My streak of bad picking continued because I bombed on most of my picks last week.
Of course I picked Tito Ortiz to win, because I thought Rashad Evans would be rusty after being off for so long. Instead Rashad ended up looking better than I think I’d ever seen him.
Then I picked Mike Pyle to have a trick up his sleeve that Rory MacDonald had maybe never seen before and Rory goes out and destroys him. I would have never guessed that Rory would have run through him like that.
It was a bittersweet result because both are my friends. But I’m pleased to see Rory come away with a big win. Next for him will be a big fight on the Toronto card I’m guessing. I’d like to see him face Jon Fitch, assuming he’s recovered from his surgery.
Obviously you can expect to see a lot of Canadians back in action there in December. But I know a lot of Canadians are scheduled to fight after my September fight so they may be tied up.
I watched a bit of Chael Sonnen’s Q&A last week. I find him entertaining, but if you ever met him in person, he isn’t like that at all. It’s really like going to see a standup comedian, but I swear he’s got somebody writing his material for him.
He’s getting notorious but I wouldn’t call it trash talking. It’s more like nonsense talking. Overall I think his jokes are harmless.
I think he’d make a joke at anybody’s expense, so I wouldn’t get too insulted by one of his jokes. That being said, I wouldn’t want to be on his bad side and then become the brunt of many of his jokes, like Blackhouse and Anderson Silva.
My training has been going really well and next week I’m heading down to Lethbridge to train with with Lee Mein and Jordan Mein. Nick Ring’s going to be down there. Jordan’s getting ready for his Cyborg fight while Ring is preparing for Boetsch fight. It should be a good couple days.
I’m also going to be in Kelowna for a wedding in two weeks, so I hope to spend some time at Toshido, his old gym. I don’t know if he’ll be there though.
This Sunday we’ve got UFC Live 5, and in my opinion, for a free card, there are some great fights that I’m really looking forward to. Here are my picks.
Dan Hardy vs. Chris Lytle
I think Hardy’s back is against the wall. This is a must-win for him. Chris Lytle is admittedly at the end of his career and not because he’s not capable, but because he’s choosing to move on. Having said that, I don’t see Hardy beating Lytle. I’m going with Lytle.
Jim Miller vs. Ben Henderson
I’m looking forward to watching this fight. Is Miller’s wrestling enough to beat Henderson is the big question. I don’t think so. I think Henderson is one of those guys who can go form bell to bell, so I see him going the distance and winning by decision.
As an aside, I’ve been hearing a lot of people wondering why Melvin Guillard isn’t getting a top fight so he can be a contender. The problem is, the UFC still has to deal with Edgar-Maynard 3, which is really holding things up. I think the winner of this fight is deserving of a title shot. But win or lose these guys will both probably fight again before they get that title fight. So it sets up a nice fight for the winner of Cerrone-Oliveira. Speaking of which…
Donald Cerrone vs. Charles Oliveira
It’s funny because Cerrone is calling Oliveira cocky but personally I can’t think of anybody cockier than Cerrone. That being said, he’s looked great lately and I see him coming away with a TKO. This might be Fight of the Night.
Amir Sadollah vs. Duane Ludwig
Everybody talks about Amir’s Muay Thai, but in my opinion it’s not even in the same league as Ludwig’s. He should really take this to the ground, but he’s never done that in his fight so I’m going to go with Bang by TKO.
CB Dollaway vs. Jared Hamman
Everybody knows my feelings about fighters dropping down in weight. With the exception of Boetsch, they look less than stellar in their first fight at the new weight. So I’m going with Dollaway, and that’s painful for me because I’m not a fan of his.
Joseph Benavidez vs. Eddie Wineland
I’m going to go with Benavidez. These are two small guys who able to keep a pace going and are extremely durable. Benavidez is going to use his wrestling just like his teammate Mendes did last weekend.
Ed Herman vs. Kyle Noke
Herman had a big comeback fight for against Tim Credeur. It’s hard to say he looked great in it because it only lasted a few seconds, but it was a big win coming off of injuries. But this is a tough fight because Noke is pretty solid everywhere. I have to go with Noke.