Showdown speeds through the headlines of a busy week in MMA and gives us all his picks.
It's been a whirlwind of a week in the world of mixed martial arts, as so many headlines bombarded us in what felt like an Anderson Silva beating within the clinch. I figure I should counter with my own attack, and blast through many of them with some quick thoughts
Nick Diaz - a new pay-per-view commodity
The Stockton, Calif., native's value is now at an all-time high. After not showing up for his main event press requirements in Toronto and Las Vegas, he was removed opposite Georges St-Pierre in the UFC 137 main event. After being replaced by co-main eventer Carlos Condit, B.J. Penn was left without an opponent. That is until UFC president Dana White tweeted that Penn would now be facing Diaz.
This pay-per-view has received so much air time that the anticipation leading up to it is going to be immense. Liked or disliked, come October 29th, people will want to see Diaz fight. Win or lose... irrelevant; people will watch.
But there are questions I cannot wait to see answered: Considering what he did this past week, if Diaz defeats B.J., will the UFC offer him a main event title shot? And with many looking at Diaz as a poor representative of the sport, think about this: what if Nick Diaz became the UFC welterweight champion one day? How would the UFC deal with him then?
My initial pick will be Penn, via TKO, which may see him face off against the winner of St-Pierre and Condit (which I believe GSP will win via decision). If it's B.J. vs GSP III, will Greasegate 2.0 rear its ugly head?
Matchups and early predictions
-- UFC 141: Brock Lesnar vs. Alistair Overeem... If Lesnar scores with takedowns, he wins this fight. But if he cannot, Overeem will move one stop closer to a UFC heavyweight title shot.
-- UFC 140: Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Frank Mir II... I'm still leaning towards Mir on this one, but won't be surprised if Big Nog pulls this off. If reports are true that post various surgeries, Nog's body is as healthy as it can be, we may see an incredible submission match between these two at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto.
-- UFC 140: Rory MacDonald vs. Brian Ebersole... "Ares" will eventually figure out Brian. It won't be easy, but he will find a way to win.
-- UFC 140: John Makdessi vs. Dennis Hallman... "Superman" cutting back to lightweight makes me nervous for this fight. That is one of the reasons I believe Makdessi emerges victorious.
-- UFC on Fox: Cain Velasquez vs. Junior dos Santos... If Cain dictates where this fight will take place with his wrestling, he wins. If he stands and trades with JDS, he loses.
-- UFC on Fox: Clay Guida vs. Ben Henderson... Benson should win two rounds to one.
-- UFC 136: Leonard Garcia vs. Nam Phan... Justice will be served. Phan should pull this off two rounds to one.
-- M1 - Global: Fedor Emelianenko vs. Jeff Monson... Fedor finally returns to the winners' circle.
Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix Semi-Finals Picks
Main card
Heavyweight Grand Prix Semifinal bout: Josh Barnett vs. Sergei Kharitonov - Barnett Heavyweight Grand Prix Semifinal bout: Antonio Silva vs. Daniel Cormier - Cormier Middleweight championship bout: Ronaldo Souza (c) vs. Luke Rockhold - Souza Light Heavyweight bout: Muhammed Lawal vs. Roger Gracie - Gracie Lightweight bout: Pat Healy vs. Maximo Blanco - Healy
Preliminary card
Light Heavyweight bout: Mike Kyle vs. Marcos Rogerio de Lima - Kyle
Light Heavyweight bout: Rafael Cavalcante vs. Yoel Romero Palacio - Cavalcante
Welterweight bout: Evangelista Santos vs. Jordan Mein - Mein
Women's Bantamweight bout: Alexis Davis vs. Amanda Nunes - Davis
Middleweight bout: Dominique Steele vs. Chris Mierzwiak - Steele
Main Card
Welterweight Quarterfinal bout: Chris Lozano vs. Brent Weedman - Weedman
Welterweight Quarterfinal bout: Ben Saunders vs. Chris Cisneros - Saunders
Welterweight Quarterfinal bout: Luis Santos vs. Dan Hornbuckle - Hornbuckle
Welterweight Quarterfinal bout: Steve Carl vs. Douglas Lima - Lima
Undercard
Featherweight bout: Brylan Van Artsdalen vs. Joel Roberts - Roberts
Welterweight bout: Giedrius Karavackas vs. LeVon Maynard - Maynard
Featherweight bout: Alexandre Bezerra vs. Scott Heckman - Bezerra (really hope this fight makes it to TV)
Featherweight bout: James Jones vs. Lester Caslow - Jones
Heavyweight bout: Azunna Anyanwu vs. J.A. Dudley - Dudley
Miscellaneous
-- Rich Franklin vs Tito Ortiz will not be happening anytime soon. "Ace" is set to undergo minor shoulder surgery next week, and will be sidelined for two to three months.
-- Ross Pearson dropping down to featherweight is a great idea. In fact, his last opponent, Edson Barboza may want to do the same.
-- Expect GSP's light-heavyweight teammate Francis (Limitless) Carmont to be signed by a major MMA organization any day now.
