Predictions: Strikefroce Diaz Vs Cyborg

Its Thursday, which means we are getting close to the weekend, so we feel it appropriate to dish out predictions on Saturday night's big Strikeforce card. Let me put a disclaimer here...I am almost ALWAYS wrong so if your betting the fights please don't rely on this guy to help secure your financial future.

The card looks to be exciting and with 2 belts on the line it should provide us with some good, if not great performances. So this is how I see it going down:

Trevor Prangley vs. Roger Gracie

• Prangley has 30 fights to his credit with an impressive 23-6-1 record. He knows his way around a fight. Gracie is carrying a storied tradition of MMA with him but with only 3 fights to his name (all victories though) I give this to Prangley by decision.

Herschel Walker vs Scott Carson

• No doubt in my mind that Walker comes into this fight being possibly one of the best prepared athletes of all time. His training is world class and lets face it, Carson doesn't even have a picture to put on Strikeforce's webpage. This is a gimme fight for Herschel and I see this being an early KO..maybe 2nd round.

Ronaldo Souza vs Robbie Lawler

• Jacare vs Ruthless. I watched the Souza's last fight with Tim Kennedy and in my scoring I gave it to Tim. I also saw Lawler knock out Matt Linland and was impressed. Should be interesting with the World Middleweight Title hanging in the balance. My gut is telling me Lawler...so Lawler it is by knockout in the first round.

MAIN EVENT

Nick Diaz vs Evangelista Santos

• Cyborg being the elder and with almost as many losses as wins I can't in good faith even say that this will be a good fight. Diaz should work that Stockton magic and win easily. I am a sucker for the underdog so I am going with CYBORG! Like I said, this is not a guide on who to bet on

There is my opnion on the matter...Subject to change when I am actually sitting in front of the TV watching. However I feel confident that Showtime and Strikeforce will put on a good card and who knows what will happen.

Dump

Finish the fight...Eliminate the judge

Dana White has preached this for as long as I can remember. When talking to the new casts of TUF he tells them passionately to not let the fight go into the judges hands. Why is that? Is he pressing for explosive finishes? Do the knockouts and submissions equal higher ratings? I don't think either really apply to his mantra. Judging MMA is like judging a toddlers beauty pageant. There is no right or wrong to tallying of points, just opinion. Its the opinion of someone who is sitting cageside that determines champions and I for one get overly nervous if a bout goes the distance. Sometimes there is a clear cut winner. Matt Wiman's performance this past Saturday night was clear cut. The Edgar/Maynard fight...not so much.

Herb Dean is starting a school for MMA referees. Absolutely needed after some of the screw ups I have seen in the cage in my lifetime. You don't hear of judge's training? Its not like being a supreme court justice and carrying the pre-requisite of law school amongst a slew of experience. Maybe there needs to be some time of farm program for these guys and gals. Judge X number of amatuer fights and get your shot at an undercard bout. Do good, move up to the main card.

I hate to see a good fight go to a decision. It's no more than a toss up if the fight was worth anything. I am still of the group that beleives a champion can't lose the title in a decision. I hope that 2011 brings about some changes. It's all a mute point if you can choke the life out of a guy or knock him out cold.

Head Rush MMA and American Choppers

Dave in the blog:

Well tonight two of my favorite things ever came together, Choppers and Mixed Martial Arts.
Earlier tonight I was watching American Choppers : Junior vs Senior, not knowing what the episode was about I was watching and Senior OCC was going to build a bike (chopper) for HeadRush Clothing and Accessories company. They had one of their fighters on there tonight with them, UFC fighter Phil Davis who's MMA record as of this show airing was or may still be 8-0. OCC built a awesome bike for HeadRush but not very practical for rideing though. They probably should have went with Paul Jr. Designs to get a awesome practical bike that you could actually ride down the road and not have to worry about the bike killing you.  I will have to say this Phil Davis fighter looked pretty impressive, but I dont know anything about him and I am going to do some research on him and HeadRush, but I was just wondering if anyone out there might know something about this fighter  where he stands as a MMA fighter. (Is he any good) What is his UFC ranking? Make sure to tune in next week on the Discovery Channel 9:00 pm eastern time for American Chopper you never know they may be building a chopper for Dana White or the UFC.

Evaluation time

Well the curtain has closed on an action packed weekend. It also signals the end of our 1st event coverage and our first week or so of blogging. It seems we have had several hundred page views which is INCREDIBLE. For those reading this, we appreciate you. 

So what happened this week? We introduced ourselves to the blogging community. We talked about the heavyweights of this fine sport. We went live on Twitter and brought our thoughts and commentary on UFC Fight for the Troops. All of these things in our mind equal success. 

If you have read down this far we have a favor to ask. No survey's or satisfaction evaluations needed. We just ask that you leave us a message somewhere on the blog. Read our stuff. If we stink, tell us. If you like it, tell us. Got suggestions, tell us. Feedback is huge for us because up until this point we just talk to each other and without readers input, well...we still are.  

Post Fight Results For UFC's Fight For The Troops

Dave in the blog

Matt Wiman defeats Cole Miller

In a featured lightweight bout, Matt Wiman neutralized Cole Miller's  grappling skills, kept Miller on his back and swarmed him with heavy ground-and-pound  to a surprisingly one-sided unanimous decision. I actually cant Figure out what was wrong with Miller tonight he just looked like he was not in the fight at all. He had no answer for Wiman's crazy ground-and-pound. Maby Wiman is ready to move up to some higher top ranked opponents. Matt Wiman was the man tonight.





Pat Barry defeats Joey Beltran


Barry leg kicks his way to victory over Beltran
Barry connected more than 20 leg kicks, 18 of them in the final two rounds -- and took a unanimous decision in this heavyweight bout. Pat came out kicking just like in his fight with Cro Cop, except he made these kicks count especially in the last 2 rounds. This was an interesting fight for me because I actually thought that Beltran won the first rd and most of the second. Barry came on strong at the end of the second and I guess it paid off for him, but  what do I know the judges scored it unanimous all 3 rds to Barry 





Mark Hominick defeats George Roop


Mark Hominick was sharp tonight, as he stopped his old training partner George Roop on first-round strikes and secures his shot at the UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo. Hominick defeats Roop 88 seconds into Round 1. Not much to say on this fight other than Hominick beat Roop like a step child. It will be interesting to see if he can do the same aginst Jose Aldo. Will have to wait and see should be a good one.

Matt Mitrione defeats Tim Hague

"The Ultimate Fighter" Season 10 alum Matt Mitrione Pounded the sideburns off Tim Hague in a heavyweight co mainevent, as he beat away the former KOTC  champion with punches 2 minutes, 59 seconds into the first round. Yeah my boy Mitrione beats the crap out of Hague tonight. I called this one. One of my 2 fights I called right tonight Matt looked the best he has ever looked inside the Octagon. He was much quicker and lighter on his feet than ever before. Man Duke Roufus has really improved Mitrione skills for sure.



Melvin Guillard Defeats Evan Dunham

An injury replacement for Kenny Florian, Guillard upset the world-ranked Evan Dunham in the UFC "Fight for the Troops 2" mainevent. Guillard took out Dunham with punches and knees 2:58 into round one, as he extended his winning streak to four fights and announced himself as a contender at 155 pounds. What can I say, I know this much with domination like Guillard showed tonight I dont see how they could have called this one a upset. Guillard dominated from the time the bell rank to the nearly 3 mins he pounded on Dunham. All I can say is watch out for anybody else that gets in his way.

Well the UFC has done it again another awesome card, even though i thought it was a little weak at first I was proven wrong once more. I see that being a trend as of here late I need to work on my thinking. Well thanks to all of our followers and visitors and Twitter buddies tonight for all the great UFC action and play by. So until next time, this is Dave and Bluegrassmma will see you in the Octagon.

Fight for The Troops

Well what a night. I have to say that tonight the UFC impressed me more than usual. I will be honest., this card didn't excite me that much. Some new faces, some old faces and some ugly faces mixed in a card that had a huge intention, honor our troops. From the get go you could sense the excitement in the crowd. The relief of having a night off to enjoy themselves. The UFC came up big in this one.

Dave will break down the fights but I have some commentary that I just have to get out. First I guess this event had some personal interest from me. We are from a small town in Eastern Kentucky. Our small town has had 2 of its own killed while serving our country. It just so happens both of those are from my own family. On September 11th 2001 while helping his commanding officer, on his day off, Edward Thomas Earheart was at the Pentagon. He died there.  Nine years later another young man from our town was killed while serving our country in Afghanistan. Cheif Special Warfare Officer, Navy SEAL Collin Thomas was killed on August, 18th 2010 during a combat mission. Both will be greatly missed.

That brings us back to the cause of tonights UFC Fight for the Troops. Each victorious fighter thanked and honored the troops. They were very respectful and at times you could see the men and women who serve our country shedding a tear. Although those were emotional times, good speeches and well deserved victories it was a different story while the fights were taking place. These fighters tonight brought the house down with great fights and showcases of talent. To that I tip my hat. Spike, UFC and all those great fighters made tonight special.

Dana White announces the bonus awards and they are....(drumroll)

-Fight of the Night  Edwards vs McKenzie
-Submission of the Night -Yves Edwards
-Knockout of the Night - Melvin "THE YOUNG ASSASSIN" Guillard


Big Dave will be following up with the breakdown and official results. As always let your opinions be known, they are like elbows and sometimes the need to be put across someone's face from time to time.

DUMP