UFC 157: Rousey vs. Carmouche Review

Saturday night was UFC 157: Rousey vs. Carmouche. This event made UFC history for featuring the first women's fight ever in the UFC. The UFC has come a long way over the years and the fact that their first ever women's UFC fight headlined a PPV that also featured a couple of future UFC Hall of Famers is a good step in the right direction for the company.

I will be giving my predictions for what I think the fighters' next fight should be following today's event at the bottom of each fight.

UFC 157 Results:

Main Card on PPV:

Women's Bantamweight Championship: Ronda Rousey (C) (7-0) vs. Liz Carmouche (8-3) 

Rousey defeats Carmouche via submission (armbar) at 4:49 of round 1.

Seven fights, seven first round victories by armbar...She's that DAMN good. Rousey had what was probably the toughest fight of her career at this point in what was her longest fight of her career. Carmouche gave her some trouble early in the round and almost submitted the champion Rousey. Eventually Rousey was able to get the fight to the ground and gain top position where she eventually secured the armbar and made UFC history.

The win by Rousey really gives women's MMA hope in the UFC. Not many fighters start their career as dominant as she had and if she is able to keep this up, the UFC will be able to build around her. Carmouche was a very game opponent and with a couple of wins could get herself back for her a rematch against the champion. Very good debut for women's MMA in the mecca of the sport.

Up next for Rousey: Winner of Miesha Tate vs. Cat Zingano
Up next for Carmouche: Loser of Tate vs. Zingano

Light Heavyweight: Lyoto Machida (19-3) vs. Dan Henderson (29-9)

Machida defeats Henderson via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28).

Well this fight wasn't what I wanted. In 15 minutes there were two takedowns and about 10-15 strikes landed that did damage. In my opinion there wasn't a real clean winner. If it was more acceptable to give 10-10 rounds I think the second round could have been a 10-10 and I had Machida winning the first and Henderson winning the third. The second round was too close to pick either fighter in my opinion. I had the fight a draw in all honesty and would rather see the two fight someone else before either is to get a title shot.

Because Machida was the winner he will be getting the title shot against either Jones or Sonnen next. While Henderson could be one win away from a title shot because that wasn't really a loss I'd love to see him drop down in weight. He lost to Anderson Silva a few years ago and I think that right now he's the only guy that makes sense to challenge Silva. Chris Weidman seems to be the next guy to challenge Silva, but I don't think he's ready and would much rather see Henderson drop down to his natural weight and challenge the champion.

Up next for Machida: Winner of Jon Jones vs. Chael Sonnen
Up next for Henderson: Anderson Silva

Bantamweight: Urijah Faber (27-6) vs. Ivan Menjivar (25-10)

Faber defeats Menjivar via submission (rear-naked choke) at 4:34 of round 1.

Faber is able to take the rematch seven years in the making that most people never knew actually happened. Over seven years ago Faber and Menjivar met way before either of them ever fought in the Octagon. Faber won the fight by disqualification after Menjivar illegally kicked Faber while he was a downed opponent.

This entire fight looked like the Urijah Faber of old. "The California Kid" put on a show in this fight showing good wrestling, ground and pound and a great submission to end the fight. Menjivar struggled with Faber's wrestling and was unable to really get Faber off of him. When he was finally able to create space and get the fight standing Faber was able to jump on the back of Menjivar and maneuver his way to a standing rear-naked choke that ended up finishing the fight.

Up next for Faber: Eddie Wineland
Up next for Menjivar: Brian Bowles

Welterweight: Court McGee (14-3) vs. Josh Neer (33-13-1)

McGee defeats Neer via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27).

I told myself coming into this fight that McGee hadn't fought anyone as good as Neer so he would probably struggle. I also thought the weight cut might make things difficult for me. Then McGee goes out and makes it look easy against Neer for 15 minutes.

McGee was able to use crisp boxing and some late takedowns to make sure that at the end of the fight his hand was raised. McGee was able to land a liver kick that was followed up with a hook to the body that really hurt Neer in round 1. That was the closest the fight ever came to being finished.

Late in the fight Neer had his moments, but for the majority of the last two rounds there was still more McGee than there was Neer. The takedowns in the third really helped end all possibilities of Neer edging out any kind of win. Impressive performance by McGee as I see him winning 30-27.

Up next for McGee: Tyron Woodley
Up next for Neer: Probably cut by the UFC

Welterweight: Josh Koscheck (17-7) vs. Robbie Lawler (20-9, 1 NC)

Lawler defeats Koscheck via TKO (punches) at 3:57 of round 1.

Couldn't have called the fight any better than I did. Koscheck's gameplan from the start was to use his wrestling and clinch game to keep Lawler from landing any flush shots to end the fight. For the first three and a half minutes Koscheck was doing everything that he wanted until Lawler was able to land two knees while up against the cage.

After that Koscheck just didn't seem all that aware of what was going on and looked a little out. Lawler followed up those knees with some ground and pound from the top to finish the fight. Koscheck appeared upset that the fight was ended so early, but he wasn't defending himself all that well and it could have gotten a lot worse for him.

Up next for Lawler: Winner of Siyar Bahadurzada vs. Dong Hyun Kim
Up next for Koscheck: Martin Kampmann

Preliminary Card on FX:

Heavyweight: Brendan Schaub (9-3) vs. Lavar Johnson (17-7)

Schaub defeats Johnson via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27).

Up next for Schaub: Todd Duffee
Up next for Johnson: Nandor Guelmino

Lightweight: Michael Chiesa (9-0) vs. Anton Kuivanen (17-6)

Chiesa defeats Kuivanen via submission (rear-naked choke) at 2:29 of round 2.

Up next for Chiesa: Bobby Green
Up next for Kuivanen: George Sotiropoulos

Featherweight: Dennis Bermudez (10-3) vs. Matt Grice (15-5)

Bermudez defeats Grice via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28).

Up next for Bermudez: Mike Brown
Up next for Grice: Nam Phan

Lightweight: Sam Stout (19-8-1) vs. Caros Fodor (7-3)

Stout defeats Fodor via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28).

Up next for Stout: Jamie Varner
Up next for Fodor: Probably cut by the UFC

Preliminary Card on Facebook:

Welterweight: Kenny Robertson (12-2) vs. Brock Jardine (9-3)

Robertson defeats Jardine via submission (kneebar) at 2:57 of round 1.

Up next for Robertson: Nah-Shon Burrell
Up next for Jardine: Probably cut by the UFC

Welterweight: Jon Manley (7-2) vs. Neil Magny (8-1)

Magny defeats Manley via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28).

Up next for Magny: Winner of Marcelo Guimaraes vs. Lim Hyun-Gyu
Up next for Manley: Probably cut by the UFC

Catchweight (175.8 lbs): Nah-Shon Burrell (9-2) vs. Yuri Villefort (6-2)

Burrell defeats Villefort via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27).

Up next for Burrell: Kenny Robertson
Up next for Villefort: Probably cut by the UFC

UFC 157: Rousey vs. Carmouche Preview

Tonight is UFC 157: Rousey vs. Carmouche. This event makes UFC history for featuring the first ever women's fight in the UFC. The UFC has come a long way over the years and the fact that their first ever women's UFC fight is headlining a PPV that also features a couple of future UFC Hall of Famers is a good step in the right direction for the company.

UFC 157 Predictions:

Main Card on PPV:

Women's Bantamweight Championship: Ronda Rousey (C) (6-0) vs. Liz Carmouche (8-2)

A couple of years ago the UFC looked like it had no plans in the near future to bring women's fighters into the UFC. Now tonight we will get to see the debut of women in the Octagon. Both women competing in the first ever UFC women's fight are coming over from Strikeforce after the company had shut down operations.

The champion Rousey came over to the UFC as the champion so she will be coming into this fight as the current and first ever UFC Women's Bantamweight Champion. Before coming to the UFC she managed to go undefeated in her first six fights winning all of them by armbar in the first round, with only one of them actually lasting longer than one minute. She could really be looked at as Women's MMA's version of Mike Tyson at this point.

Her opponent Carmouche is coming into this fight on a current two-fight win streak. Her only losses have come to former Strikeforce Women's Bantamweight Champions in Sarah Kaufman and Marloes Coenen. On paper she seems to be a more well-rounded fighter than Rousey, in that she's actually won fights outside of just armbar. With five wins via (T)KO and two by submission she definitely brings more to the table than Rousey does from what we've seen.

What this fight is going to come down to is whether or not Carmouche can keep the fight standing. If Rousey is able to get this fight to the ground and grab a piece of Carmouche's arm this fight will be all over quick, and her arm might not be all intact when the referee finally separates the two. Making a case for Carmouche to win this fight is very difficult because I just don't see her having any chance against Rousey who is considered to be the best women's fighter in the world at this time. This isn't the fight people wanted to see as most wanted her to fight Cris "Cyborg" Santos but we will have to take what the UFC has given us. Sorry Carmouche this fight won't end pretty for you.

My prediction: Rousey wins via submission (round 1) to retain UFC Women's Bantamweight Championship

Light Heavyweight: Lyoto Machida (18-3) vs. Dan Henderson (29-8)

This fight could have been the headliner at any UFC event and the winner of this fight will be getting the next shot at the light heavyweight title which is currently held by Jon Jones. Jones is fighting Chael Sonnen later this year so the winner of this fight will challenge the winner of the title fight more than likely by the end of the year.

Machida is a former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion and in his first 16 fights was untouchable, going undefeated and winning the championship over then champion, Rashad Evans. Machida also owns notable wins over Stephan Bonnar, Rich Franklin, B.J. Penn, Sokoudjou, Mauricio "Shogun" Rua, Randy Couture and most recently Ryan Bader. Before Jones came into the picture in the light heavyweight division most people that followed the UFC thought that he would be the future of the division and would remain untouchable for some time. After losing three of his last five fights he will now be trying to get back on track and move forward to winning back the championship that he lost almost three years ago.

Henderson is a former PrideFC Welterweight and Middleweight Champion (PrideFC's welterweight division was about the same weight as the UFC's middleweight division and their middleweight division was about the same as the UFC's light heavyweight division). Henderson is coming into this fight on a four fight win streak which includes who some consider the greatest fighter of all time in Fedor Emelianenko. Some of Hendo's most notable wins include Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Renato "Babalu" Sobral twice, Vitor Belfort, Wanderlei Silva, Rich Franklin, Michael Bisping and most recently Mauricio "Shogun" Rua.

This is a fight where two guys will be trying to keep it standing and attempt to knock the other guy out. Both guys bring very different backgrounds into this fight with Machida using karate and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu while Henderson has a background in wrestling.

I doubt that this fight goes to the ground unless one of these fighters are trying to earn points.Neither guy wants the fight to go there because they are both at their strongest when they are standing. Machida fights a defensive style while Henderson will likely charge at him and try to land his very powerful "H-Bomb." The "H-Bomb" is the nickname that was given to his overhand right punch that knocked out Bisping at UFC 100. If Machida is going to win this fight he's going to have to fight defensive and make Hendo come at him. He's not going to knock him out so he's going to have to fight smart and win this fight via decision. For Hendo he's going to have to do what he's done so many times and try to land some shots that will likely put Machida on the mat and earn him his title shot.

My prediction: Henderson wins via KO (round 2)

Bantamweight: Urijah Faber (26-6) vs. Ivan Menjivar (25-9)

Urijah Faber was 21-1 and regarded as the best fighter not featured in any of the UFC weight classes at the time a few years ago. Since then he has managed to split his next 10 fights (going 5-5) at both featherweight and now bantamweight and is no longer considered the greatest featherweight of all time (Jose Aldo). The former WEC Featherweight Champion will be coming into this fight against a guy that has been around for a long time and a guy that he once fought over seven years ago.

Ivan Menjivar has been fighting since 2001 and is now in his fourth different weight class. The former welterweight fighter has moved down three weight classes and lost over 30 pounds over this time frame. When he and Faber met the first time back in 2006 he lost the fight via DQ after illegally kicking Faber while he was a downed opponent. Menjivar spent almost four years retired between late 2006 and mid 2010 and since coming back has gone 5-2.

Neither guy really has a weakness and both are pretty good on their feet as well as the ground. This should be an entertaining fight for 15 minutes and should be a candidate for fight of the night.

My prediction: Faber wins via unanimous decision

Welterweight: Court McGee (14-3) vs. Josh Neer (33-12-1)

I don't agree with this fight being on the main card tonight and think that the Brendan Schaub-Lavar Johnson fight was more deserving. Anyways this fight features McGee who won the 11th season of the Ultimate Fighter and Neer who has fought just about everybody and everywhere over his 40-plus fight career.

McGee is coming into this fight on a two fight losing streak and with a loss here, he could be looking at finding a new place to fight. He hasn't fought close to as many times as Neer and hasn't fought as tough of competition either. McGee will be making his welterweight debut tonight and the change in weight classes could help him.

Neer comes into this fight on a two fight losing streak as well, and is facing the possibility that he could be released from the UFC for the fourth time. He holds notable wins over Melvin Guillard, Joe Stevenson, Din Thomas, Mac Danzig and Duane "Bang" Ludwig.

Neer has beaten and fought much better competition his entire career than McGee and has fought at welterweight for the majority of his career so he should have the advantage over McGee. I think all signs are pointing to Neer winning this fight and I think he'll finish the fight. I see McGee eventually getting gassed and not being able to handle the weight cut late in the third.

My prediction: Neer wins via TKO (round 3)

Welterweight: Josh Koscheck (17-6) vs. Robbie Lawler (19-9, 1 NC)

This fight could go one of two ways. Koscheck could use his superior wrestling and hold Lawler down for three rounds or he could stand with Lawler in a fight where there could end up being fireworks by the end. I'm hoping for the second way.

Koscheck seems to be in a hard place right now in the welterweight division. He has two losses to the current champion and probably won't be getting a title shot anytime soon. He just lost to Johny Hendricks in his most recent fight and with the UFC trimming its roster he could also be on the chopping block if he fails to perform as well as he has for most of his career. He holds notable wins over Diego Sanchez, Chris Lytle, Frank Trigg,  Paul Daley and his opponent's training partner Matt Hughes.

Lawler is making his UFC return after not fighting for the organization in over eight years. He has never really gone on a long winning streak since leaving the UFC but has managed to put on great performances against the best guys in the world outside of the sport's number one organization. He's another fighter that with a loss could be on his way out if he doesn't perform well tonight. He holds notable wins over Chris Lytle, Frank Trigg, Murilo "Ninja" Rua, Melvin Manhoef and Matt Lindland.

This fight will be Lawler's first welterweight fight in almost nine years so if he's going to win the fight he is going to have to win it early. He's never been a fighter to do all that well late in fights due to him giving it his all early. All Koscheck really has to do is get this fight to the ground for a win, but with the fear of 100 fighters being cut in the UFC he might go out and try to win in a more exciting fashion. If this fight stays standing for the entire first round, Koscheck will probably be the fighter that won't be standing at the end.

My prediction: Lawler wins via KO (round 1)


Quick Picks:
Preliminary Card on FX:

Heavyweight: Brendan Schaub (8-3) vs. Lavar Johnson (17-6)
My prediction: Schaub wins via KO (round 1)

Lightweight: Michael Chiesa (8-0) vs. Anton Kuivanen (17-5)
My prediction: Chiesa wins submission (round 2)

Featherweight: Dennis Bermudez (9-3) vs. Matt Grice (15-4)
My prediction: Grice wins via submission (round 3)

Lightweight: Sam Stout (18-8-1) vs. Caros Fodor (7-2)
My prediction: Stout wins via TKO (round 2)


Earlier Predictions:
Preliminary Card on Facebook:

Welterweight: Kenny Robertson (11-2) vs. Brock Jardine (9-2)
My prediction: Robertson wins via TKO (round 2)

Welterweight: Jon Manley (7-1) vs. Neil Magny (7-1)
My prediction: Magny wins via unanimous decision

Welterweight: Nah-Shon Burrell (8-2) vs. Yuri Villefort (6-1)
My prediction: Villefort wins via submission (round 2)

Champions League Round of 16 1st Leg Preview Part 2

The first week of the Round of 16 is over and the second week begins Tuesday afternoon. There will be four games in the next two days between eight of the best teams in all of Europe. Each of the games being played this week are the first legs of two and the second legs will be played later on in March.

All games will start at approximately 2:45 EST either on Tuesday or Wednesday with one game each day being featured on Fox Soccer Channel live.

This week's games include Bayern Munich at Arsenal and Malaga at FC Porto on Tuesday with Barcelona at AC Milan and Schalke 04 at Galatasaray on Wednesday.

Last Week's Results:

Juventus defeated Celtic 3-0
Paris Saint-Germain defeated Valencia 2-1
Real Madrid drew Manchester United 1-1
Shakhtar Donetsk drew Borussia Dortmund 2-2

Tuesday's Games:

Bayern Munich @ Arsenal

Arsenal are welcoming Bayern Munich to the Emirates Stadium in this Tuesday matchup. The Gunners haven't been having as good a season as the team had expected and losing Robin van Persie to rival Manchester United definitely did not help out the team. Bayern have been on an absolute roll this season and have been almost untouchable in the Bundesliga. They currently have a 15 point lead over second place Borussia Dortmund and should now be able to put all of their focus on winning the Champions League.

While I do believe that Arsenal has a chance at winning this game I just think the Gunners are going to be out-gunned in this one. Lukas Podolski and Theo Walcott will probably help Arsenal get a goal or two, but I just don't think two goals will be enough to beat Bayern. I'm expecting Bayern to score multiple goals because they just might have the most firepower in this entire tournament right now. With forwards Mario Mandzukic, Thomas Muller and Mario Gomez each of those guys will get their chances, but I'm thinking the midfield will be the key for them. Franck Ribery, Toni Kroos, Bastian Schweinsteiger and Arjen Robben will be too much for Arsenal to deal with.

My prediction: Bayern Munich win 3-2

Malaga @ FC Porto

Neither of these teams really have a shot at winning the Champions league this year so whichever team manages to get to the next round should be happy with that result. Malaga are currently fourth in Spain's La Liga and FC Porto currently are tied at the top of the Portuguese Liga.

Malaga have been a team on the rise the last couple of years in Spain, but Porto has been THE team when it comes to soccer in their country. There isn't a large discrepancy between the teams talent levels, but I think the homefield advantage Porto will be having should be enough to aid them to victory. My players to watch in this game are Joao Moutinho of Porto and Isco of Malaga.

My prediction: Porto win 2-1

Wednesday's Games:

Barcelona @ AC Milan "Game of the Week"

That guy in the picture above happens to be the best player in the world right now. As someone that isn't a fan of his or his team it is very hard for me to say this. He's the LeBron James of soccer right now and as much as people might argue that Cristiano Ronaldo is better, I just can't pick anyone over Messi at this point.

Now AC Milan is my favorite team in Italy and with the recent addition of "Super" Mario Balotelli they will have a chance in this game. Do I think they can beat this team??? Probably not. Barcelona have to be the favorite to win every time they step on the pitch. With Xavi, Andres Iniesta and Cesc Fabregas behind Messi it's gotten to a point where you can almost expect Messi to score at least once every game with one of those three guys behind him setting him up.

What this game is going to come down to is whether or not the scoring duo of Mario Balotelli and Stephan El Shaarawy will be able to score in this game. It's not a matter of whether or not Barca will score because they will, it's just a matter of will Milan be able to match them goal for goal in this one. I'm predicting that the home team will be able to get on the board and match them with two goals but if Barca scores any more than that I think they will win this game.

My prediction: Draw 2-2

Schalke 04 @ Galatasaray

In what will likely be the least watched game of the week one of the three German teams left, Schalke 04 will be traveling to Turkey to play Galatasaray. There are two key players in this game that I would really like to see play and they both play together for their native Netherlands during international play. Those two are Schalke striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and Galatasaray's recently purchased midfielder Wesley Sneijder. Huntelaar has been a goal machine since coming to Germany to play for Schalke and I wouldn't be shocked if he put up a couple goals on the Turkish giants in this one.

I think a key to this game will be experience. Schalke played in a much harder league in the Bundesliga and due to Sneijder only recently joining Galatasaray I'm not sure how much of an impact he might actually have in this game. I was originally going to say this game was going to end in a draw, but the more I think about it Schalke will have the better team on the pitch and should walk out the winners on the road.

My prediction: Schalke win 2-1

NBA All-Star Weekend: The Dunk Contest

Tonight we get to watch the NBA's skills competitions that have somewhat evolved over the years. There will be four events tonight including the Sears Shooting Stars Contest, Taco Bell Skills Challenge, Foot Locker Three-Point Contest and Sprite Slam Dunk Contest. How sponsors are so important these years. Now I told myself I would write about all four contests, but there's really only one that people actually care about.

25 years ago we watched Michael Jordan and Dominique Wilkins, 13 years ago we watched Vince Carter and Tracy McGrady, and tonight we get to watch Kenneth Faried and Eric Bledsoe. 

Faried and Bledsoe aren't even the best two dunkers in the field this year, they just happen to be the biggest names in a field that is so weak, most people won't even watch the competition. Along with those two we are also graced with Gerald Green, Terrence Ross, James White & defending champion Jeremy Evans.

For those of you including myself that don't remember last year's dunk contest, Jeremy Evans apparently won it over Chase Budinger, Paul George and Derrick Williams. Why George and Williams weren't brought back this year after becoming bigger names just doesn't make sense.

While the contest always brings the best dunkers of the NBA together, the NBA just hasn't been able to get the big stars as much as they used to for the event. Which brings me to this one guy that still to this day hasn't done a dunk contest in the NBA which we've all been waiting for.

LeBron James is arguably the best player in the NBA today. As much as I hate to say this, right now I think he's the best player in the NBA right now. Kevin Durant, Kobe Bryant, Chris Paul and Carmelo Anthony are right behind him, but he's the MVP this year and has made his case for why he's the best in the game.

James has dodged the dunk contest every year since he's been in the NBA. For someone that most consider one of the best dunkers ever, to not ever take part in the competition is really robbing not only the fans of what could be greatness, but the entire NBA.

When I think about why he wouldn't take part in the dunk contest I just can't think of any logical reasons for why he wouldn't do it. The only thing that comes to mind with why he's never done a dunk contest is that he's actually afraid that he might lose in it. While losing a dunk contest doesn't sound like that big of a deal, both Kobe and MJ have won a dunk contest so this might stain his reputation a little bit. 

If LeBron does the competition he is supposed to win. The fact that fans vote on this almost ensures that he will win the competition just by name alone. If LeBron was to take part in tonight's contest it would make the contest that much more worthwhile. He's the name that everyone wants to see including ESPN First Take's Skip Bayless, who has done everything but beg LeBron to just man up and take part. Him taking part in the competition gives this whole night much more credit and I don't see why David Stern isn't begging the guy to make this thing worth watching. 

If anyone can move past LeBron actually not taking part we can look at tonight's field. Six guys are taking part and I think the competition will come down to three guys in Evans, Faried and Green. The reigning champion Evans should make a run at a possibly repeat tonight. Faried put on an absolute show last night in the Rising Stars game and was named the game's MVP. My pick for the event tonight though is Mr. Green.

I remember watching the 2005 McDonald's Dunk Contest and I was extremely impressed with Green's dunking ability. He won the high school dunk contest and then the 2007 NBA Dunk Contest as well before being the runner-up in the 2008 contest. He is at eye level with the rim for some of his dunks. His leaping ability is so amazing that how can anyone expect someone else to win this competition. He will be the guy to watch tonight as he has already done this on multiple occasions.

Slam Dunk Contest Winner Prediction: Gerald Green

NBA All-Star Game Weekend: Celebs & Rising Stars

Tonight we get to watch celebrities, retired NBA players and current WNBA players play in the Celebrity Game as well as rookies and sophomores playing in the Rising Stars game.

Tonight is usually the least watched night of the NBA All-Star Weekend. The big game is played Sunday night and the skills competitions all occur tomorrow night.

Headlining tonight's celebrity game are former NBA greats Dikembe Mutombo, Clyde Drexler, Bruce Bowen and Sean Elliott along with current WNBA players Maya Moore and Tamika Catchings. 

Of the celebrities playing, the one person most are interested in seeing is Usain Bolt. While I'm not expecting him to go out there and start hitting jumpers all night, I'm really looking forward to seeing him use his speed to run up and down the court. He's 6'5" as well so I'm expecting him to be able to throw down a couple of dunks as well.

Outside of Bolt the only other celebrities I'm looking forward to seeing play are last year's MVP Kevin Hart, ESPN's Ryen Russillo and rapper/actor Common. Outside of those three and Bolt the list of "celebrities" is very weak. Hopefully in the future they can bring in some bigger names that more people actually want to see play.

The other celebrities featured in tonight's game include Ne-Yo, Nick Cannon, Josh Hutcherson, Trey Songz, Arne Dunca, Terrence Jenkins and Josh Schriffen.

My MVP prediction: Usain Bolt

For tonight's Rising Stars game the two teams have been split up by Shaquille O'Neal and Charles Barkley who drafted their teams a week ago.

#teamShaq is led by guards Damian Lillard, Kyrie Irving and Klay Thompson. To go along with those small guys they also have Harrison Barnes, Chandler Parsons, Dion Waiters, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Tyler Zeller and Kemba Walker. The last member of their team is Andrew Nicholson who is replacing the injuring Andre Drummond.

#teamBarkley is led by bigmen Anthony Davis and Kenneth Faried. To go along with the two frontcourt players Kawhi Leonard, Bradley Beal and Ricky Rubio rounded out their first five picks. The last five guys chose for this team were Tristan Thompson, Nikola Vucevic, Brandon Knight, Isaiah Thomas and Alexey Shved.

All-Star games usually have very little defense played and it usually turns out to be a guards game with a lot of shooting and dunks. With the backcourt of Lillard and Irving along with Waiters and Walker I think #teamShaq will come out victorious tonight. 

If this game was played as a real game where teams actually focused on defense and rebounding I think #teamBarkley would have the better chance due to their size advantage but in a guards game you have to give the edge to #teamShaq.

My prediction: #teamShaq wins 136-118 & Kyrie Irving wins MVP

Champions League Round of 16 1st Leg Preview Part 1

The group stage is finally over and 16 teams remain with the possibility of being crowned the Champions of Europe. Half of those 16 teams will be playing games this week with two games happening today and two tomorrow.

This week's action includes 1st leg games between Juventus and Celtic, Paris Saint-Germain and Valencia, Borussia Dortmund and Shakhtar Donetsk, and the "Game of the Week" between Manchester United and Real Madrid.

Today's Games:

Juventus @ Celtic

Juventus come into this game having finished first in the Group E table while Celtic finished second in Group G. Juventus are currently sitting atop the Italian Serie A table and all signs are pointing to them winning this year's title rather easily. Celtic is also atop of their league title and currently have an 18 point lead in the Scottish Premier League.

Juventus are the major betting favorites in this game. They are the better team that plays in a much better league. Celtic hasn't really had any competition in Scotland this year due to Rangers being relegated due to financial reasons. Juventus should be able to win both games against Celtic rather easily behind their goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon.

My prediction: Juventus win 2-0

Paris Saint-Germain @ Valencia

This game should be the closer game of the day. PSG finished first in Group A and currently sit atop French Ligue 1. Valencia finished second in a very weak Group are F and are currently struggling in fifth place this season in Spain's La Liga.

Valencia are a slight favorite over PSG because they are the home team, but I'm expecting the now French giants to be able to win this game on the road. Valencia won't make it easy for them, but PSG just has way too much firepower up front especially with Zlatan Ibrahimovic leading the way.

My prediction: PSG win 2-1

Tomorrow's Games:

Manchester United @ Real Madrid "Game of the Week"

Cristiano Ronaldo is making his first appearance against his former club. Most would argue that Ronaldo is the second best player in the world right now only behind Barcelona's Lionel Messi and all of the talk is on how Ronaldo will play against his former team.

Manchester United are coming into this game after finishing first in Group H and are currently leading the English Premier league by eight points. Real Madrid aren't having as great a season as they have had as of late and are struggling to keep most of their players healthy. Real Madrid finished second in Group D and are currently third in Spain's La Liga.

Without any hopes of winning La Liga, Real Madrid have put almost all of their focus on possibly winning their 10th Champions League title (was once called European Cup as well). Manchester United have been on a roll this season and are making it known that they are once again the best team in England.

This game is going to come down to what one player does. If Ronaldo plays well then Real Madrid will walk out the winner. If he ends up struggling this game could end poorly for Madrid and Los Blancos could be on their way out of the Champions League. I'm expecting Ronaldo to rise to the occasion today and wouldn't be surprised if he added multiple goals for his side.

My prediction: Real Madrid win 3-1

Borussia Dortmund @ Shakhtar Donetsk

This game is really taking a backseat to the other game of the day. Dortmund managed to finish ahead of Real Madrid in the Group D table and are currently second in the German Bundesliga behind Bayern Munich. Shakhtar Donetsk tied Chelsea in Group E for second place, but managed to score more away goals when the two played each other which gave them the edge in the table. Shakhtar Donetsk currently sit atop their Ukrainian Premier League table and are currently dominating the rest of their league.

Shakhtar Donetsk are very small favorites over Dortmund, but I'm expecting these teams to finish even tomorrow. Expect the striking pair of Robert Lewandowski and Marco Reus to help add a goal or two for the away side and make sure that the home team doesn't walk out with a win.

My prediction: Draw 2-2

Jamie Carragher Announces Plan to Retire

Yesterday legendary Liverpool centerback Jamie Carragher announced his plans to retire at the end of the 2012-2013 season. Carragher has spent his entire career playing for the Reds when he first joined their youth squad over 20 years ago in 1990.

Carragher made his first-team debut for Liverpool in 1996 and only one player has played more games for Liverpool than Carragher, who has played 723 total games for the team with 496 of those appearances taking place in the English Premier League. The only player with more appearances for the Reds is Ian Callaghan who played in 856 games for the squad.

Over the last two decades Carragher and teammate Steven Gerrard have been the faces of a team that has gone through it's longest drought of not winning a Premier League title. While Carragher was never able to win the Premier League during his career he has helped bring many trophies to the legendary squad.

Carragher has helped Liverpool win two FA Cups, three League Cups, two FA Community Shields, the UEFA Cup, the UEFA Super Cup twice, an FA Youth Cup and most importantly the UEFA Champions League during the 2004-2005 season.

It was the 2005 Champions League win that will most be remembered in Carragher's career. His performance in the semifinal against Chelsea helped propel Liverpool to the final where they eventually defeated AC Milan 3-2 in penalties. "I looked at him and saw a man hell-bent on not letting a lead slip. He was prepared to offer the last drop of sweat and blood in his body to get us to Istanbul," said Gerrard on Carragher's performance in the semifinal.

I first became a fan of soccer after playing FIFA World Cup Soccer 2006 and watching UEFA Euro 2008 during the summer of 2008. My favorite player in the tournament was Fernando Torres who at the time played for Liverpool, which originally led me to becoming a Liverpool fan. Carragher and England were not a part of the tournament because they didn't qualify, but I soon became well aware of the greatness of #23.

Since becoming a fan of Liverpool in 2008 not many players remain from that team outside of Carragher so I've grown to really appreciate his loyalty to this club. Carragher has chosen to retire this year partially because he isn't playing as regularly as he would like, and rather than going to another club elsewhere he has decided that he would like to hang up his boots with the one team he has called his own his entire career.

While I haven't been able to see Carragher play in the prime of his career during Liverpool's more successful days of the early 2000's, I will always remember him as a player that always put the team first and was able to solidify a back four that has seen many departures and arrivals in recent years. He was never a flashy player or a real goal threat, but what he added to the defense in communication and ability to help a team play better together is what he will be remembered for in his later years.

Carragher hadn't been featured as much as he had liked this season, but recently has regained his starting spot in the Liverpool XI and has helped Liverpool avoid a loss in the last three games.

This will be the last season with "Carra" playing for the Liverpool squad which is only competing for a shot at one trophy at this point in the season (UEFA Europa League) and the possibility of finishing in the top four. If Carragher were to help turn the season around at this point in the season and achieve either of those things, that would a great sending off for Liverpool's #23.

The Game that’s More Than a Game

Every Sunday for five months of the year, millions of people sit in their living rooms and at sports bars across the country to watch the sport that has now consumed a day that was once known for going to church.

Sunday night was the final night of the 2012-2013 National Football League season as Super Bowl XLVII was won by the Baltimore Ravens when they defeated the San Francisco 49ers 34-31.

This game was supposed to be a defensive one with the 49ers having the second best scoring defense and the Ravens having the twelfth, but in the end both teams ended up scoring over 30.

Coming in to this game most of the talk about the game was centered around Ray Lewis. This game was Lewis’ last game of his career as he told his teammates and the media that this would be his “last ride.” Lewis had an alright game, finishing with seven total tackles, but how many tackles he had won’t be what he remembers, it will be walking out a Super Bowl Champion for the second time in his career.

When the game was over Joe Flacco was awarded the game’s MVP. Flacco finished the game completing 22 of 33 pass attempts for 287 yards and three touchdowns. The more impressive number was that Flacco didn’t throw an interception in this game or at all this entire postseason and finished with 11 touchdowns in the playoffs.

Two other players that you could argue for possibly taking the Super Bowl MVP are Anquan Boldin and Jacoby Jones. Boldin finished the game with six catches for 108 yards and a touchdown with most of his catches coming in crucial times where Boldin made a play over the defense. Jones had only one catch during the game but it was for 56 yards and for a touchdown to go along with his 108 yard kick return for a touchdown that started the second half.


During the third quarter of the biggest game of the year, the unexpected occurred as the lights in the Superdome went out. The stadium managed to lose power for 34 minutes during the Super Bowl. The most watched television event year after year manages to have 34 minutes of blackout with analysts and players not knowing what to do in the time off.

When the lights eventually came back the score at the time was 28-6, but it wasn't long before the 49ers started putting up points. By the time the third quarter had ended the 49ers had brought the score to within five and it finished with the Ravens up 28-23 heading in to the fourth.

The Ravens won the game, but this game will be remembered for a lot of refereeing controversy in the fourth quarter especially the last two minutes. When the 49ers brought the score to within two after Colin Kaepernick’s touchdown run early in the fourth, the following play had an offside’s call that was clearly missed that led to Kaepernick throwing the ball away once it was snapped.

As much as that play hurt the 49ers chance of tying the game up it was the two calls in the final two minutes that will be remembered more. The 49ers had the ball at the five yard line on fourth down when Michael Crabtree was interfered with by Ravens cornerback Jimmy Smith, and no flag was thrown on the play. This appeared to be a good no call as Crabtree initiated the contact, to go along with the ball looking very uncatchable.

After turning the ball over on downs the Ravens took a safety in their own endzone on fourth down to waste time. While it appeared that some of the Ravens offensive line players were committing holding penalties on the 49ers, the infraction was never called. If a flag had been thrown for holding the safety still would have happened, but more time would have possibly been put back on the clock.

This left the 49ers with only the kick return to score on after the safety. The 49ers were unable to score, but if more time had been put on the clock they would have likely had enough time to get an extra offensive play off after the kick return.

Is Joe Flacco an Elite Quarterback?

Before the 2012-2013 NFL season started Joe Flacco told us all that he thought he was the best quarterback in the NFL. Back when he said this I thought he was crazy and wouldn't even include him in my top 10. He just won a Super Bowl over the weekend and I still don't include him there.

Here is Flacco's actual quote, "I mean, I think I'm the best. I don't think I'm top five, I think I'm the best. I don't think I'd be very successful at my job if I didn't feel that way. I mean, c'mon? That's not really too tough of a question."

If a player is ever asked a question about what he thinks of his own play they are usually going to respond pretty favorably about themselves. If they don't actually think of themselves that highly then it doesn't look good for how others will portray them either and it questions their confidence.

So the reason I'm bringing this up today is because Flacco's agent is going around telling everyone that he thinks his client should be the highest paid quarterback in the NFL because he just won the Super Bowl and was named the game's Most Valuable Player. 

I would argue that he didn't even deserve the game's MVP. The MVP trophy in the Super Bowl goes to the quarterback of the winning team 75 percent of the time. It's basically a trophy that they just hand over to the winning QB unless that guy did nothing in the game at all. I think two of his offensive weapons were more deserving than he was because they were the ones making the big plays. Anquan Boldin was making some catches that you can't even give credit to Joe Flacco for throwing because it was all Boldin in some of them. He finished with six catches for 108 yards and one touchdown, and he completely tore the 49ers secondary apart. Jacoby Jones finished the game with two touchdowns, but it was his 108 yard kick return for a touchdown that was really the biggest play of the game. His other touchdown came on a 56 yard pass that Flacco really under-threw and he came back to. I actually voted for Boldin winning the game's MVP but it could have gone to either him or Jones in my opinion over Flacco in my opinion.

Now when you think this current Ravens team, who would you say was their best player on the team? Who would you say were the top five players on their team? If you had to ask me this question about who were most important and most valuable to them all season I don't even have Flacco in the top five. I'd put Ray Rice, Ray Lewis, Ed Reed, Terrell Suggs & Haloti Ngata all ahead of him. Those five guys were more important to this team than he was. When Lewis retires, Reed ends up going to another team, and the Ravens probably lose either Boldin or Jones in the offseason I doubt this team makes the playoffs next year.

Merril Hoge made his case for the top five quarterbacks in the NFL right now and actually had Flacco ranked number 1. In my opinion Hoge's top five is awful and I'm starting to think the man has lost his mind and needs his much needed vacation now that the NFL season is finally over. Here's a clip of the video:



There are so many things wrong with Hoge's top five that I had to make my case for where these guys should all be ranked. The idea that he doesn't even have Drew Brees on the whole damn board drives me insane to go along with not including either of the Manning brothers in his top five.

Here's how I see the current state of quarterbacks in the NFL in order of who I think is the best right now at the position. These are the guys that right now I would want to be leading my team and Flacco isn't even in my top 10.

1. Aaron Rodgers
2. Peyton Manning
3. Tom Brady
4. Drew Brees
5. Eli Manning
6. Ben Roethlisberger
7. Matt Ryan
8. Andrew Luck
9. Robert Griffin III
10. Colin Kaepernick

I'm sorry to break this to Joe Flacco and his agent that is just trying to get rich, but the man isn't elite. Winning a Super Bowl doesn't just make you the best QB in the league. Trent Dilfer has one of those too for the same team Flacco plays on. Did it help Flacco's stock by winning it? It definitely helped him, but he just doesn't strike fear in any defense. 

Super Bowl XLVII Preview

Prediction: Ravens win 27-24

Today is the one day of the year where it is completely acceptable to just sit on the couch all day and eat and drink until you can't any longer. It's the only time of the year where people might actually get quieter during the commercials and pay attention even more. It's a day that has become a national holiday that is celebrated everywhere across the country. Today is the Super Bowl.

As someone that has grown up loving sports it's one of the only days of the year where you can convince people that hate sports to actually watch them with you. Between the commercials and halftime show today's game is more than a game, it's a spectacle.

In today's game between the Baltimore Ravens and San Francisco 49ers, this will be the second matchup between head coaches John and Jim Harbaugh. The first meeting occurred during the 2011 season in which the Ravens came out victorious 16-6.

This game is the first time in the history of the NFL that the two head coaches in the Super Bowl are brothers. This game has been referred to as Super Bowl 47 but mainly it has just become known as the "Har Bowl."

The Ravens finished the season 10-6 and were the AFC North Champions. Their road to the Super Bowl has included wins at home against the Indianapolis Colts, and on the road against the Denver Broncos and New England Patriots.

The 49ers finished the season 11-4-1 and were the NFC West Champions. Their road to the Super Bowl has included wins at home against the Green Bay Packers and on the road against the Atlanta Falcons.

Neither team has ever lost in a Super Bowl game with the Ravens winning once in 2001 and the 49ers winning five times, last of which in 1995. Ray Lewis is the only lasting member of that Ravens team from 2001. If the Ravens are win today's game his gap between Super Bowl wins as a player would be the longest gap in NFL history.

Lewis' career has been stained with controversy for over a decade. In 2000 he was charged with murder, but eventually ended up pleading guilty to a misdemeanor charge of obstruction of justice and the murder charge was dismissed. In the last week Lewis was linked with possibly using deer-antler spray which is currently banned by the NFL. It was first reported by Sports Illustrated but Lewis has denied all of the allegations so far.

As for today's game I think it's just going to come down to destiny. When Ray Lewis announced that this would be his "last ride," I started to believe this would become the Ravens year and he would finish his career going out on top.

I'm predicting the Baltimore Ravens to win tonight's game 27-24. Stephen A. Smith of ESPN's First Take is also predicting the same exact score for the game. When Lewis said this would be it for him, I think it was that little extra that the team needed to help the franchise's signature player end his career with a win on the biggest stage. Lewis will more than likely end up winning the game's MVP. I'm predicting him to end the game with 12 tackles including 1 sack and likely a forced fumble. His play and on-field presence will be the key for tonight's game.

Saturday Soccer Results & Sunday Preview

English Premier League:

Sunday Preview:

Liverpool (7th - 35 Pts) @ Manchester City (2nd - 52 Pts) - Prediction: Draw 2-2

Both of these teams really need wins at this point in the season. Manchester City are currently 10 points behind league leading Manchester United and a loss or draw will probably kill their chances of repeating as Premier League Champions. Liverpool are coming into this game seven points behind Tottenham who would receive the fourth spot in the Champion's League and also seven points behind Everton who would receive the Europa League spot. A loss here would mean they would probably have to win the Europa League Title this year if they have any hope of playing outside of England next year.

As a Liverpool fan it's hard to see them winning this game, but I do think they will be able to compete the entire game and keep this one even. Without Vincent Kompany in the back four for City I expect Liverpool to be able to score easier than they usually would against this team. The many striking options that City possess including Edin Dzeko, Carlos Tevez and Sergio Aguero will also score some goals as well. This should be an exciting game from a scoring standpoint.

This game could mark the debut of recent signing Philippe Coutinho for Liverpool. He was Liverpool's second biggest signing of the transfer window after they also brought in Daniel Sturridge who is already leaving his mark for this Liverpool squad. Manchester City stayed surprisingly quiet over the last transfer window and only brought in one rather unknown player in Godsway Donyoh so don't expect to see any new faces for their squad.

Tottenham Hotspur (4th - 42 Pts) @ West Bromwich Albion (9th - 34 Pts) - Prediction: Draw 1-1

In the only other game between English teams tomorrow the Spurs are visiting West Brom. If the Spurs were at home I'd say they would get the win, but on the road I expect this 1 to stay even. 


Saturday's Results:

Manchester United (1st - 62 Pts) @ Fulham (13th - 28 Pts) - Man United won 1-0

Manchester United win again as Wayne Rooney scores the only goal of the game. With the win Man U now takes a 10 point lead over Man City who will be playing Liverpool tomorrow.

Stoke City (10th - 30 Pts) @ Arsenal (6th - 41 Pts) - Arsenal won 1-0

Lukas Podolski scored the game winner off of a deflected free kick in the 78th minute in a game Arsenal really dominated throughout.

Chelsea (3rd - 46 Pts) @ Newcastle United (15th - 27 Pts) - Newcastle won 3-2

Chelsea could have used a win in this game to move closer to 2nd place Manchester City and push them further away from 4th place Tottenham, however they ended the game with a loss. Moussa Sissoko's late brace is what gave the Magpies the win after Chelsea had a 2-1 lead.

Aston Villa (19th - 21 Pts) @ Everton (5th - 42 Pts) - Draw 3-3

Aston Villa had a two-goal lead erased when they were up 3-1 after Marouane Fellaini scored a brace within the last 25 minutes of the game to give Everton a draw and saved them a point in the standings. A draw here is like a loss for Villa who currently sit in the relegation zone.

Swansea City (8th - Pts) @ West Ham United (11 - Pts) - West Ham won 1-0

West Ham wins the game behind a goal from Andy Carroll, who has now scored only his second goal of the season on loan from Liverpool. Reports from ESPN are stating that Carroll will be joining the Hammers for good at the end of the season with them purchasing Carroll from Liverpool.

Sunderland (12th - Pts) @ Reading (17th - Pts) - Reading won 2-1

Reading's Jimmy Kebe led the team to victory by adding a brace to help defeat the Black Cats. The win helps Reading avoid the relegation zone for now.

Norwich City (14th - Pts) @ Queens Park Rangers (20th - Pts) - Draw 0-0

Scoreless game that saw QPR's Adel Taarabt miss a penalty shot that could have won them the game. QPR will likely be relegated at the end of the season.

Southampton (16th - Pts) @ Wigan Athletic (18th - Pts) - Draw 2-2

In a 2-2 draw that saw four different players do the scoring for their teams. Both teams are currently flirting with the possibility of relegation so the one point definitely helps both teams. Both could have used the win but they will take whatever they can get at this point.

Spanish La Liga:

Sunday Preview:

Barcelona (1st - 58 Pts) @ Valencia (7th - 33 Pts) - Prediction: Barca win 3-1

Every time Barcelona suits up most people expect them to win. In La Liga this season they have only drawn once and lost once. With 19 wins so far on the season expect them to make this game number 20.

Real Betis (5th - 35 Pts) @ Atletico Madrid (2nd - 47 Pts) - Prediction: Atletico wins 2-1

Real Betis are currently sitting fifth in La Liga and are certainly overachieving this season. Last year they finished 13th and will more than likely finish several spots ahead of that if they keep up the way that they are playing.  Atletico is currently ahead of Real Madrid which is an achievement in itself. If you can manage to finish in the top two ahead of either Barca or Real in any season, any team in La Liga has to consider that to be a good season.

Rayo Vallecano (6th - 34 Pts) @ Sevilla FC (13th - 26 Pts) - Prediction: Sevilla win 2-1

When I first thought of this match between Sevilla and Rayo Vallecano I thought that Sevilla would be the team favored. I haven't followed La Liga as much this season due to Madrid's poor season so I hadn't noticed how well Rayo was playing and how poor Sevilla was playing. While Sevilla isn't having as good a season as they usually do and are currently lower in the table than Rayo Vallecano I expect them to win at home in this one.


Saturday's Result:

Real Madrid (3rd - 43 Pts) @ Granada (14th - 26 Pts) - Granada won 1-0

90 minutes of soccer and the only goal of the game was by Cristiano Ronaldo. No, not that kind of goal. Ronaldo aided Granada in getting the win when he scored an own goal in the 22nd minute. This is the kind of season Real Madrid has had all year. In a game where they should have won or at worst got the draw they lost to a team in the bottom half of the table once again.

Real Madrid is only concerned with finishing in the top three at this point to assure themselves a spot in the Champion's League as well as possibly winning the Copa Del Rey and this year's Champion's League. Barcelona is now 15 points ahead of Real Madrid and has played two games less than them. 

What changes Real Madrid will make come this summer will have to be seen. Whether or not Jose Mourinho will be coaching the team when the season ends is the big story as of right now. Bringing in another striker to replace either Higuain or Benzema is likely as is the arrival of Tottenham star Gareth Bale. This could finally be the time they possibly lure Neymar from Brazil as well. All I know is there will be some kind of change once this season is over.

Serie A:

Sunday Preview:

Udinese (9th - ) @ AC Milan (5th - 37 Pts) - Prediction - AC Milan wins 2-1

This game could mark the debut of Milan's newest signing Mario Balotelli. Balotelli has been a headache for every team that he has played for, but when his head is on straight and he's performing at his best he can be one of the best strikers in the world. I'm guessing he will come on as a substitute in the second half and see him possibly scoring the winning goal late in the game.

Juventus (2nd - 49 Pts) @ Chievo Verona (12th - 28 Pts) - Prediction: Juventus wins 2-0

Juventus has now lost their hold on first place in the table and will be coming into this game trying to regain that lead. They sit three points behind Napoli so a win here will give them the tie. Even a draw here and a win in their next game would give them a 1-point lead over Napoli as they have played two games less than the current 1st place leaders. Expect Gianluigi Buffon to not let anything get by him in this one.

Inter Milan (4th - 40 Pts) @ Siena (20th - 14 Pts) - Prediction: Inter wins 3-0

Inter are currently struggling this season and have actually been sellers instead of buyers during the latest winter transfer window. The team has offloaded two of their key midfielders in Philippe Coutinho to Liverpool and Wesley Sneijder to Galatasary. They aren't as strong as they were when they won the Champion's League a couple of years ago, but they are playing the worst team in Serie A so they should win this game pretty easily.


Saturday's Result:

Catania (7th - 35 Pts) @ Napoli (1st - 52 Pts) - Napoli won 2-0

Coming in to the season most would probably guess that either one of the Milan teams or Juventus would be leading the Serie A table at this point in the season, but after today's win Napoli has taken control of the top spot. While they have played two more games than Juventus they currently lead them by only three points so this could change once Juventus has played the same amount.

German Bundesliga:

Sunday Preview:

Borussia Dortmund (4th - 36 Pts) @ Bayer Leverkusen (3rd - 37 Pts) - Prediction: Draw 2-2

These two teams will likely finish second and third in the table as Eintracht Frankfurt is likely to drop down. The winner of this game will move into second place in the table. Both of these teams don't have much of a chance to catch Bayern at this point so this game will likely help decide who gets to be the runner-up at the end of the season.


Saturday's Result:

Bayern Munich (1st - 51 Pts) @ Mainz (5th - 30 Pts) - Bayern won 3-0

Bayern Munich have been on a roll as of late and are looking to reclaim their Bundesliga title. After today's win they now hold a 12 point lead over any other team in the table and it might get larger before it gets smaller. As good as they are playing currently they will more than likely get better next year due to the team bringing in coach Pep Guardiola who will be allowed to spend plenty of money.

French Ligue 1:

Sunday Preview:

Lyon (2nd - 45 Pts) @ AC Ajaccio (16th - 22 Pts) - Prediction: Lyon wins 2-0

Lyon are currently second in the table and with a win could tie Paris Saint-Germain at the top. They are on the road against an Ajaccio team that is in the bottom half of the table that they should beat. Expect OL to come out victorious.

Marseille (3rd - 42 Pts) @ AS Nancy (20th - 15 Pts) - Prediction: Marseille wins 3-0

Marseille are on the road against Nancy and need to win this game if they want to possibly catch PSG and OL. OM are six points behind PSG and three behind OL so a win here will definitely help them. Nancy are currently sitting at the bottom of the table in 20th so I don't think this will be close.

UFC 156: Aldo vs. Edgar

Tonight is UFC 156: Aldo vs. Edgar. Tonight's main card on PPV features five fights including a featherweight championship fight and three possible number one contender fights. There are also four fights being aired live on FX, as well as two on Facebook.

UFC 156 Predictions:

Main Card on PPV:

Featherweight Championship: Jose Aldo (21-1) (Champion) vs. Frankie Edgar (14-3-1)

Aldo hasn't lost a fight since 2005 and has run through everyone he has fought. While in the WEC he defeated Alexandre Franca Nogueira, Jonathan Brookins, Rolando Perez, Chris Mickle and Cub Swanson before defeating Mike Brown for the WEC Featherweight Championship. He then defended it against Urijah Faber and Manny Gamburyan before the WEC was completely brought in to the UFC.

Most people thought that he'd receive better challenges once he came to the UFC, but he has gone 3-0 and has been just as deadly as before. With unanimous decision wins over Mark Hominick and Kenny Florian, he has most recently defeated Chad Mendes by KO almost a year ago.

Frankie Edgar is making his debut in the UFC Featherweight division after already having held the UFC Lightweight Championship. In Edgar's first UFC fight everyone found out who he was when he won against Tyson Griffin at UFC 167 in what was the fight of the night. He won his next two fights over Mark Bocek and Spencer Fisher before losing against Gray Maynard in what was the first matchup between the two.

After his loss he went on a roll where he defeated Hermes Franca, former champion Sean Sherk and Matt Veach before defeating B.J. Penn for the UFC Lightweight Championship. Many thought that the result was controversial so the two fought for a second time in which Edgar won again. Edgar then fought Gray Maynard a second and third time, drawing in the second fight and winning the third to remain champion.

After finally proving that he was the #1 lightweight in the world for good he then lost his title to Benson Henderson, who he then rematched and lost against again for a second time. Edgar is coming in to this fight on a two fight losing streak but has fought twice in the time that Aldo has had off so he won't have as much ring rust.

For tonight's actual fight you can throw out any possible chance of these guys getting tired. Both of them have gone the full five rounds before and haven't had endurance trouble. When it comes to standing the slight advantage will go to Aldo because of his more versatile striking, however on the ground I give the edge to Edgar due to his wrestling.

While most of the guys that have fought Aldo haven't been able to get him to the ground, I think Edgar is the best fighter that Aldo will have ever fought. I see Edgar's wrestling being the key to this fight. If he is able to get Aldo on his back, Edgar will win this fight. If this fight stays standing then this fight will more than likely go Aldo's way.

My prediction: Edgar wins via TKO (round 3)

Light Heavyweight: Rashad Evans (17-2-1) vs. Antonio Rogerio "Lil Nog" Nogueria (20-5)

Evans won the second Ultimate Fighter Tournament and is a former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion. Nogueira is a legend from the now defunct PrideFC that has competed against some of the best in the world and has beaten them.

Evans' notable wins include Stephan Bonnar, Michael Bisping, Chuck Liddell, Forrest Griffin for the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship, Thiago Silva, Quinton "Rampage" Jackson and Tito Ortiz.

Nogueira's notable wins include Guy Mezger, Kazushi Sakuraba, Alistair Overeem twice, Dan Henderson, Luiz Cane and Tito Ortiz. He also had a fight against Mauricio "Shogun" Rua in the 2005 Pride Middleweight Grand Prix that is regarded as one of the greatest fights of all time.

The current rumor circulating the internet is that with a win Evans would then drop down and challenge Anderson Silva for the UFC Middleweight Championship. This would mark the first time that Evans would ever step foot in the middleweight division and is something that might actually suit him better because of his small size.

While many are thinking Evans will walk through Nogueira, I'm expecting Nogueira to pull out the victory. If Evans tries to stand with Nogueira he will find out the hard way that his boxing is not at the level of Nogueira's who won has had a very successful amateur boxing career, having won gold for the South American Championships in 2006.

My prediction: Nogueira wins via KO (round 2)

Heavyweight: Alistair Overeem (36-11, 1 NC) vs. Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva (17-4)

Overeem was coming into the UFC as the guy that would eventually take over the decision. He ends up beating Brock Lesnar which makes him the #1 contender and everyone realizes that he is going to be a force in the heavyweight division. Afterwards he ends up failing a drug test due to having too high of testosterone levels. This will be his first fight in over 13 months now and the likelihood of him coming into this fight as big as he previously has is very slim. Anyone could tell you that putting on about 50 pounds of muscle within 2 years is going to look fishy. Across the Octagon from him will be another guy with a history of testing positive for steroids. "Bigfoot" Silva tested positive for boldenone in 2008 while in the EliteXC.

Steroids and other drugs have been a problem with sports everywhere including the UFC as of late and is something that I think should be tested for more often. If these guys are being tested more frequently, then they won't have the opportunity to take anything in between drug tests and won't be able to get away with anything.


Overeem's five most notable wins include Vitor Belfort twice, Igor Vovchanchyn, Fabricio Werdum and Brock Lesnar. Silva's five most notable wins include Wesley "Cabbage" Correira, former UFC Heavyweight Champion Ricco Rodriguez, former UFC Heavyweight Champion Andrei Arlovski, former PrideFC Heavyweight Champion and arguably the greatest fighter of all time Fedor Emelianenko and Travis Browne.


As for tonight's fight, steroids aside, I see this one ending quickly. Both of these guys are going to stand in front of the other and just throw bombs at each other. In Overeem's last 11 fights only 1 has gone past the first round. He hasn't lost any fights since 2007 when he was knocked out by Sergei Kharitonov. "Bigfoot" has only been to the decision 3 times in his career and his last five fights have all avoided going to the final bell.

My prediction: Silva wins via TKO (round 1)

Welterweight: Jon Fitch (24-4-1, 1 NC) vs. Demian Maia (17-4)

Don't expect a knockout in this fight. If this fight stays standing you will more than likely want to turn away. If this fight goes to the ground you will be in for a treat between one of the best wrestlers in the world and one of the best submission experts in the world.

Fitch is coming into this fight having just beaten Erick Silva while Demian Maia has won his first two fights in the welterweight division. Fitch and Maia have both challenged for UFC Championships in their careers with Fitch losing to Georges St-Pierre at welterweight and Demian Maia losing to Anderson Silva at middleweight.

Fitch's most notable wins include Thiago Alves twice, Diego Sanchez, Paulo Thiago and Erick Silva. Maia's most notable wins include Nate Quarry, Chael Sonnen, Kendall Grove, Jorge Santiago and Dong Hyun Kim.

Fitch is a fighter that takes guys to the ground and usually wins by decision. The main concern for him this fight is that if he wants to do the same thing he always does, he will be putting himself in the most danger. Having Maia underneath him will give Maia the best chance to win because Maia has won nine fights by submission. I don't think Fitch will be able to keep Maia on his back for 15 minutes without something bad happening to him.

My prediction: Maia wins via submission (round 2)

Flyweight: Joseph Benavidez (16-3) vs. Ian McCall (11-3-1)

As I stated last week during the flyweight championship, Flyweights=Speed. These two guys are both coming into this fight off of losses against the current champion Demetrious Johnson. Benavidez has only lost to current UFC champions in his career in Johnson and current bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz. McCall has also lost to Cruz and Johnson along with Charlie Valencia in his early WEC days.

Before coming to the UFC McCall had a stint in the WEC where he went 1-2 in the bantamweight division. Without a flyweight division at the time McCall left and went to Tachi Palace Fights where he won three straight fights including a fight against Darrell Montague for the Flyweight Championship. Upon the UFC implementing a flyweight division he was brought in immediately. He has also defeated Jussier Formiga who at the time was considered the best flyweight in the world.

Benavidez has had a great career so far, but has fallen short in big fights. He has lost in a title-eliminator to Cruz, and the two times he fought for the title he has lost as well (Cruz and Johnson). While he has struggled in the biggest fights of his career he has defeated Jeff Curran, Miguel torres and Eddie Wineland.

Tonight's fight will likely determine who will fight Demetrious Johnson next for the title. These guys are probably the second and third best guys in the division as of right now and both guys are looking for revenge. I see this fight going the full 15 minutes as I don't see either of them giving up or being knocked out.

My prediction: Benavidez wins via unanimous decision 


Preliminary Card on FX:

Lightweight: Gleison Tibau (26-8) vs. Evan Dunham (13-3)
Welterweight: Tyron Woodley (10-1) vs. Jay Hieron (23-6)

These are the two main fights on FX and I see them both going the same way. Neither fighter in both fights is that much better than the other and both fighters in these fights fight very similarly of their opponents. I don't think anyone will be finished in either of them and expect both of them to go the full 15.

My predictions: Dunham and Hieron win via unanimous decision

Lightweight: Jacob Volkmann (15-3) vs. Bobby Green (19-5)

Volkmann has had a relatively successful UFC career so far. He has gone 6-3 in the UFC, losing to Paulo Thiago and Martin Kampmann at welterweight and Paul Sass at lightweight. The Sass fight is his only loss at lightweight and has gone 6-1 since dropping down to 155. Green is coming into this fight on a four fight win streak against relative nobodies while in Strikeforce. Every time he has fought someone of any notoriety he has ended up losing in the fight. I don't think this Green will last long in the UFC.

My prediction: Volkmann wins via submission (round 1)

Lightweight: Yves Edwards (42-18-1) vs. Isaac Vallie-Flagg (13-3-1)

Edwards has been around MMA and the UFC for a long time now. He's been fighting since 1997 and made his UFC debut back in 2001 against Matt Serra. While hasn't had the most successful UFC career he has definitely done more in his career than his opponent. Vallie-Flagg is making his UFC debut after defeating Gesias "JZ" Cavalcante in Strikeforce. Vallie-Flagg hasn't lost in over five years but I'm pretty sure if Edwards fought those same guys he wouldn't have lost either.

My prediction: Edwards wins via submission (round 3)


Preliminary Card on Facebook:

Catchweight (139.5): Chico Camus (12-3) vs. Dustin Kimura (9-0)

For this fight I'm picking Kimura to win by kimura. The amount of bad jokes Joe Rogan and Mike Goldberg will probably make about that will probably make the fight worth watching.

My prediction: Kimura wins via submission (round 2)

Bantamweight: Edwin Figueroa (9-1) vs. Francisco Rivera (8-2, 1 NC)

This is the first fight of the night between two guys that are coming off of a lengthy layoff. Figueroa was out for awhile due to injury over the last year while Rivera was suspended for testing positive for a stimulant in his last fight. Figueroa is the better fighter and should win this one.

My prediction: Figueroa wins via KO (round 1)

Groundhog Day Basketball

Tonight's NBA Games:

Chicago Bulls (28-18) @ Atlanta Hawks (26-19)

25 years ago you would've gotten to see Michael Jordan go up against Dominique Wilkins. Today you get to see Luol Deng and Josh Smith. Not exactly the same great rivalry that it once was but both of these teams are still contenders every year in the East. Derrick Rose should be back soon for the Bulls who have remained one of the four best teams in the East all season. The Hawks traded away Joe Johnson before the season started and haven't really played that much differently. Expect the Hawks to win this one at home.

My prediction: Hawks win 98-93

Sacramento Kings (17-31) @ New York Knicks (29-15)

The Queens are coming to the Big Apple. The Knickerbockers have been playing much better since the return of Raymond Felton and have been unstoppable when playing at "The World's Most Famous Arena." While there have been times where the starting lineup hasn't been reliable enough for the Knicks this year, being able to go to J.R. Smith and Amare Stoudemire off the bench has really helped ignite the offense. Boogie Cousins is one of the best offensive bigmen in the NBA today so the matchup to watch will be him against last year's Defensive Player of the Year, Tyson Chandler.

My prediction: Knicks win 107-96

Oklahoma City Thunder (35-11) @ Cleveland Cavaliers (13-34)

Kevin Durant and the Thunder are visiting Kyrie Irving's Cavaliers tonight in a game that probably won't be a close one. Irving has looked impressive so far in his short NBA career and is showing why it was smart of the Cavaliers to draft him first overall two years ago. The only thing to really look forward to in this game will be whether or not we get to see Russell Westbrook have another temper tantrum. We can only hope.

My prediction: No temper tantrum tonight and Thunder win 114-96

Charlotte Bobcats (11-34) @ Houston Rockets (25-23)

Will the Bobcats ever be good? Will Michael Jordan ever do anything successful with basketball when he's not playing? These are questions that the city of Charlotte has to really ask themselves. The greatest basketball player of all time just can't seem to run a team at all. After almost 10 years of being a team their greatest draft pick might end up being Emeka Okafor or Raymond Felton. Not something that you can really build a team around. They also drafted the guy below over Brandon Roy and Rudy Gay once too. He wasn't exactly the second coming of Larry Bird.

My prediction: Morrison will get a reality TV show about mustaches some day on Spike TV
(Rockets win 102-90)

New Orleans Hornets (15-32) @ Minnesota Timberwolves (17-26) (NBATV)

The city of New Orleans has had some up and downs over the years. They're known for Hurricane Katrina and Mardi Gras. The Saints won a Super Bowl a couple years ago that is now being remembered as "Bountygate." In the NBA they had the great times of Chris Paul leading the Hornets and are now moving forward as the Pelicans with Anthony Davis. It doesn't matter how good this team may ever get, people will always laugh when they hear the Pelicans are coming to town. I'm really sorry New Orleans, David Stern doesn't care about your basketball team.

My prediction: Timberwolves win 99-90

Orlando Magic (14-32) @ Milwaukee Bucks (24-21)

Bucks just lost on the road against a better Knicks team and will now be at home against a worse Magic team. They should be able to win this game rather easily. Expect a boring win for the Bucks tonight.

My prediction: Bucks win 104-95

Washington Wizards (11-34) @ San Antonio Spurs (37-11)

Can this team just go back to being called the Bullets? The Bullets was an awesome team name and the Wizards sounds like a horrible team name for anything besides quidditch (I've never read or seen any of the Harry Potters). This is all I could really write about this game. Any kind of insight would have been me just talking about how awesome the Spurs are and how bad the Wizards are.

My prediction: Spurs win 104-86

Utah Jazz (26-21) @ Portland Trail Blazers (23-23)

It's been 15 years since Stockton and Malone were in the NBA Finals with the Jazz and somewhere Byron Russell is still complaining about the push off. That's been about the only thing this state has been able to talk about besides Jimmer Fredette being a virgin for BYU. The team once known as the Jail Blazers are a team that Portland probably misses these days. Those old Blazers teams always competed and contended in the late 90's early 00's and now this team never seems to play as well as they should.

My prediction: Jail Blazers win 102-94

Phoenix Suns (16-31) @ Golden State Warriors (29-17)

The Suns wore their old school uniforms the other day from back in the 90's and managed to beat the Lakers. I'm starting to think the Suns need to go back to wearing those old unis and just drop the bright orange things they wear everywhere. The Warriors might get Steph Curry back for tonight's game, but I wouldn't bother rushing him back. Warriors should be able to take this game without him.

My prediction: Warriors win 108-92

Yesterday's NBA Results: 

Los Angeles Clippers (34-14) @ Toronto Raptors (17-30) - Raptors won 98-73

Miami Heat (29-14) @ Indiana Pacers (28-19) - Pacers won 102-89

Milwaukee Bucks (24-21) @ New York Knicks (29-15) - Knicks won 96-86

Orlando Magic (14-32) @ Boston Celtics (23-23) - Celtics won 97-84

Chicago Bulls (28-18) @ Brooklyn Nets (28-19) - Nets won 93-89

Sacramento Kings (17-31) @ Philadelphia 76ers (20-26) - 76ers won 89-80

Cleveland Cavaliers (13-34) @ Detroit Pistons (18-29) - Pistons won 117-89

Washington Wizards (11-34) @ Memphis Grizzlies (30-16) - Grizzlies won 85-76

New Orleans Hornets (15-32) @ Denver Nuggets (30-18) - Nuggets won 113-98

Portland Trail Blazers (23-23) @ Utah Jazz (26-21) - Jazz won 86-77

Dallas Mavericks (20-27) @ Phoenix Suns (16-31) - Mavericks won 109-99

Los Angeles Lakers (21-26) @ Minnesota Timberwolves (17-26) - Lakers won 111-100


Thursday's NBA Results:

Memphis Grizzlies (29-16) @ Oklahoma City Thunder (35-11) - Thunder won 106-89

Dallas Mavericks (19-27) @ Golden State Warriors (29-17) - Warriors won 100-97

Tonight's Key NCAA Games:

(* #5 Duke @ Florida State - I was going to pick Florida State to upset Duke today. I'm very glad that I didn't get this written up before that game started because the Seminoles look lost out there)

Oklahoma State (14-5) @ #2 Kansas (19-1) (YES & ESPN3)

The Cowboys will be visiting the the Jayhawks tonight at Allen Fieldhouse tonight. The Jayhawks will be looking to continue their 18 game winning streak tonight and could end up being the only team with 1 loss by the end of the night.

My prediction: #2 Kansas wins 74-60

#14 Miami (FL) (16-3) @ #19 NC State (16-5) (CBS)

In a nice ACC matchup on CBS today, these are the only teams that have defeated the Cameron Crazies this year. Both the Hurricanes and Wolfpack have shown this season that they can contend with any team that they go up against. Right now they are arguably the second and third best teams in their conference and are teams that could go pretty deep in the NCAA Tournament this upcoming March.

My prediction: #19 NC State wins 71-67

#18 Kansas State (16-4) @ Oklahoma (14-5) (ESPN2)

The Wildcats are visiting the Sooners in a Big 12 matchup tonight on ESPN2. In the first meeting between these two teams earlier this season the Wildcats came out victorious 69-60 in the Little Apple. I'm expecting Oklahoma to even up the season series tonight and move back into the top 25.

My predicton: Oklahoma wins 69-65

#16 Ole Miss (17-3) @ #4 Florida (17-2) (ESPNU)

The Gators are welcoming the Running Rebels to "The Swamp" tonight. The Gators haven't lost any games at home yet this season and have remained very consistent in Gainesville. Ole Miss lost earlier in the week to a Kentucky team that isn't having one of their best seasons currently. Expect the Gators to remain undefeated at home and Ole Miss to lose their second straight.

My prediction: #4 Florida wins 80-71

#1 Michigan (20-1) @ #3 Indiana (19-2) (ESPN)

In a battle of BIG 10 powerhouses tonight, could the #1 team in the country go down? The Hoosiers have already been ranked as #1 earlier in the season and have their sights set on regaining that position tonight. This game features a lot of players that will more than likely be drafted in the first round on the upcoming NBA Draft including Tyler Zeller and Victor Oladipo of Indiana, and Trey Burke and Glenn Robinson III or Michigan. The Wolverines and Hoosiers are currently the best two scoring teams in the country, and are so well-rounded that whenever one key player has a bad game someone else has stepped up all season.

My prediction: #3 Indiana wins 78-76


Thursday's NCAA Results: 

UConn (14-5) @ Providence (10-11) - UConn won 82-79

Illinois (15-7) @ #13 Michigan State (18-4) - Michigan State won 80-75

#8 Arizona (18-2) @ Washington (12-9) - #8 Arizona won 57-53

#9 Butler (17-4) @ Saint Louis (15-5) - Saint Louis won 75-58

#7 Gonzaga (20-2) @ Loyola Marymount (8-13) - #7 Gonzaga won 88-43