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Feb 4, 2010 - 2:59:20 PM

By Matt Pelkey, MMATorch Columnist

Well we had a little over a month between UFC 108 and 109 to catch our collective breaths and prepare for the tsunami of MMA in the upcoming months. We're clearly starting off slow, as UFC 109 is one of the weaker cards in recent memory, headlined by two fighters who were originally supposed to meet at UFC 17 back in 1896 or something. But as we all know, the cards we expect the least from are usually the ones that pleasantly...blah, blah, blah. Unlike UFC 108, this card really isn't filled with great match-ups from an action standpoint. Regardless, that doesn't mean we can't or won't still put our fictional MMATorch belts on the line and see who the better man is.

At UFC 108, first time defending Prediction Champ Jamie "The Boss" Penick was unseated by Godric, but Penick was able to oust LONGTIME Betting Champ Scott "The Fountain of Youth" Hart. This Saturday at UFC 109, our newly minted champs will both put their belts on the line against Paul P. Good luck to our new champs in defending their titles!

Another contest note. I'll be keeping a running tally for the rest of the year, starting with UFC 108, to see how everyone is doing from a cumulative standpoint. At the end of the year we'll crown a yearly prediction and betting champ with prizes galore for the winners of each contest (I may need to look up the definition of galore)! I have no idea what the prizes will be at this point, but rest assured I'll come up with something. You'll have to have entered at least 90% of the contests throughout the year, and you MUST enter the last contest to be eligible. More details to come as I figure them out in my head. Anyway, let's get on to the contests!


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.

Randy Couture (-500) vs. Mark Coleman (+325)

Nate Marquardt (-525) vs. Chael Sonnen (+325)

Demian Maia (-500) vs. Dan Miller (+325)

Matt Serra (-155) vs. Frank Trigg (+125)

Paulo Thiago (+160) vs. Mike Swick (-200)

Mac Danzig (-500) vs. Justin Buchholz (+325)

Melvin Guillard (-130) vs. Ronnys Torres (EVEN)

Rob Emerson (-130) vs. Phillipe Nover (EVEN)

Brian Stann (+215) vs. Phil Davis (-275)

Tim Hague (+160) vs. Chris Tuchscherer (-200)

Rolles Gracie (-550) vs. Joey Beltran (+375)


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 Coleman and he won, you would make back the hundred you bet, plus $325 for a total payout of $425.

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 $500 on Couture and he won, you'd make back the $500, plus a $100 profit, for a total payout of $600.

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 6p.m. (EST) Saturday to get all of your picks in. The lines are courtesy of Bodog.

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!

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. Good luck!

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