Kendall Grove vs. Mark Munoz – This is the only fight in 112 that I am not emotionally concerned with. Grove is a big guy in a small guy division. Munoz looked good in the past, but Grove kills at a distance when he stands. I look for Grove in the 3rd via unanimous decision.

Terry Etim vs. Rafael Dos Anjos – Wait! Make that two fights I’m not concerned with. This one could go either way and I think this will be decision as well with Dos Anjos taking the decision.

Matt Hughes vs. Renzo Gracie – Now this is the reason you are reading this right? I mean I think everyone knows what I’d say about BJ and Anderson “the god of mma” Silva, but what about a Gracie specialist going against a former champion… Well, as much as I believe in the power of jiu jitsu and the Gracie legacy, I’d have to say that Renzo is just showing up to appease the Abu Dhabi crowd. Matt will slaughter this B-list fighter by at least the second, if not the first round by TKO. I hate Hughes, but he is still doing ground-and-pound better than anyone in the history of the sport.

BJ Penn vs. Frankie Edgar – I would say Edgar has a shot at the title, but with Penn defending it will be an uphill battle. I had to look up Edgar to remember his last two performances (usually not a good indicator of success) but he has two victories one by decision and one by submission (Sean Sherk and Matt Veach respectively.) Going the distance with Sherk speaks of an iron chin and submission of Veach says a little less. I say next time, the UFC should pick a janitor from the facility they’re at to fight Penn next. They’re running out of ideas and he ain’t moving up to get smacked by GSP again. The only way to keep the lightweight division exciting after this is to have a belt for “who’s the best (next to Penn)”. It doesn’t roll off the tongue does it? Look for a TKO in the third.

Anderson Silva vs. Demian Maia – I just watch the Leites fight a minute ago and I just hope it won’t be that boring. For good measure I played 102 (Griffin vs. Silva) and I think somewhere in the middle is where this could wind up. Anderson is to me the best fighter to ever live. I’m not a fan boy just for the sake of being a fan boy either. I like Rashad Evans, but he is no Silva. I could watch Silva in boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, Karate, or whatever he chooses to pursue. He is the P4P best and anyone doubting it should watch his last six fights. He owns this division and beat the former champion from a weight division above him so fast that people called it rigged. He is technical, smart, and the only thing that sucks in his entire game is his English skills when speaking after the fight. Maia is a good second best, but he couldn’t take the heat from Nate Marquardt. He has no chance against Silva. Look for another Silva-delivered KO in the second if not the first.

Don’t agree with me? Stop being a lurker and add a comment. I switched these predictions to the blog so I could give my reasoning. Now I want you to tell me where I’m wrong (or right for that matter.)

It may be the “happiest place on Earth,” but by yourself it is a little less inspiring. My wife was scheduled off today, but was invited to have lunch with the CEO of Universal Studios. I told her I understood her plight to venture off to the dark side, and got to Magic Kingdom at 9AM. They shuffled us to the front of the castle and we stood for 3 hours while Yanni and his singers sang “O’ Holy Night” four separate times and then they directed everyone to stand again for a taping of this year’s American Idol, Chis Somethingorother. I cared less and ran to Tomorrowland.

I was disappointed the Noodle Station was closed, and rode the TTA through the newly renovated Space Mountain. When they said it was darker, I assumed it would be, but not freakish, how-did-they-do-that dark. Since I was a guest of the park, I had no Fast Pass, and the standby line for Space Mountain was 60 minutes, so I rode the Carousel of Progress for the thousandth time. I love that show! Then I ventured to Liberty Square to catch some fish and chicken at Columbia Harbour House. My good seats were taken (overlooking Haunted Mansion) but the food was OK.

I visited Haunted Mansion and something awesome happened: When fat people try to get on Haunted Mansion, they have to stop the ride and load their giant asses on. (OK, to be fair they do this for handicapped people, but most of the time its for lard-os.) Anyhow, I stopped in front of the new creepy bride animatronic for about 2 minutes! I got to hear all of her dialog and animations for the first time. Disney geeks will be happy for me, everyone else will just think I’m weird, but that’s OK.

I then moved over to Adventureland and begun to realize that when no one is with you, it’s a little boring, so I rode the Jungle Cruise and headed to the kid nightmare of Fantasyland. I saw Philharmagic and grabbed a strawberry shortcake sundae at Mrs. Pott’s and it was quite possibly the best thing I’ve ever consumed.

It was just too busy and when I realized how late it truly was, I left my free trip before the park closed. But not before I grabbed a little present for the Mrs. from Main Street. It’s an ornament with Mickey and Minnie kissing. Nicely done and relatively inexpensive. I heard Mariah Carey and the Jonas Brothers are there tomorrow, but I think I would only do it if you don’t mind standing around for 3+ hours for a free ticket.

Amir Sadollah vs. Phil Baroni – I see Sadollah either winning big or losing bigger. His last fight was pure robbery, but this one could be a lights-out victory for Baroni. I will officially say Sadollah in the 2nd by TKO.
Luiz Cane vs. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira – Simply Nogueira by decision.
Paulo Thiago vs. Jacob Volkmann – Again, not going long-winded on this fight either. Thiago wins it early, TKO in 1st.
Josh Koscheck vs. Anthony Johnson – This is the fight that will either make me happy, or I’ll order another gin and tonic. I think Josh Koscheck is a rude and pointless existence of a person before they even announced this fight. Now, he is fighting a native Dubliner (Georgia that is) and I am so excited for Anthony and his family back home. Lets hope for the best as in a AJ KOs Kos in the second!

Tito Ortiz vs. Forrest Griffin – I see the second being much like the first. This will be a back and forth battle with Forrest winning a decision in the third.

Don’t agree with me? Stop being a lurker and add a comment. I switched these predictions to the blog so I could give my reasoning. Now I want you to tell me where I’m wrong (or right for that matter.)

Far be it from me to be so vain, but I like white teeth. I also like Coke products, so those two don’t mix so well. As you can see from the equation above, I found a little old-time secret that works, and no I don’t make any money off of this. There seems to be some of that going around lately on the Internet.

Buy some strawberries, you only need one normal strawberry. In fact, if you are a drinker, order an extra strawberry from the bartender and do this in the bar’s bathroom for virtually free! You will also need some baking soda. I found a box at Target for $0.50, so I imagine it can be found for cheaper at Wal Mart.

Brush your teeth with normal toothpaste first. This will help to get the initial gross off of your hulls. Next, mash the strawberry in to a thick paste with a fork and add a teaspoon of baking soda to it. Continue mixing until it looks like the inside of roadkill (seriously it looks and tastes pretty awful!) Put that unholy mix on a toothbrush (preferably one you’ll throw away as seeds stick to the brush pretty badly). Brush the mix in to your teeth for a minute or so and leave it on for five minutes. After what seems like an eternity, spit out that junk and brush your teeth again with normal toothpaste.

The science was laid out in a dental journal I lost the link to (sorry) but it has the same side effects as normal whitening does. That can include sensitivity and other stuff as well. Teeth whitening should only be done once every quarter to reduce those side effects. I had no problems whatsoever afterwords, and my wife was very impressed with the results. She told me she had a ‘better luck next time’ speech already prepared, but didn’t get to use it. I’m sure she’ll find an excuse soon enough.

Anthony Johnson Vs. Yoshiyuki Yoshida:

I said KO in the second, but AJ made a punk out of me. KO in the first few seconds for this up-and-comer from Dublin. Nice showing for his first pay-per-view. I’m a little disappointed he didn’t make weight, and for that reason lost KO of the Night, but he still made an impression for Joe Silva and the other match-makers. Go Dublin, Georgia! You have a new hero. (Just not sure who he replaced as Dublin’s original hero…)

Joe Stevenson Vs. Spencer Fisher:

Joe by decision is what I had, but it’s obvious that Joe Daddy has some help in the Jackson camp. Elbow submissions in the second is the official call, but TKO is what it will be for everyone else.

Gleison Tibau Vs. Josh Neer:

Predicted a close decision win for Neer, and what happened was a decision for Tibau that was the first unanimous decision robbery of the night. Just because a wrestler takes down a fighter at will does not mean anything! Nothing was ever accomplished while Neer was down, and the crowd knew it. I call beer goggles on the judges for this fight.

Cain Velasquez Vs. Ben Rothwell:

Predicted TKO in the second for Velasquez, and that’s what he got! I do think the ref stopped it a bit early, but Steve Mazzagatti should get a thank you card from Rothwell. He was loosing that hardily. But I do agree with Dana on Steve.

Lyoto Machida Vs. Mauricio Rua:

TKO in the 3rd? Not a chance. This was the decision hear ’round the world. After five rounds, Rua was absolutely screwed by the judges’ unanimous decision for Rua. Now we are at an interesting place for the fans: the heavyweight, light heavyweight, and lightweight champions are not the people’s choice. Lesnar is just a disgusting personality, Machida is a false champion, and BJ Penn is just a whinny little man (see Grease Gate.) The only other champions are dominating their division (Silva and St. Piere) so crowds are getting restless. I hope things shake out soon, for the fan’s sake.

So I just got selected to try out new xbox live features including Facebook, Twitter, and Last.fm integration. Here is a review.

Facebook:

This was by far the feature I wanted the most, and it paid off well. You can view your profile feeds with individual entries on their own square and comment, like, or see what others have said about posts. You can also view photo albums on your big screen which is a nice feature to me. I use Twitter to update my status on Facebook, but to be honest, I could see a lot of people putting their status updates through this console. Another feature that is the end-all-be-all feature (which has yet to be fully implemented) is to connect with other gamers’ Xbox Live via Facebook. For instance, I KNOW I have fraternity brothers on Xbox Live who I haven’t added, but I don’t know thier gamer ID, so we go unconnected. (Collin and Corey, I’m thinking of you two specifically!)

Twitter

Other than having an amazing splash page to enter your status updates, it is basically a shell with all the functionality of Twitter.com’s main page.

Last.fm

If you didn’t know what last.fm was, I’d bet you have used Pandora.com and others like it. Basically you create a “channel” based on musical tastes and it streams music through your Xbox. It also displays the artist’s mug as the wallpaper TV. I’ve been listening to the Elton John channel I created and it has served up everything from The Beatles to Don Henley and Journey. I can see me using this more and more as the bots learn what my tastes are in music.

Basically, if you have an Xbox, you have a lot to look forward to, and if you don’t, what the heck is wrong with you?! The Elite model is only $300 now, so stop being a slacker and join the hive! I got mine recently, so no disrespect to late adopters. The time has come, this is more than a console. It is what I believe all future media boxes will be built off of and I’m glad to be a part of beta testing for it.

I currently use a Merkur 180 with Derby blades. The soap I use is a nice tallow-based soap called Tabac from Germany and the brush I use is a rather nice Crabtree and Evelyn brush that for some reason is not online. I also use L’Occitane Cade after shave. It has yielded the best results for me, but maybe it would be wise to start somewhere cheaper. Much cheaper!

Lucky for you, WalMart has a nice set for around $8 to get you started in the right direction. The Van Der Hagen set has everything you need, just Kia quality. A boar hair brush, soap with dish, and just buy the cheap Bic single blade that typically comes in a black package with a bar underneath the blade.

From there, I’d change up the brushes a bit using a nicer (but still cheap) Tweezerman brush. Sneak over to Bath and Bodyworks and ask them where the C.O. Bigelow area is. Find the shaving cream in the tube for $10. It is the Proraso brand mentioned in the above video and it is really nice. I still use it once a week or so to change things up. But this hobby can get expensive and extensive. The combinations you can try are virtually endless, and I continue to try new things all the time looking for the perfect shave. It makes my mornings more interesting for sure, and I look forward to shaving instead of dreading it like taking out the garbage. Give it a try and let me know what you think!

First off, I am aware that some of you don’t know that I am a huge mixed martial arts fan. Surprise! But even fewer of you know that I actually train at least three times a week on various components of “the game” of MMA. I have been for two years now and will continue to for quite some time. I will give you some background on the sport and then explain why it is that I participate as well as watching it.

To start, I’d say needless violence is not something I enjoy seeing. This would include all of those videos where bullies beat the crap out of kids who stand their ground on YouTube. That is not what MMA is about, though its origins begin there. Basically, everything we have evolved in to comes from Brazil and one family in particular: the Gracie family. They were taught the ground fighting sport of jiu jitsu from Japanese settlers decades ago. Having no “respect” for tradition, and I mean that in a good way, they began to modify the techniques and soon developed their own system of Gracie Jiu Jitsu (or Brazilian Jiu Jitsu as it is known primarily today.) One member of the Gracie family in particular is responsible for the majority of the techniques, a naturally small guy name Helio Gracie.

Helio was originally not allowed to practice the art as he was, in the doctors of that times own words, “sickly”. He modified the moves he saw his brothers using and with the power of leverage created what we see today. The Gracie family, thinking that they had the secret sauce to all combat, sent letters around the world to challenge fighters in nearly all disciplines. They won virtually all of the contests. No one knew in that day how to continue fighting once the fight reached the ground.

Fast-forward to the 1990’s in America. The Gracies wanted a showcase to display their art to Americans. A little venture began called the Ultimate Fighting Championship (later truncated to UFC.) Their prize student at that time was a modest looking fellow named Royce Gracie. He dominated the tournament-style matches fighting 5 times in one night! He only participated in the first 4, and won UFC 1, 2, and 4 before leaving the octagon. (While Royce did not win UFC 3, he did not loose but merely fatigued while fighting a man a solid 100 lbs. heavier than himself.) The idea behind the contest was trying to mimic a street fight. No rules or time limits, and the reason for the octagonal cage was simply that there were no corners to back in to. The Gracie family left the UFC after UFC 4 for reportedly philosophical objections to the direction the UFC was going. They began to add time limits and weight classes and this experiment began to take on the identity of a sport.

One thing the UFC ultimately proved was that no one martial art was supreme. Brazilian Jiu Jitsu dominated early on, but once more proficient collegiate wrestlers and other ground-gamers come on board, the playing field was leveled. Now, to succeed in the UFC you would not only need a ground component, be it wrestling, Jiu Jitsu, or whatever, you would also need some striking components as well.

The sport all but disappeared in the early part of 2000, but people watching the videos on the Internet kept the flame going while morons like John McCain continued his crusade against alleged violence. (He has changed his stance on this by the way.) The UFC was bought by the Fertita brothers for $2M in the early 2000’s and they put a friend of theirs in charge by the name of Dana White, and while loosing millions for many years have turned this thing of MMA in to a gold mine for millions of sponsors worldwide.

The athletes in MMA have turned from rough-neck hoodlums in to world-class athletes. (National Geographic did an awesome piece on this, for a preview, check this out.

My wife and I began training in early 2008, initially in Krav Maga and kickboxing at KBX in Atlanta, but later we incorporated more groundwork, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu in particular here in Orlando at Gracie Barra (pronounced like baja.) It is by far the best cardio you will ever get and something about one on one sparring is primal and satisfying at the same time. Here are my recommendations for both self-defense and MMA: For straight self-defense, do NOT take any MMA classes. Actually, any training is good, but for self-defense there are no rules like there are in the UFC. For this, I would recommend Krav Maga. It is an Israeli martial art that combines many different styles of fighting to effectively disable, or kill, an attacker. And yes, it does tech lethal attacks like eye gouges, throat punches and elbows to the base of the neck. It is not for professional fighting. As for MMA, you will need two things, something while standing and something when the fight goes to the ground. I chose Muay Thai for stand up (which is kickboxing with knees and elbows allowed) and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu for the ground. Almost all title holders in the UFC use some combination of this, and those who don’t know how to defend the common attacks from these disciplines. As for Tae Kwon Do, I’d say if it is your only option where you live, it is somewhat effective. It contains virtually no ground components and teaches to kick with the ball of the foot where I believe the shin is the most effective, but to each his own. I am the proud parent of a 9 year-old green belt in ATA Tae Kwon Do. It also has encouraged a great deal of sparring which I like. Any question of comments, please feel free to leave them below.