Chachie

I was just thinking that other than Kongo, there isn't really a fight out there right now for Cro-Cop or Arlovski except to fight eachother. Their performances at UFC 70 basically sealed their fates for an upcoming bout at UFC 73 or 74. What do you guys think about this matchup?

But after seeing what happened to Cro Cop, along with St. Pierre, there's no freaking telling anymore.

No telling whatsoever. I know I mentioned to you, Stroke, that I liked what I saw in Gonzaga. I didn't know he was gonna mop the cage with Mirko like that though. Shocking dominance, shocking KO. I'm still a bit stunned.

It will most likely be on the internet before it airs on Spike. I'm sure somebody on the internet will make it available since it should be on UK PPV.

Ah. Yes, I'll stay away until 9pm. Cro Cop!!

I don't know if I can handle the five hour delay + commercials. I'll probably DL it or watch it @ UK time. Best bet for people who don't want to be spoiled it to stay away from MMA sites/forums/this thread.

Wait.. It says 9pm. Are you saying there will be ways to watch it earlier because of UK time, or are you saying results will be on the internet or news outlets before Spike airs it at 9? (Or both?)

UFC: 70 is FREE of charge. ... Tune in and watch arguably the best stand up striker in the MMA world, Mirko Cro Cop Filipovic. Saturday night at 9 on Spike TV.

WHAT? I had not heard this. That's awesome!! I'll have to hit the UFC website to confirm.

As for Diego.....I don't think it's humanly possible for me to hate a fighter more. What a ****ing mental midget. He got psyched out before the fight. I'm not ready to say he's done, but his confidence has been completely rocked, and when a retard's confidence gets rocked, they sometimes don't get it back. What a boring ass fight. I hate him and Kos.

You're right. It's as though Diego was beaten after Koschek's first punch landed. I think Diego wanted to overwhelm Chris and when he caught a punch and realized Chris' stand-up had improved a lot, he knew he had no gameplan left. He can't wrestle with Kos so when he couldn't get a solid strike on him, Diego just waited 3 rounds for a mistake by Kos- which never came.

I actually ended up getting to see the event last night. Overall, a snoozer except for Serra's shocker over St. Pierre. George was unconscious for about 60 seconds. Scary.

I was just about to start booing Matt and George (after sitting thru the terrible Sanchez-Koschek fight) when Mat lit into St. Pierre like a tornado. He caught george with a sweet punch as they had their first real exchange. GSP went down and Serra got on top as they scrapped. GSP escaped, they went to their feet briefly. Matt caught him again and finished him with some serious G&P. Over, round 1.

Diego and Chris had about 1 minute of ground time in the 1st rd. The ENTIRE rest of the fight was standing and dancing. Kos had the best strikes throughout the fight but these 2 guys really stunk it up. The last round and a half was fought under a hail of boos from the crowd, as was the post fight interview. Kos definitely got the best of Sanchez, so he won a unanimous decision.

Mike "Quick" Swick sat down on his stool after the 1st rd of his fight and told his trainer, "Man, he's strong." Okami was indeed just too strong for Mike and kept him either up against the cage or on his back the entire fight. Swick was close to a getting a KO with some nice punches at the end of round 2, but lost a unanimous decision.

Huerta is an endless source of energy and overwhelmed a very game Garcia who gassed at the end of the second but fought a good enough third to stay alive. This was the most action-packed bout of the night. Unanimous decision for Huerta.

Kendall Grove and Alan Belcher fought a close 1st round. Grove choked him out in the 2nd.

Luke Cummo KOed Josh Taylor in the 2nd. Cummo is for real. He is a total oddball. He's a loner with a very nerdy demeanor and commentators last night said he drinks his own urine for some type of health purposes. all I know is he surprised everyone on TUF and he continues to do well in the octagon. Strange bird though.

I'm hoping this is the last we see of Taylor, the blue-haired weeper from TUF ("I fight for my wife and kids boo-hoo.." sort of like Anthony Bonsante from Contender:)) who dropped a lot of pounds since the reality show but has no business at this level. He woke up and tried to tackle the ref.

I heard heath herring beat Brad Imes but it wasn't broadcast last night so I don't know what the official result was. Anybody know how it ended?

I'd love to see St. Pierre and Serra. I'd bet Diego beats Koschek but it'd be nice to see. Diego is on a long mission. He's the best fighter to come straight from Ultimate Fighter. I don't see him getting stopped until he has the belt.

As far as Serra...dude has got game, maybe St. Pierre will kick him in the balls a few times. I really like St. Pierre, I hope he wins so he can defend his title against Hughes again. Should be a good night. Update us guys!

George should beat Matt Serra pretty handily if he's anywhere close to the condition he was in when he fought Matt Hughes.

I'm not big on either Sanchez or Koschek but I suppose I'm rooting for Kos just to see Sanchez knocked off his pedestal.

St. Pierre vs. Serra and Sanchez vs. Koschek tonight. I can't get it.

I hope somebody will be here to give updates. (?)

Oh yeah, how does Diego Sanchez fail a drug test (marijuana) in Dec and we only hear about it now? (http://www.mmaweekly.com/absolutenm/templates/dailynews.asp?articleid=3653&zoneid=13)

Crazy. He is the darling of the UFC right now though, so I can see how they would be in no hurry to let this out. I hope they don't suspend him before the Kos fight.

Here's an interview with Chuck Liddell. He's disoriented to the point of almost passing out in the middle of the interview. Tired, or punch drunk?

http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1750349

Word is that he had a major flu and had been taking medication. I hadn't seen the interview until you posted it, so thanks.

Wow, he was groggy!

I have been watching it from time to time. I was skeptical at first as to what the quality would be, but from what I have seen, it has been pretty good.

Looks like it's a developmental league. There are some good young prospects.

They had the 2 best lightweights fight the other night. Remember these names: Bart Palecheski and Chris Horodesky. They will be fighting in the UFC someday soon. Chris won a split decision over Bart, but Bart had him almost choked out in the 1st round until Chris was able to make his was thru the ropes to get the break from the ref. (Another reason I prefer UFC. CAGE!)

here is the new ESPN reprt about it:

http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/news/story?id=2814235

NEW YORK -- The majority owners of Ultimate Fighting Championship have agreed to buy their biggest mixed martial arts rival, Pride Fighting Championships, in a deal that will establish megafights among the outfits' titleholders and possibly attract huge pay-per-view audiences.

"This is really going to change the face of MMA. Literally creating a sport that could be as big around the world as soccer. I liken it somewhat to when the NFC and AFC came together to create the NFL."

-- Lorenzo Fertitta, one of UFC's majority owners

Company executives declined to comment on the sales price, but a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press that brothers Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta will purchase the Japan-based Pride for less than $70 million. The person was not authorized to speak to reporters and spoke on condition of anonymity.

The deal was completed Tuesday and was announced during a news conference in Tokyo, where Lorenzo Fertitta has been negotiating with Nobuyuki Sakakibara, the majority owner and chief executive of Dream Stage Entertainment Inc., Pride's owner.

"We have been talking to Pride for probably about 11 months," Lorenzo Fertitta said. "It's been a long, drawn-out process but we finally were able to put the two brands together."

To buy the company, the brothers created a new entity called Pride FC Worldwide Holdings LLC. The newly formed company will take over Pride assets, including its trademarks, video library and valuable roster of fighters, from Dream Stage. The Fertitta brothers, who own Las Vegas-based Zuffa LLC, the parent company of UFC, intend to keep the well-known Pride name and promote fights under that brand.

The acquisition marks a new phase in the brothers' quest to dominate the burgeoning world of mixed martial arts since they bought the struggling UFC in 2001.

"This is really going to change the face of MMA," Lorenzo Fertitta said. "Literally creating a sport that could be as big around the world as soccer. I liken it somewhat to when the NFC and AFC came together to create the NFL."

The deal allows the Fertitta brothers to broker the biggest MMA fights possible in the near future, increasing their influence in this sports entertainment business.

"We will be able to literally put on the fights that everyone wants to see," Lorenzo Fertitta said. "It will allow us to put on some of the biggest fights ever."

In the past, there has been at least one case in which Pride and UFC couldn't hammer out a deal to put their top fighters in the ring together. With Pride in their pocket, the Fertitta brothers intend to ensure that never happens again.

The sale gives Pride more financial backing to expand the business internationally after suffering a recent financial blow.

Major sponsor Fuji Television Network Inc. dropped Pride in June after a tabloid linked Pride to the Japanese mob -- something Sakakibara has denied vigorously. To help bolster Pride, the company staged two PPV fights in Las Vegas. Neither was a financial success. The fights gained exposure for Pride but lost money, making the sale of Pride more likely.

"I think it certainly weakened their position," Lorenzo Fertitta said. "One of our goals is to get back on a major platform back here in Japan."

Lorenzo Fertitta said he'll be looking to expand Pride internationally.

Buying Pride is the latest in a series of acquisitions that the brothers have made in the last six months. Zuffa snapped up World Extreme Cagefighting and World Fighting Alliance last year.

Similar to Pride, buying WFA gave UFC the rights to a popular fighter named Quinton "Rampage" Jackson. Jackson will face UFC's most popular fighter, Chuck Liddell, the current light heavyweight champ in Las Vegas, on May 26 on PPV.

In the combat world, the Pride deal leaves a fragmented group of upstarts and K-1, another Japanese company that promotes fighters skilled in various forms of kick boxing.

Thanks to a surge in popularity, the brothers' investment in UFC and MMA in general has begun to pay off.

Last year, UFC cracked $200 million in PPV revenue, putting it on par with World Wrestling Entertainment Inc.

UFC stages fights in arenas across the country and airs a clutch of successful television shows on Spike TV. It has also opened an office in London, looking toward establishing itself internationally.

The brothers also run Station Casinos Inc. in Las Vegas. Lorenzo Fertitta is president and Frank Fertitta is chairman and chief executive of Station Casinos, a public company that was recently agreed to be purchased by a private equity investor group that includes key members of the Fertitta family.

BTW- has anyone been checking out The International Fight League? There are a few good prospects there.

I don't care how they sort it out. I just want to see better matchups. One would think Don King has been running UFC.

How about a 16-man battle royal?

This is unbelievable news and I am very excited.

Heavyweight implications:

Hopefully this does not soil a Fedor Barnett fight that I have been waiting a long time for.

Love to see Nog-Randy

Love to see Hunt-Sylvia. Both Super Heavywieghts. Tim wouldn;t have to worry about cutting weight.

Love to see Sylvia got killed by Barnett and Nog.

Aleks-Arlovski would be great.

Light Heavyweights:

Chuck vs any of these guys: Shogun, Silva, Henderson, Arona

Middleweights:

Anderson Silva and Rich Franklin against: Kang, Filhio, Baroni

Edit: This is also great news for Pride GP fans. The talent pool for thise tournaments just doubled

The matchup possibilities are awesome!

BTW, here is the card for UFC 70 so far:

-Mirko Cro Cop (#2 Heavyweight in the World)* vs. Gabriel Gonzaga

-Andrei Arlovski (#7 Heavyweight in the World)* vs. Fabricio Werdum (#8 Heavyweight in the World)*

-Ryoto Machida vs. Forrest Griffin

-Michael Bisping vs. Elvis Sinosic

-Assuerio Silva vs. Cheick Kongo

-Dennis Siver vs. Jess Liaudin

-Alessio Sakara vs. Victor Valimaki

-David Lee vs. TBA

These look like easy matches for the bigger names, perhaps Dana knows that his fanbase is getting smarter about paying for fight's like these. (Except me, I pay for them all.) Also- I wonder how many of these fights will actually make the broadcast.

Thanks for the heads-up, Sebowski. Good stuff.

btw- How many of you guys think Forrest Griffin will continue winning a lot of matches? I love his toughness and his sense of humor- he's a fan fave, but he doesn't seem to make a lot of technical progress. He's sloppy and it got him KOed vs. Jardine.

Again, Diaz is talented, but if he doesn't start producing in his own weight class, what's the point of fighting? He'll never get a belt.

Not if he keeps getting caught huffing weed, anyway.

Oh, you'll never hear the words "Nick Diaz isn't talented" ever come from me. He has a ton of talent, surpassed only by his own ego and jackassedness (yeah, that's right, I made that word especially for him). To me he's as disrespectful to his fellow fighters as Tito used to be. I don't like either. However, neither is as good as each one thinks they are.

As far as fighting bigger opponents, I meant fighting in a higher weight class. However, there are weight differences in every class. Some just cut more. Diaz fought someone smaller than him in Gomi, and Gomi still almost knocked him out. If Nick can cut all the way to LW, I think he should, and he should stay there. While he is skilled, he doesn't have much in the way of KO power, and when he fights at the higher weight classes, that's a big disadvantage IMO.

I also meant higher weight class. I don't pay much attention to the interviews, so I hadn't heard he was disrespectful to other fighters. I'm not a big fan of that type of attitude either. Tito ticks me off when he acts like that.

As far as KO power goes, did you see Nick fight Robbie Lawler? BAM. One punch decided that one.

Because, as you said, it's illegal. They test for a myriad of things that aren't necessarily "performance enhancers". He should've known better. If he wasn't such an arrogant prick, he wouldn't have. All I can say is Nick better stick to fighting LW's. He doesn't have much of a future against guys heavier/stronger than he is. And yes, I don't like him, as you can tell. :mad:

I think what the article said was that they test for marijuana because it slows reflexes and a fighter puts HIMSELF in danger by using it, not his opponent.

Also, herrmag- In a sport like UFC, most fighters wouldn't have much of a future fighting bigger opponents than themselves. (Other than "The Natural," of course. )

Even in defeat, Nick has shown MAD skills both on the ground and standing. I think he's technically one of the best in the game. He does NOT get submitted or KOed against these bigger fighters and took care of Gomi in a fight where he was considered a heavy underdog.

I'm not trying to convince you to like him but I dig Diaz. I relate to a smaller fighter who can hang with the big boys.

Breaking News on MMAWeekly: Nick Diaz has failed the drug test that he took shortly before his win over Takanori Gomi at Pride 33: The Second Coming. Diaz tested positive for marijuana, according to the Nevada State Athletic Commission.

Diaz will have an opportunity to defend himself at a Nevada State Athletic Commission hearing in the future.

http://www.mmaweekly.com/absolutenm/templates/dailynews.asp?articleid=3540&zoneid=1

Wow. I'm a Diaz fan. I hope he gets this cleared up or doesn't get in too much trouble.

Randy Couture shocks the world and at 43 slays the Goliath. Way to go Randy. Dominated Tim and won an easy decision.

HOLY SH! I did not see Babalu taking that L.

No doubt. Shocker. He gassed hard though. Tough to see it happen but Lambert took Babalu's best and gave it back in spades.

Matt won an easy decision and Franklin TKOed McDonald who was clearly outclassed.

I'm trying to figure out if $39.95 is worth it. :laugh: I'm a big fan of Hughes so I want him to make another run at the title. Rich Franklin, I like, but after what happened to him and his nose . . . I feel sorry for the guy. I'm not a big fan of Sylvia. He reminds me of a guy that I fought. Long story short, I lost. Just too ****in' big!

I try to rationalize purchasing it by thinking if I were to go out tonight, I'd spend that much anyway. I'll be watching and I'll be in this thread.

Go Randy (Gotta love the old vet playing David to Tim's Goliath.)

Go Rich (Nice guy, needs a victory. Jason has been a world-beater lately though- look for a better fight than it may seem.)

Matt? I don't know if I want Matt to win but I'm not big on Chris Lytle.

I think the white-on-white is quite aaaaaaallright. (Although I've always wanted to see gold pants come back.)

Burg-on-burg seems ugly IMHO.