Cardio Freak MMA News Report 1.10.08: UFC 08 Breakdown

Posted by Jeremy Lambert on 01.10.2008

Cardio Freak returns with a look at every UFC division in 2008. From the potential boring Heavyweight Champion Tim Sylvia to the potential boring Lightweight Champion Sean Sherk and every awesome champion in between. We've also got a ton of news on potential fights, signed fights, and so much more. Plus there's pictures of Ali Sonoma and Gina Carano so you know you're clicking.



Welcome back to Cardio Freak friends. I hope everyone's new year is off to a good start and if not, hopefully this column brings joy to your life for however long it takes you to read it. No time wasting this week, lets get to it.

Top Story of the Week

Well for the first time since I've started this column, there's been no breaking stories, no major event that just happened, or no major event upcoming. So when weeks like this, I'm going to write type a bunch of thoughts as they enter my head on whatever topic I feel like choosing. Enjoy.

UFC 08 Division Outlook

*Heavyweight

The outlook of the Heavyweight division will be decided in the coming months as Gabriel Gonzaga rematches Fabricio Werdum, Antonio Nogueira battles Tim Sylvia for the (Interim) Heavyweight Title, Brock Lesnar makes his UFC debut against former Heavyweight Champion Frank Mir, and Heath Herring battles rising contender Cheick Kongo. Along with those 8 there's Brandon Vera, Andrei Arlovski, and Mirko Cro Cop lurking around. Plus I'm predicting right now that Ben Rothwell will sign with UFC sometime this year.

There's a lot of good potential fights in this division but who is the champion will determine if a lot of people actually care about watching it. If Tim Sylvia bores everyone to another title win, I can't say that I'm going to be overly excited about the division as a whole, knowing that these guys are fighting just to engage in an epic battle of boredom with Tim Sylvia. Save.Us.BigNog.

I'm looking forward to the return of Arlovski and Vera as I think Arlovski will come back strong and Vera was just a victim of Sylviaitis. I'm also interested to see if Cro Cop can return to form and try to salvage this so far fail by UFC.

-Potential Fights of Awesomeness:

Mirko Cro Cop vs. Andrei Arlovski
Brock Lesnar vs. Brandon Vera
Antonio Nogueira vs. Gabriel Gonzaga

*Light Heavyweight

This right here is the money division. It's going to be very tough for UFC not to book an interesting LHW fight throughout all of 2008. That said, they're already off to a bad start. You would think that they would have learned from TUF6 that keeping your champion away from action, effectively puts the division on ice for a period of time. Still, there's just too much awesomeness for this division to be screwed up.

Quinton Jackson and Forrest Griffin are already prepared to do battle sometime in the middle of 08. On top of that Machida and Ortiz may fight and that's a very interesting for both guys. Then there's the depth that includes Chuck Liddell, Mauricio Rua, Wanderlei Silva, Keith Jardine, Rashad Evans, Thiago Silva, Houston Alexander, Stephan Bonnar, Sokoudjou, and Matt Hamill.

We already know that we're getting a Griffin or Jackson title defense after their fight so hooray for that. Hopefully that title defense comes against Chuck Liddell or Mauricio Rua and not some jobber like Rashad Evans.

Interesting fights should come from Keith Jardine who is returning after defeating Chuck Liddell, Houston Alexander and Sokoujdou who went from KO Kings to exposed on the ground, Wanderlei Silva who is rarely boring, and Thiago Silva who seems to have the tools, but has yet to really be tested.

-Potential Fights of Awesomeness

Chuck Liddell vs. Forrest Griffin
Houston Alexander vs. Sokoudjou
Wanderlei Silva vs. Tito Ortiz
Mauricio Rua vs. Keith Jardine

*Middleweight

If Dan Henderson doesn't defeat Anderson Silva, there's no telling how long his reign could last. Outside of those two, this division continues to lack contenders. Rich Franklin is in the mix but he's not besting Silva anytime soon, Nate Marquardt could make some noise, Yushin Okami holds a DQ victory over Silva and seems like the next logical opponent after Henderson, and Michael Bisping droping to the division adds some depth but does anyone see him as a contender? Martin Kampmann is still around in the division as well.

The division will continue to be interesting as long as Silva is in the mix. The guy just has some weird charisma about him that makes him completely awesome. Whether he's rocking a pimp coat at the biggest UFC event of the year, training his students instead of training himself for a fight, playing PSP moments before a fight, or acting like the most humble man in the world before and after the fight but being the biggest ass kicker in the world during the fight. The best thing that could happen to this division is if Henderson wins because if he doesn't it'll be the Year of ‘The Spider' once again.

-Potential Fights of Awesomeness

Anderson Silva vs. Anyone
Dan Henderson vs. Rich Franklin

*Welterweight

The welterweight division will shape up early as Jon Fitch and Josh Koscheck will be fighting in March, Diego Sanchez is rumored to have an opponent named by February, Karo Parisyan has stated that he can sit out and get a title fight, and Matt Serra will take on Georges St. Pierre for the Welterweight Title in April. Then there's of course the wild card that is Matt Hughes and Thiago Alves could make some noise in the division.

If GSP defeats Serra, it's going to be a lot like the Middleweight Division except with more legit opponents for GSP to destroy. Out of everyone listed, I think Fitch has the best shot to knock off GSP as he seems to be the most well rounded fighter of the bunch. Karo Parisyan seems to have the tools as well but he's a prick and GSP has already defeated him.

This big fight for this division will likely be Matt Hughes' final fight in the UFC and that will be when he takes on Matt Serra.

-Potential Fights of Awesomeness

Matt Hughes vs. Matt Serra
Georges St. Pierre vs. Jon Fitch
Thiago Alves vs. Karo Parisyan

*Lightweight

And finally, the forgotten division. That's of course no knock on pretty much everyone who puts on an exciting fight in the division, that's a knock on Sean Sherk who, much like Tim Sylvia, bores the hell out of everyone so no one wants to see title fights, they want to see contender fights.

At least we'll see one exciting title fight this year as BJ Penn will fight Joe Stevenson at UFC 80 for the Lightweight Title. Sadly, Sean Sherk will face the winner of that fight (without having to prove he's clean by fighting, winning, and passing a test) and we could be in for another long year at the top.

Along those two (Stevenson and Penn), the division is full of exciting fighters: Roger Huerta, Tyson Griffin, Clay Guida, Frank Edgar, Spencer Finsher, Sam Stout, Hermes Franca, Joe Lauzon, Kenny Florian, and others. With those names, I expect nothing but exciting fights from this division and hopefully they'll be exciting fights en route to an exciting championship fight and not en route to Sean Sherk dry humping them for 25 minutes.

-Potential Fights of Awesomeness

Clay Guida vs. Anyone
Roger Huerta vs. Tyson Griffin
BJ Penn vs. Frank Edgar
Joe Lauzon vs. Joe Stevenson

Cardio News, Freak Views

Cardio News: According to reports on NBCSports.com and Sherdog.com, Matt Serra has confirmed he will be fighting Georges St. Pierre to unify the welterweight belts in April in UFC's first venture in Canada.

St. Pierre is coming off his victory over Matt Hughes at UFC 79 to win the interim welterweight belt. Of course earlier in 2007 he lost his welterweight belt to Matt Serra at UFC 69. Serra was forced off the UFC 79 card because of a herniated disk in his back but has said his back has been "rapidly improving."

Credit: 411Mania

Freak Views: I'm glad to see that Serra will be ready to fight by April but boy do the circumstances suck. See, back at UFC 77: Hostile Territory I wasn't a fan of Rich Franklin getting a title shot in his hometown. I'm a big believer that the champion should have the home Octagon advantage, not the challenger. He's the damn champion for the reason.

Anyway, this is of course the big rematch from ONE YEAR AGO~! where Matt Serra pulled the huge upset over Georges St. Pierre. That's right, Matt Serra hasn't fought in one year and his first fight back will be the last guy he fought and defeated. Serra is also coming off an injury that kept him out of his fight against Matt Hughes at UFC 79.

So lets get this straight: Serra has to go to Canada to fight the challenger, Serra hasn't fought in one year while GSP just fought in late December, and Serra is coming off an injury while GSP just destroyed arguably the most dominant Welterweight of all time. If the odds weren't stacked against him at UFC 69, they're sure as hell against him for this event. If Serra can once again upset GSP, I will call him the greatest fighter of all time. That's right THE GREATEST FIGHTER OF ALL TIME~! That's the confidence level I have in GSP 4 months before the fight occurs. Don't let me down you damn Canadian, I don't want to have to chant "You screwed Lambert" every time I see you on my TV like you're Earl Hebner to Canadian wrestling fans.

Cardio News: Quick quote from Lyoto Machida: "I would like to fight with Chuck. It would be a exchanging fight, standing up all time, but who will decide this is the event."

Credit: MMAMania

Freak Views: HORRIBLE move by UFC. I've got no problem with Machida wanting to fight Chuck because who doesn't want to fight Chuck right now? But there's no way this is happening. Joe Rogan likes to say how Chuck is, "a very elusive guy" well Machida must be, "a super scary elusive guy." If Chuck tries to wing the big right like he did against Wanderlei, Machida would be 10 feet away by the time Chuck finished with the follow through.

It seems obvious that UFC wants to build Chuck Liddell against the winner of Quinton Jackson or Forrest Griffin (either fight would likely do MANY BUYS~!) so like it or not, you have to protect the guy or give him a fight where if he loses, the winner could easily challenge Griffin or Jackson. There's two options based on that criteria: Mauricio Rua or Rashad Evans. If Rua beats Liddell, you could easily build the rematch against either Jackson or Griffin. It wouldn't be the safe fight for Liddell but really it's a win-win situation for UFC because the winner could easily fight the champion and there wouldn't be too many complaints. Rashad Evans is a different situation. While a win over Liddell would give him decent credentials to fight Griffin or Jackson (he would be undefeated, always a nice selling point), I don't know how many people are buying Rashad Evans as a possible champion. But it's tough to argue that Evans isn't the perfect match up for Liddell. You could easily build it that Evans' training partner (Keith Jardine) defeated Liddell, Tito Ortiz couldn't finish Evans, and Evans is undefeated. It makes him appear to be a threat but the reality is, Evans couldn't get past Chuck's LEGENDARY SPRAWL~! and Chuck would likely knock him out. It's a safer fight for Chuck and you could easily build the rematch with Jackson or the TUF1 Coach vs. Student fight with Griffin.

Wow, that news was on Machida and I managed to try and book Chuck Liddell's 08. Have no fear, I'll actually talk about Machida because there's even more news on him.

Cardio News: Lyoto Machida's manager has confirmed that the undefeated Light Heavyweight has accepted an offer from the UFC to fight Tito Ortiz. According to Ed Soares (Machida's manager), Machida has accepted the offer for the fight and now they are just waiting for Tito Ortiz to accept the fight.

Credit: 411Mania

Freak Views: Now this is a fight that makes sense for UFC. We all know Dana White hates Tito Ortiz so he's in favor of him losing every fight he's in. On the flip side, Dana knows that most fans find Machida to be boring as shit but he can't do anything about it because he keeps winning. Despite all that, Dana is still all about making money. Well now he's got a solution if this fight takes place. Machida either beats Ortiz, giving Dana a reason to laugh at Ortiz and keeping Machida undefeated while giving him a win over a former champion, thus making him look like a very viable contender. Or Tito beats Machida, giving Dana a reason to go back to booking Machida in low-profile boring fight and giving Ortiz a win over an undefeated guy, making it seem like THE TITO ORTIZ OF OLD IS BACK~! and like him or not, Ortiz draws money.

Now as stated in the report, Machida has except this offer and it's all up to Ortiz. That's where the problem lies. Ortiz has already stated that he's, "tired of making Forrest Griffin and Rashad Evans look like stars" and Machida isn't exactly a star like Ortiz wants to fight. Plus he's Tito Ortiz and if it's not a title fight, he's not going to be happy with whomever he's fighting.

If this fight does indeed happen, I'm not expecting much. Ortiz isn't exactly the most exciting fighter in the world and we all know how boring Machida has been since coming to UFC.

Cardio News: After his already scathing comments about Fedor Emelianenko released earlier this week Tim Sylvia was apparently not done talking. The former UFC Heavyweight Champion had plenty to say when asked about Brock Lesnar by Steve Cofield of ESPN Radio.

"I've trained with Brock. I think Frank Mir's gonna submit him. He's a baby. Don't kick him because he'll get hurt. He's a hell of a wrestler man, the guy can wrestle and he's strong, but he can't punch and he can't get kicked. And he don't know how to kick. He can only go straight forward. I think Mir will submit him," Sylvia said, "I think Mir has what it takes to submit him. They could be lining this up between Frank Mir and myself down the road. They tried to [set up the] fight when I was supposed to fight Randy, but the Nevada State Athletic Commission would not sanction it. They thought I was too good for him. If he wins this fight I don't think they could say he's not good enough to fight me anymore."

Sylvia and Lesnar are both scheduled for UFC 81 with Sylvia squaring off against Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira for the vacant UFC Heavyweight Championship and the aforementioned Lesnar/Mir showdown.

Credit: 411Mania

Freak Views: While I agreed with his comments about Fedor and he may be right in his evaluation in Brock Lesnar (we'll find out in a month), just shut the fuck up Mr. Sylvia.

Here's an idea for you: when you don't bore me for 18 straight rounds, I'll allow you to talk. If you somehow knock out Nogueira and return to form before you cared more about sleeping with the UFC Heavyweight Title than you did about entertaining the fans, then you can talk.

Also, for those that don't know, Tim Sylvia and Frank Mir are actually good friends outside the octagon and were spotted in Vegas (Tim Sylvia donned with his replica UFC Heavyweight Title) hanging out before UFC 79. So it's not like he's picking with a clear head here. There also might be some jealousy of Lesnar, who is getting thrown right in there with a former Champion and has a lot of hype surrounding him, hype that's taking away from the Sylvia vs. Nogueira fight.

Honestly, there are not many MMA fighters I have a very very strong dislike for (hate is a strong word for someone I don't know) but Tim Sylvia is one of them.

Cardio News: Top welterweight contender Jon Fitch has signed the bout agreement to fight Akihiro Gono at UFC 82: "Pride of a Champion" on March 1 at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio.

In addition, the American Kickboxing Academy standout has re-signed with the organization for another three bouts.

Credit: MMAMania

Freak Views: Good on Jon Fitch. Instead of taking the easy route and costing to a title shot (I'm look at you Parisyan), Fitch is going to fight a very game Gono and I can't wait to see this. This also makes UFC 82 a very strong card on paper and I can't wait to see it.

Also glad to see Fitch sign an extension and I think he'll be fighting for the title before the year ends.

Cardio News: Cheick Kongo and Heath Herring will meet in a heavyweight clash at UFC 82: "Pride of a Champion" on March 1 at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio.

Credit: MMAMania

Freak Views: Seems like a step down for Kongo but I'm interested to see this one. If Kongo wins he could easily be fighting the winner for Sylvia/Nog for the title. Both guys like to stand and trade but if it hits the ground, I think Herring easily has the advantage.

Cardio News: Stephan Bonnar and Matt Hamill could possibly fight during an upcoming UFC Fight Night SpikeTV special on April 2, according to the MMAWeekly.com rumors section.

Light heavyweights Bonnar and Hamill are both former contestants on The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) who have large fan followings thanks in large part to their participation on the mixed martial arts (MMA) reality series.

Credit: MMAMania

Freak Views: This is a very interesting fight for both men. Bonnar served his horse-roid suspension and has rattled off 2 wins since that time. Hamill looked much improved in his UFC 75 fight with Bisping and many felt he won the fight. The winner of this fight would easily move up in the crowded Light Heavyweight division and when you're ranked below at least 10 fighters, all you can do is win the fights you're given. This is a big fight for both men because the loser of this fight will just show how much work they really have to do in order to compete in the LHW division.

If this fight does indeed take place, I like Bonnar to win it. I'm still not completely sold on Hamill and while Bonnar had problems with Evans, he's not training at Xtreme Couture so I'm going to assume that his wrestling has improved.

Cardio News: "The Ultimate Fighter 2" welterweight runner-up Luke Cummo will meet UFC veteran Luigi Fioravanti at UFC 82: PRIDE of a Champion March 1st at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio.

Credit: LukeCummo.com

Freak Views: Can't say I'm overly hyped about this fight and I'm not even sure if it's going to be televised with Henderson vs. Silva, Josh Koscheck vs. Dustin Hazelett, Cheick Kongo vs. Heath Herring, Jon Fitch, and Jorge Gurgel on the card. Yes I know the Gurgel fight could easily be moved to be a preliminary fight but the event is in Ohio and I think it's pretty obvious that Rich Franklin has MASSIVE pull in the company.

Cardio News: Thomas Gerbasi of UFC.com has reported that Thales Leites is out of his UFC 81 fight against Nate Marquardt. Leites suffered a broken right hand while training on Monday. No word on a replacement to face Marquardt on the February 2 event as of yet.

Credit: 411Mania

Freak Views: Strike two. These two fighters were supposed to meet on Ortiz vs. Shamrock: The Final Chapter but Thales had to pull out due to visa problems. Now he has to pull out with a broken hand and Marquardt is out an opponent.

If I had a guess, I would think that Travis Lutter will be the replacement as he was the rumored opponent for Rich Franklin at UFC 82 and was likely training for the fight. If it's not Lutter, then I've got no clue as to who it will be but it likely won't be anyone of note.

Cardio News: Thomas Gerbasi, UFC - Returning to the Octagon for the first time since back to back wins over Trevor Prangley and Chael Sonnen in 2005-2006 , respected middleweight contender Jeremy Horn will replace injured Thales Leites and face Nate Marquardt on February 2nd's UFC 81 card in Las Vegas.

Credit: UFC

Freak Views: Well color me wrong although I'm not complaining one bit with the addition of Jeremy Horn on the card. Horn, at 31, already has over 100 professional fights and is one of the most respected fighters in the business. He hasn't fought since early September 07 where he lost in the first round and hasn't competed in the UFC since UFC 60. Still, he's Jeremy Horn and you know he's a gamer.

I say the card got better with the addition of Horn over Leites.

Cardio News: The following is from Diego Sanchez' MySpace:

"Thank you all so much for your on going support and patience, I will be back in the ring really soon. So to answer ALL the questions about when, where, who and at what weight. Here you go.

1. I will know by Feb. who I will be fighting
2. Probably Vegas, but site not decided
3. Whoever UFC puts in front of me, does not really matter, I will be ready!
4. 170lbs

Hope this helps. "

Credit: Diego Sanchez' MySpace

Freak Views: I must say that I'm a little disappointed that Diego isn't moving to 155 like he previously stated he may do but at the same time, I don't think he's a bad 170. I know he's lost 2 straight fights but I'm going to give him a pass on the Koscheck fight as a bad night or the staph infection hurting him and I just think Fitch is better than him. However, he needs to win his next fight if he wants to stick around and be taken serious in the division.

On a related note, it seems as if Diego and former UFC Ring Girl Ali Sonoma have called it splits. Sucks for you Diego.





Cardio News: UFC and WWE came to an agreement that has resulted in the UFC 81 commercial featuring tons of footage of Brock Lesnar.

Credit: F4WOnline

Freak Views: Good on WWE. It's really a great deal for all parties as the WWE logo is in the corner of all Brock footage and they're not really losing anything as it's mainly entrance stuff and the action footage is nothing but Brock destroying jobbers. And of course it's great for UFC because they get to play up the aspect of Former WWE Champion vs. Former UFC Champion in a legit MMA fight, which is a big deal as many wrestling and MMA fans have always wondered who would win.

Here is the video for those who have not seen it:



Cardio News: The reason UFC isn't stripping Randy Couture of the UFC Title is because there is a clause in the contracts that states that a champion must either continue to defend or announce his retirement.

Credit: F4WOnline

Freak Views: Thank you Bryan Alvarez for clearing this up for me and all the other non-casual fans.

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Cardio News: HDNet Fights has confimed that their upcoming February 15th show has been cancelled and as of this time there is no date set of a rescheduling. Word is that the event will be held in early spring or the summer based on the availability of the American Airlines Center, owned by HDNet Fights owner Mark Cuban.

"The availability of our venue is tough in March and April," said Guy Mezger, President of HDNet Fights. "We're taking the time to build a little more infrastructure that's all our own," said Mezger. "Right now, we share a lot of it with HDNet and the [Dallas] Mavericks."

This is believed to be the one of the reasons for the cancellation and the extra time off is also believed to be to allow HDNet Fights to adequately meet obligations to partners like the IFL, Ring of Combat, and Sportfight. There are also talks with M-1 to possibly put on another joint Yarennoka promotion tentatively scheduled for sometime in March.

Credit: 411Mania

Freak Views: Uh Oh. I believe this is the show that was supposed to feature Jason Miller against Frank Trigg so that's a pretty big deal canceling a fight that had hardcore fans talking.

I'm going to try and not read too much into this but when you have an event scheduled and a main event announced and you cancel the show, that can't be a good thing. Hopefully things work out for the company but HDNet has plenty of MMA on their network to compensate for the possible loss.

Cardio News: Fresh off a smashing, 19-second first-round knockout in his Street-to-Elite MMA debut, the incredibly popular Kimbo Slice will face David "Tank" Abbott in what figures to be an absolute slugfest in the EliteXC main event on Saturday, Feb. 16, at the BankUnited Center at the University of Miami.

The fight card, announced today by EliteXC Live Events President, Gary Shaw, will headline a sensational EliteXC event that also will feature the top female draw in MMA, Gina Carano, highly regarded, top-notch heavyweights Antonio "Big Foot" Silva and James "The Colossus" Thompson (in separate bouts) and a terrific matchup between 185-pounders Scott Smith and Kyle "KO'' Noke.

The card will be televised on SHOWTIME at 10 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the west coast).

Kimbo, the legendary backyard street fighter and YouTube sensation who lives in Miami, Fla., destroyed Bo Cantrell in his first MMA start on Nov. 10, 2007, on SHOWTIME. In this eagerly awaited fight, Kimbo will be facing one of the most feared knockout artists in MMA history.

A notorious bad boy and trash-talker, Abbott, of Huntington Beach, Calif., has called out Kimbo on numerous occasions and is supremely confident of a victory.

Carano and Silva, who are coming off impressive first-round submission victories in their last starts, and England's Thompson, who has defeated the likes of legends Dan Severn, Don Frye, and Hidehiko Yoshida, will be opposed by opponents to be determined.

Noke, the bodyguard of the late Steve "Crocodile Hunter'' Irwin, won his EliteXC debut with an impressive second-round TKO over Seth Kleinbeck. But he faces another tough assignment in Smith, who recently signed with EliteXC and is making his SHOWTIME debut.

Credit: EliteXC

Freak Views: FUCK YEAH~!~!~! I don't care what anyone says, Kimbo Slice is awesome and this fight will rule. I know MMA has come a long way since the days of bar fighting in a cage but lets be honest, everyone loves a good fight and most fights you see on the street don't involve someone pulling guard. This fight is going to involve some, "good ole fashion standin there and bangin each other" and I can't wait to see it happen.

Outside of the awesome main event, GINA ‘CRUSH' CARANO~! is on the card. That of course gives me reason to mention her appearance on American Gladiators in which she looked beautiful, kicked ass, and looked to be having a good time. I'm also pretty sure she was the only male or female on the show that wasn't on some kind of juice. It was also awesome to see her pull guard in order to keep someone from climbing the pyramid. I was actually screaming at her to go for a triangle choke because that would have been awesome to see.

Of course you can't talk about Gina Carano without including some type of photo and since I'm a writer for the people, I give you this:



Cardio News: Ricco Rodriguez put his UFC 39 heavyweight championship belt, which he won from Randy Couture, up on eBay recently. It got, count em, zero bids, so he pulled it down the day the auction was supposed to close.

Credit: F4WOnline

Freak Views: Ouch. Seriously, ouch. I'm sure this had nothing to do with the $30,000 starting price.

Cardio News: For those doubting the possibility of a potential Shamrock vs. Shamrock fight. Doubt no more: Shamrock vs. Shamrock

Freak Views: ONLY 349 DAYS LEFT~!~!~!

To Know is To Love

Full Mount



The full mount is a position where you are on top of your opponents body. The fighter on top has complete control of the fight and the fighter on bottom has little place to go.

*Practitioner: Really any Mixed Martial Artist knows what to do and loves being in the full mount. Some fighters have heavier hands than others from the position and BJJ experts can transition into submissions easier but once you get this position and have complete control with it, it's hard to mess it up.

*On The Offense: Once the fighter on top has the full mount, 9 out of 10 times they will likely just pound out their opponent until the ref jumps in. If the bottom fighters gets his hands up to try and stop your blows, a quick transition into an arm bar can stop the fight.

*On The Defense: Most fighters like to try and buck their hips in order to force their opponent off, over, or back into half guard or guard. You also see a lot of fighters give up their back from this position in order to escape from there (more on that next week).

Top 5

Reasons to Dislike Sean Sherk

5. He makes you feel like a fat ass with his CRAZY workout routine
4. Rachelle Leah has been to his house
3. His nickname is ‘The Muscle Shark'
2. He's boring
1. He likely won't fight BJ Penn without steroids

Dana White On…

Melvin Guillard Temporarily Leaving UFC

That's what this fucking kid needs to do. He's got a lot of talent but this kids messed up in the fuckin head man. Doing coke the day before or the day of a main event fight? Is he fucking serious? Attacking a fighter who just beat him? Is he fucking serious? If this kid could get his fucking act together, he could be the champion of the division one day. He's gonna go fight some smaller shows for the time being and if he does well and I see that he's got his head on straight, we're going to bring him back. Fuck, I want this kid fighting Rich Clementi on every show if possible. That was better pro wrestling than pro wrestling. If we did a Best of 7 series with those guys, it would be fucking awesome and entertaining.

Training Partners

Bren Oliver is a great man who includes pictures of Rachelle Leah.

Adam Morgan takes a look at the news around the MMA world.

Morgan Marx looks at fights added and removed from upcoming cards.

Dustin James ranks the top 20 fighters of 07.

Leland Rolling breaks down upcoming fights.

Lofti Sariahmed looks at the IFL in 08.

Sid Needelman looks at FREAK FIGHTS~! in MMA.

Randy Harrison previews the upcoming WCO show.

Matt McEwen reviews UFC 29.

Randy Harrison reviews M1 Global: Yarennoka.

AND IT'S ALL OVER~!

That wraps it up for this week folks. Come back next week for a preview of UFC 80:Rapid Fire, some more news, and just a good time.

I leave you all with the greatest commercial of all time. Enjoy.