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New URDirt.com launches Monday August 25

2008-08-21T04:10:00.001-07:00

We are down right now preparing our new fully featured website, sorry for the inconvenience as of Monday we plan on launching our new privately hosted website. We could not have done this with out you our fans so thank you for being patient and we will have new content for you and a new site to go with it Monday August 25.

Thank you,
Alberto "Narcisist" Martinez
Nelson "Nelo" Rodriguez

The New URDirt.com Click here to visit our New website
It is still in Beta so we are working out the kinks but if you would like to visit now go ahead and sign up.

We are updating on the new site click the link to check out the News, Rumors and announcements.

UFC 88 Breakthrough preview with Rashad Evans

2008-08-20T11:39:00.001-07:00

Rashad Evans interview for UFC 88

Kenny Florian vs Frankie Edgar possible in the future

2008-08-20T11:19:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we reported to you that Joe Stevenson and Kenny Florian would meet in the Octagon at UFC 91 in November at either in Portland Oregon or in Boston, Massachussets. As we know this fight would have a lot of potential to be another fight of the year candidate as both fighters are well rounded and dangerous in every part of their game. Now in a interview with Kenny Florian's co-host of MMA Live Franklin McNeil, Edgar discusses his thoughts on possibly fighting Kenny Florian as well. quoted from ESPN.com

"Like Kenny, I want to fight the best in my division and right now he might be the No. 1 contender. So, fighting him is kind of a no-brainer. I want to get one [fight] in before the year is out. I would prefer November, but I would wait around to fight Kenny in December."
As for having his name mentioned prominently by Florian? That's fine by Edgar.
"It kind of gives me some recognition," Edgar said. "For a guy like Kenny to consider me as a formidable opponent; he's fought for the title and he's on a lot of people's list for a possible future title shot. So, it's good for me.
"I don't think Kenny's really calling me out; he's just making a statement that he wants to fight tough opponents."
Florian and Edgar are friends. The dropping of Edgar's name was not a show of disrespect by Florian.
"As an athlete, I have a lot of respect for [Frankie Edgar] for what he's accomplished," Florian said. "I respect him as a fighter and a person.
"It was the same with Roger Huerta. I had nothing against Roger; I liked Roger. But he was the best opponent available at the time. … It's nothing personal.
"I want to fight Frankie because he's a great fighter. That's the most important thing. It's about respect, and beating someone like Frankie Edgar will get me more respect."

As we all know Florian is fresh off of a win at UFC 87 over highly touted UFC lightweight Roger Huerta ending his undefeated win streak in the Octagon. Edgar is coming off of a convincing win over former number 1 contender to the lightweight title Hermes Franca at Ultimate Fight Night 14 in July. As we know BJ Penn is going to hold out for a fight against Georges St.Pierre either in December or February and it seems Florian is set to eliminate any other possible contenders for his title. As it stands right now Florian is rumored to be fighting Stevenson, but if it does not happen and Edgar does not have a fight at the time he would be a very good opponent for Florian.

Swick wont return until late in the year

2008-08-20T11:07:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Dana White announced at the UFC 90: Silva vs Cote Press conference we learned that Mike Swick would also get an opponent for the Chicago event. Well the announcement may have been premature as Swick told MMAWeekly.com that the injury is still not 100% and will keep him out of the UFC 90 card.

“As of right now it is still not 100%, mostly because I am training on it so much, but should be completely healed within the next few weeks. I have been doing cardio and some grappling, but haven't been able to spar for some time. I am trying to be ready by November, but it’s a safer bet to say I will be fighting in December.”

So it seems the UFC will have to look for other matches to fill the rest of the main and undercard from this point out. We will let you know when Swick does get an opponent for November or December.

UFC 90 bout between Sean Sherk and Tyson Griffin is now official

2008-08-20T01:16:00.000-07:00

The Ultimate Fighting Championship has confirmed a lightweight bout between top contenders Tyson Griffin and Sean "The Muscle Shark" Sherk and the matchup will indeed take place at UFC 90 in Chicago, Illinois at the Allstate Arena on October 25. This fight would more than likely move the winner one step closer to a Lightweight title shot.

Sean Sherk who at this point last year was the UFC Lightweight Champion, but was stripped of the title because of a failed post fight urinalysis test back at UFC 73 that supposedly came up positive, which caused him to be suspended by the NSAC. Sherk did however, appeal his case and got his suspension reduced and was able to get his chance earlier this year to regain the title he never lost, but was defeated by the current Lightweight Champion BJ Penn at UFC 84, so now Sherk will look to get back on the winning track as he takes on Tyson Griffin who is on a four fight winning streak and just recently defeated Marcus Aurelio at UFC 86 in early July, but Sherk will certainly be the toughest test in Griffin's young career to date.

UFC 90 will feature Middleweight Champion Anderson "The Spider" Silva taking on Patrick "The Predator" Cote in the main event of the evening and the event will be also live on pay per view.

EliteXC trying to make Noons vs Diaz rematch for Oct.4 on CBS

2008-08-20T00:26:00.000-07:00

There has been a lot of back and forth talk between EliteXC Lightweight Champion KJ Noons and Nick Diaz ever since their match back in November for the then vacant title. Noons has gained a huge amount of confidence since winning the gold and just recently succeeded in defending his championship by defeating another tough challenger in former UFC vet Yves Edwards back in June and as for Diaz he has reeled off three straight victories winning all of them by TKO.

ProElite officials are trying their hardest to put together this rematch between the two hated rivals, but VP Jared Shaw tells MMAWeekly.com that he hasn't been able to get in contact with Noons camp and management, but he did have this to say on the potential matchup, “Nick Diaz is the No. 1 contender. K.J. Noons should step up and be the champion that we think he is and take this fight. Nick Diaz will take this fight any place, anywhere,” Shaw told MMAWeekly.com. “(Noons’ management) won’t even return our calls. Shaw would however, say that Noons is his champion and that he supports him, “We believe in K.J. as our champion. For some reason (his camp) is not coming straight out and saying no, but they are making it very difficult to make it happen.

“His manager doesn’t want us talking to him directly. Who knows what K.J. even knows about the situation, but his management is holding us hostage.” EliteXC does not have enough time to, so they must find a way to get in touch with KJ's management and finally get this fight to happen. Shaw says they just need Noons and his camp to agree on the bout. Shaw would go on to comment, “Hopefully K.J. wants the fight and hopefully he will instruct his management to take the fight,” commented Shaw. “K.J. signed a contract. All we want is for him to honor that contract, fight on Oct. 4 on CBS, and prove that he’s the champion we think he is. Right now, he’s not representing us as the EliteXC champion.” Keep in touch as we bring you any new info on this story.

Josh Thomson will fight on Sept.20 in a non title bout; Terry Martin to face Cory Devela on the same card

2008-08-19T23:49:00.000-07:00

We all know that new Strikeforce Lightweight Champion Josh "The Punk" Thomson will be headlining the "Strikeforce at the Mansion 2" event at the famed estate in Beverly Hills, California, but the champ does not have a set opponent at this moment. Earlier this evening according to MMAJunkie.com says that a source has told them that Jay Estrada (21-9) could be facing Thomson in the featured bout of the night However; Strikeforce VP Mike Afromowitz says that the bout has not been signed yet, but should the fight be signed by the organization Afromowitz says the match will be a non title affair.

Another matchup that was announced by the California based promotion was middleweight contender Cory Devela (9-2) taking on Terry Martin (17-5) who is formerly of the UFC. Devela who is trained under the tutelage of Dennis Hallman is currently riding a 7 fight wins streak will go for an 8th straight victory when he faces Martin who was recently knocked out by Vitor Belfort at the inaugural Affliction event on July 19. The Strikeforce at the mansion card will also have Renato "Babalu" Sobral taking on Bobby Southworth for the Light Heavyweight title and Joe Riggs will be taking on former PRIDE and K-1 vet Kazuo Misaki. We will keep you informed when confirmation comes for the opponent for Josh Thomson.

Jason Day out for UFC 88 matchup with Jason Lambert (UPDATE)

2008-08-19T19:00:00.000-07:00

Update - According to Sherdog.com it appears the UFC has found a suitable opponent to replace Jason Day in his UFC 88 matchup against Jason Lambert with fellow Canadian countryman Jason "The Athlete" MacDonald who recently just competed at UFC 87 in a loss to Brazilian jiu - jitsu technician Demian Maia. Nothing has been set in stone at the moment, but we will let you know as soon as the bout gets confirmed. Also MMAWeekly.com reports James Lee pulls out of his UFC 88 matchup with Tim "The Barbarian" Boetsch due to an unspecified injury and a newcomer by the name of Mike Patt will step in to face Boetsch at the September event in Atlanta, Ga.

Canadian middleweight fighter Jason "Dooms" Day will not be able to compete in his UFC 88 bout with Jason "The Punisher" Lambert (who is making his 185 pound debut) due to an elbow and bicep injury. According to MMAWeekly.com Day will have an MRI to specify the extent of the injuries.

Day was to face Lambert as a part of the UFC 88 undercard portion of the event which is headlined by "The Iceman" Chuck Liddell taking on "Sugar" Rashad Evans as the main event. No opponent has been named as a replacement for Jason Day, but we will let you know as always when the UFC gets someone to step in and face Lambert.

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Rumor - Florian vs Stevenson at UFC 91 with Cain Velasquez also to compete

2008-08-19T18:14:00.000-07:00

As reported earlier by us at URDirt.com UFC lightweight contenders Kenny Florian and Joe Stevenson are in talks to have a match take place at UFC 91 in either Boston, MA or Portland, OR on November 15. Also in the works to compete at the upcoming event is Cain Velasquez who at this point does not have an opponent for UFC 90.

Several sources close to us have rumored this bout since Florian defeated Roger Huerta at UFC 87. There is that and also Florian does not want to wait for a match for the title with BJ Penn. Florian says he wants to fight one more time this year which is smart on his behalf. Because the last thing Florian needs to do is wait for his shot at the title like what UFC welterweight Karo Parisyan did and have it come back to bite him. These are only rumors, but they are strong rumors and we will let you know when this bit of news come gets any confirmation.

EliteXC looking to set up big show for November

2008-08-19T11:10:00.000-07:00

With EliteXC to broadcast it's third installment of CBS "Saturday Night Fights" featuring Kimbo Slice and Gina Carano set to compete on the card ProElite Manager of fighter operations JD Penn (who is the brother of UFC Lightweight Champion BJ Penn) tells MMANews.com that EliteXC is planning on putting together a huge show on Showtime in the month of November.

No location or venue has been announced at this time, but fighters who could be appearing on the card are Lightweight Champion KJ Noons, Nick Diaz and Middleweight Champion Robbie Lawler. We will let you know when we get confirmation for the upcoming event.

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Kimbo's next opponent to be announced this week

2008-08-19T11:02:00.000-07:00

No other fighter in history of Mixed Martial Arts has faced more scrutiny, criticism and popularity at once than Kimbo Slice. The EliteXC poster boy after only 3 fights has always been criticized for his lack of experience and being the main event attraction at the first Saturday Night Fights on CBS. The card was the first to air on national TV on a prime time network and hour, the IFL was first to air on the UPN/MY network but there is nothing major about either of those two companies. Now word is coming out that Slice's next opponent for the October EliteXC's third event on CBS will be announced this week. So far rumors have surfaced of Ken Shamrock, Don Frye and of course the man who called him out at the first CBS card Brett Rogers. The confirmation of EliteXC's announcement was by MMANews.com.

"MMANews.com had a chance to speak with a Representative earlier today from EliteXC and they informed us that the plan at this time is to announce Kimbo Slice's opponent for his October 4th main event bout on CBS either by the end of this week or early next week."

As we all know Slice has not faced the best of competition and fans have used to back claims of him being overhyped. A lot of ProElite's (EliteXC's parent company) is riding on this event being a hit in the ratings department. ProElite this weekend canceled two events from their promotions including a September 20 EliteXC card and a Cage Rage Contenders card as well. Many have speculated that this is a sign of the companies future being the same as the IFL's who recently folded and sold its remaining assets to Zuffa the UFC's parent company. No one knows for sure but EliteXC will need to show CBS that it can put fans to watch its card at home or risk a rocky future.

Miguel Torres talks title defense in December with Manny Tapia as likely opponent

2008-08-19T11:00:00.000-07:00

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UFC 90 One press conference, a lot of new information

2008-08-19T10:44:00.000-07:00

The UFC 90 press conference turned up a few new pieces of interesting information that we couldn't help but share, the most interesting is that Mike Swick will be added to the UFC 90 card. He is fighting the champion of all ducked fights the infamous TBA. No word yet who will replace TBA and face Swick at UFC 90, but Swick has now won 7 of his 9 fights inside the Octagon. His only loss was at middleweight when Swick was overpowered by Yushin Okami in front of his hometown fans in Houston, Texas at UFC 69. Swick almost knocked out Okami in the second round with time winding down but Okami escaped and once again gained a take down and top control in the 3rd round. Other interesting facts about MMARated's article include the fact that Dana White once again talked about a possible Georges St.Pierre vs Anderson Silva match and that Silva could possibly move up to 205 to fight again after facing Patrick Cote at UFC 90.

"Chicago is the UFC's #1 market for pay-per-view revenue.
* When all is said and done, UFC 90 will be the highest-grossing event in the 28-year history of the Allstate Arena, smashing Wrestlemania 22's record of 2.4 million dollars.
* As of Noon today, UFC 90's gate has already reached the two million dollar mark.
* White said Anderson Silva could potentially move up to light heavyweight again if he defeats Patrick Cote on October 25th.
* Furthermore, he even hinted at a possible GSP vs. Silva bout at an undetermined catch weight.
* The winner of the Diego Sanchez vs. Thiago Alves bout will receive a welterweight title shot.
* Speaking of Alves, he vowed to have no more issues making weight at 170 lbs"

As we reported earlier in the week there had been some speculation that Anderson Silva and Chuck Liddell could possibly fight at New Years Eve weekend if St.Pierre and BJ Penn did not fight at the event. The article out of NBCsports.com said the fight was in consideration to the card and can be its most stacked of the year. Another interesting note is the fact that White talked about the winner of Sanchez vs Alves could possibly get a title shot down the line against Georges St.Pierre. If St.Pierre's next fight is against BJ Penn and happens in early 2009 the winner of that fight would possibly have to take another fight on their way to the title because the title might not get defended until the middle of 2009. That would leave Alves or Sanchez in the same predicament that Karo Parisyan was in when Alves knocked him out at Ultimate Fight Night 13, after he side stepped a possible Jon Fitch fight so he would not risk his title shot. We will let you know of new facts that we come upon in the coming days as usual.

Patrick Cote on his upcoming fight with Anderson Silva

2008-08-19T10:43:00.000-07:00

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Rashad Evans discusses his upcoming bout with Chuck Liddell

2008-08-18T23:01:00.000-07:00

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Anthony Johnson looking for an October return

2008-08-18T21:17:00.000-07:00

UFC lightweight competitor Anthony "Rumble" Johnson who is recovering from an eye injury he sustained in July 19 bout with Kevin Burns at Ultimate Fight Night 14 could be cleared to compete as soon as September, but is taking a little more time to rest the eye and could look to get back in the mix by October.

Johnson discusses the injury with MMAWeekly.com saying, “I had laser surgery to reattach my retina and I got stitches in my eyeball right now,” Johnson also added. “The laceration on my eye was from one end of my eye to the other.”

Ken Pavia who is Johnson's agent is still trying to get an appeal on the outcome of the fight, but Johnson seems to be at peace with the decision and is moving forward,

“I wasn’t really big on the whole appealing the fight anyway,” he commented. “Every single champion has a loss on his record. I’m trying to see myself as the bigger and better guy. If he’s the champion one day, I’ll accept an ‘L’. “Everybody was hating on (Steve) Mazzagatti because of the call, but he was on the side I was blocking on, so he actually didn’t see the guy eye gouge me. All he saw was the uppercut… he called what he thought he saw and I respect him.”Johnson continued. “I was disappointed because I did lose like that… when it should have been a no contest or a DQ. He saw what he thought he saw, so I’m not hating on him about it.”

Johnson still does not deserve the loss, but now he just looks focused to take it out on his next opponent whoever that may be and we at URDirt.com wish AJ a speedy recovery and hope to see you back in the Octagon very soon.

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Hard to grasp if Affliction: Banned was a success

2008-08-18T18:32:00.000-07:00

In a latest version by Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer he talks about the number of PPV buys from the Affliction: Banned event saying that the numbers aren't the what VP Tom Atencio said they were. This is what Meltzer says in his latest report,

"It’s been hard to narrow down a buy rate for the Affliction show. Promoter Tom Atencio has claimed the figure was more than 100,000. Updated cable sources we’ve checked with have estimated from a low of 65,000 to a high of 100,000. Either way, the number is both excellent by the standards of a promotion with no television (it beats anything TNA has done with 2 million weekly TV viewers), but as noted over and over, it’s a substantial money loser."

Other people beg to differ like UFC president Dana White who often refers to Atencio as "A guy who sells T - Shirts". Anyway, White says that the numbers overall for Affliction: Banned are false and claims that the promotion lost an amount of $4 million dollars. MMA fans did have some difficulties ordering the event as first reported, but only Tom Atencio has the real answers for the total amount of buys. We will never know the real numbers, but Affliction won one war as far as pay per view sales and lost the other war of pulling in a profit. You can also note the UFC's first show under Zuffa did not sell as many payperview's as Affliction's first rumored numbers.

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James Irvin admits use of Painkillers

2008-08-18T17:41:00.000-07:00

Today in a letter sent to the Nevada State Athletic Commission UFC light heavyweight fighter James Irvin admits to using painkillers during his preparation for a fight with Anderson Silva on July 19 at Ultimate Fight Night 14 and also confirms that he took the medication without a prescription.

Irvin who was defeated at UFN 14 by Silva took a post fight urinalysis and it came out that he had tested positive for methadone and oxymorphone which are non approved pain medications. Irvin had this to say in his letter to the NSAC, “In the days leading up to my fight with Anderson Silva, I experienced some residual pain in my foot from a previous injury,” wrote Irvin in an Aug. 14 letter. “I made the extremely poor choice to take some pain medications that I did not have a prescription for. I realize this was an ignorant and dangerous decision.”
When Chuck Liddell pulled out of his match with Rashad Evans at UFC 85 it was Irvin who stepped in to replace Liddell and face Evans, but had to pull out with the foot injury that has caused him to make the decision to take the banned medications.

At the moment Irvin who was temporarily suspended until August 12 due to a separate pending disciplinary hearing is planning on meeting with the commission in person. Irvin could possibly be out of action for 6 to 12 months and pay a percentage/fine out of his salary for his bout with Anderson Silva. We will keep you up to date when the NSAC makes a ruling on Irvin.

Source - Sherdog.com

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UR Dirt E "Quick Fix"

2008-08-18T15:41:00.001-07:00

UR Dirt E "Quick Fix" for August 18, 2008

- The Strikeforce event that will take place in Denver, Colorado at Broomfield Event Center on October 3rd will be aired on the cable premium channel HDNet. The event will feature a bout with Duane "Bang" Ludwig taking on Sammy Morgan and Frank Trigg facing Falaniko Vitale. Also to compete on the card are Phil Baroni and Pete Spratt.

- According to FCFighter.com UFC middleweight fighter Nate "Rock" Quarry is recovering from a broken orbital floor (which is a bone that keeps an eye in its place) due to someone taking a backswing with a golf club. Quarry had this to say about the accident, “I’m just glad it was me and not some kid or other woman. We had grown men swinging these clubs. If it would have hit a kid or a woman, it would have smashed their face.” Quarry is doing well and says he looks to get a fight in towards the end of the year. There is a rumor that the UFC could hold an event in Quarry's home state of Oregon in November and I'm sure he would like to compete on that card if it becomes a reality.

- In other Strikeforce news the organization has officially announced it's third "Young Guns" card where the promotion will utilize a series of these events to develop the young talent they have to further bolster their roster. The "Young Guns 3" event will be held at the San Jose Civic Auditorium in San Jose, California on September 13. This would be the first of three Strikeforce events with the second event being at the Playboy Mansion on Sept. 20 and the third event in Denver, Colorado on October 3.

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Tito Ortiz still a free agent

2008-08-18T15:01:00.000-07:00

There were reports last week that former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Tito Ortiz had openly stated that he signed a "ground breaking" contract with Affliction, but all that did not pan out for Ortiz. Now according to Dan Stupp of MMAJunkie.com says in his column for the Dayton Daily News that Ortiz is back out on the market and is in negotiations with other MMA organizations.

In the report it says that Ortiz is still in talks with Affliction, but is also talking with EliteXC, the upstart AFL and last but not least the UFC. The real question is if Tito Ortiz is really serious about fighting this year? A quote on the column was said by an unnamed fight company rep and he said, “I don’t know if we’re really negotiating, or simply helping Tito stroke his giant ego.”

So another question is where does Tito want to go and fight for? The AFL is looking to promote an event for pay per view and they have recently signed former WWE superstar Bobby Lashley along with highly regarded female fighter Tara LaRosa. They could make a strong bid for Tito's services. Than there is EliteXC, but that could prove to be highly unlikely with ProElite in some financial trouble. Affliction is still a possibility, but as much as they are already paying Fedor Emelianenko (an amount of about $1.6 Million) just how far would they go to pay Ortiz. And finally there is his original home in the UFC. Tito Ortiz and Dana White aren't exactly the best of friends, but White never really shut the door on him to come back and maybe, just maybe Tito could work things out with White or negotiate with Lorenzo Fertitta to possibly continue his fight career in the Octagon where he has already spent 11 years in. Stay tuned!

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Georges St. Pierre responds to comments made by Matt Hughes

2008-08-18T11:52:00.000-07:00

Georges St. Pierre responds to comments made by Matt Hughes last week in regards to his fight with Jon Fitch at UFC 87 and talks about his (Hughes) next fight with Matt Serra. Interesting!!

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Cast for The Ultimate Fighter 8 comes to light

2008-08-18T10:28:00.000-07:00

The Ultimate Fighter season 8 which will have teams coached by UFC heavyweights Frank Mir and interim Heavyweight Champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira will first have to watch 32 contestants fight their way into the TUF house. This will be the same format just like this past season with Forrest Griffin and Quinton "Rampage" Jackson as the coaches.

Today the names for the upcoming season according to SI.com were revealed and here are the list of names that will be set to appear on the show:

Lightweight

Jose Aguilar (17-3)
Fernando Bernstein (2-0)
Junie Allen Browning (2-0)
Rolando Delgado (7-3-1)
Joseph Duarte (3-0)
Charles Diaz (14-4)
Efrain Escudero (10-0)
Brandon Garner (4-1)
David Kaplan (3-1)
Brian McLaughlin (5-0)
Wesley Murch (4-2)
Shane Nelson (11-3)
Phillipe Nover (5-0-1)
Ido Pariente (13-4)
John Polakowski (3-1)
George Roop (7-3)

Light Heavyweight

Ryan Bader (7-0)
Antwain Britt (4-0)
Jules Bruchez (3-2)
Lance Evans (4-2)
Karen Grigoryan (5-0)
Jason Guida (26-13)
Ryan Jimmo (6-1)
Kyle Kingsbury (7-1-1)
Tom Lawlor (6-2)
Ryan Lopez (5-3)
Vinicius Magalhaes (2-2)
Eric Magee (3-1)
Eliot Marshall (5-1)
Sean O'Connell (1-0)
Shane Primm (1-0)
Krzysztof Soszynski (16-8-1)

The Ultimate Fighter: Team Nogueira vs Team Mir will make its debut September 17 immediately following Ultimate Fight Night 15 live on Spike TV.

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Brock Lesnar may be two wins away from a UFC title shot

2008-08-18T09:06:00.000-07:00

Brock Lesnar's win at UFC 87 over Heath Herring has changed the way that people view the UFC Heavyweight division and the perception of critics who claimed that Lesnar would be out of MMA after a few fights. As we all know the UFC suffered some big losses in the division when Randy Couture, Andrei Arlovski, Tim Sylvia and Mirko Cro Cop exited the division throughout the span of a few months all for diferent reasons. As the UFC has replenished the division with young up and coming fighters, several people saw Lesnar as a fighter who if he was trained properly could contend and dominate. Lesnar is a rare breed because of his size speed and wrestling background all mixed into one. Now in an excellent article where Sam Caplan breaks down the UFC Heavyweight division. Caplan brings up good points where he points out Lesnar may only be 2 more wins away from a title shot.

"after surveying the landscape, it appears very likely that at most, Lesnar is only two consecutive wins away from a shot at the title. In fact, he could even be granted a shot with just one more victory; there isn't a long line of UFC heavyweight contenders."

Now before you blow off the claim think about how big a Brock Lesnar vs Nogueira fight would be if he retains his belt at the New Years Eve card. Then think about how big a Mir vs Lesnar rematch would be after having the highlight on Sportscenter and Youtube of Mir tapping out Lesnar. That would be a gold mine for the UFC and would possibly bring in a new face to the UFC's heavyweight division as well. Lesnar would be the posterboy of the UFC for years to come and would make a major impact selling pay per views and merchandise as well. I personally think Lesnar's presence would usher in a whole other generation of WWE fans becoming UFC fans.
Make sure you read the Caplan article as it is a very good article, he breaks down the UFC's heavyweight division. Sportsline.com

UFC's NYE Rumors - Anderson Silva vs Chuck Liddell?

2008-08-17T21:54:00.000-07:00

The UFC may be in a pickle as far as stacking its New Years Eve weekend card, but it may be a good problem for the fans. The UFC may consider another fight to put as a co-main event to Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira's first title defense against Frank Mir. As the UFC usually attempts to make their last show of the year its strongest. As we know last year Georges St. Pierre stepped in for an injured Matt Serra and fought Matt Hughes in a rematch for the interim Welterweight title, succumbing to St.Pierre by submission. The co-main event was an all time classic as Chuck Liddell finally fought long time adversary Wanderlei Silva, it was everything long time UFC and Pride fans expected. Now in a article out of NBCSports claims that the UFC may consider putting a Anderson Silva vs Chuck Liddell fight.

"One possibility if St. Pierre decides he can't go is Chuck Liddell vs. Anderson Silva. That, fight, however, also has a few obstacles in its path. Liddell is fighting in September, so assuming he wins, he’d have enough time to recover. But Silva is competing on Oct. 25 against Patrick Cote. He’d have to come out of that match unscathed and take a fight with only two months to prepare against Liddell.
It might seem far-fetched, but Silva has voiced a hope to fight more frequently, and mentioned back in June that he hoped to have three more matches in ’08."

For those of you who may have not heard these fights are being considered as back up plans if Georges St.Pierre does not fight BJ Penn. St.Pierre in a article with a Canadian Newspaper said he was considering not fighting again this year so he can take some time off to rest. St.Pierre has now fought four times in the span of a year and wanted to be able to fight Penn at 100% health and strength. It is unknown as of this time what may be his final decision, an interesting note is Dana White said on ESPN.com's MMA Live that St.Pierre vs Penn was going to happen. We will let you know when either becomes official.

One other interesting little rumbling that we have heard are that Cain Velasquez may also fight on this card, the problem is not many people are stepping up to fight the former Arizona State wrestling sensation. There have also been rumors of Brock Lesnar's next opponent who may either be Gabriel Gonzaga or Cheick Kongo. We will bet on Kongo as Gonzaga seems as the more legitimate threat to a Lesnar title run that the UFC could profit heavily from. We have also heard Kenny Florian vs Joe Stevenson, which would be a clash of titans at lightweight. Now keep in mind none of these rumors or speculations are confirmed and are to be considered loose talk at the most. We will keep you up to date on anything we do hear as time goes on.

New Event banner for DREAM 6

2008-08-17T21:53:00.000-07:00

As I take a look at the new DREAM event poster it looks like Sergei Kharitonov will be making an appearance at the event, but against who? It is also interesting to see Cro Cop and Akiyama in there as well and did I mention that Mayhem is on the card? Will he be in an alternate bout for the Middleweight Grand Prix tournament just like DREAM did with Joachim "Hellboy" Hansen who replaced Eddie Alvarez and eventually won it all? We will let you know how it all unfolds.

Narcisist's opinion- I got $1000 that says Cro Cop will not be on this card, DREAM has put him out there on 3 posters to sell tickets and to get ratings in Japan. I will even be so bold as to say on September 7 he will announce he will not be fighting on this card. Two weeks before every DREAM event he gets off of a card because of injuries. Hope I am wrong, but I doubt it.