Anyone surprised?

Could there be any one person surprised by Anderson Silva’s dismantling of James Irvin?  I almost came on here and posted a prediction of Irvin by knockout in the first ten seconds, cuz if he was going to win he had one chance to do it, the first punch.  If the fight went on past that he wouldn’t last more than a minute.

James Irvin is a stud for preparing for this fight with all of his heart and soul, just a rough landing and bad timing.

Brandon Vera remains my favorite fighter in the UFC despite three poor showings in a row since tugging at my heart strings by taking a year off.  Vera looked good at 205lb and has never been in the best shape for his fights.  He is just simply a bad ass who likes to fight.  He looked hesitant in his 205lb debut, but will be fine in the future at any weight.  I’d honestly like to see him fight Anderson Silva next at 205lb.  That would be one heck of a muay thai fight.

Affliction Banned vs. UFC Silva vs Irvin July 19th. What will you do?

July 19th is a huge night in MMA. Former UFC Heavyweight Champ Randy Couture is the face of Affliction.  Used to be a harmless clothing company, now in direct competition in promoting mma fights with the UFC.  To fight back the UFC has put a top caliber fight for free on SpikeTV.

Affliction Banned fight card: (our predictions will come closer to the fights)
Former UFC Heavyweight Champ Tim Sylvia will face the best Heavyweight in the world, Fedor Emilianenko.
Josh Barnett vs Pedro Rizzo
Andrei Arlovski vs Ben Rothwell
Renato Sobrall vs Mike Whitehead
even Vitor Belfort is fighting on this card.

UFC July 19 fight card free on Spike TV:
Anderson Silva is the king of the 185lb weight division.  He’s moving up to 205lb to take on James Irvin.
Jake O’Brien takes on Yuma, Arizona native Cain Velasquez.  Both College Wrestling standouts.
Brandon Vera is making his 205lb debut against UFC newcomer Reese Andy.
Hermes Franca and Frank Edgar will also do battle.

Both of these fight cards are stacked.  I don’t know which to watch live and witch to TiVo. Predictions will come as the fights get closer.  Before we experience this amazing night of fights, we still get to see Quinton Jackson and Forrest Griffin fight in what will most likely be the battle of the year on July 5.  Christmas comes in July for MMA fight fans.

Anderson Silva dismantles Henderson, calls out Roy Jones Jr

After Anderson Silva lost the first round of his title defense to Dan Henderson, he lit a fire inside.  Silva came out for the second round on fire and aggressively pursued Henderson till he rocked him and dropped him.  He won on the ground, again. In days following the fight Silva announced that he’d like to try his hand at boxing the greatest boxer of our generation, Roy Jones Jr.  Jones is going to consider it when he returns from a vacation.

Is this a sign that Anderson Silva is bored with MMA or that he doesn’t think there is any competition out there for him?

In a rare call-to-action by Dana White, he said post fight that Anderson Silva is the best pound for pound fighter in the world, not just the UFC.  That is a big bounty to be placed on Mr. Silva’s head.  He is definitely the best 185lb middleweight.

But is he better than GSP?  Georges lost last year to a big underdog.

Is he better than Quinton Jackson? Quinton dominated the UFC Light Heavyweight division, but struggeled before leaving PrideFC.

The lightweight division might just be the deepest talent pool of all.  Sean Sherk, Kenny Florian, Hermes Franca, and who could forget BJ “The Prodigy” Penn.  BJ Penn has been on and off the top of my list for a long time now.  The man can fight.  But he’s shown lack of desire on more than one occasion.  The last two fights have been BJ of old, if he keeps it up I think these two would be a watercooler brawl to talk about for the next decade.

Then we get to the heavyweights.  How can you say Anderson Silva is better than Fedor?  Fedor is easily the baddest man on the planet.  No one wants to fight him.  The only person I see attempting to challenge him is Brock Lesnar after 20 experience fights.  Lesnar is the only athlete capable of competing with a fighter on Fedor’s level.

Maybe Anderson should put on a few pounds and fight Quinton Jackson?  That would be entertaining, but not as entertaining as Georges St. Pierre gaining fifteen pounds and fighting at 185lb.  George St. Pierre has a walking weight of around 190lbs and would look great at 185.  The only problem I see here is that BJ Penn has a potiential dance date set with GSP….. if he can beat Sherk in the summer.

My geeky little brain is bouncing inside my skull with excitement.  Oh the possibilities.

Dan Henderson challenges Anderson Silva for 185lb UFC title this Saturday!

Trying to predict this fight is extremely hard to do. The only fight harder to predict than this one is the upcoming BJ Penn George St. Pierre rematch that would give BJ Penn the chance at a 170lb title to add to his 155lb title.

Dan Henderson….. what can be said about him?  His training has been incredible for this fight.  He is training in So Cal and working his tail off.  This man is as big a name in the mma world as it gets.  When the good fellas at the UFC bought out PrideFC and shut its doors, they aquired several world class fighters and their contracts.  At the time of purchase Dan Henderson was the PrideFC 185lb and 205lb Champion.  One of the very few people in the mma world to hold belts in different weight classes at the same time.  BJ Penn may soon join rank….. (emphasis on may)

The largest obstacle Dan Henderson will encounter this saturday will be the thought of facing the pound for pound best fighter in the world (disputable).  Anderson Silva has attained Self Actualization (if this were a psycology lesson and Maslow was teaching).  Silva’s striking ability is uncomparible to any fighter.  He strikes with smooth, fluid, and powerful shots that will dismantle the strongest of chins.  His Muay Thai is so dominate that a weak fighter may tap from a clinch.  His BJJ is so complex and his flexibility is matched by so few.

It doesn’t matter what you think your game plan is going into a fight with Silva is, he will fight you anywhere and fight better than you.

Dan Henderson will have to bully Silva to win.  This will be a knock-him-out or be-knocked-out fight for Henderson.

Our take: Henderson will win by KO in the second round.  Setting up one of the most anticipated rematches in UFC history in the fall or winter of 2008.

On the fight card we will be so fortunate to see Cheik Congo destroy Heath Herring.  Herring was dismantled by Jake O’brien last year and will most likely show up with more fire in his hair than in his jab.