UFC 113 - Machida vs. Shogun 2

I took a break from the blog for a while because I was off getting married in Jamaica but now I’m back and, of course, I still hold a perfect record for picking main events since September of 2009 which ain’t too shabby. This main event could be the one that messes up my record.

Lyoto Machida vs. Muricio “Shogun” RuaSweet Jesus, it’s about time these guys had a fight. Neither of these guys have fought since they last met in October. That’s a LONG time for Lyoto to sit on the Light Heavyweight Title.
With my bitter rant out of the way, I’m going with Lyoto for this one.
I think Shogun won their last fight and only lost because of idiot judging. For example, Cecil Peoples giving it all to Machida because he doesn’t think that leg kicks can end a fight. Cecil should go back to boxing because leg kicks have ended TONS of fights in MMA and, of course, in Kickboxing.
I’m picking Machida because, in his last fight, he tasted his first ‘defeat’ but had the luck of it not being on his record and that definitely lit a fire under him.
For some reason I think that Rua may try to take Machida down this time. That would be a bad idea because Machda is great at countering his opponent’s movements and takedown attempts would just play to Machda's strengths more. Rua would have a better chance standing up but I still think that Machida is too slick to lose this fight.

Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson vs. Matt MitrioneKimbo is going to slice this guys head off. It's annoying that everyone, including Kimbo, talks about how new he is to the sport. He’s been training MMA for long enough; for at least 7 years, since I was in college. My trainer’s trainer Bas Rutten took Kimbo under his wing a LONG time ago as Kimbo’s internet stuff was getting really big. They had a falling out but Kimbo has been at it for a long time and should quit playing the ‘new guy in town’.
I’m picking Kimbo on this one because I think he’s explosive and has a lot of training under his belt. Matt Mitrione is certainly greener to the sport than Kimbo and I’m picking Kimbo via brain swelling.

Josh Koscheck vs. Paul “SEMTEX” DaleyIn an old Cage Rage event (I can't remember who "Semtex" was fighting) Daley's opponent was doing his pre-fight interview and, trying to be tough, said “Yeah, Semtex, more like Tampax” and I always think of that when I hear “semtex” because it sounded like an insult a 6-year-old would have said before a fight. It also made me laugh really hard when I heard it.
Daley is a rockstar with his hands and a very explosive and strong fighter but I think Koscheck will get him to the ground and smash his face in long enough to take away Daley’s strengths. I hope this fight will be more exciting than that, which a quick KO via Daley would be, but Koscheck will play this smart and work for takedowns and control throughout this fight to grind out a win.
Don't mind all of my funny pics, I couldn't pick just one.
My favourite is the painter.

Sam “Hands of Stone” Stout vs. Jeremy Stephens
I’ve known Sam since he had braces and he’s always been an impressive athlete so I’ve gotta go with him on this one and, like many of Stout's UFC appearences, this one has the makings for fight of the night. The UFC loves matching Stout up with punchers to showcase great kickboxing matches in the UFC ring and this one should be about the same.
With UFC being illegal in Ontario Stout grew up fighting in Montreal so he’s got a big home turf advantage to go along with his skill advantage and Stephens doesn’t stand a chance.

UFC 111 - Fight Picks and Breakdown GSP vs. Hardy and more

** Still 100% on picking main events since Sept 2009 **

Georges "RUSH" St. Pierre vs. Dan "The Outlaw" Hardy (Welterweight Title Fight)My prediction is that Hardy will be Rushed to the hospital after this one.
This main event is a joke but GSP is running out of competition in the Welterweight division.
My pick is obviously GSP for this one and I would be interested in anyone that may have ANY argument that Hardy could win this one.
GSP has been caught by a big underdog in the past but I'm sure GSP has learned from his mistake and will look to do a lot of safe Ground and Pound or work for Submissions.

Frank Mir vs. Shane Carwin (Heavyweight Interim Title Fight)Mir has been on a mission to put on as much muscle he can in hopes of having another rematch against Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesner and it will be interesting to see how that extra muscle ads to his game. Everyone should see a bigger/stronger Mir and he should be able to walk away with a win over the 11-0 Shane Carwin.

Thiago Alves vs. Jon FitchThis is the big event of the night for me and should be really competitive. Jon Fitch is my pick for this one because he's got far too much experience. Both guys have met before and Fitch walked away with the win. Both guys have also dropped wins to GSP but Fitch has had a chance to get some wins under his belt and build some confidence since then while Alves has not. . When Fitch win's this match I think he'll quickly be in the running for a rematch against GSP for the Welterweight belt.

Ben Saunders vs. Jake Ellenberger

Saunders has showed some impressive knees and he’ll probably look to capitalize on his knees and length in this match and do most of his damage standing up. Jake is a ground and pound fighter and I think has the skills to take Saunders down and grind out a win via ground and pound.

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My Scar: How to Heal a Scar - Recommendations and What Works

* This is part 2 of 2. The first part told the story of how I got my most recent scar and it actually spurred a lot of interest. I guess people like seeing pictures of my mangled face. haha.
- So after getting a Scar and needing stitches, I asked different doctors and people the best way to treat it and here's my story...

The Doctor that did my stitches: While laying there getting stitches put into my head, I asked the doctor if he could recommend any way to make the scaring heel up it’s best. The doctor (who looked about 65 years old) said that there isn’t anything. He said that there are a lot of things that people think will help, vitamin E being the most popular, but none of them will do anything so just don’t itch it and it should heal fine. – So, no help from that doctor.

A Friend of mine that use to work at a plastic surgery place: She told me that the doctor that she worked for would always recommend Lavender and vitamin E for patients that just had surgery and that it would lessen the appearance of the scar.

The doctor that took my stitches out: While laying there, again, with a different doctor, I asked the same question about treatments for heeling scars and he told me to try vitamin E. I asked about the Lavender and he had never heard of it.

I went to the store and found a product that is formulated for treating scars (Bio-Oil) and it has vitamin E, lavender and a couple of other things in it. It's an oily substance that I rubbed on my scar and after using it for over a month I saw NO results. This stuff was an expensive waste of money.

A friend and student of mine (Lori) was using a product on a scar that she got on her chin (funny story there) and it was working great. This stuff (Elastoplast) isn’t cheap ($35 range) but I used it and it worked GREAT. The biggest thing that I noticed was, after just the first night of having it on, the strip took away all of the deep yucky red that my scar had. I even put it on another scar I’ve had on my forehead for a LONG time and it made that one look a little less noticeable.
This piddly blog is obviously not making any money from endorsements but I definitely recommend these strips. They’re a little pricey ($35’ish, from shoppers or any pharmacy) but they work and that’s what counts. Everyone should try and stay as pretty as they can and, if you have a scar anywhere, this stuff should help.

A couple of recommendations when using these strips:
First off, the strips that they give you in the small packs are pre-sized and they’re pretty big. You should cut them into sizes that make a little more sense (if you have a small scar) so that you can use one strip 3 or 5 times.
The second recommendation for using these is that, they kept falling off my face while I was sleeping so I bought some medical tape from Shoppers to make sure the strips stuck.

So basically, my friend is smarter than the 2 doctors and these strips work great.

One of my Scars - and Importance of Proper Sparring Gear

This was just going to be a blog about great scar-treatment products but I thought I would make it a two-partner and tell the story (since students often ask) about my most recent scar and how I got it. So stay tuned for a blog reviewing and recommending Scar Treatment products.

The bitter story of how I got my scar and a lesson in wearing proper sparring gear:

I was training for a fight and, after 2 hours of training, there was a bit of time left and the instructor said to grab a partner and do some light sparring.

I started to do some light sparring and, without my shin and instep on, we were pretty much doing light boxing (I thought). Then out of nowhere my partner makes a big move for a jab and Flying Knee. It looked like his hip was moving for a jab/cross so I went down for a liver shot (admittedly with my head too low because I was tired) and found myself saying ‘hello’ to his knee. I wasn’t knocked off my feet and the action continued, until we realised that my face exploded like a Jose Canseco smashing a tomato.

I muttered an f-bomb, walked out of the ring and quietly went to the washroom and cleaned up with the help of a guy at the gym. With my new gauze-based hat on, I drove myself to the hospital, got some stitches and that was it.

(Here’s where the bitterness begins) Throughout my time training at this particular gym, the partner I was sparring with that day, was consistently trying to ‘show off’, perhaps because he’d never had any fights and he could tell that he was sparring with someone that had or maybe just because I was a new guy at his gym but he couldn’t have been more friendly while I was training there. An example of him ‘showing off’ is that, one day, we were working on clinch control and throwing light knees. During this drill he threw an elbow to my head. I politely asked, “are we throwing elbows?” and he said, “oh; no”. We continued and he threw another elbow to my face, so I asked him again if he wanted to throw elbows. He again said no, and I was just so annoyed because I’ve trained for a long time and I’m completely fine training this clinch work with elbows and knees, but let me know so we can both work and use the same techniques.

In the partners defense, he's a great guy (other than the hot-dogging) and I'm sure he wasn't thinking 'I'm going to throw a knee and scar up this guys face' so I wasn't upset with him when it happened, just annoyed because it shouldn't have happened.

(The lesson of safety) I was obviously very annoyed by my day which also had to do with lessons I’ve learned at top Muay Thai gyms over the years and that is that knees and elbows aren’t involved in sparring when fighters don’t have any headgear, knee pads or elbow pads on, for many reasons.

The obvious first reason is that it’s easy to get cut with the bone-on-bone of knees and elbows. Top gyms also require gear during sparring because, other than knees and elbows packing a lot of force, sometimes when fighters throw kicks they can often mistakenly make contact with their foot to their partners knee or the point of their elbow from blocks, which unnecessarily puts the fighter out of commission with injuries.

- Coming up is a blog regarding scar treatments and a great product that I found that works great on old and new scars....

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UFC 109 - Couture vs. Coleman Breakdown and Pick

* still 100% on picking the winners of the main events (including Strikeforce) since September 2009 ... and this one is easy!
Old man Fight Club!
With UFC 109 we’re going to see Mark Coleman and Randy Couture in the main event. The young challenger, Coleman (45 years old) vs. The crafty old timer Couture (46 years old).
My pick is Randy Couture 100% via exhaustion. Coleman has done a lot during his many many days but since 2000 he hasn’t accomplished a whole lot, in comparison to Couture.
Randy Couture is awesome because:
- UFC Hall of Fame inductee (surprisingly before Coleman was inducted)
- FIRST fighter in UFC history to hold two world Championship titles
- MOST title fights fought in UFC history (15)
- OLDEST fighter to win a world championship belt in UFC history
- OLDEST competitor to ever win a fight in the UFC
Mark Coleman is awesome because:
- NCAA Champion
- 7th Place in the 1992 Olympics
- He invented the Ground and Pound ... he invented it!
- Two time UFC Tournament Champion
- THE FIRST UFC Heavyweight Champion
- The First PRIDE Grand Prix (2000) Champion
- UFC Hall of Fame inductee

A couple of quick notes on why Couture should easily walk away with a win include:
- Couture is a Greco-Roman Wreslter whereas Coleman is a Freestyle Wrestler. Greco definitely lends itself more to MMA because most of the work is done close and within a clinch. Takedowns are much harder to defend and Randy also has great dirty boxing. Freestyle wrestling takedowns (especially Colemans) look more like diving into a pool and are far too slow and obvious in this day.- Couture can strike! Coleman cannot strike. Coleman is clearly a one-trick pony and his one trick won’t have any effect on Couture. I remember watching tape of Couture training with Matt Lindland and I was amazed at how Couture controlled the Olympic Silver medalist with ease. In ever gym there’s one guy that everyone strives to beat in training and it was clear that at Team Quest that it was Randy. So if Randy can handle a Olympic Silver medalist than Coleman shouldn’t be a problem.- Coleman is the exact same fighter as when he EXPLODED on the scene back in 1996. Coleman literally EXPLODED on the scene and it seemed like no one would ever beat him when fans first got a chance to see him. The problem is that it’s not 1996. Couture has clearly stayed up to date with the times and adjusted his skills to remain on top. I’ve always had a big problem with the Hammer House guys (Colemans gym). A couple of notable fighters at Hammer House include Mark Coleman, Kevin Randleman and Phil Baroni. If you know those guys, try to picture each one of them and think of what they have in common. None of them have evolved over the years, they’ve been at the exact same skill level for years and they all look like bodybuilders. I’ve always thought that Hammer House guys need to spend less time lifting weights and more time training because they all gas out way too fast.- Finally, Coleman will shit the bed. When people ask me who will win this fight, I always say Couture via exhaustion because Coleman has zero gas and he’ll be huffing and puffing early and Couture will steam roll over him.





Some Funny Stuff:

UFC 109 - Breakdown and Fight Picks

Matt “The Terror” Serra vs. Frank “Twinkle Toes” TriggHere’s another couple of older guys on this card and it could really go either way. If I had to pick a way though, I would go with Serra, and here’s my reasoning.
As I’ve said before I really like Trigg, I think he’s a smart fighter. He’s done commentary for years and I’ve always been surprised at how well he knows both MMA and Kickboxing (he use to do commentary for The Fight Network when I worked there). I’m starting to think that thinking is his problem.
I’ve met many fighters over the years (mostly in gyms) that know so much and are amazing at what they do, but when they get into the ring they’re thinking too much instead of reacting. These athletes make great coaches because they have a lot of great knowledge to teach but they just weren’t able to put it together for themselves.
Serra has also never been submitted and Trigg won’t be the one to catch him. Another point is that Serra has only been knocked out twice and Trigg’s never been shown to have heavy hands. Trigg does have TKO’s but have been from ground and pound/ref stoppage TKO’s primarily because he’s a strong wrestler and able to control guys.
Short answer, SERRA! ... it’ll probably go to a decision... whaaaann!!

Chael Sonnen vs. Nate “The Great” MarquardtI see Great things in this match up and Marquardt walking away with the win. Marquardt is a warrior. He cut his teeth training at the Pancrase gym in Japan where tradition reigned. Winners were praised and serviced within the gym and losers made up the cleaning crew and were everyon’s bitch. I’ve read about Marquardt’s road and it was full of discipline and certainly a road that makes a fighter strong.
One great thing I like is fighters that evolve and Nate has definitely been great at that.
When he came from Pancrase he was a very hyped force because of his champion status there but in the UFC he was VERY boring. He’s evolved a lot and since ripped off three KO’s in a row and I think he’ll make it 4 on Saturday night.
A couple notes on Sonnen; he’s been a boring fighter in the past and is still a boring fighter. He trains at Team Quest and looks like the classic (original) Team Quest Style of boring grinder that lays on a fighter, using his wrestling skills just to grind out a win.
Marquardt will take it.

Mike “Quick” Swick vs. Paulo ThiagoThiago will win via gun shot. Thiago is in the Brazilian Special Forces guy and that gives him some of the scariness of Cro-Cop. I think this will be a great competitive fight but I’ve gotta go with the guy that has the 12 and 1 record and is use to being shot at with guns.

Rolles Gracie vs Joey “Mexicutioner” Beltran
The Gracie family comes home and it’ll be a warm welcome. I haven’t seen either of these guys before (Gracie is 3-0, all via submission) but I’m going with Gracie. Beltran appears to only be a slugger and in classic UFC style the Gracie will win in that kind of a fight.
Interestingly, Beltran is coming off a KO win against Huston Alexander who got fired from the UFC in December after a crappy showing against Kimbo. ... poor Houston.


For the Mark Coleman vs. Randy Couture pick, I’ll be on York Region’s “Day Time” this Friday talking about the event and I’ll post later that day.My 100% record of picking the main-event winners since September 2009 is still going strong and I don’t think Saturday nights fight will change anything!



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