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). 

UFC 100 Results

UFC 100 did not disappoint, it was full of great fights, rowdy fans and a little bit of drama. Here are the results at a glance.

Jon Fitch beat Paulo Thiago via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)

Brock Lesnar beat Frank Mir via technical knockout at 1.48, round two

Georges St Pierre beat Thiago Alves via unanimous decision (50-45, 50-44, 50-45)

Dan Henderson defeated Michael Bisping via knockout at 3.20, round two

Yoshihiro Akiyama defeated Alan Belcher via split decision (30-27, 28-29, 29-28)

Mark Coleman defeated Stephan Bonnar via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

Jim Miller defeated Mac Danzig via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Jon Jones defeated Jake O'Brien via submission (D'Arce choke) at 2.43, round two

Dong-Hyun Kim defeated T.J. Grant via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-26)

Tom Lawlor defeated CB Dolloway via submission (guillotine choke) at 55 seconds, round one

Shannon Gugerty defeated Matt Grice via submission (guillotine choke) at 2.36, round one

The drama came in a couple different fashions. Dan Henderson worked Michael Bisping and a few fans thought that last punch he landed after Bisping was already out was a bit uncalled for. If you ask me it was just his way of getting the last word in. Bisping sort of set it up by running his mouth a little too much before the fights.

I had picked Thiago Alves to beat Georges St Pierre. I really thought he was going to be the upset pick. While it did go the distance, unfortunately Thiago wasn't able to win even one round. I am happy to see he was able to go the distance and look forward to seeing their next opponents. In my opinion, the 170 lb weight class is a bit shallow compared to the other weight classes.

Yikes the drama-rama of the night award goes to Broke Lesnar (aka Nacho Libre). After beating Frank Mir Brock managed to showcase the WWE still left in him by running his mouth. He said something about a horse shoe up the bum, flipped off the 11,000 or so fans that were booing him and then proceeded to say he was going to go drink a Coors Light not a Bud Light because Bud Light won't pay him. And if that weren't enough he closed his speech by saying something about getting on top of his wife...

The lesson learned tonight my friends is there is always a winner and a loser. But in some cases even the winners are losers. Behavior like Brock's will only tarnish the image of a sport that has been fighting for so long to be more mainstream. It's a shame when a publication as great as MSNBC doesn't really showcase MMA and yet when it does it's highlight is Brock's bad behavior.

To be fair, Brock did apologize during his post fight interview with ESPN MMALive. I'm guessing he got a good talking to after his stupidity. I was also reminded by a fellow MMA writer who said "Don't forget he's new to the sport, give him time." Point made but Brock needs to remember he's no longer in the WWE. MMA/UFC fans are a little smarter and a smidgen classier.

I pushed UFC Fantasy all week. How did you guys do? I ended up at 112 out of 24865...

I can't wait for UFC 101. Philly bound. We should have a tweet up! Don't forget you can follow me at twitter.com/mmahotstuff

UFC Fight Night 14 Results

Here are the results from UFC Fight Night 14...

CB DOLLAWAY VS. JESSE TAYLOR
CB Dollaway defeats Jesse Taylor by submission (Peruvian Necktie) at 3:57 of the first round. For those girls out there reading my blog, the Peruvian Necktie is not an article of clothing.

KEVIN BURNS VS. ANTHONY JOHNSON
Kevin had been warned about poking Anthony in the eye and in the 3rd round while Kevin threw a left jab and his finger poked Anthony in the eye causing him to turn and fall (after yelling in pain) and then Kevin threw a right uppercut that just grazed Anthony... Kevin defeats Anthony by TKO at 3:35 of the third round. Johnson is gracious in defeat, as he's interviewed by Rogan he asks the crowd to stop booing Burns, noting that "it's a fight and things happen, give the man his props."  If you ask me it was a cheap win. I mean I know shit happens but what a shitty way to win. Even though I did pick Kevin to win this fight, I wasn't happy with the way it ended. Although, I also must say that I think Kevin would have gotten the judges decision had it gone the distance.

JAKE O'BRIEN VS. CAIN VELASQUEZ
I want to go on record and say you guys sent me a lot of emails giving me shit for picking Cain on this fight. Well  while I can't say I picked 'em all right tonight, I did pick this match up. Cain defeats Jake by TKO at 2:02 of the first round!
 
FRANKIE EDGAR VS. HERMES FRANCA
This was the one and only fight I didn't get right with my predictions. Frankie did an unbelievable job getting out of Herme's submission attempts. Hermes hit a beautiful armbar in the first round and I thought Frankie would tap for sure, but he managed to escape. The only other offense that Hermes could muster came at the end of the third round when he threw a nice knee as Frankie shot in, catching him flush on the nose and ringing his bell, but Frankie maintained his composure for the final few seconds. It ended up going all three rounds and in the end Frankie defeated Hermes by unanimous decision.

REESE ANDY VS. BRANDON VERA
Wow is about all I can say for this fight. I was NOT impressed. In fact I was a little disappointed with Brandon. I understand he probably had to cut the weight for the new weight class but I thought Brandon would eat this guy for lunch. That wasn't the case. It ended up going all three rounds and quite frankly was just overall boring. In fact the crowd booed. Don't blame them. Brandon defeated Reese by unanimous decision.

JAMES IRVIN VS. ANDERSON SILVA
Round 1 - The fighters touch gloves and the main event is underway. Anderson circles around from the outside.  He throws a couple low leg kicks, then steps inside and lands a 1-2 combination to the head.  Goldberg lets us know that Anderson's "precision is very precise."  :) Funny how everyone in the room burst into laughs at the same time. James throws a right kick towards the body. Anderson catches it and lands a perfect right hand to the button (that's a technical term for temple I'm guessing).James  is down immediately in the fetal position.  Anderson jumps on top and lands eight punches in a row, putting James out cold before the referee can step in.  Anderson defeats James by knockout at 1:01 of the first round.  Jame's right eye has a massive cut under it! I'm guessing that's going to bruise.

Anderson Silva is still the best fighter pound for pound in my book...

UFC Fight Night Predictions

I've put together my predictions for UFC Fight Night! Disagree with my opinions? Tell me.

Anderson Silva vs James Irvin 

Ranked as one of if not the best middleweight and pound for pound fighter, Anderson Silva will be making his debut at 205lb. Anderson has some major wins under his belt such as Rich Franklin (twice – by tko), Dan Henderson, Travis lutter and Chris  Leben.

His opponent, James Irvin, also has some big wins and BIG knock-outs such as Houston Alexander (dropped him in 8 seconds in the first round tying for the fastest knock out) and Terry Martin (the infamous flying knee!) but some big losses as well; such as Stephan Bonnar. By the way, when will Stephan be returning from suspension? Irvin is trying to prove he belongs at the top of the 205 weight class, but hasn't shown the consistency or dominance to get there yet. 

I think it’s going to be a great fight, but in the end I have Anderson Silva winning his first fight as a light heavyweight. I’d also like to see the winner of the Rashad Evans/Chuck Liddell fight take on Anderson and the winner from that fight face Forrest Griffin (assuming he gets past Rampage in a much anticipated rematch). 

Brandon Vera vs  Reese Andy 

There’s the whole story line about who Brandon wanted to fight but couldn’t get any takers. But his confirmed opponent Reese Andy is no slouch. He’s a 3 time Division 1 All-American Wrestler from the University of Wyoming.

I foresee Reese taking Brandon down right away to stay away from the dangerous Muay Thai striker. He’s going to try to establish a top position where he’s comfortable and can work his ground and pound, forcing Brandon to work to stand back up. Take downs and getting back up will definitely exhaust Brandon but in the end (and I don’t think it’s going to go that many rounds, 2 max) Brandon is going to submit Reece. I think overall, it’s going to come down to experience, nerves and who is more diverse. I give this to Brandon in the 2nd round.

Hermes Franca vs Frankie  Edgar

Hermes is coming off a loss to Sean Sherk that went to the judges. What I really love about Hermes is his diversity, experience and he has some huge wins under his belt – and in some cases for a belt!

Having said that, while Frankie is coming off a loss to Gray Maynard, I think his big wins (example Tyson Griffin) gives him the experience he’ll need to go head to head with Hermes. Frankie is great at avoiding submissions and working for position. In the end though, I think Hermes still has the leg up on this match up  and will take the victory in his return to action.

Cain Velasquez Vs. Jake O'Brien

Cain comes into this fight with a MMA record of 3-0, winning all by TKO. He'll be taking on Jake who has a MMA record of 10-1. Jake’s one notable loss was to Andrei Arlovski.  Both fighters have a Division-I wrestling background, and are comfortable taking this fight to the ground. However, Cain trains at AKA so you know his stand-up will be up to par. This will be a great battle between two solid wrestlers. Cain is looking to make a splash in the UFC and is considered a huge talent coming out of AKA. I give this fight to Cain!

Anthony Johnson Vs. Kevin Burns

Ohh Anthony. Thank you for the abs. No really, thank you.

Anthony has a MMA record of 5 wins and 1 loss. The loss was against Rich Clementi at UFC 76 losing by rear naked choke. His opponent Kevin Burns has a MMA record of 6 wins and 1 loss. While I wish Anthony and his abs the best of luck, I think he’s going to most likely lose by submission (choke).   

Jesse Taylor Vs. CB Dollaway

This will be a highly anticipated fight as many fans probably saw it as the most probable final for the most recent Ultimate Fighter. We've got big controversy with Jesse Taylor, who has supposedly turned over a new leaf. While everyone makes mistakes, you can’t help but look at this guy and say "what in god’s name were you thinking". For those of you that live in a shoe box, this was the guy who was down to the finals for The Ultimate Fighter 7. I think he’s the only guy who has been kicked off after the tournament portion was finalized. After Dana White made him understand his actions were wrong and inexcusable, he was kicked off the show and replaced. Now after sobering up and continuing to train, Jesse is making his UFC debut against fellow TUF 7 cast mate CB Dollaway. CB faced Amir Sadollah for TUF finale and lost  (which counted for his second loss to Amir, both by armbar). While I think Jesse could be a good fighter given he stay on the right path, I’m giving this match up to CB. CB is coming off a somewhat embarassing loss to Amir (no offense Amir, we love you) in the finals of the UF7 and will be hungry for a win, and to prove he belongs in the UFC.