sweet! i was just checking my channel guide and TSN is showing the WEC show tomorrow night after the leafs game. it's on versus in the states. i'm hoping to see the hominick match or the miller / farrar match (i'm surprised that one isn't on the main card)
WEC 32, February 13, 2008 - Santa Ana Star Center, Albuquerque, New Mexico - Versus / TSN
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
Manny Tapia Vs. Antonio Banuelos
Leonard Garcia Vs. Hiroyuki Takaya
Pre-lims:
Mark Hominick Vs. Josh Grispi
Coty Wheeler Vs. Del Hawkins
Yoshiro Maeda Vs. Charlie Valencia
Micah Miller Vs. Chance Farrar
Damacio Page Vs. Scott Jorgensen
here's another show this saturday from EliteXC, on the fight network in canada and showtime in the US. a main event that is sure to set the sport back about ten years!
good to see yves edwards and james "gong and dash" thompson on the card. smith vs. noke should be a good one.
EliteXC: Street Certified, February 16, 2008 - Bank United Center, Miami Florida - Showtime / The Fight Network
Main Card:
Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson Vs. Davis "Tank" Abbott
Antonio Silva Vs. Ricco Rodriguez
Yves Edwards Vs. Edson Berto
James Thompson Vs. Brett Rogers
Scott Smith Vs. Kyle Noke
Pre-lims:
Dave Herman Vs. Mario Rinaldi
John Doyle Vs. Rafael Feijao
Jon Kirk Vs. Yosmany Cabezas
Eric Bradley Vs. Mikey Gomez
Lorenzo Borgameo Vs. Mike Bernhard
i am ashamed to say that i have not seen that...it is, however, on the top of my list to check out now! you guys have me intrigued!
evan has a pretty interesting way of looking at things sometimes. i think he and eddie would get on well.
oh, mookie, it's such a beautiful video.... i mean, Pearl Jam, with Italy as a backdrop... it doesn't get better.... really... you've got to see it.... but i don't think it came out on VHS...
~~*~~ ...i surfaced and all of my being was enlightend... ~~*~~
oh, mookie, it's such a beautiful video.... i mean, Pearl Jam, with Italy as a backdrop... it doesn't get better.... really... you've got to see it.... but i don't think it came out on VHS...
i am certainly behind the times! i'm definitely going to check it out. i'm certain my friend "brian" must have it at his place.
boo ya! i just found it on the computer to download. it's a big file, though, so i'll have to clear some space tonight after big brother!
i have a bunch of "dexter" episodes to watch and a couple of other series like "the contender: asia / muay thai", and "fight quest" that i've downloaded and are taking up huge space on my drive, so i got me some tv watchin' to do tonight and tomorrow!
stephan bonnar out six months! with a knee injury...tim boetsch fills in to fight with matt hamill, again on relatively short notice. at least it's more than a week or two.
TIM BOETSCH STEPS UP AGAIN FOR UFC
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
by Damon Martin - MMAWeekly.com
Tim Boetsch will again step up for the Ultimate Fighting Championship on short notice, this time taking over for the injured Stephan Bonnar. He will take on Matt Hamill as a part of the April 2 UFC Fight Night in Broomfield, Colo. as confirmed by MMAWeekly.com with sources close to the fight.
Boetsch made a very impressive debut for the UFC just earlier this month, finishing David Heath in the first round. He took the bout on extremely short notice when Heath’s original opponent dropped out due to injury.
The Pennsylvania-based light heavyweight looked devastating in his first fight with the UFC, displaying strong stand-up and tremendous power throughout his match-up with Heath.
Hamill is fighting for the first time since his very controversial decision loss to Michael Bisping at UFC 75 in September.
No official word from the UFC if the bout will be on the main card as Bonnar vs. Hamill was originally intended to be, but an announcement about the final card is expected in the near future.
boo ya! i just found it on the computer to download. it's a big file, though, so i'll have to clear some space tonight after big brother!
i have a bunch of "dexter" episodes to watch and a couple of other series like "the contender: asia / muay thai", and "fight quest" that i've downloaded and are taking up huge space on my drive, so i got me some tv watchin' to do tonight and tomorrow!
get on the Dexter!! best show in years.... i wish i could be watching with you, instead of going to work in this miserable snow.... :(
*makes mental note to stop at Canadian Tire for a new shovel and some salt*
~~*~~ ...i surfaced and all of my being was enlightend... ~~*~~
hope you have better luck with this shovel...or better yet, less snow!
...also, breaking news coming from japan...mirko cro cop scheduled a press conference and is expected to announce that he is leaving the UFC and returning to fight in japan, probably with the K-1 hero's show. :eek:
i'm sad that mirko didn't have more success in the ufc. :( it will suck not being able to watch his fights live anymore, but maybe this will make him happy with his career again. i wish him all the success. cro cop!
Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic Leaves UFC, Signs with New Organization
MMA Junkie.com
February 13, 2008
Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic (22-6-2 MMA, 1-2 UFC) has left the UFC and signed with a new fight promotion called DREAM, it was announced today at a press conference in Japan.
Filipovic will make his debut with the organization at DREAM 1, a March 15 show in Saitama, Japan.
The new organization was founded by the Fight Entertainment Group, which is the parent company of the successful K-1 promotion, and former executives of the now-defunct PRIDE Fighting Championships, which was bought out and dismantled by the UFC’s parent company a year ago.
Rumblings that the Croatian fighter may be leaving the UFC heated up over the past few days as Filipovic posted blog entries teasing a big announcement. Over the past few days, MMAjunkie.com spoke to numerous sources close to the UFC, who could only confirm that Filipovic “might” be on his way out of the organization.
Filipovic, who made his octagon debut at UFC 67 with a first-round TKO of Eddie Sanchez, has since suffered back-to-back losses to Gabriel Gonzaga and Cheick Kongo. They were the first consecutive losses of the fighter’s career, and they led to speculation that Filipovic might consider retirement.
After the September 2007 loss Kongo, Filipovic did admit that the thought of quitting crossed him mind. However, he later stated that he expected to return to the UFC in early 2008.
However, during press events for UFC 81 earlier this month, UFC President Dana White said that Filipovic and his camp hadn’t been in contact with the organization. White said he was forced to implement a Feb. 4 deadline for the fighter to confirm whether or not he would be continuing his career with the UFC.
It’s believed that the UFC requested that Filipovic renegotiate a new deal. During UFC 66 in December 2006, the UFC officially announced that Filipovic, the PRIDE FC 2006 Open Weight Grand Prix champion, had signed a lucrative two-year, six-fight deal with the organization. Apparently, Filipovic was unwilling to do redo the deal, and the UFC opted to let him walk instead.
* * * *
In addition to Filipovic, DREAM today announced other fighters taking part in its inaugural show.
Shinya Aoki will meet Gesias “JZ” Calvancante in the opening round of a lightweight grand prix tournament that will be held at the March 15 show. The first round of a middleweight tournament bout is also expected to take place.
In addition to Filipovic, who’s expected to fight for the organization’s first-ever heavyweight title, other fighters competing in bouts include Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto, Kazushi Sakuraba and Kiyoshi Tamura.
i'm sad that mirko didn't have more success in the ufc. :( it will suck not being able to watch his fights live anymore, but maybe this will make him happy with his career again. i wish him all the success. cro cop!
now that is sad. :( the HW division is really the pits for me to begin with, and now with Cro Cop gone, i don't know if i'll ever have someone to look foward to fighting...
i do wish him all the best as well.... hrvatska!!
at least we still have Cro Crop!
~~*~~ ...i surfaced and all of my being was enlightend... ~~*~~
hrvatska, indeed! (i'm assuming that means good luck! ) i think i only have three guys i enjoy watching in the HW division now, kongo, vera and nogueira...oh, and arlovski too, but he could also be on his way out. we'll have to wait and see. it certainly is a mess.
it sounds like the new "DREAM" promotion is looking at a possible cro cop vs. fedor II match which would be huge for the fans and for cro cop to try to avenge his loss and get back on track. fedor is doing a reality show right now, though, to find his next opponent, for some reason?!
here we go again with the whole PRIDE (now DREAM) fighters are better than UFC fighters and vice versa nonsense again...
the WEC show tonight was decent. they didn't show the pre-lims i'd hoped for or even leonard garcia's fight on the tsn tape delay broadcast. the title fights were good, with an outstanding display of jiu-jitsu "combinations" (it was a like a kickboxing combination to finish the opponent, but with jiu-jitsu technique in combinations to do it instead...hard to describe, but beautiful to watch! ) in the BW match, a huge upset in the LW match, and a quick and impressive win in the WW title match.
hrvatska, indeed! (i'm assuming that means good luck! ) i think i only have three guys i enjoy watching in the HW division now, kongo, vera and nogueira...oh, and arlovski too, but he could also be on his way out. we'll have to wait and see. it certainly is a mess.
it sounds like the new "DREAM" promotion is looking at a possible cro cop vs. fedor II match which would be huge for the fans and for cro cop to try to avenge his loss and get back on track. fedor is doing a reality show right now, though, to find his next opponent, for some reason?!
here we go again with the whole PRIDE (now DREAM) fighters are better than UFC fighters and vice versa nonsense again...
the WEC show tonight was decent. they didn't show the pre-lims i'd hoped for or even leonard garcia's fight on the tsn tape delay broadcast. the title fights were good, with an outstanding display of jiu-jitsu "combinations" (it was a like a kickboxing combination to finish the opponent, but with jiu-jitsu technique in combinations to do it instead...hard to describe, but beautiful to watch! : )) in the BW match, a huge upset in the LW match, and a quick and impressive win in the WW title match.
p.s. cro crop!
hrvatska is actually just the Croatian word for "Croatia", hrvatski is the word for the Croatian Language.... besides "Hello, how are you?" "Good, thanks", counting to ten, and a really bad swear about a dog and one's mother, that's all the 'hrvatski' i know!
the jiu-jitsu combinations sound very cool indeed! too bad about not seeing Leonard's fight though...
i guess every organization needs a little "competition".... monopolies are never good.... and then, where would we get our drama from?? oh yah... Big Brother 9!
~~*~~ ...i surfaced and all of my being was enlightend... ~~*~~
...a really bad swear about a dog and one's mother...:D well i guess that explains that! haha
drama on big brother...noooo! i was just posting in that thread that i don't think there's a person in the house to root for this season. usually it takes them longer than a couple of weeks to go mental!
perhaps mirko will be back after all...eventually....
UFC PRESIDENT LEAVES DOOR OPEN FOR CRO COP
February 15, 2008
by Ken Pishna - MMAWeekly.com
Putting an end to the recent barrage of speculation, Fight Entertainment Group in partnership with former Dream Stage Entertainment staff members on Wednesday announced a new promotion called Dream. But aside from obviously trying to fill a void left by the departure of Pride Fighting Championships from the Japanese scene, Dream has emerged as the new home of former Pride and UFC fighter Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic.
Although he was in the midst of a reported six-fight contract with the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Filipovic’s disappointing performances in the Octagon made the situation a win-win for both him and the UFC to allow the Croatian to return to Japan.
With his departure, the promotion is relieved of paying for a fighter that in his UFC debut was paid $350,000 (not including any bonuses or other non-disclosed incentives) to defeat Eddie Sanchez, but then lost back-to-back bouts to Gabriel Gonzaga and Cheick Kongo.
For his part, Filipovic gets to return to Japan, where he is more comfortable fighting, and will have the opportunity to rebuild his reputation, likely without suffering any negative impact on his income. He is an extremely popular fighter in Japan, second only to Fedor Emelianenko when it comes to non-Japanese athletes.
“I’m happy to be back in Japan,” said Filipovic to the 500 fans that turned out for the press conference announcing Dream and his participation in the promotion. “I didn't like the cage very much, and now I'm looking forward to fighting here again. I feel that Japan is like my second home, this is where I want to fight.”
He also stated that he would someday like to return to the UFC to prove that it was just a bad time for him and that the losses were not indicative of his career.
In comments made to MMAWeekly.com, UFC president Dana White indicated that the split was amicable and that he believes Filipovic will one day be back to fight for his promotion, maybe even sooner rather than later.
“I have a lot of respect for Cro Cop and I like him,” stated White. “He wants to win the UFC title really bad. He is going back to Japan and taking some tune-up fights and wants to come back and prove himself in the UFC by the end of the year.”
Just whom Filipovic will be fighting in Japan, and even when, has as of yet been left unanswered. Although Dream officials were hopeful that he could be fighting as soon as their first event on March 15 at the Saitama Super Arena, they would not go so far as to confirm anything specific.
No details of Filipovic’s release from his UFC obligations, nor of his contract with Dream were forthcoming.
Although Filipovic stated that he would one day like to return to the UFC and White also said that he could be making that return in the near future, no definitive statements regarding the fighter’s future with the UFC were made.
White left the door wide open saying only, “I wish him the best of luck and hope to see him back.”
wiegh-in results for tonight's eliteXC show in miami...i'm getting excited for the smith vs. noke, edwards vs. berto, and especially the silva vs. rodriguez matches. antonio looks to be in the best shape i've seen him and coming in under 260 means he must be keeping his weight lower these days. it should bode well for him in this match and in the future, i think.
EliteXC: Street Certified, February 16, 2008 - Bank United Center, Miami Florida - Showtime / The Fight Network
Main Card:
Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson (234) Vs. David "Tank" Abbott (263)
Antonio Silva (259.75) Vs. Ricco Rodriguez (262.75)
Scott Smith (184) Vs. Kyle Noke (184.75)
Yves Edwards (160) Vs. Edson Berto (158.25)
James Thompson (253) Vs. Brett Rogers (264)
Pre-lims:
John Doyle (203.25) Vs. Rafael Feijo (204.5)
Yosmany Cabezas (184.25) Vs. Jon Kirk (183)
Dave Herman (242.5) Vs. Mario Rinaldi (260.5)
Eric Bradley (169.75) Vs. Mikey Gomez (170)
Mike Bernhard (169.5) Vs. Lorenzo Borgameo (170)
Jirka Hlavaty (210) Vs. Moyses Gabin (203.75)
pre-lims can be seen for free at proelite.com starting at 7:30 eastern, and the main card airs on showtime and the fight netwrok at 10 eastern, for anyone interested.
there is a form letter going around to petition spike tv to lengthen the broadcast of UFC fight night in colorado to 3 hours instead of 2. this would mean we'd probabaly see gray maynard vs. frankie edgar and spencer fisher vs. marcus aurelio / clay guida vs. samy schaivo.
did i mention it's to try to get frankie edgar vs. GRAY MAYNARD televised? hint, hint...:D
anyway, i thought i would pass it along here in case anyone is interested. just copy and paste...
TO: feedback@spike.com
SUBJECT: UFC Fight Night on April 2nd
Hi
I'm writing to ask that the UFC Fight Night on April 2nd be given three hours of time instead of two. The card is one of the best UFC cards ever put on Spike, and it deserves a longer timeslot. The entire fight community is looking forward to seeing this event, and I am sure you'll have a significantly higher number of viewers if you decide to show more of the card.
Ceg was right .... you're such a tease Mookie! Getting my hopes up that we'll see Gray televised.
Actually I'm really hoping that Gray will be at Montreal. And Roger Huerta. And Rachelle Leah for your sake!
hey, i'm just sayin' is all...:D
maynard vs. edgar is the swing bout right now, so if the petition works and the show is three hours instead of two, we're fairly certain to see it. so i'm making an assumption, not trying to tease.
good luck on the bully being in montreal! you never know who's going to show. i'm hoping evan shows for some pr work. he just finished doing some with rachelle and arianny. he says good things about rachelle, so why not...leah in montreal!
evan's pics from the trade show with rachelle and arianny, and a couple of training pics...
easily the best fight from the main card of the EliteXC show on saturday. maybe not quite as good as the MW match from the undercard. great match, though, and this is one of the most innovative jumping knee ko's i have ever seen. this makes me think we will see less people in the future attempting a single leg takedown at the end of a round. one of the best i have seen in years, and sure to be on highlight reels for years to come.
please ignore the idiot boxing referee...:D
Ref: "come on guys, let's work...come on guys, let's work!"
Yves: "shut up you moron! i'm trying for a kimura in case you didn't notice!"
Edson: "shut up you moron! i'm trying to sweep for a guillotine!"
an article about gina? well, i guess i should post that...;):) looks like she won't be fighting at the march 29th show. :(
GINA CARANO UNSURE OF NEXT ELITE XC FIGHT
Monday, February 18, 2008
by Ken Pishna - MMAWeekly.com
Gina Carano burst onto the mixed martial arts scene when the spotlight shown down on her and Julie Kedzie as they put on a “fight of the night” performance at the first ever EliteXC event. That was in February of 2007.
Seven months later, she quieted many critics with a first round submission of Tonya Evinger and seemed to be rocketing towards the top of the women’s side of the sport.
It has now been five months since that bout and everyone, including Carano, is getting anxious for her return to the cage… but don’t hold your breath. She has been busy portraying “Crush” on the re-invented American Gladiators television series.
She has one season of Gladiators in the bag and was looking towards a possible return to fighting at the next EliteXC and Strikeforce co-promotion – scheduled for March 29 featuring Frank Shamrock and Cung Le – but according to her comments on the HDNet series Inside MMA on Friday night, fighting in March may not work into her schedule.
Asked when she would make her return to fighting, Carano told co-hosts Kenny Rice and Bas Rutten, “Not soon enough. I might be doing another season of American Gladiators in March and April and then right after that I’d like to jump into a fight.”
It is somewhat ironic that Carano has had a difficult time nailing down her next fight. As she said on Friday night, “I originally did the American Gladiators thing to help bring in the crowd to female fighting and watching me on EliteXC.”
She sounded upbeat about the prospects of the female side of the sport though, not buying into the talk that she is the only fighter of her gender of any significance. Carano said of the women in the sport, “There are a lot of fighters, actually. I think that EliteXC wanted to get me some experience because at the time when I signed with them, I was only 3-0. So now I’ve got two fights under my belt with them.”
She went on to say that there are many respected female fighters that she has yet to face, such as Tara LaRosa, Amanda Buckner, Lucia Rijker and others. “If more of these women want to get into it, I’m all game,” said Carano
But as of right now, the bigger question is just when she will be able to stop promoting fighting, and just plain have the time to get back in the cage and do what she’s passionate about… fight.
looks like the letter writing campaign may have worked...
UFC Fight Night 13 Will Be a Three-Hour Broadcast
MMA Junkie.com
February 19, 2008
UFC Fight Night 13 will be a three-hour broadcast on Spike TV, after all.
The UFC has made no official announcement, and Spike TV could not confirm the news, but a source close to the event exclusively told MMAjunkie.com that April 2’s UFC Fight Night 13 event will, in fact, run three hours.
The event takes place at the Broomfield Event Center near Denver, Colo., and features what is perhaps the most talent-rich fight card in Spike TV history. Kenny Florian and Joe Lauzon meet in the night’s main event, while fan favorites such as Clay Guida, Matt Hamill, Karo Parisyan, Frankie Edgar and Houston Alexander fill out the undercard.
The MMA fanbase recently kicked off a letter-writing campaign to Spike TV executives asking that the broadcast run three hours rather than the usual two. UFC President Dana White recently stated that the decision was Spike TV’s — and Spike TV’s alone — to make, which prompted a campaign fueled by MMA blogs and message boards.
UFC Fight Night 13 will serve as a lead-in for “The Ultimate Fighter 7,” the latest installment of the UFC and Spike TV's hit reality series. The seventh season of the show, which will feature 32 UFC middleweight hopefuls, includes UFC light heavyweight champion Quinton Jackson and the original winner of “The Ultimate Fighter,” Forrest Griffin, as coaches.
Spike TV will likely announce news of the three-hour broadcast, as well as an updated televised card, this week, we’re told. With the late switch of Tim Boetsch for Stephan Bonnar, and the inclusion of additional televised bouts, the official card released by the UFC last week is expected to change.
The latest card, in no particular order (aside from the main event), now includes:
Kenny Florian vs. Joe Lauzon
Thiago Alves vs. Karo Parisyan
Tim Boetsch vs. Matt Hamill
Houston Alexander vs. James Irvin
Nate Diaz vs. Kurt Pellegrino
Frank Edgar vs. Gray Maynard
Marcus Aurelio vs. Spencer Fisher
Josh Neer vs. Din Thomas
Clay Guida vs. Samy Schiavo
Roman Mitichyan vs. George Sotiropoulos
Anthony Johnson vs. Tommy Speer
Hallelujah! Gray Maynard v. Frankie Edgar televised!!
That was a pretty fast response from Spike TV to extended Fight Night to three hours. I'm sure that means we'll have to sit through at least 27 more minutes of commercials for TUF7, Pros v. Joes and other Spike TV commercials, but it's worth it for an extra fight or two.
Hallelujah! Gray Maynard v. Frankie Edgar televised!!
That was a pretty fast response from Spike TV to extended Fight Night to three hours. I'm sure that means we'll have to sit through at least 27 more minutes of commercials for TUF7, Pros v. Joes and other Spike TV commercials, but it's worth it for an extra fight or two.
lol... i don't know if you guys get it, but I seem to continually see the Rhapsody commercial for JLo... :rolleyes: :(
i ain't never met a man like that, i ain't never fell so far so fast...
~~*~~ ...i surfaced and all of my being was enlightend... ~~*~~
Hallelujah! Gray Maynard v. Frankie Edgar televised!!
That was a pretty fast response from Spike TV to extended Fight Night to three hours. I'm sure that means we'll have to sit through at least 27 more minutes of commercials for TUF7, Pros v. Joes and other Spike TV commercials, but it's worth it for an extra fight or two.
indeed!
another fantastic match has been added, though...nate diaz vs. kurt pellegrino, so that makes 11 fights! so, from what i understand they're re-working the tv main card, but since maynard vs. edgar was the swing before, i'd have to say nate vs. kurt and gray vs. frankie will be the two that get "adjusted" to the main card...if i had to guess. you're right, though, an extra hour means extra commercials...TUF7 for sure...UFC 83 ...the jlo one ceg mentioned, girls gone wild , and video games...can't forget the video games!
Comments
that is my favorite part of Immagine in Cornice!
evan has a pretty interesting way of looking at things sometimes. i think he and eddie would get on well.
WEC 32, February 13, 2008 - Santa Ana Star Center, Albuquerque, New Mexico - Versus / TSN
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
Manny Tapia Vs. Antonio Banuelos
Leonard Garcia Vs. Hiroyuki Takaya
Pre-lims:
Mark Hominick Vs. Josh Grispi
Coty Wheeler Vs. Del Hawkins
Yoshiro Maeda Vs. Charlie Valencia
Micah Miller Vs. Chance Farrar
Damacio Page Vs. Scott Jorgensen
good to see yves edwards and james "gong and dash" thompson on the card. smith vs. noke should be a good one.
EliteXC: Street Certified, February 16, 2008 - Bank United Center, Miami Florida - Showtime / The Fight Network
Main Card:
Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson Vs. Davis "Tank" Abbott
Antonio Silva Vs. Ricco Rodriguez
Yves Edwards Vs. Edson Berto
James Thompson Vs. Brett Rogers
Scott Smith Vs. Kyle Noke
Pre-lims:
Dave Herman Vs. Mario Rinaldi
John Doyle Vs. Rafael Feijao
Jon Kirk Vs. Yosmany Cabezas
Eric Bradley Vs. Mikey Gomez
Lorenzo Borgameo Vs. Mike Bernhard
oh, mookie, it's such a beautiful video.... i mean, Pearl Jam, with Italy as a backdrop... it doesn't get better.... really... you've got to see it.... but i don't think it came out on VHS...
i am certainly behind the times! i'm definitely going to check it out. i'm certain my friend "brian"
i have a bunch of "dexter" episodes to watch and a couple of other series like "the contender: asia / muay thai", and "fight quest" that i've downloaded and are taking up huge space on my drive, so i got me some tv watchin' to do tonight and tomorrow!
TIM BOETSCH STEPS UP AGAIN FOR UFC
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
by Damon Martin - MMAWeekly.com
Tim Boetsch will again step up for the Ultimate Fighting Championship on short notice, this time taking over for the injured Stephan Bonnar. He will take on Matt Hamill as a part of the April 2 UFC Fight Night in Broomfield, Colo. as confirmed by MMAWeekly.com with sources close to the fight.
Boetsch made a very impressive debut for the UFC just earlier this month, finishing David Heath in the first round. He took the bout on extremely short notice when Heath’s original opponent dropped out due to injury.
The Pennsylvania-based light heavyweight looked devastating in his first fight with the UFC, displaying strong stand-up and tremendous power throughout his match-up with Heath.
Hamill is fighting for the first time since his very controversial decision loss to Michael Bisping at UFC 75 in September.
No official word from the UFC if the bout will be on the main card as Bonnar vs. Hamill was originally intended to be, but an announcement about the final card is expected in the near future.
http://www.mmaweekly.com/absolutenm/templates/dailynews.asp?articleid=5686&zoneid=13
get on the Dexter!! best show in years.... i wish i could be watching with you, instead of going to work in this miserable snow.... :(
*makes mental note to stop at Canadian Tire for a new shovel and some salt*
...also, breaking news coming from japan...mirko cro cop scheduled a press conference and is expected to announce that he is leaving the UFC and returning to fight in japan, probably with the K-1 hero's show. :eek:
Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic Leaves UFC, Signs with New Organization
MMA Junkie.com
February 13, 2008
Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic (22-6-2 MMA, 1-2 UFC) has left the UFC and signed with a new fight promotion called DREAM, it was announced today at a press conference in Japan.
Filipovic will make his debut with the organization at DREAM 1, a March 15 show in Saitama, Japan.
The new organization was founded by the Fight Entertainment Group, which is the parent company of the successful K-1 promotion, and former executives of the now-defunct PRIDE Fighting Championships, which was bought out and dismantled by the UFC’s parent company a year ago.
Rumblings that the Croatian fighter may be leaving the UFC heated up over the past few days as Filipovic posted blog entries teasing a big announcement. Over the past few days, MMAjunkie.com spoke to numerous sources close to the UFC, who could only confirm that Filipovic “might” be on his way out of the organization.
Filipovic, who made his octagon debut at UFC 67 with a first-round TKO of Eddie Sanchez, has since suffered back-to-back losses to Gabriel Gonzaga and Cheick Kongo. They were the first consecutive losses of the fighter’s career, and they led to speculation that Filipovic might consider retirement.
After the September 2007 loss Kongo, Filipovic did admit that the thought of quitting crossed him mind. However, he later stated that he expected to return to the UFC in early 2008.
However, during press events for UFC 81 earlier this month, UFC President Dana White said that Filipovic and his camp hadn’t been in contact with the organization. White said he was forced to implement a Feb. 4 deadline for the fighter to confirm whether or not he would be continuing his career with the UFC.
It’s believed that the UFC requested that Filipovic renegotiate a new deal. During UFC 66 in December 2006, the UFC officially announced that Filipovic, the PRIDE FC 2006 Open Weight Grand Prix champion, had signed a lucrative two-year, six-fight deal with the organization. Apparently, Filipovic was unwilling to do redo the deal, and the UFC opted to let him walk instead.
* * * *
In addition to Filipovic, DREAM today announced other fighters taking part in its inaugural show.
Shinya Aoki will meet Gesias “JZ” Calvancante in the opening round of a lightweight grand prix tournament that will be held at the March 15 show. The first round of a middleweight tournament bout is also expected to take place.
In addition to Filipovic, who’s expected to fight for the organization’s first-ever heavyweight title, other fighters competing in bouts include Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto, Kazushi Sakuraba and Kiyoshi Tamura.
http://mmajunkie.com/2008/02/13/mirko-cro-cop-filipovic-leaves-ufc-signs-with-new-organization/
now that is sad. :( the HW division is really the pits for me to begin with, and now with Cro Cop gone, i don't know if i'll ever have someone to look foward to fighting...
i do wish him all the best as well.... hrvatska!!
at least we still have Cro Crop!
it sounds like the new "DREAM" promotion is looking at a possible cro cop vs. fedor II match which would be huge for the fans and for cro cop to try to avenge his loss and get back on track. fedor is doing a reality show right now, though, to find his next opponent, for some reason?!
here we go again with the whole PRIDE (now DREAM) fighters are better than UFC fighters and vice versa nonsense again...
the WEC show tonight was decent. they didn't show the pre-lims i'd hoped for or even leonard garcia's fight on the tsn tape delay broadcast. the title fights were good, with an outstanding display of jiu-jitsu "combinations" (it was a like a kickboxing combination to finish the opponent, but with jiu-jitsu technique in combinations to do it instead...hard to describe, but beautiful to watch!
p.s. cro crop!
hrvatska is actually just the Croatian word for "Croatia", hrvatski is the word for the Croatian Language.... besides "Hello, how are you?" "Good, thanks", counting to ten, and a really bad swear about a dog and one's mother, that's all the 'hrvatski' i know!
the jiu-jitsu combinations sound very cool indeed! too bad about not seeing Leonard's fight though...
i guess every organization needs a little "competition".... monopolies are never good.... and then, where would we get our drama from?? oh yah... Big Brother 9!
drama on big brother...noooo!
UFC PRESIDENT LEAVES DOOR OPEN FOR CRO COP
February 15, 2008
by Ken Pishna - MMAWeekly.com
Putting an end to the recent barrage of speculation, Fight Entertainment Group in partnership with former Dream Stage Entertainment staff members on Wednesday announced a new promotion called Dream. But aside from obviously trying to fill a void left by the departure of Pride Fighting Championships from the Japanese scene, Dream has emerged as the new home of former Pride and UFC fighter Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic.
Although he was in the midst of a reported six-fight contract with the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Filipovic’s disappointing performances in the Octagon made the situation a win-win for both him and the UFC to allow the Croatian to return to Japan.
With his departure, the promotion is relieved of paying for a fighter that in his UFC debut was paid $350,000 (not including any bonuses or other non-disclosed incentives) to defeat Eddie Sanchez, but then lost back-to-back bouts to Gabriel Gonzaga and Cheick Kongo.
For his part, Filipovic gets to return to Japan, where he is more comfortable fighting, and will have the opportunity to rebuild his reputation, likely without suffering any negative impact on his income. He is an extremely popular fighter in Japan, second only to Fedor Emelianenko when it comes to non-Japanese athletes.
“I’m happy to be back in Japan,” said Filipovic to the 500 fans that turned out for the press conference announcing Dream and his participation in the promotion. “I didn't like the cage very much, and now I'm looking forward to fighting here again. I feel that Japan is like my second home, this is where I want to fight.”
He also stated that he would someday like to return to the UFC to prove that it was just a bad time for him and that the losses were not indicative of his career.
In comments made to MMAWeekly.com, UFC president Dana White indicated that the split was amicable and that he believes Filipovic will one day be back to fight for his promotion, maybe even sooner rather than later.
“I have a lot of respect for Cro Cop and I like him,” stated White. “He wants to win the UFC title really bad. He is going back to Japan and taking some tune-up fights and wants to come back and prove himself in the UFC by the end of the year.”
Just whom Filipovic will be fighting in Japan, and even when, has as of yet been left unanswered. Although Dream officials were hopeful that he could be fighting as soon as their first event on March 15 at the Saitama Super Arena, they would not go so far as to confirm anything specific.
No details of Filipovic’s release from his UFC obligations, nor of his contract with Dream were forthcoming.
Although Filipovic stated that he would one day like to return to the UFC and White also said that he could be making that return in the near future, no definitive statements regarding the fighter’s future with the UFC were made.
White left the door wide open saying only, “I wish him the best of luck and hope to see him back.”
http://www.mmaweekly.com/absolutenm/templates/dailynews.asp?articleid=5708&zoneid=2
EliteXC: Street Certified, February 16, 2008 - Bank United Center, Miami Florida - Showtime / The Fight Network
Main Card:
Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson (234) Vs. David "Tank" Abbott (263)
Antonio Silva (259.75) Vs. Ricco Rodriguez (262.75)
Scott Smith (184) Vs. Kyle Noke (184.75)
Yves Edwards (160) Vs. Edson Berto (158.25)
James Thompson (253) Vs. Brett Rogers (264)
Pre-lims:
John Doyle (203.25) Vs. Rafael Feijo (204.5)
Yosmany Cabezas (184.25) Vs. Jon Kirk (183)
Dave Herman (242.5) Vs. Mario Rinaldi (260.5)
Eric Bradley (169.75) Vs. Mikey Gomez (170)
Mike Bernhard (169.5) Vs. Lorenzo Borgameo (170)
Jirka Hlavaty (210) Vs. Moyses Gabin (203.75)
pre-lims can be seen for free at proelite.com starting at 7:30 eastern, and the main card airs on showtime and the fight netwrok at 10 eastern, for anyone interested.
there is a form letter going around to petition spike tv to lengthen the broadcast of UFC fight night in colorado to 3 hours instead of 2. this would mean we'd probabaly see gray maynard vs. frankie edgar and spencer fisher vs. marcus aurelio / clay guida vs. samy schaivo.
did i mention it's to try to get frankie edgar vs. GRAY MAYNARD televised?
anyway, i thought i would pass it along here in case anyone is interested. just copy and paste...
TO: feedback@spike.com
SUBJECT: UFC Fight Night on April 2nd
Hi
I'm writing to ask that the UFC Fight Night on April 2nd be given three hours of time instead of two. The card is one of the best UFC cards ever put on Spike, and it deserves a longer timeslot. The entire fight community is looking forward to seeing this event, and I am sure you'll have a significantly higher number of viewers if you decide to show more of the card.
Thank you for your time
INSERT NAME HERE
Ceg was right .... you're such a tease Mookie!
Actually I'm really hoping that Gray will be at Montreal. And Roger Huerta. And Rachelle Leah for your sake!
hey, i'm just sayin' is all...:D
maynard vs. edgar is the swing bout right now, so if the petition works and the show is three hours instead of two, we're fairly certain to see it. so i'm making an assumption, not trying to tease.
good luck on the bully being in montreal! you never know who's going to show. i'm hoping evan shows for some pr work. he just finished doing some with rachelle and arianny. he says good things about rachelle, so why not...leah in montreal!
evan's pics from the trade show with rachelle and arianny, and a couple of training pics...
http://www.evantanner.net/journal
please ignore the idiot boxing referee...:D
Ref: "come on guys, let's work...come on guys, let's work!"
Yves: "shut up you moron! i'm trying for a kimura in case you didn't notice!"
Edson: "shut up you moron! i'm trying to sweep for a guillotine!"
Yves Edwards Vs. Edson Berto:
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x4ehwr_edwards-vs-berto_sport
James Thompson Vs. Brett Rogers:
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x4ehto_rogers-vs-thompson_sport
Scott Smith Vs. Kyle Noke: (really poor quality video)
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x4eh8f_scott-smith-vs-kyle-noke_sport
Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson Vs. David "Tank" Abbott: (again, poor quality video)
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x4erhg_kimbo-vs-tank_extreme
Miguel Torres Vs. Chase Beebe (WEC BW Championship): (check out the finish"es" on this one!!!
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x4devr_chase-beebe-vs-miguel-torres_sport
Carlos Condit Vs. Carlo Prater (WEC WW Championship):
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x4derx_carlos-condit-vs-carlos-prater_sport
Leonard Garcia Vs. Hiroyuki Takaya:
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x4dez5_leonard-garcia-vs-hiroyuki-takaya_sport
GINA CARANO UNSURE OF NEXT ELITE XC FIGHT
Monday, February 18, 2008
by Ken Pishna - MMAWeekly.com
Gina Carano burst onto the mixed martial arts scene when the spotlight shown down on her and Julie Kedzie as they put on a “fight of the night” performance at the first ever EliteXC event. That was in February of 2007.
Seven months later, she quieted many critics with a first round submission of Tonya Evinger and seemed to be rocketing towards the top of the women’s side of the sport.
It has now been five months since that bout and everyone, including Carano, is getting anxious for her return to the cage… but don’t hold your breath. She has been busy portraying “Crush” on the re-invented American Gladiators television series.
She has one season of Gladiators in the bag and was looking towards a possible return to fighting at the next EliteXC and Strikeforce co-promotion – scheduled for March 29 featuring Frank Shamrock and Cung Le – but according to her comments on the HDNet series Inside MMA on Friday night, fighting in March may not work into her schedule.
Asked when she would make her return to fighting, Carano told co-hosts Kenny Rice and Bas Rutten, “Not soon enough. I might be doing another season of American Gladiators in March and April and then right after that I’d like to jump into a fight.”
It is somewhat ironic that Carano has had a difficult time nailing down her next fight. As she said on Friday night, “I originally did the American Gladiators thing to help bring in the crowd to female fighting and watching me on EliteXC.”
She sounded upbeat about the prospects of the female side of the sport though, not buying into the talk that she is the only fighter of her gender of any significance. Carano said of the women in the sport, “There are a lot of fighters, actually. I think that EliteXC wanted to get me some experience because at the time when I signed with them, I was only 3-0. So now I’ve got two fights under my belt with them.”
She went on to say that there are many respected female fighters that she has yet to face, such as Tara LaRosa, Amanda Buckner, Lucia Rijker and others. “If more of these women want to get into it, I’m all game,” said Carano
But as of right now, the bigger question is just when she will be able to stop promoting fighting, and just plain have the time to get back in the cage and do what she’s passionate about… fight.
http://www.mmaweekly.com/absolutenm/templates/dailynews.asp?articleid=5720&zoneid=13
UFC Fight Night 13 Will Be a Three-Hour Broadcast
MMA Junkie.com
February 19, 2008
UFC Fight Night 13 will be a three-hour broadcast on Spike TV, after all.
The UFC has made no official announcement, and Spike TV could not confirm the news, but a source close to the event exclusively told MMAjunkie.com that April 2’s UFC Fight Night 13 event will, in fact, run three hours.
The event takes place at the Broomfield Event Center near Denver, Colo., and features what is perhaps the most talent-rich fight card in Spike TV history. Kenny Florian and Joe Lauzon meet in the night’s main event, while fan favorites such as Clay Guida, Matt Hamill, Karo Parisyan, Frankie Edgar and Houston Alexander fill out the undercard.
The MMA fanbase recently kicked off a letter-writing campaign to Spike TV executives asking that the broadcast run three hours rather than the usual two. UFC President Dana White recently stated that the decision was Spike TV’s — and Spike TV’s alone — to make, which prompted a campaign fueled by MMA blogs and message boards.
UFC Fight Night 13 will serve as a lead-in for “The Ultimate Fighter 7,” the latest installment of the UFC and Spike TV's hit reality series. The seventh season of the show, which will feature 32 UFC middleweight hopefuls, includes UFC light heavyweight champion Quinton Jackson and the original winner of “The Ultimate Fighter,” Forrest Griffin, as coaches.
Spike TV will likely announce news of the three-hour broadcast, as well as an updated televised card, this week, we’re told. With the late switch of Tim Boetsch for Stephan Bonnar, and the inclusion of additional televised bouts, the official card released by the UFC last week is expected to change.
The latest card, in no particular order (aside from the main event), now includes:
Kenny Florian vs. Joe Lauzon
Thiago Alves vs. Karo Parisyan
Tim Boetsch vs. Matt Hamill
Houston Alexander vs. James Irvin
Nate Diaz vs. Kurt Pellegrino
Frank Edgar vs. Gray Maynard
Marcus Aurelio vs. Spencer Fisher
Josh Neer vs. Din Thomas
Clay Guida vs. Samy Schiavo
Roman Mitichyan vs. George Sotiropoulos
Anthony Johnson vs. Tommy Speer
http://mmajunkie.com/2008/02/19/ufc-fight-night-13-will-be-a-three-hour-broadcast/
That was a pretty fast response from Spike TV to extended Fight Night to three hours. I'm sure that means we'll have to sit through at least 27 more minutes of commercials for TUF7, Pros v. Joes and other Spike TV commercials, but it's worth it for an extra fight or two.
lol... i don't know if you guys get it, but I seem to continually see the Rhapsody commercial for JLo... :rolleyes: :(
i ain't never met a man like that, i ain't never fell so far so fast...
hahaha
indeed!
another fantastic match has been added, though...nate diaz vs. kurt pellegrino, so that makes 11 fights! so, from what i understand they're re-working the tv main card, but since maynard vs. edgar was the swing before, i'd have to say nate vs. kurt and gray vs. frankie will be the two that get "adjusted" to the main card...if i had to guess. you're right, though, an extra hour means extra commercials...TUF7 for sure...UFC 83
yep, that one too...:D