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How to Play Next Season

• The camp name is Mania1, which is the same as the Playground camp name.
• Fees have to be received by the date of Event 2 (UFC on FX 3), which is May 15th.
• Entry fees will as always be $20.
• No late fees can be accepted so sign up to fantasysportsvault.com and pay your entry fee ASAP.
• International people can sign up to the site. Anyone that does not live in the US or Canada has to enter the FSV Corporate Office address as their place of residency. This address is 3210 California Avenue, Seattle, Washington, 98116.
• Payments can be made by e-check or paper check for domestic users and by credit/debit card for all users.
• First, second and third placed players will be paid out.
• There will be payouts for event winners.
• Funds can be transferred internally so you can transfer money to other players if you make side bets but you need to have funds in your account so that the admin can make the transfer for you.

Recap

This was the night of the underdog, with 5 of the fighters that were picked by under 10 people winning and 3 of these underdogs earning bonus points. If you didn't take any calculated risks then you won't have done well on this event. This may have made a mockery out of the majority of people's picks (with a couple of notable exceptions) but it also made tonight's card that much more exciting. With highlight reel KOs, crazy comebacks, career revivals, the end of an era and and an entertaining back and forth main event this event had everything and was a welcome addition to the illustrious history of Japanese Mixed Martial Arts.

I had high hopes for the Frankie Edgar vs Ben Henderson fight and this time the fight that I hyped up lived up to my high expectations as both guys put on a striking and grappling clinic. Ultimately it was Henderson who landed the more effective strikes and displayed the better grappling which saw him become the first WEC alumni to win a UFC championship above 145lbs. Frankie actually landed a greater volume of strikes but it was Ben's that caused the most significant damage and it was Ben who got into the better positions on the mat and attacked with more submissions despite Frankie attempting and landing more takedowns. The key moments of the fight that sealed the win for Ben were a vicious upkick at the end of the second round that was the turning point of the fight and caused a nasty cut on Frankie's nose and a slick jumping guillotine choke that he's used successfully so often in the past, but on this occasion Frankie had the heart and technique to survive. Great fight and in my opinion the right man won, congratulations Benson.

The co-main event between Quinton Jackson and Ryan Bader was the one that split the pool, with 20 people picking Rampage and 17 choosing Bader. With Rampage coming in 6lbs overweight it was always going to be a question of how motivated Quinton was and how seriously he was taking Bader. And unfortunately for Rampage and his fans he did not put on a good performance. He was able to land a trademark slam in the second round that saw Bader land horribly on his neck and right arm but after he recovered from that Ryan was able to take Rampage down and control him on the ground on multiple occasions much to the derision of the Japanese fans and anyone (me) daft enough to pick a 211lb and arguably disinterested Rampage. This could be the victory that sees Ryan Bader move on to the next level and become a legitimate top contender at 205. It was great seeing Rampage pay tribute to Pride with his entrance and the slam was vicious but his return to Japan couldn't have gone much worse in all honesty. I don't know where he goes from here.

The Heavyweight clash featuring kickboxing specialists Mark Hunt and Cheick Kongo saw another exciting finish and another big upset as the former Pride superstar Hunt made quick work of the UFC veteran Kongo. Mark landed a clean left counter punch that dropped Kongo before pressing Cheick against the cage and landing several big right hands that dropped the Frenchman. Not bad for a guy who was signed by the UFC because they were contractually obliged to do so as a result of the Pride buyout. And anyone who called Mark Hunt being a top contender in the HW division in 2012 is a liar. Unreal.

Jake Shields was able to get back to winning ways courtesy of a unanimous decision victory over Yoshihiro Akiyama in the judoka's Welterweight debut. It wasn't pretty but ultimately Shields did enough to win a decision thanks to his aggression as he pressed the action with more strikes and takedown attempts. It took Jake until the final minute of the fight to really find success on the ground as he took Sexyama's back and tried to finish the fight with a rear naked choke. It was underwhelming but as a Shields fan I was happy to see him get the victory, especially after everything that he has gone through over the last few months.

"That was the greatest comeback I have ever seen in the UFC". I'm still in shock. After a dominant 2 rounds it looked like it was a matter of how and when Yushin Okami would beat Tim Boetsch. Yushin outclassed Tim in the striking exchanges in the opening round, displaying an excellent jab and landing several headkicks. In the second round Yushin took Tim down and dominated him from on top, easily transitioning to mount and coming close to submitting Boetsch. Matt Hume told Tim to go for broke in the third and man he did. It took Tim less than a minute to grab victory from the jaws of defeat as he came out swinging and battered Okami with vicious uppercuts and overhands to finish the fight. Sometimes fighting with wreckless abandon when you have nothing to lose does work. Unreal.

The night's hot bout was the Featherweight clash between Hatsu Hioki and Bart Palaszewski. After an underwhelming UFC debut Hioki had a lot of pressure to make a statement in his homeland and thanks to his superior grappling he did that. Hatsu spent the majority of the first and third rounds on top, displaying his BJJ skills in particular his superb transitions. Bart showed a lot of heart to survive Hatsu's submission attempts and ground and pound including the mounted crucifix and in my opinion won the second round but ultimately he was outclassed on the ground. This was a much improved performance from Hioki over a dangerous opponent and puts him right in line for a championship fight with Jose Aldo.

"Oh my goodness". There's not much more you can say about the Lightweight match-up between Anthony Pettis and Joe Lauzon as Showtime brutally knocked out J-Lau with a vicious left headkick. I wasn't impressed with the matchmaking in the first place as Lauzon is very inconsistent but an emphatic highlight reel finish in under 90s sees Pettis back in as a relevant title contender. I think that he needs another fight or 2 before taking on Ben Henderson in a rematch of their classic WEC encounter, but he has to fight a top 5 guy next.

And I was wrong about the intro. It's better than the gladiator guy but it's nowhere near as good as I hyped it up to be.

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How to play next season

• The camp name is Mania1, which is the same as the Playground camp name.
• Fees have to be received by the date of Event 2 (UFC on FX 3), which is May 15th.
• Entry fees will as always be $20.
• No late fees can be accepted so sign up to fantasysportsvault.com and pay your entry fee ASAP.
• International people can sign up to the site. Anyone that does not live in the US or Canada has to enter the FSV Corporate Office address as their place of residency. This address is 3210 California Avenue, Seattle, Washington, 98116.
• Payments can be made by e-check or paper check for domestic users and by credit/debit card for all users.
• First, second and third placed players will be paid out.
• There will be payouts for event winners.
• Funds can be transferred internally so you can transfer money to other players if you make side bets but you need to have funds in your account so that the admin can make the transfer for you.

Tonight proved to be one of consolidation rather than change for the money pool as the top 4 and bottom 2 remain unchanged. This means that DetroitDrew is still in the lead, which he has now increased to 37 points. Without TBranson is there anyone that can stop the Darkside? And how did I end up betting against 3 of the top 4? Well there is some hope at least as we have another new event winner and he isn't one of the dastardly 7. Oh and yes Ulf and Mike there is a recap. Don't like it? Then skip to the jump. For everyone else, read on.

Recap

3 guys have a hardon for the Wet Dream

As usual unambig was crude but correct as only 3 players picked Diego Sanchez, with the rest of us all backing hometown boy Jake Ellenberger in the main event. However despite Jake's status as the firm favourite I was no means expecting a massacre, in fact this is what I had to say just before the fight.

I think Diego will survive and finish the fight stronger but already be too far behind

Jake’s going to have a strong opening round though.

Perfect call if I do say myself. The hard hitting wrestler Ellenberger always starts fights off strongly but also has a habit of fading in the latter stages of a fight. Diego on the other hand thrives in the later rounds thanks to his endless cardio, relentless attack and undying will to win. So it should have come as no surprise when Ellenberger got the better of the striking and wrestling exchanges in the opening 2 rounds and bloodied Diego with vicious knees, punches and elbows on the feet and ground. However once he started to slow down Diego as always took advantage and was even able to take Jake's back in the final minute of the fight and attempted to finish the fight from mount. Ultimately Jake survived and earnt himself a long awaited (for me at least) rematch with Interim Champion Carlos Condit. As for Diego he lost the battle but put on a war and in my opinion would have won a 5 round fight between the 2. Much respect to both men.

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With only 2 of their combined 52 fights going the distance it seemed to be a logical conclusion that the Heavyweight clash between Stefan Struve and Dave Herman was not going to go to the distance. And so it proved, as Struve picked up a 2nd round TKO finish. Sasquatch (Big Foot is already taken) was expected to have the superior striking (especially because Stefan still seems unable to utilise his reach advantage) whilst (just for you Mike) Struve had the grappling advantage. But after a typical slow start for Struve he was able to pick up the pace in the second, landing a nice uppercut to floor a tired Herman and the former Pee Wee had no answers for Struve's mount. Maybe Josh Rosenthal stopped the fight too soon but in all honesty if you're not effectively defending punches from the mount or looking to get into a better position then you're in trouble. For the second consecutive time I changed a Struve 2nd round submission pick to a 1st round KO for his opponent and again it cost me. Damn you Struve.

The fight that really split the camp (other than the prelim that got cancelled) was the Middleweight clash between Aaron Simpson and Ronny Markes. And the fight proved to be as close as we expected, with both guys cancelling each other out in even clinch exchanges especially in the final 2 rounds but ultimately it was Ronny's takedowns that were enough to squeak out a split decision win. Aaron did come close to finishing the fight in the first, knocking down Markes with a brutal right uppercut and he pounced with ground and pound but Ronny was able to recover and ultimately neutralise Aaron's offensive striking and grappling to take a tight victory.

Guess what happens when a BJJ practitioner tries to stand and bang with a Golden Gloves Champion? David W-S scores 11 points. At least unambig no longer doubts the hype behind Stipe Miocic.

Wrestling is unnecessary huh?

Yan put it better than I could as TJ Dillashaw dominated Walel Watson, utilising superior wrestling, ground and pound and BJJ to dominate the fight, neutralising the dangerous submissions of Watson and leaving him fighting for survival throughout the fight. To his credit Watson never gave up and did everything he could to try to get a finish in the third round, including a flying triangle, guillotine and leg lock but in truth he was outclassed from the opening bell. TJ's 172 landed strikes tell the story of the fight better than I can.

The event started off in perfect fashion with a thrilling back and forth battle between Ivan Menjivar and John Albert. It may seem crazy to say this about a fight that ended in less than 4 minutes but this fight had everything. Both guys traded strikes and submissions and both had the opportunity to finish the fight. Albert attacked relentlessly off of his back with submissions including an omoplata and heel hook before battering Menjivar with punches and knees against the fence that came close to forcing a stoppage but the veteran Ivan was able to recover and took advantage of a tiring Albert to take his back and secure a fight ending rear naked choke. Awesome stuff, this is why I love Bantemweights.

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Before I begin the event recap I have some big news from our commissioner about next season's payments. From now on we are using www.fantasysportsvault.com. Jay forwarded me the e-mails between him and his contact so these are the important details that you need to know about the site and how to play next season.

• The camp name is Mania1, which is the same as the Playground camp name.
• Fees have to be received by the date of Event 2 (UFC on FX 3), which is May 15th
• Entry fees will as always be $20
• No late fees can be accepted so sign up to fantasysportsvault.com and pay your entry fee ASAP
• International people can sign up to the site. Anyone that does not live in the US or Canada has to enter the FSV Corporate Office address as their place of residency. This address is 3210 California Avenue, Seattle, Washington, 98116.
• Payments can be made by e-check or paper check for domestic users and by credit/debit card for all users.
• First, second and third placed players will be paid out.
• There will be payouts for event winners.
• Funds can be transferred internally so you can transfer money to other players if you make side bets but you need to have funds in your account so that the admin can make the transfer for you.

Jay, if I've misinterpreted anything or left out any other important information then let me know and I'll edit this post. If anyone else has any queries then feel free to post them in the comments or e-mail myself or jay.

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Now onto the event itself and yet again the high profile fight is going to be overshadowed by the controversial outcome as Carlos Condit took a unanimous decision victory over Nick Diaz. And in the immediate aftermath of the fight Diaz retired from MMA, claiming that he was tired of losing fights that he felt that he'd won. Personally I think that this was just a typical Diaz outburst but whatever you think about the scoring you can't argue that Nick performed at his best tonight. The fight itself was hyped up by many (including myself) as being a potential FOTY candidate but ultimately it didn't live up to expectations. Both Diaz and Condit are known for having excellent cardio and BJJ and for being aggressive strikers but tonight the difference was in the superior footwork of the Natural Born Killer as he consistently avoided Diaz's punches in bunches combinations against the fence, keeping his distance and attacking with kicks to the leg, head and body. It may not have been as exciting a performance as we've come to expect from Carlos but it clearly worked as Diaz was left frustrated by his inability to land meaningful strikes or combinations and it was Carlos who landed the greater volume of strikes. The most effective offense for Diaz was when he took control of Carlos' back in the final round and attacked firstly with a rear naked choke then an armbar but Carlos was able to defend and reverse the position just before the bell. It gave Nick the round but not the fight. The fight was close but ultimately the judges decided that Carlos' superior movement and kicks were more effective than Diaz pressing the action and controlling the centre of the cage. I personally had it 48-47 Diaz but it could have gone either way, if anything I was surprised that 2 judges scored it 49-46 as I thought that Nick took at least 1 of the opening 2 rounds but at the same time it depends on what criteria of scoring you place greater emphasis on. What can't be disputed is that Carlos had a great gameplan that neutralised Diaz's offense and that Nick had no answers for the movement of Carlos or his kicking based attack, it was a poor performance by his standards and controversial decision or not it quite simply wasn't up to the standards that he has set in the past. And throwing a temper tantrum at the end of the fight is not the way to get back to the top of the division either.

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The co-main event was a Heavyweight bout featuring top 10 BJJ stand-out Fabricio Werdum taking on TUF 10 winner Roy Nelson. As usual in a fight pitting 2 BJJ black belts the majority of the fight took place on the feet, however surprisingly this was anything but sloppy kickboxing. In fact Fabricio put on a striking clinic especially in the opening round, bloodying up Big Country with brutal knees from the thai plum as well as knees to the body. Clearly training under Rafael Cordeiro has paid off as Werdum displayed excellent muay thai throughout the fight, although he did tire in the later rounds. Werdum also clearly had the advantage on the ground, taking Nelson's back in seconds when they first went to the ground and also baiting Roy into diving into his guard before attempting to land an armbar in similar fashion to how he infamously submitted Fedor Emelianenko, but Roy was able to defend and get back to his feet. Fabricio still has cardio issues but this was one of his best performances to date and for a man who is equally capable of being very good or very bad on his day this was exactly what he needed to reestablish himself as a top HW contender. As for Roy he once again showed his toughness as he took Werdum's best strikes and kept attacking despite having a busted nose. He was outclassed but you can't help but like a guy who never quits no matter how badly hurt he is and who constantly looks to finish fights. Great fight. Unfortunately for me this was changed from the hot bout at the last minute so I only won 11 points.

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The Welterweight fight between Josh Koscheck and Mike Pierce was an absolute stinker where both guys cancelled each other out. Kos has been derided throughout his career for not sticking to gameplans or fighting to his strengths and unfortunately for him this was one of those performances. Despite seemingly having the wrestling advantage he only attempted 3 takedowns, landing 2 of them and doing nothing on top whilst Pierce was only able to take Kos down 1 out of 6 times. In the end that was enough to squeak a split decision but it was far from an impressive performance. Instead of mixing up his strikes with kicks and takedown attempts he spent the entire fight headhunting, looking for the big overhand right to KO Pierce and trying to set it up by throwing out an open palm with his left hand which resulted in eyepokes that could have led to a point deduction. Pierce was able to stick to his gameplan and gave Kos trouble throughout the fight, landing several punches from the clinch and in the striking exchanges but ultimately his downfall was his inability to consistently take Kos down. He made it an ugly fight and on another day may have taken the decision, in fact if Kos hadn't have taken him down in the second and third rounds then he would have won. This fight proved that Pierce is capable of fighting the elite of the division and that Kos is still arguably the most hated man in the UFC (Rashad Evans and Michael Bisping are his main rivals for that title) but still has the same flaws that have prevented him from winning any championships in MMA. On a side not Herb Dean's officiating was abysmal, he was constantly rushing Kos to work and was seemingly favouring Pierce throughout the fight. The favouritism shown by referees towards certain fighters is getting increasingly blatant during every event.

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The Bantemweights once again produced excitement as top contenders Renan Barao and Scott Jorgensen clashed. Barao was the favourite coming in, having not lost a fight since his debut in 2005 and impressing in the WEC and UFC including a dominant first round submission victory over Brad Pickett. Throughout the fight Scott looked to dictate the pace and put Renan under pressure but was unable to take him down at all during the fight and was reversed every time he pushed Barao against the fence. Renan's superior strength and diverse striking attack which included flying knees and spinning kicks to the head and body was too much for Scott to deal with and despite slowing down in the third round his excellent TDD and superior striking was enough to secure a decision victory. Scott made it a tough fight for him as he always does but the better man won. Renan in my opinion should get the next title shot against the winner of Dominick Cruz and Urijah Faber, although his cardio will have to be better than it was tonight to match the pace that those 2 set. And it's a shame that Mike Goldberg spent more time talking about Jose Aldo than Renan Barao especially during the first round, I guess every Brazilain in the lighter divisions has to be compared to Aldo but I found it incredibly disrespectful to a top talent.

Ed Herman once again impressed in the opening bout. After a mixed record following his stint on TUF 3 and a horrific knee injury suffered against Aaron Simpson I honestly thought that Herman's career was done. Since coming back he has looked like a different fighter, finishing both Tim Credeur and Kyle Noke in impressive fashion in 2011. In the past Herman struggled against wrestlers so I expected Clifford Starks to be a tough opponent and during the first round he was. Starks landed clean on Herman on several occasions with big right hands but in the end it was Herman's superior grappling that sealed the victory. He landed a nice double leg takedown in the opening round that once again showed that superior credentials don't always mean that you have better wrestling in MMA and he briefly threatened on top before losing the position. However he made up for that mistake in the second round, landing a nice trip takedown from against the fence and quickly took Clifford's back. From there it was academic and Ed was able to lock in the rear naked choke and force the tap, earning him his third consecutive finish since his return from injury. Ed still has the same flaws on the feet that he's always had but he finally seems to be living up to his potential in the cage.

I can't comment on the new UFC intro as unfortunately I missed it but I was disheartened to see the same terrible death metal song used in the promo for the event. However I was impressed with the improved production values during the event, the new clock is far more visually appealing and the usage of statistics during the fights is a much needed improvement. It's something that Strikeforce have used for years now so it is nice to see the UFC finally displaying the number of strikes thrown in fights as it progresses, plus it gives Goldberg something to talk about without sounding like a moron. That didn't prevent him from claiming that Josh Koscheck is the most improved striker in MMA, that Roy Nelson is a true champion or that Fabricio Werdum's thai clinch is as dangerous as Anderson Silva's but it's an improvement at least.

Now with the recap out of the way follow me after the jump for the latest stats.

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This has not been a good week for the UFC. After the infamous clashes with Anonymous completely overshadowed the hype for the first full card televised on FOX Zuffa really needed tonight's event to be a success. It wasn't. All 3 fights were underwhelming decisions and the only man who was truly elevated by his performance tonight was Michael Bisping and he lost, but we'll get to that shambles later. This was not the card that the UFC needed to reach a new mainstream audience through FOX and although it has set up 2 huge main events for future PPVs in the Jon Jones vs Rashad Evans grudge match and Anderson Silva vs Chael Sonnen rematch but neither Rashad or Chael in all honestly put on the performance required to build up anticipation for these title fights. And no stealing a Superstar Billy Graham promo after a lackluster display isn't creating hype.

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Rashad did what he needed to do against the previously undefeated Phil Davis and did exactly what I had been expecting ever since this fight was first proposed. He used his superior speed to constantly beat Davis to the punch in the striking exchanges, had the more diverse wrestling attack to consistently get the fight to the ground and from there controlled the action and advanced to dominant positions including the mounted crucifix throughout the fight. I always expected this fight to be too much too soon for Phil but this will be a good experience for him in terms of what it takes to be a top fighter in and out of the cage. It's how he reacts to this loss that will determine how good he will become. As for Rashad even he admitted that his focus was on Bones Jones and not Davis. Rashad coasting to a decision win over an overmatched prospect and Jon's nervy display as an announcer wasn't exactly the best way to promote the fight but it's a match-up that is long overdue and sells itself.

In a fight that was seen by many to be the real main-event of the show top Middleweight contenders Michael Bisping and Chael Sonnen battled to earn the next shot at Anderson Silva's title. Both of these guys were set to fight different opponents until Mark Munoz pulled out of the card and the matches were rearranged. Sonnen was coming into this fight on the back of a dominant submission win over Brian Stann and was the heavy favourite for this fight, with most expecting him to take Bisping down and control him on the mat, beating him up with ground and pound. After successfully landing a takedown in the opening exchange it seemed to be the perfect start but surprisingly Bisping was able to get back to his feet in seconds. On the feet Bisping landed more strikes and was even able to bully Chael around in the clinch, pushing him against the fence and doing damage. Chael was able to take Bisping down a further 2 times in the opening 2 rounds but wasn't able to control him or do any offense on top. The first round was close but the second was clearly won by Bisping. The third round was a different story though as Chael landed an early takedown and from there was finally able to advance position and attack with strikes and submission attempts. It was a dominant round but in my opinion not enough to win the fight, so when the decision was announced I was not only shocked to hear that Sonnen won but appalled at the score of 30-27. Since Sonnen winning was the outcome that Zuffa wanted it makes you question how legitimate and fair the scoring was. As for the scripted post-fight promo that once again ripped off WWE Hall of Famer Superstar Billy Graham, the less said about it the better.

The opening fight of the night pitted decorated wrestler Chris Weidman against former ADCC champion Demian Maia in a fight that Weidman accepted on 11 days notice. This was not a good advertisement for MMA or the UFC brand as both fighters quickly gassed and as so often happens when elite grapplers face each other the fight devolved into sloppy kickboxing. I'm a fan of Weidman and have very high hopes for him but this wasn't a particularly convincing performance and quite clearly his cardio was not at the level that it would have been had he had more time to prepare. That being said he still did enough to win a unanimous (wrongly announced as a split) decision against a far more experienced opponent on short notice. As for Maia my opinion that his BJJ skill has regressed since he began focusing more in training on his striking appears validated, he only used his BJJ to get back to his feet instead of attacking with submissions and seemed content to lose striking exchanges for 3 rounds instead of utilising his grappling skills.

Great news for everybody in the pool though, we have 39 players which is enough for event winners to be paid out $20 again. So there can be no excuses for quitting mid-season. As for the standings TBranson continues to dominate despite scoring his lowest total so far this season after a spectacular collapse from his nearest rival BNF. That allowed the dark lord himself DetroitDrew1980 to move into second place thanks to another strong showing. Clearly the Darkside's plan is working, with Darth Drew's apprentice Jido7 also placing in the top 5. As for Drew's bitter rival Stinky Picks, she continues to fall further down the rankings. Maybe next time you should spend less time talking about the size of Drew's lightsaber and more time researching fights so that you can actually become competitive again. And to avoid exposing your inability to count again you're in joint 16th with deuce, which means that you're behind 15 people.

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The first ever UFC show to be broadcast live on FX has come to a close and on the back of an action packed (Charlie Brenneman wrestlefest aside) edition of the prelims on Fuel it delivered more fast paced fights and exciting finishes. Only 2 fights went to the distance all night and one of those was the FOTN between Mike Easton and Jared Papazian. 5 hours of MMA including 8 finishes and 1 back and forth decision on free TV, not a bad Friday night.

The main event featured top Lightweight contenders Jim Miller and Melvin Guillard as they were both coming off top losses to Ben Henderson and Joe Lauzon respectively that had dented their hopes of a title shot. With a victory set to put them back in the mix both guys came into this fight with a lot to prove. It was Melvin who started the fight the quicker, hurting Miller early on with explosive knees and punches that had the athletic TUF veteran on the verge of victory. But as has so often been the case in his career Melvin made a silly mistake, as he came in recklessly with a flying knee that allowed Miller to take him down and from there it was academic. Jim quickly advanced position and as Melvin tried to explode back to his feet he was immediately trapped in a tight rear naked choke that for the second time in a row forced Melvin to submit. This was a huge win for Miller that once again saw him overcome adversity and showcase his wrestling and BJJ as well as his toughness but again it showcased the flaws in Guillard's game that have continued to hold him back.

The co-main event featured veteran sluggers Duane Ludwig and Josh Neer in a fight that was tipped by many to be the FOTN. Instead in a fight eerily similar to the main event the fight was dominated early on by the superior striker as Bang outclassed Neer on the feet landing brutal body punches before being taken down and guillotined to sleep after a quick scramble in impressive fashion. Already the time spent training with the Diaz Bros is paying off.

The only fight on the main card that went the distance was anything but boring as Bantemweight prospects Mike Easton and Jared Papazian put on a fast paced 3 round war that could have gone either way. Jared seemed to land more in each round but Easton landed the more powerful strikes and also managed to take his opponent down. It was a close fight despite only sarah picking Jared to win and for a short-notice UFC debut on TV it was a very good performance but in the end it was Easton who took the majority decision.

In the night's only HW match Pat Barry displayed the improved ground game that he has been touting as he managed to defend Christian Morecraft's early submission attempts and get back to his feet twice (despite being mounted) before KO'g his larger opponent with a Mike Tyson style hook (really Kenny?) and finishing him off with further strikes on the ground. Barry is still the entertaining but limited kickboxer that he's always been but at least this was a step in the right direction for him.

As for the pool tonight saw record highs and lows as well as the biggest change of fortunes for a player to date. The majority of players performed well, although sadly to say I'm in the minority. We may also have already found this season's champion, as long as he has paid jay. However the looming threat of the Darkside is now very real.

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I love Brazil. UFC 142 is in the books and whilst the second UFC Rio lacked the star power of the original it certainly didn't lack quality finishes or more controversial officiating. Unfortunately for Zuffa the majority of American sports fans were too busy watching Tom Brady destroy Denver to see this show but that's what happens when you clash with the NFL play-offs. Even I was watching the game instead of the prelims. But at least in Brazil all eyes were on the UFC and they were not disappointed.

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In the main event UFC Featherweight Champion Jose Aldo was looking to impress his hometown fans by making a statement against the undefeated Chad Mendes. This was Aldo's third UFC fight and his performances in decision victories over Mark Hominick and Kenny Florian were not up to the standard that he had previously set during his reign of terror in the WEC. Well in the biggest fight of his career to date and in his first UFC main event Aldo showed the world why he is considered to be a top P4P fighter as he dismantled Mendes in the opening round, brutalising him with leg kicks and successfully defending Chad's takedown attempts before connecting with a vicious knee to finish the fight. The post-fight celebrations in the crowd were surreal as Aldo was mobbed by his fans and paraded around the arena as the conquering hero. It's official, Jose Aldo is a bonafide star.

The majority of the pre-event hype had been centred around the co-main event in what was supposed to be a Middleweight clash between Brazilian legend Vitor Belfort returning to his home country to fight there for the first time since 1998 and Anthony Johnson. Rumble's failure to make the weight has been discussed to death already so I'll just concentrate on the fight itself. Rumble was able to take down Vitor earl on but bizarrely was forced to stand-up very quickly despite being relatively active from on top and actually causing damage to Vitor's right eye. It doesn't take a genius to work out that Vitor was being awarded generous stand-ups to keep the fans happy and so it proved as a visibly tired Johnson crumbled under the pressure of Vitor's strikes and tapped out to a rear naked choke in similar fashion to his losses to Josh Koscheck and Rich Clementi. That won't help his job prospects. It was a great win for Vitor but it highlighted how inconsistent referees are with stand-ups and in all honesty it's hard to take MMA seriously as a sport when officials are clearly being influenced to dictate where the fight takes place depending on who the crowd's favourite is.

Speaking of refereeing inconsistencies, what should have been another quick and impressive KO victory for Erick Silva in Rio turned into an absolute shambles as Mario Yamasaki disqualified him for illegal strikes to the back of the head and awarded the decision to Carlos Prater. What made things worse was when Joe Rogan confronted Mario over the decision after video replays indicated that only 1 punch clearly landed on the back of the head. As annoyed as I am by missing out on 11 points (Playground are treating the fight as a No Contest) what bothers me more is that lack of consistency shown by referees for this type of situation. There have been many TKO victories awarded following strikes to the back of the head with there being no punishment handed to the offender so I have no idea why Silva was all of a sudden treated differently to everyone else and lost the fight because of a common foul.

At least there could be no complaints about the highlight reel KO of Terry Etim by Edson Barboza. Mid-way through the third round Edson looked to be coasting to a comfortable unanimous decision win after beating up his British opponent with a wide range of leg and body kicks. Then from out of nothing Edson suddenly landed a spinning heel kick to the head that instantly knocked out Etim in one of the most brutal and craziest looking finishes to a fight that I have ever seen. It's only the second week of January and we've already seen the KOTY.

And in news that surprised nobody (except ) Rousimar Palhares claimed another victim with his leg lock of doom.

As for the pool results we now have a new leader and he's a former Money Pool champion and no he isn't Mike or Agar. We also saw a return to the norm as Agar and NNR once again tied with a top 5 score whilst (Mike's favourite word) I went back to underachieving. This was not an event to pick underdogs, with the majority of favourites prevailing including the biggest locks to date as all but 1 player correctly picked Mike Pyle and Rousimar Palhares. All of those who hoped that Mendes would pull off the upset were also disappointed. However picking the hot bout correctly was critical to success and in this event made the difference between winning and losing. So everyone that picked JDS' fat training partner suffered.

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What doesn't kill you makes us stronger. After a chaotic off-season in which the majority of us were questioning whether there would be a money pool at all thanks to well documented issues that you are all aware of we were thankfully able to resurrect this season this week. Thank you jay for making this happen and putting up with all of the garbage that you have in the last month to be the commissioner and to go to the extra length and to put your trust in us in order to avoid the first ever Money Pool lockout. That being said it's time to have some fun at your expense after the derailment of the Pain Train. So jay, P-Dub and Puck Head if you want to save yourselves some pain just skip past the jump. For everyone else, read on.

I honestly never expected this fight to happen in the first place because I didn't believe that Brock Lesnar had any intentions in stepping into the Octagon again following his defeat to Cain Velasquez and withdrawl from the interim title fight with Junior Dos Santos due to his well publicised health problems. The fact that he signed on to the WWE 12 video game and got into a post-fight confrontation with Mark "The Undertaker" Callaway seemed to indicate that Brock's mind was on anything but MMA. However despite his opponent Alistair Overeem's legal issues with former management team Golden Glory, his failure to attend a random pre-fight drugs test and his mother's illness the fight both men set foot in the cage. 2 minutes later it was all over, Alistair was declared the victor and is now set to challenge Dos Santos for the Heavyweight Championship whilst Brock announced his retirement from the sport. Whilst Alistair's body kicks and knees were brutal and he looked great tonight I have to question whether Brock was in the right frame of mind to compete, he looked disinterested and quickly found a way out covering up following a body kick before Mario Yamasaki stopped the fight. I fully expected Overeem to win by TKO in the 1st and for this to be the final fight of Brock's career (hence the sig) but it hardly lived up to the hype and I bet that those fans who only bought the PPV to see this fight were disappointed.

What was anything but a letdown was the co-main event which pitted Nate Diaz against Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone. Whilst this fight didn't receive anywhere near the hype of Lesnar-Overeem it was always going to be an exciting fight for the hardcore fanbase. Ulf Murphy did an outstanding job previewing the skillsets of both Lightweights before the fight and if you haven't read those fanposts already I suggest you do so right away. After heated exchanges at the warm-ups and the pre-fight press conference this fight started to gain the notoriety that it deserved. What wasn't in any doubt was how good this fight was going to be. However what did come as a shock to the majority of Maniacs (only 2 pool players picked Nate Diaz) was how good Nate performed as right from the start he found his range, battering Cerrone with combinations to the head and body and breaking the will of his opponent. Whilst Donald found more success with his kicks in the latter 2 rounds he never had any answers for the pressure that Nate put on him and by the end of the fight there was no doubt who the better man was. This is the sort of big win that Nate has been lacking ever since winning TUF 5 and put a halt to the win streak of the surging Cowboy. As a Diaz fan I hope that these last 2 fights are the turning point in his young career towards a run at the championship.

And CharacterAnalysis aside I don't think anyone actually believed that Johny Hendricks would KO Jon Fitch with the first punch. In a fight that the majority of us had written off as being another predictable unanimous decision win for Fitch ended fast and brutally, as Hendricks caught Dana White's favourite fighter with an overhand right in similar fashion to how he KO'd Amir Sadollah in his UFC debut. In 12s Fitch went from the #2 Welterweight to an also-ran. Only Brock Lesnar and the Pain Train had a worse night (and maybe Overeem's bank manager).

Now we move on to the new and improved results portion of the thread so follow me after the jump.

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He's done it again, and I'm not talking about Jon Jones or Frank Mir. Yes lady and gentlemen the lurking picking sensation himself Agar has for the second straight season won the money pool and NNR once again has to settle for second place despite winning tonight's event with 53 points. Yet again a couple of very low scores in low-profile events have cost NNR hundreds of dollars and all of the bragging rights and he wasn't quite able to make up the 25 points that he needed to beat his silent nemesis. The fact that this happened on the same night that his idol Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira grabbed defeat from the jaws of the victory and had his arm broken by Frank Mir's devastating kimura seconds after almost finishing Mir with strikes makes it that much more bitter for Mania's most knowledgeable poster. Congratulations have to go out to the only person to win consecutive money pools though, clearly this guy knows what he's doing and he's too smart/selfish to share his knowledge with us. Great job Agar, time to start watching TUF again NNR.

In third place was the former 2x money pool winner and current FFB champion Violent Mike. After a slow start to the season he really picked up momentum and whilst he was never able to catch Agar and got overtaken tonight by NNR I'm sure he'll still be happy enough at sealing a money spot for the third time. Knowing Mike he probably found someone stupid enough to bet against him on Bones-Machida as well. As for The Pride he had a very poor display in what was a tough week for all of the players, scoring only 29 which sees him drop out of the top 3 and leave with nothing. And if last years fourth place winner is any indication you'll be forgotten about next season. At 16 I doubt you'd know what to do with the money anyway. In fifth place was our resident OG lady sarah who had her best season to date and whilst she won nothing she did earn herself bragging rights over her fellow female picked Kim Dooby who slumped to a lowly tenth. Yes that's right Stinky Picks lost to a chick after scoring 21 tonight and to think she actually expected to win some money. That's what happens when you pick Jacob Ortiz.

And I would make a long paragraph mocking whoever came last overall but since so many people quit playing half way through I refuse to acknowledge their participation (or lack thereof). Agar thanks you for the money you essentially gave away.

As for the event itself it featured some shocking upsets and some brutal finishes that aren't going to be replayed by FOX anytime soon. It was great watching Jon Jones finish another former LHW Champion in Lyoto Machida with a brutal Dan Miller style standing guillotine that left the Dragon in a mangled heap on the floor. If Machida's dad wanted his son to retire after the Shogun KO then he's going to have some serious words with him after seeing this fight. Anyone still doubt Bones Jones now?

We also saw mixed fortunes for the Brothers Nogueira. Rogerio had no problems dispatching Tito Ortiz, who once again failed to impress after his comeback victory over Ryan Bader. Tito looked old and flat footed in this one and quickly wilted under the pressure of Minotoro's body strikes standing and on the ground. Rogerio may have questioned his ability to KO Tito because of his hard head but he certainly had no problems battering the body. The only thing worse than Tito's performance was the biased commentary including the ridiculous eyepoke call at the finish from Rogan. However I do expect to see him finish his career in a rubber match with Forrest Griffin once both guys have taken enough time off to get into shape.

Speaking of rematches the long anticipated rematch between former HW champions Frank Mir and Rodrigo Nogueira certainly lived up to the hype and featured one of the most brutal finishes in MMA history much to the despair of myself and NNR. Minotauro looked to have Mir finished after dropping him with vicious strikes against the fence before swarming on him on the mat but instead of trying to finish with strikes he attempted a submission. This provided Mir with the chance he needed and he countered Nogueira's attempt with a vicious kimura that was only ever going to end in one outcome. Mir was never going to let go until the arm broke and Nogueira was never going to tap before his arm snapped and now Mir is set for a top contender's fight and Nog is injured indefinitely. Depressing.

Before we move onto the results I have to address a major problem with Playground that may very well have cost people money. As we all saw Dennis Hallman made short work of John Makdessi, submitting hi in the first round. Well apparently whoever updated the PG scores didn't see it as for some ludicrous reason Makdessi was awarded the win. This meant that the 8 people that correctly picked Superman received nothing and everyone who incorrectly picked The Bull picked up points that they didn't earn. I know PG don't change their scores even if a fight result is changed after the date and after the Nik Lentz-Charles Oliveira debacle we all agreed to stick to PG scores no matter what happens but this is beyond ridiculous and the last thing that I want to see is a clerical error deciding who wins the money. I'm one of those people who picked up points for a fight that I picked wrong and so this is not sour grapes by any means, I just don't want to see the results effected by bad site management and I'm sure nobody does.

UPDATE: Playground have amended the scores. So my whining in this fanpost worked.

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Tonight saw the conclusion of the 14th season of TUF in a mixed finale, filled with some exciting fights, shocking finishes and an abysmal main event as the cast members stole the show and completely outshone their coaches. I don't know what happened to Jason Miller but that has to be the worst performance of his career and unfortunately for him it came in his most high-profile fight to date. Whilst Michael Bisping hardly looked like a title contender he was able to whether the early Mayhem storm and battered his rival TUF coach who was clearly running on empty until the fight was thankfully stopped before we reached the championship rounds. It was a very underwhelming way to end what had been a good show.

Whilst their coach may have come up short in the main event Team Miller's Diego Brandao and John Dodson both put on impressive displays to earn themselves UFC contracts by defeating Team Bisping's TJ Dillashaw and Dennis Bermudez. Dodson especially looked outstanding and it looks like TUF has produced some much needed fresh talent at BW and FW.

Speaking of TUF winners Tony Ferguson was able to defeat the veteran Yves Edwards in a tough fight that he will have learnt a lot from. Edwards caught him on several occassions in the opening round but in the end Ferguson's takedowns and pressure were enough to take the decision and at this stage of his career a tough fight against a veteran is exactly what Tony needed to continue his development as a fighter.

As expected from a 10 fight show featuring unknown talent to those that didn't watch TUF none of the scores were spectacular but we did see some big changes at the top of the leaderboard and we also saw a Canadian only pick 1 out of 10 fights correctly. So to find out who is in line for the money with only 1 event to go and to have your chance to mock the GSP fan that can't pick fights follow me after the jump.

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UFC 139 is behind us and this was a night that was dominated by Pride alumuni.  Whilst everybody is going to be discussing the 5 round war between Dan Henderson and Mauricio "Shogun" Rua for years to come I have to admit that the highlight of the night for me was without a doubt the return of the Axe Murderer as Wanderlei Silva knocked out the former Strikeforce Middleweight Champion (apparently beating Frank Shamrock for a title you refuse to defend is a big deal now) Cung Le in the second round.  Whilst the nature of the stoppage may be questionable what can't be disputed is that Le was hurt badly by the vicious knees and hooks of Silva and after the devastating KO loss to Chris Leben it must feel like redemption tonight both for Wanderlei and his MMA family.  Congratulations Wand.

For years Henderson-Shogun has been the dream fight that never happened in Pride.  The former MW champion and 2005 MW GP winner have faced a who's who of legendary 205lb fighters and finally we got to see who the better man was.  And boy it didn't disappoint, this was a war from the start as Hendo battered Shogun with overhooks and uppercuts bloodying up the former UFC LHW champion but Shogun came back and attacked with his own uppercuts and even took down the Greco-Roman wrestler.  I don't know how he survived the 3rd round but not only did he survive Shogun came back and won the final 2 rounds taking advantage of a tired Hendo and almost  finished with a rear naked choke in the 4th before winning a lopsided final round as the fight went to the distance.  Ultimately it was Hendo who went away with the victory and whilst it wasn't the Fight of the Century that some are claiming it to be it was an all-time classic and both men gave absolutely everything that they had.

Oh and Faber is going to fight Cruz again in his 4th title fight in 9 matches but nobody outside of California cares about that.  

Now onto the statistics from this event and whilst it lacked the big number of upsets from last week it did still produce some gamechanging scores as The Greg fell from 2nd to 8th and sarah fell from 4th to 6th (and after I forgot about sarah last week she's going to be even more annoyed at me for pointing this out), with The Pride moving into the top 3 and our resident OG loudmouth trio of experts NNR (2nd), Ricky Dooby (4th) and Violent Mike (5th) all being in contention to take our money.  Agar slightly increased his lead at the top by a point but it's still razor thin at the top, the silent assassin strikes again.  Can he do what Mike couldn't and retain his crown as money pool champion?  It's looking likely.

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In another huge weekend for combat sports we saw the biggest fight in UFC history as Junior Dos Santos TKO'd the previously undefeated Cain Velasquez in 64s to claim the UFC Heavyweight Championship and just hours later in what was billed as the end to the classic Manny Pacquiao-Juan Manuel Marquez trilogy the outcome saw another hotly disputed decision in favour of Pacman as he retained his WBA Welterweight Championship under dubious circumstances.  But these topics have been discussed to death, so now it's time once again chat about the latest NFL games and fantasy scores in the B League.  Whilst there were no disgracefully low scores we have seen another hammering and another regular who deserves to be mocked for not managing his team, as well as further humiliation for the most popular commissioner in fantasy football and the big talking but underperforming member of the Jersey shore.  Nevermind lads at least your real teams picked up victories, oh wait the Jets lost as well.  Sorry Mike.

Whilst the Packers were always going to dominate the Vikings there was still a lot on the line in Monday's fixture for the B leaguers and the numbers put up in that game proved to be the difference in not 1 but 2 match-ups.  To find out who is in contention for the play-offs and who needs to plan out their draft strategies for next season follow me after the jump.

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In the biggest MMA broadcast of all time we saw the most anticipated HW fight in the history of the sport (sorry Fedor and Cro Cop fans but it's true).  And 64s later it was all over, much to the disappointment of Dana White, FOX executives and Cain Velasquez (8-1) as the formerly undefeated champion lost his title on his first defence to Brazilian striking sensation Junior Dos Santos (14-1).  After the UFC's reluctance to give Junior big fights earlier in his career following the destruction of Fabricio Werdum words can't describe how happy I was to finally see Junior receive the promotion that his skills and personality deserve and he thoroughly deserves to be the champion after winning all 8 of his UFC fights in decisive fashion.

Other than the Pacquiao-Marquez judging the big controversy in the fight world right now is the UFC and FOX's decision to only televise the main event despite having a FOTY contender to decide the next LW number 1 contender between Benson Henderson and Clay Guida earlier in the night and having plenty of time available to broadcast that fight.  If Velasquez-Dos Santos was an action packed 5 round war then this would have been an inspired decision but in the end Dana was left to pick up the pieces in the FOX studio as he saw his main event end in quick and dramatic fashion.  Bizarrely international fans were provided with a repeat of the classic Henderson-Guida fight instead of the cringeworthy promotion of Velasquez-Dos Santos and there was even time to broadcast DaMarques Johnson's quick KO victory over Clay Harvison after the fight.

This event the money pool saw a new leader crowned in last years winner Agar (448) after NNR (444) choked under the pressure with a lowly score of 34 (if you're tying with me then you're not going to win any money) and 2 regulars tie for the event prize for the second time in this pool.  Nobody scored particularly highly and there were some abysmal scores but ultimately it's events like these in which being consistent is the key to winning the pool.  For all of the latest stats, scores and standings follow me after the jump.

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Another stacked weekend of sport is behind us including a UFC featuring 5 finishes in the 5 main card fights in front of the best sports fans in the world and another thrilling round of NFL fixtures featuring high scoring thrillers, OT heartache and dragay's Chiefs reaching new levels of mediocrity losing to the previously winless Dolphins.  And speaking of mediocrity we have another shambolic B league display to laugh at as a regular plunges to new lows with a score that has to be seen to be believed.  We still have the Eagles-Bears clash to come tonight in a must-win game for both teams as Chicago look to avoid Wembley jetlag as they take on the self-proclaimed Dream Team who are under pressure to pick up their third win in a row after the Giants last second victory over the Patriots saw them extend their divisional lead.  I'll update the final results once that game has concluded but until then here are the scores from this week's games. 

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Whilst all of our attention this weekend was on UFC 137 and in particular the main event in which Nick Diaz proved to the world that he is one of the best WWs by retiring former 2 weight UFC champion BJ Penn, there was still the small matter of another exciting round of the NFL.  And just like the actual season this year we have seen some big performances and shocking displays from the B league teams as well as some surprising upsets.  If you want to find out who had this week's Dream Team and who had a worse week than Tim Tebow then follow me after the jump.  And apologies in advance for the lack of football knowledge but anything is better than Mike's lousy jokes and tired insults.  Even the late-night ramblings of a clueless Brit.

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Today is a huge day for sport and not just because of UFC 130 but also because of football's biggest game of the season, as Premier League champions Manchester United face La Liga champions Barcelona in the UEFA Champions League final at Wembley Stadium in London.  United will be looking to win their 4th European Cup at England's national stadium and avenge the 2-0 defeat they suffered to Barca in the 2009 final.  Barca start off as the favourites after knocking out bitter rivals Real Madrid in the semi-finals and their talisman Lionel Messi is in the form of his life but if this year has proven anything it's that you can never count out Manchester United.  Personally I expect Barca to dominate the midfield battle as they did the last time these 2 teams faced as Xavi and Iniesta are still in a different class to any United midfielder but with proven match winners like Wayne Rooney and Javier Hernandez in the team there's always the chance of an upset.

Discuss the big game as well as Ryan Giggs' love life, the UFC PPV later tonight, the beginning of the Mania Money Pool (now with over 50 members) or anything else that involves winding up your fellow Maniacs.  Trash talk is not only welcomed, it's allowed.

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The main event of UFC 126 pitted Anderson "The Spider" Silva against his rival Vitor "The Phenom" Belfort, with the UFC Middleweight Championship on the line as well as bragging rights back home in Brazil.  Now we all know what happened, as Silva knocked out Belfort with a front kick to the face in the opening round.  Whilst the Steven Seagal taught technique that finished the fight was a surprise to all, not least Belfort, it was no surprise to me that the Spider extended his win streak.  Not only does Anderson have superior speed, accuracy and a far wider range of offense on the feet but he also has slicker BJJ that has proven to be more effective in MMA and has made a career of fighting under pressure and being able to pull out the win at championship level whilst Belfort, a controversial victory over Randy Couture for the Light Heavyweight title aside, has consistently failed to deliver in big fights, with many of his coaches questioning his mental strength and even his former trainer at Xtreme Couture Shawn Tompkins recently questioning his dedication.  Whilst many sensible fans, fighters and pundits tipped Silva to win there were also many others who foolishly chose to pick the Phenom.  So rather than let these people off the hook I thought I’d have some fun at their expense and name and shame these silly people.

And if you are expecting a well written account on the fight that is impartial and detailed then change the page right now, this whole piece will make jay’s comments on the Brockness Monster (Hella and john are fighting to trademark that nickname), Patrick Cote (who isn’t worth the time it would take to make a funny nickname) and Georges Safe-Pierre (I’d like to say I came up with this one but I’m nowhere near that creative so all props go to P-Dub) seem fair and open minded.  Still interested?  Then read on after the jump.

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Interesting interview as always from Ariel, although a lot shorter than usual especially for an interview with the main eventer of the PPV.  Georges seems very tense and just gives short answers.  I know that he's not known for his charisma but he seems to be a lot angrier than usual when doing PR work and he admits himself that Koscheck has been able to "get under his skin".  GSP also promised a finish so hopefully we get to see a more aggressive performance than usual and we get a main event that is worthy of the hype.  So Maniacs will we see another win for Georges in the rematch, will he win by decision or stoppage or can Kos pull off the upset?

After todays irrelevant fanposts I think that it's time to discuss what was a very good MMA card that lived up to the hype.  Ever since the original fight, MMA fans have been anticipating the rematch between bitter rivals Nick Diaz and KJ Noons.  Following failed negotiations that saw KJ have his Lightweight title stripped, a confrontation between the rival camps after KJ's successful title defence over Yves Edwards, a change in promotions from EliteXC to Strikeforce, a change of careers to boxing for KJ and years of back and forth trash talk between the 2 last night finally saw them fight and unlike many grudge matches it lived up to the lofty expectations.  Both guys competed in a striking clinic, showing off their excellent boxing skills and pushing each other to the limit in a very close fight.  Ultimately Nick was the busier fighter, landing the most punches (despite the initial Compustrike stats getting the numbers of landed and thrown strikes mixed up) which whilst not as powerful as KJ's were still enough to score a knockdown in the opening round and win a unanimous decision (49-46, 49-46, 48-47).  As a huge Diaz fan as well as a Noons hater I have to admit that KJ made me eat my words and proved that he belongs with top class opponents and has the heart and talent to challenge the elite, taking Diaz the distance and pushing him to his limits despite breaking his hand and jaw in the opening 2 rounds.  Full credit to KJ for battling through the pain and forcing Diaz into his style of fight although ultimately it wasn't enough to win the Strikeforce Welterweight title.  I'll never doubt Noons' desire to compete in MMA or call him a fight ducker again.  I like many others want to see a rubber match to settle the score once and for all, though I'd prefer to see KJ take more fights at Welterweight before getting a rematch whilst Nick still has another bitter rival in Jason "Mayhem" Miller to challenge.

The other fights were also very exciting to watch, despite an element of controversy.  Lightweight standouts Josh "The Punk" Thomson and Gesias "JZ" Cavalcante.  This was JZ's Strikeforce debut and a win over former Strikeforce Lightweight Champion Thomson would have likely earnt him a title fight with current champion Gilbert "El Nino" Melendez, who was the guest commentator for this fight.  Ultimately it was Thomson who came out with the unanimous decision after a very entertaining fight but not without some controversy.  In fact it was JZ who dominated the first round, dropping Thomson before applying a tight arm-in guillotine that was locked tight in for a couple of minutes before Josh was able to survive and finish the round in style, almost finishing the fight himself with an arm triangle before JZ was saved by the bell.  I could understand the judges giving either man the round because both had tight submissions though ultimately I feel that JZ came the closest to ending the fight and did more overall in the round.  In the second Josh was able to bounce back, successfully taking JZ down and controlling him on the ground to win the round.  However JZ came back in the third with a successful takedown and dominated the round, using vicious ground and pound to dominate the round in the eyes of all but one judge who bizarrely gave all 3 rounds to the Punk.  Personally I had it 29-28 JZ and I would not have complained if Josh had taken the fight 29-28 either but even Thomson himself was disgusted by the 30-27 score, which did a disservice to a great fight and to JZ in what was his best performance in years.

The other world title fight saw Sarah Kaufman defend her 135lb title against Marloes Coenen, who was making the cut from 145 following a defeat to seemingly unstoppable 145lb champion Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos.  Number one contender Miesha Tate was watching at ringside and is set to face the winner of this fight.  The first 2 rounds both saw a lot of clinching against the fence, with Kaufman struggling to take Coenen down but landing some good ground and pound when she did whilst Marloes was able to land some stiff body kicks when she had the space.  The third saw Kaufman take Coenen down and land a flurry of punches but this gave Coenen the opening she needed to counter with an armbar, which forced the champion to tap out.  Unfortunately the referee wasn't in a great position to stop the fight and in a messy end to the fight Kaufman took some extra damage that dislocated her elbow but it was still an impressive win for Marloes and now she will face Tate in her first defence.  Kaufman will probabaly get a rematch with the winner of that fight once she recovers following the first loss of her career.

The opening match saw top grapplers Andre Galvao and Tyron Woodley face off.  Personally I thought that Andre's BJJ would be the difference but instead he was outclassed in a 2 minute slaughter by Woodley.  Galvao's sloppy takedown attempts were easily stuffed and Tyron was able to land several punches that left Andre with jelly legs before referee Josh Rosenthal stopped the fight after Woodley landed more strikes on a flattened out Galvao following another failed takedown attempt.  It was a horrible display from Galvao that didn't give Tyron the ring time he needs to get better but at the same time a dominant win that continues Woodley's undefeated streak over a world class grappler will launch the top prospect to the top of the division.  Whilst he may not be ready yet for the likes of Diaz, Tyron is certainly one to watch for the future whilst Galvao has a lot of work to do if he's ever going to reproduce his BJJ success into MMA.

Overall, it was a very good card stacked with quality fights and saw a massive improvement in the commentary thanks to the inclusion of Pat Miletich at the expense of the useless Gus Johnson.  I know that many still dislike the commentary team but I thought that Mauro, Pat and Frank all did a good job and it was refreshing to hear them commentate without unneccessary bias or plugging upcoming cards or sponsors during the fights.  Good job Strikeforce, lets hope their upcoming cards can match this one for entertainment.

 
 
2 great videos featuring the best commentator and interviewer in the sport today, as Ariel Helwani and Joe Rogan discuss numerous topics backstage at Rogan's latest stand-up show.  Topics include Fedor Emelianenko's upset loss to Fabricio Werdum, commentary in MMA including how Rogan was hired by the UFC and what makes a commentator good or bad at their job as well as Rogan's comedy career and why he refuses to do sitcoms or movies.  Great stuff as always from these 2 and well worth a watch.

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England have always been the great underachievers on the world stage, with only one World Cup victory in 1966 despite the great success of our club teams in the European Cup/Champions League whilst the USA have never really been taken seriously on the world stage and the sport is still fairly unpopular compared to the NFL and the NBA. 

In 2010 both teams have proven quality in their squads, England's top striker Wayne Rooney has had his most prolific season and at one point was tipped to win the world player of the year award whilst the centre midfield partnership of Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard is as good as any in world football.  This will be Fabio Capello's first World Cup in charge of England after a very successful qualifying campaign including 4-1 and 5-1 victories over Croatia, the team that knocked England out of the Euro 2008 qualification group.  The USA may lack the star power of England but after a successful appearance in the Confederations Cup in 2009, in which they were beaten finalists, and another successful qualifying campaign they are clearly not to be overlooked and have a good chance of at least qualifying for the last 16 ahead of outsiders Algeria and Slovenia.  Landon Donovan will be the man to watch, following his successful loan spell at Everton he has proven that himself against quality English opposition and he will sure have learnt a lot about English football from his experience over here.

Discuss the game or any other world cup news here, I expect some fun banter between all of the English and American posters.

We have had the pound for pound most hated (looks like Brock is going to win that one), now it's time for an answer to the debate that we get into everyday.  Who is the best fighter, pound for pound, in MMA.  None of us can even agree on the pound for pound criteria or how important being the pound for pound best is, nevermind on who is the best so this should be fun.  I've taken the best fighters from the main 5 weight classes to keep this simple, so vote on which fighter you think is the best and explain why.

After Alpha Male's numerous most hated polls I have put together a list of the top 12 (2 from each weight class) most hated fighters, so it's time to see which fighter people dislike the most.  Vote here for the one fighter that pound for pound you despise more than any other and explain why.  I expect the voting on this to be pretty close but I'm a terrible judge of voting patterns.

We've had 2 "biggest douche" polls and in the end Kevin won his own poll by a landslide (it was a fix).  However, if you've had the misfortune of reading the comments on Frank Mir threads then you'll have found a legitimate contender for the least effective Maniac, with his poorly written rants and racist insults.  Call me biased but I'll be amazed if Kevin even gets one vote over this guy.

It's the poll you've all been waiting for, you've read their comments now you get the chance to get your revenge on anyone who has bashed your favourite fighter or just plain annoys you.  Vote here for the "least effective" ahem MMAManiac and explain why.  Remember this is all in good fun, so don't take it personally and don't make personal or insulting comments (at least nothing more insulting than normal).

This will be my first fanpost so it could turn out to be a terrible read but I had to get a few things off my chance.  This weekend has displayed the best and worst of fighting in my opinion and unfortunately it was an embarrassing time to be a fan of the UFC and the sport of MMA in general.  Saturday 5 December was a stacked day of fights, with the conclusion of the K-1 GP, a WBA Light Welterweight title defense in England and the finale of the Ultimate Fighter: Heavyweights season.  Personally I was very impressed by the boxing and K-1 cards on offer but at times left feeling angry and embarrassed by what was one of the biggest robberies in the history of the sport and by one of the worst fights that I have ever seen.

I went to the Amir Khan-Dmitry Salita card at Newcastle and it was a cracking night of fights with a brilliant atmosphere and was well worth the money, so I'll be trying to get tickets for the next big card in the north of England.  There were some decent showings on the undercard from top British prospects including an Olympic gold medallist James DeGale, as well as an exciting co-main event between undefeated British lightweight contender Kevin Mitchell and the dangerous Breidis Prescott, in whichMitchell got the unanimous decision by outboxing the Colombian.  This sets up Mitchell for a WBO title fight, against Juan Manuel Marquez unless he vacates the belt to fight Ricky Hatton as expected, in which case Mitchell will fight the interim champion for the vacant belt.  The main event, for the WBA Light Welterweight title pitted arguably pound 4 pound Britain's best fighter in Amir Khan defending his title against the Ukranian born American raised mandatory contender Dmitriy Salita.  I was expecting a close fight and a decent test for Khan before he cracks the American market but boy was I wrong, Khan knocked down his overmatched opponent with a beautiful left, right hook combination in the first 10 seconds and from then on it was one way traffic as Khan sensed the kill and destroyed Salita, knocking him down another 2 times before the ref stopped the fight in under 80 seconds.  Huge win for Khan, he looks a different class now that Freddie Roach is his trainer and next up for him is helping the pound for pound king Manny "Pacman" Pacquiao prepare for the fight of the century against Floyd "Money" Mayweather Jr.  Personally, I'd put Khan on the undercard of this show as it'll keep both Manny and Amir focused and in top shape, plus it's a great way to get a top British prospect noticed in the US by having him compete on the biggest boxing event of all time and it'll help stack the card up.  With Khan, Haye and Froch as our world champions and Mitchell set to fight for a world title as well, it's a great time for British boxing, add a Hatton-Marquez superfight and it's set to be a great 2010 for the sport in this country.

The K-1 grand prix was a quality show, unfortunately we don't get decent K-1 coverage over here so I had to make do with youtube (thanks for the links Alpha) but I've still seen the majority of the fights.  I'm shocked that Semmy Schilt won the whole thing, I didn't think that he had much of a chance in all honesty and 1st round KO wins over Jerome LeBanner, Remy Bonjasky and Badr Hari make him a very worthy albeit surprising winner.  I had Remy, Hari and Alistair as the pre-tournament favourites and I was expecting a rematch of 2008's final.  The card was stacked with big names and even though I'm far from a big supporter of K-1 I was still very impressed by the fights that I caught and it proved how good a GP tournament can be, there's no way that the best fighters would all compete in an elimination tournament in MMA or boxing these days so it's a credit to K-1 and the athletes involved that they put on such big, stacked and exciting cards every year.  Also, just like any sports event in Japan, it was a great spectacle and once again the Western promoters in combat sports could learn a thing or to from Japanese events in how to make a show seem special by having better stages and entrances, nothing can beat a Japanese event visually.

Now onto the UFC and I've honestly never been more embarrassed to call myself a fan of mixed martial arts.  I was really looking forward to the Jon Jones-Matt Hamill fight and this should have been Bones' step-up to the mainstream.  However, due to a bizarre rule and dreadful officiating he got cheated out of his dominant KO win over Hamill and now has a loss on his record.  No matter what you think of the elbow i.e. whether it was illegal or not, it is indisputable that Hamill took far too much punishment, he was mounted for a long time and was taking several huge elbows without adequately defending himself, yet the moronic Mazzagatti let the fight continue.  The elbow ruling needs sorting out quickly because it's laughable that one type of elbow is legal whilst another isn't, as Rogan said the different techniques of elbow strikes make no difference.  Plus it's pathetic that Bones wasn't given any warning that he was disqualified and found out with the rest of us when Bruce Buffer announced it.  Even worse, the elbow itself wasn't what caused the stoppage to the fight, as Hamill couldn't continue because of a shoulder injury.

The other appalling moment from that show was the debacle known as Kimbo Slice-Houston Alexander, it was easily the worst fight of the year and proved why neither man should be competing on a televised UFC show.  Quite simply, neither of them are good enough.  Houston refused to engage in the first world, doing some strange side-stepping dance around the octagon while Kimbo looked at him, throwing the occassional leg kick.  In the second Kimbo showed some improved grappling by utilising his strength advantage to throw Houston around, but considering Alexander's non-existent takedown defence and skills off his back it's not that big of an achievement to take him down and get a dominant position.  The final takedown, where Kimbo fell headfirst and Houston fell on top of him into mount summed up the whole fight for me.  In the final round Houston finally landed some meaningful offense, dropping Kimbo with a nice leg kick, though strangely he stood still and watched Kimbo struggle to his feet, and landed a nice punch that rocked Kimbo before the end.  I had the fight as a draw, giving the first to Houston for being the only one to land anything, the second a 10-8 to Kimbo for dominating and almost finishing the fight and the third a 10-9 to Houston for dropping Kimbo with a leg kick and hurting him at the end.  Both guys showed inaccurate striking, mediocre and at times non-existent grappling and appalling cardio, it was a truly shocking fight and it serves the UFC right for putting on this freakshow.  Kimbo may have gotten the decision (I don't know how anyone could score it 30-27 though) but there were no winners in that fight and the biggest losers were the fans for getting conned into watching that rubbish.

There were some positives, Roy Nelson once again proved the critics wrong by knocking out a very game Brendan Schaub.  I was impressed once again by Brendan's ability to get back to his feet from a disadvantageous position off his back against a much bigger man and a superior grappler, but once it got there Nelson once again displayed great power and caught Schaub, knocking him out cold.  Great to see Big Country get the contract after all of the unnecessary bashing that he took from Dana and fans alike, whilst Brendan will be back and has the potential to be a good fighter, he just needs to work on his wrestling and boxing defense.

Great win for Frankie Edgar as well, Veach gave him a tough fight and hit some beautiful slams, but Edgar was able to get back to his feet quickly and in the end was simply too well rounded for Veach, catching him with a sick punch to drop him then finishing the fight quickly on the ground, using superior grappling skills to take Grice's back, ground and pound on him then catch him in a very nice RNC.  Hopefully Frankie will get a more meaningful fight ranking wise, he shouldn't accept anything less than a top 5 opponent next time and who knows, a Nate Diaz win over Gray Maynard could propel him to a title fight.