Great night of fights!On the undercard, I thought Gabriel Gonzaga looked awesome. Really happy to see him getting back to his BJJ skills. Hopefully, we'll see him step up against some of the top competition in the heavyweight division. The knockout from Barboza was one for the highlight reel. That was vicious and I loved it!
The heel hook from Palhares was executed beautifully. I'd like to see Palhares get bumped up into a tougher level of competion and see if he can hang with some of the top-10 guys. It's tough to classify him as a top 10 fighter at middleweight, but with his body size and those leg locks, he's got a chance at catching anyone of the top guys on any given night.
The Vitor Belfort win was huge! After seeing Anthony Johnson direspect the entire sport by coming in so far overweight, I think the entire world was rooting for Vitor. I had predicted a Belfort win, but thought for sure that it would be with the hands.
Big UFC fight card this Saturday night in Rio. After watching the last one from Brazil, I think we can count on two things:
1. The Brazilian fighters will be fired up
2. The fans will be even more fired up
Even casual fans had to love the energy from the crowd during the last UFC event in Brazil. Here are my predictions:
1. Aldo by decision over Mendes. I think Aldo's striking skills will be too much to ask. Mendes is a great wrestler, but he's going to struggle with Aldo.
2. Belfort by TKO over Johnson in the 2nd. Belfort is going to come out fast and want to put a show on for the hometown crowd. I like Johnson, but it's not going to be his night.
3. Palhares by submission over Massenzio in the 2nd. I think Massenzio will put up a better fight than some are expecting, but Palhares ground game is way too strong for Massenzio.
New York Governor David Paterson will support MMA legislation to help alleviate the state's financial woes.
Read article from New York Daily News here.
Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has secured ½ the fight he wanted to take place at his new Cowboys Stadium. On March 13th, he gets Manny Pacquiao, but not Floyd Mayweather. Instead, Pacquiao will face Joshua Clottey. Not to be outshined on that date, Mayweather is making plans to fight in Las Vegas against a yet to be determined opponent. (Dan Rafael, espn.com) Among those names mentioned as opponents are Paulie Malignaggi, Nate Campbell and Kermit Cintron.
