UFC 148 | UFC Betting Sites - The Best MMA Online Bookies

Urijah Faber vs Renan Barao: Final Preview and Prediciton

Despite many injuries plaguing UFC 149, the UFC has still brought us a championship fight between two of the top fighters in MMA today.Former WEC featherweight champion Urijah Faber will take on Renan Barao for the interim UFC Bantamweight ti…

Despite many injuries plaguing UFC 149, the UFC has still brought us a championship fight between two of the top fighters in MMA today.

Former WEC featherweight champion Urijah Faber will take on Renan Barao for the interim UFC Bantamweight title.

While many fans may have hoped for Faber vs. Dominick Cruz III, this is still an exciting fight that you should not miss.

Here are some things fans should be looking for in this fight.

Faber’s Experience vs. Barao’s Confidence

Although both of these fighters are seasoned vets, Faber has more experience in big fights.

Faber was the long-time WEC featherweight champion, and he has been in the cage with names like Dominick Cruz, Jose Aldo and Jens Pulver.

Although he has not fought the same names as Faber, Barao has had an impressive run of his own.

Barao has not been defeated since his first MMA fight back in 2005.

That’s an impressive 29 fights without being stopped.

Barao know’s what it takes to win and will come into this bout very confident.

If I had to chose though, I would take Faber’s championship experience any day of the week.

It could be a ground war

The key to winning this fight could be who wins the ground war.

Faber may have a wrestling and strength advantage, but Barao is a black belt in jiu-jitsu and has 13 wins by submission.

Faber is no slouch in the jiu-jitsu game either, and has 14 submission victories.

I would give a slight edge to Barao on the ground, but he will have a hard time trying to submit Faber, who has never tapped out.

Who wins the stand up game?

Both guys come into this fight pretty even with the amount of KO victories they have. Faber has seven while Barao has six.

Barao will be the more diverse striker, though.

If he learned anything from training partner Jose Aldo, he will attack the legs of Faber.

Look for Barao to be the quicker and more technical striker.

Who Will Win?

This fight could really be a toss up.

On the one hand, you’ve got Faber, who has been waiting for UFC gold and another chance at arch rival Dominick Cruz.

His desire for another fight with Cruz could be the deciding factor.

But on the other hand, there is Barao—A guy who has not lost in 29 fights.

You don’t win that many fights by only beating low-class fighters.

While he may not have fought champions like Faber, Barao has still faced some tough competition.

It will be a close fight that could go either way, but I believe Faber will win a split decision.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

UFC Hall of Famer Tito Ortiz Sounds off on Testosterone Replacement Therapy

UFC light heavyweight Tito Ortiz has gone on air to warn of a coming “epidemic” of testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) use. In an interview with HDNet’s Inside MMA, six-time champion Ortiz said:The sport has come so far in such a s…

UFC light heavyweight Tito Ortiz has gone on air to warn of a coming “epidemic” of testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) use.

In an interview with HDNet’s Inside MMA, six-time champion Ortiz said:

The sport has come so far in such a short space of time, I hope this hasn’t become an epidemic. What type of message are we sending to the youths that are watching our sport?

TRT is a treatment for people with abnormally low levels of the male hormone testosterone. It requires regular injections of the steroid.

It has been used by an increasing number of fighters in order to gain a therapeutic use exemption (TUE) to allow them to compete while undergoing the treatment.

Fighters such as Chael Sonnen, Dan Henderson, Todd Duffee, Nate Marquardt and Frank Mir have all been granted TUEs.

“This is the same thing that we’ve been trying to stop from happening, and all of a sudden in the last six months it’s legal to do,” said Ortiz. “You’re allowed to be six times over the average? Since day one since I’ve been competing over the last 15 years, I’ve always been on an even field. Why all of a sudden other fighters can be on a higher six times the amount over an average person.”

Drug tests among most U.S. state athletics bodies involve measuring a person’s testosterone-epitestosterone ration (T/E). In a normal person, the ratio is 1:1, but the Nevada State Athletic Commission allows a ratio as high as 6:1 before an athlete is deemed to have failed a test.

The use of TRT, or any synthetic steroid, tilts the ratio heavily in favour of testosterone. However, the T/E ratio test does not measure the absolute level of testosterone in a person’s body, which could still be in the normal range even if the ratio is skewed.

Ortiz has been fighting since 1997, announcing his retirement earlier in the month at UFC 148.

In that event, he lost to longtime rival Forrest Griffin, who was later revealed to have received an exemption to use TRT.

Ortiz believes TRT is cheating and quickly tweeted after the Griffin revelation:

“Ppl say I’m whining about trt. But using trt is an advantage 4 all athletes,” Ortiz wrote. “It’s steroids and it’s an advantage. U use u cheat & it’s my opinion.”

Other fighters have also come out against TRT, claiming that it is used to mask the open abuse of steroids. Both BJ Penn and Mark Munoz have come out against the practice.

For more MMA ramblings, follow me on twitter: @khurramaziz1981

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Anderson Silva vs. Georges St-Pierre: Could GSP Finish What Sonnen Started?

Anderson Silva’s kryptonite is the standout wrestler, which has been evinced most notably by the two encounters he’s had with Chael Sonnen. With that in mind, Georges St-Pierre is probably the most well-rounded fighter in mixed martial arts today and his wrestling is up there with the best of them, but with all his attributes he can’t finish what Sonnen started.

At UFC 148, Silva survived a torrid opening stanza, but then went on to blitz Sonnen in the second frame to record a 10th successive title defense.

UFC 117 saw “The Spider” subjected to the worst beating since his four-year tenure in the Zuffa-based promotion—Sonnen employed his supreme wrestling ability to the fullest—taking him to ground at will. Still, it wasn’t enough to secure victory as he found to his cost.

The rematch was going the same way, but in the second round Silva stuffed several of Sonnen’s takedowns. Eureka! Silva had learned from the first fight—he’d been working on his takedown defense.

If that’s the case, where would St-Pierre succeed in toppling Silva?

Even if he could take the fight to the mat, Silva has shown on numerous occasions he can survive whatever onslaught comes his way—submissions and/or ground-and-pound attacks. Ask Sonnen and his mentor Dan Henderson. Both were the recipients of well-timed submissions.

The last time St-Pierre executed a successful submission was way back in 2007, when he submitted Matt Hughes via armbar.

Furthermore, his last real stoppage (B.J. Penn not included) was his rematch with Matt Serra in 2008.

With that in mind, Silva has that aspect covered.

A stand-and-bang affair will no doubt favor Silva as he’s one of MMA’s most prolific strikers.

But more importantly, Silva has never been stopped in the entirety of his career, rocked maybe, but never stopped, whereas St-Pierre has courtesy of Serra.

That said, St-Pierre has the requisite skill set in his arsenal and the heart to boot to contest with any fighter in his welterweight class as well as the middleweight division.

However, that will not avail him if he were ever to tussle with Silva at either 185 pounds or at catchweight—St-Pierre can’t and won’t finish what Sonnen started, though he will be finished himself.

For additional information, follow Nedu Obi on Twitter.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Mike Dolce: Every Fighter on the Planet Could Learn from Chael Sonnen

It was just a few weeks ago, prior to his UFC 148 bout with Anderson Silva, that Chael Sonnen was unleashing his heel MMA fighter gimmick on the planet.But it feels like ages ago, doesn’t it? Most of that is due to Sonnen’s contrite nature after the lo…

It was just a few weeks ago, prior to his UFC 148 bout with Anderson Silva, that Chael Sonnen was unleashing his heel MMA fighter gimmick on the planet.

But it feels like ages ago, doesn’t it? Most of that is due to Sonnen’s contrite nature after the loss. He was conciliatory after the fight, both in the cage and at the post-fight press conference, and he’s continued that humble streak during multiple appearances on UFC Tonight and during the UFC’s pre- and post-fight shows on Fuel TV.

I know it’ll be tough for me to convince you with the words I’m about to say, but I’m going to give it a shot anyway: That humble character, in a nutshell, is the real Chael Sonnen.

Most of you are aware that Sonnen puts on his pro-wrestling suit when it comes time to promote a fight. Sure, he probably takes it a few steps too far, like all of the times when he talks about getting Silva’s wife to make him a steak. And, the nationalistic insults against Brazil were tasteless, to be sure.

But at the same time, I get where Sonnen was coming from. When he first started insulting the people of Brazil, he was scheduled for a bout where he would challenge one of the biggest sporting stars in Brazil in his home country. He wanted to rile up an entire nation of people so greatly that they’d gladly pay $100 to fill a soccer stadium just to see him get beaten up.

As you know, things didn’t go as planned. The fight didn’t take place in Brazil, and Sonnen didn’t walk away with the championship belt. But his actions after the fight—refusing to question the Silva knee and casually dismissing greasing allegations against Silva—have proven that Sonnen is a class act.

According to Justin Faux of MMASucka, Mike Dolce, Sonnen’s nutritionist, agrees.

Chael is an amazing guy, an amazing athlete, a class act – I think every fighter on the planet could learn from Chael Sonnen, he built the fight and he chose the fight against the baddest man on the planet, we all know that you don’t pick a fight with Anderson Silva unless you’re crazy or really talented and Chael is really talented.

He went out there, he had prepared like a champion, he fought like a champion, he fought with pure heart and he lost to the better man in the cage on that night and afterwards the class he showed respecting Anderson and the Brazilians, it was really great to be a part of that and witness Chael doing that.

I doubt we’ve seen the last of the bombastic version of Sonnen. If he moves up to light heavyweight and continues fighting, he’ll no doubt dial up the promotional dial a few more times. It’s what pays the bills, after all.

But it’s important to remember that, no matter what kind of crazy things Sonnen says or does in the future, he’s a respectful guy at heart.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Chael Sonnen’s Spinning Back-Fist or Pirrouete or Whatever That Really Was

Chael Sonnen may have been doing everything right down to plan. For all we MMA fans knew, he might have perfected that move after countless repetitions during his training leading to his UFC 148 middleweight title shot versus Anderson “The Spider…

And, after dominating another first round versus the pound-for-pound king Silva (his “first first” round was in the classic main event of UFC 117 almost two years ago), he may have believed that the time was right to unleash the strike that Shonie Carter utilized to finish Matt Serra in UFC 31 more than a decade past.

Early in the second round of their rematch two Saturday nights ago, away went Sonnen with a clockwise rotation beginning with the quick pivot of his lead left foot, then the twist of the hip and the lateral extension of his hind right arm with the clenched fist as his missile.

The fight video of the fancy move could have ended up immortalized in the executioner’s favor, if only it hit the intended target. Instead, it became an overzealous in-your-face slam dunk attempt that the ball bounced off the rim.

Next instance, Sonnen the Spinner bounced off the Octagon wall like a top slowing down to its last pirrouete, then dropped down to his butt, back propped against the fence.

Right there and then Sonnen’s face expressed a mix of weariness and fear of one who knew that it was the beginning of the end.

There he was sitting vulnerably supine and prone to downward projectiles from the dark tower looming above him.

It didn’t take long for the defending champion to respond with something straight to the point, unlike the circular and careless provocation of the challenger that hit nothing but air.

Proving that he was the better marksman, the champion’s knee flew straight like a well-aimed arrow and hit its bull’s-eye on Sonnen’s sternum.

Soon, Sonnen was crouched like a fetus in danger of getting aborted from Silva’s battering, until the merciful intervention of the third man.

So where did the idea of using that revolving “fragile little birdcage of bones”* against MMA’s most formidable striker come from?

Perhaps Sonnen was finishing sparring mates with it, and wanted to prove that unlike his mushy ground-and-pound, his spinning back-fist (surprise!) could actually stun and finish someone—including the Silva.

Or maybe Sonnen mistook Mikhail Baryshnikov for a Russian Combat Sambo master, and tested the latter’s famous maneuver that he saw on YouTube.

Well, unless Sonnen—or anyone more credible in his team—honestly and categorically confesses on its history, we’ll never really know.

*Pulitzer Prize winner Garry Wills’s description of a fist, from the fifth sentence of his essay “Muhammad Ali,” on page 331 of his book Lead Time: A Journalist’s Education (First Mariner Books edition 2004).

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Forrest Griffin Joins Testosterone Replacement Therapy Club, and That’s OK

Forrest Griffin’s barn-burner of a fight with Stephan Bonnar back in 2005 may have done more than any other bout in history to propel the UFC into the mainstream. The two men went back and forth for 15 minutes in a display of heart and skill that could…

Forrest Griffin‘s barn-burner of a fight with Stephan Bonnar back in 2005 may have done more than any other bout in history to propel the UFC into the mainstream. The two men went back and forth for 15 minutes in a display of heart and skill that couldn’t be denied. The fight made Spike television believers in the power of MMA. The rest is history.

Fast forward seven years—Griffin again left it all in the cage, this time in a rubber match with UFC Hall of Famer Tito Ortiz. He won a close fight, but it turns out he got an assist from more than just the judges. The power of modern medical science also helped propel Griffin to victory.

As originally reported by Larry Pepe at Pro MMA Radio, and confirmed by Bleacher Report with Nevada Athletic Commission Executive Director Keith Kizer, Griffin was approved for a Therapeutic Use Exemption, allowing him to use Testosterone Replacement Therapy (TRT) for his bout with Ortiz.

TRT, a divisive treatment that has split the MMA community into two very opinionated camps, allows older fighters to train and compete with the same amount of testosterone in their system as their younger counterparts. Some of the UFC’s top aging stars have undergone TRT, looking to bring their bodies’ natural levels of testosterone back to the levels they enjoyed in their 20s. Top contenders like Dan Henderson (41) and Chael Sonnen (35) have both undergone the procedure.

Some opponents of the treatment are calling it little more than a masking agent for steroid abuse. And it’s true that past steroid use can cause the body to stop producing testosterone naturally. But so can problems with the pituitary gland and extended periods of cutting weight for sports like wrestling and mixed martial arts.

The biggest culprit, of course, is the natural aging process.

Personally, I’m not opposed to the use of TRT. Unfortunately, more than 100,000 high school graduates every year have experimented with steroids. I don’t think it’s fair to eliminate these young men from the sport because of a youthful mistake.

If monitored properly, and Kizer says Griffin’s testosterone levels were tested both before and after the match with Ortiz, TRT can be used fairly. The procedure doesn’t, and shouldn’t, necessarily provide a fighter with more testosterone than the average man. It simply boosts their levels to the upward levels of human potential.

We want our athletes to be at their best. It’s too important not to be, especially when modern science can help a fighter train more effectively. That only helps us as fans and a sport.

Exceptional fighters should be doing whatever it takes to extend their careers. As a fighter, I expect nothing less from Forrest Griffin. Good for him.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com