UFC 65 Fight Information Hughest vs St Pierre
LIVE FROM ARCO ARENA UFC PRESENTS TWO CHAMPIONSHIP FIGHTS
HUGHES vs. ST. PIERRE 2
SYLVIA vs. MONSON
AT UFC 65: BAD INTENTIONS
SATURDAY, NOV. 18, 2006
Tickets on Sale Sunday, October 15 at 12 Noon PT
Las Vegas, NV –Seven weeks from now, the over 17,000-seat ARCO Arena in Sacramento, Calif. will be a sight to see when UFC® fans from all around the world pack the house to watch UFC World Heavyweight Champion Tim “The Maine-iac” Sylvia face “The Snowman” Jeff Monson and UFC World Welterweight Champion Matt Hughes take on No. 1 Contender Georges St. Pierre in their long-awaited rematch at the Ultimate Fighting Championship® organization’s UFC 65: BAD INTENTIONS Saturday, Nov. 18, 2006.
Tickets for UFC 65: BAD INTENTIONS will go on sale priced at $400, $300, $200, $100 and $50 Sunday, October 15 at 12 Noon PT. The fastest and most convenient way to purchase tickets is by visiting the Ticketmaster Web site at Ticketmaster.com. Tickets may be purchased by calling Ticketmaster Charge-By-Phone at (916) 649-TIXS, (530) 528-TIXS and (209) 551-TIXS. Tickets are also available at the ARCO Arena Box Office, which is open Monday thru Saturday from 10am to 6pm at all Sacramento-area Ticketmaster locations and at www.ufc.com.
A special Internet ticket presale will be available to UFC newsletter subscribers October 10 starting at 10am PT and ending October 14 at 7pm PT. To access this presale, users must register for the UFC newsletter through ufc.com. There will also be a special auction for Octagon-side seating available only through Ticketmaster.com starting October 15 at 12 Noon and ending October 27 at 4pm.
“I’m pleased to bring the most exciting live combat sport in the world – the UFC – to ARCO Arena and to give fans two great championship title fights in one night,” said UFC President Dana White. “The Tim Sylvia and Jeff Monson fight is going to be incredible, and the main event rematch between Matt Hughes and Georges St. Pierre has to be one of the most anticipated mixed martial arts fights ever. I’m looking forward to Nov. 18 and to finally holding a UFC event in Sacramento.”
Hughes and St. Pierre were originally set to fight each other at UFC 63 (9/23/06). Both fighters were deep in their training when the UFC announced that St. Pierre had pulled a groin muscle. He recuperated, but not in time to prepare for the fight. Instead, BJ “The Prodigy” Penn stepped up to the challenge, giving Hughes the opportunity to avenge his most recent loss against the former champion. After two incredible rounds of MMA, Hughes stopped Penn in the third round, retaining his welterweight crown and evening the score between the two. Not one to wait, Hughes is all set to get back in the Octagon™ at UFC 65 and give fans the fight they were promised at UFC 63.
“I think this will be a great fight and that fans will appreciate this rematch,” said Hughes. “I’m already in shape and I’m definitely ready for St. Pierre.”
“I’ve been waiting for this fight against Matt Hughes for a long time,” said St. Pierre. “I want that belt so bad – I want to become the champion.”
Hughes and St. Pierre last fought October 22, 2004 at UFC 50: THE WAR OF ‘04 in Atlantic City, New Jersey. At the time, St. Pierre had a perfect record. But Hughes ended up giving St. Pierre his first career loss, forcing him to tapout at the end of the first round. Since that day, Hughes has maintained the welterweight crown, and St. Pierre has aggressively fought to put himself back in line for the title, defeating former champion BJ Penn, Jason “Mayhem” Miller, Frank Trigg and Sean Sherk. Meanwhile, Matt Hughes defeated Frank Trigg, Joe Riggs, the legendary Royce Gracie and most recently former champion BJ Penn.
Sylvia and Monson will also engage in a championship title fight at UFC 65.
Sylvia (24-2-0), fighting out of Davenport, Iowa, is the UFC heavyweight champion. He first stormed into the UFC defeating “Cabbage” Correira in his first fight and knocking out Ricco Rodriguez in his second fight to become the champion. Following his knock out of Gan McGee to defend the title, Sylvia relinquished his belt when the Nevada State Athletic Commission suspended his license after he tested positive for an anabolic agent. He then fought Frank Mir for the vacant title at UFC 48 and suffered multiple breaks in his arm from a Mir armbar. After recovering, he returned at UFC 51 fighting Arlovski only to suffer another setback as he was forced to tap out in the first round due to an Achilles lock. At UFC 54 he returned to his winning ways with a devastating head kick knockout over Tra Telligman, followed by a unanimous decision victory over Assuerio Silva at Ultimate Fight Night™ Jan. 16, 2006. Sylvia faced UFC World Heavyweight Champion Arlovski again at UFC 59 and defeated him by a devastating first round knockout. He followed that up with another win, a decision, over Arlovski at UFC 61 (7/8/06). Now he’s ready to make his third title defense, this time against the devastating challenger Jeff Monson.
Monson (24-5), fighting out of Olympia, Wash., is a world champion submission grappler who trains with the American Top Team. Monson is most well known for his strength and his wrestling skills. Lately, he has become a threat standing as well as on the ground, as he showed in his first round KO over Anthony Perosh at UFC 61 (7/8/06). Previously, at UFC 57 (2/4/06) Monson submitted Branden Lee Hinkle with a north/south choke in the first round. He also defeated jiu-jitsu champion Marcio Cruz by split-decision. Monson feels he is ready for a title shot and is eager to face Sylvia on Nov. 18.
The remaining bouts for UFC 65: BAD INTENTIONS will be announced in the near future.
*All bouts subject to change
About The Ultimate Fighting Championship
The Ultimate Fighting Championship® brand is the world’s leading professional mixed martial arts organization and offers the premier series of MMA sports events. Owned and operated by Zuffa, LLC, and headquartered in Las Vegas, Nev., the UFC® organization produces approximately eight live pay-per-view events annually that are distributed through cable and satellite providers. In addition to its U.S. distribution, UFC fight programs are distributed throughout the world including broadcast on WOWOW, Inc. in Japan, Globosat in Brazil and Bravo in the United Kingdom. For more information, or current UFC fight news, visit www.ufc.com.
Pride 32 The Real Deal Fight Card and Results
Sunday, October 22, 2006
PRIDE 32 "THE REAL DEAL" RESULTS
Fight 1:
Robbie Lawler vs. Joey Villasenor
Robbie Lawler def. Joey Villasenor via TKO (strikes) at 0:22 of Round 1.
Fight 2:
Kazuhiro Nakamura vs. Travis Galbraith
Kazuhiro Nakamura def. Travis Galbraith via TKO (strikes) at 1:16 of Round 1.
Fight 3:
Phil Baroni vs. Yosuke Nishijima
Phil Baroni def. Yosuke Nishijima via Submission (kimura) at 3:20 of Round 1.
Fight 4:
Dan Henderson vs. Vitor Belfort
Dan Henderson def. Vitor Belfort via Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-24) after 3 Rounds.
Fight 5:
Butterbean vs. Sean O'Haire
Butterbean def. Sean O'Haire via TKO (strikes) at 0:29 of Round 1.
Fight 6:
Josh Barnett vs. Pawel Nastula
Josh Barnett def. Pawel Nastula via Submission (ankle lock) at 3:04 of Round 2.
Fight 7:
Mauricio "Shogun" Rua vs. Kevin Randleman
Mauricio "Shogun" Rua def. Kevin Randleman via Submission (kneebar) at 2:35 of Round 1.
Fight 8:
Fedor Emelianenko vs. Mark Coleman
Fedor Emelianenko def. Mark Coleman via Submission (armbar) at 2:09 of Round 2.
BJ Penn Out for the Year, but Ready for a Big 2007
It’s a new and uncomfortable position for BJ Penn. Unable to train after being diagnosed with strained muscles and a broken rib suffered during a gallant effort in defeat against UFC 170-pound champion Matt Hughes at UFC 63 on September 23rd, Penn is stuck on the couch, just like the many who questioned whether he was truly injured late in the second round of the welterweight championship bout.
But according to a medical report by Dr. Sameer Nagda, Penn did fracture the right tenth costochondral junction and did strain the adjacent intercostal musculature and oblique musculature during the Hughes bout, putting to rest speculation that ‘The Prodigy’ simply ran out of gas between rounds two and three. One of those who did question Penn’s conditioning was Hughes, who avenged his 2004 loss to the Hawaiian via a third round TKO. It’s something that doesn’t sit well with Penn.
“I want to smash his face so bad,” said Penn. “I don’t think about anything else except smashing Hughes’ face. I don’t like him at all.”
There will be no face smashing in Penn’s immediate future though, as he will probably not return until 2007.
“I’ve been out for three weeks already and the Doctor said don’t do anything for at least another two weeks – nothing at all, just stay on the couch,” he said. “I’ve been bored as hell. I can’t surf, can’t do nothing. When I try to tread water with my hands, it pulls, plus I can only lie in certain ways, so I’m sure I’m out for the rest of the year.”
It's not the way Penn planned things, or the way he expected them to go when he walked into the Octagon at the Arrowhead Pond in Anaheim on September 23rd. Filling in on short notice for the injured Georges St. Pierre, Penn felt that he was mentally and physically ready to beat Hughes a second time and once again claim the UFC welterweight crown.
And for the first round and three quarters, things went according to plan as Penn’s standup was crisp, and his ground game was stellar as usual. Then, late in the second, as Hughes looked to ground and pound his way to victory yet again, something happened.
“Hughes was doing good, he was still fighting, and I was against the cage in my guard, and Hughes was throwing these big elbows,” recalls Penn. “I was thinking ‘man, this guy is really trying to hurt me, he’s throwing these elbows hard.’ (Laughs) And then he overthrew one and I was waiting for it. I snuck up his side instead of going to his back, and as soon as I started to come around the side and as I lifted my right arm over to reach around for his hip, I didn’t think my rib broke; I thought it was a separation. I felt something I never felt in my life; I felt a gap in my side right where my ribs meet the top part of my stomach muscles. I felt that gap for like a second and then it closed and as soon as that happened I realized that I had to finish the fight.”
Strangely enough, he almost did, as he worked for a potential fight ending submission on the longtime champion that Hughes admitted forced him to say a little prayer as the seconds ticked away on the round.
“I got on his back, look at the clock and realized that there was only a minute and 15 seconds,” said Penn, who admits grabbing Hughes’ shorts in an attempt to get more leverage. “I gotta do something now, I’ve got to try to put him away. My regular thinking if I would have gotten to his back would have been to stay on him like I did on (Takanori) Gomi and just kept beating him up – hitting him, bloodying him up, maybe even take my time and get a choke.”
“I tried to trap his arm with my legs so I could get a rear naked choke on him and then he spun real quick so I went to the next thing,” continues Penn. “I went to the triangle, which is a move I really like to do from there and then I started grabbing his arm and pulling his arm with all my might and we all know Matt defended well and ended up surviving.”
Ten minutes down, 15 to go, and 15 to go with a broken rib. Penn gave no thought to quitting.
“I knew something was wrong, but I knew I was in great condition, so I figured I’ll just come out and kick his ass again,” he said. “So I’m sitting down, and then I stand up and I knew I didn’t feel good. But I said, ‘screw it, earn your belt. Through pain, you don’t feel good, you feel tired, so what, go out there and earn it, this is what you’ve got to do to become a world champion.’”
“I felt that UFC world championship around my waist,” he said. “I know what that feels like and I wanted it again. It’s almost like the Lord of The Rings with the precious, that ring. It’s like you’ll do anything for it and you’ll put yourself in harm’s way and it doesn’t matter.”
It wasn’t going to happen, not on this night. Penn was visibly bothered by the injury and looked sluggish at best in round three. Hughes, like a veteran champion, smelled blood and pounced, and soon it was over as Penn took a series of unanswered shots to the face.
“Even when (referee) Big John (McCarthy) stopped the fight, I thought I got out,” he chuckles. “I was gonna try and grab his leg, but then I realized the fight got stopped, and then I realized that I couldn’t move or breathe.”
Penn was propped up and virtually carried back to the dressing room after the fight, and now he’ll just have to sit and wait for his next shot at glory in the Octagon. There will be no shortages of challenges waiting for him when he gets back though.
“I want to fight St. Pierre, I want to fight Hughes, and you’ve also got the winner of TUF 4 that’s going to get a title shot, and you’ve got Diego (Sanchez) as well. I’m just going to sit here and see what (UFC President) Dana (White) wants to do. I just want to go back, get in good shape, and get out there again.”
Penn’s attitude is positive, though his disappointment is obvious. He was thisclose, but not close enough. All he hopes for is that a shot at redemption will come again.
“The hardest thing and one of the reasons why I went out in the third round is that it felt like destiny,” Penn admits. “It felt like this was gonna happen. When I lost to GSP (St. Pierre), I was really hard on myself because I knew I didn’t do my homework and I did get tired in the third round, that’s for sure. In this one, I did everything right – I trained, I did all my explosive training and long-distance training and conditioning, everything I was supposed to do - and then something like this happened. But life is good. Everything always works its way out, and everything happens for a reason. I thought that night was supposed to be the greatest night of my life, but it will be saved for another greater day.”
Source: UFC.com
Mike Swick Wastes No Time: “I want Anderson Silva next!�
Suffice to say, it didn’t take Anderson Silva long to establish himself as the unquestioned king of the sport’s deepest division.
In less than four combined minutes, the fearsome Brazilian striker disposed of the iron-jawed Chris Leben and then violently removed the UFC middleweight championship from the clutches of pound-for-pound great Rich Franklin.
That is the type of UFC debut that has a way of sending willing and eager future opponents scurrying in search of easier fights. However, 185-pound contender Mike Swick wants to make it crystal clear that he does not fall into that group.
“I want to fight Anderson Silva for the title in my next fight,” he said without hesitation. “I don’t want any more elimination fights or tune-ups. I want Silva next.”
To most, that may sound like hubris. But Swick takes a more philosophical view of the situation.
“The thing is that Silva is a great challenge for me,” Swick said. “I got into the sport to challenge myself by fighting the best fighters in the world. I’ve waited my whole life for an opportunity like this. I would get to fight for the title against a guy who is an absolute beast–a guy that everyone is afraid of. It doesn’t get more challenging than that, so it would be the ultimate fight for me.”
Fighting for a UFC title almost certainly qualifies as the ultimate fight for any mixed martial artist. Still, Swick is nobody’s fool. He is well aware that MMA is more than just a sport. It is also a business for the handful of professionals that call the UFC their full-time job, one that requires athletes to win often and impressively if they want to continue to flourish in their chosen profession.
Thus, it is hard to imagine Swick campaigning for a fight unless he was very confident of his chances.
“Silva is the type of fighter that I like to fight,” he said. “He’s not going to come out passively, which fits well with my style because it lets me be aggressive and it makes for an exciting fight for the fans. Also, his style is very reminiscent of Muay Thai, and I am really comfortable fighting guys with a Muay Thai style. So this is the exact fight I want.”
And it is a fight that Swick firmly believes that he deserves.
“The UFC positioned my fight with David Loiseau as a fight to determine the No. 1 contender,” he explained. “The announcers said that numerous times in the broadcast. He was the former No. 1 contender and I beat him. Sure, I had a bad night and didn’t look that great. But either way I still won the fight. And I won my previous four fights in just over five total minutes, so I’m entitled to one bad night. Whether people think I’m ready or whatever the case, I deserve the title shot. I don’t know any other middleweight in the UFC that deserves a title fight more than I do.”
Swick has a point. He has amassed a perfect 5-0 record inside the Octagon. No other fighter in the division can boast an equal or better current winning streak. And his recent decision win over David Loiseau at UFC 63 certainly felt like a title elimination bout, whether or not it was formally sanctioned as such by UFC president Dana White.
Of course, it is hard to argue that anyone is more deserving of a title shot than Franklin. Fourteen months as champion, including two successful title defenses, has to count for something. Franklin, however, is unavailable for the near future due to a badly broken nose suffered at UFC 64.
Swick, therefore, seems like the logical choice. But nothing in life is simple, including the question of who should get first crack at the new 185-pound champion.
“I have ligament damage in my hand from the Loiseau fight, so I can’t punch at the moment,” Swick admitted, raising doubt over whether he could fight as soon as UFC 66 on December 30. “I can operate my hand enough to do technique work and stuff, but I can’t spar or do full-speed grappling until the hand heals. It should heal pretty quickly. The question is whether the UFC will wait and give me the first shot at Silva or if the next TUF winner will be first in line.”
Source: UFC.com
Redemption on TUF4 By Matt Serra Blog Entry
Chris Lytle moves onto the semis in a tough fight with Din Thomas. If you are wondering why you didn’t hear me yapping in the background during this fight, yelling out instructions and such, it’s because I was in a backroom awaiting my showdown with Shonie. Both fights were taped in the same day. Before we get to any of that, though, Marc Laimon is back.
Now, as you know, I’ve had my problems with Marc Laimon’s attitude in the past. That never changed while he was sitting in on our practice. At least in the experience of Team Mojo, he was by far the laziest of any of the trainers the UFC provided for us. His arrogance and condescending nature were nauseating. This exchange he had with Scott Smith is probably the best example I could think of:
Scott: Hey Marc, can you show something from the guard?
Marc: What do you want me to show you?
Scott: I don’t know, a submission maybe.
Marc: Which submission?
Scott: Any one, really, I’d like to add one to my ground game.
Marc: Well, pick one, when you know which one you want, tell me.
The way he dealt with Scottie was pretty typical of his interactions with our team. No one liked him as a trainer, but I can deal with a bad trainer. It’s terrible human beings I can’t stomach.
Now, before I get to our confrontation, allow me to make clear that all of this happened the night before the incident with Matt Hughes and GSP in the restaurant. Tricky editing, as usual, would lead you to believe that this was after the semifinal matchups had been decided. Matt Hughes was playfully trying to get me and Marc to roll jiu-jitsu with each other, and neither of us were biting. I jokingly told him maybe he could see that after the finale, and did my best Ace Ventura impression, yelling “CAN YOU FEEL THAT BUDDY?!” We all had a laugh about that.
Matt then asked Marc if he had seen the latest PPV where Hughes had defeated Royce Gracie in the main event. This led to Laimon sucking up to Matt and talking about how he called it all along, and how Royce was totally decimated and should never have gotten in the ring, and how Marc actually almost got into a fight in the parking lot on the way out because he was so fired up at seeing Royce lose, blah blah blah. Now, I’d held my tongue before, but at this point, I had had enough, and you saw what happened.
I said it before, and I’ll say it again, I have no problem with anyone saying Matt Hughes is a better fighter than Royce Gracie, or commenting on a fight, as long as you’re respectful about it. Laimon has no respect, for anyone, let alone the Gracie family, who brought jiu jitsu to the United States. Think about it, without the Gracies, Marc Laimon probably doesn’t have a job right now. Yet, still, he talks smack about how pathetic Royce looked. I may be a little biased regarding the Gracies considering I trained under the great Renzo Gracie, but his attitude would annoy me if he was talking about any fighter.
Look, fighting is not for everyone, and I understand that. However, if fighting is not for you, you should have a minimum amount of respect for the people who do fight, especially if you’re a world class [supposedly] trainer working inside the industry who knows how difficult it is to get to this level. As for his “it’s a free country” rationale, that is something a 12-year-old says. Maybe he learned it from the 12-year-old he almost got into a fight with in the parking lot after the HughesGracie fight. Marc Laimon is a joke, and I can’t believe I’ve spent so much energy typing about him. Let’s move on.
Shonie’s antics led to what amounted to a bad SNL skit from Rich Clementi and Jorge Rivera. “Fonie” Carter. C’mon! If I was Rich Clementi, and I had six weeks to think of something after being eliminated, I’d have been ashamed of myself. But that’s just me.
Shonie and I had buried the hatchet after nipping his training with Team No Love in the bud. We were totally cool heading into the fight, which was great, because I honestly like Shonie a whole lot. I’m glad we were friends going into our bout, though we’d have to suspend that friendship after we touched gloves to the final bell.
Going into the fight, I was thankful that Shonie was my opponent – it was a shot at redemption I wasn’t sure I’d ever get. Knowing Shonie and his flair for the dramatic, I would be looking for the spinning backfist when we were on our feet. Also, knowing from experience, he is a slippery fellow, like a wet fish in Speedos. As such, my plan was to work him over, gain top position, and strike from there and to be extremely patient in trying to apply submissions – I’d let those come to me.
Round 1 started and I tried to push pace. I thought I won the round early on, when I got him on the ground and started landing punches while I was on his back. I was hitting him with pretty clean shots, and Shonie looked rocked. When the fight got back to our feet, Shonie utilized his unorthodox striking method to land – you guessed it – that spinning backfist. I was looking for it going into the fight, but still got caught by it. In retrospect, it was a good thing because it served as a wakeup call for me – from that point forward, was looking for the unorthodox move from Shonie, because the only way he was going to get me down was by catching me off guard. Anyway, I felt like I won round the first four minutes and thirty seconds of the first round, and he won the last thirty seconds. If I were a judge, I’d have given the round to me.
Round 2 I felt I won pretty handily, and my conditioning helped me a great deal in doing so. I went for the inside leg trip that I got in the first round. When he pulled out, I just switched it to the opposite side for a smooth takedown.
Going into Round 3, I still felt pretty fresh, and I was determined to push the pace. The last thing I wanted to do was leave any doubt in the judges minds that I won this fight, so I made sure to apply pressure to Shonie at all times. I wanted all three rounds, and it seems that the judges agreed with me, punching my ticket to the finals on Nov. 11 LIVE from the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas on Spike TV. It felt great to redeem the one knockout I’ve ever been dealt in my career, but I would definitely welcome a rematch with Mr. Carter down the road.
Serra vs. Lytle. Should be a great fight. I’ll do a preview of it going into the bout. In the meantime, check back next week as we take a look at the first middleweight semifinal.
Jenna Jameson is officially single according to Myspace
On Jenna Jamesons Myspace she is aparantly single. Tito is she playing you? or could this be a marketing plan for Pushishment? or could Jenna not know how to use a computer and update her stats.
Have a look at her Myspace there is quite alot of images of her with Tito. My favourite picture is this one. http://myspace.com/jennajameson
If any of you would want to be my friend on myspace (as my only friend is a goat) goto http://myspace.com/vinnievalentine
Discuss more on Tito and Jenna here.
Cage Rage Championships 18 - Ian Freeman Vs Mark Epstein video
Round 1
Rounds 2 and 3
Discuss about Ian Freeman here
Cage Rage 19 Fight Card Nearly Complete
Rob Broughton vs. Eric "Butterbean" Esch
Cage Rage Middleweight Title Fight
Zelg Galesic vs. Mark Weir
Cage Rage Lightweight World Title Fight
Vitor Ribeiro vs. Daisuke Nakamura
Elvis Sinosic vs. Mark Epstein
Robert Berry vs. Wesley "Cabbage" Correira
Arni Isaksson vs. Jean Silva
Kristof Midoux vs. Tengiz Tedoradze
Alex Reid vs. Xavier Foupa Pokam
Jess Liaudin vs. Ross Mason
Dave Legeno vs. Alan Murdoch
Paul Daley vs. TBA
Discuss about Cage Rage 19 here
Tito Ortiz Love Jenna Jameson
In an interview with The Tampa Tribune Tito Ortiz revealed the strength of his feelings for adult movie star Jenna Jameson:
"I can pretty much say I'm in love with her. I've never met anyone like her. She's an amazing person. Very strong-willed, outgoing person and her attitude is amazing. She's very articulate, smart and cunning."
Source: Anwar S. Richardson article for The Tampa Tribune.
Ortiz, 31, met Jameson 32 at a UFC 61: Bitter Rivals after party. Ever since the media have speculated about the pair’s status as an item after spotting them out and about together. This seems to confirm the rumours.
Tito just has to break the news to his Mum now:
"My mom doesn't know. She knows Jenna, but doesn't know THAT much,"
Discuss about the new lovers here.
Apologies if I have offended anyone with the image.
UFC 67 Could this be the time for TUF Winners to have a title shot?
UFC 67 will be the 1st fight in 2007 for UFC. To start the new year who would you want to fight and do you think its time for the TUF winners to have a go at the title shot?
Yeah I know that The Ultimate Fighter 4 is getting a title shot, but what about season 1, 2 and 3. Its only fair, and where the hell is Bisping after his win? A light heavyweight matchup with Bisping vs Chuck Liddell would be great or even Bisping vs Griffin. Another great fight could be Sanchez vs Hughes. Cast your vote after the jump.
