UFC News

With the semi finals completed during last night’s special 2 hour broadcast of TUF 8 the finals are now set and the complete card has been officially released:

Main event (Televised):

155 lbs.: Phillipe Nover vs. Efrain Escudero to determine TUF 8 lightweight winner

Main card (Televised):

205 lbs.: Ryan Bader vs. Vinicius Magalhães to determine TUF 8 light heavyweight winner
185 lbs.: Wilson Gouveia (21-10) vs. Jason MacDonald (11-5)
170 lbs.: Kevin Burns (7-1) vs. Anthony Johnson (5-2)
155 lbs.: Junie Browning vs. Dave Kaplan

Under card (May not be broadcast):

205 lbs.: Krzysztof Soszynski vs. Shane Primm
205 lbs.: Eliot Marshall vs. Jules Bruchez
205 lbs.: Kyle Kingsbury vs. Tom Lawlor
155 lbs.: Shane Nelson vs. George Roop
155 lbs.: Rolando Delgado vs. John Polakowski

From a Bloodyelbow.com exclusive interview:

BZ: What do you say to fans who say your style is boring?

LM: Everyone has their own opinion and I really respect that. I am a martial artist, there is a lot of thought and strategy that goes into the way I fight. Give me time and in the future every one will understand my style. It is like jiu-jitsu in the beginning (UFC 1, 2, 3…), it was boring but now it is necessary. If you don’t like it, sorry. I always try to win. For some that is boring, I know, but I am beating the best in the world. After my fights I do not have nothing on my face, no scratches, no bruises. I am like a ghost they can not find me. If that is boring, that is their opinion. But I will be there for long time WINNING. Let everyone underestimate me. I will always be training ready for the next.

Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell spoke with Fighters Only Magazine about possible abouts with UFC Middleweight Champ Anderson Silva and a fourth matchup with Randy Couture:

Former UFC light-heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell has denied that he will be fighting Anderson Silva at UFC 95 in January.

He also expressed disinterest in fighting Randy Couture for a fourth time, saying: “To me at this point it doesn’t make sense.”

According to a post on his myspace page, Diego Sanchez intends to fight at 155lbs in his next bout although there is no bout to speak of:

So my account got hacked and it took a while to get it fixed, but I’m back. I’m training hard and will be dropping down to fight at 155. I will keep you all posted on the info of the fight! But I promise you all that I will do my best to win.

Kind of odd to see Sanchez move to lightweight considering the clusterf*** of talented fighters sitting at the top of the ladder already with no champion to fight against as BJ Penn will be challenging Georges St. Pierre for the welterweight title in January.

From MMAJunkie.com:

As expected, top UFC welterweight contender Jon Fitch (17-3 MMA, 8-1 UFC) will meet Akihiro Gono (29-13-7 MMA, 1-1 UFC) at UFC 94, which takes place Jan. 31 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

During today’s taping today for Friday’s edition of “Inside MMA,” Fitch confirmed the fight has been signed.

From The Wrestling Observer:

Over the past few weeks, Anderson Silva’s manager, Ed Soares recently had a meeting with UFC’s President, Dana White on who will be the next opponet for the middleweight champion. Indeed he will be making a return to the 205 division, it is just a matter of fighting a fight for Anderson Silva. Even though we have heard great matchups rumored to be for him, there is said to be frustration, and that no one is willing to fight with Anderson Silva or there are already fights lined up for the fighters that would be interested in fighting him.

Also to add on the side that the fights who were interested in fighting him, they were already booked to fight in the coming months. Ed Soares thinks that with the upcoming results of the upcoming fights, there should be an available fight for Anderson Silva very soon.

From Fighters Only Magazine:

Chuck Liddell is training with American Top Team in a bid to get back on track after his knockout loss to Rashad Evans at UFC 88.

“Yeah, you learn something new wherever you train. He’s always cross-trained and had people come in. He will definitely learn from Liborio and Matt,” replied Hackleman.

The following was posted on Graciefighter.com:

Nathan Diaz will be fighting Clay Guida on January 31st, 2009 at UFC 94 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The 2 were to have fought earlier this year but a foot injury sidelined Guida, pushing the bout to the new year.

The card will be headlined by the highly anticipated rematch between GSP and BJ Penn. It will be the most advertised show in UFC history and Diaz VS Guida could be one of the best fights of the night.

From Nover’s blog:

My teacher Soca gave me my black belt today. (Saturday) It has been a long journey and I have finally arrived. I’ve been training Brazilian Jiu-jitsu for over 8 years. To me, obtaining a black belt brings the art to full circle. I will continue to train just as hard as I have been and will strive to the top. Thank you to all my training partners and teachers, especially Soca for believing in me! I only hope to make you all proud next week and bring home victory! I will keep this fire in me burning. My time is now!

From an interview with Sherdog.com:

“The opponents who have faced him attacked and stopped; I’ll have a different gameplan. I want to see how he deals with someone who’s in very good shape and attacks him for five minutes over three rounds. I’m not underestimating him. He’s a great fighter, but I’d bet on me. I’m not here to joke around. I have my goals, and I’m ready to beat Lyoto…. It will be a knockout in the first round … there aren’t any of his fights I really like. Lyoto’s a fighter who runs more than he fights. He’s not a fighter who will knock me out easily. He scores points, and I’ll make it hard for him to score. I already faced the toughest fighters. I believe it will be more of a psychological fight than a physical fight for me.”