It’s Wednesday so here is a little video dump.

Wednesday MMA Video

Say what you will about Frank Shamrock – lord knows I have – but there was a time when he was nothing short of bonafide badass. This slam ranks about a 6.0 on the Rampage/Arona-scale.

Wednesday TV Video

You know what I love about Jeopardy? It’s a simple game show that is easy to play along with at home. Best of all, it takes actual knowledge and skill. There’s no spinning a giant wheel and yelling out letters or other such nonsense. Just a mano-a-mano battle and may the best man win. I used to own my college roommate in Jeopardy on the reg.

Anyway, here’s a cool Jeopardy video.

Wednesday Wire Video

Brother Mouzone is a bad man. I hate when my man-servant forgets the Harper’s too.

Wednesday Song Video

For anyone who doesn’t know Jedi Mind Tricks listen to this track and then go out and get all you can by Jedi Mind Tricks, Vinnie Paz and Army of the Pharaohs. An OG like me knows where to find the illest shit out there – ya heard?

Fights and TUF tonight. Jersey Shore tomorrow. There’s going to be a giant ass-imprint on my couch come Friday morning.

Stay lucky,
Ken

For anyone who thought I forgot that this is an MMA blog - behold! – my Fight Night 22 predictions.

Fight Night 22 takes place tomorrow and serves as a lead-in to The Ultimate Fighter Season 12: Team Alpha Male vs. Team Curly Sue. Given the participation of the world’s greatest fighter (and my not-so-secret man crush), this will mark the first TUF in a few seasons that I plan to watch every week. I’m excited.

Our Fight Night card has done quite a bit of shuffling. In fact, the two main events have none of the originally planned participants. While most of the time injuries mean a downgraded card, this one has actually gotten better. Marquardt/Palhares is a better fight than Maia/Belcher and - in my opinion - Escudero/Oliveira is a significantly better fight that Wiman/Danzig.

All in all, we got six solid lightweights and two middleweight players – for free. I’m there.

Ross Pearson vs. Cole Miller

I dig what I’ve seen from Pearson. Good at everything. Not great at anything. Tough and always brings it. I don’t think he’ll ever contend for a title, but he should have a job in the UFC for years to come.

As for Cole, every time I think he’s ready to take the next step he falters. After he choked out Gurgel and rid us of Junie Browning, I thought he would make a run. Next thing you know, Efrain Escudero is dropping him on his head. He rebounded with a slick submission of Dan Lauzon and it’s once again time to see if he can climb the ladder.

The lanky Miller should have a significant reach advantage which is trouble for Pearson if he can’t get inside. I think Cole should be able to keep the Brit at bay and eventually score a takedown. From there, I see the ground whiz being able to work in one of his patented submissions for the victory.

Prediction: Miller, submission, Rd. 2

Jim Miller vs. Gleison Tibau

Jimmy is about as quiet a 6-1 in the UFC as it gets. He has solid wins against Bocek, Ludwig, Danzig and Wiman. A victory here should give him another crack at a contender.

I see the Jersey native getting that win.

Tibau will have the size advantage that he uses to score most of his wins, but Miller has the class needed to overcome this. I think this becomes an ugly boxing match with Jim getting the better of it on his way to a win on points.

Prediction: Miller, decision

Efrain Escudero vs. Charles Oliveira

I make no bones about being an Efrain fan, but this fight scares me to death.

Hencho en Mexico bounced back from a loss to the vastly overlooked Evan Dunham by defeating Joe Lauzon. The kid has the tools to be a champ - great wrestling, solid BJJ, heavy hands and cardio for days.

With that said, from the little I’ve seen of Charles Oliveira I think he could be something special. His grappling in his submission victory over Darren Elkins was a thing of beauty. He is 13-0 and has finished all, but one fight.

I may be going with my heart and not my head here, but Escudero has got this one.

Charles is used to finishing his opponents in the first few minutes. He will not be able to do this against Efrain who is going to beat him on the feet and take him late into the fight. The longer it goes the more do Bronx will wilt as we’ve seen many BJJ fighters do in the past. Towards the end, Efrain will take the fight to the ground and land the most significant damage of the bout en route to a decision win.

Prediction: Escudero, decision

Nate Marquardt vs. Rousimar Palhares

This should be a good one.

Nate was last seen getting blasted by Chael Sonnen back in February to derail his title hopes. Before then he was on a roll with three straight wins showcasing his new and improved stand-up game. One of the top middleweights in the company, the Great will look to start another run to the title tomorrow.

In Marquardt’s way is BJJ ace, and certified tree stump, Rousimar Palhares. Toquinho is on a three fight win streak with the last two coming by heel hook. He holds a 4-1 UFC record with his only loss coming to Dan Henderson.

Palhares has the grappling edge while Nate is more well-rounded. It will be this bigger toolbox that carries Marquardt to the win.

Rousimar’s haymaker with reckless abandon stand-up style will do little against the slick striking of the Great. Marquardt is going to dominate on the feet and stuff the takedown attempts of the Brazilian. It’s going to look a lot like Palhares/Henderson except the Greg Jackson pupil turns up the gas in the last round and finishes things late by dropping his opponent and pouncing until the ref is forced to end it.

Prediction: Marquardt, TKO, Rd. 3

This should be a nice night of fights – I imagine I’ll buy some cheese dip for it.

Thoughts on the card and TUF on Thursday.

Stay lucky,
Ken

Week 1 is in the books so let’s take a look at the G-Men who defeated the Panthers yesterday 31-18.

The Good:

1) Hakeem Nicks

Boy, am I glad I drafted this thoroughbred as high as I did in my fantasy league.

Hakeem had three touchdowns yesterday and looks to be well on his way to catapulting into the upper echelon of receivers in this league. He has a nose for the end-zone and is a big target for Eli. Along with Steve Smith, Nicks gives the Giants one of the best 1-2 combos in the league. And Super Mario – who had 82 yards yesterday – is a more than solid #3.

2) The Defense

That’s more like it.

The defense made a statement yesterday that said they are ready to put last season behind them and return to the Big Blue Wrecking Crew of old. They held the high potent Panthers run game to 89 yards and forced Matt Moore to throw. Once Double M was put into this spot it got ugly as the d-line took turns knocking him on his ass - hard. Eventually, poor Matt was out of the game. Let’s hope this kind of pressure is the norm.

The secondary also had a good game with three picks in the end-zone. Kenny Phillips had a touchdown saving shoestring tackle on D’angelo Williams and Terrell Thomas was solid despite a few missed tackles.

3) Eli Manning

Those three picks were not his fault and outside of those he was sensational.

Elisha was 20 for 30 with 263 yards and three touchdowns to the Prince of Zamunda. Manning also spread the ball well hitting seven different receivers with the three big dogs all getting at least four receptions.

Next week, Eli gets to show big brother who’s the “Man”ning. (See what I did there?)

The Bad:

1) First half run game

What the hell was that? I think we had about 8 yards rushing in the first half. We need to be better than that.

Overall though, I was happy with the run game. Gilbride did a nice job of splitting carries between Ahmad and Jacobs to keep everyone happy. In fact, while Bradshaw ended up with more yards, it was Brandon who opened up the Panthers defense with some nice runs to start the second half.

2) Dropped passes

I mentioned this before, but Hakeem, Ramses and Bradshaw all dropped passes that should have been caught instead of picked off. We got away with it this time against the Panthers, but this would be a terrible habit to get into.

The Ugly:

1) Special Teams

Matt Dodge could probably have his own entry, but I might as well group this all together.

Still, let’s start with the kid. Those two punts were dreadful line drives that led to big returns. He had a net average of 16 yards! Let’s just hope this was some first game jitters and that he will be OK next week. If he’s not, Coughlin needs to send some players to Ridgewood, NJ to talk Jeff Feagles out of retirement.

Outside of Dodge, we had a punt blocked for a safety, an offsides on a kickoff and gave up gift-wrapped field position all day. The kickoff coverage before the end of the first half led directly to a touchdown. Inexcusable.

Darius Reynaud was uninspiring on returns. I really wish we still had Hixon.

2) Losing Kevin Boss

This one is going to hurt.

That was a dirty hit on Boss that should have given us 15-yards on a personal foul. Instead, it just gave us a banged-up and concussed Bossman.

We really need Kevin back and given his toughness I hope he returns soon. Not only is he one of Eli’s favorite targets, but he provides much needed blocking in the run game. As the moron Moose Johnston pointed out, anytime we had to take out Travis Beckum to put in Will Beatty is was apparent we were going to run.

My prediction is Kevin misses the Manning Bowl, but is back for Week 3.

3) Losing Chase Blackburn

Our pitiful special teams are not going to get any better with the loss of our SP captain.
The word is the always gritty Blackburn has a sprained knee. We should know more on the severity later today.

The Rest of the East:

The G-Men had their faults, but I think they clearly looked like the best team in the NFC East yesterday.

The Eagles lost to the Packers and in the process gained a quarterback controversy just one week into the season after Kolb went down and Vick looked good. They also lost their fullback Leonard Weaver to a particularly gruesome knee injury. He is out for the season.

The Skins and the Cowboys played an uninspired game on Sunday Night Football that saw Washington pull out the win. I actually fell asleep for most of this game, but I did see Dallas let up a fumble recovery touchdown to close out the first half which had me rolling on the ground.

Closing Thoughts:

We are in fine shape if the second half of yesterday was more of an indication of the season than the first half.

Don’t get me wrong, the Panthers stink – but we beat them pretty convincingly and should be able to clean up the mistakes that made the game somewhat competitive.

It is clear that Eli is a top QB with a ferocious young receiving core, the running game should get better as the o-line gets back in the swing of playing together which they didn’t get to do all preseason and the defense is going to be scary if they play to their potential.

Special teams is a different story and could cost us a few games if it doesn’t get fixed.

Until next week.

Stay lucky,
Ken

Due to flipping back and forth between the Shore and the football game I wasn’t diligently taking notes as usual, but here are a few quick hits.

- I scored the fight for Sammi. She landed a solid right and some punches on the ground. JWOWW was mainly pulling hair and shoving. This was an unbelievable upset. Even if you gave the fight to JWOWW you have to consider it a moral victory for Sam to have stood up to her and held her own. For a Jenni fan like myself, this was the equivalent of learning there was no Tooth Fairy. She was like a wounded alpha dog the entire episode.

- Pauly had a quote something to the effect of ‘that was the biggest herpe I’ve ever seen’. What’s the over/under on the amount of herpes Pauly D. has seen in his life? +/- 322.5?

- The disinfecting of the Smush Room looked staged to me. However, it did confirm that there is a ton of hooking-up going on that is not seen on camera. JWOWW had the number of like ‘everyday for the last 20 days’ or something like that. This gives me a lot more faith in MVP – I’m glad it is not just the grenades we see them back at the house with.

- Somehow Ronnie is still getting off Scott free in this whole mess. That will happen when four dimwitted females decide to fight amongst themselves instead of realizing the true problem.

That’s all I got which seems a little light because I remember there being a lot of good moments last night. Maybe I’ll watch it again and give some additional thoughts later on.

Enjoy the weekend!

Stay lucky,
Ken

Football starts tonight so here are some Week 1 picks. From here on out, I’ll be getting in a ‘Good, Bad and Ugly’ type Giants post-mortem every Monday.

Picks against the spread - home team in CAPS

*GIANTS (-7) over Panthers
SAINTS (-5) over Vikings
Packers (-3) over EAGLES
Dolphins (-3) over BILLS
STEELERS (+2) over Falcons
BEARS (-6) over Lions
PATRIOTS (-4.5) over Bengals
Colts (-2) over TEXANS
TITANS (-6) over Raiders
JAGS (-2.5) over Broncos
BUCS (-2.5) over Browns
Niners (-3) over SEAHAWKS
Cardinals (-4) over RAMS
Ravens (+2.5) over JETS
Chargers (-5) over CHEIFS
REDSKINS (+3.5) over Cowboys

Last Week Record: 0-0-0
Season Record 0-0-0

UPDATE: And just like that, my main man Big Philly Style and I got a friendly wager going for $50 on the entire season. Here are Phil’s picks…

Panthers (+7) over GIANTS
SAINTS (-5) over Vikings
Packers (-3) over EAGLES
Dolphins (-3) over BILLS
STEELERS (+2) over Falcons
Lions (+6) over BEARS
PATRIOTS (-4.5) over Bengals
Colts (-2) over TEXANS
TITANS (-6) over Raiders
JAGS (-2.5) over Broncos
BUCS (-2.5) over Browns
Niners (-3) over SEAHAWKS
Cardinals (-4) over RAMS
Ravens (+2.5) over JETS
Chargers (-5) over CHEIFS
Cowboys (-3.5) over REDSKINS

Last Week Record: 0-0-0
Season Record 0-0-0

Stay lucky,
Ken

I’ll be taking it easy this week on the blog, but wanted to debut a new feature - Video Wednesday.

Wednesday MMA Video

On the second anniversary of his death, here is an Evan Tanner tribute:

Wednesday Random Video

I love Maury…

Wednesday Wire Video

The scene that started it all. Snot Boogie we hardly knew ye.

Wednesday Song of the Day

Jimmy Ruffin - What becomes of the broken-hearted

Stay lucky,
Ken

Another Friday – another recap of the Shore.

Here’s how I saw the fight.

Yes, Vinny somewhat instigated it, but Angelina had it coming. She is a pathological liar and she was 100% trying to stir the pot and make it look like JWOWW was talking shit on Pauly. If Vinny, who is normally quiet during these types of things, felt the need to call her out on it she likely had it coming.

So anyway, somehow JWOWW yelling at Angelina turns into JWOWW and Sammi shouting in each others faces – and we got ourselves a good old fashioned cat fight.

As expected, JWOWW was physically much bigger and threw Sammi to the ground without much trouble. Think Silva vs. Leben. I think the Long Island native thought she had it in the bag at this point and, to be honest, I didn’t think Sammi had the heart to get up – but the kid proved me wrong. Sweetheart got to her feet and unloaded with a right cross that appears to be landing right on JWOWWs surgically-altered chin. Did it connect? We will have to wait until next week to find out – but kudos to Sammi for putting up a fight.

And screw you MTV for giving a cliffhanger.

As for the rest of the episode:

- Snooki and Vinny got it on for realz this time and, apparently, Vinny’s Italian sausage is the stuff of legends. No wonder he doesn’t feel the need to be as loud, juiced-up or obnoxious as those other clowns – he knows he’s got them beat where it counts. Good for him. If I were him, I would be hitting the clubs up hard this week given this latest revelation.

- If I tried to recap the stupidity of the girls my head would explode. Let me say this, Angelina is as worthless a human being as it gets, but JWOWW and Snooki are trying to drag her into the letter. No, Angelina is not as invested in the anonymous letter as you two dingbats. Stop trying to make her the scapegoat. If any of them had any guts they would have told Sammi to her face. Sweetheart is getting absolutely dumped on in this whole thing… Have I mentioned recently how stupid girls are? In a million freaking years this situation would never play out among men. I swear, every time I think a girl on this show may have some semblance of a brain they go and do something totally f’ing retarded.

- The 5-million dollar man finally bedded a chick that I would call “porn star hot.” And in typical fashion, Sitch added a little pizazz by having the girl wait for him in the Smoosh room while he made himself some dinner and smoked a cig. Then, after giving her the biz, he called her a taxi like a gentleman. I would really like to know how much time went by with her in the room by herself. It would be a good assessment of her self-worth. If it’s over 15 minutes then you know that girl has some daddy issues. You can also add her to the list of girls who stay inside for a solid week after their episode airs – right there with the original grenade and her hippo friend.

- By the way, Situation earns more money than Obama and I’m pretty sure I would rather have Situation as my President. Just saying.

- So the girls decided to make dinner. And, as expected, it wasn’t as good as Mike’s chicken cutlet night. (You can tell the guys were being nice when they said ‘it’s very good’.) I don’t get it – these girls show all the other traits of the typical female – like shallowness and constant bickering – but they can’t cook? Whazupwitdat?

- The Situation nearly had a situation with a tranny. Hey, we’ve all had our moments.

- I was on the can when the Situation’s sister made an appearance so I really can’t comment on it too much. I imagine she still looks like Mike. In which case, I think I took a well-timed bathroom break.

- Next week: The rest of the fallout from the fight and Angelina hooks up with Vinny which will spawn our next fight – this time from the lightweight division – Snooki vs. Angelina. The battle for Vinny’s Stromboli.

Stay lucky,
Ken

I’ve been groovin on this video the last few days. I can’t help but think that Mick may have been under the influence of drugs during the filming.

And, for no real reason, here’s Cutty.

Try to get in some MMA goodness tomorrow.

Stay lucky,
Ken

UFC 118 is in the books; let’s see how the fights went down and how my picks went.

Note: The grades are based on how well I picked the fight and NOT on how good the fight was.

1) Nate Diaz defeats Marcus Davis via submission, Rd. 3

I said:

Davis will get the better of the stand-up, but it will not be enough to put the Stockton native away.  As we get a little later into the fight, young Diaz will finally secure a takedown and work towards a submission win.

Prediction: Diaz, Submission, Rd. 2

Nate actually got the better of Marcus on the feet thanks to his reach.  Other than that though, I was pretty damn close outside of the round.  Let’s keep it high.  Grade: B+

Nate looked sensational here taking the fight right to Marcus and using some patented Diaz-brothers striking in the process.  Once he got things to the ground, it was academic as he locked in the choke.  Davis was game, but he was no match for the Stockton native who appears to really be coming into his own these days.  All he needs to do is to improve his wrestling and he could be a real player.

Next for Davis:  I’ve always been a fan of the Hand Grenade and I hope he gets one more shot inside the Octagon.  How about a fight with Matt Brown?  Loser leaves town.

Next for Diaz:  The biggest question here is will Nate stay at welterweight or move back down to lightweight.  If he stays, I wouldn’t mind seeing him try to avenge his brother’s loss to Diego Sanchez.  If he goes back down, I think a fight with my main man Joe Lauzon (who looked awesome Saturday) could be a main event for a Fight Night – maybe even the next TUF finale.

2) Gray Maynard defeats Kenny Florian via decision

I said:

Do you really need to ask?

Kenny has more ways to win this fight, is always improving and, oh yea, it’s in Beantown baby.  Beantown!

I think Maynard finds taking down Kenny is no easy task and after a few unsuccessful he is forced to stand and trade.  Kenny gets comfortable and in the second round starts to open up.  He clips the Bully and then gets the big guy down ala the Guida fight.  From there, he works for mount and pounds his way to a win and another title shot.

Prediction: Florian, TKO, Rd. 2

Damn.  Grade: F

Given my love for Kenny Florian and the role he’s played in my passion for the sport, this one was tough to watch.  Maynard came and did exactly what he needed to do – all the props in the world to him.  Kenny had no answer for Gray’s wrestling and it’s going to be a long way back to the top of the ladder.

Next for Florian:  Kenny is no spring chicken and if he ever wants to get another title shot he will have to go on a run starting right now.  I imagine he jumps right back into a fight against a top guy next time out.  The winner of Sherk/Dunham wouldn’t be bad.

Next for Maynard: A well-deserved lightweight title shot and rematch with Frankie Edgar.

3) Demian Maia defeats Mario Miranda via decision

I said:

Maia is going to waste little time taking this to the ground.  Once there, it’s sayonara as Demian reminds us what he is all about.

Prediction: Maia, Submission, Rd. 1

Maia did everything but finish the fight.  While I was wrong that this would be quick, it still was complete domination.  So I’ll call it decent.  Grade: B

Demian put on a clinic in this one, unfortunately, he really could have used a finish to cement his status as being back.  It seemed like he was tapping people with ease back when he first arrived in the UFC.  Of course, to be fair, Miranda’s ground game is better than he was getting credit for – including from yours truly.

Next for Miranda: A prelim fight - perhaps against Tim Creuder.

Next for Maia: I think a fight with the Chris Leben would make sense for both guys.  It’s a classic striker vs. grappler match-up and whichever guy wins will most likely be in the top-5 contenders in the middleweight division.

4) Randy Couture defeats James Toney via submission Rd. 1

I said:

Toney is on his back within the first 30 seconds and it’s over soon after.

Prediction: Couture, TKO, Rd. 1

I actually had the means of victory wrong so let’s call it right below perfect.  Grade: A-

(Not that I’m tooting my own horn – after all, Stevie Wonder saw this coming.  By the way, why can’t Stevie Wonder see his friends?

Because he’s married…  Thank you, thank you – try the veal.)

This whole thing was absurd.  Only thing I can really say is the low single-leg was pretty cool.  Also, Dana can no longer claim he never puts on freak show fights.  Double negative, whatevs I do what I want.

Next for Toney: Maybe a fight in Strikeforce against Brett Rogers.

Next for Couture:  This is a tough call.  I know there is a lot of talk of returning to light-heavyweight and fights with the winner of Machida/Rampage or Anderson Silva but I’d like to see him stay at heavyweight and fight the winner of Mir/Cro-Cop.

5) Frankie Edgar defeats B.J. Penn via decision

I said:

While it will be tough to do it again – do it again he will.

Call this a gut instinct, but I think an even better Frankie Edgar comes in for this fight and this time wins things outright with no controversy.  I expect much of the same with Frankie moving in and out of range, scoring a few takedowns and being able to do more damage on both fronts this time around.

Someone call up the Situation, Snooki, JWOWW and the rest of the gang down at Seaside because Frankie is having his victory party at Karma - with Pauly D. on the 1’s and 2’s.

Prediction: Edgar, Decision

I don’t usually toot my own horn – but, toot! toot!  You don’t hit the nail on the head on an upset call much harder than that.  Grade: A

We saw the end of an era Saturday as the little guy from Toms River took it to the once invincible Hawaiian warrior.  Frankie won in every aspect and I was particularly impressed with the amount of shots he landed on the feet and significant damage he did on the ground.  B.J. was a broken man by the third.  The win was picture perfect.

Next for Penn: A lot of soul-searching.  In the end, I think he makes a cameo in the welterweight division – maybe against Jon Fitch – but after mixed results announces his retirement from the sport.

Next for Frankie: A tangle with a Bully by the bike racks after school.

Going to be a busy one, but I’ll try to get a few more updates in before the week is over.

Stay lucky,
Ken

UFC 118 is Saturday.  Let’s make some picks.

I tried to spruce these up a bit, let me know what you think…

1) Nate Diaz vs. Marcus Davis

How we got here:

After an impressive UFC welterweight debut against Rory Markham, Nate Diaz was ready for a bigger test and Marcus Davis is the man to give it to him.

Davis fell on hard times a few fights back, but recently returned to the win column with a victory over Jonathan ‘Glass Joe’ Goulet.  It’s now time for Marcus to try his luck against a big name opponent.

I also feel like there was some name calling that spawned this match-up, but I may just be imagining that given a Diaz is involved.

What’s at stake:

A win for Nate solidifies him as a legitimate player at 170 and may end his days at lightweight.

For Marcus, a victory puts him back in the middle of the pack where he was for the majority of 2006-2008.

The breakdown:

Despite what some are saying, I do not believe Nate holds an advantage wherever this fight goes.  Marcus is by far the superior boxer and should get the better of the stand-up, reach disadvantage notwithstanding.

On the ground, this is no contest.  While Davis has shown himself to be slippery on the canvas, he is not in Nate’s league.  Diaz’s main objective should be to shoot, trip or throw the Hand Grenade to the ground however he can.

I say:

Davis will get the better of the stand-up, but it will not be enough to put the Stockton native away.  As we get a little later into the fight, young Diaz will finally secure a takedown and work towards a submission win.

Prediction: Diaz, Submission, Rd. 2

2) Demian Maia vs. Mario Miranda

How we got here:

Demian was originally scheduled to face Alan Belcher in the next Fight Night Main event, but injury sidelined the Mississippian.

Joe Silva did some shuffling and Nate Marquardt vs. Rousimar Palhares is the Fight Night feature bout and Miranda was matched up with Maia.

What’s at stake:

Maia needs this win after getting embarrassed by Anderson Silva in the infamous UFC 112 main event.  He absolutely cannot afford to lose this fight to a relatively no-name fighter or he risks falling off the map.

Miranda on the other hand can go into this fight with nothing to lose.  Despite a UFC win and an impressive 10-1 record, very few fans know who Mario is.  He now has a chance to pull off the upset and make his presence known.

The breakdown:

Miranda has the striking edge, but Maia has shown improving hands as of late.  Enough to keep him out of trouble.

On the ground, Maia vs. Miranda is roughly equivalent to me vs. a 4-year-old.

I say:

Maia is going to waste little time taking this to the ground.  Once there, it’s sayonara as Demian reminds us what he is all about.

Prediction: Maia, Submission, Rd. 1

3) Kenny Florian vs. Gray Maynard

How we got here:

This time last year Kenny Florian was getting trounced by B.J. Penn in his second lightweight title fight.  Since then, he has dominated Clay Guida and Takanori Gomi.  He is now one win away from his third shot at gold.

After his stint on TUF5, Gary Maynard has gone 7-0-1 in the UFC.  Credentials like that usually give a fighter a title shot, but lackluster decision wins have caused the Bully to take the long road to the championship and a fight against Kenny.

What’s at stake:

The next UFC lightweight title shot.

The breakdown:

Can Ken-Flo beat an elite wrestler?  The age-old question will get answered Saturday.

If Gray is smart he takes this to the ground quick and often.  Kenny’s stand-up has been on fire lately and Maynard would be smart to avoid it.

On the ground, Gray has shown the ability to stay out of subs with his smothering style.  It may not be the most exciting, but he is undefeated.  He will need to employ this to get the win – no matter how ugly it may look.

For Kenny, expect him to show the boxing which has looked so good in recent fights.  I don’t think he will be busting out those muay-thai kicks and risk getting taken to the ground.

If Maynard leaves even the slightest of openings for Kenny to score a takedown you can expect the Flo to go for it.  He has not been afraid to test his wrestling skills in the past.  Sometimes he’s successful – Guida.  And sometimes he’s not – Penn.  One thing is for sure, if Gray finds himself on the bottom at any point of this fight he is in deep, deep trouble.

I say:

Do you really need to ask?

Kenny has more ways to win this fight, is always improving and, oh yea, it’s in Beantown baby.  Beantown!

I think Maynard finds taking down Kenny is no easy task and after a few unsuccessful he is forced to stand and trade.  Kenny gets comfortable and in the second round starts to open up.  He clips the Bully and then gets the big guy down ala the Guida fight.  From there, he works for mount and pounds his way to a win and another title shot.

Prediction: Florian, TKO, Rd. 2

4) Randy Couture vs. James Toney

How we got here:

A few months back, James Toney chased Dana White across the country until he got a contract.

Randy got here because he is a big name and probably one of the worst match-ups for the boxing champion.

What’s at stake:

Given how the UFC has promoted this as MMA vs. boxing, the legitimacy of the sport is somewhat on-the-line.  If the Natural gets knocked out, it fuels the fire of boxing fans who in the last 3 or 4 years have had very little to defend their dying sport with against MMA.

No pressure Randy…

The breakdown:

It doesn’t get much more academic than this:

If this fight stays standing longer than 3 minutes: Randy gets the lights turned off.
If this fight stays on the ground for longer than 3 minutes: Toney gets pounded out.

Simple.

I say:

Toney is on his back within the first 30 seconds and it’s over soon after.

Prediction: Couture, TKO, Rd. 1

5) Frankie Edgar vs. B.J. Penn

How we got here:

Back at UFC 112 in Abu Dhabi, Frankie Edgar did the unthinkable when he outlasted then champion B.J. Penn to capture the UFC lightweight title.

The result was controversial so we are now running this thing back in Boston.

What’s at stake:

For B.J.: The opportunity to reclaim his place as the lightweight king.

For Frankie: The opportunity to show the world Abu Dhabi was no fluke.

For both: The UFC lightweight title.

The breakdown:

This is pretty similar to the first fight in the sense that it would appear B.J. is better in all aspects.

So how did Frankie win the first fight?

He won by sticking and moving.  He went inside and was out before B.J. could get a word in edgewise.  He mixed in some well-timed takedowns to score points and was the more aggressive fighter.  Basically, he made it appear like he was the winner and fought the perfect fight.

It will be tough to do that again.

I say:

While it will be tough to do it again – do it again he will.

Call this a gut instinct, but I think an even better Frankie Edgar comes in for this fight and this time wins things outright with no controversy.  I expect much of the same with Frankie moving in and out of range, scoring a few takedowns and being able to do more damage on both fronts this time around.

Someone call up the Situation, Snooki, JWOWW and the rest of the gang down at Seaside because Frankie is having his victory party at Karma - with Pauly D. on the 1’s and 2’s.

Prediction: Edgar, Decision

I will be watching this one in Baltimore with 14 of my peeps after our fantasy football draft.  Big fight atmosphere baby!

Enjoy the fights all.

Stay lucky,
Ken