the UFC thread

[riversmonkey]

Amazing, we got the show ahead of the States!

 

[mil1lion]

I really enjoyed the Ultimate Finale from last night.

The Guida v Sanchez fight was everything i expected, and more. What a war. And the Chris Lytle v Kevin Burns fight was also very exciting. Lytle sure does now how to slug it out. But what a great night for Team UK. The Ross v Andre fight was a good fight, both were very evenly matched, and it was a very close fight which could have gone either way. But most impressive was James Wilks in his fight with Demarques Johnson. I'm so glad he shut up the mouthy American. He totally dominated to make it an all Ultimate Fighter victory for Team UK. Hopefully Bisping completes the treble when he fights Henderson on July 11th. MMA will grow more and more over here now though.

 

[riversmonkey]

To be honest the Pearson vs. Winner fight was quite dull, their styles nullified each other, so there was a great deal of clinches and dirty boxing. Bruce Buffer making a right old hash of pronouncing Leicester got a big laugh from me.

I assume the UK guys from TUF 9 will fight the rumoured UFC event in October that should take place over here.

 

[punky]

To be honest the Pearson vs. Winner fight was quite dull, their styles nullified each other, so there was a great deal of clinches and dirty boxing. Bruce Buffer making a right old hash of pronouncing Leicester got a big laugh from me.

I assume the UK guys from TUF 9 will fight the rumoured UFC event in October that should take place over here.

Was looking forward to Pearson v Winner but was really disappointed. Neither really went for it. Pearson normally goes mad but he was well off the boil.

Loved the Wilks v Johnson match and was so happy he beat Johnson. I really can't stand him. I would have been gutted if Wilks lost, and expected him to really. Excellent fight though. Wilks really stepped up his game though. I'm sure it isn't the last time we'll see Johnson. And Lie-chester, where the hell's that?

Was looking forward to seeing the Osipczak fight. I thought he did very well, we should be seeing more of him. Was a shame about the thumb-in-the-eye although it looked to me as a clean punch. It happens though.

Sanchez v Guida was an excellent match. Sanchez dealt some vicious blows and then Guida recovered very well and responded. Especially that kick.

This season's TUF has done really well for the Brits. 3 out of 4 Brits in the finals, both winners are Brits, and a Brit through as runner-up. Hopefully this will really help give British MMA a boost. Speaking of which BAMMA is starting on Bravo on sundays. Just hope Bisping beats Henderson now, although i'm not confident.

The next season of the Ultimate Fighter, heavyweights, is coming up on the 16th September 09. The coaches are Rashad Evans v Quinton Jackson. Looking forward to that too.

 

[Evolution]

yeah the the finale was really enjoyable. Especially the first 30 secs of the Guida v Diego fight. Man they just tore into each other!!! I honestly thought Guida would be far better in the stand up game but boy has Diego improved his striking!!!

Soooo glad Lightning Wilkes shut up Johnson. He's been talking smack about him all through TUF09 saying he's a pompose ass etc. Great submissions and you could kinda tell from the opening exchanges that Wilkes was gonna win this one!

Top stuff...roll on UFC 100 with 'The Count' v 'Hendo'. I'm going for Bisping TKO!

 

[mil1lion]

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/sport/...ufc-close-to-deal-for-new-uk-television-home/

UFC 'close to deal' for new UK television home

The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) are closing in on a new home, as UK President Marshall Zelaznik assures fans that UFC 100 will be televised live in Britain and that a deal could be tied up as early as Monday.

UFC fans had been concerned about the prospect of missing out on UFC 100 in light of Setanta Sports’ recent financial collapse. Setanta had, of course, played host to live UFC action since UFC 80 in January 2007.

However, the ever-increasing appeal of The Ultimate Fighting Championship has caused a flood of interest in the up-for-grabs organisation.

As it stands, no less than six major UK television networks have enquired about giving the UFC a home and UK President Zelaznik admits that he’s in a position to complete two of the deals today.

“We have two offers on the table that we could close on today, if we wanted to,” said Zelaznik.

“These offers are from top networks and both would be great homes for the UFC. We also have great interest from three other major networks and we expect offers to be made later this week.

“The UFC proved itself to be a huge hit with British sports fans during our time on Setanta, and everyone was delighted with how The Ultimate Fighter performed on Virgin 1. We are in a great position, and we will have everything decided in the coming days.”

With interest high in the UFC right now, and with a television announcement expected next week, Zelaznik is bracing himself for an influx of late interest.

The added coup of UFC 100 (Saturday, July 11) – the biggest mixed martial arts event to date – only increases the demand for UFC on British screens. Despite the current situation, Zelaznik has assured British UFC fans that they’ll definitely be able to catch the world’s premier MMA event live in the UK on July 11.

Zelaznik said earlier this week: “I’d like to guarantee our loyal British and Irish fans that UFC 100 will be live on television over here. “You won’t have to wait to see the biggest event in UFC history. UFC 100 will be live in the UK.”

UFC 100 features the UFC heavyweight title clash between Brock Lesnar and Frank Mir, as well as the UFC welterweight clash between Georges St. Pierre and Thiago Alves. Perhaps most intriguing for UK fans, however, is the eagerly anticipated middleweight clash between England’s Michael ‘The Count’ Bisping and Dan Henderson.

Cant wait until UFC 100. I just hope that, whoever gets the licence, has a HD service. UFC needs to go HD in the UK.

 

[punky]

I can't stay up til 5am in the morning, so doesn't matter who gets it to be honest - i'll have to download it regardless.

Would be nice if Bravo or Virgin 1 get it.

Speaking of Bravo, anyone watch BAMMA last weekend? Any good?

 

[mil1lion]

Yeah i watched BAMMA. Its not even close to UFC tbh. There were a couple of decent fights on there though. Its pretty much the new Cage Rage. Decent but not great.

 

[punky]

Rampage being... erm... Eek

http://mmalinker.com/xExternal.php?vidid=17689

The girl took it well. I love how the guy at the end broached Rampage *carefully*

 

[mil1lion]

http://uk.ufc.com/index.cfm?fa=news.detail&gid=21058

UFC 100 is live on Sky 433 now that Setanta is dead And streamed on UFC.com. Then it goes to the new ESPN UK channel from August.

 

[AngerManagement]

It was a decent card, although I guess I was expecting more drama from it. It was looking on paper to be an outstanding event although (to me atleast) failed to live up to expectations with the action.

I won't comment on the action incase some of you have not seen the event yet...

 

[mil1lion]

Yeah it wasn't as great as i was hoping. I think that was because the 3 main events were very 1 sided. The fight of the night for me was the Belcher v Akiyama fight. I thought Belcher should have won though tbh, but it was clear that one of judges had already decided to score it to Akiyami (giving him all 3 rounds). He's a big star in Japan and i think it was handed to him. Good fight though.

Bisping got proper KOd and made a huge mistake moving to his left and into a Hendo overhand right. One of the biggest KOs of all time. Shame he followed in on him after the initial knockout, even though he admitted he knew Bisping was out. This is a real test for Bisping. That type of KO can really hurt a fighter. Hopefully he'll bounce back though. Its his first big fight, and he's still fairly young.

GSP dominated Alves for 5 rounds. He just pressed and pressed him. Alves had the strength advantage, but GSP has so much more to his game. Alves came across as a bit one dimensional to be honest. I think its time for GSP to test himself at middleweight soon. He seems a bit above the welterweight division now.

And Brock Lesnar was dominant on the ground too. Still has a lot of work to do on the feet, but he can take people down a will. Wrestling is a great starting point in MMA, and Lesnar is one of the best. If he keeps improving other aspects, then he'll be a dominant champion. Dana White is claiming that it'll be Brock vs Fedor next. Yes please Dana. Please make it happen. Fedor has so much more to his game, but Brock is a lot bigger. I think that would be an interesting fight. Although i think Carwin deserves a shot if he can beat Cain Velasquez.

 

[riversmonkey]

Really? I though Akiyama got a couple of take downs, one knock down and picked Belcher off which I guess counts as Octogon Control. The decision seemed fair to me.

Bisping's knockout was horrible, especially considering his corner told him to stop circling into the range of Henderson's right hand, he seemed to be overwhelmed by the occasion which is a big surprise considering he has had the pressure on his shoulders many times and dealt with the nerves. The cheap shot after the knockout blow was awful, but it happens.

I wasn't keen that the show ended with Thiago and Fitch, it completely killed the momentum, the fight was a keenly contestant Ju Jitsu exhibition but the atmosphere was dead and it just felt anti-climatic, I feel sorry for the fighters. Especially coming after Brock heralding a new era of WWEMMA. I don't mean this as a slight against Lesnar, but it all went a bit Stone Cold Steve Austin post-fight and though business wise this will be a great thing for the UFC, it seemed a bit silly.

 

[mil1lion]

Its been confirmed that UFC will now be shown on ESPN in the UK. Great news, cos that means it'll be in HD. UFC 101 and 102 are free and then its £9.99 per month for Sky Sports customers or £12.99 for non Sky Sports customers. The channel is up today, cant wait for UFC 101 this Saturday.

 

[punky]

I'm looking forward to Silva vs Griffin, but that's all TBH, I can take or leave the rest.

 

[mil1lion]

Yeah only 2 decent fights really. The Silva/Griffin fight and the Florian/Penn fight should be good.

Tito Ortiz is back too now. Not that he'll be great again, but he's one of the standout characters in UFC. He fights Coleman at UFC 103.

EDIT: Its Tito vs Coleman at 106 i think, i was confusing it with the return of Vitor Belfort at UFC 103, where he fights Rich Franklin.

 

[Evolution]

Looking forward to tonight's UFC 101

For the main fight cards I'm going for Anderson Silva to TKO Forrest Griffin pretty early on. He looks an absolute monster at 205!

Also fancy an upset with Kenny Florian to pip BJ Penn on points and this one should a real war hopefully!!!

 

[Davids_5]

Anderson has packed some muscle on and had to cut more weight than his last visit to 205, but forrest is a huge LHW, will be an interesting fight, I know Forrest didn't have as long to prepare as he would have liked due to his hand but Forrest will still be dangerous coming off a loss.

On the other hand, a fit, well conditioned and motivated BJ is a beast at 155 and has all the talent in the world, but an ever improving Florian will be a tough test.

My Picks

BJ
Head says Silva, heart Forrrest
Almeida
Hendricks, based on bad weight cut but Amir could pull off a slick sub
Neer
Leites

 

[riversmonkey]

I think BJ is going to smash Florian. I'm thinking Forrest is going to upset Anderson Silva, it seems implausable, unlikely even, but somehow he will. I'm a massive Silva fan, but I think he will get caught out tonight.

I'm picking Pellegrino, Grove and Sadollah

 

[MarkTHFC9]

Stayed up to watch this with few mates. Anderson Silva fight was brilliant, the rest were a bit substandard.