UFC on Fox: Stephens v. Emmett Picks

Jeremy Stephens v. Josh Emmett

Picking Stephens: Dr. Law, Lavender Gooms
Picking Emmett: Kid Presentable, DJ Mark

Jessica Andrade v. Tecia Torres

Picking Andrade: All of us
Picking Torres:

Ilir Latifi v. Ovince St-Preux

Picking Latifi:
Picking OSP: All of us

Max Griffin v. Mike Perry

Picking Griffin:
Picking Perry: All of us

Renan Barao v. Brian Kelleher

Picking Barao: All of us
Picking Kelleher:

It's MMAzing Standings (as of 2/21/18)
1. DJ Mark (c) - (13-8)
2. Kid Presentable - (11-10)
2. Lavender Gooms - (11-10)
4. Dr. Law - (9-12)

UFC 214: Cormier v. Jones II Picks

UFC Light Heavyweight Championship
Daniel Cormier (c) v. Jon Jones

Picking DC:
Picking Jones: All of us

UFC Welterweight Championship
Tyron Woodley v. Demian Maia

Picking Woodley: Kid P, DJ Mark
Picking Maia: Dr. Law, Gooms

UFC Women's Featherweight Championship
Cristiane "Cyborg" Justino v. Tonya Evinger

Picking Cyborg: All of us
Picking  Evinger:

Robbie Lawler v. Donald Cerrone

Picking Lawler: All of us
Picking Cerrone:

Jimi Manuwa v. Volkan Oezdemir

Picking Manuwa: Gooms, DJ Mark
Picking Oezdemir: Dr. Law, Kid P

Aljamain Sterling v. Renan Barao

Picking Aljo: Gooms,
Picking Barao: Dr. Law, Kid P, DJ Mark

It's MMAzing Standings (As of 7/26/2017)
1. DJ Mark with a "K" - (52-30-1) - .627
2. Doctor Law (c) - (50-32-1) - .602
3. Kid Presentable - (46-36-1) - .554
4. Lavender Gooms - (39-43-1) - .470

UFC Fight Night 95: Cyborg vs. Lansberg Predictions

Brasil!!!!! We go to the Brasilia, Brazil this week to watch fights that largely won't have a large impact on any of the rankings.  At least we get to watch Cyborg commit murder in the octagon.

UFC Fight Night: Almeida v. Garbrandt Predictions

Sunday,  the UFC keeps up their tradition of holding a Memorial Day weekend card in Las Vegas, but this year we get a Fight Night as opposed to a PPV. Don't worry, the card is still incredible. The main event is a battle between two true blue-chip prospects as Cody Garbrandt takes on Thomas Almeida. The co-main event features former bantamweight champion Renan Barao taking on Jeremy Stephens in a featherweight bout. Check out our picks below.

Garbrandt knew this pic would get him on It's MMAzing
via his IG account

Thomas Almeida v. Cody Garbrandt

Thomas Almeida comes into this fight with 20 wins and 0 losses while Cody Garbrandt's record stands at 8 wins and 0 losses. As "El Guapo" would say, somebody's 0 has got to go. I have been talking about this fight from the moment it was booked. I'm excited on a level that this fight can't possibly live up to unless one of these guys hits the other with some Tekken sh*t. Both of these fighters walk forward and try to end fights. Almeida is a slight favorite, which is understandable as he has the biggest win between the two of them; a second round knockout of Brad Pickett this past July. He also was almost finished earlier in that fight. Cody has shown to be basically untouchable in his UFC career, but is yet to face serious competition. He'll find that in Almeida. This was damn near a toss up, but I'm going with the Team Alpha Male prospect taking this one. Garbrandt via 3rd round TKO.

Picking Almeida: DJ Mark, Kid P, Gooms
Picking Garbrandt: Dr. Law

UFC on Fox: Dillashaw vs. Barão 2 Picks and Predictions

Live from Chicago, IL comes the long-awaited (for someone out there anyways) rematch between Renan Barao and TJ "My heart is torn between Bang and Team Alpha Male" Dillashaw. You would think that a fight between a man who had one of the most impressive win streaks in the history of the sport, and a man on winning side of one of the most surprising upsets in the history of the sport would carry a bit more heat, but unfortunately we are not really seeing that. The lower weight divisions have failed to captivate the imaginations of the public, with the featherweight division only very recently finding some traction. It's a shame though, because even though I am not entirely chomping at the bits for this rematch, it should definitely still be a good one. Meanwhile, in the co-main event slot we get to see whether Miesha "Takedown - stop trying to make Cupcakes happen" Tate inches one step closer for the right to lose to Ronda a third time, or if we potentially have some new blood in the contender mix.

TJ Dillashaw (c) vs Renan Barao 

via 411mania.com

Enter the rematch. If you look at our picks for the first fight, I am pretty sure it was a unanimous route for Barao, and I don't think most of us thought it would be all that close. Enter one of the greatest upsets in modern MMA. TJ's dismantling of Barao was so thorough that now we stand on the opposite side of the fence going the other direction. It will be impossible to ever really know if maybe Barao came in over confident, or if he had possibly overlooked TJ in their first go, but it should be said with certainty that he will be more focused in the rematch. I expect Renan to come hard and fast at TJ, but until he shows me that he knows how to deal with TJ's movement and footwork, my eyes will carry my opinion here and what they know is that TJ looks like the evolution of the sport. TJ by TKO third round.

Dillashaw: unanimous
Barao:

UFC Fight Night: Machida vs. Dollaway Predictions

This Saturday, the UFC is presenting yet another Fox Sports 1 fight card in Brazil. Sadly, the card itself isn’t all that strong. Headlined by Lyoto vs Dollaway and co mained by Barao vs Gagnon, the quality of the fights pretty much ends there. There are a few notable names sprinkled throughout the rest of the card, but to be honest there isn’t too much here to get excited over. Even the main and co-main events are fairly one sided on paper and even amongst the It's MMAzing crew there was little argument about who we thought was going to win these fights. Never the less, some of these fights do have some ramifications in their respective weight classes and still deserve our attention.

Lyoto Machida v C.B. Dollaway

On paper this is a big step up for C.B. Dollaway. This is easily the biggest fight of his career, but it’s much deserved as Dollaway has never looked better than in his most recent 4 of 5 winning streak. Even so, it’s still pretty difficult to imagine Dollaway coming away from this fight with the win. While Lyoto isn’t exactly the unbeatable machine so many may have thought during his best runs at Light Heavyweight, he’s still a highly skilled fighter who gives the vast majority of his opponents serious problems. Some have been able to steal rounds and fights away from Lyoto in the past, but very few of his losses came from taking a one sided beating or being completely outmatched. Dollaway has the difficult task of somehow finding a way to overcome the better striking/distancing that Lyoto will present to him. Personally, I don’t see how Dollaway is going to be able to put away Lyoto or even win a 5 round decision. I feel like Lyoto is going to be able to dictate the pacing of the fight and wait for Dollaway to make a mistake to capitalize on. Lyoto by 3rd round TKO.

Lyoto:  Doctor Law, Kid Presentable, DJ Mark with a K
Dollaway: none

Renan Barao v Mitch Gagnon

While Gagnon holds an impressive 12 – 2 record and has won his last 4 fights, it’s still difficult to pick him over Barao. Even though Barao is coming off of the worst beating of his career and was unable to reach the scales for his rematch for the Bantamweight belt, I still think he’s the favorite in this fight. Once believed by many to be the pound for pound best fighter in the sport, he’s making his comeback in his home country against an opponent he should be able to beat. Gagnon is a great submission fighter but has yet to beat the bigger names in the UFC to convince me that he’s ready for a fighter the caliber of Barao. Also, I feel like Barao really needs to make a statement in this fight. He needs to not only win, but prove to everyone that he’s still the fighter we thought he was before he ran into T.J. Dillashaw. I think Barao gets it done on his feet, either knocking him out or hurting him enough to give him a submission opening. Barao by KO 1st round.

Barao: Doctor Law, Kid Presentable, DJ Mark with a K
Gagnon: none

UFC 165 Predictions

UFC 149 Predictions

Image via mma-king.com

UFC Interim Bantamweight Championship
Urijah Faber v. Renan Barao

Kid Presentable: If Faber hopes to get a UFC title, this is it for him. Though it's an interim title, this really represents his last great chance at one. I just don't see him being able to take it from Dominic at this point, and he's not going back to featherweight unless Aldo leaves in the near future. But just because this is best shot, it doesn't mean I think he is going to get it. Renan is a beast, maybe not in the fight ending devastating way that Nova Uniao teammate Jose Aldo is,  but he has basically gone undefeated since his first fight, and possesses great speed and a very well-rounded game. Faber has always been known for his speed as well though, and you can never count him out of a fight. Faber additionally displayed some new found power in his fists against Brian Bowles, but overall I see Renan being too quick, and too technically sound to get finished. This should make for a great fight, but I see Renan taking 3 on Faber. Barao by decision.

DJ Mark with a "K": As a replacement for the other TUF coach and Bantamweight champ Cruz, Barao is the perfect choice. Since he was most likely next in line after Faber to get a title shot this replacement is pretty solid. I think I’m even more excited for this fight because I don’t think Barao’s game plan will be to out “move” Faber, as Cruz and others have now made famous. I think this will be an action pack fight and that’s good because this and the co main are going to be doing the heavy lifting in the selling department for this PPV. While a part of me wants to pick Barao, as a six year native of Sacramento I really can’t. Faber by choke submission 3rd round.

Lavender Gooms: When it comes to title matches, Faber is on a losing streak that dates back to the WEC and another weight class. In his last four title matches he’s lost to Mike Brown twice (once losing the WEC featherweight belt, another trying to get it back), was absolutely destroyed by Aldo, and lost a close decision to Cruz. Doctor Law is MIA (you got this dude) this week and if he was writing a post this week he’d likely talk about how much he loves Faber. I lived with the Doctor for two years….this man seriously slurps Faber.  But I guess I can’t fault him, I would root 125% percent if a high level athlete came out of my athletically inept college as well(Buffalo State what what).  While I don’t count Faber out, I think he’ll be facing an uphill challenge.  Barao will have to deal with Faber’s speed, but Faber is going to encounter serious problems with Barao’s defensive abilities, particularly when it comes to wrestling.  Faber won’t be able to get much headway with his wrestling and I don’t see him finishing Barao. Sorry Bobby.  Barao by Decision

Picking Faber: DJ Mark, the missing in action Dr. Law
Picking Barao: Kid P, Gooms

image via heavy.com

Hector Lombard v. Tim Boetsch

Kid Presentable: The moment has finally come... Hector the prince of the Trojans is here. I have been waving Lombard's banner for quite some time and am very anxious to see him finally fight in the octagon. Admittedly he has crushed man a can outside of the UFC, but if you are talented that is what you do against inferior competition right? You destroy them. Undoubtedly Boetsch will be his biggest test to date, as most people slate him around #6 in their rankings. However, you must admit even though he is on a good run right now, his victory over Okami seemed a little bit flukey as he was absolutely handled for the first two rounds. But credit where its due, he is incredibly tough and has a lot of heart which is why he could be a lot of trouble for Hector if he survives the early storm. After the second round it is Tim's fight, I just don't see it getting out of the second round. Hector by KO round 1.

DJ Mark with a "K": This is the fight of the night as far as I’m concerned. Lombard is making his debut and has a lot of momentum riding a massive win streak. However, the same can be said about Boetsch who is coming off the biggest win in his career over Okami. Style wise this should be a war, as both guys have heavy hands and strong clinch games that should make for an explosive fight. For me, this one is really a coin toss but in my minds eye I just see Boetsch being too tough and Lombard getting discouraged and gassing. Boetsch late 2nd round TKO.

Lavender Gooms: 

Redneck judo gets its toughest test.  Hector hasn’t lost in almost six years and comes into the UFC one (at most two) wins away from a title shot.  Boetsch has made a run in the middle weight division after dropping down from light heavyweight.  In his last fight he almost lost to Yushin Okami before coming back to win by knockout in dramatic fashion. Boetsch has the brute (dare I say Barbarian like?) strength and takedown ability to cause problems for Lombard if the fight gets to the later rounds. Even so, Lombard’s speed, vast experience and better technique (which I garnered from a 10 minute highlight video) tip the scales in his favor. Lombard by TKO in 2nd round.

Picking Lombard: Kid P, Gooms

Picking Boetsch:  DJ Mark