UFC 85: Hughes-Alves, Evans-Irvin, and Bisping-Leben Officially Announced
Former UFC welterweight champion Matt Hughes will face up-and-coming welterweight contender Thiago Alves, who defeated Karo Parisyan in impressive fashion earlier this month, in the main event of UFC 85. The UFC officially announced the headlining bout late this afternoon.
UFC 85 takes place June 7th at the O2 Arena in London, England and will be broadcast live on pay-per-view in the United States beginning at 3pm ET.
The UFC has also announced that James Irvin, fresh of an 8-second knockout of Houston Alexander earlier this month, will fill in for an injured Chuck Liddell against Rashad Evans in a main card bout and Michael Bisping, who successfully made his middleweight debut last weekend at UFC 83 in a win over Charles McCarthy, will take on Chris Leben in a 185-pound showdown.
Press release quotes from UFC President Dana White, Matt Hughes, Thiago Alves, and Rashad Evans after the jump…
For more on UFC 85 check out the MMAFrenzy.com rumors section.
UFC President Dana White:
“Obviously Chuck Liddell’s injury was a big blow, but as always our incredible fighters step up to give fans the best possible replacement. Now we will see an explosive matchup between top ten ranked contender Thiago “Pitbull†Alves and two time former UFC World Champion Matt Hughes. Alves is an ATT trained Muay Thai wrecking machine coming off of five straight wins and Hughes is a powerhouse wrestler who was the most dominant welterweight champion in UFC history. These are two of the best athletes in the sport and we are thrilled to bring them to London for the UFC 85 main event.â€
Matt Hughes:
“Thiago is coming off a big win against Karo Parisyan, so honestly, I’ll probably look to take him down, try to wear him out and get him a little slower because he’s got such quick punches, knees, and kicks,†said Hughes. “I think strength will come into play, me being bigger than he is, but I’m glad to fight Thiago. He’s a nice guy and I really like American Top Team, so it’s kinda nice to fight somebody I like and whose coaching staff is friendly.â€
I love England. I had a lot of fun when I fought over there last time. The fans are very knowledgeable and respectful, so I’m very happy to go over there. When Dana spoke to me about fighting in England, the first thing I thought was ‘I’d love to go back.’
Last Tuesday I was at practice and I did the whole practice, I didn’t just coach. When my boys ran sprints, I ran sprints, and everything I taught them, I did as well. So from there I kinda got the itch to where I said ‘hey, I’m not in bad shape,’ and my plan was to start getting ready to return. Then Dana called and I didn’t hesitate to take the fight.”
Thiago Alves:
““He has been the man for so many years and has defended it more than any other champ so I’m excited for this opportunity to fight him. Thank you Joe Silva and Dana White.
I’m super excited to be fighting in England. I’ve never fought there before and the crowds look like they really get into the fights.”
Rashad Evans:
“I think it’s a very good fight,†said Evans. “I’m not fighting Chuck Liddell, but Irvin is definitely on the top level. He’s got big punching power and he’s proven himself time and time again, so I’m definitely happy to fight a top tier opponent. Liddell and Irvin have similar fighting styles, and you have to go out there and fight them. You can’t go in there and hopefully get a takedown on them. You’ve got to go in there and fight these guys straight up.â€
Tags: Chris Leben, James Irvin, Matt Hughes, Michael Bisping, Rashad Evans, Thiago Alves
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haha evens has gone to main even to prob first fight of the telivised matches wonder if that sort of stuff will get to him im saying james irvin via knock out early in the first, cant wait to watch the count knock leben out either, this one is guna end quick leben is guna come out hands down thinking hes the **** an the count is just guna be to heavy handed an leben is guna find himself asking the ref what happend haha, and people dont give me all this **** about lebeb has got an iron jaw no such thing gunabe lighs out for chris,
well done dana for comeing up with the goods again ;}
This better not be no ****ing ppv card il be pissed
The card is really looking strong now! Maybe Liddell getting hurt was a blessing in discise.
Hughes-Alves: Dangerous fight for Hughes at this stage of his career!
Evans-Irvin: This fight should be explosive! Evans has to get this to the ground and quick or else it could be lights out!
Bisping-Leben: This is the fight Leben was asking for. This is potentially the best fight on the card. Bisping should come out really explosive and energized being in front of his fellow country men…Leben has the better KO power of the two as far as the hands go…Bisping has way better kicks and seems to be the more well rounded of the two…Leben has a solid chin…I think Bisping’s chin may be a little suspect because he seems to get hurt alot and pretty easily, but he does have really good recooperative ability…..THIS SHOULD BE THE FIGHT OF THE NIGHT!!
Rumor is that this is a free on Spike card. I hope so. I want to see Leben knock the Brit out at home. Put him in a hospital where they can understand his stupid accent. Do remember that Bisping has not looked good in England. Freaking Elvis Sinosic almost knocked him out for God’s sake.
The UFC accidentally published that it would be free on SpikeTV but it’s definitely a PPV event.
This card is awesome
Hughes/Alves was a great move. Perfect test for Alves. If he can get past Hughes, a title shot makes sense. If Hughes takes him, then he stays in the mix. I give Hughes the edge, but we’ll see if he’s still got what it takes to be a force.
Leben could definitely KO Bisping, but I think Bisping has what it takes to outpoint him. Now way he knocks him out. This is an ideal test for him.
Irvin could really enter the picture with a win over Rashad. He must be incredibly pumped for that fight, seeing dollar signs floating over Rashad’s head.
This card has rebounded well.
Big fight for Bisping, now we can see him beat a fairly big name at 185, come on The Count theres no way he is losin in the uk, Leben talks too much **** too !!!
rutdog u talking **** mate
Bisping speaks the Queens English with a slight Northern twang, if it is a stupid accent you seek I suggest you look no further than your own interpretation of our great language rutdog. As johnboy says your talking **** mate.
Bisping will own Leben, now he’s dropped in weight his hand speed would rival the great Joe Calzaghe, Leben won’t know what’s hit him but i’m sure our national health service will take great care of him.
As far as Sinosic almost beating Bisping goes, well Lutter almost beat Silva, Lesnar almost beat Mir and guess what…..they didn’t. Great fighter find a way to win and Bisping is a great fighter.
can’t wait
I got Evans winning by decision.
Hughes winning GnP.
Leben winning via knockout.
LEBEN LEBEN LEBEN!!! I hope Bisping gets KO! I like both these fighters but after Leben’s last match when he said he learned from Silva that if he didn’t change his style he would never be a champion, I couldn’t help but become a bigger Leben fan. He’s obviously matured as a fighter. I want Evans to go down down down. I think Hughes will lose but regardless I cannot wait for the eventual Serra Hughes match up. On the TUF show Hughes said something about having 3-5 fights left in him. After this fight he may have to end on a triology of fights with Serra. I think whoever loses the fight(Serra vs Hughes) will want a rematch quickly.
i was gutted when chuck had to pull out and thought that the rest would b **** but now i cant wait
I agree with fixer on this. Evans will pull out a close decision by keeping the action on the ground. Hughes wins by TKO GNP. Leben and Bisping will be packed with stand up action; Leben will get dazed and go into auto pilot and catch the count square and knock his a.. out.
Turned out to be a decent card but I still want to see Chuck knock Evans out.
I think its a **** card, hughs past his time and few fighters who have never really impressed me, Leben is best fighter on the whole card, and cant wait for him to put bisbing where he belongs. but honestly this should be a free spike fight the last fight night had bigger better fights then this one
Man that sucks that Chuck got hurt. Not only am I a big fan but for Rashad as well. With all due respect to the Sandman. And serious respect for Irvin. But if Rashad could’ve beat Chuck, that would’ve been huge for him. Hughes-Alves is gonna be awesome but Im really looking forward to Hughes-Serra. Were gonna see if Alves is upper level material, and if Hughes still has it. Bisping-Leben is gonna be awesome as well. Someones goin down. My moneys on Bisping via TKO. This card is gonna be awesome. For those of you talking like its gonna be a SpikeTV Event. Dont hold your breath. Dont forget the Franklin-Okami event. Anyways it sucks that Chucks hurt but they’ve added two fights to replace it and put his scheduled opponent against a replacement. Now Im a big Chuck fan but I think they’ve more than made up for the injury.
Whoa I forgot, I like Leben but hes probably not even in the top five best fighters on this card. But everyones got their own opinions.
hughes over alves via 2nd round tko
irvin over rashad via late 1st round ko
vera over verdum via split decision
leben over bisping via 3rd round ko
i will say this, although bisping is quicker at 185, he’ll probably be scared of leben’s iron jaw and power and he’ll wanna go to the ground which is pretty gay. if he does stand up with him, it could be fight of the night.
Rutdog is right Johnnyboy you need to learn how to spell and capitalize your letters. If Leben can keep his hands going Bisping will fall.I got Bisping winning, but not by knockout.
Kelvin you ass****, why is Bisping getting leban to the ground gay. If its gets him the win and more money then he should do it. Its not just a stand up sport, its mma.
Is GSP gay for putting Serra on his back?
Your a fu**ing ass****
Well said Joe. Finally someone has told that fu**ing ret*rd Kelvin what he is. He’s always taking such a negative stance as regards Bisping & frankly its boring as f*ck.