UFC 101: Declaration - Yes! It's finally here!

As most of you know, I love MMA. The UFC is the top dog. I'm not going to give a history lesson about the sport, organization, or individual fighters, that's what Wikipedia and Google in general is for, but I will give my thoughts about the topic when there's something I consider newsworthy. Anyways, tonight is UFC 101 in Philadelphia. I think this is the first time the UFC has gone to Philly, but I could be wrong.

(Side note) I thought that UFC President Dana White wearing a Phillies jersey (my favorite baseball team) was pretty awesome (see picture) and definitely fitting of yesterday's festivities. Also, thanks to MMAjunkie.com for the awesome photos. If you really want the up to minute haps on MMA, go to www.mmajunkie.com, they are the best in the biz. Anyways, back to the blog...

Tonight's event will feature quite a few of my favorite fighters, BJ "The Prodigy" Penn, Kenny "KenFlo" Florian, Forrest Griffin, Anderson "The Spider" Silva, Amir Sadollah (Holla for Sadollah! - for my man KPeazy), Ricardo Almeida, and one of my newest favorite fighters, the "Barn Cat" himself, Tamdan McCrory. I have actually been looking forward to tonight's card more than I was looking forward to last month's epic UFC 100 (which was awesome, Nice work Dana).

The Undercard
Tonight's undercard has some decent fights, but I'm only looking forward to one of them. The night will get started with Jesse Lennox and Danillo Villefort.

Jesse Lennox vs. Danillo Villefort
I don't much about either fighter so I'll save my prediction. Betonfighting.com has Villefort as the favorite at -210 and Lennox at +170. Villefort looked ripped up in his weigh-in photos, but a good physique doesn't always translate to being a good fighter. Take Fedor for instance, he looks like your dad's quiet buddy he works with, but the guy is dominant. Appearances are deceiving in MMA.

George Roop vs. George Sotiropoulos
Both guys were on The Ultimate Fighter (TUF), and George S comes in as a pretty big favorite (-480, Roop +390). I don't know much about Roop other than that the fact that he was on TUF: Nog vs Mir and that he recently won a decision against "Diamond" Dave Kaplan on the undercard of UFC 98: Evans vs Machida back in May. George S is somewhat of an intriguing fighter to me. He was on season 6 of TUF and was one of the favorites. The whole season, I thought it would be George S facing off against eventual winner Mac Danzig. But, George S suffered a devastating knockout to Tommy Speer (who is now out of the UFC). I'd still love to see George S fight Mac, but as for tonight, coming in as such a huge favorite, I'm not going to any research on this fight. The oddsmakers have George S winning so I would expect the same. If the outcome is different, well then good for Roop. I'd like to see the UFC show this fight if George S can finish Roop.

Dan Cramer vs. Matthew Riddle
Two more former TUF vets square off on the undercard. Riddle (-210) and Cramer (+170) were both on Quinton "Rampage" Jackson's team during Rampage vs Forrest season of TUF. Riddle trains with Arizona Combat Sports and Cramer with American Top Team, both good camps. To me, Riddle is the favorite because he's the more known fighter but Cramer is no slouch. Both guys like to bang, so I'm expecting a stand up battle. I don't think either of these guys will finish each other. If the fight is finished, then it will probably be a submission pulled of by Cramer. Otherwise I think this fight ends in a split decision. Who wins? Hard to say, I'd probably root for Cramer, but the outcome of this fight won't affect my night at all. I will say though, if this fight is the stand-up war I expect it to be, I wouldn't be surprised at all if it gets fight of the night honors and makes the main card. I can guarantee this, Riddle will have that you-know-what eating grin on his face before and after the fight regardless of how it goes.

Thales Leites vs. Alessio Sakara
Ok, so here's a fight that features 2 of my least favorite fighters. Leites got a title shot against Anderson Silva (which still pisses me off) and he flopped the whole time before losing a decision. Here's one thing I do want to B about, I hate when people discredit Anderson Silva for not attacking Leitas during that fight. That is complete BS to me and if you think that, you are ignorant. Anderson is the champ and should not have to attack to win. I'm sorry if that's not the fight you want to see, get in the cage then say something. Anderson is the champ, it's the challenger's job to beat the champ. Leitas kept flopping during that fight hoping to bait Anderson in a jiu-jitsu match. The few times Anderson was in Leitas' guard during that fight, he made Leitas pay for it. Leitas knew he was outmatched and could not stand up with Anderson. This was a very questionable decision to me that Leitas got a shot. I wouldn't even put Leitas in the top 5, maybe even the top 10 in the middleweight division. Now I'm done (see Brady Quinn EAS commercial) venting about that. As far as Sakara, I don't know when the last time he fought was, who it was against, or who won. I don't care, I'm not even going to look it up. The last time I saw him fight, he got his ass knocked out by Chris Leben. Sometimes I think Sakara gets fights because he has all those tattoos, represents Italy, and comes out to Gladiator music. I don't know of anyone who likes this guy. Whenever we watch the fights, it's always met with something like "ughhhhh, this guy?". Now I don't know Sakara personally, I'm not judging him on a personal level, for all I know he could be a great human being, I'm just saying I don't think he deserves being the UFC. And neither does Leitas, I hope this fight ends in a draw and Dana drops both of these guys out of the UFC. Thank God this fight was regulated to the undercard. Betonfighting.com has Leitas as a huge favorite (-400, Sakara +300). Sakara is probably better at stand up, but Leitas is supposedly amazing at jiu-jitsu (at least that's what the UFC tried to sell us for giving him an undeserved title shot) so I'd look for Leitas to sub Sakara in the 1st. Man, why did I waste so much energy talking about these guys?

John Howard vs. Tamdan McCrory
Now this is the fight I'm pumped about on the undercard. Tamdan "The Barn Cat" McCrory has become one of my favorite fighters because the guy is entertaining as hell and he's just a unique talent. I read that that guy took 8 fights in 10 months and won them all before coming into the UFC, wow! If you haven't had a chance to watch his post-fight interview from UFC 96, please do. It's hilarious. I couldn't find a clip of it, sorry folks. Anyways, Tamdan is 6'4 and Howard is 5'7. Tamdan has a 9 inch reach advantage, that is huge. Howard has said that he wants to stand and bang with Tamdan and I think that would be awesome. I think Tamdan can win, but I don't know much about Howard. Hopefully they will show this fight. I'd rather see this fight than Neer vs Pellegrino, but those guys are more popular (for now). The odds are pretty close for this fight (McCrory -195, Howard +155), much closer than I would expect. When that happens, it usually tells me that Howard is the play, but neither of these guys is really mainstream yet so I could be wrong about that being the play. I'll be rooting for McCrory to win and get some more face time.

Shane Nelson vs. Aaron Riley
I don't really know much about this fight. I know Nelson was on TUF, not sure if Riley was. I don't think he was and I don't really care to look it up. I like the way Nelson talks. He's from Hawaii and has that cool Hawaii accent. I'll never forget during that season when he was talking about one of his fellow castmates (I forget who it was) getting pissed off about his cereal. Nelson made fun of the guy saying something like, "I don't know man, the guy must really love his Fruit Loops." It's still an inside joke that my boy Blaze and me say and it gets a chuckle out of us every time. I wish I could find that video too. Nelson is a slight dog (+135) and Riley a slight favorite (-165). Don't really care who wins, but I would like to see Nelson in a post-fight interview. I doubt this fight makes the main broadcast unless it ends spectacularly.

MAIN CARD
Time for the main card! Dana and UFC Matchmaker, Joe Silva, put together a great main card, I'm so pumped to check this out tonight.

Josh Neer vs. Kurt Pellegrino
I don't know a whole lot about either of these guys other than they both like to bang and both lost to my boy Nate Diaz. Neer has said he wants to stand with Pellegrino. Not sure if the fight goes that way. I thought Pellegrino was more of a ground guy, I'm not sure. Neither of these guys is really my favorite so I haven't done a lot of research about them. Betonfighting.com has Neer (-210) and as the favorite and Pellegrino at +170. Not really sure what to make of this fight or who I want to win. As I mentioned earlier, I wouldn't of minded if the fight were on the undercard.

Ricardo Almeida vs. Kendall Grove
I'm really looking forward to this fight. It's definitely intriguing. You have Grove coming in, rejuvenated and re-focused as of late, against a guy who's been around for awhile Almeida. I don't think Almeida gets as much love as he should. I thought he deserved a title shot more than Patrick Cote but he lost a split to Cote. I totally disagreed with that decision. Anyways, the loss relegated Almeida to run of the mill in the middleweight decision. This fight is has some big implications for both of these fighters' careers. I love it when guys fight and there's a lot on the line in a non-title fight. I do like Grove. I'm glad to see him bounce back after a streak of losses a year and a half ago. I do like Almeida more for several reasons. First, because of the way he values jiu-jitsu, I love that attitude. Before the Cote fight, the UFC featured Almeida in a countdown show and it showed his son who was diagnosed with Autism. During the segment, Almeida talked about how he walked away from fighting but decided to get back into it partially to set an example for his son and to show his son that he has to work hard and struggle for his goals as his son struggles with Autism. I know I'm not really doing the story justice and I apologize, it was one of the most heartfelt things I've ever watched and I instantly become an Almeida fan. I know this fight won't disappoint and I'll be rooting for Almeida, but I'll be ok if Grove wins too. The odds are Almeida -170, Grove +140. That seems about right.

Johnny Hendricks vs. Amir Sadollah
I'm not really going to spend a lot of time on this fight, because I don't really know what to make of it. I really like Amir but he hasn't fought in awhile because of injuries. He's probably the best 1-0 fighter out there though. I don't know much about Hendricks. I know he's fought in the UFC before, but I've never seen him fight. It will be interesting to see how Sadollah bounces back after such a long lay off. One of things I do know about Sadollah is that he rises to the occasion and I expect the same tonight. Unlike some of the other fights that I don't know much about, I am looking forward to this one because I want to see how Amir fares after the injury (obviously) and to see if Hendricks is worthy of drawing such a talented opponent in Amir. I agree with the oddsmakers on this one too as Amir is at -125 and Hendricks at -105. By the way, my friend Kyle came up with the phrase "Holla for Sadollah." I love that. Amir should make "Holla for" his nickname.

Anderson Silva vs. Forrest Griffin
This is probably one of the most intriguing fights since BJ vs GSP 2. On paper Silva is heavy favorite (-320, Griffin +260) but I just can't seem to see it that way. I do agree with the line, I think it's set appropriately, but I think Forrest will win this fight. I think Anderson is awesome, he's one of the most complete fighters, if not the 2nd most complete fighter (after GSP) in all of MMA. I read an article on MMAjunkie.com yesterday that described that if someone were to beat Silva, it would be a fighter that has a lot of the characteristics that Forrest has. I totally agree with that. I could be wrong, but I don't think Silva's strengths will play out like they have in the past. Now Silva could knock Forrest out, no doubt about it, but Forrest is bigger, a better wrestler, and can take a lot of damage. While Silva is a black belt and Forrest a brown belt (which I did not know before yesterday) I think that because of his size advantage Forrest will be able to stay out of trouble against Anderson. Also most of Anderson's submissions in the UFC have come after beating down his opponent first because of his spectacular pin-point striking. That is a possibility tonight, but I don't see Silva submitting Forrest straight up. I think Forrest can win because he has a knack for beating guys he shouldn't (Rampage, Shogun). While both guys come from great camps and have great training partners, I think Forrest will come in with a better game plan. I think that Forrest's game planning is second only to Randy Couture. I don't think it's likely that Forrest can finish Anderson, but I do think he can eek out a split decision. This should be a great fight and it could headline a pay-per-view, but I think that it's awesome that Dana threw it on the card as a co-main event. I'm rolling with Forrest as the huge upset, but because I like Anderson so much, I won't be disappointed if he wins. I guess if I had to pick, I would say I like Anderson more than Forrest as one of my favorite fighters, but not by much as I really like Forrest too. I expect most fans to be rooting for Forrest tonight as he is American, the underdog, and an overall fan favorite, so that kind of electricity from the crowd just might provide that extra spark that Forrest will need to put him over the top.

Champ B.J. Penn vs. Kenny Florian (for UFC lightweight title)
What a doozy here with this one. I can't wait for this fight either! I think that the UFC got it right by matching these guys up. BJ is clearly the #1 and Kenny the #2 in the lightweight division. Sometimes (and I don't know how) but the UFC will match up their #1 guy with some slouch *cough, cough Anderson vs Leitas cough, cough* But I digress, these are both 2 of my favorite fighters. I really, really like Florian and in any other matchup in this division, I would probably be rooting for him, but BJ is in my top 5 (with Randy, Rampage, Mike Brown, and Jon Fitch) and so I will be rooting for BJ. In fact, I'll be wearing my Cage Fighter BJ Penn shirt tonight but I'll also wear my Mark Delagrotte (Kenny's trainer) hat, so I'll show both of the guys some love. I think that Kenny is an amazing fighter, and maybe one of the best Muay Thai guys in all of MMA but he's not better than BJ in jiu-jitsu (even though Kenny has a black belt) and BJ's world-class boxing should negate Kenny's stand up. I don't see Kenny being able to take BJ down because of BJ's amazing take down defense and even if he were I don't think he could out grapple BJ. No matter how I look at it, I just don't see Kenny winning. The odds are BJ -240 and Kenny +190. I think that's about right. I don't think that Kenny has as good of a chance as most people think he does, but hey I could be wrong. I also don't think that BJ's disappointing loss to GSP will affect BJ as much as people think they will. One thing I know for sure is that Kenny will bring everything he has and I think it will be an admirable effort, I just don't think it'll be enough.

Also, if you live in Fresno and are looking for a place to watch the fights, check them out at Red Zone Sports Grill on Cedar and Shepherd. I won't be there, but my friend Brandon will be hosting a party for his magazine, California Fighter Magazine. It's $5 to get in, but get there early as it always fills up.

I hope you guys enjoyed my first blog as much as I did writing it. It was more time consuming than I thought though (over 2 hours, whoa!). Feel free to subscribe and leave some comments. I won't mind if you disagree.

I'd like to thank the following websites...
www.mmajunkie.com
www.betonfighting.com
www.californiafighter.tv
www.vaallday.com

Thanks for reading!
jg