Just because you killed Jesse James doesn’t make you Jesse James

Whatever happened to you have to defend your belt to be the champ? I didn’t make this term up, it’s been going around since boxing in its heyday.  So, why are people talking about Miesha Tate – Holly Holm 2 is the fight to make.  Did Holly dominate all five rounds.  Was this a crazy split decision? Did Miesha Tate heel kick her vag four times before sinking in the choke.  When Miesha Tate got Holly to the ground she had no answer.  She finished the fight, Holly went to sleep, there is no controversy.  The rematch doesn’t need to happen. I can see people saying Lawler-Condit 2 has to happen because that decision is determined on how you score that third round.   That’s not the case here, the women who won, is the won celebrating with the belt, and the person who lost woke up looking depressed.   

Holly Holm wasn’t a long standing champion she just beat Ronda Rousey.   It’s time to mix it up, it’s time to get a fresh face in title contention. Remember the Light Heavyweight division had a revolving door.    Did Forrest Griffin, Rampage Jackson, Lyoto Machida, or Rashad Evans get an immediate rematch. NO!! Well, Shogun did but that’s because it was controversial split decision against Machida.

Like any champion, you want to take on all comers, solidifying that you are the best.  To do that you have to fight everyone in the division and clear it out.  She isn’t ducking Holly because she just beat Holly.   Holly couldn’t defend her belt one time.  She doesn’t deserve a rematch just because she beat Ronda Rousey.  Just because you beat Ronda Rousey doesn’t make you Ronda Rousey.  Doesn’t make you a superstar.  Her other two fights were not memorable.  Just because you kicked one girl in the face doesn’t make you a world beater.   Rant Over. 

UFC Fight Zagreb: Rothwell vs Dos Santos

What are you doing Sunday Morning? If you are not streaming fights from your Tablet hung over as fuck. You're not living your life right.  I'm going to bachelor party this weekend.  I hopefully I get home otherwise I'm going to be chewing through my data trying to stream the prelim fights from my phone.  These new market cards are fantasy picking hell.  There are a lot of promotional debut guys and guys who fought on Fight Pass Prelims that I can’t remember.  But I did a lot of research on YouTube for you guys so I hope you appreciate my picks.   Also we have 5 Heavyweight fights, you know that means.  5 chances of someone getting KTFO or getting severely winded.  The two fights I picked are the ones I predict a finish of some kind. 

Ben Rothwell vs Junior dos Santos

Rothwell 2^nd Sub

Gabriel Gonzaga vs Derrick Lewis

Lewis 3^rd KO

Francis Ngannou vs Curtis Blaydes

Ngannou 1^st KO

Timothy Johnson vs Marcin Tybura

Johnson Dec

Igor Pokrajac vs Jan Blachowicz

Blachowicz 1^st RD KO

Maryna Moruz vs Cristina Stanciu

Moroz 2^nd SUB

Nicolas Dalby vs Zak Cummings

Zak Cummings 3^rd KO

Mairbek Taisumov vs Damir Hadzovic

Taisumov 1^st KO

Ian Entiwistle vs Alejandro Perez

Entwistle 1 SUB

Flip Pejic vs Damian Stasiak

Pejic Dec

Robert Whiteford vs Lucas Martins

Martins Dec

Jared Cannonier vs Cyril Asker

Cannonier Dec

Bojan Velickovic vs Alessio Di Chinico

Velickovic Dec

My DraftKings Card Breakdown

Jan Blachowicz $10,600

  

Jan Blachowicz vs Igor Pokrajac

This is my lock pick for this card. . Jan Blachowicz has decent striking, he a strong leg kick to the body that will be on display.He has questionable takedown defense though.  However, his opponent Igor left the UFC on a 5 fight losing streak and has amassed a 3 fight winning streak. However the combined record of his latest opponents is 6-8.  That’s a pretty low experience level for a journeyman such as Igor at 28-12.  Igor is on this card because he is Croatian. Point, Blank, Period! He is being offered to fans for ticket sales because Cro Cop is retired and Stipe is booked for a title fight.   Jan Blachowicz will get the win.  Vegas has this fight correct (+300 Pokrajac and -360 Jan Blachowicz)

Zak Cummings $10,400

Zak Cummings vs Nicolas Dalby

Nicolas Dalby is tough, he is a solid fighter, he is strong and he can take a punch.  Breaking down his last couple of fights his ability out muscle his opponents and his chin is why he still has a 0 in the loss column.  What I saw from Dalby in his Octagon debut I saw that he can take a punch and out muscle his opponent.  What I saw from his second fight in the UFC against Darren Till is that he can take a beating and get picked apart for Two rounds.  The only reason why that fight was a draw is because Till broke his rib in the third round, Dalby took advantage of his wounded opponent made it a 10-8 round and a draw.  Zak Cummings is a solid fighter and he likes to come forward which is what Dalby had problems with.   I also think Zak has the strength and skill to keep the fight standing and if he does get taken down he will be able to get back to his feet.  Dalby is tough but I think that Zak can put the pressure on Dalby to get the KO in the 3^rd round.  Vegas has this wrong, they are looking too much into Dalby’s record. If you like straight money line bets call your bookie and throw down on this one. (-165 Dalby +145 Cummings)

Ian Entwistle $9,300

Ian Entwistle vs Alejendro Perez

Ian Entwistle is a straight up Jiu-Jitsu fighter, he is a master of the heel hook.  Despite that Alejendro won his last fight to win the first Latin American TUF title.  He got taken down a lot in that fight.  He was able to manage to get back to his feet the majority of the time but the fact that his takedown defense is so shaky gives little chance to the Latin TUF winner.  As long as Ian Entwistle doesn’t double down on the leg lock like he did with his loss against Dan Hooker. (When you commit two hands to the leg you can’t defend your face.) He will come out with a win. Also I’m picking Ian because he is a finisher; this fight isn’t going to a decision either way.  (-145 Entwistle +125 Perez)

Francis Ngannou $10

Francis Ngannou vs Curtis Blaydes

Blaydes is making his Octagon debut.  What I have seen is that he  depends a lot on the takedowns.  He likes to GnP his opponents.  Looking at his ground game I didn’t see any stellar guard passes.  He is a collegiate wrestler you diffidently see him leaning on that in the fights that I have seen.   Francis Ngannou is a specimen. The dude is freakishly huge.  I’ll looking for Francis to use all of his 84 inch reach advantage.  If he can do that, I can see him easily scoring KO, he has the power advantage in this bout. Ngannou has defense off the cage, I’m not worried about Curtis doing much damage in his guard but Ngannou didn’t offer answers off his back in his UFC debut.   I feel Vegas has this right (-115 -115) EVEN  Blaydes only wins this fight via Lay n Pray but after the end of each round they get stood back up.  So because of that I’m picking Francis by KO.    

Ben Rothwell

Junior Dos Santos vs Ben Rothwell

Ben is on a tear.  Junior Dos Santos soul was taken by Cain people don’t listen to the Vegas odds makers.  Even in that Stipe fight Dos Santos took way to much damage.  Both guys have One Punch KO power.   However, Ben’s ability to jump on a submission has been new part of his game.  Ben isn’t the lightest heavy weight on his feet but he has enough head movement not to get his block knocked off and he can also take a punch to make sure he can deliver his own devastating KO. Ben has been showing greatly improved everything since his fight with Brandon Vera.  Junior Dos Santos is a shell of himself.  Vegas still believes Junior is the same fighter who knocked out Cain in a 1:04 on the first UFC on Fox broadcast. (-130 Dos Santos + 115).  Rothwell needs to be on everyone’s card.  He gets the finish.  It’s 5 rounds, too much time for Dos Santos to accumulate brain damage to have this fight night end in a finish.