NEW MMA Rankings: Enjoy Them You Will!

Movement In The MMA Rankings

In the Heavyweight division, take notice Gabriel Gonzaga is back in and on his way up. Antonio Nogueira and Randy Couture move up on their respective performances at UFC 102 while Frank Mir drops a bit due to his sad showing at UFC 100. I still feel Josh Barnett is near the top but what to do with a steroid cheater with such talent?

In the Light Heavyweight division, newly crowned Strikeforce Champion Gegard Mousasi continues his climb to destiny, while Keith Jardine falls out of the Top 10 thanks to his glass jaw.

The Middleweights still see some controversy as Nate Marquardt ups his stock though Mr. Invisible Yushin Okami is still out there after defeating Dean Lister, Evan Tanner, Jason MacDonald, Mike Swick, Alan Belcher, going 7-1 in his UFC career, and being the last man to defeat Anderson Silva. I am still baffled how overlooked "Thunder" is. Dan Henderson is still #2 until beaten by someone other than Anderson Silva. And Mr. Shields comes in hot as he makes the decision to mix it up the 185ers. Vitor Belfort makes his 1st Top 10 appearence in the history of MMAFO though I wish we could have had that Affliction fight with Jorge Santiago.

The stagnate Welterweight division still trails GSP while Mike Swick somehow sneaks into the Top 10 thanks to Jake Shields changing divisions.

The always stellar Lightweight division doesn't move thanks to Kenny Florian's gutsy though futile effort against pack leader BJ Penn while I continue to threaten Josh Thomson's status as he continues to injure himself and not defend his belt. Gilbert Melendez is the true champion!

Fights That Make Sense

Randy Couture vs. Frank Mir makes sense for the Heavyweights though it looks like Mir may draw Cheick Kongo first. After his big win, I think its about time we saw Antonio Nogueira/Heath Herring for the 5th time (thats a joke). Gabriel Gonzaga could fill the need for the hungry and scary Todd Duffee in a big man brawl.

How about Yushin Okami vs Dan Henderson and Nate Marquardt vs Wanderlei Silva since the UFC is intent on "The Axe Murderer" dying in the Octagon. Nate Quarry, Wilson Gouveia, and Yoshihiro Akiyama are also notables.

Forrest Griffin vs Thiago Silva would sell and be interesting for sure while a good introduction to Antonio Rogerio "Lil' Nog" Nogueira would be a fight with the durable Stephan Bonnar before he exits the promotion. Matt Hamill is still around and could sign with Jon "Bones" Jones who would make the boring fighter exciting.

Just some ideas but Joe Silva isn't returning my calls, yet.

UFC 102 Results: Nogueira, Marquardt, Silva, & Duffee The Big Winners!

Always go with your 1st instinct people. UFC 102, which was panned by critics as lackluster event, delivered on exciting fights and a stellar Main Event many thought would be drab considering the age and supposed condition of the fighters. MMAFO will go over the results, Mondays probable cut list, and the important notables within the event.

Antonio Rogerio Nogueira defeats Randy Couture in a spirited "Fight Of The Night" style bout via hard earned decision. Around 73% of the polled UFC fans thought "The Natural" would overcome the old too soon staff riddled "Minotauro." They would be wrong as "Big Nog" pulled the upset win in "Captain America's" hometown! Antonio took an early punch from Couture that cut his right eyebrow (shocker; he bled) but stormed back taking over on the feet and even dropping Couture to the canvas and came oh so close to submitting him with the D'arce choke. Randy showed the heart he is known for fighting through it as Nogueira was forced to relinquish the hold or burn his arms out. Still the round was all Rogerio though Randy came back with some good striking and a takedown in the 2nd. I sensed danger for Tony when he pulled a beautiful sweep to put himself back on top of Couture though he once again could not tap him out with a nice looking Arm-Triangle choke. In the final stanza, Couture would again show his resolve coming out with some great striking, but Antonio stood in the pocket with him as they brought the crowd to their feet with a punching melee. It would be Nogueira again who landed a shot that sent Randy crashing to the canvas though he could not finish him. "Captain America" had one last gasp in him sweeping "Big Nog" but unable to finish him bringing the inevitable unanimous decision win for Minotauro.

After the fight, Nogueira expressed his desire to face Champion Brock Lesnar and Mr. Couture said he wants to continue on with "interesting fights." A great Main Event and two class act legends the rest of the card could learn from. Just a side note, Brock Lesnar was cage side cheering on Couture hoping for a rematch and the dollars that would generate.

Thiago Silva put Keith Jardine to sleep in the very 1st round. The "Dean Of Mean" looked good backing up Silva early as the fight started fast. It would be a stiff left hook that floored Keith and the follow up barrage of strikes that left the "Dean" unconscious and flattened out. Thiago looked very impressive putting himself back in the Light Heavyweight title scene and we are left to wonder if Jardine's questionable chin will keep him from ever factoring into the top of the UFC heap ever again. Chute Boxe is not going away people!

Nathan Marquardt took 20 seconds and 1 punch to put the Demian Maia hype to sleep, literally. Maia went to throw a kick and Nate just turned his lights out with a right hand and graciously pulled up before inflicting more unnecessary damage. Royce Gracie 2.0 my ass.

Brandon Vera looked off yet again but did enough to outpoint Krzysztof Soszynski in a decent but a bit of a let down fight. Vera just doesn't look to have that offensive killer instinct he possessed at Heavyweight. Brandon lives to fight another day while Krzysztof didn't look bad and taking 3 fights on short notice for the UFC keeps him in good standing as well.

Jake Rosholt seemed like a bit of an asshole as he put Chris Leben, another asshole, to sleep with a deep Triangle Choke. Neither guy looked like a world beater and this fight should not have been on the PPV in my humble opinion.

Gabriel Gonzaga got the expected TKO win over Brock Lesnar's training partner Chris Tuchscherer, but not without controversy in just an odd fight. Napao came out with a powerful inside leg kick that caught no leg and all testicles. It was so strong that Chris hit the floor and found himself coughing and almost vomiting his insides onto the Octagon floor. The doctors wanted to stop the fight which would have given Tuchscherer the DQ win, but he threw a fit and summoning up some real guts, convinced them to let him fight after a lengthy delay. You can't tell me that didn't affect his performance, or that he would have won the fight had the foul not occurred. Things happen and the fight resumes with Gabe landing a big Cro Cop sized head kick followed by some good old fashioned G&P that bloodied Chris and ended the fight. The strange goings on may have kept Chris from the dreaded Monday morning UFC cut list, but credit the guy for not packing it in and giving the fans the fight they wanted.

Aaron Simpson and Ed Herman went to war in what would have been the fight of the night had "Short Fuse" not injured his knee toward the end of the 1st round. It was a really good back and forth fight with Simpson pulling ahead when during a takedown Ed screamed out in pain and grabbed his knee. The Team Quest stalwart hung in there and made it to the 2nd round. Warned by the referee to protect his knee or the fight would be stopped, Herman gave it the college try but collapse in pain halting the fight via TKO injury. I would really like to see this bout again and hopefully the Zuffa brass will give Ed the chance.

Todd Duffee is frightening as hell and the Heavyweight division had better watch out. Todd set a UFC record (fastest KO) by starching Tim Hague a mere 7 seconds into their bout and in Duffee's debut for the organization. Todd is so big and scary that he has to have an impact on the division as he called out to Dana White to give him "something to eat."

Evan Dunham had a good showing winning the Split-Decision over Marcus Aurelio though the fight should have been scored 29-28 for the Xtreme Couture upstart. "Maximus" showed his toughness taking the fight on short notice and even won the final round though it would not be enough for the win. Dunham just came off like a spoiled cocky prick.

Mark Munoz had more trouble than was expected taking a Split-Decision win over Nick Catone as they fought the full 15 minutes.

Finally and thank your fake god, Mike Russow defeated Justin McCully by decision to send the Team Punishment bitch packing on his way to a smaller promotion, or if we are lucky, retirement.

8-3 on the picks but if not for the false last minute information and second guessing myself, it would have been 9-2. Oh well, great night of fights and more to come as the UFC brings its next event to us for free on Spike TV. Expect Nick Catone, Marcus Aurelio, and mercifully Justin McCully to head for the unemployment line Monday. Bet.

UFC 102: Couture vs Nogueira Nose Picking

The UFC finally comes to Portland, Oregon, which just happens to be Mr. Couture's hometown. We see 2 former UFC Heavyweight Champions who are each legends, a strikers war with another Silva and the inconsistent Jardine, the return of a steroid user (Leben), the potential contenders to Anderson Silva's throne, quite a few up and coming fighters, and lots o' Heavyweights stacking an interesting card.

PPV
Heavyweight bout: Randy Couture vs. Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira Can you believe people are asking if the 33 year old "Minotauro" is finished instead of the 46 year old "Captain America?" A "dream bout" comes true and it doesn't even seem too late with both men coming into the fight in great condition. Randy is heralded for being old in a young man's game and doing OK against Brock Lesnar. "Big Nog" was Mr. Durable until a staff riddled performance made everyone question if he is going the way of fellow Pride veteran Wanderlei Silva. I am growing tired of the obnoxious love of "The Natural" who is a wife divorcing, money hungry, Team Quest ditching, somewhat overrated fighter, so my vision may be a bit skewed on this one. Still, Randy has 2 career submissions while Nog has 20. 20 people(!) though Couture hasn't been tapped since 2002. Even with the crowd in his corner, I don't see Tony being stupid enough to try a clinch game fight with Randy, instead opting to use his boxing skills to keep Couture at bay, and possibly taking a shot at submitting him on the floor. If Rodrigo is taken down I don't think it will be a problem, and maybe an advantage, for the Jiu-Jitsu genius. This may all be Pride FC love bias.**UPDATE-After more researching and finding out Nog was KO'd more than once in training for this fight, and his own camp saying things look bad, I am changing my pick to sadness. Damn it.

WINNER-Randall Couture by decision
Light Heavyweight bout: Keith Jardine vs. Thiago Silva An intriguing fight on paper, but my only worry is the "Dean's" chin status. He's gotten caught by Houston Alexander and Wanderlei Silva but went the distance against Rampage in his last bout though he was dropped a couple of times. He could get caught again but the percentages tell me Thiago has exposed his weakness in his last bout with now Champion Lyoto Machida by being too aggressive and possibly having a suspect chin of his own. Lettuce not forget Keith has the best camp in the business (Greg Jackson Fighting) who will not doubt arm him with a killer game plan.

WINNER-The Dean Of Mean by exciting decision
Middleweight bout: Chris Leben vs. Jake Rosholt How does Leben, an average fighter who is coming off a steroid suspension, deserve a spot on the PPV. Its just baffles me. Anywho, we know what the "Crippler" is all about but its Jake who everyone is really watching. An "upside" prospect from the Xtreme Couture camp, many people think he can be the real deal. I don't see his striking doing much to Leben's granite chin, and I'm not even sure wrestling will be a factor in this bout. Unfortunately, Chris has the advantage and if he doesn't shut down Rosholt, expect a judges nod in his direction.

WINNER-Chris Leben by who cares?
Middleweight bout: Nate Marquardt vs. Demian Maia Everyone is awe struck by the "Submission Magician" Maia and rightly so, but Nate is an elite specimen who can strike much, much better and has a little something called cardio which remains quite questionable with Demian. Also, I don't like how slow Maia throws his strikes and I think that leads to his undoing as the relentless Marquardt avoids the ground (unless he is insane) and picks apart Wanderlei's protege before stopping him completely.

UPSET PICK WINNER-Nate Marquardt by turning out the lights
Light Heavyweight bout: Brandon Vera vs. Krzysztof Soszynski Dontcha hate it when 2 really good personalities collide in a fight? Me either. This fight is going to be explosive and fun. Sure Krzysztof has a decent all-around game, but Vera's striking is at another level. On the floor, Brandon hasn't exactly wow'd me but he also claims to be back on his game after getting cocky and lax on his training. The "Polish Experiment" takes yet another fight on short notice (5 weeks) but it has served him well garnering a 3-0 record in the UFC. Krzys says he'll eat a barrage of punches to land a good hard shot and that is just not a good plan.

WINNER-"The Truth" by points

Prelims
Middleweight bout: Ed Herman vs. Aaron Simpson This is the hardest fight to pick on the entire UFC 102 card. Herman has a lot of talent but is inconsistent and generally fails against upper tier fighters. The "A-Train" is a KO specialist with solid wrestling but only has 5 professional fights to Ed's 22 and a career spent learning with Team Quest. Still, I'll take the up and comer over the "Journeyman" which is a label for eventual disaster.

WINNER-Aaron Simpson by tough decision
Heavyweight bout: Gabriel Gonzaga vs. Chris Tuchscherer Ummm, Chris is in trouble. "Napao" is going to curb stomp him in the most lop-sided bout of the evening. This won't last long.

WINNER-Napao by TKO Rd.1
Heavyweight bout: Justin McCully vs. Mike Russow I see Mikey winning a boring fight here though it won't be close on the judges card. Russow is a much better wrestler and Justin isn't a very good fighter anyway, but he also lacks offense instead opting to lay and pray in his fights. Russow won't allow that outworking him at every turn. By the way, McCully is a total douchebag and even his homo-erotic friendship with Tito Ortiz and Kendall Grove won't save his job in the UFC after this bout.

WINNER-Mike Russow by decision
Heavyweight bout: Tim Hague vs. Todd Duffee I like the cut of Tim's jib, his journey to the UFC, and his big upset of an overconfident Patrick Barry in his debut. Unfortunately, the Tim Sylvia clone is about to meet ATT's beast of a fighter in Todd. The "Duff Man" is a freestyle fighter who by the way knocks the crap outta people. Should be a decently close fight but expect Todd to get the better striking his way to a debut win. (Remember my rule: "Never pick the fighter making his debut.")

WINNER-Duff Man by TKO Rd.3
Middleweight bout: Nick Catone vs. Mark Muñoz Marky Mark looks waaay better dropping down to Middleweight and that spells trouble for Catone. Both are good wrestlers, but the Philippine is better pretty much wherever the fight goes.

WINNER-"The Philippine Wrecking Machine" by TKO Rd.2
Lightweight bout: Marcus Aurelio vs. Evan Dunham Dunham fights without Peanut against a durable Jiu-Jitsu guy who is becoming a decent striker thanks to his boys over at ATT. Evan is supposed Jiu-Jistsu fella as well, but he also leaves himself open to take strikes. However, according to the experts and the Xtreme Couture camp, this kid is the next small thing and I'll just plead ignorance for now.

WINNER-Dunham by decision

Fedor Emelianenko Signs Fight With Brett Rogers

Fedor Emelianenko has signed his 1st fight contract with Strikeforce to face undefeated prospect Brett "The Grim" Rogers. The date of the fight has not been announced but is expected by November or December.

The Grim is coming off the biggest win of his career via the KO of Andrei Arlovski in a mere 22 seconds. The "Last Emperor" also defeated the "Pitbull" by KO in his last bout. This is no small task (as seen in the picture) for the WAMMA Heavyweight Champion as Brett will be 5 inches taller and at least 30 lbs. heavier.

MMA Melee: A Big Boy Bash & Gina Carano Is Still Hot

Holy crap, the Melee is back! After some technical difficulties that knocked us off the world wide web, the MMAFO has returned to offer the insightful insight, that only our auspicious staff can provide. So we play a little ketchup on the recent MMA news and the aftermath of sweet Gina Carano's destruction at the hands of "Half-man, half-frightening" Femborg Santos.

As previously stated, Chris Santos got the TKO win over the lovely and in wonderful shape, Gina Carano at the last Strikeforce event. Femborg came out strong as expected but Gina was able to weather the storm and fire back some offense of her own. In the end, with a mere second to go, the referee saved millions of heart attacks around the world as he halted the assault on beautiful Carano's punam. Santos is now the 145 lbs. women's champion, and Randy Couture moves in to comfort Gina in her hour of need. Could get awkward considering Kim Couture, the now divorced wife of Randy, is one of Gina's best friends. There will be little problem marketing Gina for her next fight, and once again the women steal the show with a great fight.

Antonio "Lil Nog" "Minotoro" Rogerio Nogueira has finally signed with the UFC and will be joining his brother in tag team action. If only, but really this is a great move by Zuffa to help bulk up an already exciting Light Heavyweight division. He is a very respectable 17-3 in a career with much less abuse than his heavier brother, and has notable wins over the likes of Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion Alistair Overeem, fellow recent addition to the UFC Vladimir Matyushenko, Dan Henderson, and some fella named Sakuraba.

Takanori Gomi is soon to be a daddy and has decided to take the rest of the year off to be with his youngling.

"These days have been happy for me. I’m going to get married and it makes new sense in my life. The days in Koganezaki (resort) and its beautiful beaches made me think a lot. After all, a new member of the family is coming to give us happiness. If it will be a boy his name will be Isamu, if it will be a girl her name will be Aimi,” he wrote. “The expectation of becoming a father is such an unique sensation and I want to make the most of any moment. Therefore fighting isn’t the goal for this year anymore,” he added.

The UFC Heavyweight schuffle is on as Shane Carwin will now get the title shot against Brock Lesnar at UFC 106 in November. Cain Velasquez who was supposed to face Mr. Carwin at UFC 104 in October, will now face "Big" Ben Rothwell who was supposed to face Chase Gormely, will now get the up and coming ATT member at said event. Chase will fight the lanky giant Stefan Struve. I actually applaud this Zuffa move since Cain and Shane are being groomed for title shots and it would trash the marketable plans. Plus, you got Carwin talking trash about how he hates Brock and how unprofessional he acts. A nice storyline shapes up for UFC's countdown show.

In other recent UFC matchmaking, Denis Kang will get the recovering Michael Bisping and Dong Hyun Kim will face the "Outlaw" Dan Hardy who is coming off an impressive win over Marcus Davis, all at UFC 105. Thiago Alves will destroy Paulo Thiago in a name game match at UFC 107. Also, at UFC 102, Brandon Vera will be fighting Krzysztof Soszynski who is replacing the injured Matt "What?" Hamill.

With Cung Le still not defending the Strikeforce Middleweight title, Jake Shields is getting restless and has started calling out Frank Shamrock. "I am willing to fight anyone. I believe in the old to be the best you have fight the best so definitely Georges St. Pierre. Oh, and Frank Shamrock because he’s been a dick to me for too long, and I am tired of his shit. I keep challenging and demanding to fight him, but he always has some pussy excuse not to fight me. It was a pretty good feeling when Nick destroyed him. I definitely want to add him to the list." Sweet, score another sound byte for the Scrap Pack.

Oh and lest we forget, I went a perfect 6-0 predicting the latest Strikeforce event. I just earned a cookie.

Strikeforce: Carano vs Cyborg Fight Picks

Main card
Women's Championship (145 lb) bout: Gina Carano vs. Cristiane Santos  The biggest bout in the history of women's MMA is here as Gina "Crush" Carano collides with "Femborg" Santos for the 1st ever Strikeforce women's title at 145 lbs.  Both ladies were in great shape for the bout and came in under the limit.  We all know Gina prides herself on being a Muay Thai fighter but she is facing an ultra-aggressive Chute Boxe fighter who may actually be male.  Santos brings the blitzkrieg standing style that will prove deadly to the technically superior Carano, who will not enjoy the beating but will hopefully keep her beautiful face in tact.  Its all good in the end as Gina comes out stronger from facing such a tough opponent and goes on to more feminine things, while Cristiane continues to grow her penis and hopefully an eventual Pound4Pound fight between her and Tara Larosa.

WINNER-Femborg by TKO Rd.1
Light Heavyweight Championship bout: Renato Sobral vs. Gegard Mousasi  "Babalu" came in very good shape for this fight which he hasn't really done in a while.  Still, "Young Vagabond" may have the advantage in every single area except for Jiu-Jitsu.  I look for the Red Devil to wear down Babs with striking and wrestling before the eventual late stoppage.  I'm a big Sobral fan but his career is drawing to a close, and Gegard is just beginning.

WINNER-Gegard Mousasi TKO Rd.4
Interim Lightweight Championship bout: Gilbert Melendez vs. Mitsuhiro Ishida  This will be the "Fight Of The Night" as 2 bad ass Lightweights collide in what has to be a war.  Both can do any aspect of the game well and have cardio for days.  I like both of these guys but I'm staying with my "Scrap Pack" brother to win a spirited decision.

WINNER-El Nino 
Heavyweight bout: Mike Kyle vs. Fabricio Werdum  I still hate the cheating disgusting Mak man and the Chute Boxe fighter is going to prove how average Kyle really is.  All the game in this fight belongs to Werdum as long as he can avoid the heavy hands of his opponent and relies on his brilliant Jiu-Jitsu.

WINNER-Werdum submission Rd.2
Prelims
Welterweight bout: Jay Hieron vs. Jesse Taylor  Bas Rutten's protege takes on the orc that got banned from the UFC.  Jesse is coming down a weight class but his wrestling could pose problems for Hieron.  I like Jay to use his experience and the fact that he actually possesses a brain, to wear on Jesse for the eventual close win.

WINNER-Jay Day by decision

I won't be picking the rest of the fights as they have probably already begun and I am out of time.  

Light Heavyweight bout: Scott Lighty vs. Mike Cook
Lightweight bout: David Douglas vs. Justin Wilcox
Welterweight bout: James Terry vs. Zak Bucia
Lightweight bout: Isaiah Hill vs. Alex Trevino

All Fedor Emelianenko's Fights In 1 Video!

All of Fedor Emelianenko's taped fights in 1 10 minute span!

WEC 42: Brian Bowles vs. Miguel Torres Video

Brian Bowles takes out Miguel Torres at WEC 42 to become the new Bantamweight Champion halting the 17 fight win streak of "Angel."

UFC 101 Declaration Results

Jesse Lennox reps Miletich Camp cutting Danillo Villefort to bring the doctor stoppage in Rd.3
George Sotiropoulos overwhelmed George Roop and got the submission Kimura early in the 2nd.
Matt Riddle gets the decision over Dan Cramer and I couldn't care less.
Alessio Sakara gets the upset win over a struggling Thales Leites via Split-Decision. Thales has fallen quickly since his storied awful performance against Anderson Silva. Leites has now dropped 2 in a row and lost to an average at best fighter, who is 5-4 in the UFC. Now explain to me who the hell has given Sakara 9 fights in the UFC?
John Howard also pulls the upset on the cards taking out Tamdan McCrory with a close Split-Decision. Look for the "Barncat" to head down to Welterweight after the loss.
Kurt Pellegrino gutted out a tough win over the shit talking Josh Neer by unanimous decision. The war of words didn't happen before the bout but during instead. Interesting at least.
Ricardo Almeida gassed out in the 3rd and was still able to win all 3 rounds with Kendall Grove as his mentor Tito Ortiz looked on. "Da Faux Spider" just doesn't have the ground game to hang with a Gracie Jiu-Jitsu student who will soon be joining Tamdan at Welterweight.
Johny Hendricks continues the upset specials getting an early stoppage TKO over Amir Sadollah under 30 seconds into the 1st round. The ref definitely stopped this too early but it's not John's fault though the crowd seemed to think so. Its a learning experience for Amir and Hendricks gets a big win in a career of potential mediocrity.
Aaron Riley got his revenge in a rematch with Shane Nelson who may have over trained for the fight.
Anderson Silva KO'd Forrest Griffin and his retarded game plan. Forrest isn't known for great striking and proved it yet again trying to stand with a master. Throwing awful combinations with zero power and trying to wing punches at Silva, Forrest could not connect as the real "Spider" bobbed and weaved looking like Roy Jones Jr. in his prime. Why Griffin didn't employ his leg kicks or go for the takedown is beyond me, but after that embarrassing performance, I would have left the cage immediately as well.
Finally, B.J. Penn dominated Kenny Florian who gave a valiant effort using GSP's game plan to wear the "Prodigy" down by pressing him up against the fence and working 4 rounds for the takedown that never came. BJ had little problem with it and out struck "Kenflo" with relative ease. Ken showed a lot of heart as always, but Penn is just better and finally slammed Florian to the mat in the 4th, landed some big painful punches, and finally secured a RNC from which Kenny tapped. Love him or hate him, try not to forget how good "Baby Joe" really is in MMA.

Justanotsogood witha da picks at 7-4. What can I say about this lackluster event except at least its over and maybe Zuffa will start putting together better cards. Oh, I just looked at UFC 102, apparently they won't.

UFC 101: A Sad Sequel To UFC 100

Main card
Lightweight Championship bout: Lightweight Champion B.J. Penn vs. Kenny Florian "Kenflo" makes his 2nd attempt at the strap while BJ tries to rebound from a thrashing at the hands of GSP. Besides the kicking affair, name me 1 spot Kenny is better than Penn? His only shot is cardio and with the Penn camp bringing in the brothers Diaz, and a bevy of other super-stars, BJ has had an amazing camp and is in great shape. Florian has improved so much since the 1st attempt at the title versus Sean Sherk, and I highly doubt he runs face 1st into the octagon's pillars again, but he just doesn't have the game to top Penn unless he slicks in a cut to call the bout. I'm all for "Kenflo" here, but he'll tough out a long loss.

WINNER-The Prodigy by decision
Light Heavyweight bout: Anderson Silva vs. Forrest Griffin The Middleweight Champion has been vilified as of late for not delivering the highlight reel stoppages he has been known for. This has led to ignorant criticism, and the "Spider" lashing out angrily in recent interviews. Then comes Forrest 1 of the most beloved MMA fighters of all time with his "aw schucks" attitude. Griffin is tough as they come but doesn't have the skills to stop Silva. Taking this bout to the floor ala his mentor Randy Couture's style won't gain him the win. Even from top position Silva will pop elbows into the easily cut brow of Forrest. The original TUF winner can't submit Andy, and his striking isn't going to take out anyone. This bout screams Anderson stabbing and stalking his way to a decision victory, but Griffin will push the pace to make it interesting.

WINNER-Anderson Silva by TKO (cut) Rd.3
Middleweight bout: Kendall Grove vs. Ricardo Almeida And now the PPV goes straight into the toilet. Grove sucks and Ricky has yet to really impress since returning from a 3 year retirement. Almeida has all the Jiu-Jitsu in the world if he can get to the long limbed Kenny. Still even if I was rich, I would never, never bet on "Da Spider."

WINNER-Almedia by decision
Lightweight bout: Josh Neer vs. Kurt Pellegrino 2 tough as nails fighters with 1 being a recent jailbird and the other being a crime fighter. You always pick the hero over the villain right? Its a coin flip fight but I'll take Neer by a hair

WINNER-The "Dentist" via decision
Welterweight bout: Amir Sadollah vs. Johny Hendricks Amir finally gains the health to fight after winning TUF whatever against

WINNER-Amir by personality?

Prelims
Lightweight bout: Shane Nelson vs. Aaron Riley Iron jaw gets his rematch with Shane after the early stoppage in their last bout. I can't see Nelson getting the lucky strike in again on Riley who curb stomps the Hilo boy outta the UFC.

WINNER-Riley by decision
Welterweight bout: Tamdan McCrory vs. John Howard Do you think I'm going against the "Barncat" my favorite awkward fighter? Well, Howard is impressive, but I'm on the fence about whether or not he is for real.

WINNER-Tamdan by submission Rd.3
Middleweight bout: Thales Leites vs. Alessio Sakara The "Legion" gets a million chances in the UFC where he is against the heavily boo'd after his lay down against Anderson Silva, Thales Leites. To the floor we go and an easy pick.

WINNER-Leites by submission Rd.1
Welterweight bout: Matt Riddle vs. Dan Cramer Matt the young douche bag from TUF vs. the 1-0 ATT prospect.

WINNER-Riddler via boring wrestling decision
Lightweight bout: George Sotiropoulos vs. George Roop This is silly and say goodbye to Roop.

WINNER-Sotiroupoulousonlus by submission
Welterweight bout: Jesse Lennox vs. Danillo Villefort Miletich Camp vs. ATT and I'm taking the upset here with the brutal prospect and pupil of Pat.

UPSET PICK WINNER-Jesse the Lummox

The Last Emperor Signs With Strikeforce

Scott Coker's MMA company Strikeforce, has always benefited from failure. They have held their ground, slowly expanding their product, and picking up MMA stars from the defunct IFL and buying up the disaster that was Elite XC. Now Strikeforce benefits from Affliction's death as they sign the biggest free agent in MMA, "The Last Emperor" Fedor Emelianenko!

The Red Devil leader will debut for Strikeforce on Showtime in late October or November, said Coker, who agreed to a trio of co-promoted events with M-1 Global, which manages and promotes the 32-year-old heavyweight. Similar provisions for co-promotion were laid out by M-1 during a four-day negotiation period with the UFC last week but Dana White and the boys didn't bite. Blaf responded to the breaking news in his usual PC way. “I’m in Abu Dhabi right now and my reaction is Fedor is a [expletive] joke,” White exclaimed angrily. “[He] turns down a huge deal and the opportunity to face the best in the world to fight nobodies, for no money. Fedor is a [expletive]!” I am personally baffled that Fedor would not want to sign with such a professional.

Dana White may have seen the tables turn on him, as he acquired the services of many former Affliction fighters while Coker was on vacation in Italy. After seeing all the names going to the UFC, Coker returned home and to the negotiating table to begin talks with anyone left unsigned, which included Fedor. The tables turned when Dana White left for Abu Dhabi, and he had to find out that the door had finally been closed on the possibility of Fedor in the octagon, and for less money.

The Fedor contract is a 3-fight deal and you can expect Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion Alistair Overeem to instantly be in the cross hairs of the "Emperor." After that, Fabricio Werdum, Mak Kyle, Paul Buentello, Kevin Randleman, and of course Brett "The Grim" Rogers, and the bevy of talent that will no doubt come calling to Strikeforce now that Emelianenko is in the stable.