Brett Okamoto

  (1:02 PM)

So about 15 minutes ago I went to make my usual Wednesday chat coffee and realized I bought the whole bean coffee instead of the already ground stuff. I have no grinder. So, if I seem a little depressed early on in this thing, you know why. What are we talking about today? In addition to MMA stuff, I was at Pacquiao/Bradley in Las Vegas on Saturday, scored it 116-112 for Bradley live. So, if you want to vent on boxing a bit, I'll hear you.

JP (London)

Do you buy this business of Rua preferring to be cut than fight Teixeira? I just can't see it. 1) Rua is hard as nails and 2) he's just fought Jones and Henderson... If that really is his stance, it surely can't be because he's scared...

Brett Okamoto

  (1:05 PM)

I don't believe it entirely, no. I think Dana White tried to do some posturing in the media to force Rua to accept the fight. He continued to resist and obviously that didn't sit well overall with the boss. My guess is the truth is somewhere in the middle, Rua wasn't interested in the matchup and can honestly blame him? Nobody really knows who Teixeira is, so it's a big-risk situation. In the end, he gets Brandon Vera in the headliner of a Fox card ... that's a great outcome for him. He played it smart if you ask me.

Nate (Woburn, MA)

Ninja, as a fan of both MMA and boxing, does not what happened in Vegas last weekend lend more validity to UFC and all MMA sports as a whole?

Brett Okamoto

  (1:06 PM)

I don't really see it like that. If it ends up pushing a few people to MMA because they're sick of certain aspects of boxing, that's one possible outcome but I don't think it has this effect of, "Oh, see MMA doesn't have this problem." MMA has problems of its own. The fact there was a bad decision in boxing doesn't mean MMA is the better sport now.

moe london [via mobile]

Do u think a ufc ppv would be fought in the uk?

Brett Okamoto

  (1:07 PM)

They have gotten into the habit of doing non-PPV cards over there. That might be pretty much the norm until you have a UK fighter win a title. Then you set up the first title defense over there and that's a PPV.

Kraw (Work)

Motooo!!! Do you hate on Lebron as much as everyone else outside of Miami does?

Brett Okamoto

  (1:08 PM)

I'm not a hater, but watching the games I don't really like Lebron and I don't really like Westbrook. So, they cancel each other out. I guess I'd like to see the Thunder win overall.

marc (work)

out of curiosity what rounds did you score for Bradley

Brett Okamoto

  (1:09 PM)

I'd have to go back and make sure, but I think I gave him the 1st, 3rd, 6th and 12th? ... Not positive, but think those were the ones.

Erich (Colombo, Sri Lanka)

How do you think so many reputable MMA news sources could botch the Bibiano Fernandes story? Was it a case of the UFC announcing his fight with only a verbal agreement in place?

Brett Okamoto

  (1:10 PM)

The UFC has gotten into a pattern of announcing its own fights. You can't take everything the UFC says at face value but in that situation, what motive would they really have to announce a fight and an opponent for a guy who hadn't signed. That was a weird situation, I'm not sure what happened.

Bryan (LA)

Hey Brett, I was wondering who you'd give Eddie Alvarez if he came over to the UFC right now?

Brett Okamoto

  (1:11 PM)

Would think plenty of lightweights would want the first crack at him, that's an elevating type of fight. Donald Cerrone is never a bad option. Always produces good fights, he's earned it with all the wins he's stacked up. If Alvarez switched today, I'd go Cerrone.

Jay (LA)

With regards to JP's post about Rua, is this Vera's last stand?

Brett Okamoto

  (1:12 PM)

You would think so, wouldn't you? But then, you wouldn't have thought they'd let him headline a Fox card either.

David (Spartanburg SC)

Do you think the time has come for the UFC to allow interviews of Joe Silva and Shelby? I just watched the UFC 150 Press Conference and Dana has so much on his plate he can talk some big picture stuff, but who is fighting who etc... he just can't remember it all.

Brett Okamoto

  (1:14 PM)

I mean, as a reporter I would love it. Those guys do basically give "interviews" though, it's just always off record. The biggest plus if they did start giving them wouldn't be quicker fight announcements, it would be hearing their opinions on guys inside and out of the promotion.

Frank (Chi)

So your saying you had Bradley as the winner?

Brett Okamoto

  (1:15 PM)

Dang it. My bad. I had it 116-112 for PACQUIAO. See? No coffee and this is what happens.

Matty-Ice (Detroit)

It's crazy to me that a top 5 light heavyweight wants nothing to do with Teixeira. Does he have the potential to be that good?

Brett Okamoto

  (1:17 PM)

The guy is pretty beastly. I think Shogun still probably beats him, but again I can see why he wouldn't want the fight. I don't think ESPN.com has Glover ranked in the Top 10, just because he hasn't fought the competition yet. So, it's a risky fight for whoever takes it. Shogun doesn't want to be that "veteran, former champ" the UFC uses to build Glover.

Kraw (Work)

Moto 0 I'm going to Wrigley Field on Friday... whats one thing I should make sure to eat/do while I'm there?

Brett Okamoto

  (1:17 PM)

Don't know. Never been.

icantdelete (cincinnati)

I know ur asked this often but why dont they have more mma on streak for cash? Why dont u do more program give aways from events u attend?

Brett Okamoto

  (1:18 PM)

I can start doing the program giveaways if you really want me to. I had a stack of like 50 of them in my old house but threw them out when I moved. I did it for awhile but honestly, it's expensive sending that stuff around the country! But I'll bring it back if the interest is there.

nathan (south carolina)

is eric koch staying on the calgary card now that aldo is out? maybe fight korean zombie???

Brett Okamoto

  (1:19 PM)

Koch is waiting on the Aldo fight. Apparently, the injury isn't supposed to keep him out long.

Erich (Colombo, Sri Lanka)

Paul Daley was recently released from his Strikeforce contract. I have this funny feeling he's going to be signed back to the UFC to fight on their Nottingham show. What do you think?

Brett Okamoto

  (1:21 PM)

Marshall Zelaznik, a director of business for the UFC overseas, told ESPN he didn't think Daley would be brought back. I would say it wouldn't surprise me, but the fact is Daley hasn't won many big fights lately. If he had been more successful these past two years, I think he'd be back.

Jeff (Salt Lake City)

What's your opinion on the Pac/Bradley dicision? Judges seeing something no one else saw. Make up call for a horrible Pac decision win in his last fight or is there something fishy going on here??

Brett Okamoto

  (1:23 PM)

Just a horrible decision. I don't believe in any kind of "fix." The fight was closer than a lot of people are making it out to sound. I know more about MMA than boxing but I still consider myself fairly educated on the sport, I didn't think Pacquiao blew him out. So don't listen to these people saying it was like a clean sweep for Pacquiao. There were a lot of close rounds, at the end of the day though I can't see how they gave Bradley seven of them.

@Pappafeez (Dallas)

How do you see the Bully vs the Carpenter going down next week?

Brett Okamoto

  (1:25 PM)

What kind of Maynard are we getting? This guy has the tendency to change things up in between fights more than a lot of other fighters. He used to be basically a pure wrestler, then he turned into a pure boxer, then he did some kickboxing techniques in that trilogy fight against Frankie. I'll be very interested to see how he looks. I think Guida gets overlooked and he could definitely pull off the upset, especially since Maynard has showed he'll gas in a five round fight, but the favorite is rightfully Maynard. I think he'll pull it out.

Nate (Woburn, MA)

Matt Brown loses next weekend, he get cut?

Brett Okamoto

  (1:26 PM)

No way. He's won his last two, the last one over a pretty hyped guy in Stephen Thompson and he's taking this fight on short notice on the FX card.

Ken (ca.)

Why don't we hear/talk more about Alan Belcher? Seems like he should be in the talk about top/title fights.....

Brett Okamoto

  (1:28 PM)

He's getting there. I think part of it is that we've actually got some new fresh guys at 185 where there really haven't been before. Munoz, Lombard, Weidman, Bisping is up there ... Belcher is still behind all those guys. Few years ago it was like, Marquardt, Maia, Henderson and that was it.

Kraw (Work)

what up Moto? Where is Gray Maynard training these days? He left Xtreme Couture right?

Brett Okamoto

  (1:29 PM)

He's working at AKA, although Javier Mendez told me he's not really an "AKA guy." He's kind of drifting around from what I've heard. Did some physical training with Marinovich over there in California, tough physical work. Not associated with Xtreme Couture at all anymore.

Sam (VA)

Were people in the arena upset that Pacman was making everyone wait?

Brett Okamoto

  (1:30 PM)

No, they were dancing to rave music, drowning in strobe lights, trying to get on the fan cam. It was very weird. MGM turned into a nightclub for like a half hour.

John (St. Petersburg)

The UFC knows they are going to do dismal ppv numbers with all of the upcoming PPVs, outside of Silva Sonnen II, right?

Brett Okamoto

  (1:31 PM)

They always have estimates. Gotta believe expectations are low for 147 ...

Jerry (Texas)

In the opening statement, you said you scored it 116-112 for Bradley, but in another question, you said Bradley only won 4 rounds, should he have won 8? Im confused?

Brett Okamoto

  (1:31 PM)

I know, my fault. Bradley won four rounds, lost the fight 116-112. I mistyped.

Billy Cheapshot (Jersey City)

With the rash of injuries that has altered the UFC Summer plans, do you believe Dana White and Co will do more Fight cards with 2 or 3 fights in same weight class on same card so if injury occurs in Title fight can plug in new Contender, just as Mir did against Dos Santos?

Brett Okamoto

  (1:33 PM)

No, I don't think that's the answer. They can always pull someone off a card that's the next week or the next month or whatever. Trying to line up these cards with 4 to 6 similarly ranked guys in the same weight class would be difficult.

Jay (LA)

How do you see the title eliminator between Kampmann and Hendricks going down? (No comeback predictions ;D)

Brett Okamoto

  (1:34 PM)

Like I saw the Ellenberger/Kampmann fight going ... The power of Hendricks will clip Kampmann at some point because he gets hit often. That's just how he is. Then Kampmann will go down and try and utilize his grappling but the strong top game of Hendricks will nullify subs and he'll get a TKO win. That's exactly how I thought the Ellenberger fight would play out but Kampmann rallied.

Rafe (TX)

Who do you think Glover fights next?

Brett Okamoto

  (1:36 PM)

It's a good question, who's not booked? It's obvious they want to give him a big name and it doesn't matter if that big name is coming off a loss. So, would Rashad Evans make sense? Thiago Silva, when he gets healthy?

Ed (Work)

Alright Moto - Josh Neer just walked into one. You saved yourself a guest appearance from me on Red Ink. We all deserve second chances no? We'll pick main card for Revel? I'll be there. Will you?

Brett Okamoto

  (1:37 PM)

I don't know Ed. I'll have to think about it. I've never been a huge fan of immediate rematches ...

Jeff (OH)

I thought Pac-Bradley was a classic case of, "what impresses you?" - Bradley was landing shots, albeit it a terrible percentage rate - but PacMan was walking right through them. It was evident that Bradley was not a threat, so it was really tough for me to give him ANY rounds, even though I gave him one. If you can't hurt your opponent, you're gonna have to really blow me away to win rounds. But that's just me, and evidently, those Nevada judges are impressed by effort and work rate.

Brett Okamoto

  (1:38 PM)

Yeah, I will say that it was a potentially difficult fight to score especially certain rounds, because Bradley was was more active late. But Pacquiao blocked a lot of his combinations from what I saw ringside and when Pacquiao landed, the shots were so much harder and Bradley had a visible response to them (staggered, head snaps back, etc).

Adam (NYC)

Hey Brett, it's hard not to get frustrated with these injuries as a paying consumer. I purchased nice tickets to UFC 148, which had a stacked card and now the card is ehh. This may come back to haunt UFC in the future. Thoughts?

Brett Okamoto

  (1:40 PM)

Yeah, but what do you want them to do? Remember, it costs the UFC tons of money when this stuff happens. Trust me, they want to fix the problem. Every time a main event is lost, posters get thrown out, videos, the labor it took to make those things gets thrown out, programs are redesigned. It sucks for everyone. Unfortunately part of the game though.

Ken (ca.)

Are you taking Faber over Barao ?

Brett Okamoto

  (1:40 PM)

I am. If Faber's head is right, because this is a letdown spot, he'll win.

What Remains of Dan Hardy's Mohawk (Dan Hardy's Head)

Do you think it's a case of the judges rewarding activity over accomplishment? Bradley threw a ton but Pacquiao just shrugged him off like it ain't no thang

Brett Okamoto

  (1:42 PM)

Yeah, I think if Pacquiao had remained more active in the later rounds we're probably not having this conversation. Pacquiao was in cruise control late, the judges were bad, here we are.

Rick (Kansas)

Are you on the side of Bisping and Stann that Lombard shouldn't even be mentioned in the next title shot? Lombard's response is he'd gladly take them on beforehand.

Brett Okamoto

  (1:43 PM)

Yeah, I agree with Bisping and Stann and Mark Munoz said the same thing. Not that I don't like Hombard or don't think he's a good fighter, but I've got guys ahead of him. I think if he gets the shot, UFC is playing off the "mystery" of a new guy who came in outside the promotion, which is fine but not all that fair to the guys already there.

Ted (Austin)

Does Glover leap frog Gustafson if he wins in dominate fashion again?

Brett Okamoto

  (1:44 PM)

Good question. Gustafsson was kind of the new thing at 205 until this Glover character arrived. Both of them still need wins though to earn a shot I would think. The casual fan doesn't know either yet.

Michael (Philly)

I love Guida with the big dog price he is getting against Maynard. Am I crazy?

Brett Okamoto

  (1:45 PM)

Not at all. I think the line is insane. What is it, like Maynard -300? Guida moves, can wrestle, sets a high pace ... all good assets to have against Maynard.

Brett Okamoto

  (1:46 PM)

And, we're not even exactly sure what to think of Maynard's mindset. He just switched camps, everyone likes to think that's automatically a positive thing, that's a tough transition for a lot of guys.

David (Spartanburg SC)

Joe B vs. Mighty Mouse is probably a FOX level main event, agree?

Brett Okamoto

  (1:47 PM)

Yeah you would think so ... but I have a gut feeling it ends up co-main on a big PPV.

rick,tx [via mobile]

wbo reviewing outcome of bradley fight what u think happens besides rematch

Brett Okamoto

  (1:48 PM)

Nothing. It's not like Bradley will get stripped of the belt of anything. Maybe I'm wrong and the conspiracy theorists are right ... but I highly doubt it. There was no foul play, there was just a night of very bad judging.

Kevin (Alhambra, CA)

Pretty bummed about what's going on with the UFC 148 undercard since I bought tickets. Any news on replacements fights like a new co-main event?

Brett Okamoto

  (1:49 PM)

No word yet on what they plan to do. You still get to see Silva/Sonnen II which is worth the price in admission alone if you ask me. This is going to draw possibly the biggest PPV numbers ever for a UFC event. There's the Fan Expo. You'll be in Vegas. It'll be a good weekend.

mike (north dakota) [via mobile]

MMA death recently in South Dakota, does New York look at something like this as a reason to not sanction the sport?

Brett Okamoto

  (1:50 PM)

Potentially it's something they can bring up, but I actually do believe what's going on in New York has more to do with politics than it does with the sport of MMA.

Travis (Dallas)

If Joe B wins that belt do you put him top 10 P4P?

Brett Okamoto

  (1:51 PM)

I've already got Joe B in my top 10 pound-for-pound. Guy was fighting up a weight class his entire career and got to the belt. Gave Dominick Cruz one of his toughest fights back the first time they fought in the WEC. I think I've even got him as high as No. 8 or 9 last time I submitted them.

JP (Columbus, OH)

At first I thought it would be good if the judges came out and faced the music - then I changed my mind when the one judge came out and said Bradley taught boxing class on Saturday night. Judges need to stay quiet, LOL.

Brett Okamoto

  (1:52 PM)

Yeah, that comment was a joke. That guy probably got caught up in the moment, knew potentially millions of people were going to read this comment, and said something just strange. In reality, if that is what you seriously thought, that Bradley gave him a "boxing lesson," we're in worse shape than I thought.

David (Spartanburg SC)

Am I nuts in thinking we have another Edson Barboza with Erik Silva. Chocking out Brennaman and stopping his wrestling was great, but does not a Anderson Silva make. I want to see him a little more. Everyone throwing out different names. WHo do you want him to fight next?

Brett Okamoto

  (1:54 PM)

I'm higher on Silva than Barboza. Barboza was fighting some better talent, Njokuani is underrated, Pearson is underrated, but overall, I saw him getting hit a lot and nobody ever wanted to talk about it. Silva is more athletic than Barboza. I really do think he's the full package. I'd like to see him fight Diego Sanchez, just because I'd love to see the action that unfolds and we'd see how Silva handles it when a guy doesn't just collapse against him. Thiago Alves would be another solid option.

David (Spartanburg SC)

What will be the first step to creating a true MMA Hall of Fame? The creation of MMA media association or something else. UFC Hall of fame is nice, but its like employee of the Month at Wall-Mart not exactly a true Sports Hall of Fame.

Brett Okamoto

  (1:55 PM)

Yeah, it would take creating an MMA writers association like you said. There have been talks about forming one amongst media members but it's actually cooled off in the last year.

RYAN (IOWA)

AFTER THE CAIN AND JDS REMATCH AND IF JDS WINS, WHO DO YOU SEE HIS NEXT OPPONENT? WOULD THE REEM BE ABLE TO COME BACK AT THAT POINT?

Brett Okamoto

  (1:56 PM)

The Reem would be able to come back, yes. He's just suspended, it's not like he's been cut. He'll be back early 2013 and more than likely he'll fight for the title in his first fight back.

Kevin (LA)

Brett - can you remember a worse run of injuries? At this point I'm afraid I will break a hand watching the UFC.

Brett Okamoto

  (1:57 PM)

No. The last time it seemed like we were talking about injuries so much was around the UFC 108 card. I can't remember all of them off the top of my head, but I just remember that being the storyline around that card, that the UFC was just plagued with them.

David (Spartanburg SC)

Who are your buds on press row at MMA events?

Brett Okamoto

  (1:57 PM)

I have many. Pretty popular.

Tom (VA)

Are you picking Floyd up when he gets out?

Brett Okamoto

  (1:58 PM)

Haha, I'm available if he needs a ride. When will that be? Technically, he may get out sooner than later if the judge grants house arrest tomorrow.

Travis (Dallas)

When asked about Alistair, Dana said "that's Lorenzo's deal". What does that mean?

Brett Okamoto

  (1:59 PM)

It means Dana nearly popped a blood vessel when he found out Alistair tested positive and doesn't want to talk to the guy anymore. Lorenzo is the level-headed ying, to Dana's yang and he'll deal with him.

Matt (NYC)

I'm not a huge fan of WMMA but why did the UFC add Flyweights but won't add women? Neither have many big names.

Brett Okamoto

  (2:00 PM)

There are still more high level flyweights than women fighters and there's the potential of signing more flyweights than women fighters. The woman's division is not ready at all. Not saying it can't build up eventually, but it is nowhere close to being able to sustain a division in the UFC.

Jeff (Salt Lake City)

Is there a date for JDS/Cain yet? If not, any chance they're going to be the next TUF coaches? Wouldn't that set up for a NYE card for the HW title?

Brett Okamoto

  (2:01 PM)

JDS was just a coach ... I doubt they go that route. No official date yet, but Cain's coach told me last week his hand is fine, he's in the gym, there shouldn't be a delay due to injury.

Brett Okamoto

  (2:03 PM)

Let's go ahead and wrap it there today guys. Light queue this week with no major cards coming up. We'll pick it up next Wednesday with two UFC cards in two days. Hit me on Twitter with anything I didn't get to @bokamotoESPN.