MMA Predictions: The EWB Fighting Championships

[Rich]

Gentleman (& ladies), welcome to the EWB Fighting Championships.

EWB FC is a natural progression from the previous prediction contests, but since Biggz departure from the board we have been lacking a prediction league here on EWB, so I have taken it upon myself to restart it with the participation of you, my fellow MMA fans. But it won’t be the same as before, nope it will be much more like a MMA organisation with competitors matched up against each other at events, working their way up the rankings to the top and becoming a champion!

So, you may be asking “how will it work?” Over the course of this first post I will endeavour to explain the rules, and answer any issues that may arise, the rules are inspired by the “Junkie Fantasy Fighting” from MMAJunkie.com. But if you find a problem, let me know, and I will edit this post, treating it as a reference point/FAQ, it will be a learning process for me as well, and I hope to iron out any kinks asap, so bear with me a little and realise it’s a fun competition as well. I have been inspired to do this by other championships I participate in.

Can I compete in EWB FC?

Anyone can participate, as much or as little as they like. As a result of everybody having different levels of knowledge/interest in MMA there will be a separate championship for each of the major promotions that we cover. So if you are relative newcomer/casual fan and only want to be considered for the UFC, you only have to enter picks for the UFC events. But if you are an MMA hardcore you can enter picks for any and all of the organisations we cover. I will initially be instituting five Organisations within EWB FC, these are:

UFC

WEC

Strikeforce

DREAM

WVR: Sengoku

I may add extra organisations later on, such as Bellator, if there is any interest or other organisations rise in reputation/importance.

I will initially act as both a competitor and as match maker/Administrator for the fights, but if I feel that this is causing problems, for work load, or people think I am favouring myself too much I will then just act as the match maker/Administrator.

How do I sign up for the EWB FC?

Approximately 2 weeks before an event I will announce that I am looking for competitors for the upcoming cards. If you want to participate in that EWB FC card make a post saying “I’m in for (card name).” This will make it easy for me to know what cards you wish to participate in so I can make match ups (these match ups will be based on current rankings, experience, current rankings (which will be covered later on in the post) and how often you participate in that organisations cards). This will be particularly important when there a multiple cards going on over the space of a few days. So for instance of there was a Sengoku, WEC and Strikeforce card over the weekend and you only wish to predict for the American cards you would say “I’m in for WEC x and Strikeforce x.”

If you also wish to call out and be matched up against a certain fighter, after making your intention to fight known, in the same post say “And I wish to fight (fighter name).” And I will notify the relevant participant and they can either decline or accept your challenge. If you don’t specify a fighter I will match you up and try to make it as competitive as possible, and as hinted at before, the more often you participate in that organisations cards, the more likely with good performances you are to be matched up higher up the card, and be looking at a title shot, with your good performances! If an odd number of people sign up, I will be instituting a “first come, first served” policy, so the final fighter to sign up will unfortunately miss out on fighting (they can submit their picks, and I will note it in their score for overall scores though, it just will not affect their ranking). But if you are that final fighter you a guaranteed a spot on that organisation’s next card.

Scoring System

For each bout being contested on a card you must select:

a) The winner (worth 10 base points)

And should you choose this winner correctly you will gain bonus points for correctly guessing

b) Method of the finish (pick between KO, Sub, Dec – Worth 5 Points)

c) The round the fight will end (5 points for championship matches, 3 points for standard matches)

You will get the bonus points for one even if the other doesn't occur, so aslong as you pick the winner and guess the round correctly, even if you get the method wrong you wuld gain the bonus points, and if you get the round wrong but the method correct, you would again get the bonus points.

So guessing a fighter incorrect renders you 0 points even if you get the method and the round right.

The scores of all your fights are then added up and put up against your opponent’s score and the resulting difference dictates the results of the fights:

Scores Equal – Draw

Score difference of 1 to 5 points – Split Decision

Difference of 6 to 15 points – Unanimous Decision

Difference of 16 – 30 points – Submission

Difference of 31+ points – KO

Notes on Scoring:

There is no difference between Unanimous Decisions and Split Decisions or TKO and KO in EWB FC.

If a fighter taps or verbally submits to strikes, then this is considered and scored as a KO, and so is a stoppage due to a cut.

In the same vein, if a fight is stopped by the referee due to a submission and is a “Technical Submission”, then it will count as a submission, again in EWB FC there are only 3 methods of victory, KO, sub and dec.

If a fight is stopped between rounds, the finish will be called a KO, and will have been considered to have finished in the preceding round, so if a fighter cannot answer the bell at the beginning of the third round, it is considered a KO in the second round.

At every event I will be implementing a fight of the night bonus, this will be the competitor who gets the highest total for their predictions on the card will get an additional 10% added on to the total which will go on to affect the rankings as such a fight of the night may get you moving uo the rankings towards the title!

Submitting Picks

Due to the competitive nature of this concept, the questions over editing of posts/picks and just to make it easier on myself, I will request your picks via PM. You can post your picks in the thread, and share them with whomever you choose or you can keep them secret, it’s all up to you! However I will be either posting my picks publically, or at the very least PMing them to my opponent prior to the deadline so they are assured I am not cheating.

The deadline will tend to be at the start of the weigh-ins for the event, but it may change at my discretion, depending on my circumstances, but if you have a reasonable excuse for missing the deadline I will consider it on a case by case basis . The deadlines and the fights on each card that are being considered for scoring will be made fully known to all participants a week before the fight card is to take place. However participants are allowed to state their intention to fight as long as they make their post and submit their picks via PM to me before the deadline, and as such I will attempt to put up each EWB FC card (so you know your opponent) in the afternoon (GMT) before the fights that night, or the next day in the case of Japanese cards. Results will be posted during the week after the fight card.

The style in which I would like you to submit your fight card will be:

Winner-Method-Round

So going back to the UFC 104 main event, choosing Machida to win by decision would look like:

Lyoto Machida-Dec-5

Also Remember that there are only 3 methods of victory and should be typed as KO, Sub or Dec, again, it’ll make it easier for me to do your totals!

If there are last minute changes to a card, I will post that there has been a change, so keep an eye on the thread, and you can PM me the changes to your picks, but when you do it, PLEASE remember to send your whole card again.

If you wish to change your picks you must resubmit all of your picks via PM again, and it must be before the deadline stated with the event’s fight card.

Cheating

If you are caught trying to cheat and it seems more than an absent minded mistake, or if it is a repeated offense then I will consider suspending you from subsequent cards for a period that will be determined on a case by case basis.

I know us donators like our name changes, but if your name isn’t apparent, please just pop your name on the bottom of your picks, it’ll make it easier when I am trying to keep records and/or update the rankings.

If you sign up and then fail to submit picks to me before the deadline for the card, then I will suspend you for either one fight card, or for 2 weeks, depending on the number of cards that are taking part in that period or you have a reason behind why that is a one that is deemed good enough, i.e. family/friends problems, internet problems, etc...

If your picks are not in by the deadline you will not get placed into that EWB FC event, but if you put your picks in to me and want them scored just for fun, I will do that, but realise that if I am busy it will be at the bottom of my to do list. As previously stated the head to head EWB FC line up for any fight event will be up either the evening before or the morning of the day the fights take place. However certain matches such as the title match, No.1 contenders matches and any particular grudge matches may be put up with the Events card so those people can have a bit more time to strategize due to the high stakes involved. Again get in contact with me if you want to try to organise specific match ups.

No one will be docked points for any reasons.

Tie Breakers

Any match can end in a draw, if it is a title match the belt is retained by its champion. But in this case the challenger while unsuccessful will not be bumped to the back of the line, but will be either placed in to the next contenders match, or placed in to a title rematch if a no.1 contender is not apparent or is unavailable for the promotion’s next card.

The only matches to begin with that cannot end in a draw will be contenders matches, these will then be decided by the following criteria, where if you are still tied on a criteria we will move on to the next until it can be determined who has won, and it will be declared a win by “Split Decision”:

a) The fighter who picks the most winners

b) The fighter with the most correct methods.

c) The fighter with the most correct rounds.

OK guys

That’s it for now, we will see how this goes, but hopefully it’ll be fun and I can keep up with it!

My Next post will include a sample of predictions for this weekend’s WEC and UFC shows, so as to fully demonstrate the scoring system. Good luck, guys, lets have a good clean fight, and LETS GET IT ON!

[Captain Kirk]

I'm in I'll probably predict for all the cards.

[Rich]

Right then guys, this coming Monday is UFC Fight Night: Maynard vs. Diaz, and I will use it to demonstrate the format and remember to keep an eye on the first post as I will edit it when i come over issues or anything i forget, and after the fight occurs on I will put up my score here’s the card:

UFC FIGHT NIGHT: Maynard vs. Diaz

CARD:

Lightweight bout: Gray Maynard vs. Nate Diaz

Lightweight bout: Efrain Escudero vs. Evan Dunham

Middleweight bout: Tom Lawlor vs. Aaron Simpson

Welterweight bout: Amir Sadollah vs. Brad Blackburn

Middleweight bout: Chris Leben vs. Jay Silva[1]

Welterweight bout: Rick Story vs. Jesse Lennox[1]

Lightweight bout: Thiago Tavares vs. Nik Lentz[1]

Welterweight bout: Mike Guymon vs. Rory MacDonald

Lightweight bout: Kyle Bradley vs. Rafael dos Anjos

Middleweight bout: Gerald Harris vs. John Salter

Middleweight bout: Nick Catone vs. Jesse Forbes

For this event I will post my predictions in the format I would like you to use, (Lock-Fighters Name-Method-Round):

8-Gray Maynard-Dec-3

3-Efrain Escudero-KO-2

9-Aaron Simpson-KO-1

5-Brad Blackburn-Dec-3

4-Chris Leben-KO-1

7-Jesse Lennox-Sub-2

6-Thiago Tavares-Sub-3

10-Rory MacDonald-KO-2

1-Rafael dos Anjos-Sub-2

11-Gerald Harris-KO-1

2-Jesse Forbes-KO-2

So on Tuesday you will see the score I managed to accumulate. If anybody wants a practice run post your picks up in here, you can do it for the WEC too this weekend if you would like, however i will not be submitting my picks as I haven’t really had a good look at the card, but I will score it for you.

Following this weekend the next big events will be Strikeforce: Miami and UFC 109, I will start sign ups a little earlier for these, so keep your eyes peeled guys and I hope you can join in!

[Rich]

OK guys, last night was UFC: Fight Night 20, and these were the results:

Gray Maynard def. Nate Diaz via split decision (29-28, 27-30, 29-28)

Evan Dunham def. Efrain Escudero via submission (armbar) - Round 3, 1:59

Aaron Simpson def. Tom Lawlor via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)

Amir Sadollah def. Brad Blackburn via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26)

Chris Leben def. Jay Silva via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Rick Story def. Jesse Lennox via split decision (30-27, 30-27, 28-29)

Thiago Tavares vs. Nick Lentz declared majority draw (28-28, 28-28, 29-27)

Rory MacDonald def. Mike "Joker" Guymon via submission (armbar) - Round 1, 4:27

Rafael dos Anjos def. Kyle Bradley via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Gerald Harris def. John Salter via TKO (strikes) - Round 3, 3:24

Nick Catone def. Jesse Forbes via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)

Using these against my predictions for the night, you can see the scoring below:

8-Gray Maynard-Dec-3 - (8 x (10 + 5 + 3)) = 144pts

3-Efrain Escudero-KO-2 – (3 x (0 + 0 +0)) = 0pts

9-Aaron Simpson-KO-1 – (9 x (10 + 0 + 0)) = 90pts

5-Brad Blackburn-Dec-3 – (5 x (0 + 0 +0)) = 0pts

4-Chris Leben-KO-1 – (4 x (10 + 0 + 0)) = 40pts

7-Jesse Lennox-Sub-2 - (7 x (0 + 0 +0)) = 0pts

6-Thiago Tavares-Sub-3 - (6 x (0 + 0 +0)) = 0pts

10-Rory MacDonald-KO-2 - (10 x (10 + 0 + 0)) = 100pts

1-Rafael dos Anjos-Sub-2 – (1 x (10 +0 +0)) = 10pts

11-Gerald Harris-KO-1 – (11 x (10 + 5 + 0)) = 165 pts

2-Jesse Forbes-KO-2 – (2 x (0 + 0 +0)) = 0pts

So as you can see I got a total of 449 points for my predictions.

I will put up another post when I want sign ups for Strikeforce: Miami and UFC 109 at the weekend, giving plenty of time for people to show interest. Thanks guys (Y).

[Captain Kirk]

The lock order seems to over-complicate things.

[Rich]

I could remove it for now, and see how it goes, but I have seen in other leagues I have taken part in it just adds to the intrigue.

I will go over the rules and sort it out before I ask for Strikeforce predictions (Y)

[Rich]

OK guys, the lock order has been removed, it will make it less complicated. With me away for the next couple of days I will say that being 2 weeks away from the event sign ups for Strikeforce: Miami are now open. as asked, just say "I'm in for Strikeforce Miami" if you wish to predict, sign ups for UFC 109:Relentless will be up next week, and when I want you predictions for the Strikeforce card I will post all the fights confirmed, this will probably be in the week when Bobby Lashley's opponent is confirmed.

Oh and for the first event of each promotion, the competitor who wins the fight of the night bonus will be declared the first champion of the promotion. So think hard of the next few days.

[Guest Mr. Mime Head]

I'm in for Strikeforce.

As a though, to separate organizations a bit, maybe have lock order for some and not others to simulate different 'rules'?

[Captain Kirk]

I'm in for Strikeforce.

[Rich]

I'm in for Strikeforce.

As a though, to separate organizations a bit, maybe have lock order for some and not others to simulate different 'rules'?

I thought about this, we shall see how it goes, I was thinking the locks would work in two scenarios

1) for the UFC as everyone knows a little more about those fighters and could form the relevant opinions.

2) For the Japanese promotions to differentiate them from the US promotions, and as it tends to be people who know more about MMA watching them they would be able to maybe decide on lock order more than the casual fan. However this may act as a detterent for people joining in.

I still have the rules saved so if they were to be reinstated at any time i can just copy them back in, we will start this way, if we get a lot of close matches and draws I will start to play with the rules a little... maybe aaking for your "Top 3 picks" and awarding bonus points if you get those right. But like I say we will keep it simple for now and develop it as we go on

[Captain Kirk]

A top 3 sounds a lot better, it's just with things like WEC, Sengoku and the Strikeforce and smaller events it would be an absolute pain in the arse putting in a order for fights with guys you have never heard of.

[Perfecshaun]

I'll go in for the Strikeforce card

[Rich]

.

Gentleman, PM me your predictions for Strikeforce:Miami Deadline for Predictions will be 00:00am PST on Saturday 30th January (Thats 8:00am GMT).

If anybody else wishes to play just sign up here, and sign ups for UFC 109 will be open as of Sunday.

Here is Strikeforce's card:

MAIN CARD

Nick Diaz vs. Marius Zaromskis (for vacant welterweight title)

Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos vs. Marloes Coenen (for women's featherweight title)

Robbie Lawler vs. Melvin Manhoef

Bobby Lashley vs. Wes Sims

Greg Nagy vs. Herschel Walker

Jay Hieron vs. Joe Riggs

Pablo Alfonso vs. Marcos da Matta

Michael Byrnes vs. David Zitnik

Sabah Homasi vs. John Kelly

David Gomez vs. Craig Oxley

Hayder Hassan vs. Ryan Keenan

So the main event and co-main event will be Five rounds, the rest will be contested as the standard three rounds under the Unified Ruless of MMA.

Good luck Guys (Y)

[Rich]

Sign ups for UFC 109 are now open. Strikeforce: Miami is also still open (Y)

[Rich]

Strikeforce Predictions are in. Following my random order picks here are the Head-To-Heads:

Captain Kirk

Nick Diaz-KO-2

Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos-KO-1

Melvin Manhoef-KO-1

Bobby Lashley-KO-1

Herschel Walker-Dec-3

Jay Hieron-Sub-3

Marcos da Matta-Sub-2

Dave Zitnik-Sub-3

John Kelly-KO-2

David Gomez-Sub-1

Ryan Keenan-Sub-1

Vs

Rich

Marius Zaromskis-KO-4

Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos-KO-2

Melvin Manhoef-KO-1

Bobby Lashley-Sub-1

Greg Nagy-Dec-3

Jay Hieron-Sub-3

Macos da Matta-Sub-2

David Zitnik-KO-2

Sabah Homasi-Dec-3

Craig Oxley-KO-1

Ryan Keenan-Dec-3

MPH

Marius Zaromskis-KO-3

Marloes Coenen-Sub-2

Robbie Lawler-Sub-2

Bobby Lashley-Sub-1

Herschel Walker-KO-1

Jay Hieron-Dec-3

Marcos da Matta-Sub-1

David Zitnik-Dec-3

John Kelly-KO-1

Craig Oxley-KO-2

Hayder Hassan-Dec-3

Vs

Perfecshaun

Nick Diaz–Sub-5

Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos-KO-4

Robbie Lawler-KO-3

Greg Nagy-Decision-3

Bobby Lashley-KO-1

Jay Hieron-KO-1

Marcos da Matta-Sub-3

David Zitnik-Dec-3

John Kelly-KO-3

David Gomez-Dec-3

Ryan Keenan-KO-2

The predictor with the highest score will be determined to be the Strikeforce EWB FC Champion!

Remember that UFC 109 signups are open.

Results will be posted by Thursday (I might have a job interview early next week so I will be doing ASAP but depends on how my preperation is going (Y) ). Hopefully on Sunday though, Good Luck guys

[reyrey619]

I'm in for UFC 109

[Captain Kirk]

In for UFC 109

[Rich]

Having had a great night of fights last night, the first ever EWB FC event had 4 competitors fighting it out for the EWB FC Strikeforce title, so without delay here are the results for the matches predicted on last night’s Strikeforce Miami Card

Results

Nick Diaz def. Marius Zaromskis via TKO (strikes) - Round 1, 4:38 (for vacant welterweight title)

Champ Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos def. Marloes Coenen via TKO (strikes) - Round 3, 3:40

Robbie Lawler def. Melvin Manhoef via knockout (punch) - Round 1, 3:33

Bobby Lashley def. Wes Sims via TKO (strikes) - Round 1, 2:06

Herschel Walker def. Greg Nagy via TKO (strikes) - Round 3, 2:17

Jay Hieron def. Joe Riggs via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)

Pablo Alfonso def. Marcos DaMatta via submission (armbar) - Round 1, 1:47

Micahel Byrnes def. David Zitnik via majority decision (29-29, 30-27, 30-27)*

John Kelly def. Sabah Homasi via submission (rear-naked choke) - Round 1, 2:48

David Gomez def. Craig Oxley via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Hayder Hassan def. Ryan Keenan via TKO (strikes) - Round 2, 2:42

* - Byrnes vs. Zitnik was scheduled for the evening's preliminary card but time constraints forced the fight to be contested after the evening's main event.

Scores in order of matches above:

Rich

0+15+0+13+0+13+0+0+0+0+0=41

V

Captain Kirk

15+15+0+18+13+13+0+0+10+10+0=94

Result: Captain Kirk def. Rich via KO in Rd 1

MPH

0+0+10+13+15+18+0+0+13+0+10=79

V

Perfecshaun

10+15+15+18+0+10+0+0+10+18+0=96

Result: Perfecshaun def. MPH via Submission in Rd 3

Your fight of the night and inaugural EWB FC Strikeforce Champion...

Perfecshaun!

Well done and good luck in defending your belt at the next Strikeforce event!

Remember guys UFC 109 sign ups are open , and within the next 2 days I will post the card for you to predict (Y)

[Rich]

Mark Coleman vs. Randy Couture

Nate Marquardt vs. Chael Sonnen

Mike Swick vs. Paulo Thiago

Demian Maia vs. Dan Miller

Matt Serra vs. Frank Trigg

Justin Buchholz vs. Mac Danzig

Melvin Guillard vs. Ronnys Torres

Rob Emerson vs. Phillipe Nover

Phil Davis vs. Brian Stann

Tim Hague vs. Chris Tuchscherer

Rolles Gracie vs. Joey Beltran

PM me your predictions fellas.

Signups still open, deadline for pics are 00:00AM PST on Saturday.

Good luck again (Y)

[Captain Kirk]

Has Jon Madsen not stepped in for Al-Turk?