UFC 98 Breaded
Here’s to hoping that UFC 98 turns out a whole lot better than the anger-inducing UFC 97 event. Cheers! Here’s an idea for Dana White – bring on a female division. That way I get to watch Gina Carano every few months. If this is not doable, perhaps he could just have her sit front row and smile for the cameras between rounds. On to the fights!
Lyoto Machida -220
Rashad Evans +180
I like Rashad (18-0-1). I’ve followed him closely since he first arrived on the scene back in The Ultimate Fighter’s second season. On his journey to winning that show’s title, and the Light Heavyweight championship, I have enjoyed everything about him. The only complaint I have would be his trash talking session with Quinton “Rampage” Jackson at the conclusion of UFC 96. If you saw it, you understand. An argument between Boy George and George Michael would have had less homoerotic overtones. My goodness.
Evans continues to pile on the wins, and surpass expectations. Coming off two impressive early stoppages against two of the sport’s elite (Forrest Griffin, Chuck Liddell), Rashad is riding high.
Enter “The Dragon”. I’m not a huge fan of Machida (14-0-0). Like many others, I have found his conservative and elusive style to be a bit boring. I also learned a hard lesson when I went heavy on his last opponent, Thiago Silva. When the bell rang at the end of the first round, my guy was in la la land and my remote was on the other side of the room. It was easily Machida’s most impressive showing, and I think a sign of things to come.
In this battle of undefeateds, I’m taking Machida. I’m also playing the fight to end within 5 rounds at -128. I think Machida has finally upped his aggressiveness a bit, and Evans is always a threat to lay someone out. When I met his missing twin brother back in March, I’m glad he didn’t decide to smack me around.
Rashad’s twin and I
Matt Hughes -270
Matt Serra +230
The long delayed, highly anticipated battle between two of the UFC’s biggest dicks. Am I allowed to say that here? I don’t know. But there you have it.
These guys had so much bad blood while coaching TUF Season 6, that I couldn’t wait to see them mix it up. Then Serra (16-5-0) injured himself and the meeting of the mindless was put off until now. My undeniable disdain notwithstanding, here’s how I see the fight rounding out.
I always assumed that Serra was much younger than his opponent, only because Hughes (43-7-0) has been fighting since Eisenhower. That would be an incorrect assumption. Hughes is 35, Serra 34. So much for a youthful advantage. It’s hard to believe that Serra has only fought once since his stunning upset over GSP. And that one fight was GSP’s brutal revenge at the expense of Serra’s beaten corpse. That was a lot of fun.
Matt Hughes’ last fight was about a year ago, in which he was TKO’d by Thiago Alves. Yes, the same Thiago Alves who did more damage to the UFC’s image in the last pay per view by lying on his back the entire time like a Super Mario Bros. turtle than anyone else in recent memory.
I’m taking Hughes to win, and I’m taking Hughes to win inside the distance at +110. I think he will withstand Serra swinging for the fences, wear him down, and end the fight. It will be sweet revenge for the heat they had on TUF. It will be sweet revenge for me having to put my TV on mute for 75% of that show to escape Serra’s obnoxious New Yawker screams. Go Hughes. Hooray.
Sean Sherk -300
Frank Edgar +250
On a night where I’m taking some heavy favorites, I have found my upset alert. I will take ONE MILLION DOLLARS on Franky Edgar (9-1-0) please.
Sherk (37-3-1) hasn’t been impressive to me in quite some time. His last seven fights have resulted in three losses and four decision victories. Where is the dominance? These are not results worthy of someone dubbed as ‘The Muscle Shark”. Perhaps “The Really, Really Strong Minnow” would suit Sherk better.
Edgar is young and hungry. He is 4-1 since joining the UFC, losing only to Gray Maynard. He has twice garnered Fight of the Night accolades in victories vs. Hermes Franca and Tyson Griffin. Edgar makes for an exciting fight, and I’m taking a shot on him here for the money.
Phillipe Nover -350
Kyle Bradley +290
The most commonly agreed upon date for the last confirmed sighting of the dodo bird was in 1662. There are some conflicting reports that the dodo might’ve survived all the way up until 1674, or even 1681. Does any of this matter now? Of course not! Leave the minute detail arguments to the ornithology nerds. All that matters is that the dodo is gone.
Kyle Bradley (13-6-0) spent 2008 getting KO’d by Chris Lytle and Joe Lauzon. He will ring in 2009 by getting KO’d by Phillipe Nover (6-1-1). Kyle Bradley is the dodo bird. This will be the last time that you will see him fight in the UFC. And just like the dodo bird, Bradley’s downfall can be directly attributed to getting smacked around by those higher up the food chain than he.
Kyle Bradley
Phillipe was the talk of the town during his run on TUF. He suffered a huge upset loss in the finale at the hands of Efrain Escudero, but this should be just what he needs to get back on track. A win here will solidify him as the sexiest MMA fighter/nurse in the UFC. (My wife made me write that part. Maybe.)
Yoshiyuki Yoshida -460
Brandon Wolff +365
This fight is intriguing to me because both guys are coming off of brutal, nay, devastating KO’s on the same evening. Yoshida (10-3-0) is the first guy that I’ve seen get knocked out twice in a 2 second span by Josh Koscheck. Wolff’s (7-3-0) UFC debut was against Ben Saunders’ knees. Ben Saunders’ knees were very unkind to him, and at the end of the fight it looked like Wolff had a second cranium growing from his forehead. It might’ve been the funniest thing I’d ever seen.
Oh dear
At least Yoshida looked somewhat competent against Koscheck before the double KO. I’m going to throw him in some parlays for sure. When asked about his opponent, Yoshida said “それで私がビデオの彼の戦いを有するが、私はそれらをまだ見ていない。”
His translator said “Well, although I do have his fights on DVD, I haven’t seen them yet.”
Ouch, disrespect. Usually I am against the Asian fighters, but not this time. And now a quick shot of Gina Carano in the stands, YAY!
Yes please
