Main event:
Antonio Rodrigo “Minotauro” Nogueira (30-4- 1) vs. Tim Sylvia (24-3) for interim UFC Heavyweight Championship
Main card (televised):Hvywt.: Frank Mir (10-3) vs. Brock Lesnar (1-0)
185 lbs.: Nate Marquardt (25-7-2) vs. Jeremy Horn (79-16-5)
185 lbs.: Alan Belcher (11-3) vs. Ricardo Almeida (8-2)Undercard (May not be broadcast):
155 lbs.: Tyson Griffin (10-1) vs. Gleison Tibau (15-4)
170 lbs.: Chris Lytle (24-15-5) vs. Kyle Bradley (13-4)
185 lbs.: Terry Martin (16-3) vs. Marvin Eastman (14-7-1)
185 lbs.: David Heath (7-2) vs. Tim Boetsch (6-1)
155 lbs.: Keita Nakamura (14-2-2) vs. Rob Emerson (6-6)Now from some posts from various mma blogs:
“I think I did good. I just got cut. I think it was getting better and better for me and sometimes you eat the bear and sometimes the bear eats you…. I just opened up a new school here in my hometown of Victorville and I want to take about 5 months off before my next fight. I want to do everything right. I got another baby on the way with my beautiful wife. I want to keep everything in line and go out there with no distractions.”
– Joe Stevenson tells FightHype.com that he plans to take some time off after his submission loss to BJ Penn at UFC 80: “Rapid Fire” during the fight for the vacant lightweight championship. In the first round of the match “Daddy” was cut with a well-placed elbow and bled like a stuck pig. It more than likely had a significant impact on the relatively quick result of the fight.
(Thanks to FightLinker.com for the tasty blood squirt image.)
Props: UFC.com
Quoteworthy:
– Former welterweight champion Matt Hughes sounds re-energized after a whirlwind book tour that took him across the United States. He checked in with Thomas Gerbasi at UFC.com to talk about the success of his biography, “Made in America,” (it’s #21 on the New York Times bestseller list), as well as assure fans that he will not retire after the second lopsided loss to Georges St. Pierre at UFC 79: “Nemesis” last month. In fact, he asked UFC President Dana White to match him up with his coaching counterpart on season six of The Ultimate Fighter (TUF), Matt Serra, ifs he loses to St. Pierre at UFC 84 in April. Hughes and Serra were supposed to fight at UFC 79 but Serra had to withdraw because of a serious injury he sustained to his back while training.“I told (UFC President) Dana (White) that I might take a little time off to see my family and because I’m starting this new gym, the H.I.T. Squad, and I’m getting my clothing line out there. But I want to see Georges and Matt fight, and I told Dana that I’d probably like to fight Matt Serra after that fight. If Matt loses, I’ll be looking to fight him. The fans will definitely see me in the Octagon again. I will be there.”
SOMETIME LATE THIS YEAR OR NEXT YEAR WE'LL SEE THE FIGHT EVERYONE WANTS, FEDOR vs. COUTURE:
Props: Sherdog.com
Diaz also mentions Kenny Florian, Kurt Pellegrino and Din Thomas specifically. He’s also a bit confused about the decision to let Joe Lauzon fight Florian when Diaz is the one who won The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 5.
Props: Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Quoteworthy:
“My next fight will probably be in the summer and I am thinking about Jardine since Jackson is already scheduled to fight (Forrest Griffin). I can’t wait around (for Jackson). I love the sport and I think I have a couple years left in me. I’m a very competitive person. I don’t even like to lose at things I’m not good at.”
Chuck Liddell reiterates that he wants to rematch Keith Jardine next — “The Dean of Mean” upset the “Iceman” at UFC 76: “Knockout” in September 2007. Liddell rebounded to defeat Wanderlei Silva in a thrilling three-round war at UFC 79: “Nemesis” in December 2007. Meanwhile, we haven’t heard much at all about Jardine (even though it was perhaps the biggest win of his career). Something tells me that whatever Chuck “thinks,” Chuck gets.
New pictures of UFC heavyweight fighter Mirko Cro Cop training have recently surfaced all over the Internet boards and blogs.
That normally wouldn’t be too newsworthy if it wasn’t for the fact the UFC President Dana White just announced over the weekend that the Croatian is “currently thinking about his future and is undecided about what his next move is.”
It’s a statement that contradicts recent comments from Cro Cop that he has five or six more fights left in the tank and was even interested in competing on the UFC 80: “Rapid Fire” card.
Something is not right. And with the heavyweight division all of a sudden void of numerous top contenders (again) now might be the time to make it right.
Sooner rather than later.
Diego Sanchez (17-2) will not take on Roan Carneiro at UFC 82: “Pride of a Champion” on March 1 at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio, as previously reported. Instead, the former winner of The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 1 will fight Swedish import, David Bielkheden (12-5).There was no mention of a reason behind the opponent switch in the MySpace bulletin sent around earlier this morning from the “Nightmare.”
Bielkheden is a veteran of the Japanese mixed martial arts (MMA) scene, having competed under the Pride FC and Shooto banners, among others. The “Scandinavian Lion” is on a two-fight win streak and will be making his Octagon debut.
Sanchez, on the other hand, will look to rebound from back-to-back losses to American Kickboxing Academy (AKA) training partners, Josh Koscheck and Jon Fitch. Those were the first two defeats of his professional mixed martial arts (MMA) career and he was contemplating moving down to fight at lightweight.
However, Sanchez recently decided against that and will now look to get back on track against Bielkheden at 170 pounds.
Carneiro posed some serious size and strength problems for Sanchez. It doesn’t appear that Bielkheden poses the same challenge. Other than that it’s hard to give an assessment on the bout without much intel on Brazilian Top Team’s Bielkheden.
Because Sanchez is involved this match up will more than likely make the televised main card, which is quite an accomplishment considering how deep it is. Of course, the main event features the sick showdown between UFC Middleweight Champion, Anderson Silva, and the last man to hold the Pride FC welterweight title, Dan Henderson.
For the most recent UFC 82 fight card click here.
With Akihiro Gono out with a hand injury, MMAmania.com has learned that Chris Wilson (13-3) might step up to face top welterweight contender, Jon Fitch (15-2), at UFC 82: “Pride of a Champion” on March 1 at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio.It would mark the Octagon debut for the red-hot Team Quest fighter if and when bout agreements are finalized.
Wilson is a veteran of the International Fight League (IFL) and Bodog Fight. He has strung together four straight wins against solid competitors such as Rory Markham, Jay Heiron and Derrick noble during that stretch.
He’s a tough guy who will be thrown in the deep end against an experienced UFC veteran like Fitch in his Octagon debut. It’s an incredible opportunity, however, to make an instant splash in the organization much like Houston Alexander did when he burst onto the scene to dash the title chances of Keith Jardine.
Fitch, however, is undefeated (7-0) in the Octagon since his debut in 2005. He has also not lost a professional fight since 2002 — more than five years. His rise to the top of the division has been long and hard and it didn’t get much easier with this fight … it’s dangerous.
In the recent past, we’ve called for Fitch to take on Karo Parisyan and Marcus Davis, who are top guys and well-known among fans. Those fights are not going to happen in the immediate future. Therefore, we’ll have to just sit tight and hang on for the ride.
This should actually be a tough fight for both guys if the Wilson who appeared in the footage that I’ve seen shows up in Ohio in top form.
For the latest UFC 82 fight card click here
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Hey everyone...
UFC 81 is coming up. I'm not planning on hosting the event, but let me know if you or anyone else is because I'd love to see the fight. If I don't catch it, I'll just watch it late that night on pancrase.org. The card is good, indeed which UFC card isn't these days with such deep rosters, BUT a lot of these fights have the potential to be boring since the fighters are very good AND not known to take major risks (I'm thinking specifically of the title fight AND the Marquardt/Horn bout). The fights with the most allure to me are the Mir/Lesnar fight and the Griffin/Tibau fight. It's going to be exciting to see how an prowrestler turned MMA fighter (he does have collegiate wrestling experience) does against an ex-HW champ/black belt jiu-jitsu fighter. Also, I can't believe they're not going to televise the Griffin fight for sure, Griffin is an awesome, exciting fighter.
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