Elite XC Weigh Ins
May 30, 2008
As many of you know the Elite XC will be airing an event this Saturday on CBS, this will be the first of four televised events over the course of the next year. Weigh ins took place earlier today for the event which will be held at the Prudential Centre in Newark New Jersey.
The main card is actually looking to be a pretty good line up. Kevin Ferguson, AKA Kimbo Slice, of viral Internet video fame will be facing his toughest opponent yet in James Thompson whom is a former Pride fighter. The co main event to the evening will feature a middleweight bout between Robbie Lawler and Scott Smith. Robbie currently holds the Elite XCs middleweight title and Scott is looking to claim it, should be a great battle.
It appears the event will be airing on CBS Saturday at 7PM Pacific the televised fights are as follows:
Kimbo Slice versus James Thompson
Robbie Lawler versus Scott Smith
Gina Cerrano versus kaitlin Young
Jon Murphy versus brett Rogers
Phil barani versus Joey Villasenor
Fans will be able to catch the following undercard bouts for free online as well.
Carlton Haselrig versus Carlow Moreno
Jim Bova versus Chris Liguori
Matt Makowski versus Nick Serra
Wilson Reis versus Justin Robbins
James Jones versus Calvin Kattar
Finally fans attending live will be treated to two more bouts, Zach Makovsky will take on Andres Soars and Mike Groves will take on Joe Sampieri. Both of these fights will be lightweight matches. It looks like there is a lot to look forward to this weekend for MMA fans. Check out the show this Saturday at 7PM pacific time on CBS.
*A quick update, it appears Gina Cerrano did not make weight for her bout, so she will be forced to give a percentage of her pay to her opponent Kaitlin Young. The amount has not yet been released, but there is speculation it is about 12 percent of her total pay.
2 More Changes for UFC 85 Fight Card
May 29, 2008
Well the Problems for UFC 85 persist, how can anyone doubt the event is cursed now? It was announced today that Eddie Sanchez (3 and 1 in the UFC) will be replacing Neil Wain (0 and 0 in the UFC) Wain was set for his first UFC bout against Antoni Hardonk (2 and 2 in the UFC) in a preliminary fight before the main card begins.
It appears injury is to blame yet again, Wain broke his nose in practice and will not be able to fight on June 7th so, Eddie has stepped in as his replacement. Eddie is a solid fighter on the UFCs roster, his last bout at UFC 79 ended with a 3rd round knockout against Soa Palelei. Currently Eddie Sanchez is holding a near perfect proffesional record with only one loss to Mirko Crocop.
Hardonk joined the UFC back at UFC 65, he has lost matches against Frank Mir and Justin McCully, but managed to scape together two wins recently. One against Sherman Pendergarst and the other against Colin Robinson. He really needs a win in his upcoming bout considering the UFCs recent no tolerance policy for fighters with a negative ratio.
Yet another fight has been changed for the UFC 85 card as well. Dana White, president of the UFC, seems to still be scrambling to deliver a blockbuster card after Chuck Liddell, Mauricio Rua and Chris Leben had to drop out of their fights, among many other fighters. Roan Carneiro will be taking on Kevin Burns in a preliminary fight before the main event. Kevin Burns is a rookie to the UFC, but not to MMA, he was announced to be the replacement for Ryo Chonan, whom dropped out of his match for still undisclosed reasons.
Roan last fought at UFC 79 against Tony DeSouza where he came out the victor. A well rounded fighter with excellent submission skills, he’ll have his hands full with his newest opponent. Kevin Burns has not had any matches in the UFC just yet, but holds a respectable MMA record of 5 wins with 1 loss. He most recently fought in the Victory Fighting Championship league where he won a bout against Bobby Voelker for the interim welterweight title.
Both men will be looking to make an impression with the UFC management on June 7th at UFC 85 in London, England. Hopefully this is the last of the substitutes and injuries we hear of for this event. Either way, the fans will be treated to a huge number of fights and some great MMA action. Look for more info here on UFC 85 and it’s card as it develops.
UFC 84, By The Numbers
May 28, 2008
UFC 84, By The Numbers
UFC 84 went down without a hitch and fans were treated with many great bouts. Now we get to analyze just how much the fighters made for their matches. First off the numbers for the event, the sold out MGM Garden Arena was packed to the rafters with nearly 15,000 people. In total those people brought in over 3.7 million dollars on tickets alone.
BJ Penn took the largest Paycheque this event with a whopping 250 k. Tito Ortiz, whom had his last contractual fight against new fan favorite Lyoto Machida raked in 210 k. Wanderlei Silva was the third highest grossing fighter with a $150,000 dollar cheque.
Interestingly enough it seems that Sean Sherk, BJ Penns vanquished opponent and former title holder only made 35,000 for his fight. Seems a bit low compared to BJ, which leads one to think that whole steroid fiasco effected his paycheques significantly. Machida took in 100k for his win over Tito which isn’t bad considering he hasn’t been in the UFC terribly long. Former Ultimate Fighter, Keith Jardine earned himself $10,000 for his loss to Wanderlei.
The rest of the fighters were paid out as follows:
Goran Reljic $6,000 Wilson Gouveia $18,000
Thiago Silva $50,000 Antonio Mendes $4,000
Rousimar Palhares $10,000 Ivan Salavarry $20,000
Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou $80,000 Kazuhiro Nakamura $20,000
Rich Clementi $40,000 Tim Etim $10,000
Yoshiyucki Yoshida $12,000 Jon Koppenhaver $8,000
Dong Hyun Kim $40,000 Jason Tan, $3,000
Shane Carwin $12,000 Christian Wellisch $10,000
Certainly some interesting numbers there, Sokoudjou made a great amount of money for an undercard bout. Of course the above numbers don’t cover taxes, licences and so forth, still not bad for a days work. Keep in mind most all these fighters were also paid out by sponsors, the amounts for which are not known at this time. Look for more salary reports here after each UFC event takes place.
Gamburyan and Edgar Set For Return at UFC 87
May 27, 2008
Fans certainly know the name Manny Gamburyan. A favoured to win contestant on the Ultimate Fighter reality series, he injured his shoulder in the final bout between him and Nate Diaz. Manny was left extremely disappointed, Manny and his fans were robbed of what many believed was a sure thing victory.
Not one to complain, Manny went on the road to rehabilitation and came back to the UFC stronger then ever. Sure, he didn’t have the 6 figure contract that his opponent, Nate Diaz had, but he was still fighting in the best MMA league in the world according to him. Manny rebounded off his defeat with impressive consecutive submissions over Nate Mohr and Jeff Cox. It was announced today that Manny would be on the UFC 87 card with his opponent Rob Emerson, whom happens to be his former caste mate from the Ultimate Fighter.
Emerson has not fought since the ultimate fighter finale where he was slammed to the mat and badly injured his ribs. His opponent in that bout, Gray Maynard appeared to have knocked himself unconscious in the slam and the bout was ruled a no contest. Gray came back to fight Keita Nakamura with a win by split decision. Emerson, on the other hand was supposed to come back to fight in UFC 84 against Jeremy Stephens. An injury stopped him from making the bout and Rich Clementi replaced him. Both men will be looking for a big win and to impress the UFC brass this August at UFC 87.
Also making headlines today lightweight Frankie Edgar will be returning to the UFC after his first career loss to Gray Maynard at Ultimate Fight Night 13. Frankie was on a huge 8 fight win streak (3 of those being in the UFC) and fans are hoping he can get right back into the swing of things and come out a winner on August 9th. It should be noted that, although Frankie has only had 4 fights in the UFC, he holds wins over the likes of Spencer Fisher, Mark Bocek and Tyson Griffin. Certainly impressive considering Spencer has only lost 4 fights in his entire career. Frankie is definitely an up and coming fighter to watch, hopefully he does not run out of steam. Check back here soon for more details on UFC 87 as news develops.
Colemans Replacement Announced
May 26, 2008
Well Fans were a bit disappointed last week when they learned Mark Coleman, UFC hall of famer and newest opponent for Brock Lesnar was recently, badly injured. He suffered a significant knee injury in training for his upcoming bout against Brock, ex WWE superstar, ex Minnesota Vikings football player and all around badass.
Fans were really looking forward to this fight as many felt Brock can do everything Coleman can do and to top it off, he was younger, stronger and faster. Unfortunately we will never know if that is true, as the fight has been postponed indefinitely. Happily, Brocks replacement opponent has been released today and it’s none other then Heath “The Texas Crazyhorse” Herring. While certainly not a UFC hall of famer, he is a formidable and seasoned opponent none the less. Brock will definitely have his hands full with this one and has hopefully learned his lesson from his last fight against Frank Mir. Brock won the standup game hands down, but Mir, the seasoned veteran and ex champion, weathered the blows and submitted Brock with little effort.
As Coleman versus Lesnar was the main event of UFC 87, the presiden of the UFC, Dana White had to replace the main event. It was recently announced that Dana added a title fight to the card, Georges St. Pierre will be defending his newly reacquired title against the undefeated and underrated Jon Fitch. This bout definately makes up for loosing Coleman off the card.
Fans are speculating that if Brock does not pick up a win on this bout he may be looking at the exit sign as the UFC has become far more strict on it’s fighters and their negative records these days. Brock shows enormous potential, but many fans feel he jumped the gun in entering the UFC as he is not as well rounded as he could have been. This will be Brocks chance to redeem himself and show the fans that he has the potential to be a champion in MMA as well. Fans can look forward to this match in addition to the GSP versus Fitch title match as well as a bout between Clay Guida and Mac Danzig at UFC 87 this August. Check back here often for more information on the event as it develops.
Houston Alexander in UFN 14
May 23, 2008
Well, good news for Houston Alexander fans out there, it seems he has signed on for a fight at the upcoming September Ultimate Fight Night 14, which will be aired on Spike TV on September 17th.
Houston has seen a lot of ups and downs so far in his UFC career. He was riding a wave of success with devastating knockouts against Keith “The Dean of Mean” Jardine and Alessio Sakara. He then lost a bout to Thiago Silva, 3 minutes 25 seconds into the first round. Fans hoped Houston would adjust and come back strong and impressive as ever, but it was not to be. His next match he lost again, this time to James Irvin, he was knocked out only 8 seconds into the very first round, which tied the UFC record for fastest knockout.
Fans were left disappointed and wondering if Houston was simply a heavy hitter that got lucky twice in a row. Well, he aims to squash those thoughts and has been training feverishly for his next bout. He was reportedly offered several fights before now, but apparently had turned them down for undisclosed reasons. It’s safe to guess he wanted to train and work on his game for awhile coming off two knockout losses. It looks like he feels he is ready though and so has signed a fight contract for UFN 14 against Eric Schafer.
Schafer Entered the UFC back in August of 06 where he won a first round submission against Ron MacDonald. He then suffered some losses just like Houston, with two knockout losses, one to Michael “The Count” Bisping and the other to Stephan Bonnar. He decided to get some more expreince in the octagon before taking on his next UFC opponent. So he went to the Gladiator Fighting Series organization where he won a couple fights, he also managed to get his black belt in Jiu-Jitsu, no small task.
So he’s back in the UFC and squaring off against Houston Alexander. Both men need this win to keep above the water so to speak. With the UFC cutting many fighters whom have had less then impressive performances recently, who knows if the looser of this match could be next or not. Look here for more information on Houston Alexander, Eric Schafer and UFC 14 as it develops.
Coleman Versus Lesnar Scratched
May 22, 2008
Bad news for Mark Coleman fans out there. Seems he has suffered a pretty damn bad knee injury in training for his upcoming about against Brock Lesnar at UFC 87. Lesnar is still on the card, but he won’t be fighting any UFC hall of famers by the looks of it. His next opponent should be announced tomorrow or early next week at the very latest.
So the president of the UFC, Dana White, is back on damage control, this time for UFC 87. Many of you know the series of unfortunate events surrounding UFC 85. Dana was scrambling to replace fighters as fast as they were dropping due to injury, arrest or what have you. Thankfully, Dana is fantastic at what he does. Fans are going to be treated to a new main event for UFC 87. Georges “Rush” St. Pierre versus Jon Fitch.
This will be Georges first title defense since his devastating win/revenge over Matt “The Terra” Serra where he took his belt back with extreme prejudice. Fitch is only the second fighter in the UFC ever to have a 8 fight winning streak. The last man to do that in the organization was Royce Gracie from UFC 1 to UFC 3. An impressive feat and it has definitely been noticed, Fitch has certainly earned his title shot. His most recent victory was over Chris Wilson back in March. Georges St. Pierre is training as hard as ever for this bout and realizes that this could very well be his most difficult match ever…8 back to back wins in the UFC is nothing to scoff at.
Fans can look forward to that main event bout, in addition to Lesnar against his new, yet unannounced opponent as well as a defining lightweight match between Roger Huerta and Kenny Florian. The winner of that bout will be next in line for the title and will likely face the winner of the upcoming BJ Penn, Sean Sherk match. Look forward to UFC 87 on August 9th, it will be taking place at the Target Centre in Minneapolis.
Yet More Issues With UFC 85 Fight Card
May 21, 2008
Well I don’t know about you folks, but I am about ready to jump on the “UFC 85 is Cursed bandwagon” It seems the ill fated pay per view event, set for June 7th in London has suffered yet another set back in losing James Irvin due to a broken foot.
Irvin, is four and three in the UFC and was going to be going up against Ultimate Fighter Season 2 veteran Rashad Evans. Fans were looking forward to seeing whether or not Irvin was a one hit wonder with his devastating knockout over the heavily favored Houston Alexander back on April second. James had a bout before that against Luiz Cane at UFC 79, the match ended up going to James because Luiz threw an illegal knee, which had him disqualified at 1 minute 51 seconds in the very first round. Most fans would have given the fight to Luiz Cane hands down up until the illegal knee.
So, who will be replacing James Irvin? None other then Luiz Cane. It seems the UFC is throwing him a bone and letting him try his luck again. Though it was probably more a matter of finding a fighter able to make the event, be of proper weight and get it into the country on such a short period of time.
As many of you know, Rashad was a replacement for Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, whom was to battle Chuck Liddell for the main event. Rashad replaced Rua, when he suffered an injury in training, not long after Liddell Injured his right hamstring and was forced to pull out of the bout. James was announced to be Rashads new opponent not more then 2 weeks ago. Now James is being replaced by Luiz Cane! To top it all off, Chris Leben was supposed to be on the main card fighting fellow Ultimate Fighter veteran Michael Bisping. Leben had to drop the fight due to being incarcerated for issues surrounding a drunk driving charge back in Oregon State. His replacement was announced to be Jason Day.
So, president of the UFC, Dana White was on damage control and now he’s right back at it again. He managed to string together a bout between Matt Hughes and the exceptional young fighter Thiago Alves, which replaced Liddell versus Evans as the main event. Also on the main event card are Marcus Davis versus Mike Swick and Brandon Vera versus Fabricio Werdum. The undercard is looking pretty solid as well, but most of us won’t be fortunate enough to be there in person to catch this great event. Once again, fans can look forward to this on pay per view or live in London on June 7th, check back here for more details and information on the event as it develops.
*Update* It seems Rashad has been completly removed from the card now and that Luiz Cane will be going back to his original undercard bout against Jason Lambert. It also appears that a new bout has been announced Nate Marquardt will square off against Thales Leites, bringing the total number of bouts on the card to 11….more news as it develops.
Dana White and Tito Ortiz Still Feuding
May 20, 2008
It should come as no surprise to all the UFC fans out there that Tito Ortiz “The Huntington Beach bad Boy” and president of the UFC, Dana White, are still feuding. Things have progressively gotten worse between the two rather large egos and it seems it is now all coming to a boiling point. Obviously that has something to do with Tito’s upcoming bout against Lyoto Machida on Saturday, being his last UFC contract.
There seems to be no doubt about it whatsoever now, Tito won’t be in the UFC anymore after his final fight this Saturday, whether he wins or not. It looks like UFC 84 will determine what man gets the last laugh, whether Tito wins and walks out a winner, or he looses to the fan favourite and rising star Machida.
Ortiz has fought in the octagon more then any other fighter in history with 21 bouts under his belt. He also has held a belt longer then anyone else in UFC history, over three years. Ortiz was involved with the UFCs 2 most profitable Pay Per View events and the most profitable TV event as well. Issues between the UFC and Tito have been ongoing since back in 2003 when Tito allegedly refused a bout against Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell because they were good friends and agreed not to fight. Chuck claims he never made any kind of agreement to that effect. It seems the war of words between Dana and Tito got so bad that in early 2007, one of the UFCs co-owners had to come down and try to negotiate a deal with Tito.
There have been rumours that Tito will head to the UFCs biggest rival organization Elite XC. Tito claims he wants to go somewhere he can be a free agent and negotiate his own fight contracts. The Elite XC is known for offering their fighters open contracts so they can fight anywhere they want in addition to fighting for Elite XC
Tito Claims he has 3 or 4 years of professional MMA left and lists some potential matches against the likes of Frank Shamrock, Fedor Emelianenko and Kimbo Slice. He says although Fedor and Kimbo are heavyweights he feels they could find a catch weight that they could fight at. Dana claims Tito has not fought and won against a top tier fighter since 2005 when he battled Vitor Belfort. His most recent wins are not against top tier fighters and Tito defends his recent losses to his back being 60% of what it usually is. He said after many of his most recent matches he needed injections in his spine. While that may be true, all MMA fighters and fans know making excuses just makes you look like a jackass.
Fans of Tito Ortiz will more then likely be able to catch him competing in Elite XC soon, a contract with them is expected to be made official after a 30 day period where he is barred from signing with any other MMA organizations due to his UFC contract. Fans will also be able to catch his last bout in the UFC on Saturday May 24th against Lyoto Machida. Look for more information on Tito Ortiz here as it develops.
Chuck Liddell Looking For A Fall Return To The Octagon
May 19, 2008
Well, Fans of the former Light Heavyweight UFC champion Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell can breath a sigh of relief. Chuck was injured last month in training for a match against Rashad Evans for UFC 85. He managed to hurt his right hamstring significantly enough that Dana White himself said he could not compete at his scheduled upcoming bout in London.
Liddell says he is aiming for a early fall comeback to the UFC. He claims that his physio therapy is going quite well and he is improving by leaps and bounds each day. He is optimistic about returning as early as late September, but a more realistic guess would be late October early November.
The Iceman will be looking to improve his overall ranking in the division and though he has no opponent in mind yet or even a firm return date he thinks he is next in line for a title shot if he wins his return debut bout. He feels he should get the title shot because he was the UFC champion for so long, even though he is coming off of 2 losses in his past three fights, once against Quintin “Rampage” Jackson, whom now holds the light heavyweight belt and once against Keith “The Dean of Mean” Jardine. Keith was the underdog in that fight and no one gave him much of a chance, when he out fought Liddell he earned a place in the UFC as a top tier fighter. Liddell went on to fight Wanderlei Silva where he looked much more comfortable and well rounded in the octagon, he would win that bout by decision in what was a very exciting and dynamic fight.
Liddell is hoping to avenge his last two losses to the two heavyweight fighters mentioned above. When he was champion Liddell managed to avenge all but one of his losses and that was to Rampage. Though it’s not known where Chuck will stand in the ranks if he beats his next unannounced opponent it’s clear he is still a force to be reckoned with in the UFC and may still manage to obtain the light heavyweight belt yet again. Look for more information on Chuck Liddell and his return to the UFC here as it develops.
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