Anderson Silva vs.... Several Interesting Possibilities

Anderson Silva, UFC middleweight champion, has spoiled his last three title defenses by dancing, prancing and making a fool of himself in the Octagon. A little bit of antics isn't bad, and sometimes is quite entertaining. Round after boring round of such silliness gets very old very quickly.

Some say that Anderson Silva is simply bored. I agree. If he's had enough spare time inside of fights to physically tire himself out with antics (and that's what happened at UFC 112), then he's certainly bored. He needs an opponent who will bring out his inner warrior and make for a compelling match.

Before I get to my list, I want to point out that the UFC is equally to blame for Silva's crappy fights. C'mon. Maia? Yes, Damian Maia is a jits legend. But against Anderson Silva... especially after the Thales Leites/UFC 97 debacle?!

Okay, here's my list:

1. Cheick Kongo -- Must I elaborate?! It's a perfect match.
2. James Toney -- He's a pure boxer, he just signed with the UFC, and he's looking for a compelling match. It's a perfect fight. Silva was aching to fight a pure boxing match with Mayweather. Here's the next best thing. Inside the Octagon!
3. Georges St. Pierre -- This is a no-brainer, assuming either GSP moved up to middleweight, or Silva moved down to welterweight.
4. Jon "Bones" Jones -- "Bones" is young and still relatively untested, yet, without question, he is a star on the rise. He made easy work of Stephen Bonnar, Matt Hamill and Brandon Vera. Isn't it time the UFC gave him a tough test?
5. Vitor Belfort -- No, I didn't forget about Belfort! I think Vitor is the only real competition for Anderson in the middleweight division. Other middleweights are relative cans.

And there you have my top five list of compelling fights for Anderson Silva.

No Time Like the Present... or Just No Time

I wasn't planning on posting an entry, since I've essentially abandoned this blog for real life. However, I left comments on another MMA blog site, realizing my old MMACrossfire blog URL was in the URL field of the comments. Oops! Wasn't intentional, as I'd intended for this blog to fade into oblivion. I simply don't have time to maintain it. My daughter is with me full-time now, and my life is rather full. I don't have time to write predictions, and even less time to regurgitate news you can find on other sites. All I have to offer are opinions. As it turns out, the original purpose of blogs was to publish opinions! Imagine that. So, perhaps I won't abandon this blog after all.

The post in question was an article on MMAMania.com regarding and eventual bout between Anderson Silva vs. Roy Jones Junior. The reality is: Jones isn't merely a legend. He's an enigma. Not since Ali or Sugar Ray has there been a boxer with such unorthodox creativity in the ring. I agree with many who say that even a 40-something Jones could out-box a spritely-by-comparison Anderson Silva. I would most certainly watch such a fight. But I'd expect Anderson Silva to be handed a defeat at the hands of the master.

I hope Anderson Silva does, in fact, begin his boxing career following his UFC career. If that's his passion, by all means I think he needs to follow it. Whether he excels at boxing is another matter. But I hope he pursues it with gusto, nonetheless.

The World the Way it Used to Be

I have been VERY lax in keeping up with this blog. That's because I have been VERY busy. Hopefully I will get back to making predictions for upcoming events.

A Long, Long Time Ago...
Once upon a time, Randy Couture was the crafty veteran who would outsmart the new bully in town, Brock Lesnar. And... we all know how it turned out. 2nd round TKO victory for Lesnar, and the end of Couture's reign as UFC Heavyweight Champion.

Randy Couture is still a top-10 heavyweight. Nobody disputes this, at least as far as I know. He got caught, and the rest is history. It was a great fight up till that moment, though. Randy was doing really well. Lesnar simply did better.

And what about that Brock Lesnar? "Wrastling" phenom turned mixed martial artist. Legit mixed martial artist no less. Here is sits atop the world's foremost MMA promotion, just four fights into his professional career. We would need to rewind the clock to the inception of the UFC to find another fighter who has accomplished the same in such a short time. But such is the life of one of the world's most gifted atheletes.

I'll be very interested to see how the heavyweight division plays out over the next year. We still need to see Frank Mir and Big Nog face off. Will Mir surprise us all? Or will Big Nog put another explamation point at the end of his reputation? It will be a very interesting fight.

EliteXC/CBS 3 Predictions

Predictions for Saturday's EliteXC/CBS event.

[As usual, I'll come back and mark my good guesses in blue, and my bad guesses in red.]

Kimbo Slice vs. Ken Shamrock - Slice by stoppage, R1
(Actual result: Seth Petruzelli def Kimbo by TKO, R1)
Jake Shields vs. Paul Daley - Shields by stoppage, R3
(Actual result: Shields def Daley by submission, R2)
Andrei Arlovski vs. Roy Nelson - Nelson by stoppage, R2
(Actual result: Arlovski def Nelson by TKO, R2)
Gina Carano vs. Kelly Kobald - Carano by decision
(Actual result: Carano def Kobald by decision)
Marilo Rua vs. Benji Radach - Rua by decision
(Actual result: Radach def Rua by TKO, R2)
"Cyborg" vs. Yoko Takahashi - Justino by stoppage R3
(Actual result: Cyborg def Takahashi by decision)
James Edson Berto vs. Mike Aina - Berto by decision
(Actual result: Conor Heun def. Edson Berto via TKO R2)
Robert McDaniel vs. Alexander Shlemenko - Shlemenko by stoppage, R1
(Neither fought on this card)
Seth Petruzelli vs. Aaron Rosa - Rosa by decision
(NOTE: Petruzelli replaced Sharock as an alternate in the main event)
"The Borg" vs. Mickey Gomez - Borgomeo by stoppage, R2
(Actual result: Mickey Gomez def Borgomeo by submission, R2)
David Gomez vs. Nicholas Cardella - Gomez by decision
(Actual result: Bryan Hamade def Gomez by submission, R1)
David Martinez vs. Nicolae Sinicio - Martinez by stoppage, R2
(Actual result: Nicolae Cury def Jorge Bouchat by submission, R1)

Post-event Update
Predictions were based on the lineup published on EliteXC's official site. Unfortunately, most of the fights were not paired accordingly. However, the night's big upset occurred during the main event when Seth Petruzelli stepped in as an alternate to Ken Shamrock and dismantled Kimbo Slice in under 15 seconds. (Petruzelli's original opponent, Aaron Rosa, did not fight on the card.)

"Sugar" Puts "The Iceman" to Sleep

Wow. Who saw that one coming? Tonight, in the main event of UFC 88, "Sugar" Rashad Evan became the first man to put Chuck "The Iceman" Liddell to sleep.

Just shy of two minutes into the second round, Rashad Evans landed a perfect overhand right, placing it squarely and powerfully on the chin of Chuck Liddell. Chuck's head jerked violently to his right, which caused him to go limp and collapse to the canvas. Out cold.

Mike Goldberg and Joe Rogan were discussing the uppercut that Chuck almost simultaneously landed as Evans' overhand right found its mark. However, viewing the replay, Chuck's uppercut would not have connected because Evans' head was out of the way. It may have hit Evans' collar bone, or even his throat -- which certainly would not have been pleasant -- but Evans would not have been rocked by it.

Evans displayed outstanding, if not somewhat odd, body movement as he locked horns with "The Iceman". I was surprised to see Evans repeatedly enter into Chuck's strike zone. Evans landed jabs, kicks, and displayed superior striking speed. He also took a page out of Machida's playbook by eluding most of Chuck's strikes. Chuck managed to get off a couple solid strikes, but that was it. Evans not only seemed confident in his striking at the beginning of the fight, but his confidence seemed to increase as the fight wore on.

I will watch with great interest as the UFC tries to figure out how to organize the light heavyweight division now that their #1 rock star has fallen for the third time in his past four fights.

I was very impressed with Evans' performance. He displayed his true potential tonight: lightening quickness, powerful striking, and the ability to step out of danger. Congrats to Evans as he will very likely get the "Knockout of the Night" bonus, which would be well-deserved.

UFC 88 Predictions

Here are my predictions. Last time, I got eight right out of 10. I don't expect to do as well this time, since I'm making some out-of-the-box predictions, especially for fights scheduled for the untelevised portion of the undercard.

[As always, I will come back after the event and mark my good guesses with blue and my bad guesses with red.]

Chuck Liddell vs. Rashad Evans - Liddell by stoppage, R3
(Actual result, Evans by KO R2)
Rich Franklin vs. Matt Hamill - Franklin by decision
(Actual result, Franklin by TKO R3)
Karo Parisyan vs. Yoshiyuki Yoshida - Parisyan by stoppage, R2
Dan Henderson vs. Rousimar Palhares - Henderson by decision
(Actual result, Henderson by decision)
Martin Kampmann vs. Nate Marquardt - Kampmann by stoppage, R3
(Actual result, Marquardt by TKO R1)
Thiago Tavares vs. Kurt Pellegrino - Tavares by decision
(Actual result, Pelligrino by decision)
Tim Boetsch vs. Michael Patt - Boetsch by decision
(Actual result, Boetsch by TKO R1)
Dong Hyun Kim vs. Matt Brown - Kim by stoppage, R3
(Actual result, Kim by split decision)
Jason Lambert vs. Jason MacDonald - MacDonald by stoppage, R2
(Actual result, MacDonald by submission R2)
Roan Carneiro vs. Ryo Chonan - Chonan by stoppage, R3
(Actual result, Chonan by split decision)

Couture is Willing to Face Fedor in the UFC

That's right. Randy Couture recently stated that he is willing to face Fedor Emelianenko under the UFC banner. He wouldn't be simply willing:

"I'd love for the UFC to step up and make the fight happen. It has the potential to be the biggest mixed martial arts fight to date..."

This tidbit came by way of MMAMania.com by way of The Adam Carolla Show.

As significant as his comment seems to be, Couture's little wish has gotten buried under the weight of his other comment (that he and Fedor could/should get paid between $6-$10 million each).

Has everyone missed the significance of Randy mentioning the UFC as a vehicle for the Fedor fight?!