Hey, it’s Tuesday! I’m not at work and you know what that means. It’s Bodog Fight night! So, let’s stalk some people in the forest! Roll the tanks! And, ummm, what’s that? We don’t do that anymore? Hmpf. What fun is that?

So, here we are in Costa Rica. Awesome setup. Loads better than before. What a recruiting tool this would be, huh? Come fight on the beach!

Holy mother of MMA, it’s Royce Gracie. He’s commentating, but I can’t hear what he’s saying, because I am stunned. I miss one week and the world is on it’s ear. What got put in my drink?

Let’s get to the fights.

1 - Rafael “The Claw” Dias (7-1, 2 TKO, 3 Sub) vs. Sami Aziz (2-0)

Dias looks to be far more experienced, but Aziz was on Olympic wrestler for his home country of, get this, Sweden. Aziz looks about as Swedish as pepperoni pizza, but I digress. Aziz, apparently, has impressed his handlers in his previous fights and during training. He’s in Bodog in a lightweight division, so how bad could he be? Dias’ ground game is hyped in the preflight, The consensus is that Dias will win with a “slick” submission. We shall see.

Round 1 – I have to admit the beach venue is cool. I am way impressed with the Bodog production this season. It is infinitely improved. The bell rings and the fighters waste no time. Both fighters throw punches. Aziz connects with a right hand, but it is Dias who drives him back into the corner in a clinch. Dias is shooting for a trip or takedown. Aziz will have none of it and fends him off well. The ref finally separates them and they go back to the middle of the ring. Dias fakes a shoot and lands a flying knee which glances off Aziz’s noggin. Aziz flurries back with punches and they go to the ground in a tangle of arms and legs. It looked like Dias went for a rolling kneebar when they fell, but he missed. So, now he is sitting on Aziz facing Aziz’s feet. . He looks a little bemused. Surely, it has to be odd to be in a fight, sitting on your opponent and staring at the ocean. In any case, Dias spins, but Aziz counters him and lands in Dias’ half guard. Aziz maneuvers to the North-South position and lands some little shots to the head. Dias escapes back to guard and the round ends there. Tough round to score. Dias took the lead in action, but Aziz might have been a little more effective. I’d give a slight edge to Aziz, 10-9.

Round 2 – Dias instigates contact and they clinch going into Dias’ guard. Aziz actually passes to half guard, but looks a little lost when he gets there. Still though, he tosses a few little shots that keep Dias focused on defense. The ref sees enough and stands them up with 2:20 to go. Dias comes and in and scores with a high knee. Aziz returns the favor and knocks Dias down. Dias gets to his feet and they throw a flurry of punches. Dias forces Aziz back to a corner and tries to pull guard. He pulls too hard and Aziz goes right over into the North-South position. Dias whips back around into guard. Aziz spins with him and somehow, ends up on top of Dias facing Dias’ feet and with his head hanging outside the ropes. (For the sake of brevity, I could only refer to the as the “69” position. Kids, if you’re still reading, click here to see what I mean) Dias tries for an anklelock, but time runs out. Another tough round to score. The consensus at ringside has it 10-9 for Aziz. I agree.

Round 3 – Aziz continues to counterpunch effectively. Dias tries another spinning backfist and misses again. Dias clinches and tries to pull guard. Aziz follows and persists in keeping Dias on the ground. Aziz throws some little punches to keep Dias occupied, but not enough to keep the ref interested. He stands them up. Aziz lands a right hand, but Diaz retaliates with a nice combination. It drops Aziz and Aziz shoots as Dias charges in. They grapple and Aziz nearly gets Dias back, but Dias is too slick and they get back to standing. Dias comes in and they clinch. Dias tries for another rolling kneebar, but misses again. Aziz takes advantage of the miss to tie Dias up and the round ends as both fighters look gassed. Good luck to the judges in this fight. I thought Dias combo earned him the round. So, I have it Aziz 29-28. The judges disagree and score it a draw. So, pucker up and find a sister to kiss, boys. Although I have to admit, that’s not a bad option in their particular location.

RESULT – A draw. Ick.

RATING – (**+) Good competitive fight. I liked Dias, but Aziz was surprising with such little experience. They both have potential. I think this was one of those fights that they styles matched up too well. We’ll see them again down the road.

2- Brad “One Punch” Pickett (9-3, 2 TKO, 5 Sub) vs. J.R. Sims (1-1. 1 Sub)

ROUND 1 - Pickett looks just like Kid Rock. He;s got the hat, the dirty goatee, the wife-beater, suspender. I wonder if he can sing? Anyway, he’s matched up against J.R. Sims, who comes down from Las Vegas. In the prefight intro, Sims has a “What am I doing here?” look on his face. Too late now, bud. Let’s get it on. The air horn sounds and away we go. Sims has a big reach advantage and the boys at ringside tell us that Pickett was a champion boxer. To get inside, it looks he’ll need to be. Sims takes two swings and misses both. Pickett slides in and grabs double underhooks. Sims can’t seem to get loose and spends the first two minutes being directed around the ring by Pickett. All the while, Pickett is throwing some knees in to Sims’ legs. Things slow down and the ref breaks them at about 2:30. Sims connects with a solid right hand and a glancing left. Pickett goes down and Sims stands in his guard. Sims drops several big right hands and they land with authority. Pickett is a tough dude, but he gives up his back. Sims tries to take advantage, but he can’t get a choke in. Pickett recovers and works his way back to his feet. They clinch and separate with Sims tagging Pickett again. Pickett pulls guard and they get stood up just as the round ends. Very good round. Fun stuff. If Bodog keeps this stuff up, they will get more popular. No doubt about it. Round one to Sims.

ROUND 2 – Pickett opens with a flying knee attempt. He misses but dings Sims with a good right hand. Sims looks surprised. Pickett looks surprised that he didn’t go down. They clinch and end up in Pickett’s guard. Pickett sweeps and stands over Sims. He lands two good rights on Sims’ jaw. He throws a third and misses. His momentum carries him over and Sims gets on his back working for a choke. He can’t get it. So, he plants his feet and, so help me Chris Benoit, GERMAN SUPLEXES Pickett! Pickett lands such that Sims is in his guard. The pace slows and the ref stands them up at 2:29. Sims nails Pickett with a left hand and Pickett shoots in. He gains side-control and pins Sims’ right hand with his left knee. Pickett works with his left hand and crashes a few into Sims’ face. Sims stares right at Pickett the whole time, but offers no defense. The ref steps in and calls the fight since Sims looks trapped and has no way out.

RESULT – Pickett by TKO (ref stoppage, strikes) in round 2.

RATING – (***) A very good fight with lots of back and forth action. There were some stiff shots given and a german suplex. If that’s not worth half a star, I don’t know what is. Sims needs to become a little more experienced on the ground. He had Pickett’s back twice and didn’t threaten at all. Sims admitted after the fight that Pickett’s ending strikes weren’t hurting him. I agree with his assessment, but he wasn’t doing anything to get out of the situation. Pickett was very good, but Sims has much more upside.

WRAPUP – Gosh, I really enjoyed this show. Having Royce Gracie on board only boosts their credibility about a hundredfold. The intro is MUCH better. The show format is very good. The preflight run-up is more professional. This was a really good show. As long as the fights stay good, I see no reason why Bodog won’t improve. Plus, we’ll get a look at Tara Larosa in the coming weeks, who was ranked number one by some moron on this very staff. For further reference, click here.

Feel free to post your thoughts in my zone or shoot me an email. I look forward to hearing you from you, so come join us on our forum, won’t you?