When I saw the card, I got excited. Every matchup looked like it had potential. I haven’t looked forward to an entire UFC card for as long as I can remember. It lived up to and surpassed my expectations! Well worth watching more than once.

So, my picks (wishes) were as follows:
Main Card
(YES!) Little “Nog” vs Luiz Cane ~ I took Rogerio. It would be the perfect way for him to enter the UFC.
(YES!) Amir Sadollah vs Phil Baroni ~ AMIR all the way!!! I freaking hate Baroni. I just can’t get started. Wanted to see Amir get a good win after TUF 7.
(no…) Anthony Johnson vs Josh Koscheck ~ Let’s get ready to “Rumble”! Man, Kos has changed too much over the years and has delivered many sub-par performances. Following his eye surgery, Johnson deserves a good showing.
(YES!) Forrest Griffin vs Tito Ortiz ~ Tito has been a bitch… funny to see him back. Forrest FTW!!!
Under Card
(no…) Grove vs Rosholt ~ Rosholt… I’m sick of Kendall Grove thinking he’s the shit.
(no…) Ben Saunders vs Marcus Davis ~ Marcus Davis! I just can’t get behind Killa B – what a dork. He just has this “thing” about him. Marcus Davis always puts forth a good effort, has a great history, and just seems cool.
Thiavo vs Volkmann and other fights… meh, who cares. (Just my opinion, sure there are fans pulling for some of those guys.)

So I went .500 on the event for my picks. I got my two most important wins right – Amir and Forrest!! Those were two guys that I really wanted to pull out a win.

**Sadollah/Baroni started as I expected.
However, I didn’t expect Baroni to look like he’d been through a meat shredder. SAH-WEET!! Man, Amir looked good throughout the three rounds. His conditioning was primo and he just looked very much improved.

Loved his front kicks to the face and solar plexus of Baroni. hehe His time in Holland, studying Muay-Thai, looks like it paid off in spades. Also, everything he threw – which included the kitchen sink! – had so much power… punches, elbows, knees, kicks (body, thigh, head, face, shin), all of it!!

I was sorry that it goes in as a decision, but that just allowed more time to watch the destruction of Phil Baroni.

**Griffin/Ortiz had the makings of a second battle from the beginning.
Before I say anything else… How could you NOT love someone who walks in to Chumbawumba?? lol Love you Forrest!
Getting back to it – Tito went in saying he was 100%, never felt better, never had a better training camp, etc. Even his training partners said he’d never been better… All of this was, of course, until he lost. The crowd booed when he started giving excuses while Rogan did his post-fight interview. What a bitch.

Several times Forrest was taken down, but did an amazing job from the bottom. He used butterflies, submission attempts, and sprung up smashingly! I was super impressed that Tito was virtually nullified. At times, it even looked like he was going to take Tito down rather than stay in the clench. Surprisingly, Tito pulled away from that, putting them back into a striking match.

Tito landed some impressive high kicks in response to the repeated kicks by Griffin. I also appreciated his open palm ear strikes at the end of the first round. That shit can hurt!

The BEST was the front kick to the face by Forrest that sent Tito’s mouthpiece flying! Well, it was kinda nice when Forrest swept Tito and administered some fantastic GnP!!! Then, in the third round, Forrest just beat the hell out of Tito in every way. “Forrest Griffin is beating Tito Ortis up in this round.” – Joe Rogan

Some judge was smoking crack… Trowbridge (?)29-28 Ortiz (?WTF?) as compared to Lester Griffin (no relation) scored it 30-27 Griffin and Rosales 29-28 Griffin. There is NO WAY that this should go down as a split decision fight. Bullshit! But even further… How does one judge give all three rounds to Forrest and another judge give two rounds to Tito?? Stupid. See scoring regulations in another one of my posts on here…

**If you were watching Noguiera /Cane fight… ‘nuf said! Cane was running from Little Nog, bringing back memories of what’s his name running from Nate Quarry. (Yes, I know who… but refuse to give him publicity.) Great finish, great KO!

**So that I don’t get booed myself, Ben Saunders earned his win clearly… He was the first person to KO Marcus Davis, I believe. Nice knees. I still prefer Marcus Davis.

**Although the bout got “Fight of the Night” honors, I’m not in the mood to be bothered with Josh “the faker” Koscheck. Hate to even mention his name. I’m really sorry that Anthony “Rumble” Johnson wasn’t able to get a win out of that one. The kid really has potential! If only he could make weight every time, and with ease…

AJ is a good-sized welter-weight, but the cut is too much for him I think. He needs to make a decision to commit to welter-weight, thus cutting his “walking weight” down to around 185 lbs. He currently walks around at 210 pounds – 40 pound cut! – are you kidding me? I think he could benefit from staying IN the weight class at 6’2” with a MASSIVE 78” reach. That said, with his size, he’s still bigger than many (?most) of the 185ers if he would fight in the middleweight division. Good luck AJ!!

All in all it was brilliant!!! Let’s see the UFC match or top this card… The sooner the better.

UK Fans vs U of L Fans

Some of us U.K. fans amuse ourselves by scaring every Louisville fan we see strutting down the street with that obnoxious cardinal on their shirt and/or hat. We swerve our vehicles as if to hit them, and swerve back just missing them (not that I condone such an act – of course not!).

One day, while driving down the road with my wife, I saw a priest walking. I thought I would do a good deed, so I pulled over and asked the priest, “Where are you going, Father?”

“I’m going to say Mass about 2 miles down the road,” replied the priest .

“Climb in, Father. I’ll give you a lift.”

The priest climbed into the rear passenger seat, and we continued down the road.

Suddenly, I saw a Louisville fan walking down the road, with that irritating U of L shirt on, and I instinctively swerved as if to hit him. But, as usual, swerved back into the road just in time.

Even though I was certain that I had missed the guy, I still heard a loud thud. Not understanding where the noise came from, I glanced in my mirrors, but still didn’t see anything.

I then remembered the priest. I turned to him and said, “Sorry Father, I almost hit that Louisville fan.”

“That’s OK,” replied the priest, “I got him with the door!”

GO CATS!

Vulture Capalist – noun ~
***A businessman who is looking to buy companies at giveaway prices, as opposed to venture capitalists.

Example:
“It’s well known that the business is having major problems paying its bills, so I guess it won’t be long before the vulture capitalists start circling.”

Something got me thinking about smoking…

Public smoking in my home city in the US is banned, which makes me happy. Some of my best friends are smokers, and it makes me sad that they have to get up and go outside after a meal to “get some fresh air”. I respect their right, and I’m grateful that I can keep the smoke out of my hair and clothes.

All that said, I’ve been known to have a cigarette or two before. Heck, I’ve even enjoyed cigars. Being a general non-smoker, I was always very careful where my smoke trail went. Some people just aren’t that aware…

So, I’m going to make a poll. Are you a smoker?

“I’ve got more nervous ticks than a Lyme Disease research facility.”

A bit about judges and the judging process:

• **A judge is accredited, sanctioned and selected based upon his character, experience, stature in the MMA world, knowledge of MMA systems and impartiality.
• ** There are THREE judges.

As for the judging, it’s a 10-point must system with scoring based on:

• **clean strikes – efficient (total number landed) and effective (total number of heavy strikes landed)
• **effective grappling – takedown and active guard position
• **octagon control – dictating the pace, place and position of the fight
• **effective aggressiveness

Additional, abbreviated, instructions and explanations – interesting points:

Striking and grappling take priority in determining effectiveness

The heavier striker who lands with efficiency, deserves more credit from the Judges than total number landed.

• **If the striking power between the fighters was equal, then the total number landed would be used as the criteria.
• **The total number of strikes landed, should be of sufficient quantity favoring a fighter, to earn a winning round.

Grappling:

• **A Judge shall recognize that a fighter on his back in an active guard position, can effectively grapple, through execution of repeated threatening attempts at submission and reversal resulting in continuous defense from the top fighter.
• **A Judge shall recognize that the guard position alone shall be scored neutral or even
• **A Judge shall recognize that if the fighters remain in guard the majority of a round with neither fighter having an edge in clean striking or effective grappling, the fighter who scored the clean takedown deserves the round.

In my opinion, the problem lies in the 10-point must… If the round really is close, seemingly tied, the judges MUST pick a winner of the round. In every sport where judging is involved, when things are close to the line, the champ or more established athlete gets the nod. It’s just a fact of life.

It’s so old that it annoys me but I’ll say it – “You can’t leave it in the hands of the judges.” I don’t mean that in the more traditional sense, that the judges can screw up (which they can) but I think if you’re going to win, you should go out and finish it!! Then you truly deserve the win.

“Engineering: where the noble semi-skilled laborers execute the vision of those who think and dream. Hello, Ooompa-Loompas of science.”

It is super exciting to watch boxing here in the Philippines. The Pinoy are certainly passionate about their boxing, particularly when it comes to one of the best pound for pound fighters of today – Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao.

La Diva, from Manila, sang the Philippine National Anthem to open the “show”. For those who haven’t heard the Anthem “Lupang Hinirang” (meaning chosen land), it’s really beautiful. I can sing it almost all the way through, despite not knowing exactly what I’m saying. Haha!

Filipinos are full of pride for their country, so their national anthem is sung and played anywhere and anytime possible. It’s nice. After looking it up, I learned that the song is also known as “Bayang Magiliw” (Beloved Country) is the wiki link that shows the lyrics in Tagalog and English. Everybody should look it up. There are interesting “usage and legal regulations” regarding the who, what, when, where, how, and why of using the anthem.

Anyway, that’s off course. The fight! We got two of our guards and our helper to watch with us. They would have watched it on delay and with loads of commercials. We thought it would be a nice treat for them to see it live and hear what the corners had to say, etc. It’s also funny because they aren’t used to how much and how loud Americans can cheer for sporting events! I think it’s cute to see their reaction – usually hushed “whoa”, “doh”, “wah” and stuff. Any anger or disappointment is displayed as laughter.

The hoopla surrounding the Pacquiao v Cotto fight has been insane! There were 7,000 fans watching the weigh-ins and they turned away so many others. Seems like the whole world has adopted “our” Pacman. He’s fought, AND WON, seven times since we moved to Cebu. That makes it feel like he’s the “home team”.

First, let me say, Cotto was knocked down twice, and probably would have gone down more had it not been for the ropes. The slow-mo replays from Manny’s punches showed such impact that Cotto’s EARS wobbled from the shockwave! Manny took Cotto’s punches like they were light as a feather. Sure, his head snapped back a time or two, but he never seemed dazed in the least bit. His face was clean and perfect following the fight.

From previous fights, Cotto had taken so much abuse that his face was full of scar tissue – making it easier for him to get cut. I was right, he had a few places open up. He looked like he’d been run over by a mac truck! I did get frustrated because instead of Pacman throwing speedy, hard singles and doubles, I wanted him to keep going like he was hitting a speed bag when he had the many, many opportunities! Guess I watch too much MMA. The fight would have been over much sooner.

In the 10th round, Cotto’s wife and son left ringside. It was getting to be too much. His corner kept suggesting stoppage, but I felt the same as Miguel… he needed to stick it out and go all the way. Hell, there’s always a punchers chance. Also, it was his belt to lose, so he needed to fight to the end. The end was a TKO about a minute into the 12th round… so he did stick it out.

Now, Manny is the WBO Welterweight champ! Mabuhay Pacman!!

This is 2430 Bear Rd, Nashville TN - I’m told that it was Steve McNair’s home. Very nice!

(Click the address)