UFC 92:Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira Vs. Frank Mir/Griffin Vs. Evans/Rampage Vs. Silva III

mookie blaylock 10

cooler heads prevail, my friends! still not a fan of dana's over-reaction or this likeness for life thing, but let's hops the fighters can get together and work some thing out about that.

Report: Jon Fitch will sign videogame agreement, returns to UFC
by MMAjunkie.com
Nov 20, 2008

Just 24 hours after Jon Fitch was kicked out of the UFC and scratched from a scheduled UFC 94 bout with Akihiro Gono, the top welterweight contender is now back with the organization, according to MMARated.com.

Saying he no longer wanted to work with the American Kickboxing Academy or the fighter's management team at Zinkin Entertainment, UFC President Dana White said he dismissed Fitch, who initially refused to sign a deal that would give the UFC the exclusive right to use his likeness in an upcoming videogame.

Fitch today agreed to sign the deal after speaking with UFC Chief Executive Officer Lorenzo Fertitta, according to the report.

The fighter, who said he was disappointed by White's strong-arm tactics in trying to get him to sign the agreement, is now again scheduled to fight Gono at the Jan. 31 event in Las Vegas.

Fitch initially told Yahoo! Sports he simply didn't understand the need to sign over his rights with a lifetime contract, particularly since it would not pay his family in the event of his death, and that White balked at his management team's willingness to compromise with a five- or 10-year deal.

"It was all or nothing," Fitch said. "[White] wanted our lifetime. He wanted our souls forever."

In addition to Fitch, White on Wednesday also said he dropped Christian Wellisch from the organization and that fellow UFC fighters Josh Koscheck and Cain Velasquez were also in jeopardy of being cut from the UFC. There's no word if those fighters now plan to sign the agreement, as well.

The videogame in question, "UFC 2009 Undisputed," which is set for a mid-2009 release, is being produced by THQ.

Fitch (17-3 MMA, 8-1 UFC), who is currently ranked a world top-five welterweight, most recently fought in August and dropped a unanimous decision to UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre. It was his first loss in nearly six years and snapped his record eight-fight win streak in the UFC.

http://mmajunkie.com/news/13299/report-jon-fitch-will-sign-videogame-agreement-returns-to-ufc.mma

mookie blaylock 10

mammasan wrote:

I can't wait for the Lyoto Machida/Thiago Silve fight. Was looking forward to see how Silva would match up to Lyoto's unorthodox style.

+1 very intriguing match!

leafs4ever

mookie blaylock 10 wrote:

cooler heads prevail, my friends! still not a fan of dana's over-reaction or this likeness for life thing, but let's hops the fighters can get together and work some thing out about that.

Report: Jon Fitch will sign videogame agreement, returns to UFC
by MMAjunkie.com
Nov 20, 2008

Just 24 hours after Jon Fitch was kicked out of the UFC and scratched from a scheduled UFC 94 bout with Akihiro Gono, the top welterweight contender is now back with the organization, according to MMARated.com.

Saying he no longer wanted to work with the American Kickboxing Academy or the fighter's management team at Zinkin Entertainment, UFC President Dana White said he dismissed Fitch, who initially refused to sign a deal that would give the UFC the exclusive right to use his likeness in an upcoming videogame.

Fitch today agreed to sign the deal after speaking with UFC Chief Executive Officer Lorenzo Fertitta, according to the report.

The fighter, who said he was disappointed by White's strong-arm tactics in trying to get him to sign the agreement, is now again scheduled to fight Gono at the Jan. 31 event in Las Vegas.

Fitch initially told Yahoo! Sports he simply didn't understand the need to sign over his rights with a lifetime contract, particularly since it would not pay his family in the event of his death, and that White balked at his management team's willingness to compromise with a five- or 10-year deal.

"It was all or nothing," Fitch said. "[White] wanted our lifetime. He wanted our souls forever."

In addition to Fitch, White on Wednesday also said he dropped Christian Wellisch from the organization and that fellow UFC fighters Josh Koscheck and Cain Velasquez were also in jeopardy of being cut from the UFC. There's no word if those fighters now plan to sign the agreement, as well.

The videogame in question, "UFC 2009 Undisputed," which is set for a mid-2009 release, is being produced by THQ.

Fitch (17-3 MMA, 8-1 UFC), who is currently ranked a world top-five welterweight, most recently fought in August and dropped a unanimous decision to UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre. It was his first loss in nearly six years and snapped his record eight-fight win streak in the UFC.

http://mmajunkie.com/news/13299/report-jon-fitch-will-sign-videogame-agreement-returns-to-ufc.mma

thanks for the good news mookie... i still think it's stupid that dana is pretty much demanding that he has ownership for life. This is the exact reason why unions are still needed today, so that the employer is not taking advantage of the employee.

mookie blaylock 10

leafs4ever wrote:

thanks for the good news mookie... i still think it's stupid that dana is pretty much demanding that he has ownership for life. This is the exact reason why unions are still needed today, so that the employer is not taking advantage of the employee.

indeed. in an ideal world, they wouldn't follow the model of other sports, there wouldn't be so many managers involved to create confusion, and the fighters would get together and help each other out to better their overall situation. that is my "DREAM" MMA world.

mookie blaylock 10

the upcoming UFC Fight Night on December 10th is raising money for the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund.

here is the link to make a donation. i'm hoping to make one in the name of Evan Tanner.

http://fallenheroesfund.ufc.com/

UFC Fight Night 16 (Fight For The Troops), December 10, 2008 - Crown Coliseum, Fayetteville, North Carolina - Spike TV

Main Card:

Josh Koscheck Vs. Yoshiyuki Yoshida
Mick Swick Vs. Jonathan Goulet
Steve Cantwell Vs. Razak Al-Hussan (Brian Stann out due to injury)
Nate Loughran Vs. Tim Credeur
Frank Edgar Vs. Matt Wiman

Pre-lims:

Luigi Fioravanti Vs. Brodie Farber
Steve Bruno Vs. Johnny Rees (Luke Cummo out due to injury)
Ben Saunders Vs. Brandon Wolff
Corey Hill Vs. Dale Hartt
Eddie Sanchez Vs. Justin McCully

leafs4ever

nice that they are doing this event for a good cause... i just wish it wasn't so close to x-mas


not that great of a card but a couple interesting fights

looking forward to the Koscheck/Yoshida, Swick/Goulet, and Edgar/Winman matches the most

mookie blaylock 10

leafs4ever wrote:

nice that they are doing this event for a good cause... i just wish it wasn't so close to x-mas


not that great of a card but a couple interesting fights

looking forward to the Koscheck/Yoshida, Swick/Goulet, and Edgar/Winman matches the most

yeah, i know what you're saying. i don't celebrate christmas, but i rarely have money anyway. i'm hoping to have 25$ to spare before the show...or i guess they would take them after the show? that would make sense, eh? in any case, definitely a good cause.

those are the ones i'm excited about too. i think people will be very surpirsed by yoshida. most thoughts on the fight that i have read have koscheck winning this one easily, but i'm going with yoshida. same with goulet vs. swick. if swick can handle the 170 cut easier this time, he may take it, but goulet is very strong for 170 and he may surprise some people as well.

...and those that haven't seen matt wiman's last few fights are in for a BIG surprise. he's a completely different fighter and he's been fighting like a maniac.

so, i guess i am predicting a night of surprises! those three should be very good matches no matter who wins.

Hubmann2513

Not meaning to completely change the subject from the UFC, but what do you all think about the Fedor vs AA bout coming up in January? I know Fedor is pretty dominant, but Arlovski has looked pretty good as of late. People can say whatever they want but he has won his last 5 fights, 4 of which were very decisive. I personally think he has a good chance against Fedor if he plays his cards right.

mookie blaylock 10

Hubmann2513 wrote:

Not meaning to completely change the subject from the UFC, but what do you all think about the Fedor vs AA bout coming up in January? I know Fedor is pretty dominant, but Arlovski has looked pretty good as of late. People can say whatever they want but he has won his last 5 fights, 4 of which were very decisive. I personally think he has a good chance against Fedor if he plays his cards right.

change away, no worries! we can talk all MMA in here, hubmann. i haven't put up the affliction rumours yet because they have changed a few times since the show was delayed, then all the problems between affliction and extreme couture...looks like a few of them are still planning to fight, though, as hominick, hieron, belfort and horodecki are all rumoured to still be on the card. it doesn't sound like mike pyle is coming back, unfortunately.


with fedor vs. andrei, i'm going with andrei for sure. i'm biased, though, because i'm an andrei fan and i'm not a fan of fedor.

i agree with you, andrei has looked so good recently. his fight against ben rothwell was one of the best performances i have seen in a while, especially from a HW. his kickboxing is looking sharper than it ever has. the only knock on him that i could see in the last few fights is that he's not bringing his hands back properly when he's throwing certain punches. that's not an opening you want to leave for fedor. hands down, and one of those looping shots from fedor and the fight could be over.

in this match, i don't think that fedor will have the luxury of choosing where the fight will happen like he usually does. andrei's takedown defense is outstanding. if it does go to the ground they both have sambo backgrounds (fedor being more decorated, of course), and andrei's jiu-jitsu is good enough defensively to probably prevent an armbar. he could be the victim of some nasty ground and pound if he finds himself on his back, though, as fedor has some of the best. i just don't see too much action on the ground in this one.

fedor's speed and power are tough to deal with and very deceiving, but andrei is quick and agile for a HW too. i see andrei using his more technical kickboxing to win this match. like you said, if he plays his cards right, and has a good gameplan (keep those hands up on the return, andrei! ) he has a very good chance to win. i think it will be a late second round tko for andrei.

it should be an excellent match and probably the best test fedor has had since cro cop in 2005. i thought tim sylvia would pose a problem, but we all saw what happened there. tim got dropped with the first punch for the umpteenth time in his career! and fedor finished him quickly. i'm hoping not to be wrong again this time...go pitbull!

edit: i'll put the rumours up now and cross my fingers the show goes on....

mookie blaylock 10

here's the rumoured card so far for the second affliction show in january, so i hope they are able to put this one on without having to cancel or delay again.

i don't understand why they switched lindland vs. belfort to lindland vs. babalu...maybe lindland wants to fight at LHW? (edit: just found out that it's a catch weight at 195) (edit #2: they've taken babalu out, decided not to do a catch weight, and they have decided to put the original match back together...vitor vs. lindland...)

matyushenko vs. lil' nog should be a good one, and horodecki vs. lauzon should also be very entertaining. the main event, of course, is a dream match!


Affliction II, January 24, 2009 - Honda Center, Anaheim, California - PPV, HDNet

Main Card:

Fedor Emelianenko Vs. Andrei Arlovski
Matt Lindland Vs. Vitor Belfort (Matt Lindland Vs. Renato Sobral 195 pound catch weight match cancelled)
Josh Barnett Vs. Gilbert Yvel
Antontio Rogerio Nogueira Vs. Vladamir Matyushenko
Chris Horodecki Vs. Dan Lauzon

Pre-lims: (HDNet)

Jay Hieron Vs. Jason High
Mark Hominick Vs. L.C. Davis
Paul Buentello Vs. Kiril Sidelnikov
Antonio Duarte Vs. Albert Rios
Brett Cooper Vs. TBA

RolandTD20Kdrummer

not to derail but 94 is looking really good...FYI

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UFC_94

GSP FTW...

mookie blaylock 10

RolandTD20Kdrummer wrote:

not to derail but 94 is looking really good...FYI

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UFC_94

GSP FTW...

not derailing at all, roland! it's all "aboot" mma!

man, i cannot wait for that card! some of my favourite fighters and some outstanding matches. GSP vs. penn, lyoto vs. thiago silva, fitch vs. gono, karo vs. KDH, bonnar vs. jones , tavares vs. gamburyan...all on the same card!!!

all the making of a classic card.

RolandTD20Kdrummer

mookie blaylock 10 wrote:

not derailing at all, roland! it's all "aboot" mma!

man, i cannot wait for that card! some of my favourite fighters and some outstanding matches. GSP vs. penn, lyoto vs. thiago silva, fitch vs. gono, karo vs. KDH, bonnar vs. jones , tavares vs. gamburyan...all on the same card!!!

all the making of a classic card.

I know eh? Can't wait.

I just finished watching #80...holy crap...Penn v.s.Stevenson for the lightweight title...omg...what a bloodbath....holy. Poor guy, Stevenson was literally crying afterwards.

This is the same UFC where Penn tells Sherk he's dead, and Sherk comes into the octagon all pissed off acting like a tough guy....excellent episode. I'm trying to find the one where GSP breaks Sherk's nose, and the one where Tim Sylvia get his forearm snapped. I have some googling to do

"UFC Ultimate Comebacks" was another really good recent viewing.

mookie blaylock 10

RolandTD20Kdrummer wrote:

I know eh? Can't wait.

I just finished watching #80...holy crap...Penn v.s.Stevenson for the lightweight title...omg...what a bloodbath....holy. Poor guy, Stevenson was literally crying afterwards.

This is the same UFC where Penn tells Sherk he's dead, and Sherk comes into the octagon all pissed off acting like a tough guy....excellent episode. I'm trying to find the one where GSP breaks Sherk's nose, and the one where Tim Sylvia get his forearm snapped. I have some googling to do

"UFC Ultimate Comebacks" was another really good recent viewing.

thanks for the reminder, roland. i still have to check out the ultimate comebacks!

if it saves you some googling, GSP Vs. Sean Sherk was UFC 56, and Frank Mir Vs. Tim Sylvia was UFC 48. crazy how time flies!

Hubmann2513

mookie blaylock 10 wrote:

change away, no worries! we can talk all MMA in here, hubmann. i haven't put up the affliction rumours yet because they have changed a few times since the show was delayed, then all the problems between affliction and extreme couture...looks like a few of them are still planning to fight, though, as hominick, hieron, belfort and horodecki are all rumoured to still be on the card. it doesn't sound like mike pyle is coming back, unfortunately.


with fedor vs. andrei, i'm going with andrei for sure. i'm biased, though, because i'm an andrei fan and i'm not a fan of fedor.

i agree with you, andrei has looked so good recently. his fight against ben rothwell was one of the best performances i have seen in a while, especially from a HW. his kickboxing is looking sharper than it ever has. the only knock on him that i could see in the last few fights is that he's not bringing his hands back properly when he's throwing certain punches. that's not an opening you want to leave for fedor. hands down, and one of those looping shots from fedor and the fight could be over.

in this match, i don't think that fedor will have the luxury of choosing where the fight will happen like he usually does. andrei's takedown defense is outstanding. if it does go to the ground they both have sambo backgrounds (fedor being more decorated, of course), and andrei's jiu-jitsu is good enough defensively to probably prevent an armbar. he could be the victim of some nasty ground and pound if he finds himself on his back, though, as fedor has some of the best. i just don't see too much action on the ground in this one.

fedor's speed and power are tough to deal with and very deceiving, but andrei is quick and agile for a HW too. i see andrei using his more technical kickboxing to win this match. like you said, if he plays his cards right, and has a good gameplan (keep those hands up on the return, andrei! ) he has a very good chance to win. i think it will be a late second round tko for andrei.

it should be an excellent match and probably the best test fedor has had since cro cop in 2005. i thought tim sylvia would pose a problem, but we all saw what happened there. tim got dropped with the first punch for the umpteenth time in his career! and fedor finished him quickly. i'm hoping not to be wrong again this time...go pitbull!

edit: i'll put the rumours up now and cross my fingers the show goes on....

I am biased too, so I am going to have to agree with you. Andrei is the fighter that got me into MMA, so I follow him more than any other fighter. I believe that he wlll the first real test for Fedor in some time. He has to protect himself from Fedor's strikes though. Andrei does have great takedown defence, so he should be able to fight that off if Fedor tries to go for that.

However, he can't try for the heel hook like I saw him attempt to do in the first round of the Rothwell fight. Well, he can't unless there is an opening. The heel hook he tried in the Rothwell fight was kind of out of nowhere and could have been a big mistake for him. Luckily, he ended up making Rothwell his punching bag. He does have to protect his face after he throws his punches. He's not fighting Cruz, Werdum, Rothwell, O'Brien, or Nelson. He's fighting Fedor. Fedor will capatalize on that mistake before he realizes he made it.

I am sure that his boxing coach has talked with him a lot about that though. I participated in a video chat with him a week or so back and he seems like he is incredibley focused on this fight. He also seems to think that Fedor's recent loss in a Sambo competition will affect him mentally in this fight. He said that Fedor isn't used to losing, and any kind of loss, even in Sambo, would affect him. He could very well be right. What do you think about that?

It will be an exciting fight and probably the first one I will have bought in quite some time. (Though the upcoming UFC card looks very tempting.) I think that Arlovski has a very good chance. I am definately looking for him to KO or TKO Fedor in the 2nd or 3rd round.

Looking at the other cards, what do you think about the Big Nog/Mir and Rampage/Wanderli fights?

Hubmann2513

Happy Thanksgiving to you all, by the way!

mookie blaylock 10

good post, hubmann. i like the way you think. good to know i'm not the only one cheering for andrei! haha i agree about the ground. i don't think that's where andrei will want this fight to be. the heel hook he was fortunate enough to get up from quickly the first time, but the second time, he had an opportunity to simply stand up and chose to stay on his back and try to play from his guard, allowing rothwell to be offensive for that short time in the fight. i remember big john doing the play by play and kind of saying...what is arlovski doing?!?!

that's awesome that you were able to have a video chat with him! good to hear that he sounds confident and that he will be well prepared. i think you're right about fixing the mistakes.

the sambo loss was fedor's first in 8 years?, i think? there were rumours of an illness, but being so proud of his sambo accomplishments, i'm sure fedor didn't take it well. hard to say if it will be in his mind by the time january rolls around...even if andrei can use that thought to boost his own confidence, i think that is a good thing. an aggressive and confident arlovski is a scary man!

the mir vs. nog fight is noguiera all the way, in my opinion. frank's cardio has been his downfall in some matches, and i can see nogueira boxing with him and getting him to move around a bit to make him work in the first and then turning it up in the second for a tko win. if the fight goes to the third, mir is definitely done. it will get interesting if it goes to the ground, though! two of the best jiu-jitsu guys at HW. mir's subs are strong, but to tap nogueira would be an incredible accomplishment. i'm going with big nog by tko late in the second.

i'm excited for the third match between rampage and wanderlei. i think rampage has improved dramatically since their last fight, and wanderlei is fighting with a much smarter style these days. much more in control. the fact that this one is taking place in a cage makes me lean towards rampage, but that is a tough one to call. they're both different fighters than when they last met. rampage knows well enough to stay away from the knees this time , and i think he uses the cage to his advantage to take this one to the ground a few times. if he can stay in it on the feet and get his takedowns, i have a feeling rampage will pull out the decision. if the first two fights are any indication, this should be an exciting one whichever way it goes.

sorry for the long posts...i get "wordy"!

what are your thoughts on those two?

mookie blaylock 10

Hubmann2513 wrote:

Happy Thanksgiving to you all, by the way!

enjoy the holiday! ours was last month here in the great white north, but we still get to enjoy a day of football with those of you in the states.

so, if i may...add a +1 to your holiday wishes for all!

Hubmann2513

mookie blaylock 10 wrote:

good post, hubmann. i like the way you think. good to know i'm not the only one cheering for andrei! haha i agree about the ground. i don't think that's where andrei will want this fight to be. the heel hook he was fortunate enough to get up from quickly the first time, but the second time, he had an opportunity to simply stand up and chose to stay on his back and try to play from his guard, allowing rothwell to be offensive for that short time in the fight. i remember big john doing the play by play and kind of saying...what is arlovski doing?!?!

that's awesome that you were able to have a video chat with him! good to hear that he sounds confident and that he will be well prepared. i think you're right about fixing the mistakes.

the sambo loss was fedor's first in 8 years?, i think? there were rumours of an illness, but being so proud of his sambo accomplishments, i'm sure fedor didn't take it well. hard to say if it will be in his mind by the time january rolls around...even if andrei can use that thought to boost his own confidence, i think that is a good thing. an aggressive and confident arlovski is a scary man!

the mir vs. nog fight is noguiera all the way, in my opinion. frank's cardio has been his downfall in some matches, and i can see nogueira boxing with him and getting him to move around a bit to make him work in the first and then turning it up in the second for a tko win. if the fight goes to the third, mir is definitely done. it will get interesting if it goes to the ground, though! two of the best jiu-jitsu guys at HW. mir's subs are strong, but to tap nogueira would be an incredible accomplishment. i'm going with big nog by tko late in the second.

i'm excited for the third match between rampage and wanderlei. i think rampage has improved dramatically since their last fight, and wanderlei is fighting with a much smarter style these days. much more in control. the fact that this one is taking place in a cage makes me lean towards rampage, but that is a tough one to call. they're both different fighters than when they last met. rampage knows well enough to stay away from the knees this time , and i think he uses the cage to his advantage to take this one to the ground a few times. if he can stay in it on the feet and get his takedowns, i have a feeling rampage will pull out the decision. if the first two fights are any indication, this should be an exciting one whichever way it goes.

sorry for the long posts...i get "wordy"!

what are your thoughts on those two?

It will be a bit later tonight before I can reply in depth! I have a full day of feasting and football (Hook 'em horns) today. I have to admit, I will have to brush up a bit on Wanderlei and Rampage before I can make a prediction to that fight. I will do all of that today and get back to you.

mookie blaylock 10

Hubmann2513 wrote:

It will be a bit later tonight before I can reply in depth! I have a full day of feasting and football (Hook 'em horns) today. I have to admit, I will have to brush up a bit on Wanderlei and Rampage before I can make a prediction to that fight. I will do all of that today and get back to you.

right on! have fun. no worries, no hurries...i just tend to ramble on...hahah