With our recent prediction success in the latest few events and my miraculous domination of the MMAPlayground.com Secondary League's wagering contest, here's a little status update on our small success in predicting one of the toughest cards that the UFC has put out in quite some time from a perspective of potential upsets.

Leland Roling - 9/10 (Picked Cummo over Fioravanti)
Joe Schmitt - 8/10 (Picked Henderson, Cummo)

Overall, we didn't do a bad job considering my reluctance to pick favorites on the undercard and lower main card fights. I had some real problems picking Jon Fitch over Chris Wilson for the mere fact that Wilson's striking was much better... and it showed. Wilson's standup nearly put the daze in Fitch's step and could have potentially put an end to Fitch's long streak of wins. Fitch turned to what he knows best, and that's his dominant wrestling on the ground. For the most part, Wilson did a good job neutralizing it early. As the fight wore on however, it was obvious that Wilson grew more tired and more susceptible to punches while on his back. It wasn't an overly impressive performance by Fitch, but it got the job done.

Sanchez vs. Bielkheden was another tough call for me. Bielkheden has some solid credentials and a BTT background. He's fairly strong, a good wrestler, and has some solid ground and pound skills that I thought could possibly overwhelm Sanchez. The early week reports that Sanchez had been back to powerlifting and improving his overall strength led me to my decision to pick Diego based on the fact that he would probably be able to hold Bielkheden down and pound him. Fortunately, he was able to use his power to pound Bielkheden into submission late in the first round.

I expected Hazelett to be a problem for Koscheck due to his vast jiu-jitsu ground game, but the standup war that ensued caught me off guard and made me nervous in my pick to stick with Koscheck. Koscheck did however come out with some much better striking than I had anticipated, but I thought it would have improved enough for him to get the TKO win, which was exactly what happened.

The toughest pick of the evening was Heath Herring over Cheick Kongo. I honestly didn't know what type of Kongo would show up to the arena on Saturday. I've been a strong believer that the French MMA scene just isn't upgrading with the rest of the MMA world. French Top Team specifically needs to refocus on other skillsets instead of a heavy emphasis on Muay Thai. Herring, without any ground training leading up to the fight, was able to show the big weakness in Kongo's game. Kongo was virtually defenseless in side control, and it completely lost him this fight. Herring's "in your face" rushes when the action was stood up were brilliant in closing the distance and keeping Kongo from unloading. Herring did a great job despite the lack of ground training.

Silva was a tough pick for everyone that I talked to, but from the get go, I was really leaning toward Silva for one reason alone. I thought he had more tools in his bag of skills to finish Henderson. His striking was much better and his ground game was at least on par with Henderson as far as defending against potential ground and pound from Henderson. People believed in the Henderson hype regarding his top control wrestling, but many forget that he had problems in PRIDE with keeping little Japanese fighters down on the ground. His wrestling was impressive in the first round, but I kept rethinking his fights in PRIDE and knowing that Anderson could slip from Henderson's top control eventually as the fight went on. We never got a chance to see any of that happen however. Silva's striking dominated and eventually caught Henderson. That's what ended the fight. Henderson losing via rear naked choke was only the result of Silva's dynamic striking on his feet.

Overall event thoughts

I wasn't overly impressed with the event. Silva vs. Henderson lived up to the much anticipated hype as I was very excited to finally get the main event going. The fights leading up to the main event were a bit lackluster in my mind. Herring vs. Kongo was a decent scrap. It had some chess match aspects on the ground, but overall, I was disappointed in the level of competition that Kongo was perceived as being before the fight. He really looked green on the ground, and his legacy was being touted as the next big striker in the Heavyweight division.

Leben has turned into a darkhorse candidate for being one of the more exciting fighters in the UFC. People love to hate him at times, but he loves to put on a show for the fans. What's not to like about that?

Koscheck and Sanchez both looked strong in their returns to the cage. We could see a potential move up for both fighters, but Koscheck is a free agent now. Will the UFC make an attempt to re-sign him? Look out, EliteXC could be knocking on the door.

Overall, the event was decent, but nothing special to talk about. I think it'll reflect in the buy numbers just as it already has in the live gate numbers. It wasn't a huge success, but it was successful nonetheless. The Ultimate Fight Night show in April should provide the much needed jolt of fireworks that we as MMA fans are looking forward to.

Following the UFC 82 main event, the post-fight press conference took place and featured the normal talk of bonuses and future plans by the UFC. Silva and Henderson received $60,000 "Fight of the Night" bonuses, and Silva added to his purse with a submission of the night bonus of $60,000. Chris Leben earned himself a knockout of the night bonus which was well deserved by the re-emerging brawler.

It wouldn't be a Dana White press conference without some shots at the epicenter of the MMA fanbase on the Internet, those pesky Internet websites. I'll quote Sam Caplan's summary from his blog:

"A big theme during the press conference was White's stumping for Silva to be recognized by pundits as the number one pound-for-pound fighter in the world. He stated at one point that anyone who believes otherwise is "out of their mind." Later in the press conference he went after the Internet media in regards to Silva, referring to them as "knucklehead websites." Later on he said that he feels that the reason more sites don't recognize Silva as the pound-for-pound number and rank Fedor in that spot is out of their hatred for him. He said, "You're a clown if you rank Fedor number one." He did not name a website in particular."

While I could make a case for Anderson Silva being considered the pound-for-pound best fighter in the world, I think it's hypocritical of Dana White to tell us that Silva is the best now, but when BJ Penn, Georges St. Pierre, or another dominant champion hits the next event, they will be suddenly thrown into the spotlight as potentially the best p4p fighter in the world. It's a marketing strategy, but shoving it down our throats and then insulting the very base of the MMA community is absurd.

We're the "knucklehead websites" that seem to accurately depict the events going on in the MMA world. The MMA blogosphere alone has broke more news, broke more stories, and confirmed more facts than any mainstream site out there today. We didn't get the salary figures wrong, Dana, we sourced them from the NSAC or CSAC. Amazingly, Dana still blames the MMA's knucklehead websites over Couture's salary figure mishap. It wasn't us, knucklehead.

As for the Silva argument, Fedor is still #1 on my Heavyweight ranking, but as for pound for pound, you may have a valid argument. Being hateful toward media because of opinions is ridiculous, so maybe sticking to just informing the public is better suited for you. The world does not revolve around Dana White. I would tend to agree with Sam's assessment that Georges St. Pierre could be considered the best P4P fighter in the world, and I think a lot of sites may be split between both Silva and Pierre. Here's an idea, have them fight one another to figure it out.

UFC 82 will be an event to remember, or a borefest of decisions, it’s hard to say what’s going to happen in many of the bouts on the card. Many fans are claiming some huge lopsided victories while many others are seeing decisions galore litter the event’s results as we head into Saturday night. Hopefully, we won’t see another Strikeforce at the Dome card. Here’s our picks for UFC 82.

Main Event: Anderson Silva vs. Dan Henderson
At Stake: UFC Middleweight Title

People are starting to call this a pick’em fight, and I’d have to agree. This is one of the toughest fights to mull over due to the stylistic matchup between the two, but also due to the historical dominance of both fighters.

Silva has simply crushed everything in his path. He made Rich Franklin into a rag doll, and simply used his Muay Thai skillset to strike with him, close the distance, clinch, and then set up massive head shots with his knees. That gameplan will have to change if he wants to defeat Dan Henderson.

Henderson’s strength in this fight will be his wrestling. Greco-Roman control will be the key to getting Silva to the floor where Henderson should be able to crush him, but there are problems. First and foremost, Henderson doesn’t exactly wrestle when he needs to. He likes to brawl and showed it at times against “Rampage” Jackson. Secondly, his wrestling isn’t as good as many make it out to be. Sure, he’s an Olympian, but he was sloppy in many of his PRIDE bouts when it came to controlling his opponent. He can’t let that happen against a surgeon like Silva. Nonetheless, he has two big powerful hands to fall back on if he’s in trouble. The potential for a knockout win from either fighter is very high.

I’ve battled with who to pick in this fight for days, and honestly, it doesn’t matter. They are very even in regards to how their skills compete with one another. A BJJ Black Belt with surgical Muay Thai striking against an Olympic Greco-Roman wrestler with heavy hands is a classic matchup that should provide a spectacular main event. Who will win?

I’m going to have to go with Anderson Silva. I was a supporter of the whole idea behind Henderson winning this fight. He has better wrestling; therefore he can get the takedown and pound on Silva. I understand that point. My only problem is that I can only see Henderson ending this fight in the standup, and Silva has reach, awesome power for having such big reach, and he is a surgeon on his feet with his strikes. He can wear down Henderson with punches, and then move in for the kill. People know Henderson can ward off the clinch, but can he do it while he’s wobbly… most fighters can’t. To sum it up, I’m taking Silva because I think he has more tools to end this fight.

Leland’s Prediction: Anderson Silva via TKO/KO, Round 2

The person who wins this fight is the person who can impose their will on their opponent. This is as close to a pick ‘em fight as there has been in recent events, but I like Henderson’s chances against Silva. Henderson has the advantage because of this reason: he can keep Silva guessing. Silva knows that Henderson can take him down, and I assure you, Dan will be using his feints a lot. Imagine dropping his head down and faking a takedown, but instead, he throws that huge overhand right. The thing that scares me about Henderson is that he tends to get into brawls. He abandons his wrestling and will choose to stand and trade instead. I don’t think he’ll make that mistake against Silva. I think Henderson will be able to impose his will and dominate Silva inside the clinch with his Greco-roman ability, and he’ll earn a stoppage via strikes late in the fight.

Joe's Prediction: Dan Henderson via TKO/KO, Round 3

Cheick Kongo vs. Heath Herring

This is another tough fight on the event’s card to predict. Herring has a career that spans a decade, and in that time, he’s managed to win 16 of his bouts by submission. Many fans don’t associate Herring with a submission game, but I think that’s exactly what he’ll be looking to do in this matchup.

Kongo will likely try to use his bread and butter, Muay Thai, to defeat Herring along the cage. It’s been working for him in his two most recent wins, but it hasn’t led him to a finishing win that we would come to expect from such a large and powerful fighter.

Both fighters have weaknesses and strengths, but I think Herring has the distinct advantage in this matchup. His ground skills will undoubtedly come into play, and even though he isn’t the best grappler on the planet, Kongo’s ground game looked non-existent even in the short stint that he was on the ground against Mirko “CroCop” Filipovic. It won’t be an easy task, and Kongo may very well prove that he’s trained hard for this fight, but I’ll go with Heath.

Leland’s Prediction: Heath Herring via submission, Round 2

In my eyes, this is Herring’s fight to lose. Herring doesn’t have great wrestling, but Kongo has a very weak takedown defense. It shouldn’t be a problem for Herring to get Kongo to the mat. From there, I think you’ll see a scramble where Herring catches Kongo in a choke, most likely the anaconda choke.

Joe's Prediction: Heath Herring via submission, Round 2   

The UFC has been hitting the news wire frequently as of late with fighters beginning to reveal their potential matchups for their upcoming fights. Some of them are quite interesting due to the influx of newer talent that the UFC seems to be bringing along. The future is always a concern, and it looks like the UFC is giving some guys a chance to make a splash in their careers. Let's take a look.

Josh Koscheck vs. Dustin Hazelett - UFC 82

This matchup is a bit deceptive. Most people see this fight as a one-sided affair with Koscheck's outstanding wrestling pedigree dominating an unknown Dustin Hazelett. The problem here is that most fans don't see Hazelett fight since he has been featured mainly on undercards.

Hazelett (10-3) has had some phenomenal performances as of late in the cage. He submitted Jonathan Goulet at UFN 11 in impressive fashion scoring an armbar victory in just 1:14 into the first round. He's currently on a three-fight win streak, and this is definitely a move in the right direction as his skills improve.

Koscheck will be looking to begin another ascension into the upper ranks, but Hazelett's jiu-jitsu could prove to be troublesome. Nonetheless, Koscheck's top control is good, and he could essentially make another run for the title.

David Heath vs. Tim Boetsch - UFC 81

After Heath's bout was scratched from UFC 81 due to an injured Thomas Drwal, the UFC put the light heavyweight back on the card and paired him up with newcomer Tim Boetsch (6-1).

Boetsch is primarily known for his 2007 IFL semifinal battle with "The Janitor" Vladmir Matyushenko. In his only career loss, Boetsch did show an ability to survive against the technically better Matyushenko. Many consider Vladmir to still be quality UFC material, and with Boetsch taking him the distance and being a fairly green fighter, he could improve dramatically in the coming months. He'll get his chance to make something happen against Heath.

Heath hasn't been exactly impressive in his last two fights. To be fair however, Renato Sobral is a world-class grappler and Lyoto Machida could very well be a dark horse candidate for the title. Boetsch isn't at their skill level, so it should be litmus test for Boetsch, and a gauge to see where Heath is at right now.

Diego Sanchez vs. David Bielkheden - UFC 82

Although I'm still holding out for news after this fight that Marcus Davis may fight Diego, Sanchez does need to fight another battle before that can potentially happen. The UFC seems to think so as well.

Diego will be matched up with David Bielkheden (12-5). This puts an end to the rumors that Diego would fight Roan Carneiro. It also marks another Swede making his debut in the UFC, a market that the UFC seems to be hitting hard now. Per Eklund, fellow Swede, was defeated by Sam Stout in a spirited effort at UFC 80 this last weekend.

Bielkheden holds a win over current UFC fighter Charles McCarthy although it was back in February of 2004. The most notable matchup on his record is taking on Mitsuhiro Ishida at PRIDE Bushido 13 in November of 2006, dropping a decision to the Japanese wrestler.

He should prove to be an able test for Sanchez even though his name isn't known in the casual fanbase. He's a BTT member, and will have good training partners to supplement his skillset training. With a well-rounded grappling game and some power at times, he could be an upset pick.

One of the more intriguing fights that has been recently announced is the matchup between Akihiro Gono and Jon Fitch in the newly dominated Welterweight division. Months ago, we were talking about how the Middleweight division was suffering from a case of one man completely smashing the competition and the division had yet to catch up. After UFC 79, it seems that the potential matchups to determine the next contender were all but thrown out the window as matches we should care about. This was the exact same thought after Silva devastated Franklin for the second time. What fight does the fanbase really want to see now that Silva has went through nearly every contender with relative ease? The same is now being said about Georges St. Pierre. Unless Serra pulls off another huge upset win over St. Pierre, we will be seeing two divisions in the UFC that have dominant champions and a huge gap between the top and middle of the pack.

Contender spot, Welterweight title picture

Fortunately for many fans out there, the Welterweight division has a matchup that is actually more intriguing than many give it credit for. Akihiro Gono, who submitted Tamden McCrory by an unorthodox armbar at UFC 78, will take on Jon Fitch at UFC 82 for what is most likely to be a contender spot.

Many of you may be asking the question as to why this fight is interesting at all. St. Pierre looked nearly unstoppable, but Hughes is getting older and age is definitely becoming a factor in his skillfulness in the cage. Serra is a survivor in many of his bouts, but he doesn't have the all-around skill that Pierre has. To be honest, there isn't too many fighters who possess the skillset that St. Pierre exhibits in his fights. Serra has the chance to beat Pierre again, but it would be another enormous upset.

With the top spots in the division up for grabs, Gono vs. Fitch becomes a pivotal bout in determining where Hughes, Serra, or even Pierre go. Serra vs. Hughes seems likely, and the winner of Fitch vs. Gono may be up for Pierre next considering he would have beaten Hughes twice and just beaten Matt Serra.

Styles and Historical points

The implications that the fight has in the division are only the tip of the iceberg. The matchup offers an interesting style matchup as well, and is intriguing if you look at the historical aspects of the bout. Gono has an underrated submission background due to the vast amount of decisions he has been in. He has had some success in the past with his striking, but we'd have to trek back to '03-'04 to see any significant wins by TKO/KO. Overall, he's a fairly well-rounded fighter, but lacks knockout power.

Fitch is stylistically similar in many ways. Fitch's background centers around wrestling though. He also exhibited the skills to TKO his opponents early in his career, reminiscent of many wrestlers. Other than the actual specific style differences, Fitch has a decent submission game and some power in his hands, but has had trouble finishing opponents in the past. Looking at both records, skillsets, and experience, this is a great matchup for both fighters.

Fitch can gain a title shot and a solid win over a very experience PRIDE veteran. Gono can solidify a spot for the title as well, and show that PRIDE fighters SHOULD be dropping weight when they move to the UFC.

On that note, the matchup looks much more interesting when looking at historical aspects. Gono is a PRIDE veteran with nine fights in the Bushido series. He's also fought much tougher competition than Fitch. Opponents such as Mauricio "Shogun" Rua, Daniel Acacio, Dan Henderson, Hector Lombard, Gegard Mousasi, Denis Kang, and Yuki Kondo all matched up against Gono within the last 3-4 years of his career. He came out of his era with PRIDE sporting a 6-3 record, losing to existing or eventual champions only.

Fitch, on the other hand, on paper has faced lesser competition. He has managed to rattle of 14 straight wins, but recently has some trouble with Diego Sanchez. He has some big wins over Brock Larson, Thiago Alves, Luigi Fioravanti, and Roan Carneiro also, but it's arguable which fighter has more quality wins. In either case, it's going to come down to whether Gono can handle Fitch's wrestling ability. Gono could surprise some fans, and for that reason, the matchup should be a very good test for both fighters.

Look forward to this matchup. It may be one of the last intriguing matchups we see for awhile in the Welterweight division. Hopefully Yoshiyuki Yoshida pays off.

After browsing through the news I missed while I lay half dead on the couch from a debilitating fever that I had over the weekend, I noticed the Jorge Gurgel (11-3 overall, 2-2 in the UFC) was announced to be taking on John Halverson (16-5 overall, 0-1 in the UFC) at UFC 82 in Columbus, Ohio. Next on the plate for mixed martial arts fans was more rambling about how much Jorge Gurgel's performance against Alvin Robinson proved that he does not belong in the UFC. Come on, has the fanbase really begun to not see the business side of the sport? Let's take a look.

Jorge Gurgel's performances

First off, I'm not on the Gurgel bandwagon. I think Gurgel has some huge training problems that he needs to look at. I can, however, look through his history and come to some conclusions from his latter fights. Looking through his past performances, he came up through the MMA scene from March of 2002 to August of 2003 with 5 straight wins by submission. If anyone has followed Gurgel, he's a Brazilian ju-jitsu black belt who is most well-known for being the head trainer for his own camp in Ohio and the main ju-jitsu trainer for Rich Franklin. His ju-jitsu skills definitely looked great in his early bouts against lower level competition. Once Gurgel ran into Masakazu Imanari (13-5-1), one of the better lightweights in the world, he was submitted easily inside :35 seconds due to a classic tactic of countering the aggressive nature that Gurgel imposed on his opponents early in his career. As Gurgel bullcharged Imanari, Imanari dropped down and as Gurgel ran through, he grabbed his legs and began working the heel hook. A great tactic that completely caught Gurgel off guard.

Rattling off four more wins after his defeat at the hands of Imanari, he hit the UFC with an impressive 9-1 record and sported a Midwest following with his camp, key selling points for the UFC's success in Ohio. In the UFC, Gurgel went 2-2 with wins over Diego Saraiva and Danny Abbadi, not exactly world class competition, but nonetheless, decent tests for a fighter who relies mainly on his submission skills.

The most notable fights that show Gurgel's main weaknesses have been his last two bouts. Notably, Diego Saraiva showed some glimmers of hope that he could pull out the win in their war at UFC 73. Saraiva's standup was good enough to crush Gurgel's face into near mutilation. Gurgel sustained a broken jaw and some internal bleeding from the fight. No doubt, Gurgel has showed his tough chin in the past, but his defense in the standup has always been criticized as being fairly poor. I would tend to agree. Gurgel's defensive tactics clearly are earning him debilitating injuries that will not help him in the long run of his mixed martial arts career.

In his latest turn for the worst, Gurgel was absolutely demolished by lightweight prospect Alvin Robinson at UFC 77. Gurgel did exactly what he has done in the past, came out in a flurry of activity and lost his gas. He was fairly impressive in the first round with his ground tactics and submission attempts, but Robinson outlasted the storm and proceeded to beat Gurgel down in the second and third rounds. Robinson's strength, which wasn't shown during his loss to Kenny Florian, had the biggest impact late. Gurgel's cardio and endurance was horribly lacking. He continued for submissions, but with no endurance in his muscles, he simply could not maintain his grip. What can the UFC do with a guy who has some poor cardio, horrible endurance, and is questionable as to whether his head could be wrecked in the cage? They can still use him to sell tickets.

Gurgel's following

Why is it that the UFC sells some of their biggest events in Columbus, Ohio? Gurgel and company run their very successful MMA camp out of Ohio. Rich Franklin, one of the UFC's greatest fighters, also trains at that camp and Gurgel is his regular ju-jitsu trainer. Are you getting the connection? Gurgel and company basically sell tickets for the Ohio events. It's safe to say that they may have a lot of pull as to gaining fans in the area and probably do a lot of promoting for the UFC in the area as well. It also allows for those fans to come out and cheer on the local boys.

The Correlation?

Gurgel may not have the best mixed martial arts skills, but he can sell tickets along with his camp and is high profile with some of the best fighters in the business. I think that Gurgel's mixed martial arts career is at a crossroads. His training needs to improve considerably, especially in his cardio and endurance. As a MMA fighter, he has hit the point where the cliche "Separate the men from the boys" comes into play. Although Gurgel has lasted through his matches, it was evident against Robinson that his cardio was lacking. Endurance is just as important. With some endurance, Gurgel may have been able to submit Robinson late in the match. Instead, Robinson simply moved Gurgel's arms away and continued to beat him.

As fans complain about his performances, you must still think about the business side of mixed martial arts. Gurgel and his camp sell tickets, promote the UFC, and have the high profile names that draw people to that arena in Columbus. With that said, we'll see Gurgel for the remainder of his contract and with another win, we may see him re-signed for the pure fact that the UFC is successful in Ohio. Get over it.