The Ultimate Fighting Championship (MMA) Thread

[sachmoney]

According to Metzler the losses were in the millions.

Looking at that, I would guess that Affliction made anywhere from, $4-8 million on PPV buys and the live gate. The spent close to $10-12 million on the show (advertising et cetera).

Like I've said all along though, I think Affliction has to not be afraid of taking losses before they reap the rewards. They need to get more of a following and they need more talent to gain sustainability (that was my problem with the IFL, same guys fighting each other). I don't know if one more card will do the trick.

EDIT: James Irvin tested positive for Methadone and Oxymorphane. Methadone is given to recovering heroine addicts. Both are apparently used to relieve pain or manage chronic pain.

Irvin tests positive

 

[sachmoney]

Miura-Condit was an amazing technical affair. If you can catch a replay of it, you definitely should.

 

[JohnMal]

No Fedor. Andrei Arlovski vs. Josh Barnett
Still a very watchable fight. I am sure Fedor gets the winner.

 

[sachmoney]

No Fedor. Andrei Arlovski vs. Josh Barnett
Still a very watchable fight. I am sure Fedor gets the winner.

Yeah, it's a number one contender bout. It should be exciting. I like both fighters, but I have to say I want Barnett to win. He has long deserved a shot at Fedor.

Tito is apparently not signed by Affliction yet...

Belfort vs Lindland is also supposed to be on the card.

 

[sox4ever]

MOD'S NOTE: PLEASE DON'T POST THE FULL TEXT OF STORIES HERE. A LINK WILL SUFFICE. - SJH

 

[sachmoney]

Not to be blunt, but GSP just put on a freaking clinic. Just got to watch the fight, and I think Fitch landed one good combination the entire fight. I gained respect for Fitch's ability to stop his opponent from finishing him...he had a nice guard. GSP is just an amazing fighter. He threw sweet combinations and transitioned to takedowns. He had vicious GnP from the guard. He had nice combinations, nice kicks. Randy Couture always talks about imposing his will on his opponents, GSP did just that. Whatever he wanted to do, he did. A lot of credit for Fitch for making it go five rounds, but the guy who clearly shined tonight was GSP. An amazing performance from an amazing champion.

 

[sachmoney]

Damn shame this thread is so low...especially below the boxing thread :lol:

Jackson enters plea

Silva-Filho?

Rampage set to return at 91

BJ willing to wait for GSP Superfight

Shogun to return in December

Just a few links to prop this thread back...it's been a slow month for MMA

 

[sachmoney]

[youtube]-pcUx6mBwj4&fmt[/youtube]

EDIT: To add that this is the Affliction Preview

 

[sachmoney]

I am so happy: THE NATURAL RETURNS

The Ultimate Fighting Championship and its heavyweight champion are back together after a nearly year-long argument.

Almost eleven months after titleholder Randy Couture announced he was quitting UFC, the two sides on Tuesday afternoon announced that he would return to fight Brock Lesnar at UFC 91, scheduled for Nov. 15, in Las Vegas.

Couture in October said he was leaving the promotion to pursue a fight with Russian superstar Fedor Emelianenko, but UFC claimed Couture was contractually bound for at least two more UFC fights before he could compete in mixed martial arts for anyone else. The company later sued Couture, claiming he breached a separate employment contract by allowing his name and likeness to be used by other MMA promoters.

An attempt by HDNet Fights owner Mark Cuban to have a court in Texas rule on Couture's contractual status failed earlier this year, leaving the matter in the hands of arbitrators in Nevada, UFC's home state.

Couture, a five-time UFC champion, last fought in July of last year, when he successfully defended his heavyweight belt with a technical knockout of Gabriel Gonzaga in the third round.

Lesnar has fought only three professional MMA bouts, but he dominated hardy veteran Heath Herring at UFC 87 last month. As an NCAA Division I-A wrestling champion and a former star in professional wrestling, Lesnar brings a combination of enormous athletic ability and widespread name recognition.

Couture said he was eager to end the legal battle. Fighting Lesnar "makes sense because it's part of a resolution for getting back on good terms with UFC," Couture said, during a Tuesday conference call with reporters.

The winner of Lesnar-Couture will fight the winner of a December bout between interim heavyweight champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Frank Mir, said UFC President Dana White.

Couture's return to UFC raises questions about future opponents for Emelianenko, who fights for M-1 Global and Affliction Entertainment. Emelianenko, widely considered the world's top heavyweight, won the newly created heavyweight title of the World Alliance of Mixed Martial Arts when he defeated former UFC champion Tim Sylvia in 36 seconds.

Immediately after beating Sylvia, Emelianenko said he wants to fight Couture. Affliction officials have said they would be interested in promoting that matchup if Couture could resolve his legal issues with UFC.

Couture said he takes the Lesnar fight seriously, but also made clear that Emelianenko remains his ultimate goal.

"I have faith that the UFC is working diligently to make the Fedor fight happen," Couture said. "Obviously, that's the endgame for me."

Although White dismissed Emelianenko as "completely irrelevant" to the company's current situation, he still would like to match him against Couture because of the interest among hardcore fans. But UFC doesn't want to undercut the Russian's contracts with other promoters, White said.

"If the Fedor fight can be made ... then absolutely we would love to make the Fedor fight," White said.

 

[inter tatters]

...and everyone thought Lesnar facing Frank Mir again would be a decent test for him, instead he gets Couture?!!

Talk about a quick upswing - I know UFC are paying Brock Lesnar the big bucks, and need to match him against the big names to sell enough PPV's and recoup some of their outlay, but putting him in against the 'reigning' Champ in only his 3rd fight? Are they trying to kill his career before it even gets going?

 

[Eagle3]

The rest of the Heavyweight contenders can't be happy about Lesnar getting a title shot in his 4th fight.

 

[Vinho Tinto]

The rest of the Heavyweight contenders can't be happy about Lesnar getting a title shot in his 4th fight.

Outside of Werdum, who are the rest?

 

[sachmoney]

...and everyone thought Lesnar facing Frank Mir again would be a decent test for him, instead he gets Couture?!!

Talk about a quick upswing - I know UFC are paying Brock Lesnar the big bucks, and need to match him against the big names to sell enough PPV's and recoup some of their outlay, but putting him in against the 'reigning' Champ in only his 3rd fight? Are they trying to kill his career before it even gets going? :buddy:

I think they are going for the big PPV numbers. They want to break their records which I believe was with Chuck-Tito 2. Randy is arguably the most popular fighter in the UFC (may be Chuck is better), and Lesnar has a huge following because of his professional wrestling. This has the makings of being the biggest pay per view ever. It seems like they're making this a title fight because it's such a big PPV. Five rounds is more exciting than five (although I think three is enough for Randy).

I agree with Vinho...other than Werdum, there aren't really any big contenders in the UFC. Gonzaga can't be upset.

I am absolutely pumped that Randy is back. My friend is actually convinced that Lesnar will win. He thinks the time off will be bad for Randy. Also the fact that Lesnar weighs 40 lbs more than him. I've learned never to count out Randy. I'm not going to start now. He's far and away my favorite fighter. He's an inspiration. I would love to see him return and eventually fight Nogueira!

 

[WakefieldKnuckler]

I absolutely agree about the UFC wanting to go for as big of PPV numbers as possible for this UFC 91

They already have a matchup of two of their huge success stories from "The Ultimate Fighter" series in Joe Stevenson vs Kenny Florian. Probably a warmup for Florian before a title shot...

Also, Rampage might be making his return to the UFC at this event (Wanderlai Silva anyone?) and "The Ultimate Fighter 7" winner Amir Sadallah will be making his debut

 

[NickEsasky]

I am absolutely pumped that Randy is back. My friend is actually convinced that Lesnar will win. He thinks the time off will be bad for Randy. Also the fact that Lesnar weighs 40 lbs more than him. I've learned never to count out Randy. I'm not going to start now. He's far and away my favorite fighter. He's an inspiration. I would love to see him return and eventually fight Nogueira!

The extra weight didn't seem to do Tim Sylvia a lot of good so I doubt it will help a MMA rookie like Lesner. That being said eventually the age is going to slow down Coutoure enough for a guy to beat him, but i can never count the man out.

 

[Vinho Tinto]

Probably a warmup for Florian before a title shot...

I think it's in Florian's best interests to wait out BJ Penn's jump to 170. He would need to fight his very best and have Penn be way off his game to beat him. I'd like to see him matched up with Nate Diaz.

The line for Randy-Brock is almost even, with Randy a favorite @ -105 (+110 for Brock)

Lines for this weekend:
Chuck Liddell v Rashad Evans -275 +200
Rich Franklin v Matt Hamill -250 +188
Nathan Marquardt v Martin Kampmann -138 +110
Dan Henderson v Rousimar Palhares -200 +162
Karo Parisyan v Yoshiyuki Yoshida -250 +188

 

[sachmoney]

Nice night of fights.

I was glad to see Franklin get a win in the 205 division. He methodically took Hamill apart. It was nice to see.

Hendo winning again was nice. Toquinho has some vicious leg locks, but Henderson did well to stay otu of them for the most part.

That knock out for Evans was amazing. That was a wonderstrike if I ever saw one. Liddell looked really good in the first round, and Evans didn't do much of anything. Seeing him come back and get that was really surprising.

Overall, I thought it was a pretty good card. I can't wait for the months coming up. Randy is back!

 

[Ahriman]

Wow. One of the prettiest KO punches in UFC history.

What a night. I had picked everything flat wrong until the main event. I thought Palhares would submit Henderson with ease and that Franklin wouldn't be able to deal with Hamill's size, since he was used to being so much larger than everyone at MW. Bleh.

As for the main event, Liddell didn't seem to do much in the first round. Chuck won it, but it's not like he went out and took it. Rather, it had more to do with Evans keeping his distance. Then came the overhand right... Ridiculous how accurate that punch was; Evans' whole body was leaning on that right, too. I had Evans to win but I didn't envision that kind of knockout. Liddell was a dead fish there for a couple of minutes.

 

[WakefieldKnuckler]

What did people think of Hamill versus Franklin? When I was watching the UFC Countdown show on Spike earlier this week, Franklin mentioned repeadedly that Hamill was the toughest wrestler that he ever had to train against and was really concerned about his wrestling.

Did the fight go to the ground or was Franklin able to keep Hamill out of that gameplan? I thought that was going to be the big battle in this contest, as Hamill's wrestling is tremendous and I was not quite sure about Franklin's defense of the takedown. I know that Hamill has really been working on standup a lot ever since the Ultimate Fighter ended a few years ago.

Did not see the fight so I am very curious...thanks!

 

[Ahriman]

What did people think of Hamill versus Franklin? When I was watching the UFC Countdown show on Spike earlier this week, Franklin mentioned repeadedly that Hamill was the toughest wrestler that he ever had to train against and was really concerned about his wrestling.

Did the fight go to the ground or was Franklin able to keep Hamill out of that gameplan? I thought that was going to be the big battle in this contest, as Hamill's wrestling is tremendous and I was not quite sure about Franklin's defense of the takedown. I know that Hamill has really been working on standup a lot ever since the Ultimate Fighter ended a few years ago.

Did not see the fight so I am very curious...thanks!

The fight never went to the ground. Poor Matt was outclassed big time. Franklin was quicker with his strikes and kept finding holes in Matt's defense; ended it with a swift kick to the body that either sent a jolt through Hamill's liver or knocked the wind out of him. Matt did graze Franklin with a punch that opened up a pretty nasty gash over Franklin's right eye, but that didn't really matter.

I hope Matt will bounce back. This is his first true loss, in my mind, as that Bisping decision was atrocious.

 

[Ahriman]

The Punch:

 

[I am an Idiot]

The Punch:

wow. goodnight CL. that was monstrous.

 

[sachmoney]

Evan Tanner dead at 37.

 

[sachmoney]

Rampage leaves Juanito, signs with Wolfslair

 

[Marciano490]

The Punch:

Thanks. I'm going to forward that to all of my friends who said that Liddell - or any other UFC fighter - could make it out of the first round of any Golden Gloves tournament in a major city.

 

[therondc]

Thanks. I'm going to forward that to all of my friends who said that Liddell - or any other UFC fighter - could make it out of the first round of any Golden Gloves tournament in a major city.

That's absurd. You think MMA fighters can't take a punch? They are getting hit with much smaller gloves than what they use in the Golden Gloves, and no headgear.

 

[Myt1]

Thanks. I'm going to forward that to all of my friends who said that Liddell - or any other UFC fighter - could make it out of the first round of any Golden Gloves tournament in a major city.

It's a tiny bit easier to gaurd your head when you're wearing larger gloves and don't have to guard anything below your waist.

Your comment is sort of like saying that you want to show a clip of David Ortiz striking out on a Randy Johnson slider as evidence that he couldn't make it out of the first round of a wiffleball tournament.

 

[therondc]

Thanks. I'm going to forward that to all of my friends who said that Liddell - or any other UFC fighter - could make it out of the first round of any Golden Gloves tournament in a major city.

Oh, and Stephan Bonnar won a Golden Gloves title.

 

[Marciano490]

It wasn't their ability to take a punch. It's more how they throw their punches. Who throws an uppercut like that outside of Ja Rule or a cartoon character? And yes, Bonnar - who won Chicago GG twice, Pulver, and some others actually can box. Most others have terrible, amateurish technique.

 

[sachmoney]

It wasn't their ability to take a punch. It's more how they throw their punches. Who throws an uppercut like that outside of Ja Rule or a cartoon character? And yes, Bonnar - who won Chicago GG twice, Pulver, and some others actually can box. Most others have terrible, amateurish technique.

I will agree that boxers have much better technique, but you're using this argument to take an MMA fighter into boxing and comparing techniques. It's not really an argument to begin with. Boxers spend years working on their technique. At the same time, I could just as easily take a boxer and say they wouldn't survive a minute of the first round with a MMA fighter. I'm not gonna turn this into a boxing/MMA argument like you are trying to bait people into.

***

Anyway, I really hate going a month and a half without UFC. I can't say I particularly like any of the other organizations right now (looks like Affliction is dying). The Kimbo-Shamrock fight is interesting, but I'm not interested as a MMA fan. It's more of a freak show. It's really taking the sport back fifteen years.

 

[therondc]

I will agree that boxers have much better technique, but you're using this argument to take an MMA fighter into boxing and comparing techniques. It's not really an argument to begin with. Boxers spend years working on their technique. At the same time, I could just as easily take a boxer and say they wouldn't survive a minute of the first round with a MMA fighter. I'm not gonna turn this into a boxing/MMA argument like you are trying to bait people into.

***

Anyway, I really hate going a month and a half without UFC. I can't say I particularly like any of the other organizations right now (looks like Affliction is dying). The Kimbo-Shamrock fight is interesting, but I'm not interested as a MMA fan. It's more of a freak show. It's really taking the sport back fifteen years.

TUF is on now, so that's something.

 

[Marciano490]

I'm not trying to 'bait' anyone. I just have had a lot of friends say that Chuck Liddell in particular could step into a boxing ring right now and clean out the cruiserweight division. I suppose that I therefore take a perverse pleasure in seeing his shoddy technique exposed.

That said, I appreciate that MMA fighters have to learn a lot of different techniques, and that it's therefore unreasonable to compare them to people who practice only one technique. Honestly - and, again, not to bait - but that's one of the reasons I don't like watching MMA. I'd rather watch people who can do one thing really well, then lots of things kind of well.

Also, I realize that a lot of MMA fighters were very accomplished amateur wrestlers, so I am sure they are some of the best in the world at wrestling.

 

[BGrif21125]

I will agree that boxers have much better technique, but you're using this argument to take an MMA fighter into boxing and comparing techniques. It's not really an argument to begin with. Boxers spend years working on their technique. At the same time, I could just as easily take a boxer and say they wouldn't survive a minute of the first round with a MMA fighter.

Ya, there really is no boxing vs. MMA argument to be had.

Take any star MMA fighter and put him in the ring under boxing rules, and any of the top boxers in that weight class would punch the daylights out of him.

And it works the same way in the opposite direction. Take Mayweather or Pacquiao and have them fight an MMA fighter under MMA rules, and the MMA fighter would slam them to the ground and have them in a submission headlock in about 30 seconds.

Two different sports with two different skillsets.

 

[sachmoney]

I'm not trying to 'bait' anyone. I just have had a lot of friends say that Chuck Liddell in particular could step into a boxing ring right now and clean out the cruiserweight division. I suppose that I therefore take a perverse pleasure in seeing his shoddy technique exposed.

Sorry, I've gotten into a lot of boxing vs MMA arguments. I thought you were trying to spur one on just from experience. Yeah, I can see what you're talking about and definitely appreciate it. I mean watching some MMA fighters, I'm like these guys have some good technique, then I watch boxing, and I think again.

Chuck has horrible technique though. That's a fact.

 

[Marciano490]

I'll even go so far to say that I think I would enjoy/appreciate MMA a lot more if I knew exactly what was going on. I just don't have the experience to really 'get' what's going on during a lot of the 'boring' clinches and what not.

But then, I think about how people say that Pernell Whitaker or other defensive fighters are boring just because they don't appreciate all of the little things he is doing and controlling in the ring. I'm sure I come off the same way to someone with a background in bjj or wrestling.

 

[Ahriman]

But then, I think about how people say that Pernell Whitaker or other defensive fighters are boring just because they don't appreciate all of the little things he is doing and controlling in the ring. I'm sure I come off the same way to someone with a background in bjj or wrestling.

I love boxing. I love it more than MMA, which I enjoy quite a bit, but I don't think the "boxing is boring" crowd gets all riled up over defensive wizards like Sweet Pea, Mayweather or Winky. Rather, I think it has more to do with with the John Ruiz', Wlad Klitschko's, (insert nondescript Russian Heavyweight here)'s and, recently, even the Bernard Hopkins' and De La Hoya's of the world stinking up the ring with listless performances, all the while being hailed as among the very best in their respective divisions.

As for the "MMA is boring" faction, I think you pretty much nailed it. The techniques are very foreign to many. The 'boring' aspects of boxing, like defensive mastery, seem easier to appreciate, to me, than what most non-MMA fans complain about.

 

[Marciano490]

I was referring more to the casual boxing fan who looks for knockouts and power shots. The kind of person who wouldn't be too impressed with Willie Pep winning a round without throwing a punch. I know I've watched entire fights only looking at the fighters' feet, but obviously that's not typical.

 

[sox4ever]

What's with the UFC encouraging weight class changes so often these days?

Is it just me or has this been happening a lot more lately?

I know BJ moved up and a lot of guys moved down but having Franklin vs Hendo at 205 and Shogun vs Coleman at HW makes little sense to me.

I guess Franklin has nowhere to go at 185, but Franklin vs Hendo makes much more sense as a #1 contender match at 185 than a relevant match at 205. Hendo seemed like he was gonna stay at 185 and that's really the weight class he belongs in.

Shogun and Coleman at heavyweight is not going to encourage their questionable gas tanks to get better (I guess Shogun has only been questionable for a couple of fights).

Machia is going to school Silva. Silva has questionable technique. He isn't particularly fast and leaves his chin up in the air and has a stiff kickboxing style. Machida leaves his chin out there too, but he is fluid and has much better defense and timing. They are both well rounded though. I guess I would say Machida is the better wrestler since he slammed Tito and Silva got chokeslammed by Houston.

 

[sachmoney]

What's with the UFC encouraging weight class changes so often these days?

Is it just me or has this been happening a lot more lately?

I know BJ moved up and a lot of guys moved down but having Franklin vs Hendo at 205 and Shogun vs Coleman at HW makes little sense to me.

I guess Franklin has nowhere to go at 185, but Franklin vs Hendo makes much more sense as a #1 contender match at 185 than a relevant match at 205. Hendo seemed like he was gonna stay at 185 and that's really the weight class he belongs in.

Shogun and Coleman at heavyweight is not going to encourage their questionable gas tanks to get better (I guess Shogun has only been questionable for a couple of fights).

Machia is going to school Silva. Silva has questionable technique. He isn't particularly fast and leaves his chin up in the air and has a stiff kickboxing style. Machida leaves his chin out there too, but he is fluid and has much better defense and timing. They are both well rounded though. I guess I would say Machida is the better wrestler since he slammed Tito and Silva got chokeslammed by Houston.

BJ is moving up because the UFC sees the BJ-GSP fight as a can't miss money making opportunity. There are very few super fights. That is a super fight. I mean Brock-Randy will probably be the highest grossing PPV, but BJ-GSP will probably break whatever the current one is (to be second). He also has dominated his weight class thus far...just like Anderson Silva.

I don't know who these guys who are moving down, but if they are, it's because they couldn't handle dealing with the bigger guys at their former wait class. It just makes more sense to fight at a lower weight class. You have less height, reach, and weight to deal with.

Franklin moved up to 205 because it didn't make sense for him to fight at 185 considering Anderson decimated him TWICE. He has to win so many fights to have a chance at another title. He moved up. Hendo probably can secure the next title shot at 185, but he has said multiple times that he prefers fighting at 205. These two were both prominent former MW champions. It makes perfect sense to make this fight.

Shogun's one really disappointing loss was against Coleman. Babalu and Forrest choked him out, but Coleman beat him when he took Shogun down and Shogun landed funny on the break fall. He broke his arm and the fight was stopped really quickly in the first round. Furthermore, there was the huge Chute Boxe-Hammer House scuffle afterwards. Coleman is heading to the end of his career, and Shogun won't get a chance to avenge that loss anytime soon. Coleman probably can't make LHW, and Shogun is coming off an injury. It's probably easier for him to concentrate on training right instead of worrying about cutting weight.

Also, Machida and Silva aren't fighting...Silva pulled out. This happened a month ago.

 

[DaveJstice]

Not quite sure if this is the place for it, however Ken Shamrock will not be facing Kimbo Slice tonight on CBS due to a cut he suffered in training this afternoon.

 

[cheekydave]

Kimbo LOSES in 14 seconds!!!!

 

[PayrodsFirstClutchHit]

Shamrock must be banging his head against the wall knowing he missed his chance to defeat the mighty Kimbo.

 

[sachmoney]

Shamrock cut himself rolling before the fight. He was taken to the Cleveland Clinic where he got sutures. Despite him doing everything right medically, the commission did the right thing in not letting him fight. Cuts above the eye are a big issue in MMA and the primary reason that a lot of MMA fights are stopped due to cuts. The primary responsibility of the commission is to ensure the safety of the fighters. That's what they were doing.

Honestly, I didn't really care about this card. I'm upset Ninja lost, but I didn't even know he was on the card until I flipped channels. The only reason I found out about the Ken Shamrock thing was because I was checking out MMAWeekly. I watched a good chunk of the Carano fight, and she looked good. I appreciated her technique more than I have in the past. Petruzelli looked good in destroying Kimbo.

The thing you have to keep in mind is that Kimbo is a streetfighter trying to turn into an MMA fighter. Seth is an MMA fighter. Other than James Thompson, everyone Kimbo has fought (really) has not been a MMA fighter. This was bound to happen at some point, and I don't really see this as an "upset." Kimbo's 15 minutes were bound to end at some point.

On another note, Tito sounded like he was going to sign with Elite. Are there any actual fights for him in Elite other than Frank Shamrock?

 

[Tim Naehrings Girl]

I was offered a free ticket to the Kimbo fight from work but I am not really an MMA fan so I said no thanks. I should have said yes and gone for the party since it only lasted 14 seconds.

 

[Snodgrass'Muff]

I posted this in the gamethread, but here's the fight.

[youtube]9x7f05uV33w[/youtube]

 

[sachmoney]

More on Tito Ortiz's contract situation

On Saturday night’s EliteXC telecast on CBS, the former UFC light heavyweight champion said that he is now “maybe a week away from signing the deal” with EliteXC.

“I’ve been a free agent now for almost five months,” he told CBS reporter Karen Bryant. “I’m going to exercise my right of course, being a free agent. We’re working really close with Elite and I’d say we’re about maybe a week away from signing the deal.”

Ortiz cited Affliction fighter Andre Arlovski as an example of why he would want to sign with EliteXC. “Andrei Arlovski is starting to compete in this now, so the names are starting to come over.”

By most accounts, Arlovski’s bout against Roy Nelson on Saturday night – which the former UFC heavyweight champion won by knockout – was likely nothing more than a marketing maneuver by Affliction Entertainment. Affliction loaned out the fighters to EliteXC and holds both Arlovski and Nelson under contract.

If Oritz does follow through and sign with EliteXC, the promotion is already positioning for a possible showdown against a past nemesis in Frank Shamrock. One of the more decorated champions in UFC history, Shamrock defeated Ortiz in a classic bout in September of 1999.

Bringing up Shamrock, Bryant quipped to Ortiz, “Frank said you would be something good to do with your fists.”

To which Ortiz retorted, “Yes, that would be good. The last time me and Frank got it on, I was a young kid, 22 years old. I’ve got 11 years experience now, so I think it’d be a different story in the rematch.”

 

[sachmoney]

Diego on Thiago

That should be a great fight.

Rampage on Wanderlei:

“I think this fight will be different because I think I’m more mature now. I’m a lot older, got a lot more experience. I fought Wanderlei both times when I was a kid, I feel like I was a kid in this sport. I got a little bit better skills now. I won’t have to fight Chuck Liddell first, and this time there won’t be so much pressure. We’re not fighting for any championship, we’re just going out there and fighting for money. I’ve got the best people around me. I’m a child of God. Ain’t nothing distracting me, homie. Trust me.”

That UFC 92 Card looks unbelievable!

Nogueira-Mir
Griffin-Evans
Rampage-Wanderlei
Okami-Lister
Al-Turk-Kongo
Dolloway-Rivera

Upcoming MMA Cards before that (source MMAWeekly):
UFC 89 >October 18
Main Card Bouts:
-Michael Bisping vs. Chris Leben
-Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou (#8 Light Heavyweight in the World)* vs. Luiz Cane
-Keith Jardine (#10 Light Heavyweight in the World)* vs. Brandon Vera
-Marcus Davis vs. Paul Kelly
-Paul Taylor vs. Chris Lytle

UFC 90 >October 25
Main Card Bouts:
-Anderson Silva (#1 Middleweight in the world)* vs. Patrick Cote
-Thiago Alves (#3 Welterweight in the World)* vs. Diego Sanchez (#8 Welterweight in the World)*
-Fabricio Werdum (#6 Heavyweight in the World)* vs. Junior dos Santos
-Tyson Griffin vs. Sean Sherk
-Thales Leites vs. Goran Reljic

Sengoku 6 >November 1
Lightweight Grand Prix Semi-Finals:
-Satoru Kitaoka vs. Eiji Mitsuoka
-Kazunori Yokota vs. Mizuto Hirota

Lightweight Grand Prix Final:
-Kitaoka/Mitsuoka vs. Yokota/Hirota

-Josh Barnett (#3 Heavyweight in the World)* vs. TBA

WEC 36 >November 5
-Urijah Faber (#1 Featherweight in the World)* vs. Mike Brown (#6 Featherweight in the World)*
-Paulo Filho (#3 Middleweight in the World)* vs. Chael Sonnen
-Jens Pulver vs. Leonard Garcia
-Rob McCullough vs. Donald Cerrone
-Yoshiro Maeda vs. Rani Yahya

Elite XC >November 8
-Robbie Lawler (#3 Middleweight in the World)* vs. Joey Villasenor
-Eddie Alvarez (#3 Lightweight in the World)* vs. Nick Diaz
-Hector Lombard vs. Scott Smith
-Kaitlin Young vs. Sarah Kaufman
-Brett Rogers vs. TBA
-Rafael "Feijao" Cavalcante vs. TBA

UFC 91 >November 15
-Randy Couture vs. Brock Lesnar
-Gabriel Gonzaga (#7 Heavyweight in the World)* vs. Josh Hendricks
-Joe Stevenson (#10 Lightweight in the World)* vs. Kenny Florian
-Demian Maia vs. Nathan Quarry
-Amir Sadollah vs. Nick Catone

I am impressed with the UFC. They're putting on three cards to end the year with three really good fights. 89 will be good, but the other three are really exciting. 90 with Anderson Silva, Diego-Thiago, Werdum, and Sherk-Griffin will be really interesting. Then you have Randy-Brock which will break the PPV record to go with Gonzaga and Sadollah returning and an excellent LW bout between Stevenson and Florian (Pride of Newton). UFC 92 is the best UFC Card ever. It will probably trump UFC 52 as my favorite UFC card. Two title fights PLUS Rampage-Wanderlei? That's exciting.

Next year looks like it will be awesome too. Penn-GSP awaits.

 

[sachmoney]

UFC 89 Weigh-ins:

Michael Bisping (185) vs. Chris Leben (186)
Brandon Vera (203) vs Keith Jardine (205)
Paul Kelly (169) vs. Marcus Davis (169)
Thierry Rameau Sokoudjou (205) vs. Luiz Cane (206)
Paul Taylor (170) vs. Chris Lytle (170)
Dan Hardy (169) vs. Akihiro Gono (171)
Shane Carwin (264) vs. Neil Wain (254)
Jess Liaudin (155) vs. David Beilkheden (155)
Sam Stout (155) vs. Terry Etim (155)
David Baron (155) vs. Jim Miller (155)
Per Eklund (156) vs. Samy Schiavo (156)

 

[tenthman]

More on Tito Ortiz's contract situation

All this sounds to me like more has beens and unprovens as in the case of feather ass Kimbo slice trying to banter their weak ass has been careers back to important.
Ortiz ducked everyone for years and hid as long as he could until the genius of D White and company said no more Tito.

Again he is setting up the possible rematch of a mid 40 something MMA star that saw a sport pass him bye because he wanted to do it his way and not recognize the new mma style that was becoming the main stay in his sport. Shamrock and Ortiz will have plenty of hype and bad words before,during and after the match but no substance. If this Elite meal ticket fails to live up to the hype especially now that Kimbo has all but killed their ratings and promo, then Elite better be sure that Ortiz will be willing to bang and has gotten over his dislike for getting punched in the face. They also better be sure that Shamrock will be willing to train like he needs to for this potential match or they could be looking at the end of their run on CBS. That is if Kimbo didn't already do that for them.

 

[tenthman]

UFC 89 Weigh-ins:

I am a skeptic at best when it comes to Bisping and it is my belief that he has been more hype than "up and comer".
Bisping has had his career guided like many amateur fighters in other sports have had by fighting sub-par competition.

In 17 matches Bisping has had only 1 true test and it came as a loss at the hands of Rashad Evans. This includes his win over Josh Haynes who at the time was seriously lacking confidence. Haynes has since moved his camp to Xtreme Couture and has won 4 of his last 6 matches and is a more well rounded mma fighter.

In his first 13 fights except for Haynes, Bisping had fought no one. Steve Mathews,john Weir,Mark Epstein,Andy Bridges,Mark Epstein again,Dave Radford,Alex Cook,Miika Mehmet,Jacob Lovstad,Ross Pointon, Josh Haynes,Eric Schafer,Elvis Sinosic,Matt Hamill,Rashad Evans,Charles McCarthy, and Jason Day.
In his 14th fight Bisping fought Matt Hamill at UFC 75 and won a controversial split decision that many on this side of the "Pond" thought Bisping lost decidedly. His next and only true test was a split decision loss to Rashad Evans that would have probably been a win if it were held in London, England and not the USA.

My point being is that Bisping is an extremely over rated MMA star and has no place being the main event. Even though Chris Leben is a name in the UFC he is still not a true test for Bisping especially given that Leben can't seem to finish a full camp without it being interrupted by an arrest.
I expect Leben to take a beating and then when his button is finally hit he will start throwing bombs. I in no way expect Bisping to bang with Leben unless somehow Leben can bait him into doing it. Bispings chin will be exposed in this match regardless of which Leben shows up to fight. But if somehow Leben is able to put it all together over seas and has a serious camp then I expect blood and a 2nd round tko for Leben.

More than likely Bisping is going to be fighting a big heart with heavy hands that only made the trip to check out the London girls and to try out the Dark ale. Again a safe bet for Bisping on paper and the careful handling goes on and so does the over rated Bisping.

However, like I said if somehow Leben stays out of jail long enough to train and took his training seriously we could see Bisping finally exposed.