Official "One More Round" Thread

[Cory]

This will be the official "One More Round" thread.

One More Round, will be the 'joint article' done by myself and MitchMMA, presented by www.audiblyoffensive.com

[Cory]

#1

Welcome to the first installment of the soon to be continuing monthly article, done by two of the most knowledgeable MMA fans on the net in Mitch Ciccarelli and myself. Once a month, we'll share our views and opinions with you.

So I bring to you, the very first installment of “One More Round” with Cory and Mitch

The word overrated is sometimes overused.

Many great athletes over time have been deemed overrated. In NFL, you have guys like Adrian Peterson, and Chad Johnson. In MLB you have Alex Rodriguez, who seems to choke every time he’s in the playoffs. All of the players have been deemed overrated by sports caster, analysts, bloggers, and even some of the readers reading this right now.

The word underrated is well, underrated.

I won’t try and dazzle you with anymore fancy talking, so I’ll just go to the point.

Aside from the Trillion dollar MLB players, and fancy touchdown celebrations in the NFL, there is a little sport, which is very close to me heart, MMA, and there, lies a group of some of the most underrated, underpaid, athletes in the world.

I have teamed up this week, with newly acquired MMA analyst Mitch Ciccarelli to discuss the most underrated fighters to step inside of the octagon, and those who we think someday in the near future will be a champion in the UFC.

We’ve decided to pick three each, and discuss why we picked them for being ‘underrated’ and just why they are on this list.
I know what you’re thinking.

Underrated in MMA? How can that be? If you win enough, you’ll eventually get paid more and get an opportunity at a belt, right?

Wrong.

We’ve picked fighters who have been busting their balls for too damn long, and Joe Silva needs to get off his ass and give them a shot at the strap.

So with no more hesitation, the most underrated fighters in the UFC.

#1: Thiago Silva

Now, it’s no hidden fact that this guy is one of my favourite fighters, but I’ll tell you why he is truly underrated.

First, you had Lyoto Machida. After his ‘thrilling’ match against Tito Ortiz, where he won via decision (big surprise) everyone had said that this undefeated MMA machine should get the next title shot at Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson (LHW champ at the time). Machida is a undefeated ‘wrecking’ machine, so why not?

Why not? Because they’re is another undefeated WRECKING machine named Thiago Silva, who puts on exciting fights, unlike Machida who is about as exciting as listening to your old ass uncle talk about how much cheaper stuff use to be in ‘the old days’. Little comparison here, Machida, 5-0 in the UFC, has four decisions, with only one finish. Silva, 4-0 in the UFC, all four have either been knockout by strikes, or submission by strikes.

But who, before their match announced for UFC 89, was getting all of the title consideration? Lyoto Machida.

Why?

Because Thiago Silva is an underrated fighter.

Now, we can put their argument to rest soon, as like I mentioned above, Thiago Silva will crush Lyoto Machida....or I mean, Thiago Silva will fight Lyoto Machida at UFC 89 in October, to see who is next in line for a title shot a 205.

Mitch’s first pick, is #2 on our list. Here is what he had to say about his pick.

Now when I picked my three fighters to talk about in this column, I not only picked three of the best up and coming fighters in the world but I picked three guys who I think are a lot better than most people give them credit for.

The fighters I picked are guys who are constantly improving and with a few more big wins can make their way into the top 10 rankings for their weight class, without a doubt.

#2: Grey Maynard

Gray Maynard is probably my favorite up and coming fighter at 155 pounds right now! He is a phenomenal wrestler, but he is a lot better rounded than people will give him credit for.

Most of you probably remember him for the “Ultimate Fighter” season five, he made it all the way to the semi-finals but ended up losing to the TUF 5 winner Nate Diaz in a close fight. Since then he has had a no-contest with Rob Emerson (in which he knocked himself out when he slammed Emerson), an extremely quick knockout of Joe Veres (he knocked him out in nine seconds of round 1), a decision victory over Dennis Siver, and a huge decision win over Frankie Edgar!

Since coming to the UFC, Maynard has been on a roll and I can definitely picture him ploughing through more and more lightweights until he moves his way up into title contention! Maynard is like a mini version of his mentor Randy Couture, he is a phenomenal wrestler with some solid stand-up and submissions, he is a well rounded fighter and he continues to improve! You could call him the Josh Koscheck of the lightweight division, world class wrestler that can do a lot more than just wrestle, he isn’t one dimensional as most people will tell you he is. You don’t believe me? Go watch his fight with Joe Veres where he knocked him out in nine seconds and then try to tell me that he is “just a wrestler”!

I’m not sure who he is fighting next but I think he is slated to face Matt Wiman at a future UFN, which would be very interesting because they have both been on fire since TUF season 5 and a fight between them would be highly entertaining to watch!
In conclusion, I’d just like to say that I am not a psychic but I am definitely foreseeing Gray Maynard with the lightweight title in a few years, mark my words, the “bully” will be champ!

My second pick, like Silva, is another one of my favourites, and is yet another underrated fighter, I think, he got screwed over recently, and I’ll tell you why.

#3: Thiago Alves

I’m hitting up every Thiago in the UFC it seems, but Thiago Alves is another truly underrated fighter.
He might not have a perfect record in the UFC, unlike Jon Fitch, but here is where I think he might have been screwed over ‘recently’.

Fitch, who is facing Georges St. Pierre at UFC 87, got the shot over Mr. Alves. Sure, early in their careers, Fitch did knockout Alves, and because of that, I can see why they gave the shot to Fitch, but I always though getting a title shot was about who you have beaten lately, not who you beat two years ago.

Fitch, in his last three fights, which have been way more spread out than Alves (which means Alves fights way more frequently) has defeated Roan Carnerio, Diego Sanchez, and Chris Wilson. He only finished the Carnerio fight, and won via split decision on the only ‘real’ fight against Sanchez, and a decision victory over Wilson.

Alves on the other hand, in his last three fights, has won all by TKO, over Chris Lytle, and two huge knockouts over Kario Parisian and former Welterweight champion in Matt Hughes.

There is no way you could compare the two, in their recent fights. Alves wins easily.

So my question to you is, why give Fitch the shot?

Aside from his victory over Alves back in 2006, Alves has done more to deserve a shot, or at the very least, give these two a re-match, for the winner to fight St. Pierre.

I don’t know why the UFC rewards guys who can’t finish fights, it’s insane, and this is why Thiago Alves is a truly underrated fighter.

Mitch’s second, and our fourth.

#4: Martin Kampmann

“The Hitman”, another one of my favorite up and coming fighters right now, this guy is a stud at 185 pounds.
He is very well rounded and trains at “Xtreme Couture”, as does previously mentioned Gray Maynard (actually I think all three guys that I will mention train at XC, I didn’t even notice that until now Ha!).

He is currently undefeated with the UFC and has an overall MMA record of 13-1-0, his most recent win was against seasoned veteran Jorge Rivera at UFC 85. I see a lot of potential in Kampmann, I consider him to be a top 10 middleweight and a guy that could give Anderson Silva a run for his money. Granted Silva would probably destroy him but it wouldn’t be easy, Kampmann is an animal!

He is rumored to be fighting Nate Marquart at UFC 88 in Atlanta and I am really looking forward to seeing that, a win over Marquart will put Kampmann right in the top 10 for his weight class. Simply put, the guy is an animal and if the casual fans don’t know him now, they will definitely hear about him in the future! He actually just returned from knee surgery though, he was out for 15 months, many say his knee is still in pretty bad shape but we will see, no fighter is ever at 100% when they are in that cage anyway so I think he will be good to go against Marquart in September.

And my final pick was a given. With only one controversial decision loss in his career, this 16-1 monster hasn’t even received a title shot yet, or even mention. He hails from the motherland, and my third and final pick for most underrated fighter in the UFC.....

#5: Michael Bisping

How can you not like this guy? He has the appeal of a brawler from Brittan, who came right off from the streets and is ready for a fight. I’ve been a fan of the guy ever since he won the Ultimate Fighter back in 06 (season three).

He might have jumped down a weight class, but the guy has been a wrecking machine. I still can’t understand how he didn’t get a shot when he was fighting in the 205 division, as he went 4-0, with two fights of the night honours. He should have received a shot, before having to fight Rashad Evans, where he eventually went on to lose what some might say a controversial decision.

He then moved down to 185, to a division where there is basically one man, standing tall as a bunch of dead human bodies lay around him, and that’s Anderson Silva.

Silva, who fights Patrick Cote at UFC 90, should watch out for Bisping. He may be overrated, and many people might not ‘see’ him, but truthfully, Bisping is the only fighter in 185 that could potentially beat Anderson Silva.

The fact still remains, that being one of the best fighters in the UFC, Michael Bisping has yet to receive a shot at any belt, be it the Light Heavyweight or Middleweight, and that, is not only both discouraging, but proves that Bisping is an underrated fighter.


To sum up my three guys in a nutshell, they’ll all be future ‘superstars’ in MMA. I could see all three holding come gold as early as late 2009. I’d like to think maybe a victory or two more, and these guys will have some serious title contention.  If not, my list of underrated fighters will stand true, but you’d be able to add unappreciated next to that.

With that, we look at the final fighter on our list; let’s see what Mitch has to say about his last pick.

#6: Mac Danzig

Another Xtreme Couture fighter, Danzig is the winner of TUF season six and probably one of the most well rounded fighters in the 155 pound division.

He is coming off wins from Tommy Speer and Mark Bocek and is now looking to put Clay Guida away in September, in what should be the fight of the night.

Danzig might be a little grumpy at times, but I like that, he doesn’t put up with B.S and he tells it how it is, I respect that. He is actually a very nice guy, some will disagree with me but I think he just acted that way on TUF because it was a frustrating situation to live with sixteen other fighters for six weeks! Danzig is also a vegan, doesn’t eat meat and the vegan diet seems to give him a lot of energy in the octagon, maybe I should become a vegan? Nah I love meat, I could never stop eating meat, if Jessica Alba came to my doorstep in the middle of the day and said she would strip for me if I promised to never eat meat again…. I would smack her in the face with a piece of fried chicken!

Well anyways back to Danzig, he has been doing MMA for a long time and in my humble opinion he could give any top 5 lightweight a run for their money. A lot of people, mainly those guys on sherdog will say “Danzig is overrated, he isn’t as good as everyone says”, and I highly disagree, in fact I think Danzig is BETTER than people give him credit for! You will see Mac Danzig’s name on the top 10 rankings very very soon, I promise you!

The three fighters above are some of my favorite fighters right now, I love watching these guys fight and hopefully they can continue to prove me right about them. I didn’t realize at first that all three of them (Danzig, Kampmann, & Maynard) come from Xtreme Couture, don’t think I am being biased towards that camp but I do love that camp so hell, I might have been.

I hope you all enjoyed this column because there will be plenty more in the future.

Also feel free to tell us your three favorite up and coming fighters, both Mitch and I would love to hear what you guys have to say about our article, or if you have a topic that you’d want us to talk about next month, send them to pat@audiblyoffensive.com

For Mitch, I'm Cory

Thank you for reading.

[Khristian Call]

Three people to look out for in MMA in my humble opinion, one has already made his debut in the UFC, that would be Goran Reljic.  He's a BJJ fighter that gets his stand up training from Cro Cop, which showed as he knocked the hell out of Gouveia (who had won 4 fights in a row) in his debut.  That coupled with the fact that he's only 24, he's a HUGE light heavyweight (6'4, cuts down from 230) and has a good chin.  It's a tough division, not saying he's the next champ, but he could halt a lot of people's path to a title shot.

Another guy is the rightful winner of the Dream lightweight tournament in my opinion, Eddie Alvarez.  His move down to 155 makes him quite possibly one of the scariest fighters in the division.  He has great wrestling and very heavy hands, plus he's another guy that's huge now for his division.  He beat up Joachim Hansen and Tatsuya Kawajiri back to back, giving Kawajiri his first TKO loss.  If he entered the UFC now, I don't have a problem saying he would be amidst their top 5 lightweights.

Last guy is someone that won't fight in the UFC, probably ever, which is a shame.  Brian Bowles.  He fights in the 135 division, and has only been fighting for 2 years, but is now 3-0 in the WEC beating very tough competition, and finishing them all.  He wasn't supposed to beat Charlie Valencia, but he choked him out.  He knocked out Marcos Galvao who was ranked #3 in the division on 2 different sites, and he choked out Damacio Page, another very tough guy.  He's headed towards a showdown with Miguel Torres I would assume, and that fight should be awesome. 


Let me throw one more guy in there that's making his UFC debut a few events from now.  Dan Hardy, a welterweight from the UK, who's won 7 out of his last 8 fights, the only one he lost was a DQ to Zenko Yoshida.  He's making his debut against Akihiro Gono.  Right now I have him losing the fight, because Gono's got too good of an all around game and quite possibly the most underrated chin in the UFC, but I have him losing by decision, and I think he'll impress a lot of people in the process.

[MitchMMA]

I definetely agree with those picks.

Goran is going to make some noise in the 205 pound division, I can see him becoming a top 10 Light Heavyweight very soon.

Alvarez is a stud, I wish I could watch more of DREAM, but I have only been able to watch some fights online. Eddie is big 155'er, he can pose some big problems for most guys in the division.

I'd love to see Bowles fight Torres, Bowles is very underrated and unknown to most people. A fight with Torres would be awesome!

I have heard good things about Dan Hardy, he's made a lot of noise in the UK, can't wait to see what he can do in the UFC!

[Cory]

Welcome to the second instalment of One More Round, where myself Cory Axe Murderer Silva and Mitch Ciccarelli will discuss topics you, the readers want to know about.

This month, we’ll look into the top five reasons you should watch Mixed Martial Arts, or MMA. With little hesitation, lets jump on into our list.

Mitch: Well one of the reasons why I myself love MMA compared to other sports like football (American) and basketball is because of how disciplined the athletes are. In other sports your watching a bunch of arrogant pricks who really only care about themselves and they think they are better than everyone at everything. You don’t see that a lot in MMA because even though the fighters are very competitive they aren’t walking around sticking their nose down at people who aren’t on their level. I’m not saying everyone in MMA is a nice guy because we do have some douche bags in the sport like the Diaz brothers who walk around flipping people off and acting like a bunch of hoodlums.

Mitch: What I am trying to say is that the honor and the discipline from traditional martial arts carries over into MMA and the result is a pure sport filled with extremely competitive and disciplined athletes. People don’t understand that sometimes and they think it’s just two guys or girls beating the crap out of each other and that’s not what it’s all about. For the most part these athletes don’t like hurting people but they like competing and testing themselves against the best fighters in the world. If you are tired of hearing a bunch of cocky jocks from the NFL then put on some MMA and watch real disciplined athletes put it all on the line!

Cory:  Who doesn’t like sex? I can honestly say the only good thing about professional wrestling these days, is fake breasts. Well now, you can get all of that excitement in MMA. With the lovely ring girls, that every promotion aside from Russia has, sporting around the round cards, it could classify as soft-core porn for you fellas out there won are really desperate. So don’t just think MMA is a bunch of sweat guys fighting each other, you get some eye candy as well, and usually most of the girls are sexy as hell.

Cory: For our female readers, you get to watch the odd attractive male fight, to find out the true alpha-male.


Mitch: If you’re a fan of professional wrestling than you will love MMA! Once you understand the ground game you will love the sport just like the rest of us. Why? Well because it’s legit it isn’t staged fighting it is real fighting and the wrestling fans who love to see good action will really enjoy MMA. Once you become more familiar with the fighters then you will really start caring more about each fight on the card and not just the main event. Most wrestling fans will say “well it has no story to it, why should I care about these fights” and that’s where they are wrong because believe it or not there is some story to MMA except it’s real! Ken Shamrock and Tito Ortiz was a real feud between guys who really hated each other in real life.

Mitch:  If you aren’t watching MMA because you think the fights have no meaning than you are sadly mistaken. Every fight has meaning to it you just have to be familiar with who these guys are and you will start caring. I’ll give you a good example right now everyone is pumped up to see Brock Lesnar fight Randy Couture for the Heavyweight title at UFC 91. Randy Couture is the champion that has been away from the cage all year and he is making his return against this newcomer in Brock Lesnar who is a complete monster. Randy is trying to prove to everyone that he is still one of the best heavyweights out there and still has what it takes to compete against the young studs while Brock is trying to make MMA history by beating Randy for the title and winning the belt in his debut year. No meaning? No story? Yeah right, this fight has a whole lot of meaning behind it! If you are tired of watching staged fighting from the WWE or TNA than come check out some MMA! We have the best action and it’s all real!

Cory: Who would have though that the UFC would have gone from a total bust from the nineties, to a mutli-million dollar, now potentially billion dollar company? MMA right now has to be the hottest trend in pop-culture today. You see a guy like Chuck Liddell endorse an energy drink; you now want to drink that drink. I can say I fell into the Affliction craze. I currently have four Affliction shirts, at a $100 a pop, just because they’re either say ‘Fedor Emelianenko’ on it, or have a crazy design. Ten years ago, shirts like that worn in public would be disgraced upon, now it’s the in-thing, like Bulimia.

Cory: The current marketplace to get into is MMA, because they’re just SO MUCH MONEY TO BE MADE. Whether you want to start a clothing company, sports drink, or whatever, using the MMA ‘push’ would be a great financial decision. Hell, even a career. Anyone can fight; now, you can get sponsored, get trained, and make a career out of swinging your fists and hurting other human beings. I sure as hell would love to make a few millions of dollars a year doing that shit, how about you?

Cory: MMA is a perfect marketplace for all of you future and present entrepreneurs out there, so if you’re not watching it and learning about the potential gold-mine it could turn out to be, watch MMA, and you’ll soon know what I mean.


Mitch: The number one reason why you should watch MMA if you don’t already is because it is the most exciting sport in the world! Everyone loves to see a good fight whether you’re a practitioner of martial arts or just some guy working at taco bell you love to see a good old fashioned ass whooping, am I right? Violence is appealing to us for some reason we all love to see violence on TV because it’s exciting and it gets your heart pumping. I’m not saying every MMA fight is super exciting because I’m sure some people might find certain fights boring but most of the time the fights are really fun to watch.

Mitch:  I think if everyone had a vast knowledge of the ground game and truly understood what was going on than they would love every single MMA fight whether it be on UFC or just some amateur event. For the most part people love to see stand up wars like the first Stephan Bonnar-Forrest Griffin fight but people need to understand that there is much more to fighting than striking. I know we have several people out there who will say “oh they are just hugging each other on the ground” or “oh this is so gay” and those people don’t understand what’s going on at all. Once fights go to the ground it’s like a chess match between two fighters looking for openings and trying to get into the right position to either apply a submission or just control their opponent. If you like excitement and you like to be entertained than you should definitely check out MMA because I guarantee you will enjoy it. Check out any upcoming event whether it be UFC, WEC, Affliction, etc. Also please don’t be one of those idiotic Kimbo marks who only show up to Elite XC fights to see him and then boo everything else. Please be respectful to the fighters who are in their putting it all on the line, thank you!

Cory: And those are five reasons you should watch the fantastic sport of Mixed Martial Arts....unless you’ve already been watching, then power on man. On behalf of Mitch, I’d like to thank you for reading this second addition of One More Round, and we’ll see you next month!

[MitchMMA]

Hopefully we can get the next One More Round up this month, I'll talk to Cory about it next time he is on.

Does anyone have anything they would like to see in our next column? Any ideas or anything?

[Duckman]

Yeah I've got loads of ideas, seeing as I'm really just starting to get into MMA but I'm loving it so far.

Here we go:

1.  Three fighters who you feel are the future of MMA.

2.  What rule changes would you make in the UFC to improve the product.

3.  Greatest fighters of Pride vs UFC - who is the best?

4.  Striking, wrestling, ground and pound, submissions - which is the most effective fighting style and why?

There, that should keep you going for a while, lol!

Peace

Duckman

[MitchMMA]

sweet those are some awesome topic ideas Sam! If Cory is down with it, I'd like us to write the rule changes one first, I have some ideas for that one.

[Cory]

I'm down for one.

I think thats a good subject, but I dont think we could write a full length article on that. Thoughts?

[MitchMMA]

Yeah know that I think about it, it would be hard to write a full article on the unified rules.

How about we start with the future of MMA? I know we did the first one on underrated fighters but this one should be a bit different and we probably won't name the same names lol.

[Cory]

Ill be down for that. Hit me over PM (going to bed now, & TUF is on soon) and well figure something out.

[Cory]

Welcome to the long await third edition of One More Round. Tonight, myself Cory and fellow MMA guru Mitch Ciccarelli will discuss the future of this business, and just what guys we think in a few years time, will be the champions of our loved promotions.

Jake Rosholt

Ciccarelli: When Cory and I decided to write a column about the “future stars of MMA”, the first guy that hopped into my mind is MMA newcomer and wrestling standout Jake Rosholt. You’re talking about a guy with incredible wrestling ability, a guy that is so young and fresh to the sport and is going to be around for many years. He has weak stand up, he needs to work on that but I truly believe this guy is going to be HUGE in the coming years. I know Dana White has been calling TUF 8’s Philipe Nover the “next Anderson Silva” and I think you can definitely say the same thing about Rosholt. This guy loves to compete and he is constantly going to get better with each fight, he’s going to start smashing people in the middleweight division… trust me!

Goran Reljic

Cory: This dudes a stud, and I’m saying that from only seeing three of his eight professional fights. The future of the heavyweight division is looking promising in the UFC, with Reljic and another stud, who Mitch will mention later on in this article looking to be the faces of that division. Reljic to me is the reincarnation of Mirko Cro Cop.....maybe because Cro Cop trains the man, or the fact that his leg kicks are BRUTAL. He took UFC Heavyweight veteran Wilson Gouveia and knocked him out in the second, on his debut fight. He is very strong, very young, and I think he’ll be making headlines in the near future.

Cain Velasquez

Ciccarelli: Trust me when I tell you that in about four-five years (maybe even less time than that), Cain Velasquez is going to be known as one of the pound for pound best fighters in the world! This guy is a beast, he just recently came into the UFC and he just looks like he’s going to destroy everybody in the Heavyweight division eventually. He’s currently 4-0 in MMA (2-0 in the UFC) and he’s destroyed all four of his opponents with a TKO in the first round. They say he is already dominating everyone in the practice room as well. I can’t wait to see him fight tougher opponents soon. A dream fight for me would be for Cain to fight Brock Lesnar, two dominant/explosive wrestlers going at it!

Nate Diaz

Cory: Brother of fighting superstar Nick Diaz, he was the winner of the Ultimate Fighter, season five and I can see big things in store for this 155 pounder. With an amazing submission game, he can submit just about anybody on the ground, and his 5-0 UFC record proves that. I can see maybe in two more victories, a shot at BJ Penn for the strap. I like this dudes attitude, just because hes arrogant and in your face, and what can I say, I’m a sucker for a trash talker who can back it up. I could see Diaz being another ‘Tito Ortiz’, and that’s a good thing....or well. Tito five years ago.

Jon Fitch

Ciccarelli: Jon Fitch is already known as one of the best fighters in the world, currently ranked as the number two best welterweight in MMA. Guess what? Dude’s only 30 years old! This guy isn’t going anywhere and he is constantly going to get better and better with each fight. He went the distance with GSP back in August in one of the best fights of the year but I think in a few years if you give Fitch a rematch he would win. Fitch is the kind of fighter that is very good at finding weaknesses in his opponents and exploiting them, he’s a very smart fighter. The only guy in the welterweight division right now that is better than him is the current champ Georges St. Pierre. Now St. Pierre is younger than Fitch (GSP is 27)and St. Pierre is also the kind of guy that’s constantly improving with each fight and is going to be around for a very long time. However I truly believe Fitch will someday take GSP’s spot as number one in the division. If anyone could do it (beat GSP), Fitch is the guy to do it, he lost the first time but he won’t make the same mistake twice.

Thiago Silva

Cory: No surprise here, I’ve been praising this 13-0 knockout machine for ever, but I’m telling you, he’ll be the face of the UFC in 2 years time, maybe sooner. I think once he obliterates that piece of garbage, or ‘elusive’ Lyoto Machida next year at UFC 94, he’ll be in serous contention for a shot at the 205 title, whoever holds it. He has great power, good chin, a seeming temper which works to his advantages, and, much like Diaz, is a straight up asshole. Bonus points to him from my perspective. I can’t praise the man anymore, so I wont enlighten you all, but Thiago Silva will be a star, I put my word on it.

So that’s a wrap to OMR III. On behalf of Mitch Ciccarelli, I’m Cory. Get out there and watch UFC 91 tommorow, and we’ll see you next time. All day.

[MitchMMA]

It’s the dream fight card fans all round the world have been waiting years for… well it’s not THAT big but it’s still a good looking card and a good way to kick off 2009. It’s UFC 93 and Cory and I are here to break down the main card fights!

Marcus Davis vs. Chris Lytle:

Mitch: This has potential to become one of the best fights of the year and it’s definitely my prediction for “fight of the night”. The way I see it, it’s going to be a stand up war with both men slugging it out like warriors until it eventually hits the ground. Both Davis and Lytle come from a boxing background but Davis is the better boxer in my opinion and should win the stand up war. However on the ground I feel like Chris Lytle is a tad bit better than the ‘Irish Hand Grenade’. I can see Lytle winning this one either by a submission or a unanimous decision.

Chris Lytle by unanimous decision

Cory: This will be a brawl, there’s no doubt about it. The Irish Hand Grenade loves to throw bombs, and Lytle will stand with just about anybody, and he can take a beating and continue to go, as we saw against Josh Koscheck. I see that if it goes to the ground, Lytle will have a solid advantage, but I see Davis winning this one.

Marcus Davis via 3rd Round TKO

Jeremy Horn vs. Rousimar Palhares:

Mitch: Jeremy Horn is a crafty veteran with over 90 fights but I have a feeling this will be the last time we see him in the UFC. Palhares is a Jiu-Jitsu ace with incredible submission skills and I think we will see one of his most dominant performances to date against Jeremy Horn. I will always respect Jeremy Horn but I don’t see how he can win this fight.

Rousimar Palhares by first round submission

Cory: Horn is a crafty veteran, with excellent submission skills. Palhares is a freak when it comes to the ground, and even in his stomping against Dan Henderson, he scared Hendo at some points in that fight on the ground.

Rousimar Palhares via 2nd round Submission

Alan Belcher vs. Denis Kang:

Mitch: This is an interesting fight. Belcher is somewhat of a blue chipper in the middleweight division and we saw in the fight with Ed Herman how crisp is Muay Thai is becoming. However Denis Kang has been making a ton of noise over in Japan for many years. Kang is making his UFC debut and I think he’s got potential to become one of the top contenders in the middleweight division. I’m picking him to win this fight but I’m not overlooking Alan Belcher either.

Denis Kang by second round (T)KO

Cory: Belcher is one of those guys that you can never count-out in the middleweight division, and can beat any over the solid fighters on any given night, but Kang, like Mitch said has been tearing it up over in Japan for quite some time now, and I think he’ll win in his UFC debut.

Denis Kang via 1st round TKO

Mark Coleman vs. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua:

Mitch: There is a ton of bad blood between the two from their first fight over in PRIDE. Basically Coleman beat Shogun off of a freak accident and then afterwards went all crazy and all hell broke loose between Coleman and Shogun Rua’s corner. Wanderlei Silva even got involved jumping into the ring to defend Shogun, it was insane! You know I respect Coleman, he’s a legend in this sport but what he did after that fight was kind of “classless” at least in my opinion. This fight should be much different than the first one. Shogun is the much better fighter and all Mark Coleman has over him is wrestling. Coleman is a very strong wrestler with good ground and pound but Shogun has the better striking, better Jiu-Jitsu, better cardio… just in general is the better fighter. Shogun was once known as the best light heavyweight fighter in the world and I think he’s going to show the American fans what all that hype was about by completely dominating Coleman.

Shogun Rua by first round (T)KO or submission

Cory: Tough call. We dont really know what the status really is on Coleman. Is he in great shape? Does he still have the same skills hav e had five years ago? Coleman has some very heavy hands, and could catch Rua, but aside from his loss to Forrest Griffin, he is still one of the best light heavyweight fighters in the world, and I see him making a name in the UFC with this fight.

Shogun Rua via 1st Round Submission

Main Event- Rich Franklin vs. Dan Henderson:

Mitch: I’ve already given my thoughts on this fight in a previous column on here, “The BreakdowN: Henderson vs. Franklin”. Basically if you haven’t read it, I’ll just give you a short break down. Rich can win if he keeps it on the feet and picks Hendo apart with his crisp striking. Hendo has a ton of knock out power so Rich would have to keep moving and use that footwork. However I don’t think this fight will go in Rich’s favor. Dan Henderson should be able to take him down and pound the hell out of him for a second round knock out on the ground.

Dan Henderson by second round (T)KO

Cory: I think Hendo is stronger than Rich in nearly every aspect, but Franklin is still a top tier guy and if he ended up beating Dan Henderson, it wouldn’t be an upset by any shot. I just think after comparing each guys last few fights, Henderson has impressed me the most, and his last win over Palhares was scary.

Dan Henderson via 2nd Round TKO

[Duckman]

When are we getting a new one of these dudes?  I love these articles!

Peace

Duckman

[Cory]

Personally, I've been fucked over with school for the entire second semester. I've been able to take some time out to RP for PWR, and use 10 minutes or so here and there to post on the boards, but haven't really had the time to do a OMR or fuck, even post of AudiblyOffensive.....

I'll have an article up this week during the holiday break, ripping on Bobby Lashley, but a OMR can move next on my list after that.