UFC 157 Preview and Predictions

It's finally here. The first female fight in UFC history will go down tonight. Ronda Rousey vs. Liz Carmouche is going to not only be a historic fight because of their gender, but this fight has the chance to do for the UFC what Forrest Griffin and Stephan Bonnar did back in 2005.

The viewership won't be as high as the Griffin/Bonnar fight was, but the potential implications are just as high if not higher. MMA is dominated by men and the audience is almost 100% male. Rousey and Carmouche are breaking down a barrier and could lead the UFC into a whole new demographic. Like Jemele Hill said on Around The Horn, she's not a UFC fan, but she is ordering this fight because of the main event. That has to be music to Dana White's ears.

Alright, enough off that, prediction time. I can't stand Josh Koscheck as a person, but he is a damn good fighter. I think he outclasses Robbie Lawler quite easily. Court McGee vs. Josh Neer should be an interesting fight. McGee has dropped down to 170lbs. which is probably a better fighting weight for him. As much as I like Neer, I think McGee imposes his will and gets the victory.

Urijah Faber vs. Ivan Menjivar has the potential to be great or a total snoozer. I really like Faber and can see him dominating this fight start to finish. Hopefully he gets an early submission and moves on. Admittedly I don't know much about Menjivar, but I know how good Faver can be and when he's on his game he's tough to beat. Machida vs. Henderson is the fight I'm most interested in on this card. Machida's whole career has been based around not getting hit. But he's slowed down quite a bit over the last few years. While Hendo is old now, at least by MMA standards at 42, he's still got cinder blocks for hands. I'll take Hendo by knockout.

Like I said earlier, the main event has all the potential in the world to break down doors for the UFC. However, I don't see this fight going past the first round. Rousey has won all of her professional fights by armbar in the first round. She's much more experienced with all the hype, the big stage, and MMA in general. That's not to say Carmouche can't win this fight. All it takes is one punch, and she can definitely punch. I just think Rousey's judo background is too much for Carmouche to overcome.

So there are my thoughts, what do you think? Do you agree with my picks? Are you interested in the title fight?

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Brains Over Braun

Alright Ryan Braun, now what? You've already tested positive for performance enhancing drugs, though the results were dismissed and you were exonerated based on a technicality. Now your name has shown up on two documents that seem to implicate other PED users. You've had excuses for the first two instances, what's it going to be this time?

As stated above, Braun's positive test was dismissed based on the handling of the sample he gave. What stands out to me though, and always will, was that when he addressed the situation publicly, he said, "People are going to have different opinions. Most of them don't know the real story. It's tough sometime to base your opinion or formulate a decision when you don't know what happened. Overall, everybody has been real supportive." So what is the real story? Why has he only told his teammates what really happened? After doing a fair amount of digging, I was still unable to find the real story. What doesn't make sense to me is the supposed gray area here. He either took PEDs or he didn't. 

Earlier this year, Braun's name popped up on a document created by Anthony Bosch, who founded the Biogenesis of America clinic. Among the names on that list were known PED users such as Alex Rodriguez and Melky Cabrera. Braun's explanation for his name being on that document was that he consulted with Bosch during his eventual successful appeal. Possible explanation? Sure. Heck, that's even probable. It seems a bit odd, but whatever. It's plausible enough to be accepted.

Today, it has been reported that Braun's name is on yet another document, along with A-Rod, Cabrera, and Francisco Cervelli, that seems to suggest he still owes Bosch money. The original document with his name said that he had already paid for whatever he got from Bosch, be it consultation/advice or whatever, but this one doesn't. This one shows the player's names, the amount owed, and a plus sign that is either circled or not. According to sources, the circles were for when payment was made. Braun's plus sign is not circled. The ESPN post about this, (which can be found here) says that the list "was a list of players who received PEDs, and that there is no other reason to be on that paper." I'm not the smartest man in the world, by any stretch, but even I can connect the dots. 

How many times does Braun have to be connected with PEDs before we just accept the fact that he used them? He can't say he never tested positive, because he did. Three times now he's been connected to the use of performance enhancing drugs. Twice he's wriggled his way away from the connections. Does he have another trick up his sleeve, or is this the connection that will ultimately be his downfall?

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