Black Dog Posted December 28, 2008 Posted December 28, 2008 http://img154.imageshack.us/img154/4333/ufcmy1.jpg UFC 2008: A Year In Review aired on Spike TV Hosted by Mike Goldberg Welcome fight fans, and thank you for joining us for this look back at 2008 as we head into the new year. A whole lot has transpired over the last twelve months in what many have called "The Year of the Upset". Will we see more of the same in 2009? Only time can tell, but until then, let's take a look back at what we've seen... "The Prodigy" BJ Penn, who looks to challenge UFC Welterweight champ Georges St. Pierre in 2009, began the year of 2008 by defeating Joe Stevenson at UFC 80 to win the then-vacant UFC Lightweight championship. With the win, he became only the second person in UFC history to ever have been champion in two different weight divisions (the other being Randy "The Natural" Couture). The UFC's next offering, UFC 81, provided several important moments of the year 2008, all centered around the Heavyweight division. First, Brock Lesnar, the former pro wrestling star and former NCAA Division-1 Champion in amateur wrestling, made his UFC debut against former UFC Heavyweight champion, Frank Mir. Lesnar, who had just one professional fight under his belt before entering the Octagon, looked very impressive in his debut and at first overwhelmed Mir with sheer force, but Mir soon collected himself and was able to submit Lesnar from the ground with a kneebar just a minute and thirty seconds into the first round. Later, in the main event of the evening, Tim Sylvia challenge Antonio Rodrigo "Minotauro" Nogueira for the UFC Interim Heavyweight championship (contract disputes with then champion Randy Couture necessitated the creation of the interim belt). Sylvia pounded Nogueira in the stand-up game for the first two rounds of the fight, but in what has become true Minotauro fashion, Nogueira made a comeback after getting the fight to the ground in Round 3 and ultimately submitting Sylvia. UFC 82: Pride of a Champion was about just that, as the middleweight champ from PRIDE, Dan Henderson, took on the middleweight champ from the UFC, Anderson Silva, to unify the two belts. Silva defeated Henderson by submission late in Round 2, and MMA fans around the world began asking the question that to this day remains unanswered; "Can anyone stop Anderson 'The Spider' Silva?" UFC 83 featured a rematch between then welterweight champion Matt Serra and Georges St. Pierre for the welterweight title. Serra had previously defeated St. Pierre to win the title, but St. Pierre cited personal issues as being the reason for his poor performance. Serra didn't buy the excuse, but GSP still redeemed himself with a win, defeating Serra by TKO in Round 2 in front of his home crowd. Next came UFC 84: Ill Will, which featured several interesting bouts on it's card, not the least of which was "The Axe Murderer" Wanderlei Silva's return to the Octagon to face "The Dean of Mean" Keith Jardine. Though Silva was coming off of three consecutive losses, two in PRIDE and one in the UFC to the "Iceman" Chuck Liddell, Silva returned in impressive fashion. He needed only 36 seconds to dispatch Jardine by knock out. Then, in the main event, Sean "The Muscle Shark" Sherk challenged UFC Lightweight champion BJ Penn. Penn defeated Sherk by TKO after Round 3 when Sherk could no longer continue in the fight, and The Prodigy staked his claim as the #1 lightweight in the world. UFC 85: Bedlam, was headlined by future UFC Hall of Famer Matt Hughes taking on a rising star in the welterweight division, Thiago Alves. Hughes was expected to return to form and get a win, but Alves shocked everyone when he defeated Hughes by TKO. Then, in the finale of The Ultimate Fighter season six, Amir Sadollah defeated CB Dollaway in the finals to become that season's winner. Sadollah has not yet fought since his victory, but look for him to return to the UFC in early 2009. At UFC 86, the reigning Light Heavyweight champion, Quinton "Rampage" Jackson challenged the perennial underdog in Forrest Griffin. Griffin was coming off of a huge win over the highly favored Mauricio "Shogun" Rua in what was Rua's UFC debut, and the story was much the same this time. Griffin defeated Rampage in a unanimous, albeit controversial, decision to win the Light Heavyweight title. There is no doubt that the war is far from over between these two competitors, and we could see them fight again very soon. UFC 87 featured two key bouts. The first was the return of Brock Lesnar following his loss to Frank Mir. Lesnar was originally scheduled to fight UFC Hall of Famer Mark Coleman, but Coleman was forced to withdraw from the fight due to injury, and was replaced by "The Texas Crazy Horse" Heath Herring. Lesnar defeated Herring in a very dominant unanimous decision, proving to the MMA world that he meant business in the UFC. Then, Georges St. Pierre defended his welterweight title against Jon Fitch. Fitch came into the fight with an eight fight winning streak, tying Royce Gracie's record for most consecutive wins inside the Octagon. Fitch was St. Pierre's toughest challenge yet, but the champion prevailed via unanimous decision. UFC 88 featured a fight fans had waited months to see. Rashad Evans and Chuck Liddell were originally scheduled to fight each other back at UFC 86, but both were forced to withdraw due to injuries. Well it finally happened, and these two light heavyweight stars went to war. Evans shocked everyone by upsetting the Iceman and knocking him out in Round 2, and with it he earned a title shot against Forrest Griffin. For UFC 89, the UFC returned to England. Naturally, the event was headlined by the UFC's finest British import, Michael Bisping. Bisping took on Chris "The Crippler" Leben and defeated Leben by unanimous decision on his home turf. UFC 90 marked the return of two dominant Brazilian fighters, Thiago Alves and Anderson "The Spider" Silva. Alves took on Josh Koshcheck in a welterweight battle and defeated Koscheck by unanimous decision. Silva defended his middleweight gold against Patrick Cote. Cote was coming off of four straight UFC victories, but was stopped by Silva when a very unfortunate injury struck. Cote's knee gave out and the referee was forced to stop the fight, but Cote did become the first of Anderson Silva's opponents in the UFC to make it into the third round against him. Hopefully, Cote will soon make his return to the Octagon and the two will fight again someday. UFC 91's main event was billed as the biggest fight in UFC history. Brock Lesnar was set to take on returning heavyweight champion, Randy "The Natural" Couture in what would be the first fight of a four man tournament to unify the two heavyweight titles. Lesnar turned in a great performance, doing what many doubted he could by defeating the UFC legend Randy Couture by TKO in Round 2 and becoming the UFC Heavyweight champion in only his fourth professional fight. Then came the finale of The Ultimate Fighter season 8, as the highly touted Phillipe Nover took on Efrain Escudero in the lightweight finals and Ryan Bader took on Vinny Magalhaes in the light heavyweight finals. First, Bader, an accomplished wrestler, completely outclassed Magalhaes in the stand-up game and took home a victory by knock out in round one. Then, Efrain Escudero, another wrestler, upset Nover with a convincing unanimous decision victory. Junie Browning also gave an impressive performance, submitting Dave Kaplan and showing some great improvement since the show. Finally, it was time for the best MMA card of the year. The Ultimate 2008 featured three big fights which fans were dying to see. The first, a grudge match between former Light Heavyweight champ Quinton "Rampage" Jackson and "The Axe Murderer" Wanderlei Silva. Silva had defeated Jackson twice in prior bouts in PRIDE, but this was their first encounter in the UFC. The two men openly admitted leading up to the fight that they did not like each other and each intended to knock the other out. Wanderlei Silva's previous knockout of Jackson in their second fight is still one of the most iconic images in MMA history, but it was Jackson who prevailed this time. Jackson knocked Silva out with a big punch in the first round. Then there was the highly awaited Interim Heavyweight title fight between Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Frank Mir. The two were coaches on The Ultimate Fighter Season 8 and held a mutual respect for each other. In fact, it was Mir who idolized Nogueira and tried to emulate Nogueira's fighting style in his early UFC fights. Mir was expected to be completely outclassed by Nogueira in nearly every aspect of the fight, but the result was just the opposite. Mir did not allow the fight to go to the ground, where both fighters usually feel most comfortable. Instead, he worked a great striking game and defeated Nogueira by TKO in Round 2. In doing so, Mir became one of only four men to ever defeat Nogueira and the only man to ever put Nogueira away. Going into the fight Nogueira's only losses were by decision. Then, in the final main event of the evening, Forrest Griffin defended his Light Heavyweight title against the undefeated Rashad Evans. Both fighters were winners from The Ultimate Fighter seasons 1 & 2 respectively. Both fighters put fourth a good effort, but it was Evans who prevailed, knocking out Forrest Griffin with some vicious ground and pound. Now, Evans will bring in the new year as the Light Heavyweight champion, and we'll look forward to a rematch between Frank Mir and Brock Lesnar to determine the undisputed heavyweight champion. There is also UFC 94 and a superfight between lightweight champion BJ Penn and welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre to look forward to; the two fighters have met once before, but it is clear that both have greatly evolved since that first encounter. And of course, who could ignore the fact that UFC 100 is on the horizon? We hope you've enjoyed this look back at 2008 in the UFC, and will join us in the new year to see what happens next.
Black Dog Posted December 29, 2008 Author Posted December 29, 2008 <p></p><div style="text-align:center;"><p><strong><span style="font-size:24px;"><span style="font-family:Arial;">UFC 92: The Ultimate 2008</span></span></strong></p><p><strong><span style="font-size:24px;"><span style="font-family:Arial;"> </span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-size:24px;"><span style="font-size:18px;"><span style="font-family:Arial;">December 27th, 2008 on PPV</span></span></span></strong></p><p><strong><span style="font-size:24px;"><span style="font-size:18px;"><span style="font-family:Arial;"> MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada</span></span></span></strong></p><p><strong><span style="font-size:24px;"><span style="font-size:18px;"><span style="font-family:Arial;"> Final Results</span></span></span></strong></p><p> </p><p> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Main Card</span></strong></span></p><p> </p><p> <strong>UFC Light Heavyweight Title</strong></p><p> Rashad Evans def. Forrest Griffin ©</p><p> by TKO (Strikes) at 2:46 of Round 3</p><p> </p><p> <strong>Interim UFC Heavyweight Title</strong></p><p> Frank Mir def. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira ©</p><p> by TKO (Strikes) at 1:54 of Round 2</p><p> </p><p> <strong>Middleweight Division</strong></p><p> CB Dollaway def. Mike Massenzio</p><p> by TKO (Strikes) at 3:01 of Round 1</p><p> </p><p> <strong>Light Heavyweight Division</strong></p><p> Quinton Jackson def. Wanderlei Silva</p><p> by KO (Punch) at 3:21 of Round 1</p><p> </p><p> <strong>Heavyweight Division</strong></p><p> Cheick Kongo def. Mostapha Al Turk</p><p> by TKO (Strikes) at 4:37 of Round 1</p><p> </p><p> <strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;"><span style="font-size:14px;">Preliminary Card</span></span></strong></p><p> </p><p> Yushin Okami def. Dean Lister</p><p> by Unanimous Decision</p><p> </p><p> Antoni Hardonk def. Mike Wessel</p><p> by TKO (Strikes) at 2:09 of Round 2</p><p> </p><p> Matt Hamill def. Reese Andy</p><p> by TKO (Strikes) at 2:19 of Round 2</p><p> </p><p> Brad Blackburn def. Ryo Chonan</p><p> by Unanimous Decision</p><p> </p><p> Patrick Barry def. Dan Evensen</p><p> by TKO (Leg kicks) at 2:36 of Round 1</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> <strong>Bonus Awards</strong></p><p> </p><p> <strong>Fight of the Night:</strong> Rashad Evans and Forrest Griffin</p><p> <strong>Knockout of the Night:</strong> Quinton Jackson</p></div><p></p><p></p><p> </p><p> </p><blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="20887" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div><strong>News and Notes from UFC 92: The Ultimate 2008</strong><p> </p><p> - Rashad Evans remains unbeaten in his MMA career after defeating Forrest Griffin to win the UFC Light Heavyweight title. His next opponent will likely be another unbeaten competitor, the winner of the Lyoto Machida/Thiago Silva fight set to take place at UFC 94.</p><p> </p><p> - With his win over Nogueira, Mir will move on to fight Brock Lesnar in a rematch of their first encounter, this time to determine the undisputed heavyweight champion. When asked what he would say to Brock Lesnar, he said "Be careful what you wish for."</p><p> </p><p> - Nogueira was asked during the post-fight press conferences if he'd be willing to fight Randy Couture next. Nogueira said he would accept the fight, calling Randy a great fighter and a legend in the sport. No word on whether Couture would want to fight Nogueira, but the fight would make a lot of sense for both fighters.</p><p> </p><p> - After looking great in his fight with Wanderlei Silva, Rampage talked about how the win was good for him and how much he had improved his training regimen since the fight with Forrest Griffin. When asked about a Light Heavyweight title shot down the road, he said that although every fighter wants to be the champion, he would rather his next fight be against Forrest Griffin so that he can avenge the loss from earlier in the year.</p><p> </p><p> - No word on what's next for Wanderlei Silva. The loss to Jackson certainly prompts questions of how much longer the once great light heavyweight can continue fighting. Silva has lost four of his last five fights, three of them by knockout.</p><p> </p><p> - After defeating UFC newcomer Mostapha Al Turk, Cheick Kongo reiterated that he feels he is ready for a heavyweight title shot, "I can be the next champion" he said. Kongo will at least have to wait until the Mir/Lesnar fight has been decided before he could be awarded a title shot, if the UFC decides that he is in fact ready for one.</p><p> </p><p> - Yushin Okami continued on his winning ways by defeating Dean Lister, and has now won 9 out of his last 10 fights. However, four of his last five fights have gone the distance and Okami has yet to stand out to UFC brass in a way that indicates he deserves a title shot.</p><p> </p><p> - Brad Blackburn has looked impressive recently, he is unbeaten in his last five fights.</p><p> </p><p> - Pat Barry looked good in his UFC debut against Dan "The Viking" Evensen. He has potential to be one of the best heavyweight strikers in the UFC.</p></div></blockquote>
Black Dog Posted December 29, 2008 Author Posted December 29, 2008 OOC: For those interested, this dynasty will begin following the release of the next Tap or Snap update.
Black Dog Posted December 29, 2008 Author Posted December 29, 2008 <div style="text-align:center;"><p><span style="font-family:Arial;"><strong><span style="font-size:24px;">UFC 93: Franklin vs. Henderson</span></strong></span></p><p><span style="font-family:Arial;"><strong> </strong></span><span style="font-family:Arial;"><strong><span style="font-size:18px;">January 17th, 2009 on PPV</span></strong></span></p><p><span style="font-family:Arial;"><strong><span style="font-size:18px;"> The O2 in Dublin, Ireland</span></strong></span></p></div><p></p><p> </p><p> </p><div style="text-align:center;"><p><strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;"><span style="font-size:14px;">Main Card</span></span></strong></p><p> </p><p> <strong>Light Heavyweight Division</strong></p><p> Rich Franklin (24 - 3) vs. Dan Henderson (23 - 7)</p><p> </p><p> <strong>Light Heavyweight Division</strong></p><p> Mark Coleman (15 - 8) vs. Mauricio Rua (16 - 3)</p><p> </p><p> <strong>Middleweight Division</strong></p><p> Denis Kang (31 - 10 - 1) vs. Alan Belcher (13 - 5)</p><p> </p><p> <strong>Welterweight Division</strong></p><p> Marcus Davis (15 - 4) vs. Chris Lytle (26 - 16 - 5)</p><p> </p><p> <strong>Middleweight Division</strong></p><p> Jeremy Horn (80 - 18 - 5) vs. Rousimar Palhares (8 - 2)</p><p> </p><p> <strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;"><span style="font-size:14px;">Preliminary Card</span></span></strong></p><p> </p><p> <strong>Welterweight Division</strong></p><p> Martin Kampmann (17 - 3) vs. Alexandre Barros (13 - 5)</p><p> </p><p> <strong>Light Heavyweight Division</strong></p><p> Eric Schafer (10 - 3 - 2) vs. Antonio Mendes (14 - 3)</p><p> </p><p> <strong>Light Heavyweight Division</strong></p><p> Tomasz Drwal (14 - 2) vs. Ivan Serati (10 - 2)</p><p> </p><p> <strong>Welterweight Division</strong></p><p> Thomas Egan (3 - 0) vs. John Hathaway (9 - 0)</p><p> </p><p> <strong>Lightweight Division</strong></p><p> Nate Mohr (8 - 5) vs. Dennis Siver (11 - 6)</p></div><p></p><p></p><p> </p><p> Now open for predictions! Please predict every fight. Prediction results will be cumulative, and you will be ranked by your percentage of correct predictions. At certain points, the person with the highest percentage of correct predictions will be given the ability to make a decision for me that will effect the course of the dynasty.</p>
UFC-KING Posted December 29, 2008 Posted December 29, 2008 <p>Main Card</p><p> </p><p> Light Heavyweight Division</p><p> <strong>Rich Franklin</strong> (24 - 3) vs. Dan Henderson (23 - 7)</p><p> </p><p> Light Heavyweight Division</p><p> Mark Coleman (15 - 8) vs. <strong>Mauricio Rua</strong> (16 - 3)</p><p> </p><p> Middleweight Division</p><p> <strong>Denis Kang</strong> (31 - 10 - 1) vs. Alan Belcher (13 - 5)</p><p> </p><p> Welterweight Division</p><p> <strong>Marcus Davis</strong> (15 - 4) vs. Chris Lytle (26 - 16 - 5)</p><p> </p><p> Middleweight Division</p><p> Jeremy Horn (80 - 18 - 5) vs. <strong>Rousimar Palhares</strong> (8 - 2)</p><p> </p><p> Preliminary Card</p><p> </p><p> Welterweight Division</p><p> <strong>Martin Kampmann </strong>(17 - 3) vs. Alexandre Barros (13 - 5)</p><p> </p><p> Light Heavyweight Division</p><p> Eric Schafer (10 - 3 - 2) vs. <strong>Antonio Mendes</strong> (14 - 3)</p><p> </p><p> Light Heavyweight Division</p><p> Tomasz Drwal (14 - 2) vs. <strong>Ivan Serati</strong> (10 - 2)</p><p> </p><p> Welterweight Division</p><p> <strong>Thomas Egan</strong> (3 - 0) vs. John Hathaway (9 - 0)</p><p> </p><p> Lightweight Division</p><p> <strong>Nate Mohr</strong> (8 - 5) vs. Dennis Siver (11 - 6)</p>
Black Dog Posted December 29, 2008 Author Posted December 29, 2008 <blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="20887" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div><strong>Winner of Franklin vs. Henderson will coach in Season 9</strong><p> </p><p> - In what will no doubt sweeten the win for one of the two fighters, Dana White recently confirmed that the winner of the Dan Henderson and Rich Franklin fight will be a coach for Season 9 of The Ultimate Fighter, opposite Michael Bisping. Both fighters have agreed to the terms and are said to be excited about the possibility of coaching on the show. The added exposure of being a coach on The Ultimate Fighter could pay big dividends for either fighter. Franklin was a coach on the show once before, in the show's second season. Henderson has never coached on The Ultimate Fighter, but he is the owner of the very successful Team Quest and presents some very interesting possibilities in terms of assistant coaches he could bring to the show. It is expected that the two head coaches will fight it out following the show's conclusion, but that has not yet been confirmed.</p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> <span style="color:#FFFFFF;">aaa</span></p>
javier_83 Posted December 30, 2008 Posted December 30, 2008 good one!! good luck! do you have plans to lesnar??
GrantC Posted December 30, 2008 Posted December 30, 2008 Light Heavyweight Division Rich Franklin (24 - 3) vs. Dan Henderson (23 - 7) Light Heavyweight Division Mark Coleman (15 - 8) vs. Mauricio Rua (16 - 3) Middleweight Division Denis Kang (31 - 10 - 1) vs. Alan Belcher (13 - 5) Welterweight Division Marcus Davis (15 - 4) vs. Chris Lytle (26 - 16 - 5) Middleweight Division Jeremy Horn (80 - 18 - 5) vs. Rousimar Palhares (8 - 2) Preliminary Card Welterweight Division Martin Kampmann (17 - 3) vs. Alexandre Barros (13 - 5) Light Heavyweight Division Eric Schafer (10 - 3 - 2) vs. Antonio Mendes (14 - 3) Light Heavyweight Division Tomasz Drwal (14 - 2) vs. Ivan Serati (10 - 2) Welterweight Division Thomas Egan (3 - 0) vs. John Hathaway (9 - 0) Lightweight Division Nate Mohr (8 - 5) vs. Dennis Siver (11 - 6)
Black Dog Posted December 31, 2008 Author Posted December 31, 2008 - Nebraska is no longer in the house; Alexander cut by UFC In what comes as no surprise to anyone who followed the UFC last year, Houston Alexander has been cut from their roster. The once unknown light heavyweight shocked the world when he made his UFC debut, knocking out Keith Jardine in a mere forty-eight seconds. Then, at UFC 75, he KO'd another excellent striker in Alessio Sakara with a brutal knee, earning him Knockout of the Night honors. Alexander began to develop a fan following in the UFC for his exciting knockouts and likability. Alexander, being from the state of Nebraska, often proclaims "Nebraska is in the house!" at his fights. Following his 2-0 start in the UFC, Alexander lost three straight. First to the still undefeated Thiago Silva, who fights Lyoto Machida later this month in an attempt to get one step closer to a light heavyweight title shot. That was followed by an embarrassing KO loss to James Irvin which tied for the fastest knockout in UFC history, occurring only 8 seconds into the fight. Alexander hoped to rebound against Eric "Red" Schafer in his home state of Nebraska, but he was submitted in the first round instead. After the loss to Schafer, there was simply nowhere left for Alexander to go in the light heavyweight division. However, with his knockout power and built-in fan base, we could easily see him back in the UFC some day if he can string together a few wins in smaller promotions. aaa
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