Daily Wrap From the Throne - 5/13/11

Daily Wrap from the Throne
by King JB
5/13/11

TOPIC #1: Injuries Changing Main Events to UFC 130 and UFC 131...

Well, as we all know by now, UFC 130 has been changed due to an injury to Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard both, which completely eliminated that main event. Well, yesterday we heard that Brock Lesnar will be missing the main event of UFC 131 and replaced with Shane Carwin against Junior Dos Santos. Obviously, this entire situation is something that just makes our blood boil, but at the same time, we need these fighters to stay safe. I am not upset at all to be honest with these recent issues, because I would much rather see healthy fighters in the cage. I love the sport, but I do not wish for these fighters to get seriously hurt. Honestly, they do not get paid enough to go out there and risk career ending injuries just to keep us happy at home. I wish all three of them the best when it comes to recovery.

With that being said, in my opinion the biggest loss of that situation is the fact that UFC newcomer, Jon Olav Einemo will no longer be on the card as it looks. I was actually looking forward to seeing him on the card and now all we can really do is just hope that the UFC gives him a replacement fight. With all of these fighters on the roster now, you would think that the UFC would have no problem in finding a replacement for this particular fight. The heavyweight division is more stacked than many people give it credit for being. So, where does this leave us? Junior Dos Santos vs. Shane Carwin to determine the #1 contender for the UFC Heavyweight Championship. Personally, I think this fight is going to be a fight with definite fight of the night potential. I think both men are going to come out BANGING, but the truth is that Carwin's lack of cardio is going to be his downfall in my opinion. I believe that it will be a VERY competitive first round, but in the second, Junior Dos Santos will do much like Brock Lesnar did up against Carwin. I believe he will either pull off a submission and give us a glimpse of the man's ground ability or just plain knock him out. Personally, I am putting my money on the knock out in this fight. I think we are destined to see Cain Velasquez vs. Junior Dos Santos now. I have to admit, I am excited as hell about that possibility.

TOPIC #2: Insurance for the Fighters and UFC Summit

This entire situation is monumental for the sport of mixed martial arts and its potential growth as Zuffa begins to monopolize the industry. The people that are against MMA seem to be most against the way the fighters are treated and the injuries that can result from the sport. Well, in my opinion, Zuffa just fixed a lot of this by giving the fighters a break financially with their hospital issues and injuries. To me, this was long over due and I am happy to hear it. I know that Matt Mitrione recently said on MMAfighting.com that he recently took a Pat Barry kick to the kidneys and it cost him $4,000 bucks at the hospital. Do you realize how many times a year this probably happens to most fighters? The truth is that they also must pay their team around them in terms of coaches and these fighters just simply weren't making a whole lot to begin with. I have to give Zuffa credit for taking this worry away from the fighters and making sure that they get good treatment. I bet there were a lot of fighters that were seriously fighting injured because they could not AFFORD to go to the hospital. Think about it. How many fighters are making $4,000 per fight? There are a lot of them in the undercard of the UFC. So, imagine if all $4,000 of that had to go on the doctor resulting from training for that $4,000 paycheck? Obviously logic says that this is a huge day for these MMA fighters.

Now, I also think that this was a huge event for MMA as a whole in terms of getting sanctioned and regulated everywhere. They are becoming more and more of a professional sport with each decision like this. The fact that they are willing to protect their fighters should mean a lot to the states still thinking that it's human cockfighting. Other sports have insurance for their fighters and now so does the king of the MMA industry, Zuffa. Big ups to them for this decision and a few others during the UFC summit. These fighters are also going to earn a few bonuses for tweeting and networking with us fans, reporters, journalist. I think that makes sure that these fighters will continue to be easy access for all of us and that is a good way to promote the sport. I personally like the fact that they are willing to do interviews for smaller media outlets and radio shows such as ours here at MMA Topics.net with MMA AFFILIATES RADIO. Also at the Summit, Strikeforce fighters are now able to use the same sponsors that the rest of Zuffa uses. That obviously is going to lead to more money for them as well as the fact that the Zuffa team is considering offering fight bonuses on Strikeforce cards now. There was a lot of Good to come out from the UFC summit.

There was some bad however, and here it is...Most of Strikeforce's front office is now gone. Business as Usual? No, it is not. Out of the 12 staff members under Scott Coker, there are only two left and even Coker himself has been demoted to Vice President or General Manager of Strikeforce. The UFC has basically rebuilt Strikeforce from the inside already just in the time that they have had it. I am not against it however considering the fact that the UFC can make their product better. The truth is that Strikeforce will be alive until their Showtime contract is over and then it will exist no more. If there is anyone out there that truly thinks Strikeforce will be around past that contract expiring, you gotta be as high as Nick Diaz wanting to box Jeff Lacy. The truth is that Pride was swallowed up. The WEC was swallowed up. Strikeforce will eventually be SWALLOWED up...Then Bellator is next. We all know what is going to happen, so it is pointless to even consider anything other than that. Zuffa owns the mixed martial arts world and there is nothing that anyone else can do about it. People can knock Zuffa all day long and call their fan's Zuffa Zombies, but lets be real people. Do we wanna see the UFC up there with the NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLB or not? I personally do wanna see the sport grow to that size and this is the best way for it to happen. I love fights and fighters outside the UFC, but the truth is that 90-95% of this sport I love is owned by the UFC.

TOPIC #3 – Jon Jones and Rashad Evans

I am not sure if you guys are aware yet, but Jon Jones and Rashad Evans almost got into a bar fight during the Summit. Basically Jones was hanging with Tito Ortiz and Rashad was sitting with George St. Pierre. Words and even shoves were exchanged before GSP told them to take it outside and broke it up. Rashad has recently been quoted as saying that he respects Rampage a lot more than Jon Jones because he believes Jones is a snake. He also recently tweeted that it was Jones that backed out of the fight at the bar. He said that at least Phil Davis won't back out of a fight. With all of this being said, I think the build up for this fight is going to end up much like Rashad and Rampage. Despite me being a HUGE Rampage Jackson fan, I have to say that I now like Rashad Evans a little bit due to this feud. I think that Rashad has become a marketing genius and he will make sure that this fight sells quite a few tickets and buys. The real question is whether he will get past Phil Davis. I believe that he will and prove that he is still pretty great at 18-1. I know the entire MMA world is just already picking Jon Jones to steam roll over Rashad Evans, but I also think them same people forget how good Rashad really is. He is easily one of the top 3-4 fighters at 205 and there is nothing that can be said to dispute that. His only loss came against a VERY GOOD Lyota Machida. Personally, I am enjoying the war on twitter and apparently night clubs too between Jones and Rashad. How about we let them be the next coaches on the Ultimate Fighter to get them ratings back up? I would dig that for real...You?

TOPIC #4- Eddie Alvarez seems to be making a push for the UFC

Recently Eddie Alvarez was quoted as saying that his next contract that he signs will be one that will make him millions. Well, lets be honest here. There is only one company out there that can actually provide them type of numbers that Eddie wants. Next, he made it clear that he would have no problem fighting good friend and partner, Frankie Edgar. Now, with these two statements, I would say that he definitely is making his sales pitch to be brought into the UFC. Both of them recent statements have ZUFFA and the UFC written all over it which means that we very well might be seeing that Eddie Alvarez and Gilbert Melendez fight after all. I say that the UFC should bring Eddie in and make it a #1 contenders fight with Gilbert Melendez with the Strikeforce gold on the line as well. I think this fight would set up a PERFECT fight for later down the line with whomever the UFC champ will be, presumably Frankie Edgar. Considering the fact that Alvarez a few months ago said that he didn't need the UFC, I think its safe to say that he has changed his mind. What do you all think? Should he jump ship and who would you like to see him fight?

TOPIC #5 - UFC refuses to pay for Extra Police at UFC 131

Not sure how many of you give a shit about this story, but it seems that the Vancouver Police Department requested for the UFC to pay for extra police officers around the Rodgers Arena on the night of UFC 131. The UFC has let them know that they will NOT be funding any extra police around the arena for the event. Vancouver made this request because they feel that MMA fans are rowdy. Are you fucking kidding me? Them hockey fans up there are far more rowdy than MMA fans and that is simply the truth. How many riots has Canada seen due to hockey? How many have they seen due to MMA? Hell, how many riots has America seen due to MMA compared to other sports? Get out of here Vancouver and either hold the event or don't. Quit trying to get more money out of the UFC. They don't actually need your police there anyways. I am quite sure that they can fight there way out of any messed up issues...lol...Anyways, big ups to the UFC for not paying any more money due to the extortion of these sorry ass police out here. They are more crooked than we are. Sorry Steven Seagal, but its true!

TOPIC #6 – Mark Coleman looks to be done for Good

He didn't say it today, but he spoke of Randy Couture's retirement and he seemed like he is basically ready to hang them up. He did however say that a challenge that Dan Severn made to him recently has him intrigued. I wanted to say a few things about this topic to end up today's report from me. First off, Mark Coleman will go down as a MMA legend, but the truth is that his roid rages that were caught on tape will drastically hurt his legacy in my eyes. We all knew that Coleman was roided out and he himself never changed our minds. I still think about Pete Williams knocking him out with that high kick and its just one of the greatest sights in MMA history. Mark Coleman, the godfather of ground and pound will eternally be remembered mostly for his early UFC fights and style. I think he belongs in the hall of fame, so I will never take that away from him, but he just made himself look foolish later on in his career in my book. I loved seeing him against Couture in a throwback fight, but reading that he admits not training hard for that fight makes me sick and feeling like I was cheated. Mark Coleman had issues with being a professional and it was proven time and time again. I am not the biggest Mark Coleman fan based on his personality captured on camera and on paper, but his fighting career was pretty solid and he was a definite pioneer in the sport. All good and bad aside, I commend Mark Coleman for his great career. However, he better watch out who he considers fighting, because Dan Severn is still doing big things in my book. 100 MMA Pro Wins is just amazing and I do not believe that Mark Coleman really wants any part of that. Dan Severn was always and still is amazing at what he does. I would love to see a Mark Coleman vs. Dan Severn fight, but the truth is that Severn would destroy him. Severn still trains around the clock even at his age. Mark Coleman has admitted that his age prevents him from going 100%. Lets be real here...Dan Severn has 123 pro fights and Mark Coleman has 26 pro fights and a average 16-10 record. He was a different man at UFC 12 when he beat Dan Severn and he would not get that lucky today. WAR DAN SEVERN! Actually, all in all, both of these men are legends. So...WAR BOTH!

WELL....this is it for now, it is 3:00pm on 5/13/11 and I want to announce that I will be doing this daily report EACH and EVERY DAY to discuss the top stories in MMA each day. Don't forget to catch our MMA AFFILIATES RADIO each and every Sunday from 11:30pm-12:30am EASTERN TIME. Big ups to MMAMadhouse.com for showing love, so make sure everyone gets over there and checks them out. See you tomorrow night....

Please feel free to comment and I will respond the next day on the report under a TOPIC entitled “responses to the readers”...Thank you from the Throne...

KING JB (www.facebook.com/mmakingdom)

King JB reviews UFC 129 and responds to BSL

King JB speaks on MMA AFFILIATES RADIO + Response to Bloodstain Lame

UFC 129 "St. Pierre vs. Shields" (4/30/11)

UFC 129 - St. Pierre vs. Shields
Ultimate Fighting Championship
April 30, 2011
Rogers Centre
Toronto, Ontario, Canada

UFC 129 Trailer

Untitled from Mike Russell on Vimeo.
UFC 129 Press Conference

UFC 129 Countdown Pt. 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

UFC Prime Time Episode 1

Episode 2

???????
UFC 129 Weigh-Ins

 

King JB preview

 Dibiase preview

Cody's preview

Main Card
Welterweight Championship Fight: #1 Georges St-Pierre (21-2/15-2) vs. #3 Jake Shields (26-4-1/1-0)

Fight Trailer

 

George St. Pierre Pre-Fight Interview 

 

Jake Shields Pre-Fight Interview

MY PICK – Jake Shields via submission

SHERDOG's PICK – George St. Pierre via decision

VEGAS's PICK – George St. Pierre -380 (+330)

DIBIASE's PICK - George St. Pierre  

CODY's PICK - Jake Shields  

Pre-Fight Notes: GSP has won eight huge fights in a row and has basically dominated the UFC Welterweight division for seven years. GSP has only lost twice in his entire career with one being the TKO loss to Matt Serra and another being a submission loss to Matt Hughes. There is no question that he has just simply dominated since basically the beginning of his career. The one knock on GSP is his safe way of fighting these days. His last three fights and four of his last five have went to the judges. Granted, GSP is 8-0 when the fight meets the judges. Fighting in front of his home crowd should be huge for GSP, but the truth is that this may be his toughest defense to date. He is fighting another man that sees the judges quite alot, infact, he has seen them in more than half of his 31 fights (16). He is 13-3 in those fights that have seen the judges. He also has seen them three fights in a row. Needless to say, I think this fight will hit the judges again and that is why I think that GSP will get lucky and squeeze this one out. Basically GSP's only other chance at winning this fight is standing and the only chance for Shields is via submission off of his back. I just think that GSP will lay and pray his way to another victory. I do want to add that Jake Shields has won 15 straight fights and hasn't lost a fight in seven years. He has only been finished once and that was eleven years ago in his third fight of his pro career. This fight just seems DESTINED for the judges. For the record, I hope that Jake Shields wins this fight, but I just don't see how he can possibly out point GSP in the UFC in a title fight.

EDITOR's NOTE: As of 4/28/11, I have officially changed my pick to Jake Shields. After watching quite a bit on Mr. Shields, I have realized that he has a very underrated wrestling game and definitely has the ability to take GSP down. I am officially changing my pick to JAKE SHIELDS via submission to become the NEW Welterweight Champion!
 

Featherweight Championship Fight: #1 José Aldo (18-1/8-0) vs. Mark Hominick (20-8/6-2)

Trailer for Fight

Jose Aldo Pre-Fight Interview

Mark Hominick Pre-Fight Interview

MY PICK - Jose Aldo via TKO

SHERDOG's PICK – Jose Aldo via TKO

VEGAS's PICK – Jose Aldo -417 (+358)

DIBIASE's PICK - Jose Aldo  

CODY's PICK - Jose Aldo 

Pre-Fight Notes: The only thing really going for Hominick here is that he is fighting at home in Canada. Jose Aldo has been on a war path and the only time I actually thought that he was going to lose a fight, was when he met Urijah Faber, which he ended up dominating. Aldo has just quickly moved up the pound for pound ranks over the past two years like crazy. He has finished 14 of his 18 wins and only lost once, via submission. He has won an amazing eleven fights in a row, and finished seven of his last eight fights. Right now, he just basically seems unstoppable, especially in the striking department. He will be making his UFC debut up against Mark Hominick, who will be at home after working his ass off to get to the UFC as well. He fought earlier in the year and looked pretty good against George Roop. He has won five in a row with four of them being finishes. Hominick is very well rounded, but his problem is that he always chokes against the big names so to speak. He rarely is defeated standing, which is exactly why I think this fight will be a stand up masterpeace. The truth is that Aldo is just WAY TOO MUCH for Hominick however and will more than likely get the T/KO win.

Light Heavyweight Fight: Vladimir Matyushenko (25-5/6-3) vs. Jason Brilz (18-3-1/3-2)

Vladimir Matyushenko Pre-Fight Interview

Jason Brilz Pre-Fight Interview

 MY PICK – Vladimir Matsyushenko via decision

SHERDOG's PICK – Jason Brilz via decision

VEGAS's PICK – Vladimir Matsyushenko -122 (+108)

DIBIASE's PICK - Jason Brilz  

CODY's PICK - Jason Brilz  

 

Pre-Fight Notes: This should be a great POWERFUL fight here between two very solid light heavyweights. I think that this fight right here is the one that could steal the show much like Brilz fight with Little Nog. We haven't seen Brilz since that fight in which many people believe that he was screwed over. Despite losing two of three, both losses were split decisions in fights in which Brilz could have probably been considered the winner. That makes his only loss via finish back in 2001 to an armbar. Thats ten years without a serious loss for Mr. Brilz. His last four fights have went to the judges however, so its likely that this fight could do the same. Vlady's wrestling ability assures this to be a ground war, that could possibly end up boring. I think this fight is just simply destined for the judges. Vladimir's experience and wrestling could end up taking this for him. I anticipate another split decision in which people will be complaining about until both of these warrior's next fight.

Light Heavyweight Fight: #7 Randy Couture (19-10/16-7) vs. #5 Lyoto Machida (16-2/8-2)

Trailer for Fight

Randy Couture Pre-Fight Interview

Lyota Machida HIGHLIGHT package

MY PICK – Lyota Machida via TKO

SHERDOG's PICK – Lyota Machida via decision

VEGAS's PICK – Lyota Machida -321 (+279)

DIBIASE's PICK - Lyota Machida  

CODY's PICK - Randy Couture  

Pre-Fight Notes: This is the most fun fight on the entire card in my book. Randy Couture has went on record to say that this fight, his 30^th, will be his last one and he will retire following the fight to concentrate on his movie career. The issue I have with that is that if he wins, he more than likely will get a HUGE fight that he will NOT turn down. However, he will not win this fight. Couture is great and has had a wonderful career. However, Lyota Machida is far too quick for Randy Couture and most people already know that. Randy Couture dominates his fights using his dirty boxing and the truth is that he will not be able to hold Machida like that. He will not even be able to catch Machida in my book. I think Machida is going to get back on the right track here in a major way by knocking OUT the legend and hall of famer pretty quickly into the fight. What is funny is that I do not think Couture wants to go out with a loss, so I do NOT think that he will be retiring either way here. Either way, this should be a pretty fun fight. I do have to admit that this fight does show the possibilities of being a dud on one angle...Machida goes to a lot of decisions...Is it possible that he gets caught in a clinch against the cage for three rounds? Jesus, I hope not.

Lightweight Fight: Mark Bocek (9-3/5-3) vs. Ben Henderson (12-2/5-1)

Mark Bocek Pre-Fight Interview

Ben Henderson HIGHLIGHT Package

MY PICK – Ben Henderson via decision 

SHERDOG's PICK – Ben Henderson via submission

VEGAS's PICK – Ben Henderson -117 (+103)

DIBIASE's PICK - Ben Henderson  

CODY's PICK - Ben Henderson  

 

Pre-Fight Notes: Ben Henderson is simply one of my favorite lightweights in the world. I think that he has the ability to beat anyone in the division. Overall, I guess the question is how he will do in his UFC debut. Bocek has won four of his last five fights. Bocek's submission game is just as sick as it gets and the truth is that he can pull off the submission upset at any time during the fight. Coming off of his loss to Anthony Pettis, I just think that Ben is going to be hype about getting back on the winning track here in his biggest fight of his career. Henderson's submission game is also pretty amazing, so this fight can go one of a few different ways. I think this fight will go to the ground where Ben Henderson's length will prevent him from being submitted. However, unless Henderson can pull of a TKO, I just don't see the submission coming here. I think this one will hit the judges where Henderson will pull off the victory.

Preliminary Card (Spike TV)
Welterweight Fight: Nate Diaz (13-6/8-4) vs. Rory MacDonald (10-1/1-1)

Nate Diaz Pre-Fight Interview

Rory MacDonald Interview

MY PICK - Nate Diaz via submission

SHERDOG's PICK – Rory MacDonald via decision

VEGAS's PICK – Rory MacDonald -117 (+103)

DIBIASE's PICK – Nate Diaz

CODY's PICK – Rory MacDonald  

Pre-Fight Notes: This is gonna be a hell of a fight and probably one of the hardest one's to pick. Nate Diaz is great at what he does, but after Rory MacDonald's battle with Carlos Condit, its hard to pick against him. Nate is coming off a loss , but he hasn't been finished since 2006 when he was submitted by Hermes Franca in the WEC. In fact, thats the only time that he has been finished in his entire career. He has been to only 6 decisions in his 19 fights, but he is 1-5 in those fights. Obviously the key for Nate Diaz is to finish this fight, which typically for him means a submission. He has nine submission wins in his thirteen victories. Rory MacDonald as I mentioned is coming off one of the greatest wars ever in the Octagon with Carlos Condit. That was the only loss of his career and the truth is that he would have won the fight had it went to the judges. With that being said, MacDonald is looking pretty solid at this point in his career. He has never been to the judges, which in this case could be his downfall. What I honestly see going down is much of the same of the Condit fight. I think that MacDonald will dominate the fight and if it goes to a decision, he will more than likely take it since Nate never gets any love from the judges. However, I think he is gonna try to submit Nate and that is going to be his downfall. I expect this fight to hit the mat and Nate to pull of the submission finish in what can easily be the FIGHT OF THE NIGHT.

Welterweight Fight: Sean Pierson (11-4/1-0) vs. Jake Ellenberger (24-5/3-1)

Sean Pierson Interview

Jake Ellenberger Pre-Fight Interview

MY PICK - Jake Ellenberger via TKO

SHERDOG's PICK – Jake Ellenberger via KO

VEGAS's PICK – Jake Ellenberger -186 (+169)

DIBIASE's PICK – Jake Ellenberger

CODY's PICK – Jake Ellenberger

Pre-Fight Notes: First off, I want to wish Brian Foster the absolute best in his recovery. He was originally supposed to fight Pierson here, but ended up with a pretty serious brain hemorage issue. I know he was seriously crushed to not be here at this card, but he will live to fight another day. We all hope you get well Brian if you are reading this. Now, onto this fight, which should be a good one. Sean Pierson was originally planning for Foster and to be honest, I had him picked to win that fight. However, Jake Ellenberger is an entirely different beast. Ellenberger may not have had alot of time to prepare for this fight, but his ability alone could be enough. However, I admit that taking the fight on short notice DOES leave open the possibility for an upset here. Pierson is a very well rounded fighter that has won six fights in a row including his debut in the UFC against Matthew Riddle. He finished five of those six wins, so he definitely knows how to finish. In fact, he has only seen the judges twice in fifteen fights, splitting them. Both men here know how to wrestle, but Pierson's is more of the Greco Roman style. Ellenberger has won three of his four fights in the UFC and is coming off of a win at UFC 126 in February. He has won three fights in a row and seems to be really hot right now. His only loss was a SPLIT DECISION to Carlos Condit in the UFC. He has been to a decision eight times in his 29 fights and that is where he seems to lose. Four of his five losses came thanks to the judges. I think that Ellenberger knows that he needs to finish this fight, because he got lucky to get his split decision at UFC 126 over Carlos Eduardo Rocha. I highly doubt that he is gonna wanna take that risk again. I think that Jake is gonna find a way to get him down to the mat for the TKO victory.

Preliminary Card (Facebook)
Welterweight Fight: Claude Patrick (13-1/2-0) vs. Daniel Roberts (12-1/3-1)

Daniel Roberts Interview

Claude Patrick Interview

MY PICK - Daniel Roberts via decision

SHERDOG's PICK – Daniel Roberts via decision or TKO

VEGAS's PICK – Claude Patrick -172 (+158)

DIBIASE's PICK – NONE

CODY's PICK – Daniel Roberts

Pre-Fight Notes: This fight can very easily become the fight of the night. I do not think it will get the award based on the Diaz and MacDonald fight that I expect to be a blood bath. However, this fight should easily be one of the top five fights on the card. Someone is gonna recieve one hell of a solid fight after this fight. Hell, maybe even both of them will recieve big named fights after this one if they both put up solid fight of the night performances here regardless of who wins or loses. Claude Patrick has an amazing submission game and is undefeated in the UFC at 2-0. His only loss was a decision loss to Drew McFedries in his career. He has finished his opposition in 12 of the 13 wins, with nine of them being submissions. Did I mention that he has won TWELVE FIGHTS in a row? Daniel Roberts also has an amazing submission game and he also has only lost once, which was a KO loss to John Howard. He also has nine submissions in his career, but is 3-0 with the judges. Honestly, I think this is gonna be a hard back and forth fight all the way to the end. I think we will see the judges in this fight and Daniel Roberts will pull out the small upset for his fourth win in a row. Don't get me wrong, anyone can get a submission at any time in this fight, but something tells me that each other's jiu-jitsu abilities will cancel each other out.

Bantamweight Fight: Ivan Menjivar (21-8/0-2) vs. Charlie Valencia (12-6/5-4)

 Ivan Menjivar Pre-Fight Interview

MY PICK – Charlie Valencia via decision

SHERDOG's PICK – Charlie Valencia via decision

VEGAS's PICK – Ivan Menjivar -152 (+138)

DIBIASE's PICK – NONE

CODY's PICK – Charlie Valencia

Pre-Fight Notes: I believe that this fight is another PINK SLIP FIGHT...I believe that the loser of this fight will be out of the UFC basically before they could ever really even get started. Menjivar is 0-2 and Valencia is 5-4 under the Zuffa banner. Menjivar lost to Matt Serra way back at UFC 48, which should tell you how long Ivan has actually been around. He also lost inside the WEC cage to Brad Pickett at their final event. He has actually lost three of his last four fights and just basically looks horrible right now. I admit that his losses are coming by decision, but I dont think it really matters. Actually, he has only been finished twice in his career, so finishing him is definitely a hard thing to do. Valencia on the other hand has won three of his last four. However, he just has a habit of losing to decent fighters. His last fight was in September, which was a loss to Miguel Torres by submission. Valencia goes to the judges all the time. This is actually why I think he will win this fight. He has luck with the judges, which recently Ivan hasnt. I think Valencia will squeek out a decision win here and end Menjivar's Zuffa/UFC career. I am not very interested in this fight to be honest.

Middleweight Fight: Jason MacDonald (24-14/5-6) vs. Ryan Jensen (15-7/2-5)

Jason MacDonald Interview

Ryan Jensen Interview

MY PICK – Jason MacDonald via submission

SHERDOG's PICK – Ryan Jensen via decision

VEGAS's PICK – Ryan Jensen -147 (+133)

DIBIASE's PICK – NONE

CODY's PICK – Jason MacDonald

Pre-Fight Notes: Jason MacDonald's submission game is just top notch and very underrated. However, with a 5-6 record inside the UFC, this is do or die for him. The same goes for Ryan Jensen whom is a horrible 2-5 inside the Octagon. To be honest, I don't really see how either of these fighters are still employed with the company, but they are. MacDonald has won three of his last four, but is coming off a loss to John Salter almost a year ago where he suffered a leg injury. Jensen also has a pretty good submission game as well. He has lost two of his last three and I am 100% convinced that the loser of this fight will be fired from the UFC. I think it will be Ryan Jensen as he will get caught in a MacDonald submission. Jason is gonna bring this one in based on home field advantage in my book. I am not to excited about this fight either.

Lightweight Fight: John Makdessi (8-0/1-0) vs. Kyle Watson (13-6-1/1-0)

John Makdessi Pre-Fight Interview

Kyle Watson Pre-Fight Interview

MY PICK – John Makdessi via TKO

SHERDOG's PICK – Kyle Watson via decision or submission

VEGAS's PICK – John Makdessi -172 (+158)

DIBIASE's PICK – NONE

CODY's PICK – John Makdessi

Pre-Fight Notes: This fight is one of them fights that you just never really know about. Both men are 1-0 I believe under the Zuffa banner, and looking to pick up another win here. Makdessi obviously has never been defeated and has an excellent kickboxing game. He has finished six of these eight wins by T/KO. So, he obviously has hands of stone and can knock a man out. All of his wins are by TKO however, so he is yet to get that clean KNOCK OUT so far. Watson has a great submission game and has won five fights in a row. It has been proven that he can be knocked out or hit with a TKO though in his past. Personally, I think it is possible for Watson to pull out a submission here, but unlikely. I think that Makdessi will stay undefeated and get the TKO victory before Watson gets the chance to tap him. I honestly am not sure if this will be a very good fight or not. Obviously, this is another Canada vs. The USA type of fight. I think Canada is gonna get this one...

Featherweight Fight: Yves Jabouin (15-6/1-2) vs. Pablo Garza (10-1/1-1)

 Yves Jabouin Pre-Fight Interview

Pablo Garza Pre-Fight Interview

MY PICK - Yves Jabouin via KO

SHERDOG's PICK – Yves Jabouin via KO

VEGAS's PICK – Yves Jabouin -172 (+158)

DIBIASE's PICK – NONE

CODY's PICK – Pablo Garza

Pre-Fight Notes: Not a bad fight in the Featherweight Division as both of these men are probably trying to not be cut here from the UFC. Yves Jabouin is an excellent striker, but with a WEC record of 1-2, chances are that a loss here would lead to his dismissal in his UFC debut. The truth about Yves is that he just isn't all that impressive right now. He never really has beaten anyone that has done much in the sport. I have to admit that this would be a career saving win for him if he can do it. The good thing for him is that his knockout power means he could pull it out at any time. Everyone seems to have him favored in this fight against Garza, who has only lost one time in his career. Garza has a pretty solid submission game and can tap out Yves at any time during this fight. He has never been knocked out obviously as his only loss was by submission. I think that his first time being knocked out will happen right here tonight. I gotta go with Yves Jabouin by knockout here. He's just too solid of a striker and I think he is too quick to get caught in Garza's grappling based offense.

PRE-EVENT COMMENTS: We basically have a wonderful USA vs. CANADA theme for the first time I believe since UFC 58 in which Rich Franklin fought David Louiseau and GSP fought BJ Penn the first time. If my calculations are the correct, the winner of the war this time should be the United States again 6 fights to 3. At UFC 58, The UFC won 5-3 in the head to head battles. That event was in Las Vegas however with a crowd of less than 10,000 (9,569). The buy rate for that one was only 300,000. Something tells me that this event and this show blow ALL numbers away previously. Its already gonna have an attendance of over 55,000 people, which is a UFC record by far. This literally will be the highest grossing UFC event (atleast live) in the companies history. That alone should tell you how great this card is probably gonna be. The problem is that I honestly do not think the undercard is as amazing as everyone thinks. Every single time you are stuck in another country, you have to do local “fillers” that would never be on the show otherwise. How do you think my boy Sean McCorkle got into the UFC? They happened to be doing UFC 119 here in Indianapolis and walah, there you have it. If we didn't have to have SO MANY Canadians, the show would have been better. It is nothing against Canada, but when you make a show basically USA vs. CANADA, you are leaving a lot of solid people out of the mix. Especially Brazillians and the Japanese. Oh well though, I still think this will be a pretty solid card. I also want to note here that the second set of win-loss records next to these fighter's names is their ZUFFA records for either the UFC, the WEC, or the UFC/WEC mixed. I think that the fight of the night is going to be Nate Diaz and Rory MacDonald. I think that the submission of the night is going to Jake Shields. I think that the KO of the night will be awarded to Lyota Machida in his fight with Randy Couture. Who will be jobless after UFC 129? I am thinking along the lines of Randy Couture due to retirement after suffering the worst KO of his career. I am thinking of Pablo Garza and Ivan Mejivar. I also think that the loser of Jason MacDonald and Ryan Jensen will be shown the door.

I think this event as a whole will go down in history obviously due to the attendence records. I think that George St. Pierre's loss here will be epic considering the fact that it seems that EVERYONE thinks he will run right through Jake Shields. I heard a poll today on ESPN that said only 17% of the people think that Shields can pull it off. That is a crazy number considering the fact that Shields hasn't lost in seven years. I think Jose Aldo will have the biggest night of anyone however. If GSP loses and Aldo dominates, I think it is safe to say that Aldo will move into the #2 spot on most people's pound for pound list. Overall, this should be a HUGE event. I am disappointed with some of the undercard as well as the horrible opposition for Ben Henderson in his first UFC fight. However, the THREE main events basically are worth the price of admission alone.

Dana White VLOG-UFC 129 Day #1

UFC 129 PAY OUTS AND NUMBERS

MORE PRE-FIGHT INTERVIEWS

Bellator 42 (4/23/11)

4-23-11 - Bellator 42

Bellator Light Heavyweight Tournament Semifinals: Christian M'Pumbu (17-3-1) def. Tim Carpenter (7-1) via TKO (1-2:08)

MY PICK – Christian M'Pumbu via TKO

Bellator Light Heavyweight Tournament Semifinals: Richard Hale (17-3-1) def. D.J. Linderman (9-2) via split decision

MY PICK - Richard Hale via submission

Featherweight Fight: Ronnie Mann (19-2-1) def. Josh Arocho (6-10) via decision

MY PICK – Ronnie Mann via submission

Catchweight Fight: (190lb) Jared Hess (11-2-1) def. Chris Bell (10-4) via submission (1-1:40)

MY PICK – Jared Hess via submission

Bantamweight Fight: Luiz Noguiera (11-1) def. Jerod Spoon (5-2-1) via decision

MY PICK – Luiz Nogueria via decision

Bantamweight Fight: Shane Howell (10-7) def. Mark Oshiro (12-4) via submission (1-4:15)

MY PICK – Mark Oshiro via submission

Featherweight Fight: Brandon Shelton (17-5-0-1) def. Owen Evinger (6-1) via submission (1-2:35)

MY PICK – Brandon Shelton via submission

Heavyweight Fight: Mark Holata (11-2) def. Tracy Willis (7-4) via submission (1-0:49)

MY PICK – Mark Holata via decision

Evolution does NOT take away from the BIG BANG

Evolution Does Not Take Away From The Original Spark

Let me ask you...Does the fact that we are wonderful creations as human beings instead of babbling monkeys (which we still are ;)) make the big bang any less impressive? Do the neandrathals from the past seem unimportant now that we have evolved as human beings into the most intelligent creatures in the history of Earth? The truth is that the beginning should never be considered less important just because something evolves. There is NOTHING that we can do that will ever in life compare to the BIG BANG and BEGINNING of life. With that being said, its time to move on to the premise...The Mixed Martial Arts world.

Now, I admit that I am extremely sympathetic to the old timers, but there are reasons for that. Without these guys, there would be no MMA today and that is a definite. I recently took a look online at the horrible reaction to the possibility to Royce Gracie fighting at UFC Rio. One guy said “He already got smashed by Hughes, nobody wants to see him again”. My first thought was “Are you kidding me?” Didn't George St. Pierre get smashed by Matt Hughes? Doesn't everyone still wanna see him fight, lose, win, die, or something? The truth is that Royce Gracie is the beginning of this sport and some people need to realize and accept that. A Royce Gracie vs. Demian Maia fight would be wonderful to see.

However, its not just Gracie that gets this treatment from the new age fans. Dan Severn, Ken Shamrock, Kimo, Matt Hughes even, and so many others get this exact same treatment. Someone asked me how I could put Tito Ortiz in my all time greats. The truth is that they were just as HUGE for the evolution of this sport as any. Does the fact that Jon Jones or Lyota Machida can beat Tito Ortiz make his legacy any less impressive. Once again, is the evolved product bigger than the BIG BANG to the point where the Big Bang is only going to be disrespected as if it were never big?

Dan Severn is still out there winning fights, 99 at the time of this piece. If Dan Severn were rumored to fight at UFC Rio, people would more than likely freak out because he may not be able to beat Brock Lesnar. What the hell does it matter whether he can beat Brock Lesnar or not? He is still possibly a top 5 heavyweight of all time and a pioneer in this sport. Hell, he is about to pick up his 100^th win, so why NOT have him at a UFC event in order to do it? Do people not care about history, legacies, and legends anymore? Does Spike Lee's current activities make him a bigger thing than Martin Luther King just because he has a better and more efficient outlet?

Listen, there is no doubt that MMA fighters have evolved into better all around fighters than the fighters in the 90's. However, that does not mean that these fighters are worthless. It does not mean that these fighters are any less impressive. You do realize that the time is going to come when Anderson Silva and George St. Pierre are pushed out of the top 10 of this sport, right? You may be saying not in our lifetime, but what you do not realize is that many of us said the same exact thing about Royce Gracie, Frank Shamrock, and Fedor Emelianenko. Until these guys can't fight anymore, if they choose too, I would be honored to watch them perform their art.

Why? The evolution may be better, but it will never be as impressive as the BIG BANG!