Posted on May 25th, 2008 by admin
UFC 84 was full of interesting match ups with the likes of BJ Penn, Tito Ortiz and Wanderlei Silva packing the main fight card.
While Tito Ortiz could not end is rocky UFC career with a victory, Silva and Penn solidified their futures with the UFC with dominating performances.
Ortiz lasted all 3 rounds, but was completely out ranked by undefeated Lyoto Machida. Which resulted in a lop sided 30-27 loss for the Huntington Beach Bad Boy. The loss further solidified Dana White's position that Ortiz is washed up and will not be returning to the UFC.
Silva completely out classed Keith Jardine in route to one of the quickest fights of the year. Silva finished off Jardine in 36 seconds of the first round in a demolishing vicotry.
In the nights Main Event BJ Penn controlled Sean Sherk for all 3 rounds of their scheduled 5 before earning a TKO victory. This was Sherks first fight since his steroid suspension from last year. Wether it was a little ring rust, or a lack of "juice", Penn showed that he is one of the top pound for pound fighters in the world by handing Sherk the loss.
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Filed under: UFC Events
Posted on May 7th, 2008 by sagescott
In 1997, New York state K.O.'d Ultimate Fighting, aka Mixed Martial Arts, officially outlawing cage fighting in the state. Currently, the UFC is trying to get NY to reverse that decision.
Pointing out that ultimate fighting is now a regulated sport and, as such, safe for the participants and legally sanctioned in 32 states, the UFC purports to be the country's fastest growing sport and considers New York a vital part of its future growth. Among the other 20, many don't have any laws on the books regarding MMA fighting and, as such, still permit UFC events to take place there. New York, though, is the biggest hold-out.
UFC President, Dana White is confident that the UFC will be in NY by next year. Joining him in his fight is, appropriately, record-breaking fighter Matt Serra, helping to put out the call for fans in NY to get in touch with their legislators and ask that MMA fighting be allowed in the state.
If the state legislature approves the request, fans could look forward to bouts taking over such prized NY venues as Times Union Center and Madison Square Garden.
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Filed under: General UFC
Posted on April 21st, 2008 by sagescott
In Montreal last Saturday night, April 19, 2008, was UFC 83, the biggest event in UFC history, and the fastest to sell out, with 21,000+ attendees cheering and jeering some of the greatest MMA fighters in UFC history.
The main event saw Canadian welterweight, 26-year-old Georges St. Pierre reclaiming his title from Matt Serra with a TKO in the second round. Serra had beaten St. Pierre out of the crown last year in Houston, Texas at UFC 69. Another second-round TKO came that night in the co-main event, when former middleweight champ Rick Franklin dominated jiu-jitsu black belt Travis Lutter.
In their highly anticipated grudge match, middleweight Jason MacDonald slaughtered fellow Canadian Joe Doerksen. Michael Bisping took down Charles McCarthy in their first round of battle. Welterweight Jonathan Goulet came back from some heavy pummeling in the first round to beat Kuniyoshi Hironaka in the second. And in his debut in the UFC, middleweight Jason Day notched a first-round TKO against Alan Belcher.
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Filed under: UFC Events
Posted on April 16th, 2008 by sagescott
Former heavyweight champ Tim Sylvia has officially left the UFC to begin fighting for Adrenaline MMA instead. One of the reason Sylvia cites for the move is that Adrenaline MMA, previously known as M-1 Global, permits its fighters to battle for other organizations. On March 28, he told HDNet’s “Inside MMA” that he would like to participate in the Affliction show and all the fights scheduled in Japan. He says he’d also love to battle Fedor Emelianenko.
Speaking of Fedor Emelianenko, the long sought after PRIDE heavyweight champ and free agent is still being courted by the UFC. No doubt, the UFC wants him bad; Emelianenko currently holds a 27-1 record with a pair of wins over Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, the current interim UFC heavyweight champ.
Sylvia isn’t the only fighter hungry to step into the Octagon with Emelianenko. Wearer of the current UFC heavyweight belt, Randy Couture, is in the thick of a legal battle primarily over his desire to battle Fedor himself.
Meanwhile, undefeated IFL Quad City Silverbacks champ Ben Rothwell was also signed to Adrenaline MMA at the same time as Sylvia. Both Sylvia and Rothwell will be training at Bettendorf, Iowa’s Miletich Fighting Systems.
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Filed under: General UFC, UFC Fighters
Posted on March 26th, 2008 by sagescott
As we eagerly await UFC 84: Ill Will in May, the fight card for UFC 86 is already filling up. The July 5 event, slated for the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas,will feature American Top Team fighters and UFC newcomers both.
Headlining the event will be two “The Ultimate Fighter 7” coaches battling each other for supremacy: light-heavyweight champ Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and “The Ultimate Fighter 1” winner Forrest Griffin.
Also on the UFC 86 fight card is a contentious match between middleweight contenders Ricardo Almeida, who recently returned from a 4-year layoff to notch 7 straight wins, and Patrick Cote, seeking his 4th straight UFC win and his 5th win overall.
Members of the American Top Team confirmed on the fight card include Cole Miller, Gleison Tibau, and Ben Saunders while welterweight Steve Bruno, currently in the midst of a 4-fight winning streak, will be making his debut appearance at the event. Their opponents all have yet to be announced.
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Filed under: General UFC, The Ultimate Fighter, UFC Events, UFC Fighters
Posted on March 25th, 2008 by sagescott
23-year-old lightweight Joe Lauzon (15-3) attributes much of his success to his “Ultimate Fighter 5” coach, MMA legend and current UFC lightweight champ, B.J. Penn. Though Lauzon lost TUF 5 in the semi-finals, under Penn’s tutelage at his Hilo, Hawaii camp, Lauzon managed to beat out Jason Reinhardt in November, 2007’s UFC 78 with a lightning-fast rear naked choke.
Now fans await Lauzon’s next big bout, Ultimate Fight Night 13 on Spike TV April 2, against Kenny Florian. Lauzon is confident in his ability to win in a mixed martial arts match against the more favored fighter, having admitted that Florian could possibly beat him were the fight to be strictly Jiu Jitsu or straight boxing. He also compliments Florian’s kicks and his potential to choke Lauzon in a GI.
Lauzon goes on to point out, however, that when you put it all together, Lauzon himself has the advantage, especially when you throw his wrestling skills into the mix.
If Lauzon – whose 2006 debut bout saw him knocking out Jens Pulver in less than a minute – can beat title-contender Florian, it would decisively place him in the top 5 UFC lightweights.
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Filed under: General UFC, UFC Events, UFC Fighters
Posted on March 17th, 2008 by sagescott
UFC 84: Ill Will, coming up on May 24th, will see three more light-heavyweight bouts on the fight card, namely:
- undefeated Thiago Silva vs. UFC newcomer Antonio Mendes in a totally Brazilian bout
- Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou vs. Kazuhiro Nakamura (both coming off brutal defeats in their respective UFC debut bouts by the same fighter, Brazil's Lyoto Machida)
- Wilson Gouveia going for his 5th win in a row vs. Goran Reljic in his UFC debut
Of course, the biggest excitement still promises to be the headlining battle between current champ B.J. Penn and former champ Sean Sherk.
Also eagerly anticipated, though, is Tito Ortiz's fight against the undefeated Lyoto Machida, as it marks the close of the Huntington Beach Bad Boy's contract and, quite possibly, his final UFC bout.
And FYI: the rumor that NFL Raven Ray Lewis will be joining the UFC is (so far) just that - a rumor, with all "reliable" sources reporting that no such move is planned.
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Filed under: General UFC, UFC Events, UFC Fighters
Posted on March 12th, 2008 by sagescott
Tommy Speer, former WEC fighter and runner-up for "The Ultimate Fighter" reality TV series, season 6, is slated to fight Anthony "Rumble" Johnson on April 2 as part of Spike TV's Ultimate Fight Night 13, taking place outside Denver, Colorado. This event will act as the lead-in for The Ultimate Fighter's upcoming season 7.
In The Ultimate Fighter 6, Speer beat Ben Saunders, George Sotiropolous, and Jon Kippenhaver before being submitted by Mac Danzig in the live finale.
This promises to be a vicious battle as, in his UFC debut in UFC Fight Night 10, the 23-year-old Rumble slaughtered Chad Reiner in just 13 seconds.
Speer's record is 9-2 in MMA and 0-1 in the UFC. Johnson's is 4-1 in MMA and 1-1 in the UFC.
Other fights slated for Ultimate Fight Night 13 are:
- Gray Maynard versus Frank Edgar
- Marcus Aurelio versus Spencer Figher
- Josh Neer versus Din Thomas
- Clay Guida versus Samy Schiavo
- Roman Mitichyan versus George Sotiropoulos
- Nate Diaz versus Kurt Pellegrino
- Karo Parisyan versus Thiago Alves
- Houston Alexander versus James Irvin
- Tim Boetsch versus Matt Hamill
- Joe Lauzon versus Kenny Florian
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Filed under: UFC Fighters
Posted on March 10th, 2008 by sagescott
Killer MMA light-heavyweight champ and now best-selling author for a second week straight (with his autobiography "Iceman: My Fighting Life", Chuck Liddell is ready to implement what he calls his "three-stage plan" for world domination - the world of the UFC, that is.
Stage one, which the Iceman is currently touring England promoting, is to beat Rashad Evans at UFC 85 in London, on June 7. Evans, whose record is 11-0-1 in MMA and 6-0-1 in the UFC, is the "The Ultimate Fighter" reality TV series' Season Two heavyweight champion.
Liddell was originally slated to fight Mauricio "Shogun" Rua at UFC 85, but Rua had to bail out after an injury.
The next two stages after Evans in Liddell's three-stage plan will be to beat Rampage Jackson and the Keith Jardine, both of whom Liddell has already battled and lost against previously.
Oft-cited as the prior kingpin of the 205-pound division, and with a record of21-5 in MMA and 16-4 in the UFC, recently achieved victory in a unanimous decision over Wanderlei Silva in December of 2007 at UFC 79. Liddell is also renowned for having whooped both Tito Ortiz and Hall-of-Famer Randy Couture as well as former champs Alistair Overeem, Vitor Belfort, and Murilo Bustamante.
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Filed under: General UFC, The Ultimate Fighter, UFC Events, UFC Fighters
Posted on March 5th, 2008 by sagescott
He was first UFC heavyweight champ ever, so it should come as no surprise that on March 1, 2008 Ohio State's golden boy of wrestling, Mark Coleman, was finally inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame, the fifth fighter to date to be so honored.
What might surprise fans, however, is the announcement that Coleman took that opportunity to make. Apparently the 43-year-old UFC legend, who's been in retirement for two-years now, will step into the Octagon once more, this time to battle Brock Lesnar, a former performer in the WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) and a rookie to the UFC.
Critics predict a boring fight at best, reminding viewers that Coleman lost 4 out of his last 7 bouts, and has never taken the time to adjust his fighting style accordingly. But Lesnar, although big and strong as they come, has no MMA experience. So who will come out on top is anybody's guess.
The Coleman-Lesnar fight, taking place at UFC 87 in Minneapolis on August 9, will be the first of four fights Coleman's signed on for.
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Filed under: UFC Fighters
