UFC 183 preview

This UFC card should be looked at as a lesson as to what a PPV ad campaign SHOULD look like.

That's how you do it. Quit with the same old paint-by-numbers advertising and actually put some effort into making cards feel special.

Anyway, Silva's fight today against Nick Diaz should be a cakewalk... assuming he comes back at the same skill level. My guess is that he's going to (he and the UFC can certainly afford top-level medical care) and this fight will be over fairly quickly.

I'll take Silva to win by KO in Round 3.

In the co-main event, Tyron "The Black Jon Fitch" Woodley (yes, I will never revoke that nickname) will square off against Kelvin Gastelum in a welterweight fight.

Good thing the main event came through because this is a low-name value secondary main fight.

Gastelum is a highly touted name after his win over Jake Ellenberger and could move a win away from a title shot if he takes this.

The same could be said for Woodley, who has proven to have knockout power and can also lay-and-pray his way to victory.

I actually think Woodley is nearing elite status, for better or for worse, and have him winning by decision.

Rest of the Main Card

Lightweight bout: Joe Lauzon vs. Al Iaquinta - Good striker vs. grappler battle, and I'll give it to the grappler here. Lauzon by submission in Round 2.

Middleweight bout: Thales Leites vs. Tim Boetsch - I have a feeling this fight will get pretty dull, but it has a chance at being competitive. I'll take Leites to continue his win streak with a decision win.

Welterweight bout: Jordan Mein vs. Thiago Alves - Young lion beats old lion in a solid opener. Mein wins with a KO in Round 1.

UFC on Fox: Gustafsson vs. Johnson picks

After a great week of picking last week, and a phenomenally bizarre week of NFL ball-related controversy, it's time to get to the No. 1 contender bout for the UFC World Light Heavyweight Championship.

I'm going to take Alexander Gustafsson over Anthony "Rumble" Johnson by virtue of his overall size advantage and well-rounded striking.

Gustafsson, in my view, is the best challenge for Jon Jones and should have won the first fight. He has a shot at another match and I think he dominates his way to a Round-2 KO win.

In the co-main event, Dan Henderson (who is still fighting apparently) has a bout with Gegard Mousasi. While I like Mousasi's striking, it's not all that better from Hendo's in recent fights. Add in some great wrestling, and I'll take Hendo by decision.

In the final two main card fights, I'll pick Phil Davis to pick up a decision win over Ryan Bader, and I'll give Akira Corassani the win over Sam Sicilia in a decision. (Yeah, I'm not too hyped for this card outside the main event, as I don't see fighters getting in much KO or submission danger.)

UFC Fight Night: McGregor vs Siver picks

So I'm watching a terrible follow-up to an all-time great conference championship game. And since I'm sure you want to get to focusing on the apparent Seattle vs. New England Super Bowl, I'll belt out these picks quickly.

Featherweight Bout: Conor McGregor v. Dennis Siver - I think Siver will be more competitive than people think, but McGregor really is an elite. I'm taking him by KO in Round 2.

Lightweight Bout: Donald Cerrone v. Benson Henderson - Getting a WEC flashback here. I love that this fight is a thing. I'll go with the hot hand and take Cerrone by decision.

Middleweight Bout: Uriah Hall v. Ron Stallings - Time to show off Hall to the world. He'll pick up a KO 1 victory.

Lightweight Bout: Norman Parke v. Gleison Tibau - Should be a fun opener to the main card. I'll take Tibau by decision.

UFC 182 preview

Here are my picks for tonight's first UFC card of the year!

TUF 20 Finale thoughts (and UFC on Fox picks)

I'm going to make kind of quick picks for this card simply because I've got quite a bit going on today.

First, though, I wanted to wish a hearty congratulations to Carla Esparza, who defeated Rose Namajunas via Sub 3 to win the inaugural UFC World Strawweight Championship.

Looks like I was right about the third-round submission part. Just had the wrong fighter.

In all honesty, I should have seen it coming. Rose tore through her end of the bracket, but she only faced one fighter ranked in the top four seeds. She also had the advantage of the house putting fighters in matches on short rest.

Esparza finished the 16-seed easily and then beat the third- and fourth-seeded fighters in back-to-back decisions. And with a full camp, she certainly looked every bit the champion she was in Invicta, and will surely be for the UFC as well.

With the win, I feel fairly certain that Esparza is the best 115-pound fighter in the world right now. Jessica Aguilar certainly has an argument, but when you shun UFC and Invicta to fight in a barely-there World Series of Fighting division, you don't get to lay claim over a fighter who just won a tournament of top-flight, international talent.

The question now turns to who Esparza faces next. To me, the obvious answer would be Joanne Calderwood, who was seeded second in the tournament and dominated Seo Hee Ham, who had been a top-ten fighter at atomweight.

A rematch with Jessica Penne or Tecia Torres (especially Torres) could be fun, and Felice Herrig looked good in her fight (though I'd rather see her fight Heather Clark).

For Namajunas, I'd like to see her fight Aisling Daly, who surprised me and won by round 1 submission despite missing weight. Daly and Namajunas would be a cool clash of unorthodox strikers with deadly submission games.

Overall, I was TERRIBLE at picking the male fights, going 0-2-1 in them, but I went 5-3 with the women's fights, including 5-1 on the undercard (Daly's weight mishap throwing me off the trail of a perfect record). Certainly not my best effort, but seeing as I'n still getting my feet back down in terms of consistent picking, .500 isn't bad.

Heck, I had a winning record with fights involving TUF fighters.

But back to Esparza, I thought she was definitely the favorite going in and I had been rooting for her. While I got fooled by Namajunas' run, I certainly am glad to see a deserving fighter in the position of champion and wish her the best as she joins Ronda Rousey as a face of women's MMA.

Well, that was long. Let's make some picks!

UFC on Fox main card

Stipe Miocic vs. Junior Dos Santos - Dos Santos via KO 1

Nate Diaz (missed 155 lb weight limit) vs. Rafael dos Anjos - dos Anjos via decision

Stefan Struve vs. Alistair Overeem - Overeem by KO 3

Matt Mitrione vs. Gabriel Gonzaga - Gonzaga by Submission 2

Ultimate Fighter 20 Finale preview and Episode 12 recap

After a season of excellent fights and compelling in-house feuds, the time has come to go solely on the fights.

Carla Esparza (10-2), top seed in the house and former champion in Invicta FC, will face seventh-seeded Rose Namajunas (3-1) for the first-ever UFC World Strawweight Championship.

(I'm not adding a 'Women's' qualifier. There is no men's equivalent, so it's the one and only World Strawweight Championship.)

The season showed a lot of drama within Team Pettis, so I can only imagine that having a full camp was a welcome change of pace for Esparza.

I expect her strategy to be focused on her wresting and using her boxing skills to set up her takedowns. She will most likely employ a similar 'take down and get up quickly' style that was seen in her fight with Jessica Penne in the semifinals.

Meanwhile, Namajunas (aka the Next Ronda Rousey) has looked incredible since all her teammates were eliminated, making her the focus of an entire unit of people. Despite having a predominately striking-based background, 'Thug Rose' submitted all three of her house opponents, the last two times via kimura.

The big danger for her will be her inexperience. Counting the tournament fights, she's been in six professional fights (and only four count on her record). Facing a decorated fighter like Esparza may well expose some holes in her game.

That said, I'm taking Thug Rose to beat the Cookie Monster due to her superior height/reach and deadly submission game.

Pick: Namajunas via submission in Round 3

In the third-place bout, which will open the card, Randa Markos will square off against teammate/in-house feud enemy Jessica Penne.

For those who didn't see, Penne, Felice Herrig and Esparza got into a row with Markos over her attempts to overrule their request to split the practices in half. I can see both sides of the argument, but regardless, there is beef here.

Penne looked like she certainly belonged at 115 despite being a former 105-pound champion in Invicta. However, Markos made a name for herself in dropping Tecia Torres and Herrig in the tournament.

I'm going with Markos by decision due to her ability to detach emotionally and simply be aggressive.

Rest of the Main Card

Featherweight bout: Jeremy Stephens vs. Charles Oliveira - The battle is on between two ranked fighters. It's Stephens' striking and takedown defense vs. Oliveira's ground game. I'm going to trust Stephens to not be controlled too much, avoid submissions, and eke out a decision win.

Lightweight bout: K.J. Noons vs. Daron Cruickshank - Noons is a well-known Strikeforce fighter while Cruickshank is a good fighter that keeps his opponent at range. Going with my gut here, but I'm going with Noons to wear down Cruickshank here and pick up a decision.

Lightweight bout: Joe Proctor vs. Yancy Medeiros - I'm going with Proctor to surprise some people to pick up a submission win in round 1.

Undercard Bouts (all Strawweight fights involving TUF 20 members)

Felice Herrig v. Lisa Ellis - Didn't get to see much of Ellis outside of her loss, but she has issues with Herrig. I see an aggressive fight, but Herrig by KO 2.

Bec Rawlings v. Heather Clark - How bad did Rawlings and the Scrapettes hate Heather Clark? Rough times, and I see a healthy Clark getting revenge here with a decision win.

Joanne Calderwood v. Seo Hee Hamm - One of the house members was still hurt, so Seo makes her debut in the UFC against the 2-seed who lost to Namajunas. Calderwood's a tall, terrifying striker, so I'm taking her by KO 1.

Tecia Torres v. Angela Magana - The fight will be respectful, but both definitely had their enemies in the house. Torres is too good a fighter to lose to three TUF house fighters, so I'll take her by decision.

Alex Chambers v. Aisling Daly - Daly missed weight and though I hate to admit it, her backstory in the house leads me to think she might be in her head at the moment. I'm certainly rooting for the Irish fighter, but Chambers is my pick by KO 2.

Angela Hill v. Emily Kagan - Two lower seeds face off. Hill, I think, has more upside, so I'll take her by KO 1.

UFC 181 picks

It's been a while since I've made picks on here, but here begins (hopefully) another run of solid selections!

Check them out in this brief return video.