With UFC 81: “Breaking Point” in the rear view mirror, we can now set our sights on the next major pay-per-view (PPV) event, UFC 82: “Pride of a Champion,” from the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio, on March 2.
The star-studded card is packed with talent from the bottom up, featuring the 185-pound showdown between UFC Middleweight Champion, Anderson Silva, and the last man to hold the Pride FC 183-pound belt, Dan Henderson.
Here’s the complete confirmed line up:
Main Event:
UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva (20-4) vs. Dan Henderson (22-6)
Main card (televised):
265 lbs.: Cheick Kongo (11-3-1) vs. Heath Herring (27-13)
185 lbs.: Evan Tanner (32-6) vs. Yushin Okami (21-4)
170 lbs.: Jon Fitch (15-2) vs. Chris Wilson (13-3)
170 lbs.: Diego Sanchez (17-2) vs. David Bielkheden (12-5)
Under card (may not be broadcast):
265 lbs.: Andrei Arlovski (11-5) vs. Jake O’Brien (10-0)
170 lbs.: Luke Cummo (6-4) vs. Luigi Fioravanti (11-3)
170 lbs.: Josh Koscheck (9-2) vs. Dustin Hazelett (10-3)
155 lbs.: Jorge Gurgel (11-3) vs. John Halverson (16-5)
Of course, the major issue with this is that Arlovski — a former heavyweight champion who helped put the organization on the map — is competing in a non-televised preliminary bout.
The primary reason behind the decision is that this is the last fight for “The Pitbull” on his contract and there is no indication that the two sides are close to inking an extension. In fact, Arlovski has been on the “sidelines” since he defeated Fabricio Werdum via unanimous decision back in April 2007.
There’s a good possibility the pre-recorded match up can still make the telecast; however, it is no sure thing … especially if he wins.
In addition, a rumored tilt between middleweights Alessio Sakara (12-6) and Chris Leben (17-4) is still floating around, but it has not been confirmed for the Ohio show. That could change soon, it may be moved to another card or perhaps it was nothing more than just a rumor.
Stay tuned.
“Pride of a Champion” is clearly the biggest event of 2008 for the UFC, similar to UFC 68: “The Uprising” back in March 2007. It’s certainly a must-see show, showcasing some great fighters and fights that will have major implications in the welterweight, middleweight and heavyweight divisions going forward.
For UFC 82 ticket details click here. And for all other UFC 82-related information click here.
Written by admin on February 5th, 2008 with comments disabled.
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“Sean Gannon beat him in a street fight. Everyone saw what happened to Sean Gannon when he fought a guy that no one ever heard of (a decisive TKO loss to Branden Lee Hinkle in the UFC). Gannon was in the hospital for three weeks. That’s what would happen to Kimbo Slice if he fought in the UFC. He would get hurt bad – real bad.”
Those thoughts are from none other than UFC President Dana White on street fighting legend and EliteXC heavyweight fighter Kimbo Slice’s chances in the Octagon.
White makes a good point, but that fight with Kimbo and Gannon was a long time ago. Since then Kimbo has been training with former UFC heavyweight champion, Bas Rutten, in hopes of honing his all around MMA skills.
Bas had this to say about Kimbo:
“I am training Kimbo right now, and I have to say that he is one of the BEST fighters I have EVER trained. He really listens to you and does what you say, do you know how hard that is? If he’s dead tired, and I tell him five more rounds, he looks at me, but doesn’t say anything, he just does it.”
It appears Kimbo has the desire to get better, but if he ever wants to shed the “street fighter” label, he’s going to have to take some fights with more well rounded fighters. Fighting guys like Tank Abbott and Ray Mercer — who are just brawlers themselves — is going to get him nowhere closer to proving himself in the MMA world.
We already know he can knock a guy out. … just ask Adrian.
Written by admin on February 5th, 2008 with comments disabled.
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The Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) recently issued the medical suspensions from UFC 81: “Breaking Point” that took place this past weekend on February 2 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas.
To read the official report click here.
Most of the fighters escaped serious injuries with the exception of David Heath, who sustained a broken nose thanks to all those Tim Boetsch knees in the clinch … not to mention the insane ragdoll toss technical knockout.
Here’s the full skinny:
Antonio Rodrigo “Minotauro” Nogueira — “Big Nog” is suspended until March 2, 2008 and there’s no contact allowed until February 24, 2008.
Frank Mir – “The Baddest Man on the Planet” is suspended until March 2, 2008, with a scalp laceration and there’s no contact allowed until February 24, 2008.
Kyle Bradley — He is suspended until March 19, 2008, with right facial lacerations and
David Heath — He must clear a nasal fracture with a physician prior to returning to action or no contest until August 1, 2008. The quickest he can fight again with medical clearance is April 3, 2008, and there’s no contact allowed until March 19, 2008.
Marvin Eastman – “The Beastman” is suspended until March 2, 2008, with a right upper eyelid laceration and there’s no contact allowed until February 24, 2008.
Keita Nakamura — He is suspended suspended until March 18, 2008, and there’s no contact allowed until March 2, 2008.
Just a quick reminder: Fighters often return to action much quicker once doctors give them the green light. The lengthy suspensions are just a precaution in most cases.
For this specific set of fighters, however, it appears that only Heath will require medical clearance prior to competing again.
For complete UFC 81: “Breaking Point” results and coverage click here and here.
Written by admin on February 5th, 2008 with comments disabled.
Read more articles on Marvin Eastman and UFC 81 and Keita Nakamura and Kyle Bradley and David Heath and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and UFC Medical Suspensions and Frank Mir and MMA.
Props: Yahoo! UK
Quoteworthy:
“… with me dropping down to middleweight for the first time, it is good for me that I have the extra month to lose the weight. I’m down to 200lbs at the moment, so I’m doing okay with 12 weeks to go. I aim to get down to about 194 by a couple of weeks before the fight and then dry to dry out the last eight or nine pounds. Obviously I want to avoid a last-minute sort of situation where I have to spend too much time in the sauna because that can really weaken you as a fighter. I actually hate saunas, I’m someone who prefers cold to heat. I usually can’t spend more than a couple of minutes in them. I had to do it once before when I fought in Cage Rage and I hated it. I was having to do star-jumps in a sweat-suit in the sauna; it wasn’t pleasant. This time I am doing it properly, getting the weight off slowly and using a nutritionist to make sure I keep lots of strength. I’m looking forward to it, to be honest. Dropping down to middleweight is something I should have done a long time ago.”
Former light heavyweight 205-pound fighter, Michael Bisping, reveals that he is already in the midst of dropping weight for his upcoming fight with Charles McCarthy at UFC 83 on April 19 at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec. It’s the first time in his professional mixed martial arts career that “The Count” will compete in the 185-pound division.
Written by admin on February 5th, 2008 with comments disabled.
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photo courtesy of Glenn Dextras: www.dextrasphotography.com
Patrick Cote is coming off two big stoppage wins over heavy-handed fighters, Drew McFedries and Kendall Grove.
“The Predator” was recently in town to promote UFC 81: “Breaking Point,” hosting a viewing party put on by my friends from The Substance Entertainment Group at the Diesel Playhouse in Toronto, Canada.
Patrick had time to take pictures and sign some autographs for his fans during the action-packed night of fights. As soon as UFC 81 concluded, we wrapped things up with the media and headed over to a local club to continue the celebration. At the new location, I had the chance to relax with Patrick well into the night and he took the time to talk to all the Maniacs out there.
Patrick was asked repeatedly about being on the UFC 83 fight card in Montreal and he is obviously itching to fight –- he stated numerous times that he is ready to go as long as the UFC can find him an opponent.
That search is currently underway.
He’s eager to prove that his most recent decisive and dominant performances are indicative of the real Patrick Cote and not the fighter who failed to capture a win inside the Octagon in his first four attempts.
Put simply, he is a much better fighter than his early UFC record indicated.
After sharing a few beverages, we were talking about everything other than fighting. Patrick is as big a Green Bay Packers fan as you can find, telling me:
“Two things besides fighting that are my dream – go to a Green Bay Packers game and go to the Superbowl.”
It was then that that I reminded him back in December to go to a Packers game because I had an extra ticket for our now annual road trip to Green Bay. Apparently, he didn’t put two and two together and was visibly distraught that he didn’t get to go with us.
Nonetheless, I promised him that I’d take him next season to which he told me:
“I’m in for sure – you call and we’re going.”
Now I just have to figure out who’s losing their ticket for next year.
Of course, we did find time to discuss mixed martial arts and shoot the breeze about his arduous journey from four-time loser to possible contender and a lot more. Here’s that conversation:
Sean McManus (MMAmania.com): Patrick thanks for taking the time to sit down and speak with us – how are things?
Patrick Cote: Things are good, thanks.
Sean McManus (MMAmania.com): Good to hear – congrats on your big win over a tough Miletich fighter in Drew McFedries. It was a great fight to watch as a fan, and it proved to everyone that you belong with the heavy hitters of the middleweight division.
Patrick Cote: Thanks, I’ve always known I belong here and it’s good to hear.
Sean McManus (MMAmania.com): Now you’ve had some pretty impressive fights as of late, and you’ve stopped some tough guys. Where do you feel you stand in the middleweight mix right now?
Patrick Cote: You know I’m very confident right now. I’m three wins in a row in the UFC and I just want to fight a top five fighter who will give me a competitive fight.
Sean McManus (MMAmania.com): Good. So how far off do you feel you are from a title shot?
Patrick Cote: I don’t know, maybe a fight or two fights away. But I don’t want to think about that – you know I’ll fight whoever is in front of me. My job is to be in shape and fight … that’s it. So if the title fight comes, I’ll take it for sure.
Sean McManus (MMAmania.com): You started your UFC career with some consecutive losses, but not all fans know that you beat some pretty tough opponents between those losses in smaller shows like Jason MacDonald and Bill Mahood as examples. What do the smaller organizations offer to a fighter, like you, who seemingly needed to regroup and come back stronger?
Patrick Cote: You know, you don’t want to go back into the small shows, that’s the thing. But sometimes you have to. You know, even after my fight with Scott Smith, the UFC asked me to go into a small show to have an impressive win to get back into the big show. It’s a good thing to go back to the small shows to prove yourself against tough guys like MacDonald and Mahood, but when you’re in the UFC you definitely want to stay there. When you are on top, you don’t want to go any lower than that.
Sean McManus (MMAmania.com): Ok, now that your UFC career is on track fans are eagerly anticipating seeing you on the fight card in Montreal for UFC 83 in April, but rumor has it that you aren’t going to be on that card. Can you set us straight?
Patrick Cote: I don’t know, I want to tell you that I’ll be on the card but I don’t know, I want to fight for sure – I’m ready to go, it’s just having to find an opponent right now. But if I’m not on the card, I want to be involved somehow. (Note: UFC President Dana White announced yesterday that Cote would indeed compete on the card. No opponent has been made official at this time.)
Sean McManus (MMAmania.com): Along those lines, rumor also has it that you will be a guest commentator for this card.
Patrick Cote: Yeah, the UFC asked me to do that, but you know I’m not a commentator. I’m a fighter so I want to fight – especially since this is the UFC’s first fight in Montreal so I want to fight for sure.
Sean McManus (MMAmania.com): I’m sure all of your fans, especially your hometown crowd, would love to see you on this card. Now Anderson Silva and Dan Henderson are set to square off in March at UFC 82 for the middleweight belt. What are your thoughts on this fight and do you have any predictions?
Patrick Cote: I can’t really choose a winner, I just really hope that, actually, I don’t hope, I know that will be a crazy fight and I think that either fighter could win this fight.
Sean McManus (MMAmania.com): Do you have anyone in mind as an opponent for your next fight?
Patrick Cote: You know I’m looking forward to getting the winner of Yushin Okami and Evan Tanner because I think this kind of fight will give me a title shot after that you know?
Sean McManus (MMAmania.com): For sure. Now, is there anyone you’d like to thank up to this point in your career?
Patrick Cote: I’d like to thank everybody who takes care of me when I come to Toronto. I’m enjoying my life right now. I’d like to thank all of my sponsors, especially Full Contact Fighter – they’ve been with me since the beginning and my manager, Stephane Patry, and of course all of my fans out there. Before I forget, I’d like to say a special thank you to Johnny Rourke who put together a crazy fight song for me. I want everyone to check it out on my MySpace page!
Sean McManus (MMAmania.com): Alright Patrick, speaking of taking care of you while you’re here, I think they’ve got the Grey Goose on ice for us upstairs. Thanks for taking the time to speak to us at MMAMania.com. We wish you the best of luck in your bid to get on the Montreal card, but either way we’re looking forward to seeing you in the Octagon again soon my man.
Patrick Cote: Thank you for the support guys.
Sean McManus is the Director of Media Relations for MMACanada.net. For more information on the MMA scene up in Canada check out MMACanada.net.
Written by admin on February 5th, 2008 with comments disabled.
Read more articles on UFC Canada and UFC Fighter Interviews and Patrick Cote and Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and MMA.
