COOL COMBAT SPORTS LINKS, Boxing, Wrestling, Mixed Martial Arts (8-07-09)

Posted on | August 7, 2009 | No Comments

EMANUEL STEWARD SAYS HE CAN HELP COTTO KO PACQUIAO

IBF OPEN TO INSTANT REPLAY FOR BOXING

FROM BOXING GLOVES TO BALLET SLIPPERS

BOXING AT THE BALLPARK

A key to match the belt: Boxing champ honored at City Hall

HERRERA TO HEADLINE “HIGH STAKES” ON AUGUST 14TH

Boxing card set for Friday night in Primm

Forrest’s family asks boxer’s killer to surrender

CAN RETOOLED FLORIAN UPEND PENN?

To fans, MMA is perfectly imperfect

Retired boxer Genaro Hernandez fighting for his life

Wrestling event shrouded in questions

Five wrestlers who are criminally misused

ICW Wrestling returns

Update on recently released WWE wrestler Brian Kendrick

Legendary Wrestler / Promoter Al Tomko Dead at 77

Cornette, Flair, Race open wrestling convention

Rappers, wrestlers and candidates’ daughters

UNI wrestling getting more support from school leaders

INDY NEWS: Inter Species Wrestling Invades Connecticut on Saturday

World Wrestling Entertainment increases profit and cash flow in Q2

World Boxing Hall of Fame Announces Inductees

HAS THE UFC KILLED BOXING (PART 1)

HAS THE UFC KILLED BOXING (PART 2)

BOXING BEAUTY QUEEN

ULTIMATE FIGHTING COMES TO PHILADELPHIA

In fight game, Budd Schulberg always a contender

Ex-boxing champ Arturo Gatti changed will just weeks before he died

Academy Award-winner and boxing writer Budd Schulberg has died

Second man arrested in death of ex-boxing champ

M-1 Global Breakthrough Changing Locations

Preparations Underway for ”Mixed Martial Arts” Event on Saturday in South Philadelphia

Strikeforce Looking to Form Another Big Strategic MMA Partnership

MMA & BOXING: AL BERNSTEIN’S ANALYSIS

CAGE FX PICTURES FROM 8-01-09 Event

Posted on | August 7, 2009 | No Comments

ROY JONES JR. ATTENDING UFC 101 TO SCOUT ANDERSON SILVA

Posted on | August 7, 2009 | No Comments

Eight-time world boxing champion Roy Jones, Jr. is taking a well-earned day off from his intense training for his fight next Saturday, August 15th, against Jeff “Left Hook” Lacy on the “Hook City” pay-per-view show live from Biloxi, Mississippi. Jones will be attending tomorrow night’s (Saturday) UFC show in Philadelphia to scout Anderson Silva in order to check out his skills in person.

The “Hook City” pay-per-view show, presented by Square Ring Promotions in association with Left Hook Promotions and Beau Rivage Resort & Casino, is being distributed by Square Ring Promotions, Inc. at 9:00PM ET/6:00PM PT in the United States on cable and satellite via iNDemand, TVN, DirecTV and Dish Network for a suggested retail price of $34.95, as well as on Super Channel in Canada.

Tickets, priced at $150.00, $125.00, $100.00, $75.00, $50.00 & $25.00 are on sale and available at all Ticketmaster locations by calling 800.745.3000, on line at Ticketmaster.com and at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum box office.

JERSON RAVELO; RONALD CRUZ HIGHLIGHT OUTSTANDING UNDERCARD ON WWW.GOFIGHTLIVE.TV TOMORROW NIGHT

Posted on | August 7, 2009 | No Comments

MIKE JONES TO BATTLE LENIN AAROYO IN anticipated main event

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ATLANTIC CITY (August 7, 2009)—TOMRROW NIGHT on www.gofightlive.tv, one of the top prospects in the world in Mike “MJ” Jones risks his undefeated record of 17-0 with fifteen knockouts when he battles Lennin Aaroyo in a scheduled ten round bout for Jones NABA Welterweight title from Bally’s in Atlantic City.

The Action begins at 7:30pm on www.gofightlive.tv

Hall of Fame promoter Russell Peltz has assembled An extremely crowd pleasing undercard that is highlighted by former Dominican Olympian and Super Middleweight contender Jerson Ravelo.

Ravelo will take on Willis Lockett in the eight round co-feature.

Ravelo now resides in Newark, New Jersey brings in a record of 19-4 with twelve big wins coming by knockout.

He is eager to get back into the ring since his surprising loss to Don Mouton on February 27th in front of his hometown fans in Newark.

“I took this fight at the last minute”, said Ravelo who is filling in for Patrick Majewski who had to pull out of the fight last week due to a training injury.

“”I have been in the gym so this is the perfect time. I really don’t know anything about Lockett. I just want to get back in there as I was winning the Mouton fight easily and just got caught. I have been through a lot in my career and have been written off before but I am going to show people that I have a title run in me and that will start on Saturday night.”

Lockett is a gritty customer out of Sugar Ray Leonard’s hometown of Takoma Park, Maryland and has a record of 12-8-5 with five knockouts.

Many ringsiders believe that he should have got the nod over undefeated Light Heavyweight Chuck Mussachio (12-0-1) on September 19, 2008. In his last bout, Lockett dropped a eight round unanimous decision at the hands of former Middleweight champion Keith Holmes on June 6th.

In a much anticipated battle of Pennsylvanian’s, Ronald Cruz of Bethlehem, PA (5-0, 3 KO’s) takes on Julias Edmonds (5-4) of Philadelphia in a six round Jr. Welterweight bout.

In a six round Jr. Middleweight bout, Jamaal Davis (9-5, 6 KO’s) takes on Manuel Guzman (6-7-1, 2 KO’s) of Lancaster, PA

Lightweight Francisco Palacios (4-8-4, 1 KO) of Stamford, Connecticut looks to put the first loss on Philly’s Frankie Trader (5-0, 2 KO’s) in a bout scheduled for six rounds.

In a four round Lightweight bout, Osnel Charles (1-0) looks to thrill the hometown fans of Atlantic City takes on debuting Ryan Carson.

Josh Mercado makes his pro debut against Terrell Boggs (0-2) in a four round Middleweight tilt.

“This is a terrific night of boxing. Besides Mike Jones, Russell Peltz put together his usual strong evenly matched undercard and some of these fights look to be explosive. Ronald Cruz and Edmonds could be a show stealer”, said David Klarman, vice-president of www.gofightlive.tv

MIKE JONES TO BATTLE LENIN AAROYO IN anticipated main event

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ATLANTIC CITY (August 7, 2009)—TOMRROW NIGHT on www.gofightlive.tv, one of the top prospects in the world in Mike “MJ” Jones risks his undefeated record of 17-0 with fifteen knockouts when he battles Lennin Aaroyo in a scheduled ten round bout for Jones NABA Welterweight title from Bally’s in Atlantic City.

The Action begins at 7:30pm on www.gofightlive.tv

Hall of Fame promoter Russell Peltz has assembled An extremely crowd pleasing undercard that is highlighted by former Dominican Olympian and Super Middleweight contender Jerson Ravelo.

Ravelo will take on Willis Lockett in the eight round co-feature.

Ravelo now resides in Newark, New Jersey brings in a record of 19-4 with twelve big wins coming by knockout.

He is eager to get back into the ring since his surprising loss to Don Mouton on February 27th in front of his hometown fans in Newark.

“I took this fight at the last minute”, said Ravelo who is filling in for Patrick Majewski who had to pull out of the fight last week due to a training injury.

“”I have been in the gym so this is the perfect time. I really don’t know anything about Lockett. I just want to get back in there as I was winning the Mouton fight easily and just got caught. I have been through a lot in my career and have been written off before but I am going to show people that I have a title run in me and that will start on Saturday night.”

Lockett is a gritty customer out of Sugar Ray Leonard’s hometown of Takoma Park, Maryland and has a record of 12-8-5 with five knockouts.

Many ringsiders believe that he should have got the nod over undefeated Light Heavyweight Chuck Mussachio (12-0-1) on September 19, 2008. In his last bout, Lockett dropped a eight round unanimous decision at the hands of former Middleweight champion Keith Holmes on June 6th.

In a much anticipated battle of Pennsylvanian’s, Ronald Cruz of Bethlehem, PA (5-0, 3 KO’s) takes on Julias Edmonds (5-4) of Philadelphia in a six round Jr. Welterweight bout.

In a six round Jr. Middleweight bout, Jamaal Davis (9-5, 6 KO’s) takes on Manuel Guzman (6-7-1, 2 KO’s) of Lancaster, PA

Lightweight Francisco Palacios (4-8-4, 1 KO) of Stamford, Connecticut looks to put the first loss on Philly’s Frankie Trader (5-0, 2 KO’s) in a bout scheduled for six rounds.

In a four round Lightweight bout, Osnel Charles (1-0) looks to thrill the hometown fans of Atlantic City takes on debuting Ryan Carson.

Josh Mercado makes his pro debut against Terrell Boggs (0-2) in a four round Middleweight tilt.

“This is a terrific night of boxing. Besides Mike Jones, Russell Peltz put together his usual strong evenly matched undercard and some of these fights look to be explosive. Ronald Cruz and Edmonds could be a show stealer”, said David Klarman, vice-president of www.gofightlive.tv

American Military Hero Tim Kennedy To Battle Evangelista Cyborg In STRIKEFORCE Challengers Main Event

Posted on | August 7, 2009 | No Comments

In Tulsa, Oklahoma, On Friday, September 25

Tickets Go On Sale This Monday, August 10

NEW YORK (August 7, 2009)—American military hero and rising mixed martial arts (MMA) star Tim Kennedy (10-2) will return to the cage to battle power-punching Brazilian and middleweight (185 pounds) rival Evangelista Cyborg (16-13) in the main event of a STRIKEFORCE Challengers card from Tulsa, Oklahoma’s SpiritBank Event Center on Friday, September 25, live on SHOWTIME® at 11 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the West Coast).

Tickets for the event, priced from $25, go on sale Monday, August 10, at 10 a.m. CT and will be available for purchase at the SpiritBank Event Center box office, all Ticketmaster locations (800-745-3000), Ticketmaster online (www.ticketmaster.com), and Strikeforce’s official website (www.strikeforce.com).

“I think we’re both pretty explosive fighters and we both show up to fight. We both like to throw some big bombs so it’s a good matchup,” said the 29-year-old Kennedy, who recently accepted an offer to serve in the Texas National Guard after spending six years in The United States Army, the last three as a sniper in the Seventh Special Forces Group.

In his last start, on June 19 at ShoWare Center in Kent, Washington, on STRIKEFORCE Challengers, Kennedy dominated Nick “The Goat” Thompson, stopping him on the ground with an onslaught of punches in the second round (2:37).

“I don’t think anybody can really plan to see what I’m coming in to do this time,” said Kennedy. “I’m working with the best boxing coaches and training with Mark DeLaGrotte, one of the best MMA striking coaches in the world, so I think that people are going to see a new Tim that they’ve never seen before.

“Strikeforce has a whole bunch of guys in my weight class who I match up very well with. They pretty much have control of the whole 185-pound division barring two exceptions. I want to fight all of these guys and put on a good show for SHOWTIME and STRIKEFORCE.”

A graduate of Columbia College in Missouri, Kennedy launched his professional MMA career shortly before enlisting in the military near the end of 2001.

“After 9/11 happened, I wanted to do something for my country,” he explained. Kennedy’s new job will allow him to remain in the armed services while maintaining enough flexibility to take his MMA career to the next level.

“The military is my life,” said Kennedy. “I am going to serve as long as they’ll let me. I’d love to retire in uniform.”

The 31-year-old Cyborg is looking to turn his fortunes around after suffering two straight defeats, the last to the hands of Joey Villasenor in an exciting, hard-fought main event of the June 19 STRIKEFORCE Challengers event.

“I was just a little bit out of rhythm and was coming off an injury so my training was not 100 percent,” explained Cyborg of his showing against Villasenor, which marked Cyborg’s first start in nearly nine months. “This is not an excuse. It’s just something natural that all athletes go through when they stop fighting for a long period of time.

“I believe I will be able to do the opposite this time from the Villasenor fight where we stood up and punched each other. I think I will finally be able to show my Jiu-Jitsu game and surprise a lot of people.”

Cyborg is a member of the famed Chute Boxe fight squad that has produced a number of MMA’s finest champions including Anderson Silva, Wanderlei “The Axe Murderer” Silva, and brothers Mauricio “Shogun” and Murilo “Ninja” Rua. Cyborg’s wife and training partner, Cris Cyborg, is preparing for the biggest fight of her life – a long-awaited, STRIKEFORCE women’s 145 pound championship showdown with top rival Gina “Conviction” Carano – on Saturday, August 15, on SHOWTIME.

World championship MMA promotion STRIKEFORCE will produce the event at SpiritBank Event Center along with eXtreme Fighting promoter and five-time world kickboxing champion Dale “Apollo” Cook.

SpiritBank Event Center doors will open at 7:15 p.m. CT for the STRIKEFORCE Challengers event and the first preliminary bout will begin at 8:00 p.m.

The live SHOWTIME telecast of STRIKEFORCE Challengers will begin at 11 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the west coast).

Strikeforce Challengers is a proving ground for up-and-coming MMA fighters. The series is designed to provide today’s top prospects with the opportunity to step-up their level of competition and demonstrate their ability in a nationally televised event.

# # #

About Strikeforce
Strikeforce is a world-class mixed martial arts cage fight promotion which, on Friday, March 10, 2006, made history with its “Shamrock vs. Gracie” event, the first sanctioned mixed martial arts fight card in California state history. The star-studded extravaganza, which pitted legendary champion Frank Shamrock against Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt Cesar Gracie at San Jose’s HP Pavilion, played host to a sold-out, record crowd of 18,265. Since 1995, Strikeforce has been the exclusive provider of martial arts programming for ESPN and, after 12 years of success as a leading, world championship kickboxing promotion, the company unveiled its mixed martial arts series with “Shamrock vs. Gracie.” In May 2008, West Coast Productions, the parent company of Strikeforce, partnered with Silicon Valley Sports & Entertainment (SVS&E), an entity created in 2000 to oversee all business operation aspects of the San Jose Sharks and HP Pavilion at San Jose.

MMA SUPERSTAR GINA CARANO TO HOST CARANO-CYBORG WEEK ON SHO 2

Posted on | August 7, 2009 | No Comments

Fight Week Special To Feature Past Carano and Cyborg Fights

Leading up to the LIVE August 15 STRIKEFORCE Showdown

Carano vs. Cyborg for the First STRIKEFORCE Women’s Championship

NEW YORK (August 6, 2009) –- Mixed Martial Arts’ (MMA) leading lady, the undefeated and extremely popular Gina “Conviction” Carano will host Carano-Cyborg Week on SHO 2, a special series featuring past fights of hers and her impending opponent, Brazilian powerhouse Cris Cyborg.

The series, which is part of the nightly program SHO Sports Presents, will air on fight week, Monday, Aug. 10 – Friday, Aug. 14 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on SHO 2.

The most anticipated matchup in the history of women’s MMA is also one that is undeniably the most dangerous assignment to date for the pair—universally regarded as the preeminent female fighters in the world.

Monday’s installment features a Carano triple header with replays of her thrilling victories over Julie Kedzie, Tonya Evinger and Kelly Kobald. In her fourth professional MMA fight, Carano defeated Kedzie via unanimous decision in the first MMA fight on premium television. Carano submitted Evinger in her next fight on SHOWTIME on Sept. 15, 2007 and won a unanimous decision over Kobald on CBS on Oct. 4, 2008.

Tuesday’s episode will air Robbie Lawler and Scott Smith’s second fight in which Lawler scored a second round knockout. The episode will also feature Cyborg’s knockout victory over Shayna Baszler. Both fights originally aired on CBS on July 26, 2008.

The third installment features Carano’s technical knockout of Kaitlin Young on May 31, 2008. In what was arguably the most exciting fight on the history making CBS telecast, Carano scored the TKO when the ringside doctor declared Young unable to continue after the second round. Lawler and Smith’s first fight, which ended in a no contest when Lawler accidently poked Smith in the eye, will also re air that evening.

Thursday’s episode will feature a replay of the Carano tripleheader.

The final installment, set to air just one day before the highly anticipated Carano-Cyborg battle, will feature Cyborg’s most recent fight, a third round knockout over Hitomi Akano on April 11, 2009. The episode will also feature Nick Diaz’s destructive victory over MMA legend Frank Shamrock from the same evening.

The live SHOWTIME telecast of STRIKEFORCE: “Carano vs. Cyborg” will begin at 10:30 p.m. ET/PT (tape delayed on the west coast).

Tickets for STRIKEFORCE: “Carano vs. Cyborg,” priced from $30, are on sale at the HP Pavilion box office (408-287-7070) as well as at all Ticketmaster locations (800-745-3000), Ticketmaster online (www.ticketmaster.com), and the official STRIKEFORCE website (www.strikeforce.com).

HP Pavilion doors will open for the event at 5 p.m. The first preliminary bout will begin at 5:30 p.m.

After co-promoting two events live on SHOWTIME in 2007 and 2008, STRIKEFORCE in March 2009 signed a multi-year agreement to stage live MMA events on the premium cable television network.

About Strikeforce
Strikeforce is a world-class mixed martial arts cage fight promotion which, on Friday, March 10, 2006, made history with its “Shamrock vs. Gracie” event, the first sanctioned mixed martial arts fight card in California state history. The star-studded extravaganza, which pitted legendary champion Frank Shamrock against Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt Cesar Gracie at San Jose’s HP Pavilion, played host to a sold-out, record crowd of 18,265. Since 1995, Strikeforce has been the exclusive provider of martial arts programming for ESPN and, after 12 years of success as a leading, world championship kickboxing promotion, the company unveiled its mixed martial arts series with “Shamrock vs. Gracie.” In May 2008, West Coast Productions, the parent company of Strikeforce, partnered with Silicon Valley Sports & Entertainment (SVS&E), an entity created in 2000 to oversee all business operation aspects of the San Jose Sharks and HP Pavilion at San Jose.

About Showtime Networks Inc.

Showtime Networks Inc. (SNI), a wholly owned subsidiary of CBS Corporation, owns and operates the premium television networks SHOWTIME®, THE MOVIE CHANNEL® and FLIX®, as well as the multiplex channels SHOWTIME 2™, SHOWTIME® SHOWCASE, SHOWTIME EXTREME®, SHOWTIME BEYOND®, SHOWTIME NEXT®, SHOWTIME WOMEN®, SHOWTIME FAMILY ZONE® and THE MOVIE CHANNEL™ XTRA. SNI also offers SHOWTIME HD®, THE MOVIE CHANNEL™ HD, SHOWTIME ON DEMAND® and THE MOVIE CHANNEL™ ON DEMAND. SNI also manages Smithsonian Networks, a joint venture between SNI and the Smithsonian Institution. All SNI feeds provide enhanced sound using Dolby Digital 5.1. SNI markets and distributes sports and entertainment events for exhibition to subscribers on a pay-per-view basis through SHOWTIME PPV®.

Jones-Lacy PPV card complete; Four Title Fights Featured

Posted on | August 7, 2009 | No Comments

Aug. 15 “Hook City” PPV in Biloxi

BILOXI, Miss. (August 7, 2009) – “Hook City,” headlined by 8-time world champion Roy “Captain Hook” Jones, Jr. (53-5, 39 KOs) and former 2-time super middleweight world title-holder Jeff “Left Hook” Lacy (25-2, 17 KOs), will feature four, exciting title fights.

In addition to being a well matched, entertainment valued promotion, “Hook City” has a slew of interesting storylines in each of its four PPV title fights on August 15th, which includes famous boxing “hookers,” wide-eyed dreamers, legitimate contenders and promising prospects.

The “Hook City” pay-per-view show, presented by Square Ring Promotions in association with Left Hook Promotions and Beau Rivage Resort & Casino, is being distributed by Square Ring Promotions, Inc. at 9:00PM ET/6:00PM PT in the United States on cable and satellite via iNDemand, TVN, DirecTV and Dish Network for a suggested retail price of $34.95, as well as on Super Channel in Canada.

Tickets, priced at $150.00, $125.00, $100.00, $75.00, $50.00 & $25.00 are on sale and available at all Ticketmaster locations by calling 800.745.3000, on line at Ticketmaster.com and at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum box office.

“We’re proud to bring boxing fans such a great show from top to bottom,” Square Ring Promotions CEO John Wirt said. “We have four title fights featuring three former world champions. ‘Hook City’ has a power-packed line-up of highly competitive fights and entertaining fighters.”

Hall of Fame-bound Jones is known for possessing one of boxing’s all-time greatest hooks, while Lacy’s nickname is, aptly put, “Left Hook.” Which one is the better hooker? That will be determined in Aug. 15 when Jones defends his NABO light heavyweight crown in the 12-round main event. The loser will be busted in “Hook City.”

Two-time world champion Danny “Green Machine” Green (26-3, 23 KOs), the power-puncher from Down Under, dreams of fighting Jones later this year in Australia. His opponent in the 12-round IBO cruiserweight title fight is South American light heavyweight title-holder Julio Cesar “La Furia” Dominguez (20-4-1, 14 KOs), who has fought in relative obscurity in his native Argentina. All he’s been dreaming about is knocking out Green. Which one’s dream will come true? That, too, will be decided in “Hook City.”

NABO cruiserweight champion B.J. “El Peligroso” Flores (23-0-1, 14 KOs) has a display case filled with regional title belts. He’s rated as high as No. 3 by the WBO and No. 6 by the WBA and positioned for a major world title fight. Standing in his way in “Hook City” is former world title challenger Epifanio “Diamente” Mendoza (29-7-1, 25 KOs), the Colombian hit man who specializes in putting opponents to sleep, as well as knocking-off unbeaten contenders.

Two highly-regarded lightweight prospects — Verquan “The Show” Kimbrough (21-1-2, 7 KOs) and challenger Jason “American Boy” Litzau (24-2, 20 KOs) — go toe-to-toe in “Hook City” in a 10-round Special Attraction for the vacant NABF belt. Both have rich amateur pedigrees and Kimbrough is trying to get where Litzau has been and plans to return — a world title shot. All bouts are subject to change.

-30-

UFC 101: Drama, Drama, Drama…and Action!

Posted on | August 7, 2009 | No Comments

By Holli Yargo

While UFC 100 met everyone’s high expectations for great fights, it’s time to move onwards and upwards. With a card nearly as satisfying as that of the promotion’s centennial, UFC 101 promises a $50 PPV price well worth the money.

The main card for this event features the stuff soap operas are made of: a whiney Baby, a battle between the classes, the return of a prodigal son, and favorite soldiers fighting the good fight.

Without further adieu, I offer my predictions and insights for this amazing event.

Lightweight Championship bout: B.J. Penn (c) vs. Kenny Florian

Having finally lain to rest the dead horse he’d been beating with his belief that Georges St-Pierre greases, B.J. Penn is now hurling inflammatory charges that the Canadian is on steroids. His basis for this opinion? Penn told Kevin Iole of Yahoo Sports, “Look at him. He’s the worst. He looks like that every day…The rest of us get fat then we train and get skinny…He looks the same way all the time. Come on.”

Clearly, it’s impossible for the Hawaiian to conceive of an athlete who eats healthy and stays in shape even when he’s not training for an upcoming fight. More importantly, Penn seems to be wasting energy worrying about the wrong fighter. He’s not taking on GSP in 101; he’s facing the razor-sharp elbows of Kenny Florian.

Florian, having kept a low profile regarding his latest endeavor to take possession of the lightweight title, has expressly announced it’s “time to kill that master.” If the current champ doesn’t get his head in the right game, we could see Florian doing just that.

KenFlo is no joke and it’s time Penn started taking this fight seriously. If The Prodigy hopes to effectively defend his belt, he’ll need to leave his frustration over St-Pierre for another day.

Light Heavyweight bout: Anderson Silva vs. Forrest Griffin

Silva vs. Griffin is a very interesting match-up. Griffin walks around at around 230 pounds while Silva probably stays under 200. Pound for pound, the Brazilian is considered one of the best fighters on earth. Forrest Griffin, still considered an underdog even after serving as light heavyweight champ, was half of the equation that put the UFC—and MMA, for that matter—on the map.
Anderson Silva has given a lot of thought to retiring in 2009, only to push back the date until at least his 35th birthday in 2010, due to contractual obligations. So, the question must be asked: how much heart does he have left? If his fights against Patrick Côté and Thales Leites are any indication, then the answer could be not much. Then again, a battle against the jovial former policeman and comparative giant could be exactly what the Middleweight champion needs.

Griffin, in his epic battle against Stephan Bonnar to win the title of The Ultimate Fighter for the eponymously named reality show’s maiden season, brought the sport to the mainstream, overnight. And, despite the TUF title and only 5 losses in his professional career, Griffin still comes into nearly every fight heavily favored to lose then shocks the world when he pulls off victories against the likes of Mauricio “Shogun” Rua and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson. The win against Jackson made especially sweet by taking the then-champion’s title belt.

Because Griffin is the bigger, heavier-handed brawler with a well-rounded mix of skill, I see him winning this bout in what could be the world’s biggest upset since Mir defeated Lesnar in their first match-up. He’ll need to be patient and not play into Silva’s uncanny ability to draw an opponent in to counter-strike for a knock-out. Griffin, while tough as they come, has proven to be subject to KO losses.

Silva is limber and stealthy in movement. He’s a smart fighter but he’s gotten a little sloppy and lazy in the octagon. He’ll need to find his heart to defeat Griffin who is known for, if nothing else, having tons of the stuff.

Welterweight bout: Amir Sadollah vs. Johny Hendricks

While undefeated, Johny Hendricks is entering a whole other stratosphere of competition as the opponent for TUF 7’s winner, Amir Sadollah. Sadollah, an underdog like his TUF coach, Forrest Griffin, surprised viewers when he defeated much more experienced and tested opponents on the show, including favorites Matt Brown and C.B. Dollaway.

Sadollah’s original post-TUF premier was sidelined by a leg infection followed by a broken clavicle. Now, more than a year after his UFC debut, which was also his first professional bout, he returns, long awaited and still much loved. The only thing changed for the quirky New York-born Virginian is that Sadollah is now the favorite to win and no longer the underdog. If Sadollah still has whatever it was that made him so successful on the reality show, we could be looking at a very near future contender for GSP’s title.

Middleweight bout: Kendall Grove vs. Ricardo Almeida[1]

After a brief rough patch, Kendall Grove is back on a winning streak with two in a row. His opponent, Ricardo Almeida, wants to continue his own winning streak and doesn’t need the 6’6” B.J. Penn protégé standing in his way.
Both contenders are powerfully skilled in Brazilian jiu jitsu. Almeida is the clear winner in experience but Grove has an enormous height and reach advantage.

Kendall “Da Spyder” Grove might just pull this off. Despite having a suspect chin, he’s facing an opponent with no history of knock-out power. Grove has two KO wins on his record. If he can keep the fight standing, his reach could prove disastrous to Almeida. If Almeida gets Grove to the ground, Grove may be able to stuff the submission attempts with his lanky arms and legs, maybe even sinking in his own submission.

Lightweight bout: Josh Neer vs. Kurt Pellegrino

Neer vs. Pellegrino offers another interesting match-up. Josh Neer, known as “the Dentist” for his penchant to knock people’s teeth out reportedly hates the rear naked choke. Kurt “Batman” Pellegrino has nine submission wins on his professional record, three of those by rear naked choke.

Both of these guys are rising stars who have always seemed to fall just short of title contention. Neer has more experience but Pellegrino still has the heart of a young gun with something to prove. My vote goes to Pellegrino.

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