UFC 150 Reader Picks

With UFC 150 taking place tomorrow night live from the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado, it is time to have a little fun with the picks. While our staff picks will be up later today, it is time for you guys to make your picks for tomorrow?s main card. Be sure to stay tuned to MMAFrenzy for full coverage of tomorrow?s card.

MMAFrenzy.com

Source: http://mmafrenzy.com/29835/ufc-150-reader-picks/

Bernard Ackah  Terrance Aflague Yoshihiro Akiyama  Gilbert Aldana  José Aldo 

Dana White?s UFC 150 Vlog Day 1

UFC President Dana White has released his first vlog for UFC 150. White takes a behind the scenes look at this past Saturday's UFC on Fox 4 card and looks forward to this weekend's UFC 150. UFC 150 takes place Saturday night live from Denver, Colorado. The card will be headlined by a lightweight title fight between champion Benson Henderson taking on Frankie Edgar in a rematch of their UFC 144 fight. The card will air live on PPV this Saturday.

MMAFrenzy.com

Source: http://mmafrenzy.com/29808/dana-whites-ufc-150-vlog-day-1/

Yoji Anjo  Tank Abbott Hiroyuki Abe Cyril Abidi  Daniel Acacio

UFC 150 Preview: The Main Card Breakdown

Because the area was a lawless wasteland, the first two UFCs ever were held in Denver, Colorado.  It was an interesting time back then in the winter of 1993: as a chill hung over the McNichols Sports Arena, within a sumo wrestler was literally getting his teeth kicked out while a bunch of other combat sports newbies were huffing and puffing and on the verge of altitude sickness.  Denver, you see, is so far above sea level that flying birds are in danger of inadvertently leaving Earth's atmosphere.  The UFC has returned to the area many times since, and on Saturday night will be holding UFC 150 there.  So who on the main card will be fully acclimated to the thin air and who will look like they're suffering from asthma?  Here's a breakdown of the fights to tell you that very thing!

  • Benson Henderson vs. Frankie Edgar ? Edgar became the UFC's lightweight champ after he went five rounds with B.J. Penn.  Then he fought Penn for five rounds again, fought Gray Maynard a couple times for a total of nine rounds, and faced former WEC star Henderson, who took the belt from him after another protracted five-round war.  To say that Edgar spends a lot of time in the Octagon is an understatement.  It would be more accurate to say that he lives in the Octagon, and that UFC president Dana White has often floated the idea of charging the New Jersey-based fighter rent.  Unless he can nail a guillotine choke, Henderson is pretty much a decision-type guy as well, so what this one boils down to is who made the best adjustments from their last fight.  Has Edgar trained to avoid those up-kicks that wrecked his nose (an injury that required surgery and forced the postponement of this rematch earlier in the year)?  Will Henderson continue to throw kicks that Edgar catches and use the opportunity to punch him repeatedly in the face while Edgar stands there holding his leg (which happened last time)?  If adjustments have been made, I can see the "Answer" racking up enough points to take the decision over "Smooth".  Either way, though, this one is going the distance.  Oh, and both men will be in great shape.

 

  • Don Cerrone vs. Melvin Guillard ? When it comes to knocking people out, lightweight "The Ultimate Fighter ? Season Two" veteran Guillard is king.  Unfortunately, when it comes to defending submissions, the "Young Assassin" is like a knave or squire, or perhaps even just a scullery maid.  But fear not!  For although former WEC star Cerrone is great at grappling, he's also great at standing and banging ? which is hopefully what we'll get for at least the first few minutes of this co-main event hoedown.  Granted, once things get too hairy for him on the feet, "Cowboy" can flip the switch, take things horizontal and tap Guillard out, but we should at least get some fireworks.  I'm picking Cerrone to win this one via choke, hopefully later rather than sooner.

 

  • Jake Shields vs. Ed Herman ? Middleweight jiu-jitsu expert Shields ruled Strikeforce with an iron fist, even handling Dan Henderson like he was nothing in his last fight with the organization.  But since crossing over to the UFC, Shields' performances can best be summed up by the word "meh".  TUF 3 runner-up Herman's career has been a mixed bag of dominant wins and crushing defeats, yet he's a gamer, and if he can prevent Shields from getting him down, he can clinch his way to a decision.  That's not going to happen, as Shield will get him down and tie him in knots, but hey, if Herman was going to win, that's how he'd do it.

 

  • Yushin Okami vs. Buddy Roberts ? Former middleweight contender Okami didn't look so hot against champ Anderson Silva, and when he took on Tim Boetsch at UFC 144, he was dominant until Boetsch said "Enough of this crap!" and simply beat him unconscious.  Replacing Rousimar Palhares as Okami's dance partner is Roberts, who had a less-than-inspiring UFC debut back in June and who's clearly taking a big step up in competition with this match-up.  Look, I'm not going to pretend that Roberts has the chops to beat Okami if Okami is sharp and "in the zone", but if the Japanese fighter is truly riding a fast train to Suckville, losing to the Greg Jackson-trained young buck would likely mean the end of him in the Octagon.  I predict Okami takes this one by getting Roberts down and pounding on him.  He if doesn't? see ya, "Thunder".

 

  • Justin Lawrence vs. Max Holloway ? Okay, okay, Lawrence looked extremely impressive earning a win via knockout at the TUF 15 finale, but does that mean we should have a TUFer on the main card of a pay-per-view event so soon after his respective season?  Anyway, Lawrence can strike pretty well, and his opponent ? Hawaii native Holloway ? hasn't really made an impact in two UFC appearances (he lost handily to Dustin Poirier and decisioned Pat Schilling), so this bout is either going to be quick and violent or it's going to make you call your cable company and say you ordered this UFC by mistake.  I'm leaning towards the former, with Lawrence emerging victorious.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/ufc-150-preview-main-card-breakdown-213107759--mma.html

Andre Amade  Dean Amasinger  Jimmy Ambriz Matt Andersen  Alex Andrade 

Frankie Edgar and His Mark

At UFC 150 on Saturday, former lightweight champ Frankie Edgar gets another crack at Benson Henderson, only this time around Henderson is wearing the belt that Edgar wore when they first met.  Can Edgar reclaim what was once his?  Or has his day passed and the era of "Smooth" is truly upon us?  Though predictions may vary on whether the "Answer" can defeat Henderson, one thing is certain: for the wars he's waged in the cage, sometimes dangling precariously over the edge of the abyss of defeat before finding the impossible win, he has thrilled us more than most fighters ever will.  Win, lose or draw on Saturday, Edgar has made his mark on the sport. 

Consider this about man from Toms River, N.J.:

  • When he first appeared in the UFC, it was for a fight that many others had turned down.  Tyson Griffin was the opponent, and at the time (UFC 67), the word on the street was that Griffin was some sort of undefeated, unbeatable monster.  Edgar smoked him, and earned a Fight of the Night bonus in the process.

 

  • When Edgar challenged B.J. Penn for the 155-pound belt, Penn was considered to be at the height of his dominance in the weight class.  The former welterweight champ hadn't simply beaten all comers at 155 (since his loss to Jen Pulver years before), he'd destroyed them.  In his rematch with "Lil' Evil", Penn treated him like a petulant jiu-jitsu white belt.  In his fight against Joe Stevenson, he made the TUF winner into a bloody mess.  He left Sean Sherk dazed on the canvas, had Kenny Florian tapping for mercy, and turned Diego Sanchez into an extra from "Dawn of the Dead".  And then came Edgar, who out-hustled Penn for five rounds to take the decision.  Was it a fluke?  Obviously not, because in the immediate rematch, Edgar did it all over again, only this time he was totally and completely dominant.

 

  • There have only been a handful of champs in the lightweight division, with Penn's reign lasting the longest at 812 days.  But having held the belt for 687 days, Edgar comes in at second, surpassing former title holders Sherk and Pulver (and current champ Henderson). 

 

Flat facts and numbers and aside, there's something else to what Edgar has done in terms of leaving his mark.  Where some fighters have made themselves memorable by dominant performances and finishes by knockout and submission, Edgar has been the one to come perilously close to getting TKO'd (by Maynard) or having a limb broken (by Griffin), only to rally back and win.  The Answer has thrilled us ? not just once, but many times.  And in ten, maybe twenty years, when we tell our kids about how the UFC was "back in the day", the clips we'll show them will undoubtedly contain a few instances of Edgar on the verge of going to sleep, yet finding some way to survive and thrive.

Duane Finley over at Bleacher Report put it nicely with this bit here:

Over the past two years Edgar has built his reputation on resilience and resolve.  The former champion displayed tremendous heart and perseverance in both of last year's fights with Maynard and then again after being rocked by Henderson in the third round of their first matchup in February.

It has been on the strength of these types of performances where Edgar has laid the foundation to his legacy and nothing has meant more to him than being a champion.

 

Who will come away with the belt when the main event at UFC 150 is over?  I don't know for sure, but what I do know is that, when it comes to the history books, Frankie Edgar has already made his mark.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/frankie-edgar-mark-033010068--mma.html

Thiago Alves  Andre Amade  Dean Amasinger  Jimmy Ambriz Matt AndersenÂ