First off, let me say thanks to Walter for having us over last minute (even if Dave and JC mostly spent their time playing with their fantasy football league on Walt's notebook).

SEE UFC 76 RESULTS HERE (THANKS TO UFCMANIA)

Now, onto UFC 76: WHAT THE HIZELL? First, UFC 76: Knockout had no Knockouts, at least on the televised card! Man, I know I shouldn't be disappointed ever by anything that happens in MMA since it's such a dynamic sport in which anything can happen, but I can't help but feel a little let down by the way Shogun and Liddell performed. Oh, and mad props to both Griffin and Jardine, I love both of those guys since they bring an almost "every man" mentality to sport, not to mention how funny Griffin is, BUT they weren't supposed to win! (:


VIDEOS AND LINKS about the shakeup and aftermath (ufcmania):

UFC Quick Quote: Liddell camp eyes fight with Shogun

“He’s [Chuck Liddell] already said he’ll be back in the gym next Monday. He’s going to fight again, hopefully as soon as possible, maybe in December. We’re looking at ‘Shogun.’ … Chuck will face anyone they put in front of him… You’re dealing with a guy that just lost a fight, is totally depressed right after a humungous loss. Of course, he’s disappointed. We didn’t get into details about the fight, especially after a loss, because that’s not the time you want to talk about it. We usually talk about it when we get back in the gym.”

– John Hackleman — the long-time trainer for former UFC light heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell — clears up all the retirement talk with FightNetwork.com and even mentions a possible opponent, Mauricio “Shogun” Rua. Liddell and Shogun were both upset over the weekend in their respective bouts. In the post-fight UFC 76 press conference, UFC President Dana White also mentioned that Liddell-Shogun was a possibility.

36 Comments September 24th, 2007

UFC 78: Karo Parisyan vs. Hector Lombard

Top welterweight contender Karo Parisyan (17-4) will fight UFC newcomer Hector Lombard (11-2-1) at UFC 78 on November 17 in Newark, New Jersey.

Rumors have swirled for sometime now that the two accomplished Judo-based fighters would clash; however, FightNetwork.com appears to be the first reliable source to confirm the 170-pound tilt.

Parisyan is on a two-fight win streak and has been victorious in seven out of his last eight bouts dating all the way back to 2004. “The Heat” most recently defeated Josh Burkman via unanimous decision at UFC 71 in May.

The Armenian-born Judo specialist has been clamoring for a title shot since he missed his chance against Matt Hughes in 2005 because of an injury sustained during training. However, Matt Hughes and Georges St. Pierre are already lined up in front of Parisyan, meaning he won’t get his crack at 170-pound glory until mid 2008 at the earliest.

Lombard will make his Octagon debut, hoping that his vast experience fighting overseas can be enough to topple a veteran who will be making his tenth appearance within the eight-sided cage.

The Cuban has appeared twice under the PRIDE FC banner (his only losses) in Japan, as well as with the DEEP organization also in “The Land of the Rising Sun.” Lombard — a Judo specialist and Olympian — has been successfull of late throughout Australia where he now lives and competes.
For the latest UFC 78 fight card from the Prudential Arena in Newark, N.J., click here.

(Note: It appears the the rumored bout between Parisyan and Hayato “Mach” Sakurai did not work out.)

29 Comments September 24th, 2007

UFC 77 Web site for ‘Hostile Territory’ is now up

Props: 77.UFC.com

(Note: Site is not complete with fighter interviews, etc. but has the trailer and a slick design. Check it out when you can.)

Keith Jardine post-fight interview after win over Chuck Liddell (Video)

31 Comments September 24th, 2007

UFC 79: BJ Penn to fight Sean Sherk or Joe Stevenson

BJ Penn has been bumped from the UFC 78 card in Newark, N.J., on November 17 and will instead fight at UFC 79 on December 29 in Las Vegas, Nevada, according to FightNetwork.com.

Here’s the snip:

“… it appeared that Penn has been patiently awaiting a new opponent for Nov. in the interim, the popular Hawaiian’s camp has confirmed their leader is now preparing for a Dec. 29 match-up at UFC 79….”

The reason for the switch has everything to do with the uncertainty involving the status of the lightweight title. Current champion, Sean Sherk, was penciled in to defend the 155-pound crown against Penn; however, Sherk tested positive for steroids after his win over Hermes Franca at UFC 73 in July.

“The Muscle Shark” is scheduled to appeal the finding before the California State Athletic Commission (CSAC) on October 31 — little more than two weeks prior to the Newark event.

Put simply, the UFC can’t promote a show for which it has no main event set in such a short amount of time.

Therefore, Penn will fight for the title one month later on New Year’s Eve weekend against Sherk, or he will face Joe Stevenson for the vacant strap if the Sherk ruling is upheld and he is stripped of the title.

Here’s a snip from “Daddy:”

“I was told I was definitely fighting in December or January. I think there’s a strong possibility I’ll face B.J. Penn.”

That means that two championships will be on the line on December 29 — UFC Welterweight Champion Matt Serra takes on Matt Hughes in the main event of the evening. However, the recent news means that UFC 78 is now void of championship main event.

So can the potential rematch between Tito Ortiz and Rashad Evans slated for the newly-built Prudential Arena be a big enough draw?

You tell us. In the meantime check out the latest UFC 78 fight card right here.

Liddell-Silva ‘never meant to happen;’ ‘Iceman’ contemplates retirement?

In the opening seconds of the UFC 76: “Knockout” pay-per-view (PPV) telecast ringside announcer Mike Goldberg confirmed that Chuck Liddell would face Wanderlei Silva on December 29 with a win over Keith Jardine in the main event.

“Iceman” went on to drop a split-decision to the “Dean of Mean,” dashing the monster showdown for which fans have clamored for years once again.

UFC President Dana White seemed resigned to the fact that the biggest fight in mixed martial arts history just one year ago was perhaps “never meant to happen, according to FOXSports.com.

Here’s a snip from White:

“‘It’s just not meant to happen,’ said White, who talked about a conversation with Silva as the fight was going on, and telling Silva that he thought Jardine was going to win the fight. He noted Silva was in complete denial, seeing huge dollar signs fly out the window.”

That’s not even the half of it. In fact, there is an article on Yahoo!Sports.com that mentions Liddell is contemplating hanging up the gloves after his second consecutive loss — the first time that has happened in the illustrious career of the 37-year-old.

Here’s a snip from White in that article:

“There’s a hunger thing that you have to have to be an elite fighter and I just didn’t see a Chuck Liddell who was as hungry as he used to be. Chuck has made a lot of money in this business and he’s done a lot of things, but he wasn’t the Chuck of old…. He needs to do what’s right for him and not worry about us. This isn’t the kind of sport you can be in half-heartedly. If you don’t have the passion for it, it’s time to get out. Only Chuck really knows how he feels, but you wonder because he hasn’t looked the same, fire-wise, in either of these last two fights.”

Agreed.

All the retirement talk, however, seems to be a bit premature — we’re talking about a conversation in a locker room immediately following another disappointing loss. Put simply, this is a major life decision that is perhaps not best determined under the circumstances.

In addition, there is no question that Liddell-Silva is going to sell crazy tickets and monster PPV’s. It’s probably no longer a headliner, but it will still help fill the till to the brim.

And let’s not forget: Silva is also on a two-fight losing skid. He, too, is not getting any younger, either.

Finally, is there another fighter on this planet who Liddell would “get up” more for than “The Axe Murderer?” I don’t think so. Provided Liddell decides to not retire, then the clash with Silva makes sense .. and cents.

December 29 is now or never.

74 Comments September 24th, 2007

UFC Quick Quote: Diego Sanchez on move to lightweight

“I feel that he beat me fair and square. I was close, but close isn’t close enough. All fighters go through losses, I’m just going to have to come back stronger. I’m contemplating in my mind if I’m going to drop to (1)55 or not, because I’m a smaller welterweight. I could do more powerlifting and put some more weight on or I could lose some weight.”

– UFC welterweight Diego Sanchez (via Yahoo!Sports) talks about moving down to the lightweight division (155 pounds) after his split decision loss to Jon Fitch at UFC 76: “Knockout” on September 22. It is the second consecutive loss for The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) season one middleweight winner.

How much is too much? With MMA, maybe never...

FROM MMAJUNKIE:

UFC 76 Storylines (from Yahoo! Sports)

Posted by MMA Junkie on September 21, 2007 at 2:30 pm ET

by Dave Doyle/Yahoo! Sports
(Reprinted from Yahoo! Sports with permission)

Have you had your fill of the Ultimate Fighting Championship yet? Well, the company isn’t about to let their fans take a break. The UFC presents their fourth card in the past four weeks with UFC 76: Knockout, live from the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif. This show looks to be one of those sleeper shows, where you look at the card and aren’t impressed at first glance, but then look deeper and see the potential for an intriguing show.

Here are eight items worth following come Saturday night:

1. What’s up, Chuck? “The Iceman” Chuck Liddell (20-4) is coming off the highest-profile loss in North American MMA history. UFC 71 drew more attention than any event the company has offered. Hundreds of thousands of newcomers watched Liddell get taken out in rapid fashion by Quinton “Rampage” Jackson. Those fans didn’t know much about how Chuck held the light heavyweight title for more than two years, and finished seven consecutive opponents before the loss. Can Liddell get back on the path to a title shot, or is his day in the sun done? Liddell takes step one on the road back when he faces “The Dean of Mean” Keith Jardine in the main event.

2. Can Jardine hang? Jardine (12-3-1) is well aware of the talk. People are wondering whether the big banger from Montana by way of Albuquerque deserves a spot in the main event. Jardine caught everyone’s attention back at UFC 66 with his thrashing of Forrest Griffin, but was on the wrong end of just as strong a tail-kicking when he faced Houston Alexander at UFC 71. Jardine knows the only way to silence the critics is to go out and prove he belongs, in the biggest spotlight of his career.

3. Diego’s redemption? Diego Sanchez (17-1) appeared well on his way to a welterweight title shot, until he put in a listless performance in a unanimous decision loss to Josh Koscheck at UFC 69 in April. Since then, Sanchez has moved on from Greg Jackson’s camp in New Mexico and has aligned with Saulo Ribeiro’s University of Jiu-Jitsu in San Diego. With the 170-lb. title picture more crowded by the day, can Sanchez take out Jon Fitch and re-stake his claim among the top contenders?

4. Can Fitch step up? Fitch (14-2), meanwhile, is finally getting the sort of opportunity Sanchez has long been given. The former captain of the Purdue wrestling team garnered a rep as the guy no one wants to fight at 170 pounds. Fitch is so sound on the ground that big names have been afraid to take him on and get trapped. But Fitch forced the issue by winning all six of his UFC matches (13 overall), most in convincing fashion. Now he finally gets his chance in a second-billed attraction.

5. Enter the Shogun Light heavyweight Mauricio “Shogun” Rua makes his UFC debut amid as much fanfare as any fighter who has debuted in the octagon in recent months. And it is for a good reason: The Brazilian Chute Boxe standout is ranked No. 2 in the Y! Sports September monthly poll. His record is 16-2 and he’s finished 14 opponents. But so far, Pride graduates haven’t quite torched their way through the UFC the way it was long imagined in hardcore fantasyland. Will Rua prosper like Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, or will he falter like Mirko Cro Cop?

6. Can Forrest Griffin hang with the big boys? Forrest Griffin has himself a nice little niche in the UFC. With his Ultimate Fighter 1 fame, off-kilter personality, and most importantly, his reputation for putting on one exciting fight after another, Griffin has become one of the UFC’s most popular fighters. But despite his popularity and fan base, the Georgia native has yet to beat a top name. Can Griffin deliver against one of the biggest names in the sport?

7. How good is Tyson Griffin? Tyson Griffin (9-1) made his UFC debut a year ago Saturday at what was then known as the Pond in Anaheim, where he ran over David Lee. A year later, he returns to the building with a reputation for tremendous action. Griffin’s decision loss to Frank Edgar at UFC 67 is on the short list of 2007’s best fights. You can also say that about his controversial split-decision win over Clay Guida at UFC 72. His long-term future is secure due to his penchant for putting on a show for the fans, but will he be able to break through the pack in the lightweight division? He’ll take his next step against undefeated Brazilian Thiago Tavares (13-0), who looked sharp in dispatching Naoyuki Kotani and Jason Black on successive Ultimate Fight Nights earlier this year.

8. How much is too much? The UFC has given their fans plenty to watch over the past four weeks. It started with Randy Couture’s stirring win over Gabriel Gonzaga in the main event of UFC 74 on Aug. 25 in Las Vegas. Then came the much-discussed UFC 75 in England on Sept. 8 on Spike TV, which featured Jackson’s unification of the light heavyweight title with his decision win over Dan Henderson. Wednesday night features Ultimate Fight Night 11, with a stronger card than a standard UFN show. So, after getting a Couture win, a title fight on basic cable, and another free show, will fans shell out $40 to see a card with no title fights? That, quite literally, is a million-dollar question.

Dave Doyle is the national boxing/MMA editor for Yahoo! Sports. This story originally appeared on Yahoo! Sports and is syndicated on MMAjunkie.com as part of a content-partnership deal between the two sites.

UFN Unfinished post

During my class last night I started writing this post about the UFN 11 card which premiers tonight, live from Vegas. I didn't finish it, but here's what I had so far:

I think once you become a rabid MMA fan you sort of begin to thirst for more and more. It sort of builds on itself because the more you watch, the more you understand the sport and the more fighters you get to know (and you either love or hate most of them). Although I felt I'd had my fill after UFC 75, as always now that more events are approaching I am steadily getting more and more pumped up. So here are three reasons why I am stoked to watch both UFN11 and UFC 76:KNOCKOUT.

THREE REASONS WHY UFN 11 IS GOING TO BE INTERESTING:

1. Kenny Florian vs. Din Thomas (main event)

LIGHTWEIGHT FIGHT
The winner of this will be a possible contender for the belt vs. BJ "The Prodigy" Penn if the title goes vacant due to steroid allegations against the current champ, Sean "The Muscle Shark" Sherk. Sherk, who beat Kenny Florian for the belt and just successfully defended it against Hermes Franca who also got busted for steroids after their fight, will go before the board soon to determine his status.

These guys have both been doing very well and both of them have been competitors on The Ultimate Fighter reality show. Kenny Florian was like a second round pick that just happened to get lucky. He was fighting at an amatuer event and Dana White was there and thought, "Hey, the kid's new to the game but he's got heart!" and he signed him to compete on the show. Although he didn't win the competition, he went very far and was fighting THIRTY POUNDS heavier than he is now (in other words, he was fighting guys way bigger than him because in MMA you generally want to fight at the lowest weight at which you're still strong...so if you weigh about 165-175 naturally and you're not totally ripped, you'd probably want to fight at 155 or so).

Anyway, Florian looks like Ben Stiller and doesn't have a ton of muscle mass, but he makes up for that in determination, stratagem, and his all around mixed martial arts skill. If you look at his record and how he's completed fights, he's a finisher. If you like the perennial underdog, although he's NOT an underdog in this nor

U.F.N. Wednesday

This Wednesday night is Ultimate Fight Night 11 which is always free. It's like a mini-UFC. Although I have class that night until about 8PM, I am coming home and watching the fights afterward so if you want to come by, feel free to do so. The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) Season 6 also premiers that night immediately following the fights, so DVR that if you're interested. Following the show (especially the fight at the end of each episode) will really make the finale in December a lot more interesting.

UFC Fight Night 11

Date: Sept. 19, 2007
Location: Las Vegas
Venue: The Palms Las Vegas
Broadcast: Spike TV

MAIN CARD

• Kenny Florian vs. Din Thomas
  
• Florian was the last guy to take a shot for the title besides Hermes Franca while Din is on a comeback thanks to his stint on TUF Season 5 which helped him get back to his winning ways.
  
• Junior Assuncao vs. Nate Diaz
  
• Nate Diaz is the winner of TUF 6 and we'll see how he does in his first fight that's not associated with the reality TV show.
  
• Chris Leben vs. Terry Martin
• Leben is very well known thanks to his stint on TUF season 1. He's a striker and a tough kid, but I think Martin is going to roll him up and smoke him.
  
• Nate Quarry vs. Pete Sell
• Nate Quarry...nice guy, good fighter, got rushed into a title fight with none other than Rich Franklin (who will be trying to get his belt back in Oct. from A. Silva) who knocked him out COLD. As far as I know, this is his first fight back.
  

UNDERCARD

• Jonathan Goulet vs. Dustin Hazelett
• Leonard Garcia vs. Cole Miler
• Gray Maynard vs. Joe Veres
• Thiago Alves vs. Kuniyoshi Hironaka
• Edilberto Crocota vs. Luke Cummo

HAMILL and BISPING SPEAK OUT

Hey guys, thanks to mmajunkie.com who assembled some new info on the Matt Hamill thing. Fortunately for Bisping, he's come to his senses and realized (or perhaps the UFC spin doctors helped him realize) that his popularity is waning fast after he acted like a pompous jerk. He attributes a lot of it to the post fight stress/adrenaline/nerves, etc. which is good because he's basically admitting that there's at least something to the controversy. He claims he won the second and third, just like the two crazy judges did, and that is just one of the sad things about the fight game: when it goes to the judges, you never know what's going to happen, so next time ONE OF THEM BETTER FINISH THE FIGHT.

The main point is that Bisping wants the rematch because he knows literally millions of people will NEVER LET HIM LIVE IT DOWN. I expect this to be one of most closely watched fights ever with TONS OF PRIDE riding on it.

Matt Hamill: UFC 75 Judges Need to “Re-evaluate” Scoring Criteria

Posted by MMA Junkie on September 11, 2007 at 10:06 pm ET

Just hours after Michael Bisping released an official statement regarding his controversial split-decision victory at UFC 75, opponent Matt Hamill has released one of his own.

UFC took place this past Saturday at the 02 Arena in London, England. In one of the night’s televised fights, Bisping defeated Hamill with scores of 29-28, 29-28 and 27-30 — despite the fact that he appeared to have clearly one the first and second rounds of the three-round fight.

In it a message posted at matthamill.com, Hamill says that the two judges who scored the fight in Bisping’s favor (Cecil Peoples and Jeff Mullen) need to re-evaluate their scoring criteria.

From the statement:

I think MMA is a great sport and I don’t believe in any kind of a fix. The two judges that scored the win for Bisping obviously need to re-evaluate the way they score a fight. You can’t win a fight when you run for three rounds. They need to study the criteria for scoring an MMA fight: effective striking, grappling, takedowns, aggression and control. Bisping did none of that in my opinion.

Because England has no athletic commission, the UFC was responsible for regulating the event. UFC Vice President of Regulatory Affairs Marc Ratner was charged with the tasks of drug testing the fighters and choosing officials — including Mullen and Peoples — to judge the UFC 75 fights.

UFC President Dana White has already stated that the organization plans for Bisping and Hamill to fight again at a future event.

28 Comments | Posted in Cecil Peoples, Jeff Mullen, UFC 75, Matt Hamill, Michael Bisping |

September 11, 2007

Michael Bisping Discusses Controversial UFC 75 Victory, Requests Rematch

Posted by Sam Caplan on September 11, 2007 at 6:17 pm ET

Following his controversial split-decision win over Matt Hamill this past Saturday at UFC 75, Michael Bisping issued comments to Joe Rogan during his post-fight interview and additional comments during the post-fight press conference that angered both fans and critics.

Today, the beleaguered light heavyweight praised his opponent and requested a rematch.

In his fight-night comments, an agitated Bisping was none too complimentary toward Hamill’s performance, and the fighter has been faulted for not showing more respect to an opponent who many fans feel deserved to have his hand raised in victory.

But now that he’s had some time to cool off, Bisping has cleared the air through his personal web site, Bisping.TV.

His latest words are much more gracious toward Hamill’s performance:

“As most people will of seen the fight with me and Hamil was a close one. I have seen the controversy surrounding the decision so obviously have to reply. I personally feel he won round 1 and I took rounds 2 and 3. That said it was close and can I understand how some people would think differently. On the night I was given the decision and he wasn’t, on another occasion it could of been different.

Looking at message boards it appears that some (major understatement) people are pissed off about my comments afer the fight. Looking back I should of given Hamill more credit as he fought a great fight and has improved his all round game a hell of a lot. What you have to remember is though the adrenalin was running through my veins, I had fought a hard fight and was obviously happy to get the decision. I would like to take this opportunity to say well done to Matt for fighting great and bringing the fight to me big time, I should have commented on this on the night.

I have contacted the UFC and stated I would like to rematch Hamill at everyones earliest convenience as I’m sure most of you know, no fighter wants a win when the decision is debateable. I am happy for the fight to take place where ever, and look forward to settling the score once and for all. I personally feel we put on a great fight for the fans and perhaps people should focus on this more.

I apologise to all my fans who feel let down by anyhting at the weekend, hey Im a young man with alot of emotion and sometimes say things in the heat of the moment.

I’d like to say thanks to everyone who has sent me there messages. Theres been to many to reply to them all. I will say this though, if Matt Hammils gonna cut me next time he might need a carving knife as Ive definately got thicker skin over the last few days.“

Bisping has now gone on the record in welcoming a rematch with Hamill, though soon after the event, UFC President Dana White said he was already working on Bisping vs. Hamill II.

One possible idea is to have the two fight for free on Spike TV as the latest installment of the “Bad Blood” series that has featured grudge rematches between Ken Shamrock and Tito Ortiz, and Jens Pulver and B.J. Penn. If the organization wanted to get creative, rematches between Rob Emerson and Gray Maynard, and Nate Diaz and Manny Gamburyan could fill out the undercard.

(Touch of gloves: reader Richard Cartey)

Sam Caplan is a special contributor to CBSSports.com’s MMA section and also publishes his own blog at FiveOuncesOfPain.com. He is now a regular contributor to MMAJunkie.com.

HEY GUYS, MORE JUICY DETAILS HITTING THE PRESS:

READ ON....

Before you look at what's coming up below (and I still can't believe there are this many fights happening in such a short amount of time), do yourself a favor and when you have moment, read this article (HERE!) from YAHOO Sports about Bisping's behavior with the press post fight. It describes what an ass he made of himself in that everybody thinks the decision was at least odd if not ridiculous. Of course I don't think this necessarily means we should condemn the Count (adrenaline, his perspective of the fight was obviously a lot different than ours, etc.), but I am sort of hoping he gets his @$$ handed to him in his next fight (and I hope it's Hamill handing it on a silver platter of a knockout!). It's just a simple case of needin' some humblin'.
-Dan

A look ahead at the remaining September UFC events
Two down … two more to go.
The packed four-week, four-fight schedule for the UFC is at the half-way point heading into the middle of September.
UFC 74 (August 25) and UFC 75 (September 8 ) are in the books. And despite the bizarre decision this weekend in the Michael Bisping-Matt Hamill bout — all in all — the fights have lived up to expectations.
Now it’s time to look ahead at what we can expect next:
UFC Fight Night 11Wednesday, September 19 at 9 p.m. ET on Spike televisionThe Palms Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada
Main Event:Din Thomas (20-6) vs. Kenny Florian (6-3)
Main card (televised):185 lbs.: Chris Leben (16-4) vs. Terry Martin (16-2)155 lbs.: Nate Diaz (6-2) vs. Junior Assuncao (5-2)185 lbs.: Nate Quarry (8-2) vs. Pete Sell (7-3)
Under card (may not be broadcast):170 lbs.: Thiago Alves (11-3) vs. Kuniyoshi Hironaka (11-3)170 lbs.: Dustin Hazelett (9-3) vs. Jonathan Goulet (19-8)155 lbs.: Leonard Garcia (10-2) vs. Cole Miller (12-2)170 lbs.: Luke Cummo (5-4) vs. Edilberto “Crocota” de Oliveira (8-1-1)155 lbs.: Gray Maynard (2-0) vs. Joe Veres (4-1)
***
UFC 76: “Knockout”Saturday, September 22 at 10 p.m. ET on pay-per-view (PPV)The Honda Center in Anaheim, California
Main event:Chuck Liddell (20-4) vs. Keith Jardine (12-3-1)
Main card (televised):205 lbs.: Mauricio “Shogun” Rua (16-2) vs. Forrest Griffin (14-4)155 lbs.: Tyson Griffin (9-1) vs. Thiago Tavares (13-0)205 lbs.: Ryoto Machida (10-0) vs. Kazuhiro Nakamura (11-6)170 lbs.: Diego Sanchez (17-1) vs. Jon Fitch (14-2)
Under card (may not be broadcast):205 lbs.: Jason Lambert (23-6) vs. Wilson Gouveia (9-4)155 lbs.: Matt Wiman (7-3) vs. Michihiro Omigawa (4-3)155 lbs.: Diego Saraiva (9-5-1) vs. Jeremy Stephens (9-2)Hvywt.: Justin McCully (8-3-2) vs. Christian Wellisch (7-3)
Remember that The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 6 will also debut right after UFC Fight Night 11 on Wednesday, September 19 at 11 p.m. ET on Spike TV. Jesse Holland will recap each episode every Wednesday night with a weekly TUF 6 column right here on UFCmania.com.
One final thought on the Bisping-Hamill fight: We’ve never received so much feedback and reaction on one single fight since we started this site in 2005.
It’s overwhelming to be quite honest.
Unfortunately, decisions are whacked sometimes. It’s the nature of any combat sport. And until the criteria — or the judges — are improved then there are probably going to be a number of “bad” decisions down the road.
In this case, however, Hamill perhaps multiplied his fan base exponentially overnight. One could argue that this loss has done more for his career than the previous three wins on his professional MMA record, as well as an appearance on a popular television reality series.
Hamill will be back in action soon and more people are going to want to see him perform than ever before. And he has two judges to thank for that.
Perhaps a small consolation, but we’re just trying to find the silver lining in all of this, folks. In addition, we don’t want to let one poor decision ruin some of the great match ups in store for us in the next few weeks.

*****All of the preceding is from ufcmania.com

UFC 75 in the BOOKS!

Knockouts, submissions, decisions, unifications and outright ROBBERY! What a night!

First off, thanks for letting us meet at your place dad (I don't even think he'll read this). The card was stacked and was sort of split between great fights and big let downs. Is Cro Cop being exposed as not being so great? I don't think so, but at the same time I think a lot of his fans are wondering what's up. I think the first round was the last round of that fight. Then the Bisping decision was a BIG let down. Rest assured, however, that MANY, MANY people feel just as outraged as us and Dana White and Zuffa/UFC are going to have to address this. Hamill won the fight hands down and, as someone on another site wrote, "He'll go to sleep tonight knowing he's the LOSER." We'll see how they try to rectify this mistake. At least one judge had it right (30-27 for Hamill).

Of course Hendo vs. Rampage didn't dissapoint and although Jackson went on to out point the crafty, salty Henderson, the fight was close and both of them showed why they are champs.

We missed the only knockout of the night, at least on the televised card, since we started the program a bit late (we'll just call 'em technical issues) in which Houston Alexander, the guy who knocked out Jardine, put his knee through Alessio Sakara's head, finishing him with strikes . I came home and watched it, so no big deal.

The fight of the night? Well, out of the fights we did see, it'd have to be Marcus "The Irish Hand Grenade" Davis' victory over the Brit Paul Taylor. Just when it looked like Taylor had Davis hurt, Davis reversed the position and ended up putting on a textbook arm bar.

I know it's almost over kill, but the next card is right around the corner. Ultimate Fight Night, the roughly bi-monthly free fights on SPIKE will go down Wednesday the 19th and then, that very next weekend, is UFC 76 Knockout which is PPV. I am not organizing these events necessarily, but I'll be watching both of them live or recorded.

Big shout out to Dave Tanner who found a way to watch 75 and is getting SPIKE soon. We miss ya man!
------------------

All in all, the fights were great. I have to quote the guys at Sherdog regarding Cro Cop:

One year ago it would have been blasphemous to suggest Mirko Filipovic (Pictures) would be 1-2 in UFC competition against the likes of Eddie Sanchez, Gabriel Gonzaga (Pictures) and Cheick Kongo (Pictures). But with his uninspired performance against the underdog Kongo, Filipovic dropped his second consecutive fight inside the octagon and might have lost any chance of challenging for the UFC heavyweight belt.

------
ONE MORE THING:
This guy from the sherdog forums broke down the BISPING vs. HAMILL fight pretty closely and I thought you might like to glance over it. REMATCH!

"My brakedown of round 2 :
5:00 - 4:20 Standup - Advantage Hamill - Bisping backing wildly (bouncing off the cage twice)
4:20 - 3:30 Ground - Advantage Hamill - Bisping gets taken down, neither does anything while down, Bisping is getting up and as he does Hamill gets in ~5 head shots (he does this throughout the fight) of medium power.
3:30 - 2:30 Standup - Advantage Bisping - Bisping and Hamill circling, Bisping throwing combos and kicks, nothing lands but all Hamill is doing is long jabs which aren't hitting.
2:30 - 2:00 Standup - Advantage Hamill - Hamill starts landing his jab and Bisping is backing up again. Hamill lands the only reasonable powerful looking standup shots of the round from a couple short clinches.
2:00 - 1:45 Ground - Advantage Hamill - Hamill shoots and takes down Bisping and pushes him against the cage. Rather than go to guard Hamill stands and does a one arm headlock and goes for head shots with the other arm. Note Bisping doesn't really work to his feet from this takedown, he is let up in exchange for the free shots to the head.
1:45 - 0:00 Standup - Advantage Bisping - Hamill stalking Bisping around as Bisping stays to the outside and throws combos. Hamill still throwing the long jab he beatup Bisping with in the first round. Bisping doesn't land a thing, Hamill lands a few of the jabs but Bisping still gets the advantage imo.

I think Hamill won 3-0 in rounds. Clearly he won round one (10-9 and closer to 10-8 than anything), and just as clearly round two, to me. I have seen several people say that Bisping won round two because of "aggression" and being able to stand up from the takedowns. I don't think either argument flies in the face of reason, and here is why:

-- Bisping was the aggressor! --
Bisping was the agressor for, at max, one half of the round. More over, his aggression was obviously less damaging than Hamill's. Hamill lands a half dozen quick shots to Bisping's head each time Bisping gets up, several jabs, and two powerful inside shots. Bisping lands a couple of jabs and a lot of combos to Hamill's arms.

-- Bisping was standing up at will --
There were two takedowns this round. The first was good defense, and while Hamill got off a few weak punches as they stood, it was good for Bisping. The second is a totally different story. Hamill took Bisping down and immediately stood up again, allowing Hamill to stand up in exchange for a clinch and half a dozen solid head shots.

As is shown throughout the fight, rather than trying to keep Bisping down, Hamill's strategy seemed to be to take Bisping down and then allow him back up in exchange for an unprotected clinch and pound. Much of Hamill's damage in the first round is from these over head (guillotine style clinches) and I think it must have been part of his strategy to do this, seeing as how he did it so consistantly.

Anyways, moral of the story : Hamill was robbed, Bisping sounded clueless in the post fight interview, and they should rematch asap imo."

UFC 75: Meet Up in the Hillz

Ok everybody (at least everybody who lives in SoCal) we're watchin' the fight tomorrow night (SAT the 8th). We'll be watching the historic fight (for the first time, the PRIDE and UFC belts will be unified) at my folk's place in Chino Hills @ 6:30PM but feel free to drop in a little bit later since the main fights won't be on until about 7:30 or so.

I am going to post the address and directions in this email as well as on the blog (mmafriends.blogspot.com).

When: 630PM Where: ******Country Creek Ct, Chino Hills
My cell: 951-660-*****
My parent's phone # (in case I don't get reception): 909-393-****
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UFC 75 BREAKDOWN, ANALYSIS, MEDIA, etc.

First off, check out http://www.ufc.com/ for tons of great multimedia including pre-fight interviews, Couture's picks for tomorrow night's fights, etc.

WEIGH-IN INFO (thanks to mmajunkie.com):

All fighters made weight.

Looking in especially tip-top shape were Houston Alexander, Terry Etim, Marcus Davis and Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic.

Today’s weigh-in results included: PRIDE champion Dan Henderson (204 lbs.) vs. UFC champion Quinton Jackson (204 lbs.)
Michael Bisping (205 lbs.) vs. Matt Hamill (205 lbs.)
Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic (220 lbs.) vs. Cheick Kongo (231 lbs.)
Marcus Davis (169 lbs.) vs. Paul Taylor (171 lbs.)
Houston Alexander (203 lbs.) vs. Alessio Sakara (205 lbs.)
UNDERCARD:
Terry Etim (155 bs.) vs. Gleison Tibau (156 lbs.)
Tomasz Drwal (204 lbs.) vs. Thiago Silva (204 lbs.) Dennis Siver (154 lbs.) vs. Naoyuki Kotani (155 lbs.) Jess Liaudin (170 lbs.) vs. Anthony Torres (170 lbs.)


READ PERFORMIFY'S PICKS HERE (basically a break down of each match up)

Dustin Hazelett Replaces Mike Swick at UFC Fight Night 11

As a big Swick fan, I was excited to see what he could do it against the dangerous Goulet, but it appears we won't see Swick's debut at welterweight due to a rib injury. Oh well, Sept. 18th still features Din Thomas v. Ken Florian to decide the top lightweight contenders (one of those guys will probably face Penn or perhaps Spencer Fisher to decide the champion at lightweight IF Sherk's appeal for steroid abuse doesn't work out).
Here is the whole story from ufcjunkie.com:

Team Jorge Gurgel fighter Dustin Hazelett (9-3 MMA, 2-1 UFC) will replace an injured Mike Swick (10-2 MMA, 5-1 UFC) and fight Jonathan Goulet (19-8 MMA, 2-2 UFC) at UFC Fight Night 11 on Sept. 19.

UFCjunkie.com (www.ufcjunkie.com) confirmed the fight with Hazelett’s camp early this morning.

Swick, a one-time top middleweight contender, was set to make his debut at 170 pounds but suffered a rib injury that forced him off the Spike TV card. The UFC instead turned to Hazelett, a 21-year-old welterweight with UFC victories over Diego Saraiva and Stevie Lynch.

UFC Fight Night 11 airs on Spike TV at 9 p.m. and precedes the debut episode of “The Ultimate Fighter: Team Hughes vs. Team Serra.” Lightweight Din Thomas takes on Kenny Florian in the night’s main event. It’s not known if the Hazelett-Goulet bout will remain on the televised portion of the event; Spike TV officials were not available for comment this morning.

In July Swick told UFCjunkie.com that he he was originally slated to face fellow “The Ultimate Fighter

ESPN "Rock 'em Sock 'em Video

w/RAMPAGE Jackson who is, of course, defending his belt THIS SATURDAY.