UFC Fight Night 18 Picks

How am I going to get over losing my National Champion on my bracket? Well it doesn't make up for the two pools Pitt just lost me but the UFC returns Wednesday Night with a free live Fight Night and the return of the Ultimae Fighter with the new Team USA vs. Team U.K. twist, which is cool. Well after a two weeks of me screwing you over with bad bracket picks I'm hoping the karma of that will turn my MMA picks because they have been terrible as of late. So here it my UFC Fight Night 18 picks.

I like this overall card it's got a ton of fights on it and most of the fighters are either Ultimate Fighter 8 alumns or WEC crossovers and should make for a good card, I will enjoy this Wednesday night.

Here are my undercard picks

Middleweight Bout: Steve Steinbeiss will beat Ryan Jensen via desicion

Middleweight Bout: Aaron Simpson will beat Tim McKenzie via TKO in Round 2

Middleweight Bout: Rob Kimmons will beat Joe Vedepo via desicion

Middleweigt Bout: Jorge Rivera will beat Nissen Osterneck via KO in Round 2

Middleweight Bout: Tim Credeur will beat Nick Catone via desicion

Welterweight Bout: Brock Larson will beat Jesse Sanders via TKO in Round 3

Middleweight Bout: Ricard Almeida will beat Matt Horwich via submission (triangle) in Round 3

Now on to fights that I will breakdown starting with one undercard bout that should make it on the broadcast because

it should be a good fight and really deserves a main card slot.

Lightweight Bout: Gleison Tibau (28-5-0) vs. Jeremy Stephens (16-4-0)

Stephens was orginially supposed to be the co-main event of this card against Ultimate Fighter 8 lightweight winner Efrain Escadaro but Efrain pulled out with an injury so they replaced and moved this two the undercard, honestly I think they should've just added another half hour to this broadcast and make a 5 fight main card but on the fight. Tibau is a very large lightweight and he likes to take people and advance postition and get submissions. Jeremy Stephens is incredibly well-rounded, has great boxing as proven in his KO win over Rafael dos Anjos at UFC 91 but he has great ground skills, slick submissions and a good wrestling background. I think if Tibau can get this fight to the ground and overpower Stephens and get a desicion or a submission, but that isn't how I see this going. I see Stephens fighting off takedowns and staying on his feet and just overwhelm with his boxing skills which Tibau has absolutely none of, and even if it does go down to the ground once or twice Stephens' is good enough of his back to not get submitted. So I like Stephen's to just pick Tibau apart until either his hands go down or the judges give him a desicion. I see a desicion.

Jeremy Stephens will beat Gleison Tibau via desicion

Lightweight Bout: Junie Browning (3-1-0) vs. Cole Miller (14-3-0)

Oh yes, the return of Junie Browning make his first post TUF fight in the UFC and Joe Silva did him no favors by giving him Cole Miller who is leathel on the ground and has solid stand-up and he will face off with Junie who has brawling stand-up and which works pretty well for him, it got him a desicion win over Roliando Delgado on The Ultimate Fighter and he has a solid wrestling background, he wrestled in his Kentucky high school, and now has a purple in BJJ under the guys at Xtreme Couture. Now say what you want about Junie, whether or not he's a douche, whether or not he has a drinking problem, whether or not you like he's a quitter. I honestly think the Ultimate Fighter house really screwed him up, he told Dana White and Frank Mir he wanted to quit because he couldn't take the house and I would believe him because, he dominated his fight to get into the show over Jose Aguilar and he dominated Dave Kaplan in the finale after he got his three month personal training period between the end of the show and the Finale. That said, being in the Ultimate Fighter house didn't make him gas two minutes into his fight with Roli Delgadom I would question his cardio and if in the 3rd this does to the ground I would wonder if he would have the gas tank to not get submitted by Cole Miller, but then again Junie probably won't get taken down by Cole Miller and those two will just stand-up and scrap which will make for a great fight, but I like Junie to win this fight and it will probably go to desicion and this will be a great fight, say what you want about Junie the person, but Junie the fighter has skills.

Junie Browning will beat Cole Miller via desicion

Lightweight Bout: Tyson Griffin (12-2-0) vs. Rafael dos Anjos (11-3-0)

I've really been looking foward to this fight, it should've been main card in the first place it replaced the Escardo-Stephens fight. Tyson Griffin is a contender at 155, he just lost a close desicion to Sean Sherk at UFC 90. He needs to win this to stay in the title mix. dos Anjos was keeping up a close with Jeremy Stephens before Stephens landed what I call the uppercup from hell. But I think Griffin should win this fight, while keeping it interesting of course, Grffin won't get taken down and if he took dos Anjos down he won't get submitted, he's been a proven nightmare for Jiu-Jistu guys, Marcus Aurelio, Gleison Tibau, Thaigo Taveras, you know. He can take them down, he can beat them on their feet, and he can get not get submitted. I think this will be a good fight though, dos Anjos has solid stand-up, he was trading pretty well with Jeremy Stephens, so will be a good fight, but Tyson Grifiin should win pretty easily and will stay in the title hunt at 155

Tyson Griffin will beat Rafael dos Anjos via desicion

Light Heavyweight Bout: Ryan Bader (9-0-0) vs. Carmelo Marrero (10-2-1)

Ryan Bader is the Light Heavyweight winner of the Ultimate FIghter season 8, he was a 3-time All-American wrestler at Arizona State. Carmelo is a wrestler, has cut down from heavyweight. This fight really shouldn't be on the main card, Bader has one win the UFC, Marrero is 1-2 in the UFC and could barely sneak out a win as 205er in the WEC who's light heavyweight divison is like Single A to the UFC's Major League Baseball. That said, I love Ryan Bader in this fight and he's grown on me to the point where I like him as a fighter and as a personality. He was on TUF but he was just a wrestle with heavy hands but in the Finale against Vinny Maglahales he showed off great boxing, maybe it was great by comparision because Vinny's was so bad, but then I thought about how he trains at Arizona Combat Sports who maybe other wrestlers like CB Dollaway and Matt Riddle into strikers, so why not Ryan Bader. So neither of these will take each other down but Ryan Bader has far better stand-up and will probably KO Marrero and take thsi fight, so I like Bader to a get another KO.

Ryan Bader will beat Carmelo Marrero via KO in Round 2

Main Event, Welterweight Bout: Carlos Condit (23-4-0) vs. Martin Kampmann (14-2-0)

Yes in the main event, WEC Welterweight Champion Carlos Condit makes his UFC debut against Martin Kampmann who's only making his second fight at 170 in the UFC. Now Condit is definitly a top 10 welterweight, but he needs to prove more before he gets a UFC title shot. Kampmann is defeintily talented he only lost once at 185 before he cut down to 170 that was when Nate Marquardt totally overwhelmed him. These are similiar fighters incedibly similiar, they both have amazing stand-up and very good submissions, both of these guys are tough dudes, Condit proved it with his 4 round war with Hiromistu Muira at WEC 33, Kampmann proved it when he got kicked incredibly hard in the groin and he takes 4 minutes off and talks Joe Rogan just talks about guys growing turtle shells over their package and how painful getting a cup forced into your nuts is. So he's pretty f-in tough. Now Kampmann's big weakness was exposed in the Marquardt fight, when he guys come straight at him, he can't trade back he just takes the punchs. In that Marquardt fight he just took constant punishment for 2 minutes before the refs stopped it. That said Condit always comes straight foward and attacks on his feet. So I like Carlos Condit to attack Kampmann early and often and climb his way closer to a UFC title shot, because Condit vs. GSP would be great.

Carlos Condit will beat Martin Kampmann via TKO in Round 2

Those are my fight picks and now here are my post fight card awards picks

Fight of the Night: Junie Browning vs. Cole Miller

Knockout of the Night: Ryan Bader

Submission of the Night: Ricardo Alemeida

That's all I got and I hope you enjoy the fights, the rest of March Madness, and the new season of the Ultimate Fighter, I'm out.

First Weekend Review/Sweet 16 Predictions

Oh yeah, March Madness is here and in full swing. But who are we kidding, it got off to a late start the first day's games were just a bunch of near upsets that ended up being 10 point wins that we'd have seen any way. So Thursday was terrible. Friday we got it started. Kansas surviving North Dakota State in the first round (imagine Gus Johnson's reaction to that one, I'd have take the one point blow to my pool just to hear Gus Johnson call that) Then Oklahoma State and Tennessee was a great game, as was Utah State vs. Marquette. I had Utah State in the Sweet 16 as my Cinderella but oh well it was still a good game.

Then Friday Night I just watched in awe of all the great games, Siena and Ohio State going at it for two overtimes with Siena pulling it out in the end in Dayton. Then the game that I thought was even better was the one overtime game in Boise between Florida State and Wisconsin. I thought that was the best game of the weekend without a doubt. The only other games you could make a case for are the OSU-Siena game and the stepping on the line ended Marquette-Missouri match-up. I don't even care if the FSU-Wisconsin game ended my Streak for Cash at 2 and cost me a bracket point, it was just an amazing game, no other way to describe.

I didn't watch any games Saturday because I had a family event (God whyed my cousin feel the need to get to married during March Madness) But I heard about the great ending in Portland between Gonzaga and Western Kentucky then saw the play on Sportcenter so that's about all I can really say about Saturday's games.

Sunday was ok, it had good games late but the early games were nothing special at all, Xavier and Arizona kept it close for a while but they both ended up handling their business like good teams should. Pittsburgh and Oklahoma State was a great game though. But the late games were pretty awesome, Michigan State, Louisville, and Missouri all having to come and win. Now whether or not Missouri deserved because of the guy stepping on the line, whatever it was still a really good game.

Now here is my Sweet 16 Preview for your enjoyment:

Midwest Region

1 Louisville vs. 12 Arizona (Friday at 7:07 Eastern, CBS)

A match-up I correctly predicted on my bracket and I won't let anyone forget that. Arizona's been a solid team all year, they were just bad against teams who had a high RPI, which is why I said if they got in they could do damage and was I right or what? They beat an overseeded Utah team and made Cleveland State's slipper fall off. So it was a pretty easy road if you think about it, now they get a much harder test in top overall seed Louisville, who hasn't look great. They get Morehead State in the game for a half and almost choked themselfs out in the second round against Siena. Louisville hasn't shot the ball well at all, plain and simple they to get better shooting or they can't win the whole (funny because we said the same thing about Memphis last year and they burned us). Louisville will need to get better in the backcourt to fight off the upset here because Arizona's backcourt has been awesome in the first two games. Point guard Nic Wise has scored 50 points combined in the first two games. Chase Budinger and Jordan Hill have also been good. That is why I think Arizona will put up a fight in this game, just put up a fight not acutally win. Budinger can not play man-to-man defense and he will probably get Terrence Williams to guard and that is where Louisville will take apart Arizona, along with another great game from Freshman big man Samardo Samuels.

So I like Louisville to knock out Arizona in this game

2 Michigan State vs. 3 Kansas (Friday at 9:37 PM Eastern on CBS)

These guys met earlier in the regular season with Michigan State laying down the law. Now Michigan State has looked great in the tourney so far, they beat Robert Morris, but who really cares it's Robert Morris and they survived USC, USC shouldn't have even been here and Michigan State played down to their level. Now Kansas did beat lower seeds like North Dakota State and Dayton, but they played great in the process. USC's guards tore apart Michigan State that is why that game was so close, now if USC's guards can eat up Kalin Lucas, why can't Sharon Collins. Plus isn't there like a Final Four hangover in a positive way for Championship teams, like once you win you usaully go to the FInal Four and lose the next year (unless your the Florida Gators). I had Kansas losing to West Virginia last round, but now that they are here I think they are a threat. But I don't expect the same numbers from Cole Aldrich, MSU did a nice job on Taj Gibson and Aldrich is no Taj Gibson. But honestly I thought Michigan State was overrated all year and I think Kansas proves me right Friday Night in Indy.

Kansas will beat Michigan State and move on to face Louisville.

West Region

1. UConn vs. 5 Purdue (Thursday 7:07 PM Eastern on CBS)

I had this game on bracket and I picked Purdue and I'm sticking to my guns and I will pick them here as well. Yes, UConn looked the best off all the one seeds in the first two rounds and yes Purdue played two incredibly close games. That said I think that helps Purdue more than it does UConn. UConn had the nobody believes in us factor, trying to prove to everyone they were a one seed, now everyone loves them so they've lost that and they haven't been tested in March yet, they've just cruised along. What happens when Purdue tests them, how will they react, I think not well. Plus Hasheem Thabeet gets hurt when teams punch him in the mouth, that is why Blair had so much success against him and that what Big Ten basketball is all about, who can get hit the other team in the mouth harder. Plus the Jerome Dyson will finally catch-up to UConn.

I like Purdue to beat UConn

2. Memphis vs. 3 Missouri (Thursday 9:37 PM Eastern on CBS)

This could and should be the best game of the Sweet 16, two teams with high powered offense, Missouri playing that weird but effective pressing defense that will finally test Tyreke Evans like no one in Conference USA has. This game is going to get up their in points, I could something like 89-85 or something really high. like that. I really hope Gus Johnson gets this region because if has the Purdue upset that I swear will happen and this game that will just be a slugfest, it'll really be Madness. I think Memphis has just enough toughness to off-set Missouri's speed. Memphis'' toughness and speed as opposed to Missouri's speed, will win them this one in a close high scoring game.

Memphis will beat Missouri

East Region

1. Pittsburgh vs. 4 Xavier (Thursday at 7:27 PM Eastern on CBS)

This is probably the easiest game to pick, Xavier got two easy games and had troubles in both. Pitt sucked the first round, no way around it, they just sucked. But I think they got Oklahoma State's best possible game and they still beat them. Pitt also proved in the Ok St. that they could just out score people, everyone out there thought it was just about defense and over powering people for the Panthers, now you have to fear their offense. I honestly wasn't that impressed with Xavier, so I think Pitt has is finally hitting it's peak in this tournament and they'll with drive right threw Xavier by at least ten points.

Pitt will be Xavier

2. Duke vs. 3. Villanova (Thursday at 9:56 Eastern on CBS)

This is probably might be the best game of the Sweet 16, Duke plays the high scoring, D'Antoni style run-and-gun, very perimeter based, Gerald Henderson, Josh Schyer, and Kyle Singler. Villanova likes to run but they can also slow it down and gets some points in the paint if they need to. A lot of people have said this will come to who has a better game, Gerald Harrison for Duke or Scotty Reynolds for Nova. I respectfully disagree. I think it will come down to who can slow the game down and dominate the paint and that will easily be Villanova. So I like Villanova to win this game but will definitely be a show, I like Villanova in a close one.

I got Villanova moving on to face Pittsburgh

South Region

1. North Carolina vs. 4 Gonzaga (Friday 9:57 PM Eastern on CBS)

I'm not a doctor and I don't play one on TV, but I know that Ty Lawson is healthy enough to have a great game Friday night. I'm pretty sure North Carolina will take this one pretty easily, UNC dominated Radford, yeah why whatever it's Radford. Then they handled LSU and I think they will do the same to Gonzaga who has looked less than great. They had to survive Akron they just took the lead at the end and held it. Then they had to have the last second, coast-to-coast drive to beat Western Kentucky. Now as great of a play that it's not a definitive way to win, so I think UNC will take this one pretty easily because they are just a better, more talented team.

UNC will beat Gonzaga

2. Oklahoma vs. 3. Syracuse (Friday at 7:27 PM Eastern on CBS)

This should be an awesome game, Johny Flynn leading Syracuse against Blake Griffin and Oklahoma. This is a tough game to pick, I had ASU here so I never really thought about it, but isn't there a saying like Backcourts get you two the Sweet 16 but big man win when your there. Which is why this game will go down to the wire with their guards keeping it close, but Blake Griffin is the difference in this match-up and he will pound the inside and dominate Syracuse as Oklahoma moves their way on to the Elite against Carolina

Oklahoma will take this one over Syracuse and face UNC in the Elite 8.

Then here are my quick for the Elite 8 which, knowing pick history will be wrong.

1. Louisville will beat 3. Kansas

5. Purdue will beat 2. Memphis

1. Pittsburgh will beat 3. Villanova

1. North Carolina will beat 2. Oklahoma

That is all, enjoy the games and peace out

The Mega March Madness Preview

March Madness is finally back after 11 and a half months of no crazy tourney stuff, upsets, amazing moments, and over promotion of Coke Zero that makes March Madness, March Madness. So what else is there for me to right about? No way I wouldn't write about it for you right? Wrong! You get a boring Cubs' preview. (The crowd boos, some guy gives me the bird) Fine I'll write about the basketball. So here is my Mega March Madness Preview (Not associated with DirecTV, just thought the name Mega March Madness sounds cool)

Well I'll start with saying the committee did a pretty good job as far as getting teams in there, the only one I didn't like was Creighton being left out over Arizona (which let's be honest, was a BCS like decision of putting the team who will sell more tickets in over the better team) But I think Arizona is better on the court but Creighton is better by the bracketology stuff, but Arizona is better on court so the money and the better play won that. I also think teams like St. Mary's and Penn State got screwed by teams like Cleveland State, USC, and Mississippi State who snuck in because of there conference tournament.


Upset Picks


Here are my upset picks:


Midwest Region

12 Arizona over 5 Utah - The fact that Utah is a 5 seed is just insane to me and I already said that Arizona is a good on court team who underachieved in the second half of the year. I saw this stat last night that Mountain West at-larges are terrible in round 1. So Arizona will win take this game in Miami because they are just a better team than Utah. So I like Arizona.


13 Cleveland State over 4 Wake Forrest - Wake Forest got off to their hot start where they were the number 1 team in the nation but ever since they upset Duke and then got knocked off by Virginia Tech and it's been all down hill since then. Wake kind of lives and dies by it's guard play, Cleveland State shut down Butler who is the king of just being a perimeter team, I think Cleveland State is very dangerous and will take this game and could be a threat to Arizona in the next round.


West Region

11 Utah State over 6 Marquette - Marquette got bitten by the injury bug and it poisoned them and kill them when Dominic James got put out for the year, otherwise I thought they could've made a run but now nope they are just mid range Big East team, that combined with Utah State who is terribly underseeded, they and Siena were my Cinderella picks who I thought would be wrecked because they got overrated at 9s Siena was but Utah State isn't and I think they will cruise past Marquette who has to travel cross country to Portland that is like a two hour drive for Utah State, so Utah State will win this one

East Region

11 VCU over 6 UCLA - UCLA has gone cold as of late, they have two guys with tourney experience, Darren Collison and Josh Shipp, but that won't be enough, UCLA doesn't score a lot, VCU does. UCLA usually got by on there defense, they don't even play that good of defense this year, VCU will score on them. Just make matters worse for UCLA they are traveling cross country to Philly, VCU just has to climb up north a little bit. VCU will take this one, book it!

South Region

12 Western Kentucky over 5 Illinois - Being around the Big Ten and watching it as much as I have, I know Illinois isn't good enough to be a 5 seed, they are ok, but they can' win on the road and they can't beat elite teams. Portland is far from home for Illinois and though I don't think Western Kentucky is an elite team but with Chester Frazier Western Kentucky's guards can just go off on the Illinois and Western Kentucky will win.

I also like Arizona and Utah State to advance on to the the Sweet after they win their first round game.

Arizona

Not much to say about this because as I already said they will draw Cleveland State who they are just better than them. It's like last year when Western Kentucky got to the Sweet 16 because they were lined up with San Diego who upset UConn, so Arizona will get in there because they are playing a team who they are just better than, plain and simple.

Utah State

Now Utah State is really a Cinderella type team, everyone thinks they are going to beat Marquette but if (and when they knock off Missouri it will be an upset and a major upset, but I think they can beat Missouri I heard about how good Utah State was when they snuck into the back end of the Top 25, Missouri was number 10 before I noticed them, so I figured they were killing bad teams then they started to lose and was like who's right. I tell you who's right: ME! I think Utah State knocks them off I really do.

Both teams will lose in the Sweet 16 according to my genius bracket.

5 Games you can't Miss (All games on CBS)

5. West Region: 4 Washington vs. 13 Mississippi State (Thursday 4:55 Eastern)

4. Midwest Region: 4 Wake Forrest vs. 13 Cleveland State (Friday 9:40 PM Eastern)

3. West Region: 5 Purdue vs. 12 Northern Iowa (Thursday 2:30 PM Eastern)

2. South Region: 8 LSU vs. 9 Butler (Thursday 12:20 PM Eastern)

1. Midwest Region: 8 Ohio State vs. 9 Siena (Friday 9:40 PM Eastern)

No real reason for all those games, just I think they are the best too bad I will miss a few of them because I have classes them ugh! But my friend will be texting me scores so I life, but if nothing comes after this you'll know why.

Other Tourney Ramblings

The Ty Lawson Injury

This maybe why Carolina doesn't win, Greg Anthony of CBS said this is like a four month injury that Lawson is coming back from in three weeks, that's not good. He's probably out the first weekend but they won't need him against Radford Thursday and odds are they won't need against Butler or LSU in round 2, so they are probably safe. But then come next weekend will he hurt them when he's going at 60% against Gonzaga and Oklahoma (according to the awesome Bears' bracket) I think it catches up to them when they face a solid point guard like Lavance Fields in the Final Four. So it won't hurt right away, but then it could be costly.

The Tyreke Evans coming out party?

It's won't be as big as the Derrick Rose coming out party last year, that was a Playboy Mansion Party, this will be more of a Celebrity Birthday at a Night Club Party. Evans has been beasting threw Conference USA ever since they moved to point guard. He's been really the only star Freshman this year even though DeMar DeRozan came on for USC in the Pac-10 tourney but this will be Tyreke Evans' run until Memphis gets booted in the Elite 8 at the hands of Purdue

Jerome Dyson will finally be missed by UConn

UConn hasn't really lost any games because of not having their star guard Jerome Dyson but they have played worse, much worse A.J. Pryce is good but he looked helpless against teams like Marquette and Pitt late in the year. UConn can get past Chattanooga and probably BYU (according to me) without him, pretty easily. But once they get to the Sweet 16 against Purdue or Washington who both have very physical guards and that is where UConn goes down on my Bracket.

My Picks: The Sweet 16 and on

Midwest Region

1. Louisville over 12 Arizona

6. West Virginia over 2 Michigan State

West Region

5. Purdue over 1 UConn

2. Memphis over 11 Utah State

East Region

1. Pitt over 4. Xavier

3. Villanova over 2 Duke

South Region

1. North Carolina over 4 Gonzaga

2. Oklahoma over 6. Arizona State

Elite 8

Midwest Final: 1. Louisville over 6 West Virginia

West Final: 5. Purdue over 2 Memphis

East Final: 1 Pittsburgh over 3 Villanova

South Final: 1 North Carolina over 2 Oklahoma

Before I go on to my Final Four, I bet your all thinking wow that was totally chalk, well it wasn't I had lower seeds in the Sweet 16 and Elite 8 then most people. I just picked the best teams, Cinderellas don't win titles (or Bracket Pools) so I picked who I felt was the best team out of every region or the ones with the best match ups (I'm talking about you Purdue) So here's my Final Four

Final Four

Louisville over Purdue

Pittsburgh over North Carolina

National Championship: Pittsburgh over Louisville

I picked Pittsburgh because simply I think they're the best team with Lawson's injury, If Lawson was healthy I would probably have picked Carolina over Pitt but he's not so Pitt is going to beat them and then they are going to take apart Louisville and get their revenge to become National Champs, hopefully Petino will wear the White Suit in that game so I can laugh, that is all I got enjoy the tourney!

Why the T.O. Signing makes Perfect Sense for the Bills

You would think that once you get kicked to the curb by Jerry Jones, the man who signed Adam 'Pacman' Jones, Tank Johnson, Terrell Owens, and Roy Williams (the one cries everytime he has single coverage and doesn't get the ball for Detroit) you would never get a NFL roster spot again, but nothing is impossible for Terrell Owens. Owens signed a 1-year, $6.5 million dollar deal with the Buffalo Bills.Which nobody saw coming. Why would the Bills take a risk on a guy like, T.O., well duh, because the move makes perfect sense.

Now could a 35-year old, head case receiver who just kicked off America's Team who brings in everyone, and is going threw a decline on the field make such great sense for a team who is like so little in their city so little in their own city and they have to go north of the border to Toronto to sell tickets. Allow me to explain.

Before I go into all the stuff that makes T.O. so great for the Bills, the quote from T.O. that I read in Peter King, saying how he's going to be the same T.O. that he's always been, I joking said to my dad after I watched him make the quote after I read Monday Morning QB with the quote and I jokingly turned to my dad and said Dick Juron just had same scared clueless look he had all of his career while coaching the Bears (actually it's the same one Vinny Del Negro has every night) But if he's the same douchy T.O. he's going to be of little help to this team.

But on the field T.O. is a solid to great wide receiver, but I honestly think that his problem in his last few stops especially in Dallas was they thought he was the guy who fixed all their problems and get them their ring and blah blah blah, you know he was the guy and it was in glorified mega NFL markets. Now he's on Canada's team not America's and he doesn't have to be the guy, Lee Evans is the top receiver he had similar stats to T.O. last year, T.O. had seven more TDs but that's really it, Owens had a couple more catches and around 50 more yards. T.O. and Lee Evans is a top receiver combo as long they will be a combo and not two guys fighting for catches.

So on the field T.O. is the perfect for the receiving core because Lee Evans. Andre Reed, and Roscoe Parish are all speedy big play guys. T.O. is the physical grind it out guy who will catch the ball underneath and get TDs in the redzone that they so desperately need in Buffalo on the field it makes perfect sense.

There is also the huge fact that this a one-year helps the Bills so much, for two reason.

Reason 1: T.O. always puts on a good face in the first year he is with a team because the first year he is "a changed person and has turned his attitude around because he doesn't want what happened last time to happen there." We heard it in Dallas and Philly and we'll hear it at some point in Buffalo, especially now that he's at the same point as Stephon Marbury in sense of he screwed up so bad that he can't screw up again or he's done in this league, most likely, though Al Davis is still in charge so anything is possible with the Raiders now.

I like to compare T.O. to VH1 reality star Tailor Made. Tailor Made conned his way to to winning I Love New York 2 and has sense broke up with New York and now he's killing I Love Money 2 by making secret alliances to tear down the best alliance in the house which has all the people I like in it (Entertainer, Heat who he got send home for Mexico Monday night, 20 Pack) he's really pissing me off. But he cons people when they don't see it coming and is just a great mastermind of madness and if your on his side and he's going all out for you, you'll be on the winning team. Even though everyone hates him he's a genius and so helpful. If you get on his good side you're set and if you don't you're screwed. Geez now does that sound like T.O. or what?

Reason 2: T.O. puts up his best numbers in year one. Peter King also touched on this in Monday Morning QB. His first year with Philly he had 14 TDs in only 14 games because of his broken leg, but even though I hate to see people hurt I'm almost glad he did so we didn't have to see Andy Reed in his tights, Thank God. But then he came back caught number 15 in the Super Bowl. Then in his first year with Dallas he had 13 TDs. You can't really count year one in San Fran because he was a rookie only started 10 games and caught 4 TDs.

So a one-year deal is really a way to make T.O. excel, but their lies the question of what T.O. will do will to do Trent Edwards, after all he killed Jeff Garcia, Donavon McNabb, and Tony Romo, how will Trent Edwards survive.

This is actually a good chance for Trent Edwards for two reasons. One is the TDs Lee Evans only caught 3 TDs last year, T.O. caught 10, so that will Edwards a chance to get some stats and be recognized by fantasy geeks like myself everywhere. Then this is also a chance for Edwards to prove he has balls and say this is my offense, not T.O.'s mine, it's about winning not T.O.'s stats, not Trent Edwards stats, it's about the Bills winning. Great NFL QBs have to be respected not liked, two great examples are Tom Brady and Peyton Manning. This could be a blessing in disguise for Trent Edwards.

So really signing Terrell Owens is a no-lose move for the Buffalo Bills, he can't kill a team in one year and if he does he'll be off to Oakland next year, plain and simple. If you really want to criticize someone for a decision made in New York how about SNL wrecking a hilarious show with Ray Lamontagne, God that was terrible, I watched it on Hulu and almost took a baseball to my computer. That was worst decision made in New York, not the T.O. signing. SNL killed a great show but get no blame and all the Bills do is make themselves playoff contenders and everyone rips them. It's a crazy world.

So I'm out enjoy Selection Sunday and I'll be back next week with my March Madness preview peace out.

Play Fantasy Baseball with Me

Hey guys, me and friends have made a public fantasy baseball league on Yahoo Sports, because I love fantasy sports, what can I say.

So if you want to play fantasy baseball with me sign up for the league it's Cubs vs. Cards, League ID is 190150, the draft is next Friday, March 20th at 9:30 PM Eastern, 8:30 PM my time, central time.

So I hope you sign up it's at Yahoo Sports, Cubs vs. Cards in the Head-to-Head section if your looking threw leagues

UFC 96 Picks

Once again I have to apologize for not writing an acutal article, I was sick, there nothing really to write about, and I'm being kind of lazy. So I hope you everyone had fun listening to the two hours of torture that the WEC last week with Jens Pulver's announcing and bad fights. Now you get my UFC picks.

This is another one of those cards where I look at it and think how does the UFC expect anyone to pay 45 bucks for this. If I had to pay 45 bucks for this I probably wouldn't, I only pay 15 because I buy with a couple of friends. If you scroll the page a little bit you can see my UFC 95 picks where I call it a glorified fight night, this is a fight night that happens to have a decent main event and you have to pay $45 for. The UFC needs a way to fix how they do all PPVs if it's not a fight night. They didn't make you pay last month, they shouldn't this month, they shouldn't in June for their crappy Franklin vs. Wanderlei Silva card. I have two proposed options:

• Charge less for the Pay-Per-Views with no title fights or bad title fights (Anderson Silva vs. Thales Leites, uhh) If a Frank Mir-Brock Lesnar, Georges St. Pierre-B.J. Penn PPV is $45 than, than a Quinton Jackson-Keith Jardine PPV should be $25-30, an Anderson Silva-Thales Leites PPV should be $35. They could change the price of a the Pay-Per-View depending on the strength of the card. Don't tell me you wouldn't love that UFC fans
• Option number two, put crappy PPVs on Spike, they do it with crappy PPVs that are in the UK, why can't they do it for a bad a PPV in Columbus or a bad PPV in Vegas, which there actually aren't very many of but there are some that you could put on Spike.

Those are your choices UFC, well and there's staying put and making no money because casual fans won't pay for cards like this one.

Now on to my picks, nothing special on the other undercard so I'm just going to pick them, no breakdowns.

Lightweight bout: Shane Nelson over Aaron Riley via decision

Light Heavyweight Bout: Brandon Vera over Mike Patt via TKO in Round 2

Light Heavyweight Bout: Tim Boetsch over Jason Brtiz via KO in Round 1

Middleweight Bout: Kendall Grove over Jason Day via TKO in Round 3

Welterweight Bout: Ryan Madigan over Tandam McCrory via submission (triangle) in Round 2

On to the main card which should be better than the undercard

Lightweight Bout: Jim Miller (13-1-0) vs. Gray Maynard (7-0-1)

This could be fight of the night, I really like both of these two guys. Gray Maynard is a big lightweight, he's a wrestler, solid boxing likes to use his side and strength to his advantage and has his nickname says "Bully" people. Jim Miller, decent stand-up, great wrestler, good submissions. I'm looking for this to be primarily a stand-up fight because Jim Miller can't take Gray Maynard down, I don't know if Gray Maynard can take Jim Miller down, so it's probably to be a stand-up fight and that would be advantage Gray Maynard. If it would go to the ground Gray Maynard would have the advantage because he would be on top and there's no chance in hell he'd submitted. So I'm really just expecting an all out brawl with Gray Maynard coming out on top.

Gary Maynard will beat Jim Miller via decision

Light Heavyweight Bout: Matt Hamill (7-2-0) vs. Mark Munoz (5-0-0)

This is an interesting fight that is going to make for a very boring fight. Both fighters have great wrestling, which is great and all but it's going to kill this fight because neither of them will be able to take the other one down. Which means this fight is going come down to who has a better clinch game, which I believe who will be Hamill and who has better boxing. Munoz hits harder but Hamill has better technical boxing, I'm think that Hamill will just kind of dodge Munoz's crazy punch and pick him apart with a punch but it won't be pretty, this maybe one of those fights, where I change the channel at about 1 minute left of the 2nd round come back for the decision, then watch the last round on Youtube to come and realize I didn't miss much. But Matt Hamill will take a decision here.

Matt Hamill will beat Mark Munoz via decision

Welterweight Bout: Matt Brown (11-7-0) vs. Pete Sell (8-5-0)

I'm hardly going to get into this fight, I'm just going to complain about why this is on the main card, I know why it is, Brown is a Cincinnati based fighter and an Ohio native. Why the UFC puts fighters hire up on cards than they should because just because they are from where the show is I don't know. There about 300,000 buying this who don't really care if Matt Brown is from Ohio and would much rather see Kendall Grove, who I believe should be on the main card.

Now a quick breakdown, Pete Sell is a BJJ Black Belt, Matt Brown is a kickboxer who overrates his ground game and gets caught in submissions a lot. I'm looking for Pete Sell to take Matt Brown down pound him, then catch him in a submission, it will be a boring fight, which is why it shouldn't be on the main card, I would much rather Kendall Grove vs. Jason Day or Brandon Vera.

Pete Sell will beat Matt Brown via submission (rear naked choke) in Round 2

Heavyweight Bout: Gabriel Gonzaga (10-3-0) vs. Shane Carwin (10-0-0)

This is also going to be a fight of the night contender with the winner climbing really high up the heavyweight title rankings, they could even get a title shot, there is no real top contender after Frank Mir.

Shane Carwin is gigantic he's one of those guys like Brock Lensar who is just a freak of nature and has to cut to get to 265 but actually fights around 280. He wrestled at Arizona State, also hits very hard but giant hands help with that, some guy Youtube who's picks I watched said he wore like 5XL gloves or something like that, he's just a beast.Gabe Gonzaga is a BJJ Black Belt, he submission almost anyone at heavyweight other than Big Nog and Frank Mir, he also great kicks, he's famous for head kick KO of Mikro Cro Cop and he has solid hands. The only thing about Gonzaga is his commitment, he usually loses if he doesn't after the first round expect for like two fights against no names, he has awful cardio and usually gases after a round. I expect Carwin to survive the first round and then just start taking down Gonzaga and hitting him with those canned hams attached to his wrists, fight of a few submissions and eventually get a TKO or he could not finish him on the ground and catch Gabe with his hands down in 3rd when he has absolutely no gas left. But I like the GnP one better

Shane Carwin will beat Gabriel Gonzaga via TKO in Round 2

Main Event, Light Heavyweight Bout: Quinton "Rampage" Jackson (29-7-0) vs. Keith Jardine (14-5-1)

Here's your main event, not a great one I know. But it does have huge title implications. If Rampage wins he gets a title shot, if Jardine wins, Lyoto Machida gets the title shot.

Rampage lately has just been a boxer, which may be fine he hits really hard and is very good at it. He was a wrestler in junior college, he used to use his wrestling a lot in Pride but now he doesn't really, no submission game what so ever. Keith Jardine is known for his incredibly awkward stand up, he loves kicks, which Rampage tends not to check, Forrest Griffin took his title with nothing but kicks. I'm just going to assume Rampage Jackson has a brain and after a round of getting confused he will got back where he got his start, the mat and look for takedowns and slams and he'll use some ground-and-pound to do some damage and kick probably finish the fight, but who knows maybe Rampage will be a dumbass (which isn't unheard-of) and try to stand with him and get desicioned like Chuck Liddell because of that style.

Quinton Jackson will beat Keith Jardine via TKO in Round 3

Ok those are my fight picks here are my post show picks.

Fight of the Night: Gray Maynard vs. Jim Miller

KO of the Night: Tim Boetsch

Submission of the Night: Ryan Madigan

That is all I have once again sorry about my sickness, I'll have an actual article next week but there is no MMA for me to pick so I don't know what I'll do. I don't think there is any MMA until April with that UFC Fight Night leading into the Ultimate Fighter then the WEC card that weekend. But I'll find stuff to write about, peace out enjoy your weekend, I'm head to Iowa City to watch the Iowa-Penn State basketball game, Peace Out

WEC 39 Picks

Let me apologize quick, I'm just going to say who wins because I've been sick all weekend. I barely got that NBA column done. So I'm just going to post who wins because if I actually broke stuff down and all that good stuff I wouldn't be done by the time the fights start. So here are my WEC 39 picks



Welterweight Bout: Justin Haskins over Mike Pierce via decision

Lightweight Bout: Mike Budnik over John Franchi via submission (rear naked choke) in Round 2

Lightweight Bout: Alex Karalexis over Greg McIntrye via TKO in Round 1

Bantamweight Bout: Rafael Robello over Kenji Osawa via submission (arm bar) in Round 1

Welterweight Bout: John Hendricks over Alex Serdyukou via TKO in Round 3

Bantamweight Bout: Damacio Page over Marcos Galvao via KO in Round 1

Lightweight Bout: Danny Castillo over Phil Cardella via decision

Lightweight Bout: Marcus Hicks over Rob McCullough via decision

Featherweight Bout: Jose Aldo over Chris Mickle via KO in Round 1

Lightweight Bout: Bart Palaszewski over Ricardo Lamas via decision

Main Event, Featherweight Title Bout: Leonard Garcia over Mike Thomas Brown via TKO in Round 2 to become new WEC Featherweight Champion.

Fight of the Night: Bart Palaszewski vs. Ricardo Lamas
Knockout of the Night: Jose Aldo
Submission of the Night: Rafael Robello

Like I said sorry for no breakdowns or anything but I've like crap all weekend but I'm getting better and I'll be back next week with some kind of article and my UFC 96 picks. Have a good Sunday

The Economy, Free Agency in 2010, does anyone in the NBA care about winning now?

A lot of people have been on the move in the last week, Jermaine O'Neal is headed to Miami, Shaun Marion is going to Toronto, Brad Miller is going to Chicago, Rafer Alston is going to Orlando, Conan O'Brien is heading for LA, Larry Hughes is going to New York, and a bunch of other moves.But very few moves were moves that helped teams win now. My question is why?

Every team that makes a trade with some intention, now what those teams' intentions are is beginning to confuse me. All the moves the Sacramento Kings made were so either they cut cap for 2010 as they are or so their owners, the Maloofs (owners of the Palms Casino chain) can try to keep them in Sacramento which seems less likely every week. But it's pretty obvious that they are going to end in the Maloof's home town of Las Vegas, dumping off Brad Miller's contract to the Bulls won't help. The only players they didn't make an attempt to trade were Beno Udrih and Kevin Martin.

Same thing was going on for the New Orleans Hornets, they tried to trade Tyson Chandler to the Thunder for Joe Smith and Chris Wilcox in a move that made no basketball sense what so ever.Chandler is one their best player when healthy but has huge contract and they could barely afford him. They are Western Conference contenders with Chandler but if they can't stay in New Orleans with four big contracts. The deal fell through because Chandler failed his physical but now the Hornets are probably gone from New Orleans in the post-Katrina/Gustav economy of that city they only afford one pro team. Expect the Hornets to end up in Seattle.

The Suns are kind of in the same boat, they were considering trading Amare Stoudamire because they didn't want to hold on to his big contract for the next two years, they were considering moving Shaq's big contract to Cleveland, thing about that duo of Shaq and LeBron that would be incredible the star power of that team. But they were making money dumping trades too because they are losing money. But they aren't making get better now trades, though I guess you could consider the Richardson trade a get better now move, but still.

Then there are the teams who are looking to make cap room for the offseason of 2010 when LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh, Amare Stoudamire, Steve Nash, and almost every other big name NBA player hits the market.

The Knicks were a perfect who are dumping every ounce of cap room they have in hope of getting LeBron, Steve Nash, and maybe even one more guy in 2010. They got Chris Wilcox's expiring contract for the Thunder, they trade three small expiring contracts to the Bulls for Larry Hughes large expiring contract.

The Bulls, who had made no intention of doing anything in 2010 they seemed more interested in Carlos Boozer in 2009. They traded for Brad Miller and John Salmons from the Kings, Salmons is they're cheaper replacement for Ben Gordon who if they pay next year they will have less room for 2010. Brad Miller will help them now but they could've gotten Chris Kaman but his contract is too long and they didn't want to take it on because they want Chris Bosh in 2010.

The idea of 2010 has also scared teams away from making moves that would've made them much better right now. For example, the Mavericks turned down a trade with the Clippers that would've made them a lot better right now. The Mavs would've got Baron Davis and Chris Kaman for Jason Kidd, Jerry Stackhouse, and 1st Round pick which looks great for the Mavs on paper but Mark Cuban supposedly wants Amare or Bosh in 2010 and since Davis contract goes to 2013 and Kaman's goes to 2012 they didn't want to make it. Too bad too that team would be a contender with a line-up of Baron Davis, Jason Terry, Josh Howard, Dirk, and Chris Kaman. But no 2010 dominates teams thoughts

That leads to the point I'm getting at, yes I have one. Does anyone really care about winning right now. 2009, because I could only find four teams who only motive behind making the trades that they was winning now or in the near future. Here they are

The Oklahoma City Thunder were definitely trying to get better, they trade to make the Tyson Chandler trade that I already mentioned with the Hornets. Which give them an interior presence to great with their big three of Russell Westbrook, Kevin Durant, and Jeff Green on the outside but that trade didn't go threw but at least they tried. They also added Thabo Sefolosha from the Bulls who is the perfect six man for this team, he can play and any position on the wing and he is an incredible defender, I know, I've watched him, and I'm sad the Bulls let go of him for a late first round pick. Pissed me off. But this organization is a few years away from being a contender, they have a paternal super star, two incredibly good sidekicks for him. They are ecumenically good, they a sell out almost every game at Ford Center (which blows my mind how Ford needs the government to bail them out, but yet sponsors two major sports teams stadiums and has the first commercial after nearly every break of the 4th quarter of the Super Bowl and on Saturday Night Live, confuses me really)

Then there is the Miami Heat who in my mind great and I think everyone else thinks that too. Marion was a terrible fit in Miami he's a four in a run-and-gun, they had him as a three in a half-court offense. Jermaine O'Neal gives them the true center they've so been lacking. They are a threat now with O'Neal and Jamario Moon who's shown flashes of being a second-trier superstar is going to take Marion's fight just fine. Watch out for the Heat

The Raptors were on the end of that trade I just mentioned and they run the run and gun where Marion is a perfect fit he will be able to run and score and go back to the way he played in Phoenix. Marcus Banks is solid back-up in the right system (aka the system Toronto runs) And they also added Patrick O'Bryant from Boston who will give than extra big man since O'Neal is gone. They definitely got better even though they will won't even come close to the playoffs

Then lastly the Orlando Magic who added Rafer Alston to replace Jameer Nelson who is out all year with a shoulder injury. This is a great move to put the Magic back in the Eastern Conference title picture. Andre Miller may have made more sense because his contract is over next year when Nelson will clearly be back and they have one more year of Alston. So how they will work together next year is big question but for right now it's a great move, they made it to win now. And that's all I ask

Maybe other teams tried like the Celtics, but they have nothing to trade but they added Mikki Moore in free agency and will add Starbury. But they couldn't make a get better trade.

The Cavs looked to make moves for guys like Vince Carter and Shaq but they didn't want to upset their chemistry.

What I don't want is for teams to kill themselves now so they can win in 2010, like the Detroit Pistons did when they traded their chemistry king Chauncey Billups for Allen Iverson who has since killed their chemistry and has them falling out of the playoffs. Great move to clear cap and kill yours season! Great move Joe Dumars, you may have killed your season but hey it will be ok in 2010 when you get Carlos Boozer. Yeah, right. It blows my mind.

Oh well I'm done for now should be back really soon with my WEC 39 picks. Peace out

UFC 95 Picks

The UFC is back in London and back on Spike TV for their lastest card. UFC 95: Sanchez vs. Stevenson. What does that mean for you, my UFC picks column (clapping). Here we go

First off I would like to complament the UFC for putting this card on Spike and not making me $45 dollars for this glorified fight night. It's a good card but it's definitly not worth almost 50 bucks espacailly with the main event which I will get to later in this column. Stevenson has lost 2 of his last 3, Sanchez is cutting to 155 for the first time. It could be a good fight but it's not a Pay-Per-View main event. Big props to the UFC for not making us the MMA fans pay for his ok card, but not a PPV. It seems like it will end up similiar to UFC 80 or UFC 85 which didn't look like good cards but ended up really good. So who knows, but thanks Dana for not making me pay for this card, now if you could only do that next month for the Jardine vs. Jackson card.

Now on to picks, I'm not going to explain any of the undercard fights because frankly they all suck and I have little to know interest in any of the fights, but I am interested to see Brian Cobb but's thats it. So no undercard explainations. If you want to bitch about it I don't care leave a comment. Any way onto picks

Welterweight Bout: Paul Kelly over Troy Mandaloniz via TKO in Round 2

Lightweight Bout: Evan Dunham over Per Elkund via submission (arm bar) in Round 1

Heavyweight Bout: Neil Grove over Mike Cicsnolevicz via KO in Round 2

Heavyweight Bout: Steve Struve over Junior Dos Santos via submission (rear naked choke) - a mild upset here but Junior is overrated because he's just a boxer that caught a guy who underrated him and didn't take him where it would've been over just like that. So when Struve takes him down it will be over

Lightweight Bout: Brian Cobb over Terry Etim via submission (rear naked choke) in Round 3

On to the picks for the main card that we will acutally see, solid main card, not the best main card, but some very, very exciting fights, it kind of seems like Slumdog Millionare where if the fights are actors and the card is the movie then it has not many actors that have little resimes but together will make something great. This has the potential to be a very good main card (just not one worth paying for)

Welterweight Bout: Josh Koscheck (14-3-0) vs. Paulo Thiago (10-0-0)

This is a potentially dangerous fight for Koshcheck, we've seen it before a known guy vs. unknown guy and the known guy gets caught napping. Houston Alexander vs. Keith Jardine, Fabricio Werdum vs. Junior dos Santos, and almost Thiago Silva vs. Antonio Mendes but Silva got his head back on after that head kick. But I don't think that will happen in this fight. But it is very dangerous for Koscheck.

Paulo Thiago is a BJJ Black Belt and a judo brown belt he also dangerous kicks out of his 10 wins he has one TKO and that was because he caused a knee injury with kicks. Reminds of a lot from what I've seen of TUF 8 runner-up Vinny Maghales. That leaves a bunch of trouble for Koscheck because he can't take him down or he'll probably get subbed, he can't clinch or he'll get thrown and put in a bad postition where'd he get subbed. So Koschecks has keep this a straight boxing match which I think he will do, he did against Yoshida where he would've had the same issues. But he kepted to his every improving boxing game and got a knock-out where he acutally knocked him out twice. So I'm liking Kos in this fight it will basically be a boring boxing match but that's how Koscheck has to win this fight and that's now he'll win.

Josh Koscheck over Paulo Thiago via KO in Round 2

Middleweight Bout:Chael Sonnon (23-9-1) vs. Demian Maia (10-0-0)

This is the fight I'm looking foward to the most on this card. Maia is easily the best at translating his jiu-jistu into MMA. He's 4-0 in the UFC all of his win by submission. Chael Sonnon is coming back to the UFC from the WEC where he would've been champ at Paulo Filho made weight in November. The winner climbs up really high in the middleweight rankings. Now everyone thinks this will be Maia clinching and throwing Sonnon down and subbing him in Round 1 but I don't think that is how this will go. Sonnon, stylistically is very similiar to Ed Herman who was giving Maia trouble before Maia caught him a triangle in Round 2. Sonnon can do it that if he sits in Maia's gaurd and avoids being submitted he can pound him to a desicion but I think Maia will eventaully catch him a triangle or an arm bar. But it won't be as easy as everyone thinks. So I got Maia in this one

Demian Maia over Chael Sonnon via submission (arm bar) in Round 3

Middleweight Bout: Nate Marquardt (27-8-2) vs. Wilson Gouveia (12-5-0)

This is another big fight as far as middleweight title contention goes. The winner of this will probably get the winner of the Sonnon-Maia fight then the winner of that will get the winner of the Bisping-Henderson fight and it's a big title shot tournament all this happening while Thales Leites gets his undeserved shot and Yushin Okami gets his rightful shot. On to this fight

Marquardt is 2-1 since losing to Anderson Silva, but his only lost was the BS point dedounction lost to Leites. Gouveia is 2-0 since dropping to 185 but he is huge for a middleweight and his gas tank wasn't great at 205, I doubt it will be good 185, he's never gone longer than 7 minutes in a fight a 185, now how will he do against a guy who will push his gas tank and bring the pressure for three rounds. I think if Marqaurdt survives the first round where Gouveia will probably come out like a bat out of hell and if Marquardt survives that than he will just take Gouveia down and overwelm him with ground-and-pound and submission attempts. So unless Gouveia catches Marquardt with his hands down early he will lose this fight. I expect Marquardt to take a desicion but he could get a submission if he gets Gouveia to roll over when he's pounding or something.

Nate Marquardt over Wilson Gouveia via desicion.

Weltwerweight Bout: Dan Hardy (20-6-0) vs. Rory Markham (16-4-0)

The UFC has this as the co-main event of this card, which a lot of people are bitching about. Watch a YouTube pick video they are. But I understand, now that Michael Bisping is getting so high in rankings, he caan't just fight in the UK has fight to fight anywhere anytime. Like he's fight this July in Vegas at UFC 100, but the UFC is trying to find a new Bisping who they can use to sell out the cards in London and I think that Dana White thinks that Dan Hardy is that guy. So it's basically a ploy for the fans watching on Senanta Sports in the UK and for the people going at the O2 so it looks like "ooh Dan Hardy a British star in the co-main event I better watch this" Type of deal. On to breaking it down

Now these two are both pretty much stand-up fighters, Markham has a little more wrestling abillity basically because he trains with all the great wrestlers in Bettendorf, Iowa. Hardy is probably a better kickboxer but Markham hits harder. I think Rory Markham is going to let his pride do the talking and keep this fight standing up where after about two rounds he'll be losing this fight, but Rory Markham has the big KO punch button in the middle of his face where he gets a hit a bunch and and fires back that's how he knocked Brodie Farber in July, he's was getting the living crap beat out him and he landed a mega head kick. YouTube it it's great really. And that's kind of how I see this fight going, Hardy will get Rory on the ropes and he will just fire back with a huge KO punch. So I pick Markham via KO

Rory Markham over Dan Hardy via KO in Round 3

Main Event: Lightweight: Bout Diego Sanchez (19-2-0) vs. Joe Stevenson (29-9-0)

A match up of Ultimate Fighters winners, 3rd one ever (Rashad Evans vs. Michael Bisping at UFC 78, Rashad Evans vs. Forrest Griffin at UFC 92) This isn't thag great of a main event but it could be worst. Very Fight Nightish. Stevenson has lost two of his last three even though the two losts are to the best two lightweights the UFC has in B. J. Penn and Kenny Florian. Sanchez is cutting to 155 for reasons I don't know. He was a fight or two away from a title shot at 170 had he not gotten hurt and beat Alves then beat someone like Jon Fitch or Josh Koscheck he would in line for a title. Also had he stayed at 170 he would probably be fighting Thiago Alves here, which I would pay for if I had too. It really makes no sense to me.

Ok now I'll quit crying and break this fight down. Both have very good ground games, Sanchez great wrestler, very good jiu-jistu, and vicisious ground and pound. Stevenson, supposedly a BJJ Black Belt under Robert Drysdale I don't believe him, a BJJ Black belt doesn't roller over right when he gets mounted by Kenny Florian. But the difference in this fight is Sanchez's clear striking advantage. He's got great kicks, vicisious knees, and heavy hands. Watch his fight with Luigi Fioravanti he picks him apart on the feet and ends destroying him with strikes. The only way Sanchez loses this fight is if the 37lb weight cut totally destroys his gas tank which it very well might. But think Diego will finish this fight pretty quickly. So I like Diego Sanchez

Diego Sanchez will beat Joe Stevenson via TKO in Round 1

Here are some quick predictions for the post fight awards like KO of the Night, Fight of the Night, etc.

Fight of the Night: Chael Sonnon vs. Demain Maia
KO of the Night: Rory Markham
Submission of the Night: Demain Maia

That is all I got, enjoy the fights, enjoy the rest of your weekend, have watching the Oscars. I'll be back next week with another column, something NBA or NFL combine related and my WEC picks.

So enjoy your weekend and peace out

NBA at the Break: My First Half-Awards, Second half preview, and a quick look back at All-Star Weekend

NBA All-Star 2009 has just come to an end after another Western Conference beatdown but it really doesn't matter and that's how it should be. Let the guys go out there and score 140 pints, let Mo Williams throw between the legs passes to LeBron even their team is loosing by 30, let Shaq try to beat Dwight Howard off the dribble, it's great. The NBA always has the best All-Star because it doesn't count for anything and it's fun to watch.

The Saturday night is also a blast, the three point contest is always really cool, Daequan Cook congrats. Derrick Rose was just crazy good in the skills contest, capping it all off with a crazy dunk that could've got 3rd in the dunk contest. Then the dunk contest, best one in a long time. Dwight Howard was great on the twelve foot rim, but he screwed up by following up what he did in last year's dunk final by doing the same thing expect worst, but Nate Robinson was so awesome with his Krypitnite dunk over Howard was simply amazing. Plus had Rudy Fernandez and J.R. Smith not chosen terrible partners they would've been great too. All-Star weekend simply the best.

On to Awards

MVP: LeBron James, Forward Cavs : No doubt in my mind on this one. LeBron is the best player in the league (I'm finally ready to admit that) he's got the best stats, 28.5 points per game (leads all scorers), 7.5 boards, and 7 assists per game. All of those stats top that of other contenders like Kobe and D-Wade. Dwight Howard does have more boards though. The dude is crazy good and he's on, in my mind, the best team. I seriously don't know who can guard this guy, being 6'8, 270 pounds and he's finally developed about a tenth of the Tiger, MJ, Tebow gene. He's definitely the MVP this year and in 2010 the bidding for him will be insane.

Rookie of the Year: Derrick Rose, Guard Bulls: This shouldn't even be a debate and please don't jump on me for being a homer does it help that watch Rose night-to-night as oppose to O.J. Mayo but I've seen Mayo play twice against the Bulls, I've stats, and I've seen highlights. Rose is better, Mayo is only scoring two more points per game, getting one rebound per game, and averaging three times less assists. Rose is the better all-around player and the better team player. Mayo is so selfish that he's made it so Rudy Gay feels the need to make a crappy shot everytime he gets the ball. Give this award to Rose he is better and everyone knows it

Coach of the Year: George Karl, Nuggets: Everyone says Chauncey Billups turned them around, I think that's a load. Chauncey helped but he didn't make Carmelo suddenly step all stages of his game including his defense, he didn't make Nene into a force to be reckoned with underneath he make J.R. Smith try to play defense for once. All that was George Karl and he deserves COY for making them a contender in the West.

Break-Out Star: Kevin Durant Forward, Thunder: KD is so flying so under it's scares me about how bad of an NBA market Oklahoma City is, because people should be talking about him in the same sentance as Chris Paul and Dwight Howard instead he's barely mentioned. Read ESPN's Bill Simmons' column on being underrated bout Durant and Manny it really covers everything about how good he is. I think he's now the seventh best player in the league. Freakishly good. Oklahoma City has a great future with KD, Jeff Green, and Russell Westbrook. It's scary how good they could be with that base. Durant capped off his greatness at All-Star weekend by winning H-O-R-S-E and being MVP of the Rookie-Sophomore Game with 46 points. He's just great.

Team that needs to make a Trade: Boston Celtics - They don't need a big trade like the Pistons. If the Pistons want to win the title they need some mega-trade that would give Amare and even someone else like Grant Hill. The Celtics to add a couple players another veteran big man and another swing man to come off their bench watching Leon Powe half to come off the bench against the Lakers and getting dominated by Gasol made me come to this realization. I don't get how people don't see this considering how the NBA shoves them in our face. The only problem with the Celtics making a trade is, as I mentioned their bench is awful, well nobody wants there players. I think Joe Smith from Oklahoma City would be a good fit but they won't trade him for just draft picks which is what the Celtics would give them. But assuming the Knicks don't trade Marbury and end up buying him out it looks like he will be a Celtic. But they need a trade.

Eastern Conference Team that could shock us and get into the Finals: The Miami Heat - Dwayne Wade is playing at an incredibly high level. He would've been my second choice for MVP behind LeBron he's back to level that won him the Finals. Then there's the Jermaine O'Neal trade which is huge for this team. Marion didn't fit in well with this team he should be a four man in a run and gun offense like Toronto's they were using as a three in a half-court. O'Neal on the other hand will post-up and get rebounds and be the big man they haven't had ever since Shaq left. Then they also got Jermario Moon who Pat Riley supposedly won't let this trade get with out. And he's shown flashes that he could be a star. They are the 3rd best team in the East right now but they could get better Chalmers isn't a Championship point guard but if they would say add Steve Blake from Portland then they're in good shape. Either way watch out for the Heat

Western Conference Team that could shock us and make the Finals: Phoenix Suns You heard me right the Phoenix Suns, with Alvin Gentry are a threat because they still have the right players to run the run and gun system D'Antoni ran. They can basically be the Warriors that upset the Mavericks a few years ago. Nash would be Baron Davis, Barbosa would be Monte Ellis, Richardson would be Richardson, Matt Barnes would be Matt Barnes, and Amare would be the big than if they need defense they can bring in Shaq. They are really deep and Terry Porter was trying to play a system his team didn't work in then wouldn't change away from even though it was painfully obvious it wasn't working, but back in the run-and-gun the Suns are always a threat. So watch out for the Suns

Eastern Conference Champions: Cleveland Cavaliers, I like Cleveland as is they are much deeper than the Celtics, Boston has no one who can match-up with LeBron the Cavs can wins the East as is, would Vince Carter help, sure Vince Carter would help but they don't need him. If Mo Williams continues to play at All-Star level and Big Z stays deathly, other than an injury to LeBron nothing in the East can stop them.

Western Conference Champions: San Antonio Spurs, So much for the end of the road for the Spurs, they've actually gotten younger and better with Roger Mason, the steal of the draft George Hill, and Matt Bonnar so they've getting better and are not at the end of road as I predicted. (Note to readers: never listen to my NBA picks they are probably all wrong, making this whole article pointless, but I won't be like the Sopranos and leave you hanging) But this isn't your older brother's Spurs (bad I know). One more thing they are a hellish match-up for the Lakers, they are way tougher than LA, Odom and Gasol will crinch at the idea of getting posted up by Duncan and I'm also not sold on the Lakers point men Famar and Fisher were getting killed off the dribble by Rajon Rondo and Mo Williams imagine what Parker can do to them.

Now for the moment everyone who has acutally made it this far in this freakishly long NBA picks column has been waiting for. My NBA Finals Champion! San Antonio vs. Cleveland

NBA Finals Champion: Cleveland Cavaliers, This will be a close series but the Cavs one thing the Spurs don't. LeBron James. The Spurs have no one who can stop him the only team that does is the Hornets and James Posey isn't even that good of a match-up. They have Bruce Bowen, but if the put Bowen in the game then they have to pull Roger Mason and all his production or keep him and pull Manu, neither good. It's just a terrible match-up, or they put Duncan on him but LeBron would kill Duncan off the dribble and that mean Roger Mason would have to guard Ben Wallace or Varejao which is also an awful match-up. So the Cavs will win the Finals and LeBron will Finals MVP.

That is all I got I will be back really soon with my UFC 95 picks but enjoy the rest of the NBA season. Peace out

Sorry

Sorry for the absence I've been buys the last month or so and haven't been on, but I will try to get back. I'm looking to make at least one post a week

Thanks, I hope if anyone actually reads this they following

NFL Wild Card Round Playoff Picks

Ok, it's playoff time and yes I am talking about playoffs Jim Mora. And it's the first week of the playoffs, aka the Wild Card round. There are two games Saturday and two games Sunday. The Cardinals and Falcons and Chargers and Colts will meet on Saturday. And the Dolphins and Ravens and Vikings and Eagles. I'm so exciting for the weekend where it's possible that all four home teams that could lose. Let's make picks.





Falcons (-1.5) over Cardinals (Saturday at 4:30 PM Eastern on NBC)

The Cardinals got into trouble when they won their division way too early. They were pretty much platued with three weeks left and had nothing to play for. And like other teams who have nothing to play for, they went to sleep. They played the starters, but the starters didn't play (or so it seemed) So now they are hosting a playoff game with a 9-7 record against a team that almost had a first round bye. So they have no chance right? Wrong. The Cardinals have a chance to win this game, but I don't think they will. The Falcons will be able to throw on the Cardinals, they should be able to run on them.

I also expect the Falcons to in the most part, contain the Cardinals offense, the Cardinals offensive line is less than great and the Falcons get a lot of sacks, let by John Abraham with 16.5, not to mention the fact the Kurt Warner is not the most mobile guy in his old age. On the other hand the Falcons are 28th in the NFL in rush defense, now if only the Cardinals had any thing moderately close to a running game, Tim Hightower was a one hit wonder, Edgerian James says he will never play for the Cardinals again, and JJ Arrington is less than spectacular. So unless they mind a way to expose the Falcons less than great run defense, than I don't see how the Cardinals find a way to win. Unless Matt Ryan goes into total reverse and seriously chokes (which rookie QB have been known to do, too bad Matt Ryan is no ordinary rookie QB).

So I will take the Falcons and the points (If I was a gambler, any way)

Prediction: Falcons 31, Cardinals 14
Game MVP: Matt Ryan

Colts (-1) over Chargers (Saturday, 8 PM Eastern on NBC)

The Chargers have become everyone's sexy pick to make the Super Bowl from the AFC East, the Colts are probably the best team in the AFC despite being a wild card. These are the two teams that I would not like to face if I was the coach of an AFC team, but likely for all the AFC teams on of them will get to take out the other. The Chargers have basically been playing playoff games for four weeks now, the Cotls have won nine straight so something has to give and on paper it looks like the Chargers have an edge. The Chargers defense isn't that good against the run, which is the Chargers speciality, Peyton Manning struggles against 3-4 defenses, not to mention these two teams always produce one hell of a game when play it's kind of like the Rays to the Red Sox, even when they were bad they always gave the Sox a game, they bring their A-games out for each other.

Now I told you all that, so I guess I should tell you why I'm picking the Colts. Like I said the Chargers love to run it, but LT is either out or will be on a bump wheel or groin to be specific, than Antonio Gates is probably going to be in the same situation as LT either out or playing hurt. Another thing to consider about those two is that they are probably Phillip Rivers' top targets, he has been great but if they are out he will have trouble finding a decent target, Vincent Jackson and Chris Chambers won't cut it here. So I expect the Chargers to give us a games because they and the Colts always do, but I think the Colts will come out on top. So I pick the Chargers and take the point.

Prediction: Colts 28, Chargers 23
Game MVP: Peyton Manning

Dolphins (+3) over Ravens (Sunday at 1 PM Eastern on CBS)

Wow, this is going to be one of those grind it out games, were it may come down to what QB makes the big play and which cracks under pressure. And I like I mentioned in the Cardinals-Falcons section rookies tent to be the guys who choke. So sorry, Joe Flacco but I see you costing the Ravens this game. They have running in particular to get around the Dolphins defense so I don't see many points from the Ravens.

Now the Dolphins offense is actually similar to the Ravens with the exception over veteran signal caller Chad Pennington, and I think if Chad can make a couple big throws and they can hit a trick play or two, like breaking a big one from the wild cat or Ted Ginn beating them on a reverse, because the Ravens defense tend to over-pursue a lot. That should be enough offense to win this game. This may be the game not to watch if all you want to see is high powered offense and that crap. This is going to be a good old-fashioned, battle. Who's tougher than who type of game. And I think the Dolphins will win.

Prediction: Dolphins 13, Ravens 7

MVP: Dolphins Defense

Eagles (- 3) over Vikings (Sunday, 4: 30 PM Eastern on FOX)

The Eagles are like the Chargers of the NFC they got hot at the end and now everyone loves them, I'm not quite sold that they are a Super Bowl contender, but I am sold that they will win this game. The Vikings are not that good against the pass and DeSean Johnson can break the big one on them. Plus the Eagles pure speed running game will negate the power of Kevin and Pat Williams (assuming the big man plays)

Now how will Taveris Jackson fare the Eagles blitzing scheme if last week is any indication not every well, the Giants scheme is basically a carbon copy of the Eagles because Steve Spagnoulo is a Jim Johnson disciple and they gave Tarvaris hell. So why should I believe that teacher can give the crappy QB the same hell his pupil gave him? Another factor to consider is that Vikings special teams are very bad, very, very bad. And DeSean Johnson can break one on them. So I expect Philly to kick some serious Vikings ass. I'll take the Eagles and the points.

Prediction: Eagles 27, Vikings 3

MVP: DeSean Jackson

Those are my picks, I'll be back next week with a National Title Game article and more playoff picks, Bears out