UFC 115 Results & Thoughts

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UFC 115 was on pay-per-view last night. Although the main event between Chuck “Iceman” Liddell and Rich “Ace” Franklin was the only fight I was excited about, the card turned out to have several really good, back-and-forth battles.   It also turned out to be a tough night for my predictions…

Fight: Matt Wiman vs Mac Danzig.
Prediction: Danzig scores the win.
Result: Wiman earns victory due to ref stoppage. The ref thought Danzig had passed out due to a choke, but that wasn’t the case at all.
My Record for the Night: 0-1

Fight: Tyson Griffin vs Evan Dunham.
Prediction: Griffin gets the victory.
Result: Dunham wins via split decision.
My Record for the Night: 0-2

Fight: Carlos Condit vs Rory MacDonald.
Prediction: McDonald keeps his undefeated streak alive in a hard fought battle.
Result: Conduit wins via ref stoppage with 7 seconds left in the 3rd round. $85,000 Fight of the Night bonuses went to both fighters!
My Record for the Night: 0-3
Fight: Ben Rothwell vs Gilbert Yvel.
Prediction: Rothwell gets the nod.
Result: Rothwell wins via unanimous decision.
My Record for the Night: 1-3
Fight: Paulo Thiago vs Martin Kampmann.
Prediction: Kampmann in an upset.
Result: Kampmann wins via unanimous decision.
My Record for the Night: 2-3
Fight: Mirko Cro Cop vs Pat Barry.
Prediction: Barry scores the win.
Result: Cro Cop submits Barry for the win earning an $85,000 check for Submission of the Night.
My Record for the Night: 2-4
Fight: Chuck Liddell vs Rich Franklin.
Prediction: Franklin scores the victory.
Result: Franklin, despite a broken arm, KO’s Liddell with 5 seconds left in the first round earning KO of the Night honors and a bonus check for $85,000.
My Record for the Night: 3-4
Final Thoughts…
  • Although the Danzig fight was stopped early, both Danzig and Wiman acted with class.  The ref did stop the fight early, but I’d rather see a fight end too early than too late.
  • I was surprised that Tyson Griffin couldn’t do more against Evan Dunham.
  • I read on an MMA website that only 12% picked Kampmann to defeat Thiago.  I wish I had been as insightful on my other picks.
  • Who would have thought that Cro Cop would win by submission and get the Submission of the Night bonus as well?  Barry will be back and better than ever!
  • Chuck Liddell should retire.  My guess is that he’ll come back to fight Tito at some point though.

UFC 115 Predictions

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UFC 115 is on pay-per-view tonight.  There’s really only one fight I’m that excited about.  It’s the main event between Chuck “Iceman” Liddell and Rich “Ace” Franklin.  But I’m sure I’ll tune in to the free prelims on SPIKE and be interested in the outcomes of the other fights.  So without further prelude, here are my picks…

Matt “Handsome” Wiman vs Mac Danzig. With Danzig’s 20-7 record [vs the handsome one’s 11-5], Danzig is the slight favorite. 
Prediction: Danzig scores the win.

Tyson Griffin [14-2] vs Evan Dunham [10-0].  I’m a Tyson Griffin fan.  He brings it to each fight and lets it all hang out.  Dunahm is going to have about a 4 inch height  advantage, but my guess is that it will be of little benefit.
Prediction: Griffin gets the victory.

Carlos “Natural Born Killer” Condit vs Rory “The Water Boy” MacDonald. This should be a good fight.
Prediction: McDonald keeps his undefeated streak alive in a hard fought battle.
Ben Rothwell vs Gilbert “The Hurricane” Yvel. Big Ben is going to have a significant weight advantage to go along with the better record [30-7 vs Yvel’s 36-14-1]. 
Prediction: Rothwell gets the nod.
Paulo Thiago vs Martin “The Hitman” Kampmann. Thiago is 13-1 and Kampmann is 16-3.  Both of these guys are good fighters.  Vegas odds give Thiago the edge. 
Prediction: Kampmann in an upset.
Mirko Cro Cop vs Pat “HD” Barry. There was a time when Cro Cop was one of the most feared fighters in the world.  Those days have passed.  Cro Cop will have a height [although not a weight advantage] over Barry.  It’s also unknown how Barry will react stepping into the cage with a legend. 
Prediction: Barry scores the win.
Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell vs Rich “Ace” Franklin. A few years ago this fight would have been every fan’s dream.  Now both fighters need the win to stay in the running to be a contender.  Liddell looks to be in his  best shape in YEARS.  Unfortunately he can’t train his chin.  So the question is, will Liddell land or take a KO punch?  
Prediction: Franklin scores the victory.

Original Cast Movie Posters

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Wildammo.com came up with a cool idea.  They created movie posters featuring the celebrities that were originally scheduled to appear in the starring roles.  So we have Stallone and Schwarzenegger in Face Off, Will Smith in the Matrix and many others.  It’s a great idea and really well executed.  You can see all of the posters by clicking here.

Thanks to Mark Evanier for the original link.

“They were 300. He was one.”

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Yesterday, CBR.com followed up on a Dark Horse Comics announcement via its twitter page that Frank Miller is returning to comics with a prequel to 300.  The long rumored series won’t hit the stands until sometime in 2011 and will be titled Xerxes.

Xerexes was the Persian king who attempted to conquer the world, only to fall short thanks to the efforts of 300 Spartans. The tagline for the new series is a good one…

Xerxes: “They were 300.  He was one.”

You can read more about the Xerxes mini-series and the Frank Miller lithograph that Dark Horse is releasing by checking out CBR.com’s post.

Avatarize Yourself!

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Did you ever wonder what you’d look like as a character in Avatar?  Well, wonder no more.  McDonald’s has made it possible for you to see yourself as one of James Cameron’s Na’vi.

Man, switching from human to Na’vi did wonders for my diet!

Heroes Con Countdown

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In just about exactly 72 hours, I’ll swing by and pick up my best bud, John Beatty, and we’ll be off to Heroes Con.  John will be a guest there, sketching and signing autographs for his fans.  Although I’ll hang out at his table and help keep the good times running, I’ll also spend time on the other side of the aisle as a fan, visiting other artists to get books signed and some new sketches for my collection.

Heroes is always a blast.  I can’t even begin to imagine how much fun it will be this year.  The guest list has never been bigger.  In addition to all of the regular comic superstars that always attend, this year we’ll also get to see folks like Tim Sale and Mike Mignola for the first time.  As LittleJohn312 said today, “The guest list keeps growing, but my budget doesn’t.”   Amen to that.  My plan this year is the same as last: get the most bang for my [limited] buck.  So I’ll be looking for sketchbooks with head sketches and avoiding the superstars.

If you’re going to be at Heroes, you can usually find me hanging out at John Beatty’s table [#721 in artist’s alley].  If I’m not there, I’ll be the guy looking to score some Stallone sketches.  Either way, I’m not too hard to find.

Mark Pennington’s Jack Carter

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Mark Pennington graduated from the Joe Kubert School of Cartoon and Graphic Art in 1985. Upon graduation Mark became a toy designer at Hasbro. Mark created designs for the G.I. Joe line of action figures including a Rocky Balboa GI Joe that never saw production! Mark’s first work as an inker in the comic book industry was for SQP on Judge Dredd!

When I started collecting original sketches of Sly, Mark was one of the first artists that I approached. I was excited to get this Rambo head sketch from him. Earlier this month I posted Mark’s take on Sly as Rambo.

Today we have Mark’s take on Sly as an older Jack Carter. Although we’ll never get a sequel to Get Carter, and it is not a perfect film, Get Carter remains one of my favorite Stallone movies. Sly was perfect as the “bad brother” — the man who knew that he’d taken the wrong path and saw a chance at redemption by finding his brother’s killer and keeping his niece and sister-in-law safe. So I thought it would be cool to get Mark to draw Sly as Jack Carter, but with some more years on him… sort of like Clint Eastwood’s performance in Unforgiven. I couldn’t be happier with the result!

UFC 114 Results

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UFC 114 was last night on pay-per-view and SPIKE had the pre-fights for free. Here are my predictions and the actual results:

Waylon Lowe vs. Melvin The Young Assassin Guillard

Prediction: Guillard by TKO.

Result: Guillard won by TKO (referee stoppage from strikes) at 3:28 in the 1st round

My predictions for the night: 1-0

Dan The Upgrade Lauzon vs. Efrain Hecho en Mexico Escudero.

Prediction: Escudero by TKO.

Result: Escudero won by unanimous decision

My predictions for the night: 2-0

Dong The Stun Gun Hyun Kim vs. Amir Sadollah.

Prediction: Kim by decision.

Result: Kim won by unanimous decision

My predictions for the night: 3-0

John The Hitman Hathaway vs. Diego The Nightmare Sanchez.

Prediction: Sanchez by decision.

Result: Hathaway won by unanimous decision

My predictions for the night: 3-1

Jason The Hitman Brilz vs. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira.

Prediction: Nogueira by early TKO or submission.

Result: Nogueira won by split decision

My predictions for the night: 4-1

Mike Russow vs. Todd Duffee.

Prediction: Duffee wins by 1st round KO or TKO.

Result: Russow won by KO at 2:35 in the 3rd round

My predictions for the night: 4-2

Dan Miller vs. Michael The Count Bisping.

Prediction: Bisping by unanimous decision.

Result: Bisping won by unanimous decision

My predictions for the night: 5-2

Rashad Suga Evans vs. Quinton Rampage Jackson.

Prediction: Evans by decision.

Result: Evans won by unanimous decision

My predictions for the night: 6-2 [75%]

+++++

Final thoughts:

  • I’m not sure what to think about Diego Sanchez.  Dana White, after last night’s fight, said Diego needs to go back down to 155.  Perhaps Dana’s right.
  • Although Little Nog barely beat Brilz, there are many who think Brilz won the fight [including one of the judges who scored that fight].
  • Mike Russow was a fighter that few [including me] thought had a chance to win last night.  Yet, Russow never gave up and in the 3rd round knocked out Todd Duffee with one shot.  Way to go, Russow.
  • Rashad Evans earned the win over Rampage Jackson with a unanimous decision.  I thought it was interesting that Jackson will a co-star in this summer’s A-Team movie and Evans wore trunks promoting The Expendables.  That made me doubly happy that Evans won.  ; )