Ultimate Fight Night ~ The Predictions

Here we go again, this is going to be a busy month in the world of mixed martial arts. And with 5 people now training at Spring Hill MMA (my garage) I am busier than ever.

The Undercard (may not be broadcast)



Justin Levens 7-2 (5 KO's 2 Subs)

VS



Jorge Santiago 10-5 (3 KO's 6 Subs)

Santiago is an American Top Team fighter with a pretty solid backround against good opponents. Levens is a Ruas Vale Tudo fighter who was on a MMA role with 7 straight wins before running into Scott Smith and Evan Tanner. Tanner, by the way, is a former middleweight champ. I'm gonna pick Levens in a close fight here, I don't know much about these guys but something tells me Levens' 1 fight in the Octagon with Tanner will make him a little calmer and more prepared.



Rob MacDonald 3-1 (1 KO and 1 Sub)

VS



Kristian Rothaermel

I didn't post a record for Kristian because of the inconsistancies. Sherdog lists him at 4-2, the FFC refers you to Sherdog's profile. The UFC lists him at 40-4. Just a little bit of difference there. You may have seen Rothaermel quiting on TUF this past season. Quite frankly I don't know why Dana is giving him a chance to fight here, I hope he looses. There you have it. Go MacDonald!



Mark Hominick 10-5 (6 KO's 4 Subs)

VS



Jorge Gurgel 9-1 (9 Subs)

I'm excited to see Jorge fighting again. His knee gave him problems during the TUF season 2, he showed a no quit attitude that you had to admire. Hominick looked really good against one of my favorite fighters, Yves Edwards. No one is going to back down in this one, Jorge shows a lot of submissions but is not afraid to stand in there. I am going to reluctantly pick Hominick in this one, I hope they choose to air this fight, it will be a good one.



Brandon Lee Hinkle 12-7 (8 KO's 3 Subs)

VS



Jason Lambert 21-5 (10 KO's 7 Subs)

Brandon Lee Hinkle sounds too much like Lee Harvey Oswald to me, so I'm going with Lambert. He's coming off wins at UFC 58 adn 59 where as Hinkle is coming off a loss at UFC 57. His win at UFC 55 was a yawner over Sean Gannon who was in about as good a shape as Elvis before he died. It was terrible! I'll take Lambert in round 1.



Dave Menne 39-13 (5 KO's 14 Subs)

VS



Josh Koscheck 5-1 (1 KO 3 Subs)

Here's a fight I hope they don't show. Unless Koscheck has improved on his game. The guy is a World Class wrestler who sometimes forgets he can strike in the world of MMA. He earned the nickname "The Blanket" in his heated rivalry with Chris Leben in TUF season 1. Let's hope his training with Tito Ortiz has gotten him out of that phase. Dave Menne is a former UFC Champ, I think his days in the big leagues are over though. Dave's a good guy with good skill, I just think he was fortunate to get in early. I'll take Koscheck in this one.



Jon Fitch 10-2 (3 KO's 3 Subs)

VS



Thiago Alves 8-2 (4 KO's 1 Sub)

This should be another entertaining fight. Both are on mini-rolls in the UFC. Fitch looked good against Josh Burkman and Alves looked good against Derrick Noble. I'll go with Alves and American Top Team to win this one, but it should be another good one.

The Main Card



Jonathan Goulet 15-6 (6 KO's 7 Subs)

VS



Luke Cummo 4-3 (2 KO's 1 Sub)

Luke is coming off a win over Jason Von Flue, a fellow TUF season 2 cast member. Goulet is coming off KO loss to Duane Ludwig at UFN 3. I've liked Luke's attitude from the begining and I'm looking for him to have used that to learn more about himself and this sport. I pick Cummo.



Rashad Evans 7-0 (1 KO and 2 Subs)

VS



Stephan Bonnar 9-2 (1 KO 6 Subs)

This should be a great fight! Rashad is coming down in weight since winning the heavyweight crown in TUF season 2. Rashad is a good boxer with good all around defense. He'll need it against the well rounded Stephan Bonnar. Bonnar looked a little out of it in his last fight with Keith Jardine, I thought he lost that fight but he did win the decision. I look for Rashad to continue his rise and win in an upset over Bonnar.

And now for the Main Event



Chris Leben 15-1 (7 KO's 4 Subs)

VS



Anderson Silva 15-4 (8 KO's 2 Subs)

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-Nelly, this should be a great fight!!!!! I can't wait. Chris Leben has been on a tear through the UFC since losing on the TUF season 1. A victory ehre could line him up for a title defense in the near future with Rich Franklin. Silva's arrival in the UFC is highly anticipated by world wide fans of MMA who are often asking "who's got better talent, PRIDE or UFC." This fight will fuel that fire one way or another. I'm gonna kep takin Leben until somebody proves me wrong by beating him. He's got a big head and he can take a big punch, he should be tested in this one.

OK kids, don't forget to play the Joe Rogan Drinking game and have fun UFN'ing.

TUF 3 ~ The Results

My Oregon boys didn't win their fights but they both showed a lot of heart.

Ed lost his fight to Kendall, although I had it 29-28 for Ed. Many other people thoguth Ed won that fight, Sherdog scored the fight for Ed as well. But it was close enough that the decision doesn't bother me that much, Kendall fought a great fight and was going for a submission for the last minute of the last round, on the 3 judges cards that probably won it for him. Dana White announced after the fight that because of the great fight he would give both fighters contracts even thought Kendall would be the lone person crowned "The Ultimate Fighter".

Josh Haynes showed a ton of heart as he got man handled by Michael Bisping. Bisping ultimately scored a 2nd round KO to win his crown. Haynes announced that he would now pursue his fighting career in a lower wieght class, more than likely 170. If you ever have any question about how hard it is to go up 1 or 2 weight classes find someone who competed in High School wrestling and ask them, or, go to an event and see if any of them go up in weight class. If they do, they are pretty good.

Jardine and Gouveia went toe to toe for 3 rounds. Gouveia looked dominant in the 1st round with faster hands and devastating leg kicks. Then, like so many others in MMA today, he went away from those leg kicks and Jardine brought leg kicks of his own. By the 3rd round both looked as thought 1 more leg kick would send them to the mat for good, but they seldom went for them. Jardine won the decision in the end.

I said it when Florian fought at 185, I said it when Florian fought at 170. I like him at those weights but I would love to see him at 155. Well I got to see him and I loved him at 155. As I stated above it is difficult to go up 15 to 30 pounds in weight and still compete, Florian did it well but just didn't have the strength I felt he needed. I believe he will be a dominant force at 155. He took Stout straight down to the mat, messed with him a bit and then put him away with a rear naked choke. Spencer Fisher is another 155'er that is tearing it up right now and he could not take Stout down, Florian did it in no time.

All in all I was 6 and 3 with my predictions. If I would have went with logic over home town favorites I should have picked Bisping but what the heck, gotta stick with my boys. You wont find a fair weather fan in me.

UFC Salaries, Can they compare?

Mixed Martial Arts is the fastest growing sport in the world. The most recent UFC's have come close to and out PPV'd Professional Boxing and Professional Wrestling. But where is this money going? Here are some reported salaries from the recent UFC 60 Gracie VS Hughes

Matt Hughes ($110,000) def. Royce Gracie ($400,000)

Brandon Vera ($32,000) def. Assuerio Silva ($8,000)

Diego Sanchez ($24,000) def. John Alessio ($3,000)

Dean Lister ($10,000) def. Alessio Sakara ($10,000)

Melvin Guillard ($10,000) def. Rick Davis ($2,000)

Gabriel Gonzaga ($10,000) def. Fabiano Scherner ($3,000)

Spencer Fisher ($14,000) def. Matt Wiman ($3,000)

Jeremy Horn ($70,000) def. Chael Sonnen ($5,000)

Mike Swick ($10,000) def. Joe Rigs ($12,000)

Both Gracie and Hughes also reportedly recieved a cut from the PPV, this should have put Gracie over 1 million dollars.

Now look at the amount the event reportedly brought in.

Reported Gate Money = $2.9 million (14k in attendance)
800,000 PPV customers at $39 each = $31.2 million

Total $34.1 million dollars just in attendance and PPV.

Gracie and Hughes together are not making what some of the top flight boxers are making. Here's a quick look at what some boxers you may have heard of recently pulled in.

Bernard Hopkins made $5 million for winning over Jermaine Taylor who brought down a modest $3.5 million.

Floyd Mayweather makes about $5 million per fight.

Oscar De La Hoya's price tag was $4.5 million dollars plus $2.50 for each PPV sold. Should have got him another $1.5 million for his fight with Shane Mosley.

Arturo Gatti reportedly made $8 million for his lackluster loss against Floyd Mayweather. (I could not find information to confirm that total.)


Most of these fights brought in less than the 800,000 viewers the UFC's mot recent fight brought in.

Dana White was recently on ESPN discussing the finer points of the UFC and MMA. One point he made about boxing was that, unfortunately, it is predominantly controlled by Don King and Bob Arum. It would seem that it is unfortunate for mixed martial artist to have only 1, Dana White.

The Ultimate Fighter Finale ~ Undercard Results

As the main show is coiming on live as we speak and getting ready to roll let me update you on the undercard. Followed by my record on picking the fights this evening.

Mike Nickels was able to get a rear naked choke on Wes Combs. (0-1) rough start.

Matt Hammill was able to outclass Jesse Forbes with some brutal ground and pound to end the fight with 13 seconds left in the 1st. (1-1)

Luigi Fioravanti was able to to KO Solomon Hutcherson in the 1st. (2-1)

Kalib Starnes was to much for Danny Abaddi and choked him out in the 1st. (3-1)

Rory Singer was rocked in the 1st round by Ross Pointon but on the way to the mat he landed a triangle on Ross for the victory. (4-1)

Check Out SPIKE TV today

SPIKE will be running a marathon of The Ultimate Fighter season 3 that will lead up to the finale this evening.

There is a lot of action coming in the next couple weeks. Tonight is the Finale.

6/28 - The Ultimate Fight Night (prdictions and card coming soon)

7/8 - UFC PPV. Tito Ortiz vs Ken Shamrock AND Tim Sylvia vs Andre Arlovsky.
THIS ONE SHOULD BE HUGE

7/22 - World Fighting Alliance has a card.This one features a lot of big names.
More to come on this event in the near future.

Bill O'reilly knows squat!!!!!

I rarely step into the political area's of our little blogging community. But Bill went and brought his lack of research and complete idiocy to my world. On a recent show Bill spoke with Dana White, President of the UFC, and Rich Franklin, current Middle-weight champ. In this interview Bill made several points to try and show how brutal this sport is. I will break down his points...... You can link to the 5 minute broadcast if you want to watch The Idiot. I find a lot of what Bill O'Reilly says as blatant disregaurd for common sense, not to mention truth. It is just ridiculous!

1) He starts this interview by showing a picture of Muhammad Ali and implying that his Parkinson's desease was brought on by prize fighting. (If at this point you a Bill fan and you are thinking to yourself "he didn't imply anything there" just wait for it, he flat out says it later!)

2) He then tells a flat out lie by saying that Rich Franklin once knocked a man out for 20 minutes and people thought he was dead. Yes, I said it....FLAT OUT LIE! When Franklin begins to speak about that issue Bill just cuts him off and changes the subject.

3) Then Bill turns the subject to why Rich does this, (I'm paraphrasing here) Bill basically says how brutal the sport is and asks Rich if he does it for money. Rich explains that he gave up a career as a teacher (Math teacher to be precise) to pursue a lifelong dream of being a proffesional athlete. What's missed in that whole scenario is what Rich was trying to say about his health. How many times do we here about football players who can barely walk in there 30's because of knee, shoulder and back issues? The Oakland Raiders have a fund set up just for their teams former players and their health issues. You just don't have the wear and tear on the body that you do in other contact sports. You won't find boxers and mixed martial artist with issue's like Howie Long and Shaq. It just doesn't happen. And that is NOT to imply that boxing and MMA are the same when it comes to health.

4) Now comes the time in the interview where Bill links Ali's Parkinson's to his boxing career. I'm surprized Bill didn't mention the other great boxers with Parkinson's, Michael J Fox, Bill Graham, Kathering Hepburn, Johnny Cash, Harry Truman and MacArther. Johnny Cash is an interesting one because I always figured country music caused some kind of health issues!

5) Bill will now ask Dana White if he can understand why people think it is brutal and wonder to themselves "What's next, are we Romans, are they going to bring lions in there?". Dana, visibly flustered at Bill's complete ignorance, states taht MMA is safer than Boxing. I've already written an article on the diffences, you can read that one Here. In a nutshell, would you rather be knocked out with 1 or 2 good clean shots with a 4oz glove that knock you out? or, Would you rather be pummelled with 12 rounds worth of 14-16oz glove shots (that is to say there is a lot of extra padding in those gloves), given several standing 8 counts in which you are given an oportunity to get some of your whits back before getting pummelled again?

6) Bill will now bring up some crack research from the UK (British Journal of Sports Medicine) that indicates, based on the number of concussions that MMA is 3 times more dangerous than boxing. I looked on google and found THE ARTICLE where it looks as though a doctor watched 642 fights and saw what ended the fights. 28% were ended by some kind of head trama which the doctor and Bill apparently links to concussions. No live people were studied. I wonder how many tackles in football are a direct result of a hit involving the head? WOW, according to Bill that would be a lot of concussions out there. If anyone can find other articles I would LOVE to read them. Great Facts Bill!

7) Bill will 1 more time bring up that Ali got Parkinson's from fighting, he actually says it this time. I went to this site to get an answer on what causes it. They, along with other sites, list that Parkinson's is a result of a chemical build up that destroy's your brain cells. Here is an blurb from an article that says concussion symptoms are "Parkinson-like". Bill stated that Ali himself says that he got Parkinson's from boxing. I have personally never heard that, I'm trying to find it on the internet but haven't yet. You would think, or at least someone with logic (obviously not Bill) that if Ali thought this came from his boxing career he would make is a point to say it every time he spoke to a crowd. He doesn't! You would also think at some point you'd hear it from Michael J Fox as much as he is an advocate in educating people on the disease.

Bill O'Reilly should not be allowed to be on television. If I hear one more comment about the 'liberal' media spreading lies while this guy gets away with this I'm going to scream!

TUF 3 ~ The Finale ~ The Predictions

The Ultimate Fighter 3 has come to the end, the matches are set and on the 24th of July 2 new fighters will win contracts in the UFC. This will be aired on SPIKE TV for all to see. Don't miss all the action. Here is how the fight card is going to breack down.

Let me mention 3 names 1st. Noah Inhofer, Tait Fletcher and Kristian Rothaermel. These are the 3 fighters who chose not to fight at some point in the show. Any fighter out there with an opportunity on this show needs to understand, if you don't quit you will be fighting in the UFC in some capacity. Chris Leben lost 2 times on the show, he's now on Ultimate Fight Night cards. With this sport growing and getting more venues they need more fighters, just don't quit. Even if you get whooped you still will have an opportunity. If you follow the show you will see more guys who did not win fighting on cards for upcoming events.


The Undercard



Mike Nickels

VS



Wes Combs

Mike Nickels went on the ultimate fighter with a record of 3-1, he lost in a fight with Matt Hammill. In that fight he showed that he had really no stand up game. His punches were not sharp and he would not keep his head up which eliminates the opportunity to see your target. If he has not spent the last couple months working on that aspect of his game he will be in some trouble next week. Wes "soldier" Combs brings a 12-0 record with 9 KO's, I don't see Nickels slowing him down any. I think he will be way to much for Nickels to handle.


Solomon Hutcherson

VS



Luigi Fioravanti

Solomon was winning his fight against Rory Singer when he took a nice high kick to the head and got dropped. He showed some good stand up skills for someone with a strong wrestling background. He will need to showcase those skills and improve on them to have a chane against Fioravanti. Fioravanti has a 7-1 record, his 1 loss was to Chris Leben. If Leben couldn't knock him out, Solomon more than likely wont either. After that I don't know what kind of submission game he has. I look for this to be a rough start for the TUF guys with these 2 losses.



Rory Singer

VS



Ross Pointon

This is an interesting match up for me. Rory is a very smart person who should be able to come up with a strategy to beat Ross, just don't get hit by that looping right hand. In order to do that Rory will have to disprove his critics, stand in there and be willing to take that punch to get the take down and work his game. Ross, what can you say, no one should doubt whether or not he will stand in there. But if Rory can get him to the ground I don't think he can do anything. I'm going to take Rory over Ross.



Kalib Starnes

VS

Danny Abaddi

Kalib comes in off his 1st loss, that loss was on the show so it wont show on his record. He seemed very frustrated with the training of team Shamrock and has made several comments since the show stating that. Shamrock criticized Kalib after his loss saying that Kalib could not have hurt his ribs or he would not have been able to hang in there as long as he did. Having cracked my ribs at the begining of a trainig class and finishing that class I can tell you that Shamrock was wrong. I knew that I was in pain but didn't know they were cracked until later that night when the pain didn't go away. I don't give Danny much more than a fluke chance in this one. Kalib will take him down and work him over pretty good and pretty fast.



Matt Hamill

VS



Jesse Forbes

This may be the slowest fight of the night. Both these guys are young in there MMA careers and both are wrestlers. The fear with a fight like this is that wrestling will take over and they will forget they can punch and choke. I like Matt, he's a good story. Matt is deaf, if you've watched any MMA you know that the corners are constantly shouting instructions into the ring, Matt cannot have this part of the game at his disposal. He seemed on the show to be a very hard worker. I believe he will beat Jesse.

The TUF Championship Fights

The Middleweights



Ed Short Fuse Herman

VS



Kendall Da Spyder Grove

This should be a good one. Ed should have been my pick for the middleweights, I went with Rory because he's one of Forrests partners and I just expected a little more from him. Ed being an Oregon boy should have been my pick. Kendall showed a ton of improvement throughout the show and did some major damage to Kalibs ribs with some nice kicks during the semi-finals. Ed's game is to ground and pound, why not, he comes from Team Quest. Kendall may be a little to long for Ed to handle inthat type of game. Kendall is 6 foot 6, if he can keep Ed in his guard Ed wont have enough on his punches and Kendall can just work his submissions. I'm going to go with Ed in this one. WAR Oregon!

The Lightheavyweights



Michael The Count Bisping

VS



Josh Bring the Pain Haynes

Bisping went straight through the competition and looked good doing it, he's got all the tools needed to be a great fighter. Josh was my preseason favorite for this fight. On paper this looks like an easy fight for Bisping, he's taller, more polished and has a better record. Haynes has just hung around and hung around. He's shown a tremendous heart and desire just to win. He pulls inspiration from his family, his oldest son was diagnosed with brain cancer at birth but has pulled through. Bisping will be his toughest opponent to date and I believe Bisping is a heavy favorite but I'm sticking with my pick, win or loose. WAR Oregon!

The Main Events



Kenny Florian

VS



Sam Stout

Florian was a finalist in TUF's season 1, Stout came on to the scene by taking a split decision over favored Spencer Fisher in UFC 58. Florian is going to have to get Stout to the ground to work his ground game, I don't know that he can do that. I'm going to look for Stout to defend the takedowns and keep Kenny at bay with his hands. This should be a good fight.



Kieth Jardine

VS



Wilson Gouveia

Jardine was a member of TUF season 2, he is also a veteran of the KOTC. Gouveia is a BJJ fighter from American Top Team in Florida. Jardine has fought in the UFC 3 times, 2 wins and one very questionable loss via decision against Stephan Bonnar. I think he will dominate this fight and come out victorious.

World Cup

I get into the World Cup every 4 years when it comes around. This year, I'm wondering why? I love the competition, I love the idea of each nation fighting for themselves like the olymipics, I love routing for America and I even love the fact that we are not the 'choosen ones' like we seem to be in so many other sports.

So this year I'm watching as usual and I can't get past 1 thing. These are grown men and great athletes, right? WHY DO THEY ROLL AND FLOP AROUND AFTER GETTING SOME LAME TACKLE??????????????? Man that is pissing me off this year. You know I love the fights, you know I love me some hockey and you know I love my football. Why can't these guys stand up like men? I really don't understand this concept in soccer. I don't understand it at all. I never played soccer other than recreation soccer in a gym class or something. So I guess I never learned the fine art of looking like a wuss on world wide television. And these commentators??????

I'm watching a game right now, Trinidad and Tobago VS England. Beckam chips a ball back to some other guy who makes a run for the goal. He gets tripped up and rolls about 4 times, (I used to run full speed in football and get tripped or hit, don't ever recall rolling that much.) he then grabs his leg and flops around like a fish out of water. The ref comes over and pulls the yellow card on the dude from T&T. The commentator goes on and on about how uncalled for that tackle was and why the T&T guy would do such a thing, meanwhile the England dude is still flopping around. 1 second after the giving of the yellow card the England dude hops up and runs away. They show the replay, the T&T dude didn't even make contact, not a bit. Are soccer refs aware of this invention called instant replay?

In hockey if a player takes a dive they get a penalty, perhaps soccer should adopt the same policy. It's quite ridiculous. Don't even get me started on when they bring the stretcher out! You'd think the guy was dying!

Fighters Wanted

There is a new reality show coming out that will feature 2 fighters, they will travel around the world and train in different martial arts with some sparring involved. My friends at lockflow recieved all the scoop. Stop by and check it out over at LockFlow .

Countdown

PRIDE Bushido ~ Volume 11 Tonight

PRIDE's latest Bushido is tonight. The Bushido is a tournament format competition. Tonight will be the first round of the Welterweight tournament. Dan Henderson is also in the tournament but he recieved a 1st round bye due to the fact that he won last years tournament. The PPV airs tonight at 9pm central time.

PRIDE Bushido Vol. 11 Welterweight GP ­ Sunday, June 4th, 2006 Saitama Super Arena

Welterweight GP First Round:

Gegard Mousasi (Red Devil Internatonal) x Makoto Takimoto (Yoshida Dojo)

Joey Villasenor (Jackson's Submission Fighting) x Ryo Chonan (Team MAD)

Phil Baroni (Hammer House) x Kazuo Misaki (GRABAKA)

Amar Suloev (Red Devil) x Murilo Bustamante (BTT)

Denis Kang (Spirit MC/ATT) x Murilo "Ninja" Rua (Chute Boxe)

Paulo Filho (BTT) x Gregory Bouchelaghem (Snake Team)

Akihiro Gono (GRABAKA) x Hector Lambard (Yoshida Dojo)

Lightweight Single Bouts:

Hayato "Mach" Sakurai (Mach Dojo) x Olaf Alfonso (Odo Fight Club)

Tatsuya Kawajiri (T-BLOOD) x Charles "Krazy Horse" Bennett (Freelance)

Marcus Aurelio (ATT) x Mitsuhiro Ishida (T-BLOOD)

Jason Black (Miletich Martial Arts) x Eoh Won Jin (Seishin MMA Gym - CMA KOREA)

International Fight League

This is something that has just sprung up recently. The IFL has 4 teams, the format is somewhat like that of High School Wrestling. Each team has a representative from each weight class. It is in a ring but the rules are similar to that of the UFC. You may strike, takedown, grapple, submit. This airs on FOX sports. Tonight it is on at 7pm. These are more up and coming fighters that geta chance to work with top flight coaches. Pat Miletich, Silverbacks Coach, currently trains Matt Hughes (welterweight champ and Tim Sylvia, Heavyweight Champ (both of the UFC). Maurice Smith is a former UFC Champ and world renowned kickboxer. If youhave a chance check it out. The premier fight was a couple of weeks ago and it was pretty exciting.



Fight Date: June 3, 2006 Location: Trump Taj Mahal, Atlantic City, NJ 8:00pm est

Tigersharks vs. Silverbacks - First Team League Championship

Maurice Smith – Coach | Pat Miletich – Coach


155 lbs.Steve Bruno vs. Bart Palaszewski

170 lbs. Brad Blackburn vs. Rory Markham

185 lbs. Dennis Hallman vs. Ryan McGivern

205 lbs. Reese Andy vs. Mike Ciesnolevicz

265 lbs. Devin Cole vs. Travis Wuiff

National Emo Kid Beatdown Day

6-6-06 is National Emo Kid Beat Down Day.



Thank you, and have a happy National Emo Kid Beatdown Day!!