Why is Chris Weidman the Favorite?

Although rapidly approaching , UFC on Fuel TV 4 hasn’t gotten much attention from the media due to the highly anticipated UFC 148. However, just four days after Anderson Silva and Chael Sonnen square off.

Although rapidly approaching , UFC on Fuel TV 4 hasn’t gotten much attention from the media due to the highly anticipated UFC 148. However, just four days after Anderson Silva and Chael Sonnen square off for the second time, two other top middleweights will face off in an attempt to continue their run at the middleweight title.

Top contenders, Mark Munoz and Chris Weidman, will be headlining UFC on Fuel TV 4, which will take place July 11th. The betting odds for the main event have come out, and surprisingly, it is Weidman who is the favorite over Munoz. Now while casual MMA fans may not question this, it does raise a few eyebrows from the more enthusiastic fans. Both fighters have demonstrated their skills over talented opponents, which places both fighters among the top of the division, arguably in the top ten. However, nobody can argue with the repertoire of Munoz being more impressive.

Mark Munoz has won seven of his last eight fights, losing only a split decision to Yushin Okami, who at the time, was ranked in the top five. He has since beaten four high-level opponents, with only two of those fights seeing judges score cards. Chris Weidman hasn’t faced the number of high-level opponents that Munoz has. Although Weidman was able to finish UFC veteran, Tom Lawlor, with a guillotine choke in just over two minutes, it was his decision win over jiu-jitsu specialist, Demian Maia, that labeled him as a top middleweight contender. Coincidently, Munoz and Weidman share Demian Maia as a common opponent, and it’s the comparison of their bouts with Maia that reveal just how baffling these betting odds truly are.

Mark Munoz fought a confident, energetic Demian Maia, who came out aggressive, throwing a plethora of solid, accurate strikes. It was the first time Maia demonstrated his newly achieved striking skills and completely caught Munoz off guard with them. However, Munoz was able to come back in the last two rounds, using powerful strikes and elite wrestling to stifle the jiu-jitsu attempts of Maia, and win a unanimous decision. In Chris Weidman’s bout with Maia, eight months later, Maia’s performance was sluggish and mundane. His strikes were hesitant and predictable, while his take down attempts were feeble. Even commentators, Joe Rogan and Mike Goldberg, made the comment that the performance of Maia and Weidman wasn’t installing any fear to the rest of the division, and that they both looked physically exhausted. While this was understandable for Weidman, seeing he agreed to the fight with Maia on only eleven days notice, there was no explanation for Maia’s poor performance. Bottom line, Mark Munoz defeated an elite contender at the top of his game, and Chris Weidman didn’t.

By no means should anyone count Chris Weidman out of this fight. He may very well remain undefeated when it’s all over. However, there is a reason that every MMA website has Munoz ranked above Weidman. When looking at the skills, past performances, and overall resumes that both of these fighters poses, Mark Munoz has simply accomplished more. Clearly somebody was misinformed when making these betting odds, and if not, then favoring Weidman is just plain ignorant and bias.

By: Ryan “Fight Freek” Poli

Dana White Gets the Victory Against His Hacker

The world today is growing exponentially towards technology, and while the accompanying benefits are undeniable, risks are always involved. Dana White, President of the UFC, and the UFC website, UFC.com, have felt the full force.

The world today is growing exponentially towards technology, and while the accompanying benefits are undeniable, risks are always involved. Dana White, President of the UFC, and the UFC website, UFC.com, have felt the full force of these risks. Recently, someone known by the username JoshTheGod, hacked into UFC.com and White’s personal information. But this online war started much earlier this year, in January.

White had advocated in support of SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act), as much of UFC merchandise gets pirated. As expected, many online hackers retaliated against the president of the UFC. After JoshTheGod targeted and harassed Dana White over various social media sites, he targeted UFC.com shutting down the website. White practically dared them to do it again. He responded to the hackers by stating on Twitter:

“I’m in the fight biz not the website biz!! Might be a big deal to other companies not mine.”

“Lol, I’m not fucking ebay. My website being down doesn’t mean shit”

And “I could give a flying rats ass about UFC. Com.”

Dana White went on to state, “The internet is a place where cowards live.” Shortly after this statement, White’s social security number was posted online. Dana White showed little attention to this as he uttered, “You’re gonna send some pizzas to my house and put my Social Security number out? Who gives a shit? If people really wanted to get your Social Security number, I’m sure they could find it. I’m supposed to bow down to you guys now? I’m going to come after you harder. If you want to fight me, you better pack a f—ing lunch, man. Because we’re gonna go until somebody wins and somebody loses.” White then turned to the FBI as he said he had a plan of attack figured out. As the FBI was already looking into piracy of UFC merchandise, they knew where to look. After UFC.com was hacked, other branches of the government investigated into the crime. This led these departments to pinpoint the hackers responsible, and make arrests.

While it took a good 6 months for the entire case to come to fruition and work itself out, the hacker has finally been identified as 18 year old Mir Islam, and has been subsequently arrested along with other assailants. Islam, who was also behind multiple other websites involving credit card fraud, was the head in the major sting operation. As it turns out, he had been selling credit card information to a government run website while the FBI zoned in on him. White feels as if he had a lot to do with this in opposing the group, standing his ground, and helping the feds zone in an the hacker.

We all know that Dana White is one badass guy, and this simply adds to the list. If someone posted my social security number on the internet, I would be terrified. On the other hand, I am not the head of the number one mixed martial arts promotion in the world. Anyone who decides to mess with Dana White is picking a fight with the wrong guy. He is the epitome of a man who doesn’t care what anyone thinks or feels about him, and does what he wants to do. This is the worst enemy of an online hacker, and any internet predator for that matter. Whether or not Dana White had a large part in the arrest of these criminals, we can at least thank him for challenging these assailants in a way we all wish we could embody.

By: Emily Kapala

It’s a draw for both Arianny Celeste and Praveen Chandra

In the world we live in today, any domestic dispute between a man and a woman is usually settled quite simply; the man takes the hit or the charges are dropped. Regardless of whether the.

In the world we live in today, any domestic dispute between a man and a woman is usually settled quite simply; the man takes the hit or the charges are dropped. Regardless of whether the woman starts it, she will take the stereotypical stance of the damsel in distress that was abused. In the case of UFC’s favorite ring girl, the latter outcome was the final conclusion.

The entire world of mma was shocked when a domestic violence case was surrounding UFC ring girl Arianny Celeste. She truly is a fan favorite, and scrutiny was placed on her boyfriend, Praveen Chandra. She even made an appearance the same night of the incident at UFC 146. Not only is she upholding her professional status, but also showing the world she is not affected by the results of the dispute. On May 26th, Celeste reported that her boyfriend of seven months had choked her and grabbed her arm. Pictures and reports taken at the scene validate these claims. However, Chandra told the LA police that Celeste had initially kicked him in the nose inside the limousine before entering the hotel. She then allegedly threw two vases at him once getting inside the hotel once the argument escalated. Injuries on Chandra also matched the descriptions he claimed took place. Both participants were taken into custody. However, they were released and Celeste made a showing at the UFC event a little late.

It is clear that in any domestic abuse case, the general public will almost always side with the female. Clearly in this case there should be fault given to both sides. But how come it is always socially acceptable for a female to hit a male, but it is unacceptable for a male to hit a female? I think all abuse is abuse period. I don’t think it should be slated by gender but simply the fact that domestic assault is taking place. That being said, both parties were clearly victims in this case. Regardless of who started the domestic abuse, the second person never should have retaliated unless in the case of pure self defense. Both Celeste and Chandra were dropped of all charges. The LA police department cited there was insufficient evidence to prove otherwise. Hopefully, for the sake of her career and public appeal, Celeste has learned from her mistakes. She has been given a second opportunity with a clean record, and needs to utilize this freedom. Even if she was convicted of domestic battery, her fans and the UFC would more than likely feel sorry for her misfortune or root for her “defending” herself. Either way Celeste’s reputation has not been smeared, so once again the female’s character is intact and unharmed.

By: Elise Kapala

Why Silva has the Advantage Over Sonnen

The rematch between middleweight king, Anderson Silva, and the king on trash talk, Chael Sonnen will arguably be the biggest MMA event in history. With more mudslinging then a presidential election, it comes down to.

The rematch between middleweight king, Anderson Silva, and the king on trash talk, Chael Sonnen will arguably be the biggest MMA event in history. With more mudslinging then a presidential election, it comes down to the final week before the fight, and it’s time to put up, or shut up. Harsh comments and insults won’t put a win on either of the records, it’s all coming down to skill and preparation.

It comes to no surprise that the middleweight champ is the favorite to win the rematch, but there is much dissension over how this fight should truly be analyzed. Many have suggested what they feel are the keys to victory for each fighter, and several X factors that could determine who will leave that night with the belt. People could argue, until their blue in the face, over what the most intelligent strategy would be, who they feel has the mental edge, or simply, who will be able to impose their will on their opponent. However, before the fight even begins, it will be Silva who has the initial advantage.

It can be beneficial for a fighter to have already faced an opponent once before. However, Silva will benefit from this far more, simply because of Sonnen‘s, somewhat transparent, game plan that will mimic his last performance against the champ, or any other of his past opponents, for that matter. He will come out aggressively and use his elite-level wrestling to get the fight to the ground. The chances of Sonnen looking to stand and trade strikes with Silva, or let Silva press the action are unlikely. While it’s true that it is in the champ’s best interest to keep it on the feet, it remains clear that Silva is the more versatile fighter, who could easily change his tactics and mix things up far better than his opponent. It’s safe to say that Silva has been working diligently on his wrestling, specifically his takedown defense. However, if Silva is taken down, his last minute triangle submission win over Sonnen in their last fight proves that with Silva, the fight isn’t over until the fat lady sings, or more preferably an octagon ring girl.

By no means, however, does it mean that it is impossible to see Sonnen’s hand raised by the end of the fight. After all, he nearly won the first fight. With all of the hype surrounding this card, and words exchanged by both fighters, this rematch will not go to the judge’s score cards. With the advantage of striking and jiu-jitsu for Silva, it appears that more than likely, the legacy of the reigning champ, Anderson Silva, will continue.

By: Ryan “Fight Freek” Poli

UFC 148: Who Spilled the Pro Wrestling in My MMA?

Anyone who, like me, grew up on pro wrestling in the eighties has realized by now that Dana White is some sort of bizarre hybrid between Vince McMahon and a legitimate professional athletic commissioner. And.

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Anyone who, like me, grew up on pro wrestling in the eighties has realized by now that Dana White is some sort of bizarre hybrid between Vince McMahon and a legitimate professional athletic commissioner. And as we head into this week’s UFC 148 card, his brain must be buzzing as both aspects of that persona are watching a dream scenario unfold. Every pro wrestling promoter knows the most important part of creating an explosive main event is creating a dramatic back story involving two characters that force fans to pick a side. For the uninitiated, that scenario traditionally involves a heel (bad guy) and a babyface (good guy).

Going into UFC 148, Chael Sonnen is clearly the heal. In real life, he may not actually be the biggest asshole in the world but at this point, it doesn’t even matter because he has become his character. He has let an endless stream of arrogant guarantees interspersed with blatantly disrespectful trash talk ooze out of him throughout his rivalry with Anderson Silva. On top of that, he was suspended after the first Silva fight for having elevated levels of testosterone. If Sonnen ever gets tired of putting his body in jeopardy in the octagon, he could take his gimmick to the WWE and not have to change a thing.

On the other side of this middleweight title matchup is the ideal babyface. Again, I’m not really sure if Anderson Silva is Bruce Lee reincarnated but it doesn’t matter because he too has become his character. Silva is a martial artist. He’s a family man. He respects the traditions of the sport. He does nothing but train hard, say his prayers and eat his vitamins. He already defeated Sonnen once and still Sonnen antagonizes him. Finally, Silva has snapped. Now he is threatening Sonnen. And who can blame him. Even a peaceful warrior must eventually stand up to a bully and that moment has now arrived.

We have our heel. We have our babyface. All we need now is a back story. And as you may have heard, these two men have fought before. In typical pro wrestling fashion, the heel beat the face around the cage for twenty three straight minutes. The fight seemed over. Sonnen was dominating. But in an instant, the whole course of the fight changed. Silva slapped on a triangle, Sonnen panic tapped, tried to pretend he didn’t and then realized that he just lost the biggest fight of his life.

On Saturday night, we get to see the rematch that was inevitable from the moment Sonnen felt Silva’s spider legs pressing against his arteries. I expect the atmosphere to be one of the most electric in MMA history. If I was Dana White, I would hire Gorilla Monsoon for one night just so he could say, “You can cut the electricity with a knife!” Only the most professional, detached and potentially non-human observers will be watching this without at least a slight rooting interest.

My brain is well aware that Chael Sonnen is not the person he portrays himself to be to sell fights and Anderson Silva isn’t a real life version of the ninja from the NES Ninja Gaiden series. Both men are great athletes looking to test their skills at the highest level of combat sports and Sonnen is doing everything he can to make both men as much money as possible. And normally, that would be my mindset for watching a fight. But for some reason, this matchup brings back those pro wrestling days and I’m going to choose to suspend my disbelief for one evening. I’m going to buy what the hype machine is selling me and I’m going to enjoy every minute of it.

No sex before a fight…poor, poor Tito

There isn’t a MMA fighter that wouldn’t give his left nut for a chance to fight in the UFC, and not many men that wouldn’t give both their nuts to be with Jenna Jameson. How.

There isn’t a MMA fighter that wouldn’t give his left nut for a chance to fight in the UFC, and not many men that wouldn’t give both their nuts to be with Jenna Jameson. How hard it must be for Tito Ortiz to prepare for a big fight while abiding with the not sex before a fight training rule…

Imagine coming home from a hard day of training to see your gorgeous porn star girlfriend lounging nude by the pool, skin glistening in the sun giving you the, “Come get some big boy”, eyes and having every inch of your body screaming, “OH hell yeah, here I come”, and having to slam on the brakes. All that pent up frustration, something other than Titos boys are going to end up black and blue. So is it really worth it?

Scientist don’t have an answer to that question. Some scientist say that not having sex or masturbating before a fight build up testosterone making the fighters ability to focus better and that the frustration can be beneficial in a match. I’m sure Tito can tell us all about that frustration, but if he knew what the other half were saying would he still be going by this old myth? Some scientist say that their studies show that this buildup of testosterone is a hoax and that the longer that they withdraw from sexual release their testosterone levels actually drop and could drop to pre-adolescence levels depending on how long they go without. So regardless if greats such as Muhammad-Ali and many other great fighters believed that going without sex before a fight helped them perform better or not if you had Jenna Jameson prancing nude around your house would you be able to not perform in the bedroom because of a myth?

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Poor, poor Tito having to choose whether to have sex with Jenna Jameson and risk not being rock hard, strong and ready for his fight or walk around rock hard and be strong and ready for his fight. If he chooses to do without sex until after the fight, Ms. Jameson better hopes he takes most of that aggression and frustration out in the octagon or otherwise she’ll be walking around like she’s been at a week-long porn fest.

By: Betty Cole