In its latest installment, UFC 169 will take place in Newark, New Jersey with two titles on the line. Alex Okafor Cardinals Jersey . This is a shot at redemption for Urijah Faber, his chance to win a title fight. Its also a massive proving ground for Jose Aldo, not that he needs it. If Aldo can pick up the victory, he will be at nearly a decade without defeat. He isnt even 27; his talent will only increase over the next few years. There is also a bout in the heavyweight division with Alistair Overeem facing Frank Mir. On paper it sounds like a great matchup but will need a dramatic ending or tense action packed rounds in order for people to be talking about it the next day. Here are the UFC 169 picks from the team at TSN 1290s the “Weigh In”. Jordan Cieciwa, Big Marv and Toby… thats right, just Toby. Catch us on air every Saturday at 11:30am ct/12:30pm et. Renan Barao (31-1-0) vs. Urijah Faber (30-6-0) Jordan Cieciwa Who doesnt love a big title fight? Well if you are Uriah Faber, history says you actually may not. His only losses came at the hands of champions. There are few people in the game as talented as him, especially when it comes to wrestling and the use of unorthodox strikes. Hes shown unbelievable skill with elbows off the cage and spinning back fists. His ability to target is second to none. Thats only gotten better with the addition of Duane ‘Bang Ludwig. Across the cage from him is the very dangerous Renan Barao. Barao came out of obscurity to start dismantling his competition in both the WEC and UFC. He is on nearly a decade long win streak. Ask anyone, except Eddie Wineland, and theyll say he is a submission specialist. He beat Wineland very quickly and with an amazing back kick to start the process. His talent is unquestioned now, and his ability to push the pace will make him hard to beat. So much so that I dont think “The California Kid” can do it. Barao via fourth round submission Big Marv You could make the argument that Urijah Faber was the fighter of the year in 2013. He went 4-0 last year, with only one of his fights going the distance. Even that fight, against Yuri Alcantara, was a dominant decision for Faber. In fact the last time Faber lost was to Renan Barao in 2012. Since then, the California Kid has been more determined than ever. With an incredible improvement in striking thanks to Alpha Males new coach Duane “Bang” Ludwig. However, lets not sleep on the champ. Renan Barao took that interim title with his win over Faber and has staked his claimed as not only the 135lb king, but also in the top five pound-for-pound fighters in the world. It is so hard to pick a winner here. Will Faber choke again in a championship fight situation? I say not this time. Urijah Faber via unanimous decision Toby This one should be an amazing fight! Faber had an outstanding 2013 and will look to finally become a UFC Champion, all that stands in his way is Renan Barao, who has the longest current unbeaten streak in active MMA today (33). This has fight of the night potential and as much as Id like to see “The California Kid” becoming the UFC champ I believe Renan Barao will have his hand raised in this one. Renan Barao via decision Jose Aldo (23-1-0) vs. Ricardo Lamas (13-2-0) JC What were you doing when you were 18? If you were an 18-year-old Jose Aldo, you were suffering your last MMA loss. At 27, Aldo has been on a nearly nine-year win streak. Most of those wins are while holding the UFC featherweight title. He is perhaps one of the sharpest fighters in the game. Fortunately, he isnt talked about all that often because it seems to have kept him hungry. Aldo will probably keep this fight standing and use some amazing leg kicks to slow his opponent down. Though let it be known that Ricardo Lamas is no slouch either. Lamas is on a four-fight win streak of his own and looked great stopping Cub Swanson with a triangle choke and Erik Koch with elbows. The good news for fans, both these athletes stop fights including Aldo who has a 30% decision rate. That to me is fantastic. I think that, in combination with his skill level, will have this fight ending sometime in the fourth round. We will be treated to a lot of leg kicks and some great movement and skill on display. Jose Aldo via fourth round TKO Toby After watching Jose Aldo fight for the past couple of years Ive learned two things, he is without a doubt one of the best pound for pound fighters in MMA and its hard to bet against him. Ricardo Lamas is a real threat but I see Aldo getting his hand raised and us fans being one step closer to an Aldo vs. Pettis super fight. Jose Aldo via TKO BM Jose Aldo is one of those champions that just seems infallible. His striking is fast and vicious, his ground and pound is relentless, he has slick jiu jitsu and is almost impossible to take down. All of that adds up to him being one of the best in the world pound-for-pound. However, his opponent Ricardo Lamas has this crazy habit of winning fights he shouldnt. Sorry Toby, weve got to put the Aldo vs. Pettis super fight on hold, Lamas is taking this one. Ricardo Lamas via TKO round 4. Frank Mir (16-8-0) vs. Alistair Overeem (36-13-0) JC This is one of those fights that really means very little in the heavyweight division, but will be interesting to watch. I have a very bad feeling it will end in the first round with a toe hold, but who knows, Mir might try to show off his “highly average” boxing skills. Lets face it, Alistair Overeem comes into this fight with a bad rap for using drugs (very deserved), and being a one sided fighter. Overeem has no business being in the cage with a jujitsu whiz like Frank Mir. Mir is also not afraid to end a fight with an “uncool” submission. He grabbed Brock Lesnars toe and threatened to break it. The loser of this fight probably wont have much longer in the UFC, and I dont know that its a bad thing. The winner probably wont ever contend for a title, but at least they dont have to retire or go find work somewhere else. Its a simple case of a very impressive K-1 specialist in Overeem, meeting up with a jujitsu guy that will take the submission anyway he can. I expect that Mir will find and exploit the very large weakness that is Overeems ground game. Mir via second round submission. BM Both these guys are desperate for a win. With Overeem, he beat up Bigfoot for two rounds before his ****iness got the best of him. Against Travis Browne, he almost finished him, but Brown proved too tough and Overeem got caught. In Frank Mirs last fight, he was slow and Barnet destroyed him quickly. Against Cormier, he was slow and lost by decision. The difference between the two, Overeem still has it, while it looks like Mir does not. Plus, Mir wont be able to weather the early storm like Silva or Browne. Its going to be an early night for both men. Alistair Overeem via KO round 1 Toby This is a possible “Loser leaves town” fight, with both fighters coming off consecutive losses Mir (3) Overeem (2). Overeem has lost some weight which will help his cardio, I love watching both of these guys fight but in this case I believe Overeems stand-up will be the difference on Saturday. Alistair Overeem via TKO John Brown Cardinals Jersey . The Maple Leafs are three points behind Columbus for the last playoff spot in the East with only three games left on their schedule. You can listen to the game live on TSN 1050 starting at 7:30pm et/4:30 pm pt. Jared Veldheer Cardinals Jersey . A few changes have been made this year, as RDS will no longer be producing it. Instead, the Canadiens have hired their own team of creative masterminds to produce the reality series.First, it was Gary Leeman and friends who filed a concussion class action lawsuit against the NHL. On Thursday, I broke the story that a second concussion lawsuit was filed against the NHL. A copy of the lawsuit can be found here. There are nine plaintiffs in this latest lawsuit against the league: Dan LaCouture, Dan Keczmer, Jack Carlson, Richard Brennan, Brad Maxwell, Michael Peluso, Tom Younghans, Allan Rourke and Scott Bailey. These are not household or brand names, and for casual fans, the only recognizable names may be Peluso, and to a lesser extent, LaCouture. The lawsuit alleges fraudulent concealment. In particular, the players complain that the league knew of the long-term neurological impact of repeated headshots and elected not to share that information with the players. By not revealing that information, players did not have an opportunity to make an informed decision about playing in the NHL. As was the case with the over 200 NFL concussion lawsuits filed, concealment is a critical component of this lawsuit. The players are also alleging that the NHL was negligent in the way it handled the welfare of players. The lawsuit states that the NHL fostered and promoted a culture of violence with a view to generating revenue. In doing so, the league failed to institute reasonable safeguards and protocols to protect its players from head trauma. By failing to protect the players from the risks and consequences of headshots, the league failed to discharge a legal duty owed to its players. Like concussion lawsuits generally, this one faces challenges. The first is causation. In order to get paid, the plaintiffs are going to have to show that the brain damage they suffered was caused at the NHL level. On the flip side, the NHL will point out that no one can say for sure what caused a players neurological condition, and even if it was caused by repeated headshots while playing hockey, how much of that damage was sustained while in the NHL and not in places like the AHL, CHL or Europe. So what caused the damage and when it was caused become critically important issues. Brennan played 50 NHL games, while Rourke and Bailey played 55 and 19 NHL games respectively. With so few NHL games played, its going to be tough for these plaintiffs to show that the NHL is responsible for their brain damage. As well, Peluso played 458 NHL games. He also played over 250 games outside the NHL during his professional career. Can you say definitively that the damage was sustained at the NHL level? Not easy. The league will also take the position that it didnt conceal any information. They will say that there wasnt any conclusive science at the time and they had the same information the players had. Basically, they wiill say we knew what you knew. Pat Tillman Womens Jersey. That being the case, the league will then maintain that the players were aware of the risk associated with playing hockey based on the science at that time, and agreed to those risks each time they stepped onto the ice. This legal principle is called informed consent. The NHL could also maintain that this lawsuit doesnt belong in court in the first place, but rather should go to arbitration. The collective bargaining agreement provides that issues of player health and safety go to arbitration and not court. On the flip side, the players would take the position that since this case involves fraud, it properly falls outside of arbitration and within the jurisdiction of the courts. So the bottom line is this: the players will need to provide good evidence showing that the league concealed the harmful impact of repeated headshots. If they dont have that evidence, they will have a very difficult time. On top of that, they will need to deal with the very tricky issue of causation. The way the lawsuit itself was drafted is a bit unusual. It provides that Gordie Howe is dead (hes not) and misspells Sidney Crosbys name (Sydney). It also makes reference to movies, including Gladiator, Youngblood and Friday the 13th. This is atypical. The lawsuit also relies on the concussion history of other players as support for the position that the game inflicts permanent neurological damage. In part, the lawyers point to players like Marc Savard, Nick Kypreos, Geoff Courtnall, Petr Svoboda, Keith Primeau, Pat LaFontaine, Tony Granato and Paul Kariya as having suffered long-term damage. However, this doesnt necessarily belong in this type of document. It looks more like evidence that needs to be presented at trial. So the lawsuit is perhaps atypical in the way it was drafted. From a legal standpoint, these inaccuracies may not ultimately hurt the merits of the lawsuit. These things can be corrected. However, it may undermine the credibility of the claims being made. As well, and perhaps more importantly, the whole idea with a class action lawsuit is to recruit other players. Its possible that other players may not feel entirely comfortable with this particular lawsuit given the oversights in the document. Still, there is time to right the ship and this lawsuit has some good lawyers associated with it. As far as next steps, the NHL will do what the NFL has done in the past: go to court and ask a judge to punt this lawsuit. Assuming the lawsuit is not dismissed, we are still years away from a resolution. One more thing: while this is the second NHL concussion lawsuit filed to date, it likely wont be the last. Expect to see more of them filed. cheap nfl jerseyscheap jerseys ' ' '