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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MMA News and Notes for 07/10/2007

Early edition, I guess. All the good stuff is behind the cut.



Sam Caplan has news about Show XC and who could headline the 7/27 broadcast.

A top Ameture wrestler ready to fight in the UFC?

A new match for UFC 75?

It looks like a planned UFC event in Canada is on ice for now


Ricardo Almeida talks return to MMA


According to MMA Weekly, a UFC PPV is set for December 29 on PPV...and this is where Matt Hughes will challenge Matt Serra for the Welterweight crown.

My computer demands a restart, so I'll end this for now.

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Marcus Aurelio to debut at UFC 74?

According to Greg Savage of Sherdog.com, the former Pride lightweight could debut at that show which is set to be headlined by Randy Couture and Gabriel Gonzaga for the Heavyweight title.

His rumored opponent is Clay Guida who is coming off of a very close loss and probably a robbery against Tyson Griffin at UFC 72 last month.

The projected card as it stands:

1. Heavyweight Championship Bout: Randy Couture Vs. Gabriel Gonzaga
   
2. Welterweight Bout: Georges St. Pierre Vs. Josh Koscheck
   
3. Lightweight Bout: Kurt Pellegrino Vs. Joe Stevenson
   
4. Light Heavyweight Bout: David Heath Vs. Renato "Babalu" Sobral
   
5. Middleweight Bout: Kendall Grove Vs. Patrick Cote
   
6. Lightweight Bout: Marcus Aurelio Vs. Clay Guida
   
7. Middleweight Bout: Travis Lutter Vs. Ryan Jensen

This event takes place on August 25.

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Anthony Johnson Vs. Jess Liaudin at UFC 75?

According to UFCJunkie.com and MMAWeekly you can add this welterweight tilt to the card.

Johnson made his debut at the recent Fight Night 10 event knocking out Chad Reiner in 13 seconds of the first round.

Jess Liaudin defeated German fighter Dennis Siver back at UFC 70 in April by quick first round submission.

The projected card including rumored bouts:

1. Light Heavyweight Bout: Dan Henderson Vs. Quinton Jackson
   
2. Light Heavyweight Bout: Matt Hamill Vs. Michael Bisping
   
3. Heavyweight Bout: Mirko Cro Cop Vs. Cheick Kongo
   
4. Light Heavyweight Bout: Houston Alexander Vs. Alessio Sakara
   
5. Welterweight Bout: Anthony Johnson Vs. Jess Liaudin
   
6. Welterweight Bout: Marcus Davis Vs. Paul Taylor
   
7. Welterweight Bout: Dennis Siver Vs. TBA

UFC 75 'Champion Vs. Champion' will take place on 09/09 from London.

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Marcus Davis Vs. Paul Taylor at UFC 75?

According to UFC Junkie.com the fight is close to becoming official.

Taylor is 1-0 in the UFC defeating Edilberto Crocota at UFC 70 back in April. Davis is on a 4 fight win streak in the Octagon stopping Jason Tan at UFC 72 in June in his most recent contest.

This was actually the originally planned match for UFC 72 before Taylor withdrew due to injury.

UFC 75 takes place on September 9 from London with the following matches rumored or officially announced:

1. Light Heavyweight Bout: Dan "Hollywood" Henderson Vs. Quinton "Rampage" Jackson
   
2. Light Heavyweight Bout: Matt "The Hammer" Hamill Vs. Michael "The Count" Bisping
   
3. Heavyweight Bout: Cheick Kongo Vs. Mirko Cro Cop Filipovic
   
4. Light Heavyweight Bout: Houston "The Assassin" Alexander Vs. Alessio "Legeonarius" Sakara
   
5. Welterweight Bout: Paul "not Euan" Taylor Vs. Marcus "The Irish Hand Grenade" Davis

Davis is also known in certain locations as "The Celtic Warrior".

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MMA News and Notes for 07/03/2007

Its gearing up to be a busy week with UFC 73 this weekend.

I remind everyone of our roundtable preview where you can read and laugh at our picks and submit your own.

The rest of the news is behind the cut:



A lot of articles dealing with men fighting on the UFC 73 show.

UFC.com looks at Frank Edgar Stephan BonnarAntonio Rodrigo "Minautoro" Nogueira and Sean Sherk

The site also has breakdowns of:
Hermes Franca Vs. Sean Sherk and Nate Marquardt Vs. Anderson Silva

Looking around the web at other stuff...

K-1 Hero's 9 is beginning to take shape highlighting this event will be the first round of the 155 LB Grand Prix.

Even though I mentioned it last week more confirmation of David Heath Vs. Renato "Babalu" Sobral at UFC 74.

Back to UFC 73 as Yahoo Sports has its own writeup on Frank "The Answer" Edgar

Steve Sievert of the Houston Chronicle mentions that the IFL got permission from shareholders to release more stock

The IFL also announced an online photo store

Sam Caplan has the IFL semi-final matchups all I can say is Horodecki-Palaszewski II!

The latest on Joe Riggs is here

Mauro Ranallo had an interview with Brandon Vera on Fight Network Radio today which you can hear along with other episodes of the show here

Tim Sylvia says he'll return in October and Euan and I were hoping to make fun of he and Travis Lutter in the same roundtable.

Is Pride's Light Heavyweight Champion Dan Henderson Vs. UFC's Light Heavyweight Champion Quinton Jackson going to be non-title bout?

Phil Baroni has words for Dana White.

UFC will be welcoming some familiar faces soon.

There's more out there to be sure, but this will due for now.

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New match added for UFC 75

According to both UFCJunkie.com and MMA Weekly's rumors section, you can add a Light Heavyweight bout to the September 9 card in London. The bout will be between Alessio Sakara and Houston Alexander.

I love Houston Alexander so thumbs up for this.

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MMA News and Notes for 06/27

All the MMA News I could stand to gather for the moment is behind the cut.



Ken Shamrock says he got his formal release from the UFC on Fight Network Radio.

Nick Diaz calls out Frank Shamrock.

Travis Lutter to fight at UFC 74 I'm sure that Euan, Art and myself will not make any weight jokes during our UFC 74 roundtable. Actually, I'm pretty sure we're all going to start brainstorming them...mmmm....mmmm....mmmm....now.

I guess IFL Battleground has another new direction has it really been 3 weeks already?

The TUF Five Finale ratings are in and all things considered are pretty good.

Matt Hughes says he'll fight in December

Jason Probst breaks down Franca Vs. Sherk

Cro Cop Vs. Kongo is official for UFC 75.

UFC finally got around to announcing UFC 74 I was beginning to think they'd wait until the day after it was over.

Entrepreneur magazine wants us to meet Dana White

Is Drew Fickett out of UFC 73? and his scheduled bout with Chris "Lights Out" Lytle.

Jamal Patterson, New York Pitbulls Light Heavyweight Blog is here

Tokyo Saber Heavyweight Wayne Cole wants a shot at redemption Get a load of his injury story and try not to laugh...I failed.

The best of the best in IFL 2007 is here and while I've not looked at the list, Battleground had better only be mentioned in passing. Well, the first episode which was so great they apologized for it should be on the list as best fuck up.

Phil Baroni is out for 6 or 7 months

Salaries and attendance for Shamrock Vs. Baroni are here

The Smashing Machine Mark Kerr will fight for the Global Fighting Championships in August. Some other known names are on the card, and Sean O'Haire is listed as well...so I guess he's gotten out of jail after the last time he got his ass kicked.

Some guy named Jorge Ortiz tested positive for steriods However, Tito Santiago was clean. Ric may be the only one that laughs at that, if anyone does.

A Q&A with Mauricio "Shogun" Rua is here

Wayne McCullough talks MMA here and get a load of his nickname...it is the new best ever.

A Notes from Brazil column here

That's enough for now.

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MMA News and Notes for 06/22

Lets take a look around the world on a busy weekend.

As usual, all the good stuff requires you to click the cut.



Joe Lauzon is interviewed by Inside Fighting and says that B.J. Penn suggests he move to Hawaii and train with him. Well, moving to Hawaii would rule...but if you train with B.J. Penn, expect your conditioning to end up in the nearest toilet. Of course, if I lived in Hawaii my conditioning would suck to and I know this because it sucks now so why would it change?

Is EXC teaming with producer Mark Burnett on a reality series?

Krazy Horse was released from jail but due to traffic missed his flight to be at yesterday's weigh-ins. He is expected to be at tonight's show.

Josh Barnett says nice things about the UFC and Bodog in the audio interview which starts at the 27:00 mark or so.

Dan Henderson Vs. Quinton Jackson and Matt Hamill Vs. Michael Bisping are official

Season 5 of TUF was a season to remember ...for the lowest ratings of the series.

Andy Wang is Pursuing Perfection unless it leads to him listening to his corner or going with his strength in a fight, those are just crazy theories he'll never try.

Jens Pulver looks for 2 in a row
while B.J. Penn has been wining like a bitch for 5 years

Gray Maynard wants to go Nelson Munce on the light weight division I wonder if he wouldn't be better off trying to go all Jimbo Jones instead?

It is Manny Gamburyan's relentless charge that leads him to Vegas on Saturday most people I know are led to Vegas by a map. Manny had better be careful, too much relentless charge and the NSAC might suspend him for 8 months.

Kevin Iole of Yahoo Sports:
Pulver eyes rematch
Roger Huerta is a rising star

Manny Gamburyan is the Ultimate Underdog and we're not talking the movie here.

Jens Pulver is in for the fight of his life

Bad Blood: Penn Vs. Pulver to air on Versus tonight?

A breakdown of the last few weeks worth of TUF ratings is here

Rex Richards talks his Strikeforce return

Jeff Curran is ready for his move to the WEC

Cung Le is stepping up in competition tonight.

Ben Rothwell was a ringside observer as the Toronto Dragons nearly ruined his post-season chances.

A look back at the IFL's Vegas event is here

The Orange County Register makes fun of Manny's height

I'm done with this for now, maybe more later if I can be bothered.

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Tagline For UFC 75

'Brings The Champions.'

Pretty lame, if you ask me, but Euan might like it (in much the same way he likes sheep and mustard).

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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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Cheick Kongo to fight Mirko Cro Cop at UFC 75?

Kongo claims it is so. You can get details here or if you're a purist and want to read it in Dutch then click here

This fight, I don't think, would be that good. I was real impressed with Kongo in his first couple of appearances in the UFC then we found out he's pretty clueless on the ground. It is lucky for us, though probably not for Kongo, that Cro Cop won't be looking to take the fight down...if that happened then this would be bad.

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MMA News and Notes for 06/09

Lets take a look around the MMA World. All the Good stuff is behind the cut.



I guess from this profile that Tyson Griffin has short-term memory

So Tamdan McCrory wears glasses

Jason Black is filling the void

Jon Fitch is enjoying the ride

Spencer Fisher is looking for redemption

Hey Art, expect a call from Tim Persey

Yes, the men who fought for K-1 last week got paid

Leonard Garcia will fight on the TUF 5 Finale and so will his UFC 69 opponent Roger Huerta and sadly they will not be rematching one another. Garcia will face Alan Berube and Huerta will face someone named Doug Evans.

Alan Belcher is back on track

UFCJunkie.com reports that Diego Sanchez will face Hayato "mach" Sakurai at UFC 74.

Sean Salmon will be fighting in Cleveland on Sunday just a couple weeks after his UFC 71 loss to Alan Belcher.

A FEG official says it is preposterous for anyone to question their numbers. Well, for the record I am not questioning their numbers I'm saying they're full of shit, so that's ok.

Randy Couture is interviewed on CBSSportsline.

Does Tommy Morrison (scheduled to make his MMA debut tonight) still have HIV? Well, he'll not be blood tested for his fight tonight with it being on an Indian reservation.

Is Elite XC planning a show for July 28?

A transcript from the Frank Shamrock-Phil Baroni press conference is here

Shad Lierley got a vote of confidence from his teammates before fighting Chris Horodecki.

This just in from the IFL, for Renzo Gracie fighting is a family affair

The IFL announces their lineup for June 16

Dan Henderson will get to challenge Quinton Jackson at UFC 75 in London

I'll end this for now, be back when I'm back.

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MMA News and Notes 5/24

I warn you, this is probably the most massive post on MMA news in the history of this blog.

Take a tour around the MMA world with me. Eventually, there will be a CARE audio podcast for UFC 71 which was recorded last night. For the eventual written preview and to add your voice to the crowd, click here

Chuck Liddell fires back at boxers Floyd Mayweather and Bernard Hopkins.

I've got plenty more, but you'll have to click.



Sherdog.com sources say that the Pride Acquision has been finalized.

Randy Couture Steps Up to help troops.

Carmelo Marrero is ready for Wilson Gouveia and Light Heavyweight at UFC 71.

Ultimate Fighter ratings are flat at Midseason.

A report says that Pride Fighters are planning a class action lawsuit against Dreamstage Entertainment.

Welterweight Champion Matt Serra talks the Ultimate Fighter 6.

Mirko Cro Cop should return at UFC 75, Sept. 8 from London. Michael Bisping and Jess Liaudin are also expected to compete on that show.

In what I guess is a boxing tournament, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira took bronze in Spain.

Tim Sylvia is a Dancin' Fool

Josh Burkman is ready for the elite fighters at 170 LBS and given he's facing Karo Parisyan...he'd better be.

Andrei Arlovski has lost his title shot and he deserves it. Hey, at least he still has this

Kermit Sintron the man who answered Dana White's challenge to Floyd Mayweather to fight Sean Sherk has reportedly been offered a 3-fight deal with Elite XC.

Gina Carano joins Xtreme Couture.

Art of War 3 which was to take place June 30 on PPV has been postponed until August 18. Pedro Rizzo Vs. Jeff Monson is set to headline. Jeremy Horn and Jake Shields are set for undercard bouts.

It is time once again for Dear Don!

The IFL Playoff System may be more complicated than TNA's King of the Mountain.

Seattle Tiger Sharks Lightweight Shad Lierley has his sights set on undefeated L.A. Anacondas fighter Chris Horodecki.

A look back at IFL Chicago from this past weekend.

News and notes out of today's Observer News Update

--Dana White has a press conference this morning, mostly talking about the Sports Illustrated article and (he was beyond thrilled, saying he and Lorenzo
Fertitta walked all over New York holding the issue) as well as Saturday's show from Las Vegas. Among the key points:
*He is not interested in promoting a boxer vs. MMA fighter match because he knows what will happen, unless it's with a boxer the caliber of Floyd Mayweather.
Said he had never even heard of Cintron as a boxer and has no interest in him.
*He confirmed negotiations are back on with Kurt Angle. He said Angle tells him he's serious and if Angle is serious, he's interested. He said he doesn't
waste his time talking about deals that he thinks are going nowhere, but he also thought he had Angle once in the past.
*Said nothing new to report on HBO. But now he wants to control the production again, but still thinks a deal will be made
*Said in the end, they would finalize the Pride sale and promote shows in Japan. He said their business was a mess and it wasn't run as a business and it's
taking a lot of time to sort it out.
*There will be a major main event announced at the end of UFC 71. It will involve the Chuck Liddell vs. Quinton Jackson winner and a challenge that will
be issued for a dream match scenario. It will be the first so-called Super Bowl match (my words not his). At another point, White talked about Shogun Rua
being signed, but our impression is that it's another match. Doing the math, the opponent they are talking about is probably one of these three names--Wanderlei
Silva, Dan Henderson or Rua.
*When a reporter brought up Tito Ortiz thinking that since he's on Dana's bad side that he won't be getting a title match, he said, Tito was a pussy and
he needs to show up and fight Rashad Evans.
*He questioned Georges St. Pierre's mental toughness, saying he was so nervous backstage before the fight with Matt Serra. Said his physical ability is
second to none.
*Said he expects to run a live event in Mexico in early-to-mid 2008
*Said it was disgusting that New Jersey sanctioned the Ray Mercer vs. Kimbo Slice fight
*Ripped on Oscar de la Hoya as a promoter saying he should have loaded up the undercard, but respects him great for his ability to draw and said he expected
1.4 million to 1.65 million buys
*Said that before the Koscheck fight, that Diego Sanchez was diagnosed with Hepatitis C. At first he was planning on announcing his retirement before the
show, but further tests revealed he didn't have it, but they didn't know what it was. Said after the fight with Koscheck he was finally found to have had
a major staph infection, explaining his inability in the ring that night.
*On IFL, "It's a retarded concept."
*On Lesnar: "I'd love to have him."

On the 6/2 K-1 Dynamite USA show...Dave notes:

--We have nothing new confirmed regarding the status of the 6/2 Los Angeles Coliseum show. The belief from the K-1 side is that they expect an 11th hour
sanctioning and are proceeding as if the show is happening. Word on Kazushi Sakuraba should come today. According to sources close to the situation, Choi
Hong-man's medical condition is a tumor near the pituitary gland. FEG has told Tank Abbott, Ruben Villareal, James Thompson and Butterbean, who are all
represented to Valour Fighting, to be ready for a call. As of moments before this writing, they had made no indication which of the four they would pick,
and it is possible they have told others to be on standby. But they made the call at 4 a.m. last night to officially tell all of them to be ready.

Alex Marvez talks to Brock Lesnar

Injury Scraps Condit from First WEC Title Defense against Larson

May, 24, 2007
Thomas Gerbasi, WEC - It was announced today that due to an injury suffered in training camp, WEC Welterweight Champion Carlos Condit has been forced to
withdraw from his June 3rd title defense against Brock Larson at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. A replacement opponent is currently
being sought to face Larson, and will be announced shortly.

Stepping up into the main event slot for the June 3rd card, which will air on the VERSUS network, is the WEC Featherweight Championship bout between Urijah
Faber and Chance Farrar.

WWW.WEC.TV

NBC Sports has a Q&A with Dana White

Dana White on the record

Team Liddell is blown away by the shape Chuck Liddell is in entering Saturday's fight.

Sherdog has a preview of UFC 71.

The Card for Fight Night 10 looks like this

Kevin Iole of Yahoo Sports has a piece bar room to brawling examining the road the Fertittas and Dana White went down that led them to purchase the UFC.

Chi Kong Lui asks if fighters should apologize for boring fights I see Chi Kong Lui, but I think, Hong Kong Phooey.

Long-time MMA Announcer and current IFL broadcaster Stephen Quadros weighs in on UFC 71.

David Mamet talks the MMA movie Redbelt in this fox news channel fight game video.

The prior 3 links come via Dave Doyle's MMA Blog for Fox Sports.

I think this will due for now, don't you?

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