UFC 101 with Uncle Bread
After a little break, MMA action revs back up this weekend, albeit a few days later than expected, as the scheduled Affliction event was canceled due to the entire organization folding. Yea, I guess that’ll do it.
UFC 101 will be held on Saturday night, featuring two marquee events, and then there is a free WEC card on Sunday. Daddy’s home boys. I shall serve no fries before their time. What I am serving up, is some winners, and here they are.
BJ Penn -245
Kenny Florian +205
Did anyone else enjoy the utter beatdown that GSP put on BJ (13-5-1)? Man, he was attacked with such impunity, that it was like watching a Bugs Bunny cartoon or something. Poor BJ looked like Mr. Bump when his corner finally threw in the towel after four rounds of pain.
Post-GSP BJ Penn
It was humorous to me because Penn spent the entire week before talking about how GSP would have to literally kill him to win the fight, how he would never quit. Uh, incorrect. Then he spent the week following his near death experience crying about too much Vaseline. It was high comedy.
Kenny Florian (13-3-0) has been quietly earning his right to face the UFC’s big dogs. He’s taken out six opponents in a row, with the last four being respectable guys like Din Thomas, Joe Lauzon, Roger Huerta and Joe Stevenson. Now he will face his first elite guy, and you know he wants to capitalize on the opportunity.
As much as I’d enjoy a KenFlo victory here, my money will be on BJ. So he got beat to a bloated pulp by St-Pierre – so what? Everyone does! Just ask Thiago Alves. Penn is too good to lose two in a row. I do expect a violent fight. Florian’s elbows are like razor blades and he can open you up from anywhere.
Another interesting offering to look it is for the fight NOT going the full 5 rounds (-260). I’d be highly shocked to see the judges come into play with these two guys squaring off.
Anderson Silva -350
Forrest Griffin +290
Forrest Griffin +290
“The Spider” Silva (24-4-0) has looked downright bored recently. His opponents have given him nothing to work with, and he hasn’t really pressed the issue, and that has translated to a handful of lethargic, hard to watch fights. His last match in which Thales Leites decided to play “turtle” the entire time was just dreadful. The UFC said enough of this, and matched him against one of their most electrifying guys.
Silva was completely bored with Leites
Forrest Griffin (16-5-0) has said himself that his fights may not be pretty, but they sure are exciting. I would agree with that brief autobiography. He certainly doesn’t duck quality opponents, with Mauricio Rua, Quinton Jackson and Rashad Evans being his most recent fights. Now he’s attempting to do what no one else has been able to do – take down Anderson Silva in the UFC. Once again, I’d like to see it happen. How can you root against Griffin? But sadly, smart money will be on Silva. And I consider myself a smart kinda guy. Anderson Silva via knees to Griffin’s thick noggin.
Amir Sadollah -120
Johny Hendricks +100
Johny Hendricks +100
I like Amir Sadollah (2-0-0). He’s just your everyday Iranian-Irish American kid living the dream. You see it all the time. I like this fight because I finally will be putting my money on the guy that I would also enjoy seeing win.
Sadollah won me some decent cabbage on the TUF 7 finale. He was able to sustain CB Dollaway’s strikes and catch him in an arm lock for the second time. Since then it’s been one injury after another to cancel his scheduled fights. First it was a leg infection and most recently a broken clavicle. I hope they are keeping him in a padded cell until Saturday.
Admittedly, I don’t know much about Johny Hendricks (5-0-0). It looks like he has had success in the WEC, and this will be his UFC debut. Here is my deciding factor – Hendricks lists his hero as God, Sadollah lists his as Oprah. Win Sadollah.
Ricardo Almeida -170
Kendall Grove +150
Kendall Grove +150
Oh my goodness there are spiders everywhere! First Anderson “The Spider” Silva and now Kendall “Da Spyder” Grove. Do you see how Kendall thugged it up by misspelling both words on purpose there? I know, I thought it was clever too. These guys kill me.
Grove (12-5-0) has regained some of his TUF 3 championship form after a rough stretch. He defeated Evan Tanner (and sent him completely over the edge) and Jason Day back in March. Unfortunately, I think that the best part of the night for Kendall will be his entrance featuring whatever wild and wacky mask he decides to wear on this night.
OMG so scary!
Ricardo Almeida (10-3-0) should neutralize the six inch height differential by taking Grove to the mat and ground-and-pounding him to an easy victory. This won’t be the most exciting fight, but should be a safe bet with Almeida.
Miguel Torres -320
Brian Bowles +260
Brian Bowles +260
After dropping $50 on Saturday’s pay-per-view, we will be rewarded with a freebie from WEC on Versus Network. Yippee!
The headlining fight will feature none other than the amazing Miguel Torres (36-1-0). There is nothing to not love about this guy. He has all the moves, and heck, people just like him. On Sunday he will defend his Bantamweight Championship against the up-and-coming Brian Bowles (7-0-0). Call me crazy (And stupid. And brainless. And doltish) but I’m investing in Bowles for the shocker upset.
Torres did something in his last fight that he rarely does. He put himself at the mercy of the judges after five rounds. He had ended 11 straight fights early, only going to the scorecard six other times in his career. He is a finisher, and a damn exciting one at that.
Bowles has been on a rampage, just destroying guys. He has submitted or KO’d everyone he’s faced. I’ve watched several of these, and he’s looked quite impressive en route to this title shot. To me, it’s worth taking a shot at. It’s not everyday you get to bet against the best pound-for-pound guy in the world and feel OK about it.
Bowles FTW!
That had me rollin'!!! Best part about Penn is he's back to talkin smack saying GSP is all hocked up on roids. He says "i have no proof this is just my opinion, but look at the guy"...the guy will never give up his man-crush on Georges.
U have cahona's my friend. 
