UFC Fight Night 21 – Florian VS. Gomi takes place tonight in North Carolina.  The main event features the UFC debut on an MMA legend, as Takanori Gomi takes on former UFC Lightweight title contender Kenny Florian.  That Lightweight fight could very well determine who gets the next shot at BJ Penn.  The co-main event will feature TUF winner Roy Nelson against BJJ ace and the tallest UFC Heavyweight Stefan Struve.

There isn’t a ton of value on this card, both main events are pretty lopsided.  Judging by the Pros’ Picks, only two fights on this card are remotely competitive.  I tend to agree in large part, but I do have an upset or two in mind.

As always, these picks are the opinion of one man. Follow my betting advice with discretion and only wager as much as you feel comfortable losing. I will only be writing predictions and betting analysis for those bouts in which I believe have betting value. If you want more information on the card in its entirety, check out MMAMoneyLine’s “Pros’ Picks” for UFC Fight Night 21. Without further adieu, here are MMAMoneyLine’s official picks and betting analysis for UFC Fight Night 21 – Florian VS. Gomi.

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Joe Silva…give me a call!  Right now, the UFC’s Heavyweight division is as stacked (if not more) as any other weight class in history including UFC’s Light Heavyweight and Welterweight juggernauts of yore.  Zuffa’s Heavyweight class has it all:  new age Heavyweight behemoths like Lesnar, Carwin, Velasquez and Duffee; BJJ aces like Nogueira, Mir, Gonzaga, Struve and Nelson and feel good strikers like dos Santos, Slice, Mitrione, Buentello, Kongo, Barry, Cro Cop and Yvel.

With all the chaos, promise and excitement involved in the UFC’s heaviest weight class, I couldn’t help myself to analyze what the near and distant future holds.  Here is a thorough rundown of the scheduled and rumored upcoming Heavyweight contests, as well as my opinion on what late 2010 and 2011 should and hopefully will bring. Be warned, this isn’t short!

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UFC 111 – St. Pierre VS. Hardy takes place this Saturday, March 27 in the Garden State.  For those of you who have suffered through the UFC’s recent title fight drought (except for you BJ, thanks!), UFC 111 gives us not one but TWO belt-worthy contests.

The main event features seemingly unstoppable UFC Welterweight champion George “Rush” St. Pierre squaring off against sledgehammer handed Dan “Outlaw” Hardy.  The co-main event is an interim Heavyweight title bout between Frank Mir and Shane Carwin.  Due to Thiago Alves’ last minute health issues, Jon Fitch will now be facing Ben Saunders.

As always, these picks are the opinion of one man.  Follow my betting advice with discretion and only wager as much as you feel comfortable losing.  I will only be writing predictions and betting analysis for those bouts in which I believe have betting value.  If you want more information on the card in its entirety, check out MMAMoneyLine’s “Pros’ Picks” for UFC 111.  Without further adieu, here are MMAMoneyLine’s official picks and betting analysis for UFC 111 – St. Pierre VS. Hardy

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Due to the reaction on the ‘net of James Irvin‘s dramatic weight cut, I decided to do a little side by side comparison. Here is a little collage comparing James Irvin over three weight classes: Heavyweight against Mike Kyle at UFC 51 in 2007, Light Heavyweight against Luis Cane at UFC 79 and Middleweight against Alessio Sakara at UFC On Versus 1.

Pretty big difference here, especially between 205 and 185. Judging from all the Irvin interviews I’ve seen in the last few weeks, he seems to be taking everything in stride. I still think he’s going to smash Sakara, but he might need a CLIF bar between rounds.

(Pictures courtesy of UFC.com)

The first live UFC event broadcasted on Versus takes place Sunday, March 21st in Broomfield, Colorado.  UFC On Versus 1 features a Light Heavyweight main event pitting Brandon Vera against Jon Jones.  In the co-main event, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu ace Gabriel Gonzaga takes on Brazilian punch you in the face ace Junior dos Santos.

As always, I will only cover which fights have betting value.  UFC On Versus 1 gives us MMA bettors a range of interesting options.  If you have reviewed MMAMoneyLine’s Pros’ Picks for UFC On Versus 1, you already know that this card is a bit lopsided.  7 out of 11 fights are clean sweeps (100% for one fighter).  On the other hand, 3 out of the 4 fights that aren’t clean sweeps are practically coin flips.  Here is where MMAMoneyLine sees the value in UFC On Versus 1:  Vera VS. Jones

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As usual, BetUS has posted odds for the upcoming season of The Ultimate Fighter.  Although the rumors of veteran fighters David Loiseau, Nick Thompson and Jason Lambert  turned out to be false, as did the intriguing possibilities of Robert Drysdale and Matt Major, this season should be fairly entertaining.

This season’s coaches, as you may have heard, are Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz.  I’m interested to see Chuck’s coaching ability.  Judging from his last go ’round, Tito Ortiz should handle the coaching reigns very well.  This season will lead up to a future fight, possibly at UFC 115, between the two former UFC Light Heavyweight champions (contrary to recent reports of a Chuck Liddell/Rich Franklin contest in June).

As of the writing of this post, Kyle Noke is the favorite at +600.  This Jackson Mixed Martial Arts fighter holds victories over the surging George Sotiropoulos and Bellator Middleweight champ Hector Lombard.  A few other favorites are Josh Bryant, Costantinos Philippou, Kris McCray and Kyacey Uscola.  For more information on this season’s fighters, Sherdog has an excellent writeup on each mixed martial artist.

The Ultimate Fighter 11 debuts March 31st after UFC Fight Night 21: Florian VS. Gomi. Enjoy an MMA packed end of March!