UFC 102 is headlined by Randy Couture vs. Antonio Nogueira and Keith Jardine vs. Thiago Silva. UFC 102 doesn’t nearly have the draw as the last two PPVs but it’s a solid card. Don’t think this card has alot of value on it though. But what do I know, I thought the last card had value and got smoked. Ill be backing the two favorites in the main events. Old Man Couture is -170 and should be a safe pick. Thiago Silva is coming off his first loss in UFC, and it doesn’t get any easier. Now he has to step up and fight Keith Jardine. I see Jardine ending this fight by TKO in the 3rd.
My value pick of the night is going to be Tim Hague who looked very impressive in his UFC debut back in May. Hes sitting at +135, but I don’t have much to go on.
BONUS: It was announced the other day that Brock Lesnar will be fighting Shane Carwin in UFC 106. Carwin is one of the few guys that matchup very well with Lesnar, and could give him a run for the title!
-Cheesecake
UFC 101 has come and gone. The two main events were exciting fights in my eyes. The first thing I want to address is the thoughts of the Silva vs. Griffin fight being fixed. I understand how people can think this, but to actually believe these thoughts is rediculous. Yes Silva knocked him out with an Ali-esch jab, but he dropped him 3 times before knocking him out with the jab. These allegations are easily being brought up by people how I believe never watched Boxing or UFC before. If you have been knocked down 3 times already, any blow to the head could potentially be the end of the fight.
After watching this fight, my man crush on Anderson Silva just got larger. The fight started with the two fighters feeling each other out. Griffin knew that he couldn’t go balls to the wall and expect to win, Silva just preys on that. So he started the fight smart, keeping his distance and looking to not make mistakes. Silva, knowing that Griffin is a balls out fighter, started taunting Griffin, and thats when Forrest’s gameplan went to shit. Silva gained alot of respect by just absolutely embarrassing Forrest in HIS weight limit. What’s next for Silva? I sure as hell hope it’s Machida!
Now for BJ Penn vs. Kenny Florian. This fight was absolutely one sided in my eyes. Ken Flo was unable to get anything done. He did manage to get one takedown, but his ratio wasn’t that good. He must have went for almost 20 take downs. Penn dominated the fight on his feet for the first 3 rounds, thentook the fight to the ground in the 4th. He tired out Florian, who then made the mistake of getting caught on his back. It was only a matter of time before Penn slipped on the rear naked choke…he ended the fight late in the 4th by submission.
My upset special…Kendall Grove had some trouble with Almeida. I’m not upset with the pick though because Grove came within seconds of winning that fight on that armbar!
Hope everyone enjoyed UFC 101, UFC 102 will be held August 29th and is headlined by Light Heavyweights Keith Jardine vs. Thiago Silva and Heavyweights Randy Couture vs. Antonio Noguiera.
-Cheesecake
UFC 101 will be in Philadelphia this Saturday. The card will be headlined by the two fights above. BJ Penn & Kenny Florian going for the Lightweight Championship, and Anderson Silva & Forrest Griffin battling in the Light Heavyweight division.
BJ Penn is -280 KenFlo is +220. Going to have to go with Penn on this one. The lines a tad high but I think Florians going into this fight a bit too cocky and Penn’s experience comes into play late with a TKO in the 4th.
Anderson Silva is an extremely high favorite at -365, Griffin’s sitting at +285. Now I personally think Silva’s the best all around fighter in the UFC, but -365 against a great fighter like Griffin seems like too much. I’ll be taking Griffin +285, but if he loses, will not be disappointed at all.
UPSET ALERT: My upset (if you wanna call it that) will be Kendall Grove +130. This just seems too easy, IMO Grove should be -140 in this fight atleast.
Everyone enjoy UFC 101, I’ll be back to recap later on this weekend!
-Cheesecake
UFC 100 came into the night with a stacked lineup, and it did not disappoint! The main event started with a bang. Lesnar comes down to the octagon looking determined as hell to the tune of Enter Sandman. Before the match started, Lesnar showed Mir no respect and refused to touch gloves with Mir. Brock took down Mir early in the first round, pummeled him for a few minutes then went back to his corner. Mir got off the mat with nothing but smiles, and a swollen face. The second round brought more of the same. Mir hit Lesnar with a solid left hook, followed by a right knee, but was then taken down and Herb Dean was forced to stop the fight via strikes. After the TKO, the fans booed Lesnar to which he responded “I love it, keep goin!” all while throwing the middle finger in the air. It looks like the UFC has a new badass and Brock looks determined to become a star in the UFC.
In the other championship fight, GSP straight dominated Thiago Alves. The fight went the distance, but GSP won by a unanimous decision winning every round of the fight. In one of the most exciting moments of the night, Dan Henderson ROCKED Bisping dropping him to the ground. While laying on the ground unconscious, Henderson got another vicious elbow in on Bisping which Henderson said “That one was to shut him up a little bit”.
The first fight of the night was a tough one for me. Back on my post a few days ago I really liked Belcher going into this fight. I thought both fighters were almost equal, and Belcher was getting great odds. Belcher landed a great right hook that looked like it should have knocked out Jesus, but Akiyami just ate it. The fight went to decision when there was a controversial scoring, when one of the Judges scored the fight 30-27 in favor of Akiyama. Akiyama took the split decision (30-27, 28-29, 29-28).
All in all, UFC 100 was just as advertised, a great show for both the hardcore MMA enthusiast, and the casual MMA fan, looking for an exciting fight.
-Cheesecake (formerly known as WORM)