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bobbymart
06-07-08, 4:43 pm
I figure rather than post a new thread everytime a new UFC is announced we can just throw em all in here
So I just found out one of my favorite fighter Mac Danzig is fighting a exelent fighter in Clay Guida at ufc 87 this will be a test for danzig it is his toughest opponent yet Guida is an animal I hope Mac can pull thru.
HardGainer369
06-07-08, 6:32 pm
fuck thats going to be a great fight..i love watching clay guida fight...although he needs to do something about his hair lol, too long and im sure it is hard to see those fists coming at you haha.
UFC 87 is going to be great. Kenny Florian and Roger Huerta is going to be a great fight, and I hope to see Brock show his talents in more than a minute this time.
bobbymart
06-08-08, 11:18 am
UFC 87 is going to be great. Kenny Florian and Roger Huerta is going to be a great fight, and I hope to see Brock show his talents in more than a minute this time.
it will be good unfortunately I have zero faith in brock I just don't like the guy and think he should have stuck to WWE he is to old to learn how to fight.
TheBassGuy
06-08-08, 4:59 pm
Im going to see UFC 87 as Minneapolis is only seven hours away. Im looking forward to seeing kenny florian and roger huerta fight. As well as GSP vs Fitch, everyone and their momma knows GSP is going to win that though.
bobbymart
06-08-08, 5:34 pm
Im going to see UFC 87 as Minneapolis is only seven hours away. Im looking forward to seeing kenny florian and roger huerta fight. As well as GSP vs Fitch, everyone and their momma knows GSP is going to win that though.
Roger huerta is bad ass I dont know if it was a smart move for danzig to drop to 155 you got bj, huerta, guida, tyson griffin, sherk but I guess 170 is not much better.
awsome you get to go to the fight.
bobbymart
06-09-08, 1:14 pm
The Ultimate Fighter 7 Finale
Date: Jun 21, 2008
Location: Las Vegas, Nev.
Venue: The Palms Las Vegas
Broadcast: Spike TV
* Kendall Grove vs. Evan Tanner
* Luigi Fioravanti vs. Diego Sanchez
* Finalist #1 vs. Finalist #2
* Spencer Fisher vs. Jeremy Stephens
* Jeremy Horn vs. Dean Lister
* Josh Burkman vs. Dustin Hazelett
* Marvin Eastman vs. Drew McFedries
* Rob Kimmons vs. Rob Yundt
* Matt Arroyo vs. Matt Brown
I kind of half ass pay attention nowadays. I used to watch UFC quite a bit a few years ago, but just got out of it, so this may be a dumb question. What happened to Andre Arlovsky? I remember when he got beat the first time, at least major fights, but he was dominant for that short period of time.
firsthorseman97
06-09-08, 2:29 pm
I kind of half ass pay attention nowadays. I used to watch UFC quite a bit a few years ago, but just got out of it, so this may be a dumb question. What happened to Andre Arlovsky? I remember when he got beat the first time, at least major fights, but he was dominant for that short period of time.
Arlovski last fought on March 1st in Columbus at UFC 82 where he won in the 2nd round over Jake O'Brien by TKO. Not sure when his next fight will be.
i hope Evan Tanner beats the crap out of "Da Spida". That guy irritates, annoys, and bugs the crap out of me.
Huerta fights are always great, that guy can bring it. I'm not too sure about Guida. I'm not really a fan of either of them, but I think Danzig is going to win. Guida just seems too crazy to me. I dont know if its the hair that makes me think that when he fights, but he just seems too open and wide. Danzig seems very sturdy, always calm.
Why is Fitch getting a title shot? I've seen his fights, he only has two big names on his list, Diego Sanchez and Thiago Alves (but he fought Alves 2 years ago). I really dont see him as belt worthy material.
bobbymart
06-10-08, 10:53 pm
i hope Evan Tanner beats the crap out of "Da Spida". That guy irritates, annoys, and bugs the crap out of me.
Huerta fights are always great, that guy can bring it. I'm not too sure about Guida. I'm not really a fan of either of them, but I think Danzig is going to win. Guida just seems too crazy to me. I dont know if its the hair that makes me think that when he fights, but he just seems too open and wide. Danzig seems very sturdy, always calm.
Why is Fitch getting a title shot? I've seen his fights, he only has two big names on his list, Diego Sanchez and Thiago Alves (but he fought Alves 2 years ago). I really dont see him as belt worthy material.
guida almost beat huerta i think he will beat mac and personally i think spida will dominate tanner just my personal predictions anyone else?
guida almost beat huerta i think he will beat mac and personally i think spida will dominate tanner just my personal predictions anyone else?
I do have a feeling that spida will beat tanner, I just wish he wouldnt win. haha
Yea, Tanner is amazing, i had the pleasure of meeting him at a subway during the Arnold, and he was really kool. But, as much as i like the guy, i dont see him beating Silva. Silva is from a different planet, and can land some serious bombs.
So how long do you guys think it'll take Fedor to take out Sylvia?
http://www.mmanews.com/other/Donald-Trump-And-Affliction-To-Team-With-New-Partnership.html
firsthorseman97
06-11-08, 10:51 am
Yea, Tanner is amazing, i had the pleasure of meeting him at a subway during the Arnold, and he was really kool. But, as much as i like the guy, i dont see him beating Silva. Silva is from a different planet, and can land some serious bombs.
Wrong spider. Tanner is fighting Kendall Grove.
bobbymart
06-11-08, 11:08 am
So how long do you guys think it'll take Fedor to take out Sylvia?
http://www.mmanews.com/other/Donald-Trump-And-Affliction-To-Team-With-New-Partnership.html
fedor is goping to put the hurt on silva!
Wrong spider. Tanner is fighting Kendall Grove.
OHHH, ok. Yea, i can see him beating Kendal then.
fedor is goping to put the hurt on silva!
Look at the size difference between these two. I still think Fedor will destroy Tim.
file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Owner/My%20Documents/sylvia_fedor.jpg
(you'll have to copy and paste the above to the url box to see the pic)
So how long do you guys think it'll take Fedor to take out Sylvia?
http://www.mmanews.com/other/Donald-Trump-And-Affliction-To-Team-With-New-Partnership.html
As if Affliction crap wasnt expensive enough. No wonder Trump got on board, he wanted a piece of the $50 t-shirts. hahaha.
Hows everyone feel about Huerta and Florian. Huerta is a beast and KenFlo kicked the crap out of Joe Lazon, making it look easy. I think its a tough one to call.
Huerta and Florian sounds like a good fight.
It'll be interesting to see how they match up. I don't think either one will get past B.J. though.
How about Mark "The Hammer" Coleman vs. Brock Lesnar? I loved watching Coleman back in the day. I hope he comes with it and puts a hurtin on Lesnar, but we'll see what Brock has learned.
bobbymart
06-11-08, 8:47 pm
Huerta and Florian sounds like a good fight.
It'll be interesting to see how they match up. I don't think either one will get past B.J. though.
How about Mark "The Hammer" Coleman vs. Brock Lesnar? I loved watching Coleman back in the day. I hope he comes with it and puts a hurtin on Lesnar, but we'll see what Brock has learned.
my prediction is coleman in the 1st
Coleman was injured, it's now Brock and Heath Herring.
Huerta and Florian sounds like a good fight.
It'll be interesting to see how they match up. I don't think either one will get past B.J. though.
How about Mark "The Hammer" Coleman vs. Brock Lesnar? I loved watching Coleman back in the day. I hope he comes with it and puts a hurtin on Lesnar, but we'll see what Brock has learned.
I thought Brock Lesner was fighting The Texas Crazy Horse? Or did that get changed?
bobbymart
06-12-08, 1:29 am
wow i did not realize Coleman was out... either way the crazy horse will beat Brock too
it will be good unfortunately I have zero faith in brock I just don't like the guy and think he should have stuck to WWE he is to old to learn how to fight.
i wouldn't underestimate brock.he's is seriously strong and a excellent wrestler and he very nearly beat frank mir.i thought the referee was going to stop the fight. he just got caught and needs some experience. i don't like him though and i'm glad he lost, otherwise all the wwe fans would have been saying that mma and the ufc is bullshit and that the wwe guys would destroy them
TheBassGuy
06-12-08, 10:18 am
Brock was an absolutely dominant college wrestler. He just needs time to learn the game. I'm just happy that the UFC isn't giving him cans to fight.
wow i did not realize Coleman was out... either way the crazy horse will beat Brock too
I didn't hear that either. That's too bad, I was looking forward to seeing "The Hammer" in action.
I didn't hear that either. That's too bad, I was looking forward to seeing "The Hammer" in action.
Herring keeps getting better though. As long as Brock shows up to fight, it has the potential to be an entertaining fight.
Looks like Dana isn't just gonna sit back and let a new organization just come in and grab the spotlight.
ANDERSON SILVA MOVES TO 205 ON JULY 19 UFC
Tuesday, June 17, 2008 - by Ken Pishna - MMAWeekly.com (Reporting by Damon Martin)
While everyone else is headed down, Anderson Silva is on his way up.
Although the Ultimate Fighting Championship has yet to make its own official announcement, company president Dana White on Tuesday confirmed to Dave Meltzer of Yahoo Sports that there will indeed be a July 19 UFC event that will air on Spike TV.
According to Meltzer, UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva will headline the event, though there is an added twist. He will not be defending his belt.
While most fighters today are dropping down as many weight categories as they possibly can, the champ is headed up. Silva will make the move to light heavyweight, temporarily, without relinquishing his middleweight belt, to face James Irvin.
Contacted by MMAWeekly.com, Irvin on Tuesday confirmed the bout, saying that he had just received the contract and finalized the deal earlier in the day. Although other possible match-ups had been discussed, including one with Wanderlei Silva, Irvin was excited for the bout with Anderson Silva.
There had been much speculation in recent weeks that Silva would move to the 205-pound division, but no one really expected it to come at this juncture. Most speculation for a possible July 19 card centered on a main event with some combination of Brandon Vera, Wanderlei Silva, or Dan Henderson.
In his comments to Meltzer, White indicated that Silva would still defend his 185-pound divisional title later in the year, but indicated a future bout with former light heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell could be in the works if all goes well on July 19.
In addition to Silva vs. Irvin, a bout between Hermes Franca and Frankie Edgar, initially planned for Aug. 9 in Minneapolis, is being relocated to the July event at the Palms in Las Vegas.
The bout will be Franca’s first since returning from suspension for a positive test for steroids in California.
The UFC’s July 19 is a counter move to Affliction’s planned mixed martial arts promotional debut, also on July 19, at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif. Affliction “Banned” features a main event of Fedor Emelianenko vs. Tim Sylvia, carrying a suggested price tag of $39.95 on pay-per-view.
James Irvin will join MMAWeekly Radio Tuesday night to talk about the fight with Anderson Silva and accepting such a high profile bout on relatively short notice.
http://mmajunkie.com/
Also on the card is Branden "The Truth" Vera (making his Light-Heavyweight debut) vs. Reese Andy, formerly of the IFL.
Its all about the money. Plus I'm sure the guys in charge arent happy that a few of the big names (that got their names in the UFC) are fighting on the Affliction card.
I think Silva can do pretty well in the light heavies. We'll see with his fight. I'm not 100% he could get the belt, but that could change after seeing him compete.
But they're going to air it on Spike! Thats just ridiculous, that is completely destroying Affliction. Majority of, if not all, casual watchers are going to watch the free event. I think only fans of those fighters will actually buy the event now.
But you know, maybe the prices of these events will actually go down in price.
bobbymart
06-22-08, 12:47 pm
UFC 86: Jackson vs. Griffin
Date: Jul 05, 2008
Location: Las Vegas, Nev.
Venue: Mandalay Bay Events Center
Broadcast: Pay Per View
MAIN CARD
Champion Quinton Jackson vs. Forrest Griffin (for UFC light heavyweight belt)
Ricardo Almeida vs. Patrick Cote
Joe Stevenson vs. Gleison Tibau
Josh Koscheck vs. Chris Lytle
Marcus Aurelio vs. Tyson Griffin
PRELIMINARY CARD
Gabriel Gonzaga vs. Justin McCully
Jorge Gurgel vs. Cole Miller
Melvin Guillard vs. Dennis Siver
Justin Bucholz vs. Corey Hill
Jared Rollins vs. Ben Saunders
So how about that Forrest/Rampage fight?
I think it was a close fight, but I think Forrest had it. I guess that Rampages corner disagrees.
http://www.sherdog.com/news/articles.asp?n_id=13575
Although Quinton Jackson (Pictures) lost his UFC light heavyweight title Saturday to Forrest Griffin (Pictures) in a grueling 25-minute bout, his camp is ready to keep fighting.
Jackson's coach, Juanito Ibarra, plans to protest the unanimous decision with the Nevada State Athletic Commission.
"We got robbed," Ibarra told Sherdog.com Sunday afternoon. "We won the majority of the fight."
Judges Adalaide Byrd and Nelson Hamilton scored the bout 48-46 for Griffin, while Roy Silbert turned in a 49-46 tally for Griffin.
It's extremely unlikely that a protest would change the outcome of the fight. Ibarra isn't hopeful in that regard, but less than 24 hours after his fighter had lost in the UFC for the first time, the coach seemed determined to learn exactly how the fight was scored.
He was baffled that Byrd and Silbert gave Griffin a 10-9 advantage in the first round, during which Jackson dropped the challenger. In Ibarra's view, the knockdown warranted a 10-8 round in Jackson's favor. He believes Jackson won the third and fourth rounds on 10-9 scores, though he said Griffin deserved a 10-8 second round and a 10-9 fifth. That comes out to a 47-46 win for Jackson.
"You have to beat the champion," Ibarra asserted more than once.
Randy Couture (Pictures), a coach and training partner of Griffin, gave a slight edge to the new champion.
"I thought that it was a very, very close fight," Couture said. "I thought that it was three rounds to two [for Griffin]. I thought that Quinton did enough to win two of the rounds clearly. I thought they may have been able to give Quinton a 10-8 round in the first round with the knockdown and then the second round you could have given Forrest a 10-8 round.
"And it could have went the other way. If one or two rounds went the other way, it could have been three rounds to two for Quinton. It was that close."
Strategies and execution
Couture's concern before the bout was a reasonable one: that when hit, a brawler at-heart like Griffin would resort to brawling.
"He has always wanted to bang," Couture said. "From the Bonnar fight on, just a brawler. That's what he thinks is exciting. That's the way he likes to fight. But at some point he realized that's not always the wisest choice, especially with a guy who hits as hard as Quinton."
The plan was to stay on the outside, use angles and footwork, work a long jab, a long hook and then finish with a kick. The kicks, as it turned out, did major damage, hobbling Jackson in the second round and changing the course of the fight.
Griffin did venture inside a few times, however, and paid for it. He took an uppercut in the first round that floored him and was cut over the eye in the fourth. Ibarra wanted Jackson to lure Griffin into more exchanges.
"I wanted Rampage to stay in the middle of the cage and make Forrest fight him," Ibarra said. "I think Rampage would have knocked him out, or hurt him and grounded and pounded him."
Griffin fought a smart fight, though. He never stayed inside for long. Instead, he chipped away and kept moving, occasionally stopping to drop a heavy kick into Jackson's lead leg.
"I thought Rampage needed to use his speed more," Ibarra said. "That's what was so disappointing in the fifth round: There was no speed, no combinations. Forrest is so long, you have to beat him to the punch. You have to be the first to set up that jab."
Ibarra also felt Jackson should have thrown more body shots. But make no mistake, even though he believes Rampage could have performed better, Ibarra is certain that he performed well enough to keep the belt.
Couture had little criticism of Griffin's execution, though the fighter didn't hesitate to critique himself.
"I'm happy with the way things turned out," Griffin said at the postfight news conference, "but there's a lot of stuff I planned on doing that I didn't do, a lot of things I worked on that didn't work out."
Wrestling, for one.
"Wrestling is something that we've worked on a lot since the Jardine fight," Couture said. "That was the one piece of the arsenal that [Griffin] was missing, and I think everybody knew that after some of the submissions he had in other fights that his ground skills were good. Everybody knows that he's a brawler and that his striking is formidable. He had no transition skills at all, so there was never a threat. … It's something we worked a lot on, but he didn't have to do that much last night."
Griffin was having success striking from the outside, but Jackson's wrestling skill and punching power also deterred him from wrestling more.
"He's got that one-punch power," Griffin told UFC.com on why he didn't work more from the clinch. "And a couple of times he hit me in the head or hit me in the shoulder, and it could have been a knockout. So I kind of pushed off and rested."
Possible deciding factors
After hurting Griffin in the first, Jackson planned to put him away in the second round.
"That's when I was fixing to go for it," Jackson said at the postfight presser. "He threw me a whammy. He hurt my leg. That's what messed me up."
Couture agreed: "I think the leg kicks hampered Quinton's mobility enough that he wasn't able to close that gap and get that inside range where he's very, very effective and very explosive."
Jackson also said he probably had "a little cage rust" after not fighting since September 2007. However, it had been just as long since Griffin last competed. Couture pointed to Griffin's size -- "We saw that as a big advantage in this fight" -- and his aggression as helping him get the nod.
"I think in the third, fourth and fifth rounds, Forrest carried the aggression in the fight," Couture said. "He was pushing the pace of the fight, controlling the tempo of the fight. Even the times when they were on the ground, Rampage wasn't able to damage Forrest. Forrest was able to scramble and get back up. He had the one nice submission attempt with the triangle. I think that [aggression] was the biggest difference."
Jackson said Griffin didn't hurt him on the ground either. Ibarra echoed that statement and added that Griffin's offense, including his submission attempts, should not have trumped the work Jackson did with his hands.
Ibarra on rematch: I got it
The unanimous decision for Griffin was greeted with cheers and some boos. Exhausted after the biggest win of his career, a significant upset that had made him a UFC champion, the 29-year-old thanked the audience at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.
More boos followed -- the inevitable result, no doubt, of any close decision.
"Hey," Griffin responded. "What the hell? What? What? Are you kidding me? Come on."
He acknowledged that the fight was close.
"And I don't want to because he hits too f---ing hard," Griffin said, "but I think we're going to have to do that again."
In the Octagon after his loss, Jackson seemed to admit defeat. "He just whooped my ass," Rampage said, but later, at the postfight presser, his perspective had changed.
"I feel like I won the fight," he said. "When I think about it, and my cornermen and other people who watched it, they thought he won the second and maybe the last round. And I won the rest."
Despite changing his opinion, Jackson remained respectful.
"I didn't want to leave it up to the judges," Jackson said. "But you know what? I didn't think Forrest could hang with me. I said if Forrest gets past the third round, he'll gain my respect and I respect him. And if I ever fight him again, I'm gonna respect the hell out of him with my right hand."
According to Ibarra, there is no "if" concerning a rematch.
"I got it. I got it. I'm not waiting. Next fight," said the coach, who explained that he approached UFC President Dana White and co-owner Lorenzo Fertitta in the Octagon about making a rematch. "I asked for it, immediately, in the cage, and Forrest agreed. The rematch is going to go like I first thought. Forrest is going to try to do more, and next time he's gonna get beat."
Said Couture: "It could be the next big trilogy in the weight class. It was a terrific fight, a back-and-forth battle, and that's the kind of fight people want to see again."
Given some time to ponder another bout with Jackson, Griffin wasn't backing down. Besides, he doesn't exactly envision an easy run as the UFC light heavyweight titleholder.
"I'm not a feared guy, but the thing is, I'm going to fight you for 25 minutes," he said. "Whoever you are, anybody at 205, I'm not going to break. I'm not going to quit. It's the same s--- I always say. I'm not … you look at the champions. Anderson Silva: terrifying. B.J. Penn (Pictures): terrifying. Every other champion but me is pretty terrifying. I'm just a dude trying to put it together. But the one thing I've got is I'm going to fight you to the end, like a dog. And other than the third round [against Jackson], where I decided just to kind of hangout, lay on my back there, I feel like I did that. And next time, I'll bring it better."
bobbymart
07-07-08, 12:10 pm
I think forrest won the fight...I hate when people whine about losing you need to accept the decision and move on... I do think mma rules and judging need to be revamped and clearer easier to understand for everyone.
Forrest won the fight. I'm sorry, throwing harder punches does not win you the fight. I believe in more rounds Forrest controlled the ring, landed more shots, and had more offense on the ground. Forrest kept going for submissions while Rampage didnt land very many shots. True, they are hard, strong punches, but if you dont land more than the other guy, you still lose. While the fight was going on, I didnt see why Rampage would be a head except for the two rounds that he won. The other rounds Forrest was a clear winner.
That really pisses me off that he is protesting. You know what? Tough shit, Rampage let it go to decision, its his fault it ended that way. If you wanna win, know the other guy out or submit him. Dont be a poor loser after the deal is over and protest.
Now, it doesnt sound like its actually rampage that is protesting, it sounds like only his trainer is. But still, stop the bullshit and just do a rematch. At this moment I doubt many could compete with Rampage. Arent the top competitors Liddell, Evans, W. Silva, Machida, and Rampage? So debate could go on about that, but I dont see any of them being able to easily defeat rampage.
Lets get the Liddell vs Rampage II going!!!
Rampage said it all right after the fight when he said 'sometimes you whip some ass and sometimes you get your ass whipped and I got my ass whipped'. I do think it was a fairly close one but Forrest was the winner and should have been, he was the definite aggressor, and almost took rampages leg off with those kicks. I was not disappointed, it was a good event as a whole and Forrest won so I was happy.
I really do hope there is a rematch, that was an amazing fight.
bobbymart
07-07-08, 1:24 pm
Forrest won the fight. I'm sorry, throwing harder punches does not win you the fight. I believe in more rounds Forrest controlled the ring, landed more shots, and had more offense on the ground. Forrest kept going for submissions while Rampage didnt land very many shots. True, they are hard, strong punches, but if you dont land more than the other guy, you still lose. While the fight was going on, I didnt see why Rampage would be a head except for the two rounds that he won. The other rounds Forrest was a clear winner.
That really pisses me off that he is protesting. You know what? Tough shit, Rampage let it go to decision, its his fault it ended that way. If you wanna win, know the other guy out or submit him. Dont be a poor loser after the deal is over and protest.
Now, it doesnt sound like its actually rampage that is protesting, it sounds like only his trainer is. But still, stop the bullshit and just do a rematch. At this moment I doubt many could compete with Rampage. Arent the top competitors Liddell, Evans, W. Silva, Machida, and Rampage? So debate could go on about that, but I dont see any of them being able to easily defeat rampage.
Lets get the Liddell vs Rampage II going!!!
it would be lidell rampage 3 rampage has beat him 2X
it would be lidell rampage 3 rampage has beat him 2X
Shit, totally forgot about Pride! I was thinking only in UFC. Yea, maybe not that then, if Liddell wins, its still 2-1 in Rampage's favor.
What is everyone's thoughts on Silva vs Irvin??
Silva is still in the Middleweight division correct? Or is he completely moving up?
Shit, totally forgot about Pride! I was thinking only in UFC. Yea, maybe not that then, if Liddell wins, its still 2-1 in Rampage's favor.
What is everyone's thoughts on Silva vs Irvin??
Silva is still in the Middleweight division correct? Or is he completely moving up?
He is going to bounce back and forth. Silva will beat Irvin, I think.
bobbymart
07-07-08, 7:14 pm
Dana confirmed he is moving up in weight! he will bounce back and forth
What is everyone's thoughts on Silva vs Irvin??
Silva is still in the Middleweight division correct? Or is he completely moving up?
While the Sandman hit's hard, I don't know if he'll be able to get in on Silva to land the shots. I think his Muay-Thai and striking is too good.
I'm giving it to Silva, even though I'd like to see Irvin win.
Thats awesome! I figured he'd do a Royce Gracie kinda thing (where Gracie competed in light heavies, but only weighed 190). I think he'll beat Irvin as well, but after that, I wonder how far he'll go.
bobbymart
07-07-08, 8:14 pm
Dan Henderson Ready for Anderson Silva's Challenge (Story from Yahoo! Sports)
by Dave Meltzer on Feb 26, 2008 at 9:00 pm ET
By Dave Meltzer/Yahoo! Sports
(Reprinted from Yahoo! Sports on MMAjunkie.com with permission)
So far the most discussed fights of 2008 have been about selling the sizzle. Promoting huge but unranked fighters like Bob Sapp, Brock Lesnar and Kimbo Slice, who appeal to the fantasy of what people think a badass fighter is supposed to be, has done huge business.
But Saturday night's Dan Henderson vs. Anderson Silva matchup is the genuine prime rib steak.
The main event at UFC 82 in Columbus, Ohio's Nationwide Arena, pits Yahoo! Sports No. 1-ranked, pound-for-pound fighter in UFC middleweight champion Silva against PRIDE champion Henderson, who is ranked No. 7 in the poll.
Since the PRIDE Fighting Championship no longer exists, it will be the last time any PRIDE championship will be contested, and most insiders agree it will determine the true world champion in the weight class.
Neither the pound-for-pound top ranking, nor the PRIDE vs. UFC arguments don't seem much of a concern to Henderson
"I don't know (about the pound-for-pound top spot), there's a lot of top fighters that you can argue could have that title," said Henderson. "I've got no pressure on me mentally as far as that (PRIDE vs. UFC) goes, because I came from PRIDE. I plan on doing well for me, my family and my team."
Silva earned the top ranking because for the past three years, he's been a devastating finisher. In his past nine fights, aside from one DQ loss to Yushin Okami, he's scored seven knockouts or TKOs and one submission.
Henderson, on the other hand, has only been stopped twice (by submissions to each of the Nogueira twins) in a 28-fight career that has been filled with matches against physically bigger men and a high percentage of top-level fighters.
So you've got one man used to dominating and knocking people out early against a survivor who has never been knocked out. Henderson is experienced in long fights, and there is potential of five rounds here â?? something Silva has never experienced in his MMA career.
"Anderson Silva's a little bit smaller than Quinton Jackson, but naturally, he's a little bit bigger than I am," said Henderson, who left his familiar Team Quest training camp in Murietta, Calif., for high altitude training in Big Bear. "I don't mind fighting guys at 205 at all, but 185 isn't bad. I'm comfortable in both weight classes. I don't make an issue of how strong guys are at 205. Being at 185, most of the time I still don't feel like I'm way stronger than the guys."
Henderson concedes Silva is the more skilled stand-up fighter. Silva is as good as anyone in MMA today when it comes to the ability to use all-around stand-up skill. He's got a full Muay Thai style of attack that includes strong punches and kicks from a distance and knees in the clinch.
It's that same clinch that Henderson, as a Greco-Roman wrestling specialist, is comfortable in. They'll have different strategies when they get there. Henderson uses the clinch to control his opponent, wear him out physically and use dirty boxing. Silva, who destroyed Franklin in that position by shocking the former UFC champion with his ability to overpower him, uses it to control and bring down the head of his opponent, trying to devastate his foe with lethal knees.
Although Henderson comes from an Olympic wrestling background, his striking is feared in MMA. Again, it's very different from Silva. Henderson is like the old-school boxing warrior who relies on his chin, a devastating right hand and a willingness to take several shots for the ability to retaliate with knockout power.
"He's definitely a more refined striker and has a little bit of a reach advantage on me," he said. "His strength is getting into the clinch and beating up guys from there, but that's my strength. I think my style matches up pretty great with him. I'm pretty comfortable in the clinch with anyone. I have a lot of power. I can still knock him out even though he's a better striker.
Henderson's clear edge is in wrestling. He's among the more decorated wrestlers in the sport, with several national championships to his credit dating back to winning two junior nationals titles at 17. He represented the U.S. in Greco-Roman wrestling at the 1992 and 1996 Olympics and was the 1990 teenage world champion in Greco-Roman wrestling at 163 pounds.
"I don't think it (wrestling)is his strong point, but I'm not expecting to take him down at will," said Henderson. "But I've fought better wrestlers than him."
Henderson's entree to MMA in 1997 was through then-training partner Randy Couture. With little going for him but his wrestling background, he won a tournament in Brazil, the first of four he's won during his career, attesting to his durability. At the time, he had no aspirations for world championships, and MMA was just a way to fund his quest for an Olympic medal. While most think of him as a PRIDE fighter, he actually won a UFC under-200-pound tournament in 1998 to earn a shot at then-middleweight champion Frank Shamrock. The match never happened though, as Henderson's goal was his wrestling career.
MMA didn't become his prime sport until two things happened.
The first was winning a Japanese open weight RINGS King of Kings tournament, where he won decisions over three much larger heavyweights â?? feared striker Gilbert Yvel and Brazilian submission specialists Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Renato Sobral â?? all on the same night in early 2000. Then, he failed to make the 2000 Olympic team.
The PRIDE promotion was starting to take off as the Japanese MMA boom period started in 2000, and they lured the RINGS champion to an even bigger stage.
When PRIDE created the 183-pound division in 2005, Henderson scored devastating knockouts of Ryo Chonan and Akihiro Gono, then won a split decision over Murilo Bustamante on Dec. 31, 2005, to become PRIDE's first champion.
He's lost only once in that weight â?? a non-title match with Kazuo Misaki on Aug. 26, 2006, where he said he simply came in flat and spent the fight looking for a knockout standing and getting outpointed in the process.
Henderson won his second PRIDE title Feb. 24, 2007, knocking out Wanderlei Silva in Las Vegas.
When PRIDE was purchased by the owners of the UFC last April, UFC management pegged Henderson vs. Anderson Silva as the direction it wanted to go, but Henderson said he wanted to fight as a light heavyweight. As someone unconcerned with the size of his opponent, he saw light heavyweight as UFC's deepest division, which meant more challenges and more money. He fought champion Quinton Jackson close in their unification match on Sept. 8 in London, England, but lost a unanimous decision after five rounds. Although he first resisted, he agreed to UFC president Dana White's request to drop to 185.
"Typically, I get up for the challenges," said Henderson. "At the time, the bigger challenge was at 205. I was a little bit stubborn at first when Dana asked me to cut to 185. But when he asked me to fight Anderson Silva, that was a big challenge, and the more I thought about it, the more excited I got about it. So it was a no-brainer to go down."
Dave Meltzer covers mixed martial arts for Yahoo! Sports. Meltzer, who has published the pro wrestling trade industry publication the Wrestling Observer Newsletter since 1982, began covering MMA with UFC 1 in 1993. This story originally appeared on Yahoo! Sports and is syndicated on MMAjunkie.com as part of a content-partnership deal between the two sites.
bobbymart
07-07-08, 8:15 pm
Anderson Silva vs. James Irvin to headline July 19 UFC event
by MMAjunkie.com Staff on Jun 17, 2008 at 5:56 pm ET
UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva (21-4 MMA, 6-0 UFC) will make his light-heavyweight debut and take on veteran fighter James Irvin (14-4 MMA, 5-3 UFC) at a July 19 UFC event.
MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) confirmed the fight this afternoon with a source very close to the event; it was first reported today by MMARated.com. MMAjunkie.com has also confirmed that the event will be titled UFC Fight Night 14 (and the Sept. 17 Spike TV event will now be titled UFC Fight Night 15).
The event, which will air on Spike TV, was only recently put together -- likely to combat Affliction's star-studded debut "Banned" show, which features a main event between Fedor Emelianenko and Tim Sylvia.
Additionally, Dave Meltzer is reporting that UFC president Dana White has confirmed the Silva-Irvin fight and also that Hermes Franca (18-6 MMA, 5-3 UFC) vs. Frankie Edgar (8-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC) -- a fight originally scheduled for UFC 87 -- will be added to the July 19 fight card.
On Monday we passed along reports of the possible event (see: initial report). Although Brandon Vera vs. Wanderlei Silva had been considered as a main event, Silva reportedly wasn't physically prepared for the bout.
Instead, the event will feature Silva, who's proven to be nearly unstoppable in the UFC's 185-pound division. Insiders say the UFC had briefly considered matching Silva up with former light heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell, though the bout never came to fruition. He'll now fight Irvin in a non-title fight. The selection of the veteran Irvin is peculiar, to say the least.
Irvin, who made his UFC debut in 2005, is 5-3 in the organization and 3-1 in his past four UFC fights. He most recently defeated Houston Alexander with an eight-second knockout (via Superman punch). However, he's never been considered one of the division's top contenders, and on a few occasions, openly stated that he was possibly one loss away from losing his UFC contract.
The event will take place in Las Vegas, most likely at The Palms Casino Resort.
On the same night, "Affliction: Banned" will take place at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif. In addition to Emelianenko and Sylvia, the fight card features notables such as Josh Barnett, Matt Lindland, Andrei Arlovski, Ben Rothwell, Renato "Babalu" Sobral and others. The event airs on pay per view with a $39.95 price tag.
Official announcement of the UFC event could come on Wednesday. UFC President Dana White is expected finally to announce the "big news" he's been trumpeting for the past few weeks. He's reportedly revealing the news to employees at 3 p.m. ET (noon PT) and then to the public.
According to multiple sources, the announcement could include the confirmation of a new ownership group. MMAPayout.com reports that it could be Bertelsmann Media, a German based international entertainment company.
UFC Fight Night 14
Date: Jul 19, 2008
Location: Las Vegas, Nev.
Venue: The Palms Casino Resort
Broadcast: Spike TV
MAIN CARD
* Anderson Silva vs. James Irvin
* Brandon Vera vs. Reese Andy
* Frankie Edgar vs. Hermes Franca
* Jake O'Brien vs. Cain Velasquez
* Kevin Burns vs. Anthony Johnson
* C.B. Dollaway vs. Jesse Taylor
PRELIMINARY CARD
* Tim Credeur vs. Cale Yarbrough
* Brodie Farber vs. Rory Markham
* Brad Blackburn vs. James Giboo
* Nate Loughran vs. Johnny Rees
* Shannon Gugerty vs. Dale Hartt
HardGainer369
07-16-08, 3:28 pm
what are you guys going to watch on saturday? UFC or affliction banned?
im watching UFC, i think dana white put jesse up against CB to see if jesse can beat him and if he does i have a feeling his next fight will be against amir..they way the TUF finale should of been.
bobbymart
07-16-08, 6:24 pm
we are buying affliction and tivo'ing ufc
I'm watching UFC. Never have been a fan of Fedor or Sylvia. Since he got the title he never fights to win. He sits back, jabs, and does nothing throughout the fight, not entertaining enough to spend the money. Not really into Babalou either. But thats just my opinion. I tend to think in the way of gladiators, sure, you can win the fight, but did you win over the crowd?
I'm also a little disappointed. Affliction became really popular because of the UFC, now they're competing with the UFC. Thats the way I feel. Hopefully though, if it is popular enough, there will be some healthy competition, lowering the prices for us.
what are you guys going to watch on saturday? UFC or affliction banned?
im watching UFC, i think dana white put jesse up against CB to see if jesse can beat him and if he does i have a feeling his next fight will be against amir..they way the TUF finale should of been.
Probably gonna go with the UFC.
I think the Jesse/Amir fight will and should be next, granted Jesse wins the CB fight. I think he will. He just seemed to over power everyone else and I don't think that CB is good ENOUGH to win.