Welcome to my weekly article for the Camel-Clutch Blog. This is The Full Mount; your one-stop-shop for big mixed-martial arts news, rumors, upcoming cards, results and predictions. MMA is a passion of mine and is something that I follow 24/7. Enjoy third edition “The Full Mount.”
Anyone stay awake during UFZzZzZz 105?

UFC 105 will make just as many headlines as the second consecutive card with a questionable decision in its main event as it will for being one of the worst cards that the UFC has ever put on. UFC is very lucky it was free for the simple reason that, had I paid for it, I would have felt relegated to watch it. Since it was free, I didn’t feel bad making multiple switches to Notre Dame get smacked around again or the Manny Pacquaio/Miguel Cotto undercard.

Not only did this card lack names, but it lacked substance. Every fight on the card went into the second round or further. I don’t have an issue with that. I enjoy a competitive match. I don’t, however, enjoy two grown men hugging against the cage for 15 minutes. In fact, this card was so bad that I don’t even feel like wasting the energy typing about how boring it was when I could be talking about other big MMA news from this week. Keep an eye out later in the week for my article here on the Camel Clutch Blog on why “The Natural” deserves all of the accolades that he has received during his bland MMA career. So, next topic…

Lesnar Shelved Indefinitely

First it was swine flu. Than it was mononucleosis. Now, whatever it is that is bugging Brock Lesnar is either unknown or just simply hasn’t come to the surface yet. Dana White made it known during the UFC 105 press conference that Lesnar has something serious and it will prevent him from fighting in the foreseeable future. White did not elaborate other than to say that Lesnar was currently hospitalized in North Dakota.

Here’s what we do know. After finding out that the newly rescheduled UFC 108 bout with Shane Carwin was cancelled due to Lesnar’s on-going illness, Lesnar took a trip to his home in Canada to rehab. While there, Brock collapsed. “He [expletive] dropped,” White explained about the situation. “He went down, and he had to go to the hospital. They ran every test on the planet on him, and they ended up finding out something else was wrong with him.”

“He doesn’t want to talk about it publically, but he’s in bad shape. He’s not well and he’s not going to be getting well anytime soon,” White stated of Lesnar at the press conference. “He has other problems too. He is not good. He is very, very sick and he’s going to be out for a while. I am worried about it. You know, I can’t really talk about it right now, but he’s in rough shape. He’s in really bad shape … and we’re going to have to do some stuff to take care of this guy. He is not well and he’s not getting any better.”

You can tell just by that quote that White is genuinely worried about Brock’s health. Dana knows what is wrong with Brock and clearly knows that it’s serious. Brock’s camp released a statement this morning downplaying the incident by saying that Brock’s issues are simply complications of his current illness and that they are not life or career threatening. Whatever the case, we wish Brock the best and hope for a speedy recovery.

UFC Interim Heavyweight Championship Bout in the Cards

Dana White has stated that the UFC is now looking at potential interim heavyweight title candidates now that Lesnar is out indefinitely. There seem to be four prime candidates to consider: Shane Carwin, Antonio Nogueira, Cain Velasquez, and Frank Mir. Let’s break down these four.

Shane Carwin: You would think that since Carwin is the number one contender for the belt that his inclusion would be a given. Well, unless the UFC wants to wait 4-6 months before having this interim title match, Carwin cannot be included. One he found out originally that the January 2, 2010 event was cancelled, he opted to have a minor knee surgery. Carwin is on the shelf until March at the earliest.

Antonio Nogueira: Big Nog and Cain were just named as the new main event for UFC 108 last week. On Friday, however, news came out that this matchup would now be cancelled as well due to Nog having a major staph infection. It is said to be severe and will require a stay in the hospital to treat. This means that Nog is also out until March or April at the earliest.

Cain Velasquez: After his absolute dismantling of “Big” Ben Rothwell in which he barely broke a sweat, Cain accepted the UFC 108 main event against Big Nog with the winner of that match facing the winner of Lesnar/Carwin. With both matches now cancelled, Cain is awaiting word on whether he will have a new opponent or have his match cancelled altogether. Whatever the case, UFC 108 has now been through 4 main events and all have been cancelled. It may be a smart career move to just not have anything to do with the UFC 108 main event at all. However, my guess is that he will be fighting at UFC 108 and it will be against…..

Frank Mir: Mir is currently scheduled for a UFC 107 match against Cheick Kongo. The logical move would be to take Mir out of this fight and move him into a match with Cain as the main event of UFC 108 for the interim heavyweight title. Both Mir and Cain are currently training and could be making that idea a reality. I would put my money on that fight happening at UFC 108.

There doesn’t seem to be any other heavyweights to consider. Junior Dos Santos isn’t ready yet and guys like Kongo and Gonzaga just don’t deserve the shot. The injury bug has decimated the UFC in every division from top to bottom.

Ochocinco at UFC Cien y Ocho?

No. Not a chance. And, as long as Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Chad Ochocinco is in the NFL, I can’t imagine any NFL team allowing him in the octagon. Even for charity. Earlier this week, Ochocinco contacted Dana White via Twitter to beg for a match to help a charity. His entire twitter message read:

“Dana this Ocho Cinco, I want to fight your #1 and #2 best fighters ASAP, exhibition to raise money for a charity of choice!!!!!! … matter of fact I want Anderson Spider Silva-please don’t ignore me or you’ll have to fight me yourself!!! Sincerely Esteban … Mr. White this a serious matter, we can help alot organizations with this fight, I have a good chance at winning against Silva.”

White responded, “If you are really serious @OGOchoCinco, contact me. We’ll put a fight together for charity…. I need a Jan 2nd fight. Ocho Cinco vs Anderson Spider Silva. PS – I’m too old to fight anyone.”

Ochocinco responded back with: “Awesome! I’m fighting Anderson Silva-I can’t wait to throw my child please combo with a kiss da baby leg kick,Silva can shut the front door! … oh I’m dead serious, this will be one that goes down in history, Ocho defeats Silva in surprising upset, it’s on!!!”

There are many reasons why Chad Ochocinco is my favorite professional athlete. The guy is talented and entertaining. I can only hope that he does some work in broadcasting when he’s done. If you don’t follow Chad on Twitter, you must do it now. The guy is extremely awesome to his fans. He communicates with them very often. He is one of the few guys on Twitter that is like that with his followers.

UFC 106 Predictions

I finished at 2-3 at last week’s UFC 105 event. We’ll chalk it up as just reading the card had me so bored that I began to daze out into space. I’ll rebound this week with UFC 106. The picks….

Forrest Griffin vs. Tito Ortiz
Prediction: Forrest Griffin via Decision

Josh Koscheck vs. Anthony Johnson
Prediction: Anthony Johnson via KO

Amir Sadollah vs. Phil Baroni
Prediction: Phil Baroni via TKO

Luiz Cane vs. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira
Prediction: Luiz Cane via Decision

Karo Parisyan vs. Dustin Hazelett
Prediction: Karo Parisyan via Decision

I hope you enjoyed the third edition of ‘The Full Mount”. If you have any questions that you would like answered in the next edition, please e-mail me at Brettley916@aol.com. Thanks.

Brett is 26 years old and from Millville, NJ. He has is a life-log fan of the Philadelphia sports teams as well as the Boston red Sox and Cincinnati Bengals. Brett is also a big fan of professional wrestling and mixed martial arts. If you would like to comment on one of his stories, please e-mail him at Brettley916@aol.com

Place your UFC and MMA bets on BetUs.com by clicking here or Boddog.com by clicking here.

New Items Marked Down! Shop the UFC Sale at the UFC Store.

Buy UFC tickets at clicking here.

Pre-order the EA Sports: MMA Video Game featuring Randy Couture and Fedor Emelianenko by clicking here..

Read Randy Couture’s autobiography – Becoming the Natural: My Life In and Out of the Cage by clicking here.

UFC fans gave Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira a 27% chance to win Saturday night. The former champ shocked the world! Minotauro put on an outstanding performance at UFC 102. Nogueira won a un animous decision over UFC future Hall of Fame fighter, Randy “The Natural” Couture. Let the Nogueira vs. Brock Lesnar talk begin.

I had my doubts about Nogueira going into UFC 102. Nogueira has not looked at all since coming over from Pride to UFC. Frank Mir dominated Nogueira at UFC 92. There were fan reports that Nogueira was limping around at the UFC 100 Fan Expo. All I know is that the Nogueira that beat Couture Saturday night looked like he was back to Pride FC form.

Nogueira showed a ton of resilience in the win Saturday night. He had Couture finished several times in the fight, yet could not pull off the submission or TKO. Some fighters may have gotten frustrated, yet Nogueira showed a lot of patience in the fight. Nogueira also absorbed some heavy blows from Couture, including one that opened up a cut.

The obvious question here is what is next for Nogueira. Nogueira is a former UFC heavyweight champion. By all rights, beating Couture should have nailed him a UFC title fight with Brock Lesnar. UFC officials jumped the gun and scheduled Lesnar’s next fight for November. This means that a potential fight won’t happen for at least another five months. Should Nogueira wait or roll the dice and take a fight before then?

The second obvious choice here would be a Nogueira vs. Frank Mir rematch. Unfortunately, it looks like Mir already has a fight scheduled with Cheick Kongo in December. UFC officials changed things around last minute to make Shane Carwin vs. Brock Lesnar happen. It is not completely out of the question to think that UFC may do the same and schedule Mir vs. Nogueira II in December.

As it stands right now, Nogueira is Lesnar’s toughest competition. The biggest factor in the equation would be Nogueira himself and his health. At close to 100%, he is going to be extremely dangerous in a five-round fight. Fedor Emelianenko in his prime couldn’t finish Nogueira in two Pride FC matches. Is Brock Lesnar 2009 better than Fedor 2003? Nogueira is no joke and is a serious threat here to Lesnar.

I would recommend that Nogueira sits out and waits for Lesnar in February, unless he can get a fight with Mir in December. Nogueira is not the flashiest fighter in UFC, but he is one of the best at 100%. Nogueira by all rights should get the next UFC heavyweight title fight. Either way, Pride Fighting fans can rejoice that the Minotauro Nogueira they remember is finally back!

Place your UFC and MMA bets on BetUs.com by clicking here or Boddog.com by clicking here.

New Items Marked Down! Shop the UFC Sale at the UFC Store.

Buy UFC tickets at StubHub.com or get 5% off the ticket purchase at PurchaseTix.com ! – Enter the Coupon Code: fiveforyou.

Order a Everlast Randy Couture The Natural Men’s Tee by clicking here.

Pre-order the EA Sports: MMA Video Game featuring Randy Couture by clicking here..

Read Randy Couture’s autobiography – Becoming the Natural: My Life In and Out of the Cage by clicking here.

Headlocks and Eye Gouges –I will be back on Pro Wrestling Radio Wednesday September 2 at 7 PM/EST. Listen live and ask questions from the chat room clicking here. Check out Prowrestlingradio.com for more information on the radio show and archived show downloads. Listen to my 75 mn minute uncut interview with the Dan “The Beast” Severn on Pro Wrestling Radio by clicking here.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship will present UFC 102 this Saturday night. A clash of MMA icons headlines the big event. Former Pride FC champions Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (31-5) takes on former UFC champion Randy Couture (16-9) in what many fans consider a UFC Dream Match.

Supremacy is the title on the line in this main-event. This is a battle between two pioneers in MMA. What Randy Couture was doing for MMA in America in UFC, Nogueira was doing for MMA in Japan in Pride. Together, these two combine for over 70 MMA fights! This fight may be a few years too late, but it is still one of the most intriguing non-title main-events in UFC history.

I have to admit, I wasn’t very excited for this one when it was originally announced. I was never a big Minotauro fan in Pride. As for Randy, I think he is still very good but far from his prime as a fighter. I checked this one off originally as a show I would pass on. A few days away from fight day, I am feeling much different.

This one is truly a chess match between two all-time great technicians. Both fighters possess impeccable cardiovascular conditioning. This will be one of those fights where both fighters will pick their spots and fight cautiously early on. I don’t expect to see many early fireworks between these two legends.

The big question here is which Nogueira we are going to get? Are we going to get the aging Nogueira we saw get owned by Frank Mir last year? Will the Nogueira who dominated Pride FC finally show up in UFC? All in all, Nogueira’s UFC career has been very unimpressive. We have yet to see the fast Nogueira that tapped out Tamura back at Pride 31.

Randy Couture isn’t much of a question mark. I think people are undervaluing Randy based on his last fight against Brock Lesnar. People are quick to forget is that Randy has stood up better with Lesnar than anyone. Lesnar did catch him hard in Round 2, but I think that has a lot to do with Randy’s age and his reflexes. Couture should be able to handle someone like Nogueira much better.

The thing with Nogueira is that Randy has to finish him off if he has the chance. Nogueira has proven to be one of the most resilient fighters in MMA history. Nogueira can take a punch almost better than anyone other than Fedor. Nogueira is also one of the few fighters that can hang with Randy on the ground. Randy’s bread and butter is ground and pound. Randy better be very careful if he plans on grounding and pounding, because Nogueira will take a few punches to catch Randy if he needs to.

Nogueira is not going to knock Randy out. Nogueira only has three knockouts in his entire career. On the other hand, Nogueira has won 19 times with a submission. Nogueira will catch Randy if he has the opportunity. Randy needs to keep this one standing up. Frank Mir knew that as he refused to go to the ground with Nogueira and won.

A real big question surrounding Nogueira is his health. There are several reports from fans who saw Nogueira at the UFC Fan Expo at UFC 100. Several reports indicate that Nogueira looked terrible. A few reports indicated that Nogueira was actually walking with a limp. If Nogueira is walking into this fight at anything less than 75% he is a dead man walking.

The early betting lines on this fight are rather interesting. Randy Couture is a favorite on both Bodog.com and BetUS.com. Bodog.com has Couture at -175 while BetUs.com has Couture at -180. I wouldn’t be surprised to see these lines jump up or down depending upon how Nogueira looks at the weigh-ins on Friday. I expected Couture to be a heavier favorite based on Nogueira’s last fight and reports from the UFC Fan Expo.

My prediction is a Randy Couture win. I think it would be a huge upset to see Nogueira beat Couture. If Nogueira beats Couture, it is because he caught him on the ground. Couture has one fight left on his contract and an impressive win put him in the driver’s seat when it comes to negotiating a new deal. This is like an NFL Pro Bowler playing in his contract year. I predict a Couture knockout in Round 2 and the Lesnar-Couture 2 talk to start Monday morning.

In other bouts;
205 lbs.: Keith Jardine (14-5-1) vs. Thiago Silva (13-1)
185 lbs.: Chris Leben (18-6) vs. Jake Rosholt (5-1)
185 lbs.: Nate Marquardt (28-8-2) vs. Demian Maia (10-0)
205 lbs.: Krzysztof Soszynski (18-8-1) vs. Brandon Vera (10-3)
265 lbs.: Gabriel Gonzaga (10-4) vs. Chris Tuchscherer (17-1)
185 lbs.: Ed Herman (15-7) vs. Wilson Gouveia (12-6)
265 lbs.: Mike Russow (11-1) vs. Justin McCully (9-4-2)
265 lbs.: Todd Duffee (4-0) vs. Tim Hague (10-1)
205 lbs.: Nick Catone (7-1) vs. Mark Munoz (5-1)
155 lbs.: Marcus Aurelio (18-7) vs. Evan Dunham (8-0)

Place your UFC 102 bets on BetUs.com by clicking here or Boddog.com by clicking here.

New Items Marked Down! Shop the UFC Sale at the UFC Store.

Grab last minute UFC 102 tickets at StubHub.com or get 5% off the ticket purchase at PurchaseTix.com ! – Enter the Coupon Code: fiveforyou.

Order a Everlast Randy Couture The Natural Men’s Tee by clicking here.

Pre-order the EA Sports: MMA Video Game featuring Randy Couture by clicking here..

Read Randy Couture’s autobiography – Becoming the Natural: My Life In and Out of the Cage by clicking here.

Headlocks and Eye Gouges –I will be back on Pro Wrestling Radio Wednesday September 2 at 7 PM/EST. Listen live and ask questions from the chat room clicking here. Check out Prowrestlingradio.com for more information on the radio show and archived show downloads. Listen to my 75 mn minute uncut interview with the Dan “The Beast” Severn on Pro Wrestling Radio by clicking here.