Just another WordPress.com weblog
On YouTube’s 5th birthday, a look at the first video uploaded, but which was the first comment?
Posted using ShareThis
This short video was shot at the San Diego Zoo. I thought the background on this landmark first YouTube video looked kind of familiar. I’ve got to go to the Zoo and shoot a few videos there myself. Great sights and sounds at that place.
The co-main events were good, but not great. Georges St. Pierre defeated Dan Hardy by unanimous decision. GSP clearly dominated the fight, yet Hardy was impressive in defeat by absorbing a lot of punishment and lasting 5 rounds with the champ. Hardy’s lack of an effective takedown defense was exposed as GSP took him down at will.
The Mir vs. Carwin battle did not last one round as Shane Carwin delivered a devastating barrage of punches that KO’d Mir. The extra weight and muscle that Mir put on did not appear to help him. If anything, Mir looked slower and less agile than he did when he weighed around 240 lbs. Moreover, Mir did not look significantly stronger as Carwin was able to push him up against the fence and control Mir with relative ease. Although I picked Mir to win I did note that Carwin could end the fight quickly with his KO power and that is indeed what happened.
Unfortunately, I missed the Jon Fitch’s victory over Ben Saunders, but the scores indicate he dominated that fight. I think he is deserving of a rematch with GSP at this point.
UFC 111 at the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ presents two potentially great fights as the co-main events.
A welterweight title fight featuring the great UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre vs. Dan Hardy, a hard hitting up and comer from the UK. GSP is the heavy favorite and with good reason. GSP has no evident weaknesses in his MMA skill set. He can fight very well on his feet or on the ground and is always in tremendous condition. Hardy has an extensive martial arts background, but we haven’t seen much beside boxing in his UFC fights. Hardy has a puncher’s chance of winning this fight, but I don’t think he will prevail. I think GSP ends this 5 round fight by round 3, with a KO or TKO.
The other main event is a Heavyweight bout between former HW Champ Frank Mir and the undefeated Shane Carwin. Both men weighed in at the HW limit of 265 pounds. Mir was somewhat earlier in his career, but has built up his muscle mass in order to take on behemoths such as Carwin and current UFC HW Champ Brock Lesnar. Of course, Lesnar demolished Mir in when they last met in the Octagon and at that time Mir was 20 to 25 pounds lighter. Lesnar was able to throw Mir around and smother him in that fight. We’ll see if the added bulk helps Mir. This fight is a tough call because both fighters are very capable of ending the fight in round 1. Mir is a very skilled master of submitting opponents. Carwin is built like a tank and has KO power. I’ll go with the more experienced Mir to win, but I won’t be shocked if Carwin puts Mir to sleep.
Another interesting fight on this card pits Welterweights Jon Fitch against Ben Saunders. I’ll take the always formidable Fitch in this fight. If he wins he may get a rematch against GSP, who he lost to when they last fought.
There are two potentially really good UFC fights on tonight.
The Heavyweight bout features two very tough fighters from Brazil in Junior Dos Santos and Gabriel Gonzaga. I’ll take Dos Santos in this fight and I don’t expect this fight to make it past round 2 because both of these guys are bomb throwers, so a KO or TKO is very likely.
The other fight is a Light Heavyweight contest that pits Jon “Bones” Jones against Brandon Vera. I’m rooting for Vera to win this fight because he is a local guy that fights out of San Diego, but I think the odds are against him. If I had to bet on this fight my money would go on Jones. Why? Jones is simply too fast and multidimensional.
Wow, I see it has almost been a month since my last post on this blog. Well, it won’t be another month before I enter more posts on this blog. I’ve been busy at work and elsewhere, but there are all sorts of topics I want to put my two cents in on, including, but not limited to, sports, politics, technology, foreign policy and the economy. Comments coming soon.
The co-main events look like they both could very good fights.
Antonio Norgueira vs. Cain Velazquez: I’ll take Big Nog. Cain Velazquez is certainly a very tough up and comer in the heavyweight division, but Nog represents a fighter with a much higher skill level than anyone Cain has yet faced in his UFC career. This fight will probably go to the ground early and despite the fact that Velazquez is an outstanding wrestler I think that is where Nog will have the advantage with his great BJJ skills. Velazquez has displayed great endurance in his previous fights, but he has not displayed KO power in his striking. I think Nog will find a way of submitting Velasquez.
Wanderlei Silva vs. Michael Bisping: This fight is a very tough call. These two really seem to hate each other and I don’t expect this fight to go the distance. This fight will end in a TKO/KO imo. The question is who gets KO’d? A years ago I would have selected Silva to win for sure, but I think he on the downside of his career now may not be able to match the quickness of Bisping. I’ll go with Bisping.
On the undercard I’ll take Ryan Bader over Keith Jardine.
Saints vs. Cardinals: This should be quite a shoot out. I haven’t been all that impressed by the Saints defense this year and I do think the Cardinals will score at least 24 points. OTOH, as Green Bay demonstrated, Arizona has it’s own problems on defense and Drew Brees should be able to riddle the weak AZ secondary with both short and long passes. I think the Saints will score at least 30 points. Of course, the Superdome also gives the Saints another advantage. In the end I think New Orleans just has too much firepower for Arizona and will win a high scoring contest.
Colts vs. Ravens: A classic match-up here pitting a high octane pass oriented offense against a very aggressive defense that is usually capable of disrupting their opponents game plan.
Can’t say that I would be shocked if the Ravens pull off an upset in this game, but I don’t think they will. I have to pick Peyton Manning & Co. to win this game.
Vikings vs. Cowboys: Only a couple of weeks ago I thought the Vikings were the best bet to win the Super Bowl, but that changed as I came to the conclusion that the Cowboys are peaking right now and present a real threat to the Vikings. I think the Cowboys will upset and move on for a rematch with the Saints in New Orleans.
Chargers vs. Jets: The Jets have had a great season and they are a formidable team, especially on defense, but I just don’t think the Jets can score enough to win against the Chargers. This game is similar to the Colts and Ravens. High power offense against high power defense and in this case I think the high powered offense wins. Chargers QB Phillip Rivers and the tall Charger receivers pose a problem that Jets do not have a solution for. I think the Chargers will dispatch the over achieving Jets and move on to a Battle Royale against the Colts.
Daily Presidential Tracking Poll
Posted using ShareThis
UFC 107 looks like it has a pretty good card imo. I think the top four fights could all be very competitive.
Penn vs. Sanchez: I don’t think Sanchez can dethrone the champion. As a result of his new training regimen Penn looks unbeatable at 155 lbs. Kenny Florian found out the hard way that Penn is very capable of going four rounds without gassing. I expect Sanchez will find out the same, if it goes four rounds, which I doubt. Sanchez will be aggressive and this fight will probably end with a KO/TKO, one way or another. I think Penn will prevail with a KO by round three.
Mir vs. Kongo: Interesting contrast of styles here. The Jiu Jitsu expert vs the Puncher. I’ll take the newly bulked up Frank Mir in the fight. Kongo definitely has KO capability and Mir has to be very careful to avoid the Big punch that will put him never-never land. I think Mir is smart enough to avoid that and will bring the fight to the ground, where he should have a great advantage. Cain Velasque’s recent victory over Kongo demonstrated that Kongo is still very vulnerable to fighters with superior wrestling ability. Mir’s Jiu-Jitsu skills and the 20 pounds of muscle that he has added (he now weighs 264 lbs) should enable him to beat Kongo. Mir by submission in the second round.
Fitch vs. Pierce: I never seen Pierce fight, but I have seen Fitch on a number of occasions and Fitch always fights well, even when he loses. I’ve got to go with Fitch. I’ll say Fitch by decision.
Florian vs. Guida: Florian suffered a very decisive loss to B.J. Penn in his last fight and as a result Florian decided to switch trainers. He is now using the Montreal based Firas Zahabi, who also trains Georges St. Pierre. I expect to see a new and improved Florian. Clay Guida will present a real challenge because he skilled in multiple fighting styles and has high endurance. This should be a tough fight, but I don’t see Florian suffering a second consecutive defeat. I’ll say Florian by sub in round three.
gmf journal 