The Fightin' Stance News 04.26.08: Subject To Change

Posted by Adam Tool on 04.26.2008

In this edition of The Fightin' Stance News we've got a ton of fight announcements for the UFC, WEC, DREAM and Strikeforce! Random thoughts on UFC 83 and a Spotlight on "The Ultimate Fighter" Champions! Your weekend news extravaganza starts now!



Welcome one and all to another jam-packed edition of The Fightin' Stance News. My name is Adam Tool and I don't understand why some people are dissing UFC 83, which I thought was quite an entertaining card. We had several near-upsets, a big-time title fight, a few brutal stand-up wars and one of the funniest fights I've ever seen. More UFC 83 thoughts later, but there‘s news to be had first so…



Ch-ch-ch-changes

As I'm assuming you've heard by now, the main event for UFC 85 was scheduled to be Chuck Liddell taking on Rashad Evans, but Chuck had to pull out earlier this week due to a pulled hamstring. James Irvin is now slated to face Evans, however the card is now severely lacking a big main-event.



Now it seems that the UFC has found a new match-up to headline the card, as it was revealed yesterday that rising welterweight star Thiago Alves will step into the cage against former champion and future hall-of-famer Matt Hughes. The fight has been confirmed and is now listed as the main event on UFC.com

In addition, a middleweight fight between Michael Bisping and Chris Leben has been added to the card, which would obviously be a good draw for the UK crowd. This is a quick turnaround for Bisping, as he just fought last weekend at UFC 83. Leben meanwhile is fresh off his victory over Alessio Sakara at UFC 82, and will be looking for his third straight win.

Personally I would love to see Alves vs. Hughes, as it's your standard young up-and-comer facing the reliable veteran. Alves looked like a beast in his fight with Parisyan, but Hughes is still one of the strongest guys in the division. The match-up between Bisping and Leben also intrigues me, if only because we're sure to get a big-time slugfest out of those two. Stay posted, as this card is likely to go through more alterations in the weeks to come.

More Free Fights=Good Thing

When I compile the MMA calender each week, there's usually at least one or two events on there that I'm particularly excited about. In the near future I am really looking forward to next month's UFC 84 card (which takes place the day after my birthday), as well as the June 1st WEC show on Versus. This card was already announced with a main-event that will be the biggest in the company's seven-year history as featherweight champion Urijah Faber takes on former UFC lightweight champion Jens Pulver. Now the rest of the card is filling out, as the full lineup was revealed on Friday.

In addition to the featherweight title match, there will also be a defense of the bantamweight belt as new champion Miguel Torres defends the title against Yoshiro Maeda. This will be Torres' first defense after defeating Chase Beebe back at WEC 32 in February. Maeda made his WEC debut at the same event, defeating Charlie Valencia vi KO. In addition to the two championship fights the main card will also feature Jeff Curran, "Razor" Rob McCullough, and Rich Crunkilton. Here's the full lineup for WEC 34:

WEC featherweight championship: Urijah Faber vs. Jens Pulver
WEC bantamweight championship: Miguel Torres vs. Yoshiro Maeda
Mike Brown vs. Jeff Curran
Kenneth Alexander vs. Rob McCullough
Donald Cerrone vs. Rich Crunkilton
Tim McKenzie vs. Eric Schambari
Luis Sapo vs. Alex Serdyukov
Jose Aldo vs. Alexandre Nogueira
Dominick Cruz vs. Charlie Valencia

More WEC related news, as Dana White mentioned future plans for the organization in a post UFC 83 press conference. Apparently the goal is to make the two promotions more distinct, so WEC will be moving away from the heavier weight classes and focusing on the smaller weight divisions that aren't offered in the UFC. This could mean several light-heavyweight and middleweight fighters packing their bags and moving to the bright lights of the UFC. The idea makes sense since the bantam and feather weight divisions have the most depth in the WEC. They also usually provide the most exciting fights of the evening (much like the lightweight division in the UFC).

The DREAM is Still Alive



This Tuesday is the second show for upstart promotion DREAM, and it will feature the beginning of the middleweight grand prix. In addition the card will also feature the highly anticipated rematch between JZ Calvancante and Shinya Aoki. The winner of that fight will then go on to the second round of the lightweight grand prix which will happen two weeks later at DREAM 3.

Now the promotion is already lining up fights for the followup to that card, as the main-event for DREAM 4 on June 16th will be a heavyweight showdown between Mirko Cro Cop and Jerome LeBanner. Cro Cop is fresh off his victory over Tatsuya Mizuno at DREAM 1, while LeBanner last competed at K-1: Hero's 4 where he knocked-out Jimmy Ambriz. LeBanner has a puncher's chance, but this should be another tune-up fight for the Croatian Sensation. No other fights have been announced yet, but I would expect the card will also feature round 2 of the middleweight grand prix.

Unfortunately there are still no plans to air any upcoming DREAM events on U.S. television, and if that wasn't enough the company was recently pulled from the Tokyo Broadcast System's network schedule. Next week's event will not be airing live anywhere, but rather will be shown in edited one-hour segments the following week. Starting with DREAM 3, all future events will be shown live on SkyPerfect PPV.

UPDATE: Last night on "Inside MMA" HDNet made the announcement that they would be broadcasting all future DREAM events. Their coverage will start next weekend when they replay the first DREAM show, then the following night they will air this coming Tuesday's DREAM 2.

UFC 83 - The Aftermath

Sure everyone else on the site has had their say about last weekend's big event in Canada, but now it's my turn. With that in mind, instead of recapping the fights I'll just be hitting the thoughts and newsbites that have crossed my path in the last seven.

When was the last time you saw a fight ended with knees to the body? Although if Matt Serra didn't argue with the stoppage, I see no reason for anyone else to. Great show of wrestling prowless by the always-improving Georges St. Pierre, and a tremendous show of class by the fighters and fans afterwards. I particularly enjoyed the smaller Serra picking up GSP and carrying him around the cage.

According to his blog, it iurns out Matt Hughes was watching the fight at home and ended up rooting for Matt Serra to make it past the second round. Granted, he wanted the fight to go on so Serra could get beat up for five full rounds (in other news: Matt Hughes is a prick). Obviously Hughes vs. Serra is one of the last money matches left for either man at 170 lbs. After that I would expect Hughes to ride off into the sunset and hopefully Serra will drop back down to his natural weight class.

I find it oddly funny that the most boring fight of the night is the one that has been the most talked about. Of course I'm referring to Nate Quarry's domination of some stray little kid that walked into the cage. Did Starnes ask for his release? Did he tank the fight on purpose? Or did he really break his foot and just have a bad night? Who cares? He's gone and I won't be watching him fight ever again. So let's watch him for the last time in this Fightin' Stance News Special Presentation of Run Hard: The Kalib Starnes Story:



As I said last week in Fact or Fiction, Rich Franklin seems to be moving into the dreaded "gatekeeper" role at 185 lbs. He gave a post-fight interview earlier in the week where he was unsure of his future, but he does seem content to stay at middleweight and says he wants to take fights that will entertain the fans. This shouldn't be hard, as Franklin is always entertaining. The only possible big fight I see for him at 205 is a rematch against Lyoto Machida (since Machida is one of the two men that has beaten Franklin).

I also got a kick out of Rich's post-fight interview where he got a nice little shot in at Lutter's cardio. If Travis Lutter had any goodwill left with the UFC fans, it's long gone now.

Michael Bisping is a threat at middleweight, make no mistake about it. I don't think he's a threat to the title (yet) but he stands to give some of the other competitors a tough time if they draw him for their next fight.

I enjoyed the Goulet/Hironaka fight, although I was really hoping to see Demien Maia or Cain Velasquez on the main card. I have since seen both fights and believe me when I tell you these two young men will be big stars in the future. Velasquez overwhelmed Brad Morris from the get go and dropped him three times before it was finally stopped. Maia on the other hand was relentless in his submission attempts, but he clearly has heavy hands as well which is a dangerous combination.

I also feel that the "Fight of the Night" bonus should've gone to Mac Danzig and Mark Bocek. Bocek showed a lot of skill in the first round taking Danzig down and he had me thinking he may just pull of the upset. However Mac really turned it on in the second round and delivered some of the most beautiful flying knees of the night. Once they got to the third round it was only a matter of time before Danzig got the choke.

Danzig is yet another exciting product of the UFC's hit reality series, "The Ultimate Fighter." He was one of two "TUF" winners to compete that night (four if you count "Comeback" winners Travis Lutter and Matt Serra), so I think now is a good time to talk about…


"The Ultimate Fighter" Champions

On January 18th, 2005 a show premiered on Spike TV that would forever change the UFC and the world of mixed-martial arts. Nobody figured this little reality show would have such a deep impact on the world's largest MMA promotion, but in the three years and now seven seasons of the show's history there have been some truly excellent fighters that got their big break by living in a house with other fighters and having a film crew following their every waking moment.

Even though there are plenty of current UFC competitors that came through the "TUF" system, in the show's history there have only been eight champions (note: for this feature we'll be skipping past the all-veteran fourth season). Let's take a special look at the men that outlasted every other competitor to be crowned the Ultimate Fighter.

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Season 1: Middleweight Champion
Diego "Nightmare" Sanchez (18-2-0)

The very first Ultimate Fighter winner, and there were high hopes for him right from the start. After winning the show Sanchez went on to rack some big wins over Nick Diaz, Karo Parisyan and Joe Riggs. Then his momentum took a hit when he suffered his first career loss against former housemate and rival Josh Koscheck (who he had beaten during the show to advance in the tournament). Sanchez would follow up that fight with his second loss against current #1 contender Jon Fitch. Because of his back-to-back defeats Diego was last seen on the undercard at UFC 82, where he defeated David Bielkheden. His next matchup is against Luigi Fioravanti at The Ultimate Fighter Finale in a bout that was originally touted as the main event, but will now be the sub-main. Assuming "Nightmare" can get back to winning consistently, he will no doubt be a fixture in the welterweight division for some time.


Season 1: Light Heavyweight Champion
Forrest Griffin (15-4-0)

He's one of the most popular competitors in the UFC today, and the current #1 contender for the light heavyweight championship. Griffin also has the distinction of being the first "TUF" champion to return to the show as a coach (on the current 7th season). His three round war with Stephan Bonnar made a ton of new UFC fans at the show's finale. Since winning the contract Griffin's career has had ups (wins over Bill Mahood, Elvis Sinosic and Hector Ramirez) and downs (a tough decision loss to Tito Ortiz and a shocking TKO at the fists of Keith Jardine). Last September Griffin faced his toughest challenge yet in the form of PRIDE legend Mauricio "Shogun" Rua. Nobody gave Forrest much of a chance against the former #1 ranked light heavyweight, but the tough-as-nails Griffin gave Rua all kinds of trouble before submitting him late in the third round. After his big victory he was named #1 contender and given the opportunity to coach the next wave of young UFC wannabes. Will Forrest pull off another shocking upset in July when he faces "Rampage" Jackson for the belt?


Season 2: Welterweight Champion
Joe "Daddy" Stevenson (28-8-0)

Although Forrest is the next "TUF" champion to challenge for UFC gold, he wasn't the first. After winning the show's tournament, Joe Stevenson lost his first fight via decision to Josh Neer. He then immediately went down to his more natural weight class at 155 lbs. Once he dropped down "Daddy" went on a tear by defeating Yves Edwards, Dokojonosuke Mishima, Melvin Guillard and Kurt Pellegrino. Earlier this year Stevenson got the biggest fight of his life against B.J. Penn for the vacant lightweight championship. He was dropped with an uppercut very early on, then suffered a nasty cut on his forehead. Sensing the end may be near, Stevenson came out much more aggressively in the second round, yet he was unable to avoid Penn's relentless offensive attacks before succumbing to rear naked choke. Stevenson will be looking to move back toward contention with his upcoming fight against Gleison Tibau at UFC 86.


Season 2: Heavyweight Champion
Rashad Evans (11-0-1)

Several Ultimate Fighter winners have left the competition with an unbeaten record, but Rashad Evans is the only one that still has his. After defeating Brad Imes to win the heavyweight division of the show's second season, Evans soon dropped down to light heavyweight and defeated Sam Hoger, Stephan Bonnar, and Jason Lambert. He also got a highlight-reel head kick knockout of Sean Salmon at Fight Night 8. Next up Evans stepped up in competition by taking on former light heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz. The fight ended in a disappointing draw, but Evans remained undefeated. He then went on to hand Michael Bisping his first loss at UFC 78. Evans will next fight at UFC 85, and has been scheduled to face three different opponents. Originally slated to face Thiago Silva, he was then moved to the main event against Chuck Liddell when "Shogun" Rua had to withdraw. Now with Liddell's injury Evans will instead face James Irvin, and here's hoping there are no more changes to the card between now and June 7th.


Season 3: Middleweight Champion
Kendall "Da Spyder" Grove (8-5-0)

Grove defeated Ed Herman at the show's Finale, and followed that up with victories over Chris Price and Alan Belcher. It seemed that Grove would continue along his winning ways until Patrick Cote knocked him out at UFC 74 last August. Grove was then slated to face UFC journeyman Jorge Rivera at UFC 80 and again he tasted defeat, losing by TKO early in round 1. Now with back-to-back losses and questions about his chin it is do or die time for "Da Spyder" as he will challenge former UFC middleweight champion Evan Tanner in the main event of The Ultimate Fighter Finale on June 21st. If Grove is on the losing end of this contest, he could become the first "TUF" champion to be released from the UFC.


Season 3: Light Heavyweight Champion
Michael "The Count" Bisping (15-1-0)

This past Saturday saw the debut of a whole new Michael Bisping. Sure he has been impressive in fights against Eric Schafer and Elvis Sinosic, but his controversial win over Matt Hamill followed by his first career defeat at the hands of Rashad Evans forced Bisping to make a big change in his fighting career. Now at his more natural weight of 185 lbs, Bisping looks leaner and meaner than ever before. He avoided the submission attempts of Charles McCarthy and finished the first round with a barrage of knees that eventually caused the stoppage. As previously mentioned "The Count" has been added to the next UFC card in his home country of England, and should he beat Chris Leben then a title shot could very well be in his future.


Season 5: Lightweight Champion
Nate Diaz (9-2-0)

Before he entered the house for season 5, expectations were already high for Nate Diaz. Like his brother, former UFC welterweight Nick Diaz, Nate trained extensively under Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt Cesar Gracie. Nate put those skills to good use throughout the competition, winning three fights via submission. He then faced Manny Gamburyan at the Finale, and won the contract when Manny was forced to submit after injuring his shoulder. Since then Diaz has racked up three more submission wins over Junior Assuncao, Alvin Robinson, and most recently Kurt Pellegrino. Nate is already looking for better competition, and he'll need to win if he wants to make big waves in the crowded lightweight division.


Season 6: Welterweight Champion
Mac Dazing (18-4-1)

In the opening bout of UFC 83 Mac Danzig showcased the skills that made him the easy favorite to win the sixth season of "The Ultimate Fighter." Already a veteran of King of the Cage and PRIDE, Danzig had the kind of pedigree you usually don't see in the young competitors picked for the show. In his post-fight interview after beating Tommy Speer to win the contract, Danzig immediately stated his intentions to drop down to lightweight. He debuted in the division (and on PPV) this past Saturday in what I felt was the "Fight of the Night." Obviously it's still early in his UFC career so we'll have to see where he goes next, but I for one am eagerly awaiting big things from Mr. Danzig.



-Strikeforce has announced the main event for their next show on June 27th. The card will be headlined by the Strikeforce lightweight championship fight between Gilbert Melendez and Josh Thomson. The fight was originally scheduled for last month's Strikeforce/EliteXC card, but Thomson had to pull out to have shoulder surgery.

-Following his loss to Michael Bisping at UFC 83, Charles McCarthy announced his retirement from MMA competition. Instead McCarthy will focus entirely on his efforts as a trainer at American Top Team.

-The financial side of the UFC was the focus of a recent Forbes Magazine article featuring co-owners Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta on the cover. The article also featured this quote from the always out-spoken UFC president Dana White,

"I'm flattered that Frank, Lorenzo and I have made this business look so easy. But CBS doesn't understand the fight business, and Mark Cuban doesn't know anything about the fight business, either. All he's concerned with is drawing subscribers to HDNet so he can sell out to Time Warner or Comcast."

-With the primtime network debut of EliteXC about a month away, rumors are circulating that the UFC is close to striking a deal with FOX.

-A fight between Dean Lister and Jeremy Horn has been added to "The Ultimate Fighter" Finale on June 21st. The event will now be headlined by the previously announced matchup of Evan Tanner vs. Kendall Grove.

-Longtime UFC lightweight Din Thomas has announced his intentions to drop down to featherweight. It's assumed that Thomas would then begin competing in WEC, and would no doubt be another big addition to that division.

-Although the former heavyweight champion Andre Arlovski seemed to be all be certain to be leaving the UFC, apparently negotiations are still underway to keep him in the organization. Let's hope so because the exodus of UFC heavyweights needs to stop soon. After Couture, Cro Cop, and now Syliva, they are running out of big names fast.

I Keep My Pimp Hand Strong

Sure I'm great, but why not check out some of our other fine writers?

The toughest part of writing the news on Saturday is trying to follow Randy Harrison and the always entertaining Five Rounds Of News.
Sergio Hernandez is one of my favorite new columnists here at 411 MMA and this week he kicks off a trilogy of articles about the final days of PRIDE FC in Beyond The Fight
In the Weekly CrapSHOOT Frederick Peterson checks his wins and losses from UFC 83.
411 MMA‘s own John Curry sat down with former UFC heavyweight Brad Imes in this exclusive interview.
Do I need to remind you to check out Dustin James and the 411 Rankings? This week we rank the top 10 welterweights.
Randy Harrison also contributed another edition of our 411 Fighter Profiles with his look at the career of Japanese legend Kazushi Sakuraba.
Get your weekly doubleshot of Jeremy Lambert in The Cardio Freak News and The Ultimate Fighter Recap.



4/29 - DREAM 2 - Middleweight Grand Prix
(no U.S. broadcast at this time)

5/11 - DREAM 3 - Lightweight Grand Prix Rd. 2
(no U.S. broadcast at this time)

5/24 - UFC 84: Ill Will - Penn vs. Sherk
Live on PPV at 10 pm ET

5/31 - EliteXC Saturday Night Fights - Premiere
Live on CBS at 9 pm ET

6/1 - WEC 34: Faber vs. Pulver
Live on VS. (time TBA)

6/7 - UFC 85
Live on PPV at 3 pm ET (Replay at 10 pm ET)

6/14 - EliteXC: Noons vs. Edwards
Live on Showtime at 10 pm ET

6/16 - DREAM 4
(no U.S. broadcast at this time)

6/21 - The Ultimate Fighter Finale
Live on Spike (time TBA)

6/27 - Strikeforce: Melendez vs. Thomson
(time and broadcast TBA)

7/5 - UFC 86: Jackson vs. Griffin
Live on PPV at 10 pm ET



Next weekend is the opening of one of the summer's most anticipated flicks, Iron Man
Here is a two minute (spoiler free) clip from the movie.



Another great music video-with LASER TAG!
"Strange Times" by The Black Keys



And so ends another edition of The FSN. Thanks for reading. You can find me back here next week. Same Tool time, same Tool channel. Until then...


Credit: MMAJunkie.com, Sherdog.com, Fiveouncesofpain.com, MMAWeekly.com, TAGG Radio