Aug 25, 2009 - 1:39:22 PM By Matt Pelkey, MMATorch Columnist
UFC 102 comes to us this Saturday from Portland, Oregon, and with it brings an unofficial end to the busiest month in MMA history, both in and out of the ring/cage. While there isn't a title fight on tap at 102, there's a very good main card, and an equally strong undercard to keep us satisfied.
At UFC 101, I, Matt Pelkey, was able to successfully defended my Prediction Title for the first time. Saturday, I'll be taking on the man I took the title from in the first place; Jamie "The Boss" Penick. Apparently he enjoyed the beating I gave him the first time around so much that he's back for more.
On the betting side, two-time two-time defending champ Scott "The Fountain of Youth" Hart will battle multiple time former champ Rich Boles. Should be some good match-ups from us at the Torch, but what does the UFC have in store?
PREDICTION CONTEST:
I'm pretty sure everyone knows how this works by now, but just in case...Basically you pick the winners of each fight, including method (e.g. KO, submission, decision) and round. The winner is the one who picks the most fights correctly. Ties will be broken by who had the most number of rounds and methods correctly predicted. In case anyone is wondering, only rounds and methods in fights where you predicted the correct winner count. So here's the line-up. Good luck to all!
Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (+135) vs. Randy Couture (-165)
Keith Jardine (-155) vs. Thiago Silva (+125)
Jake Rosholt (+125) vs. Chris Leben (-155)
Nate Marquardt (-160) vs. Demian Maia (+130)
Krzysztof Soszynski (+155) vs. Brandon Vera (-195)
Gabe Gonzaga (-355) vs. Chris Tuchscherer (+285)
Mike Russo (-260) vs. Justin McCully (+210)
Tim Hague (+110) vs. Todd Duffee (-140)
Nick Catone (+165) vs. Mark Munoz (-205)
Marcus Aurelio (-150) vs. Evan Dunham (+120)
Ed Herman (-150) vs. Aaron Simpson (+120)
BETTING CONTEST:
As you can see, there's a number attached to each fighter. That number represents how much money you can make off each fighter. The way it works is, if a fighter has a positive number he's an underdog. The positive number means if you were to bet $100 dollars on him, you would make the amount of the positive number. For example, if you were to bet $100 on Noguiera and he won, you would make back the hundred you bet, plus $135 for a total payout of $235.
If the fighter has a negative number, that number represents how much you would have to bet to make $100 on the fighter. For example, if you bet $165 on Couture and he won, you'd make back the $165, plus a $100 profit, for a total payout of $265.
Each contestant has $1000 in theoretical money. You can bet it on as many fighters as you'd like, but you have to bet on at least three. The most you can bet on a single fighter is $500, and bets have to be in multiples of $100.
I'm setting a deadline of 3p.m. (EST) Saturday to get all your picks in.
Note: In the event that one of the #1 contenders fails to show for their title shot, the champ will defend against the next best performer from the previous contest. You've been warned, so bring your A game everybody! The betting lines are courtesy of betonfighting.com.
As always you can submit your picks one of three ways: by emailing me at matt6buckeye@hotmail.com, posting them on the message boards, or by leaving them in the comments section right down there. Again, good luck
FAVOR: Would you help MMATorch by taking a short survey to create demographic info for our ad company? CLICK HERE
ALERT: Every Tuesday night, listen to the MMATorch Livecast from 9-10:30 p.m. ET or listen now to the most recent shows by clicking here. Listen live this coming Tuesday as Jamie Penick and Matt Pelkey discuss the latest MMA happenings. Online listen at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/mmatorch or call into the show at 646-716-8090 to either just listen or participate.
A.R. Nogueira via Sub in 3rd rd
Thiago Silva via KO in 2nd rd
Chris Leben via tko in 1st rd
Demian Maia via sub in 2nd rd
Brandon Vera via tko in 3rd rd
Gabe Gonzaga via ko in 1st rd
Mike Russo via tko in 2nd
Tim Hague via sub in 3rd
Mark Munoz via tko in 1st
Marcus Aurelio via sub in 3rd
Ed Herman via tko in 3rd
Betting Contest -
$500 on Thiago Silva
$300 on A.R. Nogueira
$200 on Demian Maia
