Cardio Freak MMA News Report 06.05.08: Full of Controversy and Excitement

Posted by Jeremy Lambert on 06.05.2008

Cardio Freak is back with another HUGE edition. There's a recap of the controversial EXC on CBS featuring Kimbo being saved, Carano being awesome, and Shaw being Dana-lite. Also there's a recap of the epic Faber vs. Pulver fight and my new favorite fighter Miguel Torres. Plus a preview of UFC 85: DOOMED~! featuring a good top to bottom card. All that and the latest news around the MMA world. It's more active than Miguel Torres, it's Cardio Freak on 411!



Welcome back to Cardio Freak everyone. I am your trainer Jeremy ‘DVR' Lambert.

First off, I am happy to announce that I FINALLY got myself a DVR. I've moved up in the world ladies and gentlemen. How I lived life without a DVR, I'll never know. I can finally record MMA shows and watch them on my TV as a way to review things instead of having to rely on this shitty internet connection and torrents. DVR, you rule. Unfortunately I'll be brought back to reality when I return to college in August.

10 Hours a Day, 7 Days a Week

Controversy Creates Ratings

It didn't hit me how little casual fans cared about this show until I was at work the Wednesday night before the event on Saturday. A co-worker named Davis is the very definition of a casual MMA fan. He ordered UFC 84 because he recognized the names BJ Penn and Tito Ortiz, he had no clue UFC 85 was this Saturday, he was excited at the prospect of Penn vs. St. Pierre because he'd never seen them fight, and he knew about Faber vs. Pulver. He did not however, know about EXC on CBS this past Saturday. I told him about the show, explained that Kimbo Slice was in the main event (who he knew from YouTube) and that fighters such as Scott Smith (blank stare), Robbie Lawler, (blanker stare) Gina Carano ("The Gladiators girl?"), and Phil Baroni (blank stare) were also on the card. That's when I thought it hit me that the casual fan really didn't know about this card.

I was wrong. The show did a 3.0 overall rating with 4.85 million viewers. It peaked with 6.51 million viewers during Kimbo vs. Thompson. Good numbers? I would say so. The 3.0 rating is stronger than normal programming in that timeslot and hit the 3.0 set by CBS. To compare, UFC 75 drew a 3.1 rating. That show was also on a Saturday night on tape delay at 9 PM but on SpikeTV and not CBS. EXC drew a 4.1 rating in the 18-34 male demographic. With a strong demographic rating, it seems that EXC on CBS will be back later this year. I said the show would fall below the 3.0 set by CBS and it nailed the rating right on the head. It seems that the show was a success overall though and for that, I am happy. Despite my hate for Gary Shaw, I didn't want EXC to fail because the more MMA the better. I'm happy that EXC did a strong rating for an event that really had its problems. Hopefully the next one does just as well. It struck me that the casual fan did care about this card when I went into work Monday and my boss, Robert, asked me if I watched the fighting on Saturday. I never knew he was a MMA fight and really, he wasn't, he just wanted to see the big sell on the show.

Kimbo Slice was the big sell on this show. He was pushed as a street fighting sensation and EXC was really just saying, "Come see Kimbo Slice on CBS beat up a big tall goof." At the end of the fight, Kimbo Slice was the one on the ground. He didn't lose though. No, he was arguably saved by the referee amidst controversy. Kimbo busted the conjoined twin known as cauliflower ear of James Thompson and the ref stopped the fight in fear that Thompson's ear was going to fall off. Personally, I think Thompson was out on his feet. Kimbo hit him with hard shots and Thompson's eyes looked glazed over just before the ref stopped it. He didn't go down from the blows but he clearly looked out on his feet. When the ref jumped in to stop it, Thompson proceeded to argue and then slap the ref while Kimbo proceeded to fall on the ground gasping for air.

People watched this show to see Kimbo Slice knockout James Thompson in 30 seconds. James Thompson wasn't having that. For all the remarks about his glass jaw, it came through in the clutch. He ate multiple shots while trying to get inside on Kimbo but he didn't go down. Thompson was able to get Kimbo down multiple times in the fight. Unfortunately, Thompson's ground game is just slightly less horrible than Kimbo's. At one point in the 1st round, Kimbo actually bench pressed Thompson off of him. That was about as good as Kimbo's ground game got. He was locked in a guillotine choke and I actually thought he tapped out but the announcers said he was just giving a thumbs up. At another point in the fight, the ref stood them up when Thompson has side control. Thompson wasn't doing much with side control at this time but I think every ref should follow the theory of ‘Big John McCarthy. In an interview I read with McCarthy, he said, "I'll never stand up guys when they have a dominant position. If they're not working in the guard, I'll stand them up. If they have a dominant position though, I'll leave them down there." I think every ref should adhere to that. Instead, Thompson had side control and was stood up. At the end of the 2nd round, Thompson once again had Kimbo pinned against the cage in side control and was battering him for over a minute with punches and elbows. The only answer Kimbo had was to give a thumbs up. I actually thought the fight should have been stopped at that point because although the blows weren't powerful, Kimbo had no answer for them. If we learned anything from that sequence it was that if you give a thumbs up despite not answering the blows from your opponent, the ref won't stop the fight. It was a lot like the end of Penn vs. Hughes 2 where the shots Hughes were bringing down weren't all that powerful but Penn had no answer for them.

After the fight had ended and Kimbo gave his post-fight promo, the fans booed. EliteXC's big star was heavily booed on national television because the fans were either: A. not impressed with Kimbo's performance or B. hated the stoppage. My guess is that it was a mix of both. Here's the problem EliteXC now has with Kimbo Slice: he's not the main event star that they wanted him to be. James Thompson, the big tall goof with the glass jaw hand picked to be destroyed by Kimbo, exposed him. Thompson is not a good grappler yet he was able to takedown Kimbo, pass, and almost have his way with Kimbo on the ground. For those saying that BJ Penn couldn't beat Kimbo in two minutes as predicted by myself last week, you're wrong. Kimbo Slice also has no gas tank. Most people knew that coming in but it was more than obvious here where the winner was on the ground but the loser was still standing. In fact, this fight was very similar to Kimbo's only YouTube loss to Sean Gannon. The rules were essentially made up on the fly, Kimbo turned his opponents face into ground meat, and Kimbo gassed. The only difference here was that a ref was able to jump in and save Kimbo from losing. Had there have been no ref, this fight would have ended exactly like Kimbo vs. Gannon. Thompson's face would have been a complete mess but he was not going to fall down. Kimbo would have eventually just fallen down due to exhaustion and Thompson would have won. Kimbo was done, Gus.

This event also showed that Kimbo Slice doesn't really have as much charisma as first believed. His locker room interview before the fight was horrible and his post-fight interview was horrible. Kimbo has charisma in the right situations but when he's put on the spot, he comes off very flat. When he knocks guys out in 30 seconds, he cuts very good promos because he's not tired and he collected a huge paycheck for 30 seconds of work. After being taken to the limit by James Thompson, Kimbo Slice had nothing to say but that he has a lot to learn. The problem is that Kimbo isn't a 22-year-old breaking into MMA and he's got plenty of time to learn things. He's 32 years old and he can only be protected for so long.

What does EXC do with Kimbo Slice now? He's the guy they want to push but this fight showed that it's going to be tough for them to push him from now on. He's not a main event guy. If they were to match him up against Antonio Silva, he would get destroyed. In fact, at the post-event press conference, he got into an altercation with Brett Rogers. Brett Rogers would destroy Kimbo. As mentioned last week, I almost feel bad for Rogers because he's a big charismatic black guy and although he's a better fighter, he's not going to get pushed because he's a threat to Kimbo. In fact, even Gary Shaw knows Brett Rogers would destroy Kimbo because in an interview Shaw said he wasn't going to do Rogers vs. Kimbo next because, "Kimbo isn't experienced enough to fight Rogers. So he's experienced enough to fight someone with 23 fights (22 coming into the Kimbo fight) but not experienced enough to fight a guy with seven fights? That makes sense. Kimbo Slice can still draw but he can't be taken serious as this world-beater than EXC wants to push him as. Somone on the broadcast claimed that Antonio Silva and Kimbo Slice were the top two Heavyweights in EXC. That's an obvious lie (although not much of a stretch as Kimbo is a Top 5 EXC Heavyweight) but what the hell does that say about their Heavyweight division? In my opinion, there's only one thing you can do with Kimbo and it's what they should have been doing with him all long. They can only make him a special attraction. He can't continue to be in the main event against hand picked opponents that he should destroy because that's ripping off the fans. The two best fighters should be in the main event. Kimbo Slice can still be on the card and he can still beat up goofs but that's about the shelf life that he has.

That was just the first of three controversial calls on Saturday night. Perhaps the biggest one came in the Scott Smith vs. Robbie Lawler bout where it was stopped after an accidental finger to the eye. Scott Smith admitted that he did say that he couldn't see but added in that he wanted his five minutes. Either that doctor didn't give him his five minutes or he was lying. Smith seemed very upset when they stopped the fight but every fighter knows that when you say, "I can't see" then you're just looking for a way out. Why Scott Smith wanted a way out in a title fight that he was even in up until that point, I don't know. He still should have known better than to say those words though. Also, who came up with this retarded rule where you go to judges scorecards if the fight is stopped from an illegal blow in title fights that have gone past 3 rounds? Just imagine if Hughes vs. Penn 2 wasn't stopped when it was. Penn had won the first two rounds, was gassed from the broken rib and lost the third round, and probably wasn't going to do much better in the fourth and fifth rounds. Had Hughes accidently caught him with a thumb to the eye or a kick to the groin in the fourth round, Penn would have won the title because he was up 2-1 on the scorecards. That's bullshit.

This fight and the Kimbo fight also showed just how much Gary Shaw wants to be Dana White. Shaw announced after the Smith vs. Lawler no contest that both fighters would get their win bonuses. It was straight out of The Ultimate Finale 1 where Dana gave Forrest Griffin and Stephan Bonnar contracts even though Griffin won and Bonnar lost. I think the Kimbo fight was worse though as Gary Shaw just stood next to Kimbo during his post-fight interview, never cracked a smile, and said nothing. In fact, he seemed to say something to every winner after their fight but he never seemed to be happy. Does this man not know how to smile? He bashes Dana White at every chance he can get yet he so desperately wants to be Dana White that it's laughable. At least with Dana, he knows that he's trying to be a superstar and he embraces it when people try and slam him for it. He holds after-parties (is Tito coming?), he's on the Countdown shows giving his thoughts, he makes no secrets about his relationships with fighters, he's all over The Ultimate Fighter, ect…. At least with Dana, you know what you're going to get. He's going to curse up a storm and he's going to be the giddiest mother fucker (cursing out of respect to Dana again) in the arena. Gary Shaw is just some fat slob who promoted boxing so he thinks he can promote MMA but for some reason, he can't be happy about. He should have been elated that Gina Carano and Kimbo Slice won their fights. Instead he stood there looking like he needed Subway. All Dana White haters should write him an apology after seeing Gary Shaw on Saturday. Dana may be bad (although I love him) but he's a million times better than Gary Shaw.

Also, I've got to harp on Gus Johnson here because he made a comment that pertains to this fight. During the first round when the impatient crowd booed Lawler and Smith for not being exciting after 5 seconds, Johnson made the comment, "This isn't boxing like the crowd is used to. This is MMA. The crowd is used to action." That right there is the reason why Dana White and UFC want Mike Goldberg and Joe Rogan doing their broadcasts and no one else. I really hate to nit pick at Gus Johnson because overall I thought he did a great job as a guy I've never heard announce MMA. Still, that comment is what UFC is afraid of while trying to get on network TV. They don't want an announcer that's not theirs make a dumb comment about the sport and fans turning away.

Oh yeah, there was a fight. It was well on its way to being the fight of the night and a possible fight of the year candidate but the ending took it down many notches. Lawler had clearly won the first round after destroying Smith with multiple body kicks and Smith won the second round after picking apart Lawler and rocking him a number of times. I noticed in this fight that Lawler shook his head after he rocked Smith with a body kick and some punches as if to say, "I'm not going to finish you just yet." Why is it that people aren't finishing Scott Smith when they have him rocked after the Pete Sell fight? Patrick Cote had Smith rocked in their fight but he shook his head and didn't finish him. Scott Smith caught Pete Sell with a huge punch as Sell rushed him with his hands down and now all of a sudden everyone thinks he's going to do it again. It's almost laughable. Gary Shaw said that depending on the health of both men, they're going to try and do the rematch at the second CBS show in August. Thank God we'll get a worthy main event.

In the other controversial fight, Gina Carano stopped Kaitlin Young at the end of the second round when the doctor said Young couldn't continue. Carano came into this fight with a three-week training camp and 4 ½ pounds over the 140 limit but still pulled out the victory. I'd be a hypocrite if I bitched out Travis Lutter for not making weight and didn't do the same to Carano so here goes. What Carano did was just as unprofessional as Lutter. I know she was just coming off American Gladiators and they wanted her up to something like 175 lbs but when Shaw once again plays favorites for you and sets the Women's Weight Limits to 140 when they're usually 135, you better make weight. If she didn't feel she could make weight and get in a full training camp, she should have waited until the second EXC on CBS event to take the fight. Yeah she gave up 12 percent of her purse to Young but that's probably nothing to Carano. Gina said that she'll be taking MMA more serious now and I can only hope that's true. She's obviously the most talented female in MMA but if she continues to half-ass everything, it's going to catch up with her. All that said, while it was unprofessional, it doesn't really matter. Gina Carano is the only female MMA fighter that anyone cares about so she can get away with things like this. Is it wrong? Maybe but it's the breaks you get when you're a superstar. Kobe Bryant gets all the foul calls because he's a superstar. Without Carano, women's MMA wouldn't be where it's at today so people give her a pass. It was just as unprofessional as Lutter missing weight but really, it doesn't matter as much as Lutter missing weight because the Middleweight division moves on with or without Lutter. Women's MMA doesn't go as far without Carano.

As for the fight, Gina Carano put on a hell of a performance. She used a straight kick to keep the distance and then picked apart Young with strong punches. Had the second round gone another 30 seconds, it's very likely that Gina would have pounded out Young or finished her with a rear naked choke. Looking at Young sitting in the corner in the second round, I knew they were going to stop the fight. The mouse was below her eye but her eye looked pretty swollen and lets be honest, did anyone really want to see a young woman continue to get punched in the face looking like she already did? I sure as hell didn't. Obviously CBS didn't either. Young wanted to continue the fight and she stated that the doctor said it was fine to continue the fight but the commission stepped in and wouldn't let it continue. Carano not knowing the name of THAT SUBMISSION MOVE~! was further proof that it's not really called the gogoplata. Boy was she cute as a button when she didn't know the move. There's just something about a pretty girl who plays dumb that really turns me on. Got that ladies?

Phil Baroni got knocked out on Saturday. I laughed. Baroni talked about how he wanted to stand and trade with Joey Villasenor and then he tried a takedown. Phil Baroni is clearly past his prime as proof by his 1 win in 5 fights and his 10-10 record. He's still relevant though. Why? Because he knows how to entertain before and after the fight and when he fights, he brings it for one round. It's the same reason why Tank Abbott is still relevant today. You know for one round you'll get an entertaining fight, you know the hype will be solid, and you know the post-fight promo will be good. Baroni isn't going anywhere and we all have to live with it. As for Joey Villasenor, he's a good entertaining fighter. I believe he was in line to fight the winner of Lawler vs. Smith but with those two having a rematch that appears to be on hold. They could do Villasenor vs. ‘Ninja' Rua with the winner getting to fight the winner of Lawler vs. Smith. I say they should do Villasenor vs. Cung Le for the Strikeforce Middleweight title. You know Villasenor will stand with him and chances are Cung Le will knock him out.

The moment I saw Big Black and Bam Bam from Rob & Big, I became a fan of Brett Rogers. This is the big black guy they should be pushing instead of Kimbo Slice. He beat James Thompson before and quicker than Kimbo and he knocked out Jon Murphy on Saturday night. It's a shame that he'll likely be fed to Antonio Silva instead of getting an already hyped fight with Kimbo Slice. The Grim Dance sucked but Brett Rogers rules. Also, what a waste of Busta Rhymes. I know Busta Rhymes isn't the biggest rap star in the world but he's still one of the more well-known artists and EXC treated him like an after thought.

I've always gotten on the case of companies not named UFC for their production values and EXC is no exception. I liked the video package they put together with Frank Shamrock at the beginning explaining some of the basic MMA terms. Unfortunately I was completely turned off by that video package at the very end when Frank said, "you won't find this on the streets." WHAT? Seriously? This wasn't a big deal because Kimbo Slice was in the main event. This was a big deal because Kimbo Slice was I the main event and they promoted him as a "street fighting legend." I just thought it was a ridiculous comment to make given the situation. That wasn't the only thing that turned me off though. Strippers in the aisle? What was the point of them? I'm not complaining about hot chicks dancing on my television but if I want to watch hot chicks dancing badly, I'll watch WWE. Also, the generic UFC DVD music, generic lighting, and generic pyro didn't help out things. I also thought the pacing of this show was horrible. The show was supposed to end at 11:00 and Kimbo Slice wasn't introduced until 11:20. It would have been one thing if you had a couple of decisions before the main event but two fights ended in the first round, the women's fight was only six minutes, and Smith vs. Lawler went late into the third round. I don't care that the show went over although it's not hard to manage your time and plan for the worst, meaning ever fight goes the distance. That didn't bother me. What bothered me was all the downtime between fights when they could have showed a preliminary fight or backstage interviews or something.

Controversy was the theme of the night. Three fights were stopped when you could easily make a case that they could have continued. Young vs. Carano was stopped because the commission didn't want to see Young take anymore abuse, Smith vs. Lawler was stopped because Smith said the magic words and I believe the commission didn't want to see anymore blood or allow Smith his five minutes as they were already way behind, and Kimbo vs. Thompson was stopped because a mans ear was about to fall off. This is MMA, there is going to be violence. If the commission is going to step in and stop fights because it's getting too violent, then MMA shouldn't be on network TV. If Kaitlin Young were a male, that fight would have continued (maybe not on CBS) because the swelling hadn't shut her eye completely. Smith should have never said, "I can't see" but if he asked for his five minutes, he should have been allotted the time. Thompson's ear was gushing blood (why wasn't that thing drained?) and it may have fallen off but I bet you Thompson was going to finish that fight with one ear as he was likely ahead on the scorecards at that point. You could easily make a case that all three of those fights should have been allowed to continue and if this event were on PPV, they may have very well continued. Instead, this is what happens when you put a violent and unpredictable sport on network TV and this could very well be the reason why UFC didn't want to be on network TV.

So was this show a success? Considering they'll likely get another shot on CBS, you've got to say yes. The rating is what CBS was looking for so that's a thumbs up for EXC. According to reports, there were 8,000 people in attendance for the show. A strong number but considering UFC 78 did 14,000 with Michael Bisping vs. Rashad Evans, it doesn't look as good. Those attendance numbers and the ratings I gave early should give you an idea as to where EXC is compared to UFC. They're obviously #2 but after losing 27 million dollars in 2007, they've got nowhere to go but up. The media attention on Monday really did wonders for UFC. Jim Rome spent an hour talking about the event, 1st & 10 on ESPN ended the show talking about it, and Pardon The Interruption, the #1 sports show on cable, dedicated 5 Good Minutes to talk about the show. I didn't feel the buzz surrounding this event the week before it but it was certainly felt in the days after. The show itself was pretty much what you expected when you saw the card. EliteXC booked fights where they knew knockouts would happen and that's what they got. It took some twists and turns to get to those knockouts but in the end, four out of the five fights ended in a knockout or technical knockout and the other was well on its way. This was a show that appealed to the casual fan and it worked.

Cleft: California Kid Wonder

For those of you that got the WEC headline, why the hell are you watching Nickelodeon?

Urijah Faber and Jens Pulver put on one hell of a show in front of the largest WEC audience ever. The fans got their zero dollars worth, that's for damn sure. In fact, had this event been on PPV, I would have paid for it just based on the hype. After the event was over, I would have certainly paid for it, no questions asked.

Urijah Faber retained his Featherweight title by unanimous decision over Jens Pulver. The scorecards after the fight read 50-45, 50-44, 50-44 all in favor of Faber. It was much closer than that. Faber won every round, there's little dispute that but it's not like he dominated every round like Randy Couture dominated every round against Tim Sylvia at UFC 68. Faber showed just how well rounded he was in this fight as he stood toe to toe with Jens Pulver and constantly scored with a big right hand. Faber looked to have Pulver finished in the second round after a big right hand, hammer fists as Pulver grabbed a leg, and the jumping knee but Pulver survived. Pulver showed a very good sprawl in the early rounds but as the fight wore on and he got more tired and beat up, Faber was pretty much taking him down at will. Faber seemed very happy to stay on his feet and trade with the former pro boxer though. He packed a lot of power in his punches and used his speed to get in and out so Pulver couldn't counter. Huge credit to Jens Pulver for surviving all five rounds with Urijah Faber, that in itself is a task. Jens Pulver took Urijah Faber to the limit and Faber showed why he is the best Featherweight in the world. I know Faber is going to have to defend his title again and Pulver is going to have to win another fight or two but these two can't rematch soon enough. Seriously, this fight ruled and I want to see it again tomorrow.

These two got the full bore UFC PPV main event treatment. They brought down the house lights before the entrances and because they were at Arco Arena and not a casino lobby, it felt like a UFC PPV. Jens Pulver, having had the big UFC entrance before, looked cool and calm on his way to the ring and was all business. Urijah Faber, being the champion in his hometown and never having a big time entrance, just looked happy to be there. Chuck Liddell always has a bounce to his step during his walk in and it rules. Urijah Faber took it many steps beyond a bounce. Faber was full on dancing with the biggest smile on his face. That's why this man rules. He was entering the biggest fight of his life on the biggest WEC stage ever and he just had the look of, "just another day at the beach." Also, what was up with Clay Guida marking out in the front row where the fighters check in? He does know he can take pictures with these guys any time he wants right?

In the other title fight of the night, Miguel Torres and Yoshiro Maeda put on a fight that was a just as good as Faber vs. Pulver. Torres is widely regarded as the top Bantamweight in the world and he proved it here. He really showed his heart in this fight because Maeda had him in trouble a couple of times, especially early when Torres was fighting with a lot of emotion. These two men proceeded to beat the hell out of each other in this fight. They didn't have the most technical fight on the feet but shots were getting through and faces were getting messed up. The ground was a different story as it was a very technical battle. The best part of this whole fight was when they locked in dueling heel hooks and I could have sworn I was watching pro wrestling, except this was awesome. The thing I really like about Miguel Torres is that he never stops working. If he's on his back, he constantly looks for submissions and he's always throwing strikes. The end of the fight came with Maeda's eye was swollen shut. I couldn't see the white in his eye so I'm pretty positive he couldn't see a damn in the fight. He even grabbed his eye after a punch by Torres, meaning an orbital bone might be broken or something worse than just a swollen eye.

I don't know whom Torres is going to fight next and I don't care. This man is awesome.

Mark Munoz stayed undefeated by taking down and taking out Chuck Grigsby. This was the classic wrestler vs. striker battle and the striker had no answer on the ground. Grisby in pretty much a clone of Cheick Kongo so I disliked him from the start. Munoz stood with him early but clearly had no answer for the reach of Grisby. He finally took him down and didn't really do anything from guard or on the ground. Instead, he stood up, pushed the legs aside, and came down with a big punch. He did this a number of times and Grigsby couldn't do a thing about it. The end came when Munoz pushed the legs aside, came down with a big punch, and ended up in half guard. Grisby went for a leg lock but Munoz brought down multiple hammer fists and Grisby's head had nowhere to go and he was out. I suspect Munoz isn't very far away from a title shot considering the WEC Light Heavyweight division isn't anything special.

The night didn't start off so hot though as former Lightweight Champion Rob McCullough defeated Kenneth Alexander by unanimous decision. This fight was doomed from the start when I saw Tito Ortiz in the corner of McCullough. From that point on I could only think of the following things:

*Tito Ortiz in the opener on Versus, how fitting
*If this were a PPV, Tito would be pissed that he wasn't promoted
*Tito Ortiz might be able to win the WEC Light Heavyweight title
*Are they going to let him talk after the fight?
*He didn't want to corner McCullough but Jenna told him to

McCullough and Alexander did nothing to take my mind away from Tito jokes because outside of the final 30 seconds not much happened. McCullough looked tentative to throw a punch and scared to get hit. This is the second straight fight where McCullough just didn't look himself and I don't know what to attribute that to. Hopefully he finds his game in his next fight because he's a treat to watch when he's on.

This show ruled. I already went on my big spiel about shows running over their limit with EXC on CBS so I won't repeat it here. After two straight shows, I think it's fair to say that you should set your DVR to record one hour after the show is supposed to go off air. Other than that, I can't complain about the show. I was obviously a big fan of the production values because I'm a big fan of how UFC does their PPVs and this was really no different than that. Bringing down the house lights before the main events is still one of the best things about MMA shows as it really gets me excited when the music hits and the fighter does their walk in. Frank Mir on commentary is awesome and I demand that he do commentary for UFC main events as I've been begging them to replace Randy Couture ever since he left.

Torres vs. Maeda and Faber vs. Pulver are both candidates for Fight of the Year candidates and they were both better than anything on EXC on CBS. Miguel Torres is my new favorite fighter and if he isn't your favorite fighter after watching this fight, what is wrong with you? Hopefully the next WEC show with three title fights is just as good as this one and I suspect it will be because WEC delivers 9/10 times.

The show ended up doing a 1.4 rating, one of the highest rated Versus programs ever and easily the highest rated WEC event. It went over the 1.0 that Versus and WEC had hoped for. With the decision finish, my guess is that Faber and Pulver will rematch as long as they win their next fights. Miguel Torres may have also turned himself into a star considering he had the best performance of the night on the highest rated WEC event. It's a shame this wasn't the event on CBS because in the end, it was a much better representation of MMA than EXC on Saturday.

UFC 85: DOOMED~! Preview

That's right there's more MMA this week as UFC returns to PPV and London with UFC 85: Bedlam. This card has had more twists and turns than The Departed. The main event started out as Chuck Liddell vs. ‘Shogun' Rua. Rua was injured and Rashad Evans stepped up to take his place against Liddell. Liddell then went down with an injury and with no big name Light Heavyweight ready to fight, Evans moved down the card to fight James Irvin while Matt Hughes and Thiago Alves stepped up to main event the card. Michael Bisping, being from London, was also added to the card and was slated to fight Chris Leben. Leben had to be pulled from the card because he would be spending time in jail due to an outstanding DUI charge. Jason Day stepped in to replace Leben. Brandon Vera vs. Fabricio Werdum, which was the semi-main event back when Liddell vs. Rua was the scheduled main event, is now being billed as the opener.

The card is taking a lot of shit because no one buys Hughes vs. Alves as the main event. I can't say I disagree. Up and down the card though, it's a pretty strong card with plenty of names. In fact, it might be a stronger up and down card than the original card with Liddell vs. Rua on top. That said, no one is buying this PPV outside of the hardcore fans. It's two weeks after the big UFC 84 event and while the card has plenty of names, none of them, with exception of Hughes, are a drawing name.

First off, big props to Hughes and Alves taking this fight on short notice. Say what you will about Matt Hughes but this is a fight that he didn't have to take and he did. He could have easily sat on the sideline and waited for Matt Serra to get healthy and prepare for their battle. Instead, he took a fight against Alves, who has everything to gain, and I've got to give him credit for that. I still think it's fitting that Matt Hughes took over the top billing from Chuck Liddell as those two have the strangest friendship in MMA. Enough verbal blowing, lets breakdown some fights.

Matt Hughes has been written off after his last three fights. He lost the Welterweight Title to Georges St. Pierre, he beat Chris Lytle but his performance was questionable, and he once again lost to Georges St. Pierre. Because of this, many feel that Hughes is washed up and have pretty much overlooked him. I'm not one of those people. Matt Hughes is still the most dominant Welterweight of all time. Since he won the Welterweight title in 2001, Hughes has lost three fights to two guys. Georges St. Pierre and BJ Penn. Everyone else, Hughes has beaten and looked damn impressive most of the time. I understand he's 1-2 in his last three fights but those two losses came to Georges St. Pierre who is, in fact, Georges Fucking St. Pierre. Everyone wanted to write off Chuck Liddell after his loss to Keith Jardine. Look what happened. Everyone wanted to write off Wanderlei Silva after his loss to Chuck Liddell. Look what happened. To write former champions, who were at one point the most dominant fighters in their weight classes, is stupid.

On the flip side, everyone wants to jump on the Thiago Alves bandwagon. I've even seen people go as far as ranking Thiago Alves in the Top 5 among Welterweights. Listen, I feel indebted to Thiago Alves for ruining Karo Parisyan's quest back to a title shot but five straight wins with Parisyan being the only Top 10 fighter on that list doesn't put you in the Top 5. Alves is a good fighter and he may move into the Top 5 with a win over Hughes but he certainly isn't there now.

This is the classic wrestler vs. striker fight. Thiago Alves is arguably the best striker in the Welterweight division and if he's not, he's certainly #2 behind Georges St. Pierre. He's a technical striker who throws good combos and some of the best leg kicks in the UFC. Hughes always claims that he wants to knock his opponent out on the feet but his lack of striking skills isn't going to allow him to do that any time soon. He uses the jab nicely but his striking is mainly to set up his takedowns. Matt Hughes is strong wrestler who can normally take you down if he gets his hands on you. The only two people who he's really failed to takedown and control were Georges St. Pierre and BJ Penn. I don't think Alves is as flexible as Penn and he's certainly not the freak of nature that GSP is. Alves showed the ability to stay on his feet against Karo Parisyan but the last time he faced a top-notch wrestler (Jon Fitch), he didn't fare so well. If Alves can't keep this fight on the feet, he's in for a long night.

I like to think that Matt Hughes' chin is questionable but tested. It's certainly not a glass jaw but it's been cracked a few times. BJ Penn dazed Hughes in their first fight and that's what set up the submission. Georges St. Pierre completely picked apart Hughes in their second fight before finishing him with a head kick. If Alves can put together his combos as well as he normally does, he could easily put Hughes down. I think Alves needs to use his leg kicks to take some power out of the shot of Hughes. Then Hughes will have to take his shot from a further distance, making it easier for Alves to sprawl. The only problem with that is that if Hughes times the leg kick, it's going to make it much easier for him to get Alves down.

On the ground, it's all Hughes. Alves ground game is decent but nothing special. Spencer Fisher, who has never been known for his jiu-jitsu skills, tapped him out and Jon Fitch handled him. Hughes is very strong on the ground, using that strength to get better positions and a lot of people seem to overlook his submission game even though he's won the majority of his fights by submission. Hughes has good submission defense so I don't see Alves catching him with something off his back. Simply put, if Hughes can get Alves down then he's either going to ride out a decision or he's going to submit him.

If you're a Hughes fan then you've got to be worried that he's over looking this fight. He's already stated that, "no matter what happens, I've got Serra next." If Hughes is overlooking Alves, he could easily be caught and knocked out. This is the biggest fight of Thiago Alves career so you know he's taking this fight more serious than any fight he's ever had. Hughes can't go into this thing with the mindset of, "who cares if I lost, I still get my fight against Serra" because he won't win if he does that.

For a prediction, I've got Matt Hughes by decision. Instead of coming in and overlooking Alves, I think Hughes will come in with the mindset that he has something to prove. He wants to prove the people writing him off wrong and he wants to fight Matt Serra coming off a win, not two losses. Alves is a good fighter in a crowded Welterweight division but I don't think he's as good as a lot of people want to make him out to be. Hughes begins his journey to retirement with a win on Saturday.

When I heard that Michael Bisping would be on this card I had very mixed feelings. I want to dislike Bisping because he comes off as a prick in many of his interviews. At the same time, I can't help but like anyone with an accent (Got that ladies?). I was also very curious as to what kind of reception he would get being in England for the first time since the bogus judging at UFC 75. Side note: How odd is it that this will be Bisping's third fight since UFC 75 while Quinton Jackson has yet to step back into the Octagon since that same event? Conclusion: Stop putting your champions and divisions on ice for a 1.0 rating every Wednesday on SpikeTV.

Michael Bisping faces Jason Day, who was a replacement for Chris Leben when Leben couldn't fight due to jail time. Day is a well-rounded fighter who debuted in a big way when he knocked out Alan Belcher at UFC 83. Known more for his submission skills, Day showed off his hands against Belcher, who was being praised for his striking skills coming into the fight.

This is a very interesting match-up for Bisping. I believe that UFC wants him to win because Franklin isn't facing Silva anytime soon, Henderson needs another win or two before he'll face Silva again, and they just don't want to do Okami vs. Silva. Bisping is a guy who is known from The Ultimate Fighter and is marketable against Silva. I think he would get destroyed against Silva but we all know money trumps all. Bisping is a well-rounded fighter himself but there's a trend with him; he always gets caught in a submission. Eric Schafer, Elvis Sinosic, and Charles McCarthy were all very close to finishing Bisping but they're names are Schafer, Sinosic, and McCarthy. Jason Day has the talent to catch Bisping in a submission and finish it. Both guys have solid striking but I'd give the edge to Bisping in the technical aspect and the edge to Day with the power.

Bisping has never lost in London and while I really want to pick against him in this fight, for some reason I can't. I may change by UFC Fantasy pick hours before the event on this fight but for right now I'll go with Bisping by TKO.

Speaking of guys who have never lost in England, Marcus Davis is back in the Octagon looking for his seventh straight win in the UFC. He'll be up against his biggest toughest to date in Mike Swick. Maybe it had been Swick's most recent Octagon performances but for some reason I'm just not excited for this fight. Davis always has entertaining fights but Swick is a hit or miss fighter. It's like it's been hammered into Swick's head that he has to live up to his ‘Quick' nickname and if he doesn't finish the fight in the first round, he just seems to give up.

I don't like this match-up for Davis. Davis is a very good striker with power but Swick has a big size and reach advantage on Davis. It's going to be very tough for Davis to win this fight unless he can get inside on Swick. I think Davis' best shot is to get Swick on the ground but that's the tough part. Swick is training with Jon Fitch and Josh Koscheck, two of the best wrestlers in MMA. I know Marcus Davis has been training with the best wrestler in the world, Samoa Joe, but I don't know if he'll get a chance to hit the muscle buster in this fight.

I think if Davis can survive the first round, he'll frustrate Swick and he may be able to finish him or take the decision. I really want Davis to win this fight just because Swick is on my "Eff Off" List for his recent fight against Josh Burkman. Unfortunately I think Swick's reach is going to be too much for Davis and while I really like Davis, I'm just not sure how for real he is. Lets go Swick by TKO.

Nate Marquardt and Thales Leites will finally battle at UFC 85. UFC tried putting this fight together at Ortiz vs. Shamrock: The Final Chapter but that fell through due to visa problems with Leites. They were then scheduled to fight at UFC 81 but Leites had to pull out with a broken hand. Unless one of them breaks a leg during walk in, they'll battle at this Saturday with some pretty big title implications. Marquardt faired well against Anderson Silva at UFC 73 but was caught with a straight right late in the first and went down. He rebounded with a big victory over Jeremy Horn at UFC 81, finishing him in second round. Leites has won three straight in the UFC but hasn't fought since UFC 74 last August. Leites has a world-class ground game but I'm a bit worried about his cage rust. Marquardt has a good ground game as well but his wrestling is better and he's a much better ground fighter from the top. Leites should be fine off his back but I think Marquardt's submission defense is good enough to where Leites won't be able to catch him. I'll take Marquardt by decision.

In a fight that was the semi-main event when Liddell headlined, is now the opener according to UFC.com. I don't think it will be the opener but I've been wrong before. I was on the fence about Brandon Vera heading into the Tim Sylvia fight but I'm a fan of his after the fight. Sure he lost but in a depleted Heavyweight division where most guys lack charisma, Vera really sticks out. He's normally an undersized Heavyweight but his opponent, Fabricio Werdum, isn't a big Heavyweight so I don't think size will be a problem for Vera in this fight. Both guys are good on the ground but I think Werdum holds the edge there. Vera is a much more diverse striker than Werdum so my guess is that Vera will want to keep this fight on the feet. Gabriel Gonzaga was chopping down Werdum with leg kicks before he sort of gassed out and Werdum took his heart away. I don't think we'll see Vera turtle up from the first big shot like we saw Gonzaga do against Werdum. Werdum doesn't have a great shot and because he's not going to be overpowering against Vera, it's going to be tough for him to get Vera to the ground. I'm really pulling for Vera to win this fight because he has a lot of potential and that he just fell victim to Tim Sylvia's boringness in his last fight. If Werdum wins, he's likely one fight away from a title shot. I would say he gets the title shot just off a win but with Mir and Nogueira not fighting until December, Werdum wouldn't fight the winner until April. Thanks Ultimate Fighter. If Vera loses, chances are he'll drop to Light Heavyweight were he won't be undersized against big wrestlers like Cain, Carwin, and Lesnar. If Vera wins, well, he'll just continue to screw up the Heavyweight division. I'll pick Vera by TKO in the second.

That wraps up the televised card for UFC 85: Bedlam. Not a strong main event but top to bottom it's a very solid card. A lot of people want to compare this show to UFC 78 as that had a lacking main event but looked strong top to bottom and it wasn't a good show. I think this card has a stronger main event (at least Matt Hughes is a well-known draw, a future hall of famer, and a former champion) and is better than top to bottom than UFC 78. There's a lot of pick em fights on this card and that's always a good thing in my mind. That said, this has the potential to be a very boring card. I could honestly see every main card fight going to a decision and not an exciting Faber vs. Pulver decision. I don't believe UFC has had a bad PPV this year but I could very easily see that streak be broken as this card has been DOOMED~! from the start.

With the main card out of the way, lets quickly look over the preliminary fights.

Martin Kampmann returns to the Octagon after being away for over a year. Kampmann was scheduled to face Rich Franklin overseas at UFC 72 but had to pull out with a knee injury. He returns overseas to face Jorge Rivera, who is returning to London after knocking out Kendall Grove. Rivera is a veteran fighter but I see him more as a gatekeeper than anything. As proved in the fight with Grove, Rivera hits very hard. As proved in his fight with Drew McFedries, Kampmann can take a hell of a punch. Kampmann's striking is probably underrated and he has good power in his hands. Rivera's chin isn't anything special. UFC has to hope that Kampmann wins this fight because he could be a major player in the thin Middleweight division while I don't see Rivera taking that step. I'll say Kampmann submits him after knocking him down with a big punch.

Thiago Tavares and Matt Wiman battle in a Lightweight showdown. I was never impressed with Wiman on The Ultimate Fighter 5 but he's done well for himself since the show. Tavares is a well-rounded fighter whose only professional loss was against Tyson Griffin in the fight of the night at UFC 76. Tavares is very good on the ground and I think his ground game will be too much for Wiman to handle. I predict Tavres by submission sometime in the second.

Kevin ‘The Fire' Burns makes his octagon debut and I couldn't be more excited. I really hope this fight ends quickly just so it makes the PPV and I can see Bruce Buffer do his ring intro. ‘The Fire' Burns takes on jiu-jitsu specialist Roan Carneiro. In fact, this fight could easily end quickly because no ‘The Fire' Burns fight has gone the distance. Unfortunately, Carneiro is a decision machine. I'm picking ‘The Fire' Burns by decision in this fight just because I want to type ‘The Fire' Burns as many times as possible.

My brother from another mother, Jason Lambert, tries to rebound from his loss against Wilson Gouveia. He takes on Luiz Cane, who is coming off a DQ loss against James Irvin at UFC 79. Lambert is a well-rounded fight with heavy hands but a suspect chin. Cane has heavy hands so I'm a little bit worried about my last named brother in this fight. I think Lambert's best bet is to take this fight to the ground and pound out Cane for the victory. I can't pick against Lambert because I would be shaming the family name so I'll pick him to pick up the TKO victory.

In the "loser leaves the company" fight of the night, Paul Taylor and Jess Liaudin do battle. These two have fought before and Taylor picked up the decision victory back in 2003. Both of these men hold losses to Marcus Davis but Taylor faired far better than Liaudin in their respective fights. Taylor has some pretty heavy hands while I think Liaudin's chin is a big suspect. On the flip side, Taylor likes to get himself caught in submissions and Liaudin has a decent submission game. I'll pick Taylor by TKO.

Eddie Sanchez and Antoni Hardonk open up the night (according to UFC.com) and I'm sure no one cares. I honestly have no desire in seeing Eddie Sanchez fighting again after his performance and attitude at UFC 79 so I'm praying that Hardonk knocks him out. Both guys have heavy hands so I suspect this fight to be strictly on the feet. I think Sanchez has the harder head so at least he's got that going for him. I seriously just want Hardonk to knock him out in about ten seconds just because of Sanchez' attitude at UFC 79 and if it doesn't happen, I'll be sad.

That's the card everyone. The buzz around this event isn't much but that should come to no surprise. There's never much buzz around UFC overseas shows unless it's on SpikeTV. Plus UFC 84, a heavily hyped show, was two weeks ago, MMA on national TV was last week, and the biggest WEC show ever was last week as well. This show just comes at a bad time for UFC and I don't except it to do well. Word around UFC 84 was that UFC officials expected this show to do well and I don't know why. I'll be ordering this show during the live 3 PM showing because I'm strange like that. Hopefully everything turns out just fine and the streak continues.

Playing to Your Strengths

Our own Dustin James reports that Chuck Liddell vs. Rashad Evans could take place at UFC 88 in September

DO.NOT.TEASE.ME. I am of course hoping for Liddell vs. Silva or ‘Shogun' but I think Liddell has a better chance of beating Evans and if I go to this show and Liddell loses, I'll probably cry. As an unbiased fan I'm not sold on Liddell vs. Evans as the main event and I would hope that Anderson Silva gets added to this card just to get a title fight on the event. As the biggest Chuck Liddell mark on this site, I don't care if he headlines and I don't care who he fights.

Recent Card Updates:

*The Ultimate Finale 7: Matthew Riddle vs. Dante Rivera
*UFC 86: Gabriel Gonzaga vs. Justin McCully
*UFC 87: Hermes Franca vs. Frank Edgar, Karo Parisyan vs. TBA
*Ultimate Fight Night 14: Nate Diaz vs. Josh Neer

*Glad to see some TUF7 house members get added to the card but when you're adding these two, it just goes to show how depleted the talent in the house was. I also have no desire to see Rivera fight after his performances on the show.

*Is McCully actually going to fight? He was rumored to fight Brock Lesnar and then Frank Mir before now seemingly settling for Gonzaga. I'm not a fan of McCully or Gonzaga so I'm not all that interested about this fight. I think Gonzaga is a better fighter than McCully so he should win this fight but I guess we'll see.

*Glad to see Hermes Franca returning to the UFC after admitting he used steroids to heal an injury. There was some confusion with Franca's contract but I'm glad to see they got everything worked out and he's returning. The rumor was that Sean Sherk was going to face Edgar since the event is in Minnesota but I guess that is off. Edgar vs. Franca should be a fun fight and it's another very good fight added to an already very good card. I don't mind Parisyan being on this card because I know he's not a win or two away from a title shot now and I actually cackle knowing he's on the same card as GSP vs. Fitch. Hopefully he'll lose this fight as well and I'll continue to cackle.

*I don't think Neer is the step up in competition that Nate Diaz wanted and honestly, I'm a bit disappointed. I just don't understand how Gray Maynard and Joe Lauzon, two guys who didn't even make the finals of TUF5, got to face Frank Edgar and Kenny Florian while Diaz is stuck fighting guys that aren't on the same level as those two. That just baffles me. Nate's brother Nick defeated Neer (say that five times fast) at UFC 62 so that's got to be a confidence booster for Nate heading into this fight.

In a recent interview, Matt Hughes stated that his twin brother Mark would be signing with UFC

I don't really consider this huge news or anything but if this is true, I love it for one reason and one reason only: UFC 90: HUGHES VS. SERRA TIMES TWO~! We all know Matt Hughes is going to fight Matt Serra later this year in a big grudge match. If they are indeed signing Mark Hughes, they might as well sign Matt Serra's younger brother Nick Serra and do Mark Hughes vs. Nick Serra. I honestly have no desire to see Nick Serra fight after his performance this past Saturday on the EXC on CBS preliminary card but this is an opportunity that can't be passed up. In fact, take it a step further and do Matt vs. Matt in New Jersey and do Mark vs. Nick on a farm. That or just do a tag team match and Matt should just never tag in Nick. Get ready IFL, here I come with all these ideas. YEAH~!

WEC announced that their next show will be headlined with three title fights:

*Welterweight Title: Carlos Condit © vs. Hiromitsu Miura
*Light Heavyweight Title: Brian Stann © vs. Steve Cantwell
*Lightweight Title: Jamie Varner © vs. Marcus Hicks

WEC news is under UFC news since it's in no danger of going anywhere like the other companies. This should come to no shock to WEC fans as they always put on two or three title fights per event. I don't think there's ever been a bad WEC on Versus event so I expect this one to be good as well. As always with WEC events, the title fights are toss-ups and that always makes for an even more exciting fight. Should be a fun card come August 3rd.

Studying Tape







There it is in all its glory. Miguel Torres vs. Yoshiro Maeda. If you're not a fan of Miguel Torres after watching this fight, there's no hope for you.

Sparring Session

Sokoudjou recently commented that he's been wanting to fight ‘Shogun' since the days of PRIDE. He said that ‘Shogun' has pretty much been ducking him and that hopefully UFC allows him to fight ‘Shogun' in Rua's first fight back since the loss to Forrest Griffin

Do it in September. I don't think UFC is going to give Sokoudjou the fight he wants again Rua but what do I know? I would think that they want to build Sokoudjou because he's got the "it" factor to him but doing it at the risk of Rua would be a bad idea. It would be a fun fight to see but I just don't see it being each guys next fight.

Underwater Ice Bath

Tito Ortiz stated that he wants to start his own promotion

Dana White is right, "Tito Ortiz is a fucking moron." So let me get this straight, Tito is pissed off at Dana because Dana is the fight promoter pocketing money that he thinks should go to the fighter, right? So what does Tito do? He's going to start a promotion, become the fight promoter, and pocket the money. The only difference is that Tito won't be making nearly as much money as Dana so he'll stay pissed off. To me, this is just more proof that Ortiz doesn't want to be a fighter. It's very tough to be a fighter and a promoter and look out for the best interest of everyone. My guess is that this new promotion for Ortiz never happens and after seeing the EXC on CBS ratings, Ortiz signs with EXC. At least there he can make good money fighting, get the best promotion he's going to get outside the UFC, and deal with Gary Shaw. Oh how I would love to see Tito buddy up to Gary Shaw after bashing Dana White. Best of luck to Ortiz in this new adventure and when it fails I'm sure we'll all welcome him back to the Octagon with open arms.

Donald Trump announced that he will partner with Affliction. It was also announced that Andrei Arlovski as officially signed with the company

No details were announced at this time of writing so I can't comment too much on it without knowing all the details. My guess is that he'll just financially back the group and possibly hold some events at the Trump Plaza. I love all these billionaires getting into MMA when the sport has hit a peak. I guess Mark Cuban realized that he screwed up the Dallas Mavericks with the Jason Kidd trade so he's got to hang his hat on something else and Trump's TV show has jumped the shark so he's got to keep his name out there in other ways. As long as his daughter is a ring girl, I'm fine with this deal.

As for Arlovski, we all knew he was going to sign with the company, it was just a matter of the "right of first refusal" clause to end on his UFC contract. No that that period has past, Affliction can officially announce the Arlovski deal and they can officially announce that he's facing Ben Rothwell at the first event.

Former WWECW Champion Bobby Lashley signed a multi-fight deal with American Fight League

NO~! I'm actually happy to hear this deal because it's a smart move by Lashley. Instead of signing with a top promotion and getting thrown into a situation that he probably wasn't ready for, he signed with a smaller promotion and now he can build himself over time. I also don't think Lashley was going to get the money he was really seeking. UFC already has Lesnar, who is a much bigger star than Lashley, and they didn't want to do the whole, "former pro wrestler turned MMA fighter" angle again. EXC has enough problems trying to protect Kimbo so Gary Shaw's belly might explode if he has to try and protect Lashley as well. This was a smart move by Lashley and if it doesn't work out, there's always TNA.

Kurt Otto has stepped down as the commissioner of the IFL and will now serve as the match maker

I hereby announce that when we purchase the IFL, BREN~! will be named the commissioner of the company. If Mr. Oliver makes the career mistake of a lifetime and does not accept the position then we shall hold a "thumb war" tournament to decide the next commissioner. If Hulk Hogan can get a "celebrity wrestling" show on television then I'm sure we can get the "IFL Thumb War to Decide the Next Commissioner of the Company" (name not yet final) on television as well. YES WE CAN~!

Taking Time Off

I don't know if anyone knows this but I'm going to UFC 88 in Atlanta. So here are five logical fights that I would like to see at that event. You're not getting a mega-card here because there's no way Rampage is going to fight Liddell and Randy Couture won't be showing up to fight Nog. These are fights that could very well take place at UFC 88 and I will be seeing them live.

*Main Event: Anderson Silva vs. Yushin Okami or Michael Bisping
*Semi-Main Event: Chuck Liddell vs. Wanderlei Silva
*Thiago Silva vs. Rashad Evans
*Sokoudjou vs. Goran Reljic
*Chris Leben vs. Nate Quarry

Not bad right? I know Liddell vs. Evans is all but confirmed but I'm holding out hope they do go back to Evans vs. Silva and then Liddell vs. Wandy or ‘Shogun'. I think Anderson Silva needs a fight since it would be six months come September since his last fight. Soko vs. Reljic is just an eliminator Light Heavyweight fight that could be fun. I know Leben and Quarry are friends from TUF1 but I think those two would go balls out against each and Quarry would want to erase the memories of the Starnes fight. We all know that as long as Chuck Liddell is on the card, I'm going no matter what else is on the card or who he's facing.

Overseas Training

Norifumi ‘Kid' Yamamoto returns to competition at DREAM 5 when he takes on Joseph Benavidez

This is an interesting fight. Yamamoto is widely considered as the #1 or #2 Featherweight either just before or just after Urijah Faber. Faber has stated many times that he really wants to fight Yamamoto to prove who the #1 Featherweight in the world really is. He'll get his chance in this fight. Sort of. Benavidez trains with Faber in California so you know if Faber wants anyone to beat Yamamoto, it's a training partner. If Yamamoto wins this fight, maybe Faber vs. Yamamoto can somehow come to fruition but it's going to be tough. Yamamoto should win this fight but as the case with many lighter weight battles, anyone can beat anyone because everyone is so well-rounded.

AND IT'S ALL OVER~!

That wraps it up for me this week folks. I'll return next week in a great mood as I'll only have one top story, that being a look back at UFC 85: DOOMED~! You're now ready to go 5 Rounds with Randy tomorrow. Take care people.

Cardio Freak Sources: Dave Meltzer and the Wrestling Observer, Bryan Alvarez and Figure Four Weekly, MMAWeekly, and MMAMania