At UFC 70, Jonathon "Pac" Maness defended his MMATorch Betting Championship for the second time. Now, he'll face Christopher Gawn for the title, in an effort to keep pace with our MMATorch Prediction Champion, Mike Jarsulic, who has defended his title three straight times.

Since you all know Pac Maness by now, here's a little bio written by Christopher Gawn, followed by the UFC 71 wagers for both Maness and Gawn, and some analysis each have written about their choices.

Christopher Gawn - I'm 26 year old male from West Auckland, New Zealand. I've been a MMA fan since UFC 40, when Ortiz and Shamrock fought for the first time. It was the first MMA PPV available in NZ, and I've gotten everyone since. I'm just about to restart playing rugby league (the best sport in the world!), after a 3 year layoff. So, if I disappear from the boards for a while, its because I've been concussed again! Favorite fighters are Evan Tanner, Rampage, Takanori Gomi. Pretty much anyone who "brings it". Never had a nickname, and picking your own is pretty lame, so I'll just go by Chris, King Chris, if I win!

MMATorch UFC 71 Betting Championship

$200 Bet on James Irvin

$400 Bet on Carmelo Marrero

$400 Bet on Josh Burkman

Maness: My picks for UFC 71...and a little justification for each

First, I'd like to put $200 on James Irvin to beat UFC new-comer but undefeated Chute Boxe Academy all-around bad ass Thiago Silva. I don't normally bet against a Silva. I mean, you know, it's like tugging on Wonder Woman's cape...you just don't do it. Normally Silva is going to come in and turn his opponent's face into hamburger helper (he doesn't even give them the decency to be a meat, merely a meat assistant). Irvin has proven both in and out of the UFC that he can take a punch though. It's going to really come down to Irvin taking advantage of any jitters Silva might have, landing a few early bombs, laying out the Brazilian and either ground and pounding him (most likely) or submitting him. The submission will be harder to find than an episode of "Lost" that makes sense, but if he does it will be a sweet sweet tap for James Irvin. Silva can get his first UFC win next time.

Next, I'm going to wager that Carmelo "The Fury" Marrero will beat Wilson Gouveia...and I'm going to put $400 on this one. Marrero is one of those fighters that is really just waiting to break out and show what he can do in prime time. No slight against Gouveia...he has more wins by submission than by any other method and the only loss "The Fury" has is by submission. Of course, it was against Gabriel Gonzaga. I hear that guy is pretty good, so you can't hold it against him. However Wilson Gouveia did take Keith Jardine to a decision, so he's tough. I think this will go all three rounds and I think that Marrero will do enough to win via decision.

I want to throw a little cash on Houston Alexander...I really do. But with his "stop and go" part time fighter schedule and the fact he is fighting a white-hot "Dean of Mean" I can't get behind that long shot. Also, I really don't think Jeremy Stephens can go the distance with Din Thomas. So the "Dean"/Din tandem will cramp any serious underdog's chances at a surprise win. However...

I am going to have to put my last $400 in the capable hands of Josh Burkman to surprise everyone's favorite cousin Karo "the Heat" Parisyan. Burkman has all the tools just not the toolbox. Or, wait, he's HAD both the tools and the toolbox...he just decides to sleep in on really important workdays. But not here. There is a LOT more at stake than it may appear on the surface in this fight. If Karo can get a win here he's a shoo-in to be a top contender for the title with the list of fighters that he holds victories over (including one Master Serra). However this fight can be rated using the "Fickett Factor". That is a trademark by the way. While both men hold victories over Drew Fickett, Karo needed to go fifteen minutes with him to win the three to nothing decision. Burkman, on the other hand and on Fickett's only neck, secured a quick choke in the first round in their bout. So Burkman is going to payout LARGE in this fight. He knows if he is going to make a move in his UFC career this is the fight that will put him in contention to be in contention (or something like that).

I expect that almost every fight is going to be a tight match-up and that we will see several decisions...but there should be an action packed night of fisticuffs and facelocks. There had better be...I'm going for the hat-trick! Good luck to my opponent and enjoy UFC 71!

$500 Bet on Quinton Jackson

$200 Bet on Kalib Starnes

$200 Bet on Josh Burkman

$100 Bet on Houston Alexander

Gawn: I'm putting the maximum $500 on Jackson over Liddell. I just feel he has Chuck's number, and this is the fight to light a fire under his ass, and bring "Rampage" back.

If Rampage doesn't pull it off, I'm screwed, so I'm gonna put some money on a few underdogs to cover me. Firstly I'm putting $200 on Kalib Starnes over Chris Leben, and $200 on Burkman over Parisyan. I reckon both guys have a better shot at their opponents than the odds reflect. My last $100 is going on Houston Alexander. No one knows anything about him, and upsets are all the rage this year, so his odds are worth it. I'm sure of my first 3 picks, and the 4th is just a shot in the dark, so I'm confident that gonna win and become your new Betting Champ. All future contenders BEWARE!!!

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