Seriously, this company has produced yet another all-female card with 14 fights on it, and how much press has its first title bout received? Very, very little.
Invicta has probably the deepest cards in terms of solid action and really need to get a TV contract. For those who want to see it, it will be on their website, www.invictafc.com.
But let's be honest, anyone who is reading this wants to hear about the season premiere of Bellator FC and the UFC on FX card. That is truly sad.
But since you asked (I'm sure someone did), heavyweights are the lay of the land this week. Travis Browne and Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva headline the UFC card, while Bellator begins a heavyweight tournament to determine a challenger for the Bellator Heavyweight Championship, which Cole Konrad vacated in order to manage the production of milk and other products.
No, I'm not kidding. The undefeated heavyweight champion of the most notable non-UFC heavyweight division decided that milk was a better call than trying to get a big payday on the A-show.
I haven't said much on this, and I do find it curious that he wouldn't want to see how he stacks up. That said, if you're not passionate about the sport, you're not passionate. No sense in risking a major injury when you could have a steady job.
He's clearly a conservative mind who would rather have his career sewn up sooner than later, and there's nothing wrong with that. He can always say he was the most notable undefeated heavyweight champion in the world at the time of his retirement, and for that, I salute him.
Anyway, this is droning, so I'll look at the UFC's main event. Browne has certainly been fun to watch (at least for me) in recent fights, and Silva is on a skid.
That said, I have to say that the man who dominated Fedor in the Heavyweight Grand Prix is an incredible threat, especially on the ground. I think he gets off the schnide this fight and as such, I go Silva by Submission in Round 1.
Rest of UFC's main card
Welterweights: Jake Ellenberger v. Jay Hieron - Ah, yes. The fight that was to co-headline the mythical UFC 151. Glad it could happen.
Ellenberger has looked great recently (besides the loss to Kampmann) and is a complete fighter. Although I respect the skills of the former Bellator champion Hieron, I expect Ellenberger to move closer to a title shot by winning via decision.
Flyweights: John Dodson v. Jussier Formiga - Formiga via decision
Welterweights: Josh Neer v. Justin Edwards - I'll take the former TUF competitor Edwards via Submission Rd. 2.
Bellator 75 (All Heavyweights)
Eric Prindle v. Thiago Santos - Both looked good (by Bellator standards) last tournament. I'm going to take Santos to get himself past Prindle this time via KO 2.
Mike Wessel v. Richard Hale - Not as impressed by Wessel. I'll take Hale to pull a mild decision upset.
Mark Holata v. Vinicius Queiroz - Holata has more than 20 pounds on Queiroz. I'm taking the big man by decision.
Brett Rogers v. Alexander Volkov - The first Strikeforce fighter to take a round from Fedor goes into a slightly less skilled pond and gets an early KO 1 victory.
And lastly, since I raised it, I want to talk about the Atomweight title fight. Neither fighter has double-digit bout totals, but both have shown to be exciting fighters. Penne in particular has been incredibly fun to watch.
I'd recommend anyone to watch Penne on YouTube. Sugiyama has fought in Japan, where females, and smaller weights, have had more play.
Even though Sugiyama has that depth, though, I have to say that I have a feeling on Penne here. It's really an eyeball text kind of thing.
With my NINTH and really most important pick of this blog, I take Penne by decision.
Hope everyone enjoys ALL the fights and if I had to recommend one card... well, if you can't tell by the end of this blog, you really aren't reading that closely.
Follow me at twitter.com/seantherebel.
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