June 25, 2008
Brazilian Muay Thai champion Anderson Silva, who has been the UFC middleweight champion since October 14, 2006, will jump for the first time from middleweight to light heavyweight as he comes to blows with James "The Sandman" Irvin on Saturday, July 19 at The Pearl at The Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas.
The much-awaited event will air live for the first time ever on the East and West coast on Spike TV. The fight is scheduled to air at 9pm ET and 6pm PT, for free on Spike TV.
June 21, 2008
In MMA, anything can happen. Sometimes, logic gets thrown out the window. The Ultimate Fighter Finale aired tonight on SpikeTV and the broadcast was a nice reminder of how great the UFC can be. The Ultimate Fighter, as always, aired its finale on cable TV, where MMA fans who aren't willing to pony up for the pay-per-view events are able to watch the film for free. Seeing as Dana White and company are really, really good at their jobs, tonight worked out as planned: no matter what your thoughts are regarding the MMA, The Ultimate Fighter Finale was an extremely enjoyable TV event, and will ultimately bring in new viewers to the sport.
June 20, 2008
For Mixed Martial Arts and UFC fans who aren't wealthy, The Ultimate Fighter Finale might be one of the best UFC events of the year, if not the best. It's free, for one, airing on SpikeTV. Second, it's always a packed fight card, featuring guys who are literally fighting for a spot in the UFC. It's basically one huge tryout for all The Ultimate Fighter contestants lucky enough to get a spot on the card. They are going to try and impress Dana White and the UFC brass. If they can do that, then the chances of receiving another fight or two in the UFC are good. The Ultimate Fighter 7 Finale will take place at The Palms in Las Vegas. It will air on SpikeTV at 9pm ET/PT.
June 18, 2008
In the last episode of The Ultimate Fighter, Jesse Taylor beat Tim Credeur in the first semi-final match. So, it was much to my surprise when tonight's season ending episode of The Ultimate Fighter literally began with the final semi-final fight between Amir Sadollah and CB Dolloway. This was especially jarring, given that The Ultimate Fighter was set to run for a super-sized 90 minutes tonight. Well, UFC president Dana White had some surprises in store for viewers tonight.
June 18, 2008
Evan Tanner is a veteran of Mixed Martial Arts. Now 37 years old, Tanner has been fighting for over a decade. Coming off a loss, Tanner will fight in this Saturday's The Ultimate Fighter Finale at the Palms casino in Las Vegas. Tanner will face-off against Kendall Grove, a highly-touted former winner of The Ultimate Fighter, who is also coming off a couple losses. The bout is one of the main events for the evening, and one of the only ones not involving fighters from this season of The Ultimate Fighter. Recently, we sat down and talked to Tanner, who discussed his time in the UFC, how he's preparing for his fight with Grove, and his thoughts on Kimbo Slice.
Below you will find both the full transcript of the interview as well as the mp3 audio.
June 13, 2008
A couple of weeks ago, we reported on the punishing turn of events that sent two former UFC champions down in dramatic fashion on the Octagon at UFC 84. Tito Ortiz and Sean Sherk each received well-placed powerful knee hits from their opponents to effectively quell any further resistance from them.
At Saturday's UFC 85: Bedlam in London, former middleweight titleholder, Matt Hughes, found himself on the same unenviable end of Thiago Alves' flying knee early into the second round of their match. Followed by a few more strikes on the mat, Hughes succumbed to the onslaught just a little over a minute into the said round of their main event draw.
June 11, 2008
This season has gone fast, hasn't it? In a far more accelerated TV schedule than fans of The Ultimate Fighter are used, most episodes featured two fights, as opposed to the strict one fight per episode mandate of previous seasons. Perhaps the UFC editors didn't find these season's crop of fighter's all that exciting, maybe it was just a little experiment by Dana White and/or SpikeTV. Tonight's episode featured the first semi-final fight of the season, between Tim Credeur and Jesse Taylor.
June 6, 2008
It's no secret to the mixed martial arts world that Tito Ortiz, the UFC light heavyweight champion from April 2000 to September 2003, is planning to leave the Octagon where he emerged as one of the sport's biggest stars. With the looming inaugural of Affliction Banned, a mixed martial arts event co-promoted by the Affliction Clothing and Adrenaline MMA, word on the street is that Ortiz has been invited to join the slate.
Now, it's official. Donald Trump, real estate tycoon and Affliction MMA investor confirmed during a press conference at Trump Tower in New York that he's coming after the legendary UFC star.