UFC 134: Preview and Predictions

UFC 92 was given the name “The Ultimate 2008” due to the fact that it was not only the UFC’s big New Years card, but it was also a main card that featured a triple threat type of main event. No, the triple threat wasn’t The Rock vs. HHH vs. The Undertaker, it was three fights that had potential to be the main event. Since then, the UFC has seemingly moved away from the “one big card per year” mole, and has focused on making every pay-per view event big (excluding UFC 100 of course). With that said, UFC Rio (134) is upon us and it features three main event worthy fights. Alright fine, maybe you wouldn’t pay $50 to see Brendan Schaub vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, but I thought of a theme for the first paragraph before I actually thought of what I was going to write.

Luiz Cane (11-3) vs. Stanislav Nedkov (11-0)


Other than the fact that he is Bulgarian, undefeated and pretty damn scary looking, I have to admit that I don’t know much about Stanislav Nedkov. Nedkov was signed by the UFC all the way back in 2010, but after pre-fight injuries to both him and his opponents, his debut has been pushed all the way to UFC Rio. Nedkov has a split decision victory over his toughest opponent prior to his upcoming fight with Luiz Cane, but that was over two years ago, so it will be interesting to see how he handles his UFC debut/toughest opponent yet.

In a lot of ways, Luiz Cane was steamrolling his way through the light heavyweight division before getting completely derailed by Antonio Rogerio Nogueira back in Novemeber of 2009. Cane has only fought twice since then and has gone 1-1 in that time, but he looked good in his last fight against Elliot Marshall.

Again, without me knowing a lot about Nedkov, it’s tough to predict what will happen in this fight, but based on what I’ve seen (a highlight video with ominous music that kind of scared me), Nedkov is definitely a threat in the stand up. However, Cane is no slouch in that department either, so it will be interesting to see where the fight goes. There is definitely a chance Cane can get caught, so it may be in his best interest to get on top of Nedkov and work from there because from the looks of that highlight video with ominous music; Can won’t stand a chance if Nedkov gets the upper hand. Every fight card I have a bold prediction so here it is: Nedkov will come out swinging for the fences and get very close to finishing Cane in the first round. Cane will win the second and third rounds as he takes advantage of a gassed out Bulgarian crushing machine. Prediction: Cane by Unanimous Decision

Ross Pearson (12-4) vs. Edson Barboza (8-0)


Edson Barboza is a very skilled Muay Thai fighter who began fighting in MMA in 2009. Since his debut in professional Mixed Martial Arts, he has gone 8-0 and all of his wins have been dominant with the exception of his last fight with Anthony Njokani which went to a decision. He is currently 2-0 in the UFC.
Ross Pearson won the Ultimate Fighter season 9 and despite his first loss in the octagon last year, he appears to be back on track after his win over Spencer Fisher at UFC 127. Pearson has looked pretty great at times and definitely has the potential to go to the top of the lightweight division eventually.

Barboza is a more decorated striker than Perason, but Pearson has shown the ability handle himself more than adequately in that part of his game. The combination of Barboza’s skilled stand up along with his purple belt in Jiu Jitsu should leave Pearson at a loss, and even though Pearson has showed a lot of promise early in his career, Barboza’s game is on another level at this point. That doesn’t mean Pearson won’t be able to put up a fight, but Barboza is a rising star in the lightweight division and Pearson will be a stepping stone to bigger and better things. Whether it’s by leg kick TKO, submission, or knockout, Barboza will be coming out on top here. Predicition: Barboza by TKO Round 2

Brendan Shcaub (8-1) vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (32-6)


After a highlight reel KO loss to Roy Nelson at the Ultimate Fighter season 10 finale, Brendan Schaub has gone 4-0 and is slowly becoming one of the top heavyweights in the world. Many people will disagree with that, but after defeating Gabriel Gonzaga and Mirko “Cro Cop”, his stock has risen and he is now considered one of the up and comers in the division.

“Minotauro” is a legend in the sport of MMA and has been in some of the most incredible fights the sport will ever see. His last fight against current champion Cain Velasquez was definitely not one of those fights and after the aforementioned UFC 92, Nogueira’s chin is no longer considered the best chin in all of MMA.

The advantage “Minotauro” has in the ground game cannot be overstated, however it will not be playing a factor in this fight. Schaub is 28 years old and Nog is 35 in a 50 year old body. Schaub’s quickness on the feet as well as his punching power will be enough to keep Nog at bay until Schaub is finally able to deliver the final blow. The on ly question in my mind is whether or not Schaub is able to finish the fight, or if Nog will be able to last to a decision. Unfortunately, I think that is how a lot of people feel going into this fight and as much as I’d like to see Nogueira pull it off, it won’t happen. I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt and say he puts up a respectable fight and makes it to a decision. Prediction: Schaub by Unanimous Decision

Forrest Griffin (18-6) vs. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua (19-5)


Griffin will be the fan favorite in every fight for the rest of his career with this one exception where he will probably be booed louder than Josh Koscheck was in Montreal. Forrest is so popular that he is always a win or two away from a title shot and right now, he is coming off back-to-back wins and if he can pull this one off, he’ll be right in the mix for his second title shot.

“Shogun” is coming off the worst loss of his career and will look to rebound in a big way against Griffin. When he is at 100%, he is one of the most dangerous fighters in the sport, but when he comes off surgery, he looks more than lackluster. This is his second fight since having knee surgery, so it will be interesting to see what happens with him.

This fight is indeed a rematch and even though “Shogun” was considered to not be in the best shape for their first fight, Forrest had a perfect strategy for Rua and I expect him to implement the same strategy in this fight. It’s safe to say that in the first few minutes of their first fight, Rua and Griffin were relatively even and the wide spread belief is that “Shogun” gassed quicker than he normally would due to the fact that he had knee surgery and wasn’t able to train properly. The same was said after his fight with current champ Jon Jones. I believe that to an extent, but I think it is a more likely scenario that “Shogun” just doesn’t do that well when he’s on his back with a bigger, stronger guy on top of him.

I’m not denying that Rua was unable to train properly, but I do think that there is more than meets the eye when it comes to his suspect cardio after a fight hits the ground. With that said, I think if “Shogun” can avoid the takedown, he will win this fight decisively. I’m going to base my prediction on the fact that Rua knows the only way Forrest can beat him is if Forrest can take him down, so he must have trained his takedown defense to the point where he feels comfortable. Prediction: Shogun by TKO Round 2

Anderson Silva (30-4) vs. Yushin Okami (26-5)


You can’t say enough about Anderson Silva’s credentials in MMA, so I’ll save the kiss assery for another time. Silva’s last fight against Vitor Belfort was supposed to be his biggest challenge yet and he wound up scoring the first front kick knockout in MMA history. Since his disappointing performance against Demian Maia, it seems like Silva is on a mission to prove a point in every fight. His fight with Chael Sonnen didn’t go as planned, but he was injured going into that fight. If Anderson destroys Okami like he has so many others, then it will be the most consistent Anderson Silva we have seen in quite some time.

Okami has been one of the best middleweight’s in the world for quite some time now, but due to his ground and control type of style, he hasn’t necessarily gotten the recognition he deserves. He is in fact the last person to defeat Anderson Silva, however it was because Silva knocked him out with an illegal up kick from his guard. If you haven’t seen it before, watch it HERE, because you will never see anything like it ever again.

The only way Yushin Okami can win this fight is if he takes Silva down and controls him for all five rounds. A healthy Silva is way too good to let that happen and no matter how much Chael Sonnen wants it to be true, Okami is not the favorite in this fight and he won’t be able to mount the offense he needs to win this fight. Silva may get taken down a couple of times and we have seen Silva on his back plenty of times before, but he will inevitably get up, and he has five rounds to deliver the devastating blow he has so many times before. Silva seems like he is on a mission since the Sonnen fight and I can definitely see Anderson coming out all goofy and destroying Okami in the first three minutes of the fight. Prediction: Silva by KO Round 1

Well there it is. The first UFC event to ever take place in Brazil. The crowd should be electric, and it should be a pretty incredible moment for the UFC as they are about to take the sport to a new level with the new deal with FOX. By the way, no Joe Rogan in Brazil, he will be replaced by Kenny Florian for the night.

The Yankees and Sacrifice Bunting

Benjamin Kabak from Riveraveblues.com writes a Yankee game write up after every single game going through the in's and out's of what took place over the course of the nine innings of Yankee baseball. It's always interesting and I would definitely tell whoever is reading this, to read that as well, because it's a great site and the writers over there provide great, modern insight on the Yankees. One of the recurring themes of the Joe Girardi era that they love to point out is his weird fetish for sacrifice bunting. Kabak describes last night's 9th inning like this:

"I have spent far too much time wringing my hands over the Yanks’ bunting tendencies under Joe Girardi. An NL player who cut his teeth managing an NL team, Girardi loves to give up outs at inopportune moments. The Yankees, who entered the game leading the majors in runs scored, are seventh in the AL in sac bunts while the Red Sox, who started tonight with 670 runs, are last in the AL in bunts. The value of out, especially when only three remain, cannot be overstated."

I can't agree with that statement anymore. Andrew Bailey's inning before the Jeter bunt went as follows: Jorge Posada homered, Russell Martin doubled and Brett Gardner reached on an error. Derek Jeter comes up, is 3-3 and is absolutely on fire. He's going to be hitting .300 before you know it and what does he have to do? BUNT! Bailey's pitches were all over the place, but the Yankees gave him a gift wrapped out. How can Jeter give us anymore memorable moments if he has to bunt every time he's in a situation like this? Sure, 2nd and 3rd with one out is a good situation and a hit ties the game, but 1st and 2nd with no outs, a struggling pitcher and a hot hitter is a better situation.

NFL Season Preview: NFC West

NFC West:

Rams (2010: 7-9) (Proj. 9-7)- After being tied for first place last year with a 7-9 record, the Rams are probably only going to finish over .500 because this division is a gigantic joke and the Rams are actually pretty good. Sam Bradford looked amazing as a rookie and even if he has a sophomore slump, he’s still the best QB in the division

Cardinals (2010: 5-11) (Proj. 6-10)- The Cardinals aren’t good enough to be 6-10, but they have the easiest schedule this year, so they get the benefit of the doubt with a 6-10 second place finish. Have fun Cardinals fans

Seahawks (2010: 7-9) (Proj. 5-11)- They went 7-9 last year and won a playoff game. Pathetic? Yes. Going to mean anything this year? No. Nice job screwing yourselves out of a high draft pick when you already sucked. They have done a few good things in the offseason, but it won’t matter much.

49ers (2010: 6-10) (Proj. 4-12)- New coach and transition will spell disaster for any team in the process for 2011. It’s hard enough to prepare in a transition year for a regular team, but it’s going to be hard to stay afloat for teams like the 49ers this year

Jets vs Bengals: What to watch for.

Hopefully the rain gods show us mercy and hold off tonight so the Jets can play their second preseason game against the Bengals. There are a lot of story lines to watch out for tonight and I'm just going to mention a few.

1.) Plaxico Burress makes his Jets debut. I’m not expecting big things from Plax tonight maybe 2 catches, one in the red zone for a TD. It will be interesting to see how his legs are; playing in an actual NFL game is the only way to get your legs back. Having said all that, it will be interesting how the ball is spread around between Holmes, Plax, Mason, and Keller. The Jets have awesome weapons on offense and I’m interested in what plays Schotty is going to call tonight, I think it will work out well, especially in the red zone.

2.) How will LT look? Last year LT came out in the pre-season and looked like an absolute beast, taking away the starting job of Shonn Greene. This week I’m looking forward to what LT has left after slowing down at the end of last year, which is important to me because I’m not completely sold that Shonn Greene can stay healthy a full season/ be the feature back. In last week’s game LT didn’t get much work, 1 carry for 4 yards to be exact, but I expected as much in his new role as a 3^rd down back.

3.) How good are the Jets other RBs? Let’s say my skepticism is right, and Greene misses a couple weeks, I want to make sure we have solid running backs behind LT. Again, with Greene out this week Bilal Powell and Joe McKnight look to get more playing and I have to say I like what I saw from both in the game against the Texans, granted it was against 2^nd stringers.

4.) The Rookies Mo Wilkerson and Kenrick Ellis. Both had solid games vs. Texans, but neither really jumped out and said, whoa look out for this kid, granted it was their first NFL game ever. I’m particularly interested in watching Ellis, who with Sione Pouha out will get more snaps with the 1^st string.

5.) The Aaron Maybin experiment begins. "He served a hard, 2-year sentence in Buffalo and just got his release papers." Our always out-spoken LB Bart Scott strikes again. The guy was a bust in Buffalo and has justly been given the Vernon Gholston tag, both of whom have yet to record a sack. Jets fan will be interested to see if Rex can get anything out of this kid, who unlike Gholston, actually sounds like he loves the game of football. All the Jets need him for is to fill Jason Taylor’s role from last year as a situational pass rusher, it was a nice low risk/high reward kinda deal.

6.) Most Importantly, Mark Sanchez. This observation goes without saying. The kid looked nice against the Texans, whose defense also looked great against the Saints (love that kid Brooks Reed), but that’s a very small sample size. This week he’ll get more snaps and we can have a better look at Captain Sanchize, and like I mentioned above, it will be interesting to see how the offense will look with these new targets and Tom Moore’s influence on Jets OC Brian Schottenheimer.

MMA Rankings: Light Heavyweight

MMA Light Heavyweight Rankings

1. Jon Jones (13-1)- Jones hasn’t been in a fight where he hasn’t completely dominated his opponent. Many thought that would not be the case heading into his championship fight with Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, but Jones made the person who many believe is the greatest light heavyweight of all time look like an amateur. Jones next fight will be against Quinton “Rampage” Jackson at UFC 134 on September 24th.

2. Rashad Evans (15-1-1)- Rashad is coming off an impressive TKO victory over Tito Ortiz and after a 15 month layoff, Evans looked as impressive as ever. Evans is now the clear cut number one contender after the Jones, “Rampage” bout concludes, so for right now, the biggest possible fight at light heavyweight is Jon Jones vs. Rashad Evans.

3. Quentin “Rampage” Jackson (32-8)- Coming off of two wins, “Rampage” is in a position to regain the light heavyweight title after losing it to Forrest Griffin back in July of 2008. Jackson didn’t look amazing against Lyoto Machida or Matt Hamill, but he did enough to win and with “Rampage”, you have to remember that there are fewer more dangerous fighters than him. If Rampage can tap into what made him great in Pride, then Jones might be in trouble.

4. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua (19-5)- He drops to number four from one due to the fact that there are so many question marks regarding his health. Rua’s cardio against Jon Jones coming off knee surgery was sub par to say the least and “Shogun” has a history of cardio problems following knee injuries (see the fight against Forrest Griffin/Mark Coleman). Rua now has a rematch against Forrest Griffin at UFC 134 in Rio, on August 27th. If “Shogun” wins that fight, then he is right back in the title picture, but if he loses, then Rua’s best days are probably behind him for good.

5. Lyoto Machida (17-2)- After back to back (some would say back-to-back-to-back) losses to “Shogun” and “Rampage”, Machida scored a karate kid-esque knockout over in MMA legend Randy Couture. The light heavyweight division is stacked right now, and Machida is quickly making his case for a title shot. After “Rampage” and Evans, he is next in line without a doubt, but he’ll probably have to fight once more in the meantime.

6. Phil Davis (9-0)- It might be a little premature to rank Davis this high, but like Jon Jones, it would be silly to overlook someone who shows flashed of dominance in every fight. He hasn’t finished top guys in the fashion that Jones has quite yet, but a win over Antonio Rogerio Nogueira is huge for someone so early in their career and Phil Davis wasn’t exactly a massive underdog against Rashad Evans before he had to pull out with an injury. 2012 could be Davis’ year to push his way to he top of the division.

7. Dan Henderson (27-8)- The old man still has it. Since winning the Strikeforce light heavyweight championship, Henderson is yet to defend the belt, however, he did score a second round TKO in a mega-fight against Fedor Emelianenko. Henderson’s Strikeforce contract is up sooner than later, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see him in the UFC making a run at their light heavyweight belt. He might be turning 41 in a few days, but “Hendo” still poses a problem for any opponent he faces.

8. Forrest Griffin (18-6)- Since the Anderson Silva debacle back in August of 2009, Griffin has quietly been on a two fight winning streak with wins over Tito Ortiz and more recently, Rich Franklin. Griffin’s next challenge will be a rematch against “Shogun” next weekend in Brazil and if Forrest can pull off another upset, then he propels himself right back into the title picture.

9. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (19-5)- Nogueira was set to fight Rich Franklin at UFC 133, but the bout was scrapped. Nogueira is coming off back-to-back losses and badly needs a win to stay relevant in the light heavyweight division. His boxing background gives him the ability to stand toe-to-toe with anyone in the division and his jiu-jitsu is second to none in the division as well. Nevertheless, he needs a win as bad as anyone else in the UFC.

10. Gegard Mousasi (31-3-2)- Once was one of the biggest prospects in MMA, but after a loss to Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal, his stock dropped a little bit. However, since the loss, he has won three of his last four and the draw was a fight where he had a point taken away from him against Keith Jardine. Mousasi is only 26, and can be a force in the division for years to come, but he needs to get back on the map with a big win. Also, if anyone is interested in a pointless/random fact; Mousasi and Fedor have the same win/loss record at 31-3.

NFL Season Preview: South

NFC South

Saints (2010: 11-5) (Proj. 11-5)- I’m kind of only saying they’ll be good because ESPN thinks they’ll be good. Drew Brees is a top 5 QB and the Saints have a dynamic running game. Their defense is suspect, but that hasn’t been too big a problem for them pver the past couple of years. Losing to the Seahawks was pretty embarrassing though

Falcons (2010: 13-3) (Proj. 10-6)- For the Falcons it’s all about getting pressure on the Quarterback. Fans can be heard yelling at their games: “Pressure the Quarterback FalcoNs”. That, and their new and improved receiving core should help get the Falcons back to the playoffs after an amazing year in 2010

Bucs (2010: 10-6) (Proj. 8-8)- Apparently Josh Freeman is really good. Maybe he’ll be a breakout star and the Bucs and Falcons can switch places. I wouldn’t be surprised

Panthers (2010: 2-14) (Proj. 2-14)- How does the team with the worst record in the league the previous year, get stuck with the #1 hardest schedule? There’s no reason to believe they will be any good this year and luckily for all the 3-13 teams, they won’t be taking Andrew Luck, but maybe they’ll regret it in five years. Or maybe Cam Newton will be Michael Vick 2.0

Is Phil Hughes the Yankees White Knight?

About week or 2 ago I was listening to 1050 and they were having people call in to get their opinion on who the Yankees 5 starters should be, because at the time there were a lot of questions about the rotation outside of CC and Colon. Many listeners said that they didn't trust Hughes to come back to the form he had in the 1st half of last season.
Fast forward 2 weeks, with Garcia on the DL, Hughes has been looking very good. In his past 4 appearances, Hughes is 3-1, that blemish however, came in a bullpen appearance against the Red Sox, a game the Yankees wanted, badly. But since, Hughes has looked good and last nights game he was topping out his fastball at 93 mph, more importantly he consistently stayed in the 91 mph range. But what made last nights performance impressive, was the mix of change-up's, cutters and the occasional curveball.
With Colon looking like he is running out of gas, AJ being AJ, and Nova being very inconsistent, Hughes is arguably the Yankees 2nd best option behind CC. That's a huge turn around from two weeks ago when Yankee's fans wanted Hughes to be optioned back to Triple A. Hughes will be coming into the post-season fresh and I believe will have a huge impact on what Girardi's rotation for the playoffs will look like. Remember folks, in the playoffs pitching wins games, just ask Andy Pettitte.