UFC and Mixed Martial Arts Information Site

Worldwide View of 2010 Vancouver Olympics

2010-02-17T09:25:00.000-08:00

Being from Canada and Vancouver I am extremely proud to be Canadian and show why Vancouver is the most livable cities in the world. But despite my proud patriotism I cannot help but see how these Olympic Games but be considered the worst in history.

Take away the costs, the security and the general cost of the games. That happens with ever big event. The world is now viewing Vancouver as a third rate event with countless problems.

Despite the fact, the games are still a shining example of Canadian pride which the world should still view as a success.

As much as I like the game we are plagued with problems that i have not seen in any Olympics.

Maybe because we are in the Olympics but this seems to be the most problems I have ever heard of.

1) Opening ceremony - pillar did not rise, major mistake makes us look ghetto

2) luger dies - major mishap and our fault makes us look incompetent

3) Rain and warm weather – Cypress looks like a mud pit and images viewed all over the world and being a third rate facility

4) Ice machines don’t work in Richmond oval – causes delays in men ling track – NBC blasted us as being third rate and amateur

5) Whistler – runs cancelled – even Olympics cancels ski runs so not that big

6) Buses break down and cannot get people to Cypress – poor planning

7) 12 injured – At live concert last night 12 people injured and had to stop concert

8) Cypress – cancels standing room tickets to event

9) The torch being so far away that no one can get a good view of it

10) Stupid protesters made us look bad on worldwide TV

This has probably been one of the freest Olympics ever. Lots of cheap food, concerts as opposed other games.

Despite the entire setback it's about tourists/non-athletes having' a good time, not about how many medals are won or if some bigwig on the IOC is satisfied. Who cares about them? People will forget about that Olympic stuff long after it's gone. It's just the positive spinoffs of tourism and foreign investment we should be concerned about.

But the one thing the news media hasn't mentioned is that the tourists are very happy, and there are lots for them to do for free.

Sorry to say these might be the worst held Olympics ever, poor planning and a ton of problems.

Still no matter what I am happy they are here but not happy in how we are portrayed in the world.

Still proud to be Canadian but would like to be prouder.

UFC 101 Nogueira vs Velasquez Fight Prediction

2010-02-16T09:38:00.000-08:00

UFC 101 Nogueira vs Velasquez Fight Prediction: "UFC 101 fight prediction and detailed breakdown for the Nogueira versus Cain Velasquez mixed martial arts fights in the heavyweight divison"

UFC Fight Night 20 Sports Betting Odds

2010-01-11T13:56:00.000-08:00

UFC Fight Night: Maynard vs. Diaz, also referred to as UFC Fight Night 20, is an upcoming mixed martial arts event to be held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) on January 11, 2010 at the Patriot Center in Fairfax, Virginia. 5 Dimes has released their full sports betting odds and lines along with UFC sports betting props.

The fight card and betting lines for these fights include:

Main Card

Lightweight bout: Gray Maynard vs. Nate Diaz
Lightweight bout: Efrain Escudero vs. Evan Dunham
Middleweight bout: Tom Lawlor vs. Aaron Simpson
Welterweight bout: Amir Sadollah vs. Brad Blackburn
Preliminary Card
Middleweight bout: Chris Leben vs. Jay Silva
Welterweight bout: Rick Story vs. Jesse Lennox
Lightweight bout: Thiago Tavares vs. Nik Lentz
Welterweight bout: Mike Guymon vs. Rory MacDonald
Lightweight bout: Kyle Bradley vs. Rafael dos Anjos
Middleweight bout: Gerald Harris vs. John Salter
Middleweight bout: Nick Catone vs. Jesse Forbes
UFC lines
Jay Silva +135
Chris Leben -165
Mike Guymon +170
Rory MacDonald -215

Jesse Lennox +210

Rick Story -270

Kyle Bradley +270

Rafael dos Anjos -360

Nik Lentz +180
Thiago Tavares -240

Jesse Forbes +165
Nick Catone -205

John Salter +230
Gerald Harris -290

Brad Blackburn +1352
Amir Sadollah -155

Over 2½ -1601.625
Under 2½ +120
Blackburn/Sadollah goes 3 round distance -120
Fight won't go 3 round distance -120
Blackburn wins inside distance +282

Not Blackburn inside distance -402
Blackburn wins by 3 round decision +367

Not Blackburn by 3 round decision -557
Sadollah wins inside distance +225

Not Sadollah inside distance -305
Sadollah wins by 3 round decision +180

Not Sadollah by 3 round decision -260
Blackburn/Sadollah draw +6000

Fight not a draw -15000
B.Blackburn wins in round 1

Any other result -1410
B.Blackburn wins in round 2 +860

Any other result -1535

B.Blackburn wins in round 3 +1030

Any other result -1825
A.Sadollah wins in round 1 +610

Any other result -1075
A.Sadollah wins in round 2 +700

Any other result -1300
A.Sadollah wins in round 3 +860

Any other result -1535
Blackburn/Sadollah starts round 3 -202

Fight won't start round 3 +158
Blackburn/Sadollah starts round 2 -511

Aaron Simpson -320
Tom Lawlor +260
Over 1½ -131
Under 1½ -109
Lawlor/Simpson goes 3 round distance +270
Fight won't go 3 round distance -390
Lawlor wins inside distance +339
Not Lawlor inside distance -509
Lawlor wins by 3 round decision +964
Not Lawlor by 3 round decision -1964
Simpson wins inside distance -165
Not Simpson inside distance +125
Simpson wins by 3 round decision +441
Not Simpson by 3 round decision -722
Lawlor/Simpson draw +8000
Fight not a draw -21500

T.Lawlor wins in round 1 +800
Any other result -1475

T.Lawlor wins in round 2 +920
Any other result -1630
T.Lawlor wins in round 3 +1490
A.Simpson wins in round 1 +255
Any other result -335

A.Simpson wins in round 2 +280
Any other result -370

A.Simpson wins in round 3 +625
Any other result -1110 1

Lawlor/Simpson starts round 3 +158
Fight won't start round 3 -202

Lawlor/Simpson starts round 2 -230
Fight won't start round 2 +170

Evan Dunham +210
Efrain Escudero -250

Over 2½ +111
Under 2½ -151

Dunham/Escudero goes 3 round distance +155
Fight won't go 3 round distance -195
Dunham wins inside distance +415
Not Dunham inside distance -635

Dunham wins by 3 round decision +456
Not Dunham by 3 round decision -767

Escudero wins inside distance -110
Not Escudero inside distance -130
Escudero wins by 3 round decision +304
Not Escudero by 3 round decision -424

Dunham/Escudero draw +7000
Fight not a draw -18500

Dunham wins in round 1 +875
Any other result -1560

Dunham wins in round 2 +1300
Any other result -2575

Dunham wins in round 3 +1575
Any other result -3875

Escudero wins in round 1 +325
Any other result -435

Escudero wins in round 2 +375
Any other result -515

Escudero wins in round 3 +760
Any other result -1390

Dunham/Escudero starts round 3 -113
Fight won't start round 3 -127

Dunham/Escudero starts round 2 -292
Fight won't start round 2 +212

Nate Diaz +260
Gray Maynard -320

Over 2½ -314
Under 2½ +23

Diaz/Maynard goes 3 round distance -245
Fight won't go 3 round distance +175

Diaz wins inside distance +348
Not Diaz inside distance -522

Diaz wins by 3 round decision +917
Not Diaz by 3 round decision -1867

Maynard wins inside distance +469
Not Maynard inside distance -805

Maynard wins by 3 round decision -170
Not Maynard by 3 round decision +130

Diaz/Maynard draw +5500
Fight not a draw -13500

Diaz wins in round 1 +9251
Any other result -1635

Diaz wins in round 2 +1115
Any other result -2037

Diaz wins in round 3 +1200
Any other result -2250

Maynard wins in round 1 +1250
Any other result -2375

Maynard wins in round 2 +1373
Any other result -2900

Maynard wins in round 3 +1465
Any other result -3510

Diaz/Maynard starts round 3 -396
Fight won't start round 3 +276

Diaz/Maynard starts round 2 -902
Fight won't start round 2 +501

UFC 115 Cleared for Vancouver June 12

2010-01-07T10:46:00.000-08:00

Vancouver Canada has been voted the best place to live in the world numerious times. With the ocean, mild temperature, mountians and the 2010 Olympics just around the corner, Vancouver can also lay claim to being a UFC event site now.

Vancouver city council has cleared the way for professional mixed martial arts fights in the city, and now organizers are hoping to stage an Ultimate Fighting Championship at General Motors Place in mid-June next year.

It was confirmed that the date has been set for Jine 15, 2010 at GM Place.

The Vancouver police department has raised no objections to professional MMA fights being held in the city, council was told.
UFC spokesman Lawrence Epstein was clearly delighted with council’s decision and he said the long debate “was clearly one of the most thoughtful I’ve heard.”
“We’re very pleased with the result,” Epstein said. “It’s important for this issue to be considered. Once people understand what this sport’s all about, they generally reach this conclusion.
“We’ve actually never lost a vote like this anywhere in the world. It’s an education process and the process worked well in Vancouver today.”

Back in December, the promotion cleared a legislative hurdle in holding an event within the city limits of the 2010 Winter Olympic host site; the Vancouver city council agreed to sanction events as part of a two-year pilot program.

The ruling was a clear victory for Canadian fans who have long waited to see a UFC event in the Pacific Northwest city.
Although the city previously hosted MMA shows, the council backed away from the sport in September 2007 when lawyers determined the city was exposed to liability if there was a mishap during one of the shows.

Technically, the sport is not approved under the country’s criminal code, but the government has not blocked MMA shows in Montreal, Edmonton and Calgary. The UFC source said the promotion planned to lobby the Canadian government to change the law.
Vancouver’s pilot program calls for a $1 seat tax at MMA events to fund the Vancouver Athletic Commission’s new duties. The program also calls for new medical and safety procedures and strict insurance requirements for promoters.

Although the city has just reopened its doors to the sport, several MMA gyms thrive in the area, including Revolution Fight Team, where UFC vets Bill Mahood and Denis Kang have trained. Vancouver is a hot bed for MMA in Canada. Vancouver is home to 7th degree Carlson Gracie black belt Marcus Soares and some of the most promising MMA fighters in the country.
No match-ups are rumored for the June 12 event, which follows the UFC's third annual trip to Montreal's Bell Centre on May 1. After hosting just two Canadian shows to date, the UFC now plans to do two Canadian shows in a mere six-week span.

Most Overrated Fighters in Mixed Martial Arts

2010-01-06T11:56:00.001-08:00

The 5 Most overrated fighters who shouldnot be fighting or at least not marketed as much as have been. These fighters have been either overhyped or just not as good as people made them out to be

5) Chris Leben

Leben continues to fight in the UFC because he will stand and slug it out with anyone. Entertaining? Maybe. We can only hear Mike Goldberg talk about Leben’s heart enough times. Leben is over rated because the UFC continues to praise him as a fighter but he has little to back up his fight game.

4) Jorge Gurgel

Ever since Jorge Gurgel starred in the second season of The Ultimate Fighter television series he has been overly hyped as a MMA fighter. He was favored to win that season but lost to Jason Von Flue of all people.

Gurgel got a 7 fight UFC contact strictly on the basis he was Rich Franklin’s friend.

3) Rich Franklin

Becuase he was so popular he was also hyped up and profiled as the face of the UFC. Well despite his popularity Franklin has never been the fighter the hype has made him out to be. Yes he was UFC middleweight champion but he fought in a very weak division and he never fought a top ten fighter.

Franklin never faced real top level competition in his career and once he did he was exposed.

Franklin’s lack of skill has been revealed and the UFC can no longer protect him as more and more people are realizing that he is overrated as afighter. His lack of growth has also been a direct link to the poor training of Jorge Gurgel. Sorry someone has to say it.

2) TUF Cast members

Because of the show many fighters have become top level fighters like Diego Sanchez, Forrest Griffin, Rashad Evans, Kenny Florian, Josh Koscheck and Keith Jardine. However, as the more and more TUF season go on the pool of talent starts to dwindle.

More and more UFC events have TUF fighters in the shows and most of these fighter should not be fighting or are way overrated. Just because people see them on the TUF show they automatically think they are good fighters.

1) Kimbo Slice

No fighter is more overhyped than Kimbo Slice. He was protected in EliteXC and while on the TUF show he was marketing in every commercial and clip they could squeeze him in.

Some people even began arguing that he was a top 10 heavyweight fighter, simply because of the media attention he was receiving in many forums and blogs.

He is by far the most overrated fighter in history.

UFC 109 Preview Nate Marquardt vs. Chael Sonnen

2010-01-06T11:22:00.000-08:00

When comparing the statistics of Marquardt and Sonnen one would think that the betting lines would be closer than they currently are, however, the fact that Marquardt is a better grappler may have been the determining factor.

Marquardt, a three-time Middleweight King of Pancrase Champion, is a black belt in under Ricardo Murgel. He has 15 out of his 29 wins by submission. He is very good on the ground and has beaten some very good ground fighters in his career such as Demian Maia, Wilson Gouveia, Thales Leites, Jeremy Horn, Anderson Silva and Dean Lister.

Though Sonnen does not have the grappling game he is a better wrestler than Marquardt. Marquardt is a very good ground fighter on his back and if Sonnen was to use his wrestling in an attempt to take Marquardt, it will be his undoing. Unfortunately for Sonnen, Marquardt is also a better striker and will use his long legs to his advantage.

Sonnen has a well-rounded skill set and he is good at a lot of things, but not great at anything. Marquardt on the other hand can fight from anywhere. If Sonnen is to stand a chance in this fight he will need to outwork Marquardt as he does not have the grappling nor striking power to beat Marquardt outright.

This fight will most likely go to a decision which is the perfect prop bet to make. The sports betting lines are pretty steep at -310 but Marquardt has the advantage in almost all areas and the areas in which he does not dominate will be nullified by his dominate grappling.

Look for Marquardt to Win a 3 Round Decision

matchup brough to you by fighting-mma.com

Rashad Evans vs. Thiago Silva UFC 108 Preview

2009-12-29T14:35:00.000-08:00

Though I believe Evans will win this fight I am not in favour of the sports betting odds for this match. Silva opened up at +160 but I think the lines should be a lot closer as the -195 UFC betting line given to Evans is a little off base. The Ultimate Fighter reality show gave Evans exposure to the general populous which makes him more recognizable outside the UFC octagon and betting for MMA has never been about trends nor ability but more about marketing. As Evans has gotten more general exposure as of late, Evans gets more favourable betting lines.

read full UFC fight preview

Best Mixed Martial Arts Websites

2009-12-03T10:54:00.002-08:00

If you like this blog check out some other good quality MAM resourcs

MMA Squidoo Page - UFC and Mixed Martial Arts News and Updates http://www.squidoo.com/ufcbettinginformation

MMA Betting Blog - http://www.fighting-mma.com/ufc-betting-information/

Facebook MMA Discussion Group - http://www.facebook.com/#/group.php?gid=10339604545

MMA Tumblr Page - http://www.tumblr.com/dashboard

My Space MMA Blog - http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.ListAll

Free MMA Picks Yushin Okami vs Chael Sonnen

2009-10-11T13:39:00.000-07:00

Free MMA Picks Yushin Okami vs Chael Sonnen: "Before this fight Okami has not beaten top level guys, but has beat the guys he should be beat. Going by this logic he should lose to Sonnen since he is a top level guy and not a mid range fighter."

Free MMA Picks Cain Velasquez vs. Ben Rothwell

2009-10-11T13:28:00.000-07:00

Free MMA Picks Cain Velasquez vs. Ben Rothwell: "Is Cain Velasquez the next big thing in the mixed martial arts heavyweight division? I say he is but he is still not that experienced as he only has 6 professional MMA fights. I do think he will be a great heavyweight fighter but he has yet to fight a top level heavyweight."

Chuck Liddell prepares to go Dancing With The Stars

2009-08-24T11:43:00.001-07:00

Chuck Liddell prepares to go Dancing With The Stars: "One again the athletes will be well represented. Not only will Chuck Liddell be the first mixed martial arts fighter to ever Dance on stage but Olympic Gold Medal Swimmer Natalie Coughlin 7/1, Professional Champion Snowboarder Louie Vito 12/1, Michael Irvin 7/2 win try to be the last dancer standing."

This year’s cast of Season 9 Dancing with the Stars along with the online betting props and entertainment bets provided by Bodog include:

Celebrity	Bodog Prop Betting Odds	Occupation	Professional partner
Aaron Carter	3/1	Singer & Reality Star	Karina Smirnoff
Natalie Coughlin	7/1	Olympic Gold Medal Swimmer	Alec Mazo
Mark Dacascos	7/2	Actor and Host of Iron Chef America	Lacey Schwimmer
Tom DeLay	25/1	Former U.S. House Majority Leader	Cheryl Burke
Macy Gray	11/2	Grammy Award Winning Singer	Jonathan Roberts
Ashley Hamilton	12/1	Comedian	Edyta Śliwińska
Melissa Joan Hart	12/1	Actress	Mark Ballas
Kathy Ireland	10/1	International Supermodel	Tony Dovolani
Michael Irvin	7/1	NFL Hall of Famer	Anna Demidova
Joanna Krupa	15/2	Supermodel	Derek Hough
Chuck Liddell	12/1	MMA Fighter & Former UFC Champion	Anna Chmerkovskiy Trebunskaya
Debi Mazar	19/2	Actress	Maksim
Mýa	4/1	Grammy Award Winning Singer & Actress	Dmitry Chaplin
Kelly Osbourne	20/1	Reality TV Star of The Osbournes	Louis van Amstel
Donny Osmond	5/1	Singer, Actor, & Entertainer	Kym Johnson
Louie Vito	12/1	Professional Champion Snowboarder	Chelsie Hightower

To bet on Dancing with the Stars Seaons 9 go to Bodog

http://www.fighting-mma.com/mma-news/2009/chuck-liddell-dancing-with-the-stars.php

UFC Predictions Krzysztof Soszynski vs Stann

2009-03-22T21:47:00.002-07:00

Stann has only been out of the first round once. If Soszynski can avoid Stann in the first round he will be able to break down his rigid fighting style with his unorthodox fighting style. Stann is a military man and his fight style is like strict and regiment like his background. Mixed martial arts is unpredictable and can change a moments notice and Stann will not be able to handle Soszynski.

Stann has not fought real high level fighters and this will be his first time fighting in the UFC and he will not use to the atmosphere while Soszynski has fought before and has been accustomed to the high pace of the UFC from his coaches and being on the Ultimate Fighter show.

Soszynski has more experience and better prepared from his MMA camp at Team Quest while Stann does not have the training partners and high level of training that Soszynski has. Also Soszynski is Canadian and will be fighting for the home town country so he will be well prepared and egged on from the crowd.

read full preview

http://www.fighting-mma.com/mma-matchups/2009/ufc-97-gambling-krzysztof-soszynski-brian-stann.php

“Handsome” Matt Wiman (+115) vs Sam “Hands of Stone” Stout (-145)

2009-03-18T10:23:00.003-07:00

“Handsome” Matt Wiman (+115) vs Sam “Hands of Stone” Stout (-145)

Out of all the UFC 97 fights, this fight is the best underdog fight to wager on. There is no way Sam “Hands of Stone” Stout (13-5-1) should be a -145 at most online sportsbooks. If there is a definition of a one-dimensional fighter in mixed martial arts, it would be Sam Stout. Let’s face it: he is on the UFC card to appease the Canadian fans. Sam Stout really has no business in the UFC octagon and most of his UFC fights have shown that he cannot fight on the ground.

An even better sports bet is to do a UFC prop bet for this fight to go all three rounds. First Stout has not shown he can KO guys and 5 out of his last 6 UFC fight have all went to the decision. Take the underdog bet on the money line and take the prop bet and if your online sportsbook allows it, take both bets with a UFC parlay bet.

read full preview

http://www.fighting-mma.com/mma-matchups/2009/ufc-97-betting-matt-wiman-sam-stout.php

UFC 97 Preview, Denis Kang vs Professor X

2009-03-18T10:23:00.001-07:00

Denis Kang (-325) vs Xavier Foupa-Pokam (+250)

Professor X Xavier Foupa-Pokam (20-8) is a French Kick Boxer who will have a very tough time against Denis Kang (31-11) who is seeking redemption. Showing the first 2 rounds of Kang’s fight versus Alan Belcher to a young mixed martial arts student is the best way for him to learn to fight the perfect MMA fight. I t was pure text book.

Kang will wait for the perfect moment and once he shoots in for takedown and gets Professor X to the ground, he will be able to use his dominating top control game to hold Professor X with his good posture and base. Professor X is good at fighting from his back but he is loose, and if Kang can pass the guard and gain side control he will be able to submit him.

read full preview

http://www.fighting-mma.com/mma-matchups/2009/ufc-97-wagering-denis-kang-xavier-pokam.php

Nate Quarry vs Jason MacDonald Preview

2009-03-17T23:26:00.001-07:00

Jason “The Athlete” MacDonald (21-11) will have the support of his home country and he will be fighting a very overrated fighting in Nate “The Rock” Quarry (10-3). Nate “The Rock” Quarry is a product of the Ultimate Fighting reality show and he is definitely getting the soft betting lines as a result of this. The TUF betting bump as it will

Bottom Line: The biggest advantage MacDonald will have is that he has now moved over to train at Jackson's Submission Fighting, under the guidance Greg Jackson who will formulate a game plan that MacDonaldwill follow. Just look at all the Greg Jackson fighters and how they have listened to him and they way they fight in the octagon.

If MacDonald follows Jackson’s game plan, he will have no problem with Quarry who basically trains at a club with not very many fighters to help him prepare. MacDonald has Georges St Pierre, Rashad Evans, Keith Jardine, David Loiseau, Nate Marquardt, Joey Villasenor, Karo Parisyan and Denis Kang to help him prepare while Quarry trains at Next Level MMA who has no one to push him

read full preview

http://www.fighting-mma.com/mma-matchups/2009/ufc-97-betting-nate-quarry-jason-macdonald.php

UFC 97 Fight Prediction Chuck Liddell vs Shogun

2009-03-17T22:12:00.001-07:00

UFC Light Heavyweight Fight: Mauricio “Shogun” Rua (+165) vs Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell (-205)

This is the perfect fight for Mauricio “Shogun” Rua (17-3). His UFC fights have all been disappointing . . .very very disappointing. He got beaten badly by Forrest Griffin at UFC 76: Knockout and it took 3 rounds before he was able to beat an aging Mark Coleman at UFC 93: Franklin vs. Henderson. He ran out of gas and Coleman was someone he should have beaten in earlier rounds. Shogun was the best light heavyweight in the world and was a top 3 pound for pound fighter just 4 years ago.

Bottom Line: The million dollar question is if Shogun has the cardio back. Though never known for cardio, he is younger and not in shape from his long time away from fighting. He has had a long lay off from various injuries so it is hard to gauge his return but at +165 by most online sportsbooks, this bet is hard to pass up on a fighter that was once considered one the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world. He came from the same camp as Anderson Silva and his skills striking-wise are on par with the middleweight champion. Shogun will win this fight on speed and being the younger fighter.

read full preview

http://www.fighting-mma.com/mma-matchups/2009/ufc-97-betting-mauricio-shogun-rua-chuck-liddell.php

Tim Sylvia to Face Ray Mercer Under Unified MMA Rules

2009-03-05T09:26:00.000-08:00

MMA betting at BetCRIS

It will be former MMA heavyweight champion versus former boxing heavyweight champion.

Monte Cox of Adrenaline is in talks to put former two time Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia against former World Boxing Organization (WBO) heavyweight champion Ray Mercer. This is tipped to be the main event of an Adrenaline MMA fight card set for May 30 in Atlantic City, NJ.

This fight would be 46 year old retired boxer Mercer's second MMA fight, although he's also been in two kickboxing matches: in 2004, he took part in a K-1 fight against Musashi. Mercer was knocked down in the first round, but went on to last the distance. He lost via unanimous decision.

read full news story

http://www.fighting-mma.com/mma-news/2009/tim-sylvia-to-face-ray-mercer.php

MMA betting at BetCRIS

2009-03-04T10:12:00.001-08:00

DREAM 7 opening round matchups and handicapping analysis brought to you by fighting-mma.com

Bet on DREAM 7 at Bookmaker

The DREAM.7: Feather Weight Grandprix 2009 1st Round mixed martial arts event is set for March 8, 2009. This event will feature the opening round fights. The Grand Prix is scheduled to be competed at the 63 kilograms (139 lb) weight limit. Some of the best featherweight fighters in the world are competing to be crown the DREAM featherweight champion.

To see all handicapping report as to who will win go to

http://www.fighting-mma.com/articles/2009/dream-7-featherweight-grand-prix.php

Fight Card
Featherweight Grandprix 1st Round Matches

Masakazu Imanari vs. Atsushi Yamamoto
Hiroyuki Takaya vs. Jong Won Kim
Yoshiro Maeda vs. Micah Miller
Chase Beebe vs. Joe Warren
Takafumi Otsuka vs. Bibiano Fernandes
Akiyo Nishiura vs. Abel Cullum

Welterweight Match

Shinya Aoki vs. David Gardner

Lightweight Matches

Mitsuhiro Ishida vs. Daisuke Nakamura
Tatsuya Kawajiri vs. Ross Ebanez

Bet on DREAM 7 at Bookmaker

UFC 96 Why is Matt Brown Fighting

2009-03-02T10:53:00.000-08:00

Brown has no business fighting in the UFC. He has no grappling and is basically a bar room brawler that has a heart when he fights. He really have no skills other than his heart but when he fights better opponent he will be exposed for his lack of talent. He is only fighting in this UFC card because he was the TUF reality series and he has a name.

How can a guy that barley has a .500 record still be fighting in the UFC. Drago is stronger, more powerful, has better grappling, has better technical striking and comes from a better training camp. This fight is a no brainer. I would lay a lot of money on a Pete Sell victory. At the end of the day Matt brown does not have the power to knock out Sell but Sell does and in the TUF realtiy show he got subbed by Amir Sadollah by triangle choke in Round 2 and he was a fighter with no MMA experince.

Bet on this fight at 5 Dimes

UFC 96 Fight Anaylsis Matt Hamill vs Munoz

2009-03-02T10:36:00.001-08:00

Mark “The Philippine Wrecking Machine´ Munoz (5-0) is a better wrestler than Hamill is. We constantly hear that Hamill is great wrestler but he is not as good as the UFC markets him to be. Matt has a silver medal in Greco-Roman wrestling and a gold medal in freestyle wrestling from the 2001 Summer Deaflympics.. Sure he was great among deaf competitors but he never fought able bodied fighters.

In essence he was big fish in a small pond. Don’t get me wrong he also fought and was a three-time NCAA Division III National Champion in wrestling at Rochester Institute of Technology. But to my recollection, I don’t remember Rochester Institute of Technolog being a real big power house school in wreslting. Also Division III is not as good as Div 1 or Div 2.

Bet on this fight at 5 Dimes

UFC Preview - Carwin vs Gonzaga

2009-03-02T10:18:00.002-08:00

Shane Carwin is a legitimate fighter but he is still a one dimensional fighter. He has power and wrestling but when he faces a top level well rounded fighter he will get picked apart and exposed. UFC sports betting wise, the odds are still good at -175 to be worth laying on Gonzaga.

Even though Carwin is a better wrestler he will not try to shoot in and take this fight to the ground since he knows Gonzaga is a world class grappler. Instead he will try to stand and trade punches with Gonzaga and that will be his mistake.

At the end of the day do we even know that Carwin is a legitimate fighter? He has not fought a top level fighter in his career and he has not been past the first round. If Gonzaga can take him past the first round he will be out of his comfort zone. Carwin has a lot of muscle and is very big fighter and once gets past a certain point his body type will tire much faster than Gonzaga. At 264 pounds his muscles need a lot of air to recuperate and all Gonzaga has to do is stay on the outside and lay kicks to push him back.

Bet on this fight at 5 Dimes

UFC 96 Jackson vs Jardine Fight Prediction

2009-03-02T09:53:00.001-08:00

Sports betting wise I highly recommend betting a lot on the UFC underdog. Greg Jackson is the best MMA strategist in the world and just look at his past records with fighters. All of his fighters train hard and most importantly listen to his game plan. Another great bet to make is to make a UFC prop bet for Jardine to win by 3 round decision.

At 5 Dimes this UFC prop bet pays out +610. The reason why? Greg Jacksons knows Rampages has a lot of power but he has bad conditioning and if Jardine stays on the outside and use lower legs kicks he can score points and eventually get the take down. Just like in the fight between Rashad Evans and Chuck Liddell, Jardine will move laterally and stay out of Rampage's range. Only at the right moment will Jardine engage. Bet the prop and bet the money line and take the parlay bets on both for these 3 bets for very good pay out.

Bet on this fight at 5 Dimes

MMA Explosion in 2009 Part I

2009-02-26T09:26:00.002-08:00

by Wayne Squibbs MMA Staff Writer

Many people think fight fans who were disillusioned with the lame bouts, plethora of 'world' champions, and corrupt internal politics associated with boxing, have noticed something else going on - a new sport which produces fierce, watchable, hand-to-hand combat.

'They' are talking, as they always do, and they're saying that MMA has seduced those fans, and in so doing, raised the last nail for the coffin of boxing, ready to give the final hammering.

Maybe. But maybe not. In the sports section of regional and national newspapers, world class boxing still commands full-page features, whereas MMA generally doesn't feature at all. Televised news broadcasts retain a similar format.

Of course, MMA and boxing are not mutually exclusive, and a good number of fight fans are happy to watch either. Indeed, part of the reason for the surge in popularity of MMA could well be because boxing fans were already disillusioned even before the first Ultimate Fighting Championship back in November 1993

read rest of part 1 of this article at

http://www.fighting-mma.com/articles/2009/mma-explosion-affliction-part-1.php

Wheres Kimbo Slice Been?

2009-02-18T11:16:00.000-08:00

By MMA Writer Brian Church

My feeling is that Kimbo came in, made his millions, got embarrassed, came back to reality and then got smart and disappeared. I would like to think he has gone back to his birth name, crawled in a cave and is eating a big slice of humble pie. But that doesn’t fit his personality. I’ll give him credit as a business man. He made a lot of money in a short time by doing very little. Some of it was a bit uncalled for, but when there is a demand you may as well supply the merchandise. As a fighter…..he was pathetic. SO, may questions still remains….where is Kimbo?

read full article

http://www.fighting-mma.com/articles/2009/wheres-kimbo.php

To bet on UFC 95 go to BetUS.com

The Sustainable Olympics 2010 Games

2009-02-17T13:18:00.001-08:00

The Sustainable Olympics

The Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Games (VANOC) has set out six corporate-wide sustainability performance objectives based on its winning bid commitments, the best management practices of other Organizing Committees and leading sustainability firms, and from input from sustainability experts, key partners and stakeholders. The six objectives relate to:

A notable feature of the Environmental Stewardship and Impact Reduction goal involves designing and building the physical venues where the games will unfold. Through smart site selection, venue design and sustainable procurement, VANOC is raising the bar on "eco-efficiency" operations. By minimizing consumption of energy, water and construction materials and minimizing waste and emissions, the games organizers are seeking to eliminate negative environmental impacts. Those that cannot be avoided will be rehabilitated or offset.

read full article

http://www.globe-net.com/other_news/listing.cfm?type=2&newsID=4011

Josh Koscheck vs Paulo Thiago UFC 95 Fight

2009-02-09T11:52:00.000-08:00

Josh Koscheck (-410) vs Paulo Thiago (+330)

Josh Koscheck has been on a tear in the UFC and this will be his fourth fight in the 10 months. So even if he wanted to take time off he can’t because he fights so soon after one another. He hasn’t even the time to take Thiago lightly.

Most UFC bettors would think of laying a small amount on the underdog in this fight but there are better dog picks to wager on for this UFC fight card. Koscheck is always in shape and because he fights so frequently he has stayed at a high level for a while. There is not much that can hurt Koscheck and his wrestling game nullifies a lot good grapplers.

The best bet to make for this fight is a UFC prop bet for this fight to go the distance. Five of Koscheck’s last seven fights have come by decision. He is a great fighter but will try to avoid the clinch and stay on the outside against Thiago to score points because Koscheck does not want to get into a grappling fight with Thiago because he has very good leg locks. The best bet would be to find a UFC sportsbook that will take UFC props and Parlay bets.

Bet on UFC 96 at BetCRIS.com

To read full matchup report go to

http://www.fighting-mma.com/mma-matchups/2009/ufc-95-betting-josh-koscheck-paulo-thiago.php

UFC 95 Fight Prediciton Marquardt vs Gouveia

2009-02-09T11:38:00.000-08:00

Nate “The Great” Marquardt (-260) vs. Wilson Gouveia (+210)

The problem is that Marquardt has never fought someone as big and strong as Gouveia. His ground game is very finesse and but both guys are BJJ Black Belts so they cancel each other out on the ground. If Marquardt tries to a fancy sweep or tries to pull guard Gouveia will either posture or post out and get out. He will also have a big strength advantage. Is Marquardt’s ground game better? Yes but Gouveia has enough to neutralize whatever Greg Jackson has in store for him.

Wilson Gouveia is now in shape from all reports and he has upped his fighting at American Top Team. This was a question in the past but not from all scouting reports. Gouveia has been training hard for almost 4 months now and he will surprise many. The odds are too good and as a UFC sports bettor this underdos fight is too good to pass up. At +210 this is great UFC underdog bet to make. Bettors are getting good value for a powerful striker.

Bet on UFC 96 at BetCRIS.com

To read full matchup report go to

http://www.fighting-mma.com/mma-matchups/2009/ufc-95-betting-demian-maia-chael-sonnen.php

UFC 95 Demian Maia vs Chael Sonnen Anaylsis

2009-02-09T11:18:00.000-08:00

Josh Koscheck (-410) vs Paulo Thiago (+330)

Striking wise Chael Sonnen is a very good striker and he will be able to keep his distance by backing up Maia who is not a very good striker at all. Up against the cage is where Sonnen fights the best. He will be able to use his size and power to hold Maia on the cage and land punches. Chael Sonnen has superior wrestling power but he will not use his wrestling for takedowns, He will instead use his power to keep the fight standing

Bottom Line: I see Sonnen being able to stuff Maia’s shot attempts and being able to land punches on Maia. Sonnen is a fighter that can test Maia and he can pressure him to making him make a mistake in the standup. We have yet to see Maia’s chin tested and Sonnen is a person that can KO the smaller less powerful fighter. Maia is not a strong or big fighter, he relies mostly on technique.

If Sonnen can take him off his game plan I can see an upset. He is no joke as he is the current WEC middleweight champion. To me, at +215 it is worth the risk to bet on the underdog in this fight. I love Maia as a fighter but to me he is still unproven and I see a big upset.

Bet on UFC 96 at BetCRIS.com

To read full matchup report go to

http://www.fighting-mma.com/mma-matchups/2009/ufc-95-betting-demian-maia-chael-sonnen.php

UFC 95 Sanchez vs. Stevenson Fight Preivew

2009-02-09T10:40:00.000-08:00

UFC 96 main event fight preview

I like Stevenson as a fighter but he will be outmatched in this fight by a bigger stronger fighter. I see this fight being dominated by Sanchez from the start of the bell to the very end. My best bet is for this fight to go to a three round decision.

I would be all over this UFC prop bet. I would also do a UFC parlay bet for the fight to go all three rounds and for Sanchez to win the fight by a three round decision. UFC sports betting wise Sanchez at -300 is not worth the price but he will win this fight. If you have money to bet I would be all over this bet. I really don’t see Stevenson beating Sanchez at all.

Bet on UFC 96 at BetCRIS.com

To read full matchup report go to

http://www.fighting-mma.com/mma-matchups/2009/ufc-95-betting-diego-sanchez-joe-stevenson.php

Affliction Betting Preview Analysis

2009-01-23T11:02:00.001-08:00

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Bet on Affliction at BetCRIS.com

Fedor Emelianenko(-390) vs. Andrei Arlovski (+350)

The main event at Affliction 2 will pit former Ultimate Fighting Championship heavy weight champion Andrei “Pitbull" Arlovski against the man many consider to be the greatest ever to compete in the sport of mixed martial arts, Fedor “The Last Emperor” Emelianenko...read more

Josh “The Baby Face Assassin” (-550) Barnett vs. Gilbert Yvel (+400)

Josh “The Baby Face Assassin” Barnett is a large betting favorite over Gilbert “The Hurricane” Yvel and it’s not hard to see why considering the strengths and weaknesses of both Affliction fighters...read more

Matt "The Law" Lindland (-165) vs. Vitor " The Phenom" Belfort (+135)

In one of the hardest to call fights at “Affliction 2: Day Of Reckoning”, Matt “The Law” Lindland comes in as a small betting favorite over Vitor “The Phenom” Belfort but we at fighting-mma.com will be happy to steer your bet...read more

Paul "The Head Hunter" Buentello (-145) vs. Kirill Sidelnikov (+115)

The best action-packed standup battle of the night will be between Paul “The Headhunter” Buentello and Russian Affliction newcomer Kirill Sidelnikov...read more

Renato “Babalu” Sobral (-160) vs. Rameau Thierry “The African Assassin”Sokoudjou (+130)

The best underdog bet of the night is going to be in the fight between Renato “Babalu” Sobral and Rameau Thierry “The African Assassin” Sokoudjou in what should be a fun fight that likely won’t make it to the judge’s scorecards...read more

Vladimir Matyushenko (Even) vs. Antônio Rogério Nogueira (-130)

According to the betting odds at BetCRIS.com, the hardest fight to pick a winner on the entire “Affliction 2: Day of Reckoning” card will be between Antonio Rogerio Nogueira and Vladimir “The Janitor” Matyushenko in a rematch...read more

UFC 93Mark Coleman vs Shogun Fight Preview

2009-01-13T09:42:00.001-08:00

Bet UFC 93 at BetCRIS

Mark Coleman (+300) vs Mauricio “Shogun” Rua (-370)

UFC bettors might take the betting underdog in this fight because the octagon favors wrestlers but don’t waste your money, as Shogun has the stand up advantage and the grappling advantage by a large margin. Remember you can’t win a fight by wrestling. Out of his 8 loses he has lost to good submission fighters and to very good strikers and Shogun is both. Coleman is just too old, injured and is still just a one dimensional fighter in a mixed martial arts world. He will not able to leverage his wrestling skills to score enough points in this fight.

UFC betting wise Shogun is a huge betting favorite at -370 at most online sportsbooks and the price might not be worth the bet but Coleman is an old fighter and I don’t give him much of a chance in this fight. So if you have the funds to spare this is a very safe bet to wager on.

read preview at

http://www.fighting-mma.com/mma-matchups/2009/ufc-93-betting-mark-coleman-mauricio-shogun-rua.php

Dynamite!! 2008 Preview

2008-12-22T11:25:00.000-08:00

Bet on Dynamite!! 2008 at BetCRIS.com

The biggest year end mixed martial arts event in Japan will take place with Dynamite!! 2008 that will feature kickboxing and mixed martial arts as it combines bouts from FEG's K-1 World Grand Prix, K-1 World Max, K-1 Koshien and DREAM brands.

Dec 31 the best MMA event in Japan that will rival the UFC 92 is set

great fights on the card that combines fights from all the major japanese leagues

FEG's K-1 World Grand Prix, K-1 World Max, K-1 Koshien and DREAM

read the

betting predictions for the MMA fights

http://www.fighting-mma.com/articles/2008/dynamite-2008.php

Fight card

MMA bouts

Featherweight bout:
Hideo Tokoro vs. Daisuke Nakamura

Lightweight bout:

Joachim Hansen vs. Gesias Calvancante
Eddie Alvarez vs. Shinya Aoki

Middleweight bout:

Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Kiyoshi Tamura

Heavyweight bouts:

Mighty Mo vs. Semmy Schilt
Mark Hunt vs. Jerome Le Banner
Mirko Filipović vs. Hong Man Choi
Bob Sapp vs. Akihito Tanaka

K-1 bouts
Lightweight bouts:

Tatsuya Kawajiri vs. Kozo Takeda
Yoshihiro Sato vs. Artur Kyshenko

Middleweight bout:
Musashi vs. Gegard Mousasi

K-1 Under 18 Tournament
Semi-final bouts

Hiroya vs. Shota Shimada
Kusakabe Ryuya vs. Koya Urabe

Bet on Dynamite!! 2008 at BetCRIS.com

UFC Preview Wanderlei Silva vs. Quinton Jackson

2008-12-22T10:55:00.001-08:00

Jackson is basically a one dimensional fighter. Yes he can strike and has a lot of power but so does Silva. If he can not out strike Silva he has no other way to win. Wanderlei Silva is a better fighter now than he was in Pride, and the question is out if Jackson is mentally prepared to fight again after this loss to Forrest Griffin at UFC 86 - Jackson vs. Griffin. With a history of depression Jackson has not been acting like a fighter. If Silva is smart he will try to take Jackson to the ground and either submit him or ground and pound him out. If the fight goes this way, and I highly doubt it will, Silva will win this battle.

All UFC bettors should lay a lot of money on Silva as all sportsbook have very soft betting lines and bettors should take advantage of this fight. Silva is a better fighter with more experience, more power, a better technically striker, can kick, has better elbows, has a better clinch and is a way better grappler. Jackson is not mentally prepared and will be out of shape and can only strike.

To read full matchup report go to

http://www.fighting-mma.com/mma-matchups/2008/ufc-92-betting-wanderlei-silva-quinton-jackson.php

UFC 92: The Ultimate Okami vs The Boogeyman

2008-12-15T10:54:00.001-08:00

UFC 92: The Ultimate Okami vs The Boogeyman: "Okami will start off slow and slowly start to dominate in the second and third rounds of the fight for a decision. Either way he is going to win this fight"

Okami is too big and too strong for Lister. Sports betting wise the UFC betting lines will open up with Okami as the favorite and I would lay a fair amount on an Okami victory. Does Lister have the skill to submit Okami? Yes but not as great as many people think. This will be a standup battle and Lister has not submitted anyone past the first round since his 5th pro fight.

Do I want The Boogeyman to win? Yes. Will He? I’m afraid not. Yushin Okami is not a world beater either but he has very good all round skills. He is a notoriously slow starter when he fights, but always turns it on in the end. If he can start out fast and overwhelm Lister with his power and strikes he should easily win in the first round. Otherwise he will start off slow and slowly start to dominate in the second and third rounds of the fight for a decision. Either way he is going to win this fight.

read full preview

http://www.fighting-mma.com/mma-matchups/2008/ufc-92-wagering-dean-lister-yushin-okami.php

UFC 92: The Ultimate, Forrest Griffin vs Sugar Rashad Evans

2008-12-15T10:07:00.000-08:00

UFC 92: The Ultimate, Forrest Griffin vs Sugar Rashad Evans:

Evans will have insight to Griffins fighting style from Keith Jardine and that will be the factor that gives Evans the advantage. This fight will be a very tactical fight on the part of Evans and he will wait for him chances, but since he attacks he will catch Forrest and will be able to ground and pound for a victory"

Evans is not the best fighter coming into this fight but he is the most disciplined and well coached fighter. He is a more calculating fighter and will wait for his chances and wait for Forrest to make a mistake. He is not a fighter that does things overly well but he pulls out victories. Forrest on the other hand, has is not very disciplined and is not well coached, He likes to fight wildly and will try to put on a good show. In most of Griffins fights if he can win the stand up he will shoot in to score points. He will not be able to do that will Rashad.

Evans will have insight to Griffins fighting style from Keith Jardine and that will be the factor that gives Evans the advantage. This fight will be a very tactical fight on the part of Evans and he will wait for him chances, but since he attacks he will catch Forrest and will be able to ground and pound for a victory. Forest will not be able to use his size in this fight as Evans is use to fighting larger opponents. He will not be thrown off by Griffin’s size as Evans has fought most of his fights as the smaller fighter in the past.

read full preview at

http://www.fighting-mma.com/mma-matchups/2008/ufc-92-betting-forrest-griffin-rashad-evans.php

Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira (-375) vs. Frank Mir (+305)

2008-12-15T09:46:00.002-08:00

UFC 92 The Ultimate, Nogueira vs Mir Preview: "The two Ultimate Fighter Season 8 coaches will square off and the winner will fight the newly crowned UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar to unify the UFC heavyweight division."

Bottom Line: Nogueira also wins the intangible category as well. Nogueira is a fighter that never gives up. He was rocked by Heath Herring at UFC 73: Stacked and still survived. If you look on the coaches challenge in the Ultimate fighter show, Nogueira was going for and diving for every soccer ball while Mir did not. This shows that Nogueira has a better work ethic and will fight until you can fight no more. Mir does not have the desire, drive and heart that Nogueira has. Combined with his work ethic and talent there is no way Mir will be able to beat Nogueira.

read full UFC handicapping report at http://www.fighting-mma.com/mma-matchups/2008/ufc-92-betting-antonio-nogueira-frank-mir.php

UFC Fight for the Troops Main Fight Card Preview

2008-12-09T09:17:00.001-08:00

UFC Fight for the Troops Main Fight Card Preview: "UFC Fight for the Troops main fight card preview for all televised fights on Spike TV"

UFC Welterweight fight: Josh Koscheck vs. Yoshiyuki Yoshida

I look forward to seeing Koscheck set a pace, drive and will that Yoshida has never experienced from a very wounded and backed up animal who has showed grit and toughness against very sounded opponents such as Alves and GSP. Koscheck takes this on a combination of athleticism and heart; he takes this fight for his career, UFC survival and for the troops.

UFC Welterweight fight: Mike Swick vs. Jonathan Goulet

Mike Swick has more size, power, speed, endurance and discipline than his opponent. He has fought much deeper competition and has shown great composure and willingness to stick to a fight plan. This fight is a perfect fit for Swick and I cannot see him dropping this one.

UFC Middleweight fight: Tim Credeur vs. Nate Loughran

note, the TUF exposure may have this line heavy on Credeur, and if that’s he case wagering Nate may be a safer value play

UFC Light heavyweight fight: Steve Cantwell vs. Razak Al-Hassan

Cantwell should be able to prevent Al-Hassan from getting any control at all times and take the win.

UFC lightweight fight: Jim Miller vs. Matt Wiman

I see Miller slowing this fight down and grinding out a round or 2. With it being a very short noticed fight we should have healthy odds on our side for an upset victory

To read full matchup0 reports go to

http://www.fighting-mma.com/articles/2008/ufc-fight-for-the-troops-preview.php

To bet on any of these fight go to BetUS.com

UFC Fight for the Troops Fight Preview

2008-12-08T10:01:00.001-08:00

UFC Fight for the Troops Fight Preview: "UFC Fight for the Troops fight preview for the Hollywood Steve Bruno vs. The Hater Hurter Johnny Rees"

Hollywood Steve Bruno (11-4-0) is one of American Top Team's five dozen or so active professional fighters. Don't let his record fool you though, the average level of his opponents is rather low. There are plenty of cans in his history, including two of his losses.

Johnny "The Hater Hurter" Rees (10-1-0) has one of the most stupid nicknames in mixed martial arts. However, he's a good fighter. The average quality of his opponents has been fairly high, much higher than Bruno's. Like his opponent, he lost his UFC debut. But what most people don't know is: Johnny was fighting up a weight class, at 185, in his debut. He was the UFL 170 lb champ

Bottom Line: This is a bad match up for Steve. His nagging injuries won't help against a seasoned BJJ fighter with a passion for ground and pound. He'll be hard pressed to find the right combination of distance and agility to keep this one standing against the dangerous Rees.

Rees will lock in a choke in round two, for the win

Bet this fight at BetCRIS.com

to read full MMA UFC match up report got to

http://www.fighting-mma.com/mma-matchups/2008/ufc-fight-for-the-troops-steve-bruno-johnny-rees.php

TUF 8 Finale Fight Card is Set

2008-12-04T11:40:00.002-08:00

TUF 8 Finale UFC sports betting and UFC betting predictions with Phillipe Nover fighting Efrain Escudero and Ryan Bader versus Vinicius Magalhaes for the UFC six figure mixed martial arts contact"

The fight has has been announced

Main Card:

Phillipe Nover vs. Efrain Escudero
Ryan Bader vs. Vinicius Magalhaes
Jason MacDonald vs. Wilson Gouveia
Kevin Burns vs. Anthony Johnson
Junie Allen Browning vs. Dave Kaplan

Prelims:

Krzysztof Soszynski vs. Shane Primm
Kyle Kingsbury vs. Tom Lawlor
Jules Bruchez vs. Eliot Marshall
Shane Nelson vs. George Roop
Roli Delgado vs. John Polakowski

No online UFC betting lines have been set but Phillipe Nover who Dana White calls the next big thing in MMA will definitely be the favorite. The New York City nurse has great stand up and even better grappling is what Dana White calls Dana White as “one of the most talented kids I’ve seen on ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ ever,”.

Bet on the TUF 8 Finale at BetCRIS.com

to read more go to
http://www.fighting-mma.com/ufc-betting-information/ufc-betting-matchups/tuf-8-finale-set-with-fight-card/

UFC Puts The Squeeze On Jon Fitch

2008-11-21T09:23:00.003-08:00

Has UFC president Dana White gone too far this time in his totalitarian ways to control UFC fighters? Dana White can squeeze water from a rock but have his cheap way hurt they organization he so proudly built?

The UFC and Dana White have always had a tight control on their fighters which is starting to have drastic effects on the company. Despite record profits, the organization continues to underpay their fighters as the organization wants to control every aspect of the fighter lives outside the octagon

Cutting Jon Fitch from his UFC contract says the UFC might have stepped over the line this time with their controlling ways.

Read full story http://www.fighting-mma.com/articles/2008/big-brother-is-the-ufc.php

MMA Handicapping Prediction Jorge Gurgel versus Aaron Riley

2008-11-11T10:18:00.002-08:00

UFC 91 prediction for Jorge Gurgel versus Aaron Riley MMA lightweight fight.

Gurgel does not have the power in the stand up to hurt Riley who is a very aggressive and powerful striker and he will put a TKO in the first or second round on Gurgel. Bet heavily on a Riley KO in this fight. Put it this way; are you scared of Jorge Gurgel? I didn’t think so.

Betting wise Gurgel always comes into the fight as a favorite and he ends up losing. He is not a good fighter and has no business being in the UFC. Take advantage of betting against him before his UFC contract is taken away.

Once the betting lines come out for this fight I would bet everything I have on this fight for a Aaron Riley win

To read full matchup report got to

http://www.fighting-mma.com/mma-matchups/2008/ufc-91-betting-jorge-gurgel-aaron-riley.php

to bet on this fight go to

UFC 91 Demian Maia versus Nate Quarry Fight Preview

2008-11-11T09:44:00.002-08:00

UFC 91 Demian Maia versus Nate Quarry Fight Preview:

UFC 91 Demian Maia versus Nate Quarry fight preview in the UFC 185 pound middleweight division

The current lines have Maia as a huge betting favorite at -245 which is a good bet considering he is facing an average fighter in Nate Quarry who has beaten no real competition in his MMA career.

Quarry is a +175 sports betting sportsbook underdog who has decent hands but will be very over matched on the ground against a former grappling world champion.

Te read full preview and UFC handicapping prediction for this fight go to

http://www.fighting-mma.com/mma-matchups/2008/ufc-91-betting-demian-maia-nate-quarry.php

also go to www.fighting-mma.com for all other UFC 91 predictions

To place a sports betting wager on hte UFC 91 go to

UFC 91 Preview Kenny Florian vs. Joe Stevenson

2008-11-08T23:07:00.002-08:00

UFC 91 Preview Kenny Florian vs. Joe Stevenson

UFC 91 MMA betting fight preview for the Kenny Florian versus Joe Stevenson in a lightweight 155 mixed martial arts fight.

Both fighters are equally capable of winning this fight. Florian is the better all round fighter, while Stevenson is bigger, stronger and a better grappler.

Both fighters like to push the pace of a fight, but in the end Kenny Florian will win this fight for being more aggressive.

This fight should go the distance and this would be a great prop bet to make for the fight to go all three rounds. Florian will be the aggressor and score more points and that will reflect in the judges scoring.

Florian will be the aggressor and score more points and that will reflect in the judges scoring.

To read full MMA preview and UFC handicapping report go to

http://www.fighting-mma.com/mma-matchups/2008/ufc-91-sports-betting-kenny-florian-joe-stevenson.php

Bet all UFC 91 fights at BetUS.com

UFC 91, Randy The Natural Couture versus Brock Lesnar Preview

2008-11-08T12:22:00.001-08:00

The biggest mixed martial arts fight in history is about to be made as there is huge excitement for this fight. Randy “The Natural” Couture (16-8) will take on his biggest challenge in fighting former WWE star Brock Lesnar for the UFC heavyweight championship.

At this point in his career Lesnar is a one dimensional fighter that can only use his size to lay on his opponent and land pot shots. Has he acquired the skills to become a full MMA fighter yet? Yes but to a certain extent. Because of his size Lesnar will pose a lot of problems for any decent MMA fighter but he has not gained the necessary experience to fight at the top level yet. Just look at his fight with Mir who is not even a top ten heavyweight. Brock Lesnar is still green when it comes to mixed martial arts and it will show against the smarter fighter

When it comes to wrestling, people think Lesnar he the advantage but it is Randy that has the advantage and is the more technical fighter. While Lesnar has more raw power and speed, Randy will be able to out wrestle Lesnar if this fight goes to the ground due to his experience. Brock just won’t be able to lay on top of Couture like how he did with Heath Herring as his wrestling background will be able to get out of those situations. We have seen Lesnar top control game but what about his defense game if Randy is able to gain top control. If Couture is able to get the top control I do not see Lesnar being about to get out.

read full preview at http://www.fighting-mma.com/mma-matchups/2008/ufc-91-betting-randy-couture-brock-lesnar.php

Denis Kang Signs with UFC in a Four Fight Deal

2008-11-04T09:54:00.001-08:00

One of the top mixed martial arts fighters in the world at 185 has just signed a 4 fight deal with the UFC. Denis Kang from Vancouver Canada will mostly likely make his UFC debut at UFC 94 Superbowl weekend

Denis Kang (31-10-1), is one of the best middleweights in mixed martial arts and will be looking to set his sights on Anderson Silva who has no real competition and is bored fighting at 185 in the UFC.

Kang who has fought in Pride, Dreams and is the current Spirit MC middleweight champion is very popular in Asia will make look to make his make in the US.

Kang once went three years and 23 fights without losing and in Asia he is considered a legend due to his heroic performance at the Pride Bushido Grand prix where he continued to fight despite a ripped right biceps muscle.

Kang is very excited to fight in the UFC and was quoted as saying

“When I was fighting in Pride I was proud to be a Pride fighter and I loved it,” recalled Kang. “I felt like I was really part of the Pride family, but the only thing I envied the UFC fighters was that people could watch them live and go to their fights. I can tell you that if I hadn’t been fighting for Pride, the UFC would have been my other choice.”

To read more about the UFC signing go to

http://www.fighting-mma.com/mma-news/2008/denis-kang-signs-with-ufc.php

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UFC 90 Silva vs. Cote, Fight Results and Recap

2008-10-27T09:30:00.004-07:00

Anderson Silva retains his UFC middleweight title a with a TKO as Patrick Cote pulls out in third round with a injury.

Cote lasted longer than fighter Silva has ever faced in the UFC by going into the third round but in the third round Cote pulled a muscle in his calve and he was forced to withdraw from the fight giving the Silva the TKO victory.

Other results had Thiago Alves beating Josh Koscheck to move in line to fight Georges St. Pierre for the UFC welterweight fight.

Also Sean Sherk beat up Tyson Griffin in a three round exciting fight.

to see and read the all the UFC 90 results go to

http://www.fighting-mma.com/ultimate-fighting/UFC-90-silva-cote.php

Winner	Loser	Method	Round	Time
Pete Sell	Josh Burkman	Decision (Unanimous)	3	5:00
Hermes Franca	Marcus Aurelio	Decision (Unanimous)	3	5:00
Dan Miller	Matt Horwich	Decision (Unanimous)	3	5:00
Spencer Fisher	Shannon Gugerty	Submission (Triangle Choke)	3	3:56
Thales Leites	Drew McFedries	Submission (Rear Naked choke)	1	1:18
Sean Sherk	Tyson Griffin	Decision (Unanimous)	3	5:00
Junior dos Santos	Fabricio Werdum	TKO (Strikes)	1	1:21
Gray Maynard	Rich Clementi	Decision (Unanimous)	3	5:00
Thiago Alves	Josh Koscheck	Decision (Unanimous)	3	5:00
Anderson Silva	Patrick Côté	TKO (Injured knee)	3	:39

Kimbo Slice to be on The Ultimate Fighter?

2008-10-22T10:54:00.002-07:00

Why not put him on the TUF series so he can prove himself

Win win for both the UFC and Kimbo

Since it would look bad for Dana to sign him since he has already called him a bum

Now that EliteXC has folded up operations due to lack of income there are a stable of fighters that now need new homes with the most noteworthy attraction none other than Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson.

read full article

http://www.fighting-mma.com/articles/2008/kimbo-slice-to-be-on-ultimate-fighter.php

Sean "The Muscle Shark" Sherk vs. Tyson Griffin Preview

2008-10-19T12:08:00.001-07:00

"This is going to be the most boring fight in UFC history as two wrestlers will try to take each other down and try to ground and pound each other out. Tyson Griffin (12-1) is a young and future version of his opponent Sean the Muscle Shark Sherk (33-3-1) but that is at least 3 to 4 years away."

It is hard to say what the sportsbook lines will open with but, Sherk will definitely be the favorite. If the lines open up at anywhere under -200, I would bet a lot on Sherk. I would presume that Sherk should open up at -250 which is still a good opening line. The best bet would be to make a prop bet for this fight to go the distance and for Sherk to win a 3 round decision. These are the best UFC prop bets to make. Sports betting wise place a bet on Sherk to win and make 2 UFC proposition bets on the fight to go the distance and for Sherk to win a three round decision. To maximize you bet even further try to parlay all three bets into one

Bisping Pleases His Home Town with a Victory Over Leben

2008-10-18T15:27:00.001-07:00

The main event had home town hero Michael Bisping come in against Chris Leben. Bisping picks Leben apart for the first two rounds breaking Leben's nose with precise jabs that hurt Leben. Leben who has never been the smartest fighter had no answer but to try to resort to brawling which hurt him even more."

Bisping had the better game plan and countered his shot which hurt Leben who had no answer for the Brit. He wins an easy fight in front of his home town crowd. If you read any of our MMA matchup reports we were bang on once again.

to read the full review and see the results of UFC 89 go to

http://www.fighting-mma.com/ultimate-fighting/UFC-89-bisping-leben.php

Vadim Finkelchtein Speaks Out

2008-10-15T10:34:00.000-07:00

Vadim Finkelchtein Speaks Out:

Vadim Finkelchtein Speaks Out

M-1 GLOBAL and Affliction Entertainment joined forces to promote the Mixed Martial Arts all over the world…

Vadim Finkelchtein and Sergey Matvienko are the tycoons of M-1 and Donald Trump is one of the names of Affliction entertainment. No need to say that this alliance means serious business.

Vadim: “I expected the Challenge of 2008 to be a success, but this came sooner than expected. The first TV broadcastings have been on air by HD-Net and they were well received. From now on the Challenge can be seen weekly in more than eighty countries. At the moment we are working towards the finals of 2008 in Russia in which the poule winners will fight for the Challenge Championship and the numbers two of the poules will face each other for the 3th place. The whole show will be covered by NTV, Russia’s largest National TV network.”

Kimbo Slice Gets KO ed by Seth Petruzelli at EliteXC Heat

2008-10-08T08:58:00.001-07:00

Kimbo Slice Gets KO ed by Seth Petruzelli at EliteXC Heat

Never was there a night of fights that displayed the true nature of the cage then EliteXC’s Heat card for October 4th live on CBS primetime.

In the nights showcased fights we saw Gina Carano use the cage to her advantage and avoid the aggressive takedown attempts from Kelly Kobold all night. She was able to use her size, strength and balance on the fence to avoid all but 1 throwdown. The on going effort of Kobold weakened her over the course of the fight and opened her up to effective strikes from Carano leading her to an easy decision victory.

We witnessed a lack of cage knowledge from title contender Paul Daley who decided not to use the fence as a way to stand-up from the WW champion and BJJ expert Jake Shields. In full top mount and being rained down on from Shields, Daley’s only way out was to wiggle and turn ever so slightly and begin to push his way up the fence to get to his stand-up advantage. Daley never having fought an opponent with ground game such as Shields it appeared he had no answer or counter plans. Daley tapped only seconds later as he had no where to go.

Read rest of article at http://www.fighting-mma.com/articles/2008/victims-of-the-cage.php

NHL provides environmental role models!

2008-09-30T10:02:00.001-07:00

NHL provides environmental role models!

Many of us grew up playing hockey on the streets and still remember the calls of "CAR". We would then move our hockey nets, watch the cars go by and then resume playing. When I was one of those kid’s we were imagining we were Lafluer, Esposito or Dryden. These days the game is the same but the players the kids are emulating are Crosby, Ovechkin and Iginla.

We didn’t think of the bigger picture back then as we sucked in the exhaust fumes from that 1975 Chevy as it slowly drove by and I am sure that it is the same for the players today when that Prius drives by. The one difference is the affect on the global warming of the planet. I understand that little Bobby "Crosby" Jones doesn’t spend too much time worrying about global warming; he is just trying to get that backhand to look just like Sidney Crosby’s. Hockey players have always been someone to look up to and have been role models for generations of kids, now there is just one more reason for this to be.

Each player in the National Hockey League generates about 10 tonnes of carbon emissions each season with the bulk of it coming from air travel but also from driving between arenas and airports. Andrew Ference spearheaded an initiative where players purchase carbon offsets to cover their air travel and hotels while they are on the road with the NHL. The initiative which is not run by the NHL or individual teams is entirely voluntarily. Today, roughly half of the players are participating in the initiative. The money that is paid to the carbon offsets is distributed to clean air projects in India, Indonesia and Madagascar.

http://www.globe-net.com/blog/listing.cfm?type=6&ID_News=3768

UFC 89 Predictions, Shane Carwin vs. Neil Wain, UFC Betting

2008-09-29T16:47:00.001-07:00

UFC 89 Predictions, Shane Carwin vs. Neil Wain, UFC Betting

Bet this MMA UFC fight at Bodog Life

UFC Heavyweight fight: Shane Carwin vs. Neil Wain

Shane Carwin (9-0-0) knows that holding down two jobs can be rough. He's a full time engineer, and a full time mixed martial artist. He's a quick thinker and a force of nature. And if he weren't on the same card as Silva-Jardine at UFC 84, he probably would have earned himself a Knockout of the Night on his UFC debut!

Still, Carwin is one of the new-breed MMA fighters: A multi-talented athlete in addition to being a gym rat.

For the first couple of years of his MMA career, Shane wasn't really challenged. He fought in the lower leagues and never had a fight go past 2 minutes and 11 seconds. His team claims that he has good cardio, however the guy has never needed it. He's coached by veteran Nate Marquardt, and rolls with the folks over at High Altitude MMA in Colorado. That's a good crew, with very modern attitudes and methods. So even though he hasn't been tested to his full potential, his pedigree is high.

Read rest of the UFC fight preview

http://www.fighting-mma.com/mma-matchups/2008/ufc-89-predictions-shane-carwin-neil-wain.php

The Wal-Mart Effect, Corporate Social Responsibility

2008-09-26T10:55:00.001-07:00

Offshoring - The Wal-Mart effect - Corporate Social Responsibility - These are some of the drivers behind the trend line towards more green and sustainable purchasing.

More and more organizations are adopting sustainability or Corporate Responsibility (CR) commitments - public declarations that the firm is integrating environmental, ethical, and social factors throughout their business strategies, operations, products and services, and in how they relate to their employees, communities, and suppliers.

http://www.globe-net.com/news/index.cfm?type=2&newsID=3762

China, Revolution in the Air

2008-09-26T10:54:00.002-07:00

For the last five years the country’s leaders have stopped talking about economic growth without concern for the environment. They have been keenly aware of the dangers of greenhouse gas emissions and have instituted policies to curb development excesses of the past. In fact China plans to reduce its energy intensity by 20 percent by 2010 and to almost double renewable energy to 15 percent of total generation by 2020, according to the Climate Group, a non-profit dedicated to advance business and government leadership on climate change.

"Significant actions to improve energy efficiency are already under way. China is now showing some of the strongest growth rates in the low carbon industries that reduce climate impacts of any country in the world," write Steve Howard and Changhua Wu of Climate Change in the environmental report, China’s Clean Revolution. China now ranks second in absolute dollar amounts invested in renewable energy - $12 billion in 2007 - second only to world leader Germany.

http://www.globe-net.com/news/index.cfm?type=2&newsID=3761

UFC 88 Breakthrough - Rashad Evans Knocks Out Chuck Liddell

2008-09-06T22:11:00.000-07:00

UFC 88 Breakthrough - Rashad Evans Knocks Out Chuck Liddell: "Rashad Evans wanted to prove the world he is a legitimate fighter against Chuck Liddell. Evans came out cautious but in the second round he landed a right cross that landed on Liddell that knocked him out even before he hit the ground."

Never doubt the online betting UFC handicapping experts at fighting-mma.com as our matchup reports for all the UFC fighters were bang on as we got an almost 100% accuracy on all the fights going 8 for 9. UFC betting wise the biggest score of the night was a +240 underdog pick victory by Kurt Pellegrino over the heavily favored Thiago Tavares. If you bet on this fight you would have won a lot of money. If you don’t believe me, re-read our UFC predictions.

Read the UFC 88 play by play recap for all the under card and main event card fights.

http://www.fighting-mma.com/ultimate-fighting/UFC-88-breakthrough.php

UFC 88 Online Betting

2008-09-04T21:40:00.002-07:00

UFC 88 betting odds at BetCRIS.com

All the online betting odds are now out at BetCRIS.com

If you want to read the UFC handicapping reports for these UFC fights go to www.fighting-mma.com

UFC handicapping previews

Chuck Liddell (-285) vs. Rashad Evans (+225)

Rich Franklin (-255) vs. Matt Hamill (+205)

Dan Henderson (-210) vs Rousimar "Toquinho" Palhares (+170)

Matt Brown (+280) vs Dong Hyun Kim (-350)

Thiago Tavares vs. Kurt Pellegrino

Rashad Evans +225
Chuck Liddell -285

Matt Hamill +205
Rich Franklin -255

Yoshiyuki Yoshida +190
Karo Paryisyan -240

Rousimar Palhares +170
Dan Henderson -210

Martin Kampmann +115
Nate Marquardt -145

Kurt Pellegrino +240
Thiago Tavares -300

Michael Patt +305
Tim Boetsch -375

Matt Brown +280
Dong Hyun Kim -350

Jason Lambert +150
Jason Macdonald -180

Roan Carneiro -110
Ryo Chonan -120

If you would like to place a bet on any UFC 88 fight go to BetCRIS.com

North South Choke, MMA, Judo, Wrestling, BJJ

2008-08-30T09:59:00.000-07:00

North South Choke, MMA, Judo, Wrestling, BJJ: "In my recent analysis of the ground game (for, of all things, a commentary on our national Judo program!), I had to review a lot of footage of MMA, Judo, Wrestling, and BJJ. I was timing transition speed and frequency, and I noticed an odd trend that I thought I would share with you all."

In my recent analysis of the ground game (for, of all things, a commentary on our national Judo program!), I had to review a lot of footage of MMA, Judo, Wrestling, and BJJ. I was timing transition speed and frequency, and I noticed an odd trend that I thought I would share with you all.

There are exactly three places you can go from side mount if you want to stay on the ground:

1) You can move to half guard, sacrificing your advantage for a stable striking platform on one side. This can be done almost at will, but it is only situationally good

2) You can attempt a full mount, the lowest percentage play, but one that gives you a massive advantage if you succeed. This will often stall out until you get stood up or the round ends

3) You can commit to a North-South transition with good frequency... over THREE TIMES more N-S attempts make a successful transition when compared to the percentage of full mount attempts. This is one of the least utilized positions in MMA, according to my studies.

Perhaps it is a lack of understanding and training that keeps fighters from transitioning to North-South. The fighters who have the most success with this position tend to be high level wrestlers, such as Randy Couture and Jeff Monson. But a few months of training will give any professional MMA fighter options here.

Jason Scully over at Grappler's Guide has written an excellent article on the technical aspects of the North-South choke (found right here on Fighting-MMA: http://www.fighting-mma.com/ufc-betting-information/mma-training/north-south-choke/ ), and both the Anaconda and Kimura are fairly well documented, so I won't get into the nuts and bolts of North-South mechanics in this article. Instead, let me talk about all of the reasons that fighters should strive to add this position to their toolbox.

Read full post at http://www.fighting-mma.com/articles/2008/the-north-south-option.php

Check out Bookmaker and BetCRIS for the latest online sports betting lines

Affliction Banned Salaries, Fedor Emelianenko, Mixed Martial

2008-08-28T15:55:00.000-07:00

Affliction Banned Salaries, Fedor Emelianenko, Mixed Martial: "Affliction Banned Salaries for Fedor Emelianenko the Last Emperor and other mixed martial arts betting information for the MMA clothing brand that rivals the UFC for online sports bettors"

Affliction Banned was a great success and they have released the fighters pay salaries for all the fighters. The owners of Affliction promised that they would treat and pay their fighters much better than their rivals at the UFC.

Dana White has historically kept the fighters salaries low despite making record profits. Now that the numbers have been released there might be a huge exodus of fighters that want to get paid for that they are worth.

Everyone knows that the UFC have continually kept fighters salaries low as they have had a virtual monopoly on the MMA industry. If this trend continues that the UFC might have to start paying market value for their fighters.

For example at UFC 76 - Knockout in the main fight between UFC star Chuck Liddell and Keith Jardine, Liddell was paid $500,000 while Jardine only earned $14,000 for the fight. The total payroll for the event was $954,000 (though 68 percent of it went to Liddell and Shogun Rua). UFC 76 had 475,000 pay per view buys at 40 bucks a pop which means that the UFC made around 19 million for the event yet they only spent just under a million on fighter salaries. That is not including the gate tickets sales, merchandise, and reale valueof hte event on either television or DVD sales.

With the hopes of a real threat to the UFC, Affliction is hoping to get better talent and paying the fighters better which is good for the fighters and not the multination corporation of Zuffa that are trying to exploit the fighters who work their whole lives and sacrifice everything not to get paid properly.

So congratulations to Affliction for sticking up for the fighters and paying them for what they are worth. The godo thing is that even though Justin Levens and Ray Lizama did not fight at the event they were still compensated. Lets see Dana White do this.

Lets hope the UFC starts to pay people for what they are worth.

Below are the final salary numbers for Affliction Banned. The following are the Fighter Salaries and Bonuses Paid for the Affliction: Banned card. This list courtesy of CSAC and SI.com:

Affliction: Banned Fighter Salaries and Bonuses

ATHLETE	PURSE AMOUNT	BONUS PAY	TOTAL PAY
Tim Sylvia	$800,000	$0	$799,790
Fedor Emelianenko	$300,000	$0	$299,800
Mark Hominick	$5,000	$5,000	$9,890
Savant Young	$7,000	$0	$6,155
Terry Martin	$30,000	$0	$29,400
Vitor Belfort	$70,000	$70,000	$139,840
Joseph Ambrose	$5,000	$0	$4,394
Mike Pyle	$15,000	$5,000	$19,840
Edwin Dewees	$15,000	$0	$14,840
Antonio Nogueira	$50,000	$0	$49,240
Matt Lindland	$225,000	$75,000	$299,540
Fabio Nascimiento	$20,000	$0	$19,420
Mike Whitehead	$50,000	$0	$43,500
Renato Sobral	$60,000	$30,000	$97,880
Pedro Rizzo	$70,000	$0	$69,740
Josh Barnett	$300,000	$0	$295,079
Andre Arlovski	$500,000	$250,000	$749,690
Ben Rothwell	$250,000	$0	$249,790
*Justin Levens	$6,000	$0	$4,641
*Ray Lizama	$3,000	$0	$3,490
Paul Buentello	$60,000	$20,000	$79,098
Gary Goodridge	$25,000	$0	$24,790
TOTALS $2,866,000	$2,866,000	$455,000	$3,319,737

Notes:

*Justin Levens and Ray Lizama did not fight. There total pay was negotiated.
More than likely there was some additional pay for Fedor Emilianenko that was paid prior to the card (signing bonus, Apparel payments, PPV Bonuses are some possible payments that wouldn’t be included in CSAC numbers) that would increase his pay significantly.

UFC 88 Matt Brown vs Dong Hyun Kim

2008-08-14T09:08:00.000-07:00

UFC 88 Matt Brown vs Dong Hyun Kim: "Matt Brown (7-6) was supposed to be one of the best fighters in the seventh season of The Ultimate Fighter television series"

No idea why Matt Brown is back in the UFC but he will be fighting a very tough Korean fighter in Dong Hyun Kim (10-0-1) who is undefeated at 10-0 with one draw. Kim is a very heavy handed fighter who gained recognition in 2007 after knocking out DEEP welterweight champion Hidehiko Hasegawa in a non-title bout. Not only does Kim have very good striking but he is also vet good on the ground.

Matt Brown is basically a bar fighter with some grappling experience. He is a blue belt under UFC underachiever instructor Jorge Gurgel. If he is learning grappling under Gurgel he is most likely not learning proper technique and fundamentals. This is best exemplified by his lack of technique when he got submitted by Amir Sadollah, a person with no MMA ring experience.

read rest of the preview

http://www.fighting-mma.com/mma-matchups/2008/ufc-88-sports-betting-matt-brown-dong-hyun-kim.php

2008-08-14T08:53:00.000-07:00

Global demand for innovations to help combat climate change presents new opportunities for developers and marketers of clean energy and purification technologies. Many Canadian companies are answering the demand and finding success in niche markets.

Climate change worries, high oil prices and increasing government support are fuelling soaring rates of investment in the renewable energy and energy efficiency industries, according to a trend analysis from the UN Environment Programme. Growing consumer awareness of renewable energy and energy efficiency - and their longer-term potential for cheaper energy, not just greener energy - is another fundamental driver, the report said.

To that effect, environmentally friendly technologies are being developed to address a myriad of global challenges, including the need for alternate fuel sources, better drinking water treatment, and air and soil quality improvements.

Investment in the cleantech space is indicative of the increased attention to green innovation -- venture capital investment alone in this category has been estimated at $5 billion. Therefore, the advancement of these technologies is of significant interest to business and the public at large.

Canada’s environmental sector is tough to quantify, primarily because many companies that develop clean technologies, equipment and services conduct only part of their operations within the sector.

GLOBE Foundation of Canada, a private non-profit institution that helps the Canadian environmental industry capitalize on international opportunities, estimated, in 2004, that the sector’s core comprised 10,000 companies and 250,000 employees doing close to $30 billion worth of business.

By 2007, a study by ECO Canada, the Sector Council for environmental industries, concluded that about 530,400 people were working either full-time or part-time on environmental activities.

Canadian international trade in environmental machinery and equipment to all countries in 2006 totalled $7.3 billion in exports and $10.9 billion in imports, primarily to and from the United States.

Around the world, GLOBE estimates environmental business to form a trillion dollar global market.

Growing demand for cleantech

"Changing public attitudes both in Canada and around the world are creating new demand for environmentally sound solutions in coming years," says Dr. John Wiebe, President and CEO of GLOBE. "And many Canadian environmental companies are helping other Canadian and international businesses to be more environmentally responsible and sustainable."

One such company is Smartsoil Energy of Quebec. Marketing Manager Annie Boulanger’s job centers around explaining the company’s sophisticated landfill gas-to-energy conversion capabilities.

Smartsoil Energy recently completed a successful installation at a landfill in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, where their technology will aid in the collection of gases created by waste decomposition. These gases will be cleaned and fed into a generation station. The end product: 6.4 megawatts of electrical power and 212,000 tons of equivalent carbon credits each year, which can be then sold on the market.

"Everybody wins with this type of installation," says Boulanger. "Not only are harmful gases transformed, but the output converts into electricity, which benefits the entire surrounding community."

The Ciudad Juarez project is one of two that Smartsoil Energy is currently contracted to install in Mexico. A second is scheduled to be put in place near Cancun. And the company is in the advanced stages of negotiations to sell two more. Smartsoil Energy’s new technologies have entered the market at a good time.

Growing public consciousness regarding the planet’s environmental challenges is creating new opportunities for many Canadian players. The company’s sales have already breached the $5 million mark. Created in 2002, the company has seen its employee base grow from 12 last year to more than 25. By 2009 that total is expected to double again.

UFC 86 Betting Odds

2008-06-08T13:53:00.000-07:00

UFC 86 Betting Odds

Bookmaker.com has just announced the UFC 86 betting odds for the UFC event that will headline TUF 7 coaches Quinton Rampage Jackson and Forrest Griffin. The event will be held on July 5, 2008 in Las Vegas Nevada which will also have other big time fights. Betting wise the Marcus Aurelio fight versus Tyson Griffin looks to be the biggest under bet to place on. The current online UFC lines have Rampage Jackson as a huge favorite over TUF winner Forrest Griffin.

Also Ricardo Almeida a great BJJ black belt grappler is a underdog versus hard hitting Patrick Cote. This might be the event where a lot of favorite go down for online UFC bettors.

Bet the UFC at Bookmaker.com today

Forrest Griffin +195
Quinton Jackson -245

Ricardo Almeida +110
Patrick Cote -140

Gleison Tibau +185
Joe Stevenson -225

Chris Lytle +275
Josh Koscheck -345

Marcus Aurelio +275
Tyson Griffin -345

Jorge Gurgel EV
Cole Miller -130

Check out http://www.fighting-mma.comn/ for all MMA handicapping matchups for this UFC betting event

Place a bet at Bookmaker.com for all UFC fights as they are the Internet sports book that comes out with the earliest mixed martial arts betting lines and odds

TUF 7: Betting Odds Out

2008-06-08T11:16:00.001-07:00

Bookmaker.com has the early online betting lines for the following UFC fights for the TUF 7 Finale

Bet the UFC at Bookmaker.com today

Kendall Grove +175
Evan Tanner -215

Luigi Fioravanti +350
Diego Sanchez -450

Jeremy Stephans +155
Spencer Fisher -195

Dustin Hazelett +170
Josh Burkman -210

Marvin Eeastman +115
Drew Mcfedries -145

Jeremy Horn -130
Dean Lister EV

UFC betting wise the two finalists for the Middleweight UFC 6 figure contract have not been released yet. We will have to wait till next week’s show on Spike TV to see who will fight who in the final.

The semi final matches include Tim Credeur fighting Jesse Taylor in one semi-final match and C.B. Dollaway fighting Amir Sadollah in the other semi-final match.

Place a bet at Bookmaker.com for all UFC fights as they are the Internet sports book that comes out with the earliest mixed martial arts betting lines and odds

Former UFC Champion sells his UFC belt on eBay

2008-01-02T14:47:00.001-08:00

Ricco “Suave” Rodriguez the former UFC heavyweight champion has now put up his heavyweight championship belt he got at UFC 39 up for bid on eBay with the starting bid set at $29,999.00 US. Ricco has had a lot of ups and downs in his 10-year MMA career. He's accomplished a lot in a short time and at 28 years-old (with a 22-6 MMA record) and is one of the most skilled fighters to ever fight in hte heavyweight division in mixed martial arts.

read the rest of the MMA article here

UFC 79: Nemesis Betting Preview

2007-12-24T11:23:00.000-08:00

For a full matchup report of all thsese fights go to http://www.fighting-mma.com/
for all UFC betting odds and matchup information provided by UFC expert Stan Leung

Matt Hughes vs. Georges St. Pierre

Georges St Pierre is the perfect fighter as even DanWhite has called him the all purpose fighter. GSP has the striking, the power and upper body strengthen over Hughes. GSP just has too much power in the stand up. 5 years ago Matt Hughes was unstoppable. He just doesn’t seem to want it as much as he did before and he has other outside influences taken him away from fighting. With all that Bible talk and him talking about God rather than training, I feel Hughes has lost the will to fight and compete. Georges St Pierre becomes the interim UFC welterweight champion with a KO of Matt Hughes

Chuck Liddell vs. Wanderlei Silva

Wanderlei Silva is one of the most feared strikers in the world and has fought every top level MMA fighter in the world no matter the size. Silva has been train with Team Couture in Vegas at Xtremecouture and Randy will have important inside information on how to fight Liddell. He is fighting top level fighters while training. Where is Chuck Liddell training?

Liddell throws wild punches and his hands are constantly wide and to the side. When he fights a pure striker like Silva he will not be able to handle the striking technique or power. Wanderlei will lay a beating on Chuck in the first right and at the start of the second round will punish Chuck until the ref will mercifully stop this fight.

Wanderlei will KO Liddell.

For a full UFC match up report go to http://www.fighting-mma.com/

Lyoto Machida vs. Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou

Machida is more experienced and has fought tough opponents and has been in the UFC octagon before but you can not look past the raw pure talent of Sokoudjou. He is so strong and with his judo background he will be able to flip Machida for a ground and pound victory. Look out MMA fans because Sokoudjou is coming to the UFC and will make a statement

Take Sokoudjou to win in the second round by TKO on strikes due to a vicious ground and pound.

Nate Mohr vs. Manvel Gamburyan

Even though Mohr has more experience I like Gamburyan in this fight. His body type gives a lot of fighters problems and he has a good judo back ground and with that type of base he will be able extinguish Mohr’s ground and pound. Mohr will not be able to submit Gamburyan and he will be able to frustrate his game plan.

Take Gamburyan in a three round decision

Tony DeSouza vs. Roan “Jucao” Carneiro

DeSouza’s game will be to take him down and submit Carneiro down. Both of them have great Jujitsu skills but DeSouza’s BJJ will not over power Carneiro game so the fight will be won in the stand up and Carneiro has a very big advantage in this category. Both fighters are complementary and each will neutralize each other fight game but this fight will be won on the takedowns and striking

Carneiro wins a three round decision over DeSouza

For a full UFC match up report go to http://www.fighting-mma.com/mma-matchups/ufc-79-tony-desouza-roan-carneiro.php

Dean Lister vs Jordan Radev

Radev does have a punchers chance but this will be his first time in the UFC octagon in front of a large crowd and he will be fighting a world class grappler and Radev has not even fought anyone to his caliber yet. Despite Lister lack of a stand up game he has never been knocked out and he has fought some of the toughest middleweights in the world.
Lister wins by second round triangle choke

Shamrock vs Shamrock

2007-12-21T16:12:00.000-08:00

Ken Shamrock gave an interview on HDNet Fights about fighting his brother Frank. Judging from his comments it seems like it may be a done deal.

“Well first of all it’s the first time that it’s been done in any sport that brother has versed brother,” said Shamrock. “It’s not a bad thing. Me and my brother did this for a living. I brought my brother into the sport. I’ve always dominated my brother, he knows that. Now he wants a chance in front of the world since I may have gotten a little older and a little slower. He thinks that he wants to come in and show everyone that he’s the big brother but you know what, blood brothers man. We’re going to make that happen.

It’s not a dirty thing, we don’t hate each other. The fact is I respect what he’s done with myself and I’m looking forward to getting in there and doing a little sibling rivalry in the ring.”

for all other MMA related news or MMA articles

go to http://www.fighting-mma.com/

How many 5 years olds can you beat up?

2007-12-19T11:44:00.000-08:00

UFC 77 Predictions

2007-10-17T09:49:00.000-07:00

UFC 77 UFC Betting Analysis and Predictions by Stan Leung of www.fighting-mma.com the place to go for UFC Betting

Middleweight Championship bout: Anderson Silva vs. Rich Franklin

In their last fight Silva put on a MMA clinic as he busted up Franklin’s face so bad he had to have reconstructive surgery. What different this time? Nothing, Franklin won’t strike with him as he is way over matched in the stand up. Look for another spanking in from of his home crowd.

Silva beats down Franklin again

Heavyweight bout: Brandon Vera vs. Tim Sylvia

Tim Sylvia is fat, big, slow and has virtually no skills. Brandon Vera on the other hand possess a great wrestling background, as well as a great jujitsu background. He has greater striking ability but wont stand and trade with the bigger Sylvia. Instead he will take down Sylvia and from there he will either ground and pound him out or submit him.

Second Round Submission by Vera

Light heavyweight bout: Eric Schafer vs. Stephan Bonnar

Eric John "Ravishing Red" Schafer is a BJJ and ground specialist and Bonnar is suppose to be a great BJJ practitioner but we constantly see him do stupid thins in th octagon. Schafer is very crafty on the ground and before his loss to Michael Bisping he submitted his last 6 fighters. Eric Schafer has great skills and will surprise Bonnar with a second round submission.
Schafer wins by submission

Middleweight bout: Kalib Starnes vs. Alan Belcher

Alan Belcher is a very tough fighter and with time will someday be a top middleweight. Kalib Starnes has moved to the American Top Team which is probably the best club in the North American right now with a wealth of MMA fighters. Now that he trains away from home so he can concentrate on his conditioning and MMA career instead of partying.

Take Starnes with another 3 round decision.

Lightweight bout: Jorge Gurgel vs. Alvin Robinson

Jorge Gurgel is suppose to be a Brazilian Jujitsu expert but from what I have seen he is a little boy in a big man’s world. Look for Robinson to press the attack in the stand up and confuse Gurgel all night. Cincinnati both your home town heroes will go down at UFC 77.

Take Robinson in the three round decision.

Middleweight bout: Yushin Okami vs. Jason MacDonald

Two fighters that have recently lost to Rich Franklin square off. This will be no contest for Okami who has really incredible striking. He will storm in at the sound of the bell and punch out the Canadian grappler with little ease.

Easy first round TKO for Okami who should have beaten Franklin

Welterweight bout: Josh Burkman vs. Forrest Petz

Josh Burkman sucks but Forrest Petz is even worse. He is basically on the card because he is from Ohio. Look for a quick knock out by Burkman on an average fighter as best.

Take Burkman to KO Petz in the first round

Lightweight bout: Matt Grice vs. Jason Black

Jason Black has lost to Thiago Tavares, Shinya Aoki and Shonie Carter and his record is 21-3-1 and he is no joke. Black is an all round fighter with great stand up and above average grappling skills. Matt Grice is an up and coming fighter but at this stage he has not fought the level of competition that Black has.

First round submission by Black in the second round

For all mixed martial arts match ups go to ww.fighting-mma.com
to bet on these fights got to BetUS.com where they will give you a 50 free bet if you deposit 100

Mixed Martial Arts Pod Cast

2007-07-19T12:28:00.000-07:00

Now you can get all your latest mixed marital ars news, MMA articles at fighting-mma.com.

This mixed martial arts website has added a new feature podcast so now you have the abilty now to not only read about mixed mariral arts but listen to it as well.

The site also contains

MMA matchups so you can know who and how much to bet on

So stay up on your UFC and mixed martial arts news at fighting-mma.com.

Remember when in doubt knock em out

UFC Fighter Salaries

2007-07-16T16:04:00.000-07:00

As popularity continues to grow with the UFC, so do the pay-per-view and gate totals. However, are the fighter’s salaries rising at a slower rate?

In 2006, the UFC reportedly made, in the neighborhood of, 223 million dollars from pay-per-view events. Those numbers are an incredible accomplishment for a sport thought to be a league of goons. With the sport of Mixed Martial Arts blowing up the way it has, the pay-per-view numbers for 2007 could destroy the 223 million from 2006...

the rest of this mma articles can be found at fighting-mma.com

Ignorance Is Bliss

2007-07-10T11:13:00.000-07:00

A hard right connects with the left side of the jaw. In slow motion the jaw appears to temporarily leave the socket and then relocate itself. Who would want that? Some say, MMA fighting is a ridiculous sport filled with a bunch of goons with no real talent; while true fight fans know the training these fighters put in leads to great talent and by no means are these guys just a bunch of jar-heads.

Sure, the most talented fighter doesn’t always win, which brings luck into the ring. Take the Matt Serra, George St. Pierre fight. One slip turned into a champion getting pummeled. That was luck not goonery. When St. Pierre picked apart Matt Hughes in their second go around it was pure talent, which created that performance. For people to walk around and say MMA fighting is a ridiculous sport for goons, it’s just as ignorant as calling a poker player an athlete.

read rest of the story

NFL is just around the corner

2007-06-11T14:53:00.000-07:00

Well can you feel it in the air as we get our first rumblings of the NFL. First, we had Chad Johnson of the Cincinnati Bengals or Ocho Cinco race a horse for charity. Also we had most online sportsbooks and sports betting websites start popsting their online betting odds for the 2007/08 NFL football season.

The New England Patriots and the Chicago Bears are the favorites to win conference championships in the 2007-08 NFL season, according to odds released by most online Internet sportsbooks. The Partriots added some key NFL free-agents like all prop wide receiver Randy Moss, Junior Seau and Donte' Stallworth.

Now that we coming to the NFL football season we are also coming to the NFL football betting season. Lets face it folks, The National Football League would not be where it is today without sports betting.

Doc Sports is a great NFL Football handicapping site that has great NFL Picks as well as NCAA college football picks, MLB, NHL and NBA sports picks.

This site has been around for years and includes great sports betting information, live betting lines from various sportsbooks, handicapping matchup reports, sports scores, sports schedules and handicapping resources for onoine NFL and sports bettors.

UFC 71: Liddell vs Jackson

2007-05-25T16:34:00.000-07:00

Source: www.fighting-mma.com

Read the mixed martial arts handicapping by Stan Leung one of the foremost MMA handicapper in the world

First of all Rampage is the exact same fighter Chuck is except he throws and much heavier punch. There will be no secret in this fight as both fighters will stand toe to toe and one guy will be carried out.

The fight will play out like this: Bell rings, both fighter touch gloves. Rampage rushed in and put Chuck to the cage picks him up slams him and then process to beat Chuck until the ref stops the fight.

Bottom Line: Chuck has not fought any fighter with as much punching power as he does. If you saw the first Pride fight he did not know what to do once he found out that he has more power than him, so he retreating ended up getting beat like a rented mule.

He already beat Chuck to a pulp. Take Jackson at a +165 Underdog to win again.

read hte rest of the mma matchups

Sports betting - Picking the Right Service

2007-05-25T14:13:00.000-07:00

When it comes to online sports betting it is always tough to choose which online sports handicapping service you want to go with for you online sports bets or when you are making your sports picks.

There are so many handicapping service out there you must always ask yourself : Which one is the best?

I have scoured through and been working in the online sports betting industry for over 5 years now. I know a lot of the player and big names in Vegas as well as a lot of executives at various online sportsbooks and handicapping services.

On Intern sports handicapping website I found very reputable and honest (a very big key these days) is sharkhandicapping.com that are well known for their NFL football picks.

This main handicapper Mark has been in the sports betting industry for 30 years with his roots in horse racing at Santa Anita Park. The website specializes in sports picks that are updated daily for college basketball picks, NBA picks, NFL football picks, college football picks, and free baseball picks.

In addition to the regualar handicapping services www.sharkhandicapping.com offers free sports picks, VIP selections, memberships, NFL picks, NCAA college football analysis, NBA picks, NCAA basketball betting analysis, MLB baseball picks, NHL ice hockey picks, and sports tips.

I checked out most online sports handicapping services out there and this one is one of the best and most reputable out there today.

The Power of Celebrity

2007-05-09T15:50:00.000-07:00

Once upon a utopian time, broadcasting a sport was just about that sport.

Now? Not so much.

Now it is increasingly becoming about celebrity. Our culture has been programmed by Hollywood to be celebrity obsessed. Since the first commercial films were produced early last century, the moguls running the studios understood that mass marketing of their “stars” made the sheep fans lineup at the movie houses.

Moviegoers were programmed into thinking the lives of those they were seeing up there on the silver screen were simply fabulous. In reality, again, not so much.
Yet the power of celebrity continues. From the seemingly inexplicable obsession with a has-been small-talent teenybopper named Britney, to sites like TMZ.com that live off, and make a fortune from, catching the rich and famous being stupid and pathetic, we apparently can’t get enough.

Today’s entertainment moguls running sports broadcasting have clearly noticed – and they have recently – to borrow a phrase from another of the entertainment industry’s manufactured talents – bumped it up a notch.

The Kentucky Derby has been on television since 1952. For more than half a century the coverage has been all about racing tradition, the Derby’s history, the great horses from previous years, the possibility of one of the field becoming the next legendary 3-year old, the mint juleps, and the drunks in the infield.

Now? To start the coverage on Saturday we got perhaps the B-est of all B-celebrities, Jennifer Tilly.

Tilly has three claims to fame as far as I know. First and foremost is her cleavage. Second, once she was in a lesbo-sex scene with Gina Gershon and third, she is a celebrity poker player.
Was it those gambling skills that got her on the tube? Not when the only insight she could offer was: "I don't know a lot about horses. I'm not a scientist of it."

Shortly there afterwards came Nick Lachey, the once 98 Degrees boy-band member whose greatest accomplishment since has been seeing his ex-wife, Jessica Simpson naked. He was showing off his new girlfriend, C-celeb, Vanessa Minnillo and the fact that he was less of a scientist than Tilly. Some sports guys did show up shortly there afterwards: Byron Leftwich and Michael Strahan. What did those two football players know about handicapping? Nothing it turns out.

But the icing on the cake came from actor Jerry O'Connell, who you of course remember as the fat kid from Stand by Me, (No?) who said he had just met the Queen, (who was at the race adding some much needed class)…

…in the port-a-potty line.

Oh, and the laughter that ensued.

NBC does have a problem broadcasting the Kentucky Derby. How do you fill a three-hour time slot when the object of the exercise is a sporting event that lasts two-minutes? It appears that, just like the folks who make movies, those in television have also run out of ideas.

The Derby is just the latest victim. This has been raising its ugly head in all major sports television properties, but it seems to me recently, even more so. Watching the NBA post season coverage, that sport is even more celebrity obsessed than the rest.

In the Raptors Nets series, the producers couldn’t get enough of James Gandolfini. The Sopranos star was there supporting the Nets, and the only interest he added to the broadcast was trying to figure out how he fit his bulk - he looked even larger on the NBA small screen than on the HBO series - in that little courtside seat. Bruce Willis was also there in all his glory. The difference was they gave him a microphone clearly not realizing he was two-sheets to the wind. They got their celebrity on their air – and they got that celebrity to swear! Ratings jump!
Desperate Housewife Eva Longoria is engaged to San Antonio Spur Tony Parker, yet despite her sitting in the stands, she’s getting more airtime than him. The irony of it all is she couldn’t look more bored whenever she’s on camera.

Not all the celebrity content is bad. Interviewing Wayne Gretzky on the sidelines of the Suns-Spurs series, he did offer some insight into how his playmaking ability on the ice is similar to Steve Nash’s on the court. Then after being asked if Nash playing with six stitches was part of a Canadian hockey player mentality, Gretzky revealed he once got cut for 78 stitches. Frankenstein Lives!

Those occasions are rare. It remains a mystery to me why those in sports television are so obsessed with getting celebrities in the broadcasts. It couldn’t be that they are as celebrity obsessed as the rest of us could it? The bottom line is this: The games in the NBA post season have been great. The Kentucky Derby was as well. Why do we need all that so-called “sizzle” when the substance is so good?

NBA Playoff Preview: Toronto vs New Jersey

2007-04-27T14:55:00.000-07:00

Toronto was fortunate to have homecourt advantage in its opening round playoff series with New Jersey. It allowed the inexperienced Raptors two games at home to shake off their playoff butterflies. They didn't play particularly well in either game against the Nets but still managed to escape with a split after dropping the opener.

The plot should thicken Friday night when the series resumes at the Meadowlands, where Toronto was trounced by double digits in both regular-season meetings with New Jersey.
The Nets return home realizing they squandered a golden opportunity to lead the series 2-0. They gave up 31 points in the fourth quarter of Game 2 (including an 11-1 deficit at the free-throw line) and allowed the Raptors to score the final seven points in a contest that was an offensive mess from start to finish.

In fact, the first two games of the series were painful to watch. New Jersey shot .416 in the two games. The Nets defense checked the Raptors to .410.

New Jersey coach Lawrence Frank is hoping that a change of venue will perk up Vince Carter. The Nets go-to guy shot 8-of-24 in Game 2 as a sequel to a 5-of-19 Game 2.
Toronto coach Sam Mitchell switched defensive assignments late in the second game putting Anthony Parker on Carter; the ploy worked like a charm. Carter ended up going 2-for-8 with two turnovers in the fourth quarter.

Parker's brief defensive success prompted him to suggest that guarding Carter isn't as difficult individually as it might seem. Maybe that will be enough to get Carter going.
The Raptors were 17-24 on the road this year, and of the 16 playoff teams, only Washington, Orlando and Golden State had fewer wins away from home. They have lost 16 of 23 all-time at the Meadowlands.

Frank has warned his team not to think just because they are playing in the swamp again that everything is going to be peachy.

Toronto has 'covered' at a 49-29 clip on the road and it has cashed 15 of its last 17 on the highway when playing on Friday. However, the Raptors are 0-7 against the spread on the road after losing two of their last three games.

New Jersey is 11-3 ATS at home when playing six or less games in 14 days. Toronto can match that, getting the money in 15 of 20 on the road under similar circumstances.
The Raptors have knuckled 'under' in 26 of 41 on the road and in 13 of their last 14 outings after playing two straight games at Air Canada Centre. They have been on the low side in 13 of 18 against division foes and the Nets have followed suit in 32 of 49 against division opponents.
Five of the last six series showdowns in the Garden State have stayed below the 'total'.

Free Pick of the Day: Royals at Mariners

2007-04-27T14:53:00.000-07:00

Prediction: Mariners

Although Seattle climbed to within one game of .500 with a win at Oakland on Thursday - its third victory in a row - most people would have to agree that the Mariners' season has been a big disappointment so far. But nothing cures the slow-start ills like the Royals coming into town for a three-game weekend series. In this battle of relatively unknown lefties, Seattle's Horacio Ramirez will face KC's Jorge De La Rosa. Neither pitcher is familiar with the other team as Ramirez has never faced the Royals and De La Rosa has never faced the Mariners. Ramirez has won his only home start for Seattle back on April 15 while De La Rosa's team has lost his last three road starts (and four out his last five). KC is only batting .236 versus lefties. The Royals also have an abysmal record in Seattle having lost 10 of their last 13 games. Between them, the two teams have 11 players on the DL and 10 of those are pitchers. KC is in the worst shape with six of its hurlers out of commission right now.

Take Seattle.

UFC 67 Match Ups by fighting-mma.com

2007-02-02T16:28:00.000-08:00

UFC 67 : All or Nothing Game
Anderson Silva vs Travis Lutter
Silva -400
www.bodog.com

Out of all the contestants on the Ultimate Fighter reality show Travis Lutter was far and beyond the best middle weight that could match up versus Silva. That being said there is no one in the world right now in the middle weight division that can even touch Silva. Most American don’t know how good Silva is. Once a member of the famed Chute Boxe Academy, he later left and formed the Muay Thai Dream Team. He has competed in PRIDE Fighting Championship, Shooto, and Rumble on the Rock, and holds wins over fighters such as Rich Franklin, Hayato Sakurai, Carlos Newton, and Lee Murray.

This guy is all world. Lutter one way to win is to take him to the ground and submit him. Lutter has and excellent ground game, but what many people don’t realize is that Silva is also a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, which he earned in 2005 from Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira but he prefers to stand and knock people out.

In the Ultimate Fighter reality show Lutter didn’t have the cardio to beat his matches. Though he won them easily you could tell his conditioning was poor.

Bottom Line: Silva is the most dominate middle weight in the world today. He is the total package with the best stand up in the world in the middle weight category and an excellent ground game in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu while Lutter only has the ground game

Too much of everything for Lutter to handle

UFC 67 : All or Nothing Game
Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic vs. Eddie Sanchez
Cro Cop -1400
www.BetUS.com

This fight is feeding the lamb to the wolves. Eddie Sanchez has no chance in hell to beat Cro Cop. Mirko was brought in to bring the UFC to the next level. He is the UFC’s future and with Cro Cop unable to defeat the top heavyweights in Pride I’m sure he wants to be a champion somewhere. But remember the top ten heavyweights in Pride could smoke any heavyweight in the UFC.

After Saturday people in North America will know who Cro Cop is. Cro Cop has unbelievable and I mean unbelievable stand up skills. And he has added to his fighting range in recent years has and has improved his ground fighting as well as his submission fighting, training with the likes of Fabricio Werdum. He has even submitted people and looks for submission when he fights. This is the next UFC heavyweight champion. Nuffsaid. I have not even look at Sanchez fighting stats or his fights but against Cro Cop it won’t matter. Sanchez is undefeated with 6 win and 0 loses but he has found no one I have every heard of and he will try to trade with Mirko and that is a MAJOR mistake

Bottom Line: Cro Cop will mow every heavyweight in the UFC down and be the next heavyweight champion.

First Round KO. Right high kick to the head; What else. This is a sure thing. Bet farm and the kids college funds

UFC 67 : All or Nothing Game
Quinton Jackson vs. Marvin Eastman
Jackson - 700
http://www.sportbet.com/index.asp?BannerId=21053

Eastman is not quite the sacrifice to the lambs as Sanchez is to the Cro Cop fight but Jackson will have to work for this match. Eastman has been a steady MMA fighter for a long time now. He has made a couple of appearances on the big UFC stage but has never been able to break through to the upper level. Eastman is currently the Elite Light heavyweight champion and has been busy fighting. He will pose a threat for Rampage but will eventually be overpowered by Jackson. Marvin has decent grounds skills but Jackson should have not trouble defending the shoot and than picking Eastman up and showing the American audience his famous slam.

Bottom Line: They don’t call him Rampage for nothing. Look for Quinton to swarm in and rain down a barrage or punches. He has the charisma and identity that Dana White wants but he will have to earn it against Eastman.

Remember the defeat when Eastman lost to Vitor Belfort, this one might be as ugly but look for it to happen in the second round

For all other MMA match ups go to www.fighting-mma.com

Too Many Kids

2007-01-15T15:37:00.000-08:00

After her fifth child, Lucy decided that she should have some cosmetic surgery "down below" to restore herself to her former youthful glory because her bomb doors were dangling a bit too low and looked like a ripped out fireplace. Time and childbirth had taken its toll and she reckoned that, with five children now being the limit, she'd tidythings with a nip here and a tuck there so it looked more like a piggy bank slot rather than a badly packed kebab.

Following the operation she awoke from her anesthetic to find three roses at the end of the bed.

"Who are these from?" she asked thenurse,"They're very nice but I'm a bit confused as to why I've receivedthem.

"Well" said the nurse, "The first is from the surgeon - the operationwent so well and you were such a model patient that he wanted to say thanks".

Ahhh, that's really nice" said Lucy."The second is from your husband - he's delighted the operation was such a success that he can't wait to get you home. Apparently it'll be the first time he's touched the sides for years and he's veryexcited!

".Brilliant!" said Lucy. "And the third?".

That's from Eric in the burns unit", said the nurse. "He just wanted to say thanks for his new ears."

NBA: Cavaliers at Suns: Nets at Bulls

2007-01-11T11:35:00.000-08:00

Cavaliers at Suns

When Phoenix entertains Cleveland on Thursday in a potential NBA Finals preview it will be a matchup between the best defensive team in the East and the best offensive team on the planet.
The Suns have won seven straight, but have looked a little bit blas after a steady diet of cupcakes. Challenges against the Cavaliers and Orlando should prove a welcome wake up call.
Cleveland takes a trip to the West Coast in early January every year and nearly every year it proves to be a disaster. Since the turn of the century, the Cavaliers are 9-33 on their annual Western sojourn.

However, Cleveland started the trip on a high note Tuesday when it beat Sacramento for only the second time in seven visits to Arco Arena, 108-98. The Cavaliers have won five straight, eight of nine and four of their last five on the road. At one point they were 4-9 away from home, but they have passed four of their last five road tests.

Phoenix has won 14 of its last 15 at US Airways Center (9-5-1 against the spread). The Suns have won 11 of their last 14 versus Cleveland and hold a 35-9 edge in games played in Phoenix. They haven't lost a home game to the Cavaliers since 1998.

The last four series encounters have eclipsed the total with the teams combining to average 221 points per game. However, the Suns have slipped below the number in 13 of their last 16 outings, including six of eight at home.

Nets at Bulls

New Jersey and Chicago meet for the second time in less than a week in the first half of TNT's Thursday double-header.

The Nets nipped the Bulls at the Meadowlands last Friday as one-point underdogs, 91-86. New Jersey has won four of its last five and covered five straight. The Nets lost and failed in both visits to the United Center last season, but they have cashed eight of 11 versus Chicago overall.
The Bulls are playing back-to-back following a Wednesday workout at Washington - the Wizards won 113-103 as 4 ½-point home favorites. Chicago has covered four straight when playing without rest.

Four of the last six series confrontations have zipped over. New Jersey has dribbled under in 10 of its last 13 trips to the post and Chicago has followed suit in eight of its last 12 chances in the Windy City.

Bodgo Fight Recap

2006-12-18T16:55:00.000-08:00

by Stan Leung
www.fighting-mma.com

After the preliminary rounds were completed, Team USA was ready with there 8 final contestants (Michael Patt, Keith Wisniewski, Nick Agallar, Nick Thompson, Tara Larosa, Chael Sonnen, Mario Rinaldi, and Trevor Prangley). Along with the USA versus Russia match ups the card also had one of the three Super fights featuring Roger Gracie in his professional MMA fight debut fighting against WWE, Pride, and UFC veteran Ron H2O Waterman, Antonio Silva versus Eric Pele, and hard throwing Eddie Alvarez against UFC and Pride FC veteran Aaron Riley in a welterweight MFC championship bout.

I don't know if the event lived up to the hype but USA versus Russia did not produce great MMA events. The best match of the night was the ladies match up between Tara Larosa from the US team versus Julia Berezekova from the Red Devil team. Larosa's 11 and 1 record is no joke as she has all the skill and stand up to be a great fighter. The match with Berezekova was incredible with great jujitsu and stand up striking. At the end of the day, Larosa was the more skilled and made Berezekova submit with an armbar.

The Team assembled by

Joke of the Day - Love Dress

2006-12-18T14:31:00.000-08:00

A woman goes over to her married son's house and walks in to find her daughter-in-law sitting in a chair, entirely nude. The mother-in-law says, "What the hell are you doing?"
"I'm wearing my love dress," responds the daughter-in-law, "We haven't made love in a long time."

So the mother-in-law says, "Hm, maybe I should try that."

She goes home to find her husband is not in, so she gets undressed. Two hours go by and finally she hears her husband's car. He walks in the front door and says, "What the fuck are you doing?"

"I'm wearing my love dress," says the wife.

"Well," responds the husband, "it needs to be ironed."

betED.com has Odds on Whose Babymaker will be Photographed Next

2006-12-08T13:16:00.000-08:00

With Britney Spears unintentionally baring it all lately, it’s only a matter of time before another female celebrity gets caught in an uncompromising position by a strategically positioned photographer.

And now betED.com is offering bettors a chance to wager on just who will be the next female celebrity to get caught with a crotch shot.

Which of the following celebrities will be the first to have a crotch shot captured by the paparazzi? Here are some, but not all, of the candidates on http://www.beted.com/B=6b21237a-f490: Jessica Simpson (+300); Madonna (+800); Tara Reid (+100); Halle Berry (+1000); Pink (+400)

It appears Spears will have a tough time living this latest incident down. Ever since Spears’ crotch shots appeared, the international press has noted she is behaving more like her soon to be ex-husband, Kevin Federline, than a pop princess on the verge of a career comeback.

Fresh from her split from the club-hopping Federline, Spears looked hip and wholesome weeks ago in a surprise appearance on David Letterman's show and while ice skating in New York's Rockefeller Center in a Gap sweater. But now she's unleashing her inner wild child, running around with party girls Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan, sporting unflattering hair extensions and flashing her apparently panty-less crotch to the paparazzi.

"She's a beautiful girl and now that she's single and she's having fun, I think she's just trying to express herself," said New York-based celebrity image consultant Amanda Sanders. "Unfortunately, it's the wrong message that's coming across. And the shame is she was really such a role model."
Spears, who just turned 25, and Hilton were inseparable while hitting L.A. hotspots over the Thanksgiving weekend. Representatives for Hilton and Spears did not respond to messages Wednesday.
Many of Spears’ fans are getting tired of her antics. In a post on Spears' MySpace.com page, a female fan urged Spears "to read this so you understand how your fans may see the situation ... now your children need you so do the right thing Brit, and be a mother and forget the partying."

New Great MMA and MIxed Martial Arts Site

2006-11-22T16:12:00.000-08:00

There is a great new MMA aite i just came across

check it out

www.fighting-mma.com

Thanksgiving

2006-11-22T16:08:00.000-08:00

The annual tradition that falls on the 3rd Thursday of November: watching NFL football during the day whilst cramming Turducken – a turkey stuffed with a duck, which itself is stuffed with a small chicken* – down our throats is upon us once again… along with the almost universal requirement for an industrial strength Alka-Seltzer.

So before we drift off into our tryptophan-induced coma, it’s time to partake in the other tradition of trying to figure out what or whom we are truly thankful for in sports right now.
In football: Let us give thanks for the hyper-hyped Ohio State and Michigan game that actually lived up to it all. (And let’s hope we see a rematch in January). I’d like to thank Bill Parcells for making the jobs for every talking head and ink stained wretch who has to cover the Cowboys on a daily basis the easiest in sports journalism. Here’s a big shout out to NBC's "Football Night In America." They helped me keep to my diet this week when they insisted on showing, during my dinner hour, highlights of Carolina wide receiver Steve Smith puking his guts out into a garbage can. It’s great that Ben Roethlisberger survived his motorcycle crash – but what is probably more impactful is this – if there needed to be any further proof that always wearing a helmet is essential – his performance this season surely will convince more folks to strap one on when they ride. Let’s all be especially glad we are around right now to watch LaDainian Tomlinson play – on the rare occasion when the networks allow it that is. The MVP co-favorite is smashing records and the biased, but perhaps not wrong, folks in San Diego are already declaring him the greatest running back - ever.

In hockey: What used to be the signature joke of the NHL: “I went to a boxing match last night and a hockey game broke out,” appears to be going the way of the dodo. Phoenix Coyote Georges Laraque said this week that due to the rule changes, designated NHL fighters would be extinct in two years. He should know as he used to be one of ‘em. Now – he rarely gets to fight and thus has spent more time actually working on his game. The results are in: he has seven points in his past four games.

In baseball: It nice to know that a 25-year-old, third-year Canadian making $385,000 a year can win the American League MVP trophy over a $20-million dollar man from the New York Yankees. The New York Post headline may have screamed “Jeeted,” but looking at who did what for their respective teams, the first Twin MVP award in nearly 30 years was well deserved. However, what we should all be most thankful for in baseball is this: labor peace. The Onion put it best: “World Series Overshadowed By Thrilling New MLB Labor Agreement”.
In soccer: There is not another World Cup until 2010.

In racing: I’d like to talk about F1, CART and the IRL, but since these racing series spend most of their time shooting themselves in the tires (or in F-1 talk, tyers), few would know what I was prattling on about. Instead, let’s be very thankful the NASCAR season came to a merciful end with the feller whose team was busted for cheating at race number one, ending up winning the Nextel Cup at race number thirty-four. His name if you can remember (after all it was way back on Sunday) is a walking snore named Jimmie Johnson. After decade of seeming to do be able to overcome anything, 2006 was marked by uneventful races, an unsatisfying conclusion and perhaps most shockingly – empty seats. Let’s be thankful that they are going to make changes for 2007.

In golf: Though the PGA season ended months ago -- it was all over after the PGA as far as most fans are concerned -- next year that’s going to change. Inspired by, of all things, the aforementioned NASCAR, 2007 is going to see a chase for a $10-million payoff and the Player of the Year title. This way we’ll get to see Tiger take home even more money. Won’t that be fun.
In basketball: It’s early in the season, but at least there is Steve Nash. Though now more often injured than not, he remains an exciting player, he is the two time MVP and best of all he’s now mullet-less!

Eat well everyone. Cheers, and Happy Thanksgiving!

It Really is a Whole New NHL

2006-10-04T17:01:00.000-07:00

You know how I know? Tie Domi is no longer looking to punch someone in the face – instead he’s making keen observations on the game of hockey. For a guy who, while playing, couldn’t scrape together a cognitive thought with two hands and a flashlight, his transformation to a broadcaster has to be seen as very improbable. Yet on his first night on the air, he wasn’t too frikin’ bad.

That transformation is also a perfect allegory to how the league has changed – hopefully for good.

Last season, the first with the new rule changes designed to speed up the game, there was an average of 0.38 fights a game. That was down almost half the number of fights from the previous season.

The rule changes worked. The game did become markedly faster, more exciting, and as a result, less pugilistic. There were fans who railed against the lack of knuckles being thrown because they insisted that fighting was the best part of the game.
Stupid fans in other words.

It was also clear that the majority of the fans weren’t that kind of stupid. Attendance was dropping. Everywhere but Canada, where hockey is more than the national sport, it’s a cultural identity, television ratings were abysmal. In no small part, it was due to the culture of fighting. For years, slow-footed tough-guys whose only job was to put on a nightly show for the crowd plagued the NHL.

It was always predictable. They would face off first in the press, exchanging not-so-witty repartee and then during the games at night, they would inevitably “get it on.” The league tolerated this gladiatorial behaviour because it helped mask the fact that the NHL had become a defense-first, boring, unimaginative soccer like exhibition. Night-in, night-out the NHL was defined by low scoring games, where the best, most creative players spent their nights bottled up against the boards by oversized defensemen.

All of that changed forever by one tragic incident in Vancouver in 2004. The Vancouver Canucks all-star Todd Bertuzzi blindsided Colorado Avalanche rookie Steve Moore with a punch from behind on March 8th of that year. Moore crumpled to the ice, and was hospitalized with three broken vertebrae in his neck, as well as a concussion.

The NHL suspended Bertuzzi indefinitely and did not reinstate him until August 8th, 2005 - exactly 17 months later. Steve Moore has yet to return to the NHL – and it’s doubtful he ever will.

Besides their personal stories, the result was a debate that raged across the hockey world about the role of rough justice in game. Bertuzzi was “paying back” Moore for some perceived injustice his team had suffered in a previous game. He was playing the role of enforcer, instead of leaving the on-ice justice to the officials. His actions brought into stark relief the problems with violence in the game.

The NHL decided things had to change for the league to survive. First they were going to free up their best players by calling the rules as they were first written, not what they evolved into. And second, they were going to return justice to the referees.

We saw the some of the results last season. This season we will most likely be seeing even more, if this is any indication:

The Toronto Maple Leafs bought out Tie Domi’s contract because, in today’s game, there is almost no need for an enforcer anymore. For decades, brawlers had been a staple on most teams. In last season’s new NHL however, where speed and playmaking proved essential, teams no longer could afford to have a spot on the bench taken up with a slow-footed fighter.
Even that 0.38 fight-pre-night mark is misleading. A high percentage of the fights last season were between these dinosaurs, who were desperately trying to prove that they had a purpose.
Yes, they still made the fans get out of their seats and cheer, but they had little impact on game results. They rarely contributed to deciding game outcomes because when push came to shove, players of that ilk could not punch what that could not catch.

Now most are out of the game altogether, or else, like in Domi’s case, up in the booth. Even he has embraced the new NHL – he spent time on his TV debut praising high-scoring finesse player Alexander Ovechkin, even recommending that he stay out of fights.

If fight-fanatic Don Cherry were dead, he would be spinning in his grave now.

And if he did hear Domi say that, it just might have killed him.

U - S - A: Ah OK?

2006-09-28T14:34:00.000-07:00

Being the object of everyone’s attention gets exhausting after a while. Maybe that’s why America is taking more than its fare share of shots of late.

Since time immemorial it seems the USA was the world leader in, well, just about everything. Recently the world has been catching up by leaps and bounds. The European Union is tied with America for GDP, and China and India are closing fast. American cars are being outsold everywhere. Columbia’s Shakira tops the music charts. The most anticipated movie of the year is a British film about a Kazakhstani newsman named Borat. Yup, it has been catch-up time for a while, and in many, many things America has been passed.

Even in what they used to be able to always count on: sports.

In the world of fun and games, it has been U-S-A, U-S-A, dating back a hundred years almost. Now? Not so much.

Be it any of the name games - baseball, basketball or golf - the former dominant nation is playing second fiddle or worse. The only exception is football, and that’s because the American brand of football isn’t as popular elsewhere as futbol is, what Americans call soccer.
It’s been a long spring and summer of discontent sports (and other) wise for Americans. It all began with the game an American invented, baseball. In March in San Diego Japan defeated Cuba to win the championship of the World Baseball Classic. The 3-3 American team lost one game to Mexico, another to Korea and another to Canada.

Canada!

Duke's Mike Krzyzewski and most of the top pros in the NBA took on the world in another game invented there, basketball. (Well, sort of - James Naismith was a Canadian, but his first peach basket was used in Massachusetts). Spain won the gold medal at the 2006 FIBA World Championship. The U.S. men lost to Greece.

Greece!

The world gathered in Germany to settle the question, who was best at the silly sport we know as soccer. The answer: anybody but the Americans, who failed to win a single game.All four of tennis’ majors were thrillers – but not a single American raised a single singles trophy in victory. Switzerland, France, Russia, Spain and Belgium dominated.

Belgium!

And finally there is golf. The Ryder Cup put a cap on this summer-long sporting swoon. Tiger Woods is clearly the best golfer in the world – and by a long shot. However, those American’s who follow him aren’t even close to imitating his act.

Over the weekend at the K Club in Ireland, records were falling left-rough, right-rough and never center cut. For the first time a team won all five sessions of the competition, and it wasn’t the Americans who did it. They could only manage to win 21% of their matches. In golf a Mendoza line winning percentage is more than just embarrassing, it’s pathetic. It left flabbergasted team captain Tom Lehman asking journalists if they had any answers as to why Team USA sucked so bad.

None of the wordsmiths did.

All that’s left for the poor American’s to dominate is the NFL – because no one else seems that interested in taking it up – and NASCAR. The good ‘ol Amurican boys in their multi-colored racing suits remain unchallenged on the international stage. Yup – the ‘ol red, white and blue is the force in racing cars with fenders. So, at leaset they’ve got that going for them.

Until they don’t of course. This week former Indianapolis 500 champion, Juan Pablo Montoya made his first test run at the Talladega Superspeedway.

A Columbian in NASCAR?

I hope in the South they serve tacos as well.

Say it ain’t so Juan.

Joke of the Day

2006-09-27T16:43:00.000-07:00

Jimmy goes to see his computer genius friend Charlie, in his office. The first thing he notices is a really sexy looking secretary who leads him into Charlie’s room.

Charlie is busy working on his computer. "Hey Charlie, how ya doin’ my man?" He says, "When did you hire your new secretary?

She’s hot." "Oh I didn’t hire her, I actually develped her." replies Charlie, still working on his computer, "She’s a robot." "Are you serious?" says Jimmy with a whistle, "She moves and talks just like a real girl."

"Yeah, and that’s not all. She makes coffee, does my filing and I can fuck her all I want." replies Charlie with a smile, "In fact, you can take her to the next room and give her a fuck yourself. She’s really good."

"FUCK" Laughs Jimmy and taking the secretay’s hand, he drags her into the next room, intent on fucking the daylights out of her. Soon afterwards, there’s a loud scream from Jimmy.

"Oh Hell," Says Charlie, "I forgot to tell him her asshole is a pencil sharpener."

Joke of the Day

2006-09-25T13:26:00.000-07:00

Vancouver Zoo in had acquired a female gorilla named Pernell. Within a few weeks, the gorilla became very difficult to handle.

Upon examination, the Zoo veterinarian determined the problem. The gorilla was in heat. To make matters worse, there were no male gorillas of the species available. While reflecting on their problem, the Zoo management noticed a dumb labor worker named Cam Powell responsible for building crap around the zoo.

Cam Powell had little sense, but so the Zoo administrators thought they might have a solution. The Zoo was approached Powell with a proposition: Would he be willing to have sex with the gorilla for $500? Cam showed some interest, but said he would have to think the matter over carefully.
The following day, Cam announced that he would accept their offer, only under three conditions.
"First," he said, "I don’t want to have to kiss her.

Secondly, you must never tell anyone about this."

The Zoo administration quickly agreed to these conditions, so they asked what his third condition was. "Well," said Cam "You gotta give me another week to come up with the $500."

Betting on Stupidity Really Can Pay Off

2006-09-15T15:41:00.000-07:00

For once, being a brainless buffoon could actually pay dividends.

In a truly unique betting opportunity, online wagering giant betED.com is offering a chance to place wagers on the world’s most idiotic acts, as odds are now available for the 2006 World Stupidity Awards (www.stupidityawards.com).

Bettors can put money down on who they think will win such categories as Stupidest Man of the Year, an award in which one nominee is Oklahoma district court judge Donald Thompson, who operated a powerful penis pump beneath his robes during three trials while they were in session.

Perhaps surprisingly, Thompson is not the favorite (+300).

Other nominees for Stupidest Man of the year are: Dick Cheney - Vice President of the U.S. (+125); Michael Brown, Former Director of FEMA (+200); Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, President of Iran (+220); Kim Jong IL, North Korean Dictator (+230).

The annual World Stupidity Awards, now in its 4th year, salute achievement in stupidity and ignorance. The awards are organized by ARSE - The Academy Recognizing Stupidity Everywhere – in conjunction with New York publisher Disinformation.

“The Romans had coliseums; the Egyptians had pyramids, we have stupidity,” said official World Stupidity Awards Spokes Moron, Robert Spence. “With all that we know today, the fact that we can rush into wars, destroy our planet, and act like complete idiots, and then, be proud of it, shows we’re in an era of superstupidity.”

Another category is Stupidest Trend of the Year. The nominees, with their odds, are: Ass Cleavage (+150); Killing People for God (+150); Killing People (+180); WW III (+350); Post Reality TV Reality TV (+400).

There’s also the Dumbest Moment of the Year award, which features these deserving nominees: Vice President Dick Cheney shoots friend (-120); Zinedine Zidane head butts Marco Materazzi in the World Cup final and is ejected (+180); Protesters violently demonstrate against the Danish Mohammed cartoons (+250); Danish Newspaper Jyllands-Posten publishes the controversial Mohammed cartoons (+300); Britney Spears speeds with her baby's head close to steering wheel (+400).

Other categories include: Stupidest Movie of the Year; Media Outlet which has Best Furthered Ignorance; Being Most Out of Touch with Reality; and Reckless Endangerment of the Planet.
To place a bet on stupidity, go to www.betED.com and click on Entertainment Props under Hot Props or link directly to http://www.beted.com/lines.aspx?l=Other

The awards will be announced Sept. 20.

“Who is the greatest athlete in the world?”

2006-09-14T10:34:00.000-07:00

“Who is the greatest athlete in the world?”

That is the one question that has been asked since there has been this thing we call sports. Okay, maybe there are two eternal sports questions, the other being “where can I bet on that?”
This week people have been asking that question again due to a meeting in New York between perhaps the best player the game of golf has ever seen, and arguably the greatest tennis player of all time.

Watching Roger Federer decimate the field at the U.S. Open over the weekend was remarkable mostly due to the ease that he demonstrated in doing it. Seeing him collapse in what appeared to be relief as his final winner whizzed past a completely overmatched Andy Roddick, I couldn’t help but wonder if he was faking it. He had to be putting on a show there at the end, because it looked like he’d scarcely broken a sweat over the two weeks.

John McEnroe, who was calling the match on the tube, suggested that Tiger Woods be the one who should present the trophy, implying he was the only one in the world who was qualified.
Woods, who has struck up a recent friendship with Federer, was there watching from Federer’s box.

Since these two icons of the recent sports history were so perfectly juxtaposed, it is impossible for me not to try to make a case for whom I think really is the greatest athlete in the world today.

The two likeliest candidates are Woods and Federer.

Woods has had quite the summer run. After missing the cut in a major for the first time in his career at the golf’s version of the U.S. Open, he came back with a vengeance. Winning two majors and five straight tournaments, he’s so far ahead in the world rankings, dividing his 22.8 point total in two would give him both the first and second spots, with Jim Furyk a distant third with only 8.99. With 12 majors already in his career, Woods is second in the all-time list behind Jack Nicklaus' 18.

Most concede now that it’s a matter of “when,” not “if” that he catches the Golden Bear’s total.
Federer has been just as impressive. He’s won Wimbledon the past four years, the U.S. Open the past three, and the Australian Open twice for a total of nine majors. That puts Federer sixth in the career tennis major standings, needing five more slams to catch Pete Sampras. Sampras admitted his record is going to be not just broken, but smashed.

Woods has set the title bar so high, and at a remarkably early age. He’s reached his majors total three full years ahead of anyone else.

So – digesting all those numbers – who truly is the greatest?

Drum roll please….

Jim Toop

Jim Toop you say? Well this guy was a miracle soccer player up until grade 9 and than the beer started. Now he’s fat and milks cows.

Ok OK I’m kidding.

I have no idea who the greatest is and either should you…

But it is an interesting debate anyways huh?

NFL Starts

2006-09-11T13:16:00.000-07:00

Last week I prattled on for an entire column explaining why I thought hockey and soccer was better than the NFL.

Now that the NFL is here… I say Stan, you ignorant slut.

That and the many hate mails and death threats I received from people. (Thanks Mom)
Before I go into me weekly tirade, I like to point out and say congratulations to my friend who got married over the weekend. I have never seen a bride with a better rake. My buddy Paul was parading her off like a show pony. Good luck with those fun bags.
The NFL is a masterpiece.

Tune in opening night Thursday and we get to see the Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers take on the Miami Dolphins. Who is the underdog? According to betED.com – nobody. The first game is a pick-em and will be presented before our adoring eyes in a tight three-hour super-produced package. At the end of it all, the loser won’t have to start dreaming about next season. They have a chance to pick themselves up over the rest of this season and go for the Super Bowl.

NFL teams have to actually fight through a defined playoff system, which in itself is hard to get into Last season the Pittsburgh Steelers’ victory over the Seattle Seahawks in the Super Bowl was watched in an average of 45.85 million homes, the second-highest total in television history.
45.85 million homes can’t be wrong.

Now – the obligatory predictions. I figure the best way to discern who will win it all come next February 4th is to first decide who won’t...

You can dump Tennessee, St. Louis, Houston, Minnesota, New Orleans, New York Jets, Buffalo, Cleveland, Detroit, Green Bay, Oakland and San Francisco. If you are a fan, no offense… (Or defense for that matter).

Both Kansas and Arizona have plenty of the former, but little of the latter, so they’re both done. Except for Tom Brady, New England no-star moniker has finally come true. Out. Baltimore has Steve McNair now, so he should be injured by week two. Buh-bye. Maybe Miami? A weird stat is no home team has ever won a Super Bowl, and stats don’t lie. Both Jacksonville and Cincinnati’s owners must have said or done something wrong at the annual meetings, ‘cause their schedules are brutal. Tampa Bay has a great defense, but they are almost older than I am. Atlanta can run with their QB, but can’t stop anyone running at them. San Diego has the great LaDainian Tomlinson, but their QB is someone named Phillip Rivers.

Next goes the kiss of death teams. Carolina got the nod from Sports Illustrated - so they are goners. Seattle’s Shaun Alexander is on the cover of Madden 2007 – so he’ll be out before thanksgiving. Ben Roethlisberger is spending more time in the hospital than the practice field so the defending champs are toast. Terrell Owens is being Terrell Owens so the Cowboys aren’t going anywhere. Payton Manning is missing his running back and his brother hasn’t been to the post-season so the Colts and Giants are both finished.

So that leaves the Bears as the NFC Champions and Denver in the AFC.
The Bears have both the best and youngest defense in the NFL, but that won’t be enough for Jake Plummer and the balanced Broncos.

Denver 28 – Chicago 10

Sports once again became fun (wait till the Champions league or NHL starts)
Take THAT

World Cup: No major surprises so far

2006-06-16T16:09:00.000-07:00

The first round of group action has been completed and all 32 participants now have a game under their belts. The round featured a little bit of everything but has yet to see a major upset which has been characteristic of past World Cups. A quick recap.

Pre-tournament favorites England, Argentina, Italy, Brazil and host Germany all won their openers with the South Americans particularly sharp against eager opponents. Germany has since won again with an extra-time goal against Poland to become the first team to advance to the knockout round.

Dark horses Ecuador, Mexico, Czech Republic and Spain were all impressive in their wins. The Czechs struck in the sixth minute against the U.S. and went on to spank the highly-touted Americans 3-0. The Matadors also tickled the twine in the early minutes to derail the Ukraine train 4-0.

Africa has had a tough tournament to this point losing all matchups until Tunisia was able to salvage a point with goal in the 92nd minute to earn a 2-2 tie with Saudi Arabia. In their defense, the teams from the Dark Continent couldn't have drawn worse opening round opponents and all played relatively well. The Ivory Coast was especially tough in losing 2-1 to Argentina with Chelsea sniper Didier Drogba notching the goal.

England, Holland and Italy were all lackluster in their wins, although all three super powers are battling injuries to significant starting players. Wayne Rooney (broken foot five weeks ago) could be cleared to play as early as today. The Italians simply need to convert some of their many chances.
The round's most shocking performance was turned in by Sweden who was a prohibitive favorite in their opener against Trinidad and Tobago but was held to a 0-0 draw. Almost funny to watch, the Swedes were out-hustled and bullied by the Soca Warriors. Even reduced to 10 men after a 46th minute red card, TNT had the better of play.

Australia showed guts, determination, and resilience in their 3-1 win over Japan. A horrible blown call by the referee, who missed a clear goalie obstruction foul in the box, put the Socceroos down 1-0 after 27 minutes. It remained that way through 83 minutes before the Aussies were able to score three times in the final seven minutes to secure the win.
The tournament's best goal to this point came in the World Cup opener between Costa Rica and Germany. It will likely be the most important goal to of the tournament for the punters as well.
In the 87th minute with Germany leading 3-2 (-1 1/2), German midfielder Torsten Frings unleashed a bomb from better than 35 meters that found a home in the upper right hand corner of the Tico goal. Keeper Jose Porras never had a chance of stopping the laser much to the chagrin of sports books who reported as much as 89 percent of their action coming on Germany.

Quote of the day

2006-05-31T15:27:00.000-07:00

ABRACADABRA!...FUCK, YOU'RE STILL UGLY

Quote of the day

2006-05-30T14:58:00.000-07:00

If a fat girl falls in the forsest do the trees laugh?

World Cup 2006 - First Round Predictions

2006-05-23T11:53:00.000-07:00

As everyone may know World Cup is coming up on June 9. Thank God because we all know that one of my friends Jay Bergen has been masturbating on Wayne Rooney’s Jersey for the last 5 days. So please hurry up and play already

Please see bellow my comments about the World Cup.
Stats are important too. But soccer is probably the sport where stats are less important compared to other sports. A very bad team can win over a good team, and in Basketball, Volleyball, American Football, you don´t see these things... Let´s remember last World Cup when Argentina and France were out in the Group Stage. France lost to Senegal in the debut.... amazing.

Group A – Germany, Poland, Ecuador and Costa Rica
Germany will qualify and will win the group. Only a big shock will kick the Germans out. They must be considered one of the favorites to win the World Cup for their tradition and as they host the World Cup. Germany has not a good team. They have good Midfielders and Forwards but their defense is ridiculous in my opinion. But they are at home, with supporters help and they can do it. They reached final in 66, 74, 82, 86, 90, and 2002. So, from 66 to now, we had 10 World Cups and Germany reached the finals in 6 Tournments. More then 50%.
Press say that Poland is the favorite for the 2nd place in this group, but I don´t agree with it. In my personal opinion Ecuador can surprise and Costa Rica too. I don´t see Poland so much better than Ecuador and Costa Rica. Costa Rica is probably the worst team here, but they are FAST team and they will play all in defense going to counter attack. Ecuador has probably their best team in history, which is not superb, but it is good. They won Brazil and Argentina at home in the Qualifiers. That´s fine that during the qualifiers they had the super “friend” of high altitude in their home matches, and we know that play in high altitude cities is very hard to oponents who are not used to that.

I would bet GERMANY to win and ECUADOR to 2nd place

Group B – England, Sweden, Paraguay and Trinidad and Tobago
England is the favorite here. But let´s remember that Rooney and Owen are still injured. Will they be ok for the World Cup? That´s a big doubt. England has probably one of their best squads for the World Cup. Good defense, and TREMENDOUS midfield with Lampard, Gerard, etc. If Owen and Rooney are recovered then England is one of my favorites to win the WC. Favorite to win the group too.

Trinidad and Tobago is terrible. They will lost all 3 matches. Only a big surprise will give them a point in the World Cup. That´s my opinion.

Sweden and Paraguay will fight for the 2nd place. Sweden is probably a little bit better but Paraguay has one of the best defensive systems of play. Paraguay is known as a team that can defend a lot. Their strikers are not too bad, so they can go faster to attack and score too. Paraguay has Roque Santa Cruz (From Bayern Munchen) as their best striker. Sweden has a strong way of play with fast forwarders too (Larson, Ibrahimovic). Sweden is better and may be the 2nd place, but it won´t be a surprise if they are kicked out by Paraguay.

England 1st Place, Sweden 2nd

Group C – Argentina, Holland, Serbia and Ivory Coast
DEATH GROUP
The most difficult group of World Cup. All 4 teams are good. Even Ivory Coast is not bad. I consider them as the best African Team in this World Cup and let´s remember that some African team always make a surprise in the World Cup. Argentina and Holland can win the World Cup and for this reason they should be considered as favorite to qualify. Serbia can surprise as the team is also good and they won the Group of Spain in the WC Qualifiers. Serbian players are very good and they play a “latin way” of soccer, so different from European way.
Ivory Coast is a big doubt. They are the worst team if compared to all other 3 in this group, but as an example, they would be favorite to qualify if they were in Germany Group. They are better than Ecuador, Costa Rica and Poland. But if they play against Holland, Argentina and Serbia, they can surprise but they are not favorites.

Argentina come from a ridiculous 2002 World Cup and the team now MUST play better. Argies have a great team and can reach the Finals. Messi is still injured but Argentina guarantee he will play the World Cup. Holland always have a good team but Holland is known as a team that play very good but do everything to LOSE the match (hehehe). Normally they have problems between black and white players (two groups) and the relation between players can cause problems to them.

Argentina 1st , Serbia 2nd

Group D – Portugal, Mexico, Angola and Iran
Portugal and México must easily qualify.
I watched Angola in the African Nations Cup (January – February) and I didn´t like it. They played very bad and looked like very poor. Iran is a weak team too.
There is no doubt about the power of Portugal and Mexico in this group. Mexican soccer is growing a lot lately and one curiosity is that Brazil can´t win Mexico. In all the last matches or Mexico won, or they tied. Mexican soccer is rich now and the investments made their soccer better and better. Portugal has good players such as Figo, Deco, Ricardo Carvalho, Christiano Ronaldo but their best “player” is the coach LUIS FELIPE SCOLARI (Brazilian who won the World Cup 2002 for Brazil and who let Portugal to the final of Euro 2004). Scolari is known as a coach specialized in Cup matches and he can put this into the brain of the players. He does not have a team of 23 players, but a “family” of 23 persons that together can do anything. I won´t be surprised if Portugal reaches the FINALS of this World Cup.

Portugal 1st, Mexico 2nd

Group E – Italy, Czech Rep, USA, Ghana
It´s not an easy group but not hard too. Not easy to explain the situation here, but although I think that Italy and Czech Rep can easily qualify, I think that USA and Ghana can surprise.
Italy is the FAVORITE to win the World Cup in my personal opinion. They are strong in Europe, have a superb defensive way of play and have Midfielders and strikers that can decide a match. Czech Rep is very good too and can win this group. Czech has a fast team, with players with many skills and Pavel Nedved will be their man in the World Cup.

USA is playing their 5th World Cup in a row and they were ok in the last World Cup, winning over Portugal and going to the quarter finals (after beating Mexico in 1/8 round). They have also a good defensive way of play (as the defense is very important in all other American Sports, they do the same for the soccer). And Ghana, well... Ghana is a team that can be a surprise like Senegal was in the last World Cup. Ghana was ok in the African Nations Cup and showed that if their players are in a “good day” they can surprise. Strong players and fast too.

Italy 1st, Czech 2nd (let´s remember that 2nd place of this group will play BRAZIL in the 1/8 round if Brazil wins its Group)

Group F – Brazil, Croatia, Japan, Australia
Brazil is the big favorite in this group. I don´t consider Brazil favorite for the Championship as in all history JUST ONE TIME one team from other continent won the World Cup in Europe (Brazil won in 1958 in Sweden). But all other World Cups played in Europe was won by an European Country. It is not easy to win it inside Europe. Brazil is too favorite, too favorite, that I believe that they won´t win. And as it was wrotten above, Brazil will have probably a tremendous difficult 1/8 round match against Italy or Czech Rep.]

Ronaldo, Adriano, Kaka, Ronaldinho Gaucho are superb players. Robinho in the bench can decide too... But the defense of Brazil is not that good. Lucio, Juan, Luizão and Chris are not the dream defensive players of Brazilian supporters. The back wingers are very old (Cafu and Roberto Carlos), but I doubt that Parreira (Coach) will line up Cicinho and put Cafu in the bench.
Croatia is the favorite for the 2nd place and like Serbia, they have also a “latin way” of play soccer with many skill players. I like a lot the way Croatia played in the Qualifiers and Prso is a very tall and good player in their forward. But this is also an open group. Japan has a Brazilian coach (Zico), but although press consider them with chances, I think that they are the worst team of the Group. Australia may surprise. Mark Viduka, Kewell and other players who play in English soccer can surprise here. They have a very hard and fast way of play and I won´t be surprised if they qualify.

Brazil 1st, Croatia 2nd

Group G – France, Switzerland, South Korea and Togo
Like Group F, France is the big favorite here to qualify in the 1st place.
France has a good team, but I don´t consider them favorite. Zidane is not the same player of some years ago. Not so fast anymore, and with not so good phisical. Zidane is the guy that can make the difference if he is fit for the World Cup. Henry and Trezeguet are tremendous strikers and Henry is playing superb. But I have some doubt about France´s defense too. They can reach semifinals, quarterfinals, but I don´t bet them in a FINAL. I think that Brazil, Italy and Spain are better than France.

Switzerland qualified after beating Turkey in the playoffs of European qualifiers. Big surprise as Turkey is better. I will be different from all other here, but I don´t see Switzerland qualified in this group. South Korea and Togo will surprise over Switzerland. If I had to bet, I would bet South Korea to qualify as 2nd place. They are a fast team with good system of play, not skill players but they can do it. Some players already play in some good European clubs and now they are more experienced players. Let´s remember that South Korea reached semifinals in 2002 World Cup but they played at home.

Togo can surprise as they are an African team and they will run a lot. But I´ve watched them in African Nations Cup and I didn´t like what I see.

France 1st , South Korea 2nd

Group H – Spain, Ukraine, Tunisia and Saudi Arabia
Spain and Ukraine will qualify here.
Tunisia and Saudi Arabia are very poor teams in my personal opinion. Saudi Arabia is the worst forsure, and Tunisia may surprise although I think it is very difficult.
I like the Spanish team. They have a young team with very good players. I don´t bet them to win the World Cup, but they will be a hard team to be beaten. Spain, like Holland, is a team that always fail in the moment of a win. Ukraine is a team that surprised in the qualifiers but I don´t see them reaching semifinals. Their best player, Schevchenko (from AC Milan) is injured but Ukraine believe that he will be fit for the World Cup.

Spain 1st , Ukraine 2nd

Toronto Blue Jays (J. Towers) @ Colorado Rockies (A. Cook)

2006-05-19T16:30:00.000-07:00

Toronto Blue Jays (J. Towers) @ Colorado Rockies (A. Cook)
Friday, May 19, 2006 (9:00 ET)
Current Line: Colorado -130

My how times have changed! This starting pitching match-up looks like a mismatch, and it is the COLORADO pitcher that appears to have the huge advantage!Cook may be a modest 4-3, but he has an impressive 3.27 ERA and 1.27 WHIP in 55 innings of work. Remarkably he has a lowly 2.79 ERA in four starts here in the altitude of Coors Field! Cook has six Quality Start out of eight total starts this season, and he allowed just four runs in each of the two non-Quality efforts. Also Cook is backed by what has been a surprisingly effective Colorado bullpen that has a nice collective ERA of 3.69.

Now Towers has some of the ugliest numbers of any starting pitcher in baseball. He is 1-7 overall with a hideous 8.45 ERA and 1.85 WHIP. As bad as those numbers sound, they are even worse on the road where he has a 9.38 ERA and 1.88 WHIP. Throw in the fact that this is the first start that Towers has ever made in Colorado, and the Rockies should keep the scoreboard operator very busy tonight!

I recommend a play on COLORADO ROCKIES -130.

AL Game of the Day Red Sox (Beckett) @ Orioles (Lopez)

2006-05-15T13:37:00.000-07:00

Red Sox (Beckett) at Orioles (Lopez)

The Boston Red Sox should be relaxed Monday night when they face the Baltimore Orioles.
The BoSox opened a three-game set with the Texas Rangers on Friday evening after coming off an emotional 2-1 series victory over the rival New York Yankees.

The Rangers got out to a 6-0 lead when the game was called due to rain midway through the sixth inning. That was the last time the Red Sox were on the field because the remaining two games of the series were postponed.

Josh Beckett was scheduled to get the start for Boston on Sunday, but will now get the call Monday in Baltimore.

Beckett has a respectable 4-1 record, but a slightly inflated 4.70 ERA. The Sox are 4-3 overall when Beckett has started.

The 6-foot-5 right-hander was solid in his last outig, allowing just three runs on six hits over seven innings in a 14-3 victory over the Yankees.

Beckett will not get a break against the Orioles, who are hitting .293 versus right-handed starting pitchers.

Red Sox hitters will be licking their chops over the pitcher they are scheduled to face. Right-hander Rodrigo Lopez has a 1-5 record and a fat 7.03 ERA. The Orioles are 3-5 when Lopez has started.

Baltimore pitchers have a collective 5.57 ERA, second worst in baseball behind the woeful Kansas City Royals.

The Red Sox, 7-3 in their past 10 games, have beaten Baltimore in six previous meetings this season. Boston was favored in all six games, with the ‘total’ getting split.

Lopez has faced the Red Sox twice and has lost both times. He yielded four runs on eight hits over 5 2-3 innings in a 4-1 loss during his first start. He also allowed four runs on nine hits over 5 2-3 innings in a 6-3 loss during the rematch.

Beckett has not started against the O’s this season.

NHL Playoffs

2006-05-05T10:24:00.000-07:00

in NHL hockey could one single position player dictate the play and even the result of a playoff series. That player of course is the goaltender.

The first round of the playoffs is now complete, and goaltending certainly was the storyline.
We’d be remiss by not starting with the New Jersey Devils and their four-game demolition of the New York Rangers. The sweep may not have been as surprising as the 17-4 aggregate score. Future Hall of Famer Martin Brodeur was brilliant stopping all but four shots, with three of the Rangers’ goals coming on the power play.

The Devils have now won 15-straight and Brodeur has stopped 139 of the last 146 shots he’s faced. In his three previous Stanley Cup triumphs, Brodeur has Mariano Rivera-type credentials when given a lead, so the Devils will have to be considered prohibitive favorites in their second round match up with Carolina despite splitting the season series 2-2.

The Canes had their bacon saved by backup goalie Cam Ward. After allowing 12 goals and losing their opening two home games to Montreal, Ward replaced starter Martin Gerber and won four-straight allowing just six goals with a save percentage of better than 94 percent. Ward also won four one-goal games, three in overtime.

Both finalists in the 2004 Stanley Cup final, Tampa Bay and Calgary are now playing golf. Tampa Bay was completely outclassed by the Ottawa Senators in their match up, perhaps the only series where Goaltending was not a factor.

Senator goaltender Ray Emery was shaky throughout the series allowing the Lightning 13 goals in five games. Tampa Bay was unable to stave of the Ottawa offensive onslaught however, allowing 23 goals with John Grahame the sacrificial lamb.

Teargas wouldn’t have kept the Senators out of the Lightning defensive end but Ottawa will have to be much sharper against a much more disciplined Buffalo Sabre outfit. The Sabres dispatched the Philadelphia Flyers in six games winning the final two 3-0 and 7-1.

Ryan Miller was sharp with his 2.16 goals against average and turning back 155 of 168 shots. He’ll have his work cut out for him as with the Ottawa shooting gallery coming to town. Ottawa won the high-scoring season series 5-3 with both teams lighting the lamp and average of seven times per game.

(Tomorrow, Part II, Western Conference)

Free Pick of the Day

2006-05-01T16:46:00.000-07:00

Detroit at Edmonton
Edmonton -160

Detroit looks slow old but still pass the puck around the go get them Edmonton Oilers. This is good game to pick the Underdog for all betters. Despite being down 3-2 in the series the Red Wings has passed the pucks with so much efficiency it looks like a game of keep away but Edmonton is at home and will try as hard as possible not to go back to Joe Louis. Experience trumps youth in tonight's game.

Detroit are 12-3-0 in their last 15 vs. Northwest and Under is 20-6-2 in DET last 28 Mon. games and are 39-15-0 in their last 54 overall.

Edmonton are are 2-6-0 in their last 8 games following a win and Under is 6-2-1 in EDM last 9 home games.EDM are 8-21-0 in their last 29 playoff games.

All you have to do is look at the number of Stanley Cup rings on the players fingers.This will go to a game seven.

Play on the Detroit on the Moneyline