Agree with both picks...

Someone should punch your face in for writing this garble. You started watching MMA during UFC 68...wow, that really qualifies you to offer up your opinion. I can tell from your picture that you've never trained before, and since you appear to be a waste of skin, I've chosen to speak out you like a waste of skin.

Fedor will easily submit Tim Sylvia in the first round. I figure it to be an arm bar, but with those long tree trunk legs of his, I could see Fedor catching an attempt by Sylvia to kick him in the head, and slamming him to the ground and pounding away, or keeping the leg and finishing him with a knee lock.

Stick to picking daises you pansy...

I can't believe I'm even responding to this, because it's clear you are merely trying to bait me.

Let's start in reverse. I can't afford to stick to picking daises anymore. Inexplicably, my blog on daisy-picking theory and practice had trouble garnering traffic.

Next, I have trained before, albeit sporadically, and yes, I don't do it any longer. Underneath that head though I am 100 percent rock, let me assure you.

Next. Fedor could submit Sylvia, it is possible. I'm not saying he's not a good fighter, I openly acknowledge he's the favorite. I'm going with the upset pick because Fedor hasn't been tested in years.

Lastly, you have to be one of the most annoying types of fans. "You've only been a fan since 68, you can't talk, wahhh, wahhhh." Come on.

If this sport is ever going to get huge and mainstream, longtime fans are going to have to embrace new fans to the sport. I've been watching MMA since before 68 but 68 was the first big event I covered as a journalist.

Still, I don't care if you started watching MMA a month ago or a decade ago, anyone can have an opinion and taking the elitist route when it comes to fans is simply a surefire way to send this sport straight into obscurity.

Remember what Couture did to Sylvia. What can Couture do better than Fedor? To many weapons for Fedor. If he loses it will be of a cut.

Excellent point on Couture-Sylvia. That's why Fedor will be favored. Although, to me, Sylvia looked better in his last fight than he did in either the loss to Couture and the win over Vera.

Hey Mark. Meatballs insults were completely uncalled for. But I you should watch some Fedor fights. I've seen the way both of them fight and basically Sylvia can box I'll give him that but Fedor is a professional at getting in the clinch throwing opponents down ground and pound and usually ends his fights with a submission. All of those are Sylvias weakest points. Even Arlovski tapped Sylvia out. While I don't think Sylvia has any real chance of winning, if he did win, I dont think he would win by unanimous decision. It would have to be a cut or a knockout.

Lets review the basis of you picking Silva...

1. Your accuracy on picking past fights.

Do you think a 2-2 record gives you any kind of respect? It certainly does not enhance your credibility. Do you realize how high the statistical probability is of just RANDOMLY being 2-2? People laugh and scoff even more at that ridiculous attempt to defend your pick.

2. A rumor.

Since when does a rumor of who someone else's pick help you predict the outcome of a fight?? And when the hell did the UFC become the gods of predicting fights??

The real mystery in all this is that someone pays you to write.

Silus,

If you are going to list my reasons for going with Sylvia, at least include the two main reasons I picked him.

I've never been a huge Sylvia fan. But, he looked much better than I've seen him look in his last fight and Fedor hasn't faced quality competition in the past few years.

Fedor was an extremely strong fighter in his prime but I'm openly questioning how rusty he will be in this fight. It's hard not to and it's not that much of a leap really, to assume he's not in top form.

I think your bold prediction here is good for fostering discussion. Btw, I really don't think these big tall jabbing guys will be the ones to beat Fedor. It will have to be someone with a great gound game. Watch Fedor vs. Arona to see where Fedor can have troubles.

You guys a bashing Mark for his pick. But, the recent past has proved that UFC fighter are the best in the world (Shoguns lost ,Heath lost, Vanderlie Lost 1st UFC fight). And honestly how many of you guys laughed when Mark picked Forrest over Rampage!

Mark, you are in the dark as to the level Fedor is on now, just like the rest of us. This is grounds to question, not to conclude. Therefore you are now left without ANY solid grounds on which to pick against Fedor.

Just be honest, you have a hunch. Nothing more.

To all,

Fedor has been fighting all this time. Not necessarily on television or with a reputable company like ufc or pride. Never the less, he has been in the ring, a lot. His win off of choi hong man should be proof enough that he has what it takes to take big men apart. Watch the video on youtube, his transition is flawless. He traps the arm on his stomach, and transitions to an arm bar. This same technique has been deployed on mark coleman, the father of ground and pound and many others.

So lets see, the ways someone can win in a fight are as follows: KO, submission, stoppage from strikes, stoppage from cut, and decision.

We all know fedor's standup game is solid and has never failed him. We all know fedor's ground game game is godlike. We all know fedor's ground and pound is unmatched. And fedor, has never lost minus that cut he sustained thru an illegal elbow.

All this points to the obvious- fedor will win.

To all,

Fedor has been fighting all this time. Not necessarily on television or with a reputable company like ufc or pride. Never the less, he has been in the ring, a lot. His win off of choi hong man should be proof enough that he has what it takes to take big men apart. Watch the video on youtube, his transition is flawless. He traps the arm on his stomach, and transitions to an arm bar. This same technique has been deployed on mark coleman, the father of ground and pound and many others.

So lets see, the ways someone can win in a fight are as follows: KO, submission, stoppage from strikes, stoppage from cut, and decision.

We all know fedor's standup game is solid and has never failed him. We all know fedor's ground game game is godlike. We all know fedor's ground and pound is unmatched. And fedor, has never lost minus that cut he sustained thru an illegal elbow.

All this points to the obvious- fedor will win.

To all,

Fedor has been fighting all this time. Not necessarily on television or with a reputable company like ufc or pride. Never the less, he has been in the ring, a lot. His win off of choi hong man should be proof enough that he has what it takes to take big men apart. Watch the video on youtube, his transition is flawless. He traps the arm on his stomach, and transitions to an arm bar. This same technique has been deployed on mark coleman, the father of ground and pound and many others.

So lets see, the ways someone can win in a fight are as follows: KO, submission, stoppage from strikes, stoppage from cut, and decision.

We all know fedor's standup game is solid and has never failed him. We all know fedor's ground game game is godlike. We all know fedor's ground and pound is unmatched. And fedor, has never lost minus that cut he sustained thru an illegal elbow.

All this points to the obvious- fedor will win.

Ridiculous article. Both of your predictions are ridiculously wrong (and if they arent i promise to never watch MMA for the rest of my life). How about i tell you to NOT BUY INTO THE HYPE that the UFC puts out there about BOTH guys. Fedor is the man and come the 19th he will show you exactly why you cannot even mention any UFC HW in the same breathe as this guy. Nog looked 10 times worse against Fedor then he did against Tim and you guys think Tim Sylvia looked good? Very ammusing. Do you guys know what i seen in that fight? How Sylia couldnot finish a really shook Nog. I also laugh at how people write of his fight with Hong Man Choi as a circus act but let me tell you something I bet HMC could pound away most of the UFC HW division.

Now for the Anderson Silva one. Yes i do believe he will win but not by knockout, i believe it will be by UD. DONT BUY INTO THE HYPE by the UFC about Silva cause let me assure you if he is consistantly overpowered he will lose hands down. Look at his fight with Takase he was overpowered then submitted. The difference was pride had less weights (no 185 so he fought at 205) and he was 2-2 in pride. Takase overpowered him and submitted him and if you look at takase he is just a wrestler and he beat him by sticking to the game plan instead of deciding to mix it up like hendo did.

to daterps1: That's unfair cherrypicking against Pride guys in order to delegitimize their careers. Have you forgotten how turbulent the world of MMA has been recently? Chuck lost twice, Cro Cop lost twice, GSP got beat down by Serra into verbal submission, Gomi losing to Diaz, etc. All that these losses show is just how fragile it is to win in MMA, so when you see guys like Anderson clean out his division or Fedor having not even losing any fight except on a technicallity because of recieving an illegal blow, that just makes them all the more special.

Well you are wrong,

now you are assuming Fedor has fought no one, just because you didnt see it, doesnt mean he has not fought,

remember he trains,

now Fedor hasnt fought anyone cause there hasn't been a worthy enough opponent,

Fedor is a complete fighter, and you do not lose the muscle memory, he knows what to do in the ring before he realizes it,

Sylvia will be dealt with, plain and simple, and Fedor will still be unappreciated, look at Fedor face when he enters the ring, a fighter wears his strength on his face,

Wow. UFC 68 huh? When was the first fight you actually watched outside of youtube? You sound and write like a Kimbo fan, I would not be bragging about a 2-2 record there mma boy.

Where did you train>? Let me guess......right before ufc 68? Post the school you trained at.

I'm calling b.s.

Fedor will be too quick for silva. I predict a shaky start followed by a settling by Fedor. Fedor will then start throwing / swinging bombs which will connect eventually. . . Good Night.

Mark,

Regardless of your predictions, your reasoning behind them makes me think that you didn't really watch a lot of Fedor MMA fights. So did you?

Well, I personally think that Sylvia has a good shot at beating Emelianenko. However, I think mainly because of his size and the fact that he's a "safe" fighter, meaning he won't gamble and expose himself to get knocked out or submitted.

Having said that, Emelianenko's biggest asset to his success so far isn't his amazingly freakish skills in all aspects of the game, it is rather his genius game plans. As Bas Ruten often calls his "the master of game plans". Technical game plans, that is. I'm not talking about "oh my stand up is better than his stand up so I'm gonna keep it on the feet" kind of game plans! I'm rather talking about very technical game plans that proved to be very successful thus far. Don't get me wrong, like i said before, Sylvia does have a chance. However, I just think Fedor will figure this "puzzle" out like he did many many times before!

A lot of fighters coming from Pride had struggled with the big sizes of fighter in the U.S. And i think fedor will have that problem against sylvia, and that's why as a huge Fedor fan (i don't tell right!) I'm concerned. Having followed the guy throughout his career, however, I believe he'll overwhelm Sylvia early on (remember the Gary Goodridge fight?)...

About Anderson, I think he'll come on top as well. Technically he'll frustrate the Sandman in the stand up and eventually set him up for the K.O. However, I don't think it's going to be an easy fight by any stretch of the imagination. James will cause some trouble and might even "get lucky". The sandman barely made weight yesterday and I think that will affect him physically. So go Silva :)

Silva Destroyed Irvin. Lol @ all who said it was going to be a hard fight or go the distance.

Ugh, I hate you MMA elitist donkeys. It's so f***n lame that someone can't post an opinion without a couple of low IQ'd dork coming in talking s***t like they were the first MMA fans ever.

Mark Chalifoux, keep up the we all know that Fedor is washed old, and that Silva will (he just did) romp Irvin.

Keep up the writing

Tim Sylvia lost in under 1 minute. Lmao 36 seconds? Yea ok...And people say Fedor dosn't fight good competition but he always wins. W/E the dude is the best ever in the sport of MMA

how'd that prediction work out for you? people didn't give silva much of a chance for a reason. don't worry, a lot of guys who have no frame of reference outside of the ufc probably made the same mistake.

you just got owned

dont doubt fedor again

I must say betting against Fedor was ... not a good move. He CRUSHED Tim.

Don't buy the hype. Fedor hasn't fought anyone in years. He might as well be fighting people in backyards on YouTube at this point. He was once a great fighter, but I'm not so sure anymore. I suppose that's the allure of this fight. If he smashes Sylvia, he hasn't lost a step. If he struggles, he's not the same man. If he loses, then he was washed up awhile ago...

I buy the hype. You can be sure still now Fedor is amazing... and since he smashed Sylvia he has not lost a step ;-)

LOL great Fedor prediciton from yet another Fedor Basher. SOOO whats your explaination for Fedor Winning in about 30 seconds?

Lol, I can't believe you have job commenting about MMA with your obviously inferior knowledge.

You totally embody the "new generation" of MMA fans who just started watching UFC a while ago and feel that you have to spit back everything Dana White feeds you. So you thought Fedor was "hype"? I'm surprised you didn't use the word "farce."

You wanted to see Fedor lose because you came late to the game, and think that everything that happened in MMA before UFC 68 was not worth thinking about. Well, the fans that kept MMA on life support before it became the latest fad for the 18-40 American males think different. If Fedor had lost, it would've let the majority of new ignorant MMA fans write off everything that happened before 2006 when MMA really blew up. Hack revisionists like you would've ran the MMA media. Good thing Fedor won to prove you guys wrong and preserve MMA history.

Oh my god. I believe you are so far off with your firs pick that's not even funny. Please for your own credibility post some onest apologies.

Ok, so what do you think now of Fedor?

HAHAHAHAHA!
What say you now?

too bad u all wrong HAH

"I don’t know what Fedor is capable of anymore"

Well I think he's just reminded you! HAH!

Fedor just submitted sylvia in 36 seconds, let's not argue about how great fedor is anymore when its obvious he is the greatest fighter in the world.

Good call on the Silva , but as I’m sure you’re completely aware completely off on the Fedor fight (as proved last night). Please get your saddle off the UFC's testicles; the ride is over. Silvia is a great fighter (as much as I dislike him) but he is nowhere near as technically sound, quick and utmost importantly as tactical as Fedor. This fact might have been proven at Banned but it was theorized long before when Silvia called out Fedor while he still remained in the UFC. My main gripe and point of contention with you is your smarmy bravado when alluding to Fedor as a has been Kimbo in your prediction; spouting off nearly verbatim quotes from Dana White (someone whose abilities I greatly respect but disagree with on many points). It is acceptable to call a fight before it happens but when such groundless ignorance is put on display in regards to a legend of the sport, you come off looking foolish and your knowledge suspect.

"Don't buy the hype... He might as well be fighting people in backyards on YouTube at this point. He was once a great fighter, but I'm not so sure anymore.

Please dont ever make an MMA prediction again. Thanks,

fedor wins. you look dumb

Well, I did agree with the Silva prediction, but not with the Fedor. I thought of this article and wanted to come back to re-read.

I thought Fedor would get it to the ground and win 1st or second round via submission.

What actually happened was.. how can I put this.... a violent discarding of Tim.

Fedor from here on in will be worth alot of $$$. UFC can no longer discredit him. He also singlehandedly discredited the UFC's entire heavyweight devision. They cannot say they have the best heavyweight fighter in the world. Only the best under their contract.

Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha...... Ha Ha....

36 seconds. Haha

I guess Fedor really is the greatest fighter created in the history of combat. Sylva even claimed Fedor wasn't human. That remark made laugh, and respect the big Tim a little more. I've been watching since UFC 1. Back than people actually had ninjitsu and extra terrestial training on their training resumes, and if u look at the history of the heavyweight division, there has never been a big guy who can move as fast, or adapt to a bad situation like Fedor can. His arsenal is huge and he can win from any position, off his back, on his feet, or in the mount. It's not hype......it's history, go watch some more MMA.

Great call on the fight. Maybee you should get a gig with figure skating or bowling, you clearly know nada in this arena.

Looking at last nights outcome it would see that you really have no knowledge of MMA at all.

Fedor won in less than a minute. Pretty off there, no?

Yup, that washed up Fedor is talking about fighting in backyards and posting them to youtube after his disappointing loss to Sylvia. You know how to call em. I bow to your superior clarvoyance and MMA expertise.

*Rolls eyes so hard a blood vessel bursts*

ahaahahahahahahhahahahahaaaaahahahaahhahah.let me wipe the screen ahahahahahahahahhhhahahhahahhahahahhahahahahah

"Don't buy the hype"

lol lol lol @ you predictin fedor would lose to some ufc bum

Look at you now you subhuman cretin. The tone of disrespect you had in your original post when it was clearly evident that you like many others get all of your opinions from Dana White press conferences. You make me [expletive deleted] sick and I hope someone murders you in the most painful way possible. Not only that but you don't have the balls to come back here and admit that you don't know [expletive deleted]. You whine and complain about people tearing down your stupid predictions, well we have good reason too, you're a [expletive deleted] moron.

Thanks for picking me... I didn't even pick me.

Moron.

yeah think u really hit urself in the balls with the comment "because i'm brilliant" go order another season of tuf to add to ur library...

Bad prediction on fedor..
There is a reason he is 28-1 and thats not cos he is fighting wshed up fighters in backyard.... Its that most fighters appear washed up in front of fedor..
id say only brock lesnar can stop him.
not even couture

"Mark Chalifoux covered his first MMA event at UFC 68 in Columbus, Ohio"

Okay, why do you have a blog? No seriously. Its great that your a fan but the fact that you made a prediction and gave NO evidence to back your claim up shows that you were sucked into this recent "Fedor is overated" hype. Yes his fans can be ridiculous, but the fact is Fedor has never come up short, never blown it against a tough (or supposedly easy) and in full MMA rules probably never even lost a round. How many top fighters can you say that about? Not BJ, not Anderson, no one. The reason why no one doubts Fedor is that time and time again he's proven that he's the best of the best.

Look at all the monday morning quarterbacks after the fight.... where were you BEFORE Fedor won?

Entertaining read... even made sherdogs forum...

Please stop writing about MMA. You call it journalism, I call it senseless garbage. Next time show respect for the fighters you're writing about. Thank you.

"Of course, I did exactly that last time (Griffin over Rampage), but that’s because I’m brilliant."

You brag about a 2-2 prediction record, and call yourself "brilliant"?!? Your prediction on Fedor vs Tim was stupid. Not because it was wrong, but because your only real basis was that Fedor hadn't fought a big fight in years. No breakdown of their skills, strengths and weaknesses.

The internet is already full of crap, so please just do away with this blog. You are nowhere near qualified.

Wow, you're a complete dumbass. "Don't buy the hype"? SIT DOWN KID.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Epic failure. Never make a public prediction again.

please fire this guy

bro, had it been a professional post i would've not replied, but you came off pretty rude, and arrogant and.. god knows what else, maybe it was an attempt at humour but it fell flat on it's face in about 36 seconds.

fedor is the nicest, most humble fighter in the world, there is no way you cannot love this man, and regardless if a fighter loses, who are we to judge them? clearly you're not in there fighting.. i watch wanderlei silva because that man fights to entertain, win or loss. same with fedor. give credit where credit is due, and dont hate on someone because they happen to lose

please kill this dirt bag. lol

:)) That was funny. Mark Chalifoux, You may have watched Fedor fights, but you still failed to see what makes Fedor so good. Go rewatch them and try harder...

Getting a prediction wrong is nothing, but discrediting the a guy like Fedor by saying he is Hype.... dude i hope you enjoy that beating he gave, he is #1 fighter on the planet, people need to get over it, not all the best fighters fight in the UFC most do, but not all, there is MMA outside the UFC as proven by affcliction dream and other orgs.

Commit suicide now [expletive deleted].

35 seconds.

It's UFC thats overrated.

Fedor is the real deal.

Bottom line yes Fedor real deal. But come on be honest slyvia is not horrible. he did look better in his last fight. and no one has beaten him like that ever. shit happens. lets all be honest. we all wanna see coutore and fedor. no one cares about past champs i wanna see the two top champs go at it.

NICE PICKS RETARD!

You shouldn't be ridiculed for making a wrong pick but the way you totally downplayed Fedor as a fighter was beyond dumb.
Fedor's dominating wins over top fighters speaks for themselves. He is still the only fighter to beat Big Nog without Big Nog avenging the loss. And he didn't just beat Nog, he dominated him both times out.
Do some more research and try and being a little less promotionally biased with your picks and columns.
Fedor's top level quickness vs. Tim's lack of quickness made this one a pretty easy pick.

Looking back, a lot of people didn't see the 36 second smashing coming. Tim got off one left hook (missed), before getting knocked down and subbed.

The greatest HW mma fighter of all time put on a finisher's clinic. One of my favorite fights of all time.