Finally, I'm actually have some time to follow up on the quick picks I did for UFC 88. Time is definitely the most needed thing in my world. Anyways, I did pretty good with my picks this time and even the reasoning behind them. Sometimes I do know what I'm talking about.

Rashad Evans KO's Chuck Liddell (picked Liddell)- WOW.  What a nice KO for Rashad. Like I said in my picks for this UFC, the key for Rashad is to be confident in his abilities because he's entered the very top and will have to fight the very star fighters he used to watch on TV. I often compare his fight with Tito Ortiz to the very first Georges St. Pierre vs Matt Hughes fight where St. Pierre was a little more tentative for the sole reason of facing Matt Hughes. Rashad was very tentative against Tito and it almost cost his the fight. Everytime he'd exchange with Ortiz he never leaned in to actually reach for the giant bleached head to knock it out. So confidence was a huge part of Rashad's awesome KO of Chuck. You have to give him and Greg Jackson a lot of credit for being smart and working on his confidence to go with his top notch skills. He was very disciplined with making sure he didn't act on instinct to try to take Liddell down and most importantly not to follow Chuck and play into his strength. Rashad is right up there at light heavy and probably should be either fighting Forrest Griffin for the title or face Wanderlei Silva.

Rich Franklin TKO's Matt Hamill (picked Franklin) - It was a decent fight. The most interesting thing about it was how Rich Franklin would be doing at 205. He did just fine. Definitely a good move for him and he looked to have just as good conditioning, he was nearly fresh in the third! Matt Hamill did pretty good for facing a former champ, but his lack of experience certainly showed and his takedown attempts could have been better. He never really committed. I also found it funny that the UFC called it a "comeback fight of the night". Hamill cut Franklin by an off balance jab and the cut from that wasn't vision threatening. Even with that cut though Franklin was dominating the fight, how is that a comeback? I'm also wondering how far can Matt Hamill go with his disadvantage of not being able to hear his corner? So many top fighters credit their corner men to their success.

Dan Henderson Decisions Rousimar Palhares (picked Henderson) - Henderson did some pretty effective slip'n'slide striking that only he does in the first round and made Palhares look pretty bad. First round pretty much set the tone for the rest of the fight with Henderson being just more active, controlling more and doing more damage. Palhares did have a few takedowns, a decent looking kneebar attempt in the second, but Henderson had an answer for everything. Good win for Henderson to get back on track. May be have him fight Joe Doerkson for a guaranteed exciting fight or have him face Yushin Okami for a complete snoozer and finally retire the unwated Okami from the UFC. Then line him up for another go at Anderson Silva, cause he actually posed some problems for him in their first fight.

Nate "The Great" Marquardt TKO's Martin Kampmann (picked Marquardt) - just like thought and had a sneaking suspicion that the same Nate Marquardt that destroyed Jeremy Horn may show up and he did! He wasted no time and went after the tough Kampmann like he only had a minute and a half to do it. He looked sharp doing it with a variety of strikes and combinations. I guess it helps to have Greg Jackson for a trainer and the new lightheavy bright star Rashad Evans for a training partner. Oh and to have that ugly Keith Jardine around doesn't hurt either. Now that I think of it Marquardt should probably face Dan Henderson for a shot at Anderson Silva. Excellent fight for both.

Dong Hyun Kim decisions Matt Brown (picked Kim) - I loved this fight. Cool of UFC to book Dong Hyun Kim because he is a scrapper and because he bring something different to the table. That was the appeal of early days MMA - fights between different styles. Kim definitely brings an unorthodox MMA style and it was great to see, especially because he made it effective against a tough Matt Brown. Brown actually did sort of start fighting early on but let Kim hang out on his back for most of the first round. It could have gone either way, but I don't see the result being negative for Brown because the fight was very entertaining. Can't wait to see both of them back soon.

Kurt Pellegrino decisions Thiago Tavares (picked Pellegrino) - In my picks for this UFC I said Pellegrino would have weather the ground attack by Tavares first and then take over with improved striking. Turns out I was little too optimistic for Thiago Tavares. I have to say doing a few switch steps does show you did spend some time on footwork, but it seems that's all you did. Kurt Pellegrino came out striking, put Tavares down hard and continued punishing Tavares. Like in most fights, once a dominant pace is set by one fighter the other needs a huge effort to mount comeback. That's why comebacks are so exciting - they just don't happen that often. Pellegrino beating up Tavares while never really being in danger from him was just another example. He knocked him down, mounted him numerous times.  The little time when Tavares had Pellegrino on the the bottom, Pellegrino even managed to submit Tavares with an armbar. That's my opinion on that. Tavares tapped, Pellegrino let go, but because it happened somewhat quick the ref hesitated and Pellegrino just had to keep going. Too bad Tavares didn't have the dignity to stop and admit his defeat, especially because he was badly loosing. Pellegrino finished destroying Thiago Tavares's hype and got a great win. Hope to see him back soon.

Tim Boetsch TKO's Michael Patt (picked Boetsch) - I couldn't quite remember seeing Patt before, but when his awkward self came out I recognized him from Bodog and know "Redneck Judo" was going to get another good showing from Boetsch. "Amature night"-looking fight aside, Boetsch was effective in taking out Patt. Gotta say that "Redneck Judo" is a whole lot more fun when it's effective over a more polished opponent like it was over David Heath, so I hope they match him up against a regular tougher fighter and not another awkward crappy one. Boetsch deserved that.

Jason MacDonald submits Jason Lambert (picked MacDonald) - As I said earlier this trend in fighters to keep dropping weight cause of a few losses is one of the stupidest ones out there, especially dropping down two weight classes. What was Lambert thinking when he took this fight? MacDonald is a huge 185'er, so fighting him is like fighting a 205'er. Like I thought, he had no chance. MacDonald completely overwhelmed him on the ground and submitted him. Lambert should try in WEC for a while and may be come back. MacDonald should probably fight with Kendall Grove.

Ryo Chonan decisions Roan "Jucao" Carneiro (picked Carneiro) - Like many Japanese fighters that come to train with Matt Hume, Ryo Chonan is enjoying the benefits of Hume's training and tuning by being sharper and doing better. It was a complete surprise to me how good Chonan did against Carneiro. It was a close fight with both having good moments. I kind of agree with the judges that Chonan did just a bit more than Carneiro. Good win for Chonan, he should face whoever UFC puts infront of him to prove he'll continue to improve under Hume's tuning. Tough break for Carneiro, second loss in a row. There will lot of pressure for him to win and show the tough Roan Carneiro that gave all kinds of fits to Jon Fitch. Hope he recoveres from this.

Overall, this was a great UFC card with an upset and some nice beatings that turned out about as good as it was on paper.

This UFC Ultimate Fight Night overall didn't stack up to the last few UFC events as far as exciting fighting goes,not even last few Ultimate Fight Night events.  The main event really put a damper on otherwise an OK show with several decent fights and fighters really trying to put a show for the fans.

I already covered Nick Diaz's exciting win over Alving Robinson and have to add that while size difference certainly gave Diaz an advantage, he showed he has skills to put away a decent fighter and will prove to be a threat to higher level 155'ers after he gets past Manvel Gamburyan.  I picked this fight wrong.

Thiago Tavares vs Michihiro Omigawa.  While myself and just about everybody in MMA media picked Tavares to easily win, Japanese judoka Omigawa, who comes from Yoshida's camp, gave Tavares a really hard time by stopping numerous takedown attempts, getting up from being taken down and escaping the backmount in the first round. In the second Tavares, and hopefully his corner as well, picked up on the fact the he has, in fact, a somewhat effective stand up game and started utilizing it. Omigawa, like many judokas transitioning to MMA, was durable, could take a lot of punishment, was in great shape but lacked the tools to go onto offensive except a seldom punch/elbow from the top. Omigawa did turn it up and decided to take the fight to the ground himself, but it was too late. Unfortunately, for Omigawa, the decision wasn't based on how good you can escape out of bad positions.  Tavares controlled the pace of most of the fight and was awarded a deserved unanimous decision.

Tavares, to everyone's surprise, encounted a very resilient judo ground fighter that frustrated him by getting out of everything Tavares threw at him. But Tavares stuck with it and controlled the fight. He has stamina, excellent ground game and improving striking to jump back into the mix with the likes of Guida, Griffin, Pellegrino and Stevenson.

Omigawa was impressive in his ability to nullify one of the best ground games out there, but needs more tools and aggressiveness to try to do damage to his opponents. I'd like to see him back for another go if he improves his attacks.

Alberto Crane Vs. Kurt Pellegrino. I picked Pellegrino to win this fight because of his awesome showing against Joe Stevenson and because of Alberto Crane's poor showing against Roger Huerta. Crane almost ruined my winning pick by landing a nice shin kick right on Pellegrino's chin and dropping him first thing in the fight. Pellegrino showed a great recovery ability and was able to escape several submission attempts from Crane who was attacking non stop hoping to catch the staggered Pellegrino. After Pellegrino disengaged from the ground, it became very clear that his stand up was superior to Crane's. He began to stalk Crane and landing shots on his face. In the end Pellegrino landed a hard shot on Crane from standing position while Crane was on the bottom. The shot landed on his eye, he closed his eyes and covered up with his hands. Herb Dean jumped in to stop the fight. Crane complained a bit about an early stoppage, but it would not have changed the outcome, in my opinion, as Pellegrino was getting more aggresive and landing more and more shots with Crane not offering much in return.

Kurt Pellegrino is a tough fighter who showed tonight he could take a hard shot to the chin and recover quickly. May be he could face Tavares next?

Alberto Crane, unfortunately, while having world class jiu-jitsu ground game, still has a sub par standup and poor takedown abilities and not much hope for improvement. If he wants to continue fight, it should probably be in smaller shows like WEC and at a lower weight - 145lb.

Patrick Cote Vs. Drew McFedries. I picked Cote to win this fight and Cote really delivered. He didn't back down from the threat of possibly being caught with a KO punch from McFedries and pressed forward throwing kicks and combinations. McFedries looked too confident in his power and was too relaxed, which led him to let Cote get a rhythm going. McFedries cought Cote twice, but Cote, apparently, can take a hard punch. After the second time Cote got hit, he answered with a right hand/uppercut and a left hook to really hurt McFedries. To my surprise, especially because he is coming from Miletich camp, McFedries just put up his hands and dropped to the floor waiting for the referee to step in. He didn't event try to go for a takedown to try to recover there. Something didn't look right about that, especially him smiling right after the stop. Hope it's not a sign of lack of heart.

Cote is now on a 3 win streak and has been able to put his great tools, training with St. Pierre and a will to win together into a good combination. Can't wait to see him fight again, on the Montreal UFC card? I'm sure he would like that.  Also, just like his very successful training partner Georges St. Pierre, Cote was extremely respectful toward his opponent and was good on the mic.

But if Alessio Sakara (why is he still in UFC?!) keeps getting fights on ZERO merit and crappy ability, Drew McFedries should definately get another few fights because he has awesome power and comes from a good camp. Hopefully he can put his personal problems past him and come back better.

Mike Swick Vs. Josh Burkman. I picked Mike Swick to win this fight. He won the fight...while fighting probably one of the more disappointing "main events" of the numerous Ultimate Fight Nights.  I didn't write it here, but on some forums I predicted that both of these guys will not do good under pressure of being in the main event and unfortunately I was right. Swick's claim that one of the reason he was moving down to 170 was to bring an exciting striking style to 170 division fell flat on it's face.

Both Swick and Burkman were afraid of each other and engaged very little standing up, barring Burkman's 360 spinning round house kick attempt (big up on that, it looked cool, ala Shogun's attempt on Rampage) and Swick's occasional high kicks. Most of the fight was spend in viciously boring cycle of Burkman charging Swick to the fence, trying for a take down and Swick defending it every single time, rinse and repeat.

I can kind of understand Burkman's endless mindless unsuccessful attempts at the same damn takedown after same damn takedown, he's part of Team Punishment, right? They would rot and fester any fighter's creativity there and suppliment that with crappy cornermen advice. Burkman, you need to get out of there asap, go to Xtreme Couture Gym, you'll be inspired and get your warrior spirit and fight smarts back.

Swick gave excuses about being worried to much about same damn takedown he already defended 10+ times and not pushing with the striking because of that. He was just not ready for being a main event and a possiblity of losing, so he was too scared to make something happen with his striking. Too bad. UFC keeps pushing these The Ultimate Fighter TV Show fighters right into the deep waters. Both of the guys are good fighters and should really rethink this fight, talk to Tony Robbins and get back into it like Chuck Liddell did.

So, on the televised fights only, based on my picks from right before the event, I went 3-1. Not bad. I'll report later on how I did with the untelevised fights and what I thought about them as soon as I watch them.

Here I am again, posting picks minutes before the event.

Mike Swick Vs. Josh Burkman: picking Mike Swick because even if they both slug it out in the first, he's has some stamina to go on, unlike Burkman.

Patrick Cote Vs. Drew McFedries: I know McFedries punches like a mule, but I think Cote will pull this through by working on the fence and taking this into round 2 or 3.

Alvin Robinson Vs. Nate Diaz: I'll go for the underdog here and think Robinson will outwork Diaz.

Michihiro Omigawa Vs. Thiago Tavares:  Thiago Tavares has a very smooth ground game and some nice flying knees to go with that. This one will be over quick I'm thinking.

Alberto Crane Vs. Kurt Pellegrino: Alberto Crane may be an amazing BJJ guy, but getting punched while he's working his ground game hasn't gone well for him recently. Pellegrino is good enough on the ground to fend Crane off while repeatedly punching him. Whoever gases first will lose this one. I'm thinking Crane will gas first, so Pellegrino is my pick.

Dennis Siver Vs. Gray Maynard: Gray Maynard should have picked up a tonn of good stuff at Xtreme Couture's to beat just about anybody, including Siver tonight.

Jeremy Stephens Vs. Cole Miller: Jeremy Stephens faced tougher competition and his experience should help him through this fight with Miller. Though Miller's been training with American Top Team, another kickass camp in US. Stephens beat Saraiva fromt he same camp though... Ya, I'm sure it'll be Stephens.

Joe Veres Vs. Corey Hill: A foot difference in height should handily help Corey Hill pick up a win over Veres

Justin Buchholz Vs. Matt Wiman: Wiman's lack of stricking will cost him in this one, picking Buchholz