Jason MacDonald

Jason 'The Athlete' MacDonald is a Canadian mixed martial artist. He lives in Red Deer, Alta., with his wife Kelly and four children, boys Tristin and Keel, and girls Jett and True. He blogs regularly for Sportsnet.ca.

There are other fighters out there who deserve more hype than Bobby Lashley, such as Canadian Rory MacDonald.

I would like to start off my blog to say how great a job the Canadian fighters have done the past little while. And not just with wins, but putting on great fights the past couple of months. I'm talking Sam Stout, Mark Hominick, Rory MacDonald, Mark Bocek, T.J. Grant. It's great to see fellow Canadians out there doing well in the UFC and the WEC.

It is a definite motivation for me to train hard and get back to the UFC, because I'd really like to be a part of the Vancouver show in June. I have been training every day, haven't missed one all week. In fact, mostly I've been training twice a day.

I noticed the main event for Vancouver might be Tito and Chuck. At my first big UFC fight (not my debut, but my first PPV, the year-end event in 2006, where I beat Chris Leben at UFC 66), it was Liddell vs. Ortiz who headlined, so hopefully that will be an omen for me.

Another thing I saw was that the WEC announced Urijah Faber will get the next shot at Jose Aldo's featherweight belt.

My question is: Why is Faber any more deserving of a title shot than Mike Brown?

They both lost their belt and then won their next fight. Faber dropped the belt to Brown but now he gets first crack at Aldo. I personally would have picked Brown but I know the answer to the aforementioned question. Faber has been the poster boy for the UFC and the organization would love to see him be that again but it must be a bit frustrating for Brown.

Now let's talk Strikeforce, along with picks for Saturday's event:

Nick Diaz vs. Marius Zaromskis for the vacant Strikeforce welterweight belt

I've seen Zaromskis fight on HDNet in the Dream elimination tourney. He's very aggressive but very reckless, and I don't know if that'll be good for him, because Diaz is not intimidated by that at all. If someone's aggressive against him, he'll just be aggressive right back. And Diaz is definitely more skilled. So I think he'll win that fight. I pick to win by TKO.

Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos (champ) vs. Marloes Coenen for women's featherweight belt

I don't really know the girl she's fighting, but I'm pretty confident Cyborg is half-man anyways, so no matter what girl you put in front of her, she's going to beat her. I say she wins this by TKO.

As a side note, the last time in Vegas I was watching a show called "Sports Soup," and they had a clip of a guy interviewing Cyborg through a translator. He asked her how long it would take to choke out Gina Carano (hypothetically), but something must have gotten lost in the translation as she appeared to think he wanted her to actually demonstrate. So she suddenly grabs the guy from behind and chokes him... unconscious! When the reporter comes to, he's flabbergasted. Check it out:

Robbie Lawler vs. Melvin Manhoef

There's definitely going to be some fists flying in this fight. These guys are known for two things: throwing bombs and running out of gas. So who will run out of gas first or land the first bomb first. I think Lawler will last a little longer as far as stamina goes so he'll win.

Bobby Lashley vs. Wes Sims

You know what, I just don't get all the hype around Bobby Lashley. Sure, he's athletic, and he's a good up-and-comer, but he really hasn't fought anybody good. People are blowing him up to the be-all and end-all -- and maybe he will be one day -- but I just don't get it. If you put him up against a strong heavyweight, like Junior Dos Santos, he'd get destroyed.

There are lots of great young guys, but I've never seen one with as much hype as him. There are some great fighters out there that deserve more attention than Lashley. You want hype, start building it around the undefeated Rory MacDonald. This kid's 20-year's old.

I'd really love to see Strikeforce match him up against a better fighter. Put him against Fabricio Werdum and see how long he lasts.

That being said, I think he'll easily beat Wes Sims. At this point in his career, Sims is strictly an entertainer. I don't see him putting up any kind of fight here. And then Lashley will get another win, and the hype-train will continue.

Herschel Walker vs. Greg Nagy

Greg Who? I don't know what to think here. Here's another guy in Walker who's getting more attention than he really should. He's a previous NFLer and Heisman Trophy winner, but once again, the hype is over what? Give it to guys who have been out there fighting, training for years, dedicated to the sport of MMA and deserve recognition as up-and-coming fighters. And we have guys like Lashley and Walker fighting nobodies and stealing the limelight.

I'm speaking here as a fighter; I've put blood, sweat and tears into this for 10 years. It's not jealousy or animosity. I just put a lot into this and take the sport seriously and I truly believe there are guys out there that deserve it more.

But similarly to the Faber situation, I understand why; it's all about marketability. With Walker, it's a typical Kimbo Slice-type scenario. They'll get the ratings.

One thing I would like to add is as a pro football player, this guy certainly knows what it takes to be the best that you can be at your sport. There's a good chance he carried the sport of football with respect, so I'm not saying he's disrespecting MMA. It's just that he's on the main card of the second biggest MMA organization of the world and it's just a little unfortunate for other fighters who deserve it more.

Jay Hieron vs. Joe Riggs

This one won't be on the main card, but you can watch it online at EAsportsMMA. I've spent a fair amount of time training with Jay, and he's a great fighter and should win this fairly easily. Riggs is not the fighter he once was. I'm picking Jay and hopefully he'll get his shot at the title at the next event.