UFC 108 Fight is all set !

Damn! Even a Belfort fight leaves Silva looking bored!
Bone spurs be damned, the UFC is looking for Anderson Silva to be ready for its first card in 2010. UFC president Dana White told Lance Pugmire of the L.A. Times that Silva will defend his UFC middleweight title belt against Vitor Belfort on Jan. 2 at UFC 108 in Las Vegas. There's been a little back and forth between the UFC and the Silva on whether he was getting bone spurs removed from his elbow. White would like to see him get it done as soon as possible, while Silva and his manager Ed Soares appear to be dragging their feet on a decision.
The timing of the White announcement is interesting considering the fact that middleweight contender Dan Henderson was in Las Vegas this week working on his next contract. A sticking point in the deal was thought to be when Hendo would get his shot at a Silva rematch. Now rumors are flying that Henderson will face Nate Marquardt on this same card in a title eliminator.
Henderson was under the impression that his fight against Michael Bisping at UFC 100 was a title eliminator. Henderson crushed Bisping with a devastating knockout. All summer he's been saying that the only fight he wants is that match against Silva. Two weeks ago, Belfort returned to the UFC after a near five years layoff, and beat former middleweight champ Rich Franklin in less than four minutes. Both Henderson and Marquardt lost title shots against Silva. It's clear the promotion wants a fresh face to step in there against "The Spider."
With Quinton Jackson's hissy fit/retirement, rumors are also swirling that Rashad Evans, who was supposed to fight Rampage on Dec. 12, may now fight Thiago Silva at UFC 108. yahooufc.com

UFC Dana White talks about Rampage Jackson , Retiring ??? ?

UFC president Dana White is disappointed with Quinton “Rampage” Jackson’s recent announcement that he will be retiring from mixed martial arts to follow his acting career, but he wishes his friend the best and won’t stand in his way.
White was recently a guest of Carmichael Dave on the radio station KHTK (audio here) and talked about Jackson.
“Rampage is a grown man,” White said. “He’s acting like a baby right now, but he’s a grown man. If he wants to be in the movie business, Rampage, good luck to you, man. I hope he makes it big, and I’m not being sarcastic. … I hope the movie thing works out for him. If that’s what he truly wants to do, and that’s what he feels and that’s what he thinks his career is, I wish him all the luck in the world.”
White talked about not getting any warning about the Jackson’s surprise retirement but he still likes the former UFC light-heavyweight and that he won’t stop him.
“I just found out, too,” White said. “Rampage has been a friend of ours. We really like Rampage. I’m not going to get into the battle of who’s done what for who and all that stuff. We’ve done a lot for him and yes, he’s been there and fought. The guys who come in here, they’re fighters. That’s what they do. We give them fights and they fight. And they make money and we make money. That’s the way it works.” “He’s a grown man,” White said. “He can do whatever he wants to do.”

--> You guys really need to realize how much being in this movie means to Rampage.
The thing that brought him and his dad together was the A-Team and to get the opportunity to play B.A. Baracus in the motion picture for the A-Team is something that means a lot to him AND his dad.
So I give respect to Rampage for standing up for his beliefs and sticking with what means a lot more to him, He could fight Rashad as soon as filming was done, but Dana didnt want to wait that long, Dana could EASILY find fighters to fill spots until the fight could go on.
Im sure we dont really know both sides of the story, but Rampage isnt really a bad guy here. Dudes just being sentimental and everyones ripping him apart for it ????

Your Thoughts ??

UFC 103: Watch UFC 103 Live, Franklin vs Belfort , Watch UFC 103 Live video

The Ultimate Fighting Championship presents UFC 103. Featuring former UFC light heavyweight champion Vitor "The Phenom" Belfort versus UFC superstar Rich "Ace" Franklin in the main event.

UFC 103 Vitor Belfort Drops and Finishes Rich Franklin Highlights

It wasn’t a surprise when Vitor Belfort made a religious analogy to describe his return to the Ultimate Fighting Championship on Saturday night.
Belfort (19-8), in his first match with the organization in four-and-a-half years, stopped Rich Franklin (27-5, 1 no contest), finishing the former middleweight champion in the first real flurry of the fight.
“The Bible tells the story that the story of the second house is greater than the first,” said the former UFC light heavyweight champion.
Belfort is a devout Christian, but it is his career that might more aptly be described as born again.
He stormed onto the scene and earned the nickname “The Phenom” in 1997 when he was a 19-year-old heavyweight, scoring flash knockouts against men much larger than himself, such as 300-plus pound Scott Ferrozzo and nearly 300-pound Tank Abbott, with the fastest hands ever seen up to that point in UFC competition.
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But he never reached the level of domination expected. While he had flashed of brilliance, he also had nights when he didn’t seem to come to fight, most notably a loss to Alistair Overeem in a Strikeforce main event three years ago.
But Saturday’s win was Belfort’s fifth straight, and fourth by stoppage from punches. It may signal the return of the “Old Vitor” fans have wanted for more than a decade, or it may simply be that the “New Vitor” is a fully matured fighter.
Little happened in the first 2:30 of the main event of UFC 103, with the packed house of 17,428 fans at the American Airlines Center starting to boo. Franklin reacted, wanting to pick up the pace to entertain the crowd, and Belfort responded by catching Franklin with a grazing punch. Franklin was a little stunned and Belfort then delivered a looping left hand that was the key blow, and after a few hard lefts on the ground, referee Yves Lavigne stopped the fight at 3:02.
The show, the UFC’s first in the market, drew a $2.4 million gate, the largest for any sporting event ever in the building.
The win impressed UFC president Dana White enough that he was already talking of Belfort as being in the mix for the next shot at middleweight champion (185 pounds) Anderson Silva, even though this fight was at a catch weight of 195 pounds and Belfort needed several attempts to make weight.
White, though, will have to sort out issues involving Silva and potential challengers Dan Henderson and Nate Marquardt before deciding whom Belfort will next fight.
“Dan Henderson fought Anderson Silva and took him down in the first round and put his hand over Silva’s mouth, and then in the second round, Anderson finished him,” said White about their fight in March, 2008.
“Silva finished Nate Marquardt in the first round (in a July 2007 title match). I want to put Dan Henderson against Nate Marquardt with the winner getting the shot at Silva.”
White said he would be meeting with Henderson in the next week, whose contract has expired and is currently a free agent. Henderson has said that he was promised the shot at Silva, which Silva doesn’t want, noting he had beaten Henderson last year. Henderson had agreed to a rematch with Franklin which was the original main event on this show, but that fell apart when initial fan response was negative and White acquired Belfort’s contract after Affliction folded in July. Henderson has declined requests to face Marquardt, feeling he’d be risking a title shot he had already earned.
But White said in the interim, he may put Silva against Belfort, a match he had talked about back in June on Spike TV before Belfort was even in the organization, with the winner then facing the winner of Henderson vs. Marquardt. Or he may wait and put Belfort against the winner of Silva against the Henderson-Marquardt winner, depending on how things work out.
White said earlier in the week that Silva would be undergoing minor elbow surgery and be out of action for a few months. Silva himself had claimed this past week he was completely healthy, he had no injury and that nobody had hurt him.
Another UFC official said that Silva’s camp had wanted to keep the surgery quiet and not let people know there was an injury. However, since the word got out, and since Silva wasn’t going to fight in the next few months, they weren’t going to deny the story.
Belfort, known from the start for his quick, accurate hands and good grappling skills, credited something new in his training, even though it wasn’t obvious to the fans watching.
“My new weapon is karate,” said Belfort, noting it is teaching him to not waste energy and make every blow count. “I want to use it. As soon as I saw something and attacked, I wanted to take his zip code, area code and social security number.”
As for Franklin, the loss seems to put his career as a pay-per-view headliner in limbo. It’s his second loss in three fights, having lost to Henderson in January, and followed with a win over Wanderlei Silva in June. He’s been used this year largely as utility main event material, a name fighter who headlines shows when no champions are available.
White noted that Franklin was one of the fighters who helped build the company, being middleweight champion and the second season Ultimate Fighter coach when the sport hit television.
“He’ll always have a place with us,” he said.
Franklin said he wasn’t exactly sure what happened in the fight because he didn’t remember a lot.
“I just remember the kick I threw and he caught my leg,” he said. “I remembered the fans booing and thinking I needed to push the pace of the fight. I assume I got caught.”
Dave Meltzer covers mixed martial arts for Yahoo! Sports. Send Dave a question or comment for potential use in a future column or webcast.












UFC 103 Fight Card

Rich Franklin Vs. Vitor Belfort
Vitor Belfort Wins by Knock Out at 3:02 of round one

Mirko Cro Cop Vs. Junior Dos Santos
Junior Dos Santos Wins by Technical Knock Out at 2:00 in the 3rd round

Martin Kampmann Vs. Paul Daley
Paul Daley Wins by Technical Knock Out at 2:31 in the 1st round

Josh Koscheck Vs. Frank Trigg
Josh Koscheck Wins by Technical Knock Out at 1:25 in the 1st round

Tyson Griffin Vs. Hermes Franca
Tyson Griffin Wins by Knock Out at 3:26 in the 2nd round

Efrain Escudero Vs. Cole Miller
Efrain Escudero Wins by Technical Knock Out at 3:36 in the 1st round

Drew McFedries Vs. Tomasz Drwal
Tomasz Drwal Wins by Submission (Choke) at 1:03 in the 2nd round by rear naked

Jim Miller Vs. Steve Lopez
Jim Miller Wins by Technical Knock Out at 0:48 in the 2nd round. Steve Lopez had to stop due to a shoulder dislocation

Rafaello Oliveira Vs. Nik Lentz
Nik Lentz Wins by Unanimous Decision at 5:00 in the 3rd round

Rick Story Vs. Brian Foster
Rick Story Wins by Submission (Choke) at 1:09 in the 2nd round by arm triangle

Eliot Marshall Vs. Jason Brilz
Eliot Marshall Wins by Split Decision at 5:00 in the 3rd round

Vladimir Matyushenko Vs. Igor Pokrajac
Vladimir Matyushenko Wins by Unanimous Decision at 5:00 in the 3rd round

Rob Emerson Vs. Rafael Dos Anjos
Rafael Dos Anjos Wins by Unanimous Decision at 5:00 in the 3rd round

The Ultimate Fighter Season 10 Preview (Starring Kimbo Slice, Rampage Jackson, Rashad Evans & More)

Coachs :

Quinton "Rampage" Jackson
"Sugar" Rashad Evans

Participants :

* Zak Jensen (11-2)
* Marcus Jones (4-1
* Scott Junk (6-2)
* John Madsen (3-0)
* James McSweeney (12-4
* Matt Mitrione (0-0
* Roy Nelson (14-4)
* Demico Rogers (4-0)
* Brendan Schaub (4-0)
* Darill Schoonover (10-0)
* Wes Shivers (3-1)
* Wes Sims (22-12-1)
* Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson (3-1)
* Abe Wagner (6-2)
* Mike Wessel (6-1)
* Justin Wren (10-1



Zak Jenson – standout wrestler at Augsburg College
Marcus Jones – former 1st round NFL draft pick who had a six-year career with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Scott Junk – Division II All-American football player at Southwest Oklahoma State and fought in UFC 76.
James McSweeney – former international kickboxing and Muay Thai champion
John Madsen – defeated Brock Lesnar in a high school wrestling match
Matt Mitrione – played for New York Giants and Minnesota Vikings
Roy Nelson – former IFL Heavyweight Champion
Demico Rogers – high school football and wrestling star
Brendan Schaub – played for Buffalo Bills and Arena Football’s Utah Blaze
Darrill Schoonover – decorated Army veteran
Wes Shivers – former member of the Tennessee Titans and Atlanta Falcons
Wes Sims- fought two heated battles with former UFC champ Frank Mir at UFC 43 and UFC 46
Kimbo Slice – former EliteXC heavyweight contender and YouTube sensation
Abe Wagner – played linebacker at Michigan Tech and has a degree in mechanical engineering
Mike Wessel – UFC veteran and former strength and conditioning coach at University of Arkansas
Justin Wren – high school All-American wrestler

Ultimate Fighter 10 "TUF 10" cast member Jon Madsen's road to UFC already crossed Brock Lesnar

Jon Madsen's first meeting with Brock Lesnar displayed the elements that would later make him one of the most intriguing up-and-coming heavyweights in mixed-martial-arts.Even though they were only in high school.Madsen was a freshman at Dolan High School in South Dakota, which was separated by about 45 minutes from Lesnar's town. That made the heavyweight wrestlers competitors in a high school event, and Lesnar, two years older, beat Madsen.Then the fireworks came."It's a funny story; I'm sure Brock still remembers," Madsen said. "The dual was over, and I look over and see my brother and him exchanging words, and I see him push off my brother. I grabbed my headgear and I whipped it at his head, but the coaches grabbed us before anything else happened. The whole crowd went nuts."Madsen used the same intensity to became a national champion college wrestler before earning his chance on "The Ultimate Fighter 10," which debuts next week on Spike TV. Still relatively inexperienced in the MMA world at 3-0, Madsen brings the toughness of small-town upbringing (his graduating class included eight people) and the support of an association with Matt Hughes to the popular reality show.Always one of the smaller heavyweights during his wrestling career, Madsen developed his athleticism to battle the bigger, sometimes stronger competitors. The same goes for life in the "TUF" house, where his small-town, laid-back personality sometimes clashed with the more brash personalities."The feedback I've gotten from the crew who worked on the show before is that they had so much good stuff the thought about extending it for an episode or two," Madsen said. "There's definitely some drama and some crazy drunk moments."Small-town scrapperDespite the lack of bodies at Madsen's South Dakota high school, there was no lack of enthusiasm for sports. On the wrestling team, for instance, there were 20 participants.Madsen had been involved in wrestling since age 4, and his parents transported him and his brothers to tournaments throughout the state. In third grade he was already 92 pounds. By the sixth grade, he had his first experience with understanding his size and strength."It was a regional tournament, and there was a kid there who was supposed to be good," Madsen said. "I picked him up a couple times, and some of the high school guys who were officials ran over because they thought I was gonna body slam him."He quit wrestling right then, and I thought, 'I might be good at this.'"He got better. Even though he was relatively small at about 205 pounds by the eighth grade, Madsen was put into the heavyweight role by a coach who wanted bragging rights against a neighboring town."They were at a meeting and that guy was talking up his heavyweight," Madsen said. "So he said, 'Screw it, I'll move you up.' I ended up pinning the kid, even though he was a senior and I was in the eighth grade. So I stayed up there."I've always been in better shape than the bigger guys, in good condition, better with technique."Madsen eventually left his town of about 400 for the seemingly booming metropolis of Brookings, S.D., which mushroomed to 20,000 in population when South Dakota State was in session. By his sophomore year, Madsen was the NCAA Division II national champion, and he became a three-time All-American at the school.His small-town roots made him more personable than some, and to this day he waves to people while driving past. But that doesn't mean he didn't find his share of troubles before his MMA career arrived.An outlet for roughnessAfter college, Madsen was searching for an appropriate path."I was on a destructive path," Madsen said. "I was drinking and partying and doing things to occupy my time. I wasn't focusing on any goals, I ended up in some prison for some stupid (expletive)."I finally had enough. I always liked competing and being in shape, working hard, and I thought, 'Why am I doing this?' "A friend told Madsen about a gym nearby, so in February 2007 he entered the world of MMA. It turns out that gym belonged to another guy with a wrestling background, Matt Hughes, and Madsen took to the training.MMA was an appropriate outlet for Madsen's aggressiveness."What can I say," Madsen said, "I like hitting people."Just three months after starting his training, Madsen took his first fight, which was also his professional debut. Even though he didn't know some of the specific moves and techniques of martial arts, Madsen relied on his aggressiveness.It paid off. He earned his first victory by knockout in 1:30."I was using more instincts than technique," Madsen said. "I was just trying to knock the guy's head off."After two more wins, Madsen got his chance with the "TUF 10" tryout in Seattle. His association with Hughes didn't hurt, but organizers liked his mix of athleticism, personality and toughness. Then, once he got on the show, Madsen was in a house with other big-bodied men like him. But don't think that a mass gathering of heavyweights necessarily means there was more aggressiveness."(Big guys) are probably some of the most laid back guys," Madsen said. "They've always been the big guy, so they didn't have to prove they were tough; they were intimidating because of their size."We were all there for the same thing, to compete."Like Madsen has been doing since he was the biggest third-grader around.

Florian-Guida Scheduled for UFC 107

Florian-Guida Scheduled for UFC 107

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