The Good Nick Diaz: Truthfully speaking I could have very well put the fight between Nick Diaz and B.J. Penn itself in this spot but felt Diaz deserved recognition for both his performance in the fight and the impact he had after it. It goes without saying that the lead up to UFC 137 had it’s share of ups and downs but ultimately we ended up with a highly anticipated main event that somehow exceeded lofty expectations. After being scratched from his championship opportunity against UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre many wondered if Diaz would be motivated for his fight against Penn, well those questions were answered early and often at the expense of B.J. Diaz fought his trademark aggressive style throwing punches in bunches to the head and body both overwhelming and breaking down Penn. The opening round was competitive but as the fight wore Diaz steadily picked the former 2 division champion apart. It looked as if Penn might not make it out of the second round but to his credit he toughed it out to the final bell. In winning a unanimous decision Diaz looked as impressive as one could in his return to the Octagon and called out GSP in his post fight interview. That challenge did not fall on deaf ears as St. Pierre requested Diaz as his next opponent to which challenger Carlos Condit and UFC president Dana White complied as Diaz and GSP are now scheduled to meet on February 4th. All in all the night was a success for Diaz both inside and outside of the cage. Bellator 56: In a night dominated by headlines from UFC 137 it was Bellator that may have put on the better televised event regardless of being under the radar. Bellator 56 saw the semifinals of the heavweight tournament [...]

Finally after multiple changes to the main event UFC 137 is just days away and I’m sure both the UFC and it’s fans are hopeful there are no more mishaps before it arrives. I would get into all the details of the changes to the card but have already written about it prior which you can read here.  Championship fight or not I am still looking forward to the main event alone but then again I am also a boxing fan and have grown accustom to shows with only bout worthy of pay-per-view status. But enough of that, let’s get to the predictions.   First up we have the new main event with former UFC 155 and 170 pound champion B.J. Penn taking on recent Strikeforce welterweight champ Nick Diaz. This is one of those fights where it’s all but guaranteed to be entertaining as you have two guys who would likely be fighting for free if there were no MMA. Penn, whose motto has been “Just Scrap” is more than just your average fighter, of course what else would you expect from someone who is called “The Prodigy”. Penn is the rare breed who is equally adept on the ground with his grappling as he is his boxing. Fortunately for fans Penns opponent Nick Diaz also shares those same qualities along with a do or die attitude inside the cage. Both Diaz and Penn are down to go toe to toe but in a scenario seldom seen this fight could be equally entertaining on the ground.   916Chris’ pick – Not only is this a highly anticipated fight but a close one to call. Though Penn has accomplished more in his career you have to wonder if he is past his prime, even if only slightly while Diaz seems to be [...]

The Good Edwin Rodriguez vs Will Rosinsky: Not an abundance of memorable action this weekend in the realm of combat sports but the highlight certainly was the fight between undefeated prospects Edwin Rodriguez and Will Rosinsky on ShoBox. “La Bomba” Rodriguez was the favorite based on size advantage and level of opposition as well as having been the more exposed fighter, previously fighting on ShoBox. Though the smaller of the two it was Rosinsky who brought the fight to Rodriguez landing more than his share of winging punches while on the inside. La Bomba did the majority of his best work from a distance but mixed it up well in the trenches. The fight went the 10 round distance although it certainly seemed shorter considering the pace it was fought at. The one downside to the bout was the final scorecards which were a unanimous shutout for Rodriguez. I do believe Rodriguez did enough to warrant a decision but for Rosinsky to not be given even one round was a shame, but then again being as this is boxing it’s of no surprise. Unfortunately.

  As the UFC turns so does the lineup for UFC 137. For the third time the main event for UFC 137 has been rearranged the reason being a knee injury to UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre during training on Tuesday. The original headliner for the card was an anticipated showdown between St. Pierre and Strikeforce welterweight champ Nick Diaz, of course that fight was nixed by UFC president Dana White after Diaz missed back to back promotional appearances. The new main event would become St. Pierre defending his title against Carlos Condit who was originally scheduled to face B.J. Penn in the co-main event. That lead to Diaz being slotted in Condits slot to take on Penn. Although many fans were angered by the switch and felt Diaz was being screwed I actually approved of the changes as I believed the new matchups were more compelling than the original fights. Well in what could only be viewed as worse case scenario for the UFC St. Pierre is out putting his defense against Condit on the backburner while Diaz vs Penn takes it’s place as the main event.

MMA takes a backseat this weekend as we look at the not so highly anticipated Bernard Hopkins vs Chad Dawsons fight, on pay-per-view no less. A couple years back when Dawson was at the top of the light heavyweight division he clamored for a showdown with Hopkins that B-Hop showed no interest in. 2 years later and now it is “The Executioner” who reigns supreme at 175 pounds while Dawson comes in looking to reestablish his name in the division. Hopkins enters the bout fresh off his history making title win in his rematch against Jean Pascal which made B-Hop the oldest boxer to ever win a major championship. On that same card Dawson got back in the winning column with relative ease against Adrian Diaconu after suffering his first career defeat to Pascal in his previous bout. So why you may ask is Hopkins willing to face Dawson now, well Chad had a rematch clause with Pascal for the WBC title that Hopkins now holds. As for why the fights on PPV, once again blame HBO.   916Chris’ pick – Honestly if this fight would’ve taken place back when Dawson wanted it I would’ve favored him but alot has changed in 2 years. The obvious common denominator between the two in that time is Jean Pascal who beat Dawson as previously mentioned whereas he had a controversial draw and then a loss to Hopkins. Even at age 46 it’s hard to see much slippage in the champ but more importantly B-Hop is as much a master of psychology both before and during a fight as he is a tactician in the ring. Dawson on the other hand has been accused of not being the mentally strongest fighter in the sport, something Hopkins will surely look to take advantage of. That said this still is a tough fight to [...]

  The Good UFC 136: As mentioned in my preview for UFC 136 the event was stacked on paper and though it got off to a slow start with all preliminary fights going to decision, once the pay-per-view portion of the card got started it was full steam ahead. The PPV started off with a big upset as Joe Lauzon put any hopes Melvin Guillard had for a future title shot on the back burner. After hurting Guillard standing Lauzon quickly took the fight to the ground and ended it moments later with a rear naked choke. Next up Nam Phan and Leonard Garcia put on a fight as equally entertaining as their first bout which Garcia won by controversial split decision, hence the rematch. Much like their first fight this one was a three round slugfest that saw Phan having the edge with his better boxing technique. Garcia made a rally in the thrid round but unfortunately was too exhausted to finish Phan after hurting him. After three hard fought rounds Phan got redemtion and was given a unanimous decision.   Chael Sonnen made a triumphant return to the octagon dominating Brian Stann before submitting him in the second round with an arm triangle choke. The win in itself was impressive but Sonnen made a bigger statement in his post fight interview calling out UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva. If their rematch does indeed take place on Super Bowl weekend expect it to be one of the biggest fights in the history of the sport. UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo made his second successful title defense against three time title challenger Kenny Florian. Unfortunately for Florian the third time was not the charm as though he started out well stifling Aldos offense enough to win the first round. However after that [...]