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UFC 155: Preview and Predictions of the Main Card

This is the UFC 155 preview and predictions breakdown of the main card. I’ll never forget being so excited for this card two months ago. Even though my hatred for Chael Sonnen is massive, I was looking forward to seeing him fight Forrest Griffin. Then the card also had Chris Weidman fighting, who is probably my favorite up-and-comer today. Instead, thanks to injuries once again, the card has been dismantled.

The co-main event has somehow turned into Jim Miller vs. Joe Lauzon, which should be an exciting fight, but that is nowhere near a co-main event caliber fight. It’s a shame that injuries have derailed so many cards this year, but at least a new year is coming up soon, right?

Regardless of the card in general, everyone knows that the main card has so much buzz around it and has must-watch worth to it. Junior Dos Santos vs. Cain Velsaquez should be a war with a clash of different styles. That instantly makes the PPV a must watch for me.

Let’s just hope that the other main-card fights have some explosive finishes.

Middleweight: Chris Leben vs. Derek Brunson

I’ve tried really hard to find any kind of Derek Brunson’s highlight reel and there really isn’t anything. This is his debut in the UFC; why he’s on the main card is beyond me. I know it got flexed to the main card but still, why this? He lost within a minute in his last fight but he’s put against Chris Leben on a main card?

Leben fighting on the main card is also questionable coming off a suspension from being on oxycontin. My interest in the fight is low, but it will be interesting to see how Leben bounces back from a rough year.

I’m not sure what reaction he’ll get but I’m expecting him to come back with a bang.

Brunson is a nice prospect that has good wrestling ability but I’m not sure if this is the right matchup for him to test out how good his chin is. Leben has knockout power, which makes this is a difficult opening fight for him against a striker like Leben.

Winner: Chris Leben by second-round KO

Middleweight: Alan Belcher vs Yushin Okami

This is one of the better fights on the card with Belcher gaining a lot of momentum in the past few years. The sad story of his fractured spine had Belcher work extremely hard to get back into fighting shape. He is considered to be two wins away to a possible title shot.

Okami is becoming more of a gatekeeper these days and seems to be on the decline. His chin continues to be a problem and hasn’t looked overly impressive in the past few fights. This is a tough matchup for Okami against someone that is on a massive momentum streak.

It seems that Belcher has him beat in almost every aspect but you could never count out Okami with his explosive strikes. If he connects with a few punches, then you may see Belcher take him in the ground and work from there, similar to his last fight against Rousimar Palhares.

I’m going with Belcher because he’s far more versatile and I could see him using the judo throw to take Okami off his game. I’m expecting a quick finish on the ground with Belcher on such a hot streak and Okami slowly on his way out.

Winner: Alan Belcher by first-round submission via guillotine

Middleweight: Tim Boetsch vs. Costa Philippou

This should be a decent fight. However, Weidman is one of the few possible title contenders at middleweight, so his injury hurt the card. I’m intrigued to see how Philippou does after he was supposed to fight Nick Ring at UFC 154, but that was cancelled last minute.

Philippou isn’t a title contender but he’s slowly rising up the ranks.

His boxing ability should give Boetsch some problems and you would think Philippou learned from Hector Lombard’s lack of aggressiveness from July. If he can stay consistently aggressive and alert of the takedowns, his chances are good.

Boestch is known to limit and frustrate strikers with his wrestling ability then set up for the ground and pound. Boestch hasn’t won over many fans, but he’s soundly consistent with his performances and is slowly climbing up the middleweight ranks.

Even though Philippou shows a lot of promise, he hasn’t dealt with a wrestler as good as Boetsch.

You may also see more stand up than usual, but eventually you’ll see a lot of fighting by the cage, which may make this possibly the worst fight of the night. It won’t be unanimous , but Boetsch will win ugly again.

Winner: Tim Boetsch by split decision

Lightweight: Jim Miller vs Joe Lauzon

The co-main event does have fight of the night worth to it, despite the lack of star power. Lauzon is starting to gain major publicity for his exciting performances with his variety of submissions. Miller is usually around the top-five fighters of the division and is always around title contention.

I’m expecting this fight to be very fast paced with not much stalling. These two fighters are very aggressive especially Lauzon, which will keep Miller on his heels. Sometimes Miller isn’t on the top of his game and doesn’t strike enough but after losing so easily to Nate Diaz, you’ll see a fired up Miller

It’ll be fun to see how many submissions are attempted in this fight because both fighters base their fighting style through submissions, even though Miller is more wrestling based. Lauzon’s constant pressure is going go give Miller all he can handle.

Despite all of the submission accolades of Lauzon, I’m expecting him to be grounded.

Miller has more upper body strength and you’ll see him keep the fight around the cage or the ground. It will be a few close calls with Lauzon attempting an arm bar or rear naked choke, but Miller will control the majority of the fight and prevail.

Winner: Jim Miller by unanimous decision

Heavyweight Title Fight: Cain Velasquez vs Junior Dos Santos

The clash of the titans is finally here after a year-long wait. Just like everyone, I’m really looking forward to see how Velasquez starts out the fight. I’m expecting him to be very cautious because of the threat of Dos Santos and getting caught early like last time before going for an early takedown.

Let’s not forget that Frank Mir came very close to taking down Dos Santos even though it’s clear that Velasquez is better right now than an aging Mir. The best secret about Dos Santos is that his takedown defense is excellent and he can grapple.

His cage control is excellent and that was evident in his fight against Shane Carwin from a year ago. Dos Santos is the complete package and it bothers me that people consider him just a “boxer”. It’s not going to be easy for Velasquez to just take him down and the ground & pound him like he did to Brock Lesnar.

I’m expecting this fight to be longer than the last one obviously with the first round being a major feeling out process. Eventually it will get aggressive but once again I’m not confident in Velasquez’s chin. He may have a moment or two against Dos Santos, but Dos Santos is on top of his game and eventually will finish him off with punches.

Winner: Junior Dos Santos by tjired0 round KO

I’m expecting a decent card before the main event with the co-main event being pretty explosive. I’m also looking forward to seeing how Alan Belcher continues to rise up the card and seeing his remarkable comeback. Similar to UFC 151 (wait, does that exist?) this is mainly a one-fight card but it does bring out some interesting variables.

I’ll have the usual 10 things we learned about UFC 155 recap on Monday. Other than that, there isn’t really any major news lately. I’ll be working on a 2012 UFC awards of the year in early January. It may be tough with the disappointing year but there were still some jaw-dropping moments this year. Until then, I’ll be back Monday. Thanks for reading.

Allen Strk is a columnist on Bleacher Report. You can read more of my work at TJRSports.com covering the NFL, NBA, and MMA. You can follow me at @Allen_Strk on Twitter or e-mail questions/comments at [email protected].

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Dana White: Victor Conte Is a “Two-Faced” Piece of Crap

Performance Enhancing Drugs (PEDs) are a topic that will forever be debated in sports circles. Since the 11 baseball players appeared in front of the House Government Reform Committee in 2006, the discussion has heated up exponentially. One of the…

One of the men responsible for the rise in PED usage in sports is Victor Conte, the former head of BALCO, the California-based sports nutrition company best known for creating Tetrahydrogestrinone, a superdrug that assists in rapidly creating muscle tissue.

Conte was jailed for a year in 2005 on conspiracy to distribute steroids and money laundering. With his means of earning a living cut off, Conte has since become a “White Knight” in the war against steroid usage in sports.

Considering his checkered past, there are those that are still wary of Conte’s intentions. One of those men is UFC President Dana White. Following the UFC 155 pre-fight press conference, White spoke with attending media to discuss a variety of topics.

The one that got White heated was regarding PED usage and Victor Conte. Never one to beat around the bush, White expressed how he really felt about Conte with some choice words.

“Fuck Victor Conte. The guy’s a lying, two faced, piece of shit. I can’t stand that guy. You’re the biggest cheater in the history of the fucking sports world and now, cause you can’t make a living cheating anymore, you want to flip to the other side and start calling people out and point fingers,” White told Bleacher Report. “Victor Conte is a two-faced piece of shit.”

White continued his rant when pressed as to why he won’t deal with Conte. “I don’t care what his position is. I don’t care about him. He’s a fucking cheater and a liar. Now he’s trying to flip the script so he can make a living on the other side. He’s a scumbag.”

The discussion began when Yahoo Sports’ Kevin Iole brought up the fact that many drug testing experts have been critical of government mandating testing. They will often cite that such tests are the easiest to pass since the methods are outdated.

As usual, White defended the fact that MMA is one of the only sports that is regulated by the government and therefore under the most scrutiny.

“So they say the government isn’t strong enough? We’re regulated by the fucking government. Some of these places, some of these states that we go to, they test the entire card. Some places are random. Some places do the main event and few other fights that are random. It’s better than anyone else’s.”

No matter your position on the whether PEDs should be legal in sports, I believe that White summed it up best to close the discussion.

“There’s always going to be this thing in sports where someone is trying to get an edge on another guy. As an owner or a commissioner or whatever you want to call it, you do the very best that you can do.”

All quotes attained first hand by Jeremy Botter who is in Las Vegas for Bleacher Report

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[VIDEO] Watch a Young Junior Dos Santos Score His Only Professional Submission Victory

(Beats your face to a bloody pulp… personally stitches you up after.)

Most of us tend to forget that UFC heavyweight champ Junior Dos Santos is a BJJ black belt under the Nogueira brothers, probably because we’d like to continue living in a world where we can convince ourselves that a 6’4″, 240 pound killing machine has some discernible weakness other than being a really nice guy when he’s not caving in your face like a Silver Shamrock Halloween mask. That’s right, I just referenced Halloween 3. I’m less a writer, more a prophet.

But unfortunately, the video that awaits you after the jump proves once and for all that JDS is, like me, an absolute master of his trade. In the video, we see a young Junior competing in his second professional MMA fight against Eduardo Maiorino, who sadly passed away from a heart attack just two days ago at the tender age of 33. After opening the fight with a signature flurry of punches, Dos Santos secures a takedown and is able to latch onto a guillotine choke from half guard that seems to be less technique and more Junior using his cyborg strength to vice grip his hapless opponent into submission.

Video below.

(Beats your face to a bloody pulp… personally stitches you up after.)

Video below.

Honestly, if I had the option of tapping to that choke or having my face turned into a Jackson Pollock painting like Shane Carwin did in the header photo…I’d probably take the latter, because then I might at least be able to parlay the beating into a midnight soiree with some big-butted Brazilian honey via some good old fashioned pity. No Brazilian women give it up for a guy with a shitty guard. We know this.

So Nation, are any of you ready to accept the fact that we could see a JDS fight end in something other than a blizzard of concussions? Junior has stated before that he plans on submitting Cain Velasquez if the fight hits the ground; the only question to ask yourself now is if you think he can pull off what fellow black belt Antonio Silva couldn’t even come close to doing.

–J. Jones

Junior dos Santos vs. Cain Velasquez Drinking Game

Junior dos Santos defends his UFC Heavyweight Championship against Cain Velasquez in the UFC 155 main event. The last time these two met, it was the first ever UFC on FOX event, and Dos Santos walked away with the gold.UFC 155 comes to you live from th…

UFC 155 comes to you live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. The event will kick off with a three fight Facebook preliminary card then move to FX prior to the pay-per-view.

The PPV card features the return of Chris Leben, Derek Brunson’s UFC debut, two significant middleweight contender bouts, and an evenly matched lightweight fight between Joe Lauzon versus Jim Miller before getting to the anticipated rematch between dos Santos and Velasquez for the UFC Heavyweight title.

As you sit down to watch beautiful MMA action on a Saturday evening during the holiday season, make sure your fridge is stocked with your favorite beverage and play along with the drinking game below.

Drink one…each time Mike Goldberg is not back to the mic in time after taking a bathroom break. This is a Joe Rogan-created rule. When Rogan takes over duties when a fighter is walking to the cage, it means that Goldberg has not returned from the bathroom.

Drink one…for each knockout and submission on the card.

Drink one…every time you hear “he’s rocked”.

Drink one…for Max Holloway’s body shots.

Drink two…if Holloway hurts Garcia with said body shots.

Finish your drink…if said body shots lead to a finish. We all love a good body shot TKO.

Drink one…if they mention Todd Duffee’s loss to Mike Russow.

Drink one…if they mention Todd Duffee’s loss to Alistair Overeem.

Toast the UFC…if the Facebook stream works perfectly again. They do not get enough credit for consistently providing a top notch stream for the fans. It truly is a rarity.

Finish your drink…if Jamie Varner cries. Win or lose, it could happen.

Finish your drink… before the pay-per-view broadcast begins. When Rogan and Dana White begin to yell at you to order the PPV, that is a good spot to get up and go to the fridge for a new drink.

Pour one out…for Strikeforce. RIP.

Drink one…if there is a mention of why Leben was suspended.

Finish your drink…if Alan Belcher wins and calls out Anderson Silva. He is bound to do just that with an impressive win.

Drink one…when they show Boetsch’s comeback win over Okami. It deserves to be remembered.

Drink one…for any mention of Costa Philippou training with Chris Weidman.

Drink one…when Bad Moon Rising starts to play. Jim Miller has one of the best entrance songs in all of MMA.

Drink one…prior to the UFC Heavyweight Championship fight. You’ll want to prepare yourself.

Drink two…if Dos Santos wins. One for each title defense.

Finish your drink…if the UFC Heavyweight Championship changes hands.

This is only a game. Please remember to drink responsibility and enjoy the fights.

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Opportunity Knocked and Jim Miller Hopes to Capitalize Against Lauzon at UFC 155

With the competitive lightweight division only getting hotter, Jim Miller finds himself in a make-or-break situation. It wasn’t long ago the New Jersey native was putting together a seven-fight win streak that had him knocking on the door of a title shot, but after dropping two of his last three outings, Miller’s back is against the wall heading into his bout with Joe Lauzon this weekend at UFC 155.

The opportunity to fight Lauzon arose when former No. 1 contender Gray Maynard was forced to withdraw from the bout due to injury. When the UFC tapped Miller to face the season 5 TUF alum, the 29-year-old saw the perfect situation develop which would allow him remain a factor in a heated race in the 155-pound weight class.

“This fight comes at the right time and is a perfect opportunity to get back to where I want to be,” Miller told Bleacher Report. “For this camp, I’ll get about six weeks. Some people consider that short notice, but I’m not one of them. Short notice to me means a couple of weeks. As long as you are not walking around too heavy, you should be able to make the weight by fight night. If you can’t do that in six weeks, you really need to question your commitment to being a professional fighter.”

It is often said in MMA that styles make fights and the stylistic similarities between Miller and Lauzon make this matchup extremely interesting. Both men have shown to have solid power in their hands, but the dominant skill set for Miller and Lauzon comes when the action hits the canvas.

Much like his counterpart, Miller has proven to have slick submission skills. While he believes there are areas he would hold advantages, Miller is pumped up and looking forward to mixing it up with a talented fighter with Lauzon‘s credentials.

“Joe is a dangerous opponent,” Miller said. “He is very skilled on the ground and is a solid fighter. Judging from his past fights, it looks like he hits pretty hard as well. He’s an aggressive fighter, and I typically have done very well against guys who come at me that way. I think it is going to be a great matchup stylistically and I’m really looking forward to it.

“I think I’ll have an advantage in the strength department, but I put far more focus on the technique aspect. Technique should beat strength every time, and the little details are going to be important in this fight.”

While a victory over Lauzon won’t put Miller in a position to fight for the UFC title, a loss would threaten to push him out of the division’s coveted top 10 rankings. As things continue to heat up in one of the UFC’s most talent-rich weight classes, Miller fully understands the situation at hand, and knows it is crucial for him to emerge victorious at UFC 155.

“This division has been crazy,” Miller said. “After the title rematches and what not, things are flowing again. But when everything was tied up because of the rematches, there were a few of us who went good runs. Then it just so happens over that time, pretty much all of us lost, and now things look completely different. I’m trying to claw my way back up the ladder and put another streak together.

“Fighting for the title has always been my goal. I’m going to do whatever it takes to put myself in that position. I’m ready to get back to the win column. I’m coming to fight. I’m coming to beat him up and put him away. I don’t like close fights, and I don’t want them. I want to go in there and dominate every time I fight. Fans need to be ready for a Jim Miller who is coming out on fire and ready to get after it.”

Duane Finley is a featured columnist at Bleacher Report’s Caged In. All quotes are obtained first hand unless noted otherwise.

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UFC 155 Fight Card: 5 Reasons You Must Watch This Event

I have no evidence to support what I’m about to say. What am I, a lawyer? A scientist? A “journalist”? Please.What I am is a speculator. An opinionator. And I am presently of the opinion that UFC 155, set to go down Saturday from fabulous Las Vegas, Ne…

I have no evidence to support what I’m about to say. What am I, a lawyer? A scientist? A “journalist”? Please.

What I am is a speculator. An opinionator. And I am presently of the opinion that UFC 155, set to go down Saturday from fabulous Las Vegas, Nevada, is somewhat lacking in the buzz department.

Maybe it’s because the main event features a rematch between two guys (heavyweight champ Junior Dos Santos and challenger Cain Velasquez) who don’t exactly set the microphone on fire, and whose initial fight ended after like two seconds.

Maybe it’s because the full card was shaped by no less than six separate injuries. Maybe it’s because no fighter outside the evening’s main event has ever held a UFC belt. Maybe it’s because the event arrives just four days after Christmas.

Maybe I’m completely wrong on this. Maybe I’m not. Either way, casual and hardcore fans alike should be pumped for this one. Here are five reasons why.

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