For Strikeforce, Muhammad ‘King Mo’ Lawal soundly beat Gegard Mousasi even after some less than stellar early rounds. Gilbert Melendez increased his standing with a win over Shinya Aoki. Most impressively, Jake Shields pulled off a massive upset by defending his Strikeforce middleweight belt against Dan Henderson, and he is now a free agent who could end up signing with another promotion. April really has turned into an interesting month for MMA rankings.

Of course, no discussion of Strikeforce Nashville could be complete without mentioning the massive brawl that ended the event. Jason ‘Mayhem’ Miller interrupted Jake Shields’ post-fight interview to ask for a rematch, and then everything went to hell. Gilbert Melendez shoved Mayhem, followed by a massive beating from many members of the Cesar Gracie camp including Nick Diaz and Nate Diaz. In fact, three of the Strikeforce champions were involved, which doesn’t bode well for the promotion. For now, damage control seems to be Strikeforce fully blaming the incident on Mayhem, though many think that his actions did not warrant a group beating. There was cause to admonish him, sure, but not the ridiculous bashing that actually did occur.

That can all stay in the past, though. WEC 48 should wash out any bad taste left by the Strikeforce ‘finale’ as it includes some very intriguing fights. The main event of Jose Aldo vs Urijah Faber has serious implications for the WEC featherweight division. If Aldo wins as is expected, then Faber will be in something of a Rich Franklin position – he can beat most other people in the division, but he probably won’t be able to seriously challenge for the title again. If Faber wins, then there will be a Faber > Aldo > Mike Brown > Faber situation that could lead to interesting times ahead. More than likely, Aldo will win and Faber will be unfairly written off as ‘done’. I really hope he pulls off the upset, though, as it would make for some spectacular match ups in the future.

The WEC lightweight championship match of Ben Henderson vs Donald Cerrone should hopefully bring the fireworks that their last fight did. I’m not sure it will, though, given that they should both have worked on things that didn’t work out for them in the last fight. Nevertheless, I don’t think it will go the distance, as one of them will pick up a submission or knockout this time around.

I’m not sure if Mike Brown is being undervalued or overprotected by the WEC, but this fight with Manny Gamburyan seems almost insulting to the former featherweight champion. I know that Manny is in good form at featherweight, but we aren’t talking about a championship-level fighter. If he manages to even challenge Brown, I’ll be impressed with Manny Gamburyan, but I’ll be absolutely flabbergasted if he wins.

Will WEC 48 be a successful PPV? It has many of its biggest stars on this card, and Zuffa are bringing in Rogan and Goldberg for commentary to make this have more of the feel of a UFC event. This has added to rumors that the UFC and WEC are bound to merge, but I think it may be more of a case that the WEC needs PPV training wheels to start with. When people are used to buying WEC PPV cards, then you can be sure the UFC influences will be slowly reduced until the WEC stands on its own. That, or people are right about a UFC/WEC merger. We’ll see.

First up, Anderson Silva vs Demian Maia is a very interesting match up. Sure, it has only happened due to Chael Sonnen being unable to fight right now, and it is true that Maia has only one fight between now and his first loss. Nevertheless, most of Silva’s losses have come from submissions, and Maia is a phenomenal BJJ practitioner. It is most likely that Anderson will beat Maia into a fine paste, but a submission victory for the challenger is still an outside possibility.

BJ Penn will murderize Frankie Edgar on the weekend. I don’t know if he’ll do it standing or if he’ll just casually choke one more lightweight challenger. Wherever he decides to fight, the only thing that will save Edgar from a Sanchez/Penn-like bloodbath is BJ’s mercy. Will he have any for Frankie Edgar? If he ends it in the fourth, yes (he lets the opponents he respects at least get to a championship round). If he ends it in the fifth after an incredibly one-sided beatdown, no (Diego Sanchez must have crossed a line or something).

Matt Hughes v Renzo Gracie is an unfortunate fight. Yeah, Hughes has the whole Gracie rivalry thing going, but he is massively overmatched for Renzo. Hughes is far younger, at 36 to 43, and he has a record that normally wouldn’t even be casually compared to that of Renzo Gracie, as it is so much better. Everyone knows that this will end with Renzo getting dominated with wrestling, and then either having his face beat in or just holding out for three rounds to a lopsided decision for Hughes.

UFC 112 is kind of top heavy. While it is nice to see Kendall Grove on the main card of a real UFC event against Mark Munoz, a lot of the other fights have little to no casual appeal. It’s almost like they spent all the money paying for the top 3 fights and had practically nothing left for the prelims. Oh well, while that isn’t great for the people who actually go to see this live, it makes little difference to those of us watching from home.

The next few months are going to be very exciting for UFC fans, but let’s not forget Strikeforce, as the Nashville event will see Jake Shields vs Dan Henderson, Gegard Mousasi vs Muhammed Lawal, and Shinya Aoki vs Gilbert Melendez. Those are all championship fights, yet Shields is likely the underdog against Henderson, and Melendez is in for a tough fight against Aoki. It’s a real contrast to the UFC, where the champions are so dominant that many of them keep talking about moving up in weight class.

I was lucky enough to attend this UFC event, and I can tell you that the crowd was revved up the entire time for action standing or on the ground – just so long as the fighters were working! While some late cancellations and replacements led to a particularly one-sided affair (Cro Cop absolutely outclassed Anthony Perosh, as expected) the remaining unaltered fights were a sight to behold.

I’d like to focus attention on 3 fights in particular: Sotiropoulos vs Stevenson, Lytle vs Foster, and Velasquez vs Nogueira. First of all, it did my heart good to see George Sotiropoulos dominate Joe Stevenson standing and on the ground. It was even better to see that George could fight from the bottom, using 10th Planet JJ technique to control Stevenson. Now, I like Joe and I’m sad to see him have to start building up wins again, but Sotiropoulos is an exciting ground fighter who grapples to win. This was a decision only because Joe is so tough – Sotiropoulos made a number of close submission attempts that would have worked on many other less game fighters.

Lytle vs Foster proved that Chris Lytle should be on every card. Of every MMA event. Twice each night, if at all possible. But seriously, that guy always puts on a hell of a show, and while his wild swinging at the start of the fight looked like it might open him up for a spectacular knockout later, he put Brian Foster out of commission for a while with a gorgeous kneebar. That was a thing of beauty to see live, and I couldn’t help but wince as it came on and Foster started tapping furiously. Foster was able to limp on his leg a bit afterwards, so I’m hoping the damage isn’t too severe. Damn good show on the part of Lytle, though my girlfriend thought he was too cocky afterwards.

Finally, Cain Velasquez must have shed his reputation for pillow punches by now, as he knocked Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira down and out in the first round. Considering the number of punches Velasquez was landing with seemingly no effect, I doubt anyone expected a first round KO before it happened. Nogueira looked set to lose that fight from the beginning, though, as Velasquez just kept getting there first with his strikes. This should definitely have earned him a title shot, either against Brock Lesnar directly, or against the winner of Mir/Carwin for the interim title.

It’s hard to get excited for the next event after the huge build-up to 110, but I think I can manage. UFC 111 sees Dan Hardy challenge GSP for the welterweight belt, and I don’t think this will be as one-sided as people expect. While Hardy is primarily a striker, he is fairly obsessed with 10th Planet JJ and actually does quite a bit of work on his ground game. I’m guessing he expects to get taken down, and he probably has a few tricks up his sleeve for fighting from his back against a dominant wrestler like GSP. I doubt Hardy will win, but UFC 111 should prove to doubters that he is a legitimate welterweight contender.

The main event of Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs Cain Velasquez is getting odds of -115 for both fighters at BetUS and -120 Nog to -110 Velasquez at Bodog. Needless to say, the bookies figure it’ll be a close fight. It’s conventional wisdom not to bet on such close fights, and there’s a good reason for that. You are looking at a fairly even chance of a win or loss, yet neither bet you could make would pay out much. BetUS is also offering over/under odds, but those bets are rarely a good idea.

We’re talking a legend of the sport in Nogueira up against a young undefeated prospect in Velasquez. This is a clear test of whether Velasquez has what it takes to vie for title contention. I think he does, and my feeling is that this will actually be a disappointing technical battle. My other guess is Nogueira by omoplata, but that’s just because I think it would be cool to see.

The other really big fight at UFC 110 will be Wanderlei Silva vs Michael Bisping, which BetUS has at -145 Silva to +115 Bisping, and Bodog has at -154 Silva to +125 Bisping. Anyone who has read this blog knows I like Michael Bisping. And, yes, I think he will win. This is mostly due to the fact that Silva has lost 6 of his last 10 fights, while Bisping’s only recent loss was that spectacular knockout delivered by Dan Henderson. Yep, it was a bad loss, but it didn’t really reveal any fundamental flaws with Bisping’s style. I don’t think Silva will be bringing anything of his old self, nor anything revolutionary that will bring back his winning ways. I call a second round TKO for Bisping, who will knock Silva down and then swarm in for the finish.

Joe Stevenson vs George Sotiropoulos is a really interesting fight. I’ll be happy if either fighter wins, as I like them both, but a win for Sotiropoulos would be far more meaningful. Unfortunately, it’ll be a struggle for him, as he’s the underdog in this fight for good reason. George’s BJJ skills are outstanding, as we’ve seen in many of his fights, but he has yet to fight someone with equally impressive ground fighting. Stevenson is that fight, and he is on something of a tear at the moment, coming back from troubling losses with a couple of dominant victories. If George gets past Stevenson, he’s probably on his way to a title shot in a couple more fights. It just doesn’t seem likely given Joe Stevenson’s great wrestling.

There are just so many excellent fights on this card, and it’s going to be a real treat to watch. Sure, you never know what a fight is going to be like until it happens, but most of these match-ups promise a lot of excitement.

I expected Maynard would take down Diaz and win the fight easily with control, but he really wants to get rid of his lay and pray label, doesn’t he? In a move that can only be described as bizarre, Maynard chose to stand and trade strikes with Diaz for 3 rounds, coming away with a split decision that could have just as easily been a draw or even a loss. I also think Maynard’s unwillingness to go to the ground when he knocked Diaz down looked too much like fear of a submission. This is probably why Frank Edgar has just been given the next title shot against BJ Penn, when it could so easily have gone to Maynard.d

While I thought Amir Sadollah wasn’t going to have an easy time against Brad Blackburn, he won a solid unanimous decision, with 30-27 from every judge. Blackburn had a good start in round 1, but the fight changed after an uppercut rocked him later in the first. Rounds 2 and 3 went without question to Sadollah, and a fourth round probably would have seen Blackburn finished off.

Evan Dunham vs Efrain Escudero was a bit of an upset, with Escudero tapping to an armbar in the third round. The armbar was on good and deep before he tapped, and it seemed like his arm was injured thanks to his stubbornness, but he has reported that nothing is broken. It’s a bit of an unfortunate loss, as he was probably on the way to bigger and better things if he had managed to pull off a win.

Other results from UFN 20 included a decision win for Chris Leben, who had clearly fallen a long way. From headlining a card to the prelims of a UFC Fight Night? It could be worse, but not by much, so maybe this win will get him back onto UFC PPVs. I have an awful feeling that the lack of a finish may just squeeze him out of the UFC entirely, though. We’ll just have to wait and see.

Luckily, the injury rate for this event subsided slightly and the card stabilized long enough for an official announcement of the fights. For an event that seemed to fulfill End of Days prophecies, it was a pretty exciting night, with only 3 decisions in 10 fights.

First of all, UFC 108 was bad news for the Lauzons, as both Dan and Joe lost their fights. Dan Lauzon was caught in a bizarre triangle and kimura combo by Cole Miller. Joe Lauzon was simply outmatched in all 3 rounds of his fight against Sam Stout, who has come out looking a much better prospect after his disappointing beginnings in the UFC.

Also on this card was Junior dos Santos vs. Gilbert Yvel. Originally, this was scheduled to be a fight between dos Santos and Gabriel Gonzaga, which was a very exciting fight for anyone interested in Dos Santos’ rise through the heavyweight division. Gonzaga got sick, however, and Yvel stepped up to replace him. Gilbert Yvel is known for three things – fouls, KO victories, and absolutely no ground game. What a surprise, then, when Junior dos Santos chose to stand with Yvel, knocking him down and then finishing him off at 2:07 of the first round. It’s not all that impressive given Yvel’s record in the biggest promotions, but it demonstrates that dos Santos has a good sense of himself and he knows when he completely outclasses an opponent.

I was sad to see Dustin Hazelett lose to Paul Daley so quickly, but he brought it on himself. Hazelett has only ever managed to finish his UFC fights by submission, yet he did not attempt to take Paul Daley down at all. One wonders if he had been training as if he was still going to fight Karo Parisyan. Regardless, it’s a bit of a shame, as that beard of his is spectacular, and it needs merchandising opportunities.

Finally, let’s look at the main event. Rashad Evans edged out a decision against Thiago Silva, and he was in big trouble near the end of the fight. It was the kind of performance that makes you think he’ll probably get another challenge for the title sometime, but he’s unlikely to win it unless he gets to take it from Forrest again. Beating Thiago Silva is impressive, it just needed to be more dominant to really prove that Evans could become a dominant champion in the future. We’ll see how Rashad does against Rampage, I suppose.

Next week we get an Ultimate Fight Night to tide us over until UFC 109 and Strikeforce: Miami. It’s a pretty busy month for MMA if you think about it, but I imagine a lot of it will pass people by due to New Year headaches.

Before the Penn/Sanchez fight, I had my doubts about whether Sanchez had any path to victory. I figured there was a slight chance he could edge out a decision if things kept standing and he was careful to get the attention of the judges. My gut feeling said that he was hopelessly out of his depth, but I’ve never really liked Diego, so I figured my instincts were too harsh. Well, I was wrong, but only in doubting my feelings about Diego Sanchez. He was utterly destroyed by BJ Penn in just over 4 rounds, the fight being stopped due to Sanchez losing enough blood from his face to fill an Olympic swimming pool.

Sanchez never had any business fighting for the lightweight title at this stage in his lightweight career. He had wins over Joe Stevenson and Clay Guida. Stevenson is certainly something, but this was during his period of being crap, and Clay Guida is not an elite fighter – at least not when “capable of challenging BJ Penn” is the necessary requirement for excellence in your division. I think this is the beginning of the end for Diego Sanchez, as he works on a checkered record going up against the true contenders of the lightweight division.

In other news, Frank Mir reminded everyone that he still has the skills to pay said bills. I thought he’d beat Brock Lesnar at UFC 100, which was remarkably naïve now that I think about it. Having said that, Mir has clearly worked on correcting strength disparities, and his victory over Cheick Kongo is testament to his dedication to getting a rubber match with Lesnar. He choked the guy unconscious! What is with fighters recently not tapping out to chokes before they pass out?

The last UFC event of the year/first of next year is UFC 108 on 2 January, AKA The Cursed Card. Injuries galore have changed the line-up of this card over 9000 times already. It’s gotten to the point where people are half expecting it to be cancelled, though that seems a little bit harsh. The current (and hopefully final) main event for UFC 108 will be a match between Rahad Evans and Thiago Silva. This fight is getting odds of -220 Evans to +175 Silva at BetUS, which may favor Rashad a little too much. Nevertheless, Evans should certainly have the edge, with a career fighting much better opposition than Thiago Silva.

Commenting on the rest of the card doesn’t seem too wise just yet, due to the changes that have occurred. Let’s just say that this hardly seems like a card worthy of ringing in a new decade, but what are you going to do? Fighters get hurt sometimes. It’s just odd that so many have been hurt now. Perhaps there’d be value in the UFC having an off-season.

Well, I don’t think it would shock anyone to see Penn keep his belt. What can Sanchez do, exactly, that BJ isn’t capable of neutralizing or doing better? Takedown Penn? Not gonna happen. Reverse Penn? Not gonna happen. Outstrike the champ? Not gonna happen. Diego Sanchez defeated a lazy Joe Stevenson and the lackluster Clay Guida to get here, with his win over Guida coming as a split decision. While he is certainly capable of playing with better fighters at lightweight, Sanchez has done nothing so far to prove he has what it takes to defeat BJ Penn. Sure, Penn’s cardio continues to look suspect, but I don’t think this is going into championship rounds. Is Diego Sanchez going to get owned? YUS!

Frank Mir vs. Cheick Kongo could get interesting if Mir hasn’t focused on training to beat Kongo rather than a rematch with Hulk- I mean Brock Lesnar. Really, the superior ground skills of Mir should win this, but Kongo is no slouch. An expert striker with great reach, Kongo will definitely have the advantage standing, and probably in the clinch. I think Mir should take this fight, but he just needs to have prepared to take Kongo down and have prepared for a rematch against Lesnar.

Jon Fitch vs. Mike Pierce I have no qualms about giving to Fitch. Pierce may be on a 6 fight win streak, but his major wins are over fighters that are proving not to live up to the potential they showed earlier in their careers. I have a bad feeling that Fitch is getting used as a gatekeeper for the 170 pound division. This is a big mistake, as the man is a genuine contender. He’ll destroy most other fighters at welterweight, so why feed a possible up-and-comer to this monster?

Kenny Florian vs. Clay Guida looks set to put Florian on the path to being a gatekeeper for the lightweight division, while setting Guida on the path to retirement… or at least to getting dropped from the UFC. Florian is a better fighter than Guida, who has a UFC record of 5 wins, 4 losses. It’s not that the guy’s bad – he’s just not a contender, and he isn’t quite consistent enough to keep the riff raff out of the top of the division. Florian will take the fight handily, but Guida will put up a struggle and should make this entertaining.

Paul Buentello vs. Stefan Struve will see Buentello make his UFC return. This fight is kind of hard to pick. Struve could potentially rise above his currently iffy record, but he will have to defeat the veteran Buentello first. Both fighters are well versed in kickboxing, and both have many wins by submission. In the end, I’d have to say this fight goes to Buentello if it remains standing, but to Struve if they hit the ground. Overall, I think Struve will take it, managing to hold his own standing before getting Buentello down and finishing him with a submission from there.

The UFC 107 undercard will not be showing any fights on Spike TV, which is too bad, as the Alan Belcher vs. Wilson Gouveia fight should be interesting. This is the last UFC event of the year, but Strikeforce and K-1/Dream still have events in December. Other good news is that the Wanderlei Silva and Michael Bisping match for UFC 110 seems to be a go, but it looks like it won’t be the main event – that honor could now go to Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Cain Velasquez! Australia is getting a high quality card in February.

This fight is one I don’t really want to pick, as I think Tito will win despite how much I want Forrest to get back into the top of the light heavyweight division. As much as I want a Griffin victory, though, I just do not see him pulling it off if Ortiz really has recovered from his back injuries. It wasn’t as if their last fight was especially close, and Forrest has two losses weighing on his mind that he may not be dealing with. Some sportsbooks are giving odds of -165 Griffin to +135 Ortiz, but I just don’t see how Forrest is going to win this one without getting a knockout in the first exchange, which is hardly something he is known for.

Josh Koscheck vs. Anthony Johnson depends, as always, on which Josh Koscheck shows up to fight. If Koscheck just focuses on wrestling, it should be a cakewalk for him. If he decides he wants to try standing with Johnson, however, he’ll soon be reminded that most of Johnson’s wins have been by KO or TKO. It should also be noted that Johnson is a massive welterweight who has trouble making weight, as evidenced by what happened before his last fight against Yoshiyuki Yoshida. Koscheck just will not be able to match or withstand the power of an Anthony Johnson striking onslaught, but his wrestling could definitely control the fight and earn the win.

Karo Parisyan vs. Dustin Hazelett has incredibly close odds of -120 Hazelett and -110 Parisyan. I think Parisyan should have the advantage, but he’s been pretty cocky about his superiority to BJJ practitioners. I really get the feeling he hasn’t taken this fight seriously, and that may be all Hazelett needs to slap on a submission – just a moment when Karo is careless on the ground and makes a perilous mistake. Parisyan should win this fight, but an unchecked ego could be his undoing against the skillful submission artist, Dustin Hazelett.

Amir Sadollah vs. Phil Baroni is generally considered to be in Sadollah’s favor. I just can’t agree, despite Baroni’s inability to fight off his back. While Amir won TUF 7, it was hardly an impressive victory given he had already beaten CB Dolloway in his semi-final fight. Sadollah’s next fight was a loss, putting him at 1-1, but you have to give him credit for fighting all of his pro fights in the UFC. With that said, Phil Baroni has a embarrassing record for someone who calls himself ‘The Best EVA!!!’. His boxing and wrestling are decent, though, and I think his greater experience will make him more than just an easy fight for Sadollah. I expect a lot of complaints from fans after this fight of how Baroni has knocked Sadollah out of the UFC, while having no chance of a title shot himself.

The last of the main card UFC 106 fights sees Antonio Rogerio “Little Nog” Nogueira make his UFC debut against Luiz Cane. This Nogueira is the twin brother of Antonio Rodrigo “Minotauro” Nogueira, and while not as famous, he has wins over top fighters such as Dan Henderson and Alistair Overeem. Nevertheless, Luiz Cane should prove a challenge, with his dangerous striking and training in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu allowing him to be competitive on the ground with Nogueira, who is most at home there. I think L’il Nog takes this fight, and practically everyone else in the world agrees.

I’m a bit surprised at how much hate this card is getting. It’s as if every fight in the UFC has to be between two major fighters in order to be at all worthwhile. Sure, the cost of PPVs makes every bad fight sting all the worse, but the UFC isn’t putting on terrible shows. I don’t know, maybe I’m weird. I actually think that fights between middle-tier guys who have no chance at winning the title are still great fun to watch if their styles match up well. Anyway, here’s hoping for an event that’s full of excitement.

Randy Couture takes on Brandon Vera in the headline fight, and the odds are very close at some sportsbooks, some calling the fight at -120 Couture to -110 Vera. I reckon this is a bit of a fantasy, as Couture is definitely past his prime. He’s a fighter, no doubt, and he’s not getting destroyed by his opposition, but he’s just not going to get back into title contention, regardless of how much people may want him to.

Vera lost momentum in a string of losses, which damaged his reputation severely. This has unfairly led people to discount him entirely. His youth and experience in Greco Roman wrestling should serve Vera well against Couture, and a striking battle would almost certainly be to his advantage rather than Couture’s. I want Couture to take a run for the light heavyweight title as much as anyone, but I don’t think it’s going to happen.

Dan Hardy vs. Mike Swick will likely go to Swick, who has had a good run at welterweight in the UFC. I doubt it will be an easy victory, however, as Dan Hardy has more fights under his belt and he is an excellent tactician. In stand up, it seems like a pretty even match up, but ground fighting will undoubtedly go to Swick. If Swick chooses to trade strikes, Hardy might win a split decision, and this possibility is quite likely if Swick thinks he needs to prove something.

Of course, I’m mostly looking forward to Michael Bisping vs. Denis Kang. I hope Bisping can win, but it’s not going to be easy against a fighter like Kang. What a lot of people fail to give Bisping credit for is that he is very difficult to take down and keep on the ground. While Kang has both submission expertise and knockout ability, I don’t think he is a superior striker to Bisping and he would find it difficult to take the fight to the ground. I’m absolutely biased in this case, however, so let’s just say I think Bisping has a better chance than some people think.

TUF 9 winners Ross Pearson and James Wilks will also have fights in the main card. Pearson takes on Aaron Riley and Wilks goes against Matt Brown. I’m somewhat surprised that the Brits are the underdogs for these bouts. Pearson is +165 to Riley at -210 and Wilks is +125 to Brown at -155. Riley and Brown aren’t exactly the greatest fighters who’ve ever lived. They’re both challenging, just not quite as dominant as the odds suggest.

It’s not the biggest event this year or even this month, but UFC 105 should be fairly entertaining. We’ll get to see if Randy Couture can regain some relevancy, whether Mike Swick or Dan Hardy will get to take on GSP, how Michael Bisping has been affected by his UFC 100 loss, and also if the TUF 9 winners can continue to perform now that they are in the UFC proper. Make no mistake, this card has implications for the future, it just doesn’t have the big name events that most fans crave.