UFC 80: Newcastle, England - BJ Penn Vs. Joe Stevenson / UFC Fight Night 12
mookie blaylock 10
Posts: 4,042
happy new year everyone! 
a lot going on in mma for december and january, so UFC 80 is already only a few weeks away. once again, back across the pond...this time in newcastle, england.
a great main event in penn vs. stevenson and a good HW rematch with gonzaga and werdum. the rest of the card is not as strong on paper, but we'll have to see how they play out. davis vs. liaudin could be interesting, as could lambert vs. gouveia, and i'm hoping to see either paul taylor or sam stout from the pre-lims.
UFC 80, January 19, 2008 - Metro Radio Arena, Newcastle, England - PPV (Live at 3 p.m. ET)
Main Card:
BJ Penn Vs. Joe Stevenson - LW Championship
Gabriel Gonzaga Vs. Fabricio Werdum
Marcus Davis Vs. Jess Liaudin
Jason Lambert Vs. Wilson Gouveia
Kendall Grove Vs. Jorge Rivera
Pre-lims:
Antoni Hardonk Vs. Colin Robinson
Paul Taylor Vs. Paul Kelly
Alessio Sakara Vs. James Lee
Sam Stout Vs. Per Eklund
a lot going on in mma for december and january, so UFC 80 is already only a few weeks away. once again, back across the pond...this time in newcastle, england.a great main event in penn vs. stevenson and a good HW rematch with gonzaga and werdum. the rest of the card is not as strong on paper, but we'll have to see how they play out. davis vs. liaudin could be interesting, as could lambert vs. gouveia, and i'm hoping to see either paul taylor or sam stout from the pre-lims.
UFC 80, January 19, 2008 - Metro Radio Arena, Newcastle, England - PPV (Live at 3 p.m. ET)
Main Card:
BJ Penn Vs. Joe Stevenson - LW Championship
Gabriel Gonzaga Vs. Fabricio Werdum
Marcus Davis Vs. Jess Liaudin
Jason Lambert Vs. Wilson Gouveia
Kendall Grove Vs. Jorge Rivera
Pre-lims:
Antoni Hardonk Vs. Colin Robinson
Paul Taylor Vs. Paul Kelly
Alessio Sakara Vs. James Lee
Sam Stout Vs. Per Eklund
Post edited by Unknown User on
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Comments
Main Card:
Mike Swick Vs. Josh Burkman
Patrick Côté Vs. Drew McFedries
Nate Diaz Vs. Alvin Robinson
Thiago Tavares Vs. Michihiro Omigawa
Pre-lims:
Kurt Pellegrino Vs. Alberto Crane
Gray Maynard Vs. Dennis Siver
Cole Miller Vs. Jeremy Stephens
Corey Hill Vs. Joe Veres
Matt Wiman Vs. Justin Buccholz
UFC 81, February 2, 2008 - MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada - PPV
Main Card:
Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira Vs. Tim Sylvia - "Interim" HW Championship (Winner to face Fabricio Werdum)
Brock Lesnar Vs. Frank Mir
Nate Marquardt Vs. Jeremy Horn
Alan Belcher Vs. Ricardo Almeida
Tyson Griffin Vs. Gleison Tibau
Pre-lims:
Chris Lytle Vs. Kyle Bradley
Terry Martin Vs. Marvin Eastman
Rob Emerson Vs. Keita Nakamura
David Heath Vs. Tim Boetsch
WEC 32, February 13, 2008 - Santa Ana Star Center, Albuquerque, New Mexico - Versus
Main Card:
Carlos Condit Vs. Carlo Prater - WEC WW Championship
Rob McCullough Vs. Jamie Varner - WEC LW Championship
Chase Beebe Vs. Miguel Torres - WEC BW Championship
Micah Miller Vs. Chance Farrar
Leonard Garcia Vs. Hiroyuki Takaya
Pre-lims:
Cody Wheeler Vs. Del Hawkins
Mark Hominick Vs. Josh Grispi
Jeff Bedard Vs. Yoshiro Maeda
Manny Tapia Vs. Antonio Banuelos
Jesse Morenge Vs. Scott Jorgensen
UFC 82, March 1, 2008 - Nationwide Arena, Cloumbus, Ohio - PPV
Dan Henderson Vs. Anderson Silva - MW Championship Unification Match (Pride and UFC Titles)
Cheick Kongo Vs. Heath Herring
Andrei Arlovski Vs. Jake O'Brien
Jon Fitch Vs. Chris Wilson (Akihiro Gono out due to injury)
Josh Koscheck Vs. Dustin Hazelett
Diego Sanchez Vs. David Bielkheden (Roan Carneiro out due to illness)
Luke Cummo Vs. Luigi Fioravanti
Jorge Gurgel Vs. John Halverson
UFC 83 - Date & Location TBA - Spike TV or PPV (originally was to be held March 8, 2008 at M.E.N. Arena, Manchester, England)
Michael Bisping Vs. Charles McCarthy
Houston Alexander Vs. James Irvin
Demian Maia Vs. Ed Herman
Terry Etim Vs. TBA
Goran Reljic Vs. TBA
Neil Wain Vs. TBA
UFC Fight Night 13, April 2, 2008 - Broomfield Event Center, Broomfield, Colorado - Spike TV
Main Card:
Kenny Florian Vs. Joe Lauzon
Karo Parisyan Vs. Thiago Alves
Stephan Bonnar Vs. Matt Hamill
Spencer Fisher Vs. Marcus Aurelio
Clay Guida Vs. Samy Schiavo
George Sotiropoulos Vs. Yoshiyuki Yoshida
Anthony Johnson Vs. Tommy Speer
The Ultimate Fighter 7 - Premieres April 2, 2008 on Spike TV.
Tournament of 16 MW competitors. Coaches: Quinton Jackson and Forrest Griffin.
UFC 84, April 19, 2008 - Bell Centre, Montréal, Quebec, Canada - PPV
Georges St-Pierre Vs. Matt Serra - WW Championship
Mauricio Rua Vs. TBA
Evan Tanner Vs. Yushin Okami
Rich Franklin Vs. Travis Lutter
Mark Bocek Vs. Mac Danzig
Patrick Côté Vs. TBA
Jason MacDonald Vs. Joe Doerksen
Sam Stout Vs. Rich Clementi
Jonathan Goulet Vs. Kuniyoshi Hironaka
UFC 85, May 24, 2008 - MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada - PPV
Sean Sherk Vs. BJ Penn - LW Championship
Tito Ortiz Vs. Lyoto Machida
Rashad Evans Vs. Thiago Silva
UFC 86, June 12, 2008 - O2 Arena, London, England - Spike TV or PPV
Marcus Davis Vs. TBA
UFC 87, July, 2008 - PPV
Quinton Jackson Vs. Forrest Griffin - LHW Championship
UFC, Fall, 2008 - Germany
UFC, 2008 / 2009 - Zagreb, Croatia / Dublin, Ireland / Scotland
happy new year, mookster.
"Obama's main opponent in this election on November 4th (was) not John McCain, it (was) ignorance."~Michael Moore
"i'm feeling kinda righteous right now. with my badass motherfuckin' ukulele!"
~ed, 8/7
UFC® 79 NEMESIS :: LEAGUE RESULTS
The Evolution Fight Club
Rank - Player - Total Points Awarded
1 All Manador - 168
2 battery - 130
3 Loveboatcapt0226 - 121
4 DAKATAK - 13
5 beachdweller - No Play
hats off to civ eng girl!
hey, thanks sweetpotato!
Welcome to UFC® Fantasy!
Good News! We are getting very close to launching our next version of UFC Fantasy. We have been working hard to bring you a feature we knew would be very popular -- you will be able to CHAT LIVE with other Fantasy players! We hope to launch in the next few weeks, so keep an eye out for the announcement. Included in that upgrade will be the ability to use AVATARS with your screen name and we're adding more information on past event rankings for both individual players and leagues. All of this and more is coming soon. Best of all? It will remain FREE OF CHARGE to all players!
UFC 80 RAPID FIRE - The 1st place winner will receive a RAMBO prize pack that includes a military jacket from the film, DVD box set of the RAMBO movies and much more. The 2nd through 20th place winners will receive UFC DVDs.
We are very close to announcing rules and prizes for LEAGUE players. We hope to launch the game with UFC 80, in January 2008. It will be a cumulative point game, with great prizes for all members of the winning league. This is one you won't want to miss, so make sure to get your league(s) started!
New Players - If you're a first time visitor and would like to play, please log-in, choose your fighters and then let us know your experience in using the game. We are also interested to hear your comments and suggestions on how we might make the game as fun and compelling as possible in future versions.
New prizes for individual players, as well as leagues, will be announced for each event.
...rambo prize packs?!?! haha ...i've got my picks in!
12/31/2007
Ten Best – The Best Submissions of 2007
By Thomas Gerbasi
From the subtle to the spectacular, submission victories in the UFC in 2007 had something for every fan, and for some of the game’s elite fighters, like BJ Penn, the ability to finish fights in this fashion has been a key to a career full of success. For others, like Marcus Davis, learning the art of submitting opponents has been the difference between a life in the UFC and a life struggling on the small show circuit. Read on for ten of this year’s best finishes by submission.
10 – UFC Fight Night – April 5 – Joe Stevenson WSub1 Melvin Guillard
Melvin Guillard is able to put opponents to sleep with his fists. Joe Stevenson can do the same thing with submissions, and in this clash of rising lightweight stars, it was the grappler, Stevenson, who emerged victorious, as he threw the MMA equivalent of a perfect game, rocking Guillard with a left hand, and then using ‘The Young Assassin’s subsequent aggressiveness against him as he sunk in a guillotine choke that produced a tap out just 27 seconds into the fight. It was Stevenson’s second straight win by guillotine, and maybe a nickname change from ‘Joe Daddy’ to ‘The Executioner’ wouldn’t be entirely out of the question if he keeps this up.
9 – TUF6 Finale – December 8 - Matt Arroyo Wsub1 John Kolosci
Matt Arroyo took his share of criticism from fight fans for opting out of the TUF6 semifinals due to injury, but when the Floridian got his shot in the big show, all was forgotten as he had Kolosci in constant trouble due to his extensive ground game, eventually submitting his fellow cast mate with an armbar.
8 – UFC 68 – March 3 - Martin Kampmann WSub1 Drew McFedries
The beautiful thing about MMA is that when Plan B doesn’t work, you can always go to Plan B. Martin Kampmann, a noted kickboxer, was getting his head handed to him by knockout artist Drew McFedries before he took his foe to the ground and showed the other side of his game by submitting the Iowan with a sleep-inducing arm triangle.
7 – The Ultimate Fighter 5 Finale – June 23 – BJ Penn WSub2 Jens Pulver
Let’s just call this an accumulative honor, since Penn showed off a number of impressive jiu-jitsu moves throughout his rematch with Pulver, with only ‘Lil Evil’s submission defense and heart keeping him in the fight as long as he was. By the second round though, Penn’s ground wizardry had taken its toll on Pulver, and the Iowan was finally forced to succumb to a rear naked choke.
6 – UFC 71 – May 26 - Din Thomas WSub2 Jeremy Stephens
Want to show a casual fan what a solid submission game can do, put this fight on. Thomas was facing an aggressive and hungry youngster in the debuting Stephens, and despite his unyielding will to win, Thomas had an answer for everything and transitioned beautifully from position to position, almost submitting his opponent with a rear naked choke in the first round. In the second though, Thomas finished the job with an armbar that was in so tight even a slam by Stephens couldn’t break it. Stephens’ arm wasn’t going to be as lucky, but referee John McCarthy wisely halted the bout. Said Thomas, “He probably didn’t tap, but I was gonna break his arm and take it home with me.”
5 – UFC 79 – December 29 – Georges St-Pierre WSub2 Matt Hughes
For sheer dominance of a world-class opponent, look no further than GSP’s lopsided victory over Hughes, who had no answers whatsoever for the Canadian standout. Finally, after a clinic that included takedowns, throws, and positional control, St-Pierre closed the door on Hughes with an armbar, the same maneuver that Hughes used to beat GSP in their first meeting in 2004.
4 - UFC 75 – September 8 - Marcus Davis WSub1 Paul Taylor
In a fight that lived up to its billing, Davis’ nine fight winning streak was in jeopardy early when he was dropped by a kick to the head from the UK native, who kept the pressure on for much of the opening frame. But suddenly, the former pro boxer turned the tide, and he didn’t do it with a haymaker, he did it with an armbar, continuing his evolution as an MMA fighter in his most impressive win of the year.
3 - TUF6 Finale – December 8 – Roger Huerta WSub3 Clay Guida
Down on all three scorecards entering the final round, Roger Huerta turned the tables on Clay Guida in an amazing show of heart as well as skill, hurting his foe first with a knee and then finishing him off with an improbable rear naked choke that made the fans at The Palms in Las Vegas erupt.
2 – UFC 73 – July 7 - Chris Lytle WSub1 Jason Gilliam
At this level, if you have stellar technique and can get a well-trained mixed martial artist to make enough of a mistake where you can capitalize and submit him, it’s safe to say that you’re a pretty good fighter. Lock your opponent up in two submission holds at once? That’s off the charts. But that’s what Lytle did in his highly impressive win over Gilliam, catching his foe in a triangle and an armlock to get the tap out and the submission of the night bonus in one of those sequences you have to see to believe.
1 – UFC 76 – September 22 – Forrest Griffin WSub3 Mauricio Rua
Sometimes the best submission of the year isn’t one that is memorable for spectacular technique or the ‘wow’ factor, but one that will live on in the minds of fight fans for what it meant at that particular moment in time. When Forrest Griffin closed the show on the heavily favored PRIDE import ‘Shogun’ Rua with a rear naked choke in the final minute, it was an exclamation mark on a result no one saw coming, especially Rua, a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Black Belt. Not a bad win for a guy once seen as just a one-dimensional brawler.
Honorable Mention - Anderson Silva WSub2 Travis Lutter, Frank Mir WSub1 Antoni Hardonk, Akihiro Gono WSub2 Tamdan McCrory, Roman Mitichyan WSub1 Dorian Price, Mac Danzig WSub1 Tommy Speer, Kenny Florian WSub1 Dokonjonosuke Mishima, Rich Clementi WSub1 Melvin Guillard.
http://www.ufc.com/index.cfm?fa=news.detail&gid=9377
thank you, thank you very much... :cool:
the league prizes sound great! i think we've got a good team... we should be able to rake in some winnin's...
i want an Affliction t-shirt....
4/26/03 Pittsburgh 5/3/03 State College 7/12/03 Hershey 10/1/04 Reading 9/28/05 Pittsburgh 5/20/06 Cleveland 6/23/06 Pittsburgh 6/22/08 DC
friends don't let friends listen to good charlotte
i agree! that is, unless my suspicions about pearljamfan99's friend are true.
i'm still watching georges' performance.
01/01/2008
Ten Best – The Top Knockouts of 2007
By Thomas Gerbasi
Nothing ignites a crowd like a spectacular knockout, and 2007 had its share of great ones. Of course, nothing that happened can touch the KO that checks in at number one for the year, but the rest of the top ten was pretty impressive in its own right.
10 - UFC 75 – September 8 – Houston Alexander TKO1 Alessio Sakara
As a former pro boxer, you would have expected that Sakara was going to test Alexander’s standup in his second UFC bout. But as soon as Sakara ate some of the Nebraskan’s thunder, the Italian shot for a takedown. Alexander threw him off like a ragdoll and moments later he effectively ended the fight with a knee to the head.
9 - UFC 77 – October 20 – Anderson Silva TKO2 Rich Franklin
It wasn’t one blow that ended Silva’ rematch with Franklin, but the wide array of techniques displayed by the UFC middleweight champion were a thing of beauty, and left Franklin not only defenseless, but with a look on his face wondering what the best pound for pound fighter in the world was going to unleash on him next.
8 – UFC Fight Night – September 19 - Nate Quarry KO3 Pete Sell
If Nate Quarry thought his return to the Octagon after close to two years was going to be easy, the first few bombs he took from Pete Sell erased that notion. But over the course of the next two-plus rounds, both fighters gave as good as they got, with Quarry finally ending the brutal slugfest with a huge right hand in the third.
7 - TUF6 finale – December 8 – Jon Koppenhaver TKO3 Jared Rollins
TUF 6 castmates and buddies Koppenhaver and Rollins tore at each other with a savage ferocity in their welterweight bout, but when one fighter seemed to be on his way out, the other would roar back. And that’s how the fight ended, as Koppenhaver survived what looked to be a finishing flurry from his foe, reversed position, and landed a series of punches that halted the bout and left the
6 – UFC Fight Night – September 19 - Chris Leben KO3 Terry Martin
It wasn’t the fight of the year that everyone expected going in, but in the third round, Leben and Martin let the bombs go. When Martin scored with a right hand, Leben staggered back to the fence in serious trouble. Martin raised his hands, apparently sure of victory, and moved in for the kill. Leben, knowing no other way to fight, waded in with haymakers of his own, and a single left hook laid Martin out in a spectacular turnaround.
5 – UFC 69 – April 7 – Matt Serra TKO1 Georges St-Pierre
As far as aesthetically pleasing knockouts go, there are better choices, but you can’t help but give a nod to a knockout that belongs strictly for its historic and shock value, and Matt Serra’s upset of the seemingly unstoppable GSP definitely applies. A hard right hand that clipped a ducking St-Pierre took the champion’s equilibrium, and as he tried to get his legs under him, Serra was calm, cool, collected, and sending bombs down the pipe that were keeping the Canadian from getting back into the fight. Finally, a series of unanswered shots on the ground forced a halt to the bout, and the MMA world had a new champion in the charismatic New Yorker, Matt ‘The Terror’ Serra.
4 – UFC Fight Night – January 25 – Rashad Evans KO2 Sean Salmon
In the lead-up to his main event bout with Sean Salmon, Rashad Evans started going by the moniker ‘Sugar’. Well, the former MSU Spartan showed a little spice in this fight, battling through a sluggish first round to put an emphatic end to Salmon’s UFC debut in the second with a picture perfect right kick to the head. Salmon was out on impact, and he hit the head with a thud as the fans in attendance gasped. Thankfully, Salmon was all right, but if you needed any reminders that this is a contact sport, Evans’ spectacular knockout win provided all the proof you needed.
3 – UFC 71 - May 26 – Houston Alexander TKO1 Keith Jardine
At around 4:30am on Sunday, May 27, the morning after he took out Keith Jardine in just 48 seconds, Houston Alexander was getting the rock star treatment, signing autographs, taking pictures and shaking hands with well-wishers
while waiting for his ride to the airport. It’s what you get when you enter the Octagon for the first time and knock out a contender who was a couple wins away from a likely title shot. And that’s what Nebraska’s Alexander did, actually stunning Jardine with repeated right hands at close range and then unleashing the finisher with a couple vicious right uppercuts that put ‘The Dean of Mean’ down and out in under a minute. It was a spectacular debut to say the least, one of the most memorable in some time.
2 – UFC 71 – May 26 – Quinton Jackson TKO1 Chuck Liddell
In a case of ‘he shoulda known better’, UFC light heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell threw a lead to the body from five feet away at UFC 71 and paid for it, getting stopped in 1:53 of the first round by Rampage Jackson, who made it 2-0 against ‘The Iceman’ in the biggest UFC event of the year. Jackson’s right to the jaw of Liddell was a thing of beauty, dropping the soon to be ex-champion hard to the mat. The follow-up barrage by Jackson was just a formality, and a new 205-pound king was crowned at the MGM Grand.
1 - UFC 70 – April 21 – Gabriel Gonzaga KO1 Mirko Cro Cop
Many felt that Gonzaga’s ground game was good enough that if he could take Cro Cop to the mat, he had a chance to win. Well, Gonzaga followed that plan and grounded and pounded Cro Cop for much of the opening round. Unfortunately for the Brazilian, his efforts seemed for naught when the fight was stood up with 35 seconds left in the round. Suddenly, Gonzaga was going to face the wrath of the most feared striker in the game. But then a funny thing happened, and Gonzaga whipped a right kick to Cro Cop’s head, and the Croatian fell like he was shot, grotesquely twisting his knee and ankle in the process. Not only was it shocking, it was spectacular, and even though it happened in April, the rest of 2007 couldn’t possibly come up with a knockout to top this one.
Honorable Mention - Terry Martin KO1 Jorge Rivera, Drew McFedries KO1 Jordan Radev, Anthony Johnson KO1 Chad Reiner, Patrick Cote TKO1 Kendall Grove, Grey Maynard KO1 Joe Veres, Ed Herman KO3 Joe Doerksen.
http://www.ufc.com/index.cfm?fa=news.detail&gid=9395
edit: Grey Maynard KO1 Joe Veres: is that the 9 second victory, and the "wink"? What about the one where Gray knocked himself out?? that should be on there!
indeed!, you're probably right, yes, and yes (it's not often one knocks oneself out!)
i'm trying to be concise today.
i'm going to try to use the expression "sure, knock yourself out!" as much as possible from now on.
that's a good one. me laugh!
January 2, 2008
MMA Junkie.com
With his victory over Matt Hughes at this past weekend’s UFC 79 event, Georges St. Pierre may have set up one of the biggest welterweight fights in MMA history — and it could come in his native Canada.
St. Pierre, who bested Hughes for the second time in three fights with a second-round arm-bar submission at this past weekend’s UFC 79 event, is now the UFC’s interim welterweight champion. Up next? A likely fight with current champ Matt Serra.
Serra was originally slated to face Hughes this past weekend — the bout had been teased for three months while the two fighters served as coaches on the latest season of “The Ultimate Fighter” — but he had to pull out of the fight in November with a herniated disc. St. Pierre got the call instead, and to jazz up the main-event bout, the UFC awarded the winner an interim title.
There’s still no timetable for Serra’s return, but UFC President Dana White is optimistic it’ll be in time for the Canada event — one that he promised would happen during a pre-UFC 79 press conference.
“Matt Serra is very confident that… he’ll be ready for April,” White said over the weekend.
However, even if Serra isn’t ready to go, White said he wants St. Pierre — Canada’s most popular fighter — on the card anyway.
“It’s our goal,” he said.
The event will likely take place April 19 at Montreal’s Bell Centre. It’ll be the first-ever UFC event north of the U.S. border; the UFC tentatively scheduled two prior events in Canada but eventually scratched them due to scheduling conflicts.
Serra and St. Pierre met once before — at UFC 69 (coincidentally, an event that was originally slated to take place in Canada). In what has been dubbed the biggest upset of 2007, Serra parlayed a title shot he earned by winning “The Ultimate Fighter 4” into a first-round TKO upset of newly minted welterweight champ St. Pierre.
The win has largely been considered a fluke; St. Pierre is still considered one of the top two or three pound-for-pound fighters in the world while Serra’s lucky to be considered a top-five welterweight in many rankings. Regardless, even St. Pierre said he doesn’t consider himself a legitimate title-holder until he can manage to get by Serra.
“It means nothing to me,” St. Pierre said of the interim belt. “Thanks to the UFC for giving me (this). It’s a good honor, but the real champion is Matt Serra, and until I get my belt… back, I won’t consider myself the real champion.“
The upcoming event, which will likely be UFC 83 or UFC 84, will also likely feature middleweight (and Canadian) Jason MacDonald.
http://mmajunkie.com/2008/01/02/georges-st-pierre-and-matt-serra-could-unify-titles-in-april-in-canada/
ps. my picks are in for UFC 80...
indeed! at least they have a date and the venue is confirmed as available...but still, you're right...could...likely...i prefer confirmed!
nice work on the early picks, ceg. i'll probabaly end up changing before the event is here, but my intital thoughts...
UFC 80, January 19, 2008 - Metro Radio Arena, Newcastle, England - PPV (Live at 3 p.m. ET)
Main Card:
BJ Penn Vs. Joe Stevenson - stevenson by tko
Gabriel Gonzaga Vs. Fabricio Werdum - gonzaga by decision
Marcus Davis Vs. Jess Liaudin - davis by tko
Jason Lambert vs. Wilson Gouveia - gouveia by submission
Kendall Grove Vs. Jorge Rivera - rivera by tko
Pre-lims:
Alessio Sakara Vs. James Lee - sakara by tko
Sam Stout Vs. Per Eklund - stout by ko
Paul Taylor Vs. Paul Kelly - taylor by ko
Antoni Hardonk Vs. Colin Robinson - hardonk by tko
uh oh! we don't agree on some of these... see above....
however, i don't know much about any of these guys though, so mine are a total stab in the dark....
believe me, ceg, i am certainly in the minority when picking joe stevenson!
as you proved last time, a stab in the dark is more than fine! some of the "experts" study these matches and break them down and still end up totally off on their predictions.
you just never know...i predict you get a rambo prize pack this time!
p.s. at least we're on the same page with our canuck brother, sam stout!
sounds like serra is confident he's going to be ready. matt says he's ready for the canadian fans to yell at him to die, but i don't think he has to literally worry about attempts on his life, like matt hughes may have!
Serra up for facing GSP in April
Thursday, January 3, 2008
THE CANADIAN PRESS
UFC welterweight champion Matt Serra says he will be ready to defend his title in April against Canadian Georges St. Pierre in Montreal.
The 33-year-old from Long Island, N.Y., has yet to resume full training from the two herniated discs in his lower back that forced him out of the recent UFC 79 grudge match against Matt Hughes in Las Vegas. But he says April sounds doable, even if it means venturing into hostile territory north of the border.
"I'm definitely up for that," he told The Canadian Press in an interview.
Serra has not fought since he upset St. Pierre to win the title at UFC 69 last April. He can't wait to get into the cage again. And he also doesn't want to run the chance of any more bad luck coming his way.
St. Pierre stepped in for Serra in mid-November when the champion hurt himself training for the Hughes fight in Las Vegas. The UFC elected to make the Hughes-St. Pierre match a five-round bout for the interim championship with the winner advancing to face off against Serra to decide the 170-pound crown for real.
"I always try to find the positive in things but people around me were upset, more so than me," Serra said of the UFC's decision to put part of his title on the line while he was sidelined.
And given that decision, anything could happen so better get in the cage fast, Serra argues.
"I've got to be realistic. I don't know what they're going to do," Serra said. "I feel like I'm friendly with everybody but business is business and who knows? I know they like Georges, it's not that they don't like me but I don't know. He might be more of a better poster boy. Who knows?"
Talking to Serra, one gets the sense that he is slightly irked at the way things have gone over the last year since he beat St. Pierre in the Canadian's first title defence.
Serra agreed to serve as coach on Season 6 of "The Ultimate Fighter," which delayed his own first title defence until the show had run its course. His back injury derailed the Dec. 29 grudge match with rival coach Hughes and then Serra had to sit by and watch as St. Pierre and Hughes fought for the interim title.
St. Pierre submitted Hughes in the second round and Serra, who hosted a closed-circuit viewing of the fight at Madison Square Garden, had to watch as the "interim" championship belt was given to the Canadian.
"Man, what am I going to do?" he said. "I mean I'm the one who got injured. It's really kind of ridiculous that they did the thing with the belts. But whatever... . It is what it is, dude. I roll with that stuff and I try not to take it too personal. I just do my thing."
Serra also notes he waited for St. Pierre to heal when a knee injury forced them to postpone their meeting from UFC 67 in February to UFC 69 in April.
"I thought nothing of it because guys get injured," said Serra.
"The first time it's ever happened to me happened to be one of the biggest fights which was very upsetting to me. But again I made the right decision. It wasn't even much of a decision. I couldn't fight in that condition."
After losing to Serra, St. Pierre has looked rock-solid in beating Josh Koscheck and Hughes in his subsequent fights.
"Now he's back in full force." Serra said. "And now he's back into this MMA god that people hype him up to be. And I don't mean that disrespectfully because I really like Georges. I do. I think he's tough as hell. But it's the same thing I said before. Nobody's invincible."
Serra proved that at UFC 69. A 10-1 underdog who only got a title shot after winning Season 4 of "The Ultimate Fighter," Serra was seen as canon fodder for the Canadian. One right hand changed all of that.
Watching UFC 79 pass him by was "extremely upsetting," he said.
"Again you roll with that kind of stuff. There's more people with bigger problems that than. I'll get my shot back in there."
Serra says he is not in pain these days although his back remains tight. A recent injection in the spine has helped speed his recovery.
The 170-pounder had fought with a torn bicep and torn meniscus in the past, but had never had any back problems. It's been a painful experience.
"Some stuff's just too hard to work around," he said. "For a couple of weeks afterwards, my wife was putting my socks and shoes on. It was brutal."
Serra is back doing "everyday stuff" but is only now beginning to resume some form of training. That hasn't helped his weight, he acknowledged.
"You know me. I get chubby real quick," he said cheerfully, comparing himself to Robert De Niro's ballooning Jake La Motta in the film "Raging Bull."
As for fighting in Montreal, Serra looks to another boxing movie -- "Rocky 4" -- when Rocky Balboa flies to Russia to take on Ivan Drago.
"Same thing, but just put the little Italian guy in Canada. That's me. I like it, I like it, man."
"I take no offence at people in Canada yelling for me to die," he added.
Serra was rooting for Hughes to beat St. Pierre, because he wanted to fight him next. But he says the two may still tangle in the cage.
"Too much has been done for us not to go at it, me and that guy," said Serra.
Hughes echoes that view, although he sees a Serra meeting coming after the champion loses to St. Pierre.
"I'm going to take some time off and think about things," Hughes said on his website matt-hughes.com. "I've already talked to Dana and (UFC co-owner) Lorenzo Fertitta, and we'll probably see what happens with Georges and Serra. And if Serra loses, I might go against him. Nothing is set in stone, just an idea right now."
http://www.sportsnet.ca/mma/2008/01/03/serra_montreal/
hahaha... i'm going to wear a bandana around my head when i watch, for good luck...
VAS-Y SAM!!
Ten Best – The Top Fights of 2007 By Thomas Gerbasi
Always the toughest category to narrow down to a list of just ten (or 11 in this case), the best fights of the year have to have some combination of action, drama, and significance to be considered, and 2007 had more than a few bouts with all three attributes. Who made the cut? Read on to find out.
10 (tie) - UFC 77 – October 20 – Matt Grice W3 Jason Black
With fans still settling into their seats at the U.S. Bank Arena, Grice and Black fought like main eventers, with Grice surviving a triangle choke and ground strikes in the second round that almost certainly spelled doom to finish strong and earn a split decision that was originally (and erroneously) announced as a draw.
10 (tie) – UFC 72 – June 16 – Tyson Griffin W3 Clay Guida
The next time one of your Neanderthal buddies thinks ground fighting is just two guys laying on each other, pop this fight in the DVD player and let them see what happens when two skilled and aggressive fighters lock horns and battle it out on the mat. A fight fought at a torrid pace for practically all three rounds, there was some dispute about the final decision in Griffin’s favor, but this was the type of bout where there truly were no losers.
9 – UFC 68 – March 3 – Randy Couture W5 Tim Sylvia
What can you possibly say about this one that hasn’t already been said? Turning back the clock after a one year retirement and knockout losses in two of his previous three fights, Couture cemented his legendary status by dominating 6 foot 8 Tim Sylvia for 25 minutes en route to taking the UFC heavyweight title for an unprecedented third time. What made this one even more special was that from the first right hand Couture landed (dropping Sylvia in the process), the packed house of 19,000 fans in Ohio stood, roared, and didn’t sit down for the rest of the five round bout. It was a special night for Couture, but even more memorable for everyone who was watching it.
8 – UFC 69 – April 7 – Roger Huerta W3 Leonard Garcia
From start to finish, this one was fought at a breakneck pace, and Latin warriors Huerta and Garcia did their combat sports predecessors – like Marco Antonio Barrera, Erik Morales, Bobby Chacon, and Bazooka Limon – proud with an all-out war that may have been one-sided in Huerta’s favor on the scorecards, but that had no one in the arena complaining.
7 – UFC 76 – September 22 - Tyson Griffin W3 Thiago Tavares
Up and down, back and forth, all around the Octagon. At times it got tough keeping up with lightweight dervishes Griffin and Tavares, who may have given fight fans a glimpse of things to come at 155 pounds. Don’t be surprised to see these two battling it out in main events and title bouts in the next couple of years.
6 - UFC Fight Night – September 19 – Nate Quarry KO3 Pete Sell
The first fight between Quarry and Sell was a disappointment, with a quick stoppage ruining what had the potential to be an exciting matchup. There would be no disappointments in the rematch though, with both fighters getting rocked and bloodied in a pitched battle before Quarry ended matters with a right to the head early in the third.
5 – UFC Fight Night – June 12 – Spencer Fisher W3 Sam Stout
When the rematch between lightweight standouts Fisher and Stout made their exciting first fight look like a boring three round waltz, you know it was good. Think of Forrest Griffin-Stephan Bonnar I sped up and with even more flush shots landed. Both fighters left it all in the Octagon that June night in Florida, and had the bruises and cuts to show for it. Thankfully for fight fans, Fisher’s win - which evened his score with Stout at 1-1 – is the perfect segue into a third fight, something no true fight fan would complain about.
4 – TUF6 finale – December 8 - Jon Koppenhaver TKO3 Jared Rollins
One of the first things an emotional Jon Koppenhaver said after stopping fellow TUF6 castmate Jared Rollins was “J-Roc’s my friend, I didn’t want to have to fight him.” Well, the two welterweights fought like bitter enemies in this knock down, drag ‘em out brawl that saw a myriad of twists and turns and plenty of blood before Koppenhaver rebounded from almost certain defeat in the third to stop Rollins with a series of strikes. It was a fight that guaranteed that both fighters would be returning to the Octagon.
3 – UFC 79 – December 29 – Chuck Liddell W3 Wanderlei Silva
Six years in the making, the showdown between the most dominant light heavyweights of this era was worth the wait. Punctuated by brutal close range exchanges, this was a fight that had patrons at the Mandalay Bay Events Center on their feet and people at home jumping off their couches.
In the end, Liddell revived his career with a three round win, and in defeat Silva remained one of the sport’s true action heroes, a guy anyone would still pay to watch fight.
2 – UFC 67 – February 3 - Frank Edgar W3 Tyson Griffin
It was a spectacular way for Frankie Edgar to start his UFC career, by handing highly regarded Tyson Griffin his first pro loss, but even more impressive than the give and take action from both men was how Edgar survived a kneebar late in the third round that would have crippled most fighters.
“I hate to lose,” said Edgar after the fight. “I put so much on the line in that fight, it was balls to the wall the whole way, and then with 45 seconds left I get caught in that. But there was no way I could tap. It did pop a couple of times, but once it popped once, I said, ‘hey, the hell with it.’ I’d rather limp around for a while and get this ‘W’, then take a loss.”
1 - TUF6 finale – December 8 – Roger Huerta WSub3 Clay Guida
To be considered great, a fight has to have more than frantic action and back and forth momentum swings, though those attributes don’t hurt. What a fight truly needs to enter the realm of the classics is drama, and the bout between Huerta and Guida lived up to that end of the bargain spectacularly. Down two rounds to none on all three judges’ scorecards, Huerta needed to stop or submit Guida in the final round to win. Guida, his warrior spirit never wavering, could have run out the clock in the third to secure his win – but he didn’t and he came right at Huerta. Huerta, wrongly ridiculed for being all hype, gritted his teeth and had the look on his face that said ‘I’m not leaving here without a win.’ These two trains met in the center of the Octagon and collided, with Huerta’s knee knocking Guida off track. ‘The Carpenter’ gamely and frantically looked for the takedown that would save the fight for him, but Huerta wouldn’t allow it, and eventually he got Guida’s back and sunk in the fight-ending rear naked choke. It was a fight that saw everybody in The Palms rise in unison to salute the most memorable battle of 2007.
Honorable Mention – Marcus Davis WSub1 Paul Taylor, Michael Bisping TKO2 Elvis Sinosic, Joe Stevenson W3 Kurt Pellegrino, Thiago Alves TKO2 Chris Lytle, Karo Parisyan W3 Josh Burkman, Eddie Sanchez TKO2 Colin Robinson.
http://www.ufc.com/index.cfm?fa=news.detail&gid=9396
01/03/2008
Ten Best – The 2007 Fighters of The Year By Thomas Gerbasi
We’ve counted down the best submissions, knockouts, upsets, and fights of 2007 this week. Now the only thing left is to honor the UFC’s best fighter of 2007. Who got the nod? Read on for the 2007 UFC Fighter of The Year.
10 (tie) - Kenny Florian / Marcus Davis - Alumni of season one and season two of The Ultimate Fighter series, respectively, Kenny Florian and Marcus Davis each notched three wins in 2007. Florian’s victories (over Dokonjonosuke Mishima, Alvin Robinson, and Din Thomas) showed his development as a finisher and also let the lightweight division know that there were no ill-effects from his five round war with Sean Sherk in 2006. Davis, who has burdened by the tag ‘former pro boxer’ hanging around his neck for the last couple of years, may have finally shed his old skin with wins over Pete Spratt, Jason Tan, and Paul Taylor that showed him to be a true MMA fighter and elevated him from prospect to contender.
9 – Matt Serra – The winner of season four of The Ultimate Fighter reality show, Serra was given little chance to unseat the seemingly unstoppable UFC welterweight champion, Georges St-Pierre, at UFC 69 in April. But Serra was loose and well-trained entering the biggest bout of his career, and he showed it as he stood in the pocket and traded with GSP on even terms in the early going. Of course, most expected St-Pierre to get in gear and eventually end the bout, but that never happened, as Serra clipped the champion with a right hand that took his legs away, and subsequently went to work with a controlled abandon, eventually halting St-Pierre to win the 170-pound title in one of the year’s great upsets and stories. Gameplan, attitude, and execution – Serra showed it in his lone fight in 2007, and the magnitude of that victory earned him a spot here.
8 – Roger Huerta – Being the first MMA fighter to grace the cover of Sports Illustrated should have been enough to make 2007 memorable for ‘El Matador’, but the Minnesotan also fought at an exhaustive pace, notching five wins without a loss, with three of those wins coming by TKO. In the other two wins, over Leonard Garcia and Clay Guida, Huerta engaged in two bouts firmly entrenched on the year’s best fights list, with the come from behind submission victory over Guida an instant classic. Now he’s earned a vacation.
7- Jon Fitch – He’s not a mystery anymore. The best unknown fighter in the UFC, Fitch continued his unbeaten run in the Octagon in 2007, submitting Luigi Fioravanti and Roan Carneiro before arriving on the world stage with his three round decision win over Diego Sanchez at UFC 76 in September. Now all that remains to be seen is id Fitch will parlay his success and new fame into a welterweight title shot in 2008.
6 – Forrest Griffin - Bouncing back from a devastating loss to Keith Jardine at UFC 66 in December of 2006, Forrest Griffin, the season one winner of The Ultimate Fighter, re-established himself in 2007, not only in the UFC, but worldwide, as he drilled out a disciplined but decisive three round win over dangerous Hector Ramirez at UFC 72, and then shocked fans with his three round domination of Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua at UFC 76 in September, closing the show with a rear naked choke that left no doubts that Griffin is one of the best 205-pound fighters on the planet.
5 – Georges St-Pierre – If anyone would have told me that I would be putting GSP on this list after his upset knockout loss to Matt Serra in April, I would have called them crazy. But in a dominating three round win over Josh Koscheck in August and a simply brilliant performance in a second round submission victory over Matt Hughes, St-Pierre not only bounced back from the worst loss of his career, but he has people placing him high on the mythical pound for pound list once again. That’s some turnaround, and by this time next year, GSP may be on the top of this list.
4 – Frankie Edgar – In January of 2007 Frankie Edgar was an unknown kid from Jersey getting ready for his UFC debut at UFC 67. Three wins later, and Edgar is a top ten lightweight contender who is possibly on the path to a title shot by the end of 2008. And Edgar didn’t go 3-0 in the Octagon beating anyone either, as he took down previously unbeaten Tyson Griffin, previously unbeaten Mark Bocek, and highly regarded contender Spencer Fisher, who early in 2007 was one win away from a world title shot. If Edgar continues in this fashion, he’ll be making appearances on this list on a regular basis.
3 – Randy Couture – It was the most emotional victory of the year, and maybe of the last few years, as Couture returned from a one year retirement to win the UFC heavyweight crown from Tim Sylvia at UFC 68 in March. Using
textbook technique and a disciplined gameplan, ‘The Natural’ dominated the bout from start to finish en route to a shutout five round decision, and made any skeptics believe that when it comes to Couture, everything is possible and that age ain’t nothin’ but a number. Add in a decisive three round stoppage of Gabriel Gonzaga in August, and that’s a year any fighter would envy.
2 – Anderson Silva – Seen as a standup assassin after his first round stoppages of Chris Leben and Rich Franklin, Silva impressively showed the other facets of his game in his 2007 wins over Travis Lutter and Nate Marquardt. In February, Silva was taken to the mat by his fellow Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt, and had some early difficulties with Lutter. But in the second, Silva was back on track and he submitted Lutter in impressive fashion. Five months later, ‘The Spider’ was expected to face one of his toughest tests in Marquardt, but instead, Silva was brilliant in a first round victory, ending matters with strikes on the ground after a beautiful sweep that put Marquardt in deep and fight-ending trouble. In October, Silva capped the year with a repeat stoppage victory over Franklin that cemented his place on the pound for pound lists. It’s hard to believe, but Silva’s getting better with each fight.
1 – Quinton Jackson - With three wins in the Octagon in 2007, including a first round knockout of Chuck Liddell to win the UFC light heavyweight crown at UFC 71 in May, and a title unification win over Dan Henderson in September, the selection of Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson as Fighter of The Year was close, but there should be little uproar over the choice. At UFC 67 in February, the former PRIDE standout kicked off his UFC career with a second round knockout of the first man to beat him, Marvin Eastman, and in May, he repeated his 2003 win over Liddell in even more emphatic fashion, dropping ‘The Iceman’ with a right hand and finishing the bout off on the ground at the 1:53 mark. There was no rest for ‘Rampage’ though, as he put his belt on the line in a unification bout against PRIDE champion Henderson in the headliner of UFC 75 in London, and he delivered yet again, showing his underrated ground game in the decision win. That’s two wins over pound for pound entrants in the same year. Hard to argue with results like that.
so i am both angered and pleased by the fight list!
a couple of the honourables like sanchez vs robinson and bisping vs sinosic are kind of surprising to me too.
as far as the fighters go...man, that one is tough to narrow down.
you're a very complex man..... an enigma, wrapped in a mystery, wrapped in a Motorhead touque...
that's from a movie, or tv show...some kind of comedy, i think...hmmm?!?
MATT SERRA CONFIRMS HE IS FIGHTING GSP
Friday, January 04, 2008
MMAWeekly.com
Matt Serra on Friday confirmed to NBCSports.com that he will meet Georges St-Pierre for the Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight title when the UFC makes its Canadian debut in April in Montreal.
Serra defeated St-Pierre for the title in Houston in April of 2007. He had been scheduled to make his first defense of the belt against Matt Hughes at UFC 79 on Dec. 29, but a herniated disc forced him to withdraw from the bout.
Instead, St-Pierre stepped in on short notice and defeated Hughes for the interim title. Following the bout, St-Pierre refused to wear the belt, saying, “Matt Serra is the real champion,” and would not wear the belt until he defeated the Long Island, N.Y. native.
Serra said that his back has been rapidly improving and he is excited about defending the championship.
The event is tentatively scheduled for April 19 at the Bell Centre.
http://www.mmaweekly.com/absolutenm/templates/dailynews.asp?articleid=5401&zoneid=13