Tomas Rios. I was going to include a picture of him, but then I realized: there aren't any. Actually, I don't think anyone knows what he looks like. He doesn't go to events. He doesn't interview fighters. All we know is that he's a writer for the largest US website devoted to the sport of MMA, Sherdog. (Oh, and we know what his voice sounds like... Kind of really, really, gay.) Now Sherdog isn't a very popular website over at the Team Takeover forums. In fact, most of us despise the website and their writers.
But not me.
Because I actually do know a thing or two about Tomas Rios. I know Tomas Rios is a very intelligent man... A man who likes to earn an extra dollar via betting on his favourite sport of MMA. There's just one problem: Tomas Rios doesn't know anything about that sport. Sure he's a writer for Sherdog and ESPN, but he always picks the wrong fighters in his event preview articles. He almost without exception describes the way he thinks a fight will take place in exactly the opposite way that it actually does take place. He does so the annoyance of many fighters, including Sean McCorkle and Rich Attonito. Tomas Rios even went so far as to thrash-talk Sean McCorkle AFTER the fight took place. So why the hell do I think Tomas Rios is an intelligent and nice fellow?
Quite simple: he does this on purpose. The thrash-talking of fighters is just to get attention. We know how much they increase PPV sales, so it's not entirely silly to assume they also increase his page views. All for one purpose: he's trying to deceive the casual, not so knowledgeable fan. Not everyone makes bets on MMA, but plenty of people do. Plenty of casuals, as well. And that's where his "atrocious" event picks come in. Let's just take a look at the last 5 events.
Rich Franklin ✓
Pat Barry ✗
Rory MacDonald ✗
Paulo Thiago ✗
Ben Rothwell ✓
Brock Lesnar ✓
Yoshihiro Akiyama ✗
Chris Lytle ✓
Krzysztof Soszynski ✗
George Sotiropoulos ✓
Anderson Silva ✓
Thiago Alves ✗
Rafael dos Anjos ✗
Ricardo Almeida ✗
Junior dos Santos ✓
BJ Penn ✗
Randy Couture ✓
Demian Maia ✓
Kenny Florian ✗
Nate Diaz ✓
Mirko Filipović ✗
Ryan Bader ✓
Matt Serra ✗
Evan Dunham ✗
Jeremy Stephens ✗
Matt Serra ✗
Evan Dunham ✗
Jeremy Stephens ✗
His picks clearly are terrible for a paid MMA writer. Just 11 out of 25, and that's only predicting who won the fight. Any long time fan not named Tomas Rios would do better. However, that isn't conclusive evidence...
...but what if I had bet 10 currency on the fighter Tomas Rios didn't pick?
UFC 115 +23,00
UFC 116 +07,50
UFC 117 +15,50
UFC 118 +11,00
UFC 119 +33,78
TOTAL +90,78
I think you can figure out what to do at the next MMA event on your own. Respect the reverse oracle, enjoy earning easy money!
...but what if I had bet 10 currency on the fighter Tomas Rios didn't pick?
UFC 115 +23,00
UFC 116 +07,50
UFC 117 +15,50
UFC 118 +11,00
UFC 119 +33,78
TOTAL +90,78
I think you can figure out what to do at the next MMA event on your own. Respect the reverse oracle, enjoy earning easy money!
The stupid people we all hear about are some of the smartest people alive... What a world we live in. Interesting choice of topic mate, but a pleasant one none the less!
ReplyDeleteIt would seem I'm your first and only follower :) I'll see if I can fix that for you.
-JKane
Thanks a lot Kane, I saw you put it on your own blog. The more followers the better... And also for their good, if they want to make some money off Tomas Rios' genius!
ReplyDeleteAll your articles are very well written and informative. I think I might have to take a look at the Team Takeover forums as well. Do you train?
ReplyDeleteI'm not a betting man, but that's certainly a clever strategy. I do love watching MMA fights, at any rate. Following and supporting, comrade!
ReplyDeleteTrash talking is part of the game! Business as usual, as you are already aware (and posting.)
ReplyDeleteIs it still PPV if you download it shortly after it airs? :)
Hey Ceedo, yes I do train. I've been doing Judo since childhood and I've recently taken up Kickboxing as well. It's been on and off though, haven't had much time to train recently... Hope that'll change.
ReplyDeleteI just love UFC when it first started i said finally some real fighting not faking.
ReplyDelete... you might be onto something o.o
ReplyDeletelove real fighting
ReplyDeletenone of the fake stuff
mma is so sick dude... cant stand wwe or lucha libre crap... but real fighitng, man it's the best
ReplyDeletesome interesting points about Tomas Rios. I never really considered that angle
ReplyDeletelol wwe. Those can't even compare to mma
ReplyDeletebahaha love the gifs
ReplyDeleteGreat gifs, lulz!
ReplyDeleteRios is an embarrassment to our beloved sport, as are the rest of his clown accomplices at sherdog.com
ReplyDeleteGood blog Demon.... TT 4 lyf, homeboy
Fletch
Team Takeover