. Seth Kleinbeck via cut in the 2nd round. It was a nasty just deep and horrible cut. Shades of Eastman/Belfort and this fight is ova. The former Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin's bodyguard became successful in his American debut.

Bigfoot looked very impressive as Antonio Silva got his 1st submission win over Jon Wiezorek in the 1st. I thought Jon might prove a little tougher than that but what is most important here, is that technically Silva made weight for the Heavyweight division (normally he is a Super-Heavyweight). This could really open up some nice opponents for Bigfoot and the talent he possesses could really take him far into the Top 10. The potential for the Brazilian by way of American Top Team is limitless.

Off the snide comes Yves Edwards as "Thugjitsu" himself got a submission win in the 1st round. Perhaps the transition to American Top Team is just what he needed. Here's to Yves getting his groove back in 2008.

5 of 6 correct with are picks this is a nice precursor of things to come with Elite XC as they continue to bring their product up and make more and more interesting matches. By the by, Nick looked much worse in his fight with Takanori Gomi in which he came back to win. Hey, maybe the doctor never saw that fight.

Elite XC Renegade

Elite XC is back with perhaps their best and at the very least most intriguing event to date. Its worth PPV money but you can see it on Showtime this weekend.

Nick "Diablo" Diaz 16-6* vs KJ Noons 5-2 Diaz is back after a sluggish return from his marijuana suspension win over Mike Aina. It took a while for Nick to get rolling, but after the long layoff it wasn't unexpected. Diaz beat Takanori Gomi and many top tier fighters on his way to being a cult hero. KJ is the striker/boxer who will also be vying for the Elite XC 160 lb. Title. KJ slipped against Krazy Horse getting KO'd in his Elite XC debut but came back with a knee KO over very talented James Edson Berto. KJ hasn't shown us any skills on the floor where Nick is ju jitsu blackbelt and it is an obvious gap in his game. If Nick is smart and takes this fight to the floor it will be over quick. However, Nick loves to strike even if its not a good idea could get caught. Diaz also promised to "put on a show" after he last sloppy outing and will probably love to trade early on. Besides that sneaking KJ KO punch, Diaz should take this fight relatively easily to become the 1st 160 lb. champ!

WINNER-Diaz by submission Round 2

Kimbo Slice 1-0 vs Bo Cantrell 10-10 If you don't know who the underground Internet warrior named Kimbo is, you need to YouTube the legendary street fighter. Kimbo just started fighting whomever was dumb enough to stand in front of him in no holds barred fights and became notorious. Then he decided at 37 to go pro and began to train with none other than the legendary Bas Rutten who cannot say enough good things about his work ethic and how fast he is picking up the MMA game. Bo comes in late as a replacement but he is a big hitter who will stand in front of Kimbo and throw. This will be over quick with the iron jawed Slice using all his new tools, or just his old badass in the street striking to end the affair with flair.

WINNER-Kimbo by KO Round 1

Jake Shields 19-4-1 vs Mike Pyle 14-4-1 Jake is Nick's training partner and is riding an 8 fight winning streak into the fight. Jake is one of the top Welterweights in the world and has beaten the very best (Mach, Verissimo, Condit, Okami, Menne). Pyle is a submission nightmare who is training with Xtreme Couture and the gang. This should be a very technical great fight with two guys who know the game inside and out. To me the difference is Jake's size and this fight should go the distance. Both fighters are so well rounded but Shields has been fighting higher level talent for a lot longer and should win the day.

WINNER-Shields by decision

Seth Kleinbeck 8-3 vs Kyle Noke 13-3-1 Seth is a hand throwing monster who likes the KO. His Light Heavyweight opponent is also a KO fighter but also has submission skills that Seth lacks. The odds say Noke but that single punch can turn any fight. I'm going with the percentages.

WINNER-Noke by decision

Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva 8-1 vs Jonathan Wiezorek 11-1 With the visa/doctor problems behind him, Antonio returns after a quick ref stoppage gave him his only lost against Eric Pele and he returned to crush the concrete headed Cabbage. The 6'4 300 lb. American Top Team beast is ready after an 8 month layoff. Jon boy is no slouch and can submit the best of them, but can he submit a giant? He has striking ability but gives up over 50 lbs. in this fight to a guy who maybe the best Super-Heavyweight in the world.

WINNER-Silva by TKO Round 2

Yves Edwards 29-13-1 vs Nick Gonzalez 13-5 Yves has been on a horrible slide after at one time being considered one of the best Lightweights in the world. He has lost 5 of his last 6 fights but has finally made the move to American Top Team to revitalize his career. Nick is the up and comer who likes to strike with his slick former boxer skills. This is a scary fight for Yves because if he loses, he might be done. He desperately needs the win against a hard to grab hold of fighter who can knock you out. I give the nod to Yves because he has to have this and has so much experience and skills over Nick.

WINNER-Edwards by decision

*We here at MMA Fight Opinion consider the Athletic Commission's decision to rule Nick Diaz's win over Takanori Gomi a No Contest to be invalid because marijuana isn't a performance enhancing drug and shouldn't even be tested for.

BJ Penn vs Joe Stevenson For UFC Interim Title

Sean Sherk's steroid appeal in front of the California State Athletic Commission has again been put on hold until November 13. Sherk and his attorney presented new evidence including polygraph tests, that the commission deemed themselves not ready to make a verdict. So, Sean Sherk and his UFC Lightweight title are still on hold.

But wait, we now have a fight set for an interim title set for January in England. BJ Penn will face Joe "Daddy" Stevenson for the interim title which will become the true title if Sherk ends up being suspended, or will be the opponent of Sherk should he win his steroid appeal and keep his belt. Got that? Ok, simple enough but here is my problem with the deal.

Why is BJ Penn 11-4-1 in this equation? Joe "Daddy" 28-7 is coming off 4 straight wins over talent such as former uncrowned Lightweight Champion Yves Edwards, contender Melvin Guillard, the crafty Mishima, and a great back and forth fight with Kurt Pellegrino. All solid wins over good competition with only 1 fight going to the judges cards. BJ, since returning to the UFC in 2006, has lost twice, once to Georges St. Pierre, once to Matt Hughes in their rematch, and his only win comes over Jens Pulver who to be quite honest, isn't the upper tier Lightweight he used to be. 3 fights with a record of 1-2 gets you a title shot?

I understand BJ has fought a higher level of competition and is coming off the notoriety of The Ultimate Fighter, but a loss is a loss is a loss. Not to mention (too late I did) he has but 1 fight in the Lightweight division. Apparently you get a title shot upon name alone and not the body of your work.

What about Lightweight fighters like Roger Huerta 19-1-1 who is riding a 10 fight winning streak and is a very exciting fighter? What about Spencer Fisher 20-3 who has paid his dues losing only to former #1 contender Hermes Franca and Sam Stout who he defeated in the rematch which is a candidate for "Fight Of The Year." Or even Tyson Griffin 10-1 who has only stumbled against surprise fighter Frankie Edgar and beaten only the top Lightweight talent like stud Thiago Tavares, and the unbelievably tough Clay Guida. Hell I'd even throw Kenny Florian in the mix. He only went 5 rounds with Sean Sherk and bloodied the crap out of him in a decision loss. Kenflo then bounced back defeating Alvin Robinson, Mishima, and dominated Top Contender Din Thomas (by the by finishing all his fights).

It just seems like your name, or reality television stardom should not a title contender make. I do think Penn/Stevenson will be a good and compelling fight. I just don't understand why more deserving Lightweights were brushed aside after working far more in the last 2 years than BJ, and actually winning against top tier fighters. This is my displeasure, and yet, the interim title fight could be a great war.