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

Earlier we had the Top 5 UFC Undisputed Head-Scratchers, now lets look at the Top 5 UFC Undisputed Snubs.

Note: I’m going by the Roster I found on Wikipedia, so apologies if any of these are incorrect.

5) Nate Quarry

A pretty popular fighter who has been around since TUF1. It’s surprising not to see him in this.

4) Dustin Hazelett

McLovin really hit the scene in 2008, but it was a bit late to be included the game. Too bad, it would have been great to use his ground game.

3) Matt Hamill

How on Earth was he not included? This really boggles my mind. Fans love him, the UFC loves him - very, very strange he’s not on the roster.

2) Shane Carwin

Another fighter that made a huge impact a tad too late to be in the game. Shane has got to be considered one of the top heavyweights around after KO’ing Gonzaga, but he’ll have to wait until 2010 to get his animated character.

1) Randy Couture

No explanation needed here. There must have been some sort of contract dispute.

-Ken
http://www.IntelligentlyDefending.com

First off, yes, I’m aware Sherdog did this same column yesterday – but, I had thought of the idea independently so I’m doing it anyway.

Originally, this was going to be the 5 worst main events of the Zuffa era, but after further thought, it will instead be the 5 worst main events held under the unified rules of MMA set forth by the New Jersey State Athletic Commission starting at UFC 28.  My reasons for doing this were:

1) Before the unified rules it was an entirely different sport and it would be unfair to compare the two.

2) I haven’t seen a lot of the early main events and I have no desire to go back and watch the likes of Severn vs. Shamrock from UFC 9 and other historically dreadful bouts.

Also note that the main judging criteria was finding the main events that made you say “shit, did I really just pay for this.”  As such, Fight Night and TUF Finale events weren’t considered since they are free.

Here we go…

Dishonorable Mention: Rich Franklin vs. Yushin Okami – UFC 72

This was painfully boring and also shown at 3pm in the States which successfully killed any big-fight atmosphere it may have been able to create.

It was 3 rounds of dancing with little action.  Eventually, Rich scored the lackluster decision.  The one bright spot came when Okami attempted a kimura in the third round, but even that only lasted about ten seconds.

It probably didn’t help this fight’s chances that it was placed on one of the worst cards of the year – which included Hector Ramirez in the co-main event… yikes.

Instead of re-watching this fight, I’d rather: Take two kicks to the groin.

Skip the main event and watch this fight from UFC 72: Tyson Griffin vs. Clay Guida – I didn’t agree with the decision, but these two put on a show.

5) Anderson Silva vs. Thales Leites – UFC 97

I don’t think much else needs to be said about this one.  It was a pitiful display from both men.

Instead of re-watching this fight, I’d rather: Watch 25 minutes of ‘The Hills’.

Skip the main event and watch this fight from UFC 97: Mauricio Rua vs. Chuck Liddell – it was a quick one, but super-spirited while it lasted and probably the last time we see one of the all-time greats.

4) Andrei Arlovski vs. Paul Buentello – UFC 55

15 seconds.  People paid $40 to watch this thing end in 15 seconds.

Don’t get me wrong, a 15 second knockout could be very entertaining if it was done in epic fashion, but that wasn’t the case here.  In fact, when Arlovski caught Buentello on the chin the only people who knew it was over were the ref and Arlovski.  Due to the awkward angle in which it happened, the live-crowd, home audience and announcers were all left dumbfounded as to why the fight was stopped.  Replays showed the champ catching the Headhunter right on the button – but it didn’t help the disappointment.

Truth is, Paul Buentello fighting for the UFC Heavyweight Championship has bad news written all over it to begin with…  And this is coming from a fan of Paul.

Instead of re-watching this fight, I’d rather: It was fast so I can’t go too crazy, but I’d gladly receive an Indian Burn rather than watch this and remember of how anti-climactic it was.

Skip the main event and watch this fight from UFC 55: Brandon Lee Hinkle vs. Sean Gannon…  You think Elite XC would have knew not to put all their eggs in Kimbo’s basket after the first guy to whoop Slice got mauled by a journeyman MMA fighter.

3) Anderson Silva vs. Patrick Cote – UFC 90

The two reasons why this fight was worse than Anderson/Leites:

1) Anderson/Leties, as bad as it was, at least had a definitive finish.  Silva clearly won the fight and was given the decision.  Anderson/Cote on the other hand, ended when Patrick suffered the horrendous knee injury and couldn’t continue.  So while the fight would have most likely continued as it had been, we will never know for sure.

2) This was the first egg laid by Silva – so it is the more shocking of the two.  Halfway through the Leites fight you got the feeling of ‘wow, it’s happening again’ - whereas in the Cote fight, it was unfathomable that Anderson wasn’t going to give an trademark beatdown.

For the above reasons, I’m giving this a higher ranking than the abomination last Saturday.

Instead of re-watching this fight, I’d rather:  Self-inflict seven paper cuts between my fingers.

Skip the main event and watch this fight from UFC 90: Sean Sherk vs. Tyson Griffin – an awesome stand-up battle to start the night.  Funny to think this is the bout everyone was saying would stink up the joint.

2) Vitor Belfort vs. Randy Couture – UFC 46

An epic rematch six years in the making – it can’t miss, right?

Well, actually, it can miss if it ends 49 seconds into the first round… due to a freaking cut!!!  And a cut from a grazing shot to the eyelid no less.

So this highly publicized fight ended quickly via the most unsatisfying finish for everyone involved.  If I was throwing a party at my house for this I would have sent a brick through my TV.

Instead of re-watching this fight, I’d rather: Listen to nails on a chalkboard for 49 seconds.

Skip the main event and watch this fight from UFC 46: B.J. Penn vs. Matt Hughes – a historical fight in which Penn took the Welterweight Title.

1) Tim Sylvia vs. Andrei Arlovski III – UFC 61

Just thinking about this fight gives me the heebie-jeebies.

To start, the shouldn’t have even happened in the first place.  Arlovski should’ve had to win at least one fight before getting a rematch.  To be fair, this was more of a problem of the heavyweight division at the time – possibly the thinnest in the company’s history.

As for the fight, it was putrid.  Twenty-five minutes of nothing happening.  Both fighters were gun-shy and both were content with letting the other make the first move – a first move that never came.

Big John was the ref and had to actually threaten taking a point from both men for a lack of action – a move I had never seen before or have seen since.  McCarthy should have just kicked both their asses.

Instead of re-watching this fight, I’d rather: Drink bleach.

Skip the main event and watch this fight from UFC 61: Honestly, this was one of the worst cards in UFC history.  If I had to pick a fight to watch, it would be Ken/Tito II for sheer comedy value.

Let me know which ones I forgot!

-Ken
http://IntelligentlyDefending.com