UFC 160: Velasquez vs. Bigfoot 2 Preview

Main Card on PPV

Heavyweight Championship: Cain Velasquez (11-1) vs. Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva (18-4)
Prediction: "Bigfoot" wins via 2nd round KO.

Last 3 Fights for Velasquez:
UFC 155 - Junior dos Santos II - Win by unanimous decision for Heavyweight Championship
UFC 146 - Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva I - Win by TKO (elbow & punches) at 3:36 of round 1
UFC on FOX 1 - Junior dos Santos I - Loss by KO (punches) at 1:04 of round 1 for Heavyweight Championship

Last 3 Fights for "Bigfoot":
UFC 156 - Alistair Overeem - Win by KO (punches) at 0:25 of round 3
UFC on FX 5 - Travis Browne - Win by TKO (punches) at 3:27 of round 1
UFC 146 - Cain Velasquez I - Loss by TKO (elbow & punches) at 3:36 of round 1

For the second fight in a row, Velasquez is fighting a guy that he has already met inside the Octagon before. In the first encounter between the two Velasquez came out victorious and many are thinking this fight will go the same exact way.

While Silva's chin is in question, Velasquez was knocked out last year as well. When I look at the three main factors of the fight in stand-up, wrestling and BJJ; I see this fight being very even. In my opinion the stand-up is even with Velasquez having the wrestling advantage and "Bigfoot" having the jiu-jitsu advantage.

I think in the first round we will see a lot of Velasquez applying the pressure and using his wrestling to win the round. In the second round I'm expecting Silva to realize he doesn't want a grappling match and eventually throw some heavy blows that will likely catch Velasquez early in the second. If Silva isn't able to finish Velasquez early in this fight then expect a lot of what we saw in the second Velasquez-dos Santos fight.

Heavyweight: Junior dos Santos (15-2) vs. Mark Hunt (9-7)
Prediction: Hunt wins via unanimous decision.

Last 3 Fights for dos Santos:
UFC 155 - Cain Velasquez II - Loss by unanimous decison for Heavyweight Championship
UFC 146 - Frank Mir - Win by TKO (punches) at 3:04 of round 2
UFC on FOX 1 - Cain Velasquez I - Win by KO (punches) at 1:04 of round 1 for Heavyweight Championship

Last 3 Fights for Hunt:
UFC on Fuel TV 8 - Stefan Struve - Win by TKO (punches) at 1:44 of round 3
UFC 144 - Cheick Kongo - Win by TKO (punches) at 2:11 of round 1
UFC 135 - Ben Rothwell - Win by unanimous decision

As good and exciting as the main event will be, I think this is the fight to watch. The main event will likely end early by KO, but I just don't see either of these guys getting knocked out. These two guys have the heaviest hands in the heavyweight division as well as the strongest chins. Hunt has only been knocked out once while JDS has never been knocked out in his career.

The winner of this fight will likely get the winner of the Velasquez-Silva fight at some point later this year and which ever way this fight and the main event end, that fight later this year will definitely be worth watching.

This fight will likely not to see the ground once in 15 minutes unless someone knocks the other guy down, so I'm not even going to bother to write about the ground games of each fighter. As for standing on the feet, I'm giving Hunt the slight advantage overall as he is a former professional kickboxer. Dos Santos might have the better hands, but Hunt will be a lot better at using kicks and knees than JDS is. I think this fight will go the full time and in the end Hunt will be victorious. Hunt asked for this fight when Overeem got hurt and with a win tonight he could finally get that UFC title shot.

Light Heavyweight: Glover Teixeira (20-2) vs. James Te Huna (16-5)
Prediction: Teixeira wins via 2nd round submission.

Last 3 Fights for Teixeira:
UFC on Fox 6 - Quinton "Rampage" Jackson - Win by unanimous decision
UFC 153 - Fabio Maldonado - Win by TKO (doctor stoppage) at 5:00 of round 2
UFC 146 - Kyle Kingsbury - Win by submission (arm-triangle choke) at 1:53 of round 1

Last 3 Fights for Te Huna:
UFC on Fuel TV 7 - Ryan Jimmo - Win by unanimous decision
UFC on Fuel TV 4 - Joey Beltran - Win by unanimous decision
UFC on FX 2 - Aaron Rosa - Win by TKO (punches) at 2:08 of round 1

Teixeira came into the UFC known as a guy who was really impressing everywhere he fought and also Chuck Liddell's training partner. Now in three fights in the UFC he might be one of the scariest guys at 205 and a future challenger to Jon Jones.

Te Huna has also been very successful as of late in the UFC and has only suffered one defeat in his time fighting in the Octagon. His only UFC defeat came to Alexander Gustafsson, who is currently considered as the best challenge to the champion, Jon Jones.

I think this fight might be pretty even on the feet, but am giving Teixeira the slight advantage there. On the ground I think Teixeira will have a clear advantage as he has never been submitted while Te Huna has suffered defeat via submission three times (a fourth by injury). I see this fight going past the first round as they will likely feel each other out first with Teixeira ending it in the second round. With this win I think Teixeira will likely need one more victory before earning a shot at Jones sometime in 2014.

Lightweight: Gray Maynard (11-1-1, 1NC) vs. TJ Grant (20-5)
Prediction: Maynard wins via unanimous decision.

Last 3 Fights for Maynard:
UFC on FX 4 - Clay Guida - Win by split decision
UFC 136 - Frankie Edgar III - Loss by KO (punches) at 3:54 of round 4 for Lightweight Championship
UFC 125 - Frankie Edgar II - Split draw for Lightweight Championship

Last 3 Fights for Grant:
UFC on FOX 6 - Matt Wiman - Win by KO (elbows & punches) at 4:51 of round 1
UFC 152 - Evan Dunahm - Win by unanimous decision
UFC on Fuel TV 3 - Carlo Prater - Win by unanimous decision

While I don't know too much about Grant coming into this fight he has been on a bit of a roll inside the Octagon. I don't really know if I believe the hype surrounding him as he has only defeated guys outside the top 15 of the lightweight and welterweight divisions. Maynard will definitely be the biggest test of his career tonight.

Gray Maynard has never been a guy that ends fights. Maynard uses his great wrestling to get his fights to the ground and then is usually able to keep his opponents there for 15 or 25 minutes depending on the length of the fight. He has been a very successful fighter in the UFC with only one loss in his career so far and could be looking at another title shot with a win tonight against Grant.

This fight is being looked at as a possible #1 contender's fight with the winner fighting Benson Henderson later this year for the UFC Lightweight Championship. Maynard will likely win this fight by using his wrestling and strength and not allowing Grant to really do anything. Unless Maynard finishes Grant tonight, or looks a lot more impressive than he has as of late I just don't see him having a shot against Henderson for the title.

Lightweight: Donald Cerrone (19-5, 1NC) vs. K.J. Noons (11-6)
Prediction: Cerrone wins via 1st round submission.

Last 3 Fights for Cerrone:
UFC on FOX 6 - Anthony Pettis - Loss by TKO (body kick & punches) at 2:35 of round 1
UFC 150 - Melvin Guillard - Win by KO (head kick & punch) at 1:16 of round 1
UFC on Fuel TV 3 - Jeremy Stephens - Win by unanimous decision

Last 3 Fights for Noons:
Strikeforce: Marquardt vs Saffiedine - Ryan Couture - Loss by split decision
Strikeforce: Tate vs Rousey - Josh Thomson - Loss by unanimous decision
Strikeforce: Melendez vs Masvidal - Billy Evangelista - Win by unanimous decision

Both of these guys were at the top of smaller promotions prior to coming to the UFC. Cerrone challenged for the WEC Lightweight Championship, losing all three times, with Noons winning the EliteXC Lightweight Championship and being unsuccessful in knocking off Nick Diaz for the Strikeforce Welterweight Championship.

This fight is Noons' first fight in the Octagon as he is finally coming over from Strikeforce. Noons is probably more known for his rivalry with Nick Diaz more than anything else in his career at this point and since the last Diaz fight he hasn't been all that successful. Including the second Diaz fight he is now 1-4 in his last five fights. Noons was once considered one of the best guys in the weight class while with the EliteXC and Strikeforce and may be a loss tonight from getting his walking papers.

Cerrone is also coming into this fight off of a loss. While Cerrone has been very successful so far in his career, he just seems to be that fighter that can never win the big one. He lost in all three of his WEC Lightweight Championship bouts, and probably would've earned a title shot had he not lost to both Anthony Pettis or Nate Diaz in the UFC.

This fight is definitely a must win for Noons, while Cerrone could possibly be alright with a loss. I think that Cerrone definitely is the much more well-rounded fighter and should be able to beat Noons. His biggest advantage over Noons is on the ground as Noons used to box and kickbox so I'm expecting Cerrone to get the fight to the ground and submit Noons early. This will more than likely be the first and last appearance of K.J. Noons in the UFC.

Bayern Munich Win the Champions League Final

2013 Champions League Final:
Bayern Munich defeat Borussia Dortmund 2-1
Man of the Match: Arjen Robben

Arjen Robben went from going goalless in the first 88 minutes of the game to the hero with his game winning goal in the 89th minute to give Bayern Munich a 2-1 win over Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League Final.

In what was one of the most exciting games I've ever watched, this game was a tale of two halves. The first half featured Borussia Dortmund with many opportunities against Bayern Munich's goalkeeper, Manuel Neuer, and the second half was all-Bayern Munich for the most part.

With the game nearing extra time, Robben was able to get past the Dortmund defense and strike the ball past Dortmund's goalkeeper, Roman Weidenfeller. Robben had many chances throughout the game, and due to his poor right foot, went scoreless until the 89th minute.

If not for his late goal, I would have labeled Robben as the scapegoat had Dortmund somehow won this game. Robben was everywhere for Bayern and had opportunity after opportunity before putting a little bit of finesse on the game winner.

In the 72nd minute of the game, Dortmund defender Neven Subotic made the play of the game. Subotic was able to save a possible goal from Thomas Muller after Muller had an open net strike. The shot would have put Munich back ahead 2-1 much earlier in the game, but Subotic was able to keep the game tied for a little bit longer.

Neuer only let up the one goal in the game as Ilkay Gundogan scored on a penalty kick in the 68th minute of the game. Bayern defender, Dante, gave up the penalty because of a stupid challenge against Dortmund's Marco Reus inside the 18 yard box. Gundogan was able to score the penalty kick rather easily as Neuer guessed the wrong side.

The scoring started in the 60th minute when Mario Mandzukic got on the board for Bayern Munich. While his goal was very huge for Bayern Munich, he should have scored multiple goals in today's game as he also like Robben had many opportunities. His goal was assisted by Robben after Robben was able to attract the attention of Weidenfeller and cross the ball to Mandzukic for the goal.

At the end of the first half I couldn't help but think that eventually the goals would start pouring in. Both teams were able to get many good looks throughout the first half, with each team's goalkeeper somehow keeping both teams from scoring.

Neuer and Weidenfeller had their hands full as Neuer was busy stopping Reus from putting the ball in the back of the net on many occasions while Weidenfeller had to deal with the same from Mandzukic and Robben.

With the game now over and the 2012-2013 European season coming to a close, it's almost time to start looking at next season. As good as Bayern Munich played this year behind manager Jupp Heynckes, the team will likely look better next season as they bring in Pep Guardiola who used to be coach of Barcelona a year ago.

Guardiola has already been given a lot of money to try and bring in new players for next year's squad, and with the already addition of Mario Gotze, I think Bayern Munich have to be the favorite for next year's Champion's League.

While Chelsea probably weren't the most deserving team of the championship last year, you can't argue that Bayern Munich weren't the best team in Europe at the end of this tournament.

UEFA Champions League Final Preview

UEFA Champions League Final: Bayern Munich vs Borussia Dortmund

How'd They Get Here:
Bayern Munich:
Round of 16 vs. Arsenal - Leg 1: Bayern Win 3-1, Leg 2: Arsenal Win 2-0, AGG: Draw 3-3 (Bayern Wins on Away Goals)
Quarterfinals vs. Juventus - Leg 1: Bayern Win 2-0, Leg 2: Bayern Win 2-0, AGG: Bayern Win 4-0
Semifinals vs. Barcelona - Leg 1: Bayern Win 4-0, Leg 2: Bayern Win 3-0, AGG: Bayern Win 7-0

Borussia Dortmund:
Round of 16 vs. Shakhtar Donetsk - Leg 1: Draw 2-2, Leg 2: Dortmund Win 3-0, AGG: Dortmund Win 5-2
Quarterfinals vs. Malaga - Leg 1: Draw 0-0, Leg 2: Dortmund Win 3-2, AGG: Dortmund Win 3-2
Semifinals vs. Real Madrid - Leg 1: Dortmund Win 4-1, Leg 2: Madrid Win 2-0, AGG: Dortmund Win 4-3

The Lineups:
Bayern Munich:
Goalkeeper: Manuel Neuer
Defense: Dante, Jerome Boateng, Philipp Lahm, David Alaba
Midfield: Franck Ribery, Javi Martinez, Arjen Robben, Thomas Muller, Bastian Schweinsteiger
Forward: Mario Mandzukic
Bench: Tom Starke, Daniel van Buyten, Xherdan Shaqiri, Luis Gustavo, Anatoliy Tymoschuk, Claudio Pizarro, Mario Gomez

Borussia Dortmund:
Goalkeeper: Roman Weidenfeller
Defense: Marcel Schmelzer, Mats Hummels, Neven Subotic, Lukasz Piszczek
Midfield: Ilkay Gundogan, Sven Bender, Kevin Grobkreutz, Marco Reus, Jakub Blaszczykowski
Forward: Robert Lewandowski
Bench: Mitchell Langerak, Felipe Santana, Sebastian Kehl, Moritz Leitner, Nuri Sahin, Oliver Kirch, Julian Schieber

The Game:

At the beginning of the semifinals, if you told me that the two teams in the final would be from the same country, I definitely would've thought it was Barcelona and Real Madrid. Those two Spanish teams were the favorites all season long and at the end of the semifinals it was the German squads that pulled off the upsets.

Both teams have won the Champions League Trophy before as Bayern Munich has won it four times, as most recently as 2001 and Borussia Dortmund winning the title their only time in 1997.

The key missing piece to this game is Borussia Dortmund midfielder, Mario Gotze. Gotze has been the key piece to the success of Dortmund all season with his superb play in the center of the midfield and he will be on the sideline for this game. Having Gotze on the field would've made for a huge story as he is moving to Bayern Munich over the summer.

Even with Gotze on the pitch, Bayern Munich were the better team all season, so without Dortmund's key player I just can't see Dortmund coming away victorious in this game. In the German Bundesliga this season Munich finished 25 points ahead of second-place Dortmund and only tasted defeat once to a German side all season long.

When I look at the starting lineups for today's game I am not surprised by anything. Each team is going with the lineups that have gotten them to this point in the season. When I compare the two's different parts of the lineups, I have the two teams coming out even:

Lineup Comparison:
Goalkeeper: Advantage Bayern Munich
Defense: Advantage Borussia Dortmund
Midfield: Advantage Bayern Munich
Forward: Advantage Borussia Dortmund

While I have the two teams coming out even with each having the advantage in two places, Bayern's advantages are much greater at goalkeeper and midfield while Dortmund doesn't have too big of an advantage at defense or the forward position.

The main difference between the two teams is the goalkeeper position. I have been saying all year that Manuel Neuer was the best goalkeeper in the world and I still believe it. While Weidenfeller isn't a slouch, I don't think he's in the same league as Neuer. Neuer will be the key in this game as he will have his hands full with Robert Lewandowski and Marco Reus. Both of those guys will likely get a goal in this game, but Neuer will likely save around 10 throughtout the 90 minutes.

I think Mario Mandzukic and Franck Ribery will do the some of the scoring early for Munich with Mario Gomez coming on in the second half for Mandzukic and scoring the game winner. Dortmund rely on two guys for most of the scoring, but Bayern has five or six guys in their lineup that could possibly do the damage today.

I'm expecting a close game for 90 minutes and wouldn't be shocked if this somehow went past the 90 minutes. I'm just hoping that this game doesn't come down to the crap shoot that is the penalty shootout.

My Prediction: Bayern Munich win 3-2
Man of the Match: Manuel Neuer
Goals: Bayern - Mandzukic, Ribery & Gomez / Dortmund - Lewandowski & Reus

The Memphis Grizzlies Will Win the NBA Championship

The Memphis Grizzlies will win this year's Larry O'Brien Trophy. A month ago I would have laughed at that statement. I thought the Grizzlies would get knocked out in the first round by the Los Angeles Clippers. The more and more I watch this team, the more I realize they might have the best squad to beat any team that's left in the playoffs. They will likely lose tonight in game five, but I'm expecting them to finish off the Thunder in six.

The Grizzlies will then face either the Spurs or Warriors in the Western Conference Finals, and in both cases I think they will be able to come out victorious. I picked the Spurs at the beginning of the season and stuck with them all year, but they have been struggling to finish off a young Warriors team that has really emerged in the playoffs this year. The Grizz have the best big-man combo in the playoffs with Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph down low and on paper will give both the Spurs and Warriors a lot of match-up problems.

The Miami Heat have been on fire the last couple of months and I don't see the Heat cooling off, pun intended. The Knicks and Pacers won't be able to hang with the Heat this year so the Heat should have a pretty easy road to the Finals after they finish off the Bulls tonight. As good as the Heat might be, I think the Grizzlies might be the perfect squad to dethrone them this year. If you think it's impossible, another team less than a decade ago did just about the same thing so all the Grizzlies have to do is follow the blueprint.

The 2004 Pistons weren't really given any chance to win that year's NBA Finals and upset the Los Angeles Lakers in five games. If you look at that Pistons team and compare them to this year's Grizzlies you will see a lot of similarities, especially the starting small forward that the Grizzlies acquired during the season.

Tayshaun Prince had always been a great defender while with the Pistons and has been able to mesh very well with the Grizzlies thus far. Prince has been a great addition to the Grizzlies and has brought them the added defense that the Grizzlies needed. As good as Rudy Gay is, Prince fits in a lot better with the Grizzlies system that focuses more on defense and spreading the ball.

Both teams had great defense all-around with anchors in the middle in NBA Defensive Players of the Year in Ben Wallace and Marc Gasol ('04 was the only year in a five-year span that Wallace didn't actually win the award). Both Wallace and Gasol protect the baskets very well and make things much easier for everyone around them with their help defense.

Zach Randolph and Rasheed Wallace might actually be the same guy. Both guys had troubled careers prior to joining the Pistons and Grizzlies and were traded away multiple times because of off the court problems. Neither guy is really known for their defense, but both made strides in improving while with their teams. Both Randolph and Wallace are two of the best offensive power forwards as they can post-up as well as shoot mid-range jumpers.

The '04 Pistons had "Mr. Big Shot," and Mike Conley Jr. is slowly becoming the same guy for the Grizzlies. Conley Jr. has never really gotten the attention that he deserved as he was in the shadows in college behind Greg Oden and then again when he joined the small market Grizzlies. Conley Jr. had his best season of his career in 2013; averaging 14.6 points, 6.1 assists, and 2.2 steals per contest. In this year's postseason he has stepped up his offensive production and is averaging 18.1 points and 7.3 points per game.

The last member of the Grizzlies starting lineup is Tony Allen. While he doesn't stack up with the scoring of the Pistons' "Rip" Hamilton, Allen is one of the best perimeter defenders in the NBA, if not the best. He's been voted to the All-Defensive First Team two years in a row and has been able to keep each team's best perimeter scorer in check.

When I look at the possible NBA Finals match-up of the Memphis Grizzlies and the Miami Heat, all I can do is smile. The Grizzlies have great wing defenders in Tony Allen and Tayshaun Prince that will have the task of guarding Wade and LeBron, and Marc Gasol will take care of Chris Bosh in the paint. The Grizzlies will likely surprise most people by winning this year's NBA Championship, but they won't be surprising me.