UFC Thread

[Hammy]

Worst.Gracie.Ever!

Sonnen has improved a lot in recent years, never seen Nate mauled like that.

Serra had a sweet tko, Trigg looked very tentative from the outset.

Coleman needs to retire.

Thiago pulled off a sweet D'Arce, nice to see.

Davis looks to have a hell of a lot of potential.

Maia winning was good, the fight though was not.

Overall, pretty poor event.

[Hammy]

Main Card
Heavyweight Bout: Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Cain Velasquez
Middleweight Bout: Wanderlei Silva vs. Michael Bisping
Lightweight Bout: Joe Stevenson vs. George Sotiropoulos
Light Heavyweight Bout: Keith Jardine vs. Ryan Bader
Heavyweight Bout: Mirko Filipović vs. Anthony Perosh

Preliminary Card
Light Heavyweight Bout: Stephan Bonnar vs. Krzysztof Soszynski
Welterweight Bout: Chris Lytle vs. Brian Foster
Middleweight Bout: C.B. Dollaway vs. Goran Reljic
Light Heavyweight Bout: James Te-Huna vs. Igor Pokrajac

[Hammy]

As much as I like Elvis, it does highlight how few top level MMA Fighters there are in Aussie land when they are giving him another shot, and against a fellow Aussie, who he's fought before, who has been retired for years, well I guess it's the only way to guarantee a victory for the home nation, 2 fellow countrymen taking each other on.

I'd expect Joe Stevenson to win, and fairly easily, I think he's on another level to Sotiropoulos, I expect him to outwork him for 3 rounds to take the UD win.

The Main Event is tricky, until his victory over Couture, everyone had written Big Nog off, but the dude looked great in that fight, Cain though is a monster, although he has shown an inability to finish people, I really don't know who to pick here.

Cro Cop vs. Rothwell could well be another one of those "Loser leaves the UFC" matches.  After both guys have failed to live up to expectations, this is another tricky one, in their prime you'd pick Cro Cop, but he has been a shell of his former self in recent fights.

Bader vs. Jardine is a tricky one.  I see it going one of two ways, either Bader exposes Jardine's weak chin he hides behind his wispy beard early on and gets the tko victory, or Jardine's awkward style helps him to a split decision win.  I'm saying Bader gets it via extreme power early on.

What will the new and improved Wanderlai Silva be like against Bisping?  I know many think Bisping won't be able to cope with the heavy hands, but at the moment I'm thinking Bisping gets this one on points.

[Hammy]

Tim Hague

With a 1-2 record and a close majority-decision loss to Chris Tuchscherer at this past weekend's UFC 109 event, Tim Hague has been released from the UFC's roster of heavyweights.

The Canadian today fighter confirmed his termination via Facebook.

Hague, who submitted Pat Barry in his octagon debut, suffered a knockout loss to Todd Duffee and then dropped the decision loss to Tuscherer to move his overall record to 10-3.

The loss to Tuchscherer, which came on the UFC 109 preliminary card at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, has been heavily debated. MMAjunkie.com scored the first two rounds for Tuschscherer and gave a dominant third to Hague, 10-9. Although one judge saw the final round 10-8 for Hague, the other two awarded it a 10-9 score, which prompted scores of 29-28, 29-28 and 28-28 to give Tuchscherer the majority decision.

Hague, a former kindergarten teacher who turned to MMA fulltime when only two students showed up for the first day of class, is a former King of the Cage fighter. Although he'll return to the regional fight circuit, he hopes eventually to return to the UFC.

"(It's) time to train harder, beat up some more people and work back to the big show," he stated.

Mark Coleman

Despite headlining the organization's most recent card, UFC Hall of Famer Mark Coleman has been cut from the UFC's roster of light heavyweights.

Fiveouncesofpain.com first reported the termination, which MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) has since confirmed with a source close to the UFC.

Coleman, a former NCAA Division I national wrestling champion and the first-ever UFC heavyweight title-holder, went 1-2 in the UFC after coming out of retirement and rejoining the UFC in 2008.

On Feb. 6 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, he suffered a second-round submission loss to fellow ex-champ Randy Couture in the night's pay-per-view main event.

As MMAjunkie.com reported after the event, UFC president Dana White hinted at Coleman's likely termination and predicted the Couture loss would be his final UFC appearance.

"I think tonight was probably Coleman's last fight in the UFC," White said. "I'm not taking anything away from Mark Coleman. I have nothing but respect for him, and I'll say this now, too: Mark Coleman has always been a stand-up guy to me.

"He'll always be a part of this organization. I just think he'll have a hard time competing with the guys at the top level. Age is a factor with him."

Coleman debuted for the organization in 1996 at UFC 10. The former collegiate wrestling champion introduced the mixed-martial-arts world to the ground-and-pound style that is required study in the modern version of the sport. He fought his first nine career contests in the UFC and defeated Dan Severn at UFC 12 to claim the first heavyweight title. He also won the UFC 10 and UFC 11 tourneys.

Coleman then took his services to Japan and made history as the winner of PRIDE's 2000 open weight grand prix.

It's unknown if Coleman will look to fight elsewhere or if he'll call it a career with his 16-10 record (and 7-5 mark in the UFC).

Frank Trigg

It's two and out for UFC welterweight Frank Trigg after his Ultimate Fighting Championship return.

After posting a 6-1 record to earn his way back into the organization and signing a new deal with the UFC in 2009, Trigg was notified on Monday that he had been dropped from the UFC after a knockout loss to Matt Serra at this past weekend's UFC 109 event.

Trigg confirmed the news with MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) on Wednesday.

Trigg said he held off on sharing the news until he could notify family members. He said he's undecided if he'll pursue opportunities outside the organization.

The former University of Oklahoma wrestler and PRIDE veteran suffered a TKO loss to Josh Koscheck in September; it was Trigg's first fight in the UFC since a submission loss to Georges St-Pierre at UFC 54 in 2005.

With that loss and the subsequent first-round stoppage defeat to Serra, UFC officials elected to cut Trigg from its welterweight roster.

Following that first UFC stint that ran from 2003 to 2005, which included a pair of title losses to then-champ Matt Hughes, Trigg (19-8 MMA, 2-5 UFC) fought for organizations such as Strikeforce, World Victory Road, HDNet Fights and ICON Sport, where he defeated Jason "Mayhem" Miller for the organization's middleweight title.

The 37-year-old fighter and broadcaster then found a new life when he returned to the 170-pound division and strung together wins over the likes of Edwin Dewees, Makoto Takimoto and Falaniko Vitale to earn the new UFC deal. However, as with most fighters, the back-to-back losses prompted the walking papers.

Phillipe Nover

It seems that Ultimate Fighter 8 finalist Phillipe Nover isn't the next Anderson Silva after all.

Despite a very impressive run on the eighth season of the Spike TV reality show, the "The Filipino Assassin" was unable to find a win in three attempts since his Dec. 2008 debut and has been subsequently released from his UFC contract according to Heavy.com.

And aside from the losses, there were a few behind the scenes shenanigans that raised a few eyebrows from the mixed martial arts community as well.

Nover suffered what was initially reported as a seizure in the locker room at UFC Fight Night 19 back on Sept. 16, forcing the cancellation of his undercard bout against Sam Stout.

It wasn't the first time the former Brooklyn nurse parted ways with his consciousness — he lost his legs on the very first episode of TUF 8.



Following the incident, he was medically cleared to fight and re-booked against fellow TUF alum Rob Emerson at UFC 109 earlier this month; however, "The Saint" gave him all he could handle for three rounds, taking the unanimous decision victory and effectively handing Nover his pink slip.

"The Filipino Assassin" has established a name for himself through his fighting endeavors and will likely have no problem finding work on the independent circuit.

He was 4-0 under the Ring of Combat banner prior to joining the UFC.

In addition, he's enjoyed a successful career as a nurse and prior to "Relentless" didn't rule out a return to that profession if things didn't pan out inside the cage.

[jinquan]

Decent finale.

The big talking point though, Kimbo, has he improved, yes, is he ever going to be a Top 10 fighter?  No.  For the most part he still looked very uncomfortable on the ground, his submission attempts and attempts to control his opponent made me wonder how much he really has worked on his ground game.  That slam though looked immense, the guy has power, or maybe it was the contrast because essentially is was a Heavyweight vs. Light Heavyweight match-up.

Thanks for the aftermatch info. I think Kimbo's improvements are not enough if he want's to be a top10 fighter.   

[Hammy]

Elvis is out injured so his fight has been cancelled.

Rothwell is also out injured and he's been replaced with Anthony Perosh, looks like Cro Cop may live to fight another day after all....

[D]

Bisping will get KTFO again.. Bisping has no chin and his footwork was terrible against Henderson as he kept circling to Henderson's strong hand. Bisping just is in over his head with this fight. Wand has too much pace and Bisping doesn't have that one punch KO power to neutralize him

Nog via decision.. Cain can't outbox Nog and if it goes to the ground, Cain may get subbed


Stevenson

Jardine by Decision

[Hammy]

Cain via decision, the dude is a monster and will set a pace far too fast and overwhelming and he won't stop.

Bisping via decision, I like Wanderlai but his time has passed, this match will be similiar to the Bisping vs Leben fight.

Stevenson via decision, his time with Jackson has turned him into a winner, a boring one, but a winner nonetheless.

Bader via crazy power.  With this fight I keep thinking of the power that knocked out Vinny, then think if Jardine's jaw his wispy beard hides, although if Jardine get's past the first round I'd pick him via split decision due to unsettling leg kicks.

Cro Cop via tko.  I can see the upset, but if there is one, Perosh will win by sub, if the dude gets it to ground, Cro Cop is in big trouble.

The Polish Experiment via decision.  Bonnar just isn't that good, but he is hard to finish.

Te-Huna via reports I here of him being better than his opponent.

Foster via decision, Lyttle is hard to finish, but Foster is a heck of a fighter, Chris will struggle.

Relic via submission exposing Dolloway's weakness, very poor sub defense, although remember Relic, if he screams, don't let go until the ref pulls you off.

[D]

Wow! Kane is the real deal

[Hammy]

Wow! Kane is the real deal

But does Cain do chokeslams too? 

Liked the event.  He really showed himself to be the real deal, George Sotiropoulas shocked the hell out of me, very impressive.  The Polish Experiment had a bloody war, gutted it got stopped when it did otherwise that would have taken fight of the night.  Wanderlai looked alright, got a deserved decision victory but it was close, put him against a top wrestler like Sonnen and that poor takedown defense will give him big problems.  Cro Cop never looked in danger of losing, his opponent looked nervous and scared from the outset.  And what about Jardine now?  Where does the Gatekeeper go next?

[Hammy]

Main Card
Light Heavyweight bout: Brandon Vera vs. Jon Jones
Heavyweight bout: Junior dos Santos vs. Gabriel Gonzaga
Heavyweight bout: Cheick Kongo vs. Paul Buentello
Middleweight bout: Alessio Sakara vs. James Irvin

Preliminary Card
Lightweight bout: Duane Ludwig vs. Darren Elkins
Lightweight bout: Clay Guida vs. Shannon Gugerty
Light Heavyweight bout: Eliot Marshall vs. Vladimir Matyushenko
Heavyweight bout: Brendan Schaub vs. Chase Gormley
Welterweight bout: Mike Pierce vs. Julio Paulino
Light Heavyweight bout: Eric Schafer vs. Jason Brilz
Welterweight bout: John Howard vs. Daniel Roberts

[Hammy]

Main Card
Welterweight Championship bout: Georges St. Pierre (c) vs. Dan Hardy
Interim Heavyweight Championship bout: Frank Mir vs. Shane Carwin
Welterweight bout: Ben Saunders vs. Jake Ellenberger
Welterweight bout: Jon Fitch vs. Thiago Alves
Lightweight bout: Jim Miller vs. Mark Bocek

Preliminary Card
Welterweight bout: Nate Diaz vs. Rory Markham
Welterweight bout: Ricardo Almeida vs. Matt Brown
Lightweight bout: Kurt Pellegrino vs. Fabricio Camoes
Light Heavyweight bout: Rodney Wallace vs. Jared Hamman
Middleweight bout: Rousimar Palhares vs. Tomasz Drwal
Welterweight bout: Matthew Riddle vs. Ricardo Funch

[nightrain]

I've never watched any UFC but came across this story - WTF!!

UFC star Frank Mir has unleashed a sickening rant about former WWE world champion Brock Lesnar — saying he wants to kill him.

Lesnar lost on his UFC debut to Mir, but later defeated the Vegas-born star to win the company's heavyweight world championship.

But ahead of talk about a third possible clash, Mir says he HATES Lesnar and wants him to DIE.

During a radio interview with former WCW commentator Mark Madden, he stormed: "I want to fight Brock Lesnar. I hate who he is as a person.

"I want to break his neck in the ring.

"I want him to be the first person that dies to Octagon-related injuries."

Read more: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/wrestling/2863386/Frank-Mir-I-hope-Brock-Lesnar-dies-in-the-ring.html#ixzz0gNtwpi1F

[Hammy]

Mir is my favourite fighter and I'd like to say it's just smack talk to hype up their eventual meeting, I mean it's clear he does really hate him, but wishing to kill someone is a tad harsh.

[D]

I love it

Frank has become smart

Tito and Brock are the 2 biggest draws in UFC history for a reason.

People enjoy great fighters, but when they are hated, it takes it to another level.

this fight will get 2 million buys if it happens

Frank is very smart. He and Brock probably text each other laughing at this ****.