Espinosa Redemption Arrives

Topps didn't waste any time processing their Danny Espinosa auto's from 2011 Topps Chrome. Still waiting on my 2010 Topps UFC Knock Out Anderson Silva auto? Does he not know how to write is name? Perhaps I should ask Uncle Chael to go down to Sao Paulo and make him sign it over a steak dinner. MEDIUM RARE!

"Chael's Corner" Sneak Peak from Fuel TV's UFC Tonight

Catch UFC Tonight every Tuesday at 9CT on Fuel TV (channel 618 on Directv) starting January 3rd.

Chael Sonnen Interview from July 1st

MMA News April 21 2011

By: Clay

-Vitor Belfort and Yoshihiro Akiyama will lock horns in August at UFC 133 in Philly.
-Randy Couture has announced that his upcoming April 29 fight vs Lyoto Machida at UFC 128 will be his last.

"I believe this is my last fight," "I know the UFC is probably going to have other ideas, especially with acquiring Strikeforce and all that. They're probably going to try to draw me into another fight but I don't think that's going to happen. I want to stick to my guns and this is the last one."
"I will miss the competition immensely but I want to go out on my terms I want to go out when I think it's time to go out and not because I lost this fight or lost that fight or because I had an injury that precludes me from training the way I want to train.
"I want to make the decision on my own."

-Chris Leben will finally get his wish to fight Wanderlei Silva at UFC 132 on July 2.
-Nick Diaz claims his next fight will be a boxing match unless he sees more money.

-Here's the trailer for the Anderson Silva doc.

GSP/SILVA Doesn't Make Sense

By: Clay

I know alot of MMA fans are excited for a possible GSP/Anderson Silva superfight. But here is why I don't think it should happen.

Since the Zuffa(UFC) purchased Strikeforce a few weeks ago, all the top MMA talent currently resides with Zuffa. Dana White has stated that both fighting organizations will stay separate from each other, but do we really see that happening as we gaze in our crystal ball? Seriously, that's a terrible idea. Assuming GSP defeats Jake Shields, here's what I think...

Strikeforce welterweight champ Nick Diaz was arguable the best fighter not in the UFC. Now that they are all under one roof, why not have a Strikeforce/UFC welterweight superfight? GSP hasn't had any challenges at welterweight since he took the title from Matt Hughes in their second fight(the Matt Serra loss was a fluke). By having GSP and Daiz fight, it gives Zuffa the chance to make an even bigger superfight in the future by having an actual undisputed welterweight champ by unifying both titles. Then that winner can go on to face Anderson Silva. But only if he can rise to the challenges that I think he should face...

Anderson Silva must fight Yushin Okami as soon as both fighters are available. The UFC has dicked around with Okami for awhile and it is time they give Okami a shot. So, while GSP/Diaz and Silva/Okami are scheduled, Zuffa should name Michael Bisping and Chael Sonnen coaches for the Ultimate Fighter. The winner gets the UFC middleweight champ, the loser fights the previous title fight loser. Not a bad final four group. Then, in the midst of all this, Strikeforce middleweight champ Ronaldo Souza should defend his title against MTV Bully Beatdown host and former ICON middleweight champ Jason "Mayhem" Miller. Winner of that fight then defends that title against the current UFC middleweight champ.

If Nick Diaz and Mayhem Miller survive all this, then they must fight to unify their hatred for each other, whether there are titles on the line or not.

I think the MMA community deserves to see Nick Diaz take on GSP. Diaz would be the toughest opponent GSP has faced. Also, we deserve to see Sonnen fight Anderson again. The only problem with that is that Sonnen doesn't really deserve another title shot based on his out of the octagon problems. Whatever happens, happens.

Sports Jerks Unofficial MMA Rankings

By: Clay

Heavyweight
1. Cain Velasquez
2. Brock Lesnar
3. Alistair Overeem
4. Junior Dos Santos
5. Shane Carwin
6. Big Foot Silva
7. Sergei Kharitonov
8. Fabricio Werdum
9. Frank Mir
10. Matt Mitrione

Light Heavyweight
1. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua
2. Rashad Evans
3. Rampage Jackson
4. Lyoto Machida
5. Forrest Griffen
6. Jon Jones
7. Randy Couture
8. Ryan Bader
9. Thiago Silva
10. Rich Franklin

Middleweight
1. Anderson Silva
2. Yushin Okami
3. Chael Sonnen
4. Nate Marquardt
5. Demian Maia
6. Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza
7. Jorge Santiago
8. Michael Bisping
9. Vitor Belfort
10. Robbie Lawler

Welterweight
1.Georges St-Pierre
2. Jon Fitch
3. Jake Shields
4. Nick Diaz
5. Josh Koscheck
6. Carlos Condit
7. Paul Daley
8. Martin Kampmann
9. Thiago Alves
10. B.J. Penn

Lightweight
1. Frankie Edgar
2. Gilbert Melendez
3. Gray Maynard
4. Shinya Aoki
5. Eddie Alvarez
6. Tatsuya Kawajiri
7. Jim Miller
8. Clay Guida
9. Anthony Pettis
10. Melvin Guillard

Anderson Silva Still The Best/Jones vs Shogun

By: Clay

If you watched Anderson Silva knock out Vitor Belfort last night, you might be wondering who is next to challenge Silva at 185.

I guess the obvious choice would be Yushin Okami, however, it appears that if Georges St. Pierre comes out victorious in his title defense against Jake Shields, we will see GSP face Silva for the middleweight title.

Honestly, I don't see anyone in the UFC middleweight division (or welterweight) that can defeat Silva. To me, Chael Sonnen still poises the biggest threat to Silva but it doesn't look like that fight will happen. I feel that the only way Silva can lose in the UFC is if he were to fight a wrestler at light heavyweight. Randy Couture, Rampage and Rashad all come to mind for me. I can't really think of anyone else in the UFC who could defeat Anderson.

Also last night, Jon Jones choked out Ryan Bader. Joe Rogan broke the news to Jones and the audience that Rashad Evans had gotten injured in training for his title fight against Shogun. Rogan let Jones and us know that the UFC wanted Jones to step in for Rashad and fight shogun for the LHW title. Jones accepted of course. Jones has looked amazing so far is his mma career but, gee, a title shot already?

The winner of Jones/Bader would have been the only realistic choice the UFC had to step in for Rashad and especially on such short notice. They could have gone with the winner of Franklin/Griffin but that would only seem logical if Franklin pulled out the win. Griffin just came off a 14 month lay-off before defeating Franklin last night and the UFC was expecting that fight to be more of a war than it was. Couture and Machida are booked to fight in a couple months as well as Rampage and Thiago Silva. Tito Ortiz and Little Nog are headlining Ultimate Fight Night 24.

That's how the Jones/Bader fight determined the fill in for Rashad Evans. Good Luck to Jones. He's gonna need it.

Overall, UFC 126 disappointed in my opinion. I expected to see more out of Vitor Belfort, Miquel Torres and Ryan Bader.

Chael Sonnen on Anderson Silva

Dana White on Rome is Burning

Lots of questions answered here.

Anderson Silva vs. Brock Lesnar

Dana White,

You DO NOT owe UFC fans an apology for Anderson Silva's performance. Nor do you have to make it up to us. Anderson owes the fans an apology. And not through that shit head interpreter/manager/ass kisser of his, Ed Soares. The last thing we need is some second hand apology. In my opinion, Silva doesn't care about the UFC or it's fans. And he probably doesn't give two shits about his own fans. I have never been a Silva fan but I do appreciate what he can do in the Octagon, I just wonder if we will ever see it.

Maybe Silva needs a challenge. I don't mean that in a light heavyweight way or even a match with GSP. I'm talking about Brock Lesnar. Why not? Hell, Anderson thinks he's so damn great and wonderful... Oh but I'm only dreaming. That piece of shit Ed Soares would shoot that down in a hot second because he knows Anderson would get is ass handed to him. But it would be vindication for all of us who had to sit through that fight last night. I think this would be the only time I would ever root for Lesnar, unless he was fighting Fedor.

This was the first Silva headlined PPV I've purchased. I'm not too happy about it the way it ended either. Neither were any of my friends. But we aren't mad at the UFC. We are mad at Anderson Silva. He's a piece of trash... And we want to see Brock Lesnar take out the trash.

Sincerely,

Guido and the Sports Jerks Staff

More Dana on Silva's Performance

Dana White on Anderson Silva's UFC 112 Performance

UFC 112 Predictions

I know it's started already, since it's live from Abu Dhabi, so I'm just gonna pick the main card.

Main Card
Middleweight bout: Kendall Grove vs. Mark Munoz
Guido says: Grove by tko
Lightweight bout: Terry Etim vs. Rafael dos Anjos
Guido says: dos Anjos by decision
Welterweight bout: Matt Hughes vs. Renzo Gracie
Guido says: Hughes by split decision
Lightweight Championship bout: B.J. Penn (c) vs. Frankie Edgar
Guido says: Penn by KO
Middleweight Championship bout: Anderson Silva (c) vs. Demian Maia
Guido says: Silva by KO