I don't know about the rest of you, but I was blown away by the Ruffo bro's Tapout commercial. I looked up a video of them, and found one of a public media session at the Grand Opening of a gym in Lake Forest, CA. Video link after the jump.

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Bellator Fighting Championships kicked off its highly anticipated third season tonight in front of a boisterous crowd at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino.

Once again fans were treated to a full card of electrifying fights that included shocking finishes in nearly every fight.

In the night’s main event Bellator Middleweight Champion Hector Lombard took on former NFL player Whisper Goodman in a non-title super fight. In his last outing Lombard needed just six seconds to KO his opponent, this time it took only 38 seconds.

Lombard overwhelmed his opponent early with right hook that wobbled Goodman before following up with a brutal flurry that left Whisper unconscious on the canvas just 38 seconds into round one. When asked about his ability to take opponents out early Lombard stated:

"I train hard, I train hard every day as hard I can." "I’m a knock-out artist, this is what I do"

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I think there was a post or 2 asking if anyone wanted to play fantasy mma @ MMA Playground.

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Yeah I know its not MMA related but its a big event happening. Just wondering who you guys pick/root for in this one, for those who watch Euro football. Go Inter for me! Nothing against Bayern but Inter put out Barca (who I can't stand, and they put out my team Arsenal) so yeah. My betting site gave me odds of Inter +130 and Bayern +225. Cool stuff. Ok, Vote, discuss, do whatever!

(Source: Sherdog.com) On May 14, ADFC held an event in the UAE, with a main event featuring Dave "Pee Wee" Herman against Rameau Sokoudjou. While I do not know specifics on any fight or how they went, the results are as follows:

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Straight from the front page of fellow SB Nation site BadLeftHook. There's also a pic of Kos and Daley on their front page. Interesting I thought. There was no news of Daley since being cut, and apparently he's been offered a future in boxing. Seeing as hes now infamous for the sucker punch, big league MMA promotions may stay away from him, and Coker didn't really seem too eager to sign him. Aside from the local circuits in England, should he go to boxing?

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http://sports.espn.go.com/videogames/news/story?id=5000710 Its a pretty good read. They talk about their role in making the commentary for the video game. Basically, they watch the game, and call the game as it happens, and not reading off a script. Pretty interesting. They also touch on some other areas. Check it out.

Trying to reach 75 words. UFC on VS 1 is going to be cool. I wonder if they'll keep the VS shows few and far between, or if they'll cut their SPIKE shows down a bit to make more room for VS shows. Food for thought.

Simple. Vote on who you think will win Fight of the Night this Sunday. Feel free to post your KO and Sub of the Night predictions in the comments section below. Some good candidates for FotN are Jones/Vera, Kongo/Buentello, Guida/Gugerty, and possibly JDS/Gonzo. KotN favorites would appear to be Jones/Vera, JDS, Kongo/Buentello, Sakara/Irvin, and even Schuab. SotN could go to Gonzo or Schafer, or even Vera.

For myself, I think the most obvious choice for Fight of the Night will be the main event between Jonny Bones and Brandon Vera. The KO of the Night could go to JDS or the Kongo/Buentello fight, and the Sub of the Night could go to Gonzaga, if he manages to tap JDS.

I had a FanShot earlier, but wasn't sure of it. I've done a bit more research, and got more info and validated the previous post, so I deleted it, and heres all the new stuff, straight copy/paste from Gamestop's website. Go PS3!

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So, this thread will just be two questions I have, and I'd be happy if I could get a bit of input from the MMA Maniax. I'll go ahead and say the topics: the pronunciation of the word "Guillotine", and the meaning of the word "athletic" in MMA.

First off the "Guillotine" discussion. I've heard different fighters and broadcast commentators call it a GHEE-O-teen ("ghee" sounds like "geek"), and then others say it as GILL-O-teen, (with "gill" as in 'Gilbert Melendez"). As far as I know, the old decapitation, execution weapon where they chop peoples' heads off is pronounced GHEE-O-teen, and I can only thing that its either ignorance that makes these guys pronounce it with a "L", or if the submission hold is supposed to pronounced that way. So here's a quick poll on that.

So the next question. I've heard guys like Kos and GSP labeled as "athletic", and guys like Fitch and Fedor labeled "unathletic". Just a simple question here guys, what does that mean as far as MMA? It doesn't have to do with whether they are a ground or stand up guy, it doesn't deal with whether they suck or not. Is it explosiveness? Thanks for the help guys.

UFC 110 had a killer line up. I thoroughly expected it to shine above and beyond all the other cards in the past few MMA events. Now that its over, I kind of feel like I put it too high up. It was a good, solid event, with a big hometown upset, an old warrior getting a much needed victory, a gatekeeper falling, and finally, a new legit contender who crippled a legend. It just seemed like there was something missing. Maybe its because there was only one submission on the night. I'm not real sure, but compared to UFC 109 and 108, DAMN! Now on to the fight analysis.

Cro Cop vs Perosh

For being told 3 days ago that he'd be fighting Mirko fucking Cro Cop, I thought Perosh would go down quick. I figured I'd finally get to see a live Cro Cop LHK for the first time. Nope. For whatever reason, Cro Cop only threw 3, maybe 4, left kicks the whole 10 minutes. He was (as Rogan likes to say) sniping the whole time, and he was beating the crap outta Perosh. But if he would have fought with that slow, stalking style against Rothwell, and many Maniax may agree, Cop may not have walked away with the victory.

Whats next for Mirko? I'll save that for later on.

Bader vs Jardine

To be honest here, neither guy looked that great. Bader was winging punches, and most of the time coming up empty. Jardine did well with stuffing the takedowns, better than what I thought he'd do, but his striking was awful. He didnt open up with the kicks, but I'll give him that since his opponenents seem to gameplan against that. His "great ground game" didn't really show us anything besides stalling Bader. Going into the 3rd round, I had it one round a piece. I think Bader was winning that 3rd round anyway, and then boom. Short straight right, and Jardine backs straight up. We've seen it time and time again, you do NOT back straight up. A veteran fighter like Jardine should have known better. He backed straight up, and Bader dove at him with that left hook. I'm a big Jardine fan (I like Bader too), but HAHHAHAHHA at Jardine complaining about the stoppage. Dude, you were out.

Whats next for Jardine? Tough to say. Hopefully a can or 2. Hopefully a grappler, or at least someone that doesn't have KO power. For Bader, its hard to say. A lot of the top 10 LHW are booked up right now, minus T.Silva, but that seems like a HUGE step up in competition. Hamil will be out for a while, Jones and Vera are set. Maybe the winner or loser of Jones vs Vera. I'd say that'd be about even.

Sotiropoulos vs Stevenson

I picked George from the get-go. I nabbed him as a +240 dog. Big betting win for me. Joe Daddy has a "crushing" (thats another Rogan go-to word) top game, but George was just too good with the jits. George's stand up looked very good, both offense and defensive. His ground game looked very good, offensive and defensive. Its as simple as that. Joe Daddy had NOTHING in this fight. Some Maniax though it was a close fight. I do not think so. Joe landed nothing on the feet, and was trapped in rubber guard on the mat. He had 2 breakout moments, with the ankle lock and the arm-triangle/darce attempt from the bottom. Sure, some takedowns, but George's offense from the bottom out-pointed it, in my opinion. I seen it as a clean sweep, 30-27. No 10-8s, no rounds for Joe.

Whats next for George? I wouldn't say throw him in there with the top 5 just yet. No Kennys, no Gomis, no Tysons. I say give him Guida. Guida has name value, and a similar style to Joe. Set it as a UFN Main Event. When George wins, then give him Kenny or Gomi or whoever else in a PPV Co-Main. This way, he gets gradual exposure to high profile fights, and maybe then he wont choke in a big fight.

For Joe, its nothing to be ashamed over. I think a fight with Tyson looks ok, or Gray Maynard. Sean Sherk, if he can keep himself from getting injured. Lots of options for Joe Daddy.

Silva vs Bisping

Not the barnburner I thought it'd be. A good fight, from start to finish. For the scoring, I think Wand stole it with the last second mauling. It had to win it. He was the closest to finishing the fight. Bisping was arguably knocked out. The same thing with round two. Wand was the closest to ending the fight with the guillotine choke. When a round is pretty even, with maybe a slight edge to one guy, if something like that happens (knockdown or deep submission with 10 seconds to go) I think that steals the round. You dont have to control 2 minutes and 31 seconds of a round (thats over half a round) to win. But, had that knockdown not happened, I would have given the 3rd round, and the fight, to Bisping.

Whats next for Wand? Sexyama. For Bisping? He doesn't fall too far down in losing a close fight to Silva. Alan Belcher, Patrick Cote, Dan Miller, Aaron Simpson. Any of those would do for a good, smart rebound fight, but since Ping wants "only top guys", look for a fight with Nate Marquardt.

Velasquez vs Nogueira

Dammit. Dammit. Dammit. Nog wasn't supposed to lose! Least of all like that! If anything it was to be by a Lay N Pray Cain decision. lol. Ok now that thats out... Cain looked really impressive with his striking, hands and feet. Very fast, always throwing combos, throwing head kicks. I thought that Nog would have the superior striking, and even said Nog would win by TKO before he would submission. Nog was landing some good shots though. I think it lasted less than 3 minutes, and Cain was already cut and blood was running down from his nose/eye area. Its too bad that Nog is in these fights where we're all interested in the ground exchanges, and it never happens (Nog vs Mir, Cain). As some other Maniac pointed out (I think it may have been Shonuff), do we credit this victory to Cain finally getting some power behind his strikes, or has Nog's legendary chin finally folded? Maybe its a combination of both.

Whats next for Cain? Depends on the matter of victory for Mir or Carwin. No doubt, if thats a snoozer (highly unlikely) it will be Brock Lesnar. OooO sounds scary. If not, does Cain wait in the sidelines to fight the winner of Brock/Mir/Carwin? or does he take the winner of JDS/Gonzo?

For Nog, I dont think its time for retirement yet. No way. I think its time for Nog vs Cro Cop 2. Nog is 1-2 in his last 3, and Cop is 2-1. Granted, the competition is MILES in comparision difference, but this would eithe be the victory that bring "Cro Cop" and "relevant" back in the same sentence, or the high profile rebound fight that Nog could use to re-establish himself. Who will say his chin is done if he eats a couple of "sniping" shots from Cop, or even a LHK?

Thats it Maniax. If you've read this far, let me know what you think of my first entire fanpost fight analysis, and rec if you think it deserves it. Thanks guys.

I seen this on another site, and though about throwing it up on here. The poll is very simple. Vote on who you think will win fight of the night. The line up is as follows

265 lbs.: Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Cain Velasquez

185 lbs.: Michael Bisping vs. Wanderlei Silva
205 lbs.: Keith Jardine vs. Ryan Bader
155 lbs.: Joe Stevenson vs. George Sotiropoulos
265 lbs.: Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic vs. Anthony Perosh

205 lbs.: Stephan Bonnar vs. Krzysztof Soszynski
170 lbs.: Brian Foster vs. Chris Lytle
185 lbs.: CB Dollaway vs. Goran Reljic
205 lbs.: James Te Huna vs. Igor Pokrajac

I dunno if yall have heard of these yet, but here ya go for UFC 113 aka Dragon vs Shogun 2, co main being Kos vs Daley

Patrick Cote vs Alan Belcher

Sam Stout vs Jeremy Stephens

Johny Hendricks vs TJ Grant

Marcus Davis vs Jonathan Goulet

I only have 47 words, so we'll say that Davis vs Goulet is pointless, as its just to give Davis an easy KO win. My first thought was that they've already fought once before, but I guess not.

Hendricks vs Grant should be a good one. I'd say Hendricks because he's got a wrestling advantage.

Stout has been on an impressive streak lately, and I think he is a better version of Lil Heathen. Only thing is that Heathen has an edge in power.

Cote vs Belcher should be a fantastic stand up war. Belcher has the better technicque and more diversified stand up attack, but Cote has more power and a better chin. Cote by super close decision. If this is in Canada, then Cote by 30-27.

This seems like it could be a poll, but I was just wondering for myself. I got into MMA just as PRIDE was dying, and never seen a live PRIDE. I wanted to buy a couple DVDs so I could bring myself up to speed (although I waited WAY too long to do so). I've seen the records of Fedor, Gomi, Wand, Cop, Nog, Shogun, and have always wondered about those fights and events, and the crappy internet streams at MMA-Core just dont give the right feel as a DVD would.

So my question is which 5 PRIDE DVDs should I get? Thanks ahead of time to whomever responds to this.

--Synyster

Just re-watched this fight (Rampage/Griffin) on my Ultimate 100 set, and I found some interesting quotes from Rampage.

For one, when Rogan was asking about the big leg kick Forrest landed at the start of the 2nd round, Rampage responded that Forrest knew he hurt him, because he tried to hide it, but (and here's the funny part) "I'm not that good a actor". Considering he left the UFC to act, I find that funny and ironic.

Secondly, in the final part of the interview, Rampage promises to never take 9 months off again. Fast forward to the present day. How ironic yet again.