...OH, ONE MORE THING - PLEASE BOOKMARK US & VISIT DAILY!
By: Tommy Strong, MMA Torch UK Columnist
As expected, UFC 178 duly delivered in every way possible. From entertaining fights and comebacks to the upsets, followed by controversy, it really had it all. You would've had to have been Conor McGregor or 'Mystic Meg' to predict the outcome of all these fights!
As it happens, one of you out there nailed an incredible 11 picks! But you may know this already.
With the introduction of the 'Joker' card this weekend, 20 players took the opportunity to try to earn some valuable extra points. Though only 10 players would reap the rewards from placing their joker card, whilst the other 10 (yes me) would be seeing their total take a dramatic hit with their fighters losing!
Let's see how you all got on.
CONFIDENCE GAME FIGHT PREDICTIONS
33 people submitted an entry for this card. Here’s a combined breakdown of how many confidence points you placed on each fighter (Winner in bold):
Demetrious Johnson - 363
Chris Cariaso - 0
Donald Cerrone - 57
Eddie Alvarez - 96
Conor McGregor - 122
Dustin Poirier - 33
Yoel Romero - 108
Tim Kennedy - 56
Cat Zingano - 242
Amanda Nunes - 1
Dominick Cruz - 298
Takeya Mizugaki - 0
Jorge Masvidal - 231
James Krause - 11
Stephen Thompson - 204
Patrick Cote - 15
Brian Ebersole - 14
John Howard - 131
Kevin Lee - 73
Jon Tuck - 25
Manvel Gamburyan - 25
Cory Gibson - 73
World Cup Qtr Final Results:
Dave Hughes (64) def. Avery Clarke (47)
*Nick Williams (0) Ben Heather (0) - No Entries. Josh Hall (70) def. Richard Race (52) Mark Sacchetti (54) def. Chris McMann (0)
*As a result of neither fighter entering, Richard Race will go back into the draw as the highest scoring loser.
CONFIDENCE GAME RESULTS
In an unusual twist of events this weekend, we now have a new MMA Torch Confidence Pick Champion. Chris McCann failed to send in entry for this week until he realised it was too late. So The Challenger "The Total Package' Mark Sacchetti would become the nearly man once again.
After the champion failed to enter, the runner from UFC 177 (Josh Hall) would now compete against Mark Sacchetti for the title. Unfortunately for Mark, Josh recorded a stunning full house, predicting every single fight correctly, and earning himself an extra four points by placing the joker card on Masvidal.
Mark Sacchetti came so close this week and most weeks would've won the title or retained it, was just one of those weeks he ran into someone on fire at the moment!
Josh Hall (70) beats 'The Total Package' Mark Sacchetti (54) to become the new MMA Torch Confidence Picks Champion!
Next up for the new champion is David Little (64) who pipped Dave Hughes (64) after a tie break, to earn a shot at the title after both men scored the same amount of points. It came down to amount of fights correctly predicted, which saw Little win 9, and Hughes win 8.
For the second event running, Dave Hughes has been pipped on the line to earn a crack at the title! Maybe the third time will be lucky, Dave? Well done to David Little who will have his work cut out against the informed Josh Hall.
Here are the results of the Confidence Picks pool:
70 - Josh Hall
64 - David Little
64 - Dave Hughes
62 - Gareth Moores
61 - Alex 'The Nut Hugger' Potapoff
60 - Sam Martin
57 - David 'Deadleague' Lindahn
57 – Mac Kinder
57 - James Brown
56 - Shaun Louis
56 - Michael Douglas
55 - Dennis 'The Crustacean' Fagan
55 - Chris Wood
54 - "The Total Package' Mark Sacchetti
53 - Mark Bunce
52 - Richard Race
51 - JFonyi
51 - Zachary Castaneda
51 - Sean Simpson
50 - Tommy 'Gumbo' Strong
50 - Anthony Sinnott
50 - Scott Pipher
50 - Brian Foe
49 - Joel Wielenga
49 - Ben S
49 - Gavin Springett
47 - 'Raunchy' Rick Thayer
47 - Avery Clarke
47 - Kevin Seng
44 - Charles Mickael
44 - Daniel 'Tucky' Moore
41 - Jason Thompson
39 - Dominic Marchionna
Note: Should either champion, or every challenger fail to submit picks for UFC 179, Dave Hughes would step up as a challenger, and so on. Everyone else will be fighting for the No 1 contender slot on the night, and the right to face off against Josh or Dave at UFC 180 next month. (though this might change)
BETTING GAME RESULTS
Tommy "Gumbo" Strong ($876.77) beat Charles Mickael ($533.33) to remain MMA Torch Betting Champion. In what would can be described as torrid night for both players, it was my parlay of Cruz, Zingago and Lee that secured victory. With only one of Charles bets coming home, the champion wasn't worked hard for the victory.
I will have to up my game if I want to hold on to the title for much longer!
Tommy Strong: $876.77
$200 on Lee for $311.11
$200 parlay on Lee, Cruz and Zingano for $565.66
Charles Mickael: $533.33
$400 on Cruz for $533.33
Up next to face me for the title will be Sam Martin, who took home a very impressive $2122.14 to rightly deserve the crack at the MMA Torch Betting Champion.
Sam took a massive risk that paid off in the end. Betting over half his stake on Ebersole and Gamburyan who were the only winning underdogs on the card! Well done Sam, Look forward to the challenge at UFC 179.
Coming in a close second was man of the moment Josh Hall, despite predicting all 11 fights having gone for a more conservative approach it wasn't enough to vend off Sam Martin. Though despite this he still took home $2008.95.
David Little also came very close to earning the title shot, but not quite close enough. Taking home $1952.23. Apart from these three players, it wasn't looking good for the rest of us!!
Here are the best results from the Betting Picks pool:
Sam Martin: $2122.14
$300 on Ebersole for $780
$250 on Gamburyan for $625
$200 parlay on Cerrone, McGregor and Zingano for $717.14
Josh Hall: $2008.95
$400 on Cerrone for $763.64
$200 on Romero for $337.93
$200 on Thompson for $250
$200 Parlay on Cerrone, McGregor and Masvidal for $657.38
David Little: $1952.23
$400 on Ferguson for $763.64
$200 on Gamburyan for $500
$200 parlay on Cerrone, McGregor and Romero for $688.59
Gareth Moores: $1363.40
$200 on Masvidal for $250
$200 on Gamburyan for $500
$200 on Romero for $337.93
$200 on McGregor for $275.47
Shaun Louis: $1331.94
$200 on Romero for $337.93
$300 on Gamburyan for $600
$200 parlay on D.Johnson, McGregor and Cruz for $394.01
Ben S: $1328.17
$500 on Romero for $844.83
$200 parlay on D.Johnson, Romero and Cruz for $483.34
Richard Race: $1035.74
$100 on Cerrone for $190.91
$500 on Romero for $844.83
Kevin Seng: $1168.18
$350 on Cerrone for $668.18
$200 on Gamburyan for $500
Gavin Springett: $1007.32
$200 on Zingano for $272.73
$200 on McGregor for $275.47
$200 parlay on McGregor, Crus and Masvidal for $459.12
Dennis Fagan: $624.29
$150 on Cerrone for $286.36
$200 on Romero for $337.93
Alex 'Nut Hugger' Potapoff
$250 on Cerrone for $477.27
$50 on McGregor for $68.87
'The Total Package' Mark Sacchetti: $95.45
$50 on Cerrone for $95.45
Jason Thompson: $506.90
$300 on Romero for $506.90
Scott Pipher: $168.97
$100 on Romero for $168.97
Michael Douglas: $381.82
$200 on Cerrone for $381.82
Brian Foe: $409.09
$300 on Zingano for $409.09
Sean Simpson: $600
$300 on Gamburyan for $600
James Brown: $381.82
$200 on Cerrone for $381.82
Avery Clarke: $500
$200 on Gamburyan for $500
Mark Bunce: $591.66
$100 on Cruz for $133.33
$200 on Masvidal for $250
$100 Parlay on Cruz, Masival and Thompson for $208.33
Anthony Sinnott: $506.90
$300 on Romero for $506.90
David Hughes: $0
Dan 'Tucky' Moore: $0
'Mystic' Mac Kinder: $0
Dominic Marchionna: $0
Dave Lindahn: $0
Zachary Castaneda: $0
Chris Wood: $0
'Raunchy' Rick Thayer: $0
Jfonyi: $0
Joel Wielenga: $0
Note: Should either champion, or challenger fail to submit picks for UFC 179 (Aldo vs. Mendes II), Josh Hall would step up as a challenger, and so on. Everyone else will be fighting for the No 1 contender slot on the night, and the right to face off against either Tommy or Sam at UFC 180 (this may change).
RECAP & Semi Final Draw:
World Cup Quarter Final Draw (Played at UFC 178)
Josh Hall vs. Dave Hughes
Richard Race vs. Sacchetti
MMA Torch Confidence Picks Championship Match Up (UFC 175)
Josh Hall (Champion) vs. David Little (Challenger)
MMA Torch Betting Picks Championship Match Up (UFC 175)
Tommy Strong (Champion) vs. Sam Martin (Challenger)
Performer of the Night: This has to go out to none other than Josh Hall, picking all 11 fights correctly is no mean feat and becoming the new MMA Torch Confidence Picks Champion. If it wasn't for a spectacular effort from Sam Martin he would also be challenging for my title! With the roll you're on, I'm very pleased about that!
Also, as mentioned above, Sam Martin for more than doubling his stake money, in a card where many heavy favourites won. And finally not forgetting David Little and Dave Hughes, who came a very close second!
Well done to everyone, and see you next time at UFC 179!
GOAT: It's been a long time coming and was lucky not to get this award last time around. But, it has to go to none other than Daniel 'Tucky' Moore who somehow only managed to score 44 points, and didn't return a single penny on his stake!
Plus he's in New York and I'm very jealous!
Feel free to follow me on Twitter, @MMATorchTom
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