Funny MMA Video Of The Day: Rampage, Mo. Mo, Rampage.

It’s comedy’s newest odd couple-Muhammad “King Mo” Lawal and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson. OK, here’s the deal: A site called FightLaunch just updated their video channel with about 20 vids of Mo & Page basically doing what they do best on the way to UFC Fan Expo last weekend. There are about 20 different vids, but after the jump I’ll put up one to get you started and see what you think.

Funny MMA Video Of The Day: While There May Be “Quit” In Quinton…

But there sure isn’t in Rampage. In this hilarious clip that Cage Potato came up with, they sent one of their (good-looking of course) female reporters to interview Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, who clearly had other things in mind for this lady, and an interview wasn’t one of them. I can’t embed this video here (but it should appear in the vodpod soon if it’s not there already) so I’ll have to link to it, but watch for his signature “goofy smile” as it signals the fun is about to begin and last for about 30-40 seconds or so (it’s only a 70-second clip). Enjoy.

http://www.break.com/usercontent/2009/7/rampage-dry-humps-cagepotato-reporter-816304.html

Funny MMA Video Of The Day: Rockin’ Rampage At Best Buy

Whether it’s in the cage, the club, or the electronics store, there’s one constant about Quinton “Rampage” Jackson-he’s never out of character. Proof in this short but funny clip of Rampage with training partner Tiki Ghosn going on a mini-Rampage and having some fun with a sales associate at Best Buy, which can be seen after the jump. Enjoy.

Funny MMA Video Of The Day 2: UFC Fighters Save Money, Live Better

Wow, times must REALLY be tight. Why else would BJ Penn, Mark Coleman and other UFC fighters be at a Walmart in Las Vegas? And just why would they bring Quinton Jackson with them? I can’t embed this video because the tags aren’t usable here (and it’s not from certain sites) but you can view this surprisingly funny video, which should’ve been called Rampage Being Rampage At Walmart either by clicking the link below or access it through the vodpod. Enjoy:

http://www.rawvegas.tv/watch/rampage-bj–coleman-at-walmart/393451b2249973c0990d27fbf415dd

Funny MMA Video Of The Day: Anderson “The Impersonator” Silva

Earlier today I came across a funny promo clip developed in conjunction with a series of MMA training DVDs being created with the help of UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva. They also include this rather funny clip, viewable after the jump:

The Ultimate Fighter: My Thoughts On Who Should Coach Season 10 & Why

Although season 10 of The Ultimate Fighter is probably 6-7 months off and 2-3 months at least from even taping, based on what I’ve heard the format (featured weight classes) will be, when it’ll probably air, and fights coming up, plus recently re-watching season 7 I’m going to offer my thoughts on who should coach the season and why it’s in everyone’s best interest…for the show and Spike anyway. UFC too.

Quinton Jackson Is Now Dana White’s Rival

In the trash-talking expletive-shooting department. As evidence, I give you this unintentionally hilarious snippet from the UFC 96 press conference, check it out after the jump (Note: Contains mild profanity):

Confuseyus: UFC 96 Preview & Predictions (Updated)

Confuseyus

The string of roughly 5 big MMA events in just 15 days continues with event what will be event 4 of 5 in that stretch: UFC 96 next Saturday (March 7) from Columbus, Ohio. Headlining the card are 2 big fights that could determine the next challengers for the Heavyweight and Light Heavyweight titles, but to get to the A fights we start with the B fights. Let’s do it…

No More Rampages For Rampage, We Hope (Updated)

Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, who went on a rampage (literally) not long after losing the UFC Light Heavyweight Title to Forrest Griffin, took a plea bargain today to avoid a trial on charges stemming from that ramapge last summer. The important stuff (Source: MMAWeekly.com):

He pleads guilty to one misdemeanor count of reckless driving and one felony count of evading a peace officer and driving against traffic.

The arrest came after Jackson allegedly led police on a chase through several towns that involved hitting other vehicles, running red lights, driving into oncoming traffic, before he surrendered in Newport Beach.

Sentencing is now deferred for 1 year (until January 7, 2010). If he stays out of trouble until then and meets the plea bargain requirements (good mental & physical health and stay out of trouble), the felony count is dropped and he is sentenced only for the misdemeanor. If not, he is sentenced on both counts.

In the meantime, he has been sentenced to 200 hours community service, must pay restitution on all counts including the felony, and must see his doctor regularly with bi-monthly reports going to the district attorney. But if Rampage does his part, no jail time and the only rampages hopefully will happen in the Octagon. With regards to a sentence for the reckless driving, my best guess is that worst-case is a fine or probation, maybe jail time but probably not more than a couple days. As for the restitution, he’s probably gonna regret making it rain money at the PURE nightclub in Vegas after beating Wanderlei Silva at UFC 92. But this is probably the right move for both Jackson and UFC, there was just too much at stake if it went to a trial and he was found guilty, then he probably was looking at a year or two in jail and maybe the end of his career and a big financial hit to UFC given Rampage’s popularity. He’s not completely out of the woods yet but I’m sure Dana and Lorenzo (Fertitta, owner of Zuffa, owner of UFC) will do whatever they can to help him out. As for when we could see Rampage back in the Octagon, early rumors are summer-maybe even a title fight against NEW UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Rashad Evans.

1/9/08 UPDATE: The original article has been updated by Weekly. Namely, Rampage is not home free if he stays clean-he still could get up to 6 months in jail and probation next year when sentenced on the misdemeanor. If he doesn’t meet the plea bargain conditions and gets sentenced on all the charges, he’s looking at potentially 3 years in jail.

UFC 92 Fighter Payouts (Updated)

The NSAC has begun releasing the fighter payouts from UFC 92 this past Saturday. So far only the 3 “major” fights have had their payouts revealed but the rest are expected to be known later today. In the meantime, here’s what we know so far…a always, these include the win bonuses for those who won their fights (usually double unless otherwise noted) but the usual other bonuses, sponsor payouts, etc.

UPDATE: Here is the full list:
Rashad Evans ($130,000) beat Forrest Griffin ($100,000)
Frank Mir ($90,000) beat Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira ($250,000)
Quinton Jackson ($325,000) beat Wanderlei Silva ($200,000)
C.B. Dollaway ($25,000) beat Mike Massenzio ($5,000)
Cheick Kongo ($90,000) beat Mustapha Al-Turk ($7,000)
Yushin Okami ($32,000) beat Dean Lister ($19,000)
Antoni Hardonk ($28,000) beat Mike Wessel ($4,000)
Matt Hamill ($20,000) beat Reese Andy ($15,000)
Brad Blackburn ($14,000) beat Ryo Chonan ($18,000)
Patrick Barry ($10,000) beat Dan Evensen ($4,000)
(Jackson got a $100,000 bonus, not the usual double, which would’ve been $225,000)
Total disclosed payouts: $1,381,000

We’re also still waiting on the medical suspensions, those will also be posted when they come out.

Confuseyus: UFC 92 Full Results & Recap

Confuseyus

Oh man, where do we start? UFC 92 was dubbed “The Ultimate 2008″…perhaps “The Ultimate UFC” would’ve been more appropriate? Did it ever live up to the moniker and then some! On paper the main card was pretty stacked but the prelims generally delivered as well…at least the 3 we saw on PPV. A total of 8 fights out of 10 aired with the only fights not airing being the ones that went to decisions, so that was a great value. Here are the full results and fight breakdowns:

Unaired prelim matches:
Brad Blackburn beat Ryo Chonan by unanimous decision, 3 29-28s.
Yushin Okami beat Dean Lister by unanimous decision, 3 30-27s.
Neither of these matches aired on PPV.

PPV:
Cheick Kongo beat Mustapha Al-Turk by TKO (strikes) at 4:37 of round 1.
Apparently these guys thought they were Mirko Cro Cop & Alistair Overeem given how they traded those low blows with the knees. First Kongo gets Al-Turk where it hurts then PAYBACK! Al-Turk returned the favor! OK, I’ll be the first to admit that the “guilty pleasure” part of me very much enjoyed that. Short but heated fight that didn’t disappoint, which seems to be rare among HW fights without a big name.

Quinton Jackson beat Wanderlei Silva by KO at 3:21 of round 1.
This was the fight I was most anticipating. Seemed to be slow at first but I knew both guys, especially Silva, were fighting a careful fight. It got better as the fight went on until Rampage hit a big standing hook. The Axe Murderer had been murdered…OUT! I immediately proclaimed it KO Of The Night and a Top 5 KO Of The Year. WOW! Jackson may have earned another title shot with the win but that’s yet to be seen. Silva is now 1-3 but if Dana sticks to comments he made about him a while back, Silva is probably safe despite the record just because he is still a huge draw and puts on great fights. Just no title shot for a while, if ever.

Pat Barry beat Dan Evensen by TKO (injury) at 2:36 of round 1. Evensen left leg injury caused by a Barry leg kick.
This was a prelim match that aired on PPV, so I got a chance to see exactly how the injury happened. A low kick Barry hit at about 1:40 seemed to be the beginning of the end for Evensen. Always hate to see a fight end due to injury.

C.B. Dollaway beat Mike Massenzio by TKO (strikes) at 3:01 of round 1.
Perhaps a bit of controversy here, before Dollaway managed to get the win it looked to me like he may have tapped to a guillotine. Massenzio seemed to have locked it in and as Dollaway tried to get out of it I thought I saw his right hand move like he tapped once or twice, but maybe the referee didn’t see it. Seems like as good as he is, controversy seems to dog “The Doberman” whenever he fights ever since those TUF 7 Finale losses to Amir Sadollah. Too bad because it takes away from a great fighter.

Matt Hamill beat Reese Andy by TKO (strikes) at 2:19 of round 2.
This was a prelim that aired. Really brutal back-and-forth 1st round given how much punishment the guys took & dished out, especially Hamill, btu the fact that he took it and finished Andy in round 2 despite appearing to be gassed shows you just how much heart my boy has. He continues to improve each fight and, coming off a loss to Rich Franklin, came out and stuck to his game plan and showed continued improvement, and as he often does gave a great post-fight interview. For those who don’t know, Hamill is the first and only deaf fighter in UFC but he hasn’t let that stop him from becoming a fan favorite and a fighter eho always is a pleasure to watch. I’ve been a bug fan of his since TUF 3 because he was on Tito Ortiz’s team and trains sometimes still with Team Punishment, but a guy like Hamill is hard not to root for.

Frank Mir beat UFC Interim Heavyweight Champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira by TKO (strikes) at 1:54 of round 2 to become THE NEW INTERIM UFC HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION!
Going in I figured this fight was not a matter of how Nog would win, but when. Felt it would be round 3 or so based on his last fight, he started out slow against Tim Sylvia before finally getting TIMMAY!! to tap midway through the fight.  It was clearly Mir with the upper hand early on but I was surprised how dominating he was. I definitely had the first round 10-9 Mir, but 10-8 would not have been a stretch. Nog really didn’t do anything. Ditto in round 2 until Mir finally took Nog down and kept striking away until the fight was stopped-NEW CHAMPION! Mir now moves on to face Brock Lesnar at UFC 100 to unify the titles and determine the Undisputed UFC Heavyweight Champion. This will be a rematch from Lesnar’s UFC debut, where he lost to Mir by tapout. Brock came out like a monster, pummeling Mir with strikes until he hit Mir in the back of the head for a 1 point deduction and a break in the onslaught. Mir capitalized and submitted Lesnar with a heel hook/ankle lock. What went wrong with Nog? Was it not having “Stankie” in his corner? Not many people expected this, I know.

Rashad Evans beat UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Forrest Griffin by TKO (strikes) at 2:46 of round 3 to become THE NEW UFC LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION!
I was a bit surprised Evans didn’t do his “tweak” before the fight, recent history has shown a fighter who does it wins. I expected this to be a technical game of chess, and early on it delivered. Forrest carefully picked his spots while Rashad tried to land the big power shot that would knock him out. The first 2 rounds were all standup, I scored both rounds 10-9 Forrest so it was 20-18 Forrest after 2. Round 3 started much the same but then they finally clinched and it hit the ground, which is where I  gave Rashad an edge because of his wrestling. And it showed with Rashad generally keeping control, picking his spots when he passed guard and hitting strikes and solid elbow shots, eventually landing enough to put Forrest in big trouble and eventually getting the stoppage. NEW CHAMPION! I figured Evans would go the distance and be able to do enough damage and control the ground enough to gain a decision win, but getting a stoppage works. He definitely was headed towards taking the 3rd round on the cards. Forrest fought well, he just needs some more power to go with his great technical game.

Antoni Hardonk beat Mike Wessel by TKO (strikes) at 2:09 of round 2.
This was a prelim that aired after the main event. Fine fight with plenty of power shots, it went about a round longer than I predicted. I had Hardonk KOing Wessel in round 1.

Final thoughts: The Ultimate 2008 was that and then some. Hard to pick a best fight because they all really stood out as solid fights. No worst fight because there were no bad fights among the ones that aired, which spares me from saying Okami-Lister for now because reports are, not surprisingly, it was kinda boring. If I had to pick one though, Barry-Evensen largely because of the injury stoppage. Always hate to see that.
Go far out of your way to catch a replay of this one and be sure to buy the DVD when it comes out. This one belongs in any UFC & MMA fan’s library.
Fantasy-wise, a so-so 6-4. 4-1 on the prelims but a disappointing 2-3 on the main card. This was the last event of the season on MMA Playground, my final season record was 63-37. In the UFC Fantasy game, my ranking was 115 out of nearly 24,000. Ranking-wise, that’s about where I usually wind up-just outside the Top 100 overall.

The bonus of the night winners from 92:
Fight Of The Night-Rashad Evans vs. Forrest Griffin
KO Of The Night-Quinton Jackson
Submission Of The Night-None. No tapouts.
Each of the 3 above gets $60,000 more.

Injury report: Griffin likely suffered a broken hand.

Attendance: UFC claimed 14,103 paid for a live gate of $3.47 million. The NSAC will release full detailed numbers later in the week. Also coming later this week: Fighter payouts and medical suspensions.

Confuseyus returns sometime Wednesday with K-1 Dynamite!! results.

UFC 92 Weigh-Ins: Would You Like A Side Of Sermon With Your Beefcake?

Yeah, as strange as it sounds…those like me who went to UFC.com or MMAWeekly earler to watch the UFC 92 weigh-ins live got…a religious sermon? Seriously, that was kinda strange and funny at the same time. But weigh-ins did go on, here are the results:

Everyone made weight.

Forrest Griffin (205) vs. Rashad Evans (203)
Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (246) vs. Frank Mir (251)
Quinton Jackson (206) vs. Wanderlei Silva (203)
Mustafa Al-Turk (237) vs. Cheick Kongo (233)
C.B. Dollaway (186) vs. Mike Massenzio (184)
Dean Lister (186) vs. Yushin Okami (185)
Antoni Hardonk (246) vs. Mike Wessel (260)
Reese Andy (206) vs. Matt Hamill (205)
Brad Blackburn (170) vs. Ryo Chonan (171)
Patrick Barry (233) vs. Dan Evensen (242)

The PPV begins at 10 PM ET tomorrow night with prelims scheduled to start sometime in the 7 PM hour. Confuseyus will have write-up, results, and recap Sunday morning. See you then!

Confuseyus: UFC 92 Preview & Predictions

Confuseyus

The end of 2008 is about upon us, and it would seem UFC has saved the best for last in the form of UFC 92: The Ultimate 2008 next Saturday (12/27). Alone, any of the 3 top fights are main events on any card, but put them together and it’s a card that can deliver. But to get to the top we must start at the bottom with the prelim card.

Disclaimer: As always, these picks are for entertainment purposes only and should not be used as the basis for any real life betting/wagering. And if you do, I am not responsible for any losses and you must share any winnings with me. Especially if it’s over at MMA Playground, where you can win up to $200 in cash, plus our 4th season ends after this event, and we’re giving away potentially over $1000 in cash & prizes to our overall season winners! Now then…LET’S GET IT ON!

Pat Berry vs. Dan Evensen
Records: Berry 3-0, Evensen 10-3
This is currently the “Hot Bout” on MMAPG and probably for good reason: We haven’t seen much of these guys and, if their records are any indication, these guys like to bang. They’re big Heavyweights with 9 of their combined 13 wins by KO/TKO so it’s likely someone’s going down hard, the question is who? This one’s a coin flip but my flip said to with the more experienced guy. That’s Evensen, who I guess ends the fight fairly early on.

Prediction: Evensen by 1st round KO/TKO

Brad Blackburn vs. Ryo Chonan
Records: Blackburn 12-9-1, 1 NC,  Chonan 15-8
This fight pits 2 Welterweights trying to break out in a crowded division against each other. Blackburn takes what technically is a 3-fight unbeaten streak into this one, this also includes his 1 No Contest, while Chonan is 1-1 in UFC. This fight has potential to go the distance but Blackburn’s been showing a tendency to finish his fights lately, and in rather brutal fashion. 5 of Chonan’s last 6 fights have gone to decision. I hate picking Chonan’s fights because I usually lose either way but I feel a bit more confident here-Chonan has only been KO’d twice in his career but they were quick KOs. Blackburn could be “Bad” to Chonan and spear the “Piranha” pretty early on, but in the end I see this being a close fight that goes to the judges for a tough call.

Prediction: Blackburn by split decision.

Reese Andy vs. Matt Hamill
Records: Andy 7-2, Hamill 4-2
This is a redemption fight for both. Andy lost his UFC debut after bringing a 4-fight winning streak into the Octagon, while Hamill is coming off a tough TKO loss to Rich Franklin that has him 1-2 after winning his first 3 fights. It’s hard for me to pick against proverbial underdog Hamill-I really am a fan of him, plus his being the first deaf fighter in UFC has shown he can be a great inspiration to others and he always seems to improve each time out. The Franklin loss came in part because he didn’t stick to what worked well for him before and “Ace” made him pay. Hopefully he’ll return to what got him this far before: His excellent wrestling and striking. I think he’ll find it and once he wears Andy down a bit will ground-n-pound out a mid-fight win and get back on the right track.

Prediction: Hamill by 2nd round KO/TKO.

Antoni Hardonk vs. Mike Wessel
Records: Hardonk 7-4, Wessel 6-0

This fight just came together in the last couple days. Wessel is taking this fight on short notice because Hardonk’s original opponent, Mark Burch, is now off due to an undisclosed injury. Wessel trains with TUF 8 contestant Rolando (Roli) Delgado and I hear he also does some coaching as well.  Initially I thought I’d take an underdog flier on him but doing some research on Hardonk shows that while he’s only 3-2 in UFC, he’s won 2 straight after losing 2 straight. Granted, they’ve been against borderline talent but a win’s a win so I see enough to do a flip-flop and Hardonk making Wessel’s UFC stya brief and painful.

Prediction: Hardonk by 1st round KO/TKO.

Dean Lister vs. Yushin Okami
Records: Lister 11-5, Okami 22-4
Okami is the #5 Middleweight in the World according to MMAWeekly.
Hear that? Yes, the crickets. Sadly, that’s what most people, myself included, expect this fight to be: A snoozefest. Nothing against these 2 because they’re great talents and the winner is likely next in line to be dismantled by the machine that is UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva, but although Okami can KO guys both are more submission fighters who don’t push the pace and favor ground work. To most fans that makes for dull, boring fights that can’t end quick enough even though I understand the stretegy usually, but not always, involved. Expect lots of stalling, not much action, and a fight that ultimately is a good time to hit the bathroom and perhaps grab a pizza. Those that sit through it should, in my eyes anyway, see Okami get the nod then get screwed again out of a title shot.

Prediction: Okami by unanimous/majority decision.

These fights are scheduled to air on PPV:

Mustafa Al-Turk vs. Cheick Kongo
Records: Al-Turk 6-3, Kongo 12-4-1
Al-Turk is making his UFC debut here after a 6-1 stint in the England-based Cage Rage promotion, which faces an uncertain future due to the ProElite fiasco. While Kongo is 5-2 in UFC, he’s coming off as a bit of a Heavyweight Karo Parisyan-he’ll take 2 steps forward, get to 1 win from a potential title shot, then blow it and have to start over. The best example is after a decision win sent Mirko Cro Cop packing from UFC, he had a chance to earn a title shot against the slumping Heath Herring. A split decision loss ended those plans. He now gets a striking machine in Al-Turk, all his wins have come by way of strikes. And none have gone past round 1. But this is UFC so I don’t see Al-Turk ending it early but I feel he’s good enough to roll the underdog dice on by doing enough of what I’ll call, in tribute to one of my favorite 80s arcade games, a “Kongo Bongo” and outdamage Kongo enough to get his hand raised.

Prediction: Al-Turk by unanimous/majority decision.

C.B. Dollaway vs. Mike Massenzio
Records: Dollaway 7-1, Massenzio 11-2
This is a fight with 2 guys on the comeback trail after tough losses. Dollaway appeared on his way to winning TUF 7 until 2 potential fluke losses in a row to Amir Sadollah ended those plans, but he bounced back by sending Jesse “Big Mouth” Taylor out of UFC with a nifty move called the Peruvian Necktie. Massenzio took a 9-fight win streak into his only IFL fight and lost to now-WEC fighter Danilo Villefort. He then quickly submitted Drew McFedries in his UFC debut.
Initially Massenzio was an underdog here but now he’s getting some picks. Still, despite barely outpointing Dan Miller and Dante Rivera in the past, he’s really fought nobody with the name or level to impress me. Dollaway’s win over JT got him back on track and while I don’t think he’ll get the Peruvian Necktie tap against Massenzio, he’ll still get a tapout in round 2.

Prediction: Dollaway by 2nd round submission/tapout.

Quinton Jackson vs. Wanderlei Silva
Records: Jackson 28-7, Silva 32-8-1, 1 NC.
Jackson is the #2 Light Heavyweight in the World according to Weekly, Silva is the #6 Light Heavyweight in the World.
Oh hell yeah…this is the fight the serious MMA fans like myself cannot wait for! These guys have history-they fought twice in PRIDE a few years ago, with Silva winning both by KO/TKO. But as big as the fight itself are the storylines leading up to the fight…
Rampage whooped peoples’ asses like he said he would upon arrival in the UFC, eventually being the one to end Chuck Liddell’s reign as the UFC Light Heavyweight Champion. He then beat PRIDE Middleweight (equivalent of UFC’s Light Heavyweight) Champion Dan Henderson to become the first unified Light Heavyweight Champion and was expected to dismantle his next challenger, Forrest Griffin. But in the Octagon that night, it all began to fall apart. Griffin neturalized Jackson’s offense, frustrated the champ over 5 rounds, and stunned the world with a unanimous decision against the odds and took Rampage’s title. Jackson then went on a well-publicized rampage on a California highway, hitting cars and injuring a couple people while landing himself in jail. A trial on the related charges is scheduled for Spring ’09. Jackson also has had apparent substance abuse problems, mental issues, and a falling out with longtime trainer Juanito Ibarra. He’ since relocated to England for training, is trying to get his life back in order, and is hoping to finally take one from Silva and begin the path to getting his title back.
Silva arrived in UFC at the end of 2007 looking to snap a 2-fight losing streak from PRIDE. He made his debut to much well-deserved fanfare against Liddell, ultimately dropping an entertaining unanimous decision and leaving people to question where the Silva of old had gone, the Silva who was ruthless, feared, and destroyed people in the ring. Fast-forward to May 2008, UFC fight 2 against Keith Jardine, one of the toughest LHWs in UFC. Silva needed only 36 seconds to deliver the emphatic message: I’m Back! Whatever he lost apparently had been found as he absolutely destroyed Jardine in just 36 seconds. Now he looks to continue on the road to a potential title shot and make it 3 straight against Rampage.
The whole Ibarra situation and allegations that he offered to help Silva against his former charge here has become a bit of a side story. Ibarra, for his part, denies it. It’s helped to motivate Rampage and UFC is doing its part by promoting the fight through good commercials, video clips, and the like. It’s only made us anticipate this fight even more, which should be 3 things-ugly, brutal, and one hell of a fight. Ultimately, the combination of not being sure Rampage is mentally back in it and Silva’s convincing last fight add to up a great fight and Silva ultimately whooping Rampage’s ass yet again. Hopefully Jackson likes the taste of his own trash talk, can’t imagine the aftertaste.

Prediction: Silva by 2nd round KO/TKO.

UFC Interim Heavyweight Champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Frank Mir for the title
Records: Nogueira 31-4-1, 1 NC, Mir 11-3
Nogueira is the #2 Heavyweight in the World according to Weekly. Mir is a former UFC Heavyweight Champion.
Both guys started early as the coaches of TUF 8. Mir won the preliminary round with 5 of his guys advancing to Nogueira’s 3, but Team Nog took 3 of 4 semis and both finals. Nogueira has lost just 3 times since 2003, twice to Fedor Emelianenko (with the No Contest being against him too), the other to Josh Barnett. Nog has won his last 3 fights, including avenging the loss to Barnett, most recently overcoming a struggle at the start to defeat Tim Sylvia for the interim UFC Heavyweight Title. Mir held the title back in ’03-04 before a devastating motorcycle accident caused severe injuries and perhaps ending his career as it was just getting started. But Mir made a full recovery and returned to UFC in ’06, going 2-1 before getting time off until his next fight and also building a budding career as a commentator for WEC. After submitting Antoni Hardonk in ’07 he was seemingly chosen to be the sacrifice made to Brock Lesnar for his UFC debut, but after surviving Brock’s initial onslaught thanks in part to an illegal strike to the back of the head, Mir got his second win and ultimately would submit Lesnar moments later.
I’ve talked quite a bit with people on MMAPG about this fight and generally we agree on one thing: It’s not IF “Big Nog” wins this fight, but WHEN and HOW. Nothing against Mir, he’s just again run into the wrong guy at the wrong time. He’ll hold his own for a while but as the fight goes on Minotauro’s jiu-jitsu and ground game will be just a little too much for Mir to overcome and he’ll go down in the middle round, arranging Nog’s date with destiny and Lesnar to unify the HW titles.

Prediction: Nogueira by 3rd round KO/TKO.

Main Event: UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Forrest Griffin vs. Rashad Evans for the title
Records: Griffin 16-4, Evans 12-0-1
Griffin is the #1 Light Heavyweight in the World according to Weekly. Evans is the #4 Light Heavyweight in the World.
When this fight was announced I immediately billed it as “The Perennial Underdog Fight”. I can’t think of many people who saw these two facing off for the title, at least not at this point-Forrest wasn’t supposed to take the belt from Rampage, and Evans sure wasn’t supposed to KO Liddell. But this is MMA and nothing is a given, so here we are with quite an intriguing fight to end 2008.  Forrest used low leg kicks to frustrate and neutralize Jackson, and might seek to do the same against Evans given he’s shown KO power in his high kicks, but it’s not gonna be that one-sided just because Rashad is also an outstanding wrestler. So if it goes to the ground Rashad can more than hold his own even though Forrest has an excellent ground game. So it’s gonna be to Rashad’s advantage to probably keep it on the feet, outwork Forrest, don’t make stupid mistakes, and perhaps try to land the big blow that will end it. I see this fight easily going the distance with the crowning once again of a new champion…especially if Rashad does this tweaking of an unmentionable body part pre-fight like he’s been doing lately. Seems guys who do that always win now. Coincidence? We shall see.

Prediction: Evans by unanimous/majority decision.

We’ll see how I did December 28.

Later today: K-1 Dynamite!! 2008 early preview & predictions. This event takes place on 12/31 in Saitama, Japan.