Spoiler post---don't read if you don't want to know the results

The Per Eklund-Sam Stout fight was the only one not shown on PPV in my area...assume it would be the same for everyone else. The write up on this one made me vomit. Sounds like Eklund's ground game was non-existent. When you have Sam Stout laughing and getting fed up with your feeble take down attempts it is time for a new game plan.

Obv glad I had the Sakara bet now.

Something just didn't seem right about the Gonzaga fight. Did he gas that bad, get hurt, or was his game plan that atrocious? When you get two knock downs by leg kicks in the 1st round and throw four total the rest of the fight, something is wrong...either physically or mentally. It almost has me feeling bad for Cro Cop for getting knocked out by such a fluke head kick. Gonzaga sure hasn't lived up to the hype of that kick.

he gassed that bad IMO as it looked that way, and has always been a problem of his. Other then the CroCop fight, what has he ever really shown to deserve the hype he got, that's why I thought the Werdum line of getting +250 on Werdum was an amazing value. Did werdum have a bad fight against arlovski, yes, but it seems that arlovski seems to bring out the worst in a lot of fighters now ala Pedro Rizzo


boy, did BJ Penn make Joe stevenson his bitch or what. That was complete domination and props to joe for lasting as long as he did. I really don't know if Sherk is going to be able to beat BJ if that's the BJ we see in the next fight. I also got a chuckle out of Sherk saying that he was the better boxer of the two, he can't really believe that can he? I've watched Sherk fight since he was in King Of The Cage and he has never been a great MMA Boxer. I guess you have to say something don't ya

I bet Werdum because everything I read pointed to him being very embarrassed about his fight with Arlovski and I thought Gonzaga might have been a touch overrated and like you said, the odds were too good to pass up.

Yeah, after I saw BJ at the weighins (I missed the training special) I knew Joedaddy was in for a very long night. I was impressed with Joe's offense from his back and was very unimpressed with BJ's defense of that. He took way too many elbows and hammer fists from the top for my liking if I am his coach. I actually think a fighter like Sherk is BJ's krytonite. I don't think BJ has ever been in good enough shape to go two rounds with Sherk. I thought he looked in great shape last night, but he did a good job of fooling me into thinking he was gassed after the fight.

Generally, I'm just a fan of good fights and don't pull too hard for one fighrer or the other.
But, I really hope Sherk does not get his title back

wow, how did I not bet this card using the all dogs method....woulda made a ton.

The fights were fairly bad imo, I don't know if jetlag or something affects these guys, but man did Grove look absolutely terrible, not to mention gonzaga. I thought Gonzaga's leg kicks were going to end up winning him the fight, they were fcking obscene and then out of nowhere he falls and rolls up into a ball? That's more than just gassing imo.

BJ looked amazing, I'm glad I didn't bet stevenson the dude really had no shot. Only real good performance I saw last night I think. I think Sherk will get his ass kicked if BJ comes in looking this good to that fight.

I really wish the UFC would be hardrer on Sherk. I hate steroid cheats in all sports but in a 1 on 1 physical sport like the UFC the advantage gained by cheating is amplified. Here he is still under suspension and there already hyping a Penn/Sherk match. Not to mention the amount of time it took them to strip him in the first place. And really how is it a real strip of the title if his first fight back he will be fighting for the title . I believe in second chances however but making him put in a couple of fights before getting a title shot would be more than fair. I really hope BJ destroys him.


sorry for the rant

I am in the same boat as you as far as punishments go Grocery.

Unfortunately, I believe Sherk did not knowingly juice. The levels of the drugs in his system were WAY WAY too low to be a juicer. Normal person 6mg, Sherk 12mg, juicer 50-60mg. The three samples tested prior to Sherk's all tested positive so there could have easily been tainted lab equipment. Sherk also passed a lie detector test. To me, it just doesn't add up.

The only real suspicion I have is that he had just torn his rotator cuff so I can see him using them to heal quicker.



Anyone have any comments on how BJ might beat Sherk?

From Dave Meltzer on another message board I read:



And with that, I take my leave of the FCP.

out boxing him, stuffing the takedowns, and if taken down using his unreal flexibility to force sherk into bad situations. If it wasn't for BJ coming into the last hughes fight out of shape due to short notice, BJ could've beaten hughes in 5 rounds, if you remember, BJ was picking apart Hughes in the first two rounds and the bell saved Hughes from an arm bar IIRC. Hughes is a better wrestler then sherk, and if BJ was able to do that to Hughes, what will he do to sherk. Stevenson is also a excellent wrestler and BJ imposed his will on Stevenson. so why do you not rate BJ at all in this fight

Oh, it's not that I don't like BJ in this fight at all. I am just trying to get some input on how everyone thinks the fight might go.

I am afraid Sherk's relentless activity (and it's a completely different "relentless" than what Goldberg mentioned about Stevenson) is going to give BJ fits. I don't see BJ submitting Sherk and I don't see him continually stuffing Sherk's take downs. I think BJ would win a boxing match, but there is no way in hell Sherk will attempt to stand with him. I have never been impressed with BJ's defense of G&P whether he is on top or on bottom. However, he never makes fatal mistakes either. I can see BJ gassing long before Sherk does which might point to decision for Sherk having the most time in the top position.

They have a good common opponent to do MMAth by and that is GSP. GSP took out Sherk 11/05 by TKO in rd 2 (having outweighed him by 25lbs at fight time though) and BJ took GSP the distance four months later.

Whatever happens it certainly will not be a repeat of BJ/Joedaddy. If BJ happens to dispatch Sherk easily I would personally write Dana to schedule an immediate rematch with GSP. Dana seems to think clearing out a deep, but maybe overrated 155 division before rematching GSP is the way to go.

before BJ goes to WW, I'd like to see him fight Edgar or Huerta or one of the other latins I can't recall
It almost seems Dana keeps separate "groups" in his deeper weight classes which allows them to build better records for more fighters
I don't think BJ would have any trouble with those two but some fans would be questioning what if.

also imo, GSP has improved more than BJ has and would take'em fairly easily.


What do people think of Werdum getting a title shot before Kongo or Mir, if he beats Brock?

Dana is quickly making the belts as meaningless as boxing.

This is IMHO the biggest joke in the history of the UFC.

Dana likes to throw shit out to see how people react to it. After the public outcry I think Dana changes his mind. If Kongo or Mir look impressive and they don't resign Arlovski I don't think he has a choice but to take Werdum out of the title shot for now. If Kongo beats Herring he should get the next shot.

first off, agreed on above rant. Second, the vid in your sig has had me laughing for 2 days now, thanks for having it (german kid playing sng) -- that is pure gold.

I don't think Kongo should sniff a HW title shot for years (seriously wtf) and I agreee with KDawg BJP would beat Sherk -- very curious as to what odds that fight would be -- UFC heavyweight division is a mess, will see what happens -- and yes I am surprised early $$ has come on Mir universally, looking forward to that fight bigtime

UFC 80 was probably one of the best events in recent time. On paper, it wasn't all that great of a card, but 8 of the 9 fights didn't go to a decision and there were some spectacular knockouts as well. BJ was amazing in his fight and Joe Daddy is no slouch. His control on top was just amazing, he kept getting dominant positions without the threat of getting swept against a world class guy on the ground. The RNC was also textbook, trapping the arm.

I really don't think Sherk stands a chance against a newly refocused BJ Penn. Sherk's only chance is to grind out a boring decision if he somehow gets BJ to the ground and BJ gasses out. I just don't see this happening to BJ anymore. There is pretty much no chance Sherk finishes BJ, so BJ gassing is his only chance. What can Sherk really do to BJ other than take him down and hold him there? BJ has the edge standing and on the ground, so anywhere Sherk takes the fight, he will be in trouble. For Sherk to think his boxing is better is laughable and on the ground, it's no contest.

Also regarding BJ's fight with Hughes, it was a rib injury caused when transitioning to Hughes' back that caused him to lose the fight and appear as though as he gassed. BJ blamed the injury on not being in optimal shape, but he was still in good shape for the fight. It was kind of a freakish injury regardless.

I also think BJ beats GSP. He will definitely come into this fight in shape and ready. This is the fight I think everyone wants to see, so I can't wait for it to happen again. The last fight was controversial in some ways, because BJ clearly did more damage and all GSP really did was take BJ down and did no damage. In the rematch, I would think GSP would try and use his wrestling to get the fight to the ground with him on top and try to grind out a decision. I don't think he will want to stand with BJ, because I think BJ has better hands and the better chin. I just see BJ knocking GSP out standing or if it gets to the ground, Penn being able to get dominant positions and pound away on GSP for a stoppage or softening him up and catching him in a submission.

No offense, but I'm not sure what you were watching when you think Joe actually mounted any kind of offense. Those hammer fists and strikes he threw from the borrom were ineffective and didn't land clean and did no damage whatsoever, they were basically slaps. The only significant strike Joe landed was an elbow standing, which BJ probably didn't even feel because he has an iron chin. BJ has excellent head movement and is great at avoiding damage. He wasn't actually gassed after the fight, he was overcome with emotion because he just fulfilled his dream of being Lightweight Champion of the world.

It's kinda funny how everyone comes up with the strategy of making BJ gas as part of the plan to beat him. If BJ ever proves that he has good enough cardio, you gotta wonder what strategy if any people could come up with to beat him.

I don't think I ever said Joe "mounted" an offense and I agree Joe did not do any significant damage with strikes from the bottom. I disagree that they weren't clean, but that is here nor there. Most fighters on top either keep their head on the opponents chest or posture completely up. BJ was in no man's land and getting hit with a lot of shots most people wouldn't want to deal with. I think this is due to BJ having one of the best chins in MMA, really not caring about getting hit, and knowing he isn't going to get himself into trouble from top position.

Agree with everything else in the two posts....good synopsis.

Sherk will def has a huge strength advantage, but pretty much everything else going against him. BJ certainly hasn't fought anyone with Sherk's intensity and fearlessness in a long time...maybe even his entire career. Not good for someone who is known to come into fights not in the best shape possible. I do not think that will be the case this time, but you have to wonder with the only thing on BJ's mind being GSP (that comes from the horses mouth) how long can Dana keep him motivated in the LW division? BJ has said himself he only wants to fight 2 times a year. Was that before the newfound motivation?

I am in the boat with the people who think a motivated BJ is one if not the top P4P fighters in the world, but let's face it. He has only won 3 of his last 6 fights with two of those being against Pulver (lost 4 of his last 8) and Renzo Gracie (who has lost 6 of his last 10). BJ has been getting an awful lot of credit for a very average showing since 2005.

Personally, I hope he destroys everyone until the day he retires and leaves the sport with the biggest legacy of all time.

Anyone have any thoughts on these fights tonight?

Cole Miller -170
Jeremy Stephens +140

Corey Hill -170
Joe Veres +140

Cote -140
McFedries +110

Swick -200
Burkman +160
That line moved from -185 in the time it took me to type that last post. Sick


Mir is down to +110. I can't believe that much money is going on him as he opened +160. Who knows something we don't?

I was just going to ask this, it's 730 am here just got done with a session and I think I'm going to the fights later today, but I haven't really studied any of the lines or fighters....If someone has any tips, I'd appreciate it as I'll probably bet some of the fights.

There are 3 lines that got my attention on bodog, as you all know I'm a big fan of betting big dogs...but I don't really know these guys so I don't know if they even have a shot.

Kurt Pellegrino vs Alberto Crane , crane is at +275

Gray Manard vs Dennis Siver , Siver is at +300

Thiago Tavares (who I think is sick) vs Michiro Omigawa (who I've never heard of but I assume is a pride guy?) Tavares is -875 and Michiro is +575........I know Tavarez is good, but I don't think I'd bet anyone who's name isn't Fedor, at -875...At the same time I'll take +575 on just about anyone in the UFC.

Any advice on these and the rest of the fights would be great....thanks.

Did anyone see the debut of Kimbo Slice in EliteXC, he made a guy submit 19 seconds into the fight after landing two punches.

Crane is 8-1 and took Huerta to round 3 before getting KTFO. He is a sub specialist, but he is fighting another sub specialist in Pellegrino. Two of Pellegrino's losses have come via chokes and his only other loss was a UD to Joe Stevenson back in August. They both looked great at the weigh ins (shit, everyone did for that matter..well, Wiman looked a little soft). Odds are 25% chance he wins which is not horrific, but I personally will not be betting that one unless I get degen later.

Siver got submitted in April of last year by the guy Marcus Davis just KTFO...Jess Laudin. All four of his losses have come by sub, but he also has a bunch of subs to his credit. According to fighter finder on sherdog Maynard is pretty much an unknown...obv except for his stint on TUF. Another 25% chance to win for Siver and this might not be a bad play, but again...don't think I will be putting any money on it so I hate to recommend someone else to.

I saw that Tavares line and laughed until I did the background check on Omigawa. Had a decision loss to Matt Wiman of TUF fame. Half of his wins have come by TKO though which means he can at least throw a punch. 15% punchers chance???? Also, I was surprised at how much Tyson Griffin was able to abuse Tavares. Griffin wore him out though and I don't know if Omigawa has the same intensity.

I think it was a dive for a paycheck

http://mmajunkie.com/2007/11/12/did-bo-can...st-kimbo-slice/

I watched it, the whole right side of Cantrell's head was swollen red from that fist/forearm combo after the fight. Slice looks all kinds of intimidating, I'd like to see him fight someone who won't crap their pants at the site of the guy though.

EliteXC seems to think they can get a Kimbo/Gannon rematch, but I have read on three different occasions Kimbo wants to do it bare knuckle again.

Tank certainly won't be crapping his pants, but not sure he has any gas left to even put up a good fight.

Did you see Fedor's face after he fought Hong Choi? You would have thought he got his ass kicked.

remember when you wrote a poker blog?

Nope, I've actually managed to never see a card with Fedor on it. I've only seen a few highlights here and there. I don't get all that excited about heavyweight fights in MMA, I prefer the lower weight divisions.

Crane at +275 is very good value in my opinion. His fight against Huerta was his first fight in almost 3 years and he did not come into that fight in shape and still was pretty dominant on the ground as far as positioning goes. I expect him to come into this shape in fight and actually implement some ground and pound to set up his submissions. Pellegrino isn't as good as Crane on the ground and he is not as explosive and strong as Huerta, so I don't see him powering out of submissions like Huerta did against Crane. The fight will probably hit the ground at some point and I think Crane will dominate if he gets top position and sweep Pellegrino if he is on the bottom and he should be able to submit Pellegrino.

The other 2 fights I can't comment on much, because I don't know Siver or Omigawa all that well. I would expect Maynard and Tavares to walk through their opponents though as the UFC is probably trying to build these guys up.

If you just look at records, BJ is not going to impress you much. His record is not all that great, but when you look at his resume of wins and losses and what happened during those fights, you would understand why he is so highly touted. He has some great wins over Gomi, Din Thomas, Caol Uno, Matt Hughes, Bang Ludwig when they were all highly regarded. BJ always took on the toughest opponents out there and fought out of his weight class to give himself a challenge. The Renzo and Rodrigo Gracie fights were at 185 and the Machida fight was at 205.

If you take a close look at his losses, many are disputable. His fight against Jens Pulver was incredibly early into his career against a seasoned pro. Jens had 13 fights compared to BJ who had 3 and it was a close 5 round decision that could have gone the other way. His fight with Machida was another close fight where BJ was fighting a guy much heavier and as we've seen is incredibly skilled. His loss against GSP was close and disputable once again and his loss to Hughes was I think caused by his rib injury.

BJ is highly regarded mainly because of his talent and what everyone knows he's capable of. He doesn't always use his talent to his full potential, but it's pretty amazing that he can even compete with the best fighters in the world without even being in good shape. He's said that he used to want to see how little work he could do in the gym and still win fights and now has a totally different mindset and wants to work hard to see how great he really can be. With this kind of focus, I think it's going to be incredibly difficult to beat him.

Very good writeup Jayboogie..looking to hear more from you.

I guess that's my point. Everyone "knows" what he is capable of....now let's see it. If he trains and motivates as much as he did for his last fight there it will be tough to find anyone under 200lbs that he couldn't beat on any given day if not all seven days of the week. I am definitely excited to see how he handles Sherk's intensity. The guy is just relentless.

you'll get excited to see arguably the baddest heavyweight ever fight a dude that's like 7'8 and has 150 pounds on him.....just looking at the size difference on screen makes it an insane fight to watch.

Even his entrance music is exciting....enjoy:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=14EAb7TZGH8


Thanks to everyone else on the advice, I think if I can get similar lines at palms I'll be betting all those dogs...

and Mike, I haven't written a blog in a while cuz I haven't played much/done very well to be motivated enough, also I'm writing a seperate blog that actually pays on Pokerlistings.com pretty standard stuff though.

I'm just messing with you man, enjoy the fights

That was silly.

Choi's arms are so long anytime he throws a punch he is open to getting it grabbed and put into a submission. It was funny seeing Fedor shoot in to take him down then Choi just kind of learn over and take him down.

All around meh...best thing tonight was seeing Omigawa's and Pellegrino's cuts.

Has Herb Dean ever been accused of stopping a fight too late? His explanation was Crane closed his eyes and wasn't defending himself. Pellegrino didn't even get a chance to throw another punch after the one that made Crane close his eyes. Another brilliant one Herb.

JC, was the Veres/Hill stopped early too? PBP says "Hill jumps on top and referee Herb Dean quickly stops the fight. "

Seems Pelligrino got off a couple hammer fists after Crane turned over.
Pellegrino is growing on me quickly

is UFC trying too hard to make me care about Burkman?

I dbl post

That was an early stoppage imo for the Pellegrino/Crane fight. Pellegrino probably would have won anyways, but I think Herb Dean stepped in too early. Crane closed his eyes, because he probably caught a knuckle in the eye, but he rolled onto his back and was defending. Crane should have jumped on Pellegrino with strikes instead of going for a guillotine after that huge head kick. He really needs to improve his striking and wrestling in order to compete in the UFC and incorporate GNP into his ground game as well instead of pure BJJ. He looked lost standing up and I don't think he landed a single punch while he got tagged with like 30 clean shots. He definitely has heart though and keeps fighting even when he's hurt.

Overall, it was a pretty crappy card other than the Cote/McFedries fight. That was the only good fight really on the card and Cote landed that wicked uppercut to end the fight. The main event was just awful and Swick and Burkman both looked terrible.

blaaaah....very weak card imo.

First card I've ever lost money on too...very little tho and I honestly think I should have broke even. I had money on Burkman and live the fight looked incredibly one sided, granted it was the worst fight I've seen in a long time, aside from the kick to the face that swick delivered he really didn't do shit aside from defending the take down. Everyone was booing after the decision even though Swick was a heavy fav in the crowd before the fight. So I think I should have won that fight.

Aside from that I had Cote at -145, Omigawa (who def wasn't a 4.5 to 1 dog imo), Crane who's fight reminded me of Hermes Franca vs Sherk when Franca landed that nasty knee and then went for the ridic guillotine rather than the ground and pound, and Robinson who flat out got crushed.


The Crane fight was 100% an early stoppage. I wish he would have just mounted Pellegrino or taken his back rather than gone for the choke. Another interesting thing is that this is the first card in a while where an underdog in the line doesn't win.

I thought Swick won the fight barely. He did just a tiny bit more in the 2nd and 3rd rounds whereas Burkman did absolutely nothing except try for takedowns. I think the fans were probably booing the fight rather than the decision. That was definitely one of the worst fights I've ever seen, which is pretty surprising because both of them are usually in pretty good fights.

Well there was one minor upset with Jeremy Stephens beating Cole Miller. I think Stephens was +135. I never really understand why fighters go for guillotines while standing and not establishing position first. It's one of the easier submissions to escape and you give up position going for it. It's pretty difficult to submit someone as good as Pellegrino on the ground without softening him up with strikes. That's the main problem with fighters with grappling backgrounds, most of them don't know how to incorporate striking to complement their grappling. Fighters like BJ are amazing at that. It's also much different going for submissions when you're getting punched in the face.

Umm, where the hell have you been? LMAO

It's funny, I looked at the lightweight division and thought that Sherk was so huge for 155 that it would be near impossible for anyone to beat him. Guy has an amazing chin as well. Remember Hermes with the flying knee........it landed square and not much happened. Personally I think Sherk is a kind of boring fighter. But the guy is so huge that he is really hard to submit. He is also a cardio machine, so he won't gas. I do think that BJ Penn is the answer for Sherk. However, I would have to see what the line is on the fight before I bet it. I am a HUGE BJ fan and think he is insanely talented. But I'm not sure I see how he wins this one. Not that I can see how Sherk wins either. I believe it is MUCH closer than people think.

GSP vs Penn is a no contest imo. I think GSP would crush him. GSP has improved so much it's almost not fair. BJ's cardio has improved, but he has always been very talented.

If GSP and Penn were to fight again, I would bet heavily on GSP.

Ditto on the first fight I have lost money on in a while. The dogs didn't come through. Fortunately my largest play was on Diaz so that kept me from being shutout. I had small plays on Omigawa, Crane, McFedries, and Veres.

They were definitely booing the fight, not the decision. IMO there is no way Burkman won that fight although I wouldn't have thought a draw was a bad decision. It was such a tough fight to judge. Honestly, I think the fact that Burkman couldn't take Swick down should count heavily against him. He failed miserably at what seemed like his only game plan.



My biggest worry would be BJ adding enough weight while keeping the cardio in check. Right now GSP would outweigh him by close to 25lbs on fight night. BJ is a talented mofo, but that is way too much weight to be giving up to another world class MMA fighter. I would love to see what the line on this fight would be. It can't be far from even money.



You could make a case for this regarding several fighters. Burkman is definitely in this catagory.

It seems too many people are scared of losing to actually lay it on the line. Makes for some very boring fights. I would rather see guys like McFedries who will mix it up, even though I thought he went down pretty damn easy last night. I know Cote thinks he has hulk hands, but one uppercut is all it took. McFedries had the wherewithal to defend himself pretty good, why not try to make something of it?

i've never had a deep guillotine broken except against the fence. and i've never felt that i've given up position with it. but i love ankle locks so giving up position doesn't really apply to me.

i'm really surprised at how few hip-tosses are thrown in MMA. like last night swick had burkman cross-faced so many times, i think with his height it would have been easy to step aside, toss him, and full mount him.

last night's flights sucked though except the face kick pelligrino took from cane. also, cane looked pretty good on the ground in that first round.

herb dean is seriously KILLING the sport!

I watched the replay of the burkman fight on TV and it's definitely a lot closer than it looked live, I remember the people in the seats around me thinking swick should go for broke the last minute because he was def losing the fight. It might have been that I was a little drunk but it honestly looked to me like a Bisbing v Hamill type decision. Octagon control and aggression go for burkman imo, and I'd argue that so does effective striking. I agree with the draw comment though, they should have both been punished for having such a shit fight.

I will definitely be watching the fight with Lesnar vs Mir (TY TVU player!!). The card looks good though. If Lesnar wins, I forsee more publicity than even Liddell got.

Holy shit. Look UFN 13 fight card:

Kenny Florian v. Joe Lauzon
Karo Parisyan v. Thiago Alves
Matt Hammil v. Stephan Bonnar
Clay Guida v. Samy Schiavo
Spencer Fisher v. Marcus Aurelio
Josh Neer v. Din Thomas
Anthony Johnson v. Tommy Speer

It's way better then your average pay-per-view. Any card with Guida is that already but you get it.

Looking very nice. I know it won't happen, but it would be nice to extend this one to three hours or show either Fisher-Aurelio or Neer-Thomas instead of Hammil-Bonnar.

Well, Hamill has surprised me last time.

wtf is UFN? and when is this?

As I read this last paragraph from you all I could think of was I need more alcohol in my system as well. How many drinks does it take to think this way and actually type it out for the world to read?
You can't be serious. GSP is untouchable ATM. Serra was extremely fortunate to land the right hook the way he did, otherwise GSP would still be the undisputed champion. Serra will not come close in the rematch (if it ever happens) and Penn will not either when they have that rematch. Penn will not be able to handle the quickness and cardio and takedown defence that GSP improves on with each new fight.
The loss to Serra was best thing to happen for GSP and the worst thing for the rest of the fighters in the weight class because now he will never take a fight lightly. The title is GSP's for many years to come.

UFN = Ultimate Fight Night

4/2/2008 on Spike

We need to discuss the fight that is coming up in a week.

Feel free to share ideas. Current lines, etc.

Not an easy one......

Right now JC and I are leaning toward Mir with the line the way it is. As will as Silvia with the line the way it is.

If anyone has new info, don't hesitate to post. And again, any input is good input regarding these fights and undercards.