MMA in my backyard. PFL is coming July 5th

Well I have known about this for a month the Professional Fighting League was coming to DC and I knew the main event but they finally came out with the entire fight card.  I'm definitely going, its on my calendar and I'm just waiting for the tickets to go on sale. See the fight card below:

Jake Shields vs. Ray Cooper III


Abubakar Nurmagomedov vs. Pavel Kusch


Rick Story vs. Yuri Villefort


Shamil Gamzatov vs. Eddie Gordon


Joao Zeferino vs. Paul Bradley


John Howard vs. Gasan Umalatov


Herman Terrado vs. Magomed Magomedkerimov


Bruno Santos vs. Sadibou Sy


Louis Taylor vs. Anderson Goncalves


Rex Harris vs. Andre Lobato


Danillo Villefort vs. Abus Magomedov


Bojan Velickovic vs. Jonatan Westin

Supreme Court rules on Sports Betting

That fat fuck Chris Chrisite did something right NCAA vs Christie now NCAA vs Murphy has challenged Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) which only allowed Nevada to place wagers on sporting events. Sports betting is now open for all states that want it, says the Supreme Court.

Court Ruling

The Washington Post a does a really good job of breaking it all down here:

Washington Post Article


New Jersey is chomping at the bit to setup sports betting. They say some places will be ready in the next two weeks.  Soon to follow will be any state with  a casino will enact legislation to allow sports betting.  What does that mean for this blog,  I've been casually picking fights with Draftkings for instance I made $4 dollars this pass week. I wasn't able to complete 

I picked 

Lyoto Mchida
Kelvin Gastelum
Raquel Pennington
Davi Ramos
Razaman Emeev
Mackenzie Dern

5 out of 6 won their fights with Raquel being 5 to 1 underdog being my long shot and 3 out of 6 fighters finishing their fights.  Its easier to pick one than 6 that includes a salary cap.  I intended on putting cash down on Gastelum but I didn't remind my friend who was just coming off a family vacation to hit up his UK connection to put a bet in for me. Oh well. 

I've been periodically been checking in on the status of this court case and its been the only Supreme Court case I've cared about since Brown vs Board of Education. 

My wife told me about the court decision and she joking made the comment that we have to setup a budget for my betting. Actually I don't think she was joking and I don't think she is wrong either.  So I'm going to keep a public tally of My DraftKings Cards I usually do a $3 or $4 dollar card but occasionally I go a little crazy and do an $8 card but only rare occasions will I reach out to my friend to put a bet down that's I only do that in rare occasions if the odds are in my favor and I'm confident in the fighter.  So going to setup betting sheet for My Draftkings card.  I'm also going to setup a "Fake/Fun" bets sheet to prove if my fight picks are viable. 

RANT: Uppercutting your way out of blacked out matches.

Cecilia Braekhus, the consensus #1 pound-for-pound in women’s boxing, will make history on HBO this Saturday night.

Saw this headline and had to rant.

I've always found this crazy about Boxing, in how they never put Women's boxing on TV. Guess there reasoning is because people won’t watch it. Of course, they can't watch it if you don't put it on TV. One of the biggest boxing events occurred last year in McGregor vs Mayweather a lot people didn't know that the opening bout was a Women's boxing match but you wouldn't know this because that bout was the only fight they didn't televise. You gotta give these ladies a chance to prove themselves. Who doesn’t remember Christy Martin’s fight as the co-main of Tyson-Bruno fight. I’ve been a fan of women’s combat sports since then and that was back in 1996. Then we got to see Christy Martin get her ass whooped by Laila Ali which was pretty brutal but entertaining nonetheless. Laila Ali than became the face women’s rightfully so being the daughter of iconic Muhammed Ali and her constant ducking of contender of Ann Wolfe. Who would have whooped that ass but anyway, my point is they are professional athletes who come to fight and have the same ability put on exciting fights as the men do. I feel they actually bring the fight even more than the guys given their limited opportunities to shine. Also a new trend in women’s boxing has emerged given the limited visibility where female boxers are turning to MMA because they believe they are more opportunities in that sport. Women such as Heather Hardy, Ana Julaton and Amanda Serrano have started training MMA in order to just get a fight and express themselves as martial artists. Glad HB0 is giving these ladies a platform to showcase their skills. You can’t expect to make stars if you don’t let them shine.

Anyways, I’m looking forward to the fights this weekend. The all-female MMA promotion Invicta FC is this Friday Live on UFC Fight Pass. I was hoping that Cecilia Breakus was of Mexican decent having lost Canelo headlining against GGG on Cinco Day Mayo this Saturday but she is Colombian and her opponent Kali Reis is Native American. Regardless of the fighters ethnicities I will be making tacos and slew of Mexican dishes that evening to enjoy while watching the fights. I’m positive GGG will destroy his opponent he is an 11 to 1 favorite and his opponent, Vanes Martirosyan, is trained by Edmund Tarverdyan (Ronda Rousey coach). So, he will be coming in with zero head movement and fighting like a pissed off teenager.

Breaking NEWS: Kevin Lee has 15 minutes to make weight

Catch the live stream on MMAJunkie.  Will Kevin Lee make weight.

Will Kevin Lee make weight. https://www.facebook.com/officialmmajunkie/videos/1681410745239405/

UFC 223 My Card and DraftKing Picks

Weghtclass				Outcome
Lightweight	Al Iaquinta	vs.	Khabib Nurmagomedov	2nd Al Iaquinta
Women's Strawweight	Rose Namajunas (c)	vs.	Joanna Jędrzejczyk	Rose 2nd Sub
Featherweight	Renato Moicano	vs.	Calvin Kattar	Calvin Kattar
Women’s Strawweight	Karolina Kowalkiewicz	vs.	Felice Herrig	Kowalkiewicz Dec
Lightweight	Joe Lauzon	vs.	Chris Gruetzemacher	Joe Lauzon First RD sub
Lightweight	Evan Dunham	vs.	Olivier Aubin-Mercier	Dunham Dec
Women's Flyweight	Bec Rawlings	vs.	Ashlee Evans-Smith	Evans Smith Dec
Light Heavyweight	Devin Clark	vs.	Mike Rodriguez	Mike Rodriguez
Featherweight	Zabit Magomedsharipov	vs.	Kyle Bochniak	Zabit 2nd Sub

I had started a breakdown of Ferguson vs Nurmagomedov, I’ll give you a quick summation Tony would force Khabib to work on the ground.  Cut him with elbows from bottom and eventually bust him up on the feet in 3rd with a doctor's stoppage due to a bad cut. Very specific but I thought Tony’s game would be able to force Khabib to work a lot.  None of that matters anymore, Dana has said he would never book that fight again. But Dana’’s emotional he says a lot of stuff that the backs out of. I still wanna see this fight . Like most people I thought this was a cruel April Fools day joke.  I’ve gone through all 5 stages of grief. I’m finally in the acceptance stage. emotional stages of loss with Tony falling out. I finally accepted that Holloway has chance to be the “Champ, Champ” and I’m intrigued by the matchup.

You know what FUCK THIS CARD.  I would have had my picks down a week ago but we have been on a roller coaster of drama.  At this point the card has been gutted. Lobov vs Caceres scrapped, Borg vs Moreno Gone, Chiesa vs Pettis SEEYA, Pettis vs Nurmagodev Nope, Felder vs Nurmagodev WHAT?.  Yeah so we have gone from a 13 fight to a 9 fight card. I don’t understand why Pettis/Felder was made they both made weight they were ready to go. So during this post i was going to go back to more of my statistical breakdown of things but fuck it.  This card has just showed me that anything can happen. Let’s see some upets.

On Today’s date a 11 even years ago a man named Matt Serra shocked the world and I believe today still has the biggest upset ever in MMA. He beat George St Pierre to be the welterweight champion of the world.  Today one of his student’s from Long Island is taking a fight on one day’s notice against one of the best lightweights in the world. Al Iaquinta too has a chance to shock the world and if I learned anything from this week anything can happen.  Let’s go Raging Al. Shock the World. Shock the World. !!!!!!!!

My Draftkings Card

Rose Namajunas

Al Iaquinta

Joe Lauzon

Calvin Kattar

Evan Dunham

Mike Rodriguez

Rant: WTF Man!!!!! Conor is an ass hat

yoooooo... first time seeing this one. Conor has legit lost his mind. pic.twitter.com/XcLFd2FIMo

— caposa (@Grabaka_Hitman) April 5, 2018

I first saw the barricade videos and heard the reports about how Michael Chiesa got a cut from a thrown chair.  Well the reports are somewhat accurate.  I guess Conor brought his entourage looking for Khabib Nurmagomedov.  Apparently there was an altercation with Khabib and Artem and Conor didn't like it.   So this fucking ass hat throws a dolly through the bus window.  Shattering glass which cuts Michael Chiesa and gets in the eye of Ray Borg.  I've heard some people saying that he is hyping a fight against Khabib or perhaps keeping his name relevant during the title fight for which he is being stripped of.

 There is one thing of throw water bottles at Nate Diaz during a press conference



But throwing a dolly through a window of a bus are two different things.  First of all you don't have a fight signed there is nothing to hype.   Second of all you got your boy Artem thrown off the card.  Let's face it, after you used your clout as TUF coach to get Artem a second chance in the tournament he was very impressive but his UFC run has been lacking he has been 2-3 since losing the TUF Finale.  And respectively so Dana White pulled him from the card because you lackey was there during your tirade.  Third, you could have seriously injured follow fighters, guys like you trying to make it through the ranks.  Fourth you startled Rose, Pat Barry is going to have that ass.  Watch out once you get out of prision.


Thank God, Conor is in jail WTF thinks you can get away with this.  Now 3 fights are off the card.  I was really looking forward to Pettis/Chiesa.  WTF Man!!! Who does that!!!! If you really wanted to slap Khabib open the fucking door and walk in the bus douche.  Hopefully Dana White, sits his Golden Goose for the rest of 2018 he doesn't deserve to fight plus I doubt any athletic commission would license him this year. 

Fight Picks and Draft Kings Breakdown UFC 220: Miocic vs Ngannou

Weight Class				Outcome
Heavyweight	Stipe Miocic (c)	vs.	Francis Ngannou	3rd TKO Stipe
Light Heavyweight	Daniel Cormier (c)	vs.	Volkan Oezdemir	2nd Sub Cormier
Featherweight	Calvin Kattar	vs.	Shane Burgos	1st KO Burgos
Light Heavyweight	Gian Villante	vs.	Francimar Barroso	Villante Decision
Bantamweight	Thomas Almeida	vs.	Rob Font	Rob Decision
Featherweight	Kyle Bochniak	vs.	Brandon Davis	Bochnik Decision
Welterweight	Abdul Razak Alhassan	vs.	Sabah Homasi	2nd KO Abdul Razak
Flyweight	Dustin Ortiz	vs.	Alexandre Pantoja	Dustin Decision
Featherweight	Dan Ige	vs.	Julio Arce	Ige Decision
Featherweight	Enrique Barzola	vs.	Matt Bessette	Barzola Decision
Lightweight	Islam Makhachev	vs.	Gleison Tibau	Makhchev 2nd Sub

Stipe Miocic (-175) vs Francis Ngannou (+165)

I think this match-up is similar to the Anthony Johnson vs Daniel Cormier.  Anthony Johnson was just dropping people in scary fashion and we quickly found that this was MMA and then there was this thing called a ground game. We haven’t seen much Ngannou’s ground game.  Has been taken down before but he hasn’t been held down for long.  We all know he has devastating one punch power. I honestly thought he killed Overeem when he landed that “Uppercut from Hell”.

But Stipe has hands too, Man, I understand the betting odds and I’m not even mad about Ngannou being the favorite.  I think Stipe’s collegiate wrestling comes into play even if he fails to land an initial takedown he forces Ngannou to wear his arms out.  I’m leaning towards Stipe but to ne honest i’m not that confident about this pick. Also let me be clear that based on my belief that this matchup is extremely close Stipe’s value on Draftkings is a most pick.  If you are looking for an underdog pick.  Stipe is that pick on your DraftKings Card.  I’m excited to see what happens whoever wins will be the “Baddest Man on the Planet”.  

Rob Font (-105) vs Thomas Almeida (-115)

Yeah so I think the betting odds are on the nose.  I don’t know who is going to win but somebody is going to get knocked out.  So I’m just going to let the numbers pick.  With both sides having striking and power. I’m letting defense decide.

Significant Strikes	Thomas Almedia	Rob Font
Strikes Landed per Min. (SLpM)	6.00	5.23
Striking Accuracy	48%	46%
Strikes Absorbed per Min. (SApM)	4.53	3.80
Defense	63%	64%

Dustin Ortiz (+115) vs Alexandre Pantoja (-135)

I can’t really rely on the stats for this fight because Pantonja has only had a two fights in the UFC.  Therefore I can't rely on statistics for this fight.  I’m going with Dustin Ortiz because he has relatively good takedown defense and this is what this fight hinges on.  Pantoja whose only goals is to get his opponents to the ground hasn’t really been tested yet. He beat retired Neil Serry and won a split decision bout against a very green Eric Shelton.  Ortiz has fought against 5 fighters who have fought for the UFC Flyweight title and has 11 fights in the UFC.  Alexandre Pantoja was on the The Ultimate Fighter: Tournament of Champions season.  Where he made it to the semi finals losing against Hiromasa Ogikubo.  Hiro showed that stuffing the takedown was the key to beating Pantonja. Despite Ortiz being a slight underdog.  I think he’s experience and wrestling will give him the nod.

Shane Burgos (-200) vs Calvin Kattar (+185)

I was really impressed with Calvin Kattar in his Octagon debut.  He made his debut on two weeks notice and beat Andrie Fili.  Calvin took away Andre Fili’s kicking game with forward pressure by making Fili fight off his heels.  Then we have Shane Burgos.  He has got great head movement and punching power.  He knows his range and knows how to roll punches in order to land his counters. Burgos seems to be improving, I think he is going to make quick work of Calvin Kattar for this fight.  

Gian Villante (-140) vs Francimar Barroso (=130)

Gian Villante isn't the greatest Light Heavyweight but either is Barroso.  Villante’s weakness is fighters with good wrestling.  Barroso takedowns are mostly off the cage he doesn’t shoot for doubles in the middle of the Octagon.  At range Gian is more dangerous I gotta give him the striking advantage.  Also Barros fades in the later rounds.  You gotta pick the busier fighter when it comes to striking.

STRIKING (SIGNIFICANT STRIKES)	Gian Villante	Francimar Barroso
Strikes Landed per Min. (SLpM)	4.15	2.45
Striking Accuracy	45%	51%
Strikes Absorbed per Min. (SApM)	5.49	2.79
Defense	62%	57%

Daniel Cormier (-325) vs Volkan Oezdemir (+295)

Daniel Cormier has three weakness: Cake, Fried Chicken,  and Jon Jones.  Oezdemir isn’t either of those things.  

Daniel Cormier is going to takedown Oezdemir down and that’s the beginning of the end.