Lei Tong

Wait a sec... Fujita can't soccer kick O'Haire, and doesn't even have a cage and elbows as consolation. Fuck that shit.

That depends: Is Fujita back on steroids, and O'Haire no longer utterly shit?

Matt Hughes vs. Georges St. Pierre (No comment needed) Tim Sylvia vs. Jeff Monson (Sylvia gets his first successful title defense) Frank Mir vs. Brandon Vera (Vera gets a name win and likely a title shot) Graison Tibau vs. Nick Diaz (Diaz tries not to choke against solid competition) Dokonjonosuke Mishima vs. Joe Stevenson (Joe Silva gets wood, Mishima gets smashed) James Irvin vs. Hector Ramirez (Well... hopefully Ramirez is in shape, at least) Josh Shockman vs. Jake O'Brien (Pure build-up for the stud wrestler) Antoni Hardonk vs. Brad Imes (Imes either beats a decent HW or gets lost) Wilson Gouveia vs. Alessio Sakara (Sakara hopes for redemption while Gouveia attempts to protect his weak chin)

Martin Kampmann vs. Thales Leite & Michael Bisping vs. Eric Schafer @ the TUF finale. Both solid match-ups, though it's a shame that Schafer & Kampmann are likely to be phased out if they should lose their respective fights.

In retrospect, I still can't believe Chonan actually hung with Anderson as well as he did, especially considering Chonan has NEVER looked as good against even above-average competition before or since. Also, I don't think Anderson getting a title shot is necessarily a sign of a weak division, as he has been seen as a Top 10 caliber MW fora good while. Plus, Marquardt & Swick were both considered legitimate contenders as well shortly after the Silva/Franklin bout was signed. Also on further thought, the UFC does have a much deeper MW division after the top level.

I have to disagree on the MW part. They have who, Silva, Franklin, Marquardt, and Loiseau? Pride has Hendo, Okami, Filho, Amar Suloev, Gono, Chonan, Bustamante, Denis Kang, Minowa, Baroni, etc. You're selling a number of UFC middleweights short if you think Minowa or an over-the-hill Bustamante are better middleweights than all but a handful of their middleweights. The divisions are pretty close, with PRIDE's division being a bit more muddled at the very top due to their GP format and Henderson's status as top dog being highly questionable.

Marquardt should punch Lister in the face. Like, a whole lot.

If he fights smart, there's no reason whatsoever Belfort shouldn't win this. He's bigger, stronger w/straighter punching and arguably even better wrestling. But of course, Belfort is an utter basketcase and Henderson is over the hill, making this fight a nightmare to predict. I'll go out on a limb and say Belfort via JD.

Marquardt vs. Lister is being discussed for UFC 66, and White thinks Swick also needs another fight before facing Silva. With both of those fights likely after the season finale, it looks like the TUF 4 winner will be next in line. EDIT: The finale is only a month away, so the difference between layoff/prep time between its winner and Silva shouldn't be too much of an issue.

I didn't mean to imply Phil would skullfuck or even beat Nishijima standing. Rather, I was simply pointing out that Nishijima hasn't shown a whole lot standing up just yet in MMA, thus making the idea of Phil taking him out with strikes not too far fetched. But yeah, Phil's best bet would be to shoot the double and just rip Nishijima's head off in some fashion.

Being a professional boxer is an excellent way of measuring someone's striking ability. And since Baroni seldom uses kicks or knees I think it would be best for Baroni if he takes it to the ground. The differences between striking in MMA & boxing are pretty vast, not to mention the fact that despite holding a WBF belt nearly a decade ago, it's not like Nishijima was anything special whatsoever as a pro.

But it's not as though either loss was ENTIRELY flukish, either. Takase controlled him pretty much the entire fight, and Chonan had held his own throughout most of the fight.

Punching Hunt in the face is a terrible way of measuring someone's striking ability.

Considering the two closest contenders are Swick & Marquardt, an overconfident striker with a weak defense & underachieving narcoleptic respectively, Silva's toughest competition on the horizon may ironically be Okami, who if nothing else knows what he brings to the game and would have no qualms shooting for the single leg all night long. Of course, I'd be remiss to not mention Lindland & Salaverry, both of whom are tied up elsewhere.

Looks like even I overestimated Kongo, as I figured it'd take at least a mid-level fighter to expose him. Oh, well.

BJ will likely take his place, though probably somewhere lower in the Top 10, but an argument could be made for both guys being ranked. Then, there's also the distinct possiblity of a third fight.

Well, BJ choked Mamoru out in less than 2 minutes to become SHOOTO's 2nd Bantamweight World Champion. Meanwhile, Konishi advanced to the 132lbs. Rookie Final with a JD over Nimii, Ganjo & Nakakura went to a majority draw, "Wicky" Akiyo became the 2006 SHOOTO Lightweight Rookie Champion with a JD over Ishizawa, and the previously mentioned favorites all won their respective bouts decisively aside from Aoki, who got his nuts smashed for a DQ.

MSIA's SHOOTO's 10/14 card preview Lots of big name fighters on the card, against mostly overmatched opponents, including: Tatsuya Kawajiri (Top 5 Lightweight) Ryota Matsune (Top 3 132 pounder) Akira Kikuchi (Top 10 Welterweight) Shinya Aoki (Top 5 Welterweight) "Lion" Takeshi Inoue (#1 Featherweight) Also, a rematch between the world's two best bantamweights (champion Mamoru Yamaguchi & #1 contender Shinichi "BJ" Kojima), PUREBRED Omiya prospect Ganjo Tentsuku (versus veteran Takashi Nakakura), and arguably the hottest SHOOTO Rookie Tournament final ever ("Wicky" Akiyo Nishiura vs. Daisuke Ishizawa).

I can't wait for the return of rookies and prospects.

Well, they didn't televise the highly-anticipated comeback of Tony DeSouza. Dropped the ball there, IMO.

I don't doubt MacDonald's a cool guy and all, and don't mean the male stripper comment in nearly as bad a manner as when I call Gurgel one. But still.

Confirmed, or early estimate?

And I don't want to see guys with only 3 fights under their belt fighting their 4th on live TV when Tony Desouza and his hobo beard would've been much more interesting (and by all accounts a much better fight then Seth/Matt). Oh, and eat a dick Tong. I cannot hold a parade without you pissing on it. Actually, I was setting you straight in regards to your Kendall hate, as opposed to MacDonald love. If you want to celebrate with your male stripper, feel free. Fag.

Well, Price is a can while MacDonald is more of a gatekeeper. He's definitely beatable, but he will usually hang around for a while and can beat a good fighter (Doerksen, Herman) now and then. Also, Price tapped, for anyone who still thinks it was a quick stoppage or something.

Or a chin.