The “perfect storm” of a Randy Couture resignation, Sean Sherk steroids appeal and the long-awaited showdown between former champions Chuck Liddell and Wanderlei Silva in December has perhaps bumped the 155-pound UFC 79 title fight that includes BJ Penn to a later date.
In fact, FightNetwork.com is reporting that it could go down in early February during SuperBowl weekend (the date Couture was supposed to defend his crown).
“The Prodigy” was penciled in for the New Year’s Eve weekend event to face either Sherk or Joe Stevenson (if Sherk is suspended) for the lightweight title. Even before that Penn was supposed to challenge “The Muscle Shark” during the main event at UFC 78 next month.
However, the current division champ tested positive for steroids following his successful title defense against Hermes Franca in July at UFC 73. He has appealed the decision and the California State Athletic Commission (CSAC) will issue a ruling on October 31.
Deep breath.
Therefore, with one title already on the line come December 29 (Matt Serra vs. Matt Hughes) and a headliner-worthy match up between Liddell and Silva also more than likely on the undercard, it’s possible that the presence of Penn on UFC 79 is unnecessary.
In fact, the eventual fight could be used to sell seats and pay-per-views (PPVs) to a show just a few weeks later.
Nothing is set in stone or official at this time. There just seems to be some musical match-making chairs going on behind the scenes that we want to pass along.
Stay tuned for more details. This picture should be cleared up after this weekend and the hearing on Halloween.
In the meantime check out the UFC 79: “Nemesis” card right here.
I know this post is like beating a dead horse, but UFC President Dana White makes some solid statements tonight (many things can be lost in print) and the ESPN reporter asks all the right questions … almost.
I’ve been critical of Dana White recently in how he’s handled himself from a PR standpoint in regard to Randy Couture’s resignation from the UFC. However, in this video with ESPN host Josh Elliott, White is at his best. He really stepped up to the plate with this interview and played it beautifully.
Dana should keep a copy of this video handy and play it before every interview with the mainstream media:
It’s the policy of 5 Oz. to never violate copyright when it comes to content but if ESPN is going to make UFC-related video available for posting, I’m not going to complain.
Below is video of Anderson Silva and Rich Franklin that was filmed following today’s weigh-ins in Cincinnati:
Here’s video of comments from Brandon Vera and Tim Sylvia:
I watched the UFC 77 weigh in results on a high quality stream on Yahoo! Sports. Very well done, smooth vidoe stream, I can’t say enough about what a good job Yahoo! does with UFC and other MMA video content.
Here are some pics from the UFC 77 weigh in and the weights are listed below:
Middleweight: Anderson Silva (184.5) vs. Rich Franklin (184)
Heavyweight: Tim Sylvia (260.5) vs. Brandon Vera (225.5)
Light-Heavyweight: Stephan Bonnar (204) vs. Eric Schafer (203)
Middleweight: Kalib Starnes (186) vs. Alan Belcher (186)
Lightweight: Jorge Gurgel (155) vs. Alvin Robinson (155.5)
Middleweight: Jason MacDonald (184.5) vs. Yushin Okami (186)
Middleweight: Ryan Jensen (185.5) vs. Demian Maia (185)
Welterweight: Josh Burkman (171.5) vs. Forrest Petz (170)
Lightweight: Jason Black (156) vs. Matt Grice (155)
(HT to UFC Mania for the weigh in updates)
We’ll have updated UFC 77 results as they happen. Adam Morgan will be at the event so check back Sunday for notes and happenings from UFC 77.
The field of 18 fighters for UFC 77: “Hostile Territory” have all weighed-in for the pay-per-view (PPV) event tomorrow night from the U.S. Bank Arena in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Welterweight Josh Burkman was the only one to not make weight initially, shedding every layer of clothing he had to try and make the 170-pound limit. He came in at 171.5 and eventually made weight. He is now good to go.
Other than that it was a rather uneventful event. However, it seems as though the lightweight fight between hometown product Jorge Gurgel and his opponent, Alvin Robinson, have been bumped up to the main card.
That guarantees at least five televised fights. The middleweight showdown between Yushin Okami and Jason MacDonald is not among them, however.
Here are the official results:
185 lbs.: Anderson Silva (184.5) vs. Rich Franklin (184) Hvywt.: Tim Sylvia (260.5) vs. Brandon Vera (225.5) 205 lbs.: Stephan Bonnar (204) vs. Eric Schafer (203) 185 lbs.: Kalib Starnes (186) vs. Alan Belcher (186) 155 lbs.: Jorge Gurgel (155) vs. Alvin Robinson (155.5) 185 lbs.: Jason MacDonald (184.5) vs. Yushin Okami (186) 185 lbs.: Ryan Jensen (185.5) vs. Demian Maia (185) 170 lbs.: Josh Burkman (171) vs. Forrest Petz (170) 155 lbs.: Jason Black (156) vs. Matt Grice (155)
The televised portion of the pay-per-view (PPV) event begins Saturday, October 20, at 10 p.m. ET. We will provide LIVE blow-by-blow, round-by-round coverage of the main card action at this time.
UFC 77 quick results, however, will begin to flow earlier than that here at UFCmania.com at about 8:30 p.m. ET with the prelim fights.
It’s going to be a killer night — see you all then!
For more on this new theme for the Donald Trump program click here. “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy” joins Omarosa, Lennox Lewis, Gene Simmons, Stephen Baldwin, Carol Alt, Vinny Pasture, John Cena, Marilu Henner and others on the CBS reality series.
Either cooler heads are prevailing or the UFC spin machine is back in full force surrounding the Randy Couture retirement/resignation situation.
Regardless, it seems that Dana White is sounding a bit more humane in his recent comments at the UFC 77 pre-fight press conference. Instead of pushing his agenda, White actually seems somewhat genuine, calling Couture his friend and revealing a touching moment between he and BJ Penn:
“The biggest loss for me is that I consider the guy a friend. We all have different paths to walk down..I don’t know what he’s doing. The things that hurts the most is he called us liars. I can tell you Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta have never lied to anyone. The whole thing is mind-boggling.”
“This is not Randy Couture. He’s upset. If this was Tito. I would sit up here and tell you 50 million bad things about the guy. Sometimes friends fight. We’ll see what happens.”
“There isn’t anyone taking better care of fighters than us,” said White, who confirmed that he was in Hawaii with B.J. Penn when he got news of the Couture resignation. “B.J. left and realized it wasn’t a great situation over (in Japan). I was with B.J. the day (Couture resigned) and he said I wish I call to talk to Randy”
White also comments on the prospect of other fighters leaving in the same manner as Couture:
“If these guys were unhappy, they’d just walk out. You’ve got a lot of people, Mark Cuban and Showtime, throwing money around. IFL has thrown so much around they’ve almost put themselves out of business. I’ve got guys on 3,4,5,6 fight deals. Why are they re-signing?”
True to form, White still dropped a few F-bombs but at least he came off less abrasive this time around. Could this be a sneak peak at a kinder, gentler Dana White? Only time will tell…
The “perfect storm” of a Randy Couture resignation, Sean Sherk steroids appeal and the long-awaited showdown between former champions Chuck Liddell and Wanderlei Silva in December has perhaps bumped the 155-pound UFC 79 title fight that includes BJ Penn to a later date.
