Dr Hak's MMA Rankings - September 2007

In the last month we've seen UFC 74, UFC 75, Ultimate Fight Night 11 and UFC 76. That's a lot of fights, clearly. The trend of upsets that has seen Gabriel Gonzaga take out Mirko CroCop, Matt "The Terror" Serra knockout Georges St Pierre for the welterweight title, and Quinton Rampage Jackson make quick work or Chuck "The Iceman" Liddell has continued, with some of those names involved again in the late summer swarm.

UFC Rankings as of September 24th, 2007

Heavyweight - 220 lbs and above
1. Randy "The Natural" Couture
2. Big Nog
3. Tim Sylvia
4. Andrei Arlovski
5. Brandon Vera
6. Gabriel Gonzaga
7. Cheik Kongo
8. Mirko "CroCop" Filipovic

Of course, if Fedor shows up he becomes 1A/1B with Couture but that may not ever happen. Especially if Mark Cuban gets involved in MMA and decides to throw a bunch of money around. He's smart enough to NOT do that, but you never know. He's a billionaire after all. I don't know how Brandon Vera will hold up after such a long layoff (see: UFC's Pride acquisitions) but his previous body of work holds up well in a "pack" situation.

Upcoming Matches:
#5 Vera v #3 Sylvia

Suggested Matches:
#1a Couture v #1b Fedor Emelianenko or Big Nog
Arlovski v Gonzaga



Light Heavyweight - 205 lbs
1. Quinton "Rampage" Jackson
2. Dan Henderson
3. Tito Ortiz
4. Wanderlei Silva
5. Rashad Evans
6. Forrest Griffin
7. Mauricio "Shogun" Rua
8. Keith "Dean of Mean" Jardine
9. Chuck "Iceman" Liddell
10. Lyoto Machida
Also: Houston "The Assasain" Alexander , Michael "The Count" Bisping, Matt Hammill, Jason Lambert

You'll excuse me for being confused this month. The title-shot picture is pretty jumbled now. Before this month of activity I had 2. Rua. 3. Henderson. 4. Liddell 5. Silva. 6. Ortiz 7. Evans...but now everyone is losing. Even Jardine just lost not that long ago to the deliciously violent Houston Alexander. Bisping lost too, they just didn't score the fight correctly. So given all this, we need a challenger for Rampage. Everyone just behind Rampage lost and then Ortiz is up for a rematch with Rashad Evans due to their draw at UFC 73. Wanderlei Silva lost two fights in a row in Pride (one to Dan Henderson), so no immediate title shot for him. The UFC is in the business of making money. So let's go ahead and capitalize on Forrest Griffin's popularity and his win over the alleged #1 205-lb fighter in the world. He won the first Ultimate Fighter. Matt Serra got a title shot when he won his. So why not Forrest? If you have another suggestion I'd love to hear it.

Upcoming Matches
Bisping v Hammill Re-match
Ortiz v Evans Re-match (perhaps to determine the #1 contender)

Suggested Matches
#1 Rampage v #6 Forrest Griffin (Feb '08 SuperBowl show)
Liddell v Silva - go ahead and book it before someone else gets beat
Rua v Jardine
Alexander v Machida




Middleweight - 185 lbs
1. Anderson "The Spider" Silva
2. Dan Henderson
3. Rich Franklin
4. Nate "The Great" Marquadt
5. Yushin Okami
6. Martin Kampmann
7. Jason MacDonald
8. Terry Martin
9. Mike Swick

Anderson Silva is destroyings these cats, and I'm not sure Rich Franklin really wants to fight him again. But he will, and its for the belt. Perhaps we're one Muay Thai clinch away from seeing Silva v Henderson. I'd enjoy that matchup a lot

Upcoming Matches
#1 Silva v #3 Franklin
Okami v MacDonald

Suggested Matches
#2 Henderson v Silva/Franklin winner



Welterweight - 170 lbs
1. Matt "The Terror" Serra
2. Georges St. Pierre
3. Matt Hughes
4. Jon Fitch
5. Josh Koscheck
6. Diego "Nightmare" Sanchez
7. Karo Parisyan

GSP dominated a very self-assured Josh Koscheck last month and reclaims his spot at the top of the contender heap. He'll have to wait a long time to get his title shot, maybe until April 08 but it looks like the UFC is working on giving him home field advantage and having that fight be in Montreal. It seems like the convential wisdom is a Hughes-GSP 3 match-up but we'll have to wait and see on that one until December's title tilt. Jon Fitch's domination of Diego Sanchez shows he's in the upper echelon of welterweights in the UFC and I'd probably match him up with Karo Parisyan soon and promise the winner the next title match, which could be a full year away. I think its unfortunate GSP was promised a title shot if he beat Koscheck, if only because he'll have at least a 6 month layoff that is probably not needed. I support Diego Sanchez's decision to go to 155, if that is what he decides to do, but he's a good welterweight as well

Upcoming Matches
#1 Serra v #3 Hughes - December

Suggested Matches
Fitch v Parisyan
Sanchez v Koscheck 2



Lightweight - 155 lbs
1. Sean Sherk
2. BJ Penn
3. Joe Stevenson
4. Kenny Florian
5. Hermes Franca
6. Roger Huerta
7. Joe Lauzon
8. Spencer Fisher
9. Tyson Griffin
10. Din Thomas


The talk of a Sean Sherk steriods suspension brings us to a Joe Stevenson v BJ Penn fight for the vacated title. That's cool, even though BJ Penn is getting older and should probably stop cutting all the way to 155. It'd be interesting to have him in the welterweight division again. Regardless, Roger Huerta isn't quite ready for a title shot...or at least the UFC isn't giving him fights that would suggest they think he is. That being said, he's been marketed hard and he's doing well. So how about a #1 contender match against Kenny "The Finisher" Florian?

Upcoming Matches
#2 Stevenson v #3 Penn - if Sherk suspension upheld

Suggested Matches
Huerta v Florian
Franca v Griffin

Dr Hak's College Football Rankings - Week 4 (9/23)

I didn't see much of this week's action but I've caught up with the comings and goings.

First impression - one time for Andre Woodson.

2nd impression - this is going to be a "wasteful" season in 1-A football. Michigan is wasting Mike Hart and perhaps Chad Henne. Louisville is wasting Brian Brohm. Arkansas is wasting LaDanian...I mean Darren McFadden. That's too bad none of these teams has a defense who can't prevent the opponent from scoring 40 points because their offensive talent is all Top 5 come next NFL Draft

Dr. Hak's Week 4 Rankings for the 2007 Season:

1. LSU
2. USC
3. Oklahoma
4. West Virginia
5. Florida
6. Rutgers
7. Oregon
8. Cal
9. Wisconsin
10. Texas
11. Clemson
12. Boston College
13. Kentucky
14. Ohio State
15. South Florida
16. Hawaii
17. South Carolina
18. Penn State
19. Georgia
20. Virgina Tech
21. Missouri
22. Cincinnati
23. Purdue
24. Alabama
25. Appalachain State

Others: Arizona State, Miami, Nebraska, UCLA, Michigan State, Michigan

You might notice I switched LSU and USC. Why? Well because LSU has beaten tougher (in my estimation) teams so far and they look just as good with their #2 QB in as they do with their starter. The defense is tremendous and if they played USC I think the Tigers would win...right now. Its early and I reserve the right to flip-flop them week to week if they stay undefeated. Will they? LSU has a ton of tough SEC games but they are all at home. USC's PAC 10 schedule is a bit rough. We'll see.

I'm impressed with Oklahoma but we must remember they have a freshman QB. At some point that might catch up with them.

I dropped Oregon because I think I over-ranked them, and I moved West Virginia up because its not fair to have Steve Slaton, Pat White and Noel Devine. How many linebackers would you have to have in the game to stop that attack? Nuts.

I continue to be impressed with Andre Woodson but we'll see how good he really is when Kentucky hits the hard part of their SEC schedule. They have an @South Carolina, v LSU, v Florida spot coming up after their home game against FAU. Woodson looks like the first QB off the board in the next NFL draft.

Dr. Hak's Week 3 College Football Rankings

Dr Hak Sports is BACK! with the season's first college football rankings

No time for chatter, let's get to it...

1. USC
2. LSU
3. Oklahoma
4. Florida
5. Oregon
6. West Virginia
7. Rutgers
8. Cal
9. Wisconsin
10. Penn State
11. South Carolina
12. Texas (you can't be in my Top 10 when you almost lost to both Arkansas State and UCF. Not happening. October 6 will be interesting)
13. Clemson
14. Boston College
15. Texas A&M
16. Kentucky
17. Louisville
18. Hawaii
19. Nebraska
20. South Florida
21. Alabama
22. Arkansas
23. Missouri
24. Virginia Tech
25. Appalachain State

Bellicheat Got Off Easy

Yo,

I'm a little upset.

The coach of the New England Patriots just got caught cheating, and he only gets a fine and a loss of a draft pick he doesn't need in the first place.
All this while a bunch of players have been suspended for 4 games, 8 games, a year, or forever, for things that have nothing to do with the game!
But you can get caught cheating...and they don't do nothing to you but take money out of your $4 Million salary, and take a player-pick away who may or may not be worth jack-sh*t in 2 years anyway....
But you do something off the field, and you get your livelihood taken away?!?!?!?!

HOW IS THIS COOL?

I guess I'm just not going to be applying for any jobs at the NFL cuz I'm really on some F*** the Commish type ish right now.
I can't help but notice that Bill Bellicheck isn't black and all these players who get suspended for off field incidents are. I hate to say that but that's what I'm feeling right now. This doesn't make sense...It doesnt feel right to me.

You can't cheat at the game, get caught, and then be back on the sideline the next week.
The Eagles want the Pats to FORFEIT the Super Bowl from two years ago...Cats is mad man, and we don't know how much cheating they did and how much of an advantage they got...so who knows how many games they did this with and what the real results would've been if they'dve played fair.
The problem isn't spying, its employing technology to spy. That's some next level ish right there. Play the game man...
The MINIMUM punishment Coach Bellicheat should've got was 4 games BANNED from the team, with no contact, and the Pats should lose their 1st 2nd AND 3rd round draft picks for the next season. F*** a fine. This dude is rich, man. The owner can slide him a half mil under the table or just boost his salary come next season.
I don't appreciate this AT ALL...

*addendum*

I just read this article

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3019472

Where it appears they suspended the Cowboy's QB Coach 1/3rd his salary and 5 games for using HGH to feel better from diabetes. How the F*** does Belichick get off with a slap on wrist then?!??? Take $1.4 Million and suspend him for 8 games if you're going to get an assistant coach for this... I'm calling BULLSHIT on the NFL for real right now.

*addendum over*

Peace out,
Angry Dr Hak

---------------------------

9/23 Addendum #2

Commisioner Goddell explained that Wade Wilson's HGH suspension comes from the fact that he obtained the HGH illegally and got caught in a bust. I accept that explanation. I still do not think Bellicheat's punishment was strong enough but stealing defensive calls could've been done without technology, so... the effect on the game may or may not have been that bad. I still think he should've been suspended. Two games minimum.

Appalachain State 34 - 32 Michigan + College Football Preview

Given that I put out a long blog on my family connection to the University of Michigan towards the end of last year's college football season, I figure I should probably comment on what might is one of, if not THE biggest upsets in the history of college football, or American sports in general.
Thankfully, I didn't see the game. I still haven't seen the highlights. I hear there were two blocked kicks and some failed two point conversions.

I hear there was some exploitation of the Michigan secondary...for the third game in a row.

I heard of this first from my gay friend Mario...ok he's not gay (not that there would be anything wrong with that if he were) I'm just being evil...from my good friend Mario, who is an Ohio State fan. You already know what that means. If you don't, let's just say "Hatfields and McCoys" or "Capulet and Montagues" or "we don't like each other".

Appalacian State was up on Michigan two touchdowns in the first half, and while I was on my way to The Red Door party, which was great, he calls complaining about something. It was weird, he sounded like he was on drugs or getting tortured in a sauna filled with hot oil...i don't know what he was going through but he was upset about Michigan being overrated or something. As if losing the first half of the first game meant anything.

I eventually told him he was just talking now because it was the only time this season he'd be able to say anything...and I was wrong.

Appalachain State ended up WINNING the game. Sure, Michigan did a few stupid things, but from what I can piece together, they lost the game straight up. No fluke.

App State is the two time defending 1-AA Champions. They could probably beat up on some C-USA teams like Houston or Rice. Definitely, they could be Sun Belt Champions. But beating Michigan? That's pretty heavy. That's huge
And once again, I haven't seen the footage. I'm kind of glad I don't have cable right now or I'd have to have heard and seen all about this all weekend.
So now, to the future. There are two, maybe three distince possibilities here
Most likely, Michigan has a season like Chad Henne's first, where they lost a ton of close games and finished 7-5.
Or they totally wilt as their team psyche is absolutely crushed and they finish...7-5 (they play a weak Big 10 Schedule. App State could contend for the title if they were in there)
Option Three...I think the Wolverines may in fact get motivated by this and destroy...absolutely, f---ing DESTROY everyone else in their path for the rest of the year.
This will be especially interesting if there's only one or two other one-loss teams by season's end. Not that their strength of schedule will hold up (Notre Dame is about to go 3-9. Ohio State 8-4, Wisconsin 10-2) but it would make for a hell of a debate if there's a two-loss Virginia Tech as ACC Champs (or Clemson), a two-loss SEC Champion, and a one loss Big East champ sitting around trying to see who get a crack at one loss USC or Oklahoma.

Just saying...

This is good for college football though (whatever that means)...just like the Boise State - Oklahoma deal from this year Fiesta Bowl. Lloyd Carr is about to retire at season's end. Sucks for him. Henne and Hart came back for this. Bad for them too...more for Hart because he's so injury prone...tough but injury prone...his money making window is small.

Oh well...I STILL rocked my Michigan t-shirt all day yesterday, cuz I'm a real ***** (fan)...though I must admit I only went to Blockbuster to pick up Heroes Season 1 Disc 3 and 4 and went home and cleaned up.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

I'm glad I didn't do a college football preview this year. but I guess I still owe it to the readers, so...here we go

LSU is overrated

Florida is overrated and their coach has said as much

Notre Dame and Florida State have shown you what I could've told you, which is that they are in serious rebuilding mode. I was surprised at how bad FSU's offense was against Clemson, however.

Michigan lost a bunch of top stars on defense but the Offense is still there...oh wait...
So then add in the fact that we're talking about kids here...who are developing their skills all the time...and then u have top freshmen coming out the blue, people you expect to develop who don't, etc etc...

Whatever.

Here are my random predictions for the BCS conferences

PAC-10
1. USC
2. UCLA
3. Oregon State
4. Cal

Big East
1. Louisville
2. West Virginia
3. USF
4. Rutgers

Big Ten
1. ... still Michigan
2. Wisconsin
3. Ohio State
4. Penn State

Big XII
1. Oklahoma (South)
2. Kansas State (North)
3. Texas

ACC
1. Clemson
2. Virginia Tech
3. Georgia Tech
4. Miami
5. Boston College

SEC
1. LSU
2. Arkansas
3. Florida
4. South Carolina


National Title...

How should I know? Ask me in November.