Sup dirtbags! Ya boys are back in the building. Pulling fire alarms and dropping upper deckers, all types of ill shit. Great night of fights, and the last quarter of the year has nothing but major show after major show, so we should have a kickass end of the year as far as this shit goes. Anyways, you know the drill. I’m ITALICS, Cruelty is not. LETS GO!!
Eddie Yagin over Junior Assuncao – Round 1 KO
Junior is your typical bjj with stiff standup and marginal takedowns. He seems strong despite his long-for-155-build, and he uses that in his bjj game. He’s going down to 145, and I wonder if that will affect him. You can’t talk Eddie Yagin without mentioning that fucking crazy tattoo on his head. I’m not sure what it’s supposed to be, but it looks like an upsilon. He must be a member of a secret society of one-dimensional Filipino strikers. I like Eddie’s striking more than I like Junior’s takedowns, so I’m predicting a big punch to land and the secret puncher society Filipinos in the black cloaks to raise their torches and goblets of blood in tribute.
Eddie Yagin over Junior Assuncao – TKO Rd 1
Yagin parlayed the shit outta beating Bellator’s prospect Joe Soto so badly his brother tried to run up in the cage at the last TFC. Junior has done a decent job of dropping a weight class and fighting his way back into the UFC. It’s too bad Yagin has crazy power and is better well rounded.
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James Te Huna over Ricardo Romero – Round 1 TKO
Basically Romero has gotten his ass kicked for about 99% of his time in the octagon, and TeHuna has taken some serious damage, too. Neither guys is spectacular, but this could be an amusing brawl. Romero is the more hittable and less powerful of the fighters, so I pick TeHuna to drop him and finish with gnp.
Ricardo Romero over James Te Huna – Sub Rd 1
Just realizing that Romero has a future in pro wrestling. He’s got the name, the pretty boy face look, hit ‘em with some of the “supplements” they just found at Matt Hardy’s house and we’ve got another Alberto Del Rio on our hands. Te Huna has some interesting W’s under his belt, but his sub defense isn’t the best, and Romero should be able to capitalize when this hits the mat.
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Takeya Mizugaki over Cole Escovedo – Round 3 JD
This fight has the makings of another slugfest. Escovedo was a bjj guy but he’s cleaned up his striking technique, and Mizugaki is another grappler who is down for a kickboxing match. This is a step-down in competition for Mizugaki and I think he’ll show us why he had some good hype coming out of Japan. If the fight goes to the ground, I like Mizugaki to stay on top and stay safe from Cole’s submissions. This should be a convincing win, and I’m not ONLY saying that because I have some weird Japanese bias from watching so much Pride. Not ONLY that. Probably just a little.
Cole Escovedo over Takeya Mizugaki – Sub Rd 2
It’s a bit of a homer pick, for those of you who missed my last picks post on Cole, I consider him a bro and also a legend when it comes to Central Cali MMA. He fought well but fell short in his UFC debut, and I think this is a perfect fight for him. Mizugaki still hasn’t beaten anyone in forever, still is there to be hit, and still gets choked out. Cole should win this easily if he fights smart.
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Tony Ferguson vs. Aaron Riley – Round 3 JD
Ferguson looked very aggressive and dangerous with his striking in his stint on TUF. Riley is a veteran grappler, and btw I can’t believe I’m picking all these strikers over grapplers. That is not good MMA common sense but here I’m doing it again. Riley is over-the-hill and I don’t think he can control the younger faster fighter with his grappling until late in the fight, but by then it’ll be too late. Ferguson will knock Riley around for two rounds, and survive an exhausted third.
Tony Ferguson over Aaron Riley – JD
Man I feel Riley has a really good chance of stealing this. He’s got just as much experience, has fought better competition, but him being a bit chinny pushes me away. Ferguson showed us solid hands on TUF, but his defense has enormous holes in it and a crisp counter puncher could expose the shit out of this. Tony will do enough to grab a JD.
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Nick Ring over Tim Boetsch – Round 3 JD
I’m a big believer in Nick Ring, and I think this is a good next fight for his ascension. Tim Boetsch is a big, strong wrestler who will be slower and less technical. Boetsch is training with Matt Hume but didn’t show a fucking bit of Matt Hume’s euro-kickboxing or submission style. If he did pick some of it up since his previous fight, it won’t matter because Ring will spend the entire fight in a dominant position. Back in Hume’s pancrase days, he rocked a very sweet moustache. This type of ambiguously gay violence is exactly what Ring will bring to Hume’s student.
Tim Boetsch over Nick Ring – UD
I’m just not sold on Ring, and the “Jack Tripper when the landlord is around” persona has nothing to do with it. He seems like one of these guys that can show you amazing shit in the gym, but doesn’t translate to the big stage. Boetsch is strong as fuck and should be able to GRAPPLEFUCK Ring 2 of the 3 rounds and steal a W.
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Ben Rothwell vs. Mark Hunt – Round 2 Submission (Arm triangle)
Holy shit, these guys are still fighting? I thought Hunt was done and I completely forgot Rothwell existed. Well Hunt might be officially fighting but he won’t ACTUALLY be fighting here. He’s fat and unmotivated, and just going through the motions to honor his contract. I know he has a semi-recent win but that guy was strictly wrestler, and Hunt has some good natural takedown ability he can use when he knows takedowns are coming. It’s dangerous to stand with a K-1 champ, but Rothwell will mix in some takedown-attempts until he gets one and he can get the easy submission.
Ben Rothwell over Mark Hunt – Sub Rd 1
So the big buzz in this fight is that Rothwell isn’t a fat guy anymore right? He still weighed in at 260 +, so I’m assuming it’s the “Fat turned into muscle” thing? Hunt is such a weird dude, you never know if K1 Hunt shows up and MURDDAAHHHZZZZZ Rothwell standing, or if typical “These checks are STILL cashing? THANK YOU SHIT PRIDE CONTRACT!!” Hunt shows up, plods around, gets taken down and subbed within 3 minutes. You can guess which way I’m going right? BTW if Hunt wins, that’s 2 wins in a row, and I promise to lead a “MARK HUNT NEEDS TO FIGHT FOR THE BELT” twitter campaign.
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Nate Diaz over Takanori Gomi – Round 3 JD
This is a bit of a dream fight for me. Gomi has looked lost and tentative in his past couple fights, so I love that Zuffa matched him with a guy who will bring the fight to him. Diaz will look to outbox Gomi, and Gomi will be the superior athlete. Diaz will pepper Gomi, while Gomi looks to land the big shot. Diaz will maintain his pace as Gomi slowly fades. By the end, Diaz will be landing at will and Gomi will be exhausted. Are you guys proud of me for picking against a Pride champ?
Nate Diaz over Takanori Gomi – Sub Rd 2
This has so much FOTN written all over it I wonder if Diaz is already spending his bonus money. Because that’s what stoners do. Spend money before it’s in our hands. Or maybe that’s a Mexican thing? So Gomi is going to bring heavy hands and some speed, Nate is going to bring lanky striking and CGJJ. This fight shouldn’t go any different from when the bigger Diaz got his hands on Gomi. Unless Gomi wings in a finisher bomb, he gets worn down in a great fight, and subbed late in the 2nd.
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Travis Browne vs. Rob Broughton – Round 3 JD
Browne looks like a fat piece of shit KOTC fighter but he actually moves pretty well. Broughton will want to box with him and he’s facing a slicker fighter. Don’t expect Floyd Mayweather slick, but Browne can move around a little bit, and will use speed to win on points.
Travis Browne over Rob Broughton – KO Rd 1
Travis Browne looked impressive in his last 2 fights, with a draw on KONGO! and a highlight KTFO over Struve. (Although that seems to be more common now) I’m assuming we see the same here. Broughton has some decent wins under his belt, but Browne hits too hard.
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Josh Koscheck over Matt Hughes – Round 1 KO
Both are arrogant dickhead wrestlers, but Kos is way younger. Hughes doesn’t care about this sport anymore and he’s just fighting for fun. There’s no shame in losing to GSP, but Kos doesn’t see it that way… he’s hungry and he’s going to be aggressive. Kos will sprawl-and-brawl until he can land a big overhand right. Hopefully he then dies of AIDs.
Josh Koscheck over Matt Hughes – JD
I love Matt Hughes for two reasons. One, for years he was a dominant meat head shit talker who couldn’t be stopped. Two, back on the original UFC game for DreamCast I used to DESTROY guys with Matt Hughes. HW’s, LHW’s, whoever. I was GRAPPLEFUCKING you, and beating the shit out of you. He was one of the only guys without a nickname on the game, so my friends and I named him “Simply” which also changed to “The Simple One”. This nickname should of stuck. “Simply” Matt Hughes is badass. I DONT NEED A NICKNAME. I’M SIMPLY MATT HUGHES AND I’M HERE TO KICK YOUR ASS. This has stood the test of time, a friend of mine txt’d me this week with “Where you watching The Simple One’s fight at?”
Anyways, on paper this is a mismatch. Hughes is clearly at the tail end of his career, and his last loss really makes people question if Hughes has went south quicker then anticipated. Kos is younger, a better striker with KO power, and maybe even a better wrestler. This is where the fight should be decided. IF Hughes could muster up that COUNTRY BREAKFAST TRACTOR PULLING strength, and put Kos on his rear end for a decent amount of the fight he could steal this. But I think Kos tags Hughes, neutralizes the ground game, and comes out with the W. If Hughes wants to continue to fight may I suggest my “Over 40 wins leauge”?
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Jon Jones over Quinton Jackson – Round 2 KO
Rampage looked very technical against Matt Hammill, but Bones Jones is at a whole ‘nother level right now. Jones will use his reach to keep Jackson from using his combinations, and I can’t see Rampage getting a takedown. This should be a fairly one-sided kickboxing match including some big technique from Jones. The Jon Bones Jones era rolls on, and his star continues to grow as UFC moves onto Fox. I think he’s the next MMA celebrity.
Rampage Jackson over Jon Jones – TKO Rd 1
I spent last Bones picks post putting him over and calling him the future, and now just like that I’m picking against the kid. And I’m not straying away from those thoughts. I picked Bones when I initially heard about this fight. But something has changed in the last week that has made me flop. Bones has the tools to beat Rampage, he’s bigger, younger, faster, is a better wrestler, throws kicks, (Something Page never did, ever) he SHOULD walk through Rampage.
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Then I watch the interview on Spike last Saturday, and everything changed. It was apparent as hell to me (And others now that I’ve asked) that Bones is SHOOK. He’s mentally frozen. The kid with all the confidence in the world was stuttering and stammering. And it wasn’t just this interview. Its EVERY interview I see him in this week. I think the duties of being a champ, along with the hype, along with quietly idolizing Jackson, along with all small intangibles will be the difference in this fight. Rampage is so into this kids head it isn’t even fair. Factor in his crazy “You disrespected me” motivation (Which is beyond ironic considering QJ has disrespected nearly everyone he’s fought) and I really like ‘Page tonight. I think Bones is so afraid of what happens when ‘Page touches that chin ONCE that he’s going to panic, make terrible defensive mistakes, and ‘Page is going to jump on him and finish him. Bones will be back. Tonight, Rampage is King Shit at 205, and the debate of who’s best continues.
Enjoy the fights!