Polls
Loading ...
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!
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 86: Forrest Griffin Becomes the New Light-Heavyweight Champion
It was something that many of his fans wanted to see. Something that many analysts believed he couldn’t do. Regardless of that though Forrest Griffin is the new UFC Light-Heavyweight Champion.
Over his time fighting in the UFC Forrest Griffin has become well loved by many. His entrance into the UFC was one of epic proportions taking on Stephan Bonnar in The Ultimate Fighter Final and winning by unanimous decision. That fight is still recognized today by UFC president Dana White at the “most important fight in UFC history.”
The fight against Rampage was an entertaining one. Both fighters had their share of beatings and it all looked pretty close to being done for Forrest in the second round, a round which he took 10-8 in points from the three judges. The only thing I have to complain about in the fight is how the judges believe Forrest won so decisively. In my opinion and probably in the minds of many others including Forrest Griffin thought the fight would be a lot closer. Maybe even a draw.
All is said and done now though. Forrest Griffin is the new Light-Heavyweight Champion. Only one question remains though… Who next? Well I think that Forrest will be matched up against the winner of UFC 88 in Atlanta Georgia. Either Rashad Evans or Chuck Liddell. For Rampage? Who knows? I think he will end up with another title shot fairly soon.
UFC 86: Jackson Vs. Griffin Weigh-in Results
Today was the day for fighters to weigh-in for tomorrows big event at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas Nevada.
Fortunately for everyone taking part they all made weight and all fights are going ahead as planned. Makes a change after seeing some recent major fighters going down because of weight (Gina Carano, Nick Diaz)
Here are the official results:
205 lbs.: Quinton “Rampage” Jackson (205) vs. Forrest Griffin (205)
185 lbs.: Patrick Cote (185) vs. Ricardo Almeida (185)
155 lbs.: Joe Stevenson (155) vs. Gleison Tibau (156)
170 lbs.: Josh Koscheck (170) vs. Chris Lytle (170)
155 lbs.: Tyson Griffin (155) vs. Marcus Aurelio (155)
265 lbs.: Gabriel Gonzaga (249) vs. Justin McCully (236)
155 lbs.: Cole Miller (155) vs. Jorge Gurgel (155)
155 lbs.: Melvin Guillard (155) vs. Dennis Siver (155)
155 lbs.: Corey Hill (155) vs. Justin Buchholz (155)
**Fighters can weigh one pound over limit in a none title fight**
We will be here all tomorrow following the event for those not watching on PPV be sure to come back and check out our live results page. All the post fight analysis will also be online this Sunday!
Ultimate Fighter: Season Finale
Here it is. The season finale of The Ultimate Fighter 7. The night started with Mathew Riddle taking on Dante Rivera.
The first round was pretty even between the two fighters. Towards the end of the second round Riddle ended up getting mount and could of got some good punches in. Instead he went for an armbar and Rivera escaped. Riddle once again tried an armbar while having Rivera in his guard. It was not successful and a 3rd round had to happen. Matt Riddle dominated the third round but couldn’t get a finish. The fight went to the score cards. Two of the judges scored the fight 30-27 and then obviously in his true style Cecil comes in with a 29-28. Matt Riddle won the fight.
Spencer Fisher Vs. Jeremy Stephens was the second fight of the night. Fisher seemed to have control of the fight in the first two rounds. In the third Jeremy got a guillotine but Fisher held on. All 3 judges scored the fight 29-28 for Spencer Fisher.
Amih Sadollah went up against CB Dollaway for th Ultimate Fighter Season 7 title. I wanted Amih to win this fight because I cant stand the cockyness of CB. Fortunately Amir did win the fight with an armbar in the first round. Just like the semi final. CB claimed he didn’t tap but I personally think he did. Amir Sadollah was awarded the title of Ultimate Fighter.
Evan Tanner got back in the octagon tonight to fight Kendall Grove. Kendall owned all of the fight with some flying knees, crazy upkicks and huge uppercuts. Evan Tanner showed he has amazing heart though by staying in there and making the fight go to decision. Kendall Grove won by split decision.
Ultimate Fighter Recap
How about a nice game of horse to start the show? It happened and Rampage got OWNED! He did manage to get his team paid though due to his nice 3 pointer skills. Griffin’s dunk silenced Rampage in the end though.
Jesse Taylor ended up getting wasted and pissed his pants for national TV before getting in the hot tub where he tried to drown himself.
Both Jesse and Tim successfully weighed in for their fight. In the first round Jesse ended up getting in there and taking Tim down which was unexpected. Tim did pretty good controlling him on the ground though taking a few punches to the head. Tim tried a few triangles and armbars from his back but they all ended in a short ground and pound from Jesse.
The second round started the same as the first. Jesse in Tim’s guard. Tim managed to turn the tides though getting mount on Jesse for a short time before going back to having him in guard.
The third round was a repeat of the first two. Controlled by Jesse all the way through with Tim making a few advances.
Jesse Taylor moves onto the finals at the Palms in Las Vegas. Next week we find out his opponent.
The UFC’s Best Fights EVER!! [Part 1 of 2]
I’m going to tell you right now some of the fights I think deserve to be recognized as the best fights from the UFC. Don’t agree? Well Leave us a comment and put me in my place…
These fights are in no particular order and some of them will have videos so you can watch the fight if you happened to have missed it.
Matt Hughes vs. Frank Trigg II - UFC 52 on 4/16/05
For the welterweight championship. Matt Hughes the champion vs. Frank Trigg. A very short but action packed fight. Starts out with Frank Trigg striking Matt Hughes to the groin, Hughes looks across at referee Yamasaki to complain but Trigg keeps punching him to the head getting an advantage.
Trigg giving out some huge punches can’t finish the fight. He then gets into mount Hughes tries to escape and Trigg puts him in the choke. Could it be the end…. No, Hughes escapes picks Trigg up runs across the ring and slams him straight down! Then shortly after comes a rear naked choke from Hughes for the win.
To see all the drama of the fight unfold heres a link for a video
Tito Ortiz vs Frank Shamrock - UFC 22
Only the forth round is worth mentioning. Frank Shamrock is defending his title against Tito Ortiz. The fight stays standing for the first couple of minutes but Tito takes shamrock down midway through. This proves to be a bad move from him as he is slowly losing energy trying to hold Shamrock down. Shamrock escapes though and gets the best burst of energy I have ever seen. Then Shamrock tries the guillotine but fails, so what better way to win a fight than to get a TKO over your exhausted opponent?
Check this fight out here.
Stephan Bonnar vs. Forrest Griffin - TUF 1 FINALE
The current host of this seasons Ultimate Fighter took on Stephan Bonnar to see who would become The Ultimate Fighter. These two showed the most determination to win I have ever seen in a UFC fight before. The whole fight they looked like two untrained brawlers but that’s what makes the UFC.
This is one of my most favorite fights ever. Mainly due to the fact that never fighter wanted to give up. Forrest was rocked with a huge knee at one point but got right back in there even with all the blood dripping from his face.
Neither of the two wanted to give up and both were showing immense courage. Without a doubt the most entertaining round of fighting in UFC history. Forrest Griffin won the fight on decision, both fighters deserved it but Forrest emerged on top.
Heres the second round
Please if you liked this article subscribe to RSS, make sure your around here next weekend for part two. Use the contact form at the top to submit your suggestions on other fights or comment below. Thanks for all your support guys.
The Ultimate Fighter 7: Episode 7 Recap
The first fight of the night picked by Rampage was Amir Sadollah (0-0) [Forrest] and Gerald Harris (7-2) [Rampage].
Harris had a good opening round getting two huge slams but nearly caught a huge knee from Amir. Amir Sadollah ended up winning the fight via TKO in round two, taking the $10,000 fight purse home.
“Amir never said die” - Dana White
“I wanted to drink myself into depression” - Rampage