Looking for a Fight: UFC on Fox 6

Why is the main event not treated like the main event? (goldentickets.com)

In everyday life, it's probably not hard to overlook UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson or number one contender John Dodson. When I mean overlook I mean to literally look over them. They both touch the tape at 5'3 and if anything - to the regular, everyday Joe Schmo* on the street - would probably only garner attention for how small they are. That of course right before they'd leap behind you and choke the consciousness out of you.

**I'm perfectly fine admitting that, although fake deaf, I still find Karlee (Jo Newman) really attractive. I mean even if she was deaf, I'd still date her.

Yes, in the ever growing world of MMA fighters come in all shapes and sizes. No longer can one just pick on a guy at the bar (if you're the kind of guy that's into that sort of thing) because you're bigger or apparently stronger. Keeping it real can go wrong.

Of course, whether you are in the real world or being locked in the Octagon, respect has to be earned. Since the inception of the flyweight division in mid-2012 the fighters haven't earned the respect of the fans as they should in the UFC.

So when the main event on a Fox card is the least talked about, well, where's the respect? In fairness, the UFC did load up this card with Quentin "Rampage" Jackson's apparent exit from the UFC against fellow slugger and sneaky ground guy/hype machine Glover Teixeira and a fight everyone is salivating over Donald Cerrone against Anthony Pettis. It's certainly no crime to be excited about every fight on a UFC event, but the overshadowing of the main event is only partially due to the undercard being so stacked.

What I am finding interesting is the lack of interest in the championship bout. Incorporating new divisions have been hit and miss for the UFC. The featherweight division has been a smash. The division champ Jose Aldo is not only one of the pound for pound best fighters on the planet, but he's also headlining the UFC's spectacular pre-Super Bowl card in February by taking on featherweight n00b and former 155 champ Frankie Edgar. Throw in a Korean Zombie and Erik Koch types and the UFC fans have a lot to look forward to.

Batamweight has been a mixed bag. Dominick Cruz is a formidable champ, but he'll be out coming up on 2 years by the time his second knee injury is fully healed. The UFC should have stripped him of the title and let the batamweight division grow, but at this point it's stagnant.

Most recently, the women's division headlined and developed specifically for Ronda Rousey has come under nothing but fire. This is a much larger discussion for another day, but basically it comes down to the vocal minority not wanting to see "chick's fight." Don't think it's gender bias? Both champs previously mentioned (Aldo and Cruz) were given UFC belts right from the get go. No one seemed to care. Now Rousey gets her belt and it's chaos.

Of course the flyweight division has been building. There have been multiple title fights, and no shortage of fighters that push the pace and have the potential for an exciting fight. Fans, however, must adjust their expectation for what this fight can bring. Much like any other division - you can expect a certain kind of fight based upon the make-up and size of the fighters. Light heavyweight has always been one of if not the most exciting division because at 205 you get a perfect combination of size, speed and power. As the scale tips lighter - the power decreases and speed and technicality increases. Flip the scale the other way, and you're looking for a lot of big powerful fighters. So why shouldn't the fans expect a different style of fights by guys that are 125 pounds?

You cannot end a fight in a more spectacular fashion than a knock out. It's the most exciting and the thought that flyweights can't finish fights is unfounded. Dodson, for example, has finished two of his last three fights by KO. Albeit he is an exception at 125 to be able to throw with that kind of power.

So while the possibility of a KO is much more limited, it's important for fans to watch the fight for what these flyweights are. Extremely fast and athletic fighters that will give non-stop energy for 3, 4, and 5 rounds. I don't buy that fans need the KO or finish. Two of the more memorable fights in UFC history that I can think of off the top of my head went to a decision (Griffin v. Bonnar and Couture v. Silvia). Tack on Georges St-Pierre's last five fights and you'll see more of the same. Fans weren't bored by those. GSP's last pay per view had over 700,000 buys.

It's not the lack of finishes were seeing but the disappointment in setting the wrong expectations. If you've never been to In-N-Out Burger but have heard of it, you're expectations are pretty high. If you order your burger animal style, take a bite and it tastes like the stuff you used to get from your elementary school cafeteria, yeah you'll be disappointed. In starting the flyweight division, there is no real "expectation" for these fights. People don't know what to expect, so when they see something like speed (a skill that doesn't translate well on TV, especially when you're going against other speedy fighters) it comes off as boring or poorly executed.

Both Johnson and Dodson have been booed excessively during their few fights in the UFC so far. The fans haven't set their expectations appropriately and also, there hasn't been a signature flyweight fight so far in the UFC. Johnson v. Ian McCall was marred due to judging, not execution. But this fight on Saturday has the potential to be that fight that provides clarity to the fans exactly what fighting at flyweight is all about.

That, of course, is on both Johnson and Dodson to put on that fight. That doesn't mean knock outs and wheel kicks and back flips everywhere, but a high octane fight that is all go and show from the opening bell until someone's hand is raised. Both these fighters will have the chance to put an emphatic stamp on UFC on Fox card, but also win one for the flyweight division.

Eagles New Head Coach

Chip Kelly is bringing his sassy fashion sense, and high powered offense, to Philadelphia.

Well that was unexpected.

After a coaching search that was running out of coaching candidates the Philadelphia Eagles went back to the well to hire Chip Kelly as their new head coach. This move comes as a shock as Kelly had spurned the Eagles and a couple of other NFL offers to return to the Oregon Ducks. But, much like his fast moving, mis-direction offense, Kelly changed his field and accepted the job shortly after fan and odds on favorite Gus Bradley was boarding a ship to fly to Jacksonville after the Eagles failed to secure his signature.

I'm sure more details will emerge regarding Kelly's decision. Did he return to the Birds after a change of heart? Did a little birdie whisper some not so great things about impending NCAA sanctions for Oregon? Or, after missing out on Bill O'Brien, Matt McCoy, and Gus Bradley - did Jeffrey Lurie realize that the assorted fired NFL coaches (Ken Whisenhunt, Lovie Smith, and Brian Billick) wouldn't fit his vision so he made a Godfather offer?

Could be a combination of all of these things. Overall, while people are skeptical of Kelly's NFL abilities, time will tell about that. He is a leader of men and he has been successful everywhere he's went (which does not include 1 hour in the NFL). This will be interesting to see how he adapts his offense to the NFL and with the Eagles personnel. There are exciting players on offense like LeSean McCoy, Bryce Brown, DeSean Jackson, Dion Lewis, and Jeremy Maclin. However, the quarterback is in flux. I would not expect this to change Michael Vick returning to the fold as there is just too much blood in the water and Vick has proven he's just not a winner.

I could see Kelly staying with Nick Foles in a modified - less option happy offense - until the right player comes along. Along with taking a stab at a speed QB in the late rounds of the draft. There are still a lot of holes that need to be filled on defense and getting the offensive line healthy. Should Geno Smith fall to the Eagles in the first round, it would still be an ill-advised pick.

Hiring a veteran staff around him will also be paramount. The positive about the NFL coaching landscape now is that there are a lot of experienced coaches out there looking for work. Being able to bring on the expertise of a Whisenhunt or Smith would be a huge coup for the first time NFL coach.

With him officially in place, Kelly's NFL experience will be bolting ahead as fast as his Oregon offense. As mentioned, staff will be needed, scouting needs to get underway for the draft (although you'd hope Kelly already has some insights into a lot of the players since he was at Oregon), and he needs to build a strategy around this Eagles team with the goal of getting them winning again soon.

Fantasy Funkhouser: Baseball Ranks for 2013 - Round 2

Giancarlo Stanton won't have many MLB worthy players around him, but he's a one man show. (Getty)

Fantasy Funkhouser will review all things Fantasy Baseball. After all, life is a small sample size.

After reviewing my first ranks for the Top 12 players, something struck me. What struck me though was one of those things where when I had the epiphany I wasn't sure if it as one of those things where everyone already knew this/had this idea or I had found clarity in unlocking this mystery of the universe.

Like when you only wash your jeans once every couple of months unless there's a noticeable stain or smell on them. You think you may be the only one that does this, but in reality ... everyone does this.

So when I reviewed my ranks, and recalled how annoyed I would be when other fantasy rankings would be, by and large, by the book - I always found that boring. If these analysts like a certain player, then why not show it? Make a note that I'm expecting this player to finish way above expectations - so that's why I ranked him 8th and not 38th like everyone else has them.

When I had done rankings more or less by the book - I realized that what I'm ranking isn't how I think these players will finish the season, but rather where I would draft these players if I did a draft today. I may think that Manny Machado will have a huge year and be the next Mike Trout, but I wouldn't rank him in my top 12 based on that. If I truly thought that about Machado, then I'd just take him rounds and rounds earlier than anyone projected him. 

Aside from certain concessions, like moving Joey Votto to 4th and ranking Robinson Cano (initially at 11, but now) in the 8th spot make my rankings unique in certain ways, but even if I would bet my life that Machado is destined for 30/30, I wouldn't pick him above either of those guys. Only early enough to secure his services. It's really about drafting value, not drafting where you think a player will end up.

That really helped put things in perspective for me. Not necessarily in my Top 25, but further down my rankings approaching the 100's. So do I think Stephen Strasburg can end up the #1 SP in fantasy this year? I do. Would I draft him and his risk factors ahead of proven players like the 3 SP's I have in front of him? No. For some people, Strasburg's upside might be worth that risk.

The only other notable ranking, at least I think, is valuing Justin Upton at 17. At this point, heading into 2013 - you're either on the Justin Upton bandwagon or not. There have been stories about his production, trade value, and potential that cover every possible outcome. There's no telling how this saga will end, but while I have been discouraged by a lot of the Upton stuff, I still think he can be a superstar fantasy player. His initial career arch of multiple MVP's may never happen, but I'd be surprised if he slipped and became an average baseball player. Where he ends up getting traded will certainly have some affect on his stats, but at this point any move away from Arizona would be welcomed. I can't imagine he'd be happy or still want to play for this team.

A lot of the early projections I see have him slightly improving on his year last year; bringing that homerun total over 25 and approaching 100 RBI and 20 steals. Those are conservative estimates based on how down his 2012 was from 2011. If he really was hampered by injury for most of the season (he posted an .898 OPS in September) then he could easily regain his value as a top 10 pick. This is a big year for him though. There's been a lot of distractions, and it will be telling to see how the 25 year-old handles them. Hopefully the D-Backs move him to greener pastures.

RANK	NAME	POSITION	CHANGE	PREVIOUSLY
1	MIGUEL CABRERA	3B
2	RYAN BRAUN	OF
3	MIKE TROUT	OF
4	JOEY VOTTO	1B
5	ANDREW MCCUTCHEN	OF
6	MATT KEMP	OF
7	CARLOS GONZALEZ	OF
8	ROBINSON CANO	2B	↑	11
9	ALBERT PUJOLS	1B	↓	8
10	JUSTIN VERLANDER	SP	↓	9
11	JASON HEYWARD	OF	↓	10
12	CLAYTON KERSHAW	SP
13	PRINCE FIELDER	1B
14	GIANCARLO STANTON	OF
15	DAVID WRIGHT	3B
16	FELIX HERNANDEZ	SP
17	JUSTIN UPTON	OF
18	JOSE BAUTISTA	OF
19	EVAN LONGORIA	3B
20	STEPHEN STRASBURG	SP
21	BUSTER POSEY	C/1B
22	ADAM JONES	OF
23	JOSH HAMILTON	OF
24	HANLEY RAMIREZ	3B/SS
25	DAVID PRICE	SP

On Deck: Cole Hamels, Starlin Castro, Edwin Encarnacion, Matt Cain, Adrian Beltre

The Funkman says: "I can understand it was tough for you to give in on Cano. But, as a friend, it's the right thing."

Fantasy Funkhouser: Baseball Ranks for 2013 - Round 1

Miguel Cabrera has shown he is a very worthy #1 fantasy pick. (bustasports.com)

Fantasy Funkhouser will review all things Fantasy Baseball. After all, life is a small sample size.

As promised, Fantasy Funkhouser is back and more focused than ever. Without the week to week format of a football schedule, I'm not sure how this will develop, but what better way to start talking about fantasy baseball in January than with some pre-mature ranks?

Last season was a great one for fantasy baseball. Big time stars emerged, and there is a lot of things to look forward to and questions to be answered in 2013 about these budding stars. The most obvious star that probably won you one or multiple fantasy leagues is Mike Trout. That tends to happen when the #1 player in fantasy was either among the last players drafted or completely undrafted. Not since Jose Bautista have we seen someone fly out of nowhere to have the impact of a Texas-sized asteroid on a collision course for earth in fantasy baseball. The guy put on a show for the ages, and he was so good it's led people to question not whether Trout will slump this year, but rather is it even humanly possible to get any better than his rookie season?

While I don't expect Trout to fall off the map, the lack of track record, surprising power (which may not stick), as well as a crazy high stolen base percentage make me hesitant to take him #1. I've listed him as my 3rd ranked player, but I'd be content with anyone in my Top 5.

Miguel Cabrera and Ryan Braun have clearly and consistently show they are fantasy stars. Miggy's move from 1st to 3rd last season means he'll only have 5 eligibility this season, but that's good enough positional value that I'll give him a nod over Braun.

Now that we've settled that, most of my list is pretty par for the course. I do have two pitchers in my Top 12, which is due to their near invincibility on the mound, playing for good teams, and that a lot of other position players have a lot of questions around them. Enough that as I write this in January, I'm not ready to dive in with the Troy Tulowitzkis and Justin Uptons of the fantasy realm.

The only solid declaration I am ready to make is that I think Joey Votto is going to have a gigantic year. He appears to have gotten over his knee injury that hindered him last year, and with a lead-off man in newly acquired Shin Soo-Choo, I can see Votto taking his 2nd NL MVP in 2013. He's a ridiculous hitter and with a newly focused value on glove work by the MSM, I think it's a great bet. Matter of factly, I should check out the odds on sportsbook.ag.

So, here we go. The first list, sure to be updated, extended, and ultimately wrong.

Rank	Name	Position
1	Miguel Cabrera	3B
2	Ryan Braun	OF
3	Mike Trout	OF
4	Joey Votto	1B
5	Andrew McCutchen	OF
6	Matt Kemp	OF
7	Carlos Gonzalez	OF
8	Albert Pujols	1B
9	Justin Verlander	SP
10	Jason Heyward	OF
11	Robinson Cano	2B
12	Clayton Kershaw	SP

On Deck: Prince Fielder, Evan Longoria, Giancarlo Stanton, Felix Hernandez

The Funkman says: "It's never too early to talk about Fantasy Baseball."

FAABulous: Year in Review

It's been a homerun of a fantasy season for Alfred Morris. (pnj.com)

It has been quite a year of football. Rather chaotic. Filled with monumental comebacks from Hall of Fame players, rookie sensations everywhere, records broken and nearly broken, and the usual on and off the field controversies. Reffed by replacement officials and a scandal that turned nothing into a big something.

While some of that stuff rents space in areas zoned for fantasy football, after a nearly full season of looking back on my first go around writing FAABulous - which wholly resides in fantasy - I can say it has been a fun experience. Writing about fantasy football week after week is not only challenging, but enjoyable because I truly followed the game closer than I ever have before. The nature of FAABulous was to shed light on some lower % owned players, so in doing such I had to dig a little deeper when I watched live games pay more attention to players during SportCenter or other highlight shows.

The fun of doing something like this is you get to make your observations, take calculated shots on certain players, and then see how things play out. Of course the glory of having written down these thoughts lets you go back and judge your guesses.

Overall, I was pretty happy with how things played out. I had some nice hits and some so-so misses. It was difficult to say if I completely whiffed on most of my calls as I feel a good amount of players I suggested were productive at some point. Obviously there were some cream of the crop picks and some I really wish I could take back.

If there's one thing I wish I could have done more of/ been better at is being proactive. Most of my picks were reactive to a previous game or an injury situation. This is mainly due to not having enough time or spending the energy out of my normal day to look that far ahead and really get involved with the numbers and match-ups in a way where any kind of advice like that would bear any fruits.

I'm not afraid to admit mistakes and take heat for them. At the same time, here is a horn, which I own, that I will blow into.

When analyzing some of my prouder and not so proud moments and selecting a couple of each I tried to gauge when my picks had the most impact. Obviously, in certain ways, the end of the season didn't have as much as impact as compared to a Week 2 pick. Also, when that pick coincided with a hot streak. If a player was on fire for 3 weeks, then faded off, then I should get credit for that as opposed to picking a player 2 games after he's had a big game. So all of these factors played into what I thought to be my hits and misses of the year. I've listed the player name, the week in which the player was mentioned and at what percentage that player was owned when I mentioned him.

Also, I get no bonus points for saying go grab Bryce Brown or Ronnie Hillman Knowshon Moreno. That's clown advice, bro.

So, here's the wrap-up to FAABulous 2012. Enjoy!

I'M A GOLDEN GOD STARING DOWN AT YOU FROM MT. PIOUS

James Jones Week 5 - (34% owned)
Jones is my big win of the year. I've always been a Jones fan due to his ability to be frequently located in the end zone by Aaron Rodgers, but due to varying and frequent injuries to Greg Jennings and Jordy Nelson, Jones got to see what it's like to be a top option for one of the league's best quarterbacks. After Week 5, Jones went on to catch 9 TD's including a 3 TD output in Week 15. His 14 TDs led all wide receivers, and with Jennings on his way out of town, expect Jones to continue his TD scoring ways in 2013. I'd put him as a solid WR2 option.

Brandon Myers Week 3 - (1%)
One of my first THE 1% picks ended up paying some of the most dividend. With the tight end position being reinvented in the NFL, Myers took the ball and ran with it ... for 806 yards and 4 TD. He finished the season ranked 6th in Football Outsider's ranks ahead of such dignitaries as Vernon Davis, Jimmy Graham, Aaron Hernandez, Jermichael Finley, and Antonio Gates. Some shaky QB play affected Myers' production near the end of the season, but you can't argue with the return you got.

Colin Kaepernick - Week 11 (1%)
This pick doesn't fall under the No Shit category because Kaepernick wasn't supposed to keep the job. Alex Smith was coming off one of his best games as a pro, got clipped in the back of his noggin and it was expected he'd step right back in after Kaepernick started against the Bears defense that was, at the time, only playing as well as any defense ever. A 243 yard 2 TD performance ended Smith's 49ers QB experience.

David Wilson/Andre Brown - Week 13/Week 3 (15%/15%)
This was a part an injury play, but at the same time - they were both owned at such low amounts when they were respectively back-ups to Ahmad Bradshaw that it was almost criminal. From Week 7-10 Brown scored at TD a game, and when he was injured, Wilson finished the season with flair putting two scores on the board in Week 14 and added one in the fantasy playoffs Week 16. All-in-all Bradshaw's "back-ups" accounted for 14 total TD (1 was a kick return).

T.Y. Hilton - Week 10 (8%)
Hilton finished his rookie season with 7 TDs (5 came after Week 10) and became Andrew Luck's big play threat. What else would you expect out of one of the last picks in the 3rd round in the year of the rookies?

Russell Wilson - Week 14 (23%)
I was late to the show by a couple weeks touting Wilson, but he had my attention. By the end of the year people were just outwardly ignoring him. The guy is good, and he should have helped many a teams win a playoff game or two.

WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME? I DO THIS FOR FREE!

Alfred Morris - Week 2 (5%)
For all the good things I did this year, missing on Morris was such a misstep that it almost wiped out any positives from the year. I noted that this was the first line in the sand moment of the fantasy season, and I was on the wrong end. Morris - who still has an outside shot at Rookie of the Year - would have been a phenom in any other season that didn't include his option mate RGIII, Luck, and Wilson. If ROY was based on pound for pound value, this 6th round pick out of Florida Atlantic would surely beat out those pretty boy lottery picks. Alf is a top 15 back heading into next season, and finished with 1,613 yards and 13 TD, which I'm assuming is a rookie record for a Washington RB.

Danario Alexander - Week 11 (5%)
I felt a lot worse about this one until DX put up a goose egg in Week 15. He does emerge as the second best nickname in the NFL of 2012 though.

Greg Zuerlein - Week 5 (17%)
#1 best new nickname goes to Greg the Leg or Young GZ. This one hurt. I saw this beastmode kicker launching 50 yard field goals like they were PAT's and got all antsy in my pantsy. Another 6th round pick could only carry the rookie mojo so far. Sure he missed some long ... long field goals, but the Rams inconsistency on offense didn't put him in a good place to score points. After Week 5, he never surpassed double digit points and scored under 3 points on four separate occasions. The best kicker in fantasy, he was not.

Davone Bess - Week 6 (32%)
After Week 6, he had 1 TD, averaged 57 YPG, and missed the last 3 weeks due to injury. My point was that he'd be better than Brian Hartline, which wasn't far from untrue (0 TD and averaged 56.9 YPG), but Bess was a no show.

Titus Young, Sr. - Week 8 (26%)
The world learned in 2012 what happens when you put any eggs in Titus Young, Sr.'s basket.

Ben Tate - Week 11 (39%)
Of course that "rest period" everyone expected the Texans to have never came. They skidded like a streak down a pair of tighty whities to close out the season and could conceivably lose to Cincinnati. That lack cruising to the #1 seed hurt Tate's playing time as well as his inability to stay healthy. From Week 11 on, Tate's game high number of carries was 8 and he never scored a touchdown.

RETURN OF FANTASY FUNKHOUSER
So that's it for fantasy football season. It's been fun, and actually drove a lot of traffic to the site, so I'll be sure to bring it back next year.

Don't fret through, my fantasy baseball column Fantasy Funkhouser will be back in full affect in 2013. I will try to write more and even give a shot at rankings and such. Should be a disaster. Looking forward to it.