Category: UFC (Page 30 of 45)

UFC 124 officially set for December 11 in Montreal

NEWARK, NJ - MARCH 27: UFC fighter Georges St-Pierre (R) battles Dan Hardy (L) during their Welterweight title bout at UFC 111 at the Prudential Center on March 27, 2010 in Newark, New Jersey. St-Pierre won by Unanimous Decision at 5:00 of the 5th round. (Photo by Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images)

Nate Lawson of HeavyMMA.com downloads some news about UFC 124:

UFC 124 is official for December 11 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, where welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre will meet his rival Josh Koscheck.

Officials from the promotion announced the news earlier today.

“I love this fight,” UFC President Dana White said in the official press release. “GSP is one of the best pound-for pound fighters in the world and Josh Koscheck is not the same fighter Georges fought last time.

There is no doubt that this is a title fight between the two best 170-pounders in the worl. Koscheck told the people of Montreal he’s going to walk into Georges’ hometown and take the title. This fight is going to blow the roof off the Bell Centre.”

The match up comes as now surprise, since the two welterweights elected to coach opposite one another on the latest season of “The Ultimate Fighter“. However, it is not the first time the two have met.

Prior to his champion status, St. Pierre met Koscheck at UFC 74 in Las Vegas, Nevada over three years ago. The Canadian superstar took home the victory with a unanimous decision after three rounds of action.

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UFC 121 finalized, will feature 11 bouts

UFC Heavyweight champion RANDY COUTURE, right, battles challenger BROCK LESNAR in their title fight Saturday, Nov. 15, 2008 in Las Vegas, NV. Lesnar won the title and the fight in 3:07 of the second round after the referee stopped the fight Photo via Newscom

Jeremy Botter of HeavyMMA.com is reporting that UFC 121 has been finalized and the fight card will feature 11 fights.

UFC officials confirmed the complete lineup this morning. The event, headlined by a heavyweight title clash between Brock Lesnar and Cain Velasquez, takes place Oct. 23 at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Ca.The co-headlining feature will see Jake Shields make his UFC debut against Martin Kampmann.

In addition to the already-announced main card bouts, UFC officials finalized six preliminary card bouts, including two that will be televised on Spike TV.

In the headlining Spike TV bout, TUF 11 winner Court McGee will make his return to the Octagon to take on Ryan Jensen. McGee defeated Kris McCray in June to capture the TUF 11 championship. Jensen is coming off a 1-minute submission victory over Jesse Forbes at UFC 114.

Two more TUF veterans will meet when Patrick Cote and Tom Lawlor face off in the first Spike-televised bout. Both fighters will attempt to break two-fight losing streaks, and the loser of this fight is likely to be released from his UFC contract.

Four non-televised bouts were also announced for the preliminary card: Mike Guymon vs. Daniel Roberts, Sam Stout vs. Paul Taylor, Chris Camozzi vs. Dongi Yang and Jon Madsen vs. Gilbert Yvel.

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WEC 51: Aldo vs. Gamburyan Picks & Predictions

A Strikeforce Ring Girl works the Fedor vs. Werdum fight in San Jose,CA on June 26, 2010.

The WEC returns to action tonight on Versus at 9PM ET with WEC 51: Aldo vs. Gamburyan. The card is stacked and is a tremendous lineup given the fact this will be on free television. The main event features a title fight in the featherweight division featuring one of the top pound-for-pound fighters in the world. Here are my picks for the winner’s in tonight’s card.

WEC Featherweight Championship – Champion Jose Aldo (17-1) vs. Manny Gamburyan (13-5): Aldo is on a tear right now as he is coming off his dominant win over Urijah Faber at WEC 48. He has tremendous explosiveness with his kicks and punches while also being a jiu-jitsu black belt. Gamburyan is a force UFC lightweight competitor, but has found his home in the 145-pound division of the WEC. Manny is coming off a KO win over Mike Thomas Brown and his style could pose a problem for Aldo as he is short and compact with good wrestling and power in his hands. I think Gamburyan will make a fight of things, but ultimately Aldo will slowly break him down with leg kicks before landing a big punch in the third round to get the TKO win.

WEC Lightweight Bout – Jamie Varner (16-3-3, 2NC) vs. Donald Cerrone (11-3, 1NC): Both men are looking to get another shot at the lightweight title as each were submitted by champion Ben Henderson in recent fights. This is a rematch as well from a controversial decision in January of 2009. These two have bad blood and want at each other badly. Varner brings good boxing to the cage while Cerrone is more of a grappler and submission fighter. I look for Cerrone to keep Varner at distance with his length and then close inside and grapple his way to a decision victory.

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HeavyMMA.com sits down with Jamie Varner

Jamie Varner tells HeavyMMA.com that he’s ready to beat Donald Cerrone and put his rivalry with Cowboy behind him.

On January 25, 2009, the careers of Jamie Varner and Donald Cerrone became forever connected.

That night at WEC 38, Varner put his lightweight championship on the line against the upstart Cerrone, then unbeaten and fresh off a victory over former champion Rob McCullough. Through the first four rounds, the lightweights battled back-and-forth, Varner scoring early, while Cerrone grew stronger as the fight progressed.

During the final round, Cerrone struck a downed Varner with a knee to the head, bringing the bout to an abrupt conclusion. Ahead on the scorecards, Varner retained the title, and each fighter earned a public perception that endures to this day.

Despite the win, Varner was labeled a quitter and a complainer. Some questioned whether he used his injuries as a way out; with Cerrone coming on strong, many believe the challenger would have left as champion had the bout continued.

Read the full story here.

Edgar to meet Maynard in rematch at UFC 125

Nate Lawson of HeavyMMA.com writes that Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard will square off at UFC 125. It’ll be a rematch between the two fighters.

A rematch between lightweight champion Frankie Edgar and the lone man to defeat him, Gray Maynard, is set for UFC 125 this January.

Edgar recently cemented his status as champion when he dominated BJ Penn in the main event of UFC 118 this past August. The victory was his first title defense, having earned the belt at UFC 112 against Penn with a narrow decision win. Now, Edgar has the opportunity to avenge his lone career loss, a unanimous decision defeat that came against Maynard at “UFC Fight Night: Lauzon vs. Florian”.

Maynard, meanwhile, has also been on quite a streak through the upper-tier of the division. His most recent victory came against Kenny Florian at UFC 118, which pushed “The Bully’s” record to a perfect 10-0. His other victims of late include Roger Huerta and Nate Diaz.

The lightweight bout should serve as either the main event or co-main event of UFC 125, depending on whether or not another title fight will be included. Other rumored match ups for the January 1 event, which is set for the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, include Thiago Silva vs. Brandon Vera and Chris Leben vs. Brian Stann.

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