MMA Hot Stuff

TUF 10 Finale Drug Tests Negative

Of the nine athletes that were tested for drugs/steroid use, all came back negative per the email I received from Keith Kizer (Nevada Athletic Commission). Those nine athletes that were tested were; Roy Nelson, Brendan Schaub, Matt Hamill, Jon Jones, Kimbo Slice (Kevin Ferguson), Frankie Edgar, Matt Mitrione, John Howard and Mark Bocek.  

UFC & Spike TV Announce Bouts for TUF Finale

UFC® AND SPIKE TV ANNOUNCE TWO EXCITING BOUTS TO BE FEATURED ON “THE ULTIMATE FIGHTER®: HEAVYWEIGHTS” FINALE SATURDAY, DECEMBER 5

Undefeated Jon Jones Takes On The Ultimate Fighter^® Alum Matt Hamill And Lightweight Contenders Frankie Edgar And Kurt Pellegrino Do Battle

Las Vegas, NV (USA) October 14, 2009 – The live finale of The Ultimate Fighter^®: Heavyweights on Spike TV will include two bouts showcasing four of the UFC’s rising stars.  Emanating from The Pearl at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, NV on Saturday, Dec. 5 at 9:00 PM ET, the co-features announced today include a light heavyweight bout between Jon Jones and Matt Hamill and a lightweight matchup pitting Frankie Edgar against Kurt Pellegrino. 

Tickets for The Ultimate Fighter^® 10 Finale are $500, $350 and $250, plus any additional box office or service fees, and go on-sale Saturday, Oct. 17 at 12pm PT.  Please visit any Ticketmaster location, call 800-745-3000 or visit www.ticketmaster.com to purchase tickets.

UFC^® Fight Club^™ members will have the opportunity to purchase tickets to The Ultimate Fighter^® 10 Finale Thursday, Oct. 15 at 10 a.m. PT via the website UFCFIGHTCLUB.com. A special Internet ticket pre-sale will be available to UFC newsletter subscribers Friday, Oct. 16 starting at 10 a.m. PT. To access this presale, users must register for the UFC newsletter through UFC.com.

Despite being one of the youngest fighters in the UFC, the 22 year-old Jones has emerged as one of the fastest rising talents in the sport of mixed martial arts.  The Endicott, NY resident has a perfect 9-0 professional record, with his last three victories coming inside the UFC Octagon^™, the most notable of which was a unanimous decision over Stephan Bonnar at UFC 94 in January. 

Hamill (8-2) gained national attention as a standout performer on season three of The Ultimate Fighter.  The three-time NCAA wrestling champion with a devastating ground game has won his last two bouts in the UFC, including a knockout of Mark Munoz in the first round of their contest at UFC 96 in March.  This light heavyweight bout will also be a battle for bragging rights in upstate New York, as Hamill trains in Utica.   

Coming off an impressive victory over Sean Sherk at UFC 98 in May, Edgar (10-1) now ranks amongst the top 155 lb fighters in the UFC.  To continue his quest for BJ Penn’s lightweight crown, the Toms River, NJ product must defeat fellow New Jersey resident, Kurt Pellegrino.

The pride of Point Pleasant, NJ, Pellegrino (20-4) is coming off the biggest win of his career, a three-round decision victory over Josh Neer at UFC 101 in August.  His third consecutive win in the Octagon put him in the upper echelon of the 155 lb division, and a victory against Edgar would move him ever-closer to a title shot. 

Other bouts, including the finals of “The Ultimate Fighter: Heavyweights,” will be announced at a later date.  The two finalists will be competing for a six-figure contract with the preeminent mixed martial arts organization in the world, The Ultimate Fighting Championship®. 

Spike TV is available in 98.6 million homes and is a division of MTV Networks.  A unit of Viacom (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), MTV Networks is one of the world’s leading creators of programming and content across all media platforms. Spike TV’s Internet address is www.spike.com and for up-to-the-minute and archival press information and photographs, visit Spike TV's press site at http://www.spike.com/press.

For more information, or current UFC fight news, visit UFC.com, UK.UFC.com, GERMANY.UFC.com, UFCJapan.jp or UFCEspanol.com. All bouts live and subject to change.

About The Ultimate Fighting Championship®

UFC is the largest live pay-per-view provider in the world and the fastest growing main stream sports organization in history.  Owned and operated by Zuffa™, LLC, and headquartered in Las Vegas, Nev., UFC® produces over twelve live pay-per-view events annually that are distributed residentially through North American cable and satellite providers including iNDEMAND Networks, DIRECTV, DISH Network, Avail-TVN Entertainment, BellTV, SaskTel Max™, Shaw Pay-Per-View, and Viewers Choice. International distributors include WOWOW in Japan, Premiere Combate and SporTV in Brazil, with worldwide distribution via the Internet on UFC.com and Yahoo! Sports.  UFC content is distributed commercially through Joe Hand Promotions in the U.S. and Canadastar in Canada.  UFC programming is distributed in 132 countries, territories and jurisdictions, reaching 415 million homes worldwide.

 

Ultimate Fighting Championship®, Ultimate Fighting®, UFC®, The Ultimate Fighter®, Submission®, As Real As It Gets®, Zuffa® , The Octagon™ and the eight-sided competition mat and cage design are registered trademarks, registered service marks, trademarks, trade dress and/or service marks owned exclusively by Zuffa, LLC and licensed to its affiliated entities and other licensees in the United States and other jurisdictions. All other marks referenced herein may be the property of Zuffa, LLC, its affiliates or other respective owners.

Week in Review: UFC WEC And Everything In Between

Hi ladies
wow, where have I been?! My body was kind enough to turn a common cold into bronchitis during the weekend of UFC 98 and forced me to take a week "off". But I'm feeling much better and there has been a lot going on!

While UFC 98 has come and gone I need to fess up and say my picks were ALL WRONG. And to those of you that emailed me to point that out, thanks captain obvious(es) and good job in picking the favorites. I had the pleasure of taking my dad to the fights and he had a great time. While you may have better seats while watching the fights at home there's nothing like feeling the excitement in the arena.

Frankie Edgar did an outstanding job against Sean Sherk and I owe him mad props. While I knew Frankie would do well he showed everyone he is deserving of these great match ups. I'm definitely excited to see what is in store for him!

Ohhh so sad. That Matt Serra vs Matt Hughes fight was the fight I was really looking forward to. Hughes had his hands down half way through the first round. Neither of them did a stellar job, but it was a pretty good fight. I had the first round going to Serra, second round going to Hughes and the third round going to Serra. So when it came down to judge's decision, I really thought Serra had won. And frankly, by the expression and body language of both Hughes and Serra I think they both thought Serra had won as well. Everyone in the crowd around me and my Tweeps (people on Twitter) thought the same thing. I guess as the saying goes "Never Leave It Up To The Judges" is very fitting here in this situation. The judges probably saw something that the rest of us didn't.

The Evans vs Machida fight was great. While I thought Evans would have won the fight it was exciting for sure. When Machida knocked Evans out in the second round seeing Evans buckle like that left my mouth open for two minutes. Perhaps we'll be seeing Lyoto face off with Shogun Rua at UFC 104.

All old news but for me the highlight was not only taking my dad to his first UFC event but seeing him get into it and actually say to me stuff like "What a great take down" and knowing the specific hold and submission names really impressed me. I had a great time with him. Thanks for going dad!

Other news worthy items you should know about:

• Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic (24-6-2 MMA, 1-2 UFC) will return to the UFC and fight Mostapha Al-Turk (6-4 MMA, 0-1 UFC) at next weekend's UFC 99 event.
• EA Sports announced they will release a MMA-themed video game "EA Sports MMA" in 2010. This is another sign how mainstream MMA going. Video games will help reach the younger demographic even more than they are now.
• It was announced that Rampage Jackson and Rashad Evans are the new coaches for The Ultimate Fighter.
• Tune in to WEC 41 to not only watch Mike Brown defend his title against Urijah Faber but our friend Kenny Florian will be the commentator. Super excited for this card.
• Frank Trigg signed a new deal with the UFC.

June is not only the month of my birthday (33, already?) but it's also a great month for MMA addicts.

EVENTS
June 5th - Bellator Fighting Championships Week 10
June 6th - Strikeforce Robbie Lawler vs Jake Shields (oh yeah AND Andrei Arlovski vs Brett Rogers as well as Nick Diaz vs Scott Smith) YAY
June 7th - WEC Mike Brown vs Urijah Faber
June 12th - Bellator Fighting Championships Week 11
June 13th - UFC 99 Rich Franklin vs. Wanderlei Silva (Marcus Davis vs Dan Hardy also on this card)
June 19th - Strikeforce Challengers: Santos vs Villasenor
June 19th - Bellator Fighting Championships Week 12
June 20th - The Ultimate Fighter Finale 9 (Yes we'll get to see TUF finals but also on the card is Clay Guida vs. Diego Sanchez  and Nate Diaz vs Joe Daddy Stevenson) WTF Chris Lytle is on the prelim card? Breaks my heart. Hopefully he still tries for fight of the night honors!

All in all a great month for MMA fans. More to come. More frequently I promise.

 

UFC 98 Predictions - From A Girl's Perspective.

I've really been looking forward to this card for a while now. Specifically because of the co-main event match up between Matt Hughes and Matt Serra. Okay okay squeal, see I'm so excited! Here are my predictions for the main card. Where do you agree? Where do you think I have it all wrong? Tell me about it!

Also, if you haven't done so already, don't forget to fill out your UFC Fantasy picks for the fight! I do this solely for bragging rights.

For those of you that have read my predictions before, you know the drill. Winners in green!

Rashad Evans Vs. Lyoto Machida - The interesting thing with this match up is the champion (Rashad) enters the fight as the underdog. As of today, according to gamblerspalace, the odds are Rashad +170  and Lyoto -220. Ladies, trust me I've gone over this a thousand times with my male friends because it can be a little confusing, that but means if you lay down $100 on Rashad and if he wins you'll get $170.00 back (plus you get back the $100 you used to bet). Whereas if you bet on Lyoto, you have to bet $220 to win $100. But that tells you Lyoto is the favorite in this situation.  Rashad comes in with a record of 13-0-1 with some HUGE names under his belt - Forrest Griffin, Michael Bisping, Chuck Liddell... He's known for his strong wrestling background, but is also one of the better strikers in the weight class (see victory over Chuck Liddell... wow he has fast hands). Lyoto "the Dragon" is on fire with a record of 14-0. He's known for having a very different style, and a karate background. I don't know that I've ever seen Lyoto take a big punch, he only dishes them out. But I still think if there's anyone out there that can beat him it's Rashad. Remember, Rashad trains out of Greg Jackson's camp, and they're notorious for having full-proof gameplans for every opponent! I'll be putting my money on Rashad on this one. I CAN NOT wait to see it!

Matt Hughes vs Matt Serra - THIS IS IT! I've been waiting. And waiting. This much anticipated match up was supposed to take place over a year ago. The hype has been building. Matt Hughes comes in with a deep record of 43-7. Hughes has lost three of his last four (mind you they were to two of the best in the weight class). He may be more experienced and bigger, but does he have it in him to beat Serra?   Matt Serra is 9-4 and he wants this win badly (say it with a new york/jersey accent).  He lost his last fight to Georges St Pierre over a year ago. Does he have ring rust? Is his age starting to catch up to him? I think not! As you may remember he's the one who beat GSP in April of 2007, showing his power in that TKO victory. The guy has the will to kill Hughes. I'm definitely laying down some Benjamins on Matt Serra for this one. He's going to buy ma'ma a new pair of shoes! I'm also guessing the loser of this fight will probably announce his retirement.

Drew McFedries Vs. Xavier Foupa-Pokam - Drew was originally set to face James Irvin but that was scratched due to an injury. Drew is currently 7-5 winning 4 of his last 8 fights in the first round either via TKO or KO. Xavier comes into the fight with a record of 20-9 and has a Muay Thai background. Even with his deep record I still think Drew will win this fight by TKO. Drew has some HEAVY hands, so don't blink.

Dan Miller Vs. Chael Sonnen - This is another fight that was changed up due to injury. Dan was originally scheduled to face Yushin Okami. He's currently 11-1-1 where his only loss was back 2006. Chael is coming off a first round loss against Damien Maia (one of my new favorites) and currently has a record of 21-10-1. Given Chael's experience, I'm picking him to take home the 'W'. A loss to Damien Maia is nothing to be ashamed of as many are saying he's the #1 contender at Middleweight. Chael is a very cerebral fighter, and will come in with a great game plan. He's got good striking, and his wrestling is top notch (2000 Olympic alternate in Greco Roman), so I think Chael takes this fight wherever he wants it to be.

Sean Sherk Vs. Frank Edgar - Another great match up. As you may recall from my previous post about the light weight devision, both of these guys were on my Honorable Mention list. Sean not only has an incredible record of 33-3-1, with his three losses going to TOP TIER guys such as BJ Penn, GSP and Matt Hughes but he has a nickname of "The Muscle Shark"! This former UFC Lightweight Champion is a true legend. Frankie has a record of 9-1, and won his UFC debut against Tyson Griffin in style by being awarded Fight of the Night honors. Both are great wrestlers with great striking and crisp combinations, and I definitely think Frankie Edgar is a great asset to the Lightweight division and he'll be around for a while but I think he's going to be beaten down by Sean. Sean's tenacity and pace are ridiculous. I'd like to see a great fight between these two and would love to see it  go the distance, but I still give this to Sean.

The Lightweight Division, Anything But Light

Everyone has their favorite fighter(s). But for me, it's a weight class.

The UFC Lightweight division in my opinion is the most stacked weight class. For you ladies that are coming up to speed on the sport, this is is the 146-155lb weight class.

The number of grade A/top tier fighters in this weight class means a lot of great match ups.

Look at this list:
BJ Penn: Current UFC lightweight champ! Former UFC Welterweight Champ. First non-Brazilian born winner of the World Jiu-Jitsu Championship in the black-belt category. He has either fought for or defended a UFC championship belt 7 times! BJ and his team have started a new program that starts 1/1/2010. If you haven't checked it out, I highly encourage you to do so. I've signed up to get the ongoing newsletters and they're fantastic.

Kenny Florian: Kenny is known for much more than just having the "razor sharp" elbows! His background isn't your standard wrestler or bjj but rather he grew up playing soccer! At least that explains where his strong high kicks come from. His wins include some very well known names (on this list). He will soon attempt to take the belt from BJ! Also, if you live in or around Boston, check out his gym. And tell them I sent you!

Clay Guida: 11 out of 25 of his fights have gone all the way to judge's decision, 2 of those earned him Fight of the Night! He'll face Diego Sanchez on June 20th. He's also a former Strikeforce Lightweight Champion. His nickname is the "Carpenter" but honestly he reminds me of a "Bulldog"

Nate Diaz: Nate is a jiu jitsu brown belt under Cesar Gracie, and Cesar is notorious for being very stringent when it comes to handing out belts. He's the former WEC Lightweight Champ, winner of TUF Season 5, and has won Fight of the Night honors 3 out of 13 fights. 

Tyson Griffin:  Tyson is another Fight of the Night kind of guy. He goes in to get the job done. He's earned the Fight of the Night bonus 5 times out of 8 UFC fights! And who doesn't love a guy that comes out to "Eye of the Tiger" as his entrance music.

Diego Sanchez: Diego won his Lightweight debut against Joe Stevenson and also earned the Fight of the Night honors. Diego was the TUF season 1 champ at middleweight, which is 171 - 185 lbs... that's right, and now he fights at lightweight. But previously he was a powerhouse at 170lbs and I'm looking forward to seeing him showcase his ability against the others here at 155lbs.

Joe Stevenson: This guy has 39 fights under his belt and he's only 26! He's another one that is fun to watch and has been known to get guys in Guillotine chokes that are almost impossible to get out of. Plus have you seen his kids? ADORABLE. Joe has also fought the toughest guys in the weight class, including BJ Penn and Kenny Florian.

Honorable Mentions:

Sean Sherk: Also a former UFC Lightweight Champion!

Joe Lauzon: Pretty impressive UFC record so far (5-1). He is currently rehabbing his knee but I'm confident he's going to be even stronger once he's back!

Cole Miller: Hello! He beat Junie Browning in the first round!

Josh Neer: 33 fights already and he's only 26!  25-7-1

Frankie Edgar: Frankie made a splash in the lightweight division with a debut victory over Tyson Griffin, which was an amazing fight. This guy is a former NCAA All-American wrestler and has a very exciting style.

Gray Maynard: His nickname is "The Bully", and for good reason. He's another NCAA All-American wrestler, and uses that background to get guys to the ground and dominate them. But don't let his takedowns fool you, his striking is GOOD. Many consider Gray to be a future contender in this division.

Upcoming Match Ups That You Must Watch!

Sean vs Frankie at UFC 98 May 23rd - Two great wrestlers with good boxing, this will be a war!

Diego vs Clay at The Ultimate Fighter Finale June 20th - Are you kidding me? Both of these guys go all out for all 3 rounds. This one will be action packed without a doubt!

Joe "Daddy" vs Nate at The Ultimate Fighter Finale June 20th - This one will be interesting. Two very different body types, both with great jiu jitsu. Plus, you gotta love Nate Diaz's swagger in the cage.

BJ vs Kenny at UFC 101 August 8th - It's for the title folks... need I say more?

In my opinion the guys in this weight class are the most well rounded fighters. They've got a combination of all aspects of the fighting game. You get it all with lightweight fights... great submissions, great knockouts, great wrestling and scrambles, the whole 9 yards. There's never a dull moment when these guys step into the cage, and you can always count on a great fight! These guys always come to fight!

Honorable Mentions Outside the UFC:

Gilbert Melednez, Shinya Aoki, Eddie Alvarez, Josh Thomson, Satoru Kitaoka

UFC 98 adds another grudge match!

As if the grudge match between Brock Lesnar and Frank Mir wasn't enough, the UFC has announced that Matt Hughes and Matt Serra will square off on the card as well! This fight has been a long time coming as both fighters were eager to square off after their coaching stints on TUF 6. Since then injuries have riddled both fighters, postponing this bout numerous times. Well the time has come for these two veterans to let their fists fly!

Along with Hughes VS Serra, the UFC has also announced the following bouts as additions to the card:

• Yushin Okami VS Dan Miller
• Sean Sherk VS Franki Edgar
• James Irvin VS Drew McFedries
• Houston Alexander VS Andre Gusmao
• Patrick Barry VS Tim Hague
• Phillipe Nover VS Kyle Bradley
• Dave Kaplan VS George Roop
• Yoshiyuki Yoshida VS Brandon Wolff

UFC Fight Night 14 Results

Here are the results from UFC Fight Night 14...

CB DOLLAWAY VS. JESSE TAYLOR
CB Dollaway defeats Jesse Taylor by submission (Peruvian Necktie) at 3:57 of the first round. For those girls out there reading my blog, the Peruvian Necktie is not an article of clothing.

KEVIN BURNS VS. ANTHONY JOHNSON
Kevin had been warned about poking Anthony in the eye and in the 3rd round while Kevin threw a left jab and his finger poked Anthony in the eye causing him to turn and fall (after yelling in pain) and then Kevin threw a right uppercut that just grazed Anthony... Kevin defeats Anthony by TKO at 3:35 of the third round. Johnson is gracious in defeat, as he's interviewed by Rogan he asks the crowd to stop booing Burns, noting that "it's a fight and things happen, give the man his props."  If you ask me it was a cheap win. I mean I know shit happens but what a shitty way to win. Even though I did pick Kevin to win this fight, I wasn't happy with the way it ended. Although, I also must say that I think Kevin would have gotten the judges decision had it gone the distance.

JAKE O'BRIEN VS. CAIN VELASQUEZ
I want to go on record and say you guys sent me a lot of emails giving me shit for picking Cain on this fight. Well  while I can't say I picked 'em all right tonight, I did pick this match up. Cain defeats Jake by TKO at 2:02 of the first round!
 
FRANKIE EDGAR VS. HERMES FRANCA
This was the one and only fight I didn't get right with my predictions. Frankie did an unbelievable job getting out of Herme's submission attempts. Hermes hit a beautiful armbar in the first round and I thought Frankie would tap for sure, but he managed to escape. The only other offense that Hermes could muster came at the end of the third round when he threw a nice knee as Frankie shot in, catching him flush on the nose and ringing his bell, but Frankie maintained his composure for the final few seconds. It ended up going all three rounds and in the end Frankie defeated Hermes by unanimous decision.

REESE ANDY VS. BRANDON VERA
Wow is about all I can say for this fight. I was NOT impressed. In fact I was a little disappointed with Brandon. I understand he probably had to cut the weight for the new weight class but I thought Brandon would eat this guy for lunch. That wasn't the case. It ended up going all three rounds and quite frankly was just overall boring. In fact the crowd booed. Don't blame them. Brandon defeated Reese by unanimous decision.

JAMES IRVIN VS. ANDERSON SILVA
Round 1 - The fighters touch gloves and the main event is underway. Anderson circles around from the outside.  He throws a couple low leg kicks, then steps inside and lands a 1-2 combination to the head.  Goldberg lets us know that Anderson's "precision is very precise."  :) Funny how everyone in the room burst into laughs at the same time. James throws a right kick towards the body. Anderson catches it and lands a perfect right hand to the button (that's a technical term for temple I'm guessing).James  is down immediately in the fetal position.  Anderson jumps on top and lands eight punches in a row, putting James out cold before the referee can step in.  Anderson defeats James by knockout at 1:01 of the first round.  Jame's right eye has a massive cut under it! I'm guessing that's going to bruise.

Anderson Silva is still the best fighter pound for pound in my book...

UFC Fight Night Predictions

I've put together my predictions for UFC Fight Night! Disagree with my opinions? Tell me.

Anderson Silva vs James Irvin 

Ranked as one of if not the best middleweight and pound for pound fighter, Anderson Silva will be making his debut at 205lb. Anderson has some major wins under his belt such as Rich Franklin (twice – by tko), Dan Henderson, Travis lutter and Chris  Leben.

His opponent, James Irvin, also has some big wins and BIG knock-outs such as Houston Alexander (dropped him in 8 seconds in the first round tying for the fastest knock out) and Terry Martin (the infamous flying knee!) but some big losses as well; such as Stephan Bonnar. By the way, when will Stephan be returning from suspension? Irvin is trying to prove he belongs at the top of the 205 weight class, but hasn't shown the consistency or dominance to get there yet. 

I think it’s going to be a great fight, but in the end I have Anderson Silva winning his first fight as a light heavyweight. I’d also like to see the winner of the Rashad Evans/Chuck Liddell fight take on Anderson and the winner from that fight face Forrest Griffin (assuming he gets past Rampage in a much anticipated rematch). 

Brandon Vera vs  Reese Andy 

There’s the whole story line about who Brandon wanted to fight but couldn’t get any takers. But his confirmed opponent Reese Andy is no slouch. He’s a 3 time Division 1 All-American Wrestler from the University of Wyoming.

I foresee Reese taking Brandon down right away to stay away from the dangerous Muay Thai striker. He’s going to try to establish a top position where he’s comfortable and can work his ground and pound, forcing Brandon to work to stand back up. Take downs and getting back up will definitely exhaust Brandon but in the end (and I don’t think it’s going to go that many rounds, 2 max) Brandon is going to submit Reece. I think overall, it’s going to come down to experience, nerves and who is more diverse. I give this to Brandon in the 2nd round.

Hermes Franca vs Frankie  Edgar

Hermes is coming off a loss to Sean Sherk that went to the judges. What I really love about Hermes is his diversity, experience and he has some huge wins under his belt – and in some cases for a belt!

Having said that, while Frankie is coming off a loss to Gray Maynard, I think his big wins (example Tyson Griffin) gives him the experience he’ll need to go head to head with Hermes. Frankie is great at avoiding submissions and working for position. In the end though, I think Hermes still has the leg up on this match up  and will take the victory in his return to action.

Cain Velasquez Vs. Jake O'Brien

Cain comes into this fight with a MMA record of 3-0, winning all by TKO. He'll be taking on Jake who has a MMA record of 10-1. Jake’s one notable loss was to Andrei Arlovski.  Both fighters have a Division-I wrestling background, and are comfortable taking this fight to the ground. However, Cain trains at AKA so you know his stand-up will be up to par. This will be a great battle between two solid wrestlers. Cain is looking to make a splash in the UFC and is considered a huge talent coming out of AKA. I give this fight to Cain!

Anthony Johnson Vs. Kevin Burns

Ohh Anthony. Thank you for the abs. No really, thank you.

Anthony has a MMA record of 5 wins and 1 loss. The loss was against Rich Clementi at UFC 76 losing by rear naked choke. His opponent Kevin Burns has a MMA record of 6 wins and 1 loss. While I wish Anthony and his abs the best of luck, I think he’s going to most likely lose by submission (choke).   

Jesse Taylor Vs. CB Dollaway

This will be a highly anticipated fight as many fans probably saw it as the most probable final for the most recent Ultimate Fighter. We've got big controversy with Jesse Taylor, who has supposedly turned over a new leaf. While everyone makes mistakes, you can’t help but look at this guy and say "what in god’s name were you thinking". For those of you that live in a shoe box, this was the guy who was down to the finals for The Ultimate Fighter 7. I think he’s the only guy who has been kicked off after the tournament portion was finalized. After Dana White made him understand his actions were wrong and inexcusable, he was kicked off the show and replaced. Now after sobering up and continuing to train, Jesse is making his UFC debut against fellow TUF 7 cast mate CB Dollaway. CB faced Amir Sadollah for TUF finale and lost  (which counted for his second loss to Amir, both by armbar). While I think Jesse could be a good fighter given he stay on the right path, I’m giving this match up to CB. CB is coming off a somewhat embarassing loss to Amir (no offense Amir, we love you) in the finals of the UF7 and will be hungry for a win, and to prove he belongs in the UFC. 

UFC 87: Edgar vs Franca is confirmed!

As we reported earlier, Frankie Edgar was part of the UFC 87 card but had not yet had a confirmed opponent. Today the UFC confirmed that "The Answer" will face former title contender Hermes Franca! You can check out the full card here!

There's a lot on the line for both of these fighters! Edgar is coming off his first career loss to Gray Maynard, while Franca is returning from a one year suspension after testing positive for and admitting to using the steroid drstanolone prior to his fight with Sean Sherk.

Edgar will be looking to get back on the winning track and reclaim his position as a top UFC lightweight, while Franca will be looking to pick up where he left off and climb back up the lightweight ladder.

I'm predicting that this will be a GREAT fight. Edgar is solid, with great technique and amazing wrestling. However, we know that Franca can hang with the wrestlers and his Jiu Jitsu is top notch. Both fighters have a lot to prove, and a lot to lose... expect this one to be an all out war.

UFC 87 will reveal quite a bit about the lightweight division!

UFC 87: Card Updates

The UFC has released some more fights for UFC 87: Seek & Destroy on August 9th!

As we had reported earlier, Mark Coleman had to pull out of his match-up with Brock Lesnar due to knee injury, and his replacements had not yet been determined. It has been announced that Brock Lesnar will now be facing Heath Herring in the heavyweight fight.

This is quite an interesting match-up as Herring is coming off a big win over Cheick Kongo at UFC 82, and brings a TON of experience into the cage.

Read more....