Brock Lesnar vs Alistair Overeem – UFC looks to close out 2011 with a bang as two of the biggest fighters in the sport collide in a an intriguing fight with signifigant implications. Questions surround both coming into this bout, Brock is coming off a loss to Cain Velasquez in his last outing but has been out of the cage for over a year after dealing with another case of diverticulitis. After another surgery Lesnar says he feels better than he has in years and looks to be fit and ready to go. Overeem has been on a roll the past couple years in both MMA and K1 kickboxing though he looked less than specatacular beating Fabricio Werdum in his final Strikeforce fight. Unfortunately for the K1 and Strikeforce champion the road to this week hasn’t been smooth sailing as he had to fly to England to take a drug test after missing a date to do so in Las Vegas. Alot of questions surround both going into Friday night and odds are it won’t take long to find answers.   916Chris’ pick – I have no strong conviction on who I think is gonna win this fight which is one of the things that makes it so interesting. There’s two likely outcomes in my opinion, Brock takes down Overeem and smashes him out or Alistair is able to fend off Lesnars takedown attempts and demonstrates how he earned the nickname “Demolition Man”. I’ll be surprised if this makes it to the third round and disappointed if it goes the distance. As for a prediction, give me Brock by second round TKO but don’t hold me accountable if you bet on my pick and lose $ in the process.   Duc’s pick – The amount of back acne in this match up will permanently distort your HDTV to where it will need a brand [...]

  The year 2011 was a good one for mixed martial arts fans as we were once again treated to a plethora of great fights and memorable moments. Highlights of the year include not one but two back and forth UFC lightweight championship fights between Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard that ultimately saw Edgar retain his title. We saw the debut of the bantam and featherweight divisions to the UFC which added depth to events along with displaying the talent of the smaller weight classes that had previously been overlooked. The years two most unexpected and biggest developments were the UFCs purchase of Strikeforce and the announcement of a television deal with FOX and it’s affiliates.   Other storylines were the emergence of Jon Jones who won the UFC light heavyweight championship by defeating Mauricio “Shogun” Rua and successfully defending it twice against Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Lyoto Machida respectively. UFC made it’s triumphant return to Brazil with UFC 134 that saw a grand reception from fans who were in turn were rewarded with wins by some of the countries best. 2011 also brought us the crowning of a new UFC heavyweight champ in Junior dos Santos, the continued path of destruction of Nick Diaz both in and outside the cage, the further descent of Fedor Emelianenko, front kick KOs and more. Not to mention the night of November 19 that gave us two fight of the year contenders as Dan Henderson edged out Shogun Rua after 5 brutal rounds while Michael Chandler captured Bellators 155 pound title by stopping Eddie Alvarez in the 4th round of their instant classic.   It won’t be easy to top the year that was 2011 in MMA but I’ve got some fights in mind that can certainly make 2012 a year to look [...]

Tis the season as they say as Christmas is upon us. If you grew up celebrating the holiday you’ve surely recieved your fair amount of gifts over the years, some you remember fondly, some you were disappointed with, others that were a pleasant surprise and those you’d have liked to exchange. In the spirit of Christmas I present a list of gifts that boxing gave us in 2011 divided into the aforementioned categories. Let the unwrapping begin.   Brandon Rios vs Urbano Antillon – Everyone likes a grudge match and that was the setting for the bout between Brandon Rios and Urbano Antillon. These two had no lengthy history but during the buildup Antillon made a few comments that angered Rios which lead to some heated press conferences and weigh in. Fortunately the fight while brief was equally entertaining as both combatants essentially made a pact to go toe to toe for as long as it lasted. Turns out that wouldn’t be too long as Rios dropped Antillon twice in the 3rd round with booming right hands. Urbano managed to get to his feet after both occasions but stumbling around the ring after the second knockdown the referee stepped in and waved off the contest. Rios, Antillon may have been a relatively short fight but it was nonstop action from start to finish and one of the years best.   Delvin Rodriguez vs Pawel Wolak 1 – Less than a week later ESPN2 Friday Night Fights brought us a barnburner between Delvin Rodriguez and Pawel Wolak. Rodriguez was able to get the better of it at distance but Wolak used relentless pressure and workrate to make each round a close one. Wolak had to fight through an abnormally swollen right eye that would have caused most referees to stop the bout. Fortunately for Pawel, Steve Smoger [...]

The Good Andre Ward: After a long road filled with a few detours along the way Showtimes’ Super Six World Boxing Classic came to an end as Andre Ward defeated Carl Froch with a dominating performance. Ward started out strong playing the role of the aggressor which seemed to catch Froch off guard. The product of Oakland put on his most well rounded performance getting the better of “The Cobra” both at distance as well as in close where he out fought and manhandled Froch. Froch looked remarkably slower than Ward which made evading his punches relatively easy for “S.O.G.” It was believed by many, myself included, that Froch would land the more telling blows but Ward not only outlanded Froch but also landed the more signifigant punches. Although visibly frustrated many times during the bout Froch never quit and actually did some of his best work in the latter rounds as Ward slowed down but it was too little too late as S.O.G. had piled up a big enough lead to be the clear victor. Of course this being boxing things aren’t always as they appear and it was surprising to hear two scorecards that read 115-113 as the contest didn’t seem as close as that would indicate. Regardless Ward was rightfully declared the winner of the fight and the tournament and all but cemented himself as the top fighter in the 168 pound division as well as one of the best in the sport.   Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos: As expected Cristiane Santos made quick work of opponent Hiroko Yamanaka but not sure anyone thought it’d be that fast as Cyborg blitzed the title challenger in just 16 seconds of the opening round. Cyborg dropped Yamanaka almost instantly upon the start of the bout, the champion swarmed her but Yamanaka quickly got back up to [...]

  *Lamont Peterson says he wants Floyd, Bradley, or Khan for his next fight… So basically he is gonna fight Khan again.  (fighthype)   *Junie Browning is gonna get whacked by Thai mafia for hitting a Thai chick.  DAMN YOU LADYBOYS!  DAMN YOU TO HELL! (middleeasy)   *K.J. Noons will be multidimensional against Billy Evangelista, his hair however will be infinite-dimensional. (mmajunkie)   *WBC orders Chavez Jr to give up the title….. Uhhhh….. I mean to fight Sergio Martinez. (boxingscene)   *Strikeforce to eliminate the heavyweight division after the Grand Prix, all 4 Strikeforce heavyweight fighters in dire straits. (bloodyelbow)