That's Why It's Called "Gambling": UFC 149 Hangover

My picks are to the right. I managed to pick 6 correct and missed 5.
I don't count the Nick Ring bout as a correct pic. My man got busted up all kinds of ways in that fight.
I'm at 45-41 (correct/incorrect) in picking winners over the past 7 UFC events. Not terrible, but hardly blowing up the world of MMA gambling picks.

1)
Yes, I picked Faber over Pegado. I was worried about Barao's cardio for 5 rounds.
Barao looked every bit the champ in this fight. He was in control virtually the whole time and never once seemed to fluster.
He seemed to pick up speed and confidence as the fight wore on. I think he may just have the skills to pick Cruz apart (and I am probably Cruz's number one fan. I've been saying he would have the belt since I first saw him fight in the WEC). Faber really tried to turn it up after the 2nd round. You could see he was thinking he would lose another 5 round decision. He never stopped trying...but he was simply outclassed by a guy with crisper striking, a more diverse attack, more combinations, and stellar takedown defense. Period.
- a guy that's gotten by on athleticism, that's now close or 30ish years old, finds a tough road to tow. That and running what I assume is likely a similar training camp for the past however many fights....Urijah's fight with Cruz was the only one punctuated by takedowns and scrambles the way he used to fight more frequently. The stand-up style of Faber has become predictable and relatively easy to negate for the fast bantamweights he's facing these days. He still beats 8 or 9 of the guys in the top 10 I feel like, but that will likely start to slide over the next couple years to where he beats 7 or 8, or 5 or 6 of the top 10 guys at his weight class.

2)
* Ring lost that fight worse than Forrest lost to Tito (at least Nick didn't steal Rogan's mic after leaving the cage and getting bitched into going back in there). I hate saying this, but Fuck Forrest. Fuck his books. Fuck his persona he put together. His goodwill with fans should just about be gone b/c of the persona he put forth and how short he has come to being what he presented (and the financial gain as a result). A professional fighter like Forrest who runs out of the ring like he did after Silva. And did it after the fight with Tito which was going to be his last? Before the decision is announced?
Your days as professional prizefighter are behind you. Retire.
As for Nick Ring, he just looked atrocious from the start. You could tell he didn't think Court would get the better of him standing up and he drained his confidence. 

3)
Kuivanen and Carraway - I just bet based on their finishing rates and how they finished without watching any tape of either of them. 

4)
Riddle continues to impress. I thought he'd spend more time slugging like he did in his last fight which against a guy with some KO's/TKO's on his record was going to be dangerous but here, he did very well, varying his takedowns and only engaging in firefights from time to time. Well played, good sir.

5)
Ebersole came out looking like he had just ran a f'ing marathon before the fight. That's what making weight 2x in a month does when you cut a bunch of weight. I was concerned how it would affect him but just couldn't justify betting on the unheralded James Head against a guy that put the fire to the veteran Chris Lytle.

6)
I figured Pineda's experience against Mike Brown meant he could beat some guy I'd never heard of. Wrong.

7)
In my perfect MMA fantasy world I imagined Jimmo finishing the fight in serious fashion and doing a robot dance after. He did that, and did it in only 7 seconds. Mind blowing.

8)
The prelims were pretty entertaining with finishes and such but then the main card was one of the worst in recent memory. Mainly b/c guys like Lombard and Ebersole not only looked s*** but did virtually nothing during the fight and and based on the look on their faces didn't seem to give a flying f***.