MMA Hot Stuff

UFC 103 Pay Per View Locations

The Ultimate Fighting Championship® presents the fight the entire mixed martial arts world is talking about when “The Phenom”, former UFC® light heavyweight champion Vitor Belfort, makes his long-awaited return to the Octagon™ to face UFC superstar Rich “Ace” Franklin in the main event of UFC 103. Also featured on the biggest MMA event to ever hit Texas will be perhaps the most explosive heavyweight battle of the year when one of the sport’s most feared strikers, Mirko Cro Cop, takes on Brazilian knockout artist Junior Dos Santos.

UFC® 103 FRANKLIN vs BELFORT - Saturday, September 19th, live on Pay-Per-View from the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas.

American Airlines Center doors open at 4:50pm CENTRAL TIME
First bout is scheduled to begin at 5:20pm CT
First fight on television at 9pm CT (7pm PT / 10pm ET)

Pay Per View Locations after the jump:

Reed Harris and the WEC Love Women... FANS!

I had the pleasure of meeting with Reed Harris today over lunch. Ladies, Reed is the WEC General Manager. The purpose of the lunch meeting was to discuss the importance of you (us), the female fans, to the sport of MMA.

Reed said "It's great to see the female fan base not only growing but also evolving. Evolving in the sense of their place in the sport. They're no longer going to shows just to tag along with their boyfriends and husbands. They are now dedicated fans who have grown to love the sport."

While the sport itself continues to evolve, so do the fans. This is important for so many reasons. One reason is advertising and sponsorships. Brands/Advertisers are looking for that opportunity to put their brand next to a sport that's widely accepted. The more mainstream the sport, the more mainstream the advertising. Which in the long run means more money. More money means more fights, more fighters and more events. That's what we the MMA fans strive for. Right?

Brands/Advertisers want to reach us because ladies, we tend to control the household finances. When a marquee brand looks at advertising or sponsorship opportunities with a sport they look at the audience. Is the audience a group of people they want to reach? I can tell you right now who advertisers are looking to reach. People that spend money. People that will spend money on their brand.

It's up to us to keep the momentum going. Continue to educate your fellow friends on the sport (or better yet send them to my site) to gain that acceptance, attend the events, and buy the pay per views!

I'll be at UFC 98 where I'll be conducting interviews with some of you. If you're interested in being interviewed please feel free to email me (rachel@mmahotstuff.com) and we'll set something up.
Tell me why you're a fan!!! I want to know, Reed wants to know, and the WEC and UFC want to know!

MMAHotStuff.com interview with Fantasy Sports 2.0

Interested in knowing how I became an MMA fan or why I started MMAHotStuff.com? Check out this interview with Fantasy Sports 2.0!

Find out how I'm doing in my fantasy football league, who my favorite fighters are, and what I think of how Web 2.0 is bringing fans and athletes together like never before!

It's a great time to be an MMA fan!

UFC 91 Pay Per View Locations

Okay, Okay so I don't mean to brag, but I will be at UFC 91. I get to watch Randy "the Natural" Couture, one-of-the-best-fighters-ever take on Brock "Nacho Libre" Lesnar! As well as the other great matchup between Kenny Florian and Joe Stevenson!

But for those of you that won't be there (hey I still have two tickets for sell, email me) here's a list of bars showing the pay per view event.

UFC 88 Final Card

In his first fight since a stunning victory over Wanderlei Silva at UFC 79, UFC legend Chuck "The Iceman" Liddell is back to face undefeated light heavyweight contender Rashad "Sugar" Evans. Will Evans plow through Liddell to jump to the top of the 205-lb. rankings? Or will Liddell successfully continue his crusade to regain the UFC Light Heavyweight Title?

UFC 88 will take place at Philips Arena in Atlanta GA September 6th at 7pm pacific.

Here's the full card lineup!  Predictions and Sports Bar locations coming soon!

main card
Chuck Liddell Vs. Rashad Evans
Rich Franklin Vs. Matt Hamill
Karo Parisyan Vs. Yoshiyuki Yoshida
Dan Henderson Vs. Rousimar Palhares
Martin Kampmann Vs. Nate Marquardt

under card

Thiago Tavares Vs. Kurt Pellegrino
Tim Boetsch Vs. James Lee
Dong Hyun Kim Vs. Matt Brown
Roan Carneiro Vs. Ryo Chonan
Jason Lambert Vs. Jason Day

If I were a betting girl...

Welcome to the first installment of "If I was a betting girl" (which I am by the way... did I mention I won $230 on Forrest's victory over Rampage?)! In this post I'll be discussing the odds on some upcoming fights that I find too hard to resist. Now mind you, when it comes to MMA I like to bet on the underdogs. First off, it makes it more fun and second I find it hard to lay down $100 to win $20 on a sport where anything can happen (see Matt Serra over GSP).

I decided after my win last weekend on Forrest vs Rampage to share my thoughts on upcoming fights for those of you looking for some help in placing your bets.
** These odds were taken from Sportsbook.com on 7/10/09.

Here we go, let's start with the July 19th UFC event feature Anderson Silva:

• Anderson Silva (-600) VS James Irvin (+400) - I have to put some money on Irvin here. This is Anderson Silva's first fight at light-heavyweight, so who knows how he'll adjust to the bigger and stronger opponent. Plus, Irvin is a guy that likes to stand up and bang so he always has a shot at landing something, and, he's got power in those punches. Although standing with Anderson Silva isn't always advised, when it's James Irvin at +400 I'll take some of that action.
• Brandon Vera (-625) VS Reese Andy (+425)- Vera is definitely the favorite in this fight, but Andy is a great wrestler and a very powerful fighter. He's the kind of fighter that could take Vera down, hold him there, and land some decent shots for 3 full rounds. Although it wouldn't make for a very exciting fight, it could produce a victory fo Andy. This is Vera's first fight down at 205, but he was never that big of a heavyweight so I don't see him having a huge size advantage over Andy. I think the odds on this are so skewed because it's Andy's first fight in the UFC, but he's 7-1 with 6 fights in the IFL and was a high caliber NCAA wrestler, so he's no newcomer to competition. If Andy can get the fight to the mat consistently, I think this is a great underdog bet.

On to UFC 87 in August:

• Brock Lesnar (-275) VS Heath Herring (+215)- To be honest, I'm not quite sure why Brock Lesnar, at 1-1 in his MMA career, is favored over Heath Herring at 28-13. I would be all over this. Heath has fought the best and toughest at heavyweight, and often made it very close. He's on a new strength and conditioning program and is coming off a victory over a very big and strong Cheick Kongo, so he knows how to fight bigger and strong opponents. Herring did have some problems with a wrestler when he lost to Jake O'Brien over a year ago, but I think his experience and toughness will win this fight for him. I don't think Brock has what it takes yet to compete with a veteran like Herring.
• GSP (-265) VS John Fitch (+205)- The odds on this one aren't "great" and GSP is the man, showing he can deal with wrestlers in his victory over Josh Koshchek, but I think Fitch has the talent to make this fight really close. For that reason, I wouldn't mind dropping some money on Fitch. This isn't as good of a bet as the others, but a gut feeling.

Affliction: Banned:

• Fedor Emelianeko (-450) VS Tim Sylvia (+300)- Yes, Fedor is considered by many to be the best heavyweight ever, and even the best pound-for-pound fighter ever. But Sylvia has serious reach and a very awkward style. We saw him beat up on Nogueira's face for a few rounds before being caught in a submission, so we know he can cause a fighter fits. Sylvia definitely has the ability to use his jab and create a very slow paced fight on the feet, and thus eake out a boring victory. But a boring victory at -300 when I've got money down is pretty exciting to me. Fedor hasn't fought a quality opponent in about 18 months (disclaimer - Matt Lindland is a quality fighter, but the size difference was a little silly), so look for him to have some rust when it comes to dealing with a quality fighter as awkward as Sylvia.

So there you go, installment #1 and some thoughts on good underdogs to lay some money on. You can let me know what you think by leaving a comment! I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Too hot for TV!!! I thought that was Girls Gone Wild, not MMA!!!

As most of you MMA fans know, CBS had announced a deal with EliteXC to air four live fight cards on network television. The first card, scheduled for May 31st and including the always exciting Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson, is the first ever live MMA even on major network television.

Well, apparently the Chairman of CBS (Sumner Redstone) is not too happy with the decision of his CEO (Les Moonves). As reported on The Hollywood Reporter, Redstone reveals "I'm a lover not a fighter" and that "I don't like the sport", as well as the thought that it's not "socially responsible" to air typically bloody and brutal fights on network television.

Apparently Sumner Redstone isn't the only one that feels this way about airing live MMA on network television. Have you seen this article from The Washington Post? Apparently Leonard Shapiro is not a big MMA fan (boo!!!), and from reading his article he's OBVIOUSLY grossly uneducated when it comes to MMA. All he sees are "heavily tattooed" men in a cage being cheered on by a "howling mob". From his picture (below), it doesn't surprise me that Leonard isn't a fan and that he hasn't taken the time to educate himself on the sport. (Hey, if he can make sweeping generalizations about "heavily tattooed" people, then I can make generalizations about him based on his appearance, right?)

I came across Leonard's article while reading Marc Cuban's blog and his response to Leonard (the article specifically calls out Marc Cuban). I love Marc Cuban... a self-made gazillion-aire, and fan of MMA working hard to bring this great sport to the masses, both through HDNet and as a promoter. As you may know, HDNet is putting on the fight between Tim Sylvia and Fedor.

Thank you Marc, and thank you Les Moonves for blazing a new trail for MMA. People like Leonard Shapiro won't last long, the popularity of this sport will eat them alive.

UFC: McCarthy slams Bisping

I just have one question...

Why don't people talk their opponent UP before going into a fight? That way if you lose it looks like it was a tough match up. And if you win, it looks like you beat an even tougher opponent.

But when you slam somebody prior to a fight isn't it also a little bit like jinxing it? And if/when you get your ass kicked you have egg on your face don't you? Not to mention a few bruises and a bloody nose.

I just found this article where apparently Charles McCarthy has been bad mouthing Mike Bisping. Calling Mike AVERAGE none the less. Hold it a second, hasn't Charles been MIA for like a year due to an injury?

Charles, I wish you luck. But then again, since you're fighting someone who's very average, sounds like you don't need my luck.

For the record, I predicted Mike to win this bout.

Jake Shields cancels fight due to injury!!

Looks like Jake Shields and Drew Fickett are going to have to brawl at a later time. Due to a back injury Jake pulled out.

Fear not, the event on Saturday night at the HP Pavilion is sure to be a good one with two other title fights on the card! Strikeforce world middleweight champ Frank Shamrock meets Cung Le in the night's main event, and Strikeforce world lightweight champ Gilbert Melendez meets Gabe Lemley in a televised event.