MMA Hot Stuff

Fight Night Predictions

I'm always doing these last minute. But just so I can get them done here they are!!!

Ryan Jensen vs Steve Steinbeiss - Predicted Winner Ryan by Submission (choke) 1st round 2nd minute

Brock Larson vs Mike Pierce - Predicted Winner Brock by Submission (choke) 1st round 4th minute

Jeremy Stephens vs Justin Buchholz - Predicted WInner Jeremy by TKO 2nd round 4th minute

CB Dollaway vs Jay Silva - Predicted Winner CB by Submission (choke) 1st round 3rd minute

Chris Wilson vs Mike Pyle - Predicted Winner Mike by Unanimous Decision

Steve Cantwell vs Brian Stann - Predicted WInner Brian by TKO 1st round 3rd minute

Nate Quarry vs Tim Credeur - Predicted Winner Nate by KO 3rd round 2nd minute

Carlos Condit vs Jake Ellenberger - Predicted Winner Jake by TKO 1st round 2nd minute

Gray Maynard vs Roger Huerta - Predicted Winner Roger by TKO 2nd round 3rd minute

Nate Diaz vs Melvin Guillard - Predicted Winner Nate by Submission (choke) 2nd round 1st minute

I'm mmahotstuff on fantasy.ufc.com

Don't forget to listen to MMAScraps Radio immediately following The Ultimate Fighter tonight (west coast time). 

For The Love Of TWITTER

Twitter has taken over the world. You have rockstars, athletes, CEOs, politicians, Oprah and everyday people like me on Twitter. Oh, and my mom! I can't forget to mention her. Hi mom!

Dana White is one of those rockstar/athletes, hell he's probably even considered somewhat of a politician, is he not, that's on twitter. While I think it's great he's on there and adopting this social media monster, he's not quite there just yet. Sure he tweets. But for you to be a successful tweeter, you have to be interactive. One might even say you have to be SOCIAL. I know, weird right? You have to respond to people when they say something to you. You have to follow people. I mean real people not just those that you get as default friends when you sign up (think Tom from MySpace).

In addition to Dana, the UFC and WEC also have official accounts (updated: you can also follow Reed Harris!).  Did you know Kenny Florian and BJ Penn are also on Twitter? Wow, I can't wait to see what my friends feed will look like the night they face each other at UFC 101. Classic Tweets coming up fo'sure.

Here is a pretty thorough list of my peeps that are on twitter. Think of them as my tweeps. I think Shaq coined that phrase so I want to give credit where credit is due. <3 Shaq.

Look at this list as my #followfriday post. If you don't know about #followfriday, tweetdeck, twackle, or twitpic, please feel free to contact me. I'd be happy to help!

Key People To Follow:
http://twitter.com/danawhiteblog
http://twitter.com/reedharriswec (WEC General Manager & GREAT Tweeter)
http://twitter.com/UFC
http://twitter.com/weconversus
http://twitter.com/HDNetFights

Great Tweeters And Know How To Tweet - Follow Them!
(umm do you see a pattern with these)
http://twitter.com/Officialbjpenn
http://twitter.com/Kenny_Florian
http://twitter.com/JoeLauzon
http://twitter.com/joerogandotnet

Working On Twitter Account, Stay Tuned But Start To Follow Now!
http://twitter.com/GilbertMelendez
http://twitter.com/FerociousPhilly

Good Reading Material But Not Interactive. Follow At Your Own Risk!
(if you're the owner of one of these accounts, let me help you!)
http://twitter.com/frankshamrock
http://twitter.com/CarlosCondit
http://twitter.com/NateRockQuarry
http://twitter.com/AndreiArlovski
http://twitter.com/ForrestGriffin
http://twitter.com/urijahfaber
http://twitter.com/ryanbader

ESPN MMA Live: Episode 47

Miguel Torres will be defending his title against Takeya Mizugaki in his own back yard this Sunday!

Miguel called in talked about not feeling the additional pressure fighting in front of his hometown fans, they're what helped him get where he is today. He also talked about his training preparations.

He also talked about his plans to move up a weight class. I'd LOVE to see this.

Kenny confirmed the fight with BJPenn will in fact be happening and as he announced on KennyFlorian.com looks like UFC 101 August 8^th in Philly.

Lashley joined in and he talks about his performance against Jason Guida. Find out what he thought of his performance also find out if he would fight for the UFC now. Is there a possibility he'll appear on The Ultimate Fighter? Also, find out his thoughts on being compared to Lesnar.

 

Announced/Rumored Fights:

• Forrest Griffin vs Thiago Silva happening at UFC 101
• Matt Hamill vs Brandon Verra UFC 101
• Rousimar Palhares vs Alessio Sakara UFC 99
• "JZ" Cavalvante vs Tatsuya Kawajiri Dream 9
• Gegard Mousasi vs Rameau Sokokjou Dream 9

 

Versus to sign multi-year extension with WEC that could run two more years

--I'd like to see old fights hosted on versus.com.

The crew gave a Fight Night debrief. If you missed the fights check out what they had to say.

Loving the training table series keep it up guys. Although I'm still craving a whopper my way.

WEC: Triple your pleasure!

This Sunday, August 3^rd, the WEC brings three times the fun with a stacked card that includes three title fights and some other great match-ups in the featherweight and bantamweight divisions.

 

Carlos Condit defends his welterweight title against Hiromitsu Miura. Condit, considered by many to be one of the top 10 welterweights in the world (and only one of 2 top 10 welterweights not in the UFC) brings his 21-4-0 record into the cage and has been unstoppable in the WEC. Condit is one of the most well rounded welterweights out there and is only getting better. He’s on a 7 fight win streak with all of his wins in the WEC coming by way of submission (and all but 1 in the first round!).

 

Miura, a veteran of Pancrase, DEEP and K-1 brings a 9-4 record and a 2 fight win streak into the cage. His last loss came at the hands of Jason “Mayhem” Miller in May ’07. With most of his wins coming by way of KO or TKO, one would think Miura would like to keep this fight standing. Unfortunately for him, Condit is no slouch on his feet. Miura is in for a tough fight, and it seems Condit has got to be a heavy favorite in this one.

 

Brian Stann takes on Steve Cantwell in his first title defense since winning the belt in decisive fashion with a KO of Doug Marshall in March. What can you say about Brian Stann? The man is 8-0 with all of his fights ending by TKO or KO, and even more impressive, he has finished all of his opponents in the first round.

Cantwell is 5-1 with 3 TKO’s and 2 submissions. His only loss was to, yes, Brian Stann by way of TKO in the first round. Stann is a former Marine that served in Iraq, so you’ve gotta believe that stepping into the cage for an organized fight is a walk in the park compared to what he saw and experienced while serving his country. I don’t see anyone in the WEC taking Stann’s belt, and eventually this guy is going to have to move to the UFC to truly test his skills.

 

In our last title fight of the night, Jamie Varner makes his first title defense against Marcus Hicks. Varner, with his 14-2 record brings a substantial amount of experience into this fight against Hicks, who sits at 10-0. If you saw Varner’s win over Rob McCullough you know his boxing skills are superb, and being a former Division I wrestler, we know his grappling is up to par as well.

Hicks, whose three WEC victories have all come by way of Guillotine Choke has his work cut out for him. However, Hicks is an explosive and powerful fighter that could catch Varner at any time. In his last fight with Ed Ratcliff he showed he’s got some serious power in his hands… that was before he caught him in a vicious Guillotine to end the fight.

 

Also on the card we’ll get to see one of my favorite featherweight fighters in Micah Miller. Micah, brother of UFC fighter Cole Miller, is bringing a 9-1 record into the cage against 10-1 Josh Grispi.

 

 

In other action, we'll see the introduction of Shane Roller to the WEC as he takes on Todd Moore. Roller, a three time All-American from Oklahoma State is the first of a team of three OSU wrestling stand-outs to make a debut in the WEC. He will be joined by his Team Takedown teammates Jake Rosholt and Johny Hendrikcs who make their debut on the September 10th card. They'll all be looking to mimic the success of another former OSU wrestling star that recently made a successful WEC debut in Mark Munoz.

 

This promises to be an exciting card!

 

WEC: The lighter weight classes have found a home!

Have you noticed that the WEC is really promoting the lighter weight classes? We all know that the UFC doesn’t feature weight classes below lightweight (155), but the WEC seems to be really pushing these fighters!

On this Sunday’s WEC card, only 3 of the 11 total fights take place in weight classes above lightweight. The WEC and UFC, although owned by the same company, have remained very separate entities and have said they will not have any co-promotions putting WEC fighters against UFC fighters.

 

The WEC has some great fighters in the higher weight classes, such as Brian Stann and Carlos Condit. However, the lighter fighters seem to be the WEC’s branding strength and what allows them to not compete for fans with the UFC, but instead share fans and find new fans.

Todays Random MMA Thoughts and Questions

First thought... will the fight between "JZ" (Gesias Calvancante) and Shinya Aoki finally happen??? It appears so, and it's about time. First JZ had to pull out due to injury, then when the fight finally did happen as part of the DREAM lightweight grand prix, it was ruled a no contest as JZ hit Aoki with illegal elbows to the back (too close to the spine).

The ending of that last (attempted) fight was disappointing to say the least. JZ was clearly upset at the outcome, as was Aoki for not being able to continue. We can only hope that both fighters come healthy, come to fight, and give fans the lightweight battle we all want to see and expect from two of the worlds top lightweights.

Can JZ keep it standing and use his striking to beat Aoki, the slick submission artist. Or will Aoki be able to get inside and take the fight to the mat? It's a tough call, but I'm going to pick JZ by decision. Unless Aoki comes out in a pair of crazy-ass tights like some of his other fights, then all bets are off!

Second thought... You may have heard that Carlos Condit signed a contract extension with the WEC. When is this guy going to make the move to the UFC? He's widely considered one of the top ten welterweights in the world, and has all but dominated every WEC challenger to come his way. John Alessio, second round submission... Brock Larson, first round submission... Carlo Prater first round submission. Who else does the WEC have to challenge this guy?

And Condit isn't the only one that could have a future in the UFC against some stiffer competition. How about WEC Light-heavyweight champion, Brian Stann? The guy is sitting at 6-0 with all his wins coming by TKO or KO, he has yet to have a fighter last beyond the first round with him, and he's just a machine. Keep your eye out for Brian Stann, this guy could make some waves with a higher level of competition.

But the question that really needs answering is... Is the WEC a feeder system for the UFC? Or is it going to stand-alone on it's own merits? Only time will tell.