UFC 111: How we fared

Overall, we did pretty darn well on tonight's fights, but we did have a few very wrong choices. Alas, Kyle and I disagreed on only one pick, and he won that one, so this card goes to him. Here are the details.

The undercard proved to be fraught with peril for us.

Ricardo Funch vs. Matt Riddle

We expected Riddle to grind out a wrestling victory. We didn't get to see this match, but from what I've read, we called it right--until the end. Riddle ended up winning by disqualification due to an illegal kick from Soto.

Tomasz Drwal vs. Rousimar Palhares

I should have stuck with the odds on this one. Kyle did, and his choice of Palhares was the right one. Palhares beat Drwal easily and ultimately submitted him with a nasty ankle lock that he held entirely too long.

Jared Hamman vs. Rodney Wallace

We both chose Wallace, and we were both wrong. Wallace started strong, but Hamman maintained a strong and consistent pace, and Wallace both gassed and just wasn't big enough for the weight class. Wallace carries too much muscle and doesn't have enough cardio. If he's still in the UFC after this fight--and I doubt he will be--he should consider cutting a lot of muscle mass and moving down a weight class or two.

Ricardo Almeida vs. Matt Brown

The bad call train kept rolling with this fight, as Almeida completely dominated Brown and then submitted him in the second. Almeida's cut didn't hurt him at all, and Brown never had an answer for Almeida's takedowns.

Nate Diaz vs. Rory Markham

We regained our form with this fight, where Markham was having trouble with Diaz's strikes and then fell into the really deep waters when the fight hit the ground. Diaz locked on a body triangle and kept beating on Markham until the ref stopped the fight and called the TKO by strikes.

Our good fortune continued on the main card, where we got every fight right.

Jim Miller vs. Mark Bocek

Three surprisingly close rounds of lock-ups and takedowns and submission attempts ended in a Miller win, as we had expected.

Jon Fitch vs. Ben Saunders

Did anyone bet on Saunders? I hope not, because as we (and every source I read) expected, Fitch dominated him from start to finish and won easily. I have to give Saunders credit, though, for trying: he was smiling at the end and never gave up.

Kurt Pellegrino vs. Fabricio Camoes

I expected a boring decision in favor of Pellegrino. Kyle called for a rear naked choke by Pellegrino. We were both right to go with Pellegrino, but Kyle called the end of the fight exactly right.

Frank Mir vs. Shane Carwin

For a few seconds, it looked like these guys might stand and trade for a while, but then Carwin went for a takedown. Mir blocked it but ended up against the cage. From then on, Mir looked lost, as if he'd never trained for time against the cage. At about three and a half minutes into the first round, Carwin opened up just enough space to launch a left uppercut, and in no time Mir was on the ground unconscious. Carwin is a scary dude.

Georges St-Pierre vs. Dan Hardy

I expected a TKO and was wrong on that front. Kyle thought it wouldn't last five rounds and was also wrong. We were both right to pick GSP--duh!--who dominated Hardy for all five rounds but could never finish the Brit. Hardy earned a lot of respect, and he showed a seriously badass no-quit attitude by refusing to tap in the face of two serious arm submission attempts by GSP.

If I were Dana White, I would be wondering who in the world at 170 has a real chance of beating GSP. I can't name a single fighter who does.

So, we messed up two of the undercard fights, and I called a third wrong, leaving Kyle 3-2 for those fights and me a miserable 2-3. We both went 5-0 on the main card, for a final score of 8-2 for Kyle and 7-3 for me. Not bad.

Still, as always, don't use us for betting advice!