MMA Hot Stuff

UFC 103 Predictions FROM A GIRL

UFC 103 has been a bit of a roller coaster and it hasn't even started. At least that's how it's felt to me. Due to injuries and strategic match up changes, we've seen a bit of a shuffle for this card. At one point we were expecting to see Rich Franklin and Dan Henderson fight for a second time within a year, as the main event. However it was announced at the end of July the main event had been changed to Rich Franklin vs Vitor Belfort at a catchweight of 195lbs. Not a negative move considering many people thought it was too soon for a rematch between Franklin and Henderson. And who doesn't want to see how Vitor does with his UFC return?

Also, at one point the card  we were going to see if Mike Swick could get past Martin Kampmann and move one step closer to being the number one centender and face Georges St Pierre. Unfortunately, during a sparring session with training partner Josh Koscheck, Mike had his legs swept out from under him and landed on his head/neck. He suffered what appears to be a minor concussion. While no return date or future opponenet has been named (I'm hoping Joe Silva matches him up against Matt Hughes!), we're hoping to see Mike return very soon. It's my opinion that he's on the right track to face the quality of competitors he deserves and I look forward to seeing his talents challenged. Please follow mike on twitter at twitter.com/officialswick 

With the fight starting in just hours, here are my predictions for the main card: (if you're a loyal reader you know, winners in green)

Rich Franklin vs Vitor Belfort: While I'm picking Vitor, I think we could possibly see one of two outcomes. Either Vitor comes out and knocks Rich out right off the bat (first round) or if these two exchange punch for punch and it lingers into the later rounds, I'd say Rich will probably win by points. Vitor has something to prove with his return to the UFC. I think that passion to prove himself, coupled with the fact he's been training with Randy Couture, this is going to go by quick TKO in the first. Either way, I wish Rich would stop fighting at catch weights. I mean I get why he does it (so he can fight often) but these catch weights aren't really moving him closer to being a contender in the 185lb weight class nor the 205 weight class. I love fighters that stay busy but as everyone knows I'm not a huge fan of catch weights.

Cro Cop vs Junior dos Santos: I flipped my original pick for this fight. I was going to pick Cro Cop but in reflecting on his return (again) to the UFC, I'm not impressed. However looking at dos Santos, his wins and who he has fought, I think he could win this fight. Oh and I'd like to say one thing to Cro Cop. PLEASE STICK TO ONE ORGANIZATION. Seriously. You'll grow a more loyal fan following if you just stay put.  I'm picking dos Santos KO in the first.

Martin Kampmann vs Paul Daley: Again, Paul Daley took this fight on pretty late notice due to Mike Swick's injury. Martin has a few inches on Daley and if you recall, he used to fight at Middleweight until he lost to Nate Marquardt at UFC 88. While I think they're both good strikers, I think Kampmann might be slightly better and also has better wrestling skills. I'm giving this to Kampmann by TKO in the second.

Josh Koscheck vs Frank Trigg: I don't think this is going to be even close. I expect Koscheck to OWN Trigg from the start of "Lets get it on". I think Josh's wrestling is just a lot better and I expect to see him take Frank down a lot. While Josh hasn't won many fights lately by submission I'm picking him to win by Submission (Choke) in the second.

Tyson Griffin vs Hermes Franca: I'm secretly most excited about this fight. Hermes has really good JJ but in my opinion, didn't look great against Frank Edgar (his first fight after his suspension). While most of Tyson's fights tend to go the distance, he's received Fight of the Night award something like 5 out of his last 7 fights. That's pretty impressive. With a solid win by Tyson it could put him on the track for a contender spot. Many people will debate me on this (and that's fine) but I think he's a gate keeper for the 155lbs weight class. One thing to note, this fight is at a catch weight of 159. I'm picking Griffin to win by Decision and I HOPE this fight gets Fight of the Night honors as well.

Agree or disagree I don't really care. As long as you have an opinion! 

UFC 103 Card Confirmed

We're all anxious to see the Rich Franklin vs Vitor Belfort at UFC 103 next Saturday Sept 19th taking place in Dallas Texas at the American Airlines Center. Today, the UFC officially confirmed the rest of the bouts for the card. Not only will the people attending the event see a pretty stacked card of great match ups but those at home can watch the main card as a PPV event as always and see the prelim bouts FREE on Spike!

 

Here's the rest of the 103 bouts!

MIRKO CRO COP vs. JUNIOR DOS SANTOS

MARTIN KAMPMANN vs. PAUL DALEY

JOSH KOSCHECK vs. FRANK TRIGG

TYSON GRIFFIN vs. HERMES FRANCA

EFRAIN ESCUDERO vs. COLE MILLER

DREW MCFEDRIES vs. TOMASZ DRWAL

JIM MILLER vs. STEVE LOPEZ

NIK LENTZ vs. RAFAELLO OLIVEIRA

RICK STORY vs. BRIAN FOSTER

ELIOT MARSHALL vs. JASON BRILZ

VLADIMIR MATYUSHENKO vs. IGOR POKRAJAC

ROBERT EMERSON vs. RAFAEL DOS ANJOS

 

LIVE FROM THE AMERICAN AIRLINES CENTER

 SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2009

 

Las Vegas, NV (USA) – As the saying goes, everything’s bigger in Texas – including the fight cards. With the superfight between former middleweight champion Rich Franklin and Vitor Belfort already signed, the Ultimate Fighting Championship® (UFC®) is set to put on a record 13 fights for UFC 103: Franklin vs. Belfort, which is presented by TEQUILA CAZADORES, live from the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas on September 19.

 

Tickets for UFC 103: Franklin vs. Belfort are still on sale and are available at all Ticketmaster outlets, Ticketmaster.com, AmericanAirlinesCenter.com, American Airlines Center Box Office and by phone at 1-800-745-3000. Prices do not include service charges.

 

Mirko Cro Cop (fighting out of Zagreb, Croatia) has fought some of the best heavyweights in the world. The seasoned striker with 25 professional wins is coming off a TKO victory against Mostapha Al Turk in June, but the former PRIDE® Grand Prix champion could be facing one of his toughest challenges in recent memory when he takes on the dangerous Brazilian Junior Dos Santos (fighting out of Salvador, Bahia, Brazil). With two knockout wins in his first two UFC fights, no one has lasted longer than 80 seconds in the UFC against the 25-year-old. The 6-foot-4, 238-pound fighter will need to bring his sharpest standup game yet against the feared Croatian kickboxer.

 

Coming off the biggest win of his career, welterweight contender Martin Kampmann (fighting out of Las Vegas, Nev.) is fresh from an impressive split decision victory over former World Extreme Cagefighting® welterweight champion Carlos Condit in April. Since dropping down to the 170-pound weight class, the 27-year-old former Danish Thai boxing champion is a perfect 2-0 but will be pitted against the extremely explosive Paul Daley (fighting out of Nottingham, England). An exciting striker that has fought around the globe, Daley owns KO wins over UFC veterans John Alessio and Duane Ludwig and is making his UFC debut.

 

A former national college wrestling champion, Josh Koscheck (fighting out of Fresno, Calif.) has compiled 10 UFC wins in his career. The Waynesburg, Pennsylvania native has wins over Diego Sanchez, Chris Lytle and Dustin Hazelett, but he has never faced someone like returning UFC veteran Frank Trigg (fighting out of Las Vegas, NV.). One half of two memorable fights with then UFC welterweight champion Matt Hughes, Trigg has the experience, wrestling background and Octagon savvy to give Koscheck the most difficult test of his career. With two UFC victories already on his resume`, Trigg makes his first trip back into the Octagon™ since 2005.

 

At only 25 years old, Tyson Griffin (fighting out of Las Vegas, Nev.) has already compiled six wins in the UFC. The powerful lightweight fighter holds victories over Clay Guida, Gleison Tibau and most recently a unanimous decision win against Rafael Dos Anjos in April. But now the Sacramento, California born mixed martial artist turns his attention to another tough Brazilian in Hermes Franca (fighting out of Miami, Fla.). The decorated Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt holds two submission victories in the UFC and is coming off a unanimous decision win against his former jiu-jitsu instructor Marcus Aurelio at UFC 90.

 

Winner of the eighth season of The Ultimate Fighter™, Efrain Escudero (fighting out of Tempe, Ariz.) remains undefeated (12-0) as a professional mixed martial artist and holds a win over Phillipe Nover in the show’s finale. Now the former All-American college wrestler and Mexico-born fighter will face the red-hot Cole Miller (fighting out of Coconut Creek, Fla.). The 25-year-old Augusta, Ga. native is coming off two consecutive submission victories, tapping out Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt Jorge Gurgel and TUF 8’s Junie Browning in successive bouts. The 6-foot-1 lightweight has four total wins in the UFC, and he’ll be looking for number five on September 19^th.

 

With all four of his UFC wins coming via KO/TKO, Drew McFedries (fighting out of Bettendorf, Iowa) has the power and the talent to put anyone’s lights out. It took the Ames, Iowa born fighter only 37 seconds to take Xavier Foupa-Pokam out in his last fight at UFC 98 and the talented middleweight will need every bit of his standup skill when he mixes it up with the aggressive Tomasz Drwal (fighting out of San Diego, Calif. / Krakow, Poland). The heavy-handed 27-year-old is coming off of two knockout victories, including a devastating TKO win over Mike Ciesnolevicz in June. Drwal, who has a 16-2 record, will look for his third UFC win in 2009.

 

Jim Miller (fighting out of Whippany, N.J.) has impressed many during his time in the UFC. Winner of three of his four UFC fights, the Sparta, New Jersey native earned a unanimous decision win against the experienced Mac Danzig at UFC 100 in July. Now the lightweight with the 14-2 pro record faces UFC newcomer Steve Lopez (fighting out of South Bend, Ind.). A national qualifier as a college wrestler, the 25-year-old Lopez holds a 12-1 record and makes his UFC debut on September 19.

 

Two fighters that are making their UFC debuts, Nik Lentz (fighting out of Eden Prairie, Minn.) and Rafaello Oliveira (fighting out of Knoxville, Tenn. / Janja, Brazil) are looking to put on a show in their respective premieres. Lentz, an El Paso, Texas native, wrestled at the University of Minnesota, where he is one semester away from graduating in Pre-Med. Lentz puts his 18-3-1 career mark against Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt Rafaello Oliveira. Riding a three-fight win streak, the 9-1 Oliveira has three wins by submission and three by TKO.

 

Heading into his second UFC fight, Rick Story (Vancouver, Wash.) is coming off a three-round battle with John Hathaway. The 25-year-old welterweight holds a 7-3 pro record and is looking for his first UFC win when he takes on Sallisaw, Oklahoma’s Brian Foster (fighting out of Granite City, Ill.). With an impressive 14-3 pro record, Foster has eight wins by KO/TKO, four by submission and is making his UFC debut.

 

Making plenty of noise in the ultra-stacked light heavyweight division is Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt Eliot Marshall (fighting out of Boulder, Colo.). With back-to-back wins against Jules Bruchez and Vinny Magalhaes, the Franklinville, N.J. native is a perfect 2-0 in the UFC and 7-2 overall. Marshall looks for his third UFC win when he faces Jason Brilz (fighting out of Omaha, Neb.). The Bismarck, North Dakota fighter also has wins in his two UFC fights, including a unanimous decision victory against Tim Boetsch in March.

 

Making his return to the Octagon after six years, Vladimir Matyushenko (fighting out of El Segundo, Calif.) is back and has won nine of his last 10 fights. The 22-4 Belarusian holds seven wins by submission and seven by TKO and is looking to shake up the light heavyweight division when he returns to face Igor Pokrajac (fighting out of Zagreb, Croatia). A protégé of Mirko Cro Cop, Pokrajac is on an eight-fight win streak and brings a 21-5 record into his UFC debut.

 

A veteran of four UFC fights, lightweight Rob Emerson (fighting out of Irvine, Calif.) is remembered for his 12 second TKO victory against the aggressive Manny Gamburyan. Now the 28-year-old from Huntington, California looks for his third UFC win when he takes on Rafael Dos Anjos (fighting out of Rio de Janeiro). The 24-year-old Brazilian jiu-jitsu champion last fought Tyson Griffin in a three-round battle that turned many heads. Now Dos Anjos heads into his third UFC match against the experienced Emerson.

 

About The Ultimate Fighting Championship®

The Ultimate Fighting Championship® is the world’s leading professional mixed martial arts organization and offers the premier series of MMA sports events. 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, TVN Entertainment, BellTV, SaskTel Max™, Shaw Pay-Per-View, Viewers Choice, and WOWOW in Japan, and Premiere Combate and SporTV in Brazil, and via the Internet worldwide on Yahoo! Sports, and commercially through Joe Hand Promotions in the U.S. and Canadastar in Canada.  In addition to its North American distribution, UFC programming is distributed in over 100 countries and territories throughout the world.

 

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.

 

UFC 100 FanExpo - Who will be there?

Today the UFC® confirmed the fighters that will be attending the first ever UFC^® Fan Expo™. The two day expo will be held at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas July 10th and 11th. The fighters that will be at the expo for meet and greets will be UFC light heavyweight champion Lyoto “The Dragon” Machida, UFC Hall of Famers Royce Gracie and Randy “The Natural” Couture,  and former world champions Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell, “Suga” Rashad Evans, Forrest Griffin, and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson. UFC contenders Kenny Florian, Steve Cantwell, Shane Carwin, Marcus “The Irish Hand Grenade” Davis, Tyson Griffin, Clay Guida, Dustin Hazelett, Keith “The Dean of Mean” Jardine, Anthony “Rumble” Johnson, Martin “The Hitman” Kampmann, Josh Koscheck, Joe Lauzon, Junie Browning, Nate Marquardt, Gray Maynard, Karo Parisyan, Diego “Nightmare” Sanchez, Sean Sherk and Mike Swick will also be meeting fans, along with The Ultimate Fighter winners Nate Diaz and Efrain Escudero.

 Fans of the PRIDE Fighting Championships will have the chance to re-live the excitement of Japan’s classic organization as well, with MMA icons Renzo Gracie and Gary Goodridge being joined by “The Texas Crazy Horse”, Heath Herring, and Brazilian superstars Wanderlei “The Axe Murderer” Silva and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua.

And if that’s not enough MMA star power, the premier fighters of the WEC will be on hand to sign autographs, with current champions Miguel Torres, Mike Brown, and Jamie Varner sharing the convention center floor with Urijah Faber, Jens Pulver, Brian Bowles, Joseph Benavidez, Donald Cerrone, Leonard Garcia, Ben Henderson, and Alex Karalexis.

For a list of bars/restaurants showing the historic UFC 100 Pay Per View event - check out this link.

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 90: Post-Fight Interviews

Anderson Silva and Patrick Cote discuss the disappointing ending to their fight.

Josh Koscheck and Thiago Alves discuss their amazing fight. Thiago talks about whether or not he's ready for a title shot. Hats off to Koscheck for being gracious in defeat.

Sean Sherk discusses his fight with Tyson Griffin, why he wanted the fight, and where he wants to go next.

UFC 90 Recap: Decisions, Knockouts, Tapouts, and one bum knee...

What can you say... UFC 90 got out of the gates with a bang, but in the end fizzled with a disappointing main event, at no fault of either fighter. As both fighters said in their post-fight interviews, injuries happen and it wasn't how either of them wanted the fight to end after 2 full rounds of a tactical battle.

Here's my opinion on some of the fights:

Sean Sherk VS Tyson Griffin - Great fight! Definitely what we expected out of two fighters that are almost mirror images of each other. Both stocky and powerful, with good hands and great wrestling and scrambling abilities. In the first round Sherk got a few double-leg takedowns that seemed to frustrate Griffin, but once on his back Griffin made quick work to get back up, giving up his back each time. However, Sherk wasn't able to capitalize on getting Griffin's back, and thus resulted in a purely stand up war, but with Sherk certainly taking round 1.
Round 2 and 3 were tough to call, but the judges all seemed to think that Sherk was the unanimous winner. Sherk definitely has the tighter and crisper stand up, always keeping his hands up, throwing very clean combinations, and often landing punches but not really ever hurting Griffin.
Griffin on the other hand had great head movement, often slipping Sherk's combinations, and retaliating with some straight rights and hard overhand rights as well. Griffin also went to work with the leg kicks that seemed more effective than Sherk's. Sherk really made no attempt after round 1 to take Griffin down, probably realizing that once he got him down he couldn't control him on the mat, so it wasn't worth wasting the energy to try. All in all a great fight, but I didn't agree with the judges unanimous decision.

Fabricio Werdum VS Junior dos Santos- Whoa! What an uppercut. Junior stepped in and wound up with that uppercut, which Werdum for some reason seemed to duck his head into. The result, a devistating blow that not only knocked Werdum to his knees where Junior pounced on him with a few fight ending punches, but it also caused quite a cut to Werdum's face. 
I'd like to say it was an impressive win by Junior, but it's tough to say when a fight is finished with one punch. I'll still need to see his ground game before declaring that he can make his way up the heavyweight ladder. Unfortunately, Werdum was just the guy to test his ground game. I'm sure we'll be seeing a lot more of Junior, so we shouldn't have to wait long to see how he fairs on the mat.

Rich Clementi VS Gray Maynard - Round 1 wasn't much to write home about as the action was limited. Both fighters spent some time feeling each other out until Maynard scored a takedown towards the end of the round. Takedowns were pretty much the story of this fight, along with some slow but interesting battles for position. Clementi kept things interesting with submission and sweep attempts from the bottom, but Maynard's defense and scrambling was just too good for Clementi to capitalize. Each time they were on their feet the exchanges seemed pretty even, with Clementi showing that he's a true veteran and not letting Maynard get a striking game going, but Maynard consistently "bullied" his way through some nice double leg takedowns to take a unanimous decision.

One more comment on this fight, with regards to the officiating. The ref on this fight was constantly in the fighters ears saying "c'mon guys, work", or "c'mon guys improve position". Even after they had just gotten into the position. Even Joe Rogan seemed a little frustrated making comments about the ref needing to let the fighters work. I understand wanting to keep a fight exciting for the fans, or not wanting to let a fighter stall out a round, but sometimes battles for position take time and are slow to progress, but technical none the less. Often times Clementi worked for a sweep from the bottom, clearly making progress (although it was slow progress), while the ref continually harped on the fighters to work. Certainly it's easier for us to see on TV than for those in the crowd, but refs need to maintain the integrity of MIXED Martial Arts by letting the grappling matches and battles for position progress and evolve, and not jump in too early to stand them up just because it's a methodical battle for position. Just my 2 cents!

Josh Koscheck VS Thiago Alves - You may recall that I picked Alves' as a good bet in this one, and it turned out to be true. It was a great fight as everyone expected it to be. I've gotta give a huge amount of respect to Koscheck for jumping into this fight on two weeks notice. This was a fight that had title implications, and I can't say most fighters would have taken it like Koscheck did, especially given he was already considered to be among the best in the division. Koscheck also showed a huge amount of heart and determination, but in the end it wasn't enough to overcome Alves' takedown defense and leg strikes.

Round 1 saw Alves rock Koscheck with what looked to be a looping (and not especially hard) left hook, however it did get Koscheck right behind the ear. Koscheck went down to his knee, staggered back up, and began to recover against the cage as Alves attacked with a nice kick to the head, Koscheck shot in and attempted the takedown which was not successful in getting Alves to the mat, but was successful in allowing Koscheck to fully recover.

Throughout this 3 round battle, Alves attacked Koscheck's legs with brutal leg kicks. To the point that in the 3rd round Koscheck actually went down due to leg kicks and was clearly adjusting his stance to avoid more punishment.

In the end, Alves clearly won the fight with superior striking and great takedown defense. Congratulations to both fighters for putting on a great fight and showing tons of heart and class.

Anderson Silva VS Patrick Cote- Well... after two fairly uneventful rounds, the fight ended by "TKO" as Cote suffered a freak knee injury as he bounced back and forth preparing to attack. I will say that Cote did a good job avoiding much damage from Silva. In the 2 rounds, Silva landed one hard straight right, a kick to the face and a knee to the face. Other than that, he did more dancing around than attacking.

Cote did his fair share of dancing around too, but as we heard between rounds from Cote's corner, he needed to be "unpredictable" in order to not let Silva plan his attack. Cote did what no UFC middleweight has done before, and that's last into the 3rd round with Anderson Silva.

Although I must make one more point, at the beginning of the 3rd round, Cote flashed three fingers to the camera with a big smile, as though he was saying "I made it to the 3rd round! I made it to the 3rd round!" and his night was complete. I thought it was just extremely odd that he went down with a freak knee injury shortly thereafter. I'm not by any means accusing Cote of faking the injury, but instead just amazed by the irony of it all.

Hopefully these two will get to fight again and determine a true winner, because by my scorecard it was one round each before the fight ended. 

UFC 90: Sports Bars in your area showing UFC 90!

 

Where will you be this weekend when Anderson Silva defends his belt against Patrick Cote? Or when Josh Koscheck steps into the cage to take on Thiago Alves on two weeks notice. Or how about when Tyson Griffin and Sean Sherk mix it up as Tyson tries to prove he's deserving of a title shot.

I'll tell you where you should be... at your local bar watching these fights! Here's a list of bars in your area showing UFC 90!

You can also view it on PPV over the internet. Here's a link showing you how:

http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/ufcppv90

Enjoy! Predictions coming soon!

UFC 90: Fight Card Completed with new bouts

The UFC has announcedsome additions to the UFC 90 fight card, making it complete for the October 25th event in Rosemont, Illinois.

The main event for UFC 90 will feature Anderson "The Spider" Silva defending his middleweight title against Patrick Cote. Also on the card is a great welterweight fight between Thiago Silva and Diego Sanchez, as well as what is sure to be a lightweight war between Tyson Griffin and Sean Sherk.

Added to the main card will be a heavyweight battle between Febricio Werdum and Junior dos Santos. The preliminary card will include three great lightweight bouts, including Hermes Franca VS Marcus Aurelio, Gray Maynard VS Rich Clementi, and Spencer Fisher VS Shannon Gugerty.

The undercard also includes a battle between Matt Horwich and Ricardo Almeida, as well as Pete Sell VS Josh Burkman.

UFC 90: Tyson Griffin VS Sean Sherk

Today SI.com repoted�that UFC 90 will feature a lightweight battle between Sean Sherk and Tyson Griffin. Apparently both fighters have agreed to the fight and are working through the bout agreements.

For Sherk, this will be his second fight back in the UFC after a one-year suspension, and his first fight after his loss to BJ Penn at UFC 84. Griffin on the other hand is on a 4 fight win steak after a loss to Frankie Edgar at UFC 67.

Griffin has been on a tear lately, dominating his opponents with a tenacious pace. All four of his latest wins have come by way of decision, and include victories over the likes of Clay Guida, Thiago Tavares, Gleison Tibau and Marcus Aurellio. The Xtreme Couture fighter has expressed his desire to work his way up to a title shot, and this is certainly one way to do it.

Sherk on the other hand would like to keep from becoming a stepping stone to the title. After losing soundly to Penn in May, he'll have to prove he still belongs in the title hunt.

"I've got five fights left, and I feel like I have a good strong future with the UFC," Sherk said. "Maybe one or two wins and I'll be back in title contention again".

The line for a lightweight title shot is a long one, with Huerta VS Florian clearing up some questions this weekend. Sherk and Griffin are both deserving opponents, but since Sherk lost already he'll definitely have to prove he deserves another crack at the champ. Then again, it could be a while before anyone gets a crack at BJ Penn given his strong desire to move up and fight GSP (should he get past Fitch this weekend).

A lot of questions to need to be answered, and a match up like this is one way to start!