Frank Mir VS Brock Lesnar - Yes the WWE superstar (and I never would have known Lesnar was a WWE superstar if it wasn’t mentioned because I despise fake wrestling) is in the UFC. Mir a Ju-Jitsu black belt will have his hands full because Lesnar is a strong dude with some serious confidence. If the match can go into the later rounds Mir will have the advantage because Lesnar is untested beyond 1 round and Mir could have a shot at a submission at that point. I think Mir is going to have a very tough 1st round because of Lesnar’s strength. If it can get out of the first round I’ll go with Mir, if inside the 1st round Lesnar by GnP. However, since I have to make a single prediction, I’m going Mir in the 2nd or 3rd.

Tim Sylvia VS Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira - I don’t see Nogueira submitting Sylvia due to his size and length unless he gets the back of Tim and can RNC him. Since Heath Herring dropped Minotauro I’m going to say The Maine-iac will also drop Minotauro too. His conditioning his suspect, but there is one thing I can guarantee and that is this fight will be better than the Monson/Sylvia matchup :).

Jeremy “Gumby” Horn VS Nate “The Great” Marquardt - Jeremy is one of my favorite fighters ever because hes been in the game since the beginning and might just have the most fighting experience of any fighter aside from Shonie Carter. I didn’t say top competition. Fun fact: Horn is actually in the UFC Dreamcast game thats sitting in my closet right now. Gumby pretty much submits his opponents and Marquardt is a tough dude to submit. I’ll go decision for Marquardt. I’m excited to see this fight and as a fan want Gumby to win.

Ricardo Almeida VS Alan Belcher Rob Yundt - Belcher is out. Newcomer Rob Yundt is taking this on short notice. Almeida  wins.

Gleison Tibau VS Tyson Griffin - How this fight is on the “May not be broadcasted” is beyond me. Griffin has been in two fights of the year for 2007. Both Tibau and Griffin are so fast and so strong for their size its probably going to be the fight of the night. I’m going to go with my hometown boy though Tibau on the upset.

Tim Boetsch VS David Heath - Pass

Marvin Eastman VS Terry Martin - I’m excited to see this fight too. I’ll go with Martin as he wins by easy GNP TKO.

Keita Nakamura VS Rob Emerson - Emerson has shown hes a tough dude without quit. I don’t know Nakamura at all and he does have a Jet Lag factor plus lack of Octagon experience, so I’ll go with Emerson.

Chris “Lights Out” Lytle VS Kyle Bradley - I don’t know who Bradley is, but Lytle has looked good in his recent bouts against Serra and Hughes. Well those fights actually looked like shit, but he took both of those guys to the distance and didn’t let either of them utilize their strengths. I think UFC is handing him a freebie. Lytle by stand up KO.

My prediction for the Super Bowl is:

Patriots 30

Giants 20

Now accepting all predictions on Super Bowl XLII and they can be as outlandish as you want to make them.

I thinkUnder Armour footwear which will debut during a Super Bowl commercial will also be a big success.

Lay down your own predictions in the comments.

Mike Swick vs Josh Burkman - Swick easily wins unless a Burkman slam breaks Swick’s back.

Patrick Cote vs Drew McFedries - Contender for fight of the night. If either one connects its lights out for the other guy. Cote now has confidence after going on a nice win streak which was something that was holding him back previously. McFedries is on a 2 win streak against mediocre competition though. I’ll go with Cote, but I’m very conflicted because of McFedries heart.

Alvin Robinson vs Nate Diaz - I’ve seen Alvin Robinson quit against Kenny Florian and win a decision against Jorge Gurgel (who is not a great striker). Nate on the other hand is a no quit fighter who can beat you on the feet and on the ground. Diaz easily. I’ll be shocked if he loses.

Michihiro Omigawa vs Thiago Tavares - Tavares is bad mutha. Hes got sick cardio, submissions, and can strike pretty well. Tavares easily wins this fight as Omigawa is not particularly good and Tavares imo can be a contender for the title.

Alberto Crane vs Kurt Pellegrino - Crane is coming into his second fight in the UFC and its another tough fight against Pellgrino. Last time out Crane had no cardio against Roger Huerta and even though Pellgrino doesn’t have the same intensity as Huerta, Kurt does have alot of UFC experience against good competition. It will be interesting to see if Crane got his cardio up to par. This could either be the most boring fight of the night or the most exciting if you like a Jiu-Jitsu match. I’ll go with the favorite, Kurt Pellegrino.

Dennis Siver vs Gray Maynard - Gray Maynard because he trains with some of the best in the business and his strength/wrestling will likely be too much to handle.

Jeremy Stephens vs Cole Miller - If Stephens can avoid Miller’s submissions and lanky leg triangle chokes, than Stephens has a shot at a KO win. He came out strong against Din Thomas, before getting armbarred quite easily. With that said, I’ll go with Stephens on the idea that he trained hard against submissions, but this fight could also be 2nd for fight of the night contention imo.

Joe Veres vs Corey Hill - Too much height and length in favor of Corey Hill. The Real Deal takes this.

Justin Buchholz vs Matt Wiman - Wiman’s a tough SOB. He wins this in the 2nd or 3rd.

List your 2008 predictions here. They can be grandiose and obtuse or moderate and specific. Your choice, but lets hear em.

BJ Penn vs Joe Stevenson - This is a great fight and going to be good for sure. I’ll go with BJ Penn.

Gabriel Gonzaga vs Fabricio Werdum - Another close one. I’ll go with Gonzaga because he has big fight experience.

Jes Liaudlin vs Marcus Davis - Marcus Davis because he’s undefeated across the pond and is getting better everytime and I think the UFC might have given him a can.

Wilson Gouveia vs Jason Lambert - Another close one. I’ll go with Lambert because of experience, but this one is a pickem as far as I’m concerned.

Jorges Rivera vs Kendall Grove - I want to pick Rivera here, but I haven’t seen much from him except a win over Edwin Dewees in an Ultimate Finale. Ok fine, I’ll go with Rivera, but not happy about it.

Antoni Hardonk vs Colin Robinson - Hardonk hasn’t done anything. I’ll go with the hometown unknown and take Robinson.

Paul Kelly vs Paul Taylor - Pass.

James Lee vs Alessio Sakara - Experience and new training camp at American Top Team gives Sakara an edge.

Per Eklund vs Sam Stout - Sam “Hands of Stone” easily .

One of the coolest stories I came across today was this one on Discovery.com about Prairie grass being a cheaper abundant fuel source for ethanol/bio-diesel.

“New research shows that prairie grasses grown using only moderate amounts of fertilizer on marginal land can produce significant amounts of ethanol.

The five-year study of switch grass done by the University of Nebraska and the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service was published this week by the National Academy of Sciences.

Researcher Ken Vogel said he estimates that an acre of switch grass would produce an average of 300 gallons of ethanol based on the study of grass grown on marginal land on farms in Nebraska, South Dakota and North Dakota.

An acre of corn grown in those same states produces about 350 gallons of ethanol on average.”

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