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You may have missed their name, as there’s a lot of competition out there — but Black Eagle has been an online distributor for martial arts gear for the UK and beyond since 2005. If you check out their website, you’ll find they a variety of products for your Mixed Martial Arts and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu needs, whether it’s Gi or No Gi — including rash guards and grappling pants. I’ll admit, I can’t say I’ve tried any of their products before this one.

But, after checking out their Black Eagle Raptor Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu gi, I can say they’ve got a new loyal customer.

Just taking this gi out of the package I could tell it was quality — great stitch work, a very nice feel to it. The look of this gi is a little flashy, and definitely geared more towards a younger BJJ practitioner.

I received the black Raptor gi in a A2. I am 5′10″ and can weigh in anywhere between 135 lbs and 155 lbs. Since I have long limbs for such a thin person, I have had problems in the past with gi’s fitting me well. For example, a Vulkan was too loose around the legs (the collar was uncomfortable too). The fit of this Raptor Gi is amazing on me.

Examining the Gi I could tell right away that this is a Gi that can stay in rotation, and make it through years of training.

My initial concern of a receiving a black gi is how much the color will fade after a few rounds in the washer. But I washed the gi three times last week and gave it a round in the dryer, and the color looks just as good as when I took it out of the package. The gi barely shrunk, too. After a wash and round in the dryer the Gi fit perfectly.

The jacket has a rash guard lining, which may be a little hot for summer training in Texas but definitely great for fall and winter training. Of course, in the winter, the lining could definitely be a upside to the top.

The lining does give a good feel, providing extra protection during hard training. The lapel is very nicely constructed, with a nice and thick, stiff feel. Your opponent has to have a good grip to get a hold of this thing.

The pants are what I was most impressed with. As I said before, the cut and fit is perfect on me. No baggy crotch area. A good weight to them, especially for the heavy duty 100% cotton that they are constructed out of. Like the lapel, your opponent has to have a solid grip to get (and keep) a hold of these pants. A lazy grip will not work on these.

Overall I have no complaints about the Gi. I was very impressed from the time I pulled it out of the package to the time I stepped off the mats. This is the first Black Eagle product I have owned — but it won’t be the last.

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Pictured: The poster for tonight’s Light Heavyweight showdown.

Tito Ortiz is, indeed, back. Going into his fight with Ryan Bader last month everyone expected the Huntington Beach Bad Boy to be resoundingly beaten and cut from the UFC, but Mr. Ortiz had other ideas. After his stunning upset of Bader, Tito was called in on short notice to face Rashad Evans in what was, before Phil Davis withdrew, a #1 contender fight, with the winner getting the victor of Jones/Rampage. But with Tito’s imposition on the main event, does it somewhat decrease the legitimacy of Evans’ contendership? And, if Tito were to win, should he get a shot at dethroning Jon Jones?

All interesting questions, and there answers hinge on what happens tonight at the Wells Fargo Arena. Tommy Hackett (TH) joins me (JL) in taking a stab at what might go down, though you should only bet on our musings at your own peril.

Main Event Light Heavyweight Bout: Rashad Evans (17-1-1) vs. Tito Ortiz (16-8-1)

TH: I was excited about last week’s Strikeforce event which ended up so-so, so… maybe so-so bouts like this one will surprise. I’ve been high on Evans’ potential since seeing him on TUF2, and he’s developed nicely — with big wins over Quinton Jackson and Chuck Liddell adding some glamour to his record in recent years. Take away that guillotine over Ryan Bader, and Ortiz hasn’t scored a win over an elite opponent in about ten years — and those were split decisions (over Vitor Belfort and Forrest Griffin). But you can’t take that win away from him — so here we are. Look for Evans to emerge as the more skilled boxer and wrestler here, but Ortiz to show the guile to survive all three rounds. Evans doesn’t damage enough on the ground to stop Ortiz, but does enough to take a unanimous decision.

JL: This is a rematch of their fight at UFC 73 that ended in a draw after Ortiz had a point deducted for grabbing the fence. If that point hadn’t been deducted, Ortiz’s much publicised five winless years would have ended after one, Evans would have lost his undefeated record two years early and, well, who knows what the top of the 205lbs division would look like today. It is clear that Ortiz could have beaten Evans four years ago, but the question is what Father Time has done to both fighters - has Evans improved sufficiently, and Ortiz decayed suitably, for the opposite result to be true this time around? I think so, and, though, like a sentimental fool I will undoubtedly be cheering for Tito to get that ‘one last shot’ when the fight rolls round, my head tells me that Evans will grind out a decision victory.

TH: Akiyama has, incredibly, earned fight of the night honors in every fight of his UFC career, and I’m expecting the same tonight. Unfortunately, he arguably lost each of those bouts — and sadly, I’m expecting the same thing to happen tonight. Watch Akiyama to keep the pace up — but end up lit up — as the larger and superior boxer in Belfort’s finds his mark with straight lefts. Belfort will eventually finish with strikes in round two.

JL: As Tommy points out, Akiyama has been very exciting for his whole UFC career thus far, but, unfortunately, he has never looked, you know, good. Certainly not on the same level as Belfort, who carried out the most brutal destruction of Rich Franklin since Anderson Silva taught him how effective a Muay-Thai clinch can be. Conversely, Akiyama only holds one controversial victory over Alan Belcher in the world’s premier MMA company, with losses coming to the likes of Chris Leben and Michael Bisping. Look for Belfort to outclass Akiyama en route to a TKO victory.

TH: This may be a sleeper — two guys with nearly sixty MMA wins via submission between them that I can confirm, and probably more. But former D1 wrestler Ebersole has also proved to be vulnerable to submissions, and Hallman is among the MMA world’s best on the ground. He’ll take some strikes for it, but I like Hallman to eventually position Ebersole into an armbar, round three.

JL: Certainly an entertaining fight in prospect here, if only in the fact that we’ll get to see if Ebersole has been at any more entertaining man-scaping in recent times. I like the adopted Aussie here - his victory over Chris Lytle, who I consider to be Hallman’s superior at this point in history - shows him to be a very competent fighter. Hallman was one of the best, no doubt, but that bird has flown and Ebersole will continue his massacre of the UFC old boys with a unanimous decision win.

TH: Rivera’s been in with some of the best and generally made a good showing, while Philippou has made it to UFC twice now due to other fighters getting injured. Nothing against the guy, but I just don’t have much to say about this pairing. Rivera will find Philippou with his long jab, and eventually drop him for a round 1 TKO.

JL: Another product of the injury bug that has well and truly bitten this card (every main card fight was effected in some way), this is one of the few that has created a pretty mediocre fight. The originally booked fight between Alessio Sakara and Rivera would have been fun, but this just seems one sided - look for Rivera to beat Philippou up en route to a stoppage on strikes in the first round.

TH: Two very similar fighters here, but with the dominant win over Nate Diaz fresh in my memory, I think MacDonald is just a bit better all-around. Look for MacDonald to dominate takedowns and strikes here and notch a decision win.

JL: The UFC should know better than to put hot prospects in with Mike Pyle by now; the guy has already killed the momentum of John Hathaway and Dan Hornbuckle in recent years. Anyway, I think MacDonald is a cut above both those guys and with his new nickname (Aries) in tow following the absolute demolition of Nate Diaz, (featuring several huge slams) I expect the young Canadian to dominate on his way to a career making decision win.

TOTAL-MMA PICKS: MACDONALD, 2-0

Every single prelim is available to watch live tonight, with the first four on Facebook, featuring former Featherweight kingpin Mike Brown fighting Nam Phan, and the next two on Spike, where Swedish prospect Alexander Gustaffson looks to get a victory against Matt Hamill at Light Heavyweight. As always, enjoy the fights!

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Pictured: The poster for tonight’s event.

As Ajit promised here, here’s some more of the Total-MMA staff with their picks ahead of tonight’s fights in Hoffman Estate, IL, which goes out live on Showtime. And it’s a strong show too - lead off by a clash of PRIDE legends; as former Heavyweight champ and the man frequently mentioned as the MMA GOAT, Fedor Emelianenko, tries to get back to winning ways against the only man to hold titles in two weight classes at the same time in a major MMA promotion, Dan Henderson. But the fun doesn’t stop there folks, as a pair of Welterweight title eliminators featuring wild sluggers Paul Daley and Scott Smith pitted against hot prospects Tyron Woodley and Tarec Saffiedine round out the undercard — which also sees top Middleweights Robbie Lawler and Tim Kennedy clash. And to top it all off we have a women’s Welterweight (135lbs) title fight between Golden Glory’s Marloes Coenen and the lovely Miesha Tate.

Providing picks are myself (JL) and our erstwhile editor Tommy Hackett (TH). Remember this is all in the spirit of fun, our picks are by no means surety that anything like what we predict will go down. Remember that before you bet the kid’s college fund.

Main Event Heavyweight Bout: Fedor Emelianenko (31-3, 1NC) vs. Dan Henderson (27-8)

TH: It’s always a pleasure to watch two MMA legends fight it out — perhaps MMA’s greatest ever in Fedor and a perennial contender in Henderson. At least, it should be a pleasure. But the saddest fights to write about are the ones where we must ask who has what left — especially when you’re approaching 40 and finding yourself spending more money on vitamins than beer on any given month. True story.

It’s no secret I’m a longtime fan of Fedor’s quietly respectful approach to the fight game, as I described in this article among others, but he’s looked listless in recent years, from his poor performance in the guard of Fabricio Werdum to his body language prior to the Antonio Silva debacle. His only motivation seems to help the M-1 brand along, and it just hasn’t been enough lately. Henderson on the other hand still looks confident, still moves well and can still threaten with a good right hand. I hope I’m wrong — but I’m picking Henderson to out-quick and outwork Fedor to earn the upset decision.

JL: I must agree with Tommy here - if you just watch the fight and forget that these are two of the best Mixed Martial Artists of the 00’s, then this’ll be great fun, but remember who they are and how far they - particularly Fedor- have fallen, then this becomes a little less fun. Nevertheless, we have two very evenly matched fighters here - both have backgrounds in traditional grappling - Hendo in Greco-Roman, Fedor in Judo and Sambo - who prefer to strike, relying on their iron chins and rocket-powered hands. While Fedor hasn’t looked particularly great lately, in this fight he has the size advantage and has a weighed in a good 10lbs down on his normal, chubby haunt of 233lbs. He looked in shape and fired up at the weigh ins, while Hendo, as he has for the past few years, appears to be taking a relatively laid back approach to proceedings. For that reason I see the bigger Fedor outworking Henderson after Hendo gases early (as he did against Jake Shields) and taking the decision.

TH: This is a great match — basically, even money, and should be a great exhibition of skill from both. Holland’s Coenan has an advantage on the feet, but only by a little, and is very dangerous on the ground but I can see the American Tate being able to control with her wrestling more often than not. As in the main event, I see this going the distance in favor of the fighter with roots in Washington State. (Yep, true story. Henderson is from California, but he’s of Walla Walla Indian descent, so I say we can claim him. Bow down to Washington!) Tate by decision.

JL: I think Tommy said it all there - minus his rambling about some dull sounding place called Washington ( ) - Tate has the wrestling and submission defense to control the fight and the cardio to keep doing so. I’ll also take Tate via a dominant decision.

TH: This month’s Muscle and Fitness Magazine cover boy Tim Kennedy (yep, like I said, got to take those vitamins — click here to check him out, true story) is just a shade better all-around than the opposition here. Expect him to run about even in the standup until getting Lawler down and beating him up. Robbie Lawler has brawled his way to victory over MMA’s second tier for the last ten years or so, but has come up short against the best. I see Kennedy among the best, so this pick isn’t so difficult. Kennedy by Mata-Leão, round three.

JL: Ah, Robbie Lawler. The guy is a great battler, no doubt, but the sad fact is that he’s also a perpetual dissapointment - hid potential was off the charts, and yet he’s become nothing more than a veteran brawler who gives his all but very rarely shows the world-beating quality we saw glimpses of in his early career. His opponent, former Green Beret Tim Kennedy is the opposite - he’s never a guy that’s looked like a top, top fighter, but through hard graft and determination he’s secured a berth in most MMA sites’ Top 15 rankings, and in some Top 10’s. And his fine all-round game will prove too much for another fighter here as he marches on towards a rematch with Strikeforce Middleweight kingpin Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza. I can’t see him finishing the undeniably tough Lawler, so I’ll take Kennedy via decision.

TH: I don’t like this fight. Woodley has just good enough wrestling to keep this fight where he wants it, but unlike Miesha Tate, he won’t stay busy enough from the top to keep the fight interesting. Unlike Merloes Coenen, Daley isn’t terribly skilled off his back and that’s where he’ll be here. So, the fans will find themselves bored while Woodley will finds a decision victory.

JL: What Tommy says is true - this could become a grinding decision victory, but it’s my turn for patriotism to take hold - many, many people have predicted that they will be able to control Paul Daley only to be decapitated by the lethal left hook which so few people see coming. After two rounds of dominating top control, look for former collegiate standout Woodley to get cocky and get knocked into the middle of next month as Daley takes the big KO victory.

TH: Smith will always have a place in the hearts of MMA fans, having recorded some memorable knockouts, particularly that come-from-behind win against Pete Sell. It was much more dramatic, and a better example of technique, than Cheik Kongo’s recent awkward win over Pat Barry, to which it’s often compared. He’s not a guy I feel comfortable picking against a rising prospect like Saffiedine. Without need to worry about takedowns as against Tyrone Woodley — I like Saffiedine to dictate the pace and outwork Smith on the feet. Saffiedine, T/KO 2.

JL: Belgium’s premier Mixed Martial Artist tries to recover his career here after dropping a decision to Woodley earlier this year against veteran brawler Smith. Unfortunately for Smith, Saffiedine is just a better, more well rounded version of him - his background in the unusual karate discipline of Shihaishinkai that adds Judo’s throws and basic ground fighting to original karate techniques and is a superb background for any MMA fighter. Look for Saffiedine to outfight and outwork the older Smith en route to a third round submission victory.

TOTAl-MMA PICKS: SAFFIEDINE, 2-0

The undercard is sadly unavailable for live viewing this time around, though it’ll be intersting to hear how Lightweight veteran Gesias Cavalcante fares as he takes on prospect Bobby Green. As always, enjoy the fights.

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After a month’s absence it feels good to start writing again! And since I’ve been away, there has been an incredible amount of fighters withdrawing from their scheduled bouts. One of the most shocking is Alistair Overeem. When the word first got out, rumors went about saying Overeem did something to be pulled out of the tournament and he is on thin ice with Zuffa. It appears, however, that he pulled out due to a toe injury, and will now be replaced by Daniel Cormier. It will be very interesting to see how DC steps up to fighting “Bigfoot” Silva and have a shot at winning the Strikeforce GP. Shotime demanded that the event be held September 10, and Overeem did not feel he would be ready in time.

But September 10 still feels ages away, and there is an interesting card this weekend. There are a few fights that interest me more than the others, so I’ll go through them and give my breakdown.

Paul Daley vs Tyron Woodley-
Two top contenders in SF will go at it this weekend, both of them looking for a shot at the title. Woodley has amazing wrestling and is looking unstoppable in Strikeforce, pulling together a perfect 8-0 record. In his last fight with Tarec Saffiedine, Woodley was able to use his wrestling to keep the fight where he wanted it-anywhere but in striking range. Daley’s wrestling is…not so great, to put it lightly. I do not think it would surprise anyone if Woodley looked to take down Daley from the beginning of the fight. Daley has big power in his hands, and fast, crisp combinations at his disposal, but it will be interesting to see how he takes advantage of that before Woodley can begin his takedown attempts.

Meisha Tate vs Marloes Coenen-
A fight that should have taken place a while ago will now be the co-main event this Saturday night when these two women battle for the Women’s Welterweight strap. Tate has expressed her interest in taking this fight to the ground, especially considering the way Coenen’s last fight went. Liz Caramouche was able to mount Coenen repeatedly and work some great ground and pound. With a triangle in the 4th round, Coenen was able to win the fight and keep her title, but only after exposing a flaw in her game. Meisha “takedown” Tate will no doubt be using her wrestling and ground and pound to take out Coenen, but this is a dangerous gameplan against a submission specialist as good as Marloes.

Dan Henderson vs Fedor Emelianenko-
Two legends from Pride will square off this weekend in a fight that has been heavily anticipated since the rumors began earlier this year. After his 2nd loss in a row to “Bigfoot” Silva, Fedor began contemplating a move to LHW, and his fans backed his decision. Well, “The Last Emperor” will be facing a Light Heavyweight, but it will be in the heavyweight division (although Hendo has plans to weigh in at the smalles possible weight.) Both men have incredible chins, huge power, and insane right hands. I see this fight being a 3 round war, and not even the H-bomb or Fedor’s lethal right hand earning either man a KO/TKO win because of the tough chins at play and lack of cutting weight.

Check back Friday for a full list of predictions from the staff here at http://www.total-mma.com!

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Fight Card #1: Strikeforce Challengers: Fodor vs. Terry (Friday 24th June, Showtime)

Zuffa’s first offering for the weekend is a very solid Showtime card featuring a number of very interesting prospects. Though we have lost Antwain Britt’s anticipated clash with Danillo Villefort, there is still some very strong action on offer, with Ryan (son of Randy) Couture and Jason High in action. Lorenz Larkin, who looked extrememly impressive in his promotional debut a couple of months back is also fighting, taking on hotly tipped Light Heavyweight prospect Gian Villante, last seen getting beaten up by Chad Griggs in a Heavyweight Grand Prix reserve bout.

The main event, however, features two exciting 155ers as Matt Hume trained Caros Fodor (10-3, 3-0 SF) takes on a collegiate wrestler now training under Cung Le in James Terry (10-2, 5-1 SF). This has the potential to be a very exciting fight - both men are supremely well conditioned and both have considerable upside. However, Terry has superior experience at this level and his background is superior to Fodor’s. Look for Terry to bully Fodor all the way around the cage en route to a TKO victory.

Fight Card #2: K-1 MAX 2011 -63kg Japan Tournament Final (Sunday 26th June, K-1 Website)

Fancy something a little more oriental and late night for your MMA fix? Our striking-only friends in Japan have you covered as K-1 makes its return after an extended hiatus brought on by the Earthquake Tragedy (Donate!) with a very exciting card. This one lacks a defined main event as the last fight of the night will be the final of the titular 8 man tourney. Foremost amongst the entrants in said tournament are rising star Hiroya, reigning champ Tetsuya Yamato and last year’s finalist Yuta Kubo. This is scheduled to start in the early hours for you Yanks, but if you watch the show you taped on Friday night after finishing your viewing of the other, it should take you right up to the K-1 start time. There’s your Saturday planned, folks.

Fight Card #3: Bellator 46 (Saturday June 25th, MTV2)

Bellator kicks off its 3 event summer series in Hollywood Florida with a card filled up by the first round of a Featherweight tournament featuring some highly rated fighters. Foremost amongst these is former Sengoku champion Marlon Sandro and one of the top young fighters to hail from the United Kingdom in a while in Ronnie Mann, a former Cage Gladiators champ.

However, main billing will surely go to the promotional debut of Season #2 Lightweight tournament winner Pat Curran (13-4, 3-1 Bellator) at Featherweight against Peruvian veteran Luis Palomino (16-6, 3-2 Bellator). These two are even in terms of experience, but Curran holds a notable advantage in one category - wrestling. Expect him to use it to control the fight and grind out Palomino via unanimous decision.

Fight Card #4: UFC Live: Marquardt vs. Story (Saturday 25th June, Versus)

Clearly the most stacked card of the weekend, this latest free offering from the UFC has a top-to-bottom exciting card, with the prelim portion being shown live on Facebook, and with the talents of former UFC title competitors Tyson Griffin, Joe Stevenson and Manny Gamburyan all in action there. On the main card, Matt Mitrione continues his undefeated odysey through the Heavyweight division clashing with Christian Morecraft, John Howard looks to overcome his beatdown loss to Thiago Alves against Matt Brown and Pat Barry tries to build upon the momentum of his victory over Joey Beltran against Chieck Kongo.

The featured fight is the first for Nate Marquardt (31-10-2, 10-4 UFC) at Welterweight, and the former Middleweight King of Pancrase won’t have it easy against rising star Rick Story (13-3, 6-1 UFC). Story is coming off his huge breakout victory against Thiago Alves, and in the fight showed good conditioning and a very well rounded game grounded in his top notch wrestling to grind out the perenial contender. And these are tools Marquardt may not have an answer for - the cut to Welterweight is a huge one for him and could wreak havoc on his conditioning - and he has struggled in the past against strong wrestlers - see the Chael Sonnen fight. Look former Oregon man to continue his increasingly exciting Story with a dominating victory over Nate the Great.

Have a good, MMA packed weekend and as always, enjoy the fights.

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Pictured: The poster for tonight’s event, featuring non-competitor Gina Carano.

Another weekend, another thrilling card produced by our friends at Zuffa. Once again this strong offering is headlined by, in my opinion, the most enthralling Heavyweight contest all year in the rematch between K-1 World Grand Prix Champ Alistair Overeem and two time ADCC Heavyweight winner Fabricio Werdum. And it’s got some nice support, too - everyone’s favourite pantomime villain Josh Barnett has his first fight stateside in two and a half years against the always entertaining Brett Rogers, and MMA’s best lightweight boxer KJ Noons will also see action against Jorge Masvidal. All in all, there’s plenty of entertainment to be had, and, with the whole prelim card (featuring former Top 10 Lightweight Gesias ‘JZ’ Cavalcante) airing live on HDNet, this is a whole evening’s entertainment available for free that could easily be marketed by the UFC as a pay-per-view. Join us after the jump as the Total-MMA staff offer their tuppence on the card.

Picks are by Ajit Punj (AP), George Do (GD) and Shangalla Bass (SB). Remember not to come crying to us when you follow their advice and bet on the wrong man mountain!

Main Event Heavyweight Grand Prix Bout: Alistair Overeem (34-11 1NC) vs. Fabricio Werdum (14-4-1)

AP: Finally, the wait is over and we get to see this fight. Things have changed a lot since Werdum tapped Overeem with a Kimura. Both men have increased their skill set, and (obviously) Ubereem has gotten a lot bigger. I really don’t see this fight moving past the first round. Werdum’s standup has gotten a lot better, but I still see Overeem winning a way similar to JDS vs Werdum. If Werdum can bring it to the ground, Overeem has a good ground game, and can work away from submissions and keep the fight standing, where he has a clear advantage. My pick is Overeem via KO in the first.

GD: This one is tough. Overeem has been beasting it these couple of years, but he’s not fought top competition in MMA. Being K-1 Champ is a pretty big deal, but less so against Werdum because he’s looking to bring it to the floor. Werdum’s coming off a big win (that broke my heart), but he hasn’t fought in a year. There are just so many unknowns in this fight that it makes it pretty hard to predict with any certainty. The way I’m thinking about it, Overeem can survive with Werdum on the ground better than Werdum can survive with Overeem on the feet - and not only that, every round begins standing. Just because of that, I’ll go with Overeem TKO in Round 2.

SB: It’s been sold ” best heavyweight striker vs best heavyweight BJJ practitioner”. Eeeeeexqueeze me? As the wise, yet hairy and psychotic man once said before killing a bunch of mobsters in the most underrated Irish mobster movie ever — what the fraging frag frag? In this tournament alone, Arlovski and Emelianenko are a mile above and beyond Overeem when it comes to MMA striking. Guys like Carwin or Dos Santos would rip him apart like a pitbull doing a dance of love with a new chew toy. Now Werdum–he impresses the crap out of me. Especially after his fight against Emelianenko.

Let’s look at the facts. Overreem is huge,carries more muscle than anyone in Strikeforce, has great knees and explosiveness. On the downside — a kickboxer, he is way too used to hiding behind huge boxing gloves and has no footwork whatsoever. He is also used to standing and exchanging punches with a guy much smaller than him, and I don’t think I’ve seen him do well against a really good MMA striker. Not a kickboxer, but an honest-to-God MMA striker. Like that damned Dos Santos — I am a bit miffed at him going against my prediction and beating Carwin but I am so damn impressed by his skills. “Werdoom” has beaten Overeem before — granted,that was four years ago and Overeem was thirty pounds lighter. He also will not be impressed by all the hype here — it didn’t stop him against Emelianenko either. I always go with strikers — nothing like watching guy (who isn’t me) getting punched in the face — but in this case I’ll go with Werdum, submission round two. By the way, I have a suggestion for a Werdum for an easy win here. Have one of his corner guys bring out a full size mirror in the middle of the first round. Then when Overeem is distracted by his own reflection and starts posing bodybuilder style Werdum should hit him in the head. Just a suggestion. (Editor’s note - Ouch. Overeem was obviously genetically engineered to get right at Shanga’s girlfriend…)

TOTAL-MMA PICKS: OVEREEM, 2-1

AP: This is the third bout in the heavyweight GP, and it should be exciting. Barnett had some troubles leading up to this fight, but they should not affect him this weekend. Rogers took it to Fedor in round 1 of their fight, and seemed to be a top heavyweight during his run in Strikeforce. Overeem ragdolled him in their fight, and I see Barnett doing the same and securing a submission win in the first.

GD: I’m a huge Josh Barnett fan. I was angry of course, after he singlehandedly brought down Affliction and cost Fedor a good three or four months (at least) of his career. But he’s slowly won me back over with his bizarre mix of tough guy attitude and sharp wit. Skillwise, Barnett is leaps and bounds above Rogers. Unless Barnett has aged significantly since his last fight (and he’s not even that old, despite the introduction of facial hair), Rogers has a punchers chance at best. I’ll take Barnett by submission in the second.

SB: Bartnett — great power,very experienced grappler — just a very experienced fighter. Downside — I can’t recall anyone he fought against and won who is worth mentioning. He is barely ever in shape and judging by his interviews is overlooking Rogers big time. Plus,seriously,how does a guy with the build of a professional Yatsee player gets caught juicing ? Not once, either. When Sean Sherk got nabbed — well, I can see that but this dude? Really? That aside I don’t have all that much to say about Rogers. He’s aggressive and has a great knock out power. But who gives a damn — he’s got a Mohawk and looks like the black “collections specialist” from “Pineapple Express”. And since I sport same fashionable hairstyle myself and dubbed in the same line of work as a kid — Rogers all the flipping way, T/KO round 3. Good thing I don’t have any money to bet — getting way too emotional in these choices. (Editor’s Note: I hate to pick on Shanga but for those who are going to put money on this fight, Barnett does in fact hold victories over a prime Randy Couture, prime Mark Hunt, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Hidehiko Yoshida.)

TOTAL-MMA PICKS: BARNETT, 2-1

AP: KJ Noons has fought some tough opponents in Strikeforce, including jumping up a weight class and taking it to Nick Diaz, and is looking to make a name for himself by earning a title shot with his win this Saturday. I see Noons standing with Masvidal and using his professional boxing credentials to beat Masvidal standing and earn himself a T/KO win in the second.

GD: This is another tough fight for me to predict, mainly because I haven’t really seen Masvidal fight that many times. As far as I can gather, both guys are excellent boxers (by MMA standards) who have decent power. As far as I’m concerned, in the MMA world, very few fighters have boxing as good as KJ Noons. I’ll opt to go with the known commodity, especially since he’s gotten a haircut now (and won’t spend half the fight flicking his hair back with his hand). KJ Noons by a close-ish decision.

SB: This one right here might be the most fun fight of the night. Not to take anything away from Overeem’s manboobs or Snowball’s tatoos but these guys can strike, will strike and most likely will do a lot of striking. Not to be repetitive but there will be a lock of striking here. Anyone who saw Noons fight Diaz knows just how good this guy is. Great timing, relaxed and very technical boxing; he’s a true counter-puncher. Plus — he is so damn dreamy.As a matter of fact I am going to call him K.J. McDreamy from now on. Anyhoo — can’t hate a guy for being good looking but got to take that into account as additional motivation for Jorge Masdival to rearrange his face. I was going to go with Masdival on this one until I heard some of his interviews. If I see this guy blow another kiss to the camera I’ll have to get off my flabby ass and start training so I can kick his butt myself.

KJ Mcdreamy (Noons) for a decision win on this one. Skill-wise it’s pretty close to a toss up — neither one is too spectacular — I just don’t like the guy. I’m a hateful bastard — what can I do?

TOTAL-MMA PICKS: NOONS, 3-0

AP: Daniel Cormier has a lot of hype behind him, and has great credentials for MMA. His transitions are very fluid, from grappling and wrestling to striking, and he always has his opponents on their toes. Monson is a great opponent for a step up in competition for DC, but I see Cormier using his superior wrestling and winning by UD.

GD: I know that there are loads of submissions on his record, but for some reason, Jeff Monson has never struck me as an outstanding MMA grappler; and a top game type of guy more than someone who can work submissions from the bottom. I haven’t seen him fight that many times but it would appear Monson is shit out of luck in this fight — because Daniel Cormier has the luxury of fighting wherever he wants in this one. More often than not, the guy who controls where the fight takes place is the guy who wins the fight. As such, I have Cormier by decision.

SB: Damn there are a lot of heavyweights here. I’d hate to be an owner of an all you can eat place anywhere in the vicinity. “Snowball” Monson is a 5′9 tall (and five feet wide) 240 pounds of inkwork covered up to his mirror polished dome capitalism fighting machine. If he takes a few months off fighting the evil oil cabal and the Templar/Illuminati alien invasion force he just might get his career back in gear by taking on Daniel Cormier, an Olympic wrestler with a 7-0 record. But then again — this guy’s been around for 20 years and his stand up skills are still as bad as anyone’s in pro mma. I mean seriously — if guys like Hammill can go from a wrestler who didn’t know how to throw a punch to a knock out artist in three years — what’s the excuse? Simply not acceptable. On the other hand Cormier has no stand up to speak off as well, pretty much we’re seeing Monson fighting himself from 15 years ago plus an extra 20 pounds of gut weight. I think Monson’s experience will take the day in a decision victory as long as he can weather the first couple of minutes of Cormier’s attack.

TOTAL-MMA PICKS: CORMIER, 2-1

AP: Griggs is riding a two win streak over Lashley and Gian Villante after being signed to strikeforce to be an easy opponant for Lashley. Valentijn is also riding a three fight win streak over some not-so-credible opponents, the latest being kickboxer Ray Sefo who tapped out as soon as the fight reached the ground. Overeem has a well rounded game, but hasn’t been very consistent in his fights, and I see Griggs winning by TKO in the second.

GD: Is it awful of me that I violently what Chad Griggs to lose? Beating Lashley is one thing, but this guy comes out of nowhere, with his big heart and complete lack of skill, and takes out someone who was regarded as a decent prospect? I feel like it makes a mockery of technique. And there’s nothing that I love more about MMA than good technique. That’s why I hate Chad Griggs. Hopefully a vet like OlderReem can put an end to Grigg’s improbable run to televised fight status. My loathing for Chad Griggs and all he represents compels me to pick Valentijn Overeem. I’m thinking submission in the 1st round.

SB: Alistair’s less annoying, less talented brother with 29-25 record comes back after a lay off, to face an always game Griggs. Griggs might not have that much skill, or muscle, or talent; but he fights like a hungry bulldog — everything on the line against anyone they’ll put in front of him. His record is not too bad lately — his win against Lashley and Villante gave him some needed experience and confidence. Plus he’s got those “sideburns of doom” on his side. How do you go against that? I am gonna go with Griggs — unless his aggressiveness makes him careless and drives him into a submission we should see “Overeem Lite” losing the fight on a decision.

TOTAL-MMA PICKS: GRIGGS 2-1

That concludes our picks, but here’s a reminder to tune in for the prelim card on HDNet before switching to Showtime for the main broadcast - fights of interest in the prelims include Gesias ‘JZ’ Cavalcante facing top prospect Justin Wilcox and 11-1 BJJ Black Belt Magno Almeida taking on Conor Heun in his Strikeforce debut. Enjoy the fights!

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After a rather long layoff caused by internet problems, graduation, and a two week trip to South America, I’m back spouting MMA related nonsense once again.

This week, I’ll be examining what I feel is a common double standard amongst MMA fans and media. It seems to me that Josh Barnett gets an undue amount of hate from all corners of the MMA world. The majority of this negative emotion supposedly stems from the fact that Barnett has been caught using steroids. But the truth is, there is a laundry list of MMA fighters who have been caught - and not one of those guys is the target of such scorn as Mr. Barnett.

Here is a list of well known fighters who have been caught (or admitted to) using steroids:

Tim Sylvia
Nate Marquardt
Vitor Belfort
Stephan Bonnar
Royce Gracie
Phil Baroni
Sean Sherk
Hermes Franca
Dennis Hallman
Antonio Silva
Chris Leben
Ken Shamrock
Chael Sonnen (R)
James Irvin
Thiago Silva
Jeff Monson (never caught, but admitted it)

(Source: http://www.cagepotato.com/mma-steroid-busts-definitive-timeline/)

That list is quite extensive. I hold the position that if you’re going to be outraged at Barnett, then be outraged at every fighter on that list. Yes, some of these cases have extenuating circumstances - Antonio Silva, for example, apparently needs to take steroids because he is some sort of mutant. Nevertheless, knowingly or unknowingly, each of the fighters in the list above has broken the rules laid down by the athletic commission and probably derived some sort of advantage from breaking those rules. Yes, Barnett has been caught three times, but as far as I’m concerned, a cheat is a cheat is a cheat. It doesn’t matter if a husband breaks his vows once or thrice, he’s still an adulterer. The same applies to this.

I also hear some people saying that it’s not the fact that he used steroids, it’s the fact that he’s so unapologetic about the whole thing. I find this line of argument hilarious. Let’s suppose that Chris Leben, or Hermes Franca, or any of these guys hadn’t been caught. You think they would still be apologetic? Or do you think they’d still be injecting themselves? Roided up athletes are never really sorry that they used - they are only sorry that they got caught. That’s why they are only ever ‘apologetic’ after pissing hot.

Last but not least, there are the people who insinuate that Barnett is a ‘bad person’ because he roided. This argument makes the least sense. As far as I can see, Barnett is an approachable, intelligent, and sometimes hilarious man. Whilst cheating is bad, one (or two, or three) bad acts in a lifetime don’t necessarily make a bad person. Sometimes I feel like if Barnett started acting like a lunatic, people be more sympathetic. God knows it’s worked for Chael Sonnen (R), who, despite having been caught for steroids as well as mortgage fraud, seems to be popular with the fans because he’s entertaining and “has issues”.

Basically, what I’m trying to say is, if you hate on Josh Barnett, but you don’t hate on other steroid offenders, just be honest with yourself. You don’t hate him because of the roids. The roids are just an easy excuse for you to hate him. I’ll admit it myself - when I was denied the chance to see him face off against Fedor, I was livid. But I wasn’t mad because he got caught roiding. I was mad because I didn’t get to see what would’ve been an epic fight.

So stop hatin on Josh Barnetto. And on the off chance that you can’t let go of your hate, at least be honest about it. You don’t hate him for roiding. Maybe you hate him because he’s got a baby face that can also grow a beard. Maybe you hate him because he knows a thousand different suplexes. You might hate him for a thousand different reasons, but unless you also hate Sean Sherk, Chris Leben, Royce Gracie and Vitor Belfort, you don’t hate him for roids.

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Pictured:14 OZ Combat Sport Intl Muay Thai gloves from www.mmahq.com.

I was fortunate enough to get a pair of Combat Sport Intl Muay Thai gloves from www.mmahq.com to write a review for. After using them for 3 days, I could not be happier with these gloves. As a background, I used these gloves for 2 hours every night for sparring, hitting a heavy bag, and hitting Thai pads. For me with medium sized hands, the gloves fit very well, there is no extra room and not overly tight around your hands. The fit of the gloves allows for more precise striking. There is padding all around the glove that protects your hands on every strike, even near the palms. I was also able to test out the gloves on the other side and received a few strikes with them on. The padding was stiff, but had enough give as the strikes landed. There was also great wrist support, although I would still recommend wrapping your hands if you were to use these heavily. The Velcro strap that secures the glove is thick so you can grab it and tighten/release it even with your other hand gloved, and the Velcro is very secure and stays in the position you strap it to.

One slight drawback to these gloves is that they felt slightly lighter than 14 OZ. Usually I use 14 OZ gloves, and by comparison these gloves felt slightly lighter.

After 3 days of use, the gloves held up well and felt brand new every time I put them on. They seem to have enough ventilation as I left them in my garage after using them, and by the next day they were dry and ready to go again. Overall I would highly recommend these gloves to anyone who needed training/sparring gloves. They are sturdy, fit well, and seem like they will hold up well for a long period of time, allowing you to get your money’s worth.

Be sure to check out www.mmahq.com for great daily deals, and their newest venture, www.bjjhq.com for daily deals on Jiu-Jitsu gear.

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Pictured: Junior dos Santos and Shane Carwin staredown at last night’s weigh ins in Vancouver, Canada.

Zuffa’s summer deluge continues tonight as two top 5 heavyweights clash for the honour of facing Cain Velasquez in the autumn. And that’s just the main event, as this is one of the strongest cards of the summer, despite the best efforts of an injury bugbear that saw changes to no less than 8 of the 11 fights presented tonight. And every single one of the fights will be available live, on Facebook from 5:50 ET, Spike and Rogers Sportsnet from 8 ET with the PPV taking over at 9. This is probably the second best card we’ve seen thus far this year, with fireworks up and down the order and stars like Michihiro Omigawa and Yves Edwards relegated to the prelims, plus Kenny Florian making his debut at Featherweight on the main card.

Predictions for UFC 131 come from myself (JL), Total-MMA editor Tommy Hackett (TH) and debutant Shangalla Bass (SB). Remember this is all in the spirit of fun - anyone trusting our judgements unduly will be asking for any gambling misfortune that befalls them.

Main Event Heavyweight Bout: Junior dos Santos (12-1) vs. Shane Carwin (12-1)

SB: In two words–great fight. Boring interviews. Wait, that’s four.

With Lesner being out due to a diverticulitis flare up, it’s a rare opportunity to see two of the biggest and nicest guys in the heavyweight division face each other with an eye on the number one contender spot. Both 12-1, hardcore strikers who put on fights fans love to see, Dos Santos is more mobile, more athletic with a better timing and accuracy to his punches. Carwin? Well, if a bulldozer and Tank Abbot had an illegitimate love child — he’d probably be getting knocked out daily in the cafeteria lunch line by Shane Carwin. Not saying the Tank Abbott had sex with a diesel powered earth-moving machine but if anyone could– well, enough said. Carwin is stronger than a gorilla on an all dianabol diet, and more explosive than anyone in the division. The kamikaze dash he produced in the fight with Lesner is a good example of just how fast you can end up with this 260 pound dude on your chest giving you an a very deep tissue facial massage. On the down side he is taking this fight on a 30 day notice and after only 8 months to recuperate from a serious neck operation as well as the lingering back injury he sustained a year ago against Lesner. There are also questions about his conditioning . I don’t think there is any heavyweight that hits harder or can take a harder punch–question is will he get a chance for any of that. Dos Santos is a very intelligent fighter and he will do his best to keep his distance and use his superior boxing skills to take the fight into later rounds. Carwin’s no dummy himself and is very adept at coming up with a strategy to defeat his opponents. That’s what I believe this fight will come down to. Will Carwin come up with a game plan to keep this fight standing and swinging or a good way to take Dos Santos to the ground? I think so –after all the cage is only so big –I am going with Carwin on this one.

TH: I’m going with “Cigano.” Dos Santos has been on a tear, steadily improving with each victory, and I think he’s close to his peak now. Carwin was training to fight anyway, but he’s still coming off a bit of a layoff and I think that may come into play here. Look for the more technical striker to earn the early advantage and mostly keep it. Carwin will fade in the second and JDS will earn a T/KO victory in the third round.

JL: Fireworks are guarenteed here - Carwin’s heavy hands are renowned and JDS has some of the best boxing in any division, so you can probably bet on a stand up war. However, both are also fine grapplers - Carwin was a Div. II wrester in College and JDS has his BJJ purple belt from the Nogueira brothers. Skills-wise, these two are very equal, and their physical gifts are also similar. However, Carwin has his terrible ‘lactic acidosis’, or lack of stamina, and JDS can go and go and go no matter how tough his opponent - see his beatdown of Roy Nelson - and I see him breaking Carwin in the third round for the TKO win.

SB: Kenny Florian drops four weight classes from 185 to 145 to face Diego Nunes. Nunes is coming in with a 16 to 1 record, and three straight wins in the UFC including against the formidable Mike Brown. His striking, especially long distance kicking is hugely underrated. He is as fast and aggressive as piranha on meth. Florian on the other hand looks like he’s in shape for the first time in his career. Don’t get me wrong –he is a great fighter, but even at 155 he still looked as just some dude that wondered in from the street. Problem is there is always a chance he is draining himself out dropping all that weight and following a diet that’s more appropriate for a 85lb model. That aside Kenny’s Muay thai is getting better and better with each fight and he’s got a huge advantage on the ground. Also he’s got that “old mean dog” thing going for him–I’ve never seen this guy quit or crumble down. I expect KenFlo withstanding a super agressive first round from Nunes by tying him up and going to the ground to dominating afterwards.

TH: Team Nogueira’s Nunes is best known for his WEC run of decisions, won and lost, against strong opposition. But it’s a step up here, against a guy who not only hangs on, but finishes all but the very best. Sure, it’s hard to say how Florian will respond to the drop to featherweight — but I’m gambling that he knows what he’s doing after nine years fighting professionally. Watch for Florian to earn an edge standing before taking the win with a mata leao in round three.

JL: The mata leao is the ‘lion killer’, the name BJJ gives the rear naked choke. And Florian is a fine propenet of BJJ, as everyone seems to forget as his stand up gets steadily better. Last I looked, Nunes also has some very good BJJ - as most students of the Nogueira brothers tend to - and, as Shangalla notes, he knows his was round the cage standing. The x-factor is of course how Florian responds to his weight cut - which, by all accounts, is now monstrous - remember this guy competed on the original Ultimate fighter as an undersized Middleweight, and last we saw him was a large lightweight. I have my doubts, but Nunes has never fought someone of Florian’s standard before - I think this is going to be that big loss that so frequently comes before the big wins for Nunes, as Florian, regardless of his condition, uses a superior gameplan to grind out a decision.

SB: I am really looking forward to this match up. This fight is a throwback to the early days of MMA– a face of of a national level wrestler in Mark Munoz vs a 4th degree BJJ black belt. Reminds me of early Couture fights. Munoz is not going to try and take Maya to the ground to avoid his submissions and Maia doesn’t have the takedowns or power to get Munoz to the ground. Their pre-mma skills pretty much neutralize each other so most likely we are looking at a stand up bout. And when it comes to stand up Munoz got a huge advantage–his knockout power is pretty close to the top of the middleweight division and Maya’s stand up is more or less just a bridging for his ground game.

I am going with Munoz in round 3.

TH: This is my favourite matchup on this card. Both guys have greatly improved their striking and all-around game, but I think Maia’s still a step ahead. Watch for Maia to outbox Munoz, and when Munoz hesitates to take the fight to the mat, look for a good right hook to shake him up and keep him on the defensive for the remainder of the fight. Maia, decision.

JL: Ooft, Shangalla, like the old days of MMA? A bit harsh on these too competitors - while it’s true that Munoz and Maia are high level champions in the worlds of wrestling and BJJ, both have become fine all around comeptitors since their debuts - after being humiliated by Anderson Silva last year Maia has shown much improved stand up, and Munoz is following the Dan Henderson mold of being a great wrestler who’d much rather swing for fences than take you down. Both are talented fighters, but technically Maia is streets ahead of Munoz - who might have a good double leg but his hands are often low and his punches looping, and he struggles to pass the guards of mediocre BJJ players like Kendall Grove - and Maia’s guard is one of the best in MMA - he has a great combination of sweeps and submissions from that position, and I think that’s how the fight will end - Maia frustrating Munoz standing with his superior technique, leaving the wrestler to resort to a double leg before being tapped by a Maia traingle.

SB: Jon Olav, an oddity as an European BJJ practitioner was originally scheduled to fight Carwin. I think he got a huge break in a chance to face Herman especially coming in after a 4 year lay off.Herman is big,aggressive and unpredictable but not even close to the size of a pain in the behind that Carwin is in the ring. I don’t think Einemo had a chance against Carwin but with Herman unless a lucky punch or a knee lands in the first 2 minutes the fight will end on the ground with Einemo victorious.

TH:</strong One of the many fights that sees its participants shuffled due to injuries, this isn’t much of a loss. Norway’s jiu-jitsu standout (now training with Golden Glory in Holland) Einemo is best known for his grappling success, including a 2005 victory over Roger Gracie at Abu Dhabi. But at 35 years old and five years removed from his last MMA fight, he appeared to be being fed to Shane Carwin when this card was originally scheduled. His new opponent, Dave Herman, has been brawling his way through smaller MMA shows up while J.O.E. has been inactive — including beating up Don Frye and Ron Waterman. I… just don’t know. Selecting Einemo to derail Herman’s rising career here may seem a stretch even for my usual BJJ bias, but I’m not sold on the somewhat crude American’s opposition, and I think the larger Einemo might weather a storm to sneak in the choke. Einemo, submission round two.

JL: I think you two might be underestimating Mr Herman something awful. He may have started brawling his way up the small shows, but more recently Dave (not Ed) has been fighting on cards that are a little more prestigious, such as Sengoku, Bellator and Shark Fights. And I disagree with labelling him as a brawler, too - he may be a scrappy fighter, but Herman’s technique is very fine, as can been seen in his impressive axe kick TKO (yes, axe kick) of journeyman wrestler Jim York. Herman also held his own against decorated judoka Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou before being DQ’d due to illegal knees. I think JOE’s going to be at a loss here - he has nothing for Herman on the feet and as long as ‘Pee-Wee’ fights smart - keeps moving, establishes his jab - he should take a jab’n'jive decision.

SB: In WEC the “Cowboy” is one of my favorite fighters. That dude is downright mean. The wincing look on the faces in the audience at the sound of one of his kicks landing is unmistakable. Cerrone is patient , conditioned and has some of the best muay thai in the game. His take down defense is getting very good as well. On the other hand Rocha is pretty well known in BJJ circles for his submission skills,being a lead trainer at Pablo Popovitch’s BJJ school and a PAN AM gold medalist. His 6 to 1 record speaks for itself. Problem is for Rocha to utilize his skills he’ll need to get through Cerrone’s striking. In this fight my money is on Cerrone finishing the fight with a submission after battering Rocha senseless.

TH: We lost a good fight between near-mirror images in Mac Danzig vs Donald Cerrone here, but such is life. Danzig’s replacement is a new one. Nothing on UFC debutante Rocha’s record tells me he can answer Cerrone’ striking and grappling acumen, but I’ll wager the Pablo Popovich black belt can avoid a submission and go the distance. Cerrone, decision.

JL: I’m struggling to get fired up for this - one dimensional Rocha doesn’t belong in the cage with the well round Cerrone, who, providing he doesn’t do anything silly like take down the decorated BJJ practioner, should beat him bloody standing en route to a dominant decision.

TOTAL-MMA PICKS: CERRONE, 3-0

Thanks for reading, and enjoy the fights!

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