UFC 119 takes place tonight from the Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana. The card doesn’t have a major fight that will have an impact on the landscape of the organization but each of the five main card bouts should be competitive and entertaining contests. Here are my picks for the show.

UFC Heavyweight Bout – Frank Mir (13-5) vs. Mirko Cro Cop (27-7-2) – Cro Cop took this fight on somewhat short notice as this was originally supposed to be a rematch of Mir and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. On top of that, Cro Cop is not 100 percent coming into the fight as he is dealing with an eye injury. Cro Cop is a step slower than he was in his prime while Mir has improved his striking while still being one of the best submission fighters in all of MMA. I see Mir landing a big punch in the second round before jumping on Cro Cop and finishing with a choke.

UFC Light Heavyweight Bout – Antonio Rogerio Nogueria (19-3) vs. Ryan Bader (12-0) – This fight is a big contest for both as each needs the win to really get into the title picture in this division. The key to the bout will be Bader’s wrestling, as his explosiveness should win out against Nogueira. If Bader can avoid the big hit and close the distance in the fight, he should be able to win a decision by grinding out the fight on top with ground and pound.

UFC Welterweight Bout – Matt Serra (17-6) vs. Chris Lytle (29-17-4) – I see this fight going similarly to the first. Lytle is an entertaining and experienced fighter, but he never has been able to get that marquee win in his career. Serra really just has the win over Georges St. Pierre to go bye, but he has always been a tough guy to beat as well. In this fight I see Serra controlling the fight with his grappling. The only way I don’t see him winning by decision is if he gets too confident in his striking.

UFC Lightweight Bout – Sean Sherk (37-4-1) vs. Evan Dunham (11-0) – Sherk used to dominate the division with his strength and wrestling, but recently his opponents have been able to avoid his takedowns with their strength and they have been faster with their striking, which has caused Sherk to lose two of his last three bouts. Dunham has that same style to beat Sherk. Sherk will struggle to get the fight to the ground and Dunham will be a little quicker to the punch. I like Dunham to win this fight by decision.

UFC Lightweight Bout – Melvin Guillard (43-9-3) vs. Jeremy Stephens (18-5) – This fight should be explosive as both have big power and like to swing with everything they have in each punch. The key in this bout will be Guillard’s inability to fight off his back as Stephens trains with Hermes Franca and has some grappling skills that many haven’t seen yet. I see Stephens getting takedowns late to set up for some ground and pound and a TKO finish in the third.

From HeavyMMA.com:

With Season 12 set to debut tonight, I thought I’d share with you some of my favorite moments from the first 11 seasons of the show that has brought mixed martial arts into the living rooms of millions.

Before you start predicting which moment will make the top of the charts, let me assure you that it is not Forrest Griffin and Stephan Bonnar’s seminal fight from the finale of Season 1. Nothing against those two or the importance of that fight, because it was and still is a massive moment in the history of the sport, but every list ever made about The Ultimate Fighter features that bout and there is nothing more I can say that hasn’t already been said.

Instead, let’s look back at some of the more candid and comical moments that have made The Ultimate Fighter a must-see spectacle for MMA fans and reality TV enthusiasts alike.

Read the full article here.

With the much-anticipated fight between Rampage Jackson and Rashad Evans taking place next Saturday, I decided to look back and think of other fights that had this much animosity between the two competitors. Here is my list of top five rivalries in the UFC since the Zuffa inception:

1. Tito Ortiz and Ken Shamrock – While the fights were pretty lopsided, you could always feel the heat and rage between these two. Tito was a showboat and Ken was mister intensity. They never really had a chance to be friends. The first fight really did a lot to help the UFC land a network television deal and bring more attention to the sport. Then, the two added to their rivalry with their coaching appearance on The Ultimate Fighter Season 3. Too bad for Ken he lost all three fights to Ortiz, but the rivalry was still classic.

2. Matt Hughes and Matt Serra – This rivalry is about two guys that want to be the Alpha Male. Serra is always playing the disrespect card and Hughes is an honest jerk. Hughes dominated the UFC Welterweight division for years and had no problems talking about how inferior his opponents were while Serra shocked the world a few years ago and Hughes called his title reign a “fluke”. These two also coached opposite one another in The Ultimate Fighter Season Six, which led to a fight at UFC 98 that Hughes narrowly pulled out. Still to this day, Serra has preached for a rematch and still proclaims his dislike for the future Hall of Famer.

Read the rest of this entry »

Bullz-Eye.com Fitness Editor Mike Furci got the opportunity to sit down with former Ultimate Fighting Championship fighter Matt “The Terror” Serra recently to pick his brain about what it’s like to star in the Ultimate Fighter series. Serra also gives a round-by-round breakdown of his assessment of the rematch between he and Matt Hughes.

Bullz-Eye: Is Matt there?

Matt Serra: Yeah, this is Matt.

BE: Hey Matt. This is Mike Furci from Bullz-Eye.com. How’s everything going?

MS: Everything is going great, everything is going great. After the fight, I’m spending some time with my family; I’m getting back in my schools. It’s going great.

BE: Oh, that’s awesome. I heard the Serra Academies are doing well.

MS: Yeah, I can’t complain. I have two schools here on Long Island. If anybody wanted to check them out it is mattserra.net. I tell you, you know I have a lot of students and they are all — it’s a good atmosphere, I have a great time training and it’s a good time. That’s where you’ll catch me after all my fights.

BE: Oh I bet.

MS: I’m there, I’m teaching and having a great time.

BE: Doing what you love to do.

MS: Yeah man, when I’m not fighting I am just teaching guys how to arm block and reverse, sit-ups, triangle chokes. It’s all good.

BE: Right. Can you give us a little history behind the start of the Serra Academies and a little bit about their growth over the last few years?

Read the entire interview at Bullz-Eye.com.

Here’s a weekly rundown of MMA content from Ben Goldstein of CagePotato.com:

– Gina Carano (above photo) looks pretty hot as a pin-up girl.

– Toby Imada pulled off the most epic submission in MMA history against Jorge Masvidal at last weekend’s Bellator event.

– Hatsu Hioki, Marlon Sandro, Michihiro Omigawa, and Masanori Kanehara advanced to the semi-finals of Sengoku’s featherweight grand prix.

– Team U.S. and Team U.K. split a pair of quarterfinal fights, while a bounty offered for knocked-out teeth hilariously backfired on Wednesday’s episode of The Ultimate Fighter. Plus, will Rampage Jackson return for season 10?

– With Houston Alexander’s hand injury, UFC 98 becomes the second-most-cursed card in UFC history. Nevertheless, the show must go on, and Matt Serra has taken over video-blogging duties to promote it.

– Two new people will be inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame the day before UFC 100 in July. The smart money’s on Charles “Mask” Lewis and Chuck Liddell.

– Speaking of UFC 100, a new viral effort has been launched to get the crowd to chant “Fedor!” immediately following the Brock Lesnar/Frank Mir main event, pretty much just to screw with Dana White.

– Despite getting KTFO’d, Benji Radach is appealing his April 11th Strikeforce loss to Scott Smith.

– Your chance to win an all-expenses-paid trip to UFC 98 from CagePotato.com ends on Monday!