The Future Favourites of the UFC
The fighters who made the UFC what it is today are all reaching the peaks of their careers. Randy Couture was defeated a few weeks back for his heavyweight title, and he is currently 45-years-old.
Chuck Liddell got knocked-out in his last fight, a fight many people thought he would win. Finally, Tito Ortiz, a fighter who is still in his prime at only 33-years-old but with a baby coming into the house and the fact that he is currently all-over the place in contract terms could we see Tito fight in the next year?
Who will replace these fighters as the ones that continue to promote the business and bring in the big numbers at PPV events? There are many possibilities, but I have come up with a list of a few people who could bring the UFC the big numbers in the future.
Anderson Silva
Anderson Silva is an obvious choice. He has stated that he will retire in 2009, but if the man continues to fight, he could be the bread winner for the UFC. Anderson has a great fanbase, he is an amazing fighter, and he still could potentially conquer the light-heavyweight division before moving back down to middleweight for a final title defence.
If Anderson Silva insists on retiring next year though, the UFC could still have a major final fight on its hands if they worked at it. I do believe a GSP, Anderson Silva fight could, if worked right, bring in over a million PPV buys. One million is a lot of people, but if promoted right this fight could have a lot of potential.
Georges St. Pierre
He went through a little rough patch but he has regained the UFC Welterweight World Championship and he will be defending it at the end of January. GSP is an obviously the man that draws most of the viewers from Canada when his fights are on.
Just take, for example, his fight with Matt Serra (second time), that fight is one of the highest grossing PPV shows for the UFC. It sold appx. 650,000 easily putting the show in the UFC’s top five.
B.J. Penn vs. Georges St. Pierre could be a massively sold fight. The UFC are already promoting it with the fighters making visits to Toronto and various other places in Canada and the US.
Once that fight is all said and done though, and providing GSP wins the UFC should set up a fight between him and Anderson Silva as stated above. To be honest, the UFC welterweight division sucks right now, so a fight with Silva could be the only way around it for a few more months.
Forrest Griffin
Forrest is a cool guy; he had one of the greatest MMA fights in history when he won The Ultimate Fighter and he is the current Light-Heavyweight Champion. He has a challenge at UFC 92 in the undefeated Rashad Evans.
If Forrest could beat Rashad Evans and retain the title, he could go on to bigger things. The UFC need to start promoting Griffin in the mainstream media so they get his name out there and in turn he will bring in the big numbers for future UFC events. There is no doubt in my mind that Forrest could be one of the major names in MMA within the next five years.
For Forrest Griffin to be that major name though, he would have to beat the already established ones. If the UFC could get a fight set-up between Griffin and Henderson, that could do well amongst the already established MMA fans but a fight between Griffin and Liddell could bring in some new fans and hopefully get them hooked on this amazing sport.
Another possibility would be to bring Tito Ortiz back and let him have a shot at Griffin. Once again that fight could bring in some new fans and if Griffin beats him those new fans could have found a favourite fighter leading to bigger numbers at UFC events.
Others
Of course there are many other fighters which could become amazing stars with the right promotion and a fair share of good fighting. Some that come to mind are Rashad Evans, Amir Sadollah, Lyoto Machida, and Junie Browning.
The reason I picked Junie right there was because he has potential despite his craziness. Junie did bring in quite a lot of viewers to the show with his violence in the opening episodes.
If you think I missed anyone or have your own opinion leave a comment for us to take a look at!
ESPN: MMA LIVE Episode 29
UFC 92 “The Ultimate” In-Depth Event Preview
Forrest Griffin vs. Rashad Evans
Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Frank Mir
C.B. Dollaway vs. Mike Massenzio
Quinton “Rampage” Jackson vs. Wanderlei Silva
Cheick Kongo vs. Mustapha Al-Turk
UFC VIP Experience Explained by Dana White
This is your chance to bid on a once-in-a-lifetime UFC® experience.
Here’s how it works:
We’ll fly you and a guest to a UFC® fight card featuring your favorite fighter and put you up in our hotel. Once you hit town, you’ll have dinner with Dana White, Playboy Cover Girl Rachelle Leah, and some UFC® greats.
Then, you’ll be with your favorite fighter all weekend, from special access at the weigh-ins to unprecedented access on fight night. You’ll be spending time in the locker room as your fighter gets ready for his bout, and you’ll walk out to the Octagon as a member of his entourage. You’ll join his camp in his corner, and, should he win, you’ll be celebrating inside the Octagon alongside him.
This is a once in a lifetime chance, so bid what you can because it’s all for an amazing cause- the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund. Our goal is to raise money to build a state of the art facility dedicated to treating soldiers with traumatic brain injury and other psychological health issues.
Good luck and thanks.
Check it out and bid over at the Fight for the Troops site
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UFC 99 Set for June 13th in Cologne, Germany
The UFC will be making it’s first trip to Germany in June for UFC 99 according to Sherdog.com. Marek Lieberberg, a leading European concert promoter signed a contract at UFC 91 to seal the event which will take place at the Lanxess Arena in Cologne.
The Lanxess Arena is Germany’s biggest indoor arena with a capacity of 20,000 during concerts. The UFC will obviously be looking to get as many ticket buyers as possible but are there enough German mixed martial arts fans to fill the stadium?
The fight that is supposedly going to be them main event in Germany has yet to be confirmed. Randy Couture vs. Chuck Liddell could draw some good PPV numbers had this event been scheduled for somewhere in North America but due to time difference are the UFC making a mistake?
Do UFC fans really want to see this fight for a fourth time? Currently the ‘series’ is 2-to-1 in the favor of Chuck Liddell who won both of his by (T)KO at UFC 52 and UFC 57.
Looking at the timing of the event the UFC will be hoping that the release of UFC Undisputed (Video Game) will go good and help them with th promotion of the event over-seas. Hopefully the event goes well for the UFC and other mainland European countries will be able to experience the pinnacle of live MMA.
UFC 94 in the Media Hawaii
Chuck Liddell to Heavyweight for Fight With Randy Couture
In an article over at Bloody Elbow Michael Rome claims to have a reliable source on a fight that will be going down in Germany next year between Randy Couture and Chuck Liddell.
According to the article Liddell will be making the move up to heavyweight instead of Randy dropping weight.
The fight is apparently scheduled for June 13th in Cologne, Germany. This would be the UFC’s first event in Germany. Couture will be expected to take control of the promotion due to his ability to speak German.
The winner of this fight would probably go on to fight the UFC Heavyweight Champion sometime towards the end of the year. If it was to be a Lesnar vs. Liddell scenario just think about the amount of money the UFC will pull-in in PPV buys on that fight.
UFC 92: New Blood, Mustapha Al-Turk
Mustapha Al-Turk will be having his first fight in the Octagon this December when he faces off against a guy who has had his fair share of UFC fights, Cheick Kongo. Now while this may be Al-Turk’s first fight in the UFC he has had nine others elsewhere, mainly in the UK’s Cage Rage. Al-Turk will be entering the Octagon with a two fight win streak.
Al-Turk has a background in boxing which should mean that at UFC 92 we could be seeing some nice stand-up from both Al-Turk and Cheick Kongo, both of which enjoy their (T)KO’s just as much as the fans at the MGM Grand will.
So does anyone out there believe that Al-Turk has what it takes to defeat Cheick Congo at UFC 92? Or will Al-Turk get a quick departure from the UFC? Vote on the poll below and let us know.
[poll id="11"]
For more UFC 92 fight previews and news visit MMA-Live
ESPN MMA Live Episode 28
Here is episode 28 of MMA Live from ESPN.
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