UFC Fight Night 124: Stephens vs. Choi Picks

Jeremy Stephens vs. Dooho Choi

Picking Stephens:
Picking Choi: All of us

Vitor Belfort vs. Uriah Hall

Picking Belfort:
Picking Hall: All of us

Paige VanZant vs. Jessica Rose-Clark

Picking Paige: All of us
Picking Rose-Clark:

Emil Meek vs. Kamaru Usman

Picknig Meek:
Picking Usman: All of us

Darren Elkins vs. Michael Johnson

Picking Elkins: Lavender Gooms, Kid P, DJ Mark
Picking Johnson: Dr. Law

UFC 212: Aldo v. Holloway Predictions

UFC Featherweight Championship
Jose Aldo (c) v. Max Holloway (ic)

Picking Aldo: Gooms, Dr. Law, DJ Mark
Picking Holloway: Kid P

Claudia Gadelha v. Karolina Kowalkiewicz

Picking Gadelha: Gooms, DJ Mark, Dr. Law
Picking Karolina: Kid P

Vitor Belfort v. Nate Marquardt

Picking "The Phenom": Gooms, Dr. Law, Kid P
Picking "The Great": DJ Mark

Yancy Medeiros v. Erick Silva

Picking Yancy: Dr. Law, DJ Mark, Kid P
Picking Silva: Gooms

Marlon Moraes v. Raphael Assuncao

Picking Moraes: Kid P
Picking Assuncao: Gooms, Dr. Law, DJ Mark

It's MMAzing Standings (as of 6/1/17)
1. DJ Mark with a "K" - (36-20-1)
2. Doctor Law (c) - (34-22-1)
3. Kid Presentable - (31-25-1)
4. Lavender Gooms - (30-26-1)

UFC Fight Night: Belfort v. Gastelum Predictions

Vitor Belfort v. Kelvin Gastelum

Picking Vitor:
Picking Gastelum: All of us

Shogun Rua v. Gian Villante

Picking Shogun: All of us
Picking Villante:

Edson Barboza v. Beneil Dariush

Picking Barboza: All of us
Picking Dariush:

Ray Borg v. Jussier Formiga

Picking Borg:
Picking Formiga: All of us

Bethe Correia v. Marion Reneau

Picking Bethe: Dr. Law, Gooms
Picking Reneau: DJ Mark, Kid P

It's MMAzing 2017 Standings (As of 3/1/2017)
1. Doctor Law (c) - (14-12) - .538
1. DJ Mark with a "K" - (14-12) - .538
3. Kid Presentable - (13-13) - .500
4. Lavender Gooms - (11-15) - .423

UFC 204: Bisping vs Henderson Picks and Predictions

Do you remember the seminal moment that was UFC 100? Because the UFC sure hopes you do. It is late 2016 and TUF 9 and the Revolutionary War never ended. Looks like we're going to run back "the punch heard 'round the world." How perfect the stage has set up that Michael Bisping, the unexpected king, would have such an unusual and unexpected first title defense. Words like "deserving" or "next in line" get thrown in this scenario, but it is tough to find too many people who aren't top 5 middleweights themselves who it seems to matter to one bit. When you're an absolute legend of the sport, and you feature in one of the all time highlights against said champion, curiosity usually prevails because we want to see it again. Will Hendo truly retire even in victory? Will he only come out of retirement to specifically haunt Bisping? Only time will tell. Stipe brought the reverse hometown curse to an end, but can Hendo help light it back up? Meanwhile, contenders will also rise in the MW, LHW, and HW scenes respectively.


UFC Middleweight Championship

Your new champ ladies and gentlemen? @danhendo

Michael Bisping (c) vs Dan Henderson

2016 has been a long and strange year thus far in title pictures. Saying there have been a lot of upsets and titles changing hands would be quite the understatement. Fitting then that a 46 year old man is going to take his proverbial and quite literal swing at it. I'll admit to perennially underrating Michael Bisping, and that is largely due to finding him so unlikeable. But our amigo from the podcast Marc is right on two counts, he's been playing the heel for years intentionally, so why can't I get on board with that? But more importantly, he has been a deeply talented fighter the entirety of his career. None of his losses came to fighters who were not of legit quality, and he'll also not let you forget that his losses have also come to men who may have had questionable "blends" in their system looking back. Look, do I think USADA has had the rest of the fighters finally come back down to Bisping's level? Sure. Do I think Bisping is the less shop-worn, well conditioned, and better all around fighter? Absolutely. Am I picking Dan Henderson cause of American exceptionalism nonsense and that ridiculous back elbow KO of Hector Lombard? You RED, WHITE, and BLUELIEVE IT! Hendo by KO punch + unnecessary follow up punch.

The Count: Doc Law, Gooms, DJ Mark
Hollywood: Kid P

UFC 198: Werdum v. Miocic Picks and Predictions

UFC 198, or "Brazil's UFC 200" goes down this Saturday in Curitiba Brazil.  It's a veritable who's-who of Brazilian stars in MMA which is headlined UFC heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum putting his belt on the line against Stipe Miocic.  The Brazilian star-studded event took a huge hit when it lost Anderson Silva to injury earlier in the week but card is still packed and will make for good eyeball watching this weekend.

UFC 187: Johnson v. Cormier Predictions

What a strange trip it's been to get to UFC 187. By this point you guys know what happened. Jon Jones was going to defend his title against Rumble Johnson. Then some things (allegedly) happened and Mr. Jones was stripped of his light heavyweight championship. We now have Daniel Cormier stepping in to take Anthony Johnson for the Undisputed (as our own Lavender Gooms would say, "Come on son") UFC Light Heavyweight Championship. In the co-main event we have the long awaited matchup between Chris Weidman and "The Phenom" (or is it the "Old Lion"...or maybe the "Young Dinosaur") Vitor Belfort for the UFC Middleweight Championship. Check out our predictions below. I went 6 for 6 last week. I'm basically a very good looking version of Nostradamus.

UFC 152 Predictions

Image via UFC newsletter

UFC Light Heavyweight Championship
Jon Jones (c) v. Vitor Belfort

Doctor Law: There is really no reason to go through all of the stuff that happened with Jon Jones with respect to the UFC 151. We went through it in detail in episodes 18 and 19 of It’s MMAzing Radio (click here to get the episodes through iTunes). Overall, let’s just say this: if there is a less media-savvy athlete in MMA, I haven’t seen him. This kid’s head appears to be firmly lodged up his own ass. That being said, he is one of the greatest fighters in the world and I don’t see him losing this fight. He’s just too big, too athletic and too good of a wrestler for Vitor. That being said, Vitor has dynamite in his fists and will be very dangerous for the first 3 minutes of this after. After Jones gets past that, he’s gravy. Jones by 2nd round submission.

Kid Presentable: Had you given me a thousand guesses as to who would have replaced an injured Hendo, I never would have responded with this match. Vitor leaves being on the verge of a MW title shot, to leaving the pack behind for a chance at the belt a weight class higher. I often theorize the question of what it must be like for people like Vitor who know they could knock out any man on the planet, and Belfort certainly can. That fact means that he will always have a chance in a fight but this one doesn't look good. In his most recent light heavyweight tilt, due to missed weight, even a dead on his feet Rumble Johnson managed to take Vitor to the ground. Had it not been for an oddly quick standup, maybe that fight doesn't end the same. Bones will certainly take Vitor down, because he has taken everyone in the division down. There, Bones will be right for once about something he said to the media... that he does indeed have the most vicious ground and pound since Tito Ortiz made it famous. Jones by savage GnP elbows, Round 2

Image via mmavideoforum.com

DJ Mark with a “K”: There’s a ton of pressure on Jon Jones right now. He just signed a massive deal with Nike and is in the worse standing with his ‘fans’ then he’s ever been because of his choices regarding UFC 151, listen to our older podcast on all of that ;) so he needs a win here bad. Luckily I think Jones is more than capable of dispatching Belfort. While Belfort has the x-factor here with his amazing hands, I don’t see him doing what Shogun/Rampage/Lyoto failed to do. Jones via TKO 2nd round.

Lavender Gooms: PR wise, Jon Jones hasn’t had a good month to say the least. It’s not a stretch to say that he is diminished in the eyes of many and many more people think less of him now. Even so, he is an absolute cold-blooded killer. The only chance Belfort has is if somehow, someway, he can get inside the considerable reach of Jones and knock him out. That’s not going to happen however, Jones will style on Belfort like he does all his other opponents so far. And hail to the Buffalo State Bengal football team for defeating the #1 ranked UW-Whitewater last Saturday. I know it’s D-3 but cut me some slack. Jones by submission in 2nd.

Picking Jones: All of us.
Picking Belfort:

State of the Middleweight Landscape

Image via terezowens.com

Hey there folks. It has been a while since I've had a chance to comment on all things mma as Comic Con took my attention away for a spell. In my catching up on the mma world it seems like the middleweight picture has become quite a mess and I have decided to take up the duty to try and sort out the picture for all you wonderful readers. (One side Comic Con note: apparently Josh Barnett was there and somehow we did NOT meet him. Lame.) So up next we'll take a look at the top names in the game, where they stand, and where do they go from here.

Anderson Silva: Fresh off the biggest win of his career, it seems most likely that Anderson will take some time off to enjoy his new A-list celebrity status in his home country, and have some fun with those fresh millions in his bank account. It does not seem likely he will fight again any sooner than the Spring or Summer of next year. I don't think he is retiring quite yet, but he might be moving toward the Undertaker annual super fight circuit mode sooner than later.

Chael Sonnen: Poor Chael. Your tremendous wrestling ability and gift of gab got you right near the top, but a "what were you thinking?" spinning back elbow probably cost you all of it. With a second loss, this time in devastating fashion, Chael will not likely get a third crack at Silva. He goes into Jon Fitch mode now with the option of being a gate keeper to the division unless Silva should fall or decide to retire. Next up he likely gets to settle his feud with Wanderlei Silva, or possibly retirement, though I would hope not.

Mark Munoz: Munoz was supposed to be up next, but he was quite simply tooled in his last fight. He's the decorated wrestler whose take downs aren't quite good in an mma setting, whose standup is only ok, and whose chin is questionable. Munoz probably falls out of the title picture and will need to put together 3-4 wins again before he's in it once more.

Chris Weidman: Just like Batman on Thursday, Weidman rises. For Munoz being up next, Weidman made that fight look like some routine can crushing. He probably has more momentum than any other fighter in the division going right now, but due to no one watching Fuel, likely needs another high profile fight as a co-main event to help sell his probably shot against Silva after.