Bellator 165: Chandler v. Henderson Predictions

Good lord this Saturday is packed. 2 UFC cards, Andre Ward v. Sergey Kovalev, NXT Takeover and a damn good Bellator card. It almost makes me wish I had cable so I could DVR some of this. Almost. (F*ck off Comcast).

Bellator returns to the SAP Center in San Jose, California with a card headlined by a fantastic fight between Benson Henderson and the Bellator lightweight champion Michael Chandler. You also get to see Michael "Venom" Page, Francis Carmont and some solid prospects competing. Best of all, DJ Mark and myself will be in the building. I'm going to do my best to be professional and not sing Bendo's "Awesome God" walkout song. Check out our picks below.

Bellator Lightweight Championship
Michael Chandler (c) v. Benson Henderson: 

This one just feels dirty. Bendo is one of my favorite lightweights, but I really don't like his chances in this one. He simply has not looked good since joining the Bellator roster. Bendo got flat out obliterated by Koreshkov in his Bellator debut for 25 straight minutes. After we all convinced ourselves that his performance in that fight was due to him being too small for the weight class, Bendo next took on Patrício Freire in a fight where he appeared to be gun shy. He was absolutely losing this fighter before Pitbull broke his leg in a bit of a freak accident. Chandler, conversely, bounced back from a couple hard losses to Eddie Alvarez and Will Brooks (x2) to win 3 fights including his last fight where he knocked Patricky Freire into the next dimension to capture the Bellator title. I don't like picking against Bendo and I almost never do, but I have to go with Chandler here. He simply has looked better in his recent fights. Chandler by decision. 

Picking Chandler: Dr. Law
Picking Henderson: Kid P, DJ Mark, Gooms

UFC Fight Night: Mousasi v. Hall 2 Predictions

This passed Saturday the UFC put on one of its biggest PPVs of all-time. UFC 205 broke the UFC's gate record and possibly broke the PPV record. The arena was filled with celebrities and Conor McGregor's masterful performance was being discussed in every media outlet. How are they going to follow it up and take advantage of the mainstream attention? Apparently the answer is to put on two so-so cards, both headlined by rematches nobody asked for, on the same day. Genius!

Gegard Mousasi v. Uriah Hall

Via Gegard's IG

The original main event was Stun Gun v. Gunnar Nelson, but an injury derailed that fight. I guess this is an improvement? Mousasi and Hall threw down 14 months ago at UFC Fight Night: Barnett vs. Nelson with Hall picking up the biggest win of his career. After getting dominated for the entire first round on the ground, Hall hit Mousasi with a jumping spinning back kick followed by a flying knee (and some punches) to pick up the TKO victory. It prompted our own Lavender Gooms to text all of us "PLUMS" as he was the only one to pick that fight correctly. Given the odds for this rematch (and, hell, Gooms' pick), it's pretty clear that everybody is viewing the first fight as a bit of an outlier. I think they're right. Hall is a great fighter, but Mousasi's technique will be too much for him to overcome. I think Gegard actually gets the finish here. Mousasi by 4th round submission.

Picking Mousasi: All of us
Picking Hall:

It's MMAzing Radio - Episode 209

The gang brings in their special guest OJ (AKA Octavio Fantastico) to discuss all things UFC 205. They discuss...Conor McGregor. It's only right. He's the show. The gang talks about Conor's masterful performance against Eddie Alvarez. They then discuss the instant classic between Tyron Woodley and Wonderboy Thompson along with Joanna Champion's hard-fought title defense. The gang then discusses Romero's huge win over Weidman and say goodbye to Miesha Tate. They then pick just a ton of fights. Too many fights. 2 UFC cards and this weekend's Bellator 165 card are discussed. All of that and another of "Stuff We Like."

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UFC 205: McGregor vs. Alvarez Fight Predictions

To say the last few days have been challenging would be an understatement.  I fully expected on Monday morning that later in the week I would be writing a euphoric article about MMA returning to my beloved home state of New York and how sad I was to be 6500 miles away in Japan for this momentous occasion.  Instead......the world got flipped, turned upside down.  I still haven't recovered from the shock of a reality TV star (along with being a bigot and sexist) becoming the 45th President of the United States so I can't do euphoric.  Let's get to some picks.

It's MMAzing Radio - Episode 208

The gang comes together and welcomes their special guest Max Powers (sweet nickname). They discuss Tony Ferguson's big win over RDA at the TUF Latin America 3 Finale. The gang then previews and picks all of UFC 205. Seriously guys, they pick the entire card. Not just the Conor McGregor v. Eddie Alvarez superfight. They even get some bold claims made by their special guest. All of that and another edition of "Stuff We Like."

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The Ultimate Fighter Latin America 3 Finale: dos Anjos vs. Ferguson Picks and Predictions

After a pretty long hiatus we finally have a UFC card to breakdown and a damn good one at that. This main card has it all, from long time veterans like Diego Sanchez to hot new prospects like Alexa Grasso and Marcin Held. All headlined by what should be a fantastic fight in Rafael dos Anjos versus Tony Ferguson. We also can look forward to seeing the likes of; Ricardo Lamas, Charles Oliveira, Beneil Dariush and Rashid Magomedov.

It's MMAzing Radio - Episode 207

The gang rejoices at the opportunity to finally preview a fight card. First, however, they do their best to discuss the masterful reporting job done by MMAJunkie re: the UFC investor documents that they come across. The gang gives their opinion on the UFC's new strategy of "get as much money as fast as humanly possible." They then preview the TUF Latina America 3 Finale without discussing TUF at all. The gang focuses their attention of Ferguson v. RDA and the debuts of Held & Grasso. All that and a very NXT-heavy edition of "Stuff We Like."

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