UFC 125: Resolution

Saturday night, we get the first UFC event with a name in a while. Though the Co-Main went from Nelson/ Country to Aldo/Grispi and finally to the much less anticipated Leben/Stann, the whole card is stacked with very intriguing match-ups, with 8 of those fights scheduled to air. 5 on pay-per-view, 3 on Ion television. The Ion television channel is a weird choice for free mma fights, but the keyword is free, so I'm on board.

The Main Event is the classic Speed vs Power match up, as champ Frankie "The Answer" Edgar takes on Gray Maynard for the UFC Lightweight belt. Both have great records, with Maynard being undefeated and Edgar's lone loss coming at the hands of Maynard, so both know little to nothing about losing. Maynard has the tools to once again defeat Edgar and comes in to the fight as the favorite. All he needs to do is use his size and power advantage to take Edgar down again and again like he did in their first fight and has done against most of his opponents. His punches pack power but if BJ's deadly boxing proved to be ineffective against Edgar, Maynard's big looping power punches have little chance of landing. Edgar has awesome footwork, quick, crisp striking, great wrestling, and his ability to seamlessly mix it all up got him his belt, but the key to winning this fight is avoiding the takedown. If Maynard can take him down at will, it will play out like the extended version of their first meeting and so will the Maynard/Pettis match up. If Edgar can avoid the takedown, his fast hands should do the rest and it'll set up for a much more intriguing UFC/WEC title unification bout with Anthony "crazy, off-the-fence ninja kick" Pettis. Edgar always rises up to the challenge. No one gave him a chance against the bigger, stronger Sherk, but he still came in and dominated. Everyone thought Penn was going to steamroll through him like all his other opponents, and Edgar still came in and shocked the masses twice. He comes in as the underdog in his 3rd consecutive title fight, but I think he's going to do what he always does, step up, prove everyone wrong and with a win, maybe get the respect he should've gotten the day he beat BJ Penn for the very first time.

For the Co-Main Event, it's heavy handed slugger Chris Leben vs former WEC champ Brian Stann. Leben has strung a couple of wins together and is looking the best he's ever looked but like it's always been, his brawler style leaves him susceptible to be outpointed by the more crisper strikers of the division, and Stann is seasoned and skilled enough to do just that.

Thiago Silva vs Brandon Vera is an awesome match up. Both are very good strikers with a slick jiu jitsu game and though Vera's Muy Thai is very pretty to look at, Silva's drastically improved boxing and his power advantage should get him the win.

Nate Diaz takes on Dong Hyung Kim and though Diaz is the more known fighter, Kim is the more skilled fighter. Diaz has very good boxing and jiu jitsu, and though he's deadly off his back, strong wrestlers are his kryptonite. Diaz has trouble against strong wrestlers and that's exactly what Kim is. Kim's Judo style of grappling is very submissions-oriented, so he should be able to defend submissions effectively all the while smothering Nate. Kim takes this by decision and hopefully the win brings better competition for him.

Takanoroi Gomi vs Clay Guida puts the Fireball Kid's hands against Guida's hyper-activeness. Gomi made up his submission loss to Florian by KOing Tyson Griffin out cold. Winging punches is Gomi's only path to victory, and unless Guida walks in as the wrestler who wants to strike with the striker like Griffin did, Guida should be able to take him down and beat him up, and if Gomi can't handle the pace, it might even end in TKO.

The prelims on Ion are also stacked. Marcus Davis takes on Jeremy Stephens for what is bound to be a stand up affair, and though I love the Irish Hand Grenade, Stephens is the younger, faster, more powerful fighter and he probably gets the KO. Josh Grispi takes on Dustin Poirer instead of Aldo due to Aldo's injury. Poirer is a solid fighter but Grispi wants Aldo and Poirer won't be able to get in the way of the beating Aldo has in store for Grispi. "The New York Bad Ass" Phil Baroni takes on Ultimate Fighter stand out Brad Tavares. Baroni has heart but absolutely no cardio, so as long as Tavares weathers the early storm, he should be able to take over late in the first and for the rest of the fight. The card is crazy stacked, and just like most UFC events, it's a can't miss event for all MMA fans.

TUFF: MILITARY MAYHEM

Frank Powers & TUFF will start the New Year right with TUFF: MILITARY MAYEM! The all day event is set for Jan. 8th with an open house from 10am – 2pm and with their live fights starting at 7pm! Location is at PUSH Fitness & Athletic Training Facility 6440 Gateway East Bldg B, El Paso Texas 79904

Fighters on the card will include Fabian Salas, Scott Goodblanket, James Wento vs. Curtis McNeil and Mike “The Storm” Chupa will defend his title against George Sheffey! Daily 4 MMA will cover the all day event, have pre/post fight interviews with the fighters and have an exclusive interview with Tim Kennedy before his upcoming fight with STRIKEFORCE!

UFC 124: St. Pierre/Koscheck II

Tomorrow night, we get to see GSP perform. He takes on Koscheck, whose wrestling credentials and power currently pose the biggest threat to GSP's awesomeness. The card lacks a solid Co-Main Event but the Main Card is filled known fighters and what looks to be some exciting fights.

In the Main Event, Georges 'Rush' St. Pierre defends his title for the 5th consecutive time against #1 contender Josh Koscheck. Both have already fought before. Koscheck didn't think GSP could take him down. GSP proved to be the better wrestler and outstruck in the few instances the fight was on the feet. Both have gotten better since then, but GSP seems to still be both the better wrestler, striker, and just overall MMA fighter, with only the power advantage going to Koscheck. The biggest factor of the outcome of this fight is going to be whether Koscheck can stop GSP's takedowns now that he knows how good of a wrestler he is. In their first fight, Koscheck was so sure of his wrestling, he didn't really train wrestling and focused mostly on his striking. People smell upset, but GSP always dominates and has no holes in his game. Koscheck has a puncher's chance but is just too good at everything to be beat right now.

For the Co-Main Event, it's battle of the giants the two tallest guys in the UFC, Stefan Struve and Sean McCorkle, duke it out. McCorkle's UFC debut saw him break Mark Hunt's arm in a straight arm bar, though this was after ending on his back due to a crappy takedown attempt. Stefan Struve has 6 UFC fights, 4 wins and 2 losses, under his built but always gets beat up in his fights, so he hasn't proven to be too dominant at anything. It's a pretty even match but I say Struve has the slight advantage and takes it by TKO.

The rest of the card has awesome match ups. Thiago Alves takes on fellow striker John Howard. Both are skilled fighters but Alves has fought tougher opponents and should be able to outstrike Howard. Jim Miller takes on Charles Oliveira. Miller is 8-1 in the UFC with his only loss coming from the current #1 contender, Gray Maynard. He's an alright striker but is pretty good at controlling the fight on the ground. Oliveira is fairly new to the UFC. Both of his wins have been submissions, one coming withing the first minute of the first round and the other in the third round. Both are really good fighters but Oliveira's skillset is bound to either drop Miller or submit him. Ultimate Fighter winners Joe Stevenson and Mac Danzig also fight on the main card. Danzig is a pretty good striker and is an alright grappler but Stevenson is just more powerful and will probably take him down and either submit him or TKO him. This card is a good way to end the year.

Strikeforce: Henderson vs Babalu

The MMA calendar is packed this month. A WEC event with 2 titles on the line 2 weeks from now, GSP defends his against Koscheck next week, and tomorrow both the Ultimate Fighter Finale and a Strikeforce event air. The UFC is hands-down the best promotion around, but tomorrow night, "Strikeforce: Henderson vs Babalu" is the event to watch.

The Main Event puts 2 of the best light heavyweights outside of the UFC against each other as Dan Henderson takes on Renato 'Babalu' Sobral for the next shot at the Strikeforce 205-pound belt. Babalu has always been know as an alright wrestler with a strong submission game but outstruck a striker in Robbie Lawler in his latest outing by outpointing him with small shots a la Bisping. Henderson is coming off a loss to Jake Shields but has torn through everyone he's fought, with his only losses in the UFC coming to Anderson Silva and Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson. He doesn't need to cut much weight at 205 and has a decisive wrestling advantage. He's not the most technical striker but only needs to land his big right hand to end the fight and is really good at doing just that. I say this ends up looking exactly like Henderson/Bisping, with Sobral out cold and Henderson smiling when Buffer announces the winner.

The Co-Main Event is striker vs striker as Paul 'Semtex' Daley takes on Scott Smith. Both are heavy handed but Daley is by far the better striker and knows how to put his heavy hands to better use. Though in his UFC run he proved he was a bad sport by sucker punching Koscheck and a crappy wrestler by getting taken down left and right, he also showed he can put away anyone who chooses to stand with him and Scott Smith is exactly the type of person who will. Smith always gets beat up in his fights and either continues to get beat up or turns around and knocks his opponent out of nowhere, but I say Daley finishes him before he gets his 2nd wind in the 3rd round.

Other interesting match ups in the card include Robbie Lawler vs Matt Lindland and Antonio 'Bigfoot' Silva vs Mike Kyle. Lawler is a good striker with good power. Lindland is a very strong, high-level wrestler. Both have fought in the world's best promotions but are very inconsistent in their performances. It's a close one but I say Lindland wins by contol with his wrestling. I would put both Silva and Kyle at around the same level in terms of skill and experience, but I know Kyle as a light heavyweight, so Silva takes this by size and reach advantage, as well as the fact that Kyle took the fight on short notice.

TUFF UPDATE

Daily 4 staff met up with Frank Powers last night to discuss the next TUFF event. Frank was supposed to have their event this month in December but due to scheduling conflict with the Tigua Recreation Center, Frank will have to reschedule for next month in January. We are excited for their up coming event because their going have some great fights coming our way. They will have the debut of George Steffey which so happens to be the cousin of Ben “SMOOTH” Henderson, Zach Beck vs. Adam McGurk (both had impressive wins at TUFF: The Return), Jonathan Pelletter vs. Fabian Salas ( Pelletter coming from a tough loss against McGurk and Salas winning by TKO in 37 seconds of the 1^st round) and Curtis McNeil trying to bounce back from his loss against the 145 pound Champ Adrian Gamboa. Nothing is official yet but seems to be looking great for Frank Powers and his promotion TUFF.

Note: If you think you can fight and want to fight step up and fight for TUFF! Contact tuffregistration@yahoo.com or daily4mma@gmail.com  

The Ultimate Fighter 12 Finale

Tonight, the final episode of The Ultimate Fighter, a 2-hour special on Spike, airs. The Finale, which usually consists of a card filled with succesful TUF alumni and fighters from the current season, airs on Saturday.

For the Main-Event, it's a Light-heavyweight bout between Stephan 'The American Psycho' Bonnar and Igor Pokrajac. Both are coming off a win but are 1-2 in their past 3 fights. Pokrajac started his UFC run with 2 losses before choking out James Irvin in his 3rd fight. Bonnar is always in exciting fights and is pretty good at just about everything except takedown defense. Both are well-rounded, but I say Bonnar is the better fighter of the 2. No matter what, Bonnar will make it an interesting one.

The Co-Main Event has not been announced yet as it will be between the 2 finalists of this season's Ultimate Fighter. The Semi-Final bouts pit Jonathan Brookins vs Kyle Watson and Michael Johnson vs Nam Pham. Kyle Watson has a very good ground game but I see Brookins in the Finale no matter what. He's dominated everyone he's fought in the house and I don't see this fight being any different. Michaels Johnson vs Nam Pham is going to be awesome and crazy close. Johnson was the #1 pick on GSP's team because of his wrestling but Pham is good at everything. Regardless of who makes it to the finals, I have Brookins as the favorite to win the whole thing.

Demain Maia takes on Kendall Grove in a fight that I see ending with a submission from Maia. Grove is a good striker but Maia's advantage on the ground is greater than Grove's advantage on the feet.

This card airs on the same night as 'Strikeforce: Henderson/Babalu 2.' If you have Showtime, I would suggest the Strikeforce event. The Strikeforce events don't happen that often and this one has a lot of good match-ups. If not, the Finale airs on basic cable. If you have DVR and Showtime, well I envy you deeply.