(Photo:UFC.com)

The weigh-ins took place this afternoon for the UFC Fight Night event that will be featured on SpikeTV tomorrow night.  The weigh-ins were somewhat uneventful with all fighters making their weight requirements and no real aggression beyond the obligatory staredowns for the press and the fans.

Alessio Sakara looked a bit weary in his appearance while there looked to be a bit of tension between Ed Herman and Alan Belcher - great stare-down anyway…

Houston Alexander also attempts to recover his UFC mystique after dropping 2 consecutive fights in the Octagon.  This time he will be playing the role of hometown hero.

The co-main event of Mac Danzig Vs. Clay Guida is sure to be a barn burner and the two fighters looked really pumped up for the fight as well, which is all you can ask for.

The event takes place at the Omaha Civic Auditorium in Omaha, Nebraska beginning at 8pm ET / PT on SpikeTV.

Check out the offical results below:

Josh Neer 155 VS Nate Diaz 155
Clay Guida 155 VS Mac Danzig 155
Alan Belcher 185 VS Ed Herman 185
Eric Schafer 205 VS Houston Alexander 205

Joe Vedepo 185 VS Alessio Sakara 185
Wilson Gouveia 185 VS Ryan Jensen 185
Kyle Bradley 155 VS Joe Lauzon 155
Jason Brilz 205 VS Brad Morris 205
Mike Massenzio 185 VS Drew McFedries 185
Dan Miller 185 VS Rob Kimmons 185

Check out Video highlights of the weigh-ins as well as a photo gallery for the bandwidth challenged.

 (Photos:UFC.com) 

Chris Leben is one of the most colorful characters to come out of “The Ultimate Fighter” franchise. While some fighters have enjoyed immediate success following their stint on the show, Leben has been developing into a more mature and well rounded fighter in front of the world and with a respectable 7-3 record since his season on Spike TV.  A brawler at heart, Leben has made a real effort to round out his game while at the same time bringing stability to his personal life.  “The Crippler” relocated to Hawaii to train and coach full time and the benefits of the new lifestyle have been evident in his physique and his fighting style ever since.

As much as a man can change and develop though, when you have KO power like Leben, it’s hard not to fall back on it and hey… why not?  It works and the fans love a Knock-out!

With a fight against TUF 3 Light Heavyweight winner Michael Bisping in the works for UFC 89 on Oct 19th, in Birmingham, England - Leben will have another chance to showcase his power against a fighter who isn’t afraid to stand up and bang.  Bisping is hardly one dimensional, but his willingness to stand up with “The Crippler” should give a big advantage to Leben and his one punch, fight finishing left hand.  Jorge Rivera, Terry Martin and Alessio Sakara all found out the hard way that standing and trading shots with Leben is a recipe for disaster.

Leben acknowledged the challenges of the fight with Bisping on a recent Myspace blog entry;

I was kinda making a joke the other day when asked about my impression of the fight. I said, “He’ll probably hit me about 20 times, and then I’ll hit him once.” That might be how that fight goes.

In other words, he’s got great foot movement, his hands … he’s definitely faster than I am — I’ll go ahead and say it. He’s faster than I am; he’s got good foot movement, good head movement. But I don’t think he’s got the big guns like I do. I don’t think he’s got that huge knockout power.

Bottom line is, everybody’s hit me a lot of times in every fight I’ve ever been in. I think this fight against Michael Bisping, I’d be lying to you if I thought it was going to be any different. I’m going to go out there, he’s going to land some shots, I’m sure, and then I’m going to land a big shot that’s just going to crumble him.”

It may not be the most precise game-plan, but it certainly plays to Leben’s strengths.  You have to think that Bisping will look for the take-down and a submission victory at any opportunity, regardless of comments regarding his willingness to stand and strike.  As for the ground scenario, Leben has a similar approach in mind;

“Well if it goes to the ground and he’s on top, I’m going to work to stand back up. He likes to be standing and punching and working to pass, which is a great skill, a great way to pass guard I think in MMA. He was doing that well in his last fight, so I think I’ll work to stand back up.

If I take him down and I’m on top, I’ll look to pass guard, beat on him, and if he gives me a submission, I’ll take it; otherwise, I’ll just continue to punch him in the face.”

Despite the plan to power punch a victory in this fight, Chris is still looking to fight a smarter fight each time out.  It’s a fine line though and Leben always seems to err on the side of fan entertainment.  It is a fight after all and with Leben in the headline match against a home town hero, it could be a career defining match at that.

This is one that I am definitely looking forward to seeing… Check out the rest of Chris’s blog entries here.

(Photos:Houstontheassassin.com)

April 2nd is a big night for UFC fans… they will be treated to an extended fight card (3hrs) on Spike TV, featuring a wealth of Lightweight talent and a main event of Kenny Florian Vs Joe Lauzon.  One of the bonus gifts so to speak though, will be the return of Houston Alexander to the Octagon in a Light Heavyweight tilt against James “The Sandman” Irvin.

 Houston “The Assassin” Alexander took the UFC by storm in 2007 with a huge KO victory over Keith Jardine in his UFC debut.  That alone created the Houston buzz, but of course with the brutal KO victory coming in just 41 seconds, fans were looking for validation that Alexander was indeed the real deal.  Much of the publicity following the Jardine fight detailed a long amateur and near underground pro career for Alexander, who worked primarily as a radio DJ  prior to his UFC debut. 

Many felt that the second fight would be a real test of Houston’s MMA prowess, meeting boxer turned MMA talent  Alessio Sakara.  Alexander again pulled out a stunning, 61 second KO victory which got the bandwagon rolling at full speed.  No one could question Houston’s prowess in a stand-up war, but some questions lingered regarding his ground game.  The bottom line is that no-one had seen it and it remained the one true unknown in what appeared to be a dominant new force in the Light Heavyweight division.

Fight number three would prove to be the turning point for Alexander, as he met Thiago Silva, a fighter with a 11-0 record and a KO trend (9 of 11) that belied his true BJJ skill-set.  Silva appeared to control Alexander on the feet and once taking him down rather easily, was able to ground and pound out a KO victory over “the Assassin” in less than 3 1/2 minutes of the first round.

In a recent interview with Yahoo Sports! columnist Kevin Iole, Alexander’s trainer Mick Doyle made some comments that were news to me regarding events that preceded Alexander’s loss to Silva on November 17th, 2007;

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