The worth of that list weighs heavily with names like Alves, Fitch, Hughes (2), Penn (2), and anyone else who dares dance with the devil known as “Rush.”

Once in a while, a fighter comes along that doesn’t pay much mind to names, lists, or credentials. While all that is respectable and commendable, it doesn’t hold much weight when things get thick in the cage.

Odds reflect common results, but don’t account for the variables that a fight imposes.

Those variables are greatly affected by two fighters who create a certain equation. Rarely are bouts held between two fighters who already fought, so as a result, both the equation and the variable outcomes are often very different.

While one fighter may be the constant from which all challenging talents are judged, another fighter may live only to shatter that mold.

No one may see it coming. No one may bet the farm, but when it happens, it is unmistakable.

Not every fighter can do it, and sometimes the least likely of which are the ones that do happen to do it. Shocking the world is no easy task, and let’s face it, if the world knew it was coming, how shocked would they really be?

If I am a fighter and the focus of the world is on the man I am supposed to beat, then surely they are underestimating the fact that I made it here on my own two feet, and can do what it is that I do against the guy that no one else can seem to beat.

It’s my turn to try. And I have no intention of losing.

Alas I am not a fighter – not in the practical sense of the word – but I do understand pride and dignity. I fully understand and appreciate the desire of a man to prove to everyone who ever doubted him that he can do anything you dare tell him he cannot.

I can appreciate a man who few, if any, give an ounce of credit to with regard to toppling odds that most would not dare bet against, much less attempt to sway, through the actions necessary to truly impact the outcome of a fight no one seems to think he can win.

It is that type of grit, desire, and confidence that will be necessary to stop a force like the one Dan Hardy will face later this month. It is going to take the type of guy who may recognize and respect that type of elite talent, but keep believing in himself regardless.

The Outlaw strikes me as that type of man. He is the type who knows what he is up against, but he continues to smile and know that his variables have never been in a cage with GSP.

GSP has never faced the shuck and the jive of Hardy; he has never been hit by Hardy; and he has never had to try and break a man like Hardy.

Hardy is the type of guy that knows that he is that variable in the equation. He is what is necessary for an unprescribed outcome.

GSP has always been there, Dan Hardy has not.

That is what is intriguing about his upcoming match with the champ.

In addition to the simple math, it would seem Hardy—for the first time on the big stage—may be motivated by more than just his opponent this time out.

Those odds mentioned before have a lot of people clinging to the “Rush” bandwagon, and rightfully so, the man is simply an amazing fighter.

But the fact that people get so hung up on the star of one fighter, sometimes leaves the odd man out with a lot more to prove than maybe he might against just any other opponent.

Count a man out and make it apparent to him, and you inadvertently motivate him more so than any one fight may do.

Make no mistake, no one in their right minds is going to bet the farm on Dan Hardy. There are a lot of questions surrounding a fighter who burst on the scene as the “Outlaw” has, but in his short tenure in the UFC, he has answered more questions than he posed.

While those answers may not seem direct enough to answer the myriad of questions surrounding GSP, sometimes it only takes the right answer to the right question.

Once again, we focus where we like to convince ourselves of an assured outcome, but it is a fine line isn’t it?

When we talk about take downs, and how they will be defended, sometimes we overlook a right hand and how it can be avoided.

When we talk about ground and pound, we forget about the ability to submit from ones back.

When we talk about cardio, we overlook first-round knockouts.

While there are many points to be made as to why Rush is as good as he is, there are many points to be made about Hardy as to why GSP may not get a chance to show us all once again why he has that belt.

We know more about the champ than we do the challenger, and that in and of itself may be the very reason we should pause and really take a closer look.

Because what we know of the champ is that he will dominate; he will impose his game; he will bring the odds with him; and he will do all he can to prove those odds true.

We also know the champ is human, sometimes we forget or pass it off as a fluke, but GSP has shown holes in his armor—however small they may be.

Dan Hardy has seen them too.

And if he gets to knocking the wheels off that bandwagon come UFC 111, there is one MMA fan out there who may not be uber surprised.

Momentum is a strange thing.

As we already know with GSP, the best can be rattled. Momentum can go both ways as history would have it.

Not all godlike fighters are created equal but consider for a moment that they are all merely human. Just ask Mauricio “Shogun” Rua how indestructible the unsolvable Lyoto Machida is.

Ask Brett Rogers or Andrei Arlovski if they think Fedor is unbeatable. I assure you we already know their answers.

So while they may remain unbeaten, it is painfully obvious in some cases, that it is not by sheer impossibility alone. They remain unbeaten because the final proverbial nail could not be driven into the coffin in those fights.

Rest assured, Dan Hardy will have his bags and his hammer come fight night, and will be looking to bury GSP. That is what everyone seems to be missing. Hardy is not coming to lay down, he is coming to throw down.

Who are we to say it can’t be done? Who are we to forget that it has happened before? Who are we to assume anything in this sport?

By now, we should know better shouldn’t we?

At first glance, Sosnowski seems credible enough with a record of 45-2-1 (27 KOs), but a deeper look into his fight resume shows that his record is as padded as a middle school girl’s bra.

Albert Sosnowski carries a 2008 blowout loss to Zuri Lawrence on his record. Zuri Lawrence: The Don Flamenco of the heavyweight division. Good luck finding a meaningful win on Sosnowski’s record.

This fight was made possible when negotiations for Vitali Klitschko vs. Nikolai Valuev fell apart over money. Vitali Klitschko will now defend his title against Sosnowski in Germany on May 29.

Vitali plans to retire by the end of the year, but he may as well call it a career now if these are the kind of fights he’s going to entertain.

HBO will televise the fight, likely accompanied by a light welterweight co-feature pitting Nate Campbell against Victor Ortiz.

A press conference is scheduled for Friday in London to formally announce the fight between Amir Khan and Paulie Malignaggi.

Manny Pacquiao vs. Joshua Clottey (WBO Welterweight Title)
Money Line: Pacquiao -800; Clottey +500

Manny Pacquiao, 50-3-2 (38 KOs), is the number one pound-for-pound boxer in the world. He has been on an improbable run over the last two years, during which he captured a world title in a seventh different weight class. Manny defends his newly won welterweight title against the durable Joshua Clottey. Pacman seemingly got stronger as he moved up in weight, without losing any of the blistering speed he’s known for. Crisp, accurate punching is what wore down Oscar De La Hoya and Miguel Cotto, and that is what Pacquiao will rely on against Joshua Clottey. His working relationship with trainer Freddie Roach has proven to be a match made in boxing heaven. Roach has developed a perfect gameplan for Pacquiao’s last four fights so you can bet that Pacman will be well-prepared for this welterweight showdown.

Joshua Clottey, 35-3 (20 KOs) has been on the cusp of welterweight stardom for years and this may be his last chance at capturing it. He boasts wins over the likes of Diego Corrales and Zab Judah, but came up just short against Antonio Margarito and Miguel Cotto. Clottey is a great boxer known for his defense and counter-punching. He likes to take his time in the ring, something that could either help him or hurt him against Pacquiao’s aggressiveness. Clottey may be overwhelmed, causing him to mentally exit from the fight, or he could use the patience to his advantage and catch a charging Pacquiao with a well-placed combination. A win for Clottey would finally propel the Ghanan to welterweight stardom. A loss would mean he is still just a notch below the top guys in the division.

Fight Predictions

Corey Willinger: Joshua Clottey is a big, skilled welterweight who has posed a lot of upper class fighters some serious problems. But none of those guys were Manny Pacquiao. Clottey’s hand speed has been his biggest advantage against top fighters like Miguel Cotto, Antonio Margarito and Diego Corrales. Against Pacquiao, there is no hand speed advantage. And Clottey’s biggest weakness – his tendency to fade over the last third of his fights – is going to be amplified against Manny, who seems to get better as he settles more into the fight with each passing round. By the championship rounds, Pacquiao will pull decisively ahead, if he hasn’t already, to win a clear unanimous decision and continue to grow his legend. I’ll call it 118-110 for Pacquiao in a near-rout.

Paul Magno: Walk in the park for Pacquiao. Clottey is the exact opposite type of fighter needed to beat Manny. He’s slow-footed, passive and robotic. Manny will dart in, dart out and be well out of range before Clottey can even put his hands down from his defensive position. Clottey will defend as long as Manny throws, but Manny won’t tire. For Clottey to win, he’ll have to change his style and mindset completely and develop skills that he has never shown before in his career. I’d be surprised if he manages to win even two rounds. Clottey is a good fighter, just all wrong for Manny. Easy win via TKO or RTD around the 10th as Clottey’s inexperienced corner overreacts and stops the bout amidst the chaos generated by 45 thousand screaming Pacquiao fans.

Middleweight prospect Edwin Rodriguez (via our weekly boxing show): “I know everybody is going with Pacquiao because he has seemed unbeatable lately and he’s one of the best fighters right now but I see an upset. Joshua Clottey has a tremendous defense and I think he’s going to be able to beat Pacquiao. I think he’s going to stop him in the late rounds, probably the 9th or 10th. I look for a knockout, Joshua Clottey in the 10th. Put me down on that one.”

Trent Pusey: Joshua Clottey is a good, solid boxer but his consistency will hurt him. He’s been the same fighter for years making him an easy guy for Freddie Roach to dissect and prep Pacquiao for. The fight will start bad for Clottey and only get worse. Clottey has a propensity to disengage as the rounds go on whereas Manny gets stronger. Clottey will be worn down and there will be no choice but for the referee to stop the fight. Wapakaman is an unstoppable force and Joshua Clottey stands no chance without putting kryptonite in his gloves. Manny stops him in the 9th.

I foolishly ordered a UFC pay-per-view that far exceeded any disposable income I had at that point in my life.

Knowing full well the event was more expensive than my budget might handle, I ordered it anyway. Yet any guilt and regret went flying out the window when they announced one of the combatants was a fellow by the name of Don Frye fighting out of Sierra Vista, Arizona.

Sierra Vista is another dust bowl in the Arizona desert, right up the road from the tiny town I called home for two years. Much to my delight, not only was I going to watch the David vs. Goliath fight card, but I could root for a local guy in the process.

When he actually won, I was off my rocker with excitement.

Little did I know the greatness that would follow the fighter known as “The Predator” would take the MMA world by storm—and in the process build a legend out of a local fighter I cheered on with such pride.

Fast-forward 14 years, and once again a great sense of pride has overcome me as I sit down and write that yet another local hero has taken his place at the top of his respective MMA food chain.

Now I live in Tucson, quite an upgrade from my Butterfield Stage days, and not only can I afford any UFC PPV I like, but now they show this stuff for free from time to time. Oh, how times have changed.

Frye has since retired from the sport, but something else has changed too. MMA has thrived in the desert since his first fights in the UFC. The long list of well-respected gyms, promotions, and fighters in the Arizona desert has become quite impressive.

Most recently, none other than Tucson native Dominick Cruz did his part to put the state on the MMA map. While his brand-new WEC bantamweight strap may have gone back to San Diego with him to Alliance MMA, there is a lot of pride in his accomplishments right here in T-Town.

We are talking about a young man who has a strong following, and fans who have a deep interest in his progress in the sport of MMA. Fans that know where he came up and got his start. This past Saturday, in the cage with Brian Bowles, he made them all very proud.

It is not just the championship that turned our heads, either; it was apparent to us all he has long been that caliber of fighter, even if the brand of champ hadn’t been laid on him just yet. One thing is certain, there are a lot of smiling faces in Tucson this week, knowing one of our own has done so well on one of the biggest stages of the sport.

One has to imagine that no one is smiling quite as brightly as Mr. Cruz’s mother, still a Tucson citizen.

While Cruz may be the hot topic of discussion at the moment, he is one of many fighters who hail from the land of the dry heat.

One former WEC champ, Jamie Varner, has called Arizona home, and the man who unified that very title by defeating Varner, Ben Henderson, also spends his time among the saguaros. Henderson fights out of The MMA Lab, Varner out of Arizona Combat Sports.

Arizona Combat Sports and the Lally brothers have provided MMA with a long list of high quality fighters as well. Perhaps not all champions—not yet, anyway—but all fighters who have great impact on the sport. Those fighters include Ryan Bader, C.B. Dolloway, and Joe Riggs.

Apex MMA and owner Joey Rivera of Tucson are very proud to have not one but two of their fighters included in the upcoming season of The Ultimate Fighter series with coaches Chuck Lidell and Tito Ortiz. Those two fighters are Lyle Steffens and Seth Baczynski.

Just between you and me, keep your eye on Steffans, by the way—this guy is an absolute beast.

Efrain Escudero trains out of Southwest MMA in Tempe, Ariz. Escudero is the winner of The Ultimate Fighter 8 , and is also a part of the state’s parade of top-shelf fighters in the sport today.

It is not just high-profile fighters and gyms that make Arizona the MMA hotbed it has become. Virtually none of the fighters listed above actually fight in the Grand Canyon State due to the unfortunate politics that have stagnated the state with regard to regulation and MMA.

That being said, though, there is a small army of promotions that do quite well and have the elite up-and-coming fighters that train under many of those mentioned before. It is not uncommon in the slightest to see any one of them in a corner at Rage in the Cage or The World Fighting Federation.

The overall point is this: Whether it be Cain Velasquez’s Arizona ties, Don Frye pioneering this sport, Ben Henderson raising the bar, Dominick Cruz’s Tucson roots, or just a guy like Joey Rivera of Apex teaching the fighters of tomorrow, one thing is certain—Arizona is in the mix.

Arizona provides a year-round climate that is conducive to consistent training. Not unlike the reason for having an army of baseball spring training facilities in the area, it is a great place for athletes to train and excel.

That is shining true as indicated by the small legion of elite fighters who either once did, or now do call the desert their home.

Times have changed indeed. What once was just one man who represented us in the sport of MMA has now become many men. If you consider how proud and excited I once was over just one guy from up the street competing in MMA, imagine my delight now.

I thank them all for doing their part to put Arizona on the map in the realm of MMA.

When you turn the corner and the bright lights of Shane Dunagan’s XCFC shine true in the New Mexico desert sky, you know you have arrived.

On any given weekend, Lordsburg may not have much to offer, but this past Saturday night Dunagan’s event XCFC Intensity turned this quaint little town on its ear. To be honest, he outright shut the town down.

The Xtreme Courage Fighting Championships are fast paced, hand picked, and decisively managed amateur fights. No stone is left unturned, no amount of integrity forgone when Shane makes his matchups and coordinates his events. That showed tremendously during his most recent event.

The numbers already mentioned speak for themselves. All the matches were very competitive, and the victory and defeat found in that cage rang loud and true for all those in attendance.

It started with the opening match and never stopped all the way through the final championship battle, one of three championship fights on the card. In the first fight of the night, two warriors made sure they would be a tough act to follow.

At 135 pounds, Truman Jones defeated Javier Borjon by one of only two decisions all night. It was not for lack of effort to end the fight on either warrior’s part, though.

These two fellas put on one hell of a show that really set a tone for the entire evening. In a back-and-forth absolute war, the two exchanged position, and blows with few lulls in the action.

Jones wound up gaining the edge and winning some of the smaller battles to take home the victory. While Jones may have notched another W onto his belt, the true winners in this one were the fans in the stands.

No one knew the night of fights that would follow, but this fight was indicative of a special night of MMA that had yet to unfold.

Another fight worth mentioning took place between Ernie Mendoza and Gaberiel Varela at 205 pounds. While it wasn’t the most competitive fight all night, the talent level of one man was so impressive, it wouldn’t be right not to mention his performance.

Ernie Mendoza, at first glance, looked like a man who knew his way around a cage. He looked like a man who was ready to maybe move on to making his pro debut after another fight or two. We are talking about a guy who controlled 98 percent of every move made during his match.

Even when he lost dominant position for a split second, he found way to regain his composure and get back on top. A superior grappler, Mendoza displayed an obvious understanding for control and aggression, as evident by his utter puppeteering of his opponent to keep him where he wanted him. That does not account for his striking prowess.

He finished his very game opponent at the midway point of round two by TKO due to strikes. He had taken his back, flattened him out, and just pounded his way to victory.

Needless to say when I turned to Dunagan and expressed my amazement with this amateur’s talent level, Shane floored me with the news that this was his amateur debut.

Ernie, you had me fooled. If you’re reading this, sir, my hat is off to you, and I for one cannot wait to see what you can accomplish in this sport. Wow, man, you’re the real deal.

Sometimes as a regional MMA reporter, you become familiar with this fighter or that fighter. Gabe Dominguez is a guy that has held my attention in that aspect. It is bittersweet to know that two of the most exciting fights I’ve seen under the XCFC banner involved this man.

Sadly, both were memorable knockouts, one of which he delivered, the other of which he received. The ying and the yang of this sport shone through in two memorable expressions that ring so vividly in my memory.

The glory of victory that showed him pacing and standing over his previous opponent, with the look of a challenged bull in his eyes. And most recently the pain and heartache of defeat when he rolled over and stared at the ceiling after being dropped by the Extreme Super Heavyweight Champ Cisco Valenzuela.

Either way, Dominguez is a warrior I admire. Not the most technical fighter, but a warrior, which in and of itself is its own badge of honor.

Cisco Valenzuela put Dominguez away quickly and decisively this time out. Not unlike most expected with two Extreme Heavyweight bangers, these two came to the center of the cage, guns a-blazing. Cisco, as it turned out, had the heavier firepower Saturday. And rightfully so—he didn’t earn that belt on accident.

The bombing run of both fighters lasted only 15 seconds. The whirlwind of punches commenced, and ended with Dominguez slumped up against the cage and Cisco with is hand raised a few moments later. When the big guys got to throwing hands, it is inexplicable how loud and intense that crowd was.

Cisco went on to relinquish his title and vow to drop down in weight and seek more competitive challenges moving forward. Only the truest of fighters will make such a sacrifice to make themselves better.

At the last XCFC event, Gabe Garcia stepped up to the plate and called out a man they call Zeus. Zeus, or Jesus Padron, holds both the light heavyweight and heavyweight titles for Dunagan. And Garcia wanted one of them, and made his intentions clear—he wanted to fight the best Dunagan had, and Zeus was it.

Garcia got his chance to hold his own with Padron when they squared off for Zeus’s heavyweight strap. It took Padron one minute and 21 seconds to show Garcia how he not only held two belts in the XCFC, but how he had done so without ever going farther than the second round.

Garcia looked sharp on his feet, but Padron quickly took the fight down, gained the mount, pressed Garcia up against the cage and sunk in a vicious key lock to end the fight in short decisive fashion. Just another day at the office for Padron, who remains undefeated as an amateur.

Someone better pick this guy up soon. He is going to make waves in this sport; it’s just a matter of where once he turns pro.

All in all, every fight had moments worth mentioning, but the downfall of 14 amazing fights is a writer has to set up triage and discuss the ones that had the biggest feel to them. Suffice to say, one freelance journalist will be counting the days to the next XCFC event.

Thanks to Shane, his family, his crew, and all the fighters that made this such a memorable night of MMA. You all deserve a lot more credit than you get for what you do.

24/7 is an award-winning series that chronicles two fighters as they each prepare for their superfight. The series began in 2007 prior to the bout between Oscar De La Hoya and Floyd Mayweather Jr.

24/7 Mayweather/Mosley will begin on April 10 at 10pm ET. The second episode of the four-part series will air April 17 while the third episode is scheduled to begin on April 24. The last episode will air on April 30, the eve of fight night.

Trinidad alleges that he and another Filipino journalist were directly told by Swanson that the Philippine media was essentially banned from accessing Mayweather Jr at the press conference.

Of course, some dim-witted bomb throwers were bound to latch on to the issue and milk it for some cheap publicity. At the expense of any sense of fair play or journalistic ethics, a Pacquiao fan boy at The Examiner immediately pounded fingers on keyboard and produced a poorly thought-out, incendiary article aimed at taking dig number one million at Floyd Mayweather Jr.

Knowing the writer in question’s work (a writer who once threatened to stab me in a Twitter disagreement), I’m sure the article was only designed to bring traffic his way and ingratiate himself to a Pacquiao inner circle that he so desperately wants to be part of. However, if you have any sort of journalistic integrity, you simply can’t just blindly lob accusations of racism without being willing to hear both sides of the issue.

Kelly Swanson, speaking to Paula Duffy (also of The Examiner), has denied the accusations of racial bias and said that her denial of access to Trinidad had to do with the fact that Trinidad and the other reporter arrived late to the press conference and had informed her that they wanted to speak to Mayweather about Manny Pacquiao and the drug testing issue, two topics that were off limits for all media.

From the Paula Duffy article:

Swanson remembers the two journalists and she said that, “They arrived after other TV crews were gone. I told them that Floyd was not going to answer questions related to Manny Pacquiao and drug testing.” According to Ms. Swanson, that is what the media members were interested to discuss with her client.

She continued, “I at no time refused them the opportunity to speak with Floyd Mayweather. They were welcome to go down to where he was with the fans and wait to see if he would give them an interview. But he would have told them what he has told many other media members this week about keeping to the topic at hand.”

Even if Mayweather had chosen to exclude Trinidad, exclusively, he very well may have had reason to do so.

Chino Trinidad has been a long time Mayweather critic and a hanger-on in the ever-growing Pacquiao cadre of star-struck journalists and “yes men” looking to social climb their ways into Manny’s good graces.

This is what Trinidad had to say about Mayweather in a recent video interview:

“That guy punches like a Power Puff girl…. (Floyd) You’re dead…Who’s running scared? Floyd is…Floyd Mayweather is in the trash can.”

So, you reap what you sew in this business. I know that, after being critical of Pacquiao over recent months, I’d never get access to a no-limits interview with Manny. Trinidad should also understand that nobody has to talk to you if they feel that you’re just there to ambush them.

If the Mayweather camp did single out a certain racial group for exclusion, it’s simply horrible and worthy of condemnation. But it’s hard to believe that Swanson, an experienced publicist, would be so blatant with something as incendiary as what is being claimed.

It’s even harder to believe the characters making these claims.

The first rule of journalism is to never fall in love with those you seek to cover…The second rule is to get your facts straight before jealously lashing out at your man crush’s enemies…

Slice (4-1), fresh off his three round unanimous decision victory over Houston Alexander at the TUF10 finale last December, will be in with a familiar foe on May 8th, as he takes on his Ultimate Fighter castmate, Matt Mitrione in a heavyweight bout made official today.

Mitrione (1-0), an NFL veteran, made his proper mixed martial arts debut on the TUF10 finale card and showed impressive poise and power as he knocked out Marcus Jones in the second round, and he hopes to make another statement when he squares off with Kimbo this spring.

Tickets for UFC 113 are on sale now and are priced at $600, $400, $250, $150, $100 and $50. Tickets are available at the Bell Centre box office, by phone at (514) 790-2525 / 1-877-668-8269 or at www.geg.ca.

UFC 113 will be available live on pay-per-view on iN DEMAND, DIRECTV, DISH Network, TVN, Bell ExpressVu, Shaw Communications and Viewer’s Choice Canada for a suggested retail price of $44.95 for standard definition or high-definition broadcasts (where available).