One of the biggest discussions coming out of UFC 83 was the performance–or lack thereof–of Canada native Kalib Starnes. Starnes appeared to spend the majority of his fight running away from UFC vet Nate Quarry. The phrase “running away” may sound like a bit of a stretch, but believe me, it’s not–the dude had his track shoes on.
By the end of the fight, his home country crowd had turned on him. Quarry ended the fight by mocking Starnes’ tactics, doing the “running man” dance as he chased Starnes. Quarry even covered his face with one hand and punched wildly at the air with the other. If you didn’t get a chance to see it, here’s a YouTube video of the scene (which will probably be taken down soon):
Starnes didn’t take kindly to this, and cursed at either Quarry, his corner or the fans–it was hard to tell who he was yelling at. Regardless, it was a pretty ugly outburst that was captured by the PPV cameras. Read the rest of this entry »
Spread the Word:These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.
After seeing that picture, it’s obvious why Liddell will be out of UFC 85. So far, no timetable has been provided for Liddell’s recovery. Dana White had the following to say on UFC.com:
“Unfortunately, Chuck Liddell tore his right hamstring during training last week, and being the warrior that he is, he still wanted to fight, which is the reason why everyone in the world loves him,” said Dana White, UFC President. “But I wouldn’t let anyone fight with his leg looking that way. Let him heal and come back and fight when he is 100 percent.”
White continued, “We’re adding fights to the card and rearranging it so the UK fans won’t have to worry, we’ll still be bringing an amazing card to London and the O2 Arena. The UFC® always delivers.”
Let the speculation begin. What fights can possibly make up for the loss of Chuck on this card?
Spread the Word:These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.
On his official blog yesterday, UFC star Matt Hughes discussed the Serra/St. Pierre fight and guessed that he’ll face Matt Serra 6 to 8 months from now:
GSP had a good game plan to take Matt Serra down and wear him out. I found myself rooting for Serra at the end of the second round, I wanted him to make it to the third round. I thought if it would get to the third round GSP would decide to stand up with him and possibly knock him out. I just wanted Matt to get beat on for five rounds, not just two; but I knew the ref was about ready to stop it. The UFC said that if Serra loses I get him, but I don’t know when that will be. I’m going to guess six to eight months, so I’ve found myself watching my diet and exercising more.
Hughes definately isn’t a big fan of Serra, and apparently the feelings are mutual. According to the Fight Network, Serra was already talking of a fight against Hughes minutes after losing to St. Pierre:
“That’s something I’d be definitely looking forward to,” Serra said. “I guess I’ll talk to the powers that be. We had unfinished business. That’s something I’d be up for.”
Sounds like the fight is destined to happen, and sounds like there will be a lot of trash talk over the next several months. Grudge matches are the best.
Spread the Word:These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.
“[Sylvia] is a good fighter, a strong fighter, the former UFC heavyweight champion, which is important,” Emelianenko said via telephone from Stary Oskol, Russia. “I am looking forward to fighting him and training hard for this fight.”
In more good news for those of us in Dallas, Sherdog is reporting that the bout will headline a card at the American Airlines Center in downtown Dallas. This has lead to speculation about HDNet’s involvement in the fight, with rumors having the bout televised on HDNet and promoted by Affliction.
I’m sure more rumors will surface since Tim Sylvia has signed with the new Adrenaline promotion. They’ll obviously have some part in promoting this fight card. That leads to another question: is Affliction now partnering with Adrenaline? I’d say that’s the likely scenario.
Another thing here: Mark Cuban is smart. It’s possible that he’ll latch on to Adrenaline and Affliction, and try to build a partnership with them to televise all of their cards, whether it’s on HDNet or on PPV. If he combines forces with both of those outfits, his goal of successfully promoting big-time MMA might not be too far off, especially with a Randy Couture-Fedor fight waiting in the wings.
One thing is certain. Despite all the rumors, good things are hapenning for MMA fans here in Dallas.
Spread the Word:These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.
In an interview with MMA Madness, Randy Couture again confirmed his desire to leave the UFC for good:
“I can’t see myself fighting for the UFC again,” he said. “Too much has happened.”
He also confirmed his interest in Mark Cuban’s promotion:
HDNet owner Mark “Cuban is helping out,” Couture said. “More than likely, I will end up signing with HDNet and Affliction. Realistically, that is the best option.”
Couture to HDNet would be a huge coup for Mark Cuban’s fledgling promotion. I’ve caught several of their events on TV, and while there have been some exciting fights, they are definitely short on big names. This could be what they need to propel them to the big time.
The main problem is the fact that HDNet isn’t widely available. In fact, you have to pay extra for it on some cable systems. Many of Randy’s fans may not be able to see him fight if he does indeed sign with Cuban’s promotion.
Still, I’m all for it–if Couture fights for Cuban, it should be here in Dallas. Rumors that I’ve heard here in town already have Cuban trying to sign Randy for a megafight with Fedor Emilianenko that would take place at the American Airlines Center in Dallas. That would be sweet justice for a city that’s seen the only UFC events in Texas go to Houston.
Spread the Word:These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.
The UFC has officially begun announcing matches for UFC 86, which will take place on July 5, 2008 at the Mandalay Events Center in Las Vegas. Here’s the official card that’s been announced so far on UFC.com:
Light Heavyweight Championship: Quinton “Rampage” Jackson v. Forest Griffin
Lightweight bout: Joe “Daddy” Stevenson v. Gleison Tibau
Heavyweight bout: Frank Mir v. Justin McCully
Melvin Guillard v. Dennis Siver
In addition, the following matches have been rumored or announced by outside sources, but not confirmed by UFC.com:
Middleweight bout: Patrick Côté v. Ricardo Almeida
Welterweight bout: Josh Koscheck v. Chris Lytle
Lightweight bout: Cory Hill v. Justin Buchholz
Of course, the most anticipated bout will be the main event, where “Rampage” Jackson will square off against Forest Griffin. I’ll go ahead and pick Jackson to win this fight, but this could be his toughest test yet. While I think Jackson will take the fight, I wouldn’t be shocked to see Forest Griffin walk out of Mandalay Bay as champion. I do think this fight will go all five rounds.
The Frank Mir/Justin McCulley fight should also be good–look for Mir to continue his winning ways and tap out McCulley in this one.
The sleeper fight of the night could be Patrick Côté v. Ricardo Almeida. Côté has won four fights in a row since his loss to Travis Lutter, and Almeida is most definitely back at full strength after nearly four years out from the sport. This one is really tough to pick, but my gut says Almeida because of his experience. Even though he was out for nearly four years, let’s not forget that Almeida has won seven fights in a row dating back to 2002. I’m definitely jacked for this one.
Spread the Word:These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.
I missed the first two fights on last night’s UFC Fight Night 13 card, so I avoided all media coverage until after I was able to watch the replay on my DVR this afternoon. Needless to say, the opening fight was a massive shocker.
In case you missed it, James Irvin knocked out fan-favorite and PWB Hotline Guest Houston Alexander in eight seconds. Yes, eight seconds. It actually tied the record for shortest fight in the history of the UFC.
Saturday night on Showtime, EliteXC and Strikeforce put on another amazing show. This time, the main event easily stole the show.
In a captivating match-up, Sanshou-kickboxer Cung Le defeated Frank Shamrock to capture the Strikeforce middleweight title.
The HP Pavilion in San Jose was packed for the “Battle of San Jose”–both men claim the city as their home. While both fighters had their fans, Cung Le’s contingent obviously outnumbered Shamrock’s as evidenced by the Vietnamese flags waving throughout the arena. The packed crowd made for an awesome atmosphere, with the fans becoming increasingly loud as the main event progressed.
If you missed this week’s edition of the PWB Podcast Hotline, you missed a good interview. Ian and I had UFC superstar Travis Lutter on the show. He had some interesting things to say about his upcoming fight with Rich Franklin at UFC 83 in Montreal, as well as a potential rematch with Anderson Silva:
On his fight at UFC 83 against Rich Franklin:
“You know it’s basically just like every other fight like mine, I’m gonna take him down and I’m gonna beat him up and do what I do man.”
On a potential rematch with UFC middleweight champion, Anderson Silva:
“I’d kick his ass, you know, that’s the way I look at it. I think Anderson’s a great fighter and he does what he does, and I think he’s probably the best stand-up fighter out there. But I think I have the unique ability to be able to take him down and beat him up and I was showing that in the fight right up until the time I got caught…”
On potential contenders for Anderson Silva’s middleweight title:
“In the UFC, I don’t really see anybody else that’s gonna beat him, you know at 185 pounds. You know, I mean there might be a dark horse out there, you know, that’s kind of flying under the radar. Demian Maia, he’s looked good, but he hasn’t faced really tough competition yet…it’ll be interesting to see how he does as he faces tougher and tougher competition…other than that, I really don’t see anybody that the UFC has that’s gonna beat Anderson.”
I think Lutter’s got a point when it comes to Silva. He was dominating the match before he got caught. If he can get past Rich Franklin this month, he definitely deserves another title shot. I’m sure he learned a lesson by not making weight last time, and will be ready to go if it does come about.
It’s possible that the new MMA promotion that was to be a joint effort between Golden Boy and Affliction is history. According to Fightline.com, Adam Swift is reporting that Oscar De La Hoya and Golden Boy are torpedoing the deal due to “control issues.” Swift also says the situation is still “fluid,” and that his source is “unconfirmed.”
The company had already signed Matt Lindland and was rumored to be pursing Fedor Emilananeko, according to last week’s edition of Inside MMA.
This would be another shocking turn of events in the MMA promotion world. It brings up a lot of questions.
Why would Golden Boy pull out after already signing Lindland? Why would Golden Boy pull out if a Fedor deal was possible? And why would Affliction be causing problems in terms of “control?” After all, they are the CLOTHING company, and Golden Boy are the promoters.
