Barnett Set To Make Return To Octagon

Former UFC champion and 'Strikeforce' veteran Josh 'The Warmaster' Barnett is set to make his return to the octagon at UFC164. 'The Warmaster' is back and this time he's sporting a 32-6 record. Winning 9 of his last 10 fights, the only loss came to up-and-coming UFC heavyweight and fellow 'Strikeforce' veteran Daniel Cormier (when they last fought in the now-defunct promotion). 

Cormier has only had one fight in the UFC and in his debut he beat Barnett's upcoming opponent, Former two-time UFC Champion Frank Mir via Unanimous Decision, imposing the superior grappling skill he's been known for since his before his Olympic wrestling days. 

Since Barnett's last stint in the octagon (his last fight being his victory over Randy Couture to secure the UFC Heavyweight title), he's fought in the Pride FC, Sengoku, Affliction, Dream, Impact FC and Strikeforce promotions claiming a mostly successful 14-5  record in his time outside the UFC.

Barnett looks to make a successful return to the octagon against Mir with the latter desperately looking to get back in the 'win' column after losing his last two fights to former champion Junior Dos Santos and former Strikeforce champion Daniel Cormier.

BLACKZILLA's TIP: As much as i like Frank Mir, i think Barnett takes this, either by 1st Round KO/TKO  or by Unanimous Decision and with this loss, i think Frank will seriously consider calling it a career.

On another completely unrelated topic, I should probably go to sleep, it's 3:51am and i have a 16 hour shift at work that starts in just over 3 hours.

So on that note...
Until next time,
Peace!

Upcoming Fight Cards On The UFC Schedule

Just figured i'd get everybody excited and post up some of the upcoming cards that are on the UFC schedule and highlight some of the fights i can't wait to see.

So here goes...

UFC On Fuel TV 10

Preliminary Card:
- Antonio Braga Neto vs. Anthony 'Lionheart' Smith.
- Caio 'Hellboy' Magalhaes vs. Karlos Vemola.
- Rodrigo Damm vs. Mizuto 'Pugnus' Hirota.
- Ildemar 'Marajo' Alcantara vs. Leandro Silva.
- Godofredo Pepey vs. Felipe 'Sertanejo' Arantes.
- Ronny Markes vs. Derek Brunson.
- Raphael Assuncao vs. Vaughan Lee.

Main Card:
- Rony Jason vs. Mike 'The Warrior' Wilkinson.
- Erick Silva vs. Jason 'The Kansas City Bandit' High.
- Daniel Sarafian vs. Eddie Mendez.
- Thiago Silva vs. Rafael 'Feijao' Cavalcante.
- Antonio 'Minotauro' Nogueira vs. Fabricio 'Vai Cavalo' Werdum.

BLACKZILLA's choices: I'm interested to see how the fight betwen Mike Wilkinson and Rony Jason goes considering both are alumni of different TUF seasons (TUF: Brazil Series 1 and TUF: Smashes, respectively). I'm also hanging out to see the slugfest between Big Nog and Fabricio Werdum. Hopefully, Werdum and Wilkinson pull off the victories, i'd like to see Werdum to work his way back into title contention.

UFC161

Note: This is the UPDATED card after the 'Renan Barao vs. Eddie Wineland' bantamweight title fight was pulled after Barao withdrew due to injury. The change forced the Rashad Evans vs. Dan Henderson into the Main event slot and moved Stipe Miocic (who was originally billed to fight Soa 'The Hulk' Palelei in the prelims) onto the main card for a heavyweight matchup against Roy 'Big Country' Nelson. Soa Palelei has been left without an opponent and will be used as an alternate should any of the heavyweights pull out of the card.

Preliminary Card:

- Yves 'Tiger' Jabouin vs. Dustin 'The Disciple' Pague.

- Mitch 'Danger Zone' Clarke vs. John 'The One' Maguire.

- Roland Delorme vs. Edwin 'El Feroz' Figueroa.

- Sean 'The Punisher' Pierson vs. Kenny Robertson.

- Ryan 'Big Deal' Jimmo vs. Igor 'The Duke' Pokrajac.

- Sam 'Hands Of Stone' Stout vs. James Krause.

Main Card:

- Jake Shields vs. Tyron 'The Chosen One' Woodley.

- Pat 'HD' Barry vs. Shawn 'The Savage' Jordan.

- Alexis Davis vs. Rosi 'The Surgeon' Sexton.

- Roy 'Big Country' Nelson vs. Stipe Miocic.

- Mauricio 'Shogun' Rua vs. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira.

- 'Suga' Rashad Evans vs. Dan 'Hendo' Henderson.

BLACKZILLA's choices: I can't wait to see Jake Shields throw down against fellow 'Strikeforce' veteran Tyron Woodley. I see Shields being a better all-round fighter but Woodley has power in his hands and i'd like to see him get the KO/TKO finish. Also, i'm backing 'Suga' Rashad Evans to get the win over Henderson. As much as i am a fan of Hendo, I see youth getting the better of him. Evans has looked a little inconsistent of late, and i'm hoping he can make a statement in this fight. I'm picking Evans by Unanimous Decision.

I'm really looking forward to these two cards and hopefully they can both produce some real solid fights. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

Until Next Time, 

Peace!