Bisping vs. Mayhem Weigh In has me PSYCHED!!

Last night was the official Weigh In for the TUF season 14 finals, with coaches Jason Miller and Michael Bisping squaring off for the last time before their fight tonight. I gave my predictions and thoughts earlier, but I just want to say that as far as Weigh Ins go, this one ended on an exciting note, and has me absolutely pumped for the fight later! Bisping abusing the fans was a great ending, and I think it is all going to add to the atmosphere later on tonight. I haven’t been as pumped for a fight in quite a while, and I expect it to deliver. I stand by my prediction for Miller to win, and after last night I reckon a lot more people are hoping the same thing will happen. Skip to the last five minutes in the video below to see Bisping acting the prick and missing weight by a fraction of a pound. 

Watch this fighter: Alex Caceres

Alex “Bruce Leeroy” Caceres will be a familiar face for anyone who watched the Ultimate Fighter season 12, GSP vs. Koscheck. He was a standout contestant on the show, with a lot of attitude and flashy, Bruce Lee style fighting to back it up. This didn’t work to his advantage too much however, as he was knocked out in the semi finals by Michael Johnson, a more functional, practical style fighter. I kept an eye on Caceres regardless, and watched him lose his first two fights in the UFC after TUF finished. Fighting in the prelims of UFC on Fox: Velasquez vs. Dos Santos however, Caceres finally got his first win in the Octagon. 

Caceres fought at bantamweight for the first time, beating Cole Escovedo by unanimous decision. He put on a great show, showing off some great striking, keeping it flashy but not blowing up too quickly as he had in previous bouts. This win gave me hope that he is improving and should still have a bright future ahead of him in the Octagon. At 23 years of age, he still has plenty of improving to do, but his style of fighting is incredibly entertaining to watch, and Dana White and Joe Rogan are both supposedly big fans of his. Caceres is expected to face up and coming striker Edwin Figueroa at UFC 143 in February. If Caceres wins this matchup, expect him to be in a more high profile fight soon afterwards. 

Win or lose, it is going to be an entertaining fight, and Alex Caceres is definetly a fighter to watch out for. UFC 143 - Watch out for him.

Chael Sonnen Watch!

Unlike you, I am a huge Chael Sonnen fan. I won't take the MMA hipster route and try and claim that I have been following him his whole career, before he fought Anderson Silva I had barely even heard of him. Since then however, he has risen steadily in the ranks of my favourite fighters. I wouldn't quite say he is my top fighter to watch, but I do enjoy his aggressive ground and pound style, possibly as much as I love his promo work leading up to a fight.

In this section I will cover news specifically relating to Sonnen, whether it is upcoming fight or a new case of him insulting Anderson Silva's wife.

At the moment, it looks likely that Sonnen is going to fight fellow middleweight Mark Munoz. With Silva rumoured to be out until the Summer 2012 we would be waiting an awful long time for a rematch, so unless the UFC want to squander all the heat Sonnen has at the moment, they will keep him fighting until they can book a rematch. This is not to say that he will definitely beat Munoz, but its hard to deny that he is on the hottest run of his career, so I see no reason he shouldn't. The fight looks like it might take place at the UFC on Fox 2 event in January, so watch this space once the announcement comes.

Upcoming event – Miller vs. Bisping

This Saturday (December 3^rd) is the much anticipated finale to season 14 of the Ultimate Fighter. Coaches Michael Bisping and Jason “Mayhem” Miller will finally get the chance to settle their feud in the Octagon, and I for one can’t wait. 

This season of TUF was seriously intense, with pranks and harsh words between the coaches throughout. I actually enjoyed it as much as any other seasons since 1 and 7, my personal favourites. Let’s just hope the fight lives up to it, as the styles of Mayhem and Bisping will not necessarily mesh that well. Bisping has been criticised in past fights for backpeddaling rather than standing up and striking with his opponent, and if he does this with Miller we could be in for a snoozefest of a fight. However, he tends to move backwards when he is facing opponents like Dan Henderson and Chris Leben, who could take his head off with a swing, so he is unlikely to have this worry with grappling expert Miller. 

Both of these guys are classic love ‘em or hate ‘em characters, and most fans will no doubt have picked who they want to win by now. Bisping is one of MMAs most controversial figures, and Mayhem is well known for hosting MTV show “Bully Beatdown”, so expect Mayhem to be the crowd favourite on the night. 

As far as predictions go, it is anyones guess who the winner will be. At 22-3, Bisping has a better record than 24-7 Miller, but many of his first fights were against unknown opponents. Bispings three biggest bouts were probably the three he lost, though many of his other opponents, such as Matt Hamill and Chris Leben, were no pushovers by any stretch. With that said however, Miller himself hasn’t actually beaten many recognisable names for most fans who will be watching, due to most of his career having been spent fighting in Japan and smaller US promotions. His most notable bouts were probably those against Georges St Pierre, Jake Shields and Chael Sonnen, all of which he lost. 

This fight is going to be a big one for whoever manages to win it, as both of them could do with another big name win on their resume. Bisping is a tough guy with good standup, but I think people are underestimating Mayhem on the feet. I hope that Miller knocks that smug look off Bispings face, similar to how Dan Henderson did. 

With that said however, i’m going to predict Miller winning by submission, hopefully a painful one.

Prediction: Miller by submission.