MMA MMA: Новини

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Chuck Liddell to appear on David Letterman Show

You can't miss it when Chuck Liddell speaks for the first time on national TV with David Letterman about his loss to Quinton "Rampage" Jackson on the CBS "Late Show." Chuck Liddell on Letterman marks the first time an MMA fighter will sit on the stage with Dave to talk about America's fastest growing sport.

Evan Tanner has been training hard and is determined to win the title from Anderson Silva. According to Coach Roberto, he will be fighting at UFC in September under the Chute Boxe USA banner. His opponent is still unknown.

MARCUS AURELIO SIGNS WITH UFC!!!

Marcus "Maximus" Aurelio has signed a 4 fight deal with the UFC!!

Great news for Marcus who gets to showcase his skills to a whole new audience.

Marcus has a incredible Jiu-Jitsu, and is best known for his ZST Grand Prix tournament victories, and his stunning win over then PRIDE Champion Takanori Gomi.

Marcus is extremely excited about fighting for the UFC and competing in this talented division.

Congratulations and Good Luck!!

Liddell-Silva is a fight that UFC president Dana White has been trying to make for a while, going to the extreme of bringing Silva into the ring during a UFC card, asking him who he wanted to fight, and Silva responding that he wanted Liddell.

Former PRIDE owners, Dreamstage Entertainment announced on Friday that plans to hold the opening round of a PRIDE Lightweight Grand Prix tournament show in July in Nagoya are off. Refunds will be made available for those who purchased tickets to attend the event.

The company also asked fans to remain calm during the transitional phase as new ownership starts their take-over of the promotion.

Други интересни нещица, които прочетох през последните дни са, че Wanderlai Silva май няма да се бие до края на 07 и че Shogun иска следващия му опонент да е Henderson, което ще е супер як мач.

[neshev]

Aurelio може да се смята за заплаха и даже по-някое време може да стане и lightweight шампион. За дебюта му се говори за мач с Roger Huerta, но само времето ще покаже колко верни са тези слухове.

Колкото до Wanderlei Silva ето един recap от едно скорошно негово интервю:

That is unless Dana White can deliver on the rumored PRIDE vs UFC tournament. An event of that magnitude says Silva, may be too sweet for even him to pass up.

Ако успеят да го вкарат в голям мач може би ще го видим и преди 2008.

Очакваше се Shogun vs. Henderson на Pride 35, но след като не се знае какво е бъдещето на Pride се очаква мачът да бъде в UFC. Sokoudjou иска Shogun и ако Dana успее да го докара в UFC, най-вероятно ще видим Sokoudjou/Shogun vs. Henderson/Jackson.

Eто малко новини и от мен.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship today officially announced the main fight card for its June 16, 2007 event in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Dubbed UFC 72: Victory, former UFC Middleweight Champion Rich “Ace” Franklin faces Japan’s Yushin Okami in the headline bout. Franklin is angling towards a shot at regaining the title he lost to current champion Anderson Silva, while Okami is riding a six-fight winning streak and looking to stake his own claim to a title shot.

Other featured bouts include Forrest Griffin, returning from a loss to Keith Jardine, against Hector Ramirez, who lost in his UFC debut last November. ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ veteran Rory Singer lost to Okami his last time out in the Octagon. He returns at UFC 72 to face Canadian Jason MacDonald, who lost his last time out to Franklin. Two young guns in the UFC, Clay Guida and Tyson Griffin, round out the main card.

Rumored preliminary bouts according to MMAWeekly.com, not officially announced by the UFC:

-Jake O'Brien vs. Tom Murphy

-Ed Herman vs. Scott Smith

-Marcus Davis vs. Jason Tan

-Eddie Sanchez vs. Colin Robinson

-Dustin Hazelett vs. Stevie Lynch

UFC 72: Victory marks the promotions debut in Northern Ireland and its continued expansion into the European mixed martial arts market.

European born UFC fighter Alessio Sakara will return to the UFC this September at UFC 75 in London. Sakara, born in Italy, last fought at the UFC’s first trip of England this year, UFC 70.

The Italian fighter has been average in the UFC so far. He debuted at UFC 55 in 2005 posting a draw with Ron Faircloth after Sakara was kicked in the groin. He bounced back with a win over UFC fallboy Elvis Sinosic via Unanimous decision. The success wouldn’t continue as he would go on to drop his next 2 fights in the UFC to Dean Lister and Drew McFedries, both in the first round. At UFC 70 he added another win to his UFC record topping Victor Valimaki with a TKO in the first.

The successful mixed martial artist boasts good knockout power securing half of his victories via knockouts.

Sakara, who fights in the light heavyweight division, could make a name for himself in the division if he is given a decent opponent. As is typical of European UFC events, European-born fighters are usually heavily marketed meaning many fans will likely leave UFC 75 weekend with a greater knowledge of just who Alessio Sakara is.

Another light heavyweight on the card who will also be a major draw for the event is UFC contender Michael Bisping who may ultimately become Alessio’s opponent according to recent speculation.

Former UFC light heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell today confirmed a report we passed along in the wake of his loss to Quinton “Rampage” Jackson at UFC 71 that he will next fight former PRIDE FC middleweight champion Wanderlei Silva later this year, according to the Boston Herald.

Here’s a snip from the “Iceman” on the showdown:

“It’s going to be a striking battle. Who’s going to hit harder and throw more punches. I think from the things I’ve seen (of him) that’s what it will be.”

“The Axe Murderer” is coming off of consecutive — and punishing — losses to Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic and Dan Henderson, respectively.

We passed along a report not too long ago that former heavyweight champions Tim Sylvia and Frank Mir would rematch at UFC 74 on August 25 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

However, over the weekend MMAWeekly.com took down that rumor from its Web site and now has Sylvia vs. an unnamed opponent. There is now tons of Internet chatter today that the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) will not let the two fight because Mir is incapable of fighting an opponent the “caliber” of the “Maine-iac,” particularly after his bad loss to Brandon Vera at UFC 65.

It sounded a little funny to me … so I contacted the NSAC Executive Director, Keith Kizer, directly earlier this afternoon. He was kind enough to issue a response.

Here it is:

“That fight [silvia-Mir II] has not been presented to me, and thus no ‘denial’ has been made. I was asked about the match-up by a reporter and said I would have a hard time approving that fight unless I see a quality win from Mr. Mir first. However, I will keep an open mind. Please note that I approved Mir vs. Hardonk a short while back. I still think that would be a good match-up.”

I guess it’s hard to nix a fight that never was even presented — the rematch was clearly just a rumor. And, Kizer vows to keep an “open mind” if the UFC ever does put it on the table.

Mir recently had to pull out of his fight with Antoni Hardonk at UFC Fight Night 9 with a shoulder injury. Similarly, Sylvia is on the mend from back surgery.

In hindsight, it appears that an August showdown was perhaps jumping the gun.

However, even if both heal up before that time (Mir is scheduled to face Babalu in a grappling match on June 22), there is still a possibility that these two could fight.

The door has not been totally closed.

The camp for Rich Franklin did not turn down a fight with PRIDE FC 185-pound standout Paul Filho in favor of Yushin Okami at UFC 72, according to a recent interview with MMAFighting.com.

Rumors swirled the last month or so that “Ace” preferred to fight Okami instead of Filho when the UFC was searching for a fighter to replace the injured Martin Kampmann.

That’s not how it went down, says the former UFC middleweight champion.

Here’s a snip:

“It took a couple of days before [the UFC] came back with a name for me [to replace Kampmann]. Actually, they had thrown Paulo Filho and Yushin Okami. And so Monte and I were discussing the whole scenario, and I told Monte [Cox] to just let me know who the UFC decides to come back with…. Several days later they came back with Yushin Okami as the replacement. I said that’s fine. Either way, I was fine. I essentially said, ‘Cool, let me know what they decide.’”

The decision makes sense from a few perspectives.

First, Okami has beat some stiff competition since his Octagon debut in 2006, running his record inside the Octagon to a perfect 4-0. During that span he has built some name recognition among fans and critics that he is a top contender in the middleweight class.

Second, even though Filho is one of the best fighters at his weight in mixed martial arts, he isn’t well-known among casual fans. And to risk having him beat a draw like Franklin in his first fight could have been catastrophic for the Cincinnati native.

Finally, what kind of message does it send to all the other fighters grinding it out the past year or so that a guy comes in and gets an instant shot to knock off the ex-champ in a main event?

Put simply, the UFC made the right decision on this one — Okami is solid.

However, I’m not so sure about signing Filho to a WEC contract … he seems like a much better fit for the UFC.

UFC 72: “Victory” is set for June 16 in Belfast, Ireland.