MMA Hot Stuff

UFC 102 Predictions - FROM A GIRL'S PERSPECTIVE

Okay, I know it feels like I waited until the last minute to post my predictions (and let's be real here, I did) but I have a good reason. I didn't want people to steal my predictions for our fantasy league. Hey, it could happen.

While I thought I was super excited for UFC 101, I'm even more excited for UFC 102. The card doesn't have a title fight but it's stacked with killer match ups. Good job Joe Silva!

Where to start.. It's Friday night and I've got things to do so we'll skip around and cover the fights I'm anxious to see and the main card.

Mark Munoz vs Nick Catone: First of all, this is Mark's second fight in the UFC. If you recall his debut with the UFC was against Matt Hamill (one of my favs), where he was KNOCKED the eff OUT with a head kick early in to the first round. I think a lot of Mark and his wrestling skills. And I'm anxious to see how he does against Nick. But since this is a prediction post I'll just lay it out here. I believe Mark is going to suffer another loss. I have Nick winning by TKO in the first.

Gabriel Gonzaga vs Chris Tuchscherer Even though Gabriel is coming off a loss against Shane Carwin (hello one of the best fights of 2009 so far) he's still a skilled fighter. We all remember how he caught Shane and rocked him pretty good. A lot of people are saying this is a do or die fight for Gonzaga but I disagree. Either way, I have Gonzaga winning the fight by TKO in the first.

Here's an upset pick. Damnit I just gave it away. Ed Herman vs Aaron Simpson. While many people are going to pick Ed, and I understand why, I think Aaron is going to win his UFC debut fight. No real reason. The kid has experience from being in the WEC and he's shown his wins by KO or TKO (all in the first round but one). Impressive in my book. So there you have it. My upset pick. Aaron by TKO in the first

A CAN'T WAIT FOR THESE FIGHTS:

Brandon Vera vs Krzysztof Soszynski I actually had a hard time with this pick. I think both fighters are great. Krz has won submission of the night multiple times and has some big wins under his belt. Assuming Brandon can keep this fight standing, I'm giving him the fight by TKO in the second. 

Nate Marquardt vs Demian Maia This very well could be THE FIGHT OF THE NIGHT. Again, I've gone back and forth on this one. I've even argued with myself over it. Both fighters are some of the top middleweights in the UFC without a doubt. The thing about Demian is he hasn't been a MMA for all that long. However in his short stint he's proven his ability and then some. Currently with a record of 10-0 his style is unusual or as some people say unorthodox. He's won all of his fights (but two) via submission and has won submission of the night honors on many occasions. This is without a doubt going to be Demian's hardest fight yet. However, I have him winning by Choke in the first round.

Chris Leben vs Jake Rosholt Chris Chris Chris... being from Portland I expect the crowd to be rowdy for this fight. Recently in Jon Anik's ESPN chat, some people said Chris is a gatekeeper for the middle weight division. I think he's a good/emotional fighter but definitely NOT a gatekeeper. In my opinion, this is a must win fight for Chris. I don't mean must win as in he'll be cut from the UFC but pretty dang close. Coming off a loss from well over a year ago against Mike Bisping, and then later testing positive for steroids, Chris hasn't been in the public eye for a while now. His record isn't bad, and again he's an emotional fighter. He's fighting someone who has pretty limited MMA experience (5-1) vs Chris' record of 18-5. Because of the emotion, the home town advantage and something to prove attitude, I give this fight to Chris via quick TKO in the first.

Don't think I'm picking every fight to go by TKO! Dun Dun Dun... The Dean of Mean Keith Jardine vs Thiago Silva! I can't wait for this fight! Keith Jardine is one of those fighters I love to watch. He doesn't always win but he always gives his best. Okay that was the girl in me saying that. But it's true he's a fighter that just never (or rarely) leaves the crowd disappointed. I think Keith is going to do everything he can to ensure this doesn't go to the ground given Thiago is known for his ground and pound style. I have this one going the distance my friends. But in the end I'm giving it to Keith by Unanimous Decision. 

And the MAIN EVENT!!! Randy Couture vs Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira - I can list all the reasons why I believe Randy will win. Never mind his age and that he's almost as old as dirt (I kid I kid), his body and mind are that of a youngin'. Did you see him at weigh-ins? The guy is ripped. If I saw him (and were single duh) at the beach I'd be like.. "damn'. He's coming focused and with a game plan. He's going to take Nogueira down but will be smart enough to stay out of his submissions. I'm giving this fight to Randy by TKO in the second.

Again, I'm really looking forward to a great night of fights. Superb card and match ups. I love MMA!

I'll be on twitter ( twitter.com/mmahotstuff ) and we'll also have an open post/chat open during the fights. Check back here later with more details.

Also, friendly reminder. If you haven't already done so MAKE YOUR UFC FANTASY PICKS! Time is running out. 19 hours left. Go to http://fantasy.ufc.com/

If you haven't decided where you're watching the fights, don't worry I'm here to help. Here's a list of bars/restaurants showing the PPV events. http://www.mmahotstuff.com/about/2009/08/ufc-102-pay-per-view-locations.html

UFC 101, Forrest Griffin And My SoapBox

I've started this post at least three times and I've had to start over because I've found myself getting SO ANGRY. So let's see if I can get through it this time. Oh, and given this is my site it's my soap box to rant about anything I want, right?!

After UFC 101 I watched the post-fight press conference and wanted to see what others were saying on Twitter about the event. Just to remind you of what happened, Anderson beat Forrest by Knock Out 3 minutes & 23 seconds into the first round. Then immediately following the stoppage, Forrest essentially got up and ran out of the cage and into what I'd guess was his locker room. He didn't stick around for the final decision by the judges.

Anyway, I was absolutely dumbfounded at the opinions I read. Many people were saying he was hurt, potentially with a dislocated jaw. Some people even claimed he lost his hearing in one ear. Those people were 'fans' that read something on an Underground Forum. That's what happens with underground forums, they're total random rumors people make up. Unconfirmed. Unfounded. They're just bored people who have nothing better to do than make shit up. Remember the Kimo story from a couple weeks ago? Insane.

But that's not even what I'm upset about. Because you see those people gave justification to why Forrest ran out of the cage, "He was hurt and he needed medical attention". Which, as it turns out, was NOT ACCURATE.

What really upsets me are those fair weather fans that criticized and dogged Forrest for what he did. People berated him for his "lack of respect".  Some people had the audacity to compare his behavior to what Brock Lesnar did (and has done multiple times). Really people? Because what Brock did was disrespectful to PAYING FANS by flipping us off. Never mind what he did to the biggest sponsor in the sport, and then some. Then some other people compared what Forrest did to the LeBron James and Dwight Howard saga. Okay that's not comparing apples to apples or even fruit to fruit. One is a team sport, the other is not. Just for starters.

What's so disheartening is a large majority of the world has no idea what fighters do to get ready for fights. It's emotional. Very emotional. And if it's not, then they're probably not really ready for the fight. People should have been saying  "Wow Forrest Griffin has heart and was so upset with the loss that he ran out of the cage. Poor guy." He lost to Anderson Silva. The best pound for pound fighter in the world. The best. Losing to Anderson shouldn't move him in the rankings at all in my opinion. Forrest had nothing to lose but only something to gain. He didn't beat Anderson, so what? Neither have 25 or so other people that have been brave enough to step into the cage with him.  And for those people that say it was rigged, please I beg you, go back to WWE. This sport doesn't want you. And for those other people that said this is Dana White's fault for forcing Forrest to take this fight, think again. Do you really think Dana would do anything to devalue a great fighter like Forrest and match him up with Anderson if he didn't think he was capable? Forrest is one of the quintesential UFC poster boys, would Dana really throw him to the lions? I would look at it as a compliment that Joe Silva thought Forrest was a good match up for Anderson. The UFC needed someone to push Silva, someone that wasn't afraid, someone that had the heart, guts and desire to make him fight. Who did they come to? Forrest Griffin. Even knowing the outcome I wouldn't think this was an easy match-up for Anderson. Many people picked Forrest to win. People (including Joe Silva) thought he had a shot.

I guess I get so upset because I know first hand what these guys go through while training for a fight. The only way I could know more so is if I were training for a fight personally. As most of my readers know, my fiance is a fighter. Mind you he's not fighting for the UFC, but serious fighters train for every fight as if they were stepping into the UFC Octagon. They take it seriously. This is their life (to quote Nate Quarry). These guys (and a few women) train their asses off. For months it's grueling trips to the gym. Sometimes three intense work outs a day for 6 days a week. And that one day a week they take "off" is probably just an easy work out day, you know your typical day at the gym if you're lucky enough to actually skip happy hour and make it to the gym. These guys cut anywhere from 20-35lbs (depending on weight class). They travel to remote gyms to train with different guys and to focus, leaving their families behind. With all of that invested, how could we be surprised when a fighter is overcome with emotion after losing a fight he (or she) put their heart and soul into training for.

And remember, these are professional fighters. They are paid to do this, they are not goverened by NCAA rules and the purpose is not to build fine young men, this is a business. If you as a fan have the right to boo them, they have the right as athletes to exit the cage without shaking their opponents hand or doing a post-fight interview. Wasn't it Charles Barkley that said "I don't want to be your kids role model"?

What would you have said to Forrest if he were your buddy? Because in this world of Twitter and blogs, what you write, his friends and family may read. Same goes for all other fighters out there. Now I'm certainly not this kind to all fighters, but then again not all fighters are as kind and deserving of respect as Forrest.

As this fantastic sport continues to grow and as the fans evolve, please keep in mind what goes into being a world class fighter before you trash talk, especially in public forums.

Don't believe everything you read unless it's CONFIRMED by the fighter or his camp. If you're truly a fan, please do your part to educate those around you and help SUPPORT those that make this sport possible. 

UFC 101 BJPenn.com and MMAHotStuff Contest Winner

Team BJPenn.com and MMAHotStuff received pictures from Michael, the UFC101 contest winner. It looks like Michael and his brother Chris had a great time. They said the seats were amazing and they were happy to see one of their favorite fighters in BJ Penn walk away the champion. Oh, and they ran into some other familiar faces...

We're glad we were able to send these two worthy fans to their first UFC event.

(the winner Michael is the camo and his brother Chris is in the TapouT tshirt)

UFC 101 Results BJ Remains The Master

Results from UFC 101

BJ Penn defeated Kenny Florian via Rear Naked Choke in Round 4th round

Anderson Silva defeated Forrest Griffin via Knock Out (although I thought it was Technical Knock Out since Forrest waved him off) in the 1st round

Johny Hendricks beat Amir Sadollah via questionable Technical Knock Out in the 1st. There were questions on whether or not the ref stopped it early.

Ricardo Almeida beat Kendall Grove by Unanimous Decion

Kurt Pellegrino beat Josh Neer by Unanimous Decion

Aaron Riley beat Shane Nelson in their rematch by Unanimous Decion

John Howard beat Tamdan McCrory by Split Decision

George Sotiropoulos beat George Roop by Submission in the 2nd round

Jesse Lennox beat Danillo Villefort by Technical Knock out in the 3rd round

I'm not going to lie, I'm sort of disappointed by those fights... with the exception of the Main Event.
Don't forget to follow me on twitter at twitter.com/mmahotstuff

Can't wait for UFC 102.

UFC 101 Contest: And the winner is...

The lucky winner of two tickets to UFC 101 is Michael from Pennsauken, New Jersey! Michael just returned from serving our country in the Army two weeks ago and by that timetickets for 101 had been sold out. Michael and his brother Chris are long time UFC (and BJ Penn) fans, but have never had the opportunity to attend a live event. Well, the time has come! Michael is the lucky winner of two lower level tickets for this weekend's UFC 101. Congrats Michael, and thank you for serving your country so proudly!

There were a number of great responses, and you all deserve tickets in my opinion, unfortunately there could only be one winner. Thanks to all of you for supporting MMA, BJ, and MMAHotStuff!

Remember, if you're looking for local bars that are showing the event on Pay Per View, check out the listing here.

WINNER: UFC 101 Contest BJ Penn and MMAHotStuff

Hey Y'all. We received A LOT of great entries for the BJPenn.com and MMAHotStuff UFC101 Ticket Giveaway! In my opinion everyone deserves tickets to go to 101, but unfortunately we only have two to give away.

The winner has been notified via email and has until 9am pacific time tomorrow to either email or call me (my cell phone number has been provided in the email). If I don't hear from you, I will need to pick another winner as I need to get these tickets shipped out ASAP.

Again, everyone was actually very inspiring and it was great to hear from you. Don't stop doing what you're doing. Continue to support the sport of MMA, and especially your favorite fighters.

Showing your support can range from reading our websites, following us on twitter or coming to fights to cheer everyone on. Remember, educate those that don't understand the sport, and challenge those that do!  Have an opinion and let your opinion be heard.

Thanks again!

twitter.com/ufcbjpenn
twitter.com/mmahotstuff

Stay tuned as more of these contests will happen in the future.

MMAHotStuff and BJPenn UFC 101 Contest

Want to go to UFC 101 but don't have tickets?

BJPenn.com and MMAHotStuff have teamed up to give away two tickets to UFC 101 taking place in Philadelphia! Leave a comment on this post telling us why you deserve the two FREE admission tickets! Submissions will be due at 6:00pm pacific time Tuesday (8/4). And a winner will be announced by 9:00pm Tuesday pacific time.  One submission please, but tell your friends! If they win maybe they'll bring you. Don't forget to include your email address this is how we'll contact you if you're a winner!

Hurry and be creative! Again, this is for admission tickets, not airfare :)

*We're picking one winner and giving that winner two tickets. Great seats!*

Don't forget to follow us on Twitter at

twitter.com/UFCBJPenn

twitter.com/MMAHotStuff

The Plight of a Counter Puncher: The Anderson Silva Dilemma

Guest writer: Ronald Young Jr.

Push Him To The Limit

 

Some have stated that Anderson Silva is washed up, and/or has lost his touch in evaluating his last two performances.  However, I blame the weakness of the division, and poor matchmaking.  Anderson Silva fights for the middleweight division, and much like the champion before him, has cleaned out the majority of his top competition.  His two latest match-ups have been against opponents who have been blatantly afraid to fully engage in the fight with Silva.  People have accused Silva of showboating and not going after his opponents, but this has never been his style.  Obviously his current style has worked for him because he is still the champion of his division, and ranked amongst the best pound for pound fighters in the world.

Two fights ago before Silva fought Patrick Cote, he faced off in the octagon against James Irvin in the light heavyweight division.  Against a fighter like Irvin, Silva excels because Irvin wanted to push the pace and take the fight to Silva.  However this is a strategy that is not conducive to victory against him because the first minute of every Silva fight is spent with him studying your every move and determining his timing.  Once you push the pace he releases his superior hand speed and counts on his precision striking to dominate his opponents.  Once Irvin pushed the pace and got in Silva’s face he was rewarded with a right hand to the face and several more behind as Silva got the KO against him.  However I can’t really fault him for this strategy, because trying to grind out a victory on the ground will not work, as shown with Travis Lutter and Dan Henderson.  In my humble opinion, they were the closest to defeating Silva, and even they didn’t make it out of the second round,  both being submission victories for Silva.

Silva has not lost a decision victory since his first MMA fight nine years ago, and it was a split decision, which means he was not dominated.  Since then he has lost three times, two submissions and one disqualification.  What does this mean?  This means you’re not going to beat Silva on the cards, you have to finish him in order to win the fight.  I won’t calculate the percentage but to put it in perspective, he has 28 fights, and four of them are losses; of those four losses, one of them is a decision loss.  In a five round middleweight fight who wants to take the chance of outpointing Silva on the way to a victory?  Apparently Thales Leites and Patrick Cote didn’t do their research.  Silva appeared uninspired in his matches with Cote and Leites, and rather than blame him for not making the fight exciting, I blame his opponents and the matchmaking.  None of his other opponents were content to make it into the third round or to simply dive on the ground and hope that he followed.  All of his other opponents wanted to take the fight to Silva, and risk everything to win, because that’s the only way you’re going to beat Anderson Silva.  Matching up against him has been difficult but what must be taken into account is that if the opponent is not on the striking level of Silva, he’s not going to win.  Silva’s BJJ is good enough to keep you from submitting him (ask Lutter).  So, who do we match him up with in order to make for a good fight at the very least, if not an upset victory?  Enter Forrest Griffin.

For the casual fan that watches Anderson Silva, a fight against Irvin, or Dan Henderson, or against Rich Franklin will always be far more exciting than against the likes of fighters like Cote or Leites who were content to survive.  Forrest Griffin is more along the lines of an in your face fighter, though he will definitely come prepared with a plan.  In his last two fights Griffin was willing to throw caution to the wind and lay it all on the line for victory against Rampage Jackson, and Rashad Evans, arguably two of the best light heavyweight fighters in MMA.  One resulted in a decision victory and the other in TKO.  Even in defeat against Evans, many can make the case that Griffin was decisively winning the fight before he got caught in a bad situation.  With a fighter that’s willing to bang it out with his opponents, and with Silva who is patient enough to take what his opponent brings, I don’t see how we can expect anything but an exciting battle in Philadelphia when these two go head to head.

 

Hooray for genius matchmaking!

 

 

UFC 101 Pay Per View Locations

Here's a list of bars/restaurants showing UFC 101 as Pay Per View sorted by city and state.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship makes its Philadelphia debut on Saturday, August 8th for UFC 101: Declaration. In the main event, the two best 155-pound fighters in the world finally meet when UFC lightweight champion BJ Penn looks to defend his crown against number one contender Kenny Florian. Penn has never lost at 155-pounds, and Florian is looking to change that stat this summer.

In the co-feature, the pound-for-pound king of mixed martial arts, middleweight champion Anderson "The Spider" Silva, tests the waters at 205 pounds once again when he battles former light heavyweight champ and Ultimate Fighter season one winner Forrest Griffin.

UFC 101: Declaration - Saturday, August 8th, live on Pay-Per-View from the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

7:30 pm ET Wachovia Center doors open
8:15 pm ET First Bout
10:00 pm ET Live on television and online

If you haven't already done so, don't forget to fill out your fantasy picks! fantasy.ufc.com

BJ Penn Supporter

While walking my puppy (in san francisco) I saw this bumper sticker. Obviously I did what any good website owner would do and left my business card on his/her windshield.

Kenny do you have bumper stickers?

Can't wait until ufc 101!!

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