Official MMA Predictions Thread.

[m0rpheus]

That wasn't a "late" stoppage at all. WTF is Dana talking about. For the first batch of punches Randy was making the effort to defend himself (not really succeeding but he was trying) and once he stopped defending Yamasaki stopped it. Imagine if Randy was trying to defend and he stopped the fight? There'd be a fucking riot.

[Paq]

yea, i have noooo idea what dana was talking about, i saw "randy hit behind the ear..randy goes down, lesnar jumps and hammerfists..randy defends..randy flails about, ref stops"

nothing about that was a late stoppage...now, if you're talking about gonzaga hitting the dude and the dude goes down, gonzaga hits him, looks at ref, ref says hit him again....then immediately stops..yea, that was a bad call and i've seen it a few times. I think ti was the gonzaga fight, anyway. It's one of those where the person on the ground is clearly out, the other fighter looks to the ref and the ref tells him to continue, then immediately stops at the next punch..

[m0rpheus]

Totally, I couldn't believe the ref wanted Gonzaga to continue there.

[Paq]

i've seen that a few times and i don't get it. I mean, it's not like i've ever seen teh ref say "Hit him again" and have the guy come back..it's always one or two punches more and the ref steps in..i don't get it...

[YaWhateva]

Dana White is a prick. They released John Fitch because he wouldn't sign a contract for a video game because of Dana's strong-arming. John Fitch was resigned the next day but what the fuck? Look at Dana White's interview:

“We’re looking for guys who want to work with us and not against us, and frankly I’m just so [expletive] sick of this [expletive] it’s not even funny,” White told Yahoo Sports. “Affliction is still out there trying to build its company. Let [Fitch] go work with them. Let him see what he thinks of those [expletives]. [Expletive] him. These guys aren’t partners with us. [Expletive] them. All of them, every last [expletive] one of them.”

Update: UFC Talking with Fitch?s Management

Fitch Back in UFC Fold

[evilbeefchan]

I'm guessing White has more of a problem with the managers and reps of AKA, as they mentioned Josh Koscheck and Cain Velasquez in the article. Either way, seems like it wasn't handled very professionally.

[YaWhateva]

Originally Posted by evilbeefchan

I'm guessing White has more of a problem with the managers and reps of AKA, as they mentioned Josh Koscheck and Cain Velasquez in the article. Either way, seems like it wasn't handled very professionally.

I think he just can't handle people not agreeing with him and he starts acting like an asshole.

[Paq]

Dana White elaborates on Jon Fitch release and stance on AKA … at UFC blog for UFC news, results, videos, rumors, fights, pics and tickets — MMAmania.com here is where he mentioned it was aka and not fitch himself, just that fitch was one of the bigger names..

i guess they got something worked out

[m0rpheus]

Wow this is gonna be a good couple of months. Fight for the Troops on the 10th, Ultimate Fighter finale on the 13 (with one of my favorites Jason MacDonald), UFC 92 on the 27th, UFC 93 on Jan 17th, and BJ getting his ass kicked (not that I'm biased or anything) by GSP on the 31st. Guess I might as well kiss my non-UFC life goodbye till February...

[m0rpheus]

Wow nice KO by Rampage. Mir looked fucking awesome too.

[Daval]

I got absolutely killed on my picks for this fight. I had bet 1,000,000 points total on a fantasy fight betting thing and only went 2/6

[Not Right Now]

ugh, don't get me started.

[m0rpheus]

Originally Posted by Not Right Now

ugh, don't get me started.

please do.

[Not Right Now]

Well, I went 7-3.... but Itotally failed at the only two fights I really cared about Wandy and Nog.

[docbungle]

Mir was fantastic. No one seems to like him due to his cocky demeanor, but you can't deny his talent. I was expecting him to pull some of his submission magic and was quite shocked to see him striking so effectively. Great fight; he totally dominated.

As for Rampage: wow. Knockouts don't get more perfect than that. Nice to see him doing so well in the UFC. Most of the other Pride guys don't seem to be adapting so well.

Rashad Evans seems to be no joke. I didn't take him seriously for quite a while. Seems that he's a real fighter after all. Speed AND power. Forrest was no match.

Great card, all said.

[Paq]

i knew mir was going to pull it out, but i didn't think it'd be like that. I don't know why, but i think it's just bc he is able to pull out some weird shit just when he needs it. Nog is great at that as well, but he played the Kaplan defense (use your chin to wear out the other guy's hand) too much and mir just rocked him...3 knockdowns in round one then bam, round two wasn't any different. If you weren't an MMA fan, you would have no idea how great nog really is and how complete the destruction was...Mir was superMir during that fight...i mean, Nog had absolutely no offense..ever. People were saying the match was stopped early, but i don't know what fight they were watching bc he was barely able to stand after that.


Kongo...damn, he was supposed to be the underdog in the GnP department of that fight and he just sent a huuuuuge message to the heavyweights..don't end up on your back ..oh, nad don't knee him in the nuts unless you want a bit of it for yurself...

I kinda figured Rampage would win, i just didn't think he'd end it with a single left hook..that was nuts.

I've never been a huge fan of rashad, but he's shown an amazing ability to put together a game plan and stick to it, then get the other guy to mess up...either by showboating or just doing something weird. I didn't think forrest would be 'that' outclassed in the match, but damn, that was a brutal and decisive victory.

all in all, greatest ppv of 08...

[m0rpheus]

Originally Posted by Paq

Kongo...damn, he was supposed to be the underdog in the GnP department of that fight and he just sent a huuuuuge message to the heavyweights..don't end up on your back ..oh, nad don't knee him in the nuts unless you want a bit of it for yurself...

That was the lesson I got from Kongo. Damn that was a brutal nut shot.

[Not Right Now]

okay boys so we got a big month ahead of us. Here's what I think:

Jan 17 (UFC 93):
Dan Henderson vs. Rich Franklin: Hendo
Mark Coleman vs. Mauricio "Shogun" Rua: Shogun
Alan Belcher vs. Denis Kang: Kang
Jeremy Horn vs. Rousimar Palhares: Toquinho
Marcus Davis vs. Chris Lytle: Davis
Alexandre Barros vs. Martin Kampmann: Kampmann
Antonio Mendes vs. Eric Schafer: Mendes
Thomasz Drwal vs. Ivan Serati: Drwal
Tom Egan vs. John Hathaway: Hathaway
Denis Siver vs. Nate Mohr: Siver

Jan 24 (Affliction Day of Reckoning):
Fedor Emelianenko vs. Andrei Arlovski: Fedor (I want Andrei to win so I hope I get this one wrong.)
Josh Barnett vs. Gilbert Yvel: Barnett
Vitor Belfort vs. Matt Lindland: Vitor
Renato "Babalu" Sobral vs. Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou: Babalu
Chris Horodecki vs. Dan Lauzon: D-Lau
Paul Buentello vs. Kiril Sidelnikov: Head Hunter
Vladamir Matyushenko vs. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira: Lil Nog

Jan 25 (WEC 38):
Jamie Varner vs. Donald Cerrone: Cerrone
Urijah Faber vs. Jens Pulver: Faber
Mike Campbell vs. Danilo Villefort: Villefort
Jose Aldo vs. Rolando Perez: Aldo

JAN 31 (UFC 94):
Georges St-Pierre vs. B.J. Penn: BJ
Lyoto Machida vs. Thiago Silva: Machida (Hope I'm wrong here to)
Karo Parisyan vs. Dong Hyun Kim: Stun Gun
Nate Diaz vs. Clay Guida: Nate
Stephan Bonnar vs. Jon Jones: Bonnar
Jon Fitch vs. Akihiro Gono: Fitch
Thiago Tavares vs. Manvel Gamburyan: Tavares
Jake O'Brien vs. Christian Wellisch: O'brien
John Howard vs. Chris Wilson: Wilson
Matt Arroyo vs. Dan Cramer: Arroyo

[Paq]

I find it funny that i know and want to see the affliction fights more than the UFC fights..with the exception of gsp vs penn, rua vs coleman, machida vs silva, and marcus davis vs anyone.

I'm also curious to see faber vs pulver rematch. I think faber will win, but if he's mentally ANYTHING like he was in his last fight, he'll find himself on the mat looking up.

can't wait to see lindland vs belfort just to see how/if they've evolved well. ih aven't seen them since ...ummm..well, i think couture was 40 or younger

at any rate, this is shaping up to be an awesome month

[YaWhateva]

Originally Posted by Paq

I find it funny that i know and want to see the affliction fights more than the UFC fights..with the exception of gsp vs penn, rua vs coleman, machida vs silva, and marcus davis vs anyone.

that's pretty much how I feel, except that I want to see Fitch get back on the horse. And damnit, I want to see machida win and get a title shot already.

[Paq]

i cant belive they aren't planning to televise fitch's match...that's utter bs.

and i want machida to get reamed...i want to see thiago land a flying knee that crumbles him worse than matt hughes.

speaking of which, hughes vs serra is supposed to be on tap very soon as well. I'm 'kinda' interested, but the hype has died for that match, sadly.

[Not Right Now]

I'm more excited for GSP-Penn II more than anything else.

[Toaster126]

Fitch getting undercarded for the ATT drama is hilarious to me for some reason. Not that I think it's fair.

[Paq]

well, to go from a pretty good showing against gsp in the main event to undercarding...not fair, kinda funny, but i'm expecting dana white to give an expletive filled excuse...

either way, i'm not a huge fitch fan. I like him, but i don't really remember ever jumping out of my chair during one of his fights. I was shocked he went the distance with gsp, though

[Not Right Now]

Originally Posted by Toaster126

Fitch getting undercarded for the ATT drama is hilarious to me for some reason. Not that I think it's fair.

AKA, not ATT.

[Telluride]

Originally Posted by YaWhateva

Dana White is a prick. They released John Fitch because he wouldn't sign a contract for a video game because of Dana's strong-arming. John Fitch was resigned the next day but what the fuck? Look at Dana White's interview:



Update: UFC Talking with Fitch?s Management

Fitch Back in UFC Fold

Agreed. If this is how he's going to act towards fighters, maybe he shouldn't have any involvement in that aspect of the UFC. He seems to have done a good job in other areas of business.

[m0rpheus]

I'm rooting for Arlovski too but I just don't know if he can beat Fedor. If the dominant Arlovski shows up then maybe, MAYBE, he has a chance. Sometimes he just doesn't seem into it though. If that Arlovski shows up then he's done, fast.

I'm really looking forward to the GSP/B.J. Penn match. I really want GSP to just destroy BJ. Not that I think it will be that lopsided but I can hope.
I am looking forward to the Lyoto Machida vs. Thiago Silva match too but mainly because I hope Thiago can take him. I'd love to see Thiago vs GSP for the belt.

[Telluride]

Originally Posted by YaWhateva

that's pretty much how I feel, except that I want to see Fitch get back on the horse. And damnit, I want to see machida win and get a title shot already.

As much as I hate Rashad's showboating, it might be the only thing keeping me awake if he fights boring-ass Lyoto Machida.

[Not Right Now]

If Rashad were to do what he did in the Forrest fight against Rampage... his jaw would wind-up in the 5th row.

I'm kinda pissed about Rampage fighting Jardine now. It's upsetting.

But that means Machida and Silva are fighting to be the #1 contender.

[Not Right Now]

15 for 17 on my picks so far. yay!

[Paq]

i don't get why they are putting rampage against jardine right now....weird. rampage against the winner of machida/silva maybe...


ugh

so did anyone see where Arlovski's jaw landed?

[Mojo_PeiPei]

Originally Posted by Paq

i don't get why they are putting rampage against jardine right now....weird. rampage against the winner of machida/silva maybe...


ugh

so did anyone see where Arlovski's jaw landed?

Who knew that a chubby sub six foot Russian would be the worlds most dominant fighter.

Would still like to see how he would do in the UFC, but the way Affliction is paying those guys I doubt any of them will need to jump ship until it goes belly up.

[Paq]

dude...300K plus part of the ppv payout for fedor..1.5million for arlovski to show....

yea..1.5 million..by comparision, ufc 93 TOTAL fighter payout was like 1.2 million....

i like the affliction brand...i like their matches, and i like how they are actually paying fighter, but this was only for 13500 people or so and whatever ppv buy rate...ie, not enough....i hpoe they become profitable soon

[m0rpheus]

UFC 94 is this weekend make your picks.

Preliminary Card
Welterweight bout: Jon Fitch vs. Akihiro Gono
Sad to see Fitch on the prelim card. I'm going with Fitch via Rear Naked Choke in the second.

Lightweight bout: Thiago Tavares vs. Manvel Gamburyan
Tavares has been kinda cold recently and Gamburyan lost his last one so the both kinda need a win here. I'm going with Gamburyan by Guillotine in the second.

Welterweight bout: John Howard vs. Chris Wilson
Never seen Howard so I'm going to go with Wilson by Unanimous Decision.

Heavyweight bout: Jake O'Brien vs. Christian Wellisch
O'Brien's lost his last two. He needs a win here and I'm going to go with O'Brien via TKO (stoppage) in the first.

Welterweight bout: Matt Arroyo vs. Dan Cramer
Two Ultimate Fighters go at it. I'm going to go with Cramer by split decision.

Main Card
Lightweight bout: Nate Diaz vs. Clay Guida
I really like Clay Guida and I want to say Clay by rear naked choke. My head is telling my Nate's gonna take this one in the third via triangle choke.

Welterweight bout: Karo Parisyan vs. Dong Hyun Kim
Parisyan by decision. To be honest I'm not too excited about this one.

Light Heavyweight bout: Stephan Bonnar vs. Jon Jones
Bonnar's only losses come to Forrest, Rashad and Machida unless Jones can really step it up he's going to go down here. Going with Bonnar by rear naked choke in the second.

Light Heavyweight bout: Lyoto Machida vs. Thiago Silva
I really want Thiago to take this one. I want to say Thiago by TKO in round one. Sadly though I've got a funny feeling it's going to be Machida by split decision.

Welterweight Championship bout: Georges St-Pierre vs. B.J. Penn
It seems like either you are a GSP fan or a BJ fan. I'm a GSP fan so I'm going to say GSP by TKO due to strikes in round 3.

[Paq]

my pics:
fitch...sad to see him on the undercard bc of training team disputes, but he impressed me with 5 rounds with gsp....

i' going with tavares bc manvel is just too wild. i'd go manvel if he has calmed down and started thinking..

I'm with you on the wilson fight, nooo clue about howard

I'm going with o'brien, too...

I'll say arroyo bc i like saying his name more (it's a tossup to me who will win)

I want to say guida will win bc i like him, too and nate is just...well, i'm a nick fan, not a nate fan. That said, nate is a freaking machine on the ground...sooo, i gotta go with nate.

I miss the old karo....but the new one has panic attacks and jus tisn't that impressive lately...but i don't know dong kim.

Bonnar by far against jones.

I really think Thiago will stop machida. he's fast, aggressive and i think he'll be able to pin machida down and actually fight. if not, then yea, ti'll be machida by split decision.

Gsp by murder he's too nice to actually murder penn, but i see penn getting a GREAT start..then dying in the 3rd or 4th round.

[telekinetic]

I love GSP, but BJ has neither bones nor ligaments, and is thus capable of contorting himself into all kinds of strangly poses not possible for humans. I call it BJ by inhuman submission in the 3rd.

[Paq]

bj can stand and put his foot behind his head without using his hands...crazy

now..i am thinking and one of gsp's biggest strengths is the takedown ability....but do you really ever want to take penn down...Unless you tie one of his arms around your leg and the other arm around your elbow and lay on him and start pounding him in the head, you're probably going to be put in a submission off the bottom....

that said, i still think gsp will win somehow.

[silent_jay]

...

[evilbeefchan]

I'm a fan of both guys, and I really want to see a solid 5 round fight. I can see BJ get an early advantage but slow down in the 4th, with St. Pierre maintaining an aggressive pace throughout the fight. St. Pierre probably won't be taking the fight to the ground because of Penn's jiu-jitsu, but he's surprised us before. Unless BJ cuts St. Pierre, forcing a doctor's stoppage, I'm picking St. Pierre by split decision.

I think the Guida vs. Diaz fight is going to be crazy good. Clay seems to have limitless cardio that can break an opponent, but Diaz can always catch him if he's not careful. I'm picking Nate with a Rear Naked Choke in the 3rd.

Everytime there's a Machida fight, I always find myself saying "I like Machida, and I'm hoping he gets more aggressive in this fight." We see glimpses of aggressiveness, but only when he finds an opening. I'm hoping Thiago can catch him, rather than play into Machida's defensive "parrying" style. With that said, I see Machida pulling out a unanimous decision.

[bazkitcase5]

I like Penn more than Pierre, but I am not sure he will be able to win this fight