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-****
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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.

UFC 75 is FREE...with THREE TITLES on the line!

Free, Saturday night, Sept. 8th on Spike TV...starts @ 6PM Pacific Time on DishNetwork. Set the date or miss out on the best free night of fights ever.

Check out the site for a preview of the upcoming fights at by clicking here or on the image of the poster above---> UFC 75. If you don't know, 75 is free despite the fact that it's a PPV in Europe and other parts of the world, but thanks to the SPIKE TV/Zuffa LLC contract, it's FREE for all of us fans in the U.S.!

Check out the break down for the fight card as well as an analysis of the whole light-heavyweight division of the UFC/PRIDE on the site. Make sure to click on "Fighter Details" for the biggest names in the division such as Liddell, Wanderlei Silva, Shogun Rua, etc. and you'll see highlights, etc. for each fighter. AWESOME SITE. Although there are other guys out there at 205 lbs. in the world, many of the best are right here now that Dana & Co. have brought the fighters from both camps together. Never before has there really been divisions as deep as the UFC's welterweight (170 lb) and lightheavy's (205 lbs). If you're not big into this sport but think it's interesting, it's time to jump on and do your homework, and this site's a good place to start since they show you highlights and show the records, etc. of each fighter.

http://75.ufc.com/

Remember this event is free, Sept. 8th on regular TV and although it says 9PM, I think it comes on Spike here in Pac time at 7 or 8PM. I'll find out and let you know on the blog and in email. We had a good turn out for UFC 74 which was pay per view, so I imagine even more of you might want to come out. THere are three HUGE fights going on, including the fight that will officially unify PRIDE and UFC since Rampage holds the UFC's lightheavy belt and Henderson holds BOTH the middleweight and LHW titles in PRIDE. So he could potentially hold all three belts if he takes from Jackson what Jackson took from Liddell with the huge right hook.

I know my dad's place is open in Chino Hills, but that might be a bit far for the Riverside crowd. It's up to you guys. If one of you wants to host it, let me know. Ned said he'd do it, but he doesn't have Spike. ); For me it's always "the more the merrier," but in the end I'm such a hardcore fan that I'll watch it all by myself at home (and my DVR is always set to record anything with "UFC," "IFL," or "MMA" in the title.

More info on UFC 75 and why it's an important night for the UFC and MMA.

UFC 75: Champion vs. Champion is an upcoming mixed martial arts (MMA) event to be held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). The event is currently scheduled for Saturday, September 8, 2007 at The O₂ in London, England.^[1] The event will be available on live pay-per-view in the United Kingdom on Setanta Sports, PPV1 in Ireland, and offered on tape delay on Spike TV for North American audiences.^[2]

The main event will be a title unification match between UFC light heavyweight champion Quinton "Rampage" Jackson and PRIDE Fighting Championships' 83 kg and 93 kg champion, Dan Henderson. British light heavyweight Michael Bisping, who won The Ultimate Fighter 3 contest in 2006, will fight Team Punishment's Matt Hamill, who rivaled with Bisping during the taping of The Ultimate Fighter 3. Also scheduled is a heavyweight bout between PRIDE and K-1 veteran Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipović and French Muay Thai kickboxer Cheick Kongo.

The event will be the fourth event held by the UFC in Europe, following UFC 38 in London, England, UFC 70 in Manchester, England, and UFC 72 in Belfast, Northern Ireland .

The title bout will be a unification fight as originally speculated. UFC president Dana White had remarked on July 2, 2007, regarding the question of the Quinton Jackson-Dan Henderson fight being a unification bout:

"No. What we're doing with that thing is we're respecting both (the UFC and PRIDE) titles. The UFC title is the UFC champion and we're respecting Dan as the PRIDE champion. Quinton will walk out with his belt if Dan wins and vice versa." ^[3]

He has since changed that stance, and on July 10, 2007 stated:

"It will absolutely be a unification bout. We have to respect Henderson's titles. He knocked out Wanderlei Silva and had the 185-pound championship. When he fights "Rampage", they both have belts. Why should Dan Henderson get the UFC title if "Rampage" can't get the PRIDE titles? It makes one of them the undisputed guy." ^[4]

Main card

• Light heavyweight unification bout: Quinton Jackson vs. Dan Henderson^[5]
• Light heavyweight bout: Matt Hamill vs. Michael Bisping^[6]
• Heavyweight bout: Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipović vs. Cheick Kongo^[7]
• Light heavyweight bout: Houston Alexander vs. Alessio Sakara^[8]
• Welterweight bout: Paul Taylor vs. Marcus Davis^[9]

Preliminary card

• Middleweight bout: Thiago Silva vs. Tomasz Drwal^[10]
• Lightweight bout: Naoyuki Kotani vs. Dennis Siver ^[11]
• Welterweight bout: Anthony Torres vs. Jess Liaudin^[12]
• Lightweight bout: Gleison Tibau vs. Terry Etim ^[13]

UFC 74 is in the books!

UFC 74 is over and all of us who attended the event want to thank Matt Yacubic for allowing us to post up in his home. We had a great time watching Couture defend the title and GSP take one step closer to regaining his own title in the WW division (he'll likely face Matt Hughes after Hughes walks through Matt Serra in December, those two won't fight until then because they have to wait until TUF season 6 is over).

UFC 74 quick results:
Randy Couture defeats Gabriel Gonzaga via technical knockout(strikes) in round three
Georges St. Pierre defeats Josh Koscheck via unanimous decision
Roger Huerta defeats Alberto Crane via technical knockout (strikes) in round three
Joe Stevenson defeats Kurt Pellegrino via unanimous decision
Patrick Cote defeats Kendall Grove via technical knockout (strikes) in round one
Renato “Babalu” Sobral defeats David Heath via submission (anaconda choke) in round two- fined $25,000 for not releasing the choke on purpose.
Frank Mir defeats Antoni Hardonk via submission (kimura) in round one
Thales Leites defeats Ryan Jensen via submission (armbar) in round one
Clay Guida defeats Marcus Aurelio via split decision

So what's next for Couture? Apparently someone else really, really tough:

“While not confirmed, UFC officials after the fight were talking about another Brazilian, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, the former Pride heavyeight champion, as Couture’s next opponent…. Couture, who rarely asks for a specific opponent, wants a match with Fedor Emelianenko, generally considered the world’s best heavyweight. Negotiations between Dana White and Emelianenko’s representatives have gone hot and cold over the past two months, but they have another meeting scheduled for the next week.”

– Dave Meltzer, contributing to FOXSports.com, reports on what might be next for UFC Heavyweight Champion Randy Couture after his third-round technical knockout of Gabriel Gonzaga last night at UFC 74: “Respect.”

Last chance!

If you haven't made plans to be there, check out the post below...UFC 74 @ Matt's house @7PM.

From UFCMANIA.com:

UFC 74 quick preview, analysis and predictions

We’ve waited nearly two very long months for UFC 74: “Respect” tomorrow night at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.

We’ve had so much time to hear about and discuss this fight card that it would seem like we’ve made up our minds about the potential results.

Not the case.

Me and our loyal contributor, Jesse Holland, went head-to-head once again, attempting to predict the outcomes on the main card action at UFC 74.

Yep, back by unpopular demand we’re once again off to provide UFCmania readers with two unique perspectives on the main card fights.

We agree on four out of the five fights (surprisingly), but I’m still at a crossroads on a few fights even on the eve of the event.

Who knows.

Below, you’ll see that we both took one fighter in each bout to support. It’s important to note that while we may be lauding a certain fighter, he isn’t necessarily the guy who we think is going to win.

Basically, we never want this to come out sounding repetitive — I do that enough day in and day out. At the end of each analysis, therefore, you will see our picks.

Here we go:

Randy Couture (15-8) vs. Gabriel Gonzaga (8-1)
UFCmania: At 44 years old, Randy Couture not only defies genetics, but oddsmakers, too. He thrives in the underdog role, winning 10 of 11 fights in that capacity — his loss to Chuck Liddell at UFC 57 being the only exception. He also happens to boast a tremendous amount of skill and experience. Like a fine wine (Yes, I said it) he seems to get better with age. “The Natural” has evolved into a master gameplanner with his recent win over Tim Sylvia being the prime example. Couture, however, has been far more gracious leading up to this fight with Gonzaga in terms of praise and what he knows will be a very tough fight. I’m not sure Randy believes deep down that he will win this fight, but I do. Gonzaga is a beast and will no doubt be around for a long time. I just don’t see Couture losing this one. He’s going to push the pace early and wear down the younger, stronger Gonzaga en route to a late-round referee stoppage. Cardio and no “pre-fight” jitters are going to be the difference makers in this one.

Jesse Holland: Gabriel Gonzaga, like Anderson Silva before him, turned the UFC on its head back at UFC 70. “Napao” was supposed to be cannon fodder for the newly acquired Mirko Cro Cop. Instead Gonzaga proved that with heart, determination and a perfectly timed head kick you can beat anyone. Now he looks to ride that momentum right into a championship win. It won’t be an easy task however as Randy Couture has made a career out of defying the odds. Still, it’s hard not to favor the younger and more powerful Brazilian. Gonzaga is skilled at both jiu-jitsu and striking, but needs to keep this fight on the ground where he can control the pace and eventually work the submission or try and ground and pound his way to the belt. Knowing Gonzaga’s reputation for running out of gas and Couture’s ability to fight for a week straight, Napao needs to bring the fury hard and fast. If he can, he may very well leave Vegas the UFC heavyweight champ.

Final Predictions:
UFCmania — Couture via technical knockout
Holland — Couture via technical knockout

Georges St. Pierre (13-2) vs. Josh Koscheck (9-1)
UFCmania: Josh Koscheck has been competing in some capacity since he more or less stopped rocking diapers. This guy is a sensational wrestler who has defeated the top competition in the nation at his weight class for the better part of his adolescent and adult life. His resume is that good. But, this is mixed martial arts and not a wrestling match. I think those skills and that experience will no doubt give Koscheck a very good chance at winning this fight. Cripes, his stand-up even looked solid his last time out against Diego Sanchez. This is going to be a much better fight than most people give it credit. I see it going down much like St. Pierre vs. BJ Penn ala UFC 58: Koscheck is going to come out strong and dominate the first round. After that, St. Pierre will win the next two en route to a decision win, putting to rest all the “heart” and “mental toughness” talk for good. Or … at least another fight.

Jesse Holland: Come back Georges St. Pierre, all is forgiven. Some UFC fans may have turned their backs on the young Canadian but to be fair, GSP brings it upon himself. I think the Matt Serra loss and subsequent aftermath was a huge wake-up call. While he still may not have his head screwed on straight, I think we are going to see an angry GSP on Saturday. Koscheck knows how to win and has great credentials, but he’s never faced a fighter as dynamic as GSP. Koscheck’s wrestling will mean nothing in this contest, just as Sherk’s did when he faced the former champ back at UFC 56. GSP’s win column is a “who’s who” of UFC champions including the aforementioned Sherk, Matt Hughes and BJ Penn. He’s also gone to war with Karo Parisyan and snuffed out Frank Trigg. The biggest test to date for Koscheck was a zombie-like Diego Sanchez, who could be the first fighter to bring Matador D to an MMA match. This one won’t last long.

Final Predictions:
UFCmania — St. Pierre via decision
Holland — St. Pierre via technical knockout

Joe Stevenson (27-7) vs. Kurt Pellegrino (10-2)
UFCmania: Since losing to Drew Fickett and dropping down to lightweight, Kurt Pellegrino has been on a tear, submitting his last three opponents all in the first round. That’s more than likely not going to happen against Joe Stevenson, but at the same time, it wouldn’t surprise me if it did. This should be a very technical ground war — neither fighter boasts very dangerous stand-up games. For me, again, this one comes down to conditioning. And I hate to say it, but that’s been just about the only knock on Stevenson. I think he’s ready for a full 15 minutes, however, and he’s going to need it against an extremely game “Batman.” At the end of the bout, this fight ends in a decision and Stevenson goes on to fight BJ Penn for the vacant 155-pound title later this year.

Jesse Holland: If they were handing out an award for the UFC’s most improved fighter, it would probably go to Joe Stevenson. He looked flat against Luke Cummo at the TUF 2 finale and his loss to Josh Neer was less than inspiring. Since then he’s been on an absolute tear. His move to lightweight brought out the talent we all knew he had, as he laid waste to Yves Edwards and dropped the guillotine on Dokonjonosuke Mishima and Melvin Guillard. Pellegrino is no pushover however, and this is not the time for “Daddy” to get careless. Stevenson’s best chance is on the ground where he can unleash his ruthless ground and pound. If Pellegrino gives up his back, it will be over quickly. This is an important match for Stevenson because a win here (should) put him into title contention. He may have that on his head going into Saturday night but I don’t think a fighter with his experience will be fazed by it.

Final Predictions:
UFCmania — Stevenson via decision
Holland — Stevenson via submission

Roger Huerta (18-1-1) vs. Alberto Crane (8-0)
UFCmania: Alberto Crane has been out of the professional fight game for two years. Yet, he has somehow secured a spot on a UFC main card pay-per-view (PPV) against one of the brightest stars in the lightweight division. Set up? Perhaps. But Crane is a very slick and experienced ground fighter, earning his Brazilian jiu-jitsu blackbelt under the esteemed Carlos Gracie. Huerta, for some reason, never impresses me. His cardio and “fightuidtiveness” certainly does, but that’s about it. “El Matador” looked real shaky against Doug Evans, and although the fight was dynamite, he should have finished Leonard Garcia at UFC 69 to earn my utmost and armchair respect. Put simply, Huerta looks the part and acts the part, but I don’t think he is the part. Not now, anyway. Crane says he sees holes in Huerta’s game … and I believe him. When I think Alberto Crane for this fight, I think Jason MacDonald. And when I think Roger Huerta for this fight, I think Ed Herman. Color me crazy. Check back on Sunday when I might have egg on my face. For now, I’m going with the upset and Crane via submission. And it might just be the best thing to happen to Huerta for the long-term.

Jesse Holland: Roger Huerta may be the hardest working man in showbiz. Since his fight against John Halverson at UFC 67, “El Matador” has been fighting every two months with Saturday’s match being his fourth in 2007. It’s not unreasonable to think such a pace can catch up with a fighter (see the Evans match), but I don’t think it’s a problem for the young lightweight. Like Stevenson, Huerta is on the fast track to a lightweight title match and he needs to keep the momentum going. Perhaps the reward for fighting so frequently is yet another unproven UFC newcomer? It’s no reward for us. Alberto Crane is a very talented submission specialist, but against who? And how do we know if Crane will fold under the pressure of fighting on his first live pay-per-view? There are too many unanswered question for me to think Huerta will have much trouble dispatching his lightweight opponent. His best bet is to avoid the ground game and use his superior striking to batter Crane for three rounds.

Final Predictions:
UFCmania — Crane via submission
Holland — Huerta via unanimous decision

Kendall Grove (8-3) vs. Patrick Cote (10-4)
UFCmania: Season three winner of The Ultimate Fighter (TUF), Kendall Grove, improves markedly every time he steps inside the Octagon. On August 25, things will be no different. Not even the chronic, er, punching power of Patrick Cote is going to derail this Hawaiian locomotive. At this point, against this level of competition, the only person who is going to beat Kendall Grove is himself. He’s super tall, tough and able to win this fight standing or on the mat. Sans a lucky punch, Grove is taking this win and looking ahead at cracking the upper echelon of the division in the near future.

Jesse Holland: It’s no secret that Patrick Cote has become something of a punchline at this point, but he does have a chance to beat Kendall Grove. He’s choked out another lanky fighter with an impressive resume in Jason “The Athlete” MacDonald and could also do it here. It’s not likely, but hey this is MMA and as we all know anything can happen. Better yet, Cote could swing for the fences and hope to score a flash knockout, like the punch that almost dropped Tito Ortiz back at UFC 50. I’ve never been a big fan of disengaging, but Cote should keep his distance and try to frustrate the rising star. If Grove gets frustrated he may try for something big and Cote can catch him. Or Cote can grease the steps leading up to the Octagon and hope Grove wipes out and sprains his ankle. I know in soccer it’s not uncommon for a player to get hit in the leg and collapse in a heap, feigning a groin injury. Maybe Cote can win by DQ? Like I said, anything can happen.

Final Predictions:
UFCmania — Grove via technical knockout
Holland — Grove via technical knockout

What do you think? Now it’s your turn … let us have it in the comments section and provide your picks for UFC 74.

For the complete UFC 74 fight card click here.

Aug 25th UFC 74 Couture vs. Gonzaga

When: Next Sat. (or this Sat. depending on when you read this) August 25th @ 7PM
Where:
The Homie Matt's House
3376 Utah St Riverside, California 92507
Call me with ANY questions: 951-660-5499 or hit me up on my email account djtodd@gmail.com

DIRECTIONS:
1. Exit the 60 freeway at University Avenue and go North (towards UCR, in fact, regardless of what direction you're coming, you'll turn LEFT)
2. University makes you turn left and then you'll find yourself on Canyon Crest automatically.
3. Next, you'll pass one light and the second light is LINDEN. Turn RIGHT on PLUM St. which is a very small street on your right just past Linden.
4. Go all the way up PLUM and it turns in UTAH St.
5. Matt's house is 3376 on Utah and is on the right side. Look for his green Saturn with a ski rack on top. Call me if you don't find it right away and I'll step outside.

About UFC 74: Respect
First off, check out the official website at
http://74.ufc.com

Announced matchups

Main card

• Heavyweight championship bout: Randy Couture vs. Gabriel Gonzaga
• Welterweight bout: Georges St. Pierre vs. Josh Koscheck
• Lightweight bout: Joe Stevenson vs. Kurt Pellegrino
• Middleweight bout: Patrick Côté vs. Kendall Grove
• Lightweight bout: Roger Huerta vs. Alberto Crane

Premilinary card

• Light heavyweight bout: Renato Sobral vs. David Heath
• Heavyweight bout: Frank Mir vs Antoni Hardonk
• Lightweight bout: Marcus Aurelio vs. Clay Guida
• Middleweight bout: Thales Leites vs. Ryan Jensen

My brief take:
When we watched Couture, the over the hill vet and hall of famer, step out of retirement to fight Sylvia, the giant, for the HW title, we all cringed. Could the old man pull it off or would he end up crumpled in the corner, washed up and burnt out? We feared the worst and hoped for the best.

We were on our feet throughout the fight, from the opening over hand right that dropped the "Maine-iac" to the last round when we all knew he had done it. Now Randy "The Natural" Couture faces an even bigger challenge in Brazilian phenom Gabe Gonzaga, the man who became famous by knocking out the most feared heavyweight striker Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic with a ferocious high kick, Cro Cop's own signature move, one he's used countless times to KO opponents.

On Aug 25th you better believe we'll be there for Couture once again. Although I must admit I wouldn't put money on my man, I will root for him and I know he can do it, although the odds are heavily stacked against him. Gonzaga himself has admitted that he fears Couture not only for his physical prowess, but for his intelligence and perseverance.

On the same card we have a match up I am equally excited for: Georges St. Pierre vs. Josh Koscheck. The winner of this fight will likely fight for the welterweight title after the current champ, Matt "The Terror" Serra fights Matt Hughes, a fight that'll go down in December (the UFC has two major shows booked for December, it's going to be a mega month for MMA in general). GSP is one of my fav fighters and one of the best fighters, pound for pound, in the sport. He's only been beaten twice: once by Matt Hughes, who he later destroyed in just over a round, and then, of course, he lost when he was beaten with a fluke punch (IMHO) in his title fight with Serra. It's time for him to prove his stuff, but Koscheck is one tough SOB. I can't decide who I think's going to win, although you know I want GSP and I know he can do it, it just depends on how things unfold at the beginning of the fight. Kos says he'll strike, which may be true, but if he does, I think GSP will take it. Kos has almost unstoppable take down power and we'll see how GSP defends/adapts.

Two other fighters to keep an eye on: Huerta, who at lightweight is amazing and is probably going to get a title shot soon if he gets past this fight and then there's Joe Stevenson who is also a lightweight and a contender. These guys are not fighting each other, which would be an amazing fight, but the guy's they're fighting are no push overs either.

Check out their records and all others at ufc.com

There are plenty of other very interesting match ups, but two are being served up as the main dishes and rightly so.

From UFC.COM:
Las Vegas, NV (USA) – Fight fans around the world watched Randy “The Natural” Couture as he dominated Tim Sylvia for five straight rounds to become the only man ever to win the UFC® World Heavyweight title three times. Seven weeks later, millions watched in awe as Gabriel “Napão” Gonzaga landed a devastating knockout over Mirko “Cro Cop”, one of the most skilled and feared heavyweights in the world. Having earned the respect of sports fans everywhere, both Couture and Gonzaga – the two best heavyweights in the UFC – will now face each other in one of the most anticipated title fights in history. The Ultimate Fighting Championship® organization presents UFC 74: RESPECT featuring the championship main event Couture vs. Gonzaga and the special feature Georges St-Pierre vs. Josh Koscheck, live from Las Vegas at the Mandalay Bay Events Center Saturday, August 25.

“With Gonzaga coming in and beating Mirko “Cro Cop” the way he did and Randy Couture defeating Tim Sylvia the way he did makes for one of the most exciting heavyweight fights in UFC history,” said UFC President Dana White. “I honestly can’t remember the last time I was this excited for a heavyweight matchup – I can’t wait to see these two get in the Octagon at UFC 74.”

Tickets for UFC 74: RESPECT will go on sale Sunday, July 8 and will be priced at $800, $500, $300, $200, $100 and $50. Tickets will be sold at any Mandalay Bay box office and all Las Vegas Ticketmaster locations (Smith’s Food and Drug Centers, Macy’s stores and Ritmo Latino). To charge by phone with a major credit card, call the Mandalay Bay box office at (702) 632-7580 or Ticketmaster at (702) 474-4000. Tickets also are available for purchase at www.ufc.com, www.mandalaybay.com or www.ticketmaster.com.

UFC 74: RESPECT is available live on pay-per-view at 10 p.m. EST/7 p.m. PST on iN DEMAND, DIRECTV, DISH Network, TVN, Bell ExpressVu, Shaw Communications and Viewer’s Choice Canada for a suggested retail price of $39.95 ($39.99 CAD) and in HD where available for $49.95.

Welcome Chute Boxe and their Murderers!

It’s all about Shogun baby! Ok, with that out of the way, it’s still exciting to be able to say that we have Wanderlei Silva, a long time warrior of the sport who has had a dominating career in PRIDE over in Japan. Silva, aka “The Axe Murderer” comes from the same camp as Shogun (Mauricio Rua, Forrest Griffin’s next match-up), the famed CHUTE BOXE academy located out of Brazil and known for putting out more black belts in Muy-Thai than you can shake a stick at. Love ‘em or hate ‘em, Shogun and Silva are going to mix things up in the LHW and perhaps the MW divisions in the UFC.

Personally, I like these fighters because I appreciate their violent, aggressive means of dispatching opponents. From MMA Weekly: “Shogun was Pride GP Champion in 2005 with only 23 years old, with 16 wins in MMA, 13 by K.O. and one by submission. Mauricio Shogun Rua will debut in Steptember, and he is angry for the belt according to his own words.:

Let’s see what these guys can do against the top contenders in the UFCs ranks. Dana White was recently heard stating that from here on out, for three years or so, we have nothing but supercards. People have been clamoring for Liddell vs. Silva for a long time and imagine something like Shogun vs. Rampage Jackson? Oh yeah, that already happened and Rampage got OWNED.