TOPPS has recently released a new UFC trading card set and as part of the promotion around the product, there have been some special, golden triple autographed cards (Tito, Chuck and Dana) inserted into random packages that will turn out to be a big bonus to the lucky individual who is first to find one and get in touch with the UFC to claim the prize.
Dana White( playing Willy Wonka) and TOPPS had this to say about the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory type promotion;
The first collector to find one of the 10 randomly inserted triple autograph cards featuring Dana White, Chuck Liddell, and Tito Ortiz and email Topps at UFCprize@topps.com will win a never before offered unique opportunity.
The winner and a guest will receive an all expenses paid trip to Las Vegas to be Dana White’s guest at the UFC Training Center. While there you will tour the gym, meet the coaches and contestants from hit Spike TV show, The Ultimate Fighter Season 12, and sit cage side with Dana during one of the TUF preliminary matches.
The other 9 lucky collectors will receive a pair of UFC gloves signed by Dana, Chuck, and Tito.
Well…so much for second place. This looks like a first or basically nothing type deal when you compare the prize levels.
Frank Mir made some pretty negative remarks during a recent radio interview where he discussed his hatred for Brock Lesnar as a human being and was basically elaborating on how much he would personally like to hurt him in the Octagon.
In an interview with WXDX-FM Mir stated that he wanted Lesnar “to be the first person that dies due to Octagon-related injuries.” Well… it turns out that the UFC brass don’t appreciate fighters in their employ making comments about killing each other in the ring, especially intentionally, so they put their foot down. (likely hitting Mir in the ass on the way)
In a release from the UFC today Dana White stated;
“I was disappointed by Frank Mir’s comments,” said White. “Frank’s been with the UFC a long time, he’s a two-time heavyweight champion and a commentator for the WEC. I think his emotions are running high right now, he has a big fight coming up next month and he’s still upset about his loss to Lesnar. He’s been talked to, he regrets what he said, and he won’t be saying anything like that again.”
“I would like to apologize to Brock Lesnar, his family, the UFC and the UFC fans for my stupid remarks,” said Mir. “I respect Brock, all the other fighters, and the sport of mixed martial arts. I’m sorry that I stepped out of line.”
I’m not surprised that Mir’s behaviour was quickly corrected and personally found the comments to be crossing the line. The UFC has and is continuing to work so hard to promote the sport and their business into new markets, often defending the perceived brutality of the matches in an effort to win over legislators and regulatory bodies. A few comments like this can obviously do a lot to undermine that work and clearly don’t sit well with the boys in charge.
Mike Swick recently posted this video from a trip to Thailand… in this clip Swick and Huerta are at some sort of Snake farm and getting some exposure to some real venomous ones. The clip is pretty long, the end is pretty entertaining.
As per the UFC.com news item posted today, the organization has come to an agreement with NCM Fathom to screen UFC PPV events in movie theatres nationwide. This is certainly another way to market the events and presents an entertaining option for those who may be too young to enjoy the fights in a typical bar type environment. Always hustling… Dana White stated;
“This is an opportunity to provide our fans with another cool way to watch UFC programming on the big-screen, live, in high-def and in surround sound,” said White. “UFC 111 has a stacked undercard and St-Pierre vs. Hardy and Mir vs. Carwin are both title fights, so this is the perfect event to kick off our new deal with NCM Fathom.”
Check out the promo for this new UFC event product that is set to have UFC fighters hosting at least some of the first events.
Tickets are available to this special in-theater event at www.FathomEvents.com and presenting theater box offices. For a complete list of theater locations and prices, please visit the web site (theaters and participants are subject to change).
UFC 110 is underway with a pretty solid card lined up for the first trip to Australia for the UFC and the crowd looks really pumped up.
Jumping right into the action…
Anthony Perosh vs Mirko Cro-Cop:
Round 1 -Cro-Cop basically stalks Perosh in circles around the Octagon while inflicting significant if not fight ending damage to Perosh on the feet. Perosh, a BJJ specialist repeatedly attempts to shoot in on Cro-Cop for the take-down to work from his strength, but Mirko is very effective at stuffing the take-down attempts. In addition, with every stuffed shot, Cro-Cop lands a few hammer fists and head shots to inflict what is sure to be incremental damage to Perosh as the fight goes on.
Round 2 -See round 1 - except for in the final minute, Cro-Cop intentionally enters Perosh’s guard and drops an elbow that immediately looks to be a fight ender due to the blood. The doctors’ step in and give Perosh the opportunity to continue if he wants…he chooses to keep going. He ends up on the ground again a few seconds later and is close to getting finished by big left hands from Cro-Cop as the round ends.
Round 3??- Nope - The doctors stop the fight after taking another look at the still gushing cut to Perosh’s forehead in between rounds.
A very dominant performance for Mirko Cro-Cop and is his post fight interview he is very humble…thanking Perosh for taking the fight on short notice and commenting on Perosh demonstrating Croation courage by continuing after the cut. (Perosh is an Australian of Croation heritage)
Ryan Bader vs Keith Jardine:
Round 1 - Bader comes out pretty strong and looks to control Jardine on the feet while Jardine has that typical gorilla style striking that is hard to anticipate. Baser is swinging a bit wild, looking to get the big KO, but Jardine is countering pretty well each time. After 2 minutes of trading on the feet, Bader gets a nice takedown and Jardine may not be able to get up for the rest of the round. Jardine has a half guard as Bader works him pretty effectively with strikes.
with 40 seconds remaining in the round, Jardine gets a good guard in place and the ref stands the fights up. They both windmill some big shots that don’t connect very well for the last few seconds as the round ends.
Round 1 goes to Bader for the takedown and control.
Spike just posted a promo clip for the next season of the popular UFC reality series, “The Ultimate Fighter”. The series is heading into it’s 11th season which is very impressive and that success speaks to the continual growth in popularity of Mixed Martial Arts as a sport.
Spike and the UFC are coming off a solid season last year where they were able to leverage the marketability of Kimbo Slice to reel in solid ratings for the season. The show has used several formats over time, including multiple and single weight classes, national pride angles with USA vs UK and this year have gone back to the most familiar angle - looking to work off the animosity of two fighters as coaches, who will meet at the seasons end to see who can back up their trash talk.
Yes, it’s Chuck Liddell returning from a pseudo retirement following a few brutal losses, to coach against his generally less than formidable nemesis, Tito Ortiz. Well… to be clear, Chuck has shown in 2 previous fights that he is (or at least was) the better fighter, KOing Ortiz both times, but Ortiz certainly has the larger personality and the undisputed UFC trash talking title.
The animosity between these two has been publicised for so long now that it’s enough to make you wonder whether any real hatred is still there. The negative energy between the two fighters simply translates into revenue for each of them… especially as Liddell struggles to stay relevant as a top level competitor following multiple KO losses and a plea from Dana White to retire. The look on Chuck’s face when listening to or talking about Tito seems to indicate more if a comical dislike or annoyance with Ortiz rather than anger.
I guess Ortiz is more like a pest to Liddell and it makes sense considering he has stopped Ortiz twice in the Octagon, but still can’t stop his mouth from coming back for more. Say what you want about Ortiz as a fighter, but he is one of the best in the sport when it comes to capitalizing on his public persona and marketing his fights to turn in great PPV numbers for the UFC.
So… check out the promo video below for the coming season and get ready to enjoy the banter and the fights as a new crop of Middleweight fighters compete to get a spot on the UFC’s 185lb fighter roster.
Check out this Spiketv.com video interview which features Dana White, Martin Kampmann and others discussing the improvements in this years version of UFC Undisputed.
Apparently lots of improved striking options, new fighters and believe it or not, improved visual presentation are promised in the newest version of the game from THQ. Judging from the image above, they certainly got the tattoos right and have photo realistic imaging of over 100 fighters in this offering.
The weigh ins just wrapped for UFC 110 which takes place a s the UFC’s first event in Australia tomorrow night.
All fighters made weight without much issue* and it looks like the fighters are ready to go. Michael Bisping amd Wanderlei Silva had a lot of pre fight hype and chatter already, so their staredown was pretty intense…as if Wanderlei needs a reason to be intense.
Official results are as follows:
Main event: Cain Velasquez (243 - 110kg) vs Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (234 -106kg)
Main Card: Michael Bisping (185 - 84kg) vs Wanderlei Silva (185 – 84 kg)
George Sotiropoulos (154 - 70kg) vs Joe Stevenson (154 - 70kg)
Ryan Bader (205 - 93kg) vs Keith Jardine (205 – 93kg)
Anthony Perosh (216 - 98kg) vs Mirko Cro Cop (234 - 106kg)
Undercard: Krzysztof Soszynski (205 - 93kg) vs Stephan Bonnar (205 - 93kg)
Brian Foster (172 - 78kg)* vs Chris Lytle (170 - 77kg)
Goran Reljic (185 – 84kg) vs CB Dollaway (185 - 84kg)
James Te Huna (205.25 – 93 kg) vs Igor Pokrajac (205 – 92.987kg)
*On his second try, Foster weighed in at 170 pounds - 77 kg.
Notes:
* Krzysztof Soszynski and Ryan Bader looked absolutely ripped (as usual)
* Biggest fan cheers went to Mirko Cro Cop, Michael Bisping and Nogueira
* Joe “Daddy” Stevenson does a nice stripper impersonation via tear away track pants.
Check out the full video replay of the weigh-ins here. Check out pictures from the weigh-ins here.
So 2010, looks to be well on the road to another injury plagued year and it really should be expected considering the nature of the sport. Because it is a sport and entertainment… one man’s set back becomes another man’s opportunity. The set back in this case was for UFC veteran and recent returnee, Vitor Belfort, who was slated to meet Anderson Silva in a title match @ UFC 112 after easily dispatching Rich Franklin in his first fight back with the organization. In the lucky corner, stands Demian Maia, who was edging so close to this fight last year, before suffering a devastating KO loss to a surging Nate Marquardt that dropped him back down a few rungs.
With Belfort injured, the logical choice would have been Chael Sonnen who has been mouthing off about wanting a chance to expose Anderson Silva and just came off a big win over fellow top contender Nate Marquardt. With Marquardt getting the loss and Sonnen too injured from the last fight to compete so soon, the UFC turned to Maia as their replacement pick.
“It’s always tough when a top fighter like Vitor Belfort has to pull out of a big title fight, but we have found a high quality replacement,” said UFC President Dana White. “Top contender Chael Sonnen was not available due to injuries sustained in his fight with Nate Marquardt so top six middleweight Demian Maia will step in to fight for the title. Maia is an Abu Dhabi grappling champion, a five-time Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu world champion, and he is 12-1 in MMA and coming off a win over Dan Miller at UFC 109. Anderson Silva vs Demian Maia will be a matchup between MMA’s best striker and MMA’s best grappler.”
So, while it may not be the top 2 Middleweight fighters in the UFC competing for the title at UFC 112 in Abu Dhabi, it is still a pretty intriguing match-up. Silva has shown some vulnerability on the ground and Demian Maia is undoubtedly one of the best ground fighters in the organization. Maia showcased some budding striking skills at UFC 109 where he pulled out a convincing decision victory over Dan Miller in what was almost purely a stand-up fight. That means little against a top level striker like Silva, but it may give Maia just enough time to get the fight to the ground and is at least an indication that Maia is realistic about the dangers of staying one dimensional while trying to make a run at a the title.
So… Maia can certainly get KO’s quickly like we saw from Marquardt, so the smart money is still on Silva to end this early. If he plays around too much though, and doesn’t take Maia as a serious opponent as he has been prone to do in recent fights, Silva could end up on the wrong side of some serious BJJ skills and wondering what went wrong.
It’s not the fight I would necessarily pick given a single chance to upset Silva’s title run, but when it airs on April 10th, it’s still a fight that I would pay to see.
Well, it didn’t take long for this one to fall apart. The UFC Light Heavyweight Championship bout between Vitor Belfort and Anderson Silva, tentatively scheduled for April’s UFC 112 event in Abu Dhabi, has apparently been scratched due to a should injury suffered by Belfort.
Belfort had been attempting to train with the injury (avoiding the use of that arm) but after receiving a proper diagnosis, has been forced out of the fight.
tatame.com posted the following bit of news on the subject:
“Jayme Sandall, Karate trained of the challenger, revealed to TATAME.com that Belfort had a shoulder injury, but he doesn’t know how bad it is. “He was training but not using the arm for a long time because of the injury, he said he’d stop for a while. He said he’d have it scanned to know how bad it is, but I don’t talk with him for 15 days and I don’t know about the results”.
In case this news confirms, it’ll be the second time that the UFC is forced to postpone the battle, which was set to the UFC 108 event in January 2, but Silva had to cancel the fight due to an elbow surgery. “
The news was also confirmed, albeit in minimalist terms, via Dana White’s Twitter where he posted the following short story;
So…bad news for fight fans, but maybe good news for Chael Sonnen who has made a lot of recent comments about being someone who can expose Anderson Silva. Sonnen was scheduled to fight the winner of Silva vs Belfort anyway after his recent domination of Nate Marquardt at UFC 109 placed him in clear title contention. Looks like Sonnen will get a chance to back up his comments sooner than later.
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