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  • UFC On FOX 17 Preview: 5 storylines to watch, betting odds & predictions

    The 41st and final UFC event of 2015 comes fight fans’ way on Saturday as the Octagon returns to Orlando, Florida and the FOX network with a title fight closing out a big year of fights. UFC On FOX 17 comes from the Amway Center in Orlando and airs on FOX with a main card start time of 8 PM eastern time. Preliminary card action kicks off on UFC Fight Pass at 3:30 PM eastern time before heading over to FS1 at 5 PM eastern time.

    New UFC Lightweight Champion Rafael Dos Anjos makes his first title defense when he defends against one of the most popular fighters in the sport, Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone, in the headline bout as Cerrone looks to capture the championship gold on the heels of eight straight wins. Dos Anjos and Cerrone have fought before, in August 2013, a fight won by Dos Anjos. In the co-main event, it will be a heavyweight slugfest that has been years in the making as former UFC Heavyweight Champion Junior Dos Santos takes on former Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion Alistair Overeem. Also on the card is the return of former “TUF” winner Nathan Diaz as he takes on Michael Johnson. Let’s take a deeper look into the fight card and give you five storylines to keep an eye on at UFC On FOX 17 on Saturday.

    1. Can Donald Cerrone finally win that elusive UFC gold in his first chance?

    Donald Cerrone has been chomping at the bits for years in an attempt to get a chance to become the UFC Lightweight Champion. Every time he has come close to a title shot, a setback has come in the way. Finally, on Saturday night, he gets that elusive title fight in the main event on the heels of an eight fight win streak. He is 15-3 since moving over from the WEC to the UFC in 2011, and has made a name for himself for his fight anytime, anywhere, against anyone frame of mind. There have been times where he has only had two weeks between fights, but, uncharacteristically, it has been since May that Cerrone has fought. It’s not like he didn’t want, or tried, to fight, but he had the title shot sewn up and didn’t wanna lose it. Eight straight wins over the likes of Benson Henderson, Myles Jury, Eddie Alvarez, Jim Miller and Edson Barboza to name a few have led him to the man who last defeated him.

    That man is UFC Lightweight Champion Rafael Dos Anjos. Dos Anjos defeated Cerrone in August 2013 by unanimous decision. Even though he is now the champion, Dos Anjos actually lost his next fight, to Khabib Nurmagomedov, but three straight impressive performances following that loss, coupled with injuries to key fighters, opened the door for Dos Anjos to earn a title shot. He fought Anthony Pettis for the title at UFC 185 in March, and thoroughly dominated Pettis to post a five-round shutout and win the championship. Dos Anjos underwent a skill and physical transformation after being a gatekeeper in the division, and there have been questions about his physique. There are many who say that Dos Anjos looks completely different in the new era of drug testing, way different than the man who is 9-1 in his last ten fights, different than the man that won the championship in March, and different than the man that defeated Cerrone over two years ago. Those questions certainly open the door for Cerrone, who has even questioned Dos Anjos himself.

    Dos Anjos and Cerrone both competed on the card the last time the UFC was in Orlando. That is when Dos Anjos lost his bout with Nurmagomedov that propelled him to the championship. Cerrone submitted Edson Barboza in the third of his eight straight wins. They descend back to Orlando with both looking to leave with championship gold around their waist. Cerrone has the excellent kickboxing with good takedowns and submissions. Dos Anjos has become a more well-rounded fighter over the last few years but it still remains to be seen what has changed for him. Cerrone will need to avoid being taken down, which likely cost them their first fight. Cerrone came on strong while Dos Anjos faded late in their bout, and a five-round bout last time may have seen a different outcome. They have five rounds this time. Interestingly, Dos Anjos is more than a two-to-one favorite, and that may be too long of odds. I see Cerrone finally reaching the top of the lightweight mountain.

    2. Who wins the long-awaited heavyweight battle between Junior Dos Santos and Alistair Overeem?

    A heavyweight bout between Junior Dos Santos and Alistair Overeem has been almost four years in the making. It was nearly four years ago that Overeem made his UFC debut at UFC 141 and defeated Brock Lesnar. After that, Overeem was scheduled to next fight for the UFC Heavyweight Championship, which was held at the time by Dos Santos, who had just come off of knocking out Cain Velasquez to win the title. They were set to meet at UFC 146 in May 2012, but issues with taking a drug test forced Overeem out of the bout. Dos Santos would eventually lose the championship in December 2012 back to Velasquez. Overeem didn’t fight again until February 2013, when he lost to Antonio Silva. They were again set to meet at UFC 160 in May 2013, but Overeem pulled out due to injury. After those false starts, they weren’t booked to fight again until they were scheduled to meet on Saturday. Since their initial booking in early 2012, Dos Santos has gone 3-2 and Overeem has gone 3-3.

    They will finally step inside the Octagon on Saturday across from each other. Dos Santos hasn’t fought in over a year since earning a hard-fought decision win over Stipe Miocic. In fact, that is Dos Santos’ only fight in the last two years as injuries and beatings at the hands of both Velasquez and Miocic have taken their toll on him. Meanwhile, Overeem is riding a two-fight win streak that has him talking again of title shot aspirations. A win over a former champion in Dos Santos could put him just one fight away, but defeating Dos Santos, one of the hardest hitters in the sport, will be a tough task. Dos Santos has moved his training to American Top Team while Overeem continues to work on his skills with Greg Jackson. It will be interesting to see how each man fights the other as both have strong knockout power. Overeem showed a different approach in his last two fights, and has slimmed down a little. It is tough to say how much fight Dos Santos has left after his tough fights. It may be four years after they were first set to fight, and the championship gold may not be at stake, but it is still an interesting heavyweight bout between two big men, and it will finally go down on Saturday night.

    3. Is Nate Diaz ready to make another run at 155 pounds?

    One of the Stockton bad boys makes his long-awaited return on Saturday when Nate Diaz fights for the first time in over a year. After talk of moving, again, to 170 pounds, Diaz will come back at 155 pounds, and he looks to be in the best shape of his career. He will need to be as he takes on a tough opponent in Michael Johnson, a top-six ranked lightweight. Johnson should be on a five-fight win streak, but he lost a split decision to Beneil Dariush in August in a big controversial decision. Every media outlet scored the fight for Johnson, as did most observers, including UFC brass. They even paid Johnson his win bonus because they thought he won. Regardless of that, it still remains a loss on Johnson’s record, and he will be looking for a more impactful win when he takes on Diaz.

    Diaz is coming off a loss to Rafael Dos Anjos last December, a bout he missed weight for, blaming it on a training injury. That is the only time Diaz has fought in the last two years, but when he is at his best, he remains one of the most complete boxers in the division, and a dangerous submission artist. Johnson is a solid striker who mixes everything well, uses a lot of volume, and has good takedowns. Diaz could suck Johnson into a striking battle, and if Diaz starts landing the punches, they may not do a ton of damage, but they will be very effective. The biggest question is whether the time away benefits Diaz, and if the last we saw of him is a true representation of where he is today, or if he is still the guy who blasted Gray Maynard in his bout prior to Dos Anjos. If Johnson lets Diaz hit him, it could be a field day for Diaz. Johnson is ever improving, but it is still hard to count out a Diaz brother. If he wants to make another run at a title shot, he has to get by a very tough Johnson.

    4. Will Randa Markos keep making her climb up the 115-pound division ladder?

    Randa Markos ended up being one of the big surprises during the strawweight season of “The Ultimate Fighter”. She came into the show with a 4-1 record, a solid record, but unlike the rest of the competitors, hadn’t had the exposure from fighting for Invicta, and she was one of the unknowns. She showed strong skills in making it all the way to the semifinals after defeating Tecia Torres and Felice Herrig as the 14-seed before losing to Rose Namajunas. Markos hasn’t had an easy road post-TUF as she has gotten tough opponents in Jessica Penne and Aisling Daly. She lost a close split decision to Penne before scoring a unanimous decision over Daly in convincing fashion at UFC 186 in April. Since then, she has quit working her full-time job and moved to Montreal to train at the Tristar camp, and Saturday represents her first time fighting since the move.

    She gets the main card treatment as she takes on Karolina Kowalkiewicz, who makes her UFC debut sporting a solid, and perfect, 7-0 record. Both women are skilled and will get attention due to looks, but they can fight. They are very similar, with good skills on their feet, but neither are overwhelming with power, and both are patient fighters. Both tend to have close fights when they go to the judges, but Markos has the better finishing ability. She is also a better wrestler, and that was before going to Tristar, one of the best camps in the world. That is going to be a key factor, and also having one of the best coaches in the sport in Firas Zahabi in her corner will as well. Markos has a very solid shot at becoming a real title challenger as her skills evolve, and much like her nickname, she is looking at making a quiet storm brew in the strawweight division.

    5. What is there to watch for on a solid preliminary card?

    The preliminary card on Saturday features a lot of solid fights that could easily be main card bouts on a lot of fight cards. In the featured prelim bout, Myles Jury makes the move down to featherweight to take on Charles Oliveira. Jury started his career a perfect 15-0 before losing his last fight to Donald Cerrone. He made the switch to the Power MMA team in Arizona and decided to try his hand at 145 pounds. He gets a tough first test in Oliveira, a very skilled submission specialist looking to bounce back from a disappointing loss in August. Another Power MMA fighter, C.B. Dollaway, will be taking on Nate Marquardt in a pivotal bout that could determine the UFC future for both. Dollaway is looking to rebound from two straight losses while Marquardt has also lost two straight, but, more importantly, has lost five of his last six fights.

    Also on the prelims, Sarah Kaufman welcomes Valentina Shevchenko to the UFC. Shevchenko makes her debut on short notice, but she is a seriously skilled kickboxer with a 9-1 MMA record to go along with her 60-2 kickboxing record. Middleweight Josh Samman looks to remain perfect in the UFC as he welcomes Tamdan McCrory back to the UFC. Samman has four straight wins and has won all three of his UFC fights by stoppage. McCrory went 3-3 during a UFC stint from 2007 to 2009, but after being cut after a boring decision loss, he retired from the sport for four years. He made his comeback in Bellator in 2014, scoring two wins in a combined 1:27, and was then re-signed by the UFC. Another bout is a lightweight contest between Nik Lentz and Danny Castillo. Lentz is moving back up to 155 pounds following a loss to Charles Oliveira while Castillo is looking to avoid the chopping block as he has lost three straight and four of his last five.

    Full UFC On FOX 17 Fight Card, Betting Odds and Predictions

    MAIN CARD (FOX- 8 PM ET/5 PM PT)

    UFC Lightweight Championship: (C) Rafael Dos Anjos vs. (#2) Donald Cerrone
    Betting Odds:     Dos Anjos (-200), Cerrone (+170)
    Prediction: Cerrone by decision

    Heavyweights: (#2) Junior Dos Santos vs. (#9) Alistair Overeem
    Betting Odds:     Dos Santos (-350), Overeem (+290)
    Prediction: Dos Santos by knockout in round 2

    Lightweights: (#6) Michael Johnson vs. (#15) Nate Diaz
    Betting Odds:     Johnson (-500), Diaz (+400)
    Prediction: Diaz by submission in round 2

    Women’s Strawweights: (#7) Randa Markos vs. Karolina Kowalkiewicz
    Betting Odds:     Markos (-185), Kowalkiewicz (+160)
    Prediction: Markos by decision

    PRELIMINARY CARD (FS1- 5 PM ET/2 PM PT)

    Featherweights: (#7) Charles Oliveira vs. (#9 LW) Myles Jury
    Betting Odds:     Oliveira (+130), Jury (-150)
    Prediction: Jury by decision

    Middleweights: (#12) C.B. Dollaway vs. Nate Marquardt
    Betting Odds:     Dollaway (-400), Marquardt (+325)
    Prediction: Dollaway by knockout in round 2

    Women’s Bantamweights: (#5) Sarah Kaufman vs. Valentina Shevchenko
    Betting Odds:     Kaufman (-225), Shevchenko (+185)
    Prediction: Shevchenko by decision

    Middleweights: Josh Samman vs. Tamdan McCrory
    Betting Odds:     Samman (-175), McCrory (+155)
    Prediction: Samman by knockout in round 2

    Lightweights: (#10 FW) Nik Lentz vs. Danny Castillo
    Betting Odds:     Lentz (-105), Castillo (-115)
    Prediction: Castillo by decision

    Featherweights: Cole Miller vs. Jim Alers
    Betting Odds:     Miller (+105), Alers (-125)
    Prediction: Miller by submission in round 3

    PRELIMINARY CARD (UFC FIGHT PASS- 3:30 PM ET/12:30 PM PT)

    Welterweights: Kamaru Usman vs. Leon Edwards
    Betting Odds:     Usman (-250), Edwards (+210)
    Prediction: Usman by submission in round 1

    Welterweights: Hayder Hassan vs. Vicente Luque
    Betting Odds:     Hassan (-120), Luque (+100)
    Prediction: Luque by decision

    Heavyweights: Francis Ngannou vs. Luiz Henrique
    Betting Odds:     Ngannou (-110), Henrique (-110)
    Prediction: Ngannou by knockout in round 1

  • Josh Nason’s Punch-Out: Sherdog’s Jordan Breen on Conor McGregor, UFC Orlando

    We’re still reeling from all of the implications of last week’s UFC 194 and UFC Fight Night shows. To help clear the fog in the harbour like a giant lighthouse is Sherdog writer and radio host Jordan Breen, who joined Josh Nason’s Punch-Out this week for a full hour.

    On this show (free for non-subscribers), Josh & Jordan discussed:

    – Jordan’s 10 year anniversary of working for Sherdog that is coming up next year

    – What he’d be doing if he wasn’t working in MMA

    – Jordan’s pro wrestling watching habits, and how to explain wrestling to someone that has never heard of it before

    – His big takeaways from UFC 194

    – Whether the UFC has a Conor McGregor problem

    – What the most important part of McGregor’s rise to fame truly is

    – Why people are focusing on the wrong things when it comes to Luke Rockhold’s win over Chris Weidman

    – A riveting game ‘Who Wore It Better?’

    – A look ahead to Saturday’s UFC on Fox show in Orlando and what we’re looking forward to

    – Whether 2015 is the best year ever for fans of the UFC

    – And more!

    *****

    Listen to the show below by clicking the link or right-click to save:

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  • WOR 12/17: NXT Takeover, death of Lizmark, UFC and WWE ratings, tons more!

    Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer returns today to talk all the news in wrestling and MMA including the death of Lizmark, WWE’s NXT special from London, Smackdown tapings, Raw ratings from Monday night, ROH’s PPV this weekend, Conor McGregor and his huge UFC numbers, questions and more! A fun show as always so check it out~!

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  • December 21, 2015 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Conor McGregor wins UFC Featherweight title, Roman Reigns WWE Champion

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    Current subscribers click here to continue reading.

  • Weight cutting in MMA: A scientific approach to fixing the problem

    Weight cutting in MMA is a problem. Actually, It’s a problem in any sport that puts fighters into weight classes. The problems range from the health and safety concerns of the fighters, as we saw recently with the death of a fighter in the Philippines, to fighters attempting to gain a competitive advantage. 

    But ultimately, it’s bigger than that. It’s a cultural problem. Weight cutting is generally accepted, even though EVERYONE knows it’s dangerous and stupid. The problem is that everyone is doing it, so everyone must continue to do it. After watching a glut of weigh-ins due to UFC running three shows in three days last week, I’ve given the matter a lot of thought. 

    First, let me support what I’m about to say by giving you some background about me personally.

    As a former MMA fighter and high school wrestler, and current BJJ competitor, I’ve spent a lot of my life cutting weight.  Heck, I even did two bodybuilding shows where I actually cut more weight than any of those previous endeavors. Over the last two decades, I’ve been a wrestling coach, personal trainer, and nutritionist. I’ve helped many normal people lose weight safely, and also helped many high level athletes take their bodies to the extreme. I’ve experienced enough weight cutting to have learned some tricks of the trade, and also learned what’s not going to work. 

    I also spent a few years working at an eating disorder facility where I saw firsthand just what awful effects both short and long-term “weight cutting” can have. It was an incredibly eye opening experience. One of the myths about weight cutting is that there is a healthy way to do it, but there is no perfectly healthy way to cut weight. Some ways are safer than others, but whichever method a fighter chooses, it will have consequences. 

    I don’t want to bore people with a biology lesson, but to put it simply, weight cutting has two phases; body weight loss and dehydration. Note I said body weight, and not exclusively fat. The goal is to lose as much body fat as possible while sparing muscle, but it’s next to impossible to do one with out the other, naturally.  Phase one of losing bodyweight usually starts about 12 weeks out from a fight and comes in the form of changing nutritional habits and exercising more.  The fighter simply cleans up their diet and reduces calories, and the weight comes off. 

    The second phase, dehydration, is the dangerous part.  A fighter will most commonly use water manipulation to suck every ounce of both interstitial and intracellular fluid out of their bodies. This can be done through use of the sauna, steam room, exercise, diuretics, and a few other sneaky things like mineral manipulation. Here’s the problem; you’re not only dehydrating your muscles, but you’re also dehydrating your heart (since it’s a muscle) as well as your brain. This is incredibly dangerous. 

    Why? Fluid acts as a padding for your brain. If you’re lacking that padding, head impact can have a much more detrimental effect. Fighters sacrifice literal brain size by cutting fat (the brain is almost entirely fat), and now they are depleting the cranial fluid.  Since fighters eat and rehydrate before fighting, this is generally mitigated, but it’s impossible to fully rehydrate in 24 hours, so without a doubt, most fighters are going into the cage with their brain less than 100% re-padded. For most fighters, they believe this is an appropriate risk level for their sport.  I recall cutting weight for fights that final week and feeling like I was in a fog. It was noticeable too as people around me kept asking me why I was spacing out. My brain was starving!

    Also, your heart can’t beat properly if dehydrated. This is how people die: your heart goes into arrhythmia or stops all together due to the lack of minerals, which were flushed out during the dehydration. Basically, you’ve reduced your intravascular blood volume. Most people have around 6-7 liters of blood circulating at all times, and since blood is mostly water, this is a big problem. The heart tries to compensate for the lack of blood by pumping more, which causes irregular blood pressure as it beats faster and faster, and eventually fails. This is most likely what occurs when people die in a sauna. 

    So now we know why weight cutting is dangerous, but what do we do? 

    There have been a lot of options floated around, but none have come to fruition, such as same day weigh-ins and creating more weight classes. The UFC, more specifically WADA and USADA, have outlawed the use of IV rehydration in an attempt to keep guys from risking the huge weight cut.  The idea is obviously that if rehydration is more difficult, then perhaps the massive weight cut won’t be attempted. This may work, but ultimately, it doesn’t change the problem that guys are still going to cut a dangerous amount of weight and just try and rehydrate orally. Personally, I’ve rehydrated both with IVs and without, and never noticed any difference, other than I had to have my EMT buddy steal me saline and hook me up, which was unpleasant. At fight time, physically, I felt the same.

    There’s actually data that supports the claim that oral rehydration is superior. In fact, the quickest most effective way to get lost electrolytes and other minerals back in to the blood is by rinsing the mouth with a solution and spitting it out. There’s a bunch of info you don’t need to know about gastric emptying involved. If someone wants to make a million dollars, go invent the perfect mouth rinse for fighters to use between rounds. 

    It’s often suggested that more weight classes be used, but I don’t like this idea at all. For one, it waters down the championships but that’s not nearly as important as the safety of the fighters.  The real reasons why more weight classes is a bad idea is because it will actually encourage more weight cutting. I’ve seen it happen. 

    Each year, the people in charge of collegiate wrestling regulations adjust the weight classes. They do this for various reasons, but basically it’s done to better facilitate the current population. For example, suppose last year there were more wrestlers registered at 180 pounds than ever before. That would indicate that perhaps the sport needs a weight class adjustment, and maybe the addition of a 187 pound class instead of jumping from 180 to 195. This makes sense, but what usually happens is that athletes get greedy. Now, a wrestler that used to make 195 starts to think that maybe he or she could stretch it even further and make that new 187 pound class. So the athlete that was cutting from 205 to 195 is now going to cut an extra 7 pounds.  Good coaching can offset some of this, but it doesn’t always happen. 

    At the lower classes, it happens even more as there is often only three or four pounds between a weight class. That seems like nothing to these competitors. When an athlete that walks around at 125 who cuts to 117 only has to drop three more to make 114, and only 4 more beyond that to make 110, for a total of only 15 pounds total, that’s incredibly enticing. People think, “Well, that’s only 15 pounds. Some of these big boys cut 30!”  Right, they do, but 30 off a 235 pound person is actually cutting nearly the same percentage of total body weight as the 125 pound person cutting 15 pounds. 

    In this example, the smaller person lost 12% of their body weight while the bigger guy lost about 13%.  Take into account the fact that the big guy has a lot more muscle and fat to drain water from, and you realize that the little guy’s brain is probably in way worse shape than the big guy’s.  Amateur wrestling implemented the hydration testing before the season to determine the lowest weight class in which a wrestler can compete to keep things like the above example from happening, but MMA is a different beast.

    I’d like to point out quickly that this past weekend, we saw two main events end the exact same way: flash KO.  This is not to diminsh the punching power of Frankie Edgar or Conor McGregor, but Chad Mendes and Jose Aldo looked smaller and more depleted than usual IN THE CAGE than in the past. This was the first time either man has attempted to rehydrate without IVs, and both suffered KOs from punches that each has eaten dozens of times in the past. It’s purely speculation, but was that a pair of coincidences…or perhaps each was suffering from a dehydrated brain and could not withstand the impact?

    Since more weight classes does not seem to work (at least in amateur wrestling where weigh-ins occur sometimes just an hour prior to competition), I’d like to propose something different: fewer weight classes.

    Simply put, if the weight class gap widens, less people will attempt the cut. Of course, there are masochists out there who would go for it, but my guess is that it would stem the tide of dangerous weight cuts.

    So now, where do we make the classes? How do we decide where to put the markers? It’s simple: use science. There would have to be a study of the human population to see where they are needed. (It may already exist.) First, determine the average size of the population and chart it out from there.  It would be a bell curve. 

    I’m just guessing, but most adult men are probably somewhere around 150-160 pounds (at least in developed countries), with fewer at 200, and even fewer at 300 pounds, just as fewer are at 125 and still fewer are 100 pounds. Obviously, as a species, we are evolving to be larger, but we can determine the current bell curve for today. Put more weight classes in the middle and fewer towards the ends of the charts. 

    There are of course other factors to examine. For instance, we don’t need to know the average of the entire population, just those involved in fighting. Eight-year-olds and 80-year-olds can be left out. Just look at men and women (separately) likely to be involved, so from ages 18-50 (since Bellator still exists). Also, look at people most likely to fight. There aren’t many African pygmies in the UFC, so we can ignore that population. 

    Once we determine the bell curve, we then make the weight classes which doesn’t have to be every ten pounds. Since as we discovered above, percentage of body weight is also important thus the gaps should be larger toward the heavy end and smaller toward the light end. I have not done the studies or even tried to find the data, but as a jumping off point for discussion, here is my best guess at the new weight classes.

    – Men: 125, 132, 142, 155, 175, 205, 265
    – Women: 115, 125, 140, 160

    This would create ten total champions: six for men and four for women.

    Each year, the weight classes could swing a pound or two in any direction. They don’t have to be set in stone. The names of the divisions and champions would stay the same. There would have to be some fine-tuning of this method, but it could be implemented, and it would make a difference. 

    The other option, of course, would be for fighters to just stop doing it, but we all know that’s not happening.

  • Daily Update: NXT TakeOver London, New Day unicorn horns

    NXT TakeOver London happened in the middle of the day today!  Check out Dave Meltzer’s coverage.  From what is being seen on social media and other feedback it is a good show, so you should check it out!  NXT TakeOver: London has a prime time replay at 8:00 p.m. ET on WWE Network, but it will already be available on demand by that point.

    Other TV Tonight:

    UFC Tonight airs tonight at a special broadcast time of 6 PM EST.

    Impact Wrestling airs at 11:00 p.m. ET (no replay or west coast prime time showing) on Destination America continues the TNA World Title series in the last episode on the network.

    ROH at midnight ET/PT on COMET is headlined by Roppongi Vice vs. ACH & Matt Sydal..

    Figure Four Weekly

    Figure Four Weekly 12/7/2015: McDevitt comments on concussion lawsuits
    Details on Jerry McDevitt’s comments on the ongoing concussion lawsuits against WWE, Alan discusses potential candidates for 2015’s best rookie.

    Wrestling Observer Newsletter

    Coverage of the biggest weekend in UFC history, the stories behind the big matches, scouting the fighters, the business and handicapping the fights is the lead story in the new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.  We look at the promotion of the show, how changes in the UFC can affect the major fights, little things in each fight that haven’t beentalked about, fugure for the winners and much more is looked at.

    We also look at the New Japan Tokyo Dome show, the New Japan tag team tournament, what’s new with A.J. Styles and his schedule, the controversy over the winners of the tournament and how it played out, New Japan business this past month and going forward, tournament standings and a rundown of the shows this past week.

    We also have an update on Sting and his condition coming off the match with Seth Rollins, something to watch for about a very significant WWE employee, WWE increasing security at leve events, WWE putting up lots of new content on the network, why the Stampede tapes were taken down, Alberto Del Rio blames AAA for his not coming back and losingg the title, why the time-line of what he says doesn’t add up, another new franchise movie idea for Dwayne Johnson, NXT house shows from the past week as well as all the WWE house shows of the past week and the business from the last week.   

    We’ve got a look at this year’s Tokyo Sports pro wrestling awards, all the winners, how the balloting went down, as well as a list of every MVP dating back to 1974, and why different people won the awards and the nature of the politicas behid the awards.

    PLUS MUCH MORE! CLICK HERE FOR A FULL WRESTLING OBSERVER PREVIEW

    The Latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter: December 14, 2015 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Biggest weekend in UFC history, tons more

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    If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order (P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228), you can get $1 off in every price range.

    If you are a new subscriber ordering 24 or more issues, you can get one free classic issue of your choice sent to you today.  With a 40 issue subscription, you can get two free classic issues sent to you today. We’ve got coverage of every major PPV event and world wide spectacular, every major star switching promotions, histories of companies like FMW, Rings and New Japan, retirement and obit issues of every major star who fits into those descriptions over the past 11 years, as well as our biggest issue every year, the annual awards issue, and our most controversial issue of every year, the Hall of Fame issue.

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    TODAY’S DAILY UPDATE

    Pro Wrestling

    • Regarding the story of Rock filming the new Baywatch movie in Georgia in March and April and how it will affect WrestleMania, it has been known for some time that there was almost no chance he was actually wrestling a match on the show.  As with most years, they will probably try to figure out a way to have him make a non-wrestling appearance, but an actual match is pretty much out the window.  Hunter vs. Rock was the original plan, and Hunter vs. Seth Rollins was the back-up plan, and both are obviously out.
    • Smackdown is live this coming Tuesday night and the company has announced New Day vs. Lucha Dragons for the show.  
    • Speaking of New Day, you couldn’t buy any of the unicorn horns last night at Smackdown.  If you go to the WWE Shop site, they’re backordered.  Not sure how many they originally produced but they have apparently sold like crazy.
    • Finn Balor talked with Kevin Gill about transitioning from NJPW to NXT, the demon makeup, and more.
    • Kurt Angle talked his TNA retirement, the possibility of working a Wrestlemania one day, and the move to POP TV.
    • Mike Quackenbush spoke about his philosophy on booking Chikara.
    • Real Pro Wrestling debuts on 1/15 in Port St. Lucie, FL, at the Community Center.
    • Vanguard Championship Wrestling is trying to help stop homelessness.
    • If you haven’t checked it out, we have had some great Ring of Honor guests on Wrestling Observer Live the last three days, Raymond Rowe of War Machine on Monday (challenging for the Tag Titles on Friday’s Final Battle PPV), Michael Elgin on Tuesday (challenging Moose, and also facing Jay Lethal likely for the ROH World Title at the New Japan Tokyo Dome on July 4th), Lethal today, and we’ve got Jay Briscoe and Adam Cole scheduled for the next two days.
    • Lethal in the interview today noted that ROH is trying to rebrand the title as the “ROH World Title” and not the “ROH World Heavyweight Title” since the feeling is that most of the wrestlers in the company are not heavyweights.  What’s funny is Lethal is almost 220 and didn’t consider himself a heavyweight, however in UFC if you are over 205 pounds, you are a heavyweight.  Heavyweight is not 265, that’s the upper limit — 266 is superheavyweight and heavyweight is 206-265 pounds.

    UFC/MMA

    • Bovada already has odds up for a Conor McGregor vs. Jose Aldo rematch and Conor is only a slight favorite, -160 vs. +130. It’s still to be determined what happens to Mr. McGregor, but we should get some clues after this Saturday’s UFC on FOX show headlined by lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos and Donald Cerrone.
    • Combate Americas is running their second MMA show tonight on NBC Universo starting at 11 pm eastern. Lucha Underground/AAA star Konnan will be doing commentary, presumably for the Spanish broadcast. The card is mostly unknown fighters, with Liz McCarthy likely being the most familiar name to casual fans as she’s fought a couple of times for Invicta. There is no advertised main event for the show, which will also air on the Fight Network in Canada. Rey Misterio is a brand ambassador for the group but it hasn’t been announced if he’ll appear on the show.
    • WSOF will follow-up the spectacle that was WSOF 25 with another show Friday night on NBC Sports Network. The show takes place at the Chelsea in the Cosmo in Las Vegas, the same venue that hosted UFC shows last Thursday and Friday night. Team Alpha Male fighter Lance Palmer defends the Featherweight title in the main event against Brazilian Alexandre de Almeida. “Gentleman” Josh Hill of TUF fame (nephew of “Gentleman” Jerry Valiant/”Stomper” Guy Mitchell) and recent UFC cut Robbie Peralta will also fight on the show, which returns to it’s regular 9 pm eastern time slot after being bumped back to 11 o’clock for their last outing. The Fight Network will also be broadcasting this show with the prelims streaming at WSOF.com

    Here is today’s FULL Daily Pro Wrestling History including International history: Daily pro wrestling history (12/16): Lex Luger wins WCW US Title

  • UFC 194 prelims do record viewership on Fox Sports One

    Photo: MMAWeekly.com

    In what could be a precursor to a big PPV buyrate, Saturday’s UFC 194 prelims did a record 1,931,000 viewers on Fox Sports One, double their 2015 prelims average of 987,500.

    The numbers shatters the record set earlier this year by January’s UFC 183 prelims that did 1,546,000 viewers that Miesha Tate in the featured prelim fight of a show headlined by Anderson Silva vs. Nick Diaz. 

    Saturday’s four-fight prelim show headlined by Urijah Faber vs. Frankie Saenz garnered the highest number for a UFC PPV prelim show on any broadcast partner since the UFC 126 prelims on February 5, 2011 on SPIKE TV did 2,000,000 viewers for a 60-minute two fight broadcast featuring Donald Cerrone and Chad Mendes in separate fights. This was also during a time period when UFC was on television far less frequently and that number, while good, wasn’t thought be particularly notable as many Fight Night shows were either at or near that number.

    Saturday’s viewership total was higher than all but one FS1 Fight Night show which was January’s UFC Fight Night 59 headlined by Conor McGregor vs Dennis Siver. That show was on a Sunday after the NFC conference championship game.

    The company’s final prelims average on FS1 for 2015 is 1,073,273 viewers – a 47% increase over the 2014 average of 728,444.

    In other UFC ratings news, the TUF 22 Finale featuring Frankie Edgar vs. Chad Mendes did 893,000 viewers, up from the July TUF 21 finale (691,000) but down from the December 2014 TUF 20 finale (989,000) The FS1 prelims did 809,000 viewers, way up from July’s 470,000 and the December 2014 prelims’ 719,000.

  • F4D 12/14: Tom Lawlor’s weekend UFC thoughts, TLC, WWE 2K16 FINALE and more!

    Filthy Four Daily with Bryan Alvarez and Tom Lawlor is back today with tons to talk about including Tom’s thoughts on all of the major UFC events this weekend, TLC last night, the final round and finale of the Filthy Four WWE 2K16 tournament, plus tons more! A fun show as always so check it out~!

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  • WO 12/13: WWE TLC, Mauro Ranallo, UFC Brazil rating, more!

    Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer returns today to talk all the news in wrestling and MMA: WWE TLC from Sunday night, the build to Raw and Royal Rumble, Mauro Ranallo to Smackdown, AJ Styles update, TNA and DA, UFC rating in Brazil will blow your mind, questions and more! A fun show as always so check it out~!

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  • WOR 12/13: McGregor vs. Aldo results and breakdown, Lucha Underground, TLC, more!

    Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer returns today to talk all the news in wrestling and MMA including tons of thoughts on UFC 194: Conor McGregor vs. Jose Aldo Jr.! All the fights, the atmosphere, historic finishes, and tons more, all live from Vegas with Dave! Plus, news on WWE TLC, PWG from Friday night, LUCHA UNDERGROUND AND MATANZA, and tons more! A fun show as always so check it out~!

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