Nonito Donaire vs Guillermo Rigondeaux – The super bantamweights take center stage this Saturday as the top two fighters in the division Nonito Donaire and Guillermo Rigondeaux cross paths in a title unification bout. Donaire has been mentioned amongst the best pound for pound fighters in the sport since his second round destruction of Fernando Montiel but fans have cooled on him of late due to his opposition. While Nonito has not beaten a string of nobody’s the fact that he did not face Abner Mares despite his insistence of his desire to do so is one of, if not the main reason he has begun to see a backlash. On the other hand you have Rigondeaux who has only a third of the professional experience of Donaire but whose amateur pedigree is second to none. Rigondeaux won the Olympic gold medal in both 2000 in 2004 but didn’t turn pro until 2009 after defecting from Cuba. The amateur standout has gone unbeaten in 11 fights thus far along with acquiring the WBA 122 pound championship. This contest will certainly be a contrast in styles where the explosive Donaire will look to exploit the efficient and technically sound Cuban. A win here should silence some of Donaires naysayers even if only temporarily whereas a victory for Rigondeaux will be the ultimate validation for a man who left his family behind in hopes of providing a better future for them and himself.   916Chris’ – It’s interesting to see how many people are picking Rigondeaux although I’m not sure if that’s because they actually believe he can win or due to the growing dislike for Donaire. While I can be added to the list of those who were frustrated with Nonitos efforts or lack thereof to put together a showdown [...]

  Renan Barao vs Michael McDonald – This weekend in a land far away, London, England to be exact, interim UFC bantamweight champion Renan Barao will defend his title for the first time against Michael McDonald. With bantamweight champ Dominick Cruz on the shelf for months at a time due to injury Barao squared off against former title challenger Urijah Faber for the interim belt which the Brazilian win by unanimous decision. Unfortunately for Cruz he was recently once again reinjured and will be on the shelf for the time being thus the winner here is likely to hold the championship for the foreseeable future. Both are unbeaten in the octagon going 4 and 0 and also share only one loss in their career thus far. At age 22 McDonald is one of the youngest title challengers in UFC history but comes across as a fighter mature beyond his years. The one downside for McDonald going into this contest is that he has been out of action for 10 months due to an injury and subsequent surgery and rehab to his right hand. As far as championship bouts go this one is really under the radar but given the age and style of each fighter it’s likely to be a fast-paced and explosive affair. Don’t be surprised if this isn’t the last time we see these two opposite each other in the octagon.   916Chris’ pick – I’m really looking forward to this fight and just hope I’ll get a chance to see it being as I don’t have Fuel TV. Regardless I favor the champ in this one based on experience, being the more dynamic of the two, and most importantly the fact that he has been more active than his challenger of late. I think this matchup was [...]

  After a disappointing 2012, just over a month into 2013 the UFC is off to a strong start which looks to continue with a slew of upcoming fights announced this week by the company. The first of said fights scheduled are for The Ultimate Fighter 17 Finale on April 13 which is headlined by UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson defending his title for the second time this year against challenger John Moraga. Other notable fights on that card include heavyweights Travis Browne and Gabriel Gonzaga squaring off as well as what will be the second fight between women competitors in the octagon as Miesha Tate takes on Cat Zingano. A week later Chad Mendes, who was scheduled to face the recently injured Manny Gamburyan at UFC 157 will now meet Clay Guida at UFC on FOX 7.   In bigger news both literally and figuratively heavyweights will take center stage at UFC 160 on May 25 as Cain Velasquez defends his heavyweight title against Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva in a rematch of their fight from November 2011 that Velasquez won by first round stoppage. The co-main event will feature a long-awaited showdown between former UFC heavyweight champ Junior dos Santos and former Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem in a bout that could determine who faces the winner of the main event. One last fight that has been announced is Strikeforce middleweight champion Luke Rockhold making his octagon debut against Vitor Belfort in Brazil at UFC on FX 8 on May 18.   Mark your calendars as there’s a lot to look forward to in the upcoming months for MMA fans.

  Coming off what was widely regarded as the worst season to date, The Ultimate Fighter 17 made its debut on a new night, Tuesday, on FX with a two-hour episode. The first thing of note was the new look of the show, it appears to have been shot in the same way as UFC primetime specials and looked much better than your average reality show, including past seasons of TUF. Although the hype to this season has focused on the supposed animosity between UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones and Chael Sonnen, there was little if any indication of such on this episode. Unlike prior seasons that featured all the fights for contestants to get into the house in their entirety this one showed mostly highlights of such fights. That is because the broadcast also focused on the fighters backgrounds and their families, which were allowed to attend the fights, a first for the series. In that regard it reminded me of The Contender reality boxing show that was on a few years back. In essence it seemed as if this episode was geared to attracting new and or casual fans may be unfamiliar with the show.   As far as my personal opinion of the debut, I enjoyed it and thought it was the best they’ve done in years. Whether my optimism continues is yet to be seen but given the coaches, Jones and Sonnen, it certainly should be better than last season which featured Roy Nelson and Shane Carwin who added little to the product. I have seen criticisms online saying it’s the same old thing and to a degree the show hasn’t strayed too far from its format but this year’s cast already appears superior to season 16s and even if Jones and Sonnen don’t have [...]

  Vitor Belfort vs Michael Bisping – This Saturday the UFC makes another return to Brazil as one of the countries most famous fighters, Vitor Belfort takes on British export Michael Bisping in the main event of UFC on FX 7. It’s a high-stakes bout for Bisping as he has been promised a title shot against UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva with a victory here. Belfort may not have as much on the line having just come off a title loss himself to light heavyweight champion Jon Jones but should be inspired fighting in front of his home country fans. Stylistically this figures to be a good matchup for both Biping and Belfort which will hopefully lead to a thrilling main event on an otherwise underwhelming fight card on paper.   916Chris pick – I suppose it’s safe to assume that any fight can go one of two ways but in this contest there really is only two likely scenarios, one being Belfort by first-round knockout, the other is Bisping by decision. Vitor still has that one-hitter quitter power but “The Count” is likely to play it safe in the opening frame after which “The Phenom” will likely be fatigued and relegated to throwing one punch at a time. That will allow Bisping to pile up the points en route to a one-sided unanimous decision.   Duc’s pick – I want god’s buddy Vitor Belfort to win this fight via vicious KO, a knockout so harsh that it will put the previous H-bomb coma of Bisping by Henderson to shame.   Will it actually happen though?  Well, lets just say that my rooting for Vitor will stop after the first 3 minutes because after that god’s buddy will disappear faster than Manti Teo’s girlfriend.  A point accumulating win for Bisping is [...]

The Good UFC on FX 3 – Let me start off by clarifying that when I say UFC on FX 3 was good I am refering to the 4 fights which were scheduled to air on FX not the preliminary bouts that I did not see. As for the featured fights, each left fans with something to talk about afterwards. The broadcast started off with a brawl between bantamweights Eddie Wineland and Scott Jorgensen. Early on both gave as good as they got but as the bout went on Winelands punches started to do more damage. Jorgensen opened a deep cut on Winelands head with a knee to start the second round that was bleeding into his eye and appeared to be bothering him. Wineland responded with a right hand that dropped Jorgensen who was finished after three more rights while on the ground.   Next was a matchup between two veterans of the sport as Mike Pyle and Josh Neer squared off. The majority of the fight took place on the ground with Pyle on top as Neer was active from his back. Neer was able to get back to his feet as the round reached the closing minute and took it to Pyle, backing him against the cage while landing a bevy of strikes. Right when momentum seemed to have turned Pyle landed a right hand square on Neers jaw that put him down face first bringing an immediate end to the contest with only 4 seconds left in the opening frame.   The UFCs newest and perhaps “next” Silva, Erick, continued his fast track in the Octagon finishing his third straight fight in the first round since debuting. This time the victim was Charlie Brenneman whose supposed advantage in wrestling played little to no factor. Silva landed [...]