Mike Swick posted his on The Underground yesterday to give everyone his thoughts on the Marcus Davis fight at UFC 85:

Hey Guys,

Just thought I would post some post fight thoughts after UFC 85…

First I want to thank Marcus for the fight, he is a great person and fighter… The strategy going in was to stay on the outside and use kicks to throw off his boxing game. We also wanted to use knees and clinch work to frustrate him. If given the opportunity, I would take him down and work ground and pound or go for a submission. I think I stuck to the strategy for the most part but he threw me off with his takedowns, I didn’t expect him to shoot and clinch me at all. I think I actually only went for a couple takedowns the whole fight, I did however counter a couple of his…

Read the full story

It was a big deal last April when Pride superstar Mirko Cro Cop Filipovic was set to face off against Gabriel Gonzaga at UFC 70. It was then that Gonzaga, a big Brazilian known for his Jiu-Jitsu, knocked Cro Cop out with a head kick that dropped the Croatian lifeless onto the canvas. So it’s not to surprise to learn that, after UFC 75 and UFC 80, the next two international UFC events, were filled with controversy over bad judging and blood drinking, big upsets have returned to the UFC in the form of an international event.

It’s not just one fight, it’s about oh maybe five or six, if you erred on one particular fighter coming back to reclaim his title of an exciting fighter after his snore-fest with Tim Sylvia at UFC 77. All of these upsets except for two occurred during the main event.

So, what happened last night at the 02 Arena?

Let’s start at the top with Thiago Alves TKO of Matt Hughes at 1:02 of Round 2. It was another missed-weight scenario with Alves failing to make weight and coming in bigger and heavier, but just like the Gina Carano and Kaitlyn Young fight, it wasn’t just size that won the fight. Alves was able to show that Hughes is lacking the ability to manage the fight. Hughes is a big guy, but he’s not showing that he can handle all aspects of the game anymore. We’ll see what he can do against Matt Serra.

Read the full story

If everything goes as planned Saturday, I think there is going to be a big coming out party for Marcus Davis. Watching his progression from the loss to Joe Stevenson on The Ultimate Fighter Season 2 to his recent KO victory over Jess Liaudin at UFC 80 provides a perfect example of the evolution of a mixed martial artist.

If you go back and watch his loss to Joe Stevenson on TUF, you would see a one-dimensional boxer. Stevenson did exactly what any MMA fighter would do when faced with a boxer – took him down, pounded him, and then submitted him (submission due to strikes). I think it’s safe to say that no one was surprised about the outcome, not even Marcus himself. After the loss, Marcus gave the familiar teary-eyed interview and voiced his intention to retire. In his fight with Stevenson, Marcus landed on his shoulder when slammed to the mat and ended up seperating his AC joint and clavicle. This injury stayed with him through his loss to Melvin Guillard at the TUF finale. At this point, all signs seemed to point at his inevitable retirement.

However, Marcus didn’t retire. While on TUF, Marcus forged a friendship with Jorge Gurgel and ended up going out to train with him in Ohio. Shortly after this, Marcus also teamed up with Mark DellaGrotte and Team Sitydotong. And so began the evolution of Marcus Davis from a one-dimensaional boxer into the well-rounded mixed martial artist I expect us to see Saturday night against Mike Swick.

Read the full story

I debated the third person title. I promise my ego isn’t that big, even though I’m a prophet of MMA.

I’ll give some detail on the main card and some other interesting fights (though there aren’t very many).

Matt Hughes vs. Thiago Alves

The fight is going to the ground. Matt Hughes is too good a wrestler, and Alves’ recent failure to make weight has led me to question his conditioning. If people think that size is going to be an issue, Alves isn’t the first guy to come in over weight, hoping to bang with Matt Hughes. Those who remember, remember the fight with Joe Riggs, and those who remember, remember how it ended. I expect this to end similarly.

Matt Hughes by submission, round one

Michael Bisping vs. Jason Day

Bisping is supposed to win this fight, and I think he will. He’s being brought in as a way to get the British fans excited, and I think he’ll do that. He’ll probably beat Day in his bread and butter: the stand-up. There has been a lot of interesting talk about Bisping challenging Silva, and if he wins in the first round, I think that he’ll have a delusion of power and authority, fighting that high up on a card in a country where he’s treated like the greatest. If he does get his way, he’ll lose to Silva, but I think he wins at UFC 85.

Bisping by knockout/TKO, late round one or early round two

Marcus Davis vs. Mike Swick

Hard to say if Swick has the boxing chops to stand with Davis, who’s an accomplished boxer. I think he does, and I think he’ll come out aggressive. I thought about the possibility of a war between the two, but I think that that’s unlikely. I expect Swick to remind us that he’s a bigger, stronger fighter, because he feels he needs to make a showing now. Expect fireworks and there’s a good chance Davis could catch him, so be on guard. This is the one fight I’m not sure about calling, but I’m giving it to Swick.

Swick by TKO, round two

Read the full story

This Saturday, the UFC will invade the O2 Arena in London to yet again show the world that they are still the top MMA organization in the world. After a week that has provided fans with the first ever show on regular television, as well as the most viewed event (and possible fight of the year) in the WEC, the UFC will put on a show that many are saying is subpar. I am here to tell you that is not the case and UFC 85 is worth the buy! The fight card is full of talent, and new fighters that are looking to make a case for themselves. In this preview I will break down the top 4 fights.

Matt Hughes vs. Thiago Alves

We at MMAOpinion have beaten this horse to death… For a full preview of this fight, check out this article I wrote. Stop by, read the article, and see if you agree with me or new commenter Willis.

Prediction: Hughes, by submission

I see Matt pushing early, taking this fight to the ground. He will continue to work on the mat and Thiago will start to wear down. Eventually in this fight I see Alves making a mistake and Hughes taking advantage, possibly giving up an arm bar or his back leading to a choke.

Read the full story

Wanna make some big bucks if Fedor somehow knocks himself out up against Hong Man Choi at the end of this month? That probably won’t happen, but here are some other fights to bring in some extra after-Christmas (or whatever you celebrate) shopping.

Nick Thomas over at Bloody Elbow has a nice little article highlighting some of the betting odds for upcoming MMA events.  In my opinion, there’s a couple of money makers in there, but be sure to rule out the Emelianenko/Choi fight early. Even with Fedor at -1700 and Choi at +850, I doubt many would drop $1700 to win a measly $100, but I guess if you wanted to take the chance of a lifetime, you could drop $100 and hope to pick up another $850. If anyone does this, please let me know!

Here are the potential money makers:

St. Pierre -200 Hughes +160 - Although I can see St. Pierre taking the win, keep in mind that he’s only taken the fight on five weeks notice. Hughes, however, has been training for a five round fight for a long time. These odds should not be spread this far apart.

Penn -285 Stevenson +225 - We have only seen BJ Penn fight once. That was against someone who doesn’t even walk around at 155 while Penn had been up against Welterweights. There’s a good chance that Stevenson could steal this fight with his great conditioning.

Swick -175 Burkman +135 - Josh Burkman has gone up against Karo Parisyan and Forrest Petz while taking the decision against the latter and dropping the loss against the former in the past 7 months. Parisyan is said to be one of the top in his class and Burkman showed some heart during their UFC 71 undercard bout. While Mike Swick is 10-2, his wins are mostly from smaller organizations. This one is 50/50 in my eyes.

Lesnar -205 Mir +165 - This one is my favorite. The WWE wrestler with one win is favored over UFC veteran, Frank Mir. This is where you can make some big bucks on the off chance that Lesnar can dominate a seasoned MMA fighter.

Is it just me or has the overall talent on The Ultimate Fighter really started to drop off? I recall the first season, which was a cast filled with familiar names to those who were paying attention before Spike TV got in the mix. That season boasts the largest number of fighters who are still active within the UFC. But let’s be real. Koscheck, Diego, Swick, Leben, Griffin, Bonnar and even Quarry were all UFC bound with or without the show.

Ever since that first season we’ve seen the talent pool on the show dwindle and continue to dwindle. I’m not much into the drama aspect of the show, and often times have found myself fast forwarding my TiVo straight to the actual fight.

Read the full story