This is an oddly balanced show, but one that should be very successful. There are fights that should appease the appetites of the hardcore UFC fanbase such as the actual main event between BJ Penn and Frankie Edgar. There are also fights like Gray Maynard vs. Kenny Florian and Nate Diaz vs. Marcus Davis that should be a great match-ups style-wise.

And then there’s the fight that’s drawing the casual audience. As you will see below, James Toney vs. Randy Couture is a polarizing battle. Some absolutely hate it. Some, like myself, are fine with it. But it is what it is. Let’s get to it.

The FGB crew (with new writer Don), along with Stevie J from Angry Marks, friend of FGB JP, and Ryan Frederick, ryanjfrederick on Twitter and member of the F4W Board~!, are here with predictions for the top two fights on the card.

James Toney vs. Randy Couture

Duan: Couture by 1st round submission
Alan: Couture by 1st round submission
Don: Couture by 1st round submission
Stevie J: Couture by 1st round TKO
JP: Couture by 1st round TKO
Ryan: Couture by 1st round TKO
Jim: Couture by 1st round submission
GG: Couture by 1st round TKO

Duan says:

I have stayed very quiet on this one, and this preview contains all the words I’m prepared to waste on this fiasco. I don’t care how news worthy the fight turns out to be, Toney can win by overhead bicycle kick for all I care, I will still have nothing further to add. I’m sick of hearing about this being an interesting match up of styles. Is it 2001 again? I thought we had moved on from this sort of nonsense.

Let’s get something straight, Randy Couture is not a top mixed martial artists any more. He’s prolonged his career with some clever match making, but at this point he’s at best a mid level guy. James Toney is a decade, several weight classes, and an entirely different sport past his best. The combined age of the combatants in this fight falls just one year short of ninety. It’s beyond a joke; if you are buying this PPV for this fight, please save your money instead.

If Toney does connect clean with the old man in 4oz gloves, it’s not going to be a pretty sight, but he has all of about 5 seconds to do that. Let’s just dispel this right now, there is no way in hell Toney shrugs off even a single take down attempt. This is an Olympic calibre wrestler against a complete novice. Forget about it. His best chance in this fight is to create distance and try pick Couture off on the way in. The problem is Toney doesn’t actually move. He fights in range, and that means he’s close enough to be taken down. He has to knock Couture out with the first punch thrown or else he’s on the mat, and will either submit to strikes or a submission within the first minute. And I can’t imagine someone as strategically smart as Couture will be foolish enough to get caught.

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Thanks to Chael Sonnen’s superb hype job, there is actual interest in not only an Anderson Silva fight, but an Anderson Silva fight against a fighter without a terrific pedigree.

It’s not like Sonnen isn’t a good fighter. He’s a former WEC champion, but he’s also a fighter who toiled in the UFC in the mid 2000s, going 1-2 and losing to the likes Jeremy Horn and Babalu Sobral by second round submissions. He remade himself by winning 7 of his next 8 fights in Bodog, SportFight, and WEC and then subsequently lost his first fight back in the UFC to Demian Maia, the same Demian Maia who Anderson Silva didn’t take seriously and beat easily.

But he then beat Dan Miller, Yushin Okami, and Nate Marquardt in succession to get the title shot with Silva. He’s gone 10-2 since his first run in the UFC, but only because he’s become the best promo guy in the UFC, is this fight even half as interesting as it would be if he wasn’t so good with a microphone in his face.

The FGB crew, along with Stevie J from Angry Marks, friend of FGB JP, and Ryan Frederick, member of the F4W Board~!, are here with predictions for the top three fights on the card.

Junior Dos Santos vs. Roy Nelson

Duan: Dos Santos by 1st round TKO
Alan: Dos Santos by 1st round TKO
Stevie J: Dos Santos by decision
JP: Dos Santos by 3rd round TKO
Ryan: Dos Santos by 2nd round TKO
GG: Dos Santos by 2nd round TKO

Duan says:

All Nelson’s wins have been at a certain level, and in my opinion Dos Santos is about four leagues up from that. Nelson has great power, but is stylistically crude. JDS will see his shots coming a mile out and take him out with some damaging counters.

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The UFC is promoting this as the biggest heavyweight bout in history. Dana White has stated that there hasn’t been a heavyweight match-up like this in boxing or MMA in a long time. On Saturday, we’ll see who walks away with the UFC Heavyweight championship. Will it be Brock Lesnar or Shane Carwin?

We have a great panel consisting of members of the MMA media and hardcore MMA fans who shared their thoughts with me about the big fight.

Here is the panel:

Kevin Iole – Kevin writes for Yahoo! Sports and is one of the few writers who writes as equally well about boxing as he does about MMA. Read him by clicking his Yahoo! Sports page. Be sure to follow him on Twitter @KevinI as well.
Todd Martin – Todd writes for Sherdog and also authors the weekly WWE Raw Report at F4Wonline/Wrestling Observer.
Oliver Copp – Oliver is one of the two hosts of the MMA audio show Tough Talk at F4Wonline/Wrestling Observer. You can also find him on Facebook and Twitter.
Mike Sawyer – Mike is the second of the two hosts of the MMA audio show Tough Talk at F4Wonline/Wrestling Observer.
Peachmachine – Captain of Team Viggity, which he calls “The finest body re-composition plan available”. You can follow Team Viggity on Twitter as well.
Derek Wizzle – DWizzle is a freelance MMA writer who also does video work. You can find him at his blog DWizzlesWorld.
Stevie J – Stevie J runs Angrymarks.com and is a good friend of the site.
JP – JP is a great contributor to the site and also writes at We Are SC.
Peter H. – Peter is a frequent contributor to Angrymarks.com.
RFrederick – RFrederick is a member of THE BOARD~! at F4Wonline/Wrestling Observer.
DocG – DocG is also a member of THE BOARD~! at F4Wonline/Wrestling Observer.
Duan Greally – Duan is a writer for Fight Game Blog.
Alan Counihan – Alan is a writer for Fight Game Blog.
Cactus Jim – Jim is a writer for Fight Game Blog.
GG – That would be me, editor of Fight Game Blog.

Kevin Iole – Carwin by 1st round TKO

This is a very evenly matched fight and I think the best prediction is one that says the first man who hits the other cleanly on the chin will win. Carwin has advantages standing and in the clinch and I think he’ll be able to exploit those. His power is surreal and I think it will carry him to the title.

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I didn’t have the chance to get the FGB crew’s picks for this weekend’s Strikeforce card, but I wanted to give my quick picks here.

Josh Thomson vs. Pat Healy

I haven’t seen Pat Healy fight but one time, and honestly, I don’t remember much about that fight. He has a pedestrian record, but if you look deeper into his fights, he’s beaten several fighters who are in the upper echelon of the welterweight division like Carlos Condit, Dan Hardy, and Paul Daley. But that was many years ago. He hasn’t beat anyone of note since 2006 when he beat Condit.

Also, the fight is at 155, which is where The Punk is most comfortable. I’m not sure how long Healy’s been fighting at 155, but he did make weight today. I have to believe that unless he’s injured, Punk is going to win the fight. He’s at the top of his game and a third fight with Gilbert Melendez is what I assume he’s looking forward to. I have The Punk winning by decision.

Cris Cyborg vs. Jan Finney

This is one of the more unfortunate fights that’s been booked in a while. Take a look at Finney’s career. Any name that she’s ever fought, she lost. And she’s a true 135 pounder moving up in weight to face someone who probably walks around at 170 pounds.
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This fight was originally scheduled to be the third fight in the blood war between Tito Ortiz and Chuck Liddell; a war that Liddell has owned. But Ortiz had neck issues and had to pull out of the fight, throwing Rich Franklin into the mix. The UFC is hoping that the waning star power of both Liddell and Franklin will overcome the memories of both guys being knocked out in their last fights.

Franklin looked out of sorts while losing to Vitor Belfort. And Liddell hasn’t fought since losing to Shogun Rua by knockout in a fight that made Liddell fans worry about his well being. In 2005, this fight would’ve been something to look forward to. In 2010? Not so much.

Pat Barry faces Miko Cro Cop in the other fight that we’ll talk about.

The FGB crew, along with Stevie J from Angry Marks and friend of FGB JP, are here with predictions for the two fights.

Pat Barry vs. Mirko Cro Cop

Duan: Barry by unanimous decision
Alan: Barry by 2nd round TKO
Stevie J: Barry by 2nd round TKO
JP: Barry by 2nd round TKO
Cactus Jim: Barry by 2nd round TKO
GG: Barry by 3rd round TKO

Duan says:

Now really UFC, Crocop vs. Pat Barry is the best you can offer as chief support? Honestly, if this card does in anyway well, it just proves that there is a lot of people out there with more money than sense. The fact that this result is even up for debate means that Crocop should be long since retired. And you know what, I’m going to have to go with Barry in this one. He’s unproven at the top level, but he’s aggressive and you know he’s going to want this.

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We have been following this one closely and for good reason. It’s a super grudge match that we’ve been waiting six months for. The UFC is fully behind it and thus, we’ve added a lot on our end too. We’ve recapped every UFC Primetime episode and have added the now infamous conference call as well.

And now our preview.

The FGB crew, along with Stevie J from Angry Marks and friend of FGB JP, are here with predictions for the main event.

Rashad Evans vs. Rampage Jackson

Duan: Evans by unanimous decision
Alan: Evans by unanimous decision
Big D: Jackson by 2nd round TKO
Stevie J: Evans by unanimous decision
JP: Jackson by 2nd round TKO
Cactus Jim: Evans by unanimous decision
GG: Evans by unanimous decision

Duan says:

I’m not convinced that Rampage’s mind is on fighting right now. And even if it was, I still wouldn’t pick him to beat Rashad. This is a guy who struggled wildly with Keith Jardine, and got completely dissected by Forrest Griffin. I have always had the same one criticism of Jackson; and it concerns his movement. He’s flat footed and plodding. I think he struggles with guys who can utilize distance well, and that is where I think Rashad will have his number. This is going to be a boxing match, and technically Evans will be superior. Rampage does have the power to change the fight with one single shot, but I’m banking that he doesn’t find that shot.

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