World Wrestling Entertainment champion CM Punk will escort Chael Sonnen to the cage prior to Sonnen’s fight against Mark Munoz live on FOX, according to sources close to Sonnen’s camp. When reached for a comment, both Sonnen and Punk, a proud native of Chicago, as well as a long-time MMA fan, would not confirm the story, which was first reported by MMA.tv poster FrontRowBrian Tuesday night.

I gotta root for Chael Sonnen now. I never wanted to have to do that.

MAIN EVENT
A buddy of mine has been waiting for Brock Lesnar to fight someone “his own size” for a while, and Alistair Overeem besides being two inches taller is also undefeated since 2007. He’s also already accustomed to an American style/audience, which is the reason so many other “big names” who came to the UFC had disappointing debuts. Every analytical statistic says Alistair wins, but sentimentally…I gotta go with Lesnar for the upset.

CO-MAIN EVENT
Any prediction for a Diaz fight usually starts with the fact that I heavily dislike the Diaz Brothers, and Nate more so than Nick. I’m also interviewing Ricky Gill who is running for Congress is Stockton for “The Right Hook” next week, and I hope he’s not reading this because dislike of Diaz plus I’m normally a fan of Donald Cerrone in the first place, I think “Cowboy” is taking the decision.

UNDERCARD
Johny Hendricks over Jon Fitch, Alexander Gustafsson over Vladimir Matyushenko, and Jim Hettes over Nam Phan

It’s hard to see a reason why it’s not getting done, other than a culinary union having a dispute with the owners of the UFC over something unrelated to the sport or even the state of NY, and the Democrat leadership in the NY Assembly being a whole owned subsidiary of Big Labor. Here’s the thing though…the votes are there. Anyone I’ve spoken too says the voters are there. The Governor will sign the bill as soon as it reaches his desk. Leadership just won’t call a vote.

Cut the bullshit.

You oppose MMA in NY? Then you can take to the floor of the Assembly and ramble on with some diatribe where Dana White and Lorezno Ferttita are the 1% and you represent the 99%, and regurgitate a statistic or “fact” that shows you haven’t been paying attention since 1998.

Everyone else can vote in favor of the jobs and ADDED REVENUE MMA can bring to the state of NY, a state that is desperate for jobs and added revenue.

So join your master of ceremonies Brodigan, voice for the voiceless and the heart and soul of YRs nationwide, as he bangs and clangs with some of your favourite regular guests.

First, we’ll be talking to Teri Christoph. Besides being a founder of Smart Girl Politics, Teri is also a board member for Project GOPink? What is Project GOPink you ask? Teri is happy to tells us all about it, as well as the big Women Working For Change conference in Washington DC this weekend.
http://www.twitter.com/terichristoph
http://www.wwfc2011.com

Next we have Fingers Malloy’s sidekick Tom LaDuke, who was on the frontlines of the Occupy movement when Occupy Denver tried to protest BlogCon 2011 in…well, Denver. It’s odd though. None of the bloggers at Blogcon were Wall Street bankers who got a bailout, so it begs to question why they were being occupied since this whole “movement” is purely about Wall Street bankers getting bailed out and everything else is just a distraction. Maybe Tom will shed some light.
http://www.ftrradio.com
http://www.twitter.com/irishduke2

Finally, our good friend Kevin Marshall returns to review UFC of FOX. How powerful is the Marshall Curse? So powerful that Kevin decided, instead of injuring one of the fighters, he’s just going to cause one of them to get knocked out in sixty seconds after all the hype. We’ll also be talking about the UFC suing the state of New York.
http://www.twitter.com/kevinmarshall
http://www.kevinmarshallonline.com

THE SONGS YOU’LL HEAR
“Autographs and Apologies” – Motion City Soundtrack
“Red Solo Cup” – Toby Keith
“Get Ready” – Bon Jovi
“Boom” – POD
“Ours” – Taylor Swift

You can listen THIS THURSDAY NIGHT (November 17th) at 9:00 PM!
www.FTRradio.com

Preliminary Fights
Give me Ricardo Almeida over Mike Pyle, Gleison Tibau over Kurt Pellegrino, Elliot Marshall over Luis Cane, and Edson Barboza Jr. over Anthony Njokuani.

Undercard
For my “upset pick,” I’m like Brendan Schaub over Mirko Cro Cop. It might not be that big of an upset since Cro Cop’s not really what he used to be, but humour me here.

Dan Miller vs. Nate Marquardt could possibly steal the show in a wide open middleweight division (since no one in it is close to being a serious contender to Anderson Silva). I’m going with Miller with a decision victory.

And if I’m right it’s going to be a good night for the Miller family, because I’m also taking Jim Miller over Kamal Shalorus.

Co-Main Event
Next to Fedor, Uriah Faber is one of the biggest stars in MMA to yet compete in the UFC. I don’t see anyway he’s losing his debut fight, and will even go so far to say that after defeating Eddie Wineland they announce him as one of the coaches for the next season of The Ultimate Fighter.

Main Event
Maybe I’m buying way too much into the hype, but I honestly think Jon Jones is your next light heavyweight champion. His endurance really hasn’t been tested and this is a five round fight, but I’m taking Jones via TKO.

Cats like Republican Assemblyman Dean Murray are in favor of it, others like Democrat Assemblyman Bob Reilly are against it (and who may or may not have been bought off by labor unions). Besides being frustrating to NY MMA fans, I’m sure it’s even worse for NY MMA fighters like Rochester’s Jon “Bones” Jones.

Especially in the case of Jones, who if you follow the UFC, you know is living a story that seems straight out of the movie “Rocky.” Picture it, Las Vegas, 2011. Jon Jones, a relative newcomer to the sport (has been fighting for less that three years) just defeated Ryan Bader. His training partner, Rashad Evans, was supposed to fight Light heavyweight Champion (and one of the best in MMA history) Shogun Rua for the title, but had to pull out due to injury. Jones was surprised live in the ring with a title shot.

Now, in “Rocky,” the underdog challenger fought in his hometown. It was a sold out crowd, which if this were real live, you would have to do did wonders for the local businesses in the surrounding area. The same could be true of New York native Jones. Imagine him getting his title shot, imagine the hype behind this relative novice fighter getting the opportunity of a life time, if he was allowed to fight in Madison Square Garden.

Instead…the fight, all the hype, and all revenue that goes with it, is taking place in New Jersey. That’s not right.

P.S. I like Jon Jones via TKO.

I always tell my fellow YRs that they need to lighten up and, for the love of God, have interests outside of politics. The master plan is to get everyone to break the old school Alex P. Keaton style of Young Republicanism. More importantly, having interests outside of politics is great when it comes to breaking the ice and networking. It can’t all be about fighting socialism and getting to the bottom of where the President was really born…KIDDING! That’s sarcasm, folks.

My top non-political interest is mixed martial arts, what most people know as the UFC: Ultimate Fighting Championship. We all get together every month with a case or two of beer and watch guys pummel each other. Yes, it’s as awesome as it sounds. However, besides being one of the fastest growing sports and another excuse for my friends to get together and drink (and this is where I get to the point of why you’re reading this), the UFC is also a highly lucrative private company, and I find myself becoming more and more impressed with how they’ve been utilizing new/social/direct media.

The question is how do we take some of their ideas and interpolate them into a political campaign? There are three things they do specifically that I think can not only be incorporated into a campaign, but done so using minimal resources.

1. Whenever there’s a fight card, they’ll choose two of their fighters who don’t have matches that night and have them tweet their opinions of the action. Essentially, they’re spinning the fights. This can be used during debates, specifically the Presidential ones where the campaigns have all their top names spinning for the candidate. Besides talking to the press, they can talk right to the voters in real time on Twitter (either on the campaign’s account or their own). We as junkies usually watch and re-tweet each others thoughts anyway. Having ten or so specifically high level tweeters pushing the campaign’s spin, with everyone re-tweeting them, should help increase the visibility of the candidate’s message.

2. Sometimes on the day of a show (the shows are usually on Saturdays), UFC President, Dana White, will go to the local mall with a few free tickets, tweet on his personal account that he’s at the mall, and if you find him…you get tickets. If the candidates themselves did that, it would probably be asking for trouble. Instead, volunteers could be sent to the local mall with twenty copies of say, the new Newt Gingrich book, or “Conscience of a Conservative,” or even a book written by the candidate (they have a habit of doing so). Of course, each book would contain literature ranging from palm cards, to web addresses, to where to send donations. It’s just an enjoyable and simple way to have fun with your supporters, while standing out from your opponents(s).

3. This last way takes a little bit of an investment, but it could pay off huge. Recently, to hype the upcoming Rashad Evans vs. Rampage Jackson fight (my money is on Rashad) they partnered up with Bud Light and shot a few short training videos for Evans. They were hosted by Rachelle Leah, and were found exclusively on the Bud Light Facebook page. If your campaign has the extra resources, this would be a great way to build your Facebook community. Shoot behind the scene footage of the candidate on the campaign trail. You can even invite one or two conservative bloggers (Mary Katharine Ham, Erick Erickson, Tabitha Hale, etc.) who are sympathetic to the campaign and have them host and/or conduct interviews with supporters, campaign staff, or even the candidates themselves. Then if they’re exclusive to Facebook, supporters will have to join (or I guess “like”) your page in order to view them. The larger the community you build, the more voters you have access to when it comes to money bombs, volunteering, or even sharing the video on their Facebook pages.

That’s probably the main reason it pays to develop interests outside of politics. Musicians, antique collectors, fighting organizations…while we all use the Internet to connect and sell our products, we all use them in different ways. You never know what you can borrow from people to help promote your message.

PRELIMINARY’S
I like Donald Cerrone over Paul Kelly and Michihiro Omigawa over Chad Mendes (I hate anyone named Chad).

UNDERCARD
Next to the main event, I think the Ryan Bader vs. Jon Jones fight is the most exciting fight on the card. Both fighters are contenders in the division. Both fighters are even matched. And while Bader has a undefeated 12-0 record, Jones would also if not for a disqualification loss. I see both fighters at 11-1 after this, as Jones goes over Bader.

Miguel Torres is a former WEC champion, and just simply a sick, sick fighter. I can’t imagine him losing his UFC debut, so he beats Antonio Banuelos.

I’ll be honest, I’m not all that familiar with either Carlos Eduardo Rocha or Jake Ellenberger, but Rocha is undefeated so far so I’ll take him.

CO-MAIN EVENT
Rich Franklin vs. Forrest Griffin is another interesting fight. They are both coming off of injury (Franklin eight months, Griffin over a year), so you know if there’s going to be any ring rust. Franklin also isn’t used to fighting at 205 that much. He made the decision to go up a wait class…and then seemed to get a string of 195 catch weight fights. He is how ever the one who knocked out Chuck Liddell with a broken arm, so I’m going to go with him over Griffin.

MAIN EVENT
I never go against Anderson Silva, but if I was, Vitor Belfort would be the person I would choose. We saw shades of the “Phenom” in his come back victory over Rich Franklin, and Silva is coming off a fight against Chael Sonnen that he was two minutes away from losing before making Sonnen tap. I still like Silva here, but it’s close.

It started way back at UFC 121. Brock Lesnar has just lost to Cain Velasquez. WWE superstar The Undertaker, who was watching the fight (he goes to UFC fights regularly), was being interview when Lesnar walked past them. They had words, and the wrestling websites went into overdrive because obviously this meant it was the start of an angle to set up Brock Lesnar vs. The Undertaker at WrestleMania.

The reporter had no idea what was going on and UFC President Dana White said “no” it as many different ways he knew how, but as anyone who had dealt with wrestling sites before…they always know more than you do. Brock Lesnar finally spoke out recently…

It turns out, none of it is true. He said he never considered going to the WWE, pointing out, “I’m a fighter.” But that didn’t have any impact upon the rampant speculation.“It’s just the Internet, and it’s because of those things right there,” Lesnar said, pointing toward a laptop that was placed in front of him. “People can say anything they want and not have any credibility or nothing. It’s just the world we live in. I don’t (hear the talk). I don’t get caught up in any of those things.”

Here’s the dumbest aspect of the rumor. Did anyone actually think Brock Lesnar was going to walk away from a multi-million dollar deal with the UFC, to return to professional wrestling for a single payday at WrestleMania? Not to mention, a pay day for a fight he knew he was going to lose…because it’s the Undertaker at WrestleMania.

::rolls eyes::

GSP vs. Anderson Silva - According to Dana, providing they beat their next opponents (Jake Shields and Vitor Belfort) not only are we getting this match, we’re getting it this year. The deal is that St. Pierre would move up to 185 permanently, which would vacate the 170 title. The way I see it, the UFC gets one to three fights out of the two of them. If Silva wins, that’s it and he probably goes to 205. If GSP wins, Silva gets a rematch…and possibly the fans get a trilogy. Either way, boo Shields and boo Belfort, I hope you both lose.

Brian Stann vs. Wanderlai Silva - This fight is the one I’m most looking forward too, because I’m a huge fan of Brian Stann, who after beating Chris Leben last month called out Wanderlai. The UFC is working on making it happen, and depending on what happens with the GSP/Anderson fight, could there possibly be title implications? A Silva vs. Silva fight would be sick.

Light heavyweight Division – Shogun Rua defends the title against Rashad Evans in March, and the winner will most likely face Rampage Jackson. Either match up would be a great fight, and while Jackson has losses against both of them, the hype between Evans/Rampage 2 would be awesomely awesomer one for the fans. After that, there are fights between Ryan Bader/Jon Jones and Rich Franklin/Forest Griffin to decide who comes next. Out of the four, my money is on Bader.

Loser Leaves Town - That’s the deal for Lyoto Machida and Tito Ortiz in each of their next fights. If they lose, they’re gone. Machida, after eviscerating Rashad Evans and having it be declared the “Machida Era,” won a disputed decision against Shogun before back to back loss in a rematch and against Rampage. Ortiz hasn’t won a fight since 2006, and his last win was against Ken Shamrock.

UNDERCARD
I’ll take Dong Hyun Kim over Nate Diaz for the same reason I always do…just because I fucking hate Nate Diaz.

Clay Guida vs. Takanori Gomi is an interesting match up. Guida always puts on a good fight, regardless of whether he wins or not. Gomi looks like he shook off the “Pride Curse” with his recent win decimation of Tyson Griffin. I like Gomi for the win here, and wouldn’t be surprised to see him get the winner of the UFC/WEC unification fight.

I’d really like to like Brandon Vera, and there was a time when I did. I just don’t think he has it anymore, and Thiago Silva is dangerous. Silva wins.

CO-MAIN EVENT
It’s not very often I go against Chris Leben. He’s been one of my favourite fighters since I started watching the UFC (I’m one of those poseurs who became a fan through “Ultimate Fighter”). But, for an upset pick, I’m going with Brian Stann here.

MAIN EVENT
How do you go against Frankie Edgar after back to back victories over BJ Penn? Maynard is going to give him a hell of a fight, but I still think Edgar retains the title.

A few things have to happen. First, both guys need to finish cleaning out their divisions. GSP will do that with a win over Jake Shields. Anderson has to get past Vitor Belfort, and possibly the winner of a Wanderlei Silva/Chael Sonnen fight.

The other thing is deciding what weight class they’d fight at. While a catch weight is possible, the most likely would be GSP leaving the welterweight division and bulking up to 185 to making a run as a middleweight.

So who would win? My gut tells me Georges St. Pierre, but I’d like to hear you all think. You can vote in the poll and/or give your best MMA analysis in the comment section…

PRELIMINARY CARD
I like Joe Lauzon over Gabe Reudiger and Andre Winner over Nik Lentz

UNDERCARD
I’m sure Demian Maia wants to make up for his now infamous loss to Anderson Silva. Because of that, I see him beating Mario Miranda.

It hasn’t been announce as a “#1 Contenders Fight,” but you can easily see the winner of Kenny Florian vs. Gray Maynard fighting the winner of the main event. This fight should be close, but I find it difficult to ever vote against Florian. I see “Ken Flo” earning his THIRD title shot.

Nate Diaz vs. Marcus Davis is actually the fight I’m most looking forward to. Since Davis is one of my favourite fighters (plus the “Irish Hand Grenade” is the coolest nick name this side of Freakboy), and I absolutely loather Nate Diaz. Because of that, I’m taking Davis to win.

CO-MAIN EVENT
Randy Couture over James Toney. I can’t believe we’re even having this conversation.

MAIN EVENT
I like Frankie Edgar, but I wasn’t all that impressed by his victory over BJ Penn, and felt he won by default. I can’t imagine BJ going into an automatic rematch like this an not coming out as a three time champion. Penn over Edgar.