Scott Harris | UFC Betting Sites - The Best MMA Online Bookies

UFC 144: Ranking Every Fight on the Card

Don’t get me wrong. I love watching fights. I watch the under-undercard on the Internet, the prelims on cable and the main card on pay-per-view. I even DVR the whole thing and watch it again.
This Saturday’s UFC 144 card, coming to you from Saitama Sup…

Don’t get me wrong. I love watching fights. I watch the under-undercard on the Internet, the prelims on cable and the main card on pay-per-view. I even DVR the whole thing and watch it again.

This Saturday’s UFC 144 card, coming to you from Saitama Super Arena in Japan, will be no exception.

But at the same time, sometimes a man feels the need to multitask. That’s why it’s good to have a guide stick that can help you separate the must-see TV from the fights you can track with one eye.

Consider this list that guide stick.

Begin Slideshow

10 Fighters Who Deserve First Crack at Frankie Edgar/Benson Henderson Winner

Even in a professional landscape where rocky roads are the norm, Frankie Edgar’s path stands out. It hasn’t been easy, straight or particularly well-lighted, but some how, some way, he’s smelling sweeter with every click of the odometer.By comparison, …

Even in a professional landscape where rocky roads are the norm, Frankie Edgar‘s path stands out. It hasn’t been easy, straight or particularly well-lighted, but some how, some way, he’s smelling sweeter with every click of the odometer.

By comparison, Benson Henderson reached the promised land in no time flat. That’s not to say his road to the title shot was strewn with rose petals—or that he didn’t earn his way there—because it wasn’t, and he did. It’s just been a while since a relative UFC newcomer (in any weight class) forced themselves into the promotion’s title mix the way Henderson did with his recent performances.

This tortoise/hare matchup should be a great one at UFC 144. But as you know, these roads never seem to end. The next face in the line is always the most important, and new challenges always loom. That’s especially true in a bracket as deep as the lightweight division.

Here are 10 fighters who most deserve to be that next face in line, no matter who emerges from the scrum.

Begin Slideshow

15 UFC Fighters and the Perfect Companies to Sponsor Them

The UFC’s ongoing play for the hearts and eyeballs of mainstream America means changing how the promotion and its fighters present and comport themselves. On a practical level, that has manifested itself in part in changes to the policy governing fight…

Over the years, offbeat sponsors on T-shirts, hats and banners became a bit of a side attraction. Who can forget the once-ubiquitous Condom Depot ads? Even X-rated websites have slipped past the goalie once or twice.

But what was once quirky or strange becomes a problem under the brighter lights. As a result, the UFC (probably with the, eh, encouragement of FOX Sports) recently banned gun and ammo sponsorships. Regardless of your thoughts on the matter, these kinds of issues go with the terrain. It wasn’t the first time it happened. And it might not be the last.

But as they say, a door slams shut and a window opens. Suddenly there’s some empty real estate on those T-shirts and banners.

So why not take advantage by rushing in to fill that vacuum? Or, better yet, speculating wildly and possibly not entirely seriously about the most likely candidates to do such a thing?

There are all kinds of crazy companies out there that would probably leap at the chance to see their name and logo on the seat of a fighter’s shorts. What are those companies, and who would they sponsor?

Why don’t we take a look?

(h/t: MMAWeekly)

Begin Slideshow

UFC on Fuel TV Results: What’s Next for Jake Ellenberger and Diego Sanchez?

The main event at UFC on Fuel 1 was Jake Ellenberger’s from the opening bell until about two minutes left in the final round. Fighting before his home crowd, Ellenberger bloodied Sanchez with powerful shots in the standup and ground phases as well as weathered a frenzied last-minute comeback from the always-electric Sanchez to capture a unanimous-decision win.

So what’s next for these two?

The victory (which should earn Fight of the Night honors for the event) leaves little doubt that Ellenberger (27-5, 6-1 UFC) is a certified top contender for the welterweight belt. However, there is more than a little doubt over when, where and against whom the next title bout would happen.

Welterweight champ Georges St-Pierre isn’t scheduled to resume fighting until November, and there are indications that interim belt-holder Carlos Condit’s return will track to GSP’s. After Nick Diaz’s positive drug test nixed a Diaz-Condit rematch, UFC President Dana White said Condit will not fight again between now and St-Pierre. The length of Diaz’s suspension hasn’t yet been announced, but if it’s one year, he could be returning just in time to face the winner. I’m going to go out on a limb and say there would be interest in either option.

It could be well into 2013 before all that dust settles, meaning that even if Ellenberger is the No. 1 contender, he may want (or need) to take another fight (or two) in the meantime. It’s probably something the UFC will push with its top three welterweights already on ice.

If White really is going to keep Condit shelved and in the process and withhold Ellenberger’s rematch with the only man to defeat him in the Octagon, Ellenberger’s obvious next choice is fellow hard hitter Johny Hendricks, who received his contender’s card (and probably a few dozen long-stem roses from White) when he flattened Jon Fitch at UFC 141. Hendricks will face Josh Koscheck at UFC on Fox 3 in May. The winner of that bout (especially if it’s Hendricks) probably presents the stiffest challenge to Ellenbergers’s No. 1 contender status. So here’s your true title-eliminator.

As for Sanchez, he should face the loser of March’s tilt between Martin Kampmann and Thiago Alves. Can you believe Sanchez and Alves have never fought? And if Kampmann loses, it would be a rematch of one of the closest and most exciting welterweight fights in recent memory (a blood-soaked Sanchez won by decision).

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

The 10 Biggest Knuckleheads in MMA History

When I began putting together this list of MMA’s biggest knuckleheads, I started by trying to name as many stupid fighters as I could. That list quickly exceeded the necessary sample size.Be more specific, then. What really comes to mind when you think…

When I began putting together this list of MMA‘s biggest knuckleheads, I started by trying to name as many stupid fighters as I could. That list quickly exceeded the necessary sample size.

Be more specific, then. What really comes to mind when you think of a knucklehead? Personally, I came to the conclusion that a knucklehead is someone who speaks or acts before thinking, in a pattern of behavior often (if not always) equally as detrimental to the knuckler as the knuckle-ee.

In other words, it’s someone who not only does dumb stuff, but who should know better. There’s are big, wet chunks of silliness in the stupidity.

So here are the 10 MMA fighters I think most fit that bill. Are there others? Yes, there likely are.

Begin Slideshow

MMA’s 10 Craziest Pro Wrestling-Style Finishes

Admit it. When Hulk Hogan planted that leg drop on the enemy’s grill, you cheered. Ditto the wonder that was The Stone-Cold Stunner. And don’t forget about The Ultimate Warrior’s military press, Macho Man’s flying elbow an…

I could go on. You may have already been sensing that. But that’s because devastating finishers are like a tomahawk dunk and a walk-off home run rolled into one. There is nothing else like it.

Suffice it to say this is one area where I don’t mind MMA taking a page from the pro wrestling playbook.

Here are 10 of MMA’s craziest pro-wrestling-style finishes. In order to qualify, first, a fighter needs to be actively associated with the move in question. No random dudes on YouTube.

Second, the move has to have actually caused a finish—the faster and cleaner the better.

Third, it has to be more than just lightning in a bottle; the fighter has to have pulled it off more than once, or at least stand a realistic shot of doing so.

And fourth, the move has to be able to start with the word The.

Those are the metrics. Now here’s the list.

Begin Slideshow