Turning the Page

As the calendars change from June to July, the sports world begins to heat up. Baseball is reaching the mid-way point of the season and NFL talk is heating up as training camps open at the end of the month.
The Heat walk away back-to-back NBA Champions after a really fun NBA Finals with the Spurs, and CM Punk's team, the Chicago Blackhawks win Lord Stanley's Cup.

UFC

This weekend is UFC 162 from Las Vegas. The July 4th weekend card is now a staple of the UFC year, and it is no different this year. Pound-for-pound the best fighter in the world Anderson Silva defends his Middleweight strap against Chris Weidman. Silva is putting his incredible 17-fight win streak and 10 consecutive successful title defenses up for grabs as well. Love him or hate him, just like when Floyd Mayweather or GSP fight, you have to watch even if it is just for the small chance of seeing his historic reign come to an end.

Either the UFC is really selling "wolf tickets" (thanks Nick Diaz), or the 9-0 Chris Weidman really has the secret formula to squash The Spider. The Long Island born fighter is looking to pull off the shocking upset, much like his trainer Matt Serra did to GSP many years ago. With a strong wrestling base, Weidman does have a chance if he can keep the lanky Brazilian on his back, much like Chael Sonnen did in their first fight. Win or lose though, Weidman is very confident in his abilities and this should be a very entertaining fight.

In the co-main event is my boy, Toms River's own, Frankie Edgar. The Answer is on a three-fight losing streak, with two losses to Ben Henderson, and another to Jose Aldo, which is nothing to be ashamed of. Frankie should get back in the win column this time around, against Charles Oliveira. "Da Bronx" has a good ground game, winning nine fights by submission, but I don't think he will be able to stand and trade with Frankie.

It is clear that Frankie Edgar needs a win here. A loss won't put him on the chopping block, but will put him further away from every fighter's goal, 15 pounds of gold around your waist. Even with a  win against Oliveira, Edgar is still probably two more wins away from a potential rematch with Jose Aldo for the Featherweight title.

Barring injuries, UFC should finish off 2013 strong, with Jon Jones vs Alexander Gustaffson scheduled for 165 in September, the trilogy with Cain Velasquez and Junior Dos Santos concluding at 166 in October, and GSP and Jonny Hendricks slated for 167 in November.

Geno's Coming to Town

 NFL Draft

The Jets made a big splash at the 2013 NFL Draft, with the ripple effect still taking place today. With the 39th pick, Gang Green selected Geno Smith, the quarterback from West Virginia, who looked like he was in agony in the green room, as all 32 teams passed on him in the first round. I like the pick, and when he practically fell into our lap in the second round, it was a no-brainer to take him. After a 2012 which saw some of the worst quarterbacking I've seen in 25 years of watching football, Smith has to be an upgrade. 

Geno joins a list that includes Richard Todd, Ken O'Brien, Vinny Testaverde, Chad Pennington, Brett Favre and Mark Sanchez as the next quarterback to possibly lead the franchise to it's first Super Bowl since Broadway Joe did it in 1969. According to his scouting report, Smith is a work-horse in the gym and in the film room, with a decently strong arm, but he needs to improve his accuracy. I don't think he should start this year, instead let him learn on the sidelines for a couple years behind David Garrard and Mark Sanchez. 

News broke this morning that Tim Tebow was the first casualty of this draft, after the Jets realized no other franchise wanted the Cinderella story of 2011 (except for a few teams that wanted him as a tight end). This ends the Jets career of the most publicized and popular punt protector in NFL history. However you slice it, the Tebow trade was a monumental disaster for all parties involved. Woody Johnson looks like a fool, Mike Tannenbaum and Tony Sparano have been fired, Rex Ryan is a lame duck head coach, Mark Sanchez's career took a hit, and Tim Tebow may not even find a job in the NFL next season. HIT THE BRICKS TIMMY!!!!

Geno Smith overshadowed the Jets' two first round picks of Dee Milliner and Sheldon Richardson. Dee Milliner has big shoes to fill, stepping in for Revis Island, but he's used to the pressure at Alabama. Jets doctors were convinced that his shoulder injury won't be a problem. Milliner was at the top of my wish list, and I was happy he was still available when we picked. On the other hand, I wasn't so happy with the Sheldon Richardson pick. Nose tackle was one of our needs this season, after releasing Pouha, but this pick stinks of Rex Ryan, and not what would have been better for our team. Richardson may be a good pro, but the scouts say he is a better fit in a 4-3, as opposed to nose tackle in a 3-4, Ryan's base defense. If Richardson does turn out to be a good player, than we have the makings of a good young defensive line with him, Quinton Coples and Mo Wilkerson.  

You can't really tell if the draft is a success for at least 3 years, but I feel like the Jets have two very good prospects in Geno Smith and Dee Milliner and a project in Sheldon Richardson. In addition to those picks, the Jets traded their fourth round pick to the Saints for Chris Ivory, who will probably be our starting running back this season. Ivory was never given a chance in New Orleans, and saw his production drop every year. Ivory has the size and speed to be a good running back, and I'm anxious to see how he plays now that he will be given a chance.

UFC 159

UFC 159 from the Prudential Center in Newark may go down as the most cursed/strangest pay-per views ever, with 2 fight endings due to an eye poke, one fight stopped from a broken thumb, and a title almost switching hands because of a broken toe. Before we get into that though, I want to go back to the day before, when I attended the weigh-ins.

Thanks to popular MMA message board, the UG, I was able to attend a special meet and greet with Dana White following the UFC 159 weigh-ins. The UFC set us up with kick-ass seats to see the Fight Club Q and A with Middleweight #1 Contender Chris Weidman. The Long Island native seemed confident going into his July fight with Anderson Silva. After the Q&A ended, I got to experience the UFC weigh-ins for the first time. They were alright, but not really anything I would care about seeing in person again. They just call each fighter up, they step on a scale and face off with their opponent. After the weigh-ins were over, we waited patiently for Dana White. (Ariel Helwani even stopped by and visited us for a few minutes as we waited)

I doubt he is ever going to see this blog, but I can't thank Dana White enough for everything he does for the fans of the UFC. He spent over an hour answering questions and telling stories. He covered everything from what type of razor he uses to shave his head, to his thoughts on the relationship with Fox, to a behind-the-scenes recap of a proposed boxing fight with Tito Ortiz. After that, we were all able to come down and get a picture and/or autograph with the UFC President. It was an awesome experience overall, and one I'll never forget.

UFC 159 the next night was a whole other story. The undercard was underwhelming, with one-sided fights and some strange stoppages. However, the main event could have been a possible disaster for the UFC. Jon Jones dominated Chael Sonnen like most people thought, finishing him with a flurry of punches at 4:33 of the first round. Then, when Jones went for his post-fight interview he saw blood leaking onto the canvas. That was when he noticed that his toe was broken, and the bone had punctured his skin. 

If the referee had let the fight continue, which was arguably the right call since Sonnen was intelligently defending himself, and the first round ended, Jones would not have been able to continue. Since the fight wouldn't have been stopped because of an accidental foul, like the Bisping-Belcher co-main event, but because of an injury, then Chael Sonnen would have been awarded the victory and the Light-Heavyweight Championship, in what would be another asterisk on Jones' career record. Could you have imagined the trash talk Sonnen would have spewed if he had 20 pounds of gold around his waist? 

Catching Up

FINALLY....... COSTA'S IN THE CAGE HAS COME BACK!!!!!

After the sports purgatory of February/March, there is a lot to talk about so far in April.

 NFL

We start with today's breaking news, the Jets' trade of Darrelle Revis to the Tampa Bay Bucs, for this year's first round pick (13th overall) and a conditional 4th or 3rd round pick next season. Revis signed his John Hancock on a 6-year $96 million contract that puts him in Tampa until he's 33. It will be hard to determine who got the better of this deal until we see who the Jets take on draft day Thursday, and how well that player performs in his first couple seasons in the league, and how well Revis comes back from his torn ACL.

The fact of the matter is the Jets knew that Revis was going to get big money on the open-market, and with a dozen holes on the team they couldn't give one player the type of money he was going to be looking for. There is no denying that the 2013 Jets team has gotten weaker because of the loss of arguably the best defensive player in the league, but Jets fans know we don't have a team that is going to be very competitive this season. I have faith that John Idzik could turn this franchise around (if not Jets fans can boo two first-round picks this year instead of just one) and this trade sets us up better for the future.

Putting the bottom line on Darrelle Revis' Jet career is bittersweet. On the field there was no denying that he could have been the best Jet to ever put on the uniform. However, he left a sour taste in my mouth after two holdouts, plus him forcing our hands this off-season. It's clear the only person Darrelle Revis cares about is Darrelle Revis, and because of that I say goodbye and good riddance.

NBA

The Knicks started off there first-round series against the Celtics with a raucous Madison Square Garden crowd this weekend, hungry for a deep playoff push. A date with the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals is a realistic goal for even the most pessimistic Knicks fan. Carmelo Anthony has been playing out of his mind the final month of the regular season, and this team can only go as far as Melo is willing to take us. JR Smith is really our only other consistant scoring threat, as Raymond Felton and Iman Shumpert both have their good and bad days, and Stevie Novakaine is a non-threat against good teams.

I made jokes when we first made the move, but Kenyon Martin has been the cure for our supposed soft team. K-Mart brings a great energy to the court and provides the role of "enforcer" on the team, stepping in if the opposition is a little to physical with Melo. 

WWE

I had a great time at Wrestlemania weekend at the Meadowlands. Fan Axxess was hit and miss, with the autograph lines a little too crowded on the Saturday afternoon session. I decided to spend the day ringside where they had matches with younger talent, like Chris Hero aka Kassius Ono, had fans doing some fun competitions, and the highlight of the day, a Q and A session with CM Punk and Paul Heyman. Looking back on it the money would have been better spent going to the Hall of Fame, which I heard was awesome. 

Wrestlemania itself is an awesome live event experience, as Jet-Life Stadium was breath-taking when I first saw the set. This year's Mania was hurt by being a little too predictable, and I don't think I would've loved the show if I ordered it on pay-per view. There must have been a timing issue, because you didn't get any backstage promos or skits that you come to expect at Wrestlemania. Being there in person though, it was amazing. The highlight of Wrestlemania was the CM Punk-Undertaker match, as the Deadman continued his winning streak at the Showcase of the Immortals to 21-0.

Raw the night after of Wrestlemania was the most fun I've ever had a wrestling show, and I couldn't believe I was going to skip it. Dolph Ziggler cashing in his Money in the Bank was a moment I'll never forget, but the Sheamus-Randy Orton match was unforgettable for another reason. I can't pinpoint an exact reason why (the fans being fed up and just decided to entertain themselves is most likely), but we started by doing a Yankee Stadium like roll-call of the announcers, referee and ring announcer, then just started chanting for random wrestlers. I think April 8, 2013 will go down in history as Fandango Monday. The fans were humming Fandango's entrance during his match, the main event, after the event. leaving the arena, and even in their cars as they left their parking lot capping off a great weekend.

MLB

The small-market Yankees are doing an excellent job holding down the fort until the calvary can return.  Vernon Wells, Travis Hafner, Lyle Overbay, and Kevin Youkilis are all playing above their expectations. Combine that with the fact that Andy Pettite, CC Sabathia, and Hiroki Kuroda all have ERA's under 3, if we can avoid any more injuries the Yanks might surprise some people who wrote them off this year.

With news that Derek Jeter had another set-back in his recovery from a broken ankle, it's not out of the realm of possibility that the Captain is no longer an everyday shortstop. If Jeter can accept a role as DH then he can still play for a few more seasons, if not, can you think of a better ending than having Jeter, Andy Pettitte, and Mariano Rivera all take their final bows together at the end of this season?

UFC 158 Diaz vs St-Pierre

UFC 158 on Saturday is headlined by the on-again off-again Welterweight Championship fight between Nick Diaz and champion Georges St-Pierre. The fight, originally scheduled for UFC 137 in October of 2011 was canceled because Diaz missed several press appearances for the UFC. Carlos Condit was given the title fight (which GSP missed due to an injury) and Diaz defeated BJ Penn in what was the new main event. After the fight, Diaz called out GSP, which made the French-Canadian furious and demanded Dana White give him the next shot in February of 2012. St-Pierre's injury was worse than expected and he had to drop out of that fight as well.

Diaz and Carlos Condit fought for the Interim Welterweight belt at UFC 143 on that show instead. Diaz lost a controversial decision, and threatened to retire in his post-fight interview. It was later announced that Diaz tested positive for marijuana and would be suspended for 12 months. GSP made his comeback and beat Carlos Condit at UFC 154 in October. GSP requested that his next title defense would be against Nick Diaz, and here we are.

UFC 158 features 4 of the top 5 Welterweights in the company, and the immediate future of the division will be determined by the top 2 fights. All four of these men have a lot to gain and/or lose on Saturday.

1) Georges St-Pierre

GSP is entering this event on a ten-fight (almost six year) winning streak, since being upset by Matt Serra in 2007 (at one point he won 33 straight rounds, which is unheard of). Along with Anderson Silva and Jon Jones, you can make a case that he is the best pound-for-pound fighter in the sport. A win against Diaz will further cement his legacy as the best ever, and possibly set up a super-fight that has been rumored for years between him and Silva. GSP has shown a more ruthless side of his personality in the build to this fight, at one point calling Diaz "an uneducated fool" and saying "he's the most disrespectful human being I've ever met and I'm going to put the worst beating on him you've ever seen in the UFC". A lot of pundits are questioning if Diaz was successful in getting into the Champ's head.

2) Nick Diaz

The person who eventually unseats GSP as Welterweight Champion will immediately have a huge mark on his resume. Diaz may pose the biggest threat out of any opponent that St-Pierre has faced. He is a dangerous striker and Jiu-Jitsu black belt. GSP will be able to take him down and out-wrestle him, but he must be aware of Diaz, who is great at getting submissions on his back. With all the fame, glory, and money to be gained if he wins, Diaz could possibly cost himself his UFC career with a loss. It's no secret that Dana White doesn't get along with the brothers from the "209", and the only reason White has put up with Diaz's antics was because he knows he can make a ton of money off of this fight. If Nick loses he will certainly have 2 strikes against him and a future slip-up could be costly.

3) Johny Hendricks

Hendricks, who was originally scheduled to face Jake Ellenberger, but after an injury to Rory MacDonald, is going to fight Carlos Condit instead. Hendricks feels like he should be the number one contender to GSP's belt after knocking out Jon Fitch and Martin Kampmann in the first round of their fights. With a win on Saturday, against the former #1 Contender will almost guarantee that Hendricks gets his wish for a date with St-Pierre. Condit is a dangerous fighter in his own right, and has one-punch knockout power as well. A loss will knock Hendricks down a couple pegs and he will have to be patient for a potential title fight.

4) Carlos Condit

"The Natural Born Killer" is looking to get back in contention after a war with St-Pierre in October. Condit is in a strange position, because the last person who had a title rematch against GSP was BJ Penn in 2009, and usually after a loss to St-Pierre, a lot of fighters never reach the top again (Koscheck, Dan Hardy, Thiago Alves, Jake Shields for example). Condit's original opponent, Rory MacDonald made more sense, since Rory doesn't want to fight his training partner GSP, thus a loss by either fighter won't hurt a potential #1 contender.

Yankees Injuries, Revis Trade Rumors, and More

MLB

The greatest closer of all-time Mariano Rivera officially announced that he will be retiring at the end of the 2013 season. Mo has done it all in his career, making the final out in 4 World Series, has a 0.70 postseason ERA, and is the all-time saves leader with 608 and counting.  As a Yankee fan it's been a reassurance that if you have a lead after 8 innings that you pretty much have the game in hand. It is going to be a rude awakening next year when "Enter Sandman" isn't going to play over the Stadium speakers with #42 running out of the bullpen and mystifying batters with his legendary cutter. Thank You Mariano.

Now though, with Opening Day 2013 approaching quickly, the Yankees have caught the injury bug. A  little less than a month into Spring Training and the Bronx Bombers will be without Alex Rodriguez, Mark Teixeira, Curtis Granderson, and Michael Pineda on their Opening Day roster. Derek Jeter is recovering well from a broken ankle, and barring a set-back should be ready to play against the Red Sox on April 1. I will have a Yankees season preview in the next couple of weeks, but this team has me worried. 

NFL

Like I predicted here in October, it is looking like a trade for Darrelle Revis is imminent after the 2013 NFL league year begins later this week. As good as a player as Revis is, it's sad that he is so selfish and driven by greed. He held out as a rookie, held out again after making the AFC Championship Game in 2009, and if not for a clause in his contract would have threatened to hold out again last season. It is especially telling that while Revis is trying to squeeze every last penny out of the Jets organization, (as much as I hate to admit it) the greatest quarterback of our era, Tom Brady, is taking a pay cut to help ease his cap hit on the Patriots.

The question now is where does Greedvis go to play next season and what should the Jets asking price be? With one-year left on his contract and his past history, whatever team trades for him has to have a lot of cap space to give him Mario Williams money. You also have to factor in the fact that he sat out most of last season after suffering from a torn ACL (but like Adrian Peterson proved last year that they aren't career-enders anymore). According to Jason LaCanfora, potential suitors include the 49ers, Redskins, Bucs, and Colts. Teams know that the Jets are desperate to ship him off, so that could hurt their asking price, but I still expect us to at least get a first and third round pick for him. 

As for the 2013 Jets, they need a lot of work to begin rebuild from a terrible 2012 season. I don't expect Revis, Dustin Keller, Shonn Greene, and LaRon Landry to return to the green and white next year (and we already cut Bart Scott and Calvin Pace), which leaves us with a lot of holes and not a whole lot of cap space to maneuver. It's been reported that we asked Santonio Holmes to take a pay cut (excuse me while I laugh uproariously). John Idzik has his work cut out for him.

UFC

• Frankie Edgar lost a decision to Jose Aldo on Super Bowl weekend in a hard fought fight against one of the top pound for pound guys in the sport. Edgar has to move down the ladder a little after losing three title fights, and is rumored to fight Cub Swanson over the spring/summer. A win against Cub would put Edgar in the same shoes as Urijah Faber. They are both good popular fighters who dominate their weight class, but fans are tired of seeing them get title fights. I think Frankie is going to need to get back on a little win streak before facing the Featherweight Champion again.
• Dana White shocked everyone when he announced that Anthony Pettis wants to fight Jose Aldo next. After an impressive win against "Cowboy" Cerrone it was expected that Pettis would be next in line for a shot against Ben Henderson, but "Showtime" wants to move down and unseat Aldo. This should be a great fight.
• Ronda Rousey is a certifiable star, and is just behind GSP and Anderson Silva as the most house-hold name in MMA. I enjoy women's MMA, but Rousey faced a lot of backlash from internet MMA fans who felt like women don't belong in the Octagon. Rousey's debut against Liz Carmouche was everything her and Zuffa could have asked for, an exciting fight that saw Rousey finish Carmouche with another first-round armbar. I can't predict what will happen if/when Rousey loses the belt, but WMMA is going to be strong as long as she is still champion. 
• I will have a full preview later this week, but if you haven't heard it yet, go out of your way to listen to the GSP/Nick Diaz conference call. These guys really hate each other and it is going to be a great fight.
• The UFC lost it's second big fight of this year when Alistair Overeem had to drop out of his fight against Junior Dos Santos after an undisclosed injury. Mark Hunt, fresh off his knockout of Stephen Struve has stepped up in what is a potential #1 contender fight.
• UFC is scheduled to have a busy April, with a card every week, headlined by the Fox show with Ben Henderson v Gilbert Melendez and Frank Mir v Daniel Cormier. Than, UFC 159 in Newark is headlined by TUF Coaches/Title fight between Chael Sonnen and Jon Jones. 

Road to Wrestlemania: First Stop

In WWE the Road to Wrestlemania ends at Jet-Life Stadium on April 7, but began on Sunday at the Royal Rumble. The Wrestlemania main event is pretty much set now, with a rematch between The Rock and John Cena. The internet wrestling community is up in arms over Cena's Rumble win and The Rock ending CM Punk's 435 day run as WWE Champion. I'm a Punk fan, but understand that Rocky winning is the right move for business in what could be the highest grossing Wrestlemania of all-time. Rock being champion is just going to add awareness into the product as he promotes his current crop of movies while wearing the spinner-belt. You had to be gullible to think last year's main even was really going to be Once in a Lifetime, and  I'm sure that WWE has a good plan set to make this year's Rock-Cena build different than last year's.

The seeds to another main match were planted the following night on Raw when Brock Lesnar returned to attack Vince McMahon, who was about to fire his agent, Paul Heyman. (By the way, Heyman has been gold on the mic since returning to WWE last year.) The next logical step is to have Vince's son-in-law, Triple H step-in to seek revenge for the chairman and avenge his Summerslam loss by challenging Brock to a match at 'Mania. Rumors have it that Lesnar has signed a new 2-year deal to keep him in the WWE in a part-time role through Wrestlemania 31, so it wouldn't make sense for him to lose, but marrying the boss' daughter has it's perks and I doubt HHH goes 0-2 against Lesnar. Another possibility is for Triple H to step aside and book Lesnar against an unstoppable monster like Ryback.

It's disappointing as someone attending this year's Mania, to hear that Undertaker may not be able to defend his undefeated streak this year because of ongoing injuries. Reports are that 'Taker may sit out after having 4-straight match of the year candidates at the Grandaddy of 'Em All , instead of going through the motions and having a match that won't live up to his expectations.

CM Punk who was rumored to be 'Taker's opponent might be looking for a Wrestlemania match after being champion for all of 2012. You can throw him in with Cena and Rock, making it a triple threat, or possibly part of a big 8-man fight with the Shield against 4 good guys. 

Finally, at this point it looks like Alberto Del Rio will keep the World Heavyweight strap into Wrestlemania. There have been a couple of opponents rumored for him,but I would go with Dolph Ziggler cashing in his briefcase for a title shot at WWE's showcase event.

Super Weekend Preview

The Super Bowl matchup between the Ravens and 49ers is sharing this weekend by a UFC super-fight between the 145-pound champion and a man that got screwed over twice by the judges and should still be 155-pound champion, Jose Aldo and Frankie Edgar. I'm going to preview both events so you get ready for Super Weekend 2013!!!

UFC 156

If you want, you can go back to my posts in February and August to read up on why I thought Frankie Edgar was on the wrong end of the decisions in his title fights against Ben Henderson, but that is in the past now. UFC 156 is a stacked card, and I will list the 5 fighters with the most to gain in their fights.

1) Frankie Edgar

"The Answer" is making his featherweight debut and has a chance to join Hall of Famers BJ Penn and Randy Couture as the only men to hold titles in two different weight classes. Fair or unfair, many people, including Dana White, feel like the 145-pound division is where Edgar is "supposed to be", thus making his accomplishments at lightweight even more impressive. A lot of people are counting Edgar out against one of the best pound for pound fighters in the Octagon, but those same experts said he couldn't beat BJ Penn, and he did (twice!!!). It will be interesting to see how Edgar fights at the lighter weight class, perhaps losing his speed advantage but being more equal in the power game. A win on Saturday will cement his legacy as one of the best fighters in the sport. A loss however would put him at a crossroads in his career as he would have to start in the back of the line of title contenders. 

2) Alistair Overeem

The former Dream and Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion had an impressive debut last December against Brock Lesnar, abolishing him back to the WWE with a first round knockout. He earned a title shot against Junior dos Santos, but a failed drug test cost him his chance, and was suspended for the rest of the year. Now he is back and ready to get his career back on track against "Big Foot" Silva. Silva will be a good test for Overeem, having knockout power (as witnessed in his win against MMA legend Fedor Emelianenko), but he tends to have trouble against top level talent. A win against Silva will put the "Demolition Man" back in the hunt for the UFC belt, with either a grudge match against dos Santos or a title fight against Cain Velasquez awaiting him.

3) Jose Aldo

Aldo is looking to extend his 14-fight win streak, but has his toughest test to date against Frankie Edgar. There is no denying that Scarface is one of most dangerous and dynamic fighters in the sport, but is often overlooked, doing it in the less popular featherweight division. It is possible that Aldo may have a little bit of ring rust, not fighting since January due to several injuries. 

4) Rashad Evans

Evans is making his return to cage, after losing his title fight against Jon Jones, and is hoping to get back in contention for another title fight. It just might not be the light-heavyweight belt that he has his sights on. In the build to this fight, Evans has said that he would like a chance to fight Anderson Silva for the Middleweight championship, as well as a possible rematch against his rival "Bones" Jones. First, he is going to need a win against Little Nog to begin the chase toward either one of those potential fights.

5) Demian Maia

Maia is trying to get into the list of contenders for Georges St. Pierre's welterweight title. He is 2-0 in the division since moving down from middleweight, with wins against Don Hyung Kim and Rick Story. Jon Fitch is a tough test for him, with his only two UFC losses coming against GSP and Johnny Hendricks. Jon Fitch relies on his wrestling, but has to be careful going to the ground against the Jiu-Jitsu black belt.

Super Bowl 47

Following Saturday's mega-fight, the nation will turn it's eyes to the biggest event in sports, the Super Bowl. This year matches up the Baltimore Ravens, looking for their second ring, and the 49ers, who are in their first Super Bowl since 1994, and could tie the Steeler with the most Super Bowl wins in history. 

The Ravens were the hottest team in the first half of the season, collecting a 9-2 record. The second half wasn't kind to Baltimore, as they finished 1-4, costing offensive coordinator Cam Cameron his job. Before the playoffs started, linebacker Ray Lewis announced his retirement at the end of the season, and looking back on it now fired up his squad. The team beat rookie Andrew Luck in the first round, and had a classic game in the second round against Peyton Manning's Broncos. With just over 30 seconds left, Joe Flacco threw a hail mary to Jacoby Jones to force overtime. Then, a Manning interception in overtime led to Justin Tucker's game winning field goal. Next up was a rematch from last year's AFC Championship Game with the Pats. The Ravens defense made Tom Brady uncomfortable all game, forcing him to throw 2 interceptions. Joe Flacco joined Mark Sanchez as the only two quarterbacks to defeat Peyton Manning and Tom Brady in the same post-season. 

The 49ers were pre-season favorites to get here, but they also took an unconventional route. After Alex Smith got injured during their Week 10 game against the Rams, second year pro Colin Kaepernick took over, and the team hasn't looked back since. After earning a bye in the first round, Kaepernick had a historic playoff game against the Packers, coming back from a pick six on his first drive of the game to pass for 263 yards and tack on another 181 yard on the ground, while scoring 4 total touchdowns. The 49ers found themselves in a 17-0 hole in the NFC Championship Game against the Falcons, and scored 28 of the games' final 35 points to walk away winners 28-24. 

Both of these teams are pretty evenly matched on both sides of the ball, except for one thing, which I think will determine the game. The 49ers are a younger and quicker squad, especially offensively, and feel that the Ravens defense will tire out as the game wears on. That being said, Baltimore has been deep in the playoffs the past five seasons, and Flacco has more big game experience than Kaepernick The Ravens defense was ranked 20th in the NFL in rushing yards allowed this season, and losses to the Eagles (Vick) and the Redskins (Griffin) show that they have trouble with rushing quarterbacks. I can see the first half being low-scoring, but the offenses take over towards the end. 

Prediction: 49ers 27 Ravens 17