News Roundup
Posted by Kris Karkoski on Feb 24, 2008 at 10:29 am ET12 Comments
- UFC veteran Melvin Guillard will venture outside of the octagon following back-to-back losses to Joe Stevenson and Rich Clementi to take on Eric Regan in the main event of Rage in the Cage 105 on March 7th.
- Eric Schafer, a UFC veteran who remains under contract with the promotion, defeated Ryan Antle via submission in the main event of Gladiators Fighting 49 last weekend.
- Jeremy Stephens will face Terry Etim at UFC 84 on May 24th in Las Vegas.
- UFC Fight Night 13 has been extended to a three-hour broadcast and Nate Diaz vs. Kurt Pellegrino and Manny Gamburyan vs. Jeff Cox have been added to the rumored fight card.
- The first-ever UFC Heavyweight Champion, Mark Coleman, will be inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame at UFC 81 on March 1st.
- Last week HDNet Fights sued Zuffa, the parent company of the UFC, in an attempt to speed up the resolution of Randy Couture’s dispute with the company. It is believed that the lawsuit is an attempt to allow Couture to compete for HDNet Fights when his contract with Zuffa expires.
- Doug Evans, David Terrell, Hermes Franca, and Joe Veres have all reportedly been released by the UFC.
- Brandon Vera versus Fabricio Wedum has been added to the rumored card for UFC 85.
- The UFC announced this week that Yahoo! Sports will be the promotion’s new distributor for online pay-per-view events.
- UFC veteran Nick Diaz is expected to return to action later this year at a yet-to-be-announced EliteXC event against Mushin Corbbrey.
- The Ultimate Fighter 6 cast member Jon Koppenhaver was sentenced this week to probation and community service after pleading guilty to misdemeanor assault charges stemming from a September confrontation in San Diego. He will return to the octagon at UFC 84 on May 24th to take on a yet-to-be-named opponent.
- Chuck Liddell’s biography, “Iceman: My Fighting Life”, was ninth this past week on the New York Time’s Best Seller List.
- Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic, who left the UFC to fight for the upstart DREAM promotion later this year, has revealed in recent interviews that his departure from the promotion is not permanent and he expects to return to the octagon, possibly before the end of 2008.
- Brock Lesnar’s return to the octagon is likely to come on June 7th against Justin McCully at UFC 85 in London.
- Wanderlei Silva versus Keith Jardine has been added to the rumored list of bouts for UFC 84.
- Rich Franklin is auctioning off his Hummer H2, which he was awarded for being a coach on the second season of The Ultimate Fighter, on eBay.
Tags: Brandon Vera, Brock Lesnar, Chuck Liddell, David Terrell, Doug Evans, Eric Schafer, Fabricio Werdum, Hermes Franca, jeff cox, Jeremy Stephens, Joe Veres, jon koppenhaver, Justin McCully, Keith Jardine, Kurt Pellegrino, Manny Gamburyan, Melvin Guillard, micro cro cop filipovic, Nate Diaz, Nick Diaz, Randy Couture, Rich Franklin, Terry Etim, Wanderlei Silva
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1. thats bull**** that hermes is being released, they need to release melvin gullard so he can get his head together.
2. UFC Fight Night 13 going to be one of the best fight card ever!!!
3. ok so crocop isnt a big puss, kool!!!
4. not being th champ has franklin pockets running, i guess
taken the words out my mouth smitt wonder why they let hermes go thats very weird he was an exciteing fighter,
i wish nick diaz would come back to the ufc hes a very entertaining fighter like him or not.
looks like lesnar has got an easyer fight next be funny if he got banged tho haha, hope vera can come back with a bang and put his name back in the hat even tho i dont think it was even out
I have to make a correction. Mark colman will be inducted in the UFC hall of fame in UFC 82 not 81. Unless we all are going to get in the delorean and go back in time.
hey **** da_rock, franklin’s hummer procedes are going to charity.
ORYT FIGHT FANS, THIS IS MY FIRST POST, BUT I FELT I HAD TO COMMENT ON THE BROCK LESNAR MATCHUP, THIS IS A BIG BACKWARDS STEP FOR HIM, WHEN HE WINS IT’LL MEAN NOTHING! HE SHOULD HAVE BEEN GIVEN TIM SYLVIA. NOW IF HE’D HAVE BEATEN HIM THAT WOULD HAVE PUT HIM RIGHT UP THERE WHERE HE BELONGS!
no if he wins all it would do is help him build the confidence and a pratice dummy for him…lol
Lesnar has to have a couple of wins before they put him back in the cage with any fighters with a championship record. I REALLY want to see him and Sylvia fight, but think that fight is a little disrespectful twords Sylvia.
I also can’t wait to see Vera again. If his hand is healed, he will thrash Werdum. It is a great fight, and a great test. I thought Werdum was getting a shot at the “interum” belt??? Hopefully if Vera wins, he gets the shot instead.
F- Melvin Gillard!!!! He is ALL TALK. He has so much potential, but for whatever reason, cannot win.
Hermes Franca is a good fighter, but has some definate issues. Hopefully we will see him back someday.
As for Cro-Cop. I like that the UFC is letting him go get some cage experience elswere, and leaving his contract open. They have done this in the past with other fighters (Joe Riggs, Pete Sell, Yves Edwards….) when they were on a loosing streak. Sometimes they would pit 2 contracted fighters against each other in another smaller org. and the looser would loose their contract. It is an interesting way to weed out the talent.
I THINK THE UFC IS GETTING CLOSE TO BRINGING NICK DIAZ BACK. Hopefully by the end of 2008.
I think there are better opponents they could have put Lesnar against but this is what I expected.
It will be interesting to see Veraback and how be fairs against Werdum. My guess is Mir is getting the title shot.
Hermes Franca just wanted released so he can fight more frequently once his suspension is lifted so he can earn a living.
I think Cro Cop is doing the right thing getting more experience in Japan and even a loss really won’t hurt him much because most US fans will have no idea and the UFC definitely won’t publicize it.
As to the Franca topic, Hermes asked to be released from his contract so that he could fight in events outside of the U.S. The UFC honored his request. After the California State Athletic Commission (who originally suspended Hermes for the failed test)learned of his plans they informed him that if he fought outside of the U.S. for any organization he would never fight in the the U.S. again. Franca now plans on coaching until he finishes serving the remainder of his suspension.
It is so disappointing to see the spot Hermes is in… he gets let go so he can fight and pay the bills, then the CSAC says he can’t fight to pay the bills. Steroids don’t pay.
As for the Cro Cop story.. I thought the UFC let him go because of his losses? now its an open contract? I’m glad he will be back, I don’t see it as fair as the UFC bullies their fighters (most of the time its us or your gone), I love that HDNet fights is bullying back.
Anyone wanna share a Hummer?
Seems I was wrong. After looking at the auction on Ebay.com, Rich must be getting poor. He is only giving 10% to charity. Sorry for busting your chops, Smitt da rock. My bad, he’s broke.
I am pretty fired up about the nate diaz fight I wish they would just up his competition a little thats all he is 3-0 in the octagon i say we toss him a bone.