UFC 114: How Kyle and I fared

Kyle's in Morocco, so I had to text him the results. We did pretty well, but we did make a few very wrong calls. For the details, read on--but please understand that I'm having to report based on online summaries; I won't bet to see the fights until I'm home and have access to my DVR.

First, as always, the undercard.

Jesse Forbes vs. Ryan Jensen

We both chose Jensen, and we were both right to do so, as he submitted Forbes with a guillotine choke in the first round.

Joe Brammer vs. Aaron Riley

Once again, we both chose the right fighter: Riley. I said to expect a decision, and Kyle went with a stoppage. I was right on the details, as Riley won all three rounds on all three score cards.

Luis Cane vs. Cyril Diabate

Color us both surprised and wrong: Diabate won by TKO in the first. We both expected Cane to dominate him, and in less than a minute Cane did indeed drop Diabate with a punch. After a scramble to the feet and a little time on the cage, however, Diabate dropped Cane and followed up with more punches until the ref called the fight.

Melvin Guillard vs. Waylon Lowe

In less than a round, Guillard's punches and knees sent Lowe packing. We were both right and back to our winning ways.

Efrain Escudero vs. Dan Lauzon

Escudero dominated Lauzon for three rounds and won the unanimous-decision victory, pretty much as we expect. If Lauzon wants to stay in the UFC (and if it's not already too late for that outcome), he needs to get his head on straight and have a better training camp.

Dong Hyun Kim vs. Amir Sadollah

Finally, Kyle and I disagree on a call: I went with Kim, while he chose Sadollah.

Go, me! Kim won every round on all three judges' cards en route to the decision victory. (MMAweekly gave the last round to Sadollah.) From what I read, Kim was just too much for Sadollah to handle.

So, as the undercard drew to a close, I was 5-1, while Kyle was 4-2.

Now, the main card.

Diego Sanchez vs. John Hathaway

We were both quite confident that Sanchez would dominate this fight. Instead, it went exactly the opposite: Hathaway won all three rounds on all three cards for the unanimous decision. Hathaway shook Sanchez with a knee in the first, and from all reports, Sanchez never recovered. I'm now 5-2, while Kyle is 4-3.

Todd Duffee vs. Mike Russow

I expected Duffee to knock out Russow no later than the second round. Kyle thought Russow would win by using his superior wrestling to put Duffee on his back and grind out a victory.

Neither of those things happened, though Kyle called the fight correctly: Russow won.

Basically, Duffee manhandled and beat on Russow for two and a half rounds, and then out of nowhere, Russow landed a right cross that completely knocked out Duffee. A few sites I've visited are already calling it one of the greatest comebacks in UFC history.

Drat! Now, Kyle and I each have three wrong.

Michael Bisping vs. Dan Miller

As best I can tell from what I've read, Miller rarely tried to take down Bisping, and when he did, he failed more often than not. That meant the fight was perfect for Bisping to out-point Miller with small strikes, and Bisping did just that and gathered the unanimous-decision victory as a result.

I'd called Bisping, while Kyle had gone for Miller, so I was now 6-3, while Kyle was 5-4.

Antonio Rogerio Nogueira vs. Jason Brilz

We both improved our records by correctly choosing Nogueira as the victor, but from all the reports I've seen, this decision was controversial at best. Still, Nogueira won the split decision.

Mark: 7-3
Kyle: 6-4

Rashad Evans vs. Quinton "Rampage" Jackson

I look forward to seeing this fight, because apparently Evans dominated Jackson for almost the entire fight, though in the end he had to settle for a unanimous-decision victory. Jackson had a shot at the fight in the third round, when he dropped Evans, but Evans came back and won the last round on two of three score cards.

So, we finished the evening 8-3 (me) and 7-4 (Kyle), for another victory for me.

Kyle, dude, time to pick up your picking game.

As always, remember these important words: Don't use us for betting advice!