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I was doing the usual Tuesday morning routine of skipping class, drinking coffee, and browsing MMA websites when I came across this video posted on BloodyElbow.  It’s a fight from the Japanese-based organization Grachan, who just recently held their fifth event at the Differ Ariake stadium in Tokyo.  This specific fight was a lightweight bout between Takeo Shiina (Japan) and Jung Hyun Lee (Korea), and features an ending unlike I’ve ever seen since before.  Shiina appeared to have a mix of both Gilbert Yvel and Sokoudjou inside of him, as he knocks out Lee, continues pounding on him even after the ref steps in, and then knocks out the ref in a psychotic episode that will surely make him one of the most disliked Japanese fighters currently competing in mixed martial arts.  The fight was ruled a DQ win for Lee, who is now 1-0 as a professional.  The loss drops Shiina’s record to 2-2.  Check out the video below, and let us know what you think about Shiina’s actions.  Unforgivable, or just a case of a young kid who lost his nerves?

Oh, in case you’re wondering, around the 2:40 mark of the video, Shiina’s confronted by none other that Won Sik "Parky" Park, a teammate of the knocked out Jung Hyun Lee, who now obviously has some major beef with the Japanese fighter.  Park’s also a lightweight, and actually appears to challenge Shiina in the cage following the event.  I know I’d like to see Park get the opportunity to wreak some vengeance and get a chance to deliver some much-needed punishment to Shiina.  

Grachan promoters, if you read this, please set up that fight as soon as humanly possible!

grachan5 第2部　第4試合　MMAルール　70kg契約　5分2R (via TheGRACHAN)

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Do you like free shit?  Yeah, me too.

How would you like to win a copy of EA Sports MMA?  Oh, you’re interested?  Well, let me explain how can you get yourself a brand new and totally free copy of the latest and greatest MMA game on the planet.  All you’ve gotta do is register on our forums and enter the Mixed Martial Sharts 2010 Open Weight Grand Prix tournament.

I suppose I should explain what exactly this tournament is though, so here is goes…

The MMS 2010 OWGP is a 16-man, elimination style tournament that will take place over the course offour real mixed martial arts events.  Starting with UFC 123 on November 20, and ending with WEC 53on December 16, sixteen brave souls will go to battle in a prediction war for each event.  Here’s what the overall game will look like:

QUARTERFINAL ROUND – “UFC 123” on November 20:

• 16 players, 8 brackets. Top player from EACH BRACKET advances to the next round.

SEMIFINAL ROUND – “Strikeforce: Henderson vs. Babalu” on December 04:

• 8 Players, 4 brackets. Top player from EACH BRACKET advances to the next round.

FINAL FOUR – “UFC 124” on December 11:

• 4 Players, 2 brackets. Top player from EACH BRACKET advances to the championship round.

CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS – “WEC 53” on December 16:

• 2 players, 1 bracket. Winner takes all.

Now, picking who you think will win is normally pretty simple, and takes little to no effort and/or strategic planning.  The way WE play however, is a little bit different.  We play our prediction games under a format called PirozziFC, named after the game originator and current MMS forum moderator Mr. Relentless Pirozzi.  Here are the rules of PirozziFC straight from the originator’s mouth:

The Rules of PirozziFC

PirozziFC is a CONFIDENCE POINTS based game. So depending on the event, and how many fights their are, points will vary. If an event has 12 fights, the point scale is 1-12. You would pick who you think is going to win the fight, and the higher number of points on that fighter depending on how confident you are in them winning. Every fight you get right, you win those points. You put your highest points on who you think has the best chance of winning, and lowest points on who you have the least amount of confidence in. Whoever has the most POINTS, not wins, at the end of the event, WINS.

TIEBREAKER!!!! On each fight, you will also choose the method of victory, and round. So you must say you think FIGHTER A will win in the 2nd round by TKO/KO/SUB/or decision obviously. Whoever has the most tiebreakers right in the event of a tie, WINS.

Got it?  If not, you’re helpless and shouldn’t even bother trying to play.  NO JUST KIDDING! If you still don’t understand, all of us on the forums who know the game will be more than happy to assist you on getting sped up if in fact you actually need speeding up.

Next order of business: THE WINNING PRIZE!

One lucky winner will be crowned the 2010 MMS Open Weight Grand Prix champion, and they will receive the following:

• A badass 2010 Open Weight Grand Prix title, which will be displayed on their forum profile, to let all the other members know who’s the baddest mo’fucka on the “e-streets” of Mixed Martial Sharts – at least in 2010 that is.
• 100,000 points added to their account, which can be used in our exclusive ShartsFC betting section.  You’ll be the richest member on the site, which basically means that you’re Tony Montana minus getting wasted by The Skull in the end of the film.
• A copy of EA Sports MMA for either the XBox 360 or Playstation 3 (winner will need to specify which system they want the game on).

The entry deadline for this contest is November 19, or until all of the 16 slots are filled up, so it behoves you to register ASAP.  If you register on the site and miss out on the 2010 OWGP, don’t be sad, because this isn’t just a one time thing.  We’ll be conducting tournaments for a long time, and sometimes more than one at a time.  In the meantime, you can always just kick it with our current crop of Shartimaniac’s and talk some mixed martial arts.  What do you have to lose?

So, in closing, you must do the following to enter the contest:

1) Register on our forums
2) Visit this link, and let us know you want in.
3) Then, start studying the four upcoming events and get ready to make your picks for UFC 123, which can be posted here!

Yesterday was the official demo-release of EA Sports MMA, the next modern day mixed martial arts video game that will look to take over where THQ and the UFC have recently found success.

The demo allows players to fight in both the Strikeforce middleweight and heavyweight divisions, using four fighters – Jason Miller, Jake Shields, Alistair Overeem, and Bobby Lashley. The demo gives the player the option of either fighting in a standard three-round non-title fight, or a five-round championship bout, and is a breath of fresh air for fight-fans who have grown tired of UFC 2010.

Alright, lets get cracking…

First things first, this isn’t UFC 2010 as you obviously know already.  It doesn’t play like UFC 2010, certainly doesn’t feel like it, and will probably turn avid fans of UFC 2010 away initially because of the drastic difference in gameplay.

While I think UFC 2010 more accurately captures the "MMA simulator" feel, EA’s MMA certainly presents a fresh, new feeling that works just as well, if not better than its THQ rival.  The fighters move with ease, and if you’ve played Fight Night Round 4, you should get a strong understanding of what I’m trying to say, considering it uses the exact same game engine.

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If you're not pumped for tomorrow nights event, how can you consider yourself a mixed martial arts fan?  This event is STACKED from top to bottom.  Former champs, up and comers, and battle-tested veterans fill out this amazingly awesome fight card.  Not to mention TWO free fights on Spike TV, and a guaranteed slugfest between two guys who have legitimate beef with one-another - Guillard and Stephens.  

Saturday can't come soon enough!!! 

I'm taking Cro Cop via third round TKO after Mir gasses, Bader via KO, Lytle via TKO, Sherk via decision, and Stephens via KO.  

Who you got? 

"All of us are gonna make mistakes, it's how you deal with those mistakes that matter. You take a guy like Josh Barnett. This guy has tested positive three times and denies every one of them, says he didn't take them. He comes out with an interview last week saying, 'I don't care about anyone else. i only care about myself. I have some fans out there and whatever, but I'm not fighting for you, I'm fighting for me.' This is a guy who single-handedly put a company out of business and couldn't care less. He has no remorse. 'I don't care that you bought tickets to the fight. I don't care that Fedor flew all the way in from Russia and trained and spent his own money to do this. I don't care that this company Affliction believed in me and was allowing me to make a living before i put them out of business.' Those are the kind of guys I have zero tolerance for. And that's why he's not in the UFC and never will be."    

When asked by MMA Fighting's Ariel Helwani of Chael Sonnen's current unenviable situation in regards to PED use, UFC President Dana White suddenly turned the conversation into a rant about former UFC champion Josh Barnett, a guy who has infamously failed more than one drug test, but has never fully owned up to it. White says it's those kind of people, people who don't show remorse for their wrongdoings, that have no place in the UFC. Thoughts on Dana's remarks about Barnett? 

(This FanPost was edited and promoted to the front page by James Kimball)

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Every Monday, regardless of what I’ve got going on, I eventually find myself walking into the one and only Toy’s R Us that the city I live in holds.  Making my way to the south side of the store, I always get excited in hopes of finding the newest release of UFC figures from Jakks Pacific or Round 5.  Today was a good day for me, because as I walked into the isle filled from left to right of UFC and WWE figures, I spotted all of the latest figures from Jakks Pacific, including the PRIDE version of Quinton "Rampage" Jackson.  I quickly scooped it up, and held onto it like some retarded freak who was going to have to fight off some other nerdy MMA fan who also routinely visited the store for the same reason.  Sadly, no other fans showed up, and I was unable to simultaneously hold the Rampage figure and throw a flying scissor heel hook in the middle of the aisle and stake claim that this was MY FUCKING TOY!

I bought Rampage for the low price $10.54, and now he sits on my computer desk in my spare bedroom, next to fellow Jakks Pacific figures Shogun Rua, Nate Marquardt, and BJ Penn.  Across the room is a display of Round 5 figures – Wanderlei Silva, Chuck Liddell, Shogun, Lyoto Machida, and Matt Serra.  My collection is getting bigger and bigger as the weeks go by.  Remember Andy’s apartment in the 40 Year Old Virgin?  Yeah, that’s going to be what my place looks like someday!  Do I need help?

The full lineup of the series five figures, which sell for $9.99, include:

• PRIDE era Quinton "Rampage Jackson"
• Lyoto Machida w/ UFC belt
• Matt Hamill
• Stephan Bonnar
• Kenny Florian
• Matt Serra
• UFC legend Dan Severn (with sweat-stained shirt)

You can pick them up from Toy’s R Us, K-Mart, Target, and Wal-Mart (Canada only I think), as well as online at Ringside Collectibles.

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Poland's premiere MMA promotion, Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki aka KSW, held its14th event earlier today at the Lodz Arena in Lodz, Poland.  The fight card featured the final round of KSW’s light-heavyweight grand prix, as well as the first two rounds of their first ever, eight-man lightweight tournament.  

Headlining the card was a heavyweight clash between Mariusz Pudzianowski and Eric Esch – also known as that fat goober Butterbean.  

Pudz, who was looking to rebound after suffering his first professional loss (to former UFC heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia), entered the fight with Esch noticeably smaller than we had seen previously.  His decision to drop some of that acquired muscle mass was because he needed to be much faster than he had been before.  

Smart decision, but did it do him any good against the former professional boxer who has more than 100 fights to his name?

Full results for KSW 14 are as follows:

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Thanks to ZombieProphetMMA for posting the fights so quickly.

Enjoy the awesome battle between Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou and Houston Alexander -- it's easily one of the best fights I've seen so far this year, and should be considered for a "comeback of the year" award (if that award even exists).  

Check it out after the jump, as well as Trevor Prangley vs. Keith Jardine and Paul Daley vs. Jorge Masvidal:

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After dropping his fifth straight to Shark Fights champion Trevor Prangley, one-time UFC light heavyweight contender Keith Jardine finds himself in the same situation "Lil Evil" Jens Pulver found himself him after being submitted by Javier Vasquez at WEC 47.  Most people now completely count Jens out as having the ability to compete amongst the best (or even the mid-tier), is Jardine in this same realm now?  

Can the "Dean of Mean" salvage his once successful career, or should he seek fights against other "has-beens" in small time organizations and accept the fact that he's no longer one of the elite mixed martial artists fighting today?

An intriguing lightweight match up is set for Strikeforce: "Diaz vs. Noons 2." Josh Thomson will welcome Geisas "JZ" Cavalcante to the promotion on October 9 from San Jose, California. 

Strikeforce officials today confirmed to MMAmania.com that the fight has been green lit.

"The Punk" is coming off a last second submission win against Pat Healy at Strikeforce: "Fedor vs. Werdum." The former Strikeforce lightweight champion had won 8 bouts in a row before losing his crown in a rematch against Gilbert Melendez last December.

The American Kickboxing Academy product was awarded his Guerrilla Jiu-Jitsu black belt by Dave Camarillo following the win over Healy in which he suffered two broken ribs in the first round.

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They should be kicking off any moment, check out the stacked fight card featuring UFC vets Rich Clementi and Matt Horwich, as well as the 2003 D1 national wrestling champion Eric Larkin, who will be making his BellatorFC debut.  

Main Card:

• Rich Clementi vs. Carey Vanier
• Matt Horwich vs. Eric Schambari
• Georgi Karakhanyan vs. Anthony Leone
• Marcus Andrusia vs. Eric Larkin

Prelim Card:

• Tonny Canales vs. J.C. Pennington
• Kelvin Doss vs. Tony Roberts
• Brock Kerry vs. Jonathan Mackles
• Charlie Rader vs. Josh Rafferty
• Scott O'Shaughnessy vs. Gabe Woods

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In an interview with MMAJunkie, UFC welterweight Mike "Quicksand" Pyle had some direct words for his UFC 120 opponent, undefeated British prospect John Hathaway.  Pyle also said in the interview that it’s no big deal if he can’t get the fight to the ground, and that he could "knock the kid out" like he almost did to his last opponent (Jesse Lennox).  The 34-year Team Quest fighter is considered to be one of the best welterweight submission artists in the sport, but has had mixed results since joining the UFC in 2009 – with impressive submission wins over Lennox and Chris Wilson, but disappointing stoppage losses to welterweight wrecking balls Jake Ellenberger and Brock Larson.

This fight could easily be considered a make or break fight for "Quicksand", who will more than likely be thought of as nothing more than a mid-tier gatekeeper if he can’t seal the deal and put and end to the "Hitman’s" impressive 14-0 run – which includes dominant UFC performances over Diego Sanchez, Rick Story, Paul Taylor, and Tom Egan.

What say you?  Can Pyle make the jump up to the next level and solidify himself as a top contender in the UFC, or is Hathaway’s youth, skill, and desire for supremacy going to force Pyle to sink back down to the pits of the stacked UFC welterweight division, or possibly even out of the organization?

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Heading into his non-title bout against Yuji Sakuragi, current light-heavyweight King of Pancrase Ryo Kawamura was as confident as ever.  Sakuragi, who entering the fight held an unimpressive 11-16-1-1 professional record and won only two of his last eight contests, wasn’t even expected to make it past the first round, much less offer the reigning champion any type of test he hadn’t seen before.

Yuji Sakuragi was confident too.

Although he was on the losing end of the stand-up exchange eating multiple jabs and hooks, Sakuragi fought back using well-timed kicks to both the body and head.  With a little less than two minutes to go in the first, Kawamura, feeling he was taking control of the fight, did what he always does when his ego gets the best of him – he drops his hands.

Big mistake.

A powerful right hook to the head from Sakuragi immediately dropped the champion.  On the verge of the most monumental win in his career, Sakuragi lept in for a head-stomp to seal the deal, but missed, allowing Kawamura to stumble back to his feet.  Sakuragi couldn’t let this victory slip away from him, and he once again threw the right hook to the head of his opponent, connecting flush and sending Kawamura to the canvas for the second time, completely done for.  The TKO victory officially came at 3:55 of the first round, and broke Sakuragi’s 4-fight losing streak under the Pancrase banner.

With the win, Sakuragi improves to 12-16-1-1, and probably secured himself a title fight with Kawamura later on in the year.  Kawamura drops to 12-6-2, and brings his two-fight win streak to an abrupt end.  Although he didn’t lose his King of Pancrase title, this loss should be an big eye-opener for the 29-year old, and one he’ll certainly not want to repeat when his cherished belt is on the line.

Full results for Passion Tour 8 can be seen below.

• Yuji Sakuragi defeats Ryo Kawamura via TKO (right hook) at 3:55 of round one.
• Manabu Inoue defeats Tashiro Akai by majority decision to become the bantamweight King of Pancrase.
• Windy Tomomi defeats Monica Lovato via unanimous decision.
• Mitushisa Sunabe defeats Shinpei Tahara via knockout (slam) at 2:32 of round 3.
• Masahiro Toryu defeats Akihiro Yamazaki via knockout (head-kick) at :40 of round 3.
• Daisuke Hanazawa defeats Eriya Matsuda via submission (kimura) at 1:55 of round 2.
• Kenji Arai and Soyu Tanabe fight to a draw.
• Masaomi Saito defeats Hideo Matsui by submission (rear-naked choke) at 1:29 of round 1.
• Shigeaki Kasuyanagi and Kentaro Abe fight to a draw.

Undefeated prospects Lyman "Cyborg" Good and Ben "Funky" Askren will finally meet at Bellator 33 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on October 21. Lyman and Ben will fight for the welterweight title that's currently held by the 10-0 Good.  

Askren confirmed the news via Twitter yesterday.

This is only the second fight announced on the card, the first being a highly anticipated lightweight showdown between Bellator's lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez and season-two finalist Roger Huerta. Alvarez was supposed to fight Pat Curran, who upset Huerta to claim the season two tournament championship, but Curran suffered an injury during training and had to withdraw from the fight.

Although Bellator 33 is still a little far out, these two fights alone could carry that card. Lyman vs. Askren is an interesting match up between two of the sports most dominating welterweights.  Good cruised his way through the first season's welterweight tournament by wrecking Hector Urbina, Jorge Ortiz, and Omar De La Cruz, claiming a $175,000 check as well as the first ever Bellator welterweight title. Good has looked unstoppable as of recent, but hasn't fought since June of last year.

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That’s what its looking like according to TATAME where Josuel Distak – the boxing coach for newly crowned Strikeforce light-heavyweight champion Rafael "Feijao" – suggested that Dan Henderson and Gegard Mousasi were being considered as the next challengers for "Feijao".  This comes as a surprise (because there are other guys who deserve it more), but not really, considering Brett Rogers received his short-lived title shot after getting demolished by an Emelienanko Fedor bomb.  I don't understand why Strikeforce would even consider this.  I guess you could make a case for Mousasi, who quickly bounced back from his decision loss to "King Mo" with a 31-second submission win over Jake O’Brien at DREAM.15, but not for Hendo.

"Dangerous" Dan if you don’t remember spent 20 minutes of his title fight with former Strikeforce middleweight champion Jake Shields on the defensive, ultimately dropping a unanimous decision and seriously fucking up a major move in Strikeforce’s "master plan" to overtake the MMA world – which doesn’t officially exist but whatever it might!  He hasn’t done shit since then aside from hang around a Gamestop promoting EA Sports "MMA", probably power-bombing the shit out of customers as they try to purchase a copy of UFC 2010 Undisputed.

Strikeforce is a joke if they give Henderson the title shot, no case can be made for him right now – he doesn’t deserve it.  If anyone should get the shot, it’s Mike Kyle – you know, the guy who blasted "Feijao" 14 months ago and is currently on a three-fight win streak, which is better than anyone else they’ve  got.

What do you think? Hendo, Mousasi, or Kyle?  What would you do in the shoes of a Strikeforce matchmaker?

**Side note**

Gegard Mousasi is set to face Tatsuya Mizuno at DREAM.16, for the vacant light-heavyweight title.  If he wins that (which he probably will but WAR Mizuno!), a champion vs. champion superfight could be set up between he and Cavalcante, which could bring some serious business to both DREAM and Strikeforce.  Lets look at the facts.  DREAM is hurting right now, they need all the help they can get, and having Mousasi represent them in the United States as their champion is a great thing, because Mousasi is a serious badass who’s going to go nowhere but up as the years go on.  "Feijao" has made huge waves after putting away "King Mo" via Muay Thai mayhem, and is most-certainly a top ten-ranked fighter now because of it.

Mousasi vs. Cavalcante is an outstanding fight all-around that every hardcore fan should want to see, and I’m sure it’s something that both organizations will consider if Mousasi claims his second DREAM title on September 25.

On the eve of Bellator Fighting Championships’ much-anticipated matchup between Joe Soto and Joe Warren, the fighters competing in tomorrow’s event participated in an official weigh-in earlier this evening -- all making weight.

Bellator 27 will be broadcast live in prime time nationwide on Thursday on FOX Sports Net and during special Bellator highlight shows this Saturday night on NBC and mun2.

The official results of the weigh-in are as follows:

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Tomorrow night, the first title defense in Bellator’s three seasons finally goes down as featherweight champion Joe "The Hammer" Soto looks to defend his belt against the Greco-Roman wrestling beast Joe Warren.  Warren swept season two’s featherweight tournament with unanimous decision wins over Eric Marriott, Georgi Karakhanyan, and a won razor thin split decision over Patricio Freire to be crowned the season two featherweight tournament champion.  He enters the fight with Soto with a 5-1 record, and although he holds a distinct wrestling advantage over the champion, he’s not favored to win – in fact the odds on this fight are dead even.

Soto enters the fight with a perfect 9-0 record, with all but one victory coming via knockout or submission.  He dominated the first season’s featherweight tournament with a TKO win over Ben Greer, a unanimous decision win over the highly regarded Wilson Reis, and a submission win over Yahir Reyesto claim Bellator gold.  Since dominating the tournament, he’s fought twice – defeating Mike Christensen with the rarely-seen gogoplata at Tachi Palace Fights 1, and then taking out Diego Saraivain a non-title fight at Bellator 19.  Needless to say, Soto’s looked unstoppable as of recent, but he’s going to have a  his hands full with Warren, who is a tough-as-nails grinder with some nasty wrestling skills.  Outside of the WEC, this is the best featherweight fight you’ll be able to see – and for FREE!

Also on the card are the final three bantamweight tournament fights.  Travis Reddinger will take onUlysses Gomez in the co-main event, while Bryan Goldsby takes on Ed West and Nick Mamalis meetsZack Makovsky.  With the exception of Reddinger and Goldsby, the rest of these fighters are relatively new to the sport, but all posses lethal skills that should make for another exciting Bellator event.  I expect this event to be much better than Bellator 25 and Bellator 26, the little guys are usually more exciting, especially when compared to that big fat "lay n’ prayer" Cole Konrad who nearly ruined Bellator 25 (please don’t make it into the heavyweight finals).

Now, onto my picks for tomorrow’s event.

Joe Soto vs. Joe Warren for the Bellator featherweight title:

I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that although Warren’s wrestling is leaps and bounds above any one of Soto’s skill-sets, Soto’s the better, more complete fighter.  Soto can finish both on the feet and on the ground, something Warren can’t seem to do.  The only way Warren wins this fight is if he sticks to his one-track game plan and clinches with Soto, and utilizes his distinct wrestling advantage to win an uninspiring decision.  Anyone who thinks Warren can’t do just that is foolish, but Soto’s one of the best fighters in that weight-class, and this is long fight.  If Soto keeps his distance and uses proper angles to keep Warren from grabbing a hold of him, I think we can see the "Hammer"pick him apart with strikes and put him away in the fourth or fifth round.  The problem with that though is Warren’s desire to get in close.  He will take punishment in order to tie up with his opponent and either hold them against the cage or slam them down onto the mat, and he can take a lot of punishment.  This is going to be Soto’s toughest fight to date, and we will truly see if the champion can live up to the title he currently holds.

My prediction - Joe Warren via decision. Prove me wrong Soto, I believe you can, but I’m not sure if you will.

Travis Reddinger vs. Ulysses Gomez:

Reddinger’s been tearing shit up through the local midwest circuit, and comes into this fight with a 14-2 record as well as some much-deserved hype.  He’s proven to be an extremely dangerous submission specialist, and has put away 8 of his 14 victories away with submissions.  He’s a tall, lanky bantamweight, which means his limbs are lethal tools that cannot be overlooked.  His opponent, the 6-1 Ulysses Gomez is also a submission savvy fighter, who trains out of Marc Laimon’s gym in Las Vegas.  Needless to say, his grappling is going to be really good.  The case in a situation where it’s agrappler vs. grappler match-up usually means the fight will end up being settled on the feet, and if that’s the case, I give the advantage to Gomez.  Although Reddinger has the height and reach advantage, his stand-up isn’t polished enough to where he’ll be able to keep Gomez from getting in on the inside – and if he can’t do that, Gomez will get in close and land some powerful shots to Reddinger’s chin before getting him down and choking him out.

My prediction – Ulysses Gomez via submission.

Bryan Goldsby vs. Ed West:

Goldsby is one of MMA’s most active fighters, having fought eight time in 2008, nine times in 2009, and three times so far this year.  He’s barely above a .500 record, and has a combination of knockout losses, submission losses, and decision losses on his 12-11 record.  While most people will be quick to count him out due to that record (which Bellator somehow changed to 15-7), I give him a fairly decent chance at upsetting Ed West considering his performance against MMA veteran Jeff Curran at Bellator 14.  West meanwhile enters the fight with a 13-4 record and is currently on a five-fight win streak.  West is making his Bellator debut, but don’t expect him to get a case of the big-stage jitters, as he’s fought three times in the now-dead International Fight League against IFL notables Chris Horodecki, Erik Owings and Savant Young (he lost all three of those fights via decision btw).  This fight is really a toss-up for me, but I’m inching more towards West solely based on his ability to endure more punishment, something Goldsby has shown that he cannot do.

My prediction – Ed West via TKO.

Nick Mamalis vs. Zack Makovsky:

The achilles heel for Nick Mamalis and Zack Makovsky are submissions, and considering both are "submission fighters", I once against expect a stand-up battle.  Add the fact that both guys are tough as fuck and go after their opponent right away, and you’ve got an awesome first fight for tomorrow’s main card.  I like both of these guys a lot, and while Mamalis has more experience than his opponent, don’t expect that to hinder Makovsky’s eagerness to step up to the plate and take him out in impressive fashion.  This is the fight I’m looking forward to the most after the main event.  I expect a violent, agressive and evenly matched brawl between two of Bellator’s rising bantamweights who want to see their win streaks increased as well as their popularity.  This could easily be fight of the night, and I think it’s going to be decided on whomever connects first.

My prediction – Nick Mamalis via TKO after getting rocked early on.

That’s a wrap for the predictions, Bellator 27 airs on FOX Sports Net tomorrow night, what time I’m not sure because of my fucking retarded cable company is not showing it on the channel guide! Die Charter Communications! DIE!

Japanese MMA star, Kazuo Misaki, who just fought Jorge Santiago at Sengoku Raiden Championships (SRC) 14 for the middleweight title; was completely out of sorts before his "fight of the year" candidate bout -- even injecting painkillers into his ankle prior to competing.

He had a press conference at the SRC gym eight days following the event and said that he had a major leg injury which forced him to stop training. In fact, he barely trained for the fight!  Misaki also said he gassed out/blacked out in the second round, fighting on instincts and believes that had his corner not thrown in the towel when they did, he would be dead.

Here are some quotes from the Japanese warrior-samurai-badass (via Nightmare of Battle):

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We’re less than 48 hours away from seeing whether or not Frankie Edgar’s first win over BJ Penn was nothing more than a "fluke", whether boxer James Toney can step up to the plate and take out one of mixed martial arts’ most well-respected fighters in Randy Couture, and whether or not Kenny Florian can beat a "bigger and better Sean Sherk" in undefeated wrestler Gray Maynard – which would get him his third shot at the UFC lightweight title.  UFC 118 is a stacked event from top-t0-botton, and features seven fights that the fans are guaranteed to see – two on SpikeTV, and five on the Pay-Per-View broadcast.  This is a highly anticipated event due to the co-main and main events, but don’t expect those two fights to carry the card on their own.  Alright, lets get this ball rolling with the predictions.

Nik Lentz vs. Andre Winner – Spike TV broadcast:

This match-up is between a precision-striker in Winner and a wrestler who likes to strike in Lentz.  Nik will clearly need to get this fight to the ground if he wants to win the fight, as Winner’s stand-up is just plain nasty – as seen in his first round destruction over Roli Delgado last November.  I foresee this fight being a stand-up battle until Lentz eats one of Winner’s fists flush on the chin, then I think he’s going to clinch and try to work for a takedown.  If Winner can stay quick on the feet and keep Lentz on the outside, expect him to finish him off impressively in the first or second round.  If he can’t keep Lentz from getting in close and clinching, I think Nik could draw out a lackluster decision in the same way Randy Couture defeated Brandon Vera.

My prediction – Andre Winner via TKO, round 2.

Joe Lauzon vs. Gabe Ruediger – Spike TV broadcast:

Season five cast-members of the Ultimate Fighter who didn’t get the opportunity to battle on the show are finally getting their fight.  Joe Lauzon, aka "Creepy Joe", is looking to rebound from a unanimous decision loss to Sam Stout, while Ruediger is looking to get back on the main-stage and prove he’s a top lightweight fighter – not just some fat shit-head who likes foreign objects shoved up his ass-pipe like most people currently think.  I like this fight, it’s no Rampage vs. Machida, but it’s a good match-up between two evenly-skilled fighters who both want to make big statements.  Honestly, I like Gabe in this fight.  He’s on a 6-six tear, all fights ending via submission or TKO in under three rounds, he looks physically prepared and extremely motivated to be back in the UFC, and I think that he’s going to pull the upset in what will be an excellent fight.

My prediction – Gabe Ruediger via decision.

Marcus Davis vs. Nate Diaz – Pay-Per-View Broadcast:

Kicking off the main card is a welterweight meeting between seasoned UFC vet Marcus Davis, and Ultimate Fighter winner Nate Diaz.  Davis is obviously going to try and make this a fight on the feet, something I’m sure Diaz will be happy to do as well.  What we get here is a tall boxer in Diaz fighting a short boxer in Davis.  Can Nate use his reach advantage the same way Mike Swick did when he fought (and beat) the Irish Hand Grenade?  I think he can.  Can Davis get on the inside and land some bombs, breaking Nate down over the course of three rounds?  I think he can.  This fight is a toss-up for me, with the "X factor" being Nate’s ability to get the fight to the ground and work his submission game.  If he can’t get Marcus to play the grapple game with him, and if Davis can break through Nate’s reach, I have no doubt Marcus can continue his rise back up the welterweight ladder with a decision win.

My prediction – Nate Diaz via decision

Demian Maia vs. Mario Miranda - Pay-Per-View Broadcast:

Maia is a grappling wizard.  His submission skills are the best in the middleweight division, and possibly the world.  Miranda’s an up and coming fighter who’s shown that he has the skills to compete in the UFC, but in this fight, I think he’s fucked.  Although Maia’s striking has drastically improved since his UFC debut, he’s still a grappler at heart, and I expect him to look to finish this fight as fast as possible by getting Miranda to the ground where he can lock on one of his crafty submissions.  Miranda should be expecting the shot from Demian, and if he isn’t, this fight won’t make it past the first round.

My prediction – Demian Maia via submission, round 1.

Kenny Florian vs. Gray Maynard – Pay-Per-View Broadcast:

This is the fight I’m looking forward to the most.  I’ve been a devout Florian fan since he showed up on the Ultimate Fighter, he improves after every fight, and is in my opinion one of the best lightweights in the sports history.  Gray Maynard is a wrestling behemoth, who knows exactly what needs to be done in order to beat Florian – plant him on his back or against the cage and hug him for three rounds.  Maynard cannot finish Florian with strikes or a submission, the only way for the "Bully" to get his long-awaited UFC title shot is to take Florian the distance and pray to the judging gods that he did enough to merit a decision victory.  Can Maynard do that?  I don’t think so.  I think he’s going to get shut down by the Boston native and taste real defeat for the first time in his MMA career.

My prediction – Kenny Florian via decision.

Randy Couture vs. James Toney – Co-Main Event:

Boxing vs. MMA, MMA vs. Boxing, that’s all we’ve been hearing since this fight was announced.  I’ll be glad when its over, and although Toney stands a "punchers chance", I don’t think we’ll see it happen.  Don’t get me wrong, Toney has knockout power, Randy’s been shut down multiple times before, but Toney knows jack shit about mixed martial arts and the disciplines it involves aside from boxing.  I think he’s way over his head, and will get brutalized by Couture – who is still one of mixed martial art’s poster boys.

My prediction – Randy Couture via submission (strikes), round 1.

Frankie Edgar vs. BJ Penn – For the UFC lightweight title:

Even as the division title-holder who already holds a decision victory over BJ, Frankie’s being counted out by pretty much everyone on Earth.  BJ once again maintains that this is going to be the best BJ Penn we’ve ever seen, something he’s spit out after every single loss in his career.  Is BJ more skilled that Frankie? Yes, hands down.  Can BJ dominate Frankie and finish him? Yes, hands down. Will he do it?  Nope.  Not tonight, not ever.  Frankie is going to once again out-work BJ.  Frankie’s to quick on the feet, and is a much more polished boxer than BJ is.  BJ doesn’t have the wrestling to get Frankie on his back, and Frankie isn’t going to enter BJ’s guard.  What we’re going to get is another 25 minutes on the feet, where Frankie runs wild around BJ, picking his shots and getting in and out before BJ can get off.  Bet on that.  Frankie Edgar will defend his UFC lightweight title.  I can’t wait to see what BJ’s fans say after he drops his second straight fight to the same guy, in the exact same way as their first meeting.

My prediction – Frankie Edgar via unanimous decision, AGAIN.

**And as far as the un-aired prelims go, I’ve got Dan Miller beating John Salter and getting out of the three-fight slump he’s in, Nick Osipczak beating Greg Soto with a submission, and Mike Piere stopping UFC newcomer Amilcar Alves sometime late in the fight with some ground and pound.

Photo thanks to the talented Ester Lin of allelbows.com

Chael Sonnen is going to get an immediate rematch following his 5th-round submission loss at UFC 117 to Anderson Silva.  That’s what Dana White said on SportsCenter today, according to MMAJunkie.  First and foremost, an immediate rematch should only be given when the first fight ended in a controversial decision.  Think Frankie Edgar vs. BJ Penn, or Mauricio Rua vs. Lyoto Machida.  I don’t give a flying fuck how close Chael was to winning that fight, he got caught in a submission, and tapped out.  Anderson closed the book on Chael Sonnen by putting him away on the ground, where Chael was expected to dominate – which he did, almost.

Don’t get me wrong, UFC 117′s main event was an excellent fight, one of the highlight of 2010 for me, but I feel bad for poor Yushin Okami – one of the few guys who holds a victory over the current UFC middleweight kingpin.  Yes, I know it’s via disqualification, but nonetheless there is unfinished business between Okami and Silva that needs to settled goddammit! This is what, the third time Okami’s been passed over for a chance at proving he is the man to beat Anderson?  I understand the UFC wants to put on a rematch with Sonnen because he’s one of the few guys who’s actually got in Anderson’s face and given him a fight, but come on, how fucking long is "Thunder" going to go in the organization before the UFC heads decide its time he gets the same opportunity that Thales-fucking-Leites got!?

For a guy who’s 9-2 in the UFC and 25-5 as a professional, Okami gets absolutely no love from his employer – or the fans.  It’s sickening to me that he’s yet again getting passed over for Mr. Republican Chael Sonnen – who is going to get smoked quickly and violently in the rematch with Anderson.  Bet on that!

Am I alone on this?  What say you Maniac's, who deserves the next UFC middleweight title shot? 

**********SPOILERS**********

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This is has been the busiest week in MMA for a long time.  WEC 50, Bellator 25 (which was the worst event they’ve put on so far – minus Hornbuckle vs. Blackburn), Strikeforce: Houston, and SRC 14 are all within days of each other.  I for one do not feel overworked by the amount of high-impact combat action I get to watch while sitting on my ass, I can’t wait for Saturday’s Strikeforce event, and Sengoku 14 – although airing pretty fucking late, will still get my full attention.

Headlining the overseas card will be a middleweight rematch between current champion Jorge Santiago and PRIDE welterweight grand prix champion Kazuo Misaki.  These two fan-favorites first met at Sengoku – No Ran 2009, and fought for the vacant middleweight belt.  Misaki was well on his way to winning a decision until a 5th round come-from-behind victory from the American Top Team fighter.  Santiago leapt in, took Misaki down, unleashed some ground and pound before jumping to mount, took Misaki’s back when rolled over, and locked in a tight rear-naked choke, nearly putting the former Grabaka Hitman out.  It was a triumphant and emotional victory for Jorge Santiago, and a devastating loss for the Japanese native.

Since their first meeting, both fighters have gone 1-1.  Santiago got quickly destroyed by KSW veteran Mamed Khalidov in a non-title fight at Sengoku 11, but avenged that loss at Sengoku 12 – winning a unanimous decision over the Polish fighter.  Misaki rebounded after the loss to Jorge by submitting UFC and PRIDE veteran Kazuhiro Nakamura, but was stopped by Dutch wrecking ball Melvin Manhoef at Dynamite!! 2009.  Misaki also found himself in some legal trouble outside of MMA, getting arrested for injuring a police officer when he fled the scene after getting pulled over for talking on his cell phone, which is illegal in Tokyo.  You can read about that here if you want.  Now, Misaki finds himself in perfect position to get his long MMA career back on track, fighting once again for the Sengoku strap against a highly-ranked and extremely dangerous former foe.

Japanese notables Hatsu Hioki and Akihiro Gono will compete tomorrow night.  Hioki will be taking on TUF 9 participant Jeff Lawson, and Gono will be fighting the 2-2 Jadamba Narantungalag.  Needless to say, I think both Japanese fighters will make quick work of their opposition.

Also at Sengoku 14 will be two fights in the first ever Sengoku welterweight grand prix.  Veteran American fighter Nick Thompson will be taking on Taisuke Okuno, and Yasubey Enomoto will be fighting Kenta Takagi.  This event also features the second round of the first ever Sengoku bantamweight grand prix, and those fights are:

• Shintaro Ishiwatari vs. Kil Woo Lee
• Takuya Eizumi vs. Shoko Sato
• Tatsuya So vs. Wataru Takahashi
• Hirokazu Nishimura vs. Jae Hyun So

I know very little about the bantamweight tournament participants, but I’m sure I’ll learn a lot from their performances tomorrow night.  Sengoku 14 airs LIVE Saturday at 11pm PT, only on HDNet.  I’m sure there will be a stream somewhere online, where I don’t know, but I’d check Sopcast for it.  Now, onto my quick picks…

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Two weeks, two Bellator events.  I love it! Bellator 24 kicked ass, if you didn’t see the thrashing Hector Lombard laid out on Herbert Goodman, or the destruction of the "Manic Hispanic" Eddie Sanchez by Bellator newcomer Neil Grove, you missed out.  Oh, did I mention Megumi Fujii bumped her undefeated record up to 21 with a slick armbar submission?  I’m still coming down from the awesomeness of last weeks card, and now, here I am writing up predictions for another event from the rising promotion that is quickly becoming one of my favorites!

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Welcome to the first installment of "Late Night Fights", where I – The Shartist, will provide you with an entertaining fight from all realms of combat sports.  Boxing, kickboxing, MMA, even some of that horse-shit Chuck Norris World Combat League stuff that’s dead and gone now will make its way into "Late Night Fights".  Expected to see the unexpected!

Tonight’s fight is a welterweight contest under the Shine Fights banner, between HIT Squad fighter Brian Foster and Kyle "The Alley Cat" Baker.  Baker, known for his "standing ground and pound", entered the bout on an impressive 6-fight win streak, which included TKO wins over UFC veterans Drew Fickett and Chad Reiner.  Foster entered the bout on a two-fight winning streak, which included one knockout victory and one submission victory.  Foster was known throughout the midwest circuit as an aggressive, heavy-handed fighter, and most watching did not expect this fight to reach the judges scorecards.  

Enjoy the fight!