MMA/COTG Betting Fantasy League

[hofclemens]

its nice to see horn get another chance at the show. I'll be pulling for him

[LWPD]

hofclemens said:

its nice to see horn get another chance at the show. I'll be pulling for him

Horn at that price is too good to pass up...I'm surprised that much money is sleeping on him!

[harmon]

The Maine-iac all the way.

Cant wait to see Jeremy Horn again - I enjoy his fights a ton.

I think Mir will take out Lesnar at the end of round 1 - If it is the in shape Mir, If not, then he is in trouble !

[LWPD]

harmon said:

The Maine-iac all the way.

Given the Pride curse I honestly wouldn't be shocked to see Big Tim somehow come away with the interim belt. I just hope it's not one of his infamous 'safe' 5 round decisions that sees him get there.

[LWPD]

I'm really pumped for tonight's show. Ironically there will be a WWE presence (30 ringside seats were purchased) and a TNA presence (with at least Kurt Angle attending for cross promotion Spike TV purposes). Brock winning and being legit would be great for the sport...but nothing is guaranteed at this level.

[LWPD]

Good show last night. It felt like '95 again with the return of the guillotine variants...only the set ups and transitions were so much smoother and more advanced. Marquardt (standing), Almeida (from mount) and Nog (text book arm-in). Nog showed tremendous heart and survived a stand up beating (both eyes nearly closed) to take out an aggressive Big Tim...props to both.

Big win for Mir with Brock coming off as a hot prospect with potential but room for improvement. No true losers in that one. Even Tim Boetsch came off as a fighter to keep your eyes on.

Courtesy of Wrestling Observer

Undertaker, JBL and Steve Austin are all here from WWE. Shane McMahon sent a best wishes to Brock Lesnar but couldn't attend. TNA is filming here. Rena Lesnar is here, but that's to be expected.

Welcome to our live coverage of UFC 81 from the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas. We're looking for your thoughts on the show, so you can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle to [e-mail].

Rob Emerson vs. Keita Nakamura is up first.

Mostly feeling each other out early. Emrerson connected with some punches. Emerson cut on the top of the nose. Emerson with strong right and low kick. Nakamura with a knee. Nakamura dropped him with a knee. Nakamura tried a takedown but couldn't get it. Nakamura then got the takedown with a leg trip at the buzzer. Nakamura close due to the knee to the temple 10-9.


Emerson still connecting more early with his hands. All standing. Good low kick by Emerson. He buckled him with a low kick. Nakamura got a takedown late in the round but Emerson quickly got back up. Emerson with a good jab and low kick. I'd give this round to Emerson so have it 19-19.

Nakamura got a takedown a minute in, but Emerson got up right away. Emerson continues to beat him to the punch. merson continues to connect. Nakamura's nose is bloodied. Nakamura with a good knee to the chin and punch. Nakmura is cut under the right eye. Nakamura with another good knee. Good left by Nakamura. Nakamura connecting now. Nakamura with punches and another takedown. Very close round. Emerson 29-28, but it's tough because Nakamura had that takedown at the end. Good fight, high workrate and 95% standing.

Scores were 30-27, 28-29 and 30-27, split deciswion for Emerson. The crowd booed the decision but you can't complain on a fight like this.

Marvin Eastman vs. Terry Martin are up next.

Martin got a big reaction coming out to "Stayin Alive" by the Bee Gees. There was heat between these two at weigh-ins.

Martin with a bodylock takedown, but Eastman was right to his feet. Trading knees in the clinch. Yves Lavigne ha had enough and separated them. Martin bulled him into the the cage again.
Lavigne had enough again. Eastman with a good right. Martin bulled him back into the cage. Martin tried for a takedown but didn't get it. Crowd booed first round. The best was the Bee Gees. 10-10 round, no way you can give it to either guy.

Eastman came out more aggressive. Eastman with another flurry. Martin with hard knees. Good knee by Eastman. Nice hiptoss by Eastman in reversing Martin. Crowd sort of booing, but not as much as round one. Eastman's round so I've got it 20-19.

Eastman's got a takedown and side control. Got up and threw puncheds and a head kick. Another two head kicks, both blocked. Good knee by Eastman aand two high kicks and a punch. Most of the fight has still been in the clinch against the cage with flurries of action. Lavigne separating them. Martin got a takedown and has his back. Eastman back up. Uppercuts and an elbow by Eastman. Martin with a hard knee right before the bell. I have Eastman winning the round so have it 30-28.

Scores were 29-28, 30-27 and 30-27 for Eastman

David Heath vs. Tim Boetsch is up next.

Good body kick by Boetsch. Good knee by Boetsch. Heath fired back with punches. 6 knees to the face by Boetsch. Boetsch with good knees, threw Heath down hard and Heath landed on his head and was stunned. Boetsch threw punch after punch on the ground while Heath was stunned and ref Herb Dean stopped the contest. Big reaction to the finish.

There are still a lot of empty seats in the expensive section.

Chris Lytle vs. Kyle Bradley is up next.

Lytle teed off on Bradley, knocking him down twice hockey fight style and finishing him in seconds. This will make the PPV.

Main show is starting. More empty seats than I've seen for a big show since the boom period. Maybe 8,500ish in the house right now.

In the opening montage, Lesnar got the biggest reaction, and as many cheers as boos. Nogueira got crickets chirping.

Tyson Griffin vs. Gleison Tibau is up first.

Nice low kick by Griffin. Tibeau got a momentary takedown. Strong body kick and punch by Griffin. Good trading. Griffin gettign the eetter of it. Good frojht kick. Trading and Griffin getting the better, Tibau with strong takedown. Griffin back up, and wants that takedown back. Tibau is real strong dropping to this weight class. He took Griffin down again. Griffin 10-9 based on damage. Big crowd reaction to the round.

Griffin wants the takedown just to show he can do it. He didn't get it again. Tibau has a bloody nose. Pace has slowed a little. Big trade, Tibau may have done better this time. Another takedown by Tibau and even got Griffin's back. Griffin up taking no damage. Nice body kick by Griffin. Another takedown by Tibueau, but Griffin spun away and got back to his feet. I give the round Tibau 19-19.

Barry Bonds was just shown and booed heavily.

This should decide it. Overhand right by Tibau. Another takedown by Tibau. No ground and pound at all. Tibau trying to pass. Throwing short punches, Griffin escaped and back up but he's playing catch up now. Good body shot by Griffin, but another takedown Tibau. Good overhand right by Griffin. The punch busted Tibau under the right eye. Griffin stopping the foot over and over. Griffin wants that takedown and can't get it. That round was close. Tibau scored two takedowns but Griffin had the strongest punch. I have Griffin 29-28.

All three judges had it 30-27 for Griffin. Crowd booed the decision a lot. People booed Griffin heavily thinking Tibau won.

Ricardo Almeida vs. Rob Yundt is up next. Yundt took this fight three days ago. Almeida got the takedown and finished him with a guillotine right away. Yundt tried the spinebuster but Almeieda almost reversed it into a DDT. Not quite, but he held the guillotine and Yundt tapped in a one minute fight.

The biggest pop on the show came when they showed Georges St. Pierre. Far bigger than for Quinton Jackson.

Kurt Angle just came out. There is a TNA camera crew filming him. When he came out, the whole place in that side of the arena was standing like he was a big-time celebrity.

Nate Marquardt vs. Jeremy Horn is up next.

Marquardt has cool entrance music. From a music standpoint, this is is like 1993 AAA.

Horn got a fairly big reaction.

Both in a clinch. Marquardt got he takedown and Horn of course is composed on the bottom. Marquardt doing ground and pound. Hard elbow to the head. Marquardt wanted him back up. In a clinch again. Another takedown and Marquardt on top. Marquardt with a hard knee and a good right. Elbow put Horn down. Horn did a nice up kick from his back. Horn is going for a shoulderlock but Maraquardt spun out and Horn used it to reverse. The place went nuts for the cool move, but still Marquardt's round 10-9.

Marquardt was tripped throwing a kick and Horn is on top. Marquardt caught him with a guillotine and made Horn tap.

UFC fans are 57-43% thinking Lesnar will win.

Lesnar vs. Mir is up next.

It's pretty packed right now. No completely full but probably not 1,000 empties.

They showed Angle, Undertaker and Steve Austin. All three got big reactions, Austin the biggest of the three.

Mir got the biggest reaction of his career. Lots of cheers and lots of boos for Lesnar.

Gigantic buzz in the crowd. It was an incredible minute. Mir won with a kneebar. Lesnar was beating the hell out of him, knocked him down with a punch, took him down twice, but got caught.

Lesnar got a huge ovation leaving, really bigger then when he came out. UFC officials were thrilled because they know they can bring Lesnar back because the potential was there.

Tim Sylvia vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira for the heavyweight title is next up.

Nogueira got a mixed reaction, some cheers and some boos. Sylvia also got a mixed reaction.

Trading. Nobgiera caught him with a solid punch. Nogueira pulled guard. Sylvia got back up. Sylvia is using his jab. Nogueira has a busted left eye. Nogueira going for another takedown. Sylvia escaped. Good uppercut by Sylvia. Sylvia decked him and and pounding him on the ground. Sylvia stood up without being in dagner. Sylvia is connecting. Nogueria pulled him down. Sylvia got up again. Nogueria got up slowly. Knee by Sylvia. Nougeira went for another takedown and got it at the end of the round. 10-9 Sylvia.

Sylvia using his reach to control the stand-up. Good upper cut by Sylvia. Another good uppercut by Sylvia. Nogueria went for the takedown and failed. Nogueria with a head shot and low kick. Noguera connected again. Nogueira connected and is going for a takedown. Sylvia battled away. Fans are cheering Sylvia. Sylvia with a good punch. Nogueria hittign jabs. Suylvai rocked himn. Nogueria rocked Suylvia with a punch. Noguera coneced again. A few more punches by Nogueira. Closer round but I've got 20-18 for Sylvia.

Actually a "Timmy" chant. That's a first. Sylvia tagged him. Nogeuria pulled guard. "Let's Go Tim" chant. Noguera reversed him on the ground and got a guillotine for the submission. Nogueira becomes the first man to be Pride & UFC champion.

Submissions are back.

Angle, Austin and Undertaker were taking photos together after the match.

[Knapik]

Boetsch tossed heath to the mat like a rag doll, very brutal.

[LWPD]

It seems the season has reset. Everyone is back at $200. Congrats to the Champion.

[LWPD]

It's a new season so we're all even in terms of money. Action opens up this Wednesday...plus on 2/16 there's Kimbo vs Tank & UFC 82 on 3/1.

WEC 32 Final Card

Versus Network 2/13/08 9-11:30 PM EST

Main Card:

Carlos Condit vs Carlo Prater
Jamie Varner vs Rob McCullough
Miguel Torres vs Chase Beebe
Hiroyuki Takaya vs Leonard Garcia

Prelims:

Micah Miller vs Chance Farrar
Josh Grispi vs Mark Hominick
Manny Tapia vs Antonio Banuelos
Del Hawkins vs Coty Wheeler
Charlie Valencia vs Yoshiro Maeda
Jesse Moreng vs Scott Jorgensen

[darkrider]

I wold like to drop out due to lack of interest lwpd.

[LWPD]

darkrider said:

I wold like to drop out due to lack of interest lwpd.

Your insights and competitive presence will be sorely missed. Best wishes and thank you for your past participation.

[JamieOD]

If I didn't crash and burn midway through the season I am certain I would have finished in the top 3. Next chance starts now.

[LWPD]

Here's a preview for tonight's card. Enjoy the fights guys.

Courtesy of Fox Sports

WEC 32: Expect a win for Condit over Prater
by Elias Cepeda

Three titles will be on the line Wednesday night in Albuquerque, N.M. at WEC 32 with the welterweight, lightweight and bantamweight WEC straps on the line. We take a look at how the big match-ups break down.

Welterweight Title Bout: Carlos Condit vs. Carlo Prater

Champion Carlos Condit calls Albuquerque home, so this title defense and headlining appearance is particularly special to him as he'll get to do his thing in front of family and friends. To top it off, he'll be getting the opportunity to avenge his first ever career loss by taking on challenger Carlo Prater.

Prater (21-5) brings a wealth of experience and one submission win over Condit from back in 2004 into this fight, which is his WEC debut. Condit (21-4) says he's grown a lot since that first fight and that he's a lot more focused and physically strong heading into the rematch.

Chances are Condit will get the job done. At only 23 years old, his well traveled and accomplished career appears to be on the rise.

Condit has won six in a row and has showed poise beyond his years in defending his WEC belt. Prater doesn't appear to be on a downturn either, having won three consecutive fights, but you have to wonder if he'll still hold the ground grappling edge over Condit the way he did in their first bout.

Condit has looked ever sharper on the ground lately and it would seem that Prater's best hopes lie in wearing Condit out over a few rounds, opening up an opportunity to lock up another submission, this time in the late rounds. Unfortunately for him, there's no particular reason to believe that Condit will gas out.

Lightweight Title Bout: Rob McCullough vs. Jamie Varner

"Razor" Rob McCullough, without a loss since 2004 and 15-3 overall, has looked on point and dangerous lately. He's stopped eight of his last nine opponents inside the distance including an impressive quick TKO of Richard Crunkilton last September.

But UFC veteran Jamie Varner (13-2) may just have the anecdote to the dangerous Muay Thai style striking of McCullough that has been plaguing other WEC lightweights. Varner, a skilled wrestler, seems well suited to take "Razor" Rob out of his comfort zone by putting him on his back.

If Varner can stay clear of McCullough's striking long and often enough to score takedowns and stay active once on the ground, he just may be able to pull off an upset by grinding out a stoppage or decision win. Chances are McCullough will need improved wrestling take down and ground submission defense or another quick KO on the feet to walk away with his belt.

Bantamweight Title Bout: Chase Beebe vs. Miguel Torres

It's unlikely that top bantamweight contender Miguel Torres will pose more submission problems for champion Chase Beebe than AbuDhabi world submission wrestling champ Rani Yahya did in their prior fight, but he could perhaps come in a lot better shape. Back in December, Beebe found himself in deep water early on against the Brazilian Black Belt Yahya and repeatedly worked his way out of submissions — on one occasion apparently needing to be saved by a round ending bell.

But once he had taken Yahya's best submission shots, Beebe still had plenty of fight left in him while his opponent appeared to fade. From there, Beebe controlled the location and pace of the fight and simply out worked Yahya en route to a five round decision win.

What's the significance to Beebe's title defense against Torres? Like Beebe's last opponent, Torres' biggest strength is his Jiu Jitsu. But as proficient at it as he is, he's simply not as good yet as Yahya is.

Torres probably won't out wrestle Beebe, and lightening will have to strike for him to have a better chance at finishing the strong wrestler when Yahya couldn't. Two possible aces up the sleeve of Torres could be damaging striking on the feet and superior conditioning — it could be argued that if Yahya had been able to maintain his work rate throughout five rounds, he would have fared much better.

But look for another back and forth ground battle with Beebe on top just like his last fight, and don't be surprised if the champion can pull out another decision win.

Under card Highlight: Charlie Valencia vs. Yoshiro Maeda

Here's hoping that the Charlie Valencia vs. Yoshiro Maeda under card fight gets televised if only because fight fans want to see what type of excitement Valencia will bring this time around. If there was a 2007 award category for fight sequence most resembling a video game and demonstrating the full potential of MMA, Valencia would have no doubt been a front runner with his fight against Ian McCall last December.

Valencia first connected with a punch that dropped McCall. When McCall stood back up, Valencia immediately grabbed a hold of him and lifted him high off the mat for a moment before slamming him down onto it with a German suplex.

When McCall somehow managed to bounce back up to his feet again, Valencia cinched in a guillotine choke that forced McCall to submit and ended the fight. This all took less than a minute and left those not cheering with their jaws wide open in silence.

If the bantamweight Valencia can sum up anything resembling that sequence and win again in his next fight, he'll be on his way to getting some major attention. But who knows? It may be Maeda that brings the surprise this time around.

[hofclemens]

didnt get my bets in for tonite. but some money on Antonio and a small bit on Tank on the freak occurance he catches kimbo.

[LWPD]

A reminder for tonight.

Elite XC Live Saturday Feb. 16 10PM EST on Showtime

All lines are now up.

Main Card

Kimbo Slice vs. Tank Abbott

Antonio Silva vs. Ricco Rodriguez

Scott Smith vs. Kyle Noke

James Thompson vs. Brett Rogers

Edson Berto vs. Yves Edwards

[LWPD]

lwpd said:

A reminder for tonight.

Elite XC Live Saturday Feb. 16 10PM EST on Showtime

All lines are now up.

Main Card

Kimbo Slice vs. Tank Abbott

Antonio Silva vs. Ricco Rodriguez

Scott Smith vs. Kyle Noke

James Thompson vs. Brett Rogers

Edson Berto vs. Yves Edwards

This is a sweet card. Don't sleep on Ricco....he's looks to be in shape and still has skill and experience. A real test for the impressive Silva...who's stamina and chin are questionable.

[hofclemens]

Great night of fights so far...The Edwards flying knee may be the first time I have ever seen that in that particular situation(although the faber/curran ending was similar)..wow!

[Cosmic Crippler]

hofclemens said:

Great night of fights so far...The Edwards flying knee may be the first time I have ever seen that in that particular situation(although the faber/curran ending was similar)..wow!

I had no idea that was even possible. Man that guy can pull some crazy finishes out of his ass.

[LWPD]

Full lines are up for UFC 82 this Saturday. Herring +120, Sakara +130 and O'Brien (who is capable of lay and praying a decision) at +285 all look very attractive.

[hofclemens]

anyone watching cage rage tonite? looking forward to free MMA (we with showtime sub.) but not superjacked up about it.