Nunes vs. Rousey: I fail hard at the prediction game

I made myself go on the record in yesterday's blog entry about last night's UFC championship fights.

Wow, did I blow it.

I went with my heart in choosing Rousey to beat Nunes.  I argued that Nunes would not have the self-discipline to use the game plan she would need to beat Rousey.  Nunes didn't have the chance to display self-discipline.  From the moment she closed on Rousey, Nunes owned the ex-champion.  Rousey looked like she didn't know how to fight.  She made every mistake she made in the Holm loss, only faster, and Nunes hit harder.  Forty-eight seconds after the fight started, it was over, with a TKO-d Rousey looking utterly and totally disoriented.

At this point, Rousey has two reasonable choices:  retire, or seek a new camp with coaches good enough to rebuild her game.  I don't believe she will do the latter, so I  hope she does the former.

Rousey was a formidable athlete who helped make women's MMA what it is today, and she inspired joy and awe in millions of fans, including me.  The sport, though, has passed her by, and without new coaches, she will keep on losing against the top competitors.  I will always remember her string of victories with joy and respect and awe, but they are over.

In the other championship bout, challenger Cody Garbrandt did to champion Dominick Cruz what Cruz had done to every previous opponent:  made him look bad.  Garbrandt had the speed, cardio, footwork, and head motion to outwork Cruz where Cruz is strongest, and Garbrandt flat out hits harder.  He's the new boss at 135, and I look forward to him fighting T.J. Dillashaw, the logical next contender and a fighter who also won in convincing style tonight.

The card was mostly good, but these two fights definitely did not go as I expected and, in the case of Rousey, hoped.

I have huge respect for all the athletes involved.

Nunes vs. Rousey: my pick

For those who don't follow the UFC in particular or MMA in general, tonight is one of the more intriguing fight cards of the year, because it features the return, after more than a year away from the octagon, of Ronda Rousey, the former women's bantamweight champion.  Undefeated until she lost her belt to Holly Holm in November of 2015, Rousey was arguably the most popular figure in MMA and a fighter who a lot of people, including myself, thought would retire undefeated.  Instead, Holm perfectly executed a game plan that exposed flaws in Rousey's strategy and ultimately knocked out the former champ.

The big question tonight is, is Rousey back, or will the current champion, Amanda Nunes, capitalize on those same flaws and hand Rousey her second loss?

The oddsmakers slightly favor Rousey, but not by much.

In online articles, other MMA fighters and analysts seem to give Nunes the nod.

My head tells me Nunes.  My heart votes for Rousey, a character I've long liked.

To force myself to go on record with a pick, I'm writing and posting this entry before the fights start and saying that I'm going with my heart and picking Rousey.

I'll report back after the fights with what really happened.

My reasoning in this selection goes like this:  Nunes has the power and the skill and the coaches to execute the same type of game plan as Holm and beat Rousey.  What Nunes lacks, I believe, is the self-discipline that Holm possessed.  Nunes loves to charge ahead and whale at people.  I believe personality will win out over planning and Nunes will go straight at Rousey.  If she does, I think Rousey is likely to last long enough to get her hands and hips on Nunes, and at that point, I believe it'll be all Rousey.

So, I'm choosing Rousey to win.

Note that nowhere did I say I thought Rousey had improved her striking--attack and defense--because I don't believe she has.  She has the same bad coach as before, so I expect her to come in with no better striking than before.

We'll know in six or so hours.

While I'm in the prediction business, I'll say that I believe the other championship fight will go to the current champ, Dominick Cruz, over the undefeated contender, Cody Garbrandt.  Garbrandt has the power to knock out Cruz, but I don't believe he'll get to land any power shots on the elusive champ.

I'll let you know on this one, too.

What to watch on December 30

The return of Ronda Rousey, of course.



I'll be watching.

Holly Holm proves no champ is invincible

Going into tonight's UFC women's bantamweight championship fight, the champ, Ronda Rousey, looked to be as much a sure thing as anyone in any sport.  The oddsmakers had her at times as much as a -2000 favorite.  No one outside the fighter herself and her camp gave Holm any real chance at winning.

Once the bell rang, though, Holm showed that no champ is invincible and that theory and practice are never the same.  Holm executed the perfect game plan and dominated Rousey from the fight's start to its knock-out finish.  Like everyone, I had expected Rousey to plow through Holm as easily as she had beaten all twelve of her prior opponents, but Holm was never in trouble.  Holm put on an amazing performance.

I hope Rousey doesn't abandon fighting for movies and instead comes back better and whips Holm in a fight that I look forward to watching.  Regardless, though, Rousey has been an amazing champion, and I feel privileged to have seen her fight.

Tonight, I also felt privileged to witness the clinic Holm put on.

The best UFC promo video ever

is this piece for the upcoming Ronda Rousey vs. Holly Holm fight.  Check it out.  You'll be glad you did.



I'm quite looking forward to this match.

Watch Ronda Rousey fight while you can

In a UFC pay-per-view event earlier tonight, women's bantamweight champion and undefeated MMA fighter Ronda Rousey defended her title against undefeated contender Bethe Correia.  Rousey is known for her judo--she won a bronze medal in judo, the first American woman to do so, at the 2008 Olympics--and her armbars.  Correia's strong suit was supposed to be her striking.  Rousey out-struck Correia and knocked her out in 34 seconds.

Rousey is an extraordinary athlete, one so far ahead of her competition--and the current state of the art of women's mixed martial arts--that no one has yet posed any sort of serious challenge to her.  It's rare for an athlete to be this completely dominant in any sport--and she continues to improve.

If you're at all interested in MMA, watch Rousey fight before she leaves the sport.  It is a privilege to see someone performing at this level.

Ronda Rousey is amazing

Even if you're not a fan of MMA, you might want to check out some of the fights of UFC Women's Bantamweight Champion Ronda Rousey.  She is simply amazing, an undefeated fighter who is in a class all her own. 

Earlier tonight, in the main event of a UFC pay-per-view broadcast, she faced number-one-ranked and undefeated challenger Cat Zingano.  Zingano was supposed to be Rousey's stiffest challenge yet. 

Instead, Zingano rushed Rousey, made a mistake, and was tapping from an armbar within seconds.  The whole fight lasted 14 seconds.

Rousey is a spectacular athlete the likes of whom we rarely see.  It's a privilege to get to watch her fight.

UFC 168: What a card!

Earlier tonight, a group of us watched the latest UFC event on pay-per-view, UFC 168.  It was one hell of a card. 

Almost all of the prelims delivered entertaining fights.

Travis Browne knocked out Josh Barnett with vicious elbows and established himself as a serious heavyweight contender.

Challenger Miesha Tate took Women's Bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey past the first round for the first time in Rousey's MMA career, but in the end Rousey won again the same way she's ended all of her fights:  by armbar.  It was a great bout in which both women showed once again that they are true warriors.

In the main event, Chris Weidman retained his Middleweight championship by defeating Anderson Silva for the second time, but this match ended freakishly:  Weidman checked a kick, and Silva's lower leg snapped in half from the collision.  It was gruesome to watch.  Silva is clearly one of the greatest pound-for-pound MMA fighters ever, and we all can only hope that the surgery goes well and he recovers fully.  I fear, though, that this will end his MMA career, which will be a sad ending to an amazing run as a fighter.

Though Weidman won in this odd way, I believe he was winning both rounds before the kick, and I had picked him to win.  I expect him to hold the middleweight strap for quite some time.

Expendables 3 -- don't hate

Yeah, I know:  I'm supposed to be this author with literary ambitions.  Well, I am.  I'm also a guy who loves bad action movies and is as excited as hell to see this one.



As Walt Whitman wrote, "Do I contradict myself?  Very well, then I contradict myself, I am large, I contain multitudes."

And every single one of them is squeeing with fanboy joy at watching this group of action stars--a group that includes UFC Women's Bantamweight Champion Ronda Rousey--kick some serious butt.

Oh, yeah.

Don't hate.