I’m thinking Gray Maynard will win this and be the new UFC lightweight champ.

UFC 125 looks like it should be a great show with some good fights. My picks are:
Gray Maynard over Frankie Edgar
Chris Leben over Brian Stann
Brandon Vera over Thiago Silva
Nate Diaz over Dong Hyun Kim
Takanori Gomi over Clay Guida
Marcus Davis over Jeremy Stephens
Josh Grispi over Dustin Poirier
Phil Baroni over Brad Tavares
Mike Brown over Diego Nunes
Jacob Volkmann over Antonio McKee

Yeah, I know my picks don’t matter, but still…

Kevin Burns over TJ Grant
Demarques Johnson over Edgar Garcia
Rousimar Palhares over Lucio Linhares
Johnny Hendricks by something brutal over Ricardo “Golden Boy” Funch
Matt Wiman over Shane Nelson
Alan Belcher over Wilson Gouveia
Paul Buentello by KO over Stefan Struve
Kenny Florian by submission over Clay Guida
Jon Fitch by decision over Mike Pierce
Frank Mir by submission over Cheick Kongo
…and the main event is a tough one for me, I hate to see either guy lose, but I think I’m gonna have to pick BJ Penn on this one, although Diego is an animal and always comes to fight.

Tonights UFC is dedicated to Helio Gracie. Respect.

Clay Guida vs. Nate Diaz – I hope this is an awesome fight. I’m not picking a winner, I like both dudes. How can anyone not love Clay Guida? Rogan is talking about Nick Diaz vs. Robbie Lawler and talks about how much Lawler has improved since that fight, so obviously we will see Robbie Lawler back in the UFC soon. Back to this fight, I give round one to Clay Guida for a good takedown, good GNP, and even a full-nelson into side mount to land elbows! Round two coming up…and it was another good round, won by Guida, in my opinion, just for controlling most of it, although Diaz had some good judo throws in the round. Round 3 was good, with Diaz getting the best of the striking early on, but then Guida again took controll and maintained it through the end of the round. Looks like it will be Guida winning a decision…and indeed it is, Clay Giuda wins a split decision.

Dong Hyun Kim vs. Karo Parisyan, bro. - Both dudes are notable judo guys, so this might be interesting…but it wasn’t. Another split decision, Karo Parisyan is the winner. I thought Dong won the first round, but rounds two and three were tough to score.

Jon Jones vs. Stephan Bonnar – WAR BONNAR! imo…but damn, Jon Jones is legit. He kicked that ass throughout round one. However, Bonnar started a comeback in round 2, and I give round 3 to Bonnar. Still, for his performance in the first round, Jon Jones gets a unanimous decision victory.

Lyoto Machida vs. Thiago Silva – Both guys are undefeated…but not after tonight…unless there is some weird draw, which I guess is possible with Machida? However, I am pumped for this fight. Machida is such ninja. WOW, ninja he is! Machida just threw Silva down on the mat and followed up with a punch to the chin on the ground, to KTFO of Thiago Silva at the very last second of round one. Lyoto Machida wins by KTFO.

BJ Penn vs. Georges St. Pierre – Well, basically BJ Penn got his ass kicked for 4 entire rounds, and his corner stopped the fight between the 4th and 5th rounds. I was under the impression they were going to fight to the death, but I guess not. GEORGES ST. PIERRE wins by ass kicking after 4 rounds.

Ummm….did I just hear Joe Rogan mention Fedor Emelianenko on a UFC broadcast?

Dan Miragliotta still sucks, and he looks fatter.

Houston Alexander tried some illegal-looking knees but was ultimately unsuccessful. He’s 37 years old and seems to run out of gas really quick, and obviously is helpless on the ground. Will he be back in the UFC? Props to Eric Schafer for dedicating his win to Evan Tanner. Props to Eric Schafer for taking those illegal knees to the face while he was down.

The UFC is definitely in partnership with or has purchased StrikeForce. With Dana White’s recent comments about StrikeForce having a good business model, and Cung Le in the audience at a UFC event recently, along with Joe Rogan mentioning Strikeforce tonight during the Clay Guida/Mac Danzig fight, the evidence is too strong.

Joe Rogan appears to be working on his Evan Tanner tribute beard. Props to him.

Clay Guida is a badass.

Josh Neer’s board shorts were cool. They were black with a chain link fence design that blended perfectly with the cage, creating a near optical illusion.

Nick Diaz got his name mentioned a few times by Goldberg and Rogan, further evidence of a UFC/Strikeforce partnership… or Nick will be back in the UFC soon.

The UFC will be in Omaha Nebraska on September 17th, for the 15th “Ultimate Fight Night” event that will be broadcast LIVE on SpikeTV.

Nate Diaz vs. Josh Neer
Clay Guida vs. Mac Danzig
Houston Alexander vs. Eric Schafer
Ed Herman vs. Alan Belcher
Joe Lauzon vs. Kyle Bradley

..more fights may be added later.

Guida steps up as injury sidelines Monson

Jason Guida has managed to cram an entire mixed martial arts career into less than five years.

Known as a hard-nosed competitor who never turned down a fight, Guida was a natural replacement when a broken hand forced Jeff Monson to withdraw from the main event of this Saturday’s Adrenaline MMA show near Chicago.

“Say what you will about Guida, but when you need somebody to jump in on short notice and fight anybody… he’s the guy,” said Adrenaline CEO Monte Cox. “I mean, we all know he’s crazy… but he also comes to fight and you never have to worry about him laying down for anybody. I know this will be a very good main event.”

A native of the Chicago area, Guida’s fighting resume includes almost 40 professional fights all over the world… Russia, Costa Rica, Mexico, Poland. The guy simply loves the competition. And, the tougher the better.

On Saturday at the Sears Centre Arena in Hoffman Estates, Ill., Guida (23-16) will face Chicago police officer Mike Russow (9-1) in the main event of the 14-fight show. The main fights will be televised live on HDNet, beginning at 9:30 p.m. (EST).

“I feel bad for Monson because he really wanted this fight,” Cox said. “But his broken hand wasn’t healing quick enough and you can’t fight at this level with that kind of injury. I’m just fortunate that we had such a quality replacement right in Chicago.”

Guida is the older brother of UFC lightweight standout Clay Guida, who will be in the corner.

For more information, check out www.adrenaline-mma.com and www.searscentre.com.