2009 September 18 | The 3rd String Safety

Melvin Guillard Fight Night 19 Walk-out Shirt!

September 18, 2009, at 8:00 pm

Guillard is one of those fighters that just drives me absolutely nuts. He is so talented, but his career has been held back out of the cage idiocy and losses like the one to Nate Diaz on Wednesday night. Has anyone ever dominated more fights than Guillard only to lose? Well, if you are a huge fan of the Young Assassin and think that he has the potential to be the lightweight champ, than you should probably check out his Silver Star shirt.

The shirt goes on the assassin theme with the wild west skeleton theme. I really like the back of the shirt and the color scheme. Check out MMA Warehouse to get one of your own.

MMA

Georges St. Pierre’s New Affliction Shirt!

By Anthony De Franco

September 18, 2009, at 4:38 pm

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I love GSP. He’s the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world and one of the most humble dudes in MMA to boot. The only MMA shirt that I ever bought is GSP’s Silver Star shirt. Now, Affliction is back in UFC sponsorship fold, GSP has a brand new awesome Affliction shirt.

It’s very reminiscent of the old GSP war crest shirts that Affliction put out with the their first go around with the UFC. I really always loved Affliction’s art, and this shirt is no different. Check out MMAwarehouse.com to get one of your own.

NCAAF

Corp To Start Against Washington

By Jordan Lauterbach

September 18, 2009, at 1:36 pm

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From ESPN:

USC quarterback Aaron Corp has been chosen to start the Trojans’ Pac-10 opener against Washington on Saturday, a person briefed on the decision told ESPN’s Joe Schad on Friday.

Freshman Matt Barkley is expected to regain his status as starter when he is healthy enough to resume throwing, the source said. Barkley continues to experience pain in his bruised right (throwing) shoulder, which was injured in the third-ranked Trojans’ 18-15 victory at Ohio State last weekend.

USC coach Pete Carroll said Thursday that Barkley is improving every day, and Carroll wants to give him as much time as possible to heal before ruling him out against Washington.

This makes a ton of sense. Corp was a guy who was thought to have the inside track on the starting job when camp opened in August. He’s a more than capable backup to make a start against Washington.

Good news for USC fans is that Matt Barkley doesn’t appear to be hurt to bad. I get the sense that if this was a sense that if this was a tougher oppoent, Barks would be in.

That being said, pretty good subplot in this one: first year head coach Steve Sarkisian against his old team.

NHL

It Is What It Is

By Bryan Berg

September 18, 2009, at 12:32 pm

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For the past twelve or so hours, the Internet has been on fire with people talking about the Dion Phaneuf hit on Kyle Okposo. As we all know, Okposo was stretchered off the ice last night; he was later diagnosed with a mild concussion and was cleared to travel home with the team. Botta put it best – Islanders fans will see this as a dirty hit, while Flames fans will see it as a clean hit.

There’s no sense in pointing fingers. What happened last night is over. Phaneuf won’t dress Saturday, there will be a ton of fights between fringe players, and nothing will be solved. The fact remains that Kyle Okposo is still injured and the Islanders now have to live without the services of their best forward.

We can argue forever about whose fault it was (nobody’s), whether the hit was clean (it was), whether this kind of hit has any place in the pre-season (again, clean hit), or any of the other things that people are worrying about. Instead, let’s look at the two facts we can draw from this.

- We have to worry about Kyle Okposo suffering from more concussions. After you have your first concussion, you’re that much more likely to suffer from another one.

- After the hit, Okposo’s teammates went out of their way to stand up for their fallen comrade.

As scary of a thought as the first point is, the second is far more significant. Think back to the night Mike Mottau shredded Frans Nielsen’s knee. After Trent Hunter fought Mottau, nobody went after Mottau that night, nor did they do so in any of the other four times the Islanders and Devils played. Howie Rose must have mentioned it a million times down the stretch. Nobody cared. Compare that to what you saw last night. The Islanders tried to engage Phaneuf multiple times. Even though Phaneuf wouldn’t take the bait – he sent in his underlings to fight those battles – it says a lot that the Islanders, even those with no chance of making the team, would try to take care of business. It shows how important Kyle Okposo is to the team and it shows how much these players truly care for one another. Most of all, it shows the progress made since last November.

All in all, it’s a horrible situation, but at least Okposo is relatively okay. There’s no need to dwell on it or demand revenge on March 25, 2010, which is when the Flames head to the Nassau Coliseum. And hey, we got visual proof that we have a true team this year. That’s a good sign.

One last point about the hit. A few people have compared this hit to the one Doug Weight laid on Brandon Sutter last year – you know, the one that had Brent Sutter apoplectic and demanding Weight’s banishment from the NHL. OK, he didn’t really go that far, but he wasn’t happy. Last night, when it was Okposo getting laid out, the elder Sutter was again involved, this time as the Flames’ coach. Sutter’s take?

“That’s part of Dion’s game. When he sees that open ice, Dion has to use it. It’s one part of his game that makes him a unique player,” said Sutter. “You never like to see anybody get hurt obviously, and it’s too bad that happened, and hopefully we’ve been told, he’s going to be okay. But Dion still can’t pass up that hit”.

MMA

UFC 103 Predictions: The Main Card!

By Anthony De Franco

September 18, 2009, at 3:09 am

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Tyson Griffin v. Hermes Franca

This isn’t going to be all that much of a fight. Griffin has emerged as one of the top fighters in the 155 division. He’s likely right outside the top five, and this win should getting him some talk about getting a top-3 opponent. He’s 6-2 in the UFC with wins over Clay Guida, Marcus Aurelio, and Gleison Tibau. Griffin is a bit small for 155, but he possess some excellent tools with which to work. He has some really nice wrestling, and pretty solid standup as well. Add the fact that he trains with a pretty solid team in Xtreme Couture and you have the recipe for one hell of a fighter.

I’ve always thought that Franca was one of the more overrated 155ers. This BJJ Black Belt is 5-2 in the UFC, but doesn’t have any real great wins under his belt. His best win is probably over Nate Diaz. He’s pretty good on the ground and has some decent standup, but nothing about him really jumps off the page.

As long as Griffin can stay out of a submission, expect him to ground and pound his way to a win.

Prediction: Griffin via Unanimous Decision

Josh Koscheck v. Frank Trigg

If there is one fight on this card that isn’t getting enough attention, it’s probably this one. The return of Frank Trigg is not being pushed as the storyline that it should be. Trigg was a mainstay in the early days of the UFC and now is back after burning and then rebuilding his bridges with Dana White. Trigg is a well balanced fighter that was 2-3 in his previous UFC stint, but all of those losses came to Matt Hughes (2) and Georges St. Pierre. Those are pretty much “quality” losses.

He’ll be going against Josh Koscheck, who is coming off a loss of his own to Paulo Thiago. After fighting three times in six months, Koscheck took eight months off before getting back into the ring on Saturday. We all know the deal with Koscheck. He is a world class wrestler who has ever improving standup due to his training at the American Kickboxing Academy. He’s 10-4 in the UFC, which is a damn good mark.

Koscheck does just about everything Trigg does better than Trigg does it.

Prediction: Koscheck via Unanimous Decision

Martin Kampmann v. Paul Daley

Ugh. This fight was so much better when Kampmann and Mike Swick. Swick sustained a concussion late in his training and is unable to fight. Instead, we get Paul Daley who is an IFL veteran making his UFC debut. Daley is of british decent and is a muay thai striker by nature. Daley’s last fight was supposed to be against Long Island’s own Jay Hieron, but was scrapped when Affliction folded.

Kampmann’s last fight was his trademark win by split decision over Carlos Condit. While I am a reasonable man, there is no way that anyone will ever convince me that Kampmann actually won that fight. He is 6-1 in the UFC with wins over Jorge Rivera, Thales Leites and Drew McFedries. He is also a a striker, which means that we will see these two guys slug it out on the feet for most of the fight.

It’s really a shame this fight doesn’t include Swick.

Prediction: Kampmann via TKO

Mirko Cro Cop v. Junior Dos Santos

This fight has become a point of contention between Jason and I. Jason keeps insisting that the “real Cro Cop” is coming back, and I think that he’s nuts. For those who are uninitiated, Cro Cop is one of living legends of this sport. When he was in Pride, he was the most feard Striker in the world and he had head kicks that could sick large ships. However, since coming over to the UFC, he looks old and slow, and nothing like the Mirko of old. His fighting style is to remain on his feet at all costs until he can find a way to employ a devastating striking game on his opponent.

As for Dos Santos, he is a legitimate heavyweight prospect out of the Nogueira’s camp in Brazil. Don’t assume that this means that he is a ground fighter; He ain’t. Dos Santos is 2-0 in the UFC with both wins coming by KO in less than 30 seconds. He has already said that he plans to outbox the Croation, and I think that he will be able to do just that.

The Legend of Cro Cop dies Saturday night.

Prediction: Dos Santos via KO

Rich Franklin v Vitor Belfort @ Catchweight (195 lbs.)

I love the Rich Franklin weight class. It’s like they don’t ant him anywhere near Machida or Silva and that’s why they don’t let him fight in either of the two weight classes he belongs in. Instead, we are going to keep getting these super fights between Ace and a big name opponent that doesn’t quite fit into his weight category.

As for the Franklin the fighter, He’s just great. Primarily known for his stand-up, Franklin is 10-3 with a list of victims that looks like an MMA hall of fame. In fact, if it wasn’t for Anderson Silva being so damn awesome, I’m a strong believer that Franklin would still be the champ at 185.

As for Belfort, he is making his UFC return after a long time away. Belfort came up as a phenom (explaining his nickname, The Phenom) in the UFC’s early days and tore through the competition on his way to become the UFC light heavyweight champ. Then in 2004 his sister was kidnapped and never found. As his life skidded out of control, so did his career and soon he was out of the UFC after losses to Randy Couture and Tito Ortiz.

As sad as it sounds, Vitor’s career didn’t get back on track until after he found out that his sister was dead. Since August 2007, he’s 4-0 and his most recent win came over veterean Matt Lindland. In the ring, Vitor possess some of the fastest hands in MMA and some sick power to go along with it. Franklin has a tendency to lower his hands and if he does, he’ll be facing barrages from Belfort.

I’ve gone back and forth on this fight alot. I want to pick Franklin because I feel like this is an upset that he can do, but I just feel like Belfort’s hands might be way too fast for Rich.

Prediction: Belfort via TKO

More UFC 103 Coverage:

- UFC 103 Predictions: The Undercard

- Frank Trigg’s UFC 103 Walk Out Shirt