Spike TV To Broadcast UFC 89 On Same-Day Tape Delay
Spike TV heads across the Atlantic Ocean for the third time to telecast a UFC fight card with middleweights “The Ultimate Fighter 3†champ Michael Bisping and “The Ultimate Fighter 1†standout Chris Leben headlining on Saturday, October 18 at 9:00pm ET/PT (same-day tape delay) from The National Indoor Arena in Birmingham, England.
UFC 89 will also include two action-packed co-feature bouts with four of the top contenders in the light heavyweight division. Lyoto Machida and Thiago Silva, both undefeated square off in the Octagon with the winner on the cusp of a title shot. “The Ultimate Fighter 2†alum Keith Jardine looking to rebound from a loss to Wanderlai Silva, takes on veteran Brandon “The Truth†Vera, who is 1-0 since moving down in weight class.
On the undercard, exciting light heavyweight Rameau Sokoudjou takes on Luiz Cane, “The Ultimate Fighter 4†alum Chris “Lights Out†Lytle battles British native Paul Taylor, and “The Ultimate Fighter 2†vet Marcus “The Irish Hand Grenade†takes on undefeated Briton Paul Kelly.
“The Count†Bisping (17-1) from Manchester, England, who gained recognition from American mixed martial arts fans by winning “The Ultimate Fighter 3,†will be headlining a UFC fight card in front of his fellow British countrymen for the first time. The 29 year-old has won six of seven fights in the Octagon and is 2-0 since dropping down in weight classes from light heavyweight to middleweight this past April. His most recent fight was a dominating performance resulting in a first round TKO over Jason Day at UFC 85 in June.
Bisping’s opponent is the entertaining and enigmatic “The Crippler†Leben (18-4), a breakout star from the first season of “The Ultimate Fighter†who has won his last two UFC fights. Leben’s meteoric rise in the UFC included seven straight wins over such notables as Jorge Rivera, Patrick Cote, and Luigi Fioravanti. However, his title aspirations were derailed in April 2006 in a nationally televised main event live on Spike TV by a devastating punch from a relatively unknown Brazilian fighter, current UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva. Now, over two years later, Leben is back fighting in a main event on Spike TV in search of a victory that will catapult him to a long-desired shot at the title.
The co-feature pits two Brazilian undefeated light heavyweights with their sights set on a shot at the UFC crown. Lyoto Machida sports a perfect 13-0 professional record and is coming off a victory in over Tito Ortiz at UFC 84 in May. Thiago Silva (13-0) has thoroughly demolished his opponents in his four UFC fights – all via submission or TKO with only one going more than a round. The black belt in Brazilian jiu jitsu will now face his toughest test against fellow countryman, Machida.
Fighting out of San Diego, CA, “The Truth†Vera (8-2) was a rising star in the heavyweight division of the UFC, with wins against Frank Mir and Assuerio Silva under his belt. However, losses to Tim Sylvia and Fabricio Werdum preceded a move to the light heavyweight division, where Vera made his debut at UFC: Silva Vs Irvin on Saturday, July 19. Grinding out a decision win over Reese Andy, Vera, an Air Force veteran, will look to keep on the winning track as he takes on “The Dean of Mean†Jardine.
A member of Greg Jackson’s New Mexico based team, Jardine (13-5-1) also broke into the UFC as a heavyweight while being featured on Season 2 of “The Ultimate Fighter.†Dropping down to light heavyweight after winning at that season’s finale, Jardine boasts an impressive fight resumé, with wins over former UFC light heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell and current champion Forrest Griffin under his belt. Jardine looked destined for a title shot, but his ascent was derailed at UFC 84 this past May, as he suffered a setback in the form of a devastating combination of punches from Wanderlei Silva, resulting in a TKO loss.
On the undercard, Sokoudjou (5-2), a native of Cameroon who currently trains in Temecula, CA, is coming off a first round TKO over Kazuhiro Nakamura at UFC 84 in June. “The African Assassin†will take on muy thai expert Luiz Cane from Sao Paolo, Brazil (9-1) whose only professional loss was to James Irvin at UFC 79 last December.
After having a six fight winning streak in the UFC snapped against Mike Swick at UFC 85, “The Irish Hand Grenade†Davis (19-5) looks to embark on a new string of victories against British native Paul Taylor (9-3-1), who also fought at UFC 85, defeating Jess Liaudin.
After showing incredible toughness in enduring a unanimous decision loss to Josh Koscheck at UFC 86 in July, Chris “Lights Out†Lytle (35-16-4) is looking to bounce back against UK local and teammate of Michael Bisping at Wolfslair Academy, undefeated Paul Kelly (8-0).
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i hope bisping getting KO’d on tape delay is almost as cool as watching it live! if only they could edit out all comments left by mike goldberg…
Zac, you really think he is getting KO’d?
he’ll probably try to take leben down and lay on him for most of the fight…but i’m hoping lebs gets at least one good shot
The whole card is pretty good. Better than some PPV’s as of late. UFC 86 was a bit weak as a whole.
cant wait to see marcus davis vs paul kelly, thats gonna be a sick fight!
bisping’s getting ko’d, that’s all i care about. but why is vera getting so many fights, he’s sooooo boring. hope the dean stomps him!
i would rather it just be live. i dont mind watching it at like 1200 in the afternoon
Davis is getting a good push. I wonder how long they will feed his push to the title….
I’m glad to see someone else thinks Mike Goldburg is a tool.
New Drinking game for me and my friends: You have to down your beer everytime Mike Goldburg says JOE.
Dannyboy,
1 Have you played your game?
2 Do you remember anything after the first fighter introduction?
says JOE or ITS ALL OVER haha someone said that about him the other day…I never really noticed until then, but he says that after every fight haha…anybody see elite xc’s version of Mike Goldberg…funny sh*t
zac,
have you been watching bisping’s latest fights and i dontbelieve ive ever seen bisping lay n pray on someone…he is usually pretty exciting….but i do hope he beats leben so he can get a title shot and get domolished by silva
zac
No f*cking way will Bisping lay on top of him for most of the fight. He’ll just stand over him when he knocks him the f*ck out.
bisping is dana’s ass child, and therefore gets everything handed to him. people talk sh*t about kimbo…but what has bisping done thats been at all impressive. i hope bisping is in the next guy richie ganster move…he could play mullet’s retarded little brother after leben gives him permanent brain damage!
Zac,
Bisping has faced stiffer competition than Kimbo. Not that I disagree with your view but it is unfair to compare him to Kimbo. I heard a rumor Bisping is going too play the part of a gay, dominatrix pimp from Saudi Arabia in Guy Ritchie’s first ever porn movie.
Oops didn’t read this one. Dietrich I have played it and We don’t start it until the first fight begins. Sorry meant to include that.
Either way you’ll be sh*tty.
KOuch I heard Bisping was playing that part too… but it wasn’t a porn movie… it was a snuff film.
Bisping TKO 2nd round over Chris “I dont know what defense means” Leben.
Poor Leben… this may be his next to last fight with the UFC.
The only person in the UFC who knocked out Leben was Silva and Dana’s butt buddy Bisping doesn’t have the power or the know how to take Leben out!!! Leben 1st round knock out over Bisping then we can hear Goldies worthless ass say “And its all over!”
i see bisping getting past chris “DUI” leben easily…..but he is gonna have some tough tests ahead of him…..henderson,franklin(yes he has said he will be back at middleweight after the hamill fight),marquardt,leites,cote and dean lister(yes lister)
B Free,
your dumb leben lost to kalib starnes! hahaha
Kalib Starnes actually looked pretty good until his running fight. He was embarrased badly.
I hope Leben wins this fight but I think Bisping may want it more.
Dannyboy,
You need to handicap the game. The power drinkers can start with old dvd’s before the preshow and those just starting out get the mainevent….:)
You know I liked Starnes when he was giving Shamrock grief…I always thought Ken was a bit of a butt in the conditioning screening thing but I guess he lucked into getting that one right.
kalib didnt have that good of opponent though..i mean he beat Danny Abbadi and leben before leben turned around his carrear…i mean starnes carrear is over..i here no one wants to sign him…not even smaller orgs