As we move on to part two of this story, I should point out that Bruce Buffer still owes me a beer. Maybe someday this story will find him and we can resolve our differences. As I covered in Part One of this saga, we went to the weigh-ins and I was fortunate enough to meet Wanderlei Silva.

Little did we know it, but our day was just getting started. As the waitress brought us our first beer, a few people came walking into the bar. I didn't think much of it, but my friend Tim took only a second to recognize that one of the people was Mark DellaGrotte.

For those of you that don't know, and I am ashamed to admit that I didn't at first either, DellaGrotte is a MMA trainer. Tim made sure to get his attention as he walked-by and he even said hi as he passed. Now, we were pretty excited to see somebody famous walk through the bar, but a little upset for not grabbing him for a picture.

At this point, I don't know if we expected to see anybody else come through, but all of a sudden we started to get that feeling. A couple guys had entered the bar and they were carrying walkie-talkies and scoping out the bar.

Sure enough, a large group was entering the bar from the Target Center side. It was easy enough to spot Brock Lesnar in the group as he was twice as big as the others. As he walked past, I asked him to stop for a quick picture. He was nice enough to pose and shake my hand. I wished him luck and he split for the door.

Now, we knew we were in the right spot. The excitement was building as we thought about who else might come through.

My memory is a little fuzzy at this point, but I know we saw several fighters go through the bar. We were lucky enough to see John Fitch, Kenny Florian and Ben Saunders make there way through. As Saunders passed by, my friend Mike commented that "he looked shorter than he did on TV."

The comment got Saunders attention and he turned around to see who was making the accusations. He saw Mike standing there and tried to make light of the situation by asking whether Mike was standing on the bar stool. When he saw that he wasn't, he laughed and said "oh, I guess not" as he walked away.

The next fighter through the door was none other than Matt Serra. Now, we are not the biggest Matt Serra fans but I have to admit that he was pretty cool. He took time to shake hands and pose for pictures. We decided to go for the group shot minus Greg who took the picture. From left to right the picture shows Ryan, Mike, Matt and Tim.

As this story goes on, you can probably guess who will be coming in toward the end of the story. My encounter with Buffer wasn't bad, but I hope it is making for a good story line. If you have enjoyed the story so far, be sure to post a comment and come back soon to hear the rest of the story.

With the big event only a day away, a few friends and I decided to head down to the Target Center to watch the UFC 87 weigh-ins. We didn't know quite what to expect, but we each had our own ideas what the day might be like. Let me just say, we were all dead wrong.

The anticipation was high as we stood in line. We figured out that the Jon Fitch crew was right in front of us in line and in front of them was the Roger Huerta crew. After about an hour of standing in line, we were finally allowed in to find a seat.

As we sat down, the stadium quickly filled with fans. It was an impressive crowd for mid-day on a Friday. Then, our first sight of one of the fighters. A small crowd, which was quickly turning into a large crowd, was gathering down by the front. Sure enough, there was Wanderlei Silva signing autographs.

It didn't take long for my friend Mike and I to decide to go down. And as luck would have it, we were able to get a few pictures of him.

OK, I know I look a little giddy in the picture, but I have to admit I was excited to meet one of the best fighters in the world. With that out of the way, we headed back to our seats to watch the weigh-ins.

To keep this post somewhat sort, I won't bore you with the details of the weigh-ins. In fact, you can watch them right here thanks to ESPN video. At the very least, skip ahead to see Luke Cummo pose after he is done weighing-in.

With the weigh-ins now over, it was time to head out. After a little deliberation with the crew, I was able to convince them that we should have a beer instead of fighting the traffic. As we walked out of the Target Center, we grabbed a flier that promised cheap beer at NBA City.

Our day seemed to be winding down and we were fairly satisfied. I had gotten to meet Wanderlei Silva, who was actually really friendly and approachable. However, the story doesn't end here. I still have to get to why Bruce Buffer owes me a beer. As you might guess, our day had much more in store than we could have ever imagined...

Bruce Buffer Owes me a Beer: Part 2

I still can't get past the Kenny Florian vs. Roger Huerta fight. I just finished watching the UFC 87 countdown and now I am more excited than ever for it. You can see my post on that fight here. Still, I have to cover a few of the other fights, so here we go.

The Brock Lesnar vs Heath Herring fight seems very straightforward to me. Herring will look to land a bomb, probably a head kick but it could aslo be a knee. Lesnar will look to do what he does best, he will look for the takedown and then ground and pound.

Don't expect Lesnar to get caught in a submission like he did against Frank Mir. Herring just doesn't possess those skills. Still, he is very capable of landing that one big kick, just ask Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.

I have a feeling that Lesnar will have Herring on the mat in about 10 seconds and pound him out shortly after. Expect this to be a huge win for Lesnar and a fun fight to watch. Goooooo Gophers!

The countdown continues as there is only 5 days left until UFC 87, Seek and Destroy. To continue my coverage of the event, I will now take a look at an extremely interesting matchup between Kenny Florian and Roger Huerta.

The two best lightweights in the UFC are BJ Penn and Sean Sherk. However, the best of the rest includes Kenny Florian and Roger Huerta. I also put Joe Stevenson in this group, but that is a subject for another post. Now, these two will fight to determine the number one contender for the UFC lightweight title.

Kenny Florian made a name for himself on the original Ultimate Fighter. After fighting his way into the finals, he suffered a TKO loss to Diego Sanchez. The loss seemed to make Florian even more focused than before and he went onto win three straight fights.

With the three straight wins, Florian earned himself a title shot against Sean Sherk. Unfortunately for Florian, he wasn't able to deal with the strength of Sherk and lost a unanimous decision. Once again, the loss seemed to focus Florian's efforts more than ever. After the loss, Florian once again went on a win streak reeling off four straight wins.

Florian once again stands on the cusp of his title shot. The man standing in his way is Roger Huerta. A very exiting fighter, Huerta owns and impressive 22-1-1 record (6-0 in the UFC). Huerta gained his notoriety two-fold. First, he appeared on a Sports Illustrated cover. Then, the UFC, trying to cash in on his cover) featured him in five events in 2007.

The exposure was good for Huerta, but he was clearly drained from all the fights. He decided to recover by taking off most of 2008 and the fight with Florian will be his first this year. An interesting side note, Huerta has two fights left on his contract while being only one fight away from the title match. The UFC often won't give the fighter with one fight on his contract a title shot until he signs a new contract. If Huerta wins this fight, we may once again be in a contract freeze until one side caves.

Breaking down this fight is extremely difficult. Both fighters are known for their conditioning, so I don't expect that to be a factor. I have to give Florian the edge with submissions and you can't forget about his dangerous elbows. Huerta brings an energy to all of his fights and probably has the edge in the standup.

The x-factor for Florian has to be his experience. He has fought a much more impressive list of opponents including Sean Sherk, Din Thomas, Chris Leben and Diego Sanchez. He always looks focused and throws those elbows with malicious intent. As much as I like Huerta, I believe Florian will be able to catch Huerta in a submission or land one of those famous elbows. Either way, this should be fun to watch.

Only 10 days left until UFC 87 Seek and Destroy? Where the hell has the summer gone? Well, at least I still have an awesome summer event left, UFC 87.

In many ways, the fans in Minnesota got lucky with the UFC 87 card. The card includes a huge star in George St. Pierre, a local boy in Roger Huerta and local star in Brock Lesnar. Most importantly, the UFC 87 card features a title fight and all around great matchups.

I am definitely most excited about the Georges St. Pierre and Jon Fitch title fight. St. Pierre is a huge star and is the prototypical UFC fighter. Fitch is also an excellent fighter and deserving of the title shot having won all 8 of his UFC fights.

The other really interesting fight is between Kenny Florian and Roger Huerta. This fight will surely decide the number one contender in the lightweight division.

With only 10 days left, I still have many things to cover but it is time to start getting excited about UFC 87!

I know my wife has noticed it and so have some of you. There seems to be a lot more Mixed Martial Arts these days. I remember back about a year ago when I couldn't get enough MMA, but those days seem long gone. With the UFC, EliteXC, DREAM and Affliction events, you can find fights to watch almost every weekend.

To complicate things, the UFC has been airing shows on the same night as EliteXC and Affliction. They are trying to draw away potential viewers with their own events. Case in point was last weeks UFC Fight night which aired on the same night as the "Banned" Affliction event.

The question is whether this is too much MMA? The quick response is a definitive "no." Fans love the ability to turn on the TV almost any weekend and watch fights?

The problem is that the events are losing the appeal of the big show. They are too often and there isn't enough build up. As the events are watered down and the talent is spread across more promotions, there will be a negative effect on the fans.

The real answer lies in the long term growth of the sport. The explosion of mixed martial arts will draw new fans and encourage competition among promotions. This competition will ultimately lead to better events and most likely fewer promotions. So, yes there is too much MMA right now, but it essential for the sport to evolve into a better product. What do you think?

OK, the head line is a little misleading, but the production of the "Banned" event was horrible. This might have been expected, but Affliction had a blueprint laid out by the UFC and they just couldn't make it work.

Things that didn't go well...

• Time Constraints - The first bout was scrapped due to... time constraints? How do you run out of time when the fights haven't even started?
• Energy & Sound - The event lacked real energy early on. Sound could have been a factor. The crowd noise wasn't piped in while the fighters walked in. The transitions from a fight to fight lacked any buildup.
• Camera Work - We saw some interesting camera work, during one fighter interview, the camera cut to an announcer where we could see he was getting his makeup applied.

I probably wouldn't have noticed the production values as much if there had been better fights. I had to wait until the Andrei Arlovski fight to finally say we had seen a decent fight and the Fedor Emelianenko and Tim Sylvia fight just left me with an empty feeling.

Overall, I have to give Affliction some credit for putting this thing together. They had awesome card (on paper) and delivered MMA fights which is what the fans really want. We got to see Fedor fight a legitimate opponent and he showed his awesome power. Now, lets see what Affliction can do for their sequel.

Before I forget, there were some great lines from the announcers. I don't have them all, but my favorite was "that was a 22 on the wow factor." I still can't figure out what the hell that means. Somebody please explain it to me.

The UFC must feel threatened by Affliction. Why else would they scramble to put a show up against the the first ever Affliction event? As my friend said, it's almost like the UFC is turning into Microsoft. He may be right, but we will have to wait and see.

Here is the official Banned preview:

I did find it interesting that they never mention the UFC when describing Tim Sylvia. The video does mention the UFC a couple times with their descriptions of Pat Militich and Andre Arlovski. Seems strange that they would leave it out for one fighter and include it for the other two.

I wish I was able to watch either event this weekend, but I can't. I'm betting that most fans tune in to see Fedor Emelianenko fight Tim Sylvia, but who knows. What will you be watching this weekend?

Who is the best pound for pound MMA fighter of all time? CBS has put together a 32 fighter bracket and is asking readers to decide.

Although interesting, I suspect most people will focus on the legends and the current big names. My early favorites to win this thing are...

• Fedor Emelianenko - While he is considered the most dominate fighter in the world, some question the talent he has been fighting lately.
• Anderson Silva - Like Fedor, he has dominated his weight class. This begs the question, is the division thin or is he that good?
• George St. Pierre - Probably my favorite to win it all, but a loss to Matt Serra really hurts.
• Chuck Liddell - The best name recognition of the bunch, but those back to back loses are still fresh in most fans eyes.
• Royce Gracie - The legend and most dominate fighter of his era. Still, will the new fans know who he is?

Go check it out and be sure to vote!

Success! I was able place once again in the top 100, landing in 96 place. My original predictions are here and my past event results are here.

Out of the two fights I got wrong, I was more surprised by Corry Hill losing to Justin Buchholz. From what I read about the fight, Hill dominated most of the fight until he got caught in a submission.

The only other real shocker to me was Cole Miller catching Jorge Gurgel in a submission. I thought he was suppose to be the BJJ expert... guess I was wrong.

For the next event, my goal is to break into the top 50. We will have to see.

So here they are, the UFC 86 UFC fantasy game predictions. I stuck to the picks I laid out in my original post and I have to say I feel pretty good about them. Be sure to get your picks in before Saturday!

Corey Hill vs. Justin Buchholz - Time to see if "The Real Deal" can continue his win streak. Corey Hill presents all sorts of matchup issues for his opponents and I don't see this fight being any different. At 6'4", Hill towers above all the fighters in his division. Look for Hill to win this fight by knockout.

Melvin Guillard vs. Dennis Siver - Guess who is back and it isn't the real slim-shady. The question is which Melvin Guillard will show up for the fight? When he wins, he looks like a title contender. When he loses, he looks like he belongs in a backyard brawl. I believe the time away has done him some good and he will have a strong showing for this fight. Another TKO for Guillard.

Jorge Gurgel vs. Cole Miller - This is an interesting matchup for sure. Gurgel strikes me as the type of fighter that is very good, but will probably never reach title contention. This makes him a perfect fighter for gauging the skill level of other fighters. Enter Cole Miller... I am still not sold on his abilities, but he has the potential to be a good fighter. A win for Gurgel means nothing while a win for Miller says a lot about his future in the UFC. Hard for me to pick a winner here, so I am going with the Vegas line and picking Miller by unanimous decision.

Gabriel Gonzaga vs. Justin McCully - How can a fighter look so good in one fight and then so bad in the next? Gabriel Gonzaga looked like the next heavyweight champ when he defeated Mirko Cro Cop, but looked like a chump in his loses to Randy Couture and Fabricio Werdum. Justin McCully is smart fighter that can win fights against better opponents, but I don't see that happening in this fight. Gonzaga wins this fight early by ground and pound.

Tyson Griffin Vs. Marcus Aurelio - This should be a great fight, but I am having a hard time picking a winner. I assume that Tyson Griffin is the odds on favorite so I will believe he will continue his current winning streak. Look for this one to go the distance with Griffin as the victor.

Josh Koscheck vs. Chris Lytle - Ouch, this is a bad matchup for Chris Lytle. Koscheck is an excellent wrestler who will look to get Lytle on the mat early. Lytle's best chance to win this fight is to keep Koscheck on his feet and entice him to exchange punches. If Koscheck sticks to his plan, he wins this fight by TKO.

Joe Stevenson vs. Gleison Tibau - This fight has the potential to be the fight of the night. With both fighters coming off of difficult loses, they both have something to prove. Expect a blood bath with Stevenson as the winner of the fight.

Patrick Cote vs. Ricardo Almeida - Ah yes, the classic matchup of the submission artist versus the slugger. These fights are almost always determined by where the fight takes place. Almeida wants the fight on the ground while Cote prefers to fight on his feet.

Usually, I tend to lean towards the submission guy because I assume the fight will eventually end up on the mat. The x-factor for Cote may very well be his new found confidence. He has been landing precision punches with the power to knockout his opponents. I am going to go against my better judgment and pick Cote to win this fight. You know what that means, knockout baby!

Quinton Jackson vs. Forrest Griffin - Finally, the main event. This soon to be classic represents an important moment in mixed martial arts. Think of this fight as the past meeting the future. Quinton Jackson is favored to win this fight, but don't be surprised if Griffin finds a way to win.

The first time I picked against Griffin was the first time I saw him officially fight. I was sure Stephan Bonnar was going to win the first Ultimate Fighter. The second time I picked against Griffin was when he fought Mauricio Rua... wrong again. So how can I pick against Griffin a third time?

Griffin can win this fight by following the right strategy. He needs this fight to make it into the later rounds where his conditioning is superior to Jackson's. Still, can he make it to the later rounds without being caught by Rampage? Probably not... Jackson wins this fight by technical knockout.