UFC 103

Posted on by georgefattell

I am picking Rich Franklin to defeat Vitor Belfort and Junior dos Santos to defeat Cro Cop. Both fights were tough for me to pick because I haven’t seen much fight video for 3 out of 4 of these guys, the exception being Rich Franklin.

I based my predictions on my assessement of their records and fighting styles. All four seem to prefer stand up to ground game and they like to throw big punches, and in the case of Cro Cop big kicks too. I expect both fights to end with KO’s or TKO’s, one way or another. I feel like I’m putting more guesswork into these picks than I usually do, but I have no choice.

UFC 103 POST FIGHT

Well, I went 1 and 1 on predicted outcomes. Franklin was KO’d fairly easily by Belfort in the first round and dos Santos won a hard fought, brutal battle with Cro Cop in three rounds. Cro Cop had to ask the ref to stop the fight due to catching a punch right in the eye. He simply could not see and defend himself at that stage.

With those defeats the UFC careers of both Cro Cop and Franklin may have come to an end. It definitely looks like Cro Cop is done after that beating. Franklin did not sustain a lot damage in his quick defeat, but one has to wonder where he goes from here. The Middle weight division is dominated by Anderson Silva, who destroyed Franklin twice and the Light Heavy weight division probably has at least 5 or 6 fighters who are superior to Franklin. The road back to the top will be a hard one for him.

UFC 102

Posted on by georgefattell

Some post fight thoughts on UFC 102. All in all, it turned out to be a fairly entertaining night of fights, highlighted by the Heavyweight battle between Randy Couture and Antonio Noguiera.

I made predictions on the co-main events and went 1 and 1 (my predictions were posted on my Twitter page). I was right on Thiago Silva beating Keith Jardine and I wrong on Couture beating Noguiera. My overall UFC prediction record, started at UFC 100, is now 5 right and 2 wrong.

Film: District 9

Posted on by georgefattell

Well, yesterday afternoon I finally got around to seeing the surprise hit of the summer movie season, Distict 9. The film is an imaginative story of over one million reptile like alien beings trapped on present day earth after their massive ship became disabled above Johannesburg, South Africa in 1980. They are herded into a slum in Johannesburg called District 9. The film explores the challenges the aliens face co-existing with humans and follows the efforts made by the human authorities to relocate the aliens over a hundred miles outside Joburg.

I thought D-9 was a very good sci fi, but I can’t place it among the all-time great sci fi’s. On a numerical scale I would have to give it a 7 out of 10. Perhaps after several more viewings I will ultimately give it a higher rating, but that is how a see D-9 right now. I’ve been an avid fan of sci fi for over 30 years so I’ve seen quite a few great sci fi films and I’m holding D-9 to a high standard. That said, I think D-9 is a truly remarkable effort as a first film for director Neill Blomkamp.

In an interview that Blomkamp gave at Comic Con he said he wanted D-9 to reflect the look of non glossy, hard edged 1980’s films. It is clear to me that Blomkamp must be a fan of the work of Ridley Scott and Paul Verhoeven. You can definitely see the influence of films such as Blade Runner, Robocop, Starship Troopers and Blackhawk Down on D-9.

This film has an ending that definitely sets it up for a sequel. Given the huge box office success that D-9 is enjoying it would seem that the a sequel is very likely. If a sequel is made Blomkamp will no doubt be given a budget that is much larger than the $30 million he had to make D-9. It will very interesting to see if Blomkamp can equal or surpass his impressive debut.

The Liberal Agenda vs A Center Right Nation

Posted on by georgefattell

The majority of the American people now identify themselves as conservative. Gallup recently released some very interesting polling data which confirms that.

I think the Obama Administration and the rest of the Democartic leadership will have to significantly water down, if not totally scrap, their plans for healthcare, cap & trade and amnesty for illegal aliens. They are going to be at odds with most Americans on all three of those issues and others.

UFC 101 post fight

Posted on by georgefattell

Well, I went 2 for 2 tonight, although I thought Forest Griffin would last longer than 1 round. Anderson Silva totally dominated Griffin and KO’d him at 3:23 in the first Rd. It wasn’t close in any way. I now hope Dana White can arrange a fight between Silva and Lyoto Machida.

Penn submitted Florian in the 4th Rd. I got the round right, but I predicted TKO. Well, it came close to a TKO at several points. Florian gave it his all, but he was outclassed in the strength dept. and had no advantage in skills. Penn’s take down defense was very effective. Penn won every round in my opinion, but it was still a competitive fight. BJ Penn was a major step up for Florian and he is going to have to study this fight and improve in a number of areas if he hopes to defeat a fighter of Penn’s caliber in the future.

UFC 101 Predictions

Posted on by georgefattell

I posted my predictions for UFC 100 on You Tube, but I can’t do that this time around due to a sore throat. So, I am going to take this opportunity to make my predictions here on the gmf journal blog. It has been my intention to get this blog rolling for the past few weeks and this seems to be as good a topic as any for my first post. I am going to use this blog to comment on a wide range of subjects that are of interest to me. Everything from sports and politics to science and religion. That and more. At some point in the future I would like to write other blogs that will that will be about specific subjects, but for now I’m going stick with writing one general interest blog. OK, on to UFC 101.

Light HWT Fight

Anderson Silva vs. Forest Griffin: I don’t see how Griffin can win this fight. Anderson Silva is just too good. The guy has no weaknesses. He can fight well on his feet or on the ground. Forest Griffin is also very well rounded. He will be well prepared and fights with a lot of spirit. I like Griffin, but I don’t see how he will last 3 rounds with Silva, because Griffin does not have KO power in his strikes. If Griffin could not KO Rampage Jackson or Rashad Evans I don’t see how he KO’s Silva. Anderson Silva, on the other hand, has plenty of KO power and can KO opponents with either his hands or his feet.

Silva wins by TKO, 2nd Rd.

Lightweight Fight

B.J. Penn vs. Kenny Florian: I have gone back and forth on this fight in past few weeks because these two seem to be pretty evenly matched. Each has their advantages, Penn is probably the better striker and Florian has stronger kicks (hey, he was a Div. I soccer player at Boston College). Both have strong ground games. Both also seem to be highly motivated for this fight. Penn wants restore his reputation after his one sided loss to Georges St. Pierre and Florian badly wants the recognition that a championship belt will bring him.

I think Penn wins this fight, but it will be a hard fought battle. In the end I still think Penn is most skilled UFC fighter at 155 pounds. Going up to 170 to face GSP was a bridge too far for him. He simply got overpowered by GSP and was also up against one of few fighters in UFC who had a superior MMA skill set. Florian will not be able to overpower Penn at 155 and does not have an MMA skill set that is superior to Penn’s imo.

Penn wins by TKO, 4th Rd.