First, Vera has gone on the record saying that Dan Hernderson and Wandy both turned down the fight. It is known that at least three fighters turned down the Anderson Silva fight. To complain about who they are facing is fine, but you should acknowledge that attempts were made to secure top notch opponents.

Since Vera and James Irwin have talked about it, it is not as though this is not well known within the MMA writing community.

Affliction has put together a solid card, but some folks are acting as though this the greatest card ever…far from it.
Pedro Rizzo has looked good how many times in the last five years? I will give him credit for beating Monson, but Barnett just easily did the same thing. So we get a top ten fighter (Barnett) against a guy that is arguably not even in the top twenty.

So Barnett/Rizzo is ok, but Vera facing a 7-1 fighter is not?

How about Matt Lindland facing a guy that has lost to every top twenty guy he has ever faced?

The Affliction card is better, but it should be since they are charging $40 for it.

Both cards could have stronger bouts, as we will see top level guys facing solid opponents that are not in their league.

So write an article about why you like it, talk about how you are upset at the UFC for running a show at the same time, but your complaints about the UFC card hypocritical and inaccurate.

Forrest fights Thiago next. Or at least, I hope that’s how it pans out. If he does, Thiago kills him.

I don’t tend to trust Soares too much, but even if he does fight Okami in the fall, it will be a decimation, and when he destroys Okami (given the win over Irvin) he’ll come back up to fight at 205 again.

After all, while the 185 pound division is good, there’s no one Anderson is competing with.

You think that Tim will start stopping people now? Outside of the cage? After his last few crappy performances? I think alot of people would be shocked if he pulled that off. I mean, I know how good his striking is, but I don’t think he’s going to stop Fedor standing up, not when CroCop, at his peak, in the ring, couldn’t.

Hey I thought Page was definitely going to win also. You gotta love the leg kicks! Happy for Forrest but who does he fight next?

I don’t think Anderson will be making regularly 205 appearances win or lose. Okami is his next opponent confirmed this Fall, according to Ed Soares. There’s Cote and maybe another dance with Henderson on the horizon, if he doesn’t get subbed by Palhares.

OK, I have to admit it. I’m kind of rooting for Tim Sylvia, but if Fedor wins it won’t be a surprise. There’s a strong chance Fedor will end the fight in the 1st round. Hey, I don’t think Tim Sylvia winning via KO will be a surprise either.

Vee, that’s an underhanded shot about the Forrest fight, and you know it. When I called him delusional, it was a matter of him standing and trading with Rampage. He didn’t. He worked from the outside, he was aggressive on the ground with a few submission attempts and, most importantly, he worked the leg kicks. He didn’t do what he said, in all of the prefight jabber I saw, he was going to do. That’s why he won.

Anderson is a massive favorite on every board I’ve looked at. I don’t think his chances are as good as the odds show, but I think you’re missing my point.

My point is not that James Irvin can’t win this fight. I think he can (and there’s a part of me that wants to put a little bit of money on him to cash in on the 8/1 odds). The issue is that Irvin was not brought into this fight to win, he was brought in to springboard Anderson into the 205 pound division.

Anything can happen. I won’t deny that, and I never have. Frankly, the Forrest fight wasn’t the only one I called wrong (I had a tough night at UFC 86), so if you’re going to nit-pick, feel free.

If Fedor doesn’t take Tim down?

I respect Tim’s takedown defense, but there are plenty of guys who have put Tim on his back. Randy did it. Monson did it. It can be done.

Arlovski’s background is Sambo too. So what? That didn’t stop him from knocking Sylvia on his ass and submitting him.

I think Fedor will take Sylvia to the ground because I don’t think that Tim will be able to get out of a clinch with Fedor, especially in a ring. But if that doesn’t happen, Fedor can still do damage standing up, and I think he will.

Still, I’m going to go with an ending on the ground.

Another thing about the unknown cans or obvious easy wins. How many times in recent UFC history have we seen huge upsets from obvious cans? Forrest choked out (an injured Shogun – BUT no one fights 100%), UD against Rampage, and nearly beat Tito Ortiz. Jake O’Brien controlled Heath Herring towards an unanimous decision. Jardine’s upset and well earned victory over Chuck Liddell. Houston Alexander a relatively unknown prospect destroyed the tough Keith Jardine. And I’m sure there’s more examples, especially in boxing.

There are many points of contention concerning the Fedor-Tim match up, but I really don’t think Tim’s recent loss to Nogueira factors a whole lot. Really different style match-ups. Nog is a BJJ with decent striking. Fedor’s background is sambo. Tim is just a striker, who rarely takes a fight to the floor. What happens if Fedor is unable to take Tim down? You’re looking at a 3-round striking match. Or is it 5-rounds?

After all, “Forrest Griffin is delusional.” – J. Stein

“Both Brandon and Vera, on the UFC card, and Fedor, are supposed to win their fights.”

and

“opens alot of doors to the independent organizations who how these contracts.”