The UFC rebounded after several disappointing shows with a great closeout to 2009. UFC 107 lived up the hype with decisive finishes, great fights, lots of blood, and dominant performances. BJ Penn and Frank Mir both looked tremendous in their wins at UFC 107. Unlike recent UFC shows, there were no questionable decisions…just questionable futures.

BJ Penn continued to look better and better as he put on a clinic against Diego Sanchez. I thought the fight would be closer, but BJ dominated the fight from the start to the finish. BJ almost finished the fight early in the first round after a vicious upper cut. Diego survived and kept coming for four more rounds. In the fifth round, BJ landed a great high kick to the Sanchez’s head which opened up a nasty cut. Penn opened the cut up more with punches until the fight was stopped due to the severity of the cut. Regardless, Sanchez would have lost as Penn dominated all five rounds.

Frank Mir talked a lot of trash on Cheick Kongo before the fight. I don’t know if there is anyone other than Tito Ortiz in the UFC that is better at selling a fight than Mir. Kongo felt disrespected going into the fight, refusing to do the traditional stand-off at the weigh in. Mir predicted he would put Kongo to sleep, and that he did. The new bulked up Mir landed a great left and followed up with a guillotine to put Kongo out cold in a little over one minute in Round 1. It was one of the most impressive performances in a high profile match I have seen in a long time in the UFC.

It is only right to start talking about the futures of both Penn and Mir following UFC 107. Let’s start with Penn. There is nobody left in the lightweight division that looks remotely exciting against Penn on paper. Tyson Griffin is a name thrown around a lot lately, but I don’t think anyone is excited about a Penn-Griffin match. Penn made Kenny Florian look like such a joke, that a rematch would be less appealing than their first bout.

BJ Penn has made it known that he wants a rematch with Georges St. Pierre. GSP won’t be fighting again until March. Penn will have to have at least one more fight before the GSP rematch becomes a reality. Until then, I don’t know who you match Penn up with to give the fans an exciting fight.

Frank Mir’s future is also a big question and it all comes down to Brock Lesnar. There are still conflicting reports as to Lesnar’s health. Lesnar’s camp says he is coming around, while Dana White said that he has seen no evidence to confirm that. White has stated said that if Lesnar is still in doubt after the next 30-45 days that the division would move on without him. Regardless, Lesnar already has a match scheduled with Shane Carwin if he comes back in the next few months. Should Lesnar not come back, Cain Velasquez and Carwin would fight for an interim title with the winner likely fighting against Lesnar. Either way, Frank Mir looks like the odd man out.

After Mir’s dominant performance over Kongo, I am starting to think that the UFC’s inability to sign Fedor Emelianenko vs. Brock Lesnar may have turned out to be a blessing in disguise. As huge as that fight would be, Mir vs. Lesnar III will shatter MMA records. These two already have the best rivalry in combat sports, and Mir’s decisive win only adds fuel to that fire. Mir has never stopped talking about Lesnar and has been marketing the trilogy since the UFC 100 post-show press conference. Ironically, Lesnar’s controversial post-fight confrontation with Mir may wind up producing the biggest gate in MMA history. My advice should Lesnar be ready to fight again is to make this fight Lesnar’s next fight.

I know that Dana has already promised Shane Carwin the fight, but Dana White has broken fight agreements in the past. Is it fair to Carwin? No, but he did something very similar to Dan Henderson after Vitor Belfort beat Rich Franklin. There are rumblings of a July UFC event at Comiskey Park in Boston, MA. Sit Mir until the fight, because this fight falls apart the second Mir loses. Make Carwin vs. Velasquez and give them the winner of the Mir-Lesnar fight. There is too much money on the table to risk doing anything else but making Mi vs. Lesnar each other’s next fight. Like Mir, the fight would mean a hell of a lot less if Lesnar loses his next fight. Mir-Lesnar III won’t reach Pacquiao-Mayweather numbers, but they will be a lot more respectable than anything else on the UFC horizon.

Either way, the UFC has two huge money matches on the table for 2010. Georges St. Pierre vs. BJ Penn and Frank Mir vs. Brock Lesnar in addition to Anderson Silva vs. Vitor Belfort, Rampage Jackson vs. Rashad Evans, and Lyoto Machida vs. Shogun Rua II puts the UFC in a great position to turn around their recent slump of disappointing events. Unfortunately when it comes to the MMA game, these fights could slip through their hands as soon as they get them if Mir, Penn, Lesnar, or St. Pierre are upset before the matches are made. It would take a lot of luck to keep these guys undefeated throughout the year before making these matches. You already get the feeling that by the end of UFC 107 that UFC 2010 is a volcano ready to explode.

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UFC closes out 2009 this weekend with its first title match since UFC 104.  BJ Penn becomes the last champion to defend a title in 2009 in the main-event against Diego Sanchez.

BJ Penn is doing something that no other champion has done in awhile, defend his title twice in a few months. Penn fights the winner of the first season of The Ultimate Fighter Diego Sanchez in a much anticipated main-event. Penn and Sanchez are two of the most explosive fighters in all of MMA. Both men have 11 knockouts between them, and are two of the best strikers in the UFC. This is one of the first UFC main-events in a long time that has the potential to live up to expectations.

Penn is looking to erase memories of his first match in 2009 against Georges St. Pierre with two strong finishes to close the year. Penn is 3-0 as champion, winning two fights with a rear naked choke and won on a TKO due to strikes. Penn was once labeled as a lazy fighter who didn’t take his training seriously. That has changed, and BJ Penn has turned into a conditioning machine as proven by outlasting Kenny Florian in his last fight with a submission in the fourth round. On top of that, Penn’s desire to jump right back into a title fight says a lot about his newfound dedication to MMA.

Sanchez has been one of the most exciting fighters in the UFC since entering The Ultimate Fighter. Rarely, do you see a boring Sanchez fight. Sanchez’s last fight against Clay Guida was arguably the Fight of the Year. Sanchez is not just some guy who won a reality television show. Sanchez 23-2 in MMA, suffering his only losses back-to-back in 2007. Since his last loss, Sanchez dropped to the lightweight division, improved his standup game, and has been on a roll ever since. Sanchez has been long overdue for a title shot.

Most UFC stars who have been asked have picked BJ Penn easily in the fight. While I do think he wins, I don’t think it is so easy. Sanchez has never been submitted or knocked out. Sanchez’s two losses have come via decision. His last 8 of 13 fights have gone the full three rounds, so conditioning shouldn’t be a big concern. While Sanchez has never fought five rounds, he is well known for his superior conditioning. Unlike a few of Penn’s previous opponents, Sanchez can also take a punch. Guida hit him hard in their last fight and was unable to put the Nightmare away. I just can’t believe that this is going to be a cake walk for BJ Penn.

In terms of skills, Penn has the advantage on the ground. His BJJ is far superior to Sanchez’s ground skills. Sanchez may be the better wrestler on the ground between the two. On their feet, I think it is fairly even. That said, Sanchez needs to turn this into a standup war in order to win this fight. Sanchez can get frustrated when neutralized on the ground like he did against Josh Koshcheck. Penn can dominate Sanchez on the ground if that is where the fight goes. Sanchez could catch Penn with a lucky shot if he keeps this on their feet, which is the only way he wins this fight. No way is Diego Sanchez grounding and pounding BJ Penn for five rounds.

Penn is a -200 favorite on sportsbetting.com as of this writing, with Sanchez getting +160 odds. I bet those odds separate even more by fight time. The funny thing is that if you listen to Penn in lengthy interviews, he is more obsessed with Georges St. Pierre than anyone in his division. Penn is much more interested in avenging his embarrassing loss in January than he is defending his title. Penn is eyeing a 2010 rematch with St. Pierre which will likely happen at some point next year. He could look past Diego and get caught in an upset. I just don’t see it. I think this one is an exciting fight, but in the end Sanchez just becomes another victim to BJ Penn.

In addition to the exciting main-event, UFC 107 probably has the most stacked lineup since UFC 102. Frank Mir returns to action for the first time since his loss to Brock Lesnar at UFC 107. Mir will face Cheick Kongo in a heavyweight fight. Mir has described Kongo’s ground game as the “worst ground game in the heavyweight division.” As a BJJ expert, Mir should submit him easily on the ground. At the same time, Kongo has the standup to upset Frank Mir on their feet. Mir has bulked up since the Lesnar fight and put on a ton of muscle. He says he is quicker and in better shape, but that is something that could really come back to haunt him if this one goes to a third round. In the end, I think Mir pulls off a win here and starts barking for another match with Brock Lesnar.

Finally, Kenny Florian also returns to action for the first time since his loss to BJ Penn at UFC 101. Florian takes on one of the most popular stars in the UFC, Clay Guida. Taking into account some of the unappealing main-events that the UFC has put on lately, this one could easily be a headliner by today’s UFC standards. Dana White is dying to make Guida-Penn and Sanchez-Florian. The only way that happens is with a Guida win in this one. White would probably have the biggest smile on his face in years if both Guida and Sanchez win and he can rematch them in a title fight next year. Unfortunately, as exciting of a fighter as Guida is he has never beaten anyone as good as Florian. I see Florian taking a decision here and grinding this one out in a disappointing fight.

The complete UFC 107 card as scheduled is…
B.J. Penn vs. Diego Sanchez
Frank Mir vs. Cheick Kongo
Jon Fitch vs. Mike Pierce
Kenny Florian vs. Clay Guida
Paul Buentello vs. Stefan Struve
Alan Belcher vs. Wilson Gouveia
Matt Wiman vs. Shane Nelson
Johny Hendricks vs. Ricardo Funch
Rousimar Palhares vs. Lucio Linhares
DaMarques Johnson vs. Edgar Garcia
Kevin Burns vs. TJ Grant

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The Prodigy is 3 to 1 favorite; The Prodigy’s Nightmare is +2 dog. A bit too expensive for The Prodigy if you ask me. UFC promotes him as “unbeaten at 155 pounds for nearly eight years”, but one might say “defeated nearly every other time at 170 pounds”. I also never fully understood these must have nicknames for the fighters and one paranoid friend of mine thinks it is all a big conspiracy to sell more fighter t-shirts. Well, this time it came in handy for an article title.

The fight takes place on December 12th at 10pm ET at FedEx Forum in Memphis, Tennessee; per-per-view only. This lightweight title fight replaces Rampage/Evans bout as a main event, which was cancelled due to Jackson removing himself from the card in favor of acting. Rumors have it he is being cast in the upcoming feature film adaptation of “The A-Team”. I can hear a lot of boos for Jackson from the fighting aficionado crowd, but I say – go for it and “good rampage” to you. Acting is a learned skill just as fighting and it is much nicer to make faces than get punched in the face, so, good luck Quinton. This replacement fight might be a lot more spectacular than the original heavyweight bout.

B.J. “The Prodigy” Penn vs. Diego “Nightmare” Sanchez fight should have -200/+160 odds. Who knows, Penn Sanchez odds still might come down to that from the current -300/+220. Nightmare has longer reach and is younger and faster on his feet with light-speed punching and kicking. Both fighters have good skills on the ground but The Prodigy is way more experienced. Penn opponents have been much stronger obviously and it will count a lot on the ground in this fight. That is what I think will be the base strategy for BJ – take Sanchez down quickly and choke him. Stay away from the rear-naked choke or it will be your own nightmare, Sanchez!

Have you seen the last Sanchez vs. Guida fight? He was like an energizer bunny that short-circuited and just kept throwing punches at amazing speed. When Guida took him on the ground in the second, you should have seen those elbows Sanchez threw from the bottom position, like a “La Maquina”; which is “The Machine” in Spanish and a better nickname for our Sanchez.

We are in for an interesting fight and I am going to put my money where my mouth is and get few bucks down on Sanchez.

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Even Quinton Jackson’s biggest UFC fans have to be disgusted. Rampage Jackson has reportedly backed out of his upcoming match with Rashad Evans. The coaches of the Ultimate Fighter 10 were scheduled to fight at UFC 107. Jackson’s role in the A Team movie will make him unavailable for the fight. Could this be the end of Rampage Jackson in the UFC and what’s next for Evans?

I am not surprised one bit by this news. The first thing I thought of when I read that Jackson got Mr. T’s part on the A Team was this fight. Surely they weren’t going to sign an unproven actor and wait out his fight schedule. Sadly, I am right and the fight looks like it is off. Surely Jackson knew that the fight would be compromised if he was going to take the part in the A Team movie. It makes you wonder how seriously he was taking the fight in the first place. To his credit, Rampage has publicly talked about getting into acting. As a matter of a fact, Rampage went from talking to acting to humping a reporter in one interview this summer.

Dana White must have been thinking the same thing. White was livid at Jackson when he heard the news about Rampage’s new movie career. “What is Quinton thinking?” asked White, “That Rashad and his mother are sitting at home watching the “Love Boat” and Rashad wants to play Isaac?” - Headlineplanet.com.

White went further, I hate it with a [censored] passion,” said White of fighters who show interest in movie roles. “You’re a fighter; you’re not a movie star. It’s so [censored] funny because fighters want to be movie stars, and movie stars want to act like they’re fighters. Get a [censored] grip. You’re a fighter, and you’re a [censored] movie star. Alright?” I couldn’t agree with him more.

The timing of this all is completely bizarre. Jackson passed up a UFC light heavyweight title fight with Lyoto Machida to take this fight. Jackson and Evans also coached against one another in the upcoming The Ultimate Fighter show to promote the fight. Jackson has been trash talking Evans for the last two months. The two even had a confrontation in the crowd at UFC 100 which was ironically posted on Dana White’s video blog.

So why in the world would Jackson just drop out of arguably the biggest fight of his career to be an actor? The fight could have been bigger than his UFC debut against Chuck Liddell. I say that because due to Kimbo Slice, this season’s The Ultimate Fighter is expected to do monster ratings. Evans and Jackson have already done a great job of building up their grudge in promotional interviews. Between their tension and Kimbo Slice, I would bet on a large audience who would have bought UFC 107 to see them fight.

I am no Dana White fan but this is a huge slap in the face to him and UFC. If it was a matter of money, that is one thing. However, Jackson is likely to make the same if not more by fighting. Jackson can do whatever he wants, but he really screwed the company by taking the spot on The Ultimate Fighter. Someone else could have benefited from the publicity that the show is going to get. Now it will be a few months of hype all for nothing for UFC fans.

I could see this turning into a real issue for Jackson and White. White stuck his neck out for Jackson after his arrest last year. In the wrestling world, Vince McMahon and Jesse Ventura had a falling out over something similar in 1986. McMahon refused to let Ventura take a sabbatical when he landed a part in The Predator movie. Ventura quit over this. Things turned out pretty good for Jesse. I don’t know if I see politics in the future of Rampage Jackson.

Now that Jackson is out it is time to look ahead. There are a couple of great fighters out there that could step into this match. Rematches with Tito Ortiz and Forrest Griffin are the first two guys that come to mind. Wanderlei Silva or Vitor Belforts are other great possibilities. The great news here is that UFC has such a stacked light heavyweight division, that they should have no problem plugging this hole and giving fans a money matchup.

Calling Randy Couture to the rescue!

Rampage talks acting and then acts like a sex maniac

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Have you ever wanted to have a staredown with UFC fighter Rampage Jackson? Well I haven’t either, but this guy must have some kind of a death wish. Check out this video of Rampage Jackson slapping the stupid out of a fan from the UFC Fan Expo.

The slap didn’t look too hard, but man is Rampage a loose cannon or what.

Bonus Video – Rampage Jackson attacks Cheick Kongo at the UFC Fan Expo ECW style!

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Headlocks and Eye Gouges – I will be back on Pro Wrestling Radio Wednesday July 15 at 7 PM/EST. I will be joined by wrestling’s Living Legend, Bruno Sammartino uncut and uncensored for one full hour! I will take questions for Bruno directly from the chat room. Listen live and join the chat room clicking here. Check out Prowrestlingradio.com for more information on the radio show and archived show downloads.

Check out this interview with UFC TUF coach Quinton Rampage Jackson conducted the day after the first taping of The Ultimate Fighter. Jackson is pretty damn funny in this interview and talks extensively about opposing coach, Rashad Evans. He says that Evans is one of the few fighters that he genuinely dislikes. Jackson doesn’t like Evans’ arrogance. Jackson asks the interviewer repeatedly if he will get arrested for attacking Evans on the show. The interview is very entertaining and yet another reason to get excited about UFC The Ultimate Fighter season 10.

Thanks to MMAnews.com for the tip.

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The Ultimate Fighter: Season 3 – Shamrock vs. Ortiz – The Ultimate Grudge

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