Mike Sloan finally ended his horrendous losing streak by whippin' on Sherdog Radio Network star Scott Holmes. Now Sloan will tango with another SRN pimp in Jordan Breen.
The young Canuck punk thinks he will send Sloan back to the woodshed. Will he? Who will correctly predict the winner of
Gilbert Melendez (Pictures) vs.
Josh Thomson (Pictures)?
Was
Mitsuhiro Ishida (Pictures)'s win over Melendez a fluke or did he expose some of the talented Californian's weaknesses? I'm willing to bet the answer to that question lies somewhere in the middle. Obviously Melendez has weaknesses, as does every fighter, but there is no denying how superb "El Nino" is. His resume is chock full of quality wins, including victories over
Clay Guida (Pictures),
Tatsuya Kawajiri (Pictures) and
Rumina Sato (Pictures).
Thomson, on the other hand, is a fierce competitor in his own right. You could make a valid point that "The Punk" is just as good as Melendez but for varying reasons. Thomson has only tasted defeat twice in his career and, like Melendez, has toppled quite a few sturdy competitors. Wins over
Duane Ludwig (Pictures),
Hermes Franca (Pictures) and former WEC lightweight champ
Rob McCullough (Pictures) speak volumes for how good Thomson is.
This is one of those fights in which it's hard to lean heavily toward one fighter or the other, though most people in the sport believe Melendez will trounce his foe. I don't. I'm in the minority here when I feel Thomson will score what will amount to an earth-shattering upset and knock Melendez stiff. I'm not sure what time or what round, but one of his fists will crash into the jaw of an overaggressive Melendez, sending him onto Queer Street.
Thomson is supremely gifted on the ground, but he won't catch the always-alert Melendez in something obvious. After a few minutes of realizing this, the San Jose fighter will resort to his vastly underrated striking ability. Thomson has only lost to
Clay Guida (Pictures) and
Yves Edwards (Pictures), two losses that no fighter should hang his head about.
Thomson, since that loss to Edwards via one of the most spectacular head kicks in MMA history, has become an afterthought in the MMA community. That's probably why nobody is picking him to triumph over Melendez. Had he taken Edwards out and been crowned the "uncrowned" UFC lightweight champion, fans might be looking at him a bit differently. However, that's water under the bridge, and he'll prove me to be the genius most of the sexy ladies think I am.
Sorry, Breen. Your radio show is informative, and there's no denying you possess a gargantuan knowledge of the sport and its fighters. But your enthusiasm to try and topple me in this debate will cost you. Like most "experts" in the world of sports, you're overthinking and analyzing a fight for no reason. We all know how gifted Melendez is, but Thomson is being brushed aside for unfounded reasons.
Though I had faith in Big Brown to capture the elusive Triple Crown, this faith I have in "The Punk" will breed success for both him and me. And you'll lose your first debate to a jerk who has lost more debates than everybody else combined.
Ouch, Breen. I hope that tumble off your high horse didn't hurt too badly.
I could've sworn that you were the one who asked me to do the debate after you got curb stomped three times in a row by TJ De Santis, who is the MMA equivalent of the semiliterate cabbie talking foreign policy.
Also, I question whether all these years I've been existing in a different MMA universe, as you're clearly getting different copies of these fights than me.
Josh Thomson (Pictures) is going to knock out
Gilbert Melendez (Pictures)? Melendez has taken an ass load of flush shots to the chin from guys who can bang and not gone down.
While this is MMA, and anyone can get cracked, who has Thomson actually ever iced?
Gerald Strebendt (Pictures), who probably goes bowlegged if his fountain Coke is too strong?
Adam Lynn (Pictures), who Thomson actually dropped semi-advertently while shooting for a takedown? This is the guy whom you have picked to starch Melendez?
Be real, Sloan.
And, are we really doing resume comparison? Melendez was a top featherweight who moved up to become a top lightweight. Thomson's only real serious win in MMA is
Hermes Franca (Pictures), a bout in which he shouldn't have won the decision.
Duane Ludwig (Pictures) and a 2002 incarnation of
Rob McCullough (Pictures) are being put against wins over
Tatsuya Kawajiri (Pictures) and
Clay Guida (Pictures)?
Is it possible for you to be any more hyperbolic? People care about this fight because it's two extremely talented lightweights who could put on a 25-minute classic, not because you can puke a bunch of over-the-top adjectives into this article. There is zero potential for an "earth-shattering upset," because neither one of these guys suck. There's not going to be any jaw-breaking or face-shattering KOs or whatever the hell else you're yammering about. Short of a freak cut, dislocation, fracture or sniper job by a Thomson-loving lady boy like yourself, this is going the distance.
Both of these guys are dynamic and well rounded, but neither is a good finisher against upper-level opponents. Melendez only stops opponents when he cuts them or overwhelms them with strikes on top. Thomson isn't much of a bleeder and is defensively good enough to avoid getting pounded out. Thomson is not the K-1 Max superstar you seem to think he is, and he really only finishes guys when he faces subpar grapplers he can submit. Melendez, although he is prone to giving up position because he's so aggressive, has great escape ability and isn't going to get caught by Thomson.
Thomson is prone to clinching when it's not in his best interest and often falls asleep while there. More importantly, it's one area where Melendez will score far more points than him, attacking with punches and knees inside and being able to drop levels for takedowns. Although Thomson has a solid wrestling background, his defensive wrestling is flimsy at times. He also jumps guard for guillotines constantly, a move which will probably give Melendez top position more than once. Even though he'll likely connect on the feet at points against the often-reckless Melendez, Melendez will be busier, will be able to control top, negate the scrambles and escape the submission attempts Thomson does offer.
As illustrated in his loss to
Clay Guida (Pictures), who Melendez would go on to handle, if Thomson's initial salvo of submission attempts can be thwarted, his output will steadily fall as he's outworked on the floor. Resultantly, Melendez will maintain his crown with a decision in an entertaining 25-minute affair, and a major win will continue to elude the talented Thomson in one of MMA's more unfortunate stories of unrealized potential.
And, as for sexy ladies, I've never read a letter to Penthouse about a lonely broad juicing the pencil-necked FedEx guy. I'm glad you enjoy the radio show, though.
Ah, Bobby, you've made me look like a fool before, but not this time! I picked Southworth to win his weight class in the inaugural season of "The Ultimate Fighter" and I was made the laughing stock at Sherdog. This time, though, I know better and that's why Ruiz will win. He won't win via lousy TKO due to cuts; Southworth will lose because I said so. Ruiz by decision.
For all of his obvious issues as a fighter and perhaps as a person,
Bobby Southworth (Pictures) isn't an awful fighter.
Anthony Ruiz (Pictures) is the epitome of scrappiness, but he still sucks as a defensive grappler. Up until Ruiz put a four-punch mugsmash on Southworth in their first fight, he was losing and was being soundly out-grappled. If he truly has designs on winning, which I would hope any fighter would, especially a guy who needs to get a few more paydays in before he turns 40, Southworth should get it done on the mat.
Evangelista has yet to lose in his professional career of kicking ass and taking names. Phan has lost to some of the best the weight class has to offer. Now Phan will be beaten by one of the best young fighters the weight class has to offer. Evangelista by guillotine in the second.
People in Cali have been hyping
Nam Phan (Pictures) for what seems like a decade now, and I don't get it. He's like a homeless man's Vietnamese
Genki Sudo (Pictures), and that's not really a compliment, seeing as though Sudo's career accomplishments are choreographed dance routine entrances, stalling in the stand-up constantly and being the only guy with legit submission skills who couldn't tap
Duane Ludwig (Pictures).
What was I even talking about? Oh, right. Evangelista hits harder, will be physically stronger, can wrestle and pound on top. Phan is a step up in comp for him, but he's not like the cans Phan normally runs over in KOTC, so Evangelista takes a competitive JD.
Two rookies in MMA. This one is hard to gauge. Palacios is unbeaten, and Stack has lost once to a guy I've never seen fight before, though he's still undefeated. My guess, and this is going purely on the notion that I don't recall seeing either one of these two cats in action before, is that Palacios scores a submission in the second.
All I really knew about Palacios is that he was a
Cung Le (Pictures) student, so I Google him to get some more info. I end up at his MySpace page that features lots of black-and-white pictures of him pouting his lips at the camera with freshly waxed eyebrows, and there's an Eddie Murphy song pumping in the background. Therefore, even if he's a Sade fan, there's no way I can pick him. Stack wins, even if he's not as smooth on the feet as the san shou stylist.
Here is what I promise you'll say: "Although I haven't been impressed with
Elaina Maxwell (Pictures) yet, this is a bout that should stylistically favor her.
Miesha Tate (Pictures) doesn't have much MMA experience, and in her bout with
Jan Finney (Pictures), she looked very mediocre and got chewed up with kicks on the feet. Maxwell kicks pretty damn well.
Cung Le (Pictures)'s girl beats her up on the feet en route to a decision victory."
Although I haven't been impressed with
Elaina Maxwell (Pictures) yet, this is a bout that should stylistically favor her.
Miesha Tate (Pictures) doesn't have much MMA experience, and in her bout with
Jan Finney (Pictures), she looked very mediocre and got chewed up with kicks on the feet. Maxwell kicks pretty damn well.
Cung Le (Pictures)'s girl beats her up on the feet en route to a decision victory.
I knew it.
Daniels can crack, there's no doubt about it. He's scored some awesome highlight reel knockouts, but my question is whether he has the mustard on the ground. Can he properly defend takedowns or submissions? I honestly don't know, and this week I am far too lazy to actually do that sort of research. Comparing two guys when one is making his pro MMA debut against another who has several fights under his belt, my gut tells me Metcalf by submission in the first.
It's always going to be tough to pick a dude making his MMA debut against a guy with a dozen fights. It's even harder if that guy debuting is from Chuck Norris' World Combat League. However,
Raymond Daniels (Pictures) is some kind of karate superstar and was the WCL's undefeated highlight reel machine. I can't vouch for what wrestling or grappling skills he may have, but he's got respectable power that is greatly amplified by ridiculous speed. Discretion is the better part of valor, and that goes for picking too, but it's been a great year for good old-fashioned karate. I'll put faith in Ray Ray to get it done on the feet.
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