SpikeTV will air UFC 75

The September 8 show, headlined by Dan Henderson and Quinton Jackson will air from London on a few hour tape delay here in the United States.

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Jackson, Couture nominated for ESPY award

details here

I have thoughts on this behind the cut:



They were both nominated for fighter of the year, but honestly even though I love both guys neither is real deserving. Sure, Couture won the title at 43 and sure Rampage beat Liddell...but in the time frame covered by the award, neither was what I would call the most impressive fighter. The Couture win was a great moment but that was his only fight in the span of time the award is for and Rampage's other fight, the victory over Eastman at UFC 67 wasn't what I'd call overly impressive. Really it would be hard for me to pick someone from UFC that would fith the category, Hughes, GSP, Liddell...all were beaten and so was Ortiz. I doubt anyone at UFC has even heard of Anderson Silva (not that he'd be my pick but he's not lost) and Matt Serra's story is probably as compelling as Couture's but he has like 1/5 of the name.

I guess how deserving you feel a person is for this depends on your criteria. If you look just at quality of fights and opponents then you'll have a different criteria than I. When I think of fighter of the year, I think of who did the most good or had the greatest impact on their sport. That person is probably Tito Ortiz because of the feud with Shamrock and the Liddell fight, but then you are stuck because it isn't as though Shamrock was a quality opponent and he did lose to Liddell.

If I were to nominate someone for fighter of the year, it would probably not even be someone from UFC.

But, I'm not going to because in reality, it is the ESPY's and I care the same for those awards as I do for any given out in movies or music which is to say ... 0.

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UFC 75 brings the champions to London Sept. 8

THE ULTIMATE FIGHTING CHAMPIONSHIP® RETURNS

TO LONDON

UFC 75 BRINGS THE CHAMPIONS

QUINTON ‘RAMPAGE’ JACKSON vs DAN ‘HOLLYWOOD’ HENDERSON
plus
MIRKO CRO COP
and
MICHAEL ‘THE COUNT’ BISPING

LIVE FROM THE 02 ARENA
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 8

Tickets On Sale Now

London, England (UK) – After an absence of over five years the Ultimate Fighting Championship® (UFC®) organization will bring the world’s most exciting live sports event back to London on Saturday September 8.



Topping off an incredible line-up is a dream match between two of the greatest fighters in all of mixed martial arts. For the first time in the sport’s history, champion will collide with champion as title-holders Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Dan “Hollywood” Henderson put it all on the line to decide who really is the best 205lbs (14stone 9lbs) fighter on the planet.

Tickets for UFC 75 are available online at www.ticketmaster.co.uk starting at £25. For more information about UFC 75, or current UFC fight news, visit
www.ufc.com or uk.ufc.com.

“It is a real thrill to bring this super-fight to London,” said UFC UK Division President Marshall Zelaznik. “When we returned to the UK earlier this year, we promised to bring the UFC’s brightest stars here and that’s exactly what we did with our record-breaking events in Manchester and Belfast. In September, we will deliver one of the most exciting and historic fights ever to hit London.

“For the last decade, MMA fans have asked the question – who is the true worldwide No.1 in each weight class? At UFC 75, they will have their answer as far as the 205lbs division is concerned.”

Jackson is coming off a stunning one-round KO of Chuck Liddell and will put his newly won UFC title belt on the line against Henderson, the pound-for-pound superstar who holds two titles in the PRIDE fighting organization.

Also appearing on the stacked super-card is fearsome striker Mirko ‘Cro Cop’, who is looking to erase the memory of his stunning loss to Gabriel Gonzaga in Manchester in April and begin a new reign of terror in the heavyweight division.

Plus, in a special attraction the UK’s favorite fighting son Michael ‘the Count’ Bisping returns to the Octagon in a light heavyweight battle.

UFC 75 will be screened live on Setanta PPV1 (Sky channel 481) at 8:00pm BST on Saturday, September 8, available via remote control through Sky Box Office or by calling 08708 500 005.

This Champion v Champion bout comes about after the ownership of the UFC acquired PRIDE, paving the way for fight fans to see the best bouts between the best fighters – something fans have dreamed about for years.

The remaining bouts for UFC 75 will be announced in the near future. All bouts are subject to change.

###

About The Ultimate Fighting Championship
The Ultimate Fighting Championship® brand is the world’s leading professional mixed martial arts organization and offers the premier series of MMA sports events. Owned and operated by Zuffa, LLC, and headquartered in Las Vegas, Nev., the UFC® organization produces approximately twelve to fourteen live pay-per-view events annually that are distributed through cable and satellite providers. In addition to its U.S. distribution, UFC fight programs are distributed throughout the world including broadcast on WOWOW, Inc. in Japan, on MAIN EVENT in Australia, Globosat in Brazil and Bravo in the United Kingdom. For more information, or current UFC fight news, visit www.ufc.com.

Ultimate Fighting Championship®, Ultimate Fighting®, UFC®, The Ultimate Fighter®, Submission®, As Real As It Gets®, Zuffa™, The Octagon™ and the eight-sided competition mat and cage design are registered trademarks, trademarks, trade dress or service marks owned exclusively by Zuffa, LLC in the United States and other jurisdictions. All other marks referenced herein may be the property of Zuffa, LLC or other respective owners.

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UFC confirms Henderson and Jackson for UFC 75

They promoed the bout during UFC 72. It will take place 09/08 in London.

They also stated that Mirko Cro Cop and Michael Bisping would be on the card but did not mention opponents. Rumored to be Cheick Kongo and Matt Hammill respectively.

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DSE responds to Rampage's bribery accusations

for those who are unfamiliar with the story. Rampage Jackson recently stated that in his July 2001 fight with Kazushi Sakuraba he was offered a $2,000 bonus to lose by either submission or KO.

The U.S. arm of DSE has responded to those charges

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Vernon White: Chuck Liddell was in rehab before UFC 71 bout

for reasons that will be evident in a moment, I don't think White knows much of anything about what Chuck Liddell did before, during or after UFC 71.

However, in an interview at bloodyknux.com White made that exact claim.

A lot of people don’t understand is that I have a CAT scan that goes through my eye that shows where the finger entered my eye and where the bone was blown
out under my eye socket. It cost $38 thousand dollars to fix the eye. I have a silicon implant in my eye that’s screwed down so my eye doesn’t fall down
into my nasal cavity. As far as I’m concerned with all these idiots out there who don’t know what happened, they should keep their mouths shut until you
know the facts.

Everyone was saying, ‘I didn’t see a thumb go in, I didn’t see this, I didn’t see that.’ Just because it wasn’t a thumb, it doesn’t mean a finger didn’t
go into my eye. When you have interviews from other fighters stating that Chuck’s fingers have gone into their eyes. It doesn’t mean that he stuck his
fingers in the eye, but with the way he punches, his knuckles go in people’s eyes. I can’t bad mouth Chuck. He just came off a hard loss. Chuck just got
out of rehab, but I do have to say it was stupid for him to come out of rehab and fight Quinton the way he fought him. He should have fought a smarter
fight. Quinton’s my boy, I love you, and hold that belt forever.

White and Liddell have had bad blood with one another dating back to even before their UFC fight. Sam Caplan of FiveOuncesOfPain goes further

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Rampage on Best Damn Sports Show Period Tonight

UFC light heavyweight champion Quinton "Rampage" Jackson makes an appearance on Best Damn Sports Show Period on Friday night at 11 PM.

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Chuck Liddell admits to partying before UFC 71, makes no excuses for loss

In a Los Angeles Times article Chuck Liddell, love him or not, proves to be the anti-Tito Ortiz as he makes no excuses for his loss at UFC 71.

First, Liddell confirms that he was out partying the week of the event.

"It's nothing that I've never done before; it was just like any other fight," Liddell said. "I just go and hang out. I don't drink. I just kill time, hang
out with friends at whatever club they're at. I've been doing that as long as I've fought in Vegas."

Don't tell that to anyone at ESPN cause people like Jay Mariotti of the Chicago Sun Times would have you think an investigation need be launched.

More behind the cut:

On the loss, Liddell had the following to say:

Liddell dismissed the importance of his clubbing, insisting he's a nocturnal person who sleeps late, usually trains at night until about 9, then visits
with friends. He said he did the same things before beating Tito Ortiz twice in Las Vegas.

"If you lose, people are looking for a reason other than the fact I just got beat," Liddell said. "I obviously made a mistake [in the octagon]. I did something
I've been told for years not to do: throw a body shot to the outside like that. It seemed like [the opening] was there."

If the partying was a mistake, it was because it served as motivation for the Jackson camp.

Juanito Ibarra, Jackson's trainer and manager, said he was told early last week by members of Jackson's entourage that they had seen Liddell partying at
clubs such as the Hard Rock Hotel's Body English and The Mirage's Jet.

Ibarra seized on it as a motivational tool, arguing against Jackson's initial response of, "That's Chuck's business."

Said Ibarra: "That shows disrespect and I told Rampage that, 'He doesn't respect you, son,' I know I'm old school but if that was my kid out there I'd be
[upset.] If he thinks he's so good, that he can take me so lightly to think he can stay up so late … that's disrespect."

So, I guess you could argue that it did cost Liddell depending on how much stock you put in to needing motivating factors for a fight. Thing is, you'll never hear it from Liddell.

Somehow I don't think you'd hear the same things from Tito "The Huntington Beach Excuse Boy" Ortiz.

I pick on Tito because its easy.

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MMA Late Night Newsbits for 5/29

We'll take a quick glance at things before we head home.

All the links behind the cut.



IFL joins troops for Fleet Week

A preview of this Friday's Seattle event can be found here

Former UFC Heavyweight fighter
Marcio Pe De Pano Cruz to fight in IFL

Here's what to expect on IFL Battleground this monday:

You Will Submit! "IFL Battleground" Highlights League's Best Tap-Outs Monday On MyNetworkTV

Episode Looks Inside The Art Of Chokes And Holds

NEW YORK, May 29, 2007- The International Fight League (OTC.BB: IFLI), the world’s number one professional mixed martial arts league, takes a look at the
league’s top submissions and tap-out artists, in the next episode of “IFL Battleground” on Monday, June 4, at 8 p.m. ET/PT (7 p.m. CT/MT). “IFL Battleground”
airs every Monday night on MyNetworkTV.

The show features full fights and highlights of IFL bouts which have ended via submission, and also includes demonstrations by “IFL Battleground” Co-Host
Bas Rutten and IFL athletes such as the Tokyo Sabres’ Antonio McKee (Long Beach, Calif.).

Additionally, the search for the next IFL Ring Girls continues, with audition footage of some contenders – and a few pretenders – from searches conducted
in New York and Los Angeles.

Some of the competitors seen in the episode include:

Lightweight John Gunderson (Houston/Medford, Ore.) of the Lions vs. Josh Odom (Tallahassee, Fla.) of the Razorclaws
Middleweight Benji Radach (Coconut Creek, Fla.) of the Anacondas vs. Brian Foster (Moreno Valley, Calif.) of the Razorclaws
Middleweight Jeremy Williams (Laguna Niguel, Calif.) of the Condors vs. Bristol Marunde (Sequim, Wash.) and Kazuhiro Hamanaka (Tokyo) of the Sabres
Middleweight Matt Horwich (Portland, Ore.) of the Wolfpack vs. Brent Beauparlant (Ottawa, Ontario) of the Dragons
Welterweight Jay Hieron (Las Vegas) of the Anacondas vs. Donnie Liles (Colorado Springs, Colo.) of the Razorclaws
Light Heavyweight Jamal Patterson (Hoboken, N.J.) of the Pitbulls vs. Alex Schoenauer (Las Vegas) of the Anacondas

Viewers can find their local MyNetworkTV affiliate at www.mynetworktv.com/local_stations.html.

Each of the 12 IFL teams for 2007 will compete in three regular season events; the teams with the top four overall win-loss team records will advance to
the semi-finals, which will be held on Thursday, August 2, at Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, N.J. The 2007 IFL Finals will then be held
at The Forum in Los Angeles on Saturday, September 15.

About the IFL

International Fight League™ (IFL) is the world’s first professional mixed martial arts sports league. IFL has its headquarters in New York, NY and offices
in Las Vegas, NV. For more information about IFL, please see: www.ifl.tv.

Seattle Tiger Sharks Light Heavyweight Allan Goes is ready for Friday's battle.

Dana White, when talking about the Pride sale and its fighters said We're going to have them all

UFC Explodes in Popularity

UFC 71 gives use yet another surprise

Rampage Jackson's trainer put together a masterful plan

MMA Knocks Out Boxing
NBC Sports

Kevin Iole looks at the rise of Rampage

Steve Sievert of the Houston Chronicle believe that the UFC Swings and Misses by scheduling the Sims-Thomas fight.

Could we see another Shamrock-Gracie fight?

I'm winding down, so I think that will be it for this evening.

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UFC 71: Base Salary for the Main Eventers?

The L.A. Times reports that Liddell made $500,000 and Jackson $450,000 for last night's fight. This is just base pay as factoring in PPV bonuses those numbers will greatly increase.

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MMA News and Notes 05/27

Lets take a walk around the MMA world, in order to see what's up. Lots of post UFC 71 stuff for sure.

Jay Hieron is still hungry for IFL success.

More behind the cut.



Next in Line, Hendo's Back

Crushed Ice, Rampage KO's Liddell, to win Light Heavy Crown

Rampage Jackson knocks out Ice Man Liddell for the UFC Light Heavyweight title. (Video - CBS2.com)

Anything's possible Kevin Iole - Yahoo Sports

Houston Alexander stuns Keith Jardine Yahoo Sports

Ice Man Melted
NBC Sports

Rampage fits the bill, drops Liddell in first
Dave Doyle - FoxSports.com

Wanderlei Silva next for Liddell?
TSN

The important quote:

Liddell said after he planned to continue fighting, with UFC president Dana White saying Brazilian Wanderlei Silva would be his likely next opponent.

''I still love to fight. Nothing's changed. So yeah, I'll keep training and fighting. All stuff like this makes me want to do is get back in the gym and
train more. I was in great shape for this fight and I was healthy. I made a mistake. I'll be back.''

Did the shortness of last night's main event hurt UFC? Sam Caplan of FiveOuncesofPain.com argues that it did I argue that it did not.

I'll have more later.

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OCC Aftermath: UFC 71 'Liddell Vs. Jackson'

Here's what we've learned after tonight's UFC 71.

CARE Results:
Casey-Art-Ric: 4/5
Euan-Scott: 3/6

It is a rough night for all of us. Click the cut for more.



The first thing we learned is that if all members of CARE agree, you're screwed.

We all picked Din Thomas and he was victorious, same for Karo "The Heat" Parisyan. We all picked Chris Leben, Keith Jardine, Sean Salmon, and Chuck Liddell who lost.

If you're a favorite in a UFC main event, you're also screwed. Sylvia, St. Pierre, Mirko Cro Cop and Chuck Liddell.

Terry Martin is for real.

Fun fact, I had originally picked James Irvin, Quinton Jackson and Terry Martin to win their fights before changing my mind on all of them. I'd be doing much better had I not changed my mind.

Houston Alexander will never be made fun of again on a CARE podcast. The members of CARE will however accept people making fun of us for being dumbasses.

The upsets will continue for awhile longer, because this is the MMA version of the market correcting itself. Things will continue to be hard to predict with the influx of Pride fighters into the UFC.

It was a good show.

I wonder if we won't see Chuck Liddell at Heavyweight now. The fact is that the prospects of a rematch are greater now than if Liddell had one. Yes, I realize he is now 0 and 2 against Jackson, but the first fight doesn't mean anything to the majority of the MMA audience in the U.S. For most fans, all that matters is this guy took Liddell's belt and they want to see if Chuck can get it back. If Chuck had one to a majority of fans, he would've just beaten another challenger. I actually think a rematch could do a better buyrate than the show tonight.

Please, no hate mail. I'm not saying that what happens in Japan or Pride isn't important. I'm saying that most people watching MMA today are new fans and don't have any connection to that match which is why the champ looking to get his belt back still has a strong story in it even if the new champion already holds 2 victories over him.

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UFC 71 Live Round-by-Round Coverage

Thank you for joining us for our live Round-By-Round coverage of UFC 71 'Liddell Vs. Jackson'. Refresh your browser for the latest updates at the conclusion of each round.



Show is hosted as per usual by Mike Goldberg and Joe Rogan.
Scott has joined me tonight, he and I have Pizza Rolls, hot dogs, pretzle sticks, and little Debby stuff for the food. You know the deal, Liddell has 1 loss to avenge and it is to Jackson. You only heard this 60 times during the preshow and then it was recapped in the opening so I reprinted it just in case you didn't get the point.

We may experience technical difficulties tonight, Lightning off in the distance and such.

The winner of tonight's main event will face Dan "Hollywood" Henderson, the Pride Middleweight and Light Heavyweight champion.

Middleweight Bout:
Chris "The Crippler" Leben: 26, 5'11, 185, 15-3-0
Vs.
Kalib Starnes: 32, 6'3, 186, 9-1-1
Referee: Mario Yamasaki

R1: Leven starts things nice with a high kick. Starnes will want to take this one to the ground. They end up in the clinch and Starnes attempts takedowns but Leben is able to defend against them. Starnes with a couple of nice kicks in succession Leven hits a kick and then slips down but gets back to his feet before Starnes can capitalize.
Yet another leg kick from Starnes and he's shown a willingness to keep this on the feet. Leben charges and throws some wild punches. They end up back in the clinch but Kalib still can't take him down.

We got a UFC 72 'Victory' promo. Expect more of them.

Leben swings wildly and this allows Kalib to take him down. Leben working fine from the bottom, Starnes not trying to pass guard. Starnes nails a couple of shots to end the round.

Scoring: Starnes did more damage, 10-9.

R2: Kalib Starts out the round hitting more of the kicks that were effective in round 1. Kalib connects with a big right and then takes Leben down again and is inside his guard. Joe Rogan says Leben is using the rubber guard...I prefer if the girl's on the pill to the rubber guard.
Starnes nails a few more shots but Leben is able to escape. Starnes hits a few knees and another right hand. Starnes hits an inside legkick and both he and Leben are getting tired but Starnes moreso. Starnes is covering up as Leben looks to throw combinations and Kalib is sucking wind badly with 40 seconds or so left in the round. Right from Starnes after a legkick from Leben. Leben still trying to press the action to close out the round.

Scoring: Starnes hit more big shots and took him down. Starnes won the round, 10-9.

R3: Leben starts the round with more aggression. Leben pressing the action and hits a kick to Starnes liver.

UFC 72 'Victory' AKA: Please buy this show, please?

Leben doing some nice work from the bottom but Kalib shifts in to Side Control. Crowd was booing the ground work but they were moving. 30 seconds left in the round and Starnes starts to finish the round strong.

Scoring: Probably Leben's round 10-9. Starnes' fight 29-28. A good fight!!

Bravo gave rounds 1 and 3 to Starnes and 2 to Leben. They were all tough to score, so I've got no issue.

Winner: Kalib Starnes (29-28, 30-27, 29-28)

Rogan with Starnes: Starnes thought Leben took the fight. Leben says screw the judges and the scoring, he thought it was a fun fight and it really was. It is time for the ever boring "Take us through the fight". They take turns saying hi to people. Adam Sandler, Kevin James and Mandy Moore are in the house.

UFC 72 'Victory' commercial. Please, please, please, please, buy this show...we'll give you money!!!

Light Heavyweight Bout:
"The Dean of Mean" Keith Jardine: 31, 6'2, 205, 12-3-1
Vs.
Houston "The Assassin" Alexander: 35, 6'0, 202, 6-1-0
Referee: Steve Mazagatti

Scott points out that Houston Alexander sounds like Teddy Long and he kind of does.

MMM, brownies!

Ric Gillespie says Alexander is the fighter most likely to be fustigated.

R1: Jardine hits a nice right hand to start things out. He has Alexander in trouble but Houston recovers and starts to ass whoop Keith Jardine. There was a fustigation here but it was Jardine that got fustigated. All members on CARE gave him 0 chance...we're all dumbasses. He absolutely malled Jardine and it was all she wrote.

Winner: Houston Alexander - 0:48 R1

Rogan with Alexander: This dude is awesome. Dear Houston: I'm sorry for anything I may have ever said or written about you. Sincerely: Me!

A Chuck Liddell feature airs, showing his onterage appearance.

Middleweight Bout:
Terry Martin: 26, 5'9, 186, 17-2-0
Vs.
Ivan Salaverry: 36, 6'0, 184, 11-3-1
Referee: Mario Yamasaki

Terry Martin comes out to Billy Jean by Michael Jackson.

R1: Action starts on the feet with kicks and stuff. Salaverry is taken down very very hard, and some hammer fists and the fight is over. Ric, Art and I are dumbasses...and morons.

Winner: Terry Martin - 2:04 R1

Rogan with Martin: He calls out Anderson Silva and says he's willing to stand and trade with him. Hey, its your funeral man!

UFC 72 'Victory' commercial airs. Ramirez-Griffin and Okami-Franklin are the featured bouts. Trouble is I think both will be good fights but neither is a main event really.

Welterweight Bout:
Karo "The Heat" Parisyan: 24, 5'10, 170, 24-4-0
Vs.
Josh "The People's Warrior" Burkman: 27, 5'10, 171, 19-3-0
Referee: Herb Dean

R1: Karo comes out swinging and connects with a right. Burkman nails a nice leg kick, Burkman backs Parisyan up against the cage. Parisyan answers with another right. Burkman keeps changing up his stance. Karo hits a nice right leg kick. Parisyan takes Burkman to the ground with a nice Judo throw. Parisyan is using effective counters to everything Burkman is throwing. Round 1 ends with Burkman trying and successfully avoiding Parisyan's Kamura.

Scoring: I give the round 10-9 Parisyan.

R2: Parisyan connects with a right hand early. Burkman tries a kick, Karo catches it and lands another right. Burkman swings and misses on a punch and the pace has slowed from the first round. Karo nails a couple of more rights after taking one from Burkman. Burkman is tiring at around the 2:30 point of this round. Parisyan hits a knee then a combination. Parisyan is just imposing his will on Burkman at around the 4:20 point in the round. Burkman is exhausted and yet Parisyan isn't able to finish yet but he is picking him apart.

Scoring: Once again, Parisyan won the round 10-9.

R3: Parisyan is in way better shape going in. Burkman swings and misses with another punch while Parisyan answers with rights. Burkman with a takedown and Karo starts to work from the back. He escapes and starts working for a Kamura. Parisyan not able to get it and its back to the feet. Parisyan has a bodylock and Burkman seems to have found his second wind as he's pressing the action. Karo misses with a high-kick and Burkman attempts another Takedown. Parisyan with a straight left and we're under the 40 second mark of the final round.

Fight Ends...

Scoring: Best round for Burkman but it might not be enough. 10-9 Parisyan. 30-27 for Parisyan.

Winner: Karo Parisyan (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)

Rogan with Karo: he's been working on his conditioning. He begs Dana for his title shot, he says he's not going to get down on his knees (thank goodness, its been done). He thanks a bunch of people including Randy Couture and Manvel Gambaryan. He then sings a song about his judo throws and that's awesome in its badness. Even Rogan says his singing sucks. Awesome!

They run down the fight cards coming up through July 7, there's a lot.

We go to a preliminary bout.

Lightweight Bout:
Din "DinYero" Thomas: 30, 5'9, 155, 22-7-0
Vs.
Jeremy "Lil' Heathen" Stevens: 20, 5'9, 156, 13-1-0
Referee: Big John McCarthy

R1: Basically, Thomas controlled the round and Stevens made a late comeback at the end.
R2: Thomas locks in an armbar, Stevens tries to powerbomb out of it and the referee decides to stop the fight.

Winner: Din Thomas - 2:44 R2 via submission

Rogan with Thomas: Thomas says some things. I can't really tell...what he's talking about.

A trailer airs for hostile 2.
Light Heavyweight Title Bout:
Quinton "Rampage" Jackson: 28, 6'1, 205, 26-6-0
Vs.
"The Ice Man" Chuck Liddell: 37, 6'2, 205, 20-3-0
Referee: Big John McCarthy

R1: Crowd erupts when the action begins. Liddell backs away early getting Rampage to chace after. Jackson nails a combination and Liddell backs away. Rampage with a few blows and Liddell is down. Chuck looks like he's going to defend himself, but another blow puts him away.

Winner: Quinton Jackson - 1:53 R1 KO

Rampage is celebrating and now Rogan comes in.

Rogan with Rampage: Being the champion sounds good. He says it feels good, he taughts the fans that booed him. He says drinks are on the house if you can find someone to buy you one. He agreed with Chuck the stoppage was early...until he saw the replay. Dan "Hollywood" Henderson is up next.

Rogan with Chuck: He loves his kids, he's ok and he got caught. He'd take a rematch but it will depend on what the UFC does.

Dan Henderson comes out and he wants to fight Jackson. He'd be happy to make some money fighting his friends.

Continue Reading!

Even more UFC 71 articles

The Ice Man cometh
Arash Markasi - SI.com

hyped rematch pits 2 of UFC's top talent
James Melroy - Press Telegram

UFC's Dana White: We have finally arrived
David L. Hudson Jr. - FightNews.com

Prized Fighter
Carlos Arias - Orange County Register

At Weigh-ins, UFC Heavy with Attention
NBC Sports.com

to the MAXson: Setting the Record Straight
UNLVRebelYell.com

I'm sure I'll have more later.

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A couple of notes on the K-1 Dynamite USA show and UFC 71 weigh-ins

Dave Meltzer has a write-up on the UFC 71 weigh-ins including things that might not have been apparent on TV. You can read it by Clicking here

The K-1 show avoided one major disaster but is not out of the rough water yet. FEG got their temporary promotion license today but Kazushi Sakuraba is in danger of not getting clearance to fight.

Continue Reading!

More MMA Newsbits for 5/25

Yeah, there are some that don't involve the UFC.

The matchup next week between Tokyo's Savant Young and Portland's Ryan Schultz goes beyond the wrestling Vs. Striking debate

That's only one of the matches on the card for next week. Others can be found here

More behind the cut.



Chuck Liddell says Now, its my turn

An update on the Strikeforce PPV including a preview of Duane Ludwig Vs. Paul Daley is right here
The Strikeforce website is StrikeForceUsa.net

Sam Caplan of CBS Sportsline has a preview of UFC 71 here

The FoxSports.com preview of the main event is here
and the undercard is here

Is Mirko Cro Cop set to retire when his current UFC contract expires?

I'm linking this Caplan piece on the mystery fighter who will challenge the winner of tomorrow night's main event so you strictly MMA fans can read that first line.

Charles McCarthy and Cole Miller train the masses in MMA technique.

Here is a Q&A with Elite XC's Jake Shields. Shields is currently the #9 ranked Welterweight in the world according to MMAWeekly.com

Tim Kennedy is earning a reputation with IFL Fighters. The Chicago Red Bears Middleweight is a sparring partner of some guy named Chuck Liddell of whom you may or may not have heard.

I also predict that Euan will be a big fan of Mr. Kennedy. The reason? I quote...

"My game plan was pretty much to kick him in his head and knock him out," Kennedy said after the fight.

This man is Senshi!

Steve Sievert looks at the fact that Diego Sanchez nearly retired before his UFC 69 loss to Josh Koscheck.

Dana White is already talking Rua-Liddell.

Eric Schafer who was originally to fight Sean Salmon on this show but pulled out with a rib injury offered his predictions to the Baltimore Sun.

I think you've gotten enough tonight.

Continue Reading!

Ultimate Guide to UFC 71

Si.com has 5 things to say and what they mean so that you can sound like an expert when watching UFC 71 tomorrow. As a reminder, if you're not going to watch or want something entertaining to read when the show is over, I'll have live round-by-round coverage of the PPV event. I provide some of the most entertaining recaps on the 'net if I say so myself, which I do...but I also hear it from others.

Continue Reading!

UFC 71 Weigh in results

Sorry for the delay, technical issues.

Preliminary Bouts:

1. Light Heavyweight Bout: Wilson Gouveia (204) Vs. Carmelo Marrero (205)
   
2. Lightweight Bout: Jeremy Stevens (156) Vs. Din Thomas (155)
   
3. Light Heavyweight Bout: Alan Belcher (205) Vs. Sean Salmon (205)
   
4. Light Heavyweight Bout: Thiago Silva (202) Vs. James Irvin (204)

Televised Bouts:

1. Middleweight Bout: Kalib Starnes (186) Vs. Chris Leben (185)
   
2. Light Heavyweight Bout: Houston Alexander (202) Vs. Keith Jardine (205)
   
3. Welterweight Bout: Josh Burkman (171) Vs. Karo Parisyan (170)
   
4. Middleweight Bout: Terry Martin (186) Vs. Ivan Salaverry (184)
   
5. Light Heavyweight Title Bout: Quinton Jackson (205) Vs. Chuck Liddell (205)

Word to the wise, if you've got a choice, never watch these on ESPNews. They didn't show weigh-ins for 5 of the bouts including the 4 preliminaries and Salaverry-Martin. The commercial break sucked as well.

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Joe Rogan schools some boxing goof (Lou DiBella)

I wanted to comment on what led off the top of Sportscenter.

Brian Kenny who does a lot of Boxing for the Network led off with a look at Liddell and his UFC 43 loss to Randy Couture followed by his victory over Couture at UFC 52. Then they go back to UFC 19 and the loss to Horn before going back to UFC 54 and showing the avenging of that loss. Then highlights of the loss to Rampage in the Middleweight Grand Prix air. Kenny details how the UFC got started and mentions Royce Gracie.

More behind the cut.



Then they bring in Joe Rogan and some dufus boxing promoter who uses the human cock fighting line, while getting ready to take his place in the cock sucking line.

Rogan pointed out that boxing is only one aspect of fighting and that MMA allows all to be featured. Dufus boxing promoter said that it was easy when 1 company dominated a sport. He said that everything outside of UFC was garbage. Rogan ran down Bodog, EXC, Pride and IFL and said that they all had good fights. Dufus boxing guy had earlier accused Rogan of not being a boxing fan even as Rogan was providing more info on the top fighters in boxing today than you get from most boxing analysts.

Let me say that this is not a knock on boxing because I've got no problem with the sport. The people who run it are so wildly incompetant that I wonder if they're not even dumber than those running TNA Wrestling. Boxing's success is a result of the athletes themselves and exists despite the best efforts of those who control it.

Rogan's round 10-9. He was more prepared and knew what he was talking about.

Kenny then produced a graphic which showed that UFC had 223 million in PPV revenue last year, that the WWE had 200 million and HBO boxing 177 million. This was strictly a PPV revenue chart...and Kenny then pointed out that last year's 177 million was HBO's second best year ever which I'm sure made the boxing guy happy.

I want to offer ESPN one bit of caution.

The comparisons to Boxing and UFC make for great TV but they'd better be careful in how they present the sport of MMA. When you've got guys on shows like Around the Horn and PTI providing misinformation and treating the sport as a joke...the more you treat it as one the more your fans will see it as one and if they see UFC as a joke, then you're a joke for bothering to cover it. So the coverage ESPN provides and this is true for any sport, they'd better have people who know what they're talking about because ultimately if they don't it can reflect poorly on them. This is especially true for a sport that a lot of people are just getting familiar with, having an NFL analyst who is a complete idiot is not as harmful than having a complete idiot talking MMA because football is more familiar a sport and the fans have an easier time knowing who is and isn't a moron.

ESPN can make or break a sport depending on how they cover it. This fact is actually addressed in an Ombudsman's column on ESPN which you can read here

I did think ESPN was right to throw out the question of whether or not UFC was a fad like kick boxing or something that was here to stay. Their first major coverage earns a B+ I guess...but letting people with know knowledge of the sport continue to opine on it is in the end counter productive.

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More UFC 71 hype

Fighters make their picks for Liddell-Jackson though most of them don't make any.

Jackson is looking to melt the Ice Man

Again, more later.

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