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A big week between Rick and myself, as our records are still pretty close.  Rick sits 23-22, while I’m only slightly ahead at 27-18.  Here are our 5 point spread picks…

Rick’s Picks
Baltimore -7.5 at Cincinatti; Baltimore to cover
Miami -7.5 at St. Louis; Miami to cover
Carolina at Green Bay -3.5; Green Bay to cover
New Orleans at Tampa Bay -3.5; Tampa Bay to cover
Indianapolis -4.5 at Cleveland; Indianapolis to cover

Pat’s Picks
San Francisco at Buffalo -7.5; Buffalo to cover
New York Giants -3.5 at Washington; Giants to cover
Atlanta at San Diego -5.5; San Diego to cover
Pittsburgh at New England -1.5; New England to cover
Chicago at Minnesota -3.5; Minnesota to cover

Sportsnet and TSN are both reporting that the deal is done, or as close to done as you can get, with Brian Burke to become the new President and General Manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs.  He’ll become the teams 13th GM in their 92 year history, reportedly signing a 6 year deal in the neighbourhood of $18 million.  And now we can all move on.

It’s been the worst kept secret in sports, reminiscent of when Tom Higgins was the lame duck Head Coach of the Calgary Stampeders.  We all knew he was done at the end of the season, and we all knew John Hufnagel was going to take over.  Yet, Stamps brass kept denying and denying and denying to the media.  Same here, as we’ve known about this for months…ever since Anaheim visited Toronto last year, the speculation has run rampant.  And now, it’s finally done.

For the Leafs, they needed to get this done sooner rather than later.  It would have made no sense for them to hold off any longer.  When it was announced Burke was stepping down as GM in Anaheim a couple weeks ago, the writing was on the wall, and it was just a matter of when he was Toronto bound, not if.  Even though Cliff Fletcher was fine being the interim GM, the Leafs needed to get this done in a quick fashion.  While most personnel decisions have been made for this season, Burke now has a solid 6 months to get familiar with the team, and start to lay the foundation for his long term plan.  Had it been announced next off-season, I believe it would have stalled the Leafs rebuilding plan another year.  With their guy now in place, the rebuild can really begin (because, sorry Leafs fans, the last 3 years don’t count).

But I caution Leafs fans…I don’t see Burke having the overwhelming, early success in Toronto as he had in his last 2 stops, Anaheim and Vancouver.   Lets start with the Canucks, where he re-joined in 1998.  The Leafs situation is more comparable to when he started in Van as opposed to Anaheim.  However, I believe the Canucks had far more solid pieces in place for Burke to work with.  Naslund, Bertuzzi, Ohlund, and Cooke were all in place for Burke to try and form a core.  Then he got to work, doing an outstanding job working around those players…he drafted the Sedin’s, Kevin Bieksa, Ryan Kesler and Alex Edler.  He also acquired Sami Salo, and all those players were huge in Vancouver’s success.

In Anaheim, he arrived with players like Getzlaf, Perry, Giguere, and McDonald in place.  Once again, he recognized a core and built around them, adding Scott Niedermayer, Chris Pronger, Francois Beauchemin, and Teemu Selanne among others to help this team win their first Stanley Cup.

This is no knock on Burke, but the talent assembled in Toronto is nowhere close to that of his previous 2 stops.  What’s the core right now in TO?  Luke Schenn, Nik Antropov, Niklas Hagman, maybe Grabovski and Toskala.  I’m sorry, that doesn’t scream winning.  Now, I have full confidence that Burke will be able to get this team on track, but I don’t see it happening as quickly as it has in the past.  This could take a few more painful years until the benefits start to show.  Ron Wilson’s a great coach and needs to stay there, and Burke is the perfect guy to help Toronto return to relevance.  It just won’t happen overnight.

All Washington needed was 1 more point and I would have been perfect on week 12, but a pesky -3.5 kept me at 4-1 on the week while Ricky finished week 12 at 3-2.  The overall records move up as I sit 27-18 while Lafitte now sits 23-22.  I thought the Jets would win against Tennessee, but to win by the margin they did was incredible.

Rick’s Picks
Cleveland -4.5 at Houston, Cleveland to cover…WRONG
Philadelphia at Baltimore -1.5, Baltimore to cover…RIGHT
Buffalo -4.5 at Kansas City, Kansas City to cover….WRONG
New York Giants -4.5 at Arizona, Giants to cover…RIGHT
Carolina at Atlanta -0.5, Atlanta to cover…RIGHT
Current Record: 23-22

Pat’s Picks
New England at Miami -0.5, New England to cover…RIGHT
Minnesota at Jacksonville -2.5, Minnesota to cover…RIGHT
New York Jets at Tennessee -5.5, Jets to cover…RIGHT
Washington -3.5 at Seattle, Washington to cover…WRONG
Indianapolis at San Diego -2.5, Indianapolis to cover…RIGHT
Current Record: 27-18

Point spread picks for Week 12 of the NFL season to follow.  Rick Lafitte sits 20-20 on the year while I’m 3 games up at 23-17.

Rick’s Picks
Cleveland -4.5 at Houston…Cleveland to cover
Philadelphia at Baltimore -1.5…Baltimore to cover
Buffalo -4.5 at Kansas City…Kansas City to cover
New York Giants -4.5 at Arizona…Giants to cover
Carolina at Atlanta -0.5…Atlanta to cover

Pat’s Picks
New England at Miami -0.5…New England to cover
Minnesota at Jacksonville -2.5…Minnesota to cover
New York Jets at Tennessee -5.5…Jets to cover
Washington -3.5 at Seattle…Washington to cover
Indianapolis at San Diego -2.5…Indianapolis to cover

After the main event at UFC 91 concluded with Brock Lesnar’s hand being raised and the UFC Heavyweight Championship belt being put around his waist, I couldn’t help thinking to myself “just who is going to be able to take down this freak?”  In just his 4th professional MMA bout, and only his 3rd inside The Octagon, Lesnar defeated 3 time Heavyweight Champ Randy “The Natural” Couture at 3:07 of the second round via TKO.

It was an impressive performance for Lesnar, who was able to use his considerable size advantage to really impose his will.  While Couture looked impressive on his feet and was able to pepper Brock with knees and pinpoint jabs, he just couldn’t get up from underneath the 275 pound monster.  In round 1, Couture did a very nice job of calmly working to his feet after a take down, and almost ended up in a dominant position before both fighters were standing again.  Couture did a good job of working on his feet, and looked very good when in the clinch with his opponent.  On the other hand, Lesnar did a good job of working for better positioning after taking Randy down, and was able to slip into half-guard before being thwarted.  It was a very close first round and depending on how you looked at it, could have gone to either fighter. 

But in round 2, Lesnar wobbled Couture with a standing elbow early on.  While Randy was able to recover, he was caught with a brutal right hand that put him down midway through the round and he was unable to fend of Lesnar’s flurry of hammer fists and forearm shots.  In fact, you could make a case it was a bit of a late stoppage, as Brock was reigning shots for a good while before the referee finally waved him off.  Lesnar showed he can finish a fight, and he also showed he can take a shot on the chin and not let it change his gameplan.  By the end of the fight, Lesnar had a cut above his eye and got caught with a few solid shots from The Natural.

Back to the original question…”just who can beat this dude?”  Well, we know he’ll fight the winner of the Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira-Frank Mir fight which goes as part of UFC 92 on December 27th.  The winner of that fight will be the Interim Heavyweight Champion and will fight Brock to unify the titles.  I believe Nogeuira will be the victor at 92, using his superior striking to subdue Mir.  Nogueira is one of a few guys out there that I can think of that will give Brock any type of push…he’s bigger than Couture, and he’s a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu master, so he’ll be much more dangerous once taken down by Lesnar.  Mir presents a threat to Lesnar as well, but at this point, Brock will be the favorite in any fight he enters, he’s just that scary.

The co-main event saw Kenny Florian overwhelm Joe Stevenson en route to an easy 1st round win via rear naked choke.  KenFlo just straight up outclassed Stevenson, which is saying a lot, because Stevenson is one of the top guys at 155 pounds.  What Florian seems to do is add a new weapon to his arsenal every time he’s inside The Octagon, and he couples that with unbelievable smarts and craftiness.  Following the fight, Florian called out Lightweight Champion BJ Penn in a respectful way, saying he wants a shot, and Florian more than deserves it.  Huerta, Lauzon, Thomas, and now Stevenson have all fell to Florian, so I really hope the UFC follows through and gives Kenny a shot at the Lightweight Title after Penn’s fight with Georges St. Pierre.

On the undercard, Gabriel Gonzaga moved a little closer to a potential meeting down the line with Brock Lesnar.  Gonzaga tooled his opponent, Josh Hendricks, who was making his UFC debut.  In fact, Hendricks was tapping out after being knocked down with a right hand…referee Steve Mazagatti finally called the fight a TKO.  Demian Maia and Dustin Hazelett both showed incredible skill on the ground, which surprised absoloutely nobody.  At 185, Maia outclassed fan favorite Nate Quarry and put on a BJJ clinic, seemlessly transitioning from half guard to mount before winning with a rear naked.  Hazelett had an entertaining fight at 155 with Tamdan McCrory, including some really good standup exchanges.  But Hazelett is a recent BJJ blackbelt, and he showed why winning by armbar in the 1st round.

UFC 92 is set for December 27th and is one of the most stacked cards in UFC history.  Dubbed “The Ultimate 2008″, the card certainly lives up to its lofty billing.  The main event (one of them) sees Light Heavyweight Champion Forrest Griffin take on “Sugar” Rashad Evans, fresh off a sick knockout of  Chuck Liddell.  One of the co-main events pits Noguiera and Mir against eachother for the Interim Heavyweight belt.  Finally, “The Axe Murderer” Wanderlei Silva returns to action against Quinton “Rampage” Jackson in a bout that could be “Fight of the Year” material.  Just over a month away, cannot wait.  But before that, here are the other highlights…

Wednesday, December 10th - UFC Fight Night, Fight for the Troops.  Josh Koscheck returns to The Octagon as part of the main event in Fort Bragg, North Carolina.  It’s free on Spike TV and Rogers Sportsnet and also features Canada’s own Jonathan Goulet in action against Mike Swick.

Saturday, December 13th - The Ultimate Fighter Finale.  We’ll see 2 new Ultimate Fighters crowned, 1 at 205 pounds, the other at 155.  Alberta’s Jason “The Athlete” MacDonald will be part of the card, as he looks to make it 2 straight wins inside The Octagon.  This will also be free on Spike and Sportsnet.

Damn, that’s some good action!

There is no debating…the main event at UFC 91 is the biggest fight in mixed martial arts history.  When 3 time Heavyweight Champion Randy “The Natural” Couture steps into The Octagon against Brock Lesnar, the world of MMA will be abuzz like it has never been before.

Lets break down why this is being billed, and accurately so, as “The Biggest Fight in MMA History.”  You’re looking at arguably the most popular fighter in UFC history in Couture, so the PPV buy rate was going to be high regardless, just bceause Couture is a huge draw.  Brock Lesnar is one of the sports true crossover stars, bringing a hoarde of non-traditional MMA fans to the sports due to his past with the WWE.  Putting those 2 factors together, you’re looking at a massive buyrate.  The UFC is hoping for a record shattering 1.2 million buys, but on The FAN 960 yesterday, The Fight Network’s John Pollock told me 800 thousand is probably a little more realistic.  Regardless, it’ll be a record setting night for UFC President Dana White.

Now lets break down the fight.  To me, this fight comes down to a few factors.  First of all, what will the ring rust be like for Randy?  He hasn’t fought in a year and a half, and I just worry about whether or not it’ll have a huge effect or not.  In the UFC 91 conference call last Thursday, Randy brushed it off.  “I may not have had a fight in a cage, but I’ve got a cage right here in my gym,” was the quote from “The Natural”.  Couture has proven he is as ageless as they come, but remember, he is 45 entering the main event tonight.  500 days without a fight mixed with the age factor, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it plays some sort of factor in the fight tonight.  Maybe not a HUGE factor, but in some way.

There’s not a question in my mind that if this fight stays standing, Couture will school Lesnar.  His footwork and veteran savvy will be too much for the relative newcomer to the sport.  If this thing stays upright, Couture will be able to grind out a win, the same way he did against Gabriel Gonzaga and Tim Sylvia before that.  In those fights, Couture was able to get inside his opponents considerable reach advantage and score with short punches and good ring work.  He used his superior wrestling effectively en route to a decision win over Sylvia and a TKO over Gonzaga.

But the problem is, neither Sylvia nor Gonzaga were wrestlers, and Couture had the edge.  That is not the case here, as Lesnar is one of the best wrestlers the sports has ever seen, after going 106-5 in his collegiate career at the University of Minnesota.  So, lets picture a scenario.  Lesnar decides to stand with Couture, and starts getting worked like I believe he will.  So, Lesnar decides to use his wrestling, take Randy down and use top position to grind out a decision.  And that’s exactly how I think this fight is going to go, because Couture will be unable to block the takedowns from the larger, more powerful Lesnar.

Randy is more seasoned, more experienced than Lesnar.  And usually I’d give the edge to Couture, regardless of the fact he’s giving up 50 pounds to his opponent.  But in this case, the opponent is TOO powerful, and I’ve gotta give the edge to Brock Lesnar.  My call…5 round decision win.

The main event at UFC 91 is the biggest fight in MMA history, and it very well could be the driving force behind the biggest buy rate in UFC history.  However, for new fans who are tuning in to see Randy Couture take on Brock Lesnar, you’ll be treated to one hell of a co-main event when Kenny “Ken-Flo” Florian takes on Joe “Daddy” Stevenson at 155 pounds.

Lets start with Florian, one of the most methodical fighters in mixed martial arts today.  With a professional record of 12-3, Florian was thought to have earned the title of “Number 1 Contender” to the Lightweight Title after his win at UFC 86 over Roger Huerta.  That was a systematic dismantling of Huerta, one of the most exciting fighters in the division, and one of the toughest.  But a matchup with BJ Penn for the title would have to wait, as BJ is pegged to fight Georges St. Pierre at UFC 94 in Vegas.  Instead of waiting around, Florian’s a gamer, and he wants to fight, so he’s getting back at it, even if it means losing that Number 1 Contender title.  In an interview with MMA Weekly, Florian said “I just love to fight and I told the UFC that not only did I want to fight, but I want to fight someone tough.”  Since losing to Sean Sherk for the Lightweight belt more than 2 years ago, Florian has racked up 5 straight wins including stoppages against Din Thomas and Joe Lauzon before his unaimous decision over Huerta.  Florian will pick you apart standing up, choosing his battles wisely and scoring until he decides to take you down.  Once on top, Florian delivers the most devestating elbows you will see in the sport.  In terms of the 155 pound division, Florian is one of the most well rounded fighters and one of the craftiest.  And he comes to finish fights.  7 of Florian’s 8 wins inside The Octagon are by TKO or submission.

His opponent is one of the most accomplished lightweight fighters, and a fellow alumnus of The Ultimate Fighter on Spike TV.  Joe “Daddy” Stevenson sits with a 34-8 pro record, he’s 6-2 in his 3 years plus with the UFC.  What Stevenson does is push forward, he’s always moving forward and he’s always doing it at a high pace.  After winning 4 straight fights, Stevenson got his shot against BJ Penn at UFC 80 to get that “Number 1 Contender” title for Sean Sherk’s belt (at the time).  After putting up a hell of a fight in the first round, Stevenson eventually was choked out by The Prodigy at 4:02 of the second round.  But a flying guillotine choke at UFC 86 got him a submission win over Gleison Tibau, and has his confidence level high.  Yet in many minds, Stevenson enters as the underdog, going against the red hot Florian.  But that seems to have motivated Stevenson.  “It has pushed me to go the extra mile, so it’s worked out really well for me,” was Joe’s quote to MMA Weekly earlier this week.  Because of Stevenson’s quick strike ability, he can never be called the underdog, and his experience will serve him well against the crafty Florian.

Regardless of the outcome, you’ve got 2 of the top fighters at 155 going at it Saturday night in Vegas, and you’ve got a great co-main event to really showcase the excitement and the caliber of the Lightweight division.  We’ll preview the big one later this week.

The card for UFC 91 is headlined by a pair of big name fights, including the biggest fight in UFC history.  We’ll preview the Brock Lesnar-Randy Couture fight on Friday, and the co-main event of Joe Stevenson-Kenny Florian on Thursday.  But today, lets look at the undercard.  While it might not be huge in terms of name value, it’s got some really exciting potential fights.

The UFC lost Amir Saddolah to injury, so his fight is cancelled altogether with no replacement to step in at such short notice.  But it’s good news at the same time, as the Dustin Hazelett-Tamdan McCrory welterweight fight will now be pushed up to the main, televised card as opposed to the preliminary card.  Hazelett is an exciting, young fighter who can finish with the best of them…he sits at 13-4.  At only 22 years of age, Hazelett is already a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and has 8 of his 13 wins by submission.  But he goes up against the well rounded 11-1 McCrory, who looks lanky, but is powerful.  He’s got good ground skills, but carries a lot of punching power.  It should be a good fight.

The fight I’m looking forward to most on this undercard is a battle of 2 finishers.  The 16-2 Nate Quarry goes up against 9-0 Demian Maia, in a clash of styles, but a very interesting matchup.  Maia is a freak, straight up.  He is one of the best BJJ practitioners in the world, winning the 2007 championship in Abu Dhabi.  If you compete in Abu Dhabi, it means you’re good.  If you win there, you’re damn good, and because of it, he’s unbeaten in his Mixed Martial Arts career.  In his last fight, he continually locked Canada’s own Jason MacDonald in submission attempts before finally winning via rear naked choke.  But Quarry is no pushover.  He worked BC’s Kalib Starnes in Montreal at UFC 83 and is extremely powerful when standing.  He delivers quick punches and solid leg kicks.  This is an interesting fight, as it’s a clash of styles.  We saw in the Patrick Cote-Ricardo Almeida fight that clashing styles can sometimes lead to boring fights.  But I don’t think that is the case here.

Also on the card is the last guy Randy Couture beat inside The Octagon, that being heavyweight Gabriel Gonzaga.  The 9-3 Gonzaga takes on a fighter making his UFC debut in the 18-4 Josh Hendricks.  Gonzaga needs this win if he wants to get back to title contention.  After losing to Couture, Gonzaga also lost by TKO to the recently released Fabricio Werdum before submitting Justin McCully at UFC 86.  In an increasingly more stacked heavyweight division (add in Noguiera, Mir, and Kongo), it becomes paramount to string wins together.

It promises to be a pretty solid undercard of fights on Saturday night.  We’ll preview Florian-Stevenson later this week and we’ll save the big preview of Couture-Lesnar for last.

Already one game in the books for Week 10 in the NFL, as the Broncos pulled one of their behinds Thursday in Cleveland.  But now, Lafitte and I present our Sunday Point Spread picks for Week 10.  Entering this week, Ricky sits at 16-19 while I’ve got a slight edge at 20-15, but everything can change with 1 week…

Rick’s Picks
Green Bay at Minnesota -2.5…Green Bay to cover
Tennessee -3.5 at Chicago…Chicago to cover
Buffalo at New England -4.5…New England to cover
Baltimore at Houston -0.5…Baltimore to cover
Carolina -8.5 at Oakland…Carolina to cover

Pat’s Picks
Seattle at Miami -8.5…Miami to cover
Jacksonville -7.5 at Detroit…Jacksonville to cover
New Orleans -0.5 at Atlanta…Atlanta to cover
Indianapolis at Pittsburgh -3.5…Pittsburgh to cover
New York Giants at Philadelphia -2.5…Giants to cover

You just sit back and wonder “dude, what the hell?” when it comes to UFC Middleweight Chris “The Crippler” Leben.  We found out Monday Leben tested positive for the anabolic steroid stanozolol, and he’s been suspended 9 months and will forfeit a third of his purse.

I want you to listen to an interview I did with Chris prior to his fight at UFC 89 with Michael Bisping.  You can listen to it by clicking here.  In the interview, he talks about how he’s been sober for the longest period in his life, turned his life around, and since moving to Hawaii, has been more focused than he’s ever been on his promising MMA career.  And then he makes a mistake like this.

It’s really unfortunate, because Leben has all the talent in the world.  He was awesome on the first season of The Ultimate Fighter on Spike TV, and is always exciting inside The Octagon, whether he’s getting destroyed by Anderson Silva or coming from behind to knock out Terry Martin.  He has battled inner demons his entire life, and he’s a very easy person to root for because he’s 100% genuine.

But there has to be some sort of common sense!  Leben was allegedly using before main-eventing at 89, which makes you wonder.  This was one of the biggest fights in his career, against a top contender at 185 pounds.  Is it worth the risk to reap the benefits of anabolic steroids?  And in this case, he didn’t even win the fight!

Now, with Leben out 9 months, there is the danger of him dropping off the radar, which is one of the most lethal things that can happen inside the UFC.  “The Crippler” is resilient, which is going to be key for him to re-assert himself with the organization.  Just like Patrick Cote, Leben is going to need to fight his way back into a good spot in the middleweight division.

For his sake, I hope he has learned from this mistake, because at 28 years old, he’s still got his whole career in front of him.  Leben is a draw, he’s a hell of a fighter, and if he takes this lump like a man, I think he’ll bounce back.  But lets hope this is the last lesson he learns the hard way in his career.