BJ Penn vs Jon Fitch, squared.

The Prodigy, Bj Penn (16-7-2) was not too pleased as to how his game against Jon Fitch concluded. The Welterweight title eliminator main event match resulted into a majority draw after 3 rounds of solid brawl. 

The former Lightweight and Welterweight champion came out strong with a couple of take downs and rear naked choke attempts in the 1st and 2nd round breaking Jon Fitch's nose.  Yet, the latter managed to counter and nudge his position spoiling the former champ's submission attempts.

Both fighters had exchanged strikes in some occassions in the stand-up section but most of the hustles were done on the ground.

Jon Fitch has successfully pulled off an early take down early in round 3 and dominated Penn with a bunch of elbow strikes up until the bell rang.  The Prodigy's wearing out was apparent he wasn't able to break out and overturn his position against the more agile Jon Fitch.  Fitch won round 3 but squared the 1st and 2nd with Penn resulting into a majority Draw contest.

UFC commentator Joe Rogan solicited some thoughts from both Fighters and BJ Penn stated he would have thought of retirement if he lost but since he didn't, he agrees to a probability of a rematch later on.  Penn's discontent of the outcome was not so subtle he quickly took off after answering Rogan's questions. 

UFC 127 - Official Results

MAIN EVENT

Jon Fitch vs BJ Penn via Draw (Majority)

Michael Bisping defeated Jorge Rivera via TKO (Strikes) in Round 2 (00:01:54)
Dennis Siver defeated George Sotiropoulos via Decision (Unanimous)
Brian Ebersole defeated Chris Lytle via Decision (Unanimous)
Kyle Noke def. Chris Camozzi via Submission (Rear Naked Choke) in Round 1 (00:01:35)

 

PRELIMINARY CARD

Ross Pearson defeated Spencer Fisher via Decision (Unanimous)
Alexander Gustafsson defeated James Te Huna via Submission (Rear Naked Choke) in Round 1 (00:04:27)
Mark Hunt defeated Chris Tuchscherer via KO (Punches) in Round 2 (00:01:41)
Nick Ring defeated Riki Fukuda via Decision (Unanimous)
Zhang Tie Quan defeated Jason Reinhardt via Submission (Guillotine Choke) in Round 1 (00:48:00)
Kurt Warburton defeated Maciej Jewtuszko via Decision (Unanimous)
Anthony Perosh defeated Tom Blackledge via Submission (Rear Naked Choke) in Round 1 (00:02:45)



Thiago Silva - Out of UFC 130

The Brazilian slugger Thiago Silva (14-2-1) is not going to be present at UFC 130 this coming May 28.  He was initially set to go agianst the former Light Heavyweight champion Quinton "Rampage" Jackson (31-8) for a Light Heavyweight bout fronting the 3rd Frankie Edgar - Gray Maynard Lightweight Championship show.  

Early rumors told that Thiago Silva withdrew due to an injury but the fighter later confirmed it was not.  In fact, a statement came out from Tatame, a Brazilian MMA site, about the issue with Silva saying "Injured? Me? I’m very healthy and looking forward to fighting Rampage. That’s not true."

But it was later reported that Silva was forced to withdraw his spot due to his fragmentary post-fight drug test from his last fight against Brandon Vera at UFC 125 last New Years day initially yielding to a failure test result.  Though the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) are still investigating and they confirmed that there are still undergoing tests to substantiate this issue.  Due to this incident, UFC took Silva out from the card and had the former Light Heavyweight Rashad Evans(reportedly) to take the spot.

In connection to this failed post-fight test results allegations, his unanimous decision victory over Brandon Vera at UFC 125 was revoked and was turned into a "No Contest" result instead.

sources: http://www.bloodyelbow.com/

             http://tatame.com.br/

Carlos Condit pulls out - UFC 127

Carlos Condit (26-5) was forced to get off from the card of UFC 127 this coming saturday February 27 after suffering a knee injury during his training.  Condit was set to face the Ultimate Fighter 4 finalist Chris Lytle (30-17-5) for a welterweight bout preceding the BJ Penn and John Fitch pay-per-view fight but will have to withdraw and stay out for a period of time. 

It was then reported that the MMA veteran slugger Brian Ebersole (46-14-1-1) has agreed to take Carlos Condit's spot to complete the UFC 127 main card roster on Saturday.  This is Ebersole's first UFC appearance in his entire 62 MMA fight career and he will face one of the toughest welterweight contender in the league, Chris Lytle.

Lytle has successfully pinched his last four bouts, latest was from his classic rival and former Welterweight champion Matt Sera in September of 2010, flourished with a couple of fight and submission of the night bonuses as he continues his pursuit of the Welterweight title.  Meanwhile, his new adversary comes in and aims to grab his 8th winning streak and his 1st ever UFC victory.

UFC 127 will take fold in Sydney Australia at the Acer Arena headlining the Prodigy, BJ Penn taking on the relentless brawler John Fitch and the English fighter Michael Bisping on Jorge Rivera.  See UFC 127 complete fight card here.

Nonito Donaire victorious against Fernando Montiel

LAS VEGAS Nevada - Nonito Donaire (26-1) was in high spirits as he was crowned as the new WBC and WBO Bantamweight Champion of the world after he defeated the mexican boxer Fernando Montiel (44-3-2) via TKO in the last 30 seconds of round 2.

The filipino flash has successfully landed a rock-solid left hook that hit Montiel right through the temple putting him down flat on the canvas.  Montiel attempted to get back on his feet immediately after he fell but the strike was too heavy he wobbled and fell right back on his knees.  The fight was stopped by the official seconds after it was resumed when Donaire threw a couple of punches more.

The mexican was throwing precise straight jabs and was able to put down a couple of blows on Donaire in the early part of round 2 before he got caught.  This was Montiel's first lost from a filipino fighter and a huge upset as his two world titles was snatched by the filipino flash.  Meanwhile, this is Donaire's 25th straight win and his 3rd division championship title in his boxing career.

Michael Bisping is ready for Jorge Rivera

The Count is ready.  Michael Bisping (20-3) is all geared up against the veteran Jorge Rivera (18-7) for the main card of UFC 127 fronting the BJ Penn - John Fitch main event bout.  The Ultimate Fighter 3 champ aims to come out strong and stun Rivera as he is up into some real intensive training to improve his punching power and stamina for this match.  Something that he said he was inspired to do as a response to Rivera's opposing comments.   "He knows that he's facing a big jump up in class and I'm operating at a much higher level to what he's been used to." Bisping said in his blog as he made statements about Jorge Rivera's too much trash talk.

Jorge Rivera previously hurled some adverse remarks to both Bisping and their match and the english fighter was not at all happy with what the american fighter has been gunning lately which kind of triggered Bisping to say some statements of his own.  "I think he's going to feel a lot different about my punching power and abilities after this fight, as I plan on teaching him a lesson and showing just how much better I am than the guys he's faced in the past".

"I know that this is a very winnable fight for me and I know that Jorge Rivera is nowhere near my league. He is lucky to get this fight and is looking to enjoy his 15 minutes of fame. I'll give him that.
On February 27, he'll endure 15 minutes of hell. Fifteen seconds if he's lucky". 

Words of hostility from the Count expressing both his resentment and determination.  Let's wait and see what happens to this heaping grudge between this two on February 27 at UFC 127 - Sydney Australia.

source: http://wwos.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=8212030
            http://www.ufc.com/

Dan Henderson vs Rafael Cavalcante - Strikeforce

Rafael Cavalcante

The Brazilian Light Heavyweight champion Rafael "Feijao" Cavalcante (10-2) is on for his first title defense against the Strikeforce top contender Dan "Hendo" Henderson (26-8) for the main event of Strikeforce: Feijo vs Henderson this coming March 5 at the Nationwide Arena, Columbus, Ohio.

Henderson, after a disappointing unanimous decision lost from Jake Shields (49-46, 49-45, 48-45) for the Strikeforce Middleweight Championship last year, scaled up to Light Heavyweight division and defeated Renato Sobral for the 2nd time at Strikeforce: Henderson vs Babalu 2 a couple of months ago earning the shot for the championship.

He now takes full advantage of his 4-fight 16-month deal with Strikeforce as he will attempt to whip the Light Heavyweight championship from the young and newly crowned Cavalcante. 

Rafael Cavalcante won his title after defeating the former Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion Muhammed Lawal via KO in less than 90 seconds in the 3rd round 6 months ago at Strikeforce: Houston.  He earned his title shot by knocking out the american Antwain Britt in round 1 at Strikeforce: Heavy Artillery in May last year.  Almost all of Feijao's victories are knock outs and stoppages-he has never won any fight in his mixed martial arts career by way of decision.  This details alone make a statement as to how deadly Rafael Cavalcante is inside the octagon.  He is so agile, his punches and kicks are heavy and these are probably what Henderson should keep an eye on.  Though Dan Henderson is no easy opponent as well, Cavalcante is going to stretch more muscle to go over a guy like Henderson who has more fighting experience and who has beaten up huge mma icons like Rich Franklin, Wanderlei Silva, Vitor Belfort, Michael Bisping etc.  A rising champion versus a fighting veteran is definitely an exciting match.

Strikeforce: Feijao vs Henderson is going to broadcast live on Showtime.

source: http://strikeforce.com/

Shane Carwin vs Cheick Kongo - UFC 131

After a quite long retreat due to a back injury, Shane Carwin (12-1) is all pumped up and more than ready to go back to the octagon to continue his MMA pursuit.  He is set to face, though it has yet to be confirmed by UFC, the French Heavyweight Cheick Kongo (15-6-2) at UFC 131 on June 11 which is reportedly planned to take hold in Vancouver, Canada.

Carwin, after a successful back surgery, came back to the gym and started training, early in the beginning of the year.  Early reports says that he was initially listed to fight Roy Nelson at UFC 130 but later switched by the UFC management giving the card to Frank Mir instead.  He is then later rescheduled to go against Kongo fronting the Brock Lesnar and Junior Dos Santos' Heavyweight title eliminator match.

Carwin is coming back from a disappointing lost against the former Heavyweight champ Brock Lesnar not being able to run off with the Heavyweight title at UFC 116 last year.  He came out strong in the first round and pounded Lesnar on the ground with vicious strikes in rapid succession that could have almotst finished the game. He was an inch away in clutching the Heavyweight title but wasn't able to extend that intensity in the 2nd round and caught himself in an arm triangle.  This fight was his first lost in his entire mixed martial arts career.  It was also the only fight out of the 13 that has ever made it to the 2nd round so far showing how deadly Shane Carwin is as a fighter.  He is probably one of the hardest puncher in the Heavyweight division and has an excellent ground game as well, he only needed less than 5 minutes to either submit or knock his opponent out.  And what most men like him wants, who came out from an intolerable defeat, is to come back twice as deadly as he was, so his upcoming fight is something that all his fans will definitely keep track.

UFC 129 55,000 Tickets - SOLD OUT in minutes

UFC 129 has added another milestone in UFC as President Dana White and co. has just recently announced that tickets for UFC 129 - St. Pierre vs Shields, which will be held in Rogers Centre Toronto, Ontario, Canada this coming April 30, are officially sold out within minutes after getting them available for purchase. A startling 55,000 fight enthusiasts secured their attendance for the event that breaks the current UFC attendance record of 23,000 expectators during UFC 124 - St. Pierre vs Koscheck 2 that took place in Montreal last December.

Reports also tell that this will be the first UFC event to be held in Rogers Centre which was formerly constructed to only accomodate 42,000 seats but later reconstructed, by the UFC and venue officials group effort, to extend its seating capacity to 55,000.  UFC 129 has also been recorded to be the biggest single day event ever to be hosted by Rogers Centre making a milestone of their own as well.

This event has, without any doubt, seized the attention of all fight fans in Canada as two of their great warriors are bound to fight for two different World titles.  Georges St. Pierre is compelled to defend his Welterweight Championship belt against the American contender Jake Shields while the uprising star Mark Hominick aims to pinch the Featherweight Championship from the Brazilian champ Jose Aldo.

UFC also said that though UFC 129 tickets has ran down, the preceding UFC Fan Expo event tickets, which holds at the Direct Energy Centre in Toronto on April 29-30, are still up.

source: http://www.ufc.com/

Fernando Montiel puts his titles on the line this February 19

A week to go before the Mexican champion Fernando Montiel Martinez (44-2-2) defends his WBC and WBO Bantamweight championship titles against the Filipino Flash Nonito Donaire (25-1) set at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas Nevada USA.

The 31 year old champ, who started his pro-boxing career at a young age of 17, is currently looked upon as the world's best fighter in the Bantamweight (118 lbs) division merging two belts apart from the titles he won fighting in the flyweight and super flyweight division.

Meanwhile, the hard hitting filipino stated from an earlier interview, that he aims to stop the mexican champ and has no intention of going 12 rounds putting his luck on the judges' score cards.  He intends to go for a knock out similar to what he did in his recent fight against the Ukraine warrior Wladimir Sidorenko, finishing the bout in the 4th round via knockout and winning the vacant WBC Continental Americas Bantamweigth Title.

He now attempts to pinch the Bantamweight World titles from Montiel and tries to square their boxing ranks winning titles in three different divisions.

The two Top Rank boxers put on and showed high regards with one another during their pre-fight press conference but they will surely take no compassion once they step inside the ring and fans will expect a lot of hostility between these two great fighters.

Wanderlei Silva vs Brian Stann at UFC 130 - Unsigned

The Brazilian "Axe Murderer" Wanderlei Silva (33-10-1) was earlier reported to take into contest against the former WEC Light Heavyweight Champion (10-3) Brian Stann for a Main Card Middleweight bout at UFC 130 on May 28.  Yet, recent reports tell the said bout was never signed and will not likely happen in contradiction of the earlier statements.

Silva's last fight was against Michael Bisping at UFC 110 a year ago winning his middleweight debut via unanimous decision subsequent to two successive losses from Rich Franklin and his former PRIDE adversary Quinton Jackson.  He then went through a knee treatment mid of last year and has never fought since then.

Brian Stann in contrast, recently earned his 2nd victory fighting in middleweight division over Chris Leben at UFC 125 last New Year's day.  The All American went down fighting at 185 lb after his lost against Phil Davis at UFC 109. 

Though there are no clarity as to his match against Silva at UFC 130, it was told that he is likely expected to be in the event roster still and would fight someone else should this fight doesn't turn up as initially reported.

UFC Fight Night 24 - Davis vs Nogueira

UFC Fight Night 24 - March 26, 2011
Key Arena, Seattle, Washington, USA
Live PPV Broadcast

Main Card

Phil Davis vs Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (Light Heavyweight match)

Dan Hardy vs Anthony Johnson (Welterweight match)

Amir Sadollah vs Duane Ludwig (Welterweight match)

Leonard Garcia vs Nam Phan (Featherweight match)

Preliminary Card

Alex Caceres vs Mackens Semerzier (Featherweight match)

Jon Madsen vs Mike Russow (Heavyweight match)

John Hathaway vs Kris McCray (Welterweight match)

Michael Mcdonald vs Nick Pace (Bantamweight match)

Sean McCorkle vs Christian Morecraft (Heavyweight match)

Mario Miranda vs Aaron Simpson (Middleweight match)

Dennis Hallman vs TJ Waldburger (Welterweight match)

UFC on Versus Fight Card - Sanchez vs Kampmann

UFC on Versus - March 03, 2011

KFC Center, Kentucky USA

Main Card

Diego Sanchez vs Martin Kampmann (Welterweight match)

CB Dollaway vs Mark Munoz (Middleweight match)

Alessio Sakara vs Rafael Natal (Middleweight match)

Brian Bowles vs Damacio Page (Bantamweight match)

Preliminary card

Joe Stevenson vs Danny Castillo (Light Heavyweight match)

Thiago Tavares vs Shane Roller (Lightweight match)

Cub Swanson vs Erik Koch (Featherweight match)

Takeya Mizugaki vs Francisco Rivera (Bantamweight match)

Rob Kimmons vs Dongi Yang (Middleweight match)

Rousimar Palhares vs Dave Branch (Middleweight match)

Igor Pokrajac vs Todd Brown (Light Heavyweight match)

UFC 128 Fight Card - Shogun vs Jones

UFC 128 - March 19, 2011
Prudential Center, Newark, New Jersey, USA
Live PPV Broadcast

Main Card

Mauricio Rua vs Jon Jones (Light Heavyweight Championship)

Urijah Faber vs Eddie Wineland (Bantamweight match)

John Miller vs Kamal Shalorus (Lightweight match)

Nate Marquardt vs Yoshihiro Akiyama (Middleweight match)

Mirko Filipovic vs Brendan Schaub (Heavyweight match)

Preliminary Card

Luiz Cane vs Karlos Vamola (Light Heavyweight match)

Edzon Barboza vs Anthony Njokuani (Lightweight match)

Mike Pyle vs Ricardo Almeida (Welterweight match)

Kurt Pellegrino vs Gleison Tibau (Lightweight match)

Joseph Benavidez vs Ian Loveland (Bantamweight match)

Manvel Gamburyan vs Raphael Assuncao (Featherweight match)

Dan Miller vs Nick Catone (Middleweight match)

UFC 129 Fight Card - St. Pierre vs Shields



UFC 129 - April 30, 2011
Rogers Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Live PPV broadcast

Main Card

Georges St. Pierre vs Jake Shields (Welterweight Championship)

Jose Aldo vs Mark Hominick (Featherweight Championship)
Vladimir Matyushenko vs Jason Brilz (Light Heavyweight match)

Randy Couture vs Lyoto Machida (Light Heavyweight match)

Mark Bocek vs Ben Henderson (Lightweight match)

Preliminary Card (Spike TV)

Nate Diaz vs Rory Macdonals (Welterweight match)

Sean Pierson vs Brian Foster (Welterweight match)

Preliminary Card

Yves Jabouin vs Pablo Garza (Featherweightweight match)

Claude Patrick vs Daniel Roberts (Welterweight match)

Ivan Menjivar vs Charlie Valencia (Bantamweight match)

Jason Macdonald vs Ryan Jensen (Middleweight match)

John Makdessi vs Kyle Watson (Lightweight match)

UFC 130 Fight Card - Edgar vs Maynard 3

UFC 130 - May 28, 2011

MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas Nevada, USA

Live PPV Broadcast

Main Card

Frankie Edgar vs Gray Maynard (Lightweight Championship)

Quinton Jackson vs Matt Hamill (Light Heavyweight match)

Frank Mir vs Roy Nelson (Heavyweight match)

Stefan Struve vs Travis Browne (Heavyweight match)

Jorge Santiago vs Brian Stann (Middleweight match)

Preliminary Card

Thiago Alves vs Rick Story (Welterweight match)

Brad Pickett vs Miguel Torres (Bantamweight match)

Kendall Grove vs Tim Boetsch (Middleweight match)

Demetrious Johnson vs Renan Barao (Bantamweight match)

On Georges St. Pierre against Anderson Silva

The most widely anticipated superfight in modern MMA.  Two of the very best pound for pound fighters in UFC.  Two reigning MMA World Champions.  Two dominant fighters from different places with diversed fighting techniques.  Georges "Rush" St. Pierre vs. Anderson "The Spider" Silva. A fight that will spell the name of the greatest fighter in the face of MMA. Should there be one or should there be none?

This match has been around the corners with uncertainty as to when this should happen or if this should happen in the first place.  After Anderson Silva defeated Vitor Belfort at UFC 126, one more integer is needed to close the equation and this is if GSP secures a win over Jake Shields at UFC 129.  If for  some strange reasons GSP loses, will it still happen or will it lose its merit to put in reality? 

Firstly, GSP has to win his fight with Jake Shields to keep the raw basis of this superfight.  It will likely not make sense otherwise if GSP goes up for a title shot against Silva and aims to win the Middleweight Championship coming from a title lost of his own.  2nd is his weight - it has been in talks that GSP will probably leave his title behind (if he wins at UFC 129) and go up to 185 lb and stay there.  From 170 to 185 - what could be the upshots of this transition as far as his performance is concerned?

UFC: Fight for the troops 2 - Official Results

Preliminary Card

Will Campuzano def. Chris Cariaso via Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) - (Bantamweight match)
Charlie Brenneman def. Amilcar Alves via Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) - (Welterweight match)
Waylon Lowe def. Willamy Freire via Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) - (Lightweight)
Rani Yahya def. Mike Brown via Unanimous Decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28) - (Bantamweight match)
DaMarques Johnson def. Mike Guymon via Submission (body triangle) in rouond 1 - (Welterweight match)
Yves Edwards def. Cody McKenzie via Technical Submission (rear-naked choke) in round 2 - (Lightweight match)

Main Card

Matt Wiman def. Cole Miller via Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28) - (Lightweight match)
Pat Barry def. Joey Beltran via Unanimous Decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28) - (Heavyweight match)
Mark Hominick def. George Roop via Technical Knockout (TKO-punches) in round 1- (Featherweight match)
Matt Mitrione def. Tim Hague via Technical Knockout (TKO-punches) in round 1 - (Heavyweight match)
Melvin Guillard def. Evan Dunham via Technical Knockout (punches and knees) in round 1 - (Lightweight match)

Forrest Griffin's win over Rich Franklin



The Fan-Favorite Forrest Griffin (18-6) came back to the octagon, after recovering from a shoulder injury last year, and defeated the former Middleweight champion Rich "Ace" Franklin (28-6-0-1) at UFC 126.  All judges scored for Griffin winning the bout via unanimous decision as he accurately landed hard punches and kicks that tagged Franklin in the 2nd round.  The Ace did not seem to execute much in his game as Griffin controlled the fight more than he did though he was able to pull out counterpunches in several occasions.  His left arm injury from Chuck Lidell 8 months ago must have tweaked his game and altered his punch loads for that matter.

The original Ultimate fighter has just recently acquired his Black Belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu last year elevating his ground game to the next level.  What's next for Forrest Griffin, after coming back and winning this fight, is still undefined but his fans will hope to see more of him this year.

Jon Jones gets a title shot at UFC 128

Jon "Bone" Jones (12-1) continues to prove that he is one emerging deadly fighter inside the octagon as he defeated and damaged the winning streak of Ryan Bader (12-1) in the main card of UFC 126 last February 5.  Jones took Bader down and control him in most occasions in the 1st round and caught him with a guillotine choke in the 2nd round forcing a tapout.

A huge victory for Jon Jones elevating his MMA career into the next level as it was officially announced, right after the fight, that he gets a title shot for the Light Heavyweight Championship against Mauricio "Shogun" Rua at UFC 128 replacing the spot of the injured Rashad Evans.  It was reported that Evans blew his knee during training and will likely be out for months.  "Shogun Rua", in attendance at the fight, went up inside the octagon and shook Jones hands as his acknowledgement for the challenge.

UFC 128 - "Shogun" Rua vs. Jon Jones is going to take place on March 19 in Newark, New Jersey, USA.

UFC 126 - Official Fight Results

Preliminary Card

Mike Pierce def. Kenny Robertson via TKO in round 2 at 0:29 (Welterweight match)
Kyle Kingsbury def. Ricardo Romero via TKO in round 1 at 0:21 (Light Heavyweight match)
Paul Taylor def. Gabe Ruediger via KO in round 2 at 1:42 (Lightweight match)
Demetrious Johnson def. Norifumi Yamamoto via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27) (Bantamweight match)
Chad Mendes def. Michihiro Omigawa via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) (Featherweight match)
Donald Cerrone def. Paul Kelly via submission in round 2 at 3:48 (Lightweight match)

Main card

Miguel Torres def. Antonio Banuelos via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) (Bantamweight match)
Jake Ellenberger def. Carlos Eduardo Rocha via split decision (27-30, 29-28, 29-28) (Welterweight match)
Jon Jones def. Ryan Bader via submission in round 2 at 4:20 (Light Heavyweight match)
Forrest Griffin def. Rich Franklin via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) (Light Heavyweight match)
Anderson Silva def. Vitor Belfort via KO in round 1 at 4:25 (Middleweight title match)

Anderson Silva remains undefeated in UFC

Anderson Silva (28-4) is still the UFC Middleweight Champhion of the world after beating the Phenom Vitor Belfort (19-9) out approaching the last 90 seconds of the first round.  The Spider threw a vicious front kick that put Belfort down followed by a couple of strikes finishing the bout sooner than what everyone has expected, awarding him the Knockout of the Night. 

Belfort has landed a couple of strikes and was able to capitalize on Silva's misses scoring a take down before the Spider slithered a gruesome front kick hitting him right in the face causing him the fight.  A huge upset for Belfort as this will be set as his first ever lost by way of KO.  Majority of his losses are decisions and he has never been knocked out by his opponent ever in his entire MMA career, not to mention getting knocked out so soon. 

This is Anderson Silva's 8th successful title defense of the Middleweight Championship extending the record for most successive title defense of a single fighter.  He continues to prove he is the best pound for pound fighter in the UFC and no one can ever dare to disagree.

What could be next for Anderson Silva?  We all heard about a GSP - Silva fight is already in talks which will probably happen after GSP's fight against Jake Shields in UFC 129 in April.  Reports tell that the Welterweight champ will climb up to Middleweight division and try if he could stop Anderson Silva's long reign and become the new Middleweight Champion.  This is definitely an exciting match and hopefully it will be set this year. 

Mark Hominick for Jose Aldo at UFC 129



Jose Aldo

The Canadian Featherweight fighter Mark Hominick (20-8) will try to snatch the UFC Featherweight Championship title against the young Brazilian fighter Jose Aldo (18-1) at UFC 129 in his home court at Toronto, Canada.  Hominick has secured a title shot in the Featherweight division after defeating George Roop via TKO at UFC: Fight For The Troops 2 held in Fort Hood, Texas.  He succeeded in landing precise punches in the face that whacked the senses of the much taller Roop just in the early minutes of the first round.  An absolute disappointment for the American fighter yet a sensational victory for Hominick not just adding another win in his MMA career but grabbing the title shot as well.

What could be the chances of Hominick getting the Championship from Jose Aldo is entirely off the record.  We see him throw good combinations, win huge fights and upset a lot of his opponents without actually knowing how he did it.  He is just one terrific fighter perfectly matched against another terrific Champion fighter like Jose Aldo.

Their fight goes before the UFC 129 main event George St. Pierre vs. Jake Shields which is another championship title match in the UFC welterweight division.

Anthony Pettis on Clay Guida at TUF 13 finale

The 24 years old WEC Lightweight Champion Anthony Pettis (13-1) is confirmed to compete against the all-round-on-the-go fighter Clay Guida (28-11) reportedly on June 4 at The Ultimate Fighter Season 13 finale in Las Vegas, Nevada USA. Pettis recently won the WEC Lightweight Championship last December at WEC 53 against Ben Henderson via Unanimous decision showcasing an extremely sensational kick in the final round clutching the Fight of the Night award.

Since WEC(World Extreme Cagefighting) has merged with UFC last year, Dana White sets Pettis to fight the winner of Gray Maynard-Frankie Edgar UFC Lightweight title match at UFC 125 last New Year's day (read about this fight) however, no winner was announced as the judges declared the fight as draw putting Pettis' next contest in confusion.  Consequently, a 3rd Edgar-Maynard match was immediately settled on to take place this May of 2011 (read about this fight) yet it seemed the WEC champ doesn't want any time lag at all, having no intention of waiting for the final Edgar-Maynard score, and now agreed to go against Clay Guida instead.

Guida, known for his electrifying octagon performance, has won his 3 last bouts last year after losing from Diego Sanchez and Kenny Florian in 2009.  A very exciting fighter like Clay Guida is a perfect match against another exciting and rising young fighter like Anthony Pettis in the Lightweight division.

Ryan Bader is ready for Jon Jones

The undefeated Light Heavyweight fighter Ryan Bader (12-0) is all set to go for an inevitable gruesome fight against Jon "Bone" Jones (11-1) tomorrow at UFC 126.  The Ultimate Fighter season 8 finale champion still has never been defeated in his entire mixed martial arts career and will absolutely want to walk out of the octagon after his fight in that way.  He is one rising fighter in the UFC who has a sheer ability to go nose to nose and beat guys like Keith Jardin and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira with recognized superiority. However, going in combat against an emerging fighter like Jones is no gag at all.  This dude is extremely lethal dominating all of his fights and leaving his opponent slaughtered.  His elbow strikes are deadly, putting his past opponents faces like Brandon Vera and Matt Hamill in serious repair after the fight,  something Bader should certainly watch out.  Jones one and only lost was infact due to a disqualification called for his multiple elbow strikes at Matt Hamill's face cutting the bridge of the dude's nose.  Yet, Bader as well is a sure knock out, he has good boxing and superior ground game and he could out-muscle Jones to the edge if he gets on with a strategy.  Jones in contrast, has Muay Thai and a good wrestling too and he will surely capitalize on his 2 inches height and wicked 10 inches reach advantage to brawl with Bader for the entire 15 minutes.  Every MMA fan is definitely excited to see this fight tomorrow night.

Miguel Angel Cotto's title defense

The Top Rank WBA Super Welterweight Champion Miguel Angel Cotto (35 -2) is now set for his first title defense of his new crown.  Top Rank promoter Bob Arum confirms Cotto's title bout against the Nicaraguan challenger and former boxing champion Ricardo Mayorga (29-7-1) on March 12, 2011 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas Nevada USA.  The Puerto Rican boxer won the WBA Super Welterweight(Light Middleweight) Championship against the undefeated Israeli fighter Yuri Foreman after successfully landing his signature left hook to the body winning the title via TKO in their fight last June 2010. 

Subsequent to losing the WBO Welterweight title against Manny Pacquiao in November of 2009, Miguel Cotto went up to fight in the Light Middleweight Division and rewardingly took home the title as his fourth overall championship in 3 different division in his boxing career.  Possessing outstanding boxing record, losing only twice against Antonio Margarito in 2008 and Manny Pacquiao in 2009, he is now matched to another great fighter Ricardo "El Matador" Mayorga who is surely raring to go and take that fresh championship belt around his waist. 

Will Cotto be able to defend his title-it's really hard to tell. With Cotto's fighting prowess, armed with his deadly left hook and tremendous foot work, it's quite uncertain if the much older Mayorga stands a chance but the latter will definitely not make this fight easy either.

Randy Couture vs Lyoto Machida at UFC 129

The 47 year old Randy Couture isn't done yet.  UFC confirms his non title fight against the Dragon Lyoto Machida at UFC 129 in Toronto this April.  The Natural (19-10), after spoiling the former boxing champ James Toney's UFC debut at UFC 118 last August, marked his 3rd win in a row (from Mark Coleman & Brandon Vera) proving that he is still dangerous inside the octagon.  A lot of fans must have thought Randy's lost against Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira concluded his MMA career subsequent to dropping the Heavyweight title, losing from Brock Lesnar at UFC 91 in 2008 but suprisingly, the former champ is still on his feet winning huge bouts in an exciting fashion and still up to challenge big names in UFC.

Lyoto Machida (16-2) after dropping his 2 recent fights and the Light Heavyweight title, from Quinton "Rampage" Jackson and Mauricio "Shogun" Rua respectively, was the one who signed up for the fight against the Natural.  He is now up to break his losing streak and try to knock down and breach Randy's victory run.  Could this be Randy Couture's last fight-nobody knows.  But all of his fans will surely be excited to see him again inside the octagon especially against a tough karate and jiu jitsu guy like Machida.  Couture's last fight against James Toney could be fairly predictable but against a magnificent fighter like Machida, the upshots are in random.   Experience vs style should be the name of the game and this will demonstrate if the Hall of Famer Randy Couture still has his fighting mojo.

Pacquiao Mosley fight - 16,000 tickets sold and counting

Manny Pacquiao has established an utmost reputation as the 8-division and best pound-for-pound boxing champion of the world calls to all boxing fanatics once again, and 16,000 followers responded in less than a day.

Top Rank Promoter Bob Arum shares his enchantment as the up and coming bout of Manny Pacquiao and Sugar Shane Mosley for the WBO Welterweight title has incredibly sold 16,000 MGM Grand tickets in 3 hours.  This has been reported to be the best ticket runs in Las Vegas boxing history putting down only just a thousand seats remaining for this bout even the scheduled fight is not for two months.  Pacquiao's last fight in the fight capital of the world was back in 2009 and now he is going to defend his Welterweight crown back in this place were he won the said title by defeating Miguel Angel Cotto via TKO in the last round.

The two fighters will meet this coming May 7 and preliminary ticket sales result show how boxing fans all over the world are excited to witness these two future hall of famers put on a good show.  (read more about this fight)

This fight has been officialy put on by Top Rank together with MP Promotions, Sugar Shane Mosley Promotions and MGM Grand.  A very much anticipated fight as Manny Pacquiao continues to make history and era in boxing. (read more from source)

Rampage Jackson takes on Thiago Silva at UFC 130

A must see fight MMA fans will die to see.  Quinton "Rampage" Jackson (31-8) is confirmed to go toe to toe against the brazilian beast Thiago Silva (15-2) for the main card of UFC 130 on May 28 at Las Vegas Nevada.  Silva, after beating and breaking Brandon Vera's nose at UFC 125 last new year's day is now set to face another hardnosed slugger who will never be more glad to tussle with him inside the octagon for 15 minutes.  A Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt, Muay Thai, and boxer with a 2 inch reach advantage over the american losing only twice in his entire mixed martial arts career.  After a disappointing lost from Rashad Evans at UFC 108 last January 2010,  Thiago was out for the entire year and then came back loaded  with intensity to punish any fighter who gets in his way, beating and slamming Vera in every corner of the octagon, leaving him with an awfully broken nose (see also vera-silva fight result).  But that wouldn't surely be enough to put down a wicked fighter like Rampage.  Jackson's striking has beaten a lot of brawny fighters like Chuck Lidell, Wanderlei Silva, Dan Henderson and Lyoto Machida proving that he is one of the most fearsome fighter inside the octagon and making his fight against Thiago Silva an exciting bout for the Light Heavyweight

division.  But then again Jackson still has to train harder and must not let Silva see any holes in his games or give the guy any clear opportunity if he doesn't want to lay flat. 

This bout also fronts the much anticipated 3rd rematch of Gray Maynard and Frankie Edgar for the Lightweight Championship title (read about this fight).