Ruger
09-18-2007, 10:57 AM
By Wombat fro Bodog.
Jon, you can top this!!!
Wombat's Fight Forecast for Ultimate Fight Night
"I will die in there to prove that I am the better fighter." - Din Thomas
Sept. 17, 2007
By Jeff "Wombat" Meszaros
Bodog Nation Contributing Writer
Someone once said, "Pizza is a lot like sex. Even when it's bad, it's still pretty good." I think that is wrong. First of all, I've had some bad pizza that really wasn't good at all. Also, I knew this girl once who had a fetish for biting.
But even though pizza and sex can be bad, mixed martial arts is always good. Also, like sex and pizza, it's even better when it's free. With this in mind, MMA fans everywhere are eagerly awaiting Ultimate Fight Night on Sept 19.
Kenny "KenFlo" Florian vs. Din "Dinyero" Thomas
As far as I know, the term "jiu-jitsu" loosely translates to mean "the gentle art." Florian and Thomas are both black belts, but there's nothing gentle about the way they fight. In fact, stepping into the octagon with them is like falling into the orangutan pit at the zoo. You're lucky to escape with your life.
"Dinyero" has said he's willing to die in the octagon to prove he's a better fighter. If you die in a fight, doesn’t that mean the person who killed you was a better fighter? I think it does. After all, they killed you, and it's hard to argue that you're a better fighter when you’re lying there dead.
Din Thomas will face Kenny Florian. (MMAweekly.com photo)Will Florian kill Thomas? Maybe. Din has twice as much MMA experience but has lost to other lightweights before, including B.J. Penn and Caol Uno. "KenFlo" might have fewer fights under his black belt, but he’s only lost to Drew Fickett, Diego Sanchez and Sean Sherk, all of whom were able to outmuscle him, for either natural or pharmaceutical reasons. My Guess: Florian by decision.
Chris "The Crippler" Leben vs. Terry Martin
Leben and Martin are like two cavemen thawed from the same glacier. Both of them have skulls as thick as bank vault doors and hit like someone clubbing a mastodon.
I was at the UFC where Martin fought James Irvin and caught a flying knee in the grill. I thought for sure he’d been killed. Later, Irvin came and sat beside me in the stands. "Did you kill that guy?" I asked. "I don’t know," he said. "Maybe."
Terry Martin prepares to suplex an opponent. (AP Images)It turns out Martin had just been badly KO'd, and since then he's been "paying it forward" to other fighters, including Jorge Rivera and Ivan Salaverry, both of whom he went through like a chubby kid through a box of Oreo cookies.
Who wins this contest of hard heads and heavy hands? My Guess: Leben by decision.
Junior Assuncao vs. Nate Diaz
Nate Diaz won a six-fight contract with the UFC in June when his opponent Manny Gamburyan suffered a dislocated shoulder that, in reality, had nothing whatsoever to do with anything Diaz was doing or had done earlier in the fight. Gamburyan shot in for a takedown and his shoulder popped out of place, which apparently is something it does from time to time. It was a lousy way to end a fight, especially since Gamburyan had been winning up until that point. Would they have declared Diaz the winner if Gamburyan had been struck dead by lightning? Maybe. Hopefully, this fight will be decided by skill and not by an act of God. My Guess: Diaz by TKO
Pete "Drago" Sell vs. Nate "The Rock" Quarry
When Sell and Quarry fought the first time in August 2005, the result was both controversial and awkward.
Florian is a jiu-jitsu black belt who can punch too. (AP Images)Quarry dropped Sell to the mat with a hard punch and followed him down to finish him off. Landing in the guard of "Drago," he threw a few more punches from in between his opponent's legs. Then, just 42 seconds into the match, referee Cecil Peoples decided to stop the fight and threw himself onto both fighters, landing with his love-making area directly on Quarry's buttocks. Worse, as Sell began to argue that the stoppage was premature, Peoples continued to grip Quarry around the waist and hold all three of them in a position that you'd normally only see in gay adult films. My Guess: Quarry by decision.
Edilberto "Crocota" de Oliveira vs. Luke "The Silent Assassin" Cummo
Does Cummo know that his nickname is the same name that children all over the world use to refer to their farts? Does he know how badly he needs to pluck the area of hair which connects his eyebrows into one fearsome unibrow? I'm not sure. Then again, he's vegan and he always makes sure he's pointing north when he sleeps, so who knows what’s going on in his head. My Guess: Cummo by TKO.
Wombat's Pick
As usual, with mixed martial arts there's a chance any underdog could pull off the win. Chris Leben, in particular, has a decent shot at beating Terry Martin, but if there's one underdog whom I suspect will pay off, it's Kuniyoshi Hironaka.
Hironaka has beaten both Renato Verissimo and Ryan Schultz, which is no easy task. Hironaka also holds wins over Nick Diaz and Forrest Petz.
A black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and judo, Hironaka comes well-versed with an arsenal of throws and submission holds.
Ranked No. 7 in Shooto, Hironaka comes into the octagon as one of the best MMA fighters in Japan.
At +180, Hironaka could be the fighter to choose if you're looking to gamble on the longshot.
Joe Veres vs. Gray "The Bully" Maynard
Gray Maynard knocked himself out when he slammed Rob Emerson in June.
Chris Leben will fight Terry Martin on Sept 19. (AP Images)To this day, he insists that he was not KO'd, despite the fact that he was laying on the octagon floor like a stunned fish. Emerson, who had injured his ribs earlier in the fight, tapped out after being slammed, so the fight was a rather unsatisfying no-contest. Veres is a three-time NCAA Division II All-American in wrestling, so "The Bully" might get slammed in this one but should pull through in the end. My Guess: Maynard by TKO.
Leonard "Bad Boy" Garcia vs. Cole Miller
Garcia put up an amazing fight against Roger "El Matador" Huerta, and this one should be just as good – although at least "Bad Boy" stands a chance of winning this one. Keep in mind, I said "a chance" and not "for sure." My Guess: Miller by decision.
Kuniyoshi Hironaka vs. Thiago "Pitbull" Alves
Hironaka has beaten some monsters, including Renato Verissimo and Ryan Schultz, and he has lost only to the very best, including Jon Fitch and Shinya Aoki. Alves has also lost to Fitch and has the most common nickname in all of mixed martial arts. My Guess: Hironaka by decision.
Dustin Hazelett vs. Jonathan Goulet
Hazelett looks quite a bit like Adrien Brody. Goulet always has great haircuts, but doesn't always have great fights in the octagon. My Guess: Hazelett by submission.
Jon, you can top this!!!
Wombat's Fight Forecast for Ultimate Fight Night
"I will die in there to prove that I am the better fighter." - Din Thomas
Sept. 17, 2007
By Jeff "Wombat" Meszaros
Bodog Nation Contributing Writer
Someone once said, "Pizza is a lot like sex. Even when it's bad, it's still pretty good." I think that is wrong. First of all, I've had some bad pizza that really wasn't good at all. Also, I knew this girl once who had a fetish for biting.
But even though pizza and sex can be bad, mixed martial arts is always good. Also, like sex and pizza, it's even better when it's free. With this in mind, MMA fans everywhere are eagerly awaiting Ultimate Fight Night on Sept 19.
Kenny "KenFlo" Florian vs. Din "Dinyero" Thomas
As far as I know, the term "jiu-jitsu" loosely translates to mean "the gentle art." Florian and Thomas are both black belts, but there's nothing gentle about the way they fight. In fact, stepping into the octagon with them is like falling into the orangutan pit at the zoo. You're lucky to escape with your life.
"Dinyero" has said he's willing to die in the octagon to prove he's a better fighter. If you die in a fight, doesn’t that mean the person who killed you was a better fighter? I think it does. After all, they killed you, and it's hard to argue that you're a better fighter when you’re lying there dead.
Din Thomas will face Kenny Florian. (MMAweekly.com photo)Will Florian kill Thomas? Maybe. Din has twice as much MMA experience but has lost to other lightweights before, including B.J. Penn and Caol Uno. "KenFlo" might have fewer fights under his black belt, but he’s only lost to Drew Fickett, Diego Sanchez and Sean Sherk, all of whom were able to outmuscle him, for either natural or pharmaceutical reasons. My Guess: Florian by decision.
Chris "The Crippler" Leben vs. Terry Martin
Leben and Martin are like two cavemen thawed from the same glacier. Both of them have skulls as thick as bank vault doors and hit like someone clubbing a mastodon.
I was at the UFC where Martin fought James Irvin and caught a flying knee in the grill. I thought for sure he’d been killed. Later, Irvin came and sat beside me in the stands. "Did you kill that guy?" I asked. "I don’t know," he said. "Maybe."
Terry Martin prepares to suplex an opponent. (AP Images)It turns out Martin had just been badly KO'd, and since then he's been "paying it forward" to other fighters, including Jorge Rivera and Ivan Salaverry, both of whom he went through like a chubby kid through a box of Oreo cookies.
Who wins this contest of hard heads and heavy hands? My Guess: Leben by decision.
Junior Assuncao vs. Nate Diaz
Nate Diaz won a six-fight contract with the UFC in June when his opponent Manny Gamburyan suffered a dislocated shoulder that, in reality, had nothing whatsoever to do with anything Diaz was doing or had done earlier in the fight. Gamburyan shot in for a takedown and his shoulder popped out of place, which apparently is something it does from time to time. It was a lousy way to end a fight, especially since Gamburyan had been winning up until that point. Would they have declared Diaz the winner if Gamburyan had been struck dead by lightning? Maybe. Hopefully, this fight will be decided by skill and not by an act of God. My Guess: Diaz by TKO
Pete "Drago" Sell vs. Nate "The Rock" Quarry
When Sell and Quarry fought the first time in August 2005, the result was both controversial and awkward.
Florian is a jiu-jitsu black belt who can punch too. (AP Images)Quarry dropped Sell to the mat with a hard punch and followed him down to finish him off. Landing in the guard of "Drago," he threw a few more punches from in between his opponent's legs. Then, just 42 seconds into the match, referee Cecil Peoples decided to stop the fight and threw himself onto both fighters, landing with his love-making area directly on Quarry's buttocks. Worse, as Sell began to argue that the stoppage was premature, Peoples continued to grip Quarry around the waist and hold all three of them in a position that you'd normally only see in gay adult films. My Guess: Quarry by decision.
Edilberto "Crocota" de Oliveira vs. Luke "The Silent Assassin" Cummo
Does Cummo know that his nickname is the same name that children all over the world use to refer to their farts? Does he know how badly he needs to pluck the area of hair which connects his eyebrows into one fearsome unibrow? I'm not sure. Then again, he's vegan and he always makes sure he's pointing north when he sleeps, so who knows what’s going on in his head. My Guess: Cummo by TKO.
Wombat's Pick
As usual, with mixed martial arts there's a chance any underdog could pull off the win. Chris Leben, in particular, has a decent shot at beating Terry Martin, but if there's one underdog whom I suspect will pay off, it's Kuniyoshi Hironaka.
Hironaka has beaten both Renato Verissimo and Ryan Schultz, which is no easy task. Hironaka also holds wins over Nick Diaz and Forrest Petz.
A black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and judo, Hironaka comes well-versed with an arsenal of throws and submission holds.
Ranked No. 7 in Shooto, Hironaka comes into the octagon as one of the best MMA fighters in Japan.
At +180, Hironaka could be the fighter to choose if you're looking to gamble on the longshot.
Joe Veres vs. Gray "The Bully" Maynard
Gray Maynard knocked himself out when he slammed Rob Emerson in June.
Chris Leben will fight Terry Martin on Sept 19. (AP Images)To this day, he insists that he was not KO'd, despite the fact that he was laying on the octagon floor like a stunned fish. Emerson, who had injured his ribs earlier in the fight, tapped out after being slammed, so the fight was a rather unsatisfying no-contest. Veres is a three-time NCAA Division II All-American in wrestling, so "The Bully" might get slammed in this one but should pull through in the end. My Guess: Maynard by TKO.
Leonard "Bad Boy" Garcia vs. Cole Miller
Garcia put up an amazing fight against Roger "El Matador" Huerta, and this one should be just as good – although at least "Bad Boy" stands a chance of winning this one. Keep in mind, I said "a chance" and not "for sure." My Guess: Miller by decision.
Kuniyoshi Hironaka vs. Thiago "Pitbull" Alves
Hironaka has beaten some monsters, including Renato Verissimo and Ryan Schultz, and he has lost only to the very best, including Jon Fitch and Shinya Aoki. Alves has also lost to Fitch and has the most common nickname in all of mixed martial arts. My Guess: Hironaka by decision.
Dustin Hazelett vs. Jonathan Goulet
Hazelett looks quite a bit like Adrien Brody. Goulet always has great haircuts, but doesn't always have great fights in the octagon. My Guess: Hazelett by submission.