UFC 164 Predictions

It's MMAzing Radio - Episode 54

The gang previews UFC Fight Night: Condit v. Kampmann II and UFC 164: Henderson v. Pettis II. Sidenote, what's with all these rematches? Come on new guys...make us care about your fights. Anyways, they also talk about Ben Askren's future and get all serious talking about sports journalism v. trying to make that sweet sweet paper.

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It's MMAzing Radio - Episode 53

The gang, in this recorded-on-time-but-posted-a-little-late show, go deep into the UFC's debut on FS1. They break down the futures of Chael P., The Reem, Travis Browne, Urijah Faber and Uriah Hall. Sidenote, it can't be a good sign that I fell asleep watching Hall v. John Howard, right? The gang also talks about the disastrous Bellator/TNA cross-promoting that is happening.

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UFC Fight Night 26: Shogun v. Sonnen Predictions

Considering how young the sport of MMA is and how close the UFC was to shuttering just a decade ago, it’s amazing to think that a UFC card would essentially be the way a major sports network introduces itself to the nation (that and it’s bevy of tall blonde reporters…what is it with Fox and blond reporters, do they have a factory somewhere???).  The notion is that this new rival to ESPN will offer more primetime MMA coverage, alongside coverage of football, baseball, soccer and basketball.  This will only be good for the sport.  While there are still a bunch of questions as to how the UFC will play out on these new channels the more pressing question for people come August 17^th is what freaking channel is this on and does my cable plan even get it??

Bellator adds Alvarez-Chandler II to pay-per-view-card. In related news, Bellator PPV now worth buying

Image via Eric Coleman, Bellator

Bellator's first pay-per-view card is being headlined by two legends of the sport.  The only problem with legends is that normally means their old and their best days are way past them.  As a result the common thought was that for Bellator's first pay-per-view event to be considered watchable (and buyable), it would need to add fights that people actually wanted to see.  Michael Chandler was a name being thrown around and after his showing last week it would have been stupid to not have him on the card.  Boy did Bellator deliver.  Not only have they turned a card I had no interest in watching into something I will drop some schillings for, they have booked one of the most anticipated rematches in the last few years.

Alvarez, who hasn't fought since October 2012 and signed a free agent deal with the UFC, has been involved in a bitter lawsuit with Bellator over their contract provision to match any offer from another promotion.  Considering that Bellator's owner Viacom primarily deals with basic cable, the thought was Bellator was producing a pay-per-view card solely to keep Alvarez from winning his court battle.  However, it seems time (and likely a boatload of PPV money) heals all wounds, when Alvarez told USA Today, "I couldn't be happier right now...We've been trying to settle since the very beginning of this.  We were able to compromise and put it behind us.  I'm happy to put my name on the dotted line and move forward with my career."

Ariel Helwani of mmafighting.com reported that sources said if Alvarez loses he is free to walk away but if he beats Chandler he'll be contractually obligated to do a trilogy.  So while it seems that Alvarez isn't long for the Bellator ring, the fighting audience will be left with one or potentially two more fights between these two top ten lightweights.

It's MMAzing Consensus Rankings for August 2013

**Note: For an explanation of how we came to these rankings, please listen to Episode 52 of It's MMAzing Radio  **

Heavyweight

Image via www.sportingopinions.com

1. Cain Velasquez
2. Junior Dos Santos
3. Daniel Cormier
4. Fabricio Werdum
5. Antonio Silva
6. Alistair Overeem
7. Frank Mir
8. Stipe Miocic
9. Josh Barnett
10. Roy Nelson

Light Heavyweight

1. Jon Jones
2. Alexander Gustafsson
3. Rashad Evans
4. Phil Davis
5. Lyoto Machida
6. Glover Teixeira
7. Antônio Rogério Nogueira
8. Dan Henderson
9. Ryan Bader
10. Mauricio Rua

It's MMAzing Radio - Episode 52

The gang comes back from a long (unintentional) hiatus to talk about what the hell Bellator is trying to accomplish. They also argue rankings for the first time in five months and break down the upcoming UFC Fight Night card on Fox Sports 1.

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Podcast cancelled due to technical errors.

Top Five Undead

Chan Sung-Jung

On Saturday, Chan Sung-Jung otherwise affectionately known as the Korean Zombie faces off against Jose Aldo for the UFC Featherweight Championship.  Even though he hasn’t fought in over a year, his first fight is against an absolute monster and he’ll likely lose, everyone loves them some Zombie.  In honor of this Cult hero’s title shot I’ve compiled a list of the greatest undead in pop culture.