Polls are a great way to get a view into popular opinion and among MMA fans, opinion is rarely in short supply.  With the most recent poll we asked which current Champion you felt would lose their belt first?

The response was good in terms of numbers of votes and it also provided a clear view of how the fans view the current UFC champions.

Here are the results of the poll:

It’s hard to disagree with the results for the most part.   Antonio Nogueira is a new champ and his performances have been somewhat inconsistent outside of the UFC.  The biggest surprise to me was that 28% of those who voted thought Rampage would be next in line to lose his belt.  The charming champion is due to meet Forrest Griffin on July 5th following their TUF 7 coaching assignments.  Not sure if the vote means that Griffin will take that belt or someone else? 

The next 3 fighters are tough choices as they are all considered among the top pound for pound competitors in the game.
BJ Penn has the least consistency in his career, regardless of where he is today, but I’m not sure who people think is going to take his belt?  GSP is always a favorite, although he showed some vulnerability against Serra the first time round.
Anderson Silva has shown very little weakness and has purely dominated his competition in the UFC… for that reason, you voted him least likely to lose his belt in the near future.

Solid picks from everyone… now on to the next poll!

 (Photo:UFC.com)

The weigh-ins, which have become a mini event in themselves these days, have been completed for UFC 84 “Ill Will”, scheduled to take place tomorrow night.  It was a rather entertaining affair with all fighters making weight and a little showmanship tossed in for good measure. 
Notable moments included:

•  Nakamura coming out with some crazy basket hat that he wore through the weigh-ins and stare-down.
•  Goran Reljic getting in Wilson Gouveia’s face during the stare-down                            
•  Tito Ortiz coming out with a shirt that had “DANA IS MY BITCH” on the front.
•  Biggest cheers went to Jon Koppenhaver, Thiago Silva, Keith Jardine, Wanderlei Silva and Tito Ortiz.   
•  Notable absence for Dana White in the stare-down circle.  Marc Ratner was providing stare-down referee duties.

The stare-down between BJ Penn and Sean Sherk was great although no serious fireworks… that is going to be an awesome fight!

 Side Note:  Terry Etim always reminds me of the Machinist…    man he is a lean 155!

The official results are included below:

Official UFC 84: Ill Will weigh-In Results

UFC Lightweight Championship
Sean Sherk (155) vs BJ Penn (155)

Wanderlei Silva (205) vs Keith Jardine (205)
Tito Ortiz (205) vs Lyoto Machida (203)
Antonio Mendes (203) vs Thiago Silva (205)
Goran Reljic (205) vs Wilson Gouveia (205)
Rousimar Palhares (185) vs Ivan Salaverry (185)
Kazuhiro Nakamura (206) vs Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou (204)
Terry Etim (155) vs Rich Clementi (155)
Yoshiyuki Yoshida (170) vs Jon Koppenhaver (170)
Dong Hyun Kim (171) vs Jason Tan (170)
Shane Carwin (252) vs Christian Wellisch (230

Check out the link to a video of the weigh-ins on the UFC site

Pictures of the event can be found here.

It’s about time to get some picks in place for UFC 84 “Ill Will” taking place on May 24th in Las Vegas, NV. There are some great matches on this card and while they aren’t all critical to the so called rankings in the division, many are great just for entertainment value or the story behind the story.

With another 11 fight card in place, the write ups are getting pretty intense, so I will try to keep it brief and hopefully accurate.

Lets go…

Main Event:

BJ Penn Vs. Sean Sherk (Lightweight Title Match)

Sean Sherk won the Lightweight Title in a decision victory over Kenny Florian, defended it against Hermes Franca and then tested positive for a banned substance(Nandralone). Off the fight scene for close to a year, Sherk returns to a title shot against BJ Penn who currently holds the interim title after taking it in a recent and lopsided victory over Joe Stevenson.

Sean Sherk is an ultra compact wrestler with solid determination and great ground control. His stand up game is decent but not great… he can get by on his feet but needs the fight to go to the ground to get a win. BJ Penn is an Elite BJJ practitioner with outstanding take-down defense and good striking power. He is great on the ground and capable of winning fights on his feet as well. The questionable area for BJ Penn has always been conditioning.

Read the rest of this entry »

(Image: 84.UFC.com) 

I was a bit late in checking out the latest UFC event site, for UFC 84 “Ill Will”, scheduled for May 24th in Las Vegas, NV.  The UFC made a great move getting Red (Interactive Agency)to build their event pages for the past year or so.  The pages are as well put together as the UFC (if not better) and feature a level of interactivity that far exceeds the presence that most sites are able to achieve.  

With a good chunk of younger, tech savvy fans, it is a reflection of that fan-base in the site that makes it great.  I actually look forward to the content on the site for each event and in this one, the layout is among the best yet.  Check out this screenshot of how they have displayed the fight card as a 3D view with all the fighters in the Octagon.  It’s straight out of video game land…

There is just an amazing amount of interaction, fight analysis, video trailers and other content on the site.  Check it out to get a good feel for the fight card… you can’t help but get hyped after a good visit to the site.

 (Photo:Sherdog.com)

Former UFC Lightweight contender Hermes Franca is eagerly waiting on his suspension to expire in July.  The Brazilian fighter who runs his own Florida based Jiu Jitsu school reported to MMAWeekly that he has been training extensively through running BJJ seminars over the past few months.
Franca is a proven Lightweight talent with wins over fighters like Caol Uno, Spencer Fisher, upcoming star Nate Diaz and current WEC Lightweight Champion Jamie Varner.  He blew his shot at the UFC title after losing a 5 round decision to Sean Sherk and then testing positive for a banned substance following the fight. (Both Fighters did)

Putting the past behind him, Franca is focused on getting back into the ring  and into the fight game again,

“I’m hungry. Even though I’m busy right now, I want to fight soon. I hope to fight in July, but if not, I’m going to keep busy and wait for my next fight. I have a big name, I’ve fought very much and a lot of guys know me, and a lot of shows are looking for fighters. EliteXC, Affliction, the UWC, some big shows, and a lot of guys are showing interest in me. I’m just waiting for my moment right now.”

He feels that the focus on training has led to growth in his overall MMA game,

“I think the fans are going to see much, much better (performances) from me. The only people that are happy to not see Hermes Franca fighting is people in my weight division. I’m still a contender in any organization I’m in, and I’m going to be a champion. I know myself. I know how good I am. If I train hard I can be the best of the best.”

Discussing the pending Lightweight Championship bout between Sean Sherk and BJ Penn at UFC 84, Franca stated that both fighters are extremely talented but that he has a pick for the winner of that fight;

“I was training with (B.J.) and the kid has a lot of talent, a lot of heart, and I can say the kid is born to fight. I think B.J. is going to win, that’s my opinion, but I hope it is going to be a great fight.”

It should be a great fight and hopefully Franca will get a chance to put on some great fights of his own very soon.  He had asked the UFC to release him from his contract, but there is no reason to believe they wouldn’t have him back soon after his suspension is lifted. If they can do it for Sherk… why not Franca?

(Photos: Sherdog.com)

MMAWeekly has reported that Roger Huerta and Kenny Florian have confirmed they are scheduled to fight at UFC 87, in Minneapolis, Minn. The August 7th bout will be huge in terms of determining the number one contender to challenge for the Lightweight Title following UFC 84, where BJ Penn and Sean Sherk will face off in a title match.
Kenny Florian has been very vocal about wanting to face the best competitors in the division en-route to another opportunity at the Lightweight title and he will certainly be facing one of the best in Roger Huerta. Florian and Huerta have both been very active, with Huerta racking up 5 wins in a 10 month period and Florian taking 4 wins in just under 12 months.

Florian commented on the importance and quality of the match, stating; 

“It’s kind of rare when you get two guys who are positively number one and number two in the division that are actually going to fight to be the number one contender to fight for that belt later on. I think it will be great for both of our careers, and it’s the biggest fight you can put together in our division.”

It is a great fight and it should be very telling as far as ranking the fighters in the division.

Read the rest of this entry »

(Photo:UFC.com)

Former UFC Lightweight Champion Sean ‘The Muscle Shark’ Sherk was officially cleared of his 6 month CSAC imposed suspension resulting from  a positive test for the banned substance, Nandrolone  following his first title defense against Hermes Franca in July 2007.   MMAWeekly reported that Sherk was officially cleared of the suspension today as he met the final conditions of his suspension with the full payment of the $ 2,500  fine that was handed down as part of his ‘reduced sentence’.  Apparently the clearance from the California Athletic Commission was a requirement for Sherk to compete in his title bout against BJ Penn on May 24th in Las Vegas, NV.

Sherk, who had vocally protested the drug testing results and ultimately the decision of the CSAC appeal board who maintained his suspension, feels that the Commission operates with an unchecked autonomy lacking in structure and reason.  As quoted in the MMAWeekly interview, Sherk stated he would never fight in California again.

“Absolutely not,” he said. “It won’t even be offered to me. The way (the CSAC does) stuff is very biased. They don’t have rules; they don’t have regulations … they make stuff up as they go.

“There needs to be some kind of regulation. They want to follow WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency) when it benefits them; they want to change things when it benefits them. Nobody overlooks them. There’s got to be some sort of backlash to everything that’s happened in the last five months.”

So there are definitely some hard feelings from Sean Sherk’s perspective and if his claims are true that he did not knowingly take a banned substance, it is understandable as he lost nearly a year of income as well as his freshly defended Lightweight Title which he now has to try to earn back from a very tough BJ Penn.  Penn has been one of the most vocal critics of Sherk since the suspension stating that it was proof of what everyone already knew in the sport.  He has basically called Sherk a cheater to his face.  The dialogue has created a tonne of animosity between the two fighters that will no doubt burn white hot between the fighters in the coming weeks leading up to their May 24th fight.  

There are a lot of searches going on for Roger Huerta’s tattoo, as well as other fighters’, so I thought I would put together a compilation of some of the more original pieces that are being sported by the UFC’s elite.

Leave a comment if there is a particular fighter’s tattoo you want to see that hasn’t been included.

Click Here to view the photos.