(“Boom! Another hit is landed…” The Pitbull mauls old-ass Matt Hughes. Photo courtesy of UFC.com.)
Now that the adrenaline has subsided, we can have a normal conversation. Here’s what I’ve been thinking about since Saturday afternoon…
— Matt Hughes carved out a legendary career without ever being a particularly dangerous striker. And good for him, but the young fighters coming up these days will not stand for that shit. There’s no way you can compete at an elite level anymore without a complete game. Hughes never had one, and it’s now been fully exposed. After Alves stuffed Hughes’s takedown attempts during their fight, the former champ had no more weapons left, and it was only a countdown until the inevitable. I’m interested in seeing Hughes settle his grudge match with Matt Serra; I’m not really interested in seeing Hughes continue to be tooled by other athletic and well-rounded members of the UFC’s welterweight division.
— Michael Bisping looked deadly once again. Obviously he’d be wrecked by Silva, Franklin, or Henderson (or Marquardt on a good day), but he’d have to be the favorite against any other middleweight in the UFC. I’d guess he’s two wins away from a title shot, and luckily for him, Anderson Silva might not be around by the time he gets there. (The chatter is that Silva may move up to light-heavyweight for a marquee fight, but it’s totally unsubstantiated at this point, so don’t get your hopes up.)
— I don’t care what Jason Lambert needs to do to get down to 185 — stomach stapling, breast reduction surgery, whatever — he just needs to get there. He also needs to understand that his boxing sucks; just like in his fight with Wilson Gouveia, Lambert’s wild and sloppy haymakers led to his own damn self getting knocked out against Luis Cane. I think the biggest lesson I learned from “Bedlam” was that if there’s a noticeably out-of-shape guy fighting a guy in great physical condition, don’t bet on the fatty. (See also: Eddie Sanchez.)
The big news here is that Nathan Marquardt is calling for a rematch with Thales Leites.
CLICK HERE to read more UFC 85-related content from 5 Oz. of Pain!
If you’re going to leave comments and discuss the fights with all the other MMAmania.com readers be sure to do it on the main UFC 85 results post and not this one.
The official weigh-in results for UFC 85: “Bedlam” at the O2 Arena in London, England, are in.
And there’s some ridiculous news to report.
Thiago Alves came in super heavy at 174 pounds for his main event fight against Matt Hughes. He will not have to shed the extra poundage — he and Hughes have agreed to fight at a catchweight.
He’ll more than likely have to pay Hughes a percentage of his salary for the massive blunder and pay in the court of public opinion for the lack of professionalism.
Here are the official results:
170 lbs.: Matt Hughes (170) vs. Thiago Alves (174)
185 lbs.: Michael Bisping (184) vs. Jason Day (184)
185 lbs.: Nate Marquardt (185) vs. Thales Leites (185)
170 lbs.: Mike Swick (170) vs. Marcus Davis (170)
265 lbs.: Brandon Vera (228) vs. Fabricio Werdum (247)
185 lbs.: Martin Kampmann (186) vs. Jorge Rivera (185)
155 lbs.: Thiago Tavares (154.5) vs. Matt Wiman (155)
170 lbs.: Roan Carneiro (171) vs. Kevin Burns (170)
205 lbs.: Jason Lambert (205) vs. Luis Arthur Cane (204)
170 lbs.: Jess Liaudin (169) vs. Paul Taylor (169)
265 lbs.: Eddie Sanchez (244) vs. Antoni Hardonk (247)
*Note: Fighters are allowed to weigh one pound more than the division limit in non-title fights.
Remember that MMAmania.com will also provide LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the main card action on fight afternoon, which is slated to air at 3 p.m. ET on pay-per-view (PPV) from the O2 Arena on Saturday, June 7.
Of course, the latest quick updates of the prelim bouts will begin to flow earlier than that at around 1:30 p.m. ET.
It’s going to be an entertaining afternoon of mixed martial arts action … check us out for all the pre, during and post-fight coverage you can handle.
Note that the UFC 85 PPV will re-air at 10 p.m. ET.
Ryan “Fightlinker” Harkness has cast his final picks in our UFC 85 ipecac bet rematch; you can check out his take on the Bedlam matchups here. I was a little nervous picking Hughes and Werdum to win because both matches could definitely go either way, but Ryan has set my mind at ease by picking Hughes and Werdum as well (though he picked them to end by stoppage, rather than my decision calls). Of course, there are some notable points of dispute. Such as…
Michael Bisping vs. Jason Day
I said: Bisping by storm.
Ryan said: “I’m all over Jason Day’s nuts. After watching him destroy Alan Belcher, I’m convinced that there’s no way Michael Bisping is gonna be able to take him out. Bisping nearly got taken out by Elvis Sinosic for god’s sake. So I anticipate one round of tenderization and then Bisping getting subbed out on top in the second.”
Marcus Davis vs. Mike Swick
I said: Davis in a wild one.
Ryan said: “Davis has been on an upswing and Swick has been on a downswing. But Marcus hasn’t faced the kind of opponents Swick has, and has turned into a cocky motherfucker to boot. I’m expecting Swick to come in with a smart plan: put him on his back and don’t give Davis a chance to use his hands. This fight is simply too important for Swick to try and trade.”
Our friend and content partner Ariel Helwani at MMARated just put up a great interview with Forrest Griffin, where the Ultimate Fighter coach and light heavyweight contender reveals that he’s been eating a lot of french toast lately, popping tons of valium, he really doesn’t care about TUF, and he digs Nick Cave, but not enough to actually pay for his music.
The official UFC 85: Bedlam trailer clip, featuring Matt Hughes, Thiago Alves, Michael Bisping, Jason Day, Brandon Vera, Fabricio Werdum, Nate Marquardt, Thales Leites, Marcus Davis, and Mike Swick.
HDNet Fights’ 86-minute “Best of 2008″ video; props to MMAScraps.
And also? You’re going to want to click that “More” link…
I just finished the last 24 days of training camp at Sit Yod Tong with Mark Dellagrotte to prepare for my upcoming fight with Mike Swick at UFC 85: “Bedlam” at the O2 Arena in London, England, on June 7.
Going in to camp I tipped the scales at 190 pounds. I am currently moving between 182 to 179 depending on the time of day. I got loads of sparring in and worked a lot with my teammates Jorge Rivera and Keith Florian. I also did strength sessions with Kevin Kerns and boxing with my old boxing coach, Joe Lake.
Between MMA, boxing, grappling, plyometrics and weight training I found myself doing three to four sessions a day. I only took time to eat, sleep and train … seriously.
I’m currently back home and I’m tapering off and training at my gym — Team Irish MMA — in Bangor, Maine.
Mark Dellagrotte has come up with a great plan again and it’s just up to me to execute it on June 7th. You will see the strongest, fastest Marcus Davis yet. All and any support is greatly appreciated. Thanks!
–Marcus
“A pint of sweat saves a gallon of blood …” — General S. Patton
Marcus Davis is a top welterweight contender in the loaded UFC 170-pound division. The former professional boxer is perhaps the most improved mixed martial artist ever to emerge from the TUF series, compiling a gaudy record inside the Octagon (6-1) since the show wrapped in 2005. He is currently riding an 11-fight win streak, which he will put on the line against Mike Swick at UFC 85: “Bedlam” at the O2 Arena in London, England, on June 7. He’ll detail his preparation for the bout right here at MMAmania.com with frequent updates. To check out more from Marcus at MMAmania.com click here. His sponsors include Zappos.com and MMAWarehouse.com.
The Irish Hand Grenade says he has impeccable timing, and can knock you out with one punch. He’s also expecting a better Mike Swick at UFC 85 than the one who grabbed a narrow decision against Josh Burkman at UFC Fight Night 12. For Swick’s sake, we hope he’s right
Kaitlin Young pulls around a pickup truck (among other hardcore shit) at API Training Center, in preparation for her fight against Gina Carano on May 31st. Not sure what’s up with the Enya music at the beginning, but my back is killing me just watching this.
Exciting welterweights Mike Swick (11-2) and Marcus Davis (14-3) will likely throw leather at UFC 85 in London, England, at the O2 Arena on Saturday, June 7, MMAmania.com learned earlier this afternoon.
Swick and Davis have competed on different seasons of the mixed martial arts reality series, The Ultimate Fighter (TUF), which airs on the SpikeTV network. And both fighters have achieved impressive results inside the Octagon since their respective seasons have wrapped.
In fact, Davis has reeled off 11 straight wins since his loss to Melvin Guillard via technical knockout (cut) back in 2005. He has won his last four contests, stopping each of those opponents with a mix of submissions and knockouts.
This will mark the fourth straight fight for the “Irish Hand Grenade” overseas — he most recently knocked out Jess Liaudin in the first round at UFC 80: “Rapid Fire” on January 19.
Swick will make his second appearance in the 170-pound division after racking up an impressive record at 185 pounds, winning five of six bouts in the UFC.
He’ll be out for redemption after a self-admitted less than thrilling performance against Josh Burkman in his welterweight debut at UFC Fight Night 12 in which he pulled out a lackluster majority decision.
Swick and Davis prefer to keep fights standing, but are both solid on the ground. This has all the makings of an up-and-down slugfest that could be show stealer.
And that’s saying a lot with the main event between 205-pound standouts, Chuck Liddell and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, penciled in to headline the show.
