The KO Corner

The UFC begins its stretch of three cards in four weeks Saturday with “UFC 93: Franklin vs. Henderson” from The O2 Dublin in Dublin,Ireland. The event will be headlined by a light-heavyweight clash between former UFC middleweight champion Rich Franklin and former PRIDE welterweight and middleweight champion Dan Henderson. The winner is expected to become a coach on “The Ultimate Fighter 9” opposite Michael Bisping.

The is an extremely close fight, there’s no doubt about it. Obviously, you’d have to give the edge in wrestling to Henderson, as he’s an Olympic-caliber wrestler. The striking is a little more even, as Henderson probably possesses a slight edge in power, but tends to get a bit wild at times.This is where Franklin’s level-headedness and ability to stick to a game plan will come into play. If Henderson gets wild, fully expect Franklin to be there to counter.

Henderson has never been knocked out in his career, while Franklin has never been submitted (or lost by decision). I expected this one to be a contest mostly on the feet, and I see Franklin, the slight underdog, coming back to America with a win after taking two of three rounds.

In the co-main event, it’s a rivalry fight as UFC Hall of Fame member Mark “The Hammer” Coleman returns to the Octagon for the first time in 10 years to face Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, the 2005 PRIDE Middleweight GrandPrix champion.

These two have a history, as Coleman defeated Shogun in a 2006 fight in PRIDE when Shogun broke his arm trying to post on a Coleman takedown. A near brawl escalated in the ring after between Hammer House (Coleman’s camp) and Chute Boxe (Shogun’s camp), which is why this fight has a bit of bad blood.

This is interesting because Coleman hasn’t fought since October 2006, while Shogun has been off since September 2007.

Much to my surprise, many people on the Internet have been talking about liking Coleman to win this fight. While MMA has been ripe with upsets in the past few years, a 44-year-old Mark Coleman, eight years removed from his last impressive win, stands almost zero chance of beating Shogun. His win over Shogun was a fluke. Shogun wins this however he wants.

In other bouts on the main card, expect Rousimar Palhares to submit Jeremy Horn in the first round, Chris Lytle to beat Marcus Davis by decision and Denis Kang to make a successful UFC debut, knocking out Alan Belcher in the second round.

So we’re less than 24 hours away from the start of “UFC 91: Couture vs. Lesnar” and I finally feel confident enough to break this thing down.

Now, let me preface all this by saying this as about as hard of a fight to break down as I’ve ever seen. There are so many variables to deal with here.

Randy Couture and Brock Lesnar are at a crossroads right now. Regardless of the outcome, I am anticipating an extremely tactical battle — it has to be for both men.

Now, for Couture to win this fight and retain his heavyweight championship, he’ll have to do these things:

• Wear Lesnar down in the clinch against the cage.
• Effectively use his dirty boxing to test Lesnar mentally.
• Not end up on his back.
• Avoid Lesnar’s main threat on the feet — his big (size 4XL gloves) right hand has knocked both Frank Mir and Heath Herring to the canvas early in the fight.
• Push the pace of the fight.
• Have a sound game plan.
• Put Father Time in his place one more time.

In an interesting move, Couture weighed in at 220 pounds. For his last fight at UFC 74 against Gabriel Gonzaga, he weighed 228.5. Let me tell you, this is not by chance. Couture knows he’ll need every single possible advantage he can get for this one, so weighing in less will afford him a bit more speed and agility at his age.

Now, here are Lesnar’s keys:

• Couture has never been known for having a lot of power standing, so work the strikes and try to set up the takedown.
• Smother Couture on the ground, but stay smart and keep him on his back. While Couture has never been a Frank Mir (submission-wise) on the ground, I’m sure he has some tricks up his sleeve if need-be.
• Stay off the cage and continue to circle while on the feet.
• Be well-prepared to go to the later rounds.

I’ve been struggling with a pick on this one for a while now. How Lesnar has progressed since his last fight will be a big factor. Likewise, how Couture has handled his long lay-off, combined with his age, is another big factor.

The betting lines (for entertainment purposes only) are showing Lesnar as the favorite in this one. Randy Couture is something ridiculous like 9-1 as the underdog.

This may be a homer pick as Couture is my favorite all-time fighter, but I’m going to go with “The Natural” by TKO in the third round.

Come midnight tomorrow, I’ll probably be a nervous wreck, but as I always say: should be a good one!

“The biggest fight in UFC history” is finally here.

“UFC 91: Couture vs. Lesnar” will take place Saturday night on pay-per-view from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. As the name suggests, it will be headlined by the UFC heavyweight championship contest between Randy Couture and Brock Lesnar.

Today, we’ll get our show preview going with the four fights that will appear under the Couture-Lesnar main event.
First off, Amir Sadallah, the winner of “The Ultimate Fighter 7” had to pull out of his fight with Nick Catone earlier this week, but the fans benefit because now we are guaranteed to see what should be a great fight between rising welterweights Dustin Hazelett and Tamdan McCrory.

I’ve seen both these guys fight in person, and the two fights they were involved in rank high on my list of favorite fights of the year.

At UFC 82 in March, Hazelett was impressive in a second round TKO loss to Josh Koscheck. He rocked Koscheck early in the fight and worked some good submissions before falling to a head kick and follow-up punches in the second round. It was, without a doubt, one of the most exciting UFC fights this year.

I saw McCrory take home a unanimous decision win over Luke Cummo at UFC 87 in August. He essentially twisted Cummo in knots the entire fight but just didn’t have enough to finish the fight.

What’s great about this fight is that both these guys are younger than me. We’re all 22, but both Hazelett and McCrory were born later in 1986 than I was.

This is going to be an awesome fight. Both of these guys are great on the ground, but I think Hazelett is going to have a pretty good edge on the feet.

Despite that, I think this fight will be won on the ground and I see Hazelett locking in a triangle choke for the win in the second round.

In a heavyweight bout, former No. 1 contender Gabriel Gonzaga will face UFC newcomer Josh Hendricks, a man who’s lost to the only good competition he’s faced.

This one isn’t even worth my time. Gonzaga by first round submission.

In a great middleweight bout, Demian Maia will face the resurgent Nate Quarry.

This has fight of the night written all over it. Maia is a jiu-jitsu wiz who has been impressive in his UFC appearances, especially his third round submission of durable veteran Jason MacDonald in August.

Quarry is coming off one of the most lopsided unanimous decisions you’ll ever see against Kalib Starnes, but I’m afraid his striking isn’t good enough to keep Maia off him.

While there’s no doubt Quarry has the edge on the feet, Maia’s edge on the ground is ridiculous. He’ll eventually get the fight there and finish it with a rear-naked choke in the second round.

In the co-main event of the evening, Kenny Florin will continue his quest for position in the lightweight division against Joe Stevenson.

This is an interesting fight. I thought Florian deserved another shot at the lightweight title following his domination of Roger Huerta in August, but since champion B.J. Penn is facing Georges St-Pierre for the welterweight title, it puts the lightweight division on hold. Now, both men are fighting to get a crack (or another crack, if you’re Stevenson) at Penn.

I’m not too sure about this one. While I believe Florian will come out on top, I can’t figure out how. I know he’ll have the edge in cardio and on the feet and I think they’ll be pretty even on the ground.

In the end, I see Florian coming away with a unanimous decision win.

Coming tomorrow, I’ll tackle the main event. Should be a good one!

For the second time in two weeks, the UFC is back with a 3-hour show, presenting “UFC 90: Silva vs. Cote” on pay-per-view.

The show will come to us from Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Ill., and is headline by a bout for the UFC middleweight championship between champion Anderson Silva and challenger Patrick Cote.

Due to a last second change of plans, I found some good deals and decided to head to the show with a friend of mine. We got $200 face value tickets for $115 on StubHub.com and then got a really nice hotel room for the night for $60 on Hotwire.com. While I was going to go to the football game, seeing the best fighter in the world is an opportunity I couldn’t pass on.

So let’s get this preview started with the opening bout of the pay-per-view telecast, which will be contested in the lightweight division between former MSU wrestler Gray Maynard and veteran Rich Clementi.

This is your typical up-and-comer against veteran bout and Clementi is trying to play spoiler to Maynard’s rising star.

A big underdog in his last fight against Frankie Edgar, Maynard used his improved striking to take a unanimous decision.

After being a contestant on “The Ultimate Fighter 4,” Clementi has found a niche in the UFC as being a gatekeeper for the lightweight division. Lately, he’s sent Melvin Guillard, Sam Stout and Terry Etim back to the drawing board.

This fight is all going to depend on Maynard’s rate of growth since his last fight in April and if he can stay out of a submission by Clementi.

Despite being a wrestler, I think Maynard is going to want to keep this one mostly on the feet. Sprinkle in a few takedowns for some points and I see Maynard taking a split decision win back to Las Vegas. This is going to be a close fight, as Clementi can do a lot of things, but he won’t have enough for the win.

In the heavyweight division, top contender Fabricio Werdum takes on UFC newcomer Junior dos Santos.

Not a lot is known about dos Santos, but I’ve read he’s got good kickboxing and a decent ground game.

Regardless of that, Werdum is a top-10 heavyweight for a reason and he’ll submit dos Santos with an armbar in the first round.

Next up is a lightweight clash between former champion Sean Sherk and Tyson Griffin.

This is going to be a great fight. Both of these guys never tire, so this should have a great pace to it.

Despite having only lost three times in his career (and to Matt Hughes, Georges St-Pierre and B.J. Penn at that), I think Sherk is on the downside of his career. Despite being a big favorite in this one, I don’t think he’ll be able to hang in there with Griffin, a guy who comes from a great camp (Xtreme Couture) and has a lot of hunger.

I think this is going to boil down to a striking match and I like Griffin a lot better than Sherk in that situation. I think Griffin will be more powerful than Sherk and will be able to get takedowns when he has to. Griffin by unanimous decision.

In the co-main event of the evening, Thiago Alves and Josh Koscheck clash in a crucial welterweight bout.

With a win, Alves is essentially in as the next No. 1 contender at 170 pounds while Koscheck, with a win, puts himself in great position, as well.

Koscheck is stepping in on short notice, replacing Diego Sanchez, who had with withdraw with an injury.

Koscheck claims he’s in shape, as he was already in training for his December fight with Yoshiyuki Yoshida.

This is going to be a great fight. Like Maynard, Koscheck has made a meteoric progression since being on “The Ultimate Fighter” as essentially a wrestler.

While his striking has improved 10-fold at least, it’s still not on the level of Alves, who’s scrambled a lot of brains during his UFC tenure.

This is the definition of a pick’em fight to me, but Alves hasn’t shown anything on the ground that’s impressed me. Josh Koscheck is not Matt Hughes, who Alves knocked out in June. Koscheck has a great power double-leg takedown and will no doubt drive Alves into the cage with it on many occasions.

Style-wise, this is Koscheck’s fight to take. It’s up to him to not make any bonehead errors that will leave him staring at the lights trying to remember the last half-day.

With all that being said, I’m going to go with Koscheck by unanimous decision or a ground-and-pound TKO in round three if Alves doesn’t have much left in the gas tank.

Now it’s time for the main event of the evening, one that doesn’t really have a whole lot of suspense at this point.

In one corner you have a great story in Patrick Cote, a man who lost his first four UFC bouts, only to roar back with four straight wins to earn a title shot.

Unfortunately for him, standing across the Octagon will be the best fighter in the world, Anderson Silva, who has won his fight seven UFC fights and, with a win, will tie the record for most consecutive wins in the UFC, joining Royce Gracie and Jon Fitch as the only men to win eight straight.

As my friend is saying, “if you have a farm, bet it on Anderson Silva.”

While Cote can throw some bombs, I can’t remember Silva ever being even slightly rocked. Cote’s best chance of winning this fight is to take it 25 minutes and somehow out-point the champion.

In other words, it ain’t gonna happen.

Like Alves, Silva has done his fair share of brain scrambling during his time as UFC champion.

After his usual 45-60 second feel-out process, Silva will brutalize Cote from every angle imaginable (see his finishing sequence from the second fight against Rich Franklin). Let me put it this way: Cote’s first mistake will almost certainly be his last.

Here are Silva’s fight times in the UFC: 0:49, 2:59, 7:11, 4:50, 6:07, 9:52, 1:01.

Cote is nowhere near as good as Franklin (the 2:59 and 6:07 on the list), nowhere near as well-rounded as Nate Marquardt (the 4:50), or nowhere near as tough as Dan Henderson (the 9:52).

This is a pretty easy decision: Anderson Silva by first round KO.

As for the preliminary bouts, I’ve got Thales Leites to submit Drew McFedries in the first, Josh Burkman to decision Pete Sell, Spencer Fisher to KO Shannon Gugerty in the second, Dan Miller to submit Matt Horwich in the first and Hermes Franca to KO Marcus Aurelio in the second.

All in all, I am pumped to being going to this show. All 10 fights have great potential. I can’t wait.

After what transpired during EliteXC’s Oct. 4 event, it seemed like the company was on its last legs.

Monday, that speculation turned into fact as several sources were reporting that the upstart company had informed employees and fighters that it was closing its doors immediately.

As a mixed martial arts fan, I’m saddened by this, especially since the promotion’s upcoming Nov. 8 card had so much promise. But it all boils down to the management of EliteXC being incompetent when it comes to promoting MMA and running a successful business.

It came out Tuesday that CBS had underwritten the Oct. 4 show and Showtime was prepared to do the same for the Nov. 8 show because ProElite simply did not have enough money to carry on.

It’s sad things had to go down this way and EliteXC had such shady business practices because when they tried, they had a really good product.

But in the wake of ProElite’s demise comes great things for the UFC, who will most likely at least get EliteXC welterweight champion Jake Shields into the fold quickly. Outside of Shields, quality fighters like Rafael Feijao, Dave Herman, Antonio Silva, Wilson Reis, Benji Radach and Robbie Lawler are now seemingly free agents.

At the very least, this should help Zuffa bolster both the UFC and WEC brands and make for some interesting fights.

Mainly, the UFC needs to bring in some of the heavyweight prospects EliteXC had. Guys like Herman, Silva and Brett Rogers are all talented guys who would add a spark to the heavyweight division.

And with EliteXC’s demise is another lesson for burgeoning mixed martial arts companies: Don’t try to compete with the UFC.

The UFC is back in action Saturday night as SpikeTV presents “UFC 89: Bisping vs. Leben” for the public’s consumption.

The event, as the name indicates, will feature a middleweight bout between Michael Bisping and Chris Leben.

But before I get to that, let’s break down the rest of the main card bouts.

The first two bouts have foregone conclusions: Chris Lytle will beat Paul Taylor in a slugfest and Marcus Davis will knock out Paul Kelly, continuing his domination of inexperienced English fighters.

In a good light-heavyweight bout, Sokoudjou will face Luis Arthur Cane.

This is interesting on a lot of levels. Can Sokoudjou be the same fighter who brutally knocked out Antonio Rogerio Nogueira and Ricardo Arona last year? Will Cane test Sokoudjou’s chin?

Cane put the stamp on Jason Lambert in June. It was an impressive performance. He knocked him down about five times before finishing him. Sokoudjou rebounded from his loss to Lyoto Machida with a TKO win over Kazuhiro Nakamura in May.

Both fighters have proven to be solid strikers, but neither have had their chins tested in the UFC. I think this will be the fight to prove it. Cane does have more experience than Sokoudjou, but Sokoudjou has suffered a quick TKO loss prior in his career.

I was very impressed by Cane against Lambert and I see that trend continuing as he knocks out Sokoudjou in the second round.

Too much, too quick for Sokoudjou.

In the co-featured bout, it’s light-heavyweights again as Brandon Vera battles Keith Jardine.

Vera is coming off two losses and an unimpressive win while Jardine was stomped by Wanderlei Silva in May — making this a critical bout as both man are looking to make a name in the 205-pound division.

Jardine has a herky-jerky style and Vera has slick kickboxing skills.

The thing with Jardine is this: If you can blitz him early, you can put him out (see the Silva fight and the awesome May 2007 encounter with Houston Alexander). Vera has to do this to be successful. He can’t sit back and let Jardine hit leg kick after leg kick. He has to come at him fast.

Jardine, on the other hand, is usually successful if he can get into the fight (see his wins over Forrest Griffin and Chuck Liddell). Once he gets into a rhythm, he has a difficult style to combat.

The stakes are high in this fight, but I think Vera’s skills are too good. That, and the fact he’s cut to 205 before, lead me to believe he’ll win by head kick KO in the first round. And for the first time since Nov. 2006, we’ll get to see the trademark Brandon Vera Crab Walk victory celebration.

The main event is a critical middleweight bout, as Bisping and Leben battle to see who will continue to the climb the ladder at 185 pounds.

Bisping has been a man since dropping to middleweight, while Leben has been a different fighter in his last two fights, showing a changed style that has paid off with knockout wins over Terry Martin (third round) and Alessio Sakara (first round).

To make things simple, I don’t think Bisping will be able to stand with Leben.

When thinking about this fight, all I could think of was Elvis Sinosic, jobber to the stars, knocking Bisping down in their fight in April 2007.

If Sinosic knocked him down, imagine what someone who punches like Leben can do.

Now, I’m not saying Bisping can’t win this fight — he can in fact. I just think Leben striking is too good and too powerful for Bisping, who’s never fought someone who hits as hard as Leben.

I’d be surprised if there was much ground work done in this fight. These two will be content to bang it out in the center of the cage. The prize? Potentially a fight down the line with middleweight wrecking machine (and champion) Anderson Silva.

Oh yeah, a great incentive to win.

On the undercard, I’ve got Jim Miller, David Bielkheden, Sam Stout, Per Eklund, Akihiro Gono and Shane Carwin.

While I criticize EliteXC for many things, running “ShoXC: Elite Challenger Series” shows isn’t one of them.

ShoXC is a breeding ground for up-and-coming fighters whom are expected to make the jump (or return) to EliteXC within a few fights.

Fighters like KJ Noons, Eddie Alvarez, Charles Bennett, Wilson Reis, Javier Vazquez, Shayna Baszler, Paul Daley, Fabricio Camoes and many more have competed on Showtime for the chance to reach the big show.

The latest ShoXC, which went down Friday in Hammond, Ind., was another great example of why this format is successful.

EliteXC couldn’t find a spot for heavyweight prospect Dave “PeeWee” Herman on one of its recent cards, so they put him in ShoXC’s feature bout.

I absolutely love the format of a televised MMA show with up-and-comers.

It’s something boxing has on MMA — showcase fights with the young stars of the sport. While it’s great to see Floyd Mayweather fight, it’s also sometimes fun to flip on ESPN2 and watch “Friday Night Fights” or what helped spawn ShoXC, ShoBox, on Showtime.

It’s unfortunate that it appears the UFC has no interest in starting up a feeder show. Obviously, it could use the WEC for this purpose but the WEC’s television contract with Versus prohibits it.

Personally, I know I’d love the chance to be able to follow a fighter from being in the opening bout on a feeder show card to a title shot on one of the biggest shows of the year.

While I understand “The Ultimate Fighter” serves this purpose for the UFC in a way, not everybody can make the show and not everyone is interested in watching drunken escapades time and time again.

It’s different when a fighter gains notoriety for showcasing their skills time and time again and not because they got hammered and punched through a door on a reality TV show.

The UFC is making a big mistake by not setting up a developmental show. I know I’d tune into a UFC feeder show on SpikeTV every other Friday night.

This would serve a few purposes, as well.

One, the UFC could start holding fights at at least featherweight if not bantamweight. Two, this would clean up the quality of a lot of the pay-per-view cards, as well. If the UFC had a smaller show every once in awhile, we wouldn’t be subjected to paying $45 to see fights like Eddie Sanchez vs. Soa Palelei on the main card.

And honestly, if EliteXC can do it, why can’t the UFC?

When I saw last-minute replacement Seth Petruzelli put Internet fighting legend Kimbo Slice out Saturday night at EliteXC: Heat all I could do was laugh.

In all of 14 seconds, EliteXC as a company might have come crashing down.

While I enjoy EliteXC’s fighters, the fact is they don’t have many people who are big- drawing cards with the casual fan. When Petruzelli — he of a 10-4 career record (0-2 in the UFC) — made Slice go limp, EliteXC lost its biggest drawing card.

In a way, this doesn’t surprise me. I saw Kimbo get hurt by some of the punches in his YouTube videos. Now imagine actual professional fighters hitting him and not some out- of-shape, overweight bum in a Miami boatyard.

While Kimbo would’ve destroyed Ken Shamrock, who was medically disqualified from the fight the day of after getting a cut warming-up earlier in the day, Petruzelli, while not anything special, represents a legitimate mixed martial arts fighter.

Kimbo will never be an elite, or even semi-elite, heavyweight. It’s just not in the cards. He can be a draw, though, much like Butterbean was to boxing years ago.

Like Butterbean, I have no problem watching Kimbo beat up overmatched guys (like Tank Abbott and Ken Shamrock).
Watching Kimbo smash guys can be a fun thing because he’s got the charisma and that awesome beard. If there’s someone who can be the equivalent of the “King of the Four Rounders” in MMA, it’s Slice. Hopefully his fight against Shamrock gets rebooked ASAP.

Just don’t put him in there with anyone in the top 20.

I can’t wait for the next Dana White press conference. It’s going to be pure gold.

In other action at “Heat,” Roy Nelson got absolutely screwed by the referee in his fight against Andrei Arlovski.

Nelson was in side-mount working for a Kimura when the official, for some reason, stood the fight up.

See, side-mount is one of the most dominant positions in MMA. For this official to do that to Nelson is absurd. You never stand a fight up in a dominant position.

You look at a real referee like John McCarthy at UFC 68.

Randy Couture knocked Tim Sylvia down and took his back. While Couture was struggling to do much because Sylvia was defending well, McCarthy did not stand the fight up because Couture had a dominant position and could’ve finished the fight at any moment.

Nelson was wronged here and it’s unfortunate he went on to get knocked out in the second round (as predicted) because he could’ve made something of it.

Regardless, Nelson’s skills impressed me a lot in this fight and I look forward to seeing him again.

Lastly, I want to comment on the potential fight between Gina Carano and Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos.

If there’s ever a women’s fight to propel the female’s into a greater spotlight, this has to be it.

Cyborg has been featured on the last two “Saturday Night Fights” broadcasts on CBS — fighting on the main card in July and then being shown multiple times in the crowd and having her fight highlights aired on this one.

Carano has been a featured face of EliteXC ever since the promotion’s debut.

A fight between these two would give Carano her first big test while essentially crowning an EliteXC women’s champion.
I cannot wait for this fight. I love Cyborg because she’s essentially a female version of Wanderlei Silva. That is awesome.

Carano, of course, is beloved by all and has shown improved skills in her last few fights.

Whatever the case, I cannot wait for this one and EliteXC has to make it happen.

EliteXC is back Saturday with another installment of “Saturday Night Fights” on CBS. I firmly endorse the card and while some of it may be a bit lopsided, there are some quality fights and intriguing matchups on this card.

It will emanate from the BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise, Fla., and will air at 9 p.m.

In the opening bout, Benji Radach will battle former EliteXC middleweight champion Murilo “Ninja” Rua. This will be a solid bout and Radach is a game fighter, but Ninja’s skills are too well-rounded for Radach and I see Ninja winning by second round TKO and once again challenging for the title.

The face of women’s MMA, Gina Carano, is on deck against Kelly Kobold-Gavin. Gavin’s lost her last two fights while Carano is undefeated (6-0) in her short career. Carano, who also plays “Crush” on American Gladiators, is known more for her beauty than her skills, but her skills are nothing to scoff at. She is a polished muay thai striker with a decent ground game.

Kobold-Gavin is an unknown here, but honestly, EliteXC isn’t going to put Carano in the cage with anyone who could beat her — yet. Carano takes this one with a second round TKO.

In a big-time heavyweight bout, former UFC champion Andrei Arlovski meets former IFL champion Roy Nelson.

Nelson, known as “Big Country,” does not look like a fighter. In fact, his body looks more like mine. He is not ripped by any stretch of the imagination, yet he always seems to get the job done and he’s won five fights in a row.

Unfortunately, this is just a terrible matchup for him, as Arlovski is a hard-hitting, fast heavyweight who laid waste to Nelson’s former IFL counterpart Ben Rothwell in July.

In that fight, Arlovski went to town on Rothwell’s face, eventually stopping him early in the third round. His athleticism was too much for Rothwell to handle and only Rothwell’s toughness kept him in there that long.

The difference between Rothwell and Nelson is that Rothwell has been in there with a lot of good heavyweights while Nelson is relatively untested.

Arlovski is tested and he will put the stamp on Nelson in the second round.

The EliteXC welterweight championship will be on the line when Jake Shields defends for the first time against Cage Rage champion Paul Daley.

Much to my surprise, Daley is a huge underdog in this fight, which is crazy because he hits hard and has good hands. The thing with Shields is that his chin is relatively untested. Most of his recent fights have come against guys who are either jiu-jitsu guys or possess good ground and pound. These are the types of fighters he is able to dismantle because his jiu-jitsu is that good.

While Daley is certainly suspect on the ground against someone like Shields, his striking can’t be underestimated.

Let me put it this way: It wouldn’t surprise me if Shields submitted him in 67 seconds or if Daley knocked him out in 2:32.
But while I think Daley is much more capable than the odds give him credit for, I think Shields gets this to the ground and finishes with a rear-naked choke late in the first round.

In the main event, the man, the myth, the Internet legend, Kimbo Slice takes on “The World’s Most Dangerous Man” Ken Shamrock.

First, let me go off on a tangent: For Ken Shamrock, who has lost eight of 11 fights since returning to MMA from professional wrestling in 2000, to be less of an underdog than Paul Daley is a complete joke.

And I think those people who have Shamrock submitting Slice are one step away from insane. Shamrock’s last two submissions (one in 1996, when I was all of 10 years old and one in 2001) have come against fighters who have a combined record of 12-25-2. Uh, yeah.

So let’s be serious here.

Shamrock has lost his last five fights by TKO in the first round. I don’t know how Shamrock does it, but he actually has people believing he can win this fight, even though he’s coming off a knockout loss to a journeyman heavyweight who has a career record of 12-8.

I think Kimbo is going to touch his chin — a lot. Shamrock loses for the sixth straight time by first round knockout. That is a Five Star (out of five) BANK ON IT!!! prediction.

I will literally be in shock if Shamrock wins this fight.

So there it is. We’ll see how I do on this one, but these are all pretty easy to call, so I’m expecting 5-0.

So remember to tune in at 9 p.m. Saturday on CBS. Should be a good one!

When word came down last week that Affliction was loaning Andrei Arlovski and Roy Nelson to EliteXC for this weekend’s Saturday Night Fights broadcast on CBS, I was pretty excited.

While I love the UFC, we all know competition generally brings the best out of everybody. That is why, for the good of mixed martial arts, this partnership between Affliction and EliteXC has to be more than a one-time thing.

Both promotions have a great stable of fighters. Combined, this mega-promotion could give the UFC a run for its money.
Lately, EliteXC has been struggling for funding. Affliction, which lost a ton of money on its first show, has that, mainly due to the people who buy their $86 T-shirts and $222 blue jeans. EliteXC brings TV exposure on CBS, Showtime and FSN.

If this isn’t a match made in heaven, I don’t know what is.

Imagine the hilarity of Kimbo Slice fighting Fedor Emelianenko on CBS — I want this to happen just to see that. The sight of Fedor mauling Kimbo would be something to behold. That fight wouldn’t last a minute.

Then there’s fights like Robbie Lawler vs. Vitor Belfort, which could be contested for the EliteXC Middleweight Championship. That would be an explosive fight for certain.

Think of the possibility of Antonio Rogerio Nogueira against Tito Ortiz (assuming he could be signed).

There are a lot of possibilities here. I, for one, would like to see them played out.