I’m not sure if this is necessarily “The Event” like the poster says, but it has to be pretty important if Jerry Jones wants to host it in his brand new stadium. While the draw is most certainly Manny Pacquiao, Joshua Clottey has a once in a lifetime opportunity. Because of the fact that Pacquiao decided against the extra drug testing that Floyd Mayweather wanted and didn’t like a few of the opportunities presented to him, Clottey was chosen.

I don’t think the boxing world expects much other than another Pacquiao victory and while we don’t either here at FGB, we may differ on how hard this fight could be for Pacquiao.

Duan, Robert and I give our predictions for the fight.

Duan: Pacquiao by decision (8 rounds to 4)
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UFC 110 comes just two weeks after UFC 109, which wasn’t a good show at all. And it’s 5 weeks before their biggest show of the year thus far, UFC 111 with Georges St. Pierre defending his title. But if you look to skip this one, it might not be the best idea.

There’s a very interesting heavyweight fight scheduled as the main event between the legendary Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and the untested, Cain Velasquez. Michael Bisping also faces Wanderlei Silva in his biggest test since getting knocked out by Dan Henderson at UFC 100.

The FGB crew has their thoughts on these two matches.

(We originally were going to preview Mirko Crocop vs. Ben Rothwell as well, but Rothwell pulled out of the fight because of injury.)

Stevie J from Angrymarks.com joined us as well.

Michael Bisping vs. Wanderlei Silva

Duan: Bisping by 2nd round TKO
Alan: Silva by 1st round TKO
Big D: Bisping by 2nd round TKO
Stevie J: Bisping 2nd round TKO
GG: Bisping by 3rd round TKO

Duan says:

This could be the end of the road for Silva. This fight has the potential to make him look very old. Bisping is younger, fresher, and moves better. I see Bisping being more precise with his striking and just taking him apart.

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After UFC 108 saw one of the lower UFC buyrates of recent memory, UFC comes back with Randy Couture vs. Mark Coleman in the main event. Because of Couture, this show won’t do as badly as 108, but it’s only because of Couture. The show has some very interesting fights but not too much that is must see.

There’s some of us on the FGB crew who aren’t really looking forward to this show, but others who are at least intrigued. Stevie J from Angrymarks.com joins us.

Matt Serra vs. Frank Trigg

Duan: Trigg by decision
Alan: Trigg by decision
Big D: Serra by 1st round TKO
Stevie J: Serra by decision
Cactus Jim: Serry by 2nd round submission
GG: Serra by 3rd round TKO

Duan says:

Both of these guys are just lost in the shuffle at welterweight. Trigg to ride out a convincing but uneventful three round decision.

Alan says:
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We will definitely see what the low barometer is for a UFC show these days. There aren’t any title matches on this show nor are there any shots for number one contendership. You have some possibly fun fights, but even the main event is a semi-main event match at best.

The FGB crew was able to put some thoughts together on this card as the new year rung in.

Gilbert Yvel vs. Junior Dos Santos

Duan: Yvel by 1st round TKO
Alan: Yvel by 1st round TKO
Jim: Yvel by 1st round TKO
GG: Dos Santos by 2nd round TKO

Duan says:

Gilbert is not going to be a major factor in the UFC heavyweight division. This opportunity has come too late. He is so one dimensional that I just can’t imagine him ever stringing together a run of wins. What he can do though, is have some entertaining wars and possibly cause an upset or two a long the way. This is a good fight for him. Dos Santos will trade with him, and he may just find that he is outgunned. Gilbert has insane knockout power, and one shot is all it will take.

I really hope this one delivers the type of knock down, drag out brawl we expected from Dos Santos and Cro Cop.

Alan says:
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While there’s not a ton of star power and I doubt this show will do a great buy rate, there are two possibly excellent fights. And when you get Frank Mir heeling on anyone and everyone, that’s near can’t miss as well.

The FGB crew and Stevie J from AngryMarks break down the top three fights from UFC 107.

Kenny Florian Vs. Clay Guida

Big D: Florian by 3rd round submission
Duan: Florian by 3rd round submission
Alan: Guida (didn’t specify how)
Stevie J: Guida by 3rd round TKO
Jim: Guida by decision
GG: Florian by 3rd round TKO

Big D says:

This is the fight I am most looking forward to. Here we have two exciting, fast-paced cardio machines. I think this fight will basically be an explosive first round where they battle it out, but I think Clay will pull a Clay and get caught with a late submission by Florian. I think that after this card, we will see Florian vs. Sanchez 2 at 155 – which should be a fun one.

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Tonight sees Mikkel Kessler and Andre Ward face off for the WBA Super Middleweight title in Showtime’s Super Six World Boxing Classic.

This is Andre Ward’s chance to make a real name for himself in the Super Middleweight division. Ward is a Gold medalist from the 2004 Olympics, who has gone undefeated in 20 bouts since turning pro. The guy is a superb natural athlete, incredibly quick, and has exceptional technical skills. He has everything that is required to become a breakout star, but he has never truly been tested inside the professional ring. Tonight, he will be.
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It’s preview time again at FGB. It feels like just last week when we did this last. Wait, it was.

With UFC 105 just one week ago, I have the “there’s too much stuff going on” feeling. I’m intrigued about a couple of fights on this card, but I’m not all that hyped for this one. Some of that has to do with the injuries and illnesses suffered by fighters which has killed off some money fights. But with Strikeforce and the UFC running so many shows, you don’t really get a chance to miss MMA.

But that doesn’t stop us. All of the crew is here with predictions, including Stevie J from AngryMarks, on the top two fights on this card. And away we go.

Anthony Johnson vs. Josh Koscheck

Big D: Johnson by 2nd round TKO
Duan: Koscheck by 2nd round submission
Alan: Koscheck by 2nd round submission
Stevie J: Koscheck by decision
Jim: Johnson by 2nd round TKO
GG: Johnson by 3rd round TKO

Big D says:

I am VERY interested in this fight. These two guys are eerily parallel to each other – great wrestlers who hit pretty damn hard who are probably two of the best pure athletes in the sport. We could see a true classic here. If I was a betting man though, I’d say Rumble Johnson is slightly stronger than Kos and earns the knockout in the 2nd round.

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I’ll lead off this preview with some harsh words from our own Alan Counihan.

This is gonna to be the first UFC since I started watching in 2005 that I’m considering skipping. I have absolutely ZERO interest in it. I don’t really blame them as honestly the thing that’s killed my interest in the company recently is all the injuries scuppering big matches. Although I do blame them for still building shows around Couture. I have no interest in seeing him again ever.

He used the word scuppering.

I understand his opinion on the UFC still building shows around Randy Couture. But I don’t feel the same way. That is, unless he loses this week and they still continue to book him. If he looks strong and gets a good win, I’m fine with him still fighting. But if he loses here, I’m not so sure I’d want to see him anymore.

Duan and I have predictions for the top three fights.

Mike Swick vs. Dan Hardy
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It’s the biggest fight of the year for fight fans. Rarely do you get such a big fight on a big scale that’s actually the fight that fight fans want to see. We saw a few months ago how a fight that is deemed big can leave a bit of a bad taste in your mouth. I don’t think that’s the case here.

Even though voters in the poll on our site would suggest differently, this should be a competitive fight. While Manny Pacquiao seems to be the heavy favorite, Miguel Cotto is a helluva boxer and should give him hell.

We have a great panel of boxing writers and bloggers who have given me their predictions to publish in our preview.

Here is the panel:

Bill Dwyre – Bill is a columnist for the LA Times and he’s written a great column about why this fight is worth the money. You can read him at the LA Times.
Kevin Iole – Kevin writes for Yahoo! Sports and is one of the few writers who writes equally as well about boxing as he does about MMA. Read him by clicking his Yahoo! Sports page. Follow him on Twitter @KevinI.
Tim Kawakami – Tim is a columnist for the San Jose Mercury News and writes the popular Talking Points blog. You can follow him on Twitter @timkawakami.
Kaelan Hollon – Kaelan is a female boxer whose words hit just as hard as her fists. Read her A Girl’s Guide To Violence blog and follow her on Twitter @hillbillyboxer.
Jake Emen – Jake is a self described boxing fanatic who is the editor of Pro Boxing Fans.
Jereme Warneck – Jereme writes a blog at number1contender.net, which focuses on wrestling, boxing, MMA, and video games and is also a correspondent for F4WOnline/Wrestling Observer.
Brian McNeeley – Brian is a die-hard boxing fan who I met through Twitter and I simply love his opinions about the fight game. Follow him @BMcNeeley.
Duan Greally – Duan is a writer for Fight Game Blog.
GG – That would be me, editor of Fight Game Blog.

Bill Dwyre – Pacquiao by 9th round TKO
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It’s a funny world out there in the blogosphere. Thanks to Twitter, I started following Kaelan, who was heavy in boxing training and had quite the way with words. There are few people who can stay witty in 140 characters and she’s one of them. Yep, I said she.

I found out that she also wrote a blog called “A Girl’s Guide To Violence” where she opened up quite a bit about how hard her training is and why she stays on course even though it would be easy to quit. It’s a great read.

I asked for some of my favorite folks to send me their predictions for the fight between Manny Pacquiao and Miguel Cotto. She wrote such a great piece, that I decided to give it its own post. Thanks Kaelan.

Read below:

It’s always unfortunate, getting caught up in another man’s hurricane. He’s busy becoming some sort of transcendent sports legend, and there you are, stranded in a ditch on the highway as he buzzes by, throwing you a derogatory wave. All those belts, Miguel. All that training, that work. And you’ll be throwing punches at another man’s coattails.
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