UFC Roundup: UFC 77 Nearly Sold Out, Barnett Calls Out Couture, and More
Posted by Kris Karkoski on Aug 28, 2007 at 10:44 am ET23 Comments
- According to reports citing the UFC just 2,000 tickets remain for UFC 77 in Cincinnati which is headlined by Anderson Silva vs. Rich Franklin 2. So far UFC 77 is outpacing the ticket sales of UFC 68 which set records for the UFC in terms of total attendance.
- Josh Barnett has called out Randy Couture on his MySpace blog saying:
“Unbeatable”, Dana says. If he actually believes that, I’m more than willing to step into the cage and prove him wrong. It wouldn’t even have to be for the belt. I already got the real belt. They can keep their pile of brass they purport as the UFC Heavyweight Title and put it on their next paper champ.
- In a recent statement to MMAWeekly Keith Kizer, the executive director of the Nevada State Athletic Commission, stated that he had received video of the fight between Renato “Babalu” Sobral and David Heath and will review it to determine what punishment (if any) is given out. He also stated a suspension is unlikely to be handed down.
Tags: Josh Barnett, Randy Couture
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If Barnett really said that, wow. I would like to see that fight. Barnett would still have the UFC belt if didn't test positive for roids, right?
Anyway, he would be a tough fight for Couture, but it would be a great fight to watch.
Whoaa Josh is really wanting to get in the UFC. H emust be drumming up some noise so he will get more leverage on his contract.
He lost to Josh before so why not right?
I could see Barnett's point, but he tested for roids! So he does have a point about beating Randy, but it was a tainted victory. That was the old Randy; the new Randy will take Barnett down and make Barnett submit like when Barnett submitted to Cro Cop.
Barnett is one of the losses that Randy may want to avenge, so the fight is appealing, but I don't know how appealing it might be to many UFC fans, since might not know who he is. The UFC might market it by saing, "Couture faces Barnett; the last man to defeat him at Heavyweight." Maybe it might be a huge draw. Wait a minute, anything with Couture now will be a huge draw!
Yeah Barnett would have kept the belt had he not tested positive. Obviously this fight would be a good one because Randy could avenge the loss but by the time they would fight he would have not fought in over a year (and is 1-2 in his last 3 fights) and would likely need a tune up fight or two before a shot at the title. I think a perfect so-called tuneup would be a rematch with Cro Cop.
Josh is NOT the only fighter to test positive for banned substances (Not that it is okay by any means). Let's get real! Is Sherk stripped of his title and out of UFC???
Why the difference in treatment?
Read the info on all the fighters testing positive. That is just the ones who got caught!!! LOL
He is a top fighter and would DEFINATELY bring some great competition to the UFC!!!
How about Barnett vs. Arlovski? This should be a good fight. If Barnett beats Arlovski; then he should be near the front or at thr front of the line to fight Randy next. If Arlovski wins; then the real Arlovski has returned with a vengeance.
Yeah Barnett would love to fight Randy Couture but who doesnt want to fight Randy, he is the Champ. Josh needs to try not to cheat before he steps into the octogan with Randy.
Barnett vs. Arlovski would be good. Speaking of Arlovski I have a post coming up in just a second about his status.
To address Dave I believe Barnett left the UFC under his own will (they did strip of his title) and opted to fight overseas with less strict drug testing. Now I am not here to bad mouth him but those are simply what I have leared through research. Sherk is a friend of Dana White which makes it tough (idk if Barnett is/was) but he has recently stated he will strip Sherk of the title if his appeal is not overturned and that BJ will be fighting for the belt in November regardless of opponent.
Barnett is a top fighter (maybe not the best but a good fighter none-the-less) and would be a good addition for the UFC.
I agree with you Kris that Barnett would be a great addition to the UFC. If the UFC gets him, then they have to get Fedor and his brother and then the UFC has all the top heavyweights. Maybe they might want to get Kharitonav, too. All the best Russian fighters will be in the UFC hopefully. Fedor's brother vs. Arlovski would be sweet, too.
I don't think Sherk is getting any special treatment. He filed for an extention for his appeal( which is allowed) I really haven't ever been a big fan of Sherk, and I hope he gets stripped of the title.
Now, on Barnett vs. Couture, I think Barnett is the toughest, most well rounded, fighter in the game right now. Without a win over Fedor, and without an untarnished win over Couture though, he will not get the title of best heavyweight in the world. I think it is a really bad match up for Randy, and I don't want to see him go out on a loss. Let him fight Fedor to see who the real champ is, then lets see after that.
"I could see Barnett's point, but he tested for roids! So he does have a point about beating Randy, but it was a tainted victory."
Bingo.
And I don’t think it’s just a pro wrestling promo, I really think Josh Barnett believes that garbage.
If Barnett gets a title shot against Randy; then what are the new fans going to think when they find out Barnett beat Randy on roids?
I don't think Barnett deserves a chance at the title or even to compete at Couture's level right now, it's only fair to the actual ATHLETES who are competing fairly to make their way up the rankings. If Barnett wants to start from scratch, so be it, but to say that it has been his belt all along is just as real as the the pro-wrestling soap opera he 'competes' in nowadays. Zuffa would be stupid to fall for this childish cry for attention, the heavyweight division has more than enough competition and doesn't need bitter, egotistical, steriod junkies, thanks anyway though.
Barnett should have to earn his way back for any type of title shot. Lets see the 2005 version of Arlovski come back to really hype the HW division!!
I agree Ivan I think it is promotion because, a s I understand it, he has a wrestling match coming up in Japan I believe.
Even if he does come back they won't give him an immediate shot. He might get a speedy track (2 wins or something) but they won't just throw him at Randy or whoever the HW champ is.
Barnett is calling out Randy so he can sign with a top MMA organization, specifically the UFC. It makes sense for him to run his mouth; you never know it might work. Look at what Goulet did by running his mouth on the Internet. Now Goulet is fighting Mike Swick on a UFC Fight Night Live after he got tapped by Koscheck via strikes. If Goulet wins; then he is a main card fighter in a UFC PPV.
Couldn't agree more Red, I love that Swick took up that fight in a heartbeat. Would have been nice to see 'Leben/Swick 2' but that will have to wait (until Leben grows his balls back). Should be a great fight but I don't think either of them are top contenders yet so it's not as big a deal to call someone out via internet.
Let Barnett fight his way up if he decides to obey our drug regulations over here and see how he does then, he wasn't kicked out the UFC he left on his own and for good reason. This is purely a publicity stunt by a torn up boy who hasn't gotten over his punishment, but I'm all about rematches so if is a man, he'll do the right thing.
Speaking of rematches, can anyone pick a winner between Silva/Franklin? I got Rich gettin the KO in the 2nd, but that fight is gonna be a goodie. Same with Evans/Ortiz and pretty much the rest of that card, should be a night to remember.
I hope the Franklin/Silva fight is better than last time. Silva brutalized Franklin so it's hard to pick Rich for this one. At one point in their first fight, Franklin actually has FEAR in his eyes, so it's hard to picture his mental state being right for a victory.
Ortiz/Evans should be a win for Tito depending on which Tito is there. Before their last fight I could see there was something wrong with Tito. Following the fight there were reports of back problems which makes sense to me. If Tito is fighting at even %85 he will win.
I agree with you KingCreep that Franklin is going to beat Silva. Franklin will have a brilliant fight plan and do whatever necessary to get his belt back.
I don't understand how so many people are counting Franklin out. The guy is probably the biggest middleweight in MMA. I think he walks around at 215 to 220 pounds, so he is humungous for a middleweight. He will use his size and strength in this fight. I would love for him to knock out Silva, but I think we see Franklin win by gound and pound; just like he did to Jason MacDonald.
If he's sooo good and will completely dominate, what happenned the first go around?? Nothing has changed. His last two performances where far from impressive. He's just not the same anymore, he even looks done; compare pictures of him when he was climbing his way to the belt and pictures of him now. Plus, "…in their first fight, Franklin actually has FEAR in his eyes…" is exactly right. You know no matter what he says, that is in the back of his head.