(Photo:UFC.com)

With the plague of changes to the fight card for UFC 85, scheduled for June 7th in London, England, it’s a wonder that they even bother to post a fight card online, let alone the graphical fight card style used on the UFC 85 web page.  The UFC seems to like the format… I know I did for the UFC 84 site and they are sticking with it again.  There seems to be a bit less functionality in the UFC 85 site this time though, likely because of the number of changes as well as the tight grouping of events lately.

Either way, the site looks good, with the 3D fighter line-up giving that more modern video game feel.  We had to include a shot of our formerly sponsored Canadian fighter and friend of the site, Jason “Dooms” Day as he sports his fight shorts with the MMASPLATTER logo.  Best of luck to Jason in his upcoming bout against home town hero, Michael “The Count” Bisping.  I believe it’s a good match up for Jay and am confident he can get the win and keep on moving up the Middleweight ranks.

Detailed fight analysis and predictions for UFC 85 will be posted shortly…

 (Photo:Sherdog.com)

Brock Lesnar is back on the fight card for UFC 87 ‘Seek and Destroy” .  He will face Heath Herring in the event, scheduled for August 9th at the Target Center in Minneapolis, MN.  Lesnar was originally scheduled to headline the event, which is being held in his home state but those plans were scrapped when his opponent, UFC and all around MMA veteran, Mark Coleman was forced out of the event due to a knee injury. The main bout was then replaced with a Welterweight Title bout between current champion Georges St. Pierre and Jon Fitch.  A co-main event was confirmed with a lightweight contender match between Kenny Florian and Roger Huerta, who is another home-state hero.

The fact that Lesnar is on the card makes sense.  He doesn’t come cheap to the organization and with the fight taking place on home turf, his fan appeal is heightened even more than usual.  The fight with Herring is likely a more dangerous one than the original Coleman match.  Coleman has not fought in 18 months since a loss to the elusive MMA super-hero, Fedor Emelianenko.  Herring on the other hand, is coming off a tough split decision victory against Cheick Kongo.  Herring is a talented and dangerous, if inconsistent fighter that is a veteran in the sport at 30 years old.  

As for Lesnar, he certainly is taking tough fights for a guy getting his feet wet in the big leagues.  Debuting against former UFC Heavyweight Champ Frank Mir and then after dropping the fight amid some level of controversy, taking a follow-up match against Heath Herring? Lesnar is certainly not running from anyone.

With a transition from the world of professional wrestling, Lesnar and the UFC certainly appear to be intentionally avoiding the type of critical spotlight that has followed Kimbo Slice in his transition from YouTube to PPV.  As for this fight, I really have no preference for a winner but will be interested to see if Lesnar can pull out a win or even threaten a seasoned fighter such as Herring.   In my opinion, this is truly a much improved match for Brock Lesnar and a better barometer for the world to measure his skill development.

 (Photo:Sherdog.com)

In a recent interview with MMAWeekly, former UFC Light Heavyweight champion, Tito Ortiz confirmed that he has made a formal decision to move on to greener pastures.  Much has been made over the years regarding the personal conflicts between UFC president Dana White and the outspoken Ortiz.  No matter who you believe in the sound bites, whether it’s the problem of Dana White being a slave driver and spotlight seeker or it’s Tito being a greedy primadonna, the end result is the same… Tito is out.

 It’s not exactly a sad moment as a fan, but it’s not a great feeling either. Certainly, Tito does not seem capable of holding the title these days but he really does make all of his bouts entertaining.  It’s a trade-off that the fans witnessed first hand in the Octagon at UFC 84, with the Ortiz Vs. Machida match.  Lyoto Machida is a highly skilled fighter and undefeated in the organization.  He fights to win though, and not to finish and in doing so, the entertainment factor in most of his bouts is lost.  Ortiz has a shady record over the last few years, but you can’t deny that he brings emotion and hype to every fight.

Either way, the damage is done and Tito will be looking for work with other promotions in the near future.  In the interview, Tito confirmed that,

“He would like to have another fight set up by September or October and he will be judging promotions on many things including marketing, promotion and various other factors.”

Perhaps the time away from the UFC will help Tito get back to his winning ways.  He knows he is marketable as a big name attraction, but that big name will only stay if he can get back to winning the big fights in the future.  Game fighters with big personality are great, but if I want personality and a well rounded skill set, I would go for Shonie Carter who is gonna bring it for a lot less money, even if he won’t pack the place in the process.

Tito seems to be enjoying the separation already saying,

“I can sleep now and not worry about what’s going to be said about me. I don’t have to worry about what I have to say to make sure I say the right thing.  I’m sick of kissing ass and I’m not doing it anymore.”

While I can appreciate that Tito is enjoying the lack of conflict, I would hardly call wearing a shirt calling the president of your company your BITCH, “kissing ass”.   More to come on the new adventures of Tito Ortiz in the near future…

 (Image:UFC.com)

This week’s episode will kick off the quarter final matches and it’s another double header with Jesse Taylor meeting Dante Rivera and Matt Brown Vs Amir Sadollah.

The first scene is a post quarter final fight selection discussion regarding the issue of cornering the fighters. All of the four fighters in tonight’s episode are from team Forrest (that’s the downside of cleaning up in the preliminary bouts) and he can only corner 2 of the four fighters.  Forrest opts to go with a coin toss and the result is that he will corner Jesse and Amir while Rampage will corner Matt and Dante. Rampage is fine with the situation noting that he has no issue with either fighter.

We jump to some of the usual silliness in the house. It seems that Jesse Taylor is having issues with eating a healthy diet and although he is working on improving he admits to a passion for Oreos and Cheeseburgers.  He is eating some green beans while preparing microwavable cheeseburgers.  The other fighters in the house comment on his poor diet and how he is a genetic freak, able to consume pure junk but he still is in great shape.

Off to the Team Rampage training session and Dante and Matt are joining the crew this time.  Dante is training hard and commenting that he feels really loose and ready for his fight.. more-so than his last fight.

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 (Photos:UFC.com)

MMAWeekly has reported the following bonuses were issued following last night’s event in Las Vegas, NV.  The Event was a great one with BJ Penn and Sean Sherk settling the argument about who is the real Lightweight Champion, Wanderlei Silva finding his groove again, and Tito Ortiz going out in typical Ortiz fashion.

The incentive awards issued to fighters were as follows:

Knock Out of the Night -Went to Wanderlei Silva for his old school aggressive beating of Keith Jardine that left the Dean of Mean layed out for longer than the fight even lasted.  

Submission of the Night -Went to Rousimar Palhares for his super slick BJJ work resulting in an early arm-bar submission victory over Ivan Salaverry.

Fight of the Night -The most coveted prize…went to Goran Reljic and Wilson Gouveia for their back and fight stand-up battle.  Reljic was super dangerous with monster head kicks that threatened to end the fight from the very beginning as Gouveia was dropped by a shot that he blocked, but it still hurt him.  Gouveia was able to press the punching game and had Reljic in some serious trouble, although the fight would go to the newcomer Reljic who kept his composure and finished Gouveia with a big punch that folded him, leaving him prone to the subsequent ground and pound stoppage that followed.

The fighters received a hefty $75,000 bonus for their solid effort and that makes the loss for Gouveia a lot easier to handle, I’m sure.  Last year I believe the bonuses were much closer to $30,000, so that is substantial growth to the subjective perk structure.

 (Photo:Sherdog.com)

UFC 85 “Bedlam”, scheduled for June 7th in London, England has been one of the biggest fight card challenges for the UFC in a while.  Originally the main event was supposed to be Chuck Liddell Vs Mauricio Rua until Rua suffered a knee injury that forced Rashad Evans into a replacement role.  Evans was in a great position to get a shot at the former champion and really step up to the elite level of competition in the Light Heavyweight division…. until Chuck Liddell injured a hamstring that will keep him off the fight scene for a few months at least. 

James Irving, fresh off his recent KO victory over Houston Alexander stepped up to take Liddell’s place and although the fight lost main event status (replaced by Matt Hughes Vs. Thiago Alves) it was still intact.  This was a workable fight with two decent LHW contenders, although it was a serious step up up in status for  Irvin (by his own admission). 

That fight, hanging on by a thread took its final shot on Thursday when , as reported on Sportsnet.ca, Irvin announced he had suffered a broken foot during training, forcing the fight off the card entirely.  It only makes sense, the event is literally 2 weeks away and any replacement would be far less than prepared enough to take a fight against Rashad Evans.  Speaking of Evans, he may have suffered more than the others, switching stepping up, switching opponents and going through the toughest part of a training camp only to have the plug pulled on his fight 2 weeks before the big night. That has to hurt…

Expect Rashad to show up on another event card soon, although by then he will likely feel like he has been training forever.  I guess the downside of trimming the fighter roster in the UFC is that with high profile fighters competing more often, the chance of injuries increases.  Hopefully the event is more a case of bad luck than a glimpse of the future fight card scheduling.  

 (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.

 (Image:UFC.com)

WEC will be airing a Faber Vs. Pulver preview show titled “Outside the Cage” that will air next Monday, May 26th on the VERSUS  Network.  The show is a one hour behind he scenes look at both fighters and is reminiscent of the popular UFC promotional spots that air in the week leading up to PPV events.

In a quote from the WEC site,

” The program will give viewers unprecedented access to Urijah Faber, Jens Pulver and Miguel Torres in advance of their showdowns on June 1. The special includes exclusive behind-the-scenes footage of each fighter in their hometowns, in their training facilities and in their homes as they prepare both physically and mentally for their respective fights.”

This is a huge fight for the WEC as both Pulver and Faber have a huge fan following and it is in many ways the intersection of old school MMA and the new breed of MMA.   The card doesn’t really need much in the way of promotion, but the fans will certainly appreciate the sneak peek at the two fighters leading up to what is destined to be an epic featherweight showdown.
Check the VERSUS site for channel information in your area.

(Photos: Sherdog.com) 

The UFC is bringing their show to Minnesota for the first time ever and they are doing it up in style. The event which is scheduled for August 9th at the Target Center, will feature a solid Lightweight tilt between top contenders Kenny Florian and hometown boy Roger Huerta.  Huerta and Florian represent the Lightweight division perfectly with intensity, aggressiveness and massive fan appeal.

As if that wasn’t enough to make the card attractive to the fans, today the UFC announced the addition of the much anticipated Welterweight title bout between Georges St. Pierre and Jon Fitch as the main event for the UFC 87 card.

Those two fights can pretty much sell any card, regardless of how you fill in the other spots.

On another note, Brock Lesnar who was originally set to face veteran Mark Coleman will have a new opponent to deal with as Coleman has suffered a knee injury in training.  A replacement for the Lesnar fight has not been announced at this time.

More to come on that piece of news…  I wonder how long it would take to drive from Toronto to Minnesota?

 (Image:UFC.com) 

It’s time to get in the Spike TV Octagon again for episode 8 of The Ultimate Fighter “Team Forrest Vs. Team Rampage”. This week we are looking forward to the final preliminary fight between CB Dollaway and Nick Klein as well as an emotional outburst from Forrest Griffin.  Sounds good so far.

The show starts with a recap of the Schultz Vs. Yarbrough  fight and the decision victory for Yarbrough after two rounds that set Rampage off.  He yells at Forrest that their fight isn’t going to end like that, and he bets his entire purse on it!!!….

Remember of course that Forrest also just caught some lip from recent team Rampage loser Pat Schultz who told him to get back to his corner and that he can’t wait for the fight between Forrest and Rampage.  Needless to say, it’s enough to take quirky Forrest Griffin and turn him into crazy Forrest Griffin.  He walks pretty calmly to the locker room and kicks the door into pieces… literally.  He is then pacing around and bouncing and shadow boxing with his adrenaline overload. 

  In the follow-up interviews he makes some funny statement about this being the getting mad business and that Rampage is “Rampage” and he is “Temper Tantrum”.  I don’t think I have heard a nickname for Forrest so that one may work well.

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