CBS Sportsline writer and FiveOuncesOfPain.com blogger, Sam Caplan, had an interesting article regarding his picks for some of the break out fighters that we may see in 2008. His picks were Ed Ratcliff, Neil Grove, Jon Murphy, Tim Kennedy, Aaron Meisner, Carlo Prater, Demian Maia, and Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza. Those are some pretty decent picks for 2008, but there are a few that have been left out that should be looked at. Also, some of these names look to have some major roadblocks to overcome as well. Let's take a look.

Some thoughts on Caplan's picks

Ed Ratcliff is a great pick, and he brings the Karate background to his skillset that many mixed martial artists rarely have. A fighter who many people may know what has a demoralizing tactical gameplan for nearly every fight which features a karate background is Lyoto Machida. Ratcliff doesn't seem to garner the same type of patient countering as Machida, but he has crisp striking and precision kicks. Picking him over Karalexis recently was a damn good bet on my part, but Karalexis's wrestling was definitely a factor I had weighed. Regardless, Ratcliff pulled out a good win. Check out his Chuck Norris-esque spinning back kick win over Brett Cooper (Just recently beat Rory Markham at the IFL GP Final).

Tim Kennedy is definitely a nice pick. He nearly finished Jason Miller, but was ultimately defeated. Even with the setbacks, he's a warrior with good power, decent striking, and a great wrestling background. He'll be able to improve significantly as well as he has been training with The Pit, Liddell's camp.

Both are fantastic picks, but I'm not sold on the Demian Maia and Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza picks for a couple of reasons. First, Maia and Souza could run into the possibility of just being punched into unconsciousness. We all know that, but my main gripe deals with grapplers in general moving to the top of the middleweight division. Both guys could make waves in a weak UFC middleweight division for awhile, but the grapplers near the top and the over talent at the top rely on some decent standup skills as well. A guy like Filho has better chances because he has huge power in his arms and has a possibility of catching his opponent. His raw power is also tough to stop on the ground. His raw power makes him dangerous in the striking even though he isn't that technically sound in it. Maia and Souza don't have that advantage.

Neil Grove didn't impress me in his last fight, and honestly, he's a typical British standup fighter. Robert Berry, who wasn't using really any technique at all in his striking, was able to actually drop him to the ground and win the round. Unbelievably, Berry gave up due to exhaustion. Grove was lucky, and he will probably be exposed in any other organization.

The IFL has been hammered for many things by fans, and often justifiably so.  The tape delays on the broadcasts made them difficult to become immersed in, and the regional team format never exceeded the exalted rank of ‘cheesy.’  This Grand Prix has answered the call.  Tournaments are the most definitive way to determine who is the best (just ask any LSU or Hawaii Football Fan) and MMA fans get gleefully nostalgic when thinking about the UFC’s early days.

The IFL took a page out of PRIDE’s old playbook and put this one together for us and the final card is solid.  Not only do we see the culmination of the tournament, but there’s five title fights.  Yep, that’s right; five.  Hard to find that anywhere.  In addition to that, it’s free if you got the right cable package!  Good stuff all around and with the exception of the light heavyweights, every division will be active.  Five men will join Vladimir Matyushenko as inaugural IFL champs in their respective weight classes and we can drink it all in without spending any more money than we already have.

The Title Fights
Featherweight: Wagnney Fabiano (8-1) vs. L.C. Davis (9-0)

The two 145lbers both sport a spotless record in the IFL, and only one loss beyond it; combined.  The WEC has proven that the lighter weight classes are exciting as hell, and Fabiano and Davis are no exception. 

Davis brings the patented Miletich offensive, a headstrong approach with a foundation of strong wrestling, good conditioning and judicious hands.  Davis has gone on record saying he can handle Fabiano on the feet and he’ll keep it there. By my estimation, he’d better.  The 5’6” Brazilian has shown surprising strength, and combined with superior jiu-jitsu skills is on a 4-0 tear behind four submissions. 

Aggressive wrestling has played into the hands of the slick jiu-jitsu artists before, and I look for the same to happen here. The Carlos Newton trained fighter will be the strongest opponent Davis has tangled with. Fabiano’s recent move from lightweight down to his natural 145lb world will make him the IFL’s first Featherweight champ.

My Pick:  Fabiano by Armbar, Round 2

Lightweight: Chris Horodecki (11-0) vs. Ryan Schultz (17-9-1)

The entire MMA world is well aware of who Horodecki is by now.  The IFL posterboy possesses that strange cocktail of boyish looks and deadly fighting ability that is tough to resist.  At just 20 years of age, the Polish kickboxer is poised to be an MMA superstar. There’s only one man standing in his way, and that’s Schultz. 

The scrappy Schultz hails from Team Quest and should look to employ a grinding ground and pound attack.  These two faced off in November ’06 and Horodecki finished the Oregon native early in the second frame.  He no doubt wants that to happen again, and as Shad Lierley proved Chris is at his least dangerous when he’s on his back.

The records of the two fighters are trending in polar opposite directions; Horodecki with eleven straight wins and the ten year elder Schultz posting a 6-5 record.  The discrepancy is a little misleading.  Schultz has fought much tougher competition, notably recent UFC contender Hermes Franca and Rich Clementi over his last eleven.  He also has wins over the UFC’s great Hispanic hope Roger Huerta, Jason Dent and took ‘JZ’ Calvancante to a draw.

All signs point toward The Polish Hammer being another A-Class 145lber, and he’ll hand the Gresham native his tenth loss of his career.  The Hammer’s striking shoots in from all angles, and the especially swift right leg of Horodecki will wear down the wrestler for the first eight minutes, paving the way for a late TKO win.  The IFL will crown its first LW champ, and top-ten lists everywhere will be forced to take notice.

My Pick:  Horodecki by TKO, Round 3

More...

The International Fight League will end their year on Saturday night by putting on their final event as part of the Grand Prix series. The final matches will determine the new divisional titles and set up future title matchups for the IFL, something that is new to the promotion. Unfortunately for the IFL, injuries, contract problems, and overall bad luck have plagued the Grand Prix events and caused a huge gap in the talent pool that the IFL cannot seem to remedy.

The IFL has an even taller task in trying to compete with the UFC's own event, UFC 79. It's evident that the IFL is looking to only grab up a very small portion of viewers and not the mainstream fans that will be tuning into the UFC. Nonetheless, the IFL Grand Prix final has a couple of interesting matchups, and we'll briefly look at the card in its entirety.

Jay Hieron vs. Delson "Pe de Chumbo" Heleno

The most interesting bout of the night by far pits a fairly well-rounded Jay Hieron against a phenomenal grappler in Delson Heleno. Hieron has fought some tough competition in the past, but has lost some battles that were questionable as far as his opponent's talent level. Hieron's main weakness has been his inability to finish opponents, but for the most part, he's well-rounded and is very durable in the ring. He'll use his superior striking abilities to most likely keep this fight standing, and will try to avoid being submitted by using his good wrestling skills.

Heleno will counter the rough ground and pound style of Hieron with an excellent Brazilian jiu-jitsu background. Heleno doesn't have impressive wins over high quality opponents, but he definitely has a submission game that can defeat quality guys that begin to step in front of him. That is what Heleno's goal will be on Saturday.

Prediction: Hieron by decision

Hieron has a much better standup game and has never been submitted in his career. He also has the backing of some solid training at Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas. Look for Hieron to pull this win out.
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Chris Horodecki vs. Ryan "The Lion" Schultz

A rematch of a battle that happened in IFL's semifinals last year, this should be a clear cut win for Horodecki. Since nearly all of Horodecki's opponents leading up to this Grand Prix final were injured or moved away from the bout, Schultz will get a chance to redeem a loss.

Fact is, Horodecki is a dynamic striker with excellent takedown defense, and he is only improving with his training at Xtreme Couture. I see no reason why Schultz will be able to win this fight, especially when many of his losses are by way of TKO.

Prediction: Horodecki by second round TKO/KO
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Benji Radach vs. Matt Horwich

Another matchup that has a small amount of intrigue surrounding it. Both Middleweights have solid experience in the cage, but both have styles that are completely opposite of each other. Radach is a devastating striker whereas Horwich is primarily a submission weapon. Radach boasts 13 KO/TKO's in 17 wins and Horwich has 18 submissions in 20 wins, heavy percentage of wins in one area for both fighters.

Radach does have some excellent wrestling ability and has never been submitted. His takedown defense is excellent, and it will be a tough task for Horwich to avoid Radach's power striking if he's stuffed during a shoot. This would be the ideal situation for Radach, but Horwich has never been knocked out. Will Radach's wrestling be enough to avoid the submissions and stop Horwich's own takedown attempts?

Prediction: Radach by TKO, second round.

Radach is a very strong striker and has the wrestling skills to back up his standup style. Horwich has lost some big fights by submission, but has never been knocked out or stopped. Look for Horwich to be stopped by Radach's power.
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Antoine Jaoude vs. Roy Nelson

The battle of the heavyweights in the IFL has never really been an interesting prospect. Rothwell blew through the division, then had contract issues with the IFL and the Grand Prix event at the end of the year. This fight does, however, feature Antoine Jaoude, who narrowly lost to Rothwell.

The most significant difference between both fighters is the weight factor. Nelson will most likely have 20-30 lbs. on Jaoude, but Jaoude has shown better skill in his most recent contests. Nelson may have some serious trouble with Jaoude's skills in general.

Prediction: Jaoude by decision.

I think Jaoude can outlast Nelson and also show off some better wrestling skills in the process.
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Wagnney Fabiano vs. LC Davis

After the IFL ruined the potential matchup of Fabiano vs. Horodecki, he was relegated to a lower weight division and now has to face a tough LC Davis who is 9-0. Both men are primarily jiu-jitsu fighters with some decent standup skills. Davis has an impressive win over Jay Estrada, but most of his competition hasn't been on a world class level. He combined decent power in his hands with an excellent ground game. Fabiano will be a very tough test.

Fabiano comes straight out of Rio and will be looking to extend his four fight win streak. His only loss is to the veteran grappler in Jeff Curran by decision. Fabiano has had an easy cakewalk through the IFL's competition, and Davis may possibly be in for a rude awakening.

Prediction: Fabiano via second round submission

Fabiano's jiu-jitsu should be able to exploit the fact that Davis hasn't fought competition that is on his level, but we could be in a surprise if Davis brings the type of game he used on Estrada.
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Tim Kennedy vs. Elias Rivera

It's hard to dislike Tim Kennedy at all in this fight and in everyday life. He's an enlisted soldier, and also a fighter who embodies everything that is a class act to this sport. He has very good wrestling skills and some good power in his hands. He has a much more well-rounded game than his opponent Rivera, who is very susceptible to the knockout. Look for Kennedy to end this in by TKO/KO.

Prediction: Kennedy via KO, 1st round
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Rory Markham vs. Brett Cooper

Markham is coming off two big wins over Chris Clements and Pat Healy. He has dynamite in his hands, and an excellent takedown defense from fighting out of the Miletich camp. With primarily a wrestling and striking background that is proven in the cage, Markham will be a tough task for Brett Cooper.

I'm not privy to much of Brett Cooper's recent work in the MMA. He does have a good win over Jason Von Flue as recently as December 1st. If anyone has seen Cooper's fight with Ed Ratcliff, he was straight knocked out cold by a spinning back kick that was out of a Chuck Norris movie. Cooper has seemed to improve since those battles early in his career. He has some decent power in his hands and also some good wrestling skills. I think Markham will put Cooper down fairly easily regardless of Cooper's renewed drive.

Prediction: Markham via TKO/KO, 2nd round

When MMA fans hear about new promotions coming into the U.S. market, many of them think about the countless promotions that have lived and died. Others think of the current promotions that obtained a peak of less than good and then descended to the bottom are are barely hanging on. On Saturday night, the fans of this sport saw something different. HDNet Fights not only had very good production value, but also did things that other promotions seem to just throw together. There are, of course, a few differences between most upstarts and HDNet Fights. Mark Cuban can infuse the promotion with some money that many organizations simply cannot produce, and he has the capability to hold the event in a huge venue, the American Airlines Arena, in Dallas, Texas, an arena that houses his own Dallas Mavericks. Nonetheless, the event kicked off with some great action.

Great preliminary action, Main event works

The good thing about upstart promotions is that it forces them to find up-and-coming talent to fill their undercards. In this case, it wasn't exactly the most veteran of undercards, but definitely a suitable stable of young fighters and old fighters. Marcus Lanier improved his record against a weaker opponent in Lee King, but showed some promise in his wrestling abilities. Liam McCarthy got a much needed TKO win over Jason House. Jay White's record of 1-5 deceived everyone, but he pulled out an impressive submission victory over Patrick Castillo. Nissen Osterneck lived up to his new found hype as he defeated a decent Freddie Espircueta via ground and pound in the first round. Corey Mahon surprised some people with his win over an able Chris Bowles and improved his record to 8-0. There are definitely some flashes of talent within the group of guys on the undercard, and I'm sure we'll see more of them in future shows

Although there wasn't much in the realm of upsets on the main card, we did see some surprising outcomes. Tristan Yunker looked sickly on Friday when he failed to make the 170 pound cutoff, but Pete Spratt agreed to take 25% of Yunker's purse in order to fight. It worked out well for Spratt. Spratt smashed Yunker's eye early in the first round, cutting a deep gash below the left orbital. The referee stepped in and ended the bout in the first round. Krzysztof Soszynski defeated Robert Villegas after Villegas apparently broke his foot and was "flopping" to the ground according to the HDnet broadcast crew. Yves Edwards had a shaky first round, but came back in the second and was able to take Alonzo Martinez's back and sink the rear naked choke. Some excellent battles from some MMA veterans that seemingly haven't made their way back to the big leagues that are the UFC. Either way, it looks like HDNet has tapped into a resource that they can continue to use.

In the main events, Frank Trigg demolished a smaller looking Edwin Dewees by sinking in a kimura while on his back and rolling as Dewees tried to escape it. Dewees did not tap, and eventually, it looked as if Trigg may have cracked Dewees's arm. In the post-fight interview, Trigg led us to believe that it was broken. In the final fight of the night, Mayhem held off Tim Kennedy and won unanimously 29-28 to edge out Kennedy. After entering the cage with pinatas and candy, he walked toward the ring in silver tights and a red cape with a mask as if he was a pro-wrestler. Very entertaining for the Mayhem Monkeys in attendance.

Overall, the fights were fairly entertaining without too much controversy. Good performances from some unknowns, great outcomes for some veterans, and the main events set up the Frank Trigg vs. Jason Miller II. It wasn't a bad night for the first LIVE broadcasted event for HDNet Fights.

What really shined...

The most evident difference between HDNet and many of the other promotions was the commentary and broadcast interviewers. Although HDNet didn't provide the most in-depth broadcasting team, they did keep it informative and in-depth at times. It wasn't overly analytical and sounded more professional than many of the other promotions. Their in-cage interviewer was smooth in his asking of questions and asked questions that we as the fans would actually consider hearing. A vast improvement from Frank Mir's bumbling talk after WEC fights, and Joe Rogan's questioning after UFC fights. Impressive to say the least.

The production was also done in a different way than what we may see in the UFC. The arena wasn't lit up like is usually is for UFC events. It was dark, and the only light that was bright was the light hitting the cage canvas. During the entrances, the light show was full blown, but for viewers watching, the dim lighting around the cage had a very professional look and feel to it. We've seen this in boxing matches specifically, although not many of the huge title fights. In definitely kept up with the theme of not showing off ring girls, and more of the theme of professionalism that Mark Cuban stated in the past.

On another note, kudos to the balls of the man who interviewed Couture. Not only did he ask questions that MANY MMA interviewers never ask because they think it's respectful to just leave the issue alone, but he asked the question we all wanted to hear: When will we see you back in the cage, and will it be with the UFC? Couture stated it could be with the UFC if the co-promote with M-1, but that his fight contract ends in July and his employment contract ends in October. Couture hinted that we may see him against Fedor in October. They also asked Ken Shamrock some questions and he eluded to the fact that there may be a fight between himself and his brother Frank Shamrock. Why is it that HDNet has the balls to ask these questions and nobody else does?

What do we think about HDNet Fights?

HDNet Fights is definitely not a poorly produced or commentated event. They have been able to pick up on some of the other MMA veterans out there that remain unsigned, and they have also been able to find some talent that is up-and-coming around the country and locally in the state of Texas. The event definitely had a more professional feel to it and was without the extravagant ring girls and the flashy lights and spectacle of some of the other U.S. promotions. It was a simple, laid back MMA promotion that had a feel of real professionalism, at least to this viewer.

Check out HDNet Fights on HDNet. The channel also re-airs past events such as the IFO, and will be broadcasting Yarennoka from Japan as well on New Year's Eve. Definitely check out that card as Fedor Emelianenko will be fighting Hong Man Choi, as well as a plethora of RANKED lightweight matchups will be occuring.

Mark Cuban's brainchild, HDNet Fights, will hold its second event in the promotion's short existence on Saturday evening. It will also mark the first live telecast for the promotion. The event will feature a main event rematch between Jason "Mayhem" Miller and Tim Kennedy. Also on the card, Frank "Twinkletoes" Trigg will put his wrestling to the test against a streaking Edwin Dewees, The Ultimate Fighter Season 4 contestant. Other interesting bouts include Pete "Secret Weapon" Spratt vs. Tristan Yunker, Yves Edwards vs. Alonzo Martinez, Nissen Osterneck vs. Freddie Espiricueta, and Jason House taking on Liam McCarty. We'll take a look at the fighters and make some bold predictions for the card.

Main Event
Jason "Mayhem" Miller vs. Tim Kennedy

Jason "Mayhem" Miller (19-5) must be chomping at the bit for this fight. Mayhem hasn't fought since May of this year during his short stint in the WEC in which he defeated Hiromitsu Miura. Before his move to the WEC, he was fairly successful in Icon Sport, racking up a 3-1 record while in the promotion with a big win over the heavy-handed Robbie Lawler. Mayhem also has some key wins over Falaniko Vitale, Egan Inoue, and Denis Kang.

The hype surrounding this battle is the rematch aspect. Tim Kennedy defeated Mayhem back in February of 2003 in a Extreme Challenge card. Kennedy won by decision, but Mayhem has stated in some recent interviews that he felt he was much stronger now. Although we haven't seen promotion from HDNet on national television, for hardcore fans, this should be a matchup of interest due to the fact that Tim Kennedy is riding a huge win streak.

Kennedy (8-1) has had a very good career so far. He's currently on a seven fight win streak and has been dominant in his performances in the IFL. Much like Mayhem, Kennedy has not fought since May of this year either. His last win was over the cardio machine in Ryan McGivern in the IFL.

Kennedy is a banger and has some knockout power. He has the ability to set up some great combinations and will use kicks to set up his gameplan from the get go. He has some wrestling abilities as well, but mainly will be looking for a ground and pound victory or a straight knockout. During his last battle with Ryan McGivern, he showed some great wrestling ability against another very able wrestler in McGivern. Kennedy may try to stay away from Mayhem's ju-jitsu, or simply pound him while trying to avoid being submitted.

If you've had the pleasure of seeing Mayhem battle it out in the cage, he's fairly well-rounded. He has some significant reach, decent striking, great knees in the clinch, and will also utilize leg kicks to set up his gameplan. His main "win" trait is his jiu-jitsu ground game. He has some decent takedown abilities, but if you take him down and get into his guard, his length is definitely an issue to deal with. Combine a plethora of submission game along with some fairly good standup, Mayhem is a handful for many fighters... ask Georges St. Pierre who was unable to finish Mayhem.

Leland's Prediction: Jason "Mayhem" Miller via submission, Round 3

Mayhem tends to start slow, which may be an advantage in that Kennedy may tire later on in the bout. I look for Mayhem to either stand and trade or become a victim of a takedown. Either way, Mayhem should have the advantage unless Kennedy happens to catch him. I'll take the wiley activeness of Mayhem over Kennedy in this one.
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Frank Trigg vs. Edwin Dewees

Frank Trigg (15-6) is a veteran of PRIDE, UFC, and was once the champion of Icon Sport. He's been around the MMA scene for quite some time, and is also the co-host of TAGG Radio. Trigg has an impressive skillset in that he's a black belt in Judo as well as a seasoned wrestler who was a finalist in the 2000 Olympic Trials. Trigg has also demonstrated some heavy hands in many of his past fights as well. He has defeated notable fighters such as Kazuo Misaki, Jason Miller, Renato Verissimo, and Dennis Hallman while having losses to Georges St. Pierre, Matt Hughes, Hayato Sakurai, Carlos Condit, and his most recent loss to Robbie Lawler.

Although he had some fairly bad stints of running into the top fighters in the UFC, he has been making a fairly good run as of late. He defeated both Misaki and Miller toward the beginning of this year, and was involved in a war with Robbie Lawler that Trigg looked good in. He will be a very tough test for Edwin Dewees.

Dewees (34-10) has a significant amount of fights under his belt. His experience in the cage far exceeds Trigg's experience, but Trigg has fought some of the world's best fighters. Dewees, on the other hand, has fought a good amount of mid-tier fighters as well as fighters making their way up into the upper-echelon of his weight class. As of late, Dewees is coming off two losses, a knockout loss to Art Santore and a TKO loss to Jorge Rivera. His last fight was last November, and it looks like Dewees is refreshed and ready to continue his career.

Edwin is mainly a submission fighter, but has shown to have some power in his hands. His main skills revolve around wrestling on the ground, although he may be looking to keep it standing against an able wrestler in Trigg. Trigg has been known to be susceptible to having his back taken as was evident in his losses to St. Pierre and Matt Hughes. It'll be interesting to see if Dewees tries to take it to the ground or stand with Trigg.

Leland's Prediction: Frank Trigg via TKO, Round 2

Trigg has been working out at the Xtreme Couture gym in Las Vegas getting ready for this bout. I expect his wrestling to be very good, and he should be able to counter Dewees' attempts if they come along. Although Trigg has had problems getting his back taken in the past, I imagine Trigg will try to work his fists a bit more on top to soften up Dewees. I'll go out on a limb and take Trigg by devastating ground and pound or a stoppage due to strikes standing.
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