Kimbo Slice vs. Tank Abbott

Let's get down to the nitty gritty of this matchup from the get go without delving into the potential of Kimbo Slice. Right now as it stands, Kimbo possesses one skill that will win his this battle of two very similar styled fighters... his standup. Both fighters will come in wanting to put the other man down, but Kimbo does possess some type of submission game that is always in the mix when he fights. He put Ray Mercer down to the floor and submitted him with relative ease to nullify the one skill that he had. Will Kimbo do the same to Tank?

There's potential there for it, but I imagine Kimbo will strike a bit with Tank. Tank's power will be formidable, but does he have the technical prowess to put Kimbo down? I doubt it. Tank looks out of shape in his training photos over the past few days, and his cardio is always terrible. Add in the fact that he's been fairly weak chinned, relatively inactive for most of the year, and the fact that Kimbo actually has Bas Rutten helping him train. I have to go with Kimbo here.

Leland's Prediction: Kimbo Slice via TKO, Round 1

Scott Smith vs. Kyle Noke

This should actually be a pretty damn good fight for the promotion. Smith brings a 12-5 record into EliteXC with some UFC experience that can be summed up in his win over Pete Sell. If you don't remember, Sell damaged Smith badly with a gut shot, moved in for the kill, and then Smith unleashed a punch from hell that put Sell out cold. Other than that fight, he wasn't successful in the UFC with losses to David Terrell, Patrick Cote, and Ed Herman, although those opponents are rather tough for power striker like Smith. He'll come into this fight looking to punch his way to victory, and he definitely has the capacity of skills to beat Noke.

Noke is an up-and-comer in the MMA scene even though his 14-3-1 record would likely give you a different sense of his career. One of the only Australians to be successful so far in his career, Noke is looking to extend his wins and begin proving that he can hang with mid-echelon talent. Smith is a perfect test. Noke is well-rounded with a good ground game and some power in his hands, although he has managed to prove that he doesn't haven't the finishing power of many other Middleweight counterparts. The big question in this fight is whether Smith can defend the submission against Noke's wrestling ability. Smith's weakness is the ground, and Noke is definitely skilled enough to give Smith a run for his money. I can't jump on the Aussie MMA train just yet.

Leland's Prediction: Scott Smith via TKO, Round 2

James Berto vs. Yves Edwards

I'm not sold on Berto. His record looks great, but the level of competition that he has beaten isn't at all as impressive as you would think. He's went to decision against some guys he should have finished, and his main weapon seems to be the ground game, specifically the heel hook. Yves isn't about to be submitted by the heel hook, and his game is much more well-rounded. He's also recently switched camps and now trains with American Top Team, a great move to get back to his winning ways.

Leland's Prediction: Yves Edwards via submission, Round 2

James Thompson vs. Brett Rogers

I won't delve too much into this one. "The Colossus" is exactly that, a huge, strong striker who is mainly known for his bull charges at the beginning of the fight that are reminiscent of Bald Bull. He's fairly weak chinned, and subpar opponents have taken advantage of it. "Butterbean" Eric Esch and Neil Grove both knocked out Thompson in recent fights.

That being said... Rogers might be a good bet here. He's coming into the bout at 5-0 and has shown some big power in all of his fights. A weak chinned Thompson may fall victim once again to the big hands of lesser known striker. I'm picking Rogers here for one reason alone. Thompson hasn't shown us anything that indicates he's a changed fighter. He's still one dimensional, reckless, and only has big sloppy punches that have the potential to wreck someone. Rogers should put him to the floor immediately and punch him out.

Leland's Prediction: Brett Rogers via TKO, Round 1

Ricco Rodriguez vs. Antonio Silva

I'm actually looking forward to seeing this fight. It's a step in the progression of Ricco's recent statements regarding his weight, and it'll be interesting to see what he will be able to do here. Although I imagine he will loom in the upper limit of the weight class due to Silva's size, but will he have his skills back to take on Antonio?

Silva has some heavy hands and is very quick for a big guy. Specifically, his knees are dangerous in the clinch, and he uses them often. It'll be up to Ricco to take this to the floor if he wants to have a chance at winning this one. Ricco's traverse back to the top may have hit a roadblock with this fight.

Leland's Prediction: Antonio Silva via TKO, Round 2

Rest of the card
Rafael Feijao vs. John Doyle: I'll take Feijao in this one. He has some great power in his hands, and should be able to dispatch of Doyle rather quickly. Feijao via TKO, Round 1

Mario Rinaldi vs. Dave Herman: Herman is my pick here. Rinaldi hasn't shown a strong skillset against some tougher opponents earlier this year, and his weight slows him down quite a bit when he balloons over 265 after the weigh-ins. It could be tough for Herman to deal with it, but he has huge power in his hands. Herman via TKO/KO, Round 1

Jon Kirk vs. Yosmany Cabaezas: Kirk should take this. His submission game is much better, and Cabezas is only 3-0 in his career right now. Kirk's experience will most likely play a factor as well. Kirk via submission, Round 2

Eric Bradley vs. Mikey Gomez: Gomez has a vast amount of experience on Eric Bradley, and his submission game should be his key to success. This is Bradley's third professional fight, and Gomez won't be an easy task. Gomez via submission, Round 1

Mike Bernhard vs. Lorenzo Borgomeo: Pick 'em - Borgomeo via submission, Round 1

Since I'm really not completely interested in an in-depth capacity to most of these issues, I'm going to go through a simple rundown, a bit of analysis, a bit of opinion, and some thoughts for everyone to think about when it comes to the recent news that has been flooding the MMA community in the last few days. The rundown will include the death of PRIDE, Fedor Emelianenko rumors, Rashad Evans will take on Michael Bisping, Nick Diaz's new interview, and more news. Let's get into it.

Death of PRIDE

Zach Arnold over at FightOpinion has some pretty good breakdowns up of the PRIDE shutdown in Tokyo. Yahoo Japan reported on Thursday night that Jamie Pollack, the Zuffa-appointed legal advisor who was spearheading the operations in Japan for the newly bought PRIDE, has shut down the PRIDE Worldwide Office in Tokyo. Pollack apparently fired all the employees with a telephone call. The Japanese media coverage is pretty extensive with many reactions from current fighters in Japan and organizers. K-1 matchmaker Sadaharu Tanigawa, Shinya Aoki, and DEEP promoter Shigeru Saeki had comments that you can check out. A really eerie situation.

My thoughts are that Zuffa really dropped the ball here. Instead of buying PRIDE and using the already established name that PRIDE had built up in the Japanese MMA community, a community that is one of the largest in the world, Zuffa decided to buy contracts, then kept the fate of PRIDE in limbo for so long that there was nothing they could really do with it. I'm by no means a huge expert on the Japanese MMA community, but I do feel the PRIDE name in Japan was something that they should have kept around due to the popularity of the promotion.

Secondly, Zuffa's representation in Japan should have at least given some kind of warning or a few weeks notice that the organization was going to be shutdown and there would be a D-Day as far as when the company would close its doors. The repercussions of the actions that occurred has now caused much of the Japanese media to criticize Zuffa. It damages some momentum of a possible entry with a new MMA promotion or an extension of the UFC promotion into Japan, if there was any momentum to begin with. With all sorts of rumors regarding a possible UFC-WOWOW television deal in Japan, it's obvious that Zuffa will be entering the MMA market in Japan in the future. This series of events won't bode well for the hype they can generate there. In the end, the MMA community there may just shrug it off and enjoy the potential MMA that they will get to see from the new promotion that Zuffa will provide. We won't know until they hit the Asian market, but this shutdown of the PRIDE offices in the manner that it was done will not help them.

Lastly, I've heard many rumors circulating on a possible UFC Japan promotion. No idea whether it will be a new MMA promotion by Zuffa that will be in Japan or if it will be an extension of the current promotion in the U.S., but I'm sure it will swap fighters and provide a base in Japan for new talent. This is obviously all up in the air and isn't a confirmed rumor. I've only heard some things from Japanese media outlets that have been floating around on an April-May start to the organization. I've also heard that Zuffa would be hiring a Japanese marketing firm to do the advertising, which is a very smart idea. Either WOWOW or the primary Satellite PPV carrier over there that dealt with PRIDE will get the deal, and it'll be a huge moneymaking venture when you have an audience of over 300 million with access to the PPV. Granted, you won't get that many people buying it obviously, but it's still a huge audience of potentially over 1 million buys and probably even more than that. Anyways, this is all purely speculative and my sources aren't completely reliable, but do work for media outlets in Japan. Purely something to think about and hopefully will happen. I will say that they will make a move into the Japanese market, they have to with all the rumored dealings with WOWOW.

Fedor Emelianenko signs with new Russian organization

According to TAGG Radio and Frank Trigg, Fedor Emelianenko has signed with a new Russian MMA promotion that consists of some former M-1 people that were part of the M-1 promotion and apparently some new backers as well. The contract is supposedly for $10 million, and no word on how many fights, or if it's a deal that locks him into the promotion to do whatever they want with him as far as sponsorships, etc. Trigg stated that his source was inside the Emelianenko camp, but he did state later in the segment that he really didn't believe that deal had happened because a Russian organization couldn't make their money back on such a huge deal because there would be no star power to fight Fedor.

I actually somewhat agree with Trigg's assessment. Russia isn't exactly a huge money market. They are going to be promoting the organization solely on the fact that Fedor has superstar status in Russia, and people will want to see him fight. For MMA fans, people want to see him fight someone worth a damn. Josh Barnett vs. Fedor Emelianenko has been one of the most anticipated battles that many fans have wanted to see for quite some time. That would sell to the MMA fans, but a fight that features Fedor Emelianenko against former drunken power station worker/ex-KGB officer who started training MMA a year ago would not be something we would rush to see. It really depends who they can get to fight Fedor. If the contract consists of Fedor getting $10 million, but has to do whatever their organization says he has to do including sponsorships, mass media promotional stuff like commercials, etc., then maybe it would pan out as a profit due to the fact that Fedor could make up to $50 million in advertising for an organization. They grab $40 million, he takes his already determined $10 million. This was one of the points Trigg said could be a possibility. It definitely sounds like an old school way of a contract, but who knows what's going on.

Fedor should be signing with the UFC if he really wants to fight the best in the world. Obviously the knock against the former PRIDE heavyweights and former PRIDE fighters in general has grown since "Shogun" Rua lost to Forrest Griffin, and the lackluster 5-7 record of former PRIDE fighters vs. the UFC Competition. If Fedor doesn't sign with the UFC, say goodbye to his #1 ranking and to be honest, many fans would be utterly disappointed. I'm sure his representation could care less and I wouldn't doubt that they are trying to profit off of his legendary name, but no Fedor in the UFC is ridiculous.

Rashad Evans vs. Michael Bisping headlines UFC 78?

This is a rather disappointing fight. I'm somewhat interested in what the preview segment will look like for this event. "Rashad Evans, coming off one of the most lackluster, boring, and downright hesitant performances of his career against Tito Ortiz, he will be looking to prove his worth against Michael Bisping. Bisping recently came off a robbery win over Matt Hamill, who nearly 90% of the MMA community feels won, thank you Jeff Mullen and Cecil Peoples." I just don't get it. And yes, that statement had some personal opinions in it. The first part is what I was getting at. Evans was utterly disappointing against Ortiz, but I think if he watches the video of the Hamill fight, he will realize that Bisping had literally zero takedown defense. I mean, if I could say something less than "zero", like maybe he had a "negative" takedown defense in that battle, I would. Rashad's strength will be his shoots in the bout. Bisping will be looking to thrash him with strikes. Rashad's boxing skills were horrible in the Ortiz fight, so I wouldn't be looking for a standup war. That's my initial analysis, a classic striker vs. wrestler matchup. I will say that it could potentially be exciting if...

• Evans actually shoots more than 2 times during the entire fight. He needs to try for at least 7-10 takedowns, much like a Jake Shields would do against a heavy striker.
• Bisping has some kind of takedown defense. It baffles me that he trained with Rampage Jackson and didn't learn to sprawl or identify a shoot. Was Hamill's ability that deceptive?
• It could be real exciting if Evans decides to show off some improved striking like Hamill did and surprises Bisping.

Those are the only ways I see of that fight doing anything as far as excitement goes. It's possible, but I've never been a fan of Rashad's style. He isn't much of a finisher in my mind, and for as much as he bobs and weaves, it would seem he would have much better boxing. Anyways, for right now, this fight seems like a crappy filler main event until December.

Nick Diaz interview on the Jordan Breen Show

Head on over to Sherdog and listen to the Jordan Breen show as he did an interview with probably the best interviewee you can find in the world of MMA, Nick Diaz. Some of the more interesting talk was the Diaz rant about the Vegas fighters who are at Xtreme Couture's gym that used to be in California with Cesar Gracie. Notably, I loved the quotes regarding Tyson Griffin and Dave Camarillo and how they betrayed them. Diaz also called out Tyson Griffin, and challenged someone to set up the fight between one of his guys or himself against Tyson Griffin.

For the second time he's been interviewed by Sherdog, he ranted about the food industry and organic foods, talked about the weed issue a little bit, but the bigger news out of it was the fact that Nick stated he had hired a Public Relations firm to handle him as far as interviews so he could be more well prepared for interview, promotions, and advertising. It was very ironic considering he still ranted on about various aspects of the MMA world even though he somewhat hinted at the fact that he would be a bit more restrained. Classic Nick Diaz and I'm glad he didn't restrain himself.

The highlight of the interview was when Breen asked Diaz about the Mark Moreno fight that he was scheduled on October 20th with the No Limit Fighting promotion. Diaz had no knowledge of the event and ranted about promotions stealing his name and putting him on posters when he hadn't ever given them authorization. Apparently, Diaz has no knowledge of the October 20th event, and he put some skepticism into the event's card actually being legitimate. As far as the fight goes, Diaz sounded like he would not be fighting. Diaz also stated that his staph infection was possibly due to rolling around on an old ring that he and Jake Shields were using at one point during some training.

Kimbo vs. Tank is off

Cage Fury Fighting Championships is now cancelled for their Oct 12th event featuring Kimbo Slice vs. Tank Abbott. To be honest, this battle wasn't that interesting as far as the actual fight due to the fact that Tank gasses in about 2 minutes, but I was rather disappointed at the fact that we would not get to see what type of fighter Kimbo has become since his last fight with Ray Mercer. Kimbo has been training with the legendary Bas Rutten. It will be interesting as to who will pick Kimbo up as he is a big name on the Internet due to his various underground fight videos on the Internet and the infamous video of he and his crew paying a kid to literally get flying tackled by Kimbo. EliteXC could be potential suitor or Strikeforce. He's definitely a name that many casual fans may know and could draw some extra buys for an event.

Hardcore Fighting Championships replaces Edwin Dewees with Sean Salmon

Salmon is a bit of a paradox in the MMA community. Most fighters usually communicate through MySpace or through interviews and don't give us a look inside the world of MMA. Sean Salmon has reached cult status as he had partnered with MMAJunkie.com and wrote a small column on the site chronicling his training and rise through the MMA ranks. After some unsuccessful fights in the UFC, notably losing to Rashad Evans via a highlight reel kick to the head, he was allowed to fight in lower organizations with only 1 fight left on his UFC contract. He has been doing fairly well, just recently winning his biggest battle in which he defeated Mikko Rupponen (16-5-2) in Finland. He improved his record to 13-4 overall in his career and now will be facing Marcus Vinicios (4-3) at the HFC card on October 19th.

Salmon will be fighting for the first time at 185 pounds and this could be intriguing for many reasons. First, Salmon is rolling right now, rolling right through some quality opponents and some not-so quality opponents. Defeating Rupponen was definitely an impressive victory that had to of given Sean a huge confidence boost. Secondly, if he can be impressive at 185 lbs, it could be a good career move as the 205 lb. division in the UFC is so unbelievably stacked, he'd stand almost no chance at moving up the ladder. At least at 185 lbs., there is some chance of getting near the top and possibly facing the upper echelon with some kind of chance to win.

No matter what you think of Salmon, the guy has a cult following that loves the fact that he let fans into the inner workings of his training sessions, fights, and everyday thoughts. More importantly, we got to see the side of a fighter that is rarely revealed, the mental game. I look forward to watch him battle it out with Marcus Vinicios and I hope his transition to 185 goes well for him.

More later...

This was just a small rundown of some of the events that have been going on recently in MMA. I will be back with some in-depth analysis of some upcoming cards and some of the current MMA news going on around the world. Read up on the previous articles regarding some of the non-mainstream events going on around the country and in Asia. There are definitely some great cards going on.