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By: Shawn Ennis, MMATorch Senior Columnist
Now that the dust has settled on UFC 131, let's move on to more of what's going on this week. (Hint: It's more to do with heavyweights)
Overeem Wants a Title Shot for GP Winner (Presumably Himself)
I like the idea, and I think it would be pretty hotly anticipated, depending on how the tournament plays out. The problem is, I don't see it happening due to the whole "contract with Showtime" deal. Don't get me wrong--I have no idea what kind of contract Strikeforce/Zuffa has with the network, but I would imagine they would frown on poaching two champions from Strikeforce for use in UFC events. Unless they could work out a deal that would bring UFC events to Showtime perhaps. Wouldn't that be something?
UFC Signs Heavyweight Prospect Stipe Miocic
I'm just sayin: He's got a Croatian-type name, he's got six wins by [T]KO (okay, one by submission due to leg kicks, but who's being nitpicky?), and I've seen pictures of him wearing Croatian flag trunks. By circumstantial evidence alone, this could be exciting.
Bones vs. Rampage Coming Soon
I like the fight, but I think there's more money in a scrap with Rashad Evans (probably for both guys, actually). One of these guys will fight Rashad next. If he beats Phil Davis, he'll fight the champ, and if he loses, he'll face the loser. And for the record, I've got Evans and Jones winning. Though to be quite honest, a Davis win wouldn't shock me. I think he's too green for Evans right now, but I could be wrong. A Rampage win, on the other hand, would surprise me quite a bit. Rampage seems disinterested. Unless Jones gets overconfident, I've got him winning big.
Last Jabs at UFC 131
-Kenny Florian will be a top 5 talent in featherweight, but he won't beat Jose Aldo, and he'll never have the wrestling to be champ at lightweight.
-Cain Velasquez will crush Junior dos Santos when they fight. JDS is a beast, but Velasquez is something special. You heard it hear first-ish.
-I'm not smart enough to know what to do about judging, but I do know that as a manager, accountability is a big part of making sure people do their jobs correctly. If judges aren't held accountable for bad scorecards, there will never be incentive enough to change.
-Sam Stout picked up his first stoppage win since 2007. I'm just sayin, for a guy with his nickname, he sure does land a lot of punches in 3 round fights without putting people down.
-Yves Edwards got hit so hard, he forgot that he'd been knocked silly by Jorge Masvidal in 2007.
-Chris Weidman is going to cause some serious problems for people in a couple of years.
-Donald Cerrone is better than you think.
-So is Mark Munoz.
-I have no idea what Dave Herman's ceiling is, but he sure is fun to watch.
-If you follow me on Twitter (@shawnennis), you know I went 7-0 in my prelim and main card picks. That doesn't happen all the time, but we'll see if I can call one fight correctly on Saturday night.
Strikeforce Quick Predictions
Cavalcante over Wilcox by KO
Noons over Masvidal by Decision
Griggs over V. Overeem by Who Cares
Cormier over Monson by Decision
Barnett over Rogers by Submission
Overeem over Werdum by Decision
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
STAFF COLUMNISTS: Shawn Ennis - Jason Amadi
Frank Hyden - Rich Hansen
Chris Park - Matt Pelkey
Interested in joining MMATorch's writing team? Send idea for a theme to your column (for Specialist section) or area of interest (i.e. TV Reporter) along with a sample of writing to mmatorch@gmail.com.
