Awhile ago I and a group of friends began to reap the benefits of watching live UFC events at Buffalo wild wings. Long story short, it sucks now. The lines have grown, the waiters blow.... And just fuck buffalo wild wings Ok? So If there's any bloodyelbow members that know/frequent any high quality sports bars, and would like to be in the company of the famous/infamous Hendo_One-shot, then just give me a shout. I'd love to try somewhere else out for a change!

Seeing as I think the celeberity status of our team warrants a post, it will get one. I'd like to take this opportunity to ask all members of the ZWO for emails etc. to communicate before during and after events. Our team is like BJ Penn, and communication is like Marc Marinovich.... Yeah you get the picture. So let's get our picks in on time, show bloodyelbow that we are the elite, and most importantly

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The date was April 10, 2010. The place was Buffalo Wild Wings, Milford Ct. It was my first foray into public UFC PPV viewing, and I didn't know much of what to expect, atmosphere wise. One thing I was certain of though, was that this was going to be the beginning of the end of BJ Penn the lightweight. Just like Anderson Silva would later in the night, he would fairly easily dispose of yet another unworthy challenger, further inciting talks of his imminent move up to welterweight....Well, I was kinda right.

Let's fast forward a little bit, to the middle rounds of the fight. Shock and disbelief, sitting alone in my booth (my non hardcore mma fan friends had already wandered off into the mall) watching closely as the fight unfolded. Adding further disorientation, there was only faint audio for the entire event. This happened as a result of us being there early, as opposed to their main showing when it re-aired on tape delay. Not a moment went by where I didn't feel the need to reassure myself that Penn was winning the fight, the thought I fall back on when things aren't going my way. And then it happened, the moment of truth... The judges handed in their decisions.... FFFFFFFFFF

I won't bother describing the second fight, the thought process was nearly identical, except this time I tasted humiliation in the comfort of my own home. What I will instead delve into, was the odd feeling going into the Matt Hughes fight. Before Penn had faced Edgar for the first time, it had seemed to be the consensus on our beloved bloody elbow that a Hughes Penn rubber match was unnecessary, and completely one sided in favor of penn. After the fight, however, was a different story. After two straight losses, the now scheduled Hughes-Penn III seemed anything but a squash match. In fact, Many had doubts of Penn's motivation, and I myself dreaded this fight. The thought of BJ being chased out of HIS division, and losing yet another fight that he should win, was very worrisome. But the day had come, and back to buffalo wild wings we go.

As paralyzed with fear as I was at the thought of this fight, I've never been one to turn down a good bet. So, when one of my "hardcore fan" friends decided to bet against BJ, I made sure to set the bar high. Let's just say, a BJ Penn walkout tee for UFC 127 was involved, and the stakes for this fight were higher than ever. I watched from the edge of my seat, with a level of focus I hardly attain when watching a fight with so many people around. As you are all aware it ended very quickly, and the roller coaster ride that is BJ Penn fandom hit yet another spectacular high. As soon as I get home, I hop on bloodyelbow just to remind myself of the awesomeness. Sweet, Sweet victory folks. The Prodigy was back.

Back to reality. Penn is scheduled to face the #2 welterweight in the world this Saturday, and to be honest, I have no real solid opinion as to how it's going to turn out. Subtle details frequently cause me to switch sides, from Fitch's new vegan diet, to BJ's minor smack talk at the press conference. If you want a prediction out of me, that will have to wait for another day. Instead, I will end on another note. Being a Penn fan has more ups and downs than any other occupation in the mma fan universe. And while losing is never fun, it adds a level of excitement and unpredictability that is hard to find anywhere else. For this very reason, win or lose, regardless of any accusations of cheating....I will ALWAYS be a BJ penn fan. GSP WE'RE COMING FOR YA!

Finally back! This time discussing one of my favorite fighters and Former light heavyweight champ, Rashad Evans.

via mmacesspool.files.wordpress.com

 

 

With UFC 108 a few weeks away, I’d like to hit a few points on what is one of the biggest questions for UFC 108; is Rashad for real? Pre Machida, the answers across MMA news sources varied dramatically. Post Machida, one can only assume it has generally been less positive. Given that we really haven’t been able to see much of what he is able to do in a while, I find it odd that he is a healthy favorite to win this fight on the betting lines. With Thiago Silva showing he is back with an impressive KO win over Rashad’s good friend and teammate Keith Jardine, I have at least a glimpse of what he is bringing to the table. Although Rashad did impress in most of his fights in the UFC, his boxing game never really looked all that tight. He moves his head a lot, and although this may impress Mike Goldberg, his head movement isn’t going to be dazzling any top flight competition.  The two things he really has going for him, are his timing and his KO power. With all the off time given from being on the latest season of TUF, it’s reasonable to believe he has tightened up his game since then. Will he be a totally different fighter? maybe, who knows.

 

Read the Rest, at The MMA Cesspool

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Before anything I’d like to say that even though I was highly fatigued for the majority of the show (I had been up since 5 am the previous morning), I enjoyed UFC 107 more than any UFC event in recent memory. The fights were wild, and many of the fights went down much differently than the way I had thought they would. Below are my prediction results and recap.

Predictions

4 out of 5 main card picks correct (all except Buentello), and picked Florian via RNC in round 2. Surprised myself, usually I’m terrible at fight picks and/or wagers. I also picked Mir via Kimura in round 1, and although the only thing I got wrong was the exact submission it was, I’m not sure i consider this a victory for me based on how totally wrong I was in my expectations on how the fight would go down. Hope to continue winning predictions in the future =D.

Read the rest here

(you can expect more frequent blog updates in the future, sorry for the delay =] )

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As expected, the UFC debut of Kimbo Slice drew a huge audience. With the beating of Houston Alexander, a dangerous fighter with an impressive resume, it can easily be seen as a coming-out party for Kimbo. Others, however, see this as just another example of the UFC leaning toward sports entertainment, and not simply a sport. Although I’m not really sold on Kimbo being a legit force at any weight class, I think the popular belief that  he impedes the progress of MMA rising to legitimacy is merely exaggeration. There are, however, a few things about the setup that were unfair to the rest of the fighters on The Ultimate Fighter. I didn’t like seeing Kimbo (who got eliminated in the first round) get a special catchweight fight on the main card, while the more skilled TUF fighter Justin Wren settled for the undercard. The only other TUF contestants on the main card were Marcus Jones and Matt Mitrione, which was mainly due to the hyped "bad blood" they had towards the end of the season. All that aside, I can see the UFC’s reasoning for Kimbo’s placement.

Read the rest here

This is My first prediction blog, and my first time even grouping together all my predictions for the world to see, and explaining. hope they are in some way insightful =)

With UFC 107 right around the corner, its time for the predictions to begin! As you may or may not already know, UFC 107 features a main event championship bout between all time great, lightweight champ BJ Penn and extremely motivated challenger Diego Sanchez. The card also features a bout between two fighters recently beaten by the main even competitors, in Clay Guida and Kenny Florian as well as an interesting clash of styles in Cheick Kongo Vs. frank Mir. Lets get right to it.

Clay Guida v. Kenny Florian(155)

In what seems like a must win for both fighters, it’s fairly hard to try and predict how this fight will look and what the outcome will be. Florian’s takedown defense will be central to how this fight pans out, as I don’t see Guida wanting to stand up with Florian for any prolonged amount of time. The past has shown Guida as a fighter that makes his opponents look bad even in defeat, however I can’t help but feeling that Florian will perform impressively and dominate him wherever the fight goes. If , and most likely when Guida gets Florian down I don’t see him being able to do much besides maybe score just by being on top. On the flip side, if Florian gets Guida down at any point I see him being able to score heavily and possibly even being able to finish the fight. There is also a very real possibility that Guida can get consistent takedowns and do just enough to win, but i don’t see him finishing. I think Kenny will be getting a rematch with Diego very soon =).    Prediction: Florian  By Submission (RNC) round 2

Frank Mir v. Cheick Kongo(265)

Let me start off by saying I think the outcome of this fight depends nearly 100 percent on information I don’t have, namely the quality of training Cheick Kongo is getting. If he prepares the right way and works on his takedown defense as much as he desperately needs to, he exposes Mir’s “world-class” standup. If he shows up in any way similar to the way he did in the Cain Velazquez fight, and gets taken down even once against Mir, he gets embarrassed. The ideal outcome for me would be for Kongo to finally fill the gaps in his game and to fight at his full potential and make an example out of Mir. I do however live in the real world and know that this fight will most likely have a very different outcome than what I hope. The thing is with this fight is that unlike his earlier outing against velazquez where it seesawed from standing to ground, If it goes down once it very well may be the last time. He might able to keep it standing and drop Mir, but what then? Will he get over-anxious and try to GNP? It’s hard to tell, but Kongo hasn’t proved any critics wrong yet, and even as a fan It’s hard to like his odds.     Prediction: Mir via submission (Kimura) round 1

View the rest of my picks here

This is My first prediction blog, and my first time even grouping together all my predictions for the world to see, and explaining. hope they are in some way insightful =)

With UFC 107 right around the corner, its time for the predictions to begin! As you may or may not already know, UFC 107 features a main event championship bout between all time great, lightweight champ BJ Penn and extremely motivated challenger Diego Sanchez. The card also features a bout between two fighters recently beaten by the main even competitors, in Clay Guida and Kenny Florian as well as an interesting clash of styles in Cheick Kongo Vs. frank Mir. Lets get right to it.

Clay Guida v. Kenny Florian(155)

In what seems like a must win for both fighters, it’s fairly hard to try and predict how this fight will look and what the outcome will be. Florian’s takedown defense will be central to how this fight pans out, as I don’t see Guida wanting to stand up with Florian for any prolonged amount of time. The past has shown Guida as a fighter that makes his opponents look bad even in defeat, however I can’t help but feeling that Florian will perform impressively and dominate him wherever the fight goes. If , and most likely when Guida gets Florian down I don’t see him being able to do much besides maybe score just by being on top. On the flip side, if Florian gets Guida down at any point I see him being able to score heavily and possibly even being able to finish the fight. There is also a very real possibility that Guida can get consistent takedowns and do just enough to win, but i don’t see him finishing. I think Kenny will be getting a rematch with Diego very soon =).    Prediction: Florian  By Submission (RNC) round 2

Frank Mir v. Cheick Kongo(265)

Let me start off by saying I think the outcome of this fight depends nearly 100 percent on information I don’t have, namely the quality of training Cheick Kongo is getting. If he prepares the right way and works on his takedown defense as much as he desperately needs to, he exposes Mir’s “world-class” standup. If he shows up in any way similar to the way he did in the Cain Velazquez fight, and gets taken down even once against Mir, he gets embarrassed. The ideal outcome for me would be for Kongo to finally fill the gaps in his game and to fight at his full potential and make an example out of Mir. I do however live in the real world and know that this fight will most likely have a very different outcome than what I hope. The thing is with this fight is that unlike his earlier outing against velazquez where it seesawed from standing to ground, If it goes down once it very well may be the last time. He might able to keep it standing and drop Mir, but what then? Will he get over-anxious and try to GNP? It’s hard to tell, but Kongo hasn’t proved any critics wrong yet, and even as a fan It’s hard to like his odds.     Prediction: Mir via submission (Kimura) round 1

View the rest of my picks here

via www.5thround.com

With comments still buzzing about the controversial decision at UFC 104 this past Saturday, one not so common concern has popped into my mind; Will the judging in the rematch be biased towards Shogun this time around?

It seems unlikely, but with it being made apparent that the judges for the rematch will be three completely different judges than those who were appointed this fight, It is starting to seem like this may lead to pressure being put on the judges to maybe value Shogun's offense more than they should. I doubt the judges pay any mind to the opinions of people online (except Cecil Peoples, if he counts.) but it would appear as if there is a lot of added pressure on the new judges not to undervalue Shogun's offense this time around.  Although the spiteful side of me would love to see biased judging in favor of shogun, I would rather have shogun win with fair judging than to have another controversial decision, and yet another champion who arguably got the title gifted to them.

First off I would like to start out by saying that the outcome of this fight is nothing short of a trolls dream. You have all the perfect ingredients; A challenger with a fiercely loyal fanbase, that shocked everyone by putting on a spectacular and technical punishment on a champion that many feel was not only unbeatable, but untouchable. Add in a bad judging call, and people calling "SHOGUN GOT ROBBED" in basically all mma blogs, and it makes it hard to tell who is really being serious and who is trolling.

That being said, I would like to clarify that not everyone who is very angry about this (that means me) feels that shogun was "Robbed" in the way that most people use the word. However there are some things people need to understand. The magnitude of the decision affected peoples opinions more than anything else. Shogun won a fight that he wasn't supposed to win. The outcome was nothing short of epic, considering there was a healthy number of people, and not only randoms but some pretty rational people, who thought the fight was a mismatch, and that shogun was going to be utterly tooled. the few people who stood by shogun (this ones for you orcus!) got completely bullshitted because their loyalty to shogun paid no dividends.

Shogun implemented his gameplan to a near perfection, and was not rewarded for it. This has got to be demoralizing for him, knowing that his strategy meant nothing, his leg kicks meant nothing, his clinch work meant nothing, and his body kicks meant nothing. That was his bread and butter in the fight and I don't think anyone can disagree that they weren't taken into account when the fight was judged as much as they should have. It basically is the worst kind of fight, a bad decision, but not bad enough for you to call "RUA GOT ROBBED", resulting in many forum arguements, and many people being called Rua nuthuggers, Machida nuthuggers, and my favorite "your opinion was affected by rogans commentary, because you can't watch a fight and make your own opinion, and you don't even realize it" except maybe a little less politely.

also here's a gif of machida and shoguns exchange, which im sure some people would argue machida dominated, even though all he cleanly landed were "useless" body shots :P

via i33.tinypic.com

via www.411mania.com

I feel there's something I'm seriously missing here. This is not a rant to make it appear that Diego Sanchez is a can, but I do not understand how people say he will finish BJ Penn, especially early in the fight.  After 2 not so impressive fights at lightweight, im not so sure he even deserves a title shot. let me break down what i saw in his latest fight...

Clay guida

Round 1- Showed impressive hands. Granted, it was against Clay Guida who stood right in front of him and threw shots that presented to danger to Diego whatsoever, which would not work whatsoever against BJ. Also note that Guida successfully took down diego with his first attempt and with ease. Later in the room, Guida is rocked with a pretty good head kick from Diego, but Diego is unable to finish and instead grabs Guida and essentially lets him back up and allows him to recover. Later diego takes him down but doesn't do much and Guida gets up, again.

Round 2- Early in the round another easy takedown for Guida. Pretty uneventful round with Guida taking punishment from elbows from the bottom. Round could go either way.

Round 3- Back and forth standup, no one really getting the better of the other. A botched takedown from Guida leads to Diego taking his back but a few seconds later Guida slips into Diegos Guard. Diego then attempts a submission, but Guida escapes, and is in Diegos guard. The round finishes with Diego trying to get up While Guida is trying to tee off on him.

All in all, without the elbows in the second, Diego could have and Arguably would have lost the fight. even though it was against Guida, I have to admit his standup was impressive. However you cant ignore the fact that he was being controlled for the majority of the fight, and was unable to capitalize on many an opportunity that presented itself during the fight, and even appeared a bit tired towards the end, somewhat contradicting everyones praise of his better-than-BJ's cardio. let us not forget that BJ had someone constantly Laying on him (or against him) for 3 rounds. His BJJ was hardly present at all, as after multiple submission attempts none really flew too far. On the other hand BJ submitted a man who some before the fight would argue has BJJ skills that could Rival any lightweight. When BJ got a takedown on florian, he passed to mount and finished the fight soon after, when Diego got a takedown, Guida got back up. His takedown Defense was in my opinion also in question, being taken down a few time by Guida, who isn't really a lightweight GSP if you catch my drift....I don't see many ways Diego can win, nevermind dominate arguably the greatest and most well rounded lightweight of all time... opinions please?