A fight that was a privilege to watch

Earlier tonight, I was fortunate enough to get to see live the fight card that was the finale of this season of The Ultimate Fighter.  The final bout was a match between Nicco Montano and Roxanne Modafferi.  At stake was not only the title of being this season's Ultimate Fighter, but also the right to be the first UFC women's flyweight champion. 

The fight was one I felt privileged to watch.  Montano and Modafferi went to war for five rounds in a match that showed skill and heart and determination.  If anyone still believes women can't be great mixed martial artists, they need to watch this fight. 

I was rooting for Roxy Modafferi, and though she lost, I still admire her.  I hope she gets another chance at the title.  I also very much like Montano, and she earned the belt fair and square.

The whole fight card was strong, but this championship bout was amazing. 

Home for hours

I'm spending about 16 hours at home before I leave tomorrow for an overnighter to, of all places, Norfolk.  The reason?  Great seats to a live UFC event--and at way cheaper prices than we've ever paid before.

One consequence of this brief time at home is that I have way too much to do in the time available, so I'm cutting this short and getting back to it.

Urban legends, barbecue, ice cream, and the UFC

After some work, I headed to my first--and only--panel of the convention.  The topic, "Urban Legends in the Age of Fake News," didn't excite me, in part because I refuse to accept the notions of alternative facts or a post-truth era.  Nonetheless, the panel seemed to entertain its audience, and the discussion moved along reasonably quickly, so I left feeling okay about the endeavor.

Lunch afterward took us to the Smoke Shack, a local barbecue joint that proved to be quite good.  We opted to share multiple dishes, including the brisket Frito pie, brisket mac-and-cheese, and brisket grilled cheese sandwich,

Click an image to see a larger version.

as well as a two-meat sampler of brisket, sausage, mac-and-cheese, and creamed corn.

Every single dish was delicious, with the standalone brisket being the weakest link.  It was better than any brisket back home, but worse than yesterday's brisket at 2M.  The standout was the terrifying and life-threatening brisket grilled cheese sandwich, which was flat-out delicious--though obviously unhealthy.

After talking with friends, I retreated to my room to catch UFC 217, from the prelims to the PPV.  The only bad news was that I missed the first half hour of the prelims, because the football game on Fox Sports 1 ran long and the hotel didn't offer Fox Sports 2, which is where the Fox Sports programming gods moved the UFC. 

I had a great time watching the fights, which were uniformly strong.  The room-service dinner was passable--almost everyplace can manage a Cobb salad--and the fight card truly was great.  All three championship fights went to the challengers in great battles that ended in finishes. 

As a further treat, tonight I get an extra hour of sleep (well, we all do, but I do, too)!  I love that treat.

Picking UFC 216's two championship fights: How I did

Perfectly, as it turned out.

In the first of the two title bouts, I expected the champion, Demetrious Johnson, to destroy the challenger, Ray Borg, and indeed Johnson did.  Johnson dominated Borg in every aspect of the game for the first four rounds, and near the end of the fifth he turned a suplex into an armbar and submitted Borg.  The finishing move was spectacular, but equally impressive was how utterly and completely Johnson beat down Borg.  To Borg's credit, he never stopped trying, but he was never a match for Johnson. 

If you are at all interested in MMA, take any chance you get to watch Johnson in action.  He is the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world.

For the second championship match, I gave the nod to Tony Ferguson, who I said would wear down Kevin Lee in the later rounds.  I suppose I technically was right, in that Ferguson submitted Lee in the third round, but I was just barely correct; I had expected Lee to last longer. 

As I also predicted, Ferguson wasted no time in calling out Conor McGregor to unify the two 155-pound straps.  I doubt McGregor will do it, but I wish he would.

Maybe I should be putting money on these fights....

Picking UFC 216's two title fights

The undercard fights are about to start, but I'm not going to choose their winners, so I still have time to weigh in on tonight's two main events.

The co-main event and penultimate fight of the night pits challenger Ray Borg against flyweight champ Demetrious "Mighty Mouse" Johnson.  Borg seems from all reports to be a nice guy and a talented fighter.  He is not, though, ready for a title shot.  Despite that, he has one, because Johnson has cleared out his division and in the process become the best pound-for-pound fighter on the planet.  He is going to destroy Borg.  It's that simple.  When he does, he'll also set a UFC record for most consecutive title defenses.  No one currently fighting at 125 can touch him.  Johnson is just that good.

The main event, which is for the interim lightweight title--a title the UFC created to manufacture drama and fill main events while Conor McGregor decides if and when he wants to fight in MMA again, is far more interesting.  Both contenders, Tony Ferguson and Kevin Lee, are on winning streaks and looking good.  Ferguson, though, has built his run on the backs of the elite of the 155-pound division and has faced multiple far stronger fighters than any that Lee has met.  Lee hopes to counter Ferguson's experience edge with strong wrestling, so he will be looking to take down Ferguson, keep him down, and either out-point him or submit him. 

Ferguson knows that and will strive instead to make it a striking war and wear down Lee, then win either by decision, TKO, or submission in the later rounds.  Fueling that plan is the fact that Lee barely made weight, so Lee could easily have very real concerns about gassing.

This one should be a war, but in the end Ferguson's experience should carry the day.  Expect Ferguson to win either by decision or by a finish in the championship rounds, and then expect Ferguson to trash-talk as hard as he can in the hopes that McGregor decides to grant him what would surely be the biggest payday of his life.

I'll report back tomorrow on how I did.

My thoughts on the Mayweather - McGregor fight

If you don't follow MMA or boxing, skip this entry.

If you do, you know that Saturday night an undefeated boxing legend, 49-0 Floyd Mayweather, will step into a boxing ring against a UFC champion, Conor McGregor, who has never fought a professional boxing match.  McGregor turned great MMA skills and even greater self-promotional skills into a fight that will probably earn him $70 million.  Mayweather will make more like $100 million.

All the odds favor Mayweather, though the margin moves up and down rather considerably.  Boxing is Mayweather's sport, he is amazing at it, and he is undefeated for good reasons.  McGregor hits hard and so has a puncher's chance, particularly because Mayweather encouraged the use of eight-ounce gloves, which buffer punches less than the traditional 16-ounce boxing gloves.

Simply because it would be an amazing story, I'd love to see McGregor win.

Instead, I expect Mayweather to play it smart and conservative, be very defensive, and out-point McGregor for 12 rounds.

I'll be watching, though, foolish spender that I am, on the off chance that it goes McGregor's way.

How I fared with my UFC 214 predictions

Despite the timestamp on this post, I'm publishing it after the fights completed.  In yesterday's entry, I picked the winners of all three title fights on the UFC 214 pay-per-view card that aired earlier tonight.

Let's see how I did.

Daniel Cormier (champion) vs. Jon Jones for the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship

I picked Jones, and I was right:  he won.  I expected, though, five grueling rounds.  The first two rounds were indeed rough, with a newly confident Cormier bringing the fight to Jones and, though Jones out-struck him, being the aggressor.

In the third round, Jone caught Cormier with a head kick and followed up with brutal kicks and punches and elbows that ultimately knocked out Cormier.

In his speech after his victory, Jone was gracious and mature.  I will hope that lasts.  Regardless of his personality, though, Jones is inarguably the best light heavyweight mixed martial artist in the world.

Tyron Woodley (champion) vs. Demian Maia for the UFC Welterweight Championship

In one of the least interesting fights of the evening, Maia tried 23 times to take down Woodley--and never succeeded.  Woodley tagged Maia from time to time, but he spent most of the fight evading take-downs and striking rarely.  In fact, the fight set a record low for strikes.

Woodley won a unanimous decision that had the crowd booing both fighters.  I picked Woodley, so I was right again.

Cris Cyborg (real name: Cristiane Justino Venâncio) vs. Tonya Evinger for the UFC Women's Featherweight Championship

I expected Cyborg to beat the heck out of and ultimately KO Evinger, and indeed Cyborg did.  What I didn't expect was Evinger to hang in the fight until the third round.  I have to give Evinger credit for lasting as long as she did, but in the end Cyborg overpowered her.

So, I went a perfect three for three.  Not bad, but not impressive, either, because these were easy fights to call.

Calling the title fights in UFC 214

Saturday night's UFC 214 pay-per-view card is a doozy that features three title fights.  As I've done a few times recently, I'm going to put myself to the test by picking here the winners of those fights.

Daniel Cormier (champion) vs. Jon Jones for the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship

This bout, the main event of the evening, pits two incredibly talented athletes in a rematch that has attracted a ton of attention.  These two hate each other, and they take every opportunity to mess with each other, so the energy should be amazing.

Daniel Cormier is an Olympic wrestler who has beaten every MMA fighter he's faced in both the heavyweight and light heavyweight classes--except one, Jon Jones.

Jon Jones was the youngest UFC fighter to hold a championship and has lost only once--and that loss was a bullshit referee call.  I saw that fight live, and I believe Jones was robbed.  Jones is also one of the biggest screw-ups in the UFC, a man who is his own worst enemy.

As good as Cormier is, he's giving up size, age, and an enormous amount of reach to Jones.  I'd love to see Cormier win this fight, because he seems to be a better person, but his only paths to victory are to knock out Jones--not Cormier's typical way to win--or hold Jones tightly against the fence and grind out a decision.  Neither is at all likely.

So, I have to go against my heart and pick Jones to win, most likely by a decision after five grueling rounds.

Tyron Woodley (champion) vs. Demian Maia for the UFC Welterweight Championship

Woodley is a decorated wrestler with serious power in his hands.  Maia is the scariest BJJ fighter in this weight class and is on a strong winning streak.  Either could conceivably win, but I have to give the nod to Woodley.  Maia will have trouble taking him down, and if Maia can't do that, then he'll have to deal with Woodley's striking, which is simply better.

This one is also likely to go the distance, but when the fight is over, expect the ref to raise Woodley's hand in victory.

Cris Cyborg (real name: Cristiane Justino Venâncio) vs. Tonya Evinger for the UFC Women's Featherweight Championship

Cyborg is an unstoppable force who has to cut a lot of weight to make 145 and who has lost only once, back in 2005 in her debut pro fight.

Evinger is an Invicta champion--but at 135 pounds--who has lost five times.  She's going up in weight and taking this fight on short notice.  She is also the biggest odds underdog I've seen in the UFC.

Evinger has only three ways she might win:  by tagging Cyborg with the luckiest punch in MMA history, by smuggling a baseball bat into the octagon and beating Cyborg with it in the initial seconds, or by Cyborg pissing hot after the match.

None of those is likely.  This fight won't go the distance.  The only real question is whether Cyborg will KO or TKO Evinger in the first round.

Cyborg will take this one easily.




I'll report after the fights on how I did.

How I fared in my UFC 211 picks

I'm happy to report that I was right in my picks of the two championship bouts on tonight's UFC PPV event. I chose both champs to win, and they did.

I said that heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic would beat challenger Junior dos Santos by TKO, and indeed Miocic did just that. I was also right to note that it would come before the end of the third round, but I was off in my belief that the fight might go as long as three rounds. Instead, Miocic polished off dos Santos in brutal fashion mid-way through the first round.

Strawweight belt-holder Joanna Jedrzejczyk dominated challenger Jessica Andrade for all five rounds of their bout and emerged with the decision victory, as I predicted. Andrade deserves a ton of credit, though, for taking a huge number of hits and never slowing down, never giving up, and even hurting the champ in the first round. Andrade is tough as nails. For now, though, Jedrzejczyk is untouchable in her division and really ought to be ranked second on the pound-for-pound charts (behind men's flyweight champ Demetrious Johnson).

For the next big UFC event, I might take more risks and call more fights, but I'm definitely happy with tonight's results.

Calling tomorrow night's two main UFC fights

Tomorrow night, UFC 211 will feature two championship matches:  heavyweight champ Stipe Miocic vs. challenger Junior dos Santos, and women's flyweight champ Joanna Jedrzejczyk vs. challenger Jessica Andrade. I'm looking forward to watching both fights, but I'm going on record now with my prediction: the current champs will come home with their belts.

Miocic is quicker, in better condition, and more powerful than dos Santos. Unless dos Santos gets lucky early, which could always happen, Miocic is going to hit him until he drops him. Miocic will earn the victory, and probably by TKO before the end of the third round.

Jedrzejczyk is a buzz-saw of a champion with a significant reach advantage over Andrade. Andrade is definitely tough, and Jedrzejczyk has plenty of holes in her game, but so far no one has really taken advantage of them. This one is likely to go the distance, but one way or another, Jedrzejczyk's hands will go up in the end.

I'll let you know after the fights how I did.

In tonight's UFC Light Heavyweight Championship match

the champ, Daniel Cormier, faces a man he's beaten once before but who is on a fearsome knock-out streak, Anthony "Rumble" Johnson.  The match-up is particularly interesting because Cormier is smaller and older than Johnson, and now on the wrong side of 35, while Johnson seems to have improved a great deal in the two years since their last match.

Nonetheless, I'm going with Cormier--and writing it here to put myself on record with the choice.  I think Cormier will smother Johnson and stay on him and be smart enough to avoid the knock-out in the early rounds when Johnson still has energy.  I don't expect it to be pretty, but I do expect Cormier to win a decision against an exhausted Johnson.

In four or five hours, we'll find out if I'm right.

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.

In praise of CM Punk

If you don't follow MMA, this entry is probably not for you.

Earlier tonight, CM Punk (the wrestling name of Phil Brooks), a former WWE wrestling superstar, made his UFC debut.  After a long career with WWE, he decided to give real combat sports a shot, signed with the UFC, and started training.  He trained for about a year and a half, part of which time he was injured, and then the UFC booked him a fight with another UFC newcomer.  The newcomer, Mickey Gall, was younger, had won two pro MMA fights, and was a BJJ brown belt.  The MMA world was abuzz with discussion about Punk, and he almost certainly helped the UFC sell a lot of live tickets and PPV buys.

The fight itself proved to be a bit of a sad affair.  Gall took down Punk early in the first round, dominated him, and eventually punched him long enough and hard enough for the ref to stop the fight and Gall to get the TKO.  Punk was never in the fight.

In the octagon post-fight interview with Joe Rogan, Punk looked horrible.  His right ear appeared to be on the edge of exploding, and he was clearly badly beaten.  Yet he gave a great interview, praised his opponent, and said how much he had enjoyed getting to fight.

I ended up respecting Punk for trying to achieve what at least appears to be a real dream and for being a class act in defeat.  I don't expect him ever to be a strong MMA fighter, because he's already 37, but I am glad he gave it a go.

We could all do worse than to try to achieve unlikely goals and be gracious if we do not reach them.

Everything louder than everything else

is not just the name of a song that Jim Steinman wrote and Meat Loaf sang, it's also a good description for much of the Las Vegas strip.

Consider the case of the MGM Grand Hotel's lobby this past Thursday night.  The hotel must push its mascot, the lion.  It's chosen gold for its Christmas main color because nothing says subtle like gold.  A huge UFC fight card is going to take place in its arena in two nights, but right now, the rodeo is in town, and cowboys are everywhere.

What then is a lobby designer to do?

The answer, in Vegas, is simple:  all of it.

Click the image to see a larger version.

Oh, yeah:  everything louder than everything else.

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.

One crazy finish

Earlier tonight, a bunch of us watched the UFC's fights from Japan.  Most of the card varied from ho-hum to downright bad, though a few fights were quite good.  Then the co-main event started, a battle between the favorite, Gegard Mousasi, and a challenger, Uriah Hall, who took the fight on fairly short notice.  Hall had risen to prominence on The Ultimate Fighter TV show, in the course of which he knocked out an opponent with a spinning heel kick.

Early in the first round of the fight, Mousasi took down Hall.  The rest of that round consisted mostly of Mousasi trying to submit Hall, and Hall trying to defend.

At the break between rounds, Kyle said something along the lines of, "Maybe in round two Hall will spinning-heel kick Mousasi and knock him out."

The second round started.  Go here to see what happened.

Yup, tonight Kyle proved to be a prophet, and we enjoyed a very entertaining upset.

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.