November 25th, 2007
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According to MMAMania.com, Mike Swick is going to be making his welterweight debut against Josh Burkman at UFC’s Ultimate Fight Night 12 on January 23.
MMAMania is reporting:
No official bout agreements have been signed; however, the match up is more or less a “done deal” from what we hear.
Also, it looks like the venue for this card will be held at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida. Now that a venue has been locked, an official card will start to materialize very soon.
More details to come.
Written by admin on November 25th, 2007 with comments disabled.
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By Paul Balsom
Amidst all the UFC cards, EliteXC’s “Renegade” card, the Randy Couture drama, and the introduction of HDNet Fights and M-1 Global, many people may not remember the amazing WEC card taking place on Versus on December 12. There are 3 title fights featuring Urijah Faber, Doug Marshall, and Paulo Filho. A major point of interest of the night, however, is the fight between Cub Swanson and UFC and PRIDE-veteran Jens Pulver. Swanson has been on a tear in the WEC 145-pound division, beating opponent Tommy Lee via guillotine choke in the first round in March, and most recently showing a dominating performance against Micah Miller in June, winning an exciting unanimous decision victory. I got the chance to catch up with Cub Swanson on Thanksgiving Day, and he told me all about his road to becoming a fighter, as well as his thoughts on his upcoming fight with Jens Pulver, Pulver’s reported injuries, and much more.
Paul Balsom: So, how’s training going the second time around?
Cub Swanson: It’s going really well. At first, I was dragging ass to get back into it but now I’m full steam ahead. No problems.
PB: How does it affect your mind and body when you’re expecting to fight, you’ve trained, your body is at its peak, and then your fight gets cancelled?
CS: It’s a really a huge letdown, especially when you train hard. I was definitely in awesome shape. I trained 8 weeks for it. So, to not fight was kind of devastating for me.
PB: Absolutely. Well, you’re fighting in the WEC now. How do you like fighting for them, with Zuffa running it, and you getting to be on free TV?
CS: I love it. I feel like as long as I go in there and show off some of my talent, and get some good fights in there, they will respect me for it. TV has really bumped my name, people are starting to know who I am now, and they treat me good. So yeah, I can’t complain at all.
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Written by admin on November 25th, 2007 with comments disabled.
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Mike Swick is in talks to make his long-awaited welterweight debut against Josh Burkman at UFC Fight Night 12 on January 23, according to MMAmania.com (www.mmamania.com) sources.
No official bout agreements have been signed; however, the match up is more or less a “done deal” from what we hear.
We’re also getting word that the SpikeTV special will take place at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Fla. That is also still being worked on but it seems likely — the venue is available on that Wednesday.
I’ve been on the road for the past two days, which is the reason for the lack of site updates today. I’m also about to board a plane and am using a kind stranger’s laptop to pass along the quick news.
More on this showdown and others tomorrow.
Written by admin on November 25th, 2007 with comments disabled.
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As you may or may not know, Matt Hughes announced on his website last night that he will be fighting Georges St. Pierre at UFC 79 on Dec. 29 for the interim welterweight title. The match was later confirmed via UFC.com.
This bout replaces the previously scheduled welterweight title match between Hughes and Matt Serra that was scrapped after Serra sustained a herniated disk in his lower back during a training session on Monday.
Sometimes pundits question the UFC’s matchmaking ability but it’s time to give credit where credit is due. The UFC has hit a homerun in signing the third installment of the trilogy between Hughes and GSP. Since Wanderlei Silva vs. Chuck Liddell was not at its optimum marketing appeal, the loss of Hughes vs. Serra from the card after all the time and money that was put behind the promotion of it could have been a doomsday situation for the UFC. Simply put, a rumored replacement bout between Hughes and Thiago Alves wasn’t going to cut it.
CLICK HERE TO READ THE REMAINDER OF THIS ARTICLE ON SAM CAPLAN’S PROELITE.COM BLOG
Written by admin on November 25th, 2007 with comments disabled.
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By Gary Herman
With a suspension to current UFC lightweight champion Sean Sherk appearing to be inevitable, the best thing the UFC can do is have a tournament to determine the new titleholder.
Forget interim champion, temporary champion, champion on hold or whatever you want to call it. All that will do is confuse the situation. A tournament will crown the most deserving lightweight champ.
Obviously, the fighters that will occupy the spots (especially the bottom few) will certainly cause a lot of debate, but here are the eight fighters that I believe should be in the tournament:
- BJ Penn
- Joe Stevenson
- Frankie Edgar
- Kenny Florian
- Tyson Griffin
- Roger Huerta
- Clay Guida
- Thiago Tavares
There certainly are many others that would be up for consideration (Spencer Fisher and Din Thomas come to mind). Unfortunately though, due to time considerations (the tournament can’t go on forever), eight fighters is the most reasonable amount. So, much like the BCS rankings in NCAA football, the fighters involved will not be an exact science, but as long as the top four are in and the rest of the list is made up of deserving fighters, I would be ok with whoever is chosen.
Regardless of who the fighters are - if there’s one thing we have learned from watching the recent top lightweight fights, it is that 95% of the time we will witness an excellent match-up. Putting them in one tournament all but guarantees some extremely exciting action.
Also, all the top contenders would have a legitimate shot to win the title, and if Sherk were stripped, wouldn’t that be the fairest way to determine the new champ?
When I spoke with Dana White about this exact subject, he said, “The fans don’t want to see a tournament. They wouldn’t want to see all the fights on one card with guys in the same weight class.”
Well ok, for argument’s sake, let’s assume that is the case and we need to space out the fights. The task would not be very difficult. As an example, all that would be needed for the first round is two fights each on two shows: 12/12 and 12/29. The semi-finals would then take place on the April show, and the five-round final would be in August. Only the last match-up would be five rounds as that is the true championship bout.
Who would benefit from the tournament? In short - everyone.
The fans benefit because of all the potentially compelling match-ups. In addition, interest would be tremendous because all the fights in the competition would have the “big fight” feel to them. Each bout would be do or die.
The fighters benefit because the top guys will each have a true chance to win the championship. No more begging Dana White in post-fight interviews for title fights. Championship matches are few and far between, and the tournament will give eight guys an opportunity to win it.
The UFC benefits because the winner absolutely deserves the title. It will also help to defuse the fans bitterness for the UFC’s champion testing positive for steroids. Finally, by showcasing a fighter that has three wins in three high profile fights, the UFC will have created a new superstar- someone who could be major drawing card in the future.
Obviously, there are some behind-the-scenes issues that would need to be made (contract status, special rules, injury replacements, etc.), but the competition would be a win-win-win for everyone involved.
At the end of the day, we would have great fights, outstanding competition, and a truly deserving UFC lightweight champion.
Written by admin on November 25th, 2007 with comments disabled.
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I gotta say, props to GSP for taking the fight on such short notice after finding out Matt Serra would not be fighting Matt Hughes in December. There is no doubt Georges St. Pierre is a great fighter, and I give him a good chance at beating Matt Hughes.
However, Matt Serra will definitely be cheering for Matt Hughes to win. On the UFC website, Matt Serra said “I can’t believe the position this puts me in, I’m actually rooting for Matt Hughes so I can beat his ass.”
This is a great outcome after the Serra/Hughes fight got canned because of Serra’s injury, and it’s the third fight in a Matt Hughes/Georges St. Pierre trilogy. Both St. Pierre and Hughes have defeated each other once.
I just seem to remember GSP making some excuses after Matt Serra knocked him out, but I think he took some criticism for it. Maybe this time, he’ll come away with a victory and won’t need to make excuses.
I’m also anxious to find out how badly Matt Serra is injured. I know Matt Hughes is talking about an interim welterweight title, and that if Serra can’t fight in a year that the winner of Hughes/GSP 3 be declared the UFC welterweight champ. So… is this injury possibly career-threatening to Matt Serra?
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Written by admin on November 25th, 2007 with comments disabled.
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