Who will be left to give him serious competition? Has Michael Bisping been given an opponent yet for his first middleweight fight? If so, I haven’t seen it. Although I imagine the UFC will set up Michael Bisping to fight the winner or loser of Silva/Henderson, but other than that, are there any other light heavyweights that could move down to 185lbs to fight Anderson Silva? Or are there any welterweights that could move up to middleweight to challenge him? I know in the past, Matt Hughes has expressed interest in fighting Silva, but I can’t see that happening at all, and I don’t see Matt Hughes having a chance at victory in a fight like that. I don’t see Bisping being able to compete on the level of either Silva or Dan Henderson yet, either. Maybe one day.
I’m of course interested in seeing how Evan Tanner performs Saturday night against Yushin Okami. Circa 2004, Evan Tanner would have beaten Anderson Silva.
I’m sure Rich Franklin still fits in the middleweight picture somewhere, but I don’t think a 3rd time would be a charm for him. However, I do think Travis Lutter deserves another fight with Silva.
What about other organizations? Are there any prospects the UFC could throw some money at and bring over to fight Anderson? Paulo Filho? Chael Sonnen?
In my opinion, if Dan Henderson doesn’t beat Anderson Silva, the best chance anybody would have is Matt Lindland (which won’t happen), or Jeremy Horn… yes, I said Jeremy Horn. I know he just got his ass kicked by Nate Marquardt, but I’m not using MMA math. Depending on how he performs Saturday night, I might include Evan Tanner.
— A simple, innocent video list on illegal knockouts turned into a total fucking fiasco. In retrospect, we should have replaced Huerta/Halvorsen with Herring/Nakao/”I’m not gay.” Commenter Matt Tatt sincerely hoped we die for publishing such an inaccurate feature. Sounds like my last editor!
— Taking a last-minute fight against Jon Fitch at a reduced pay rate? Chris Wilson is crazy like a fox.
— During our UFC 82 preview coverage, we explained why Anderson Silva is still going to be the champion on Sunday morning, wondered if Josh Koscheck’s Octagon days are numbered, and took wild guesses at who’ll be walking around with a little more spending money.
— Bill Goldberg currently leads Mike Goldberg 62% to 38% in our current poll on which Goldberg should never be allowed near a microphone again.
Don’t forget to watch the IFL’s season opener tonight, and come back here tomorrow night at 10 p.m. for our rip-roarin’ UFC 82 liveblog. Our prediction? PAIN.
The field of 20 fighters for UFC 82: “Pride of a Champion” have all tip the scales for the pay-per-view (PPV) event tomorrow night from the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio.
For those who didn’t catch the Internet broadcast we have the UFC 82 weigh-in results below:
185 lbs.: Anderson Silva (185) vs. Dan Henderson (184.5) 265 lbs.: Cheick Kongo (233.5) vs. Heath Herring (248) 185 lbs.: Alessio Sakara (185) vs. Chris Leben (185) 185 lbs.: Evan Tanner (185) vs. Yushin Okami (184.5) 170 lbs.: Jon Fitch (170) vs. Chris Wilson (169.5) 265 lbs.: Andrei Arlovski (241) vs. Jake O’Brien (231.5) 170 lbs.: Luke Cummo (170) vs. Luigi Fioravanti (170.5) 170 lbs.: Josh Koscheck (169.5) vs. Dustin Hazelett (170) 170 lbs.: Diego Sanchez (169.5) vs. David Bielkheden (170) 155 lbs.: Jorge Gurgel (154.5) vs. John Halverson (155)
*Note: Fighters are allowed to weigh one pound more than the division limit in non-title fights.
The televised portion of the pay-per-view (PPV) event begins tomorrow (Saturday, March 1) 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 82 quick results, however, will begin to flow earlier than that here at MMAmania.com at about 8:00 p.m. ET with the prelim fights.
Tomorrow is going to be an insane night of fights — the championship main event has the makings of an MMA classic. Remember to hit us up for all the latest results coverage before, during and after the action.
EliteXC signs with CBS. The UFC signs with Budwesier. And CagePotato.com makes its first appearance on BetUS Radio.
It was a monumental week for MMA, and Damon D had me on the show today to plug the Potato, discuss the week’s wild news, and guide all you gambling addicts through the smart picks at UFC 82. I’d like to thank whoever gave me a cold this week, which left my naturally warm and sonorous voice a nasally, scratchy wreck. I’d also like to thank Sprint for their always crystal-clear cell phone reception. (Honestly, it sounds like I did the show via tin-cans-and-string from the bottom of a coal mine.) And on an unsarcastic note, I want to give a big shout-out to Damon for letting me swing by and talk shit for 40 minutes. The man’s energy…is contagious. Check out BetUS’s official UFC 82 odds here, and GO HERE TO LISTEN TO THE SHOW! You can also find the podcast in the iTunes store; just search for “UFC,” then click “See All” in the Podcasts section. Feedback appreciated!
Also Important: As I mentioned at the end of the show, I’m flying down to Columbus tomorrow to take in the fights, and I’ll have some first-person impressions and exclusives for you by Monday. Liveblogging the action in my place will be TheFightingLife’s Ben Fowlkes, so be sure to come back here tomorrow night starting at 10pm ET/7pm PT for round-by-round updates. And go easy on him, okay?
The IFL’s “New Blood - New Battles” season opener goes down tonight at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, with Team Tompkins set to do battle against Mario Sperry’s World Class Fight Center, and Matt Lindland’s Team Quest facing off against Ken Shamrock’s Lions Den. Also, title-holders Ryan Schultz (lightweight), Matt Horwich (middleweight), and Roy Nelson (heavyweight) will defend their belts against John Gunderson, Ryan McGivern, and Fabiano Scherner, respectively. TheFightingLife’s Ben Fowlkes (who also writes news for IFL.tv) has been on the scene since Tuesday and gave us this glimpse into the high-tension among the fighters before the event. Watch the action tonight on HDNet, starting at 11 p.m. ET/8 p.m. PT.
Covering the IFL for the past year and a half, here’s one lesson I’ve learned: during any interview with Matt Lindland, he’s going to get mad at me at least once. I can never tell what will cause it; it could be anything. This time it’s Kimbo Slice.
It’s the day before the IFL Las Vegas event and we’re interviewing all the fighters and coaches. It can be monotonous, to say the least. We get just about everyone to weigh in on Kimbo, but as soon as I ask what Lindland thinks of him, the mood of the interview changes.
“He’s a bum,” says Lindland. The look on his face tells me to leave it alone. I ask what he means by that. He glares at me. I bring this on myself. I really do.
“I mean he’s a bum,” he says. “He’s a nobody. What do you want me to say? You asked me what I thought and I told you. I don’t have anything else to say about him.”
The hell of it is, despite how ornery he can be I really like Lindland. I can’t help it. Even when he gives me the look like he’s trying to figure out how one human being ever got to be this stupid, at least I know it’s sincere. You have to respect honesty like that.
Writing about fighters, sometimes honesty is difficult to gauge. Do these two guys really hate each other, I find myself asking, or are they just trying to hype the fight? In the build-up to Friday night’s IFL event, I wondered this about Ian Loveland and Dennis Davis, two former teammates who are slated to go at it.
And the winner is … “Henderson” from MMAmania reader Dan.
It certainly wasn’t easy, however, judging this contest. We received more than 500 submissions and I looked at every one of them — it took way longer than I thought it would.
Thanks to everyone who participated — these were some hilarious (and sometimes cruel) creations. Hopefully we can do something similar real soon.
Congratulations again to the winners. I’ll try and track you down, but to make things easier, feel free to email me to find out how to collect your booty.
The winners:
First place:
Entry: “Henderson”
MMAmania reader: Dan
Grand prize: $200 FREE play at BetUS.com, a sick poker chip set and $50 shopping spree at MMAWarehouse.com.
Second place:
Entry: “Plan B”
MMAmania reader: kavedaddy
Runner-up prize: $150 FREE play at BetUS.com and a $100 shopping spree at MMAWarehouse.com.
Third place:
Entry: “Mud Masks”
MMAmania reader: DeathbyHighKick
Show prize: $100 FREE play at BetUS.com and a UFC DVD.
9. Don Frye
Full pints of 40-year-old ball-sweat have passed through the Predator’s Old Glory nut-huggers. Just seems a little disrespectful, that’s all.
8. Ken Shamrock
Watching Ken sport these old-schoolers transports us to the time we spotted the 80-year-old next door during one of her “spells.” Those are some granny panties we’ll never get out of our mind.
7. Rich Franklin
Half badass, half…pink? He earned the right to get his ass handed to him by Anderson Silva. But he was a hit at the post-fight pride parade.
(Andrei Arlovski could be one paid motherfucker tomorrow.)
Our monthly roundup in which we express fight predictions via the UFC’s customary “Of the Night” payouts. Last time didn’t go so hot, but we have a good feeling about UFC 82. Again, here’s the lineup:
MAIN CARD
Anderson Silva vs. Dan Henderson
Heath Herring vs. Cheick Kongo
Chris Leben vs. Alessio Sakara
Yushin Okami vs. Evan Tanner
Jon Fitch vs. Chris Wilson
PRELIMINARY CARD
Andrei Arlovski vs. Jake O’Brien
Luke Cummo vs. Luigi Fioravanti
Josh Koscheck vs. Dustin Hazelett
Diego Sanchez vs. David Bielkheden
Jorge Gurgel vs. John Halverson
Fight of the Night: How could it not be Silva vs. Henderson? It’s rare that the Octagon hosts this much combined talent. We see this one going into the championship rounds, with both men pounding the hell out of each other along the way. As you know, we’re leaning toward Silva.
Knockout of the Night: Andrei Arlovski. Other MMA pundits have said that the undefeated O’Brien will grind his way to a lay-and-pray victory, but Arlovski is coming into this fight with the combined rage of 10,000 insulted Soviets, and he’ll be looking to prove that undercards are beneath him. There’s a chance this could be his last fight for the UFC, so putting an exclamation point at the end of his Octagon career would be a priority; we’ll say KO/TKO, round 2. Dark horse: Jon Fitch. His fight against Chris Wilson may look like a mismatch, but Wilson’s ground skills are underrated. Still, we see Fitch putting Wilson out on his feet early.
Submission of the Night: Josh Koscheck. Speaking of mismatches…Koscheck’s recent performances haven’t been awe-inspiring, and he knows he needs a dramatic win against the gift-wrapped Dustin Hazelett, who’s never faced an opponent as skilled as Kos; it’s looking like a first-round armbar. Dark horse: Sanchez over Bielkheden. Same deal as with Koscheck — Bielkheden is being brought in for his UFC debut to build Sanchez’s confidence, and on paper, Sanchez’s ground game scores much higher. But if Ali Sonoma is still fucking with his concentration, we’ll stop short of saying this is a guaranteed win for Nightmare…
