“I was supposed to fight Matt Hughes at UFC 68. But the same evening they asked me to fight him, they texted me and said you’re not going to fight him, we’re going to get him someone else. I think I would have a great chance to beat Matt. I don’t think he should even have a title fight right now. The way he was happy that St. Pierre was knocked out? That’s not cool. There’s nothing about Hughes that I like. I used to like him a while back, but he has nothing to offer anyone. He’s a coach on The Ultimate Fighter with Matt Serra, and I still can’t believe that fight’s happening. I still don’t think he deserves a title shot at all. The way he was celebrating when GSP got knocked out was kind of pathetic. He should want to fight St. Pierre, because the way he lost to GSP was a joke. He got literally manhandled.

They called me up in the winter and said in two months, you’ll fight him in Ohio. I said great. I talked to [UFC matchmaker] Joe Silva very briefly. I said whatever you guys want. But then, the same night, I got a message saying they were going to match him up with someone else. “

- – Oft overlooked welterweight contender Karo Parisyan comments on his planned fight with Matt Hughes at UFC 68 in an interview with NBC Sports.

*****

In the same interview Karo was asked about what he felt he would be doing after his fight with Josh Burkman at UFC 71 assuming he wins. Parisyan responded that he didn’t know what was next but that he was going to ask for a title shot in his post-fight interview with Joe Rogan.

Anderson Silva Experiencing “Happy Times”

The UFC middleweight champion discusses his MMA career so far and winning titles in 3 different organizations.

UFC 68 Aftermath

In a recent blog post by “The Athlete”, Jason MacDonald discusses his UFC 68 loss to Rich Franklin.

UFC 69 is Homecoming for Swick

Houston Chronicle article discussing Mike Swick’s return to his hometown of Houston for UFC 69 and his possibilites of getting a title shot.

“Back in Alberta for an updated check-up, the middleweight had already regained some vision; however when asked to look to the side he experienced a sharp pain and saw a black dot.

Several months ago Pavelich told me that due to Jason’s seven fights in the past year, regardless of the outcome of the Franklin fight, he would get some well deserved time off. I’m not sure if he told MacDonald though, as I’ve heard that he’s already back in the gym working out.

Finally, when asked about future opponents for “The Athlete,” Pavelich said that MacDonald has proven he belongs in the mix with other top middleweight contenders. No specifics have been discussed with the UFC, but Pavelich added that he’d like to see a match-up with Dane Martin Kampmann”

It’s good to hear MacDonald is recovering from his eye injury first and foremost. We knew it had to be bad to warrant stopping the fight between rounds and from the sounds of things he is well on his way to recovering. MacDonald, despite his loss to Franklin, still has immense upside and is one of the major contenders in the division.

Martin Kampmann (15-2 MMA, 3-0 UFC) is undefeated in the octagon competing last at the same event as MacDonald, UFC 68. Kampmann topped Andrew McFedries at the March 3rd event via submission. He also has wins against Crafton Wallace at Fight Night 6 and Thales Leites at TUF 4 Finale.

A fight between the two would be compelling and likely they would put on a good show. This fight will not be happening before late-summer to give the fighters some rest but after that it could happen at anytime.

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“The second last blow hit me square in the right eye and I saw a little flash and then at the end of the round I couldn’t see out of my right eye.”

And that is when the article gets really interesting:

“I saw some of the UFC staff jumping up and down like Rich Franklin was their child or something and I took great, great offence to that,” said Pavelich (MacDonald’s trainer) “I am going to take that into training every day now until we get back there.”

Franklin was the obvious fan favorite at the Ohio event hailing from the state but I think it is quite disrespectful that “UFC staff” were outwardly cheering for Franklin. This spark may have lit a fire that could involve a Franklin/MacDonald rematch somewhere down the road.

MacDonald is most likely heading towards a fight at a summer UFC event while Rich Franklin has publicly announced he wants a rematch with Anderson Silva.

Things have not been completely sour for MacDonald since the loss. The Canadian native was awarded the Edmonton Boxing and Wrestling Commission’s athlete of the year award for 2006 in the mixed martial arts category.

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The following list is adapted from MMAWeekly.com:

Randy Couture def. Tim Sylvia

• Randy Couture – $250,000
• Tim Sylvia – $100,000

Martin Kampmann def. Drew McFedries

• Martin Kampmann – $20,000
• Drew McFedries – $5,000

Rich Franklin def. Jason MacDonald

• Rich Franklin – $42,000
• Jason MacDonald – $14,000

Matt Hughes def. Chris Lytle

• Matt Hughes – $150,000
• Chris Lytle – $10,000

Jason Lambert def. Renato “Babalu� Sobral

• Jason Lambert – $18,000
• Renato Sobral – $ 21,000

Matt Hamill def. Rex Holman

• Matt Hamill – $10,000
• Rex Holman – $3,000

Jon Fitch def. Luigi Fioravanti

• Jon Fitch – $28,000
• Luigi Fioravanti – $8,000

Gleison Tibau def. Jason Dent

• Gleison Tibau – $6,000
• Jason Dent – $3,000

Jamie Varner def. Jason Gilliam

• Jamie Varner – $6,000
• Jason Gilliam – $3,000

Disclosed Fighter Payouts: $697,000
Attendance: 19,049
Total Gate: $3,000,000+

“As of late last week, 10,000 tickets had been sold, generating $2.3 million for UFC coffers thus far. About 1,100 tickets remain in the first wave of tickets released to the general public.Should that supply be tapped out, the UFC would open up another wave after it makes a final site visit to Toyota Center late this month.”

This is surprising news given hos popular the UFC 68 event in Columbus was packing the stands with upwards of 19,000 fans. With more than a month to go there is still a possibility, and liklihood that a large number of tickets will still be sold but the event will likely not rival UFC 68 because it is headlined by a much less intriguing main event of Georges St. Pierre against Matt Serra.

Their estimates put the anticipated crowd for UFC 69 at approximately 12,000.

• After his loss, Tim Sylvia was quick to say he had an injury. Turns out he hurt his back and nearly pulled out of the fight because of it. Does this lessen Couture’s win? Let’s hear your thoughts in the comments.
• Attendance at UFC 68 has been widely reported as 19,049 and the gate of over $3 million. To this Dana White remarked that the fight was the biggest in North American MMA history and the biggest event ever for Nationwide Arena.
• Due to the time delay of having an event in England, UFC 70 may not be a PPV and could potentially air on HBO, according to MMAWeekly.com.
• Also revealed at the press conferece was that UFC light heavyweight champ Chuck Liddell has pnemonia (which explains his loopiness on TV several days ago). Dana White is concerned with his staus heading into UFC 71 in May and whether he will be ready to fight.
• Mirko Cro Cop had asked White for a match against Brandon Vera, who has one UFC fight left on his contract, but White will not book the fight unless Vera resigns. This may also give way for a match between Cro Cop and Couture later in 2007.

After his win over Jason MacDonald, Rich Franklin took to the mic to announce that he would be getting a rematch against current UFC middleweight champ Anderson Silva and that it would be held in Cincinnati. Now this is far from confirmed but the announcement has set off rumors of a Cincinnati event in the not so distant future.

The UFC may consider holding an event in Cincinnati especially after the success the promotion had in Columbus drawing the largest crowd ever and getting them there before the PPV fights were even close to started.

UFCJunkie.com broke the news a few weeks ago that Nate Marquardt would be getting a title shot against Silva in June so one has to wonder if this fight will happen if Silva loses and no longer has the title. If that happens it would not be the main event of the night but the fight may still happen not only so Franklin can defend his loss but also to determine the top contender to face Marquardt for the title.

If the event in Cincinnati does in fact materialize, the earliest it would be held is very late this year (think UFC 66 on Dec. 31 time frame) or early in 2008, which is more likely. Little is known about both the Franklin/Silva rematch or the UFC coming to Cincinnati other than what Franklin said after his win so we will have to wait and see what news comes out about the event in the coming months.

Digg it…
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Fight #1:
Jamie Varner def. Jason Gilliam via sumbission (rear naked choke) at 1:34 of round 1

Round 1: Both fighters came out of the gates trading blows. Varner lands one and takes down Gilliam. Varner gets Gilliam in a rear naked choke and Gilliam tries to escape but is unable to. Varner wins via submission.

Fight #2:
Gleison Tibau def. Jason Dent via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) after 3 rounds

Round 1: Tibau is dominant early on getting side mount early in the fight against Ohio-native Dent. Fight lulls on as crowd wants more. Tibau controlling the fight going for a side choke and striking but Dent has half guard limiting Tibau’s effectiveness. Referee Herb Dean stands them up but Dent ends up on the ground again with guard. Round over: 10-9 Tibau.

Round 2: Dent gets taken to the mat again and Tibau gets side control yet again. Dent recovers to get into the half guard. Tibau lands some strikes before they get stood up again. Tibau lands another right but Dent counters with a knee. Another Tibau takedown with Dent trying for some elbows but none really landing. Round over: 10-9 Tibau.

Round 3: Dent gets taken down to start the round and Tibau still has an upper hand while Dent looks to get guard. Man I should just copy and paste all 3 round. Dent gets half guard while Tibau lands puches. Dent lands some decent elbows from bottom. They get stood up again. Dent slips going for a kick and Tibau is on top again with Dent in half guard. Round over: 10-9 Tibau.

Fight #3:
Jon Fitch def. Luigi Fioravanti via sumbission (rear naked choke) at 3:05 of round 2

Round 1: Both fighters come out swinging and looking for the KO. Fitch pushes Fio into the cage then takes him to the ground. Fitch moves to the side to land some knees then trys to choke Fio but he escapes to guard. After some more exchanges Fio gets to his feet then the fight goes to the octagon side before the round ends. MMAFrenzy.com scores the round 10-9 fitch.

Round 2: Fighters start round and end up against the cage. Fitch goes for takedown but Fioravanti gets away. Fitch goes after Fio and takes him to the ground. Fio tries to scramble away as Fitch tries to take his back. Fitch ends up in a perfect spot with control and locks in a body triangle. Fio manages to slip but Fitch gets the rear naked choke locked and it’s all over. Jon Fitch wins via rear naked choke.

After the fight Fitch went on the mic to say he wanted Karo Parisyan next. We’ll have to wait and see if this materializes.

Fight #4:
Matt Hamill def. Rex Holman via TKO at 4:00 of round 1

Round 1: Fight is pretty even at the start. Holman went for a takedown and Hamill tried a superman but neither worked. Hamill looks to have a little edge in the scoring throwing some solid strikes. Holman with some nice return kicks. Nothing big connecting yet. Holman ends up on the mat in half guard. Hamill dominates and takes Holman’s back and starts throwing big ones. Holman can’t defend and the ref stops the fight giving Hamill the win.

This concludes the undercard fights. PPV bouts are set to start around 10:00 pm EST

Fight #5:
Jason Lambert def. Renato “Babalu” Sobral via KO (strikes) at 3:36 of round 2

Round 1: Fighters have touched glove and the fight has started. Sobral looking hot early throwing lots of strikes and taking Lambert to the floor. Babalu is using ground and pound early in this bout while Lambert looks to escape. Keeping him on the ground Sobral almost gets the choke locked but Lambert pulls the arm off and both fighters get to their feet. Sobral is throwing some kicks and Lambert is throwing some uppercuts while they’re locked up. Lambert lands one hard and Sobral is clearly shaken up. Round ends with Lambert on top of Sobral with full guard. MMAFrenzy.com scores the round 10-9 Sobral in a very close Round 1.

Round 2: Sobral is landing some knees in the clentch. Lambert takes Sobral down but “babalu” recovers quickly and gets back to his feet. Lambert takes him down again and gets on top with Sobral in half guard. Sobral regains full guard but Lambert is landing some hard shots. Sobral is going for a submission from guard but Lambert is defending well. The fighters get stood up and Lambert lands a huge left and Sobral is out. Lambert wins via KO.

Fight #6:
Matt Hughes def. Chris Lytle via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) after 3 rounds

Round 1: Lytle lands a solid left to start the fight but Hughes takes him down. Lytle locks a guillotine choke onto Hughes but he breaks it. Lytle has Hughes in half guard but Hughes reverses and gets side control on Lytle. Lytle tries to use his legs on Hughes but he escapes and gets an armbar on Lytle but the round ends. MMAFrenzy.com scores the round 10-9 for Hughes.

Round 2: Hughes opens round 2 with a takedown and gets side control quick. He is dropping multiple elbows on Lytle who’s cut open now. More solid elbows from Hughes who now has full mount and Lytle is trying but can’t get out. Lytle manages to get back to half guard but reverses and is on top of Hughes. Lytle moves to side control as both fighters trade submissions attempts as the round ends. MMAFrenzy.com scores the round 10-9 for Hughes.

Round 3: Hughes gets side control early in round 3. A few elbows are thrown but its pretty lifeless. Crowd is looking for a standup. Hughes works Lytle’s arm but gives up in favor of throwing some shots. Round 3 is winding down and Hughes goes for an armbar unsuccessfully. MMAFrenzy.com scores the round 10-9 for Hughes giving Hughes a 30-27 decision. Judges agree: Hughes wins a unanimous decision 30-27.

Fight #7:
Rich Franklin def. Jason MacDonald via TKO (Corner Stoppage) after 2 rounds

Round 1: Franklin lands a big left then MacDonald tries to counter but gets hit with a solid knee. MacDonald is trying to take the fight to the ground where he has an advantage but Franklin pins him to the cage and lands some more knees. Franklin lands some short punches and MacDonald counters with a solid leg kick. MacDonald is taken down but kicks out then takes Franklin down but can’t land anything before the round ends. MMAFrenzy.com scores the round 10-9 for Franklin.

Round 2: Franklin comes out of the gates a little slow but nails MacDonald after a leg kick. They remain standing and are throwing some solid punches at one another. MacDonald goes for a takedown but Franklin dodges only to get locked in a near armbar but he escapes. Franklin has side control and is trying to mount while throwing some elbows to keep the match on the ground. Franklin gets on top and is dropping bombs. MacDonald gives up his back to avoid some shots but defends long enough to make it to the bell. MMAFrenzy.com scores the round 10-8 for Franklin.

MacDonald’s corner stopped the fight between rounds giving Franklin the win.

After the fight Franklin says he wants Anderson Silva again. Silva enters the ring and Franklin says he will face Silva at a UFC event in Cincinnati.

Fight #8:
Martin Kampmann def. Drew McFedries via submission (arm-triangle) at 4:06 of round 1

Round 1: McFedries opens up landing punch after punch knocking Kampmann to the mat. Kampmann gets up but McFedries lands a few more shots before countering with a take down. Kampmann has side control and lands some decent elbows. Kampmann lands two hard knees then goes for the arm-triangle and chokes McFedries out cold.

Fight #9:
Randy Couture def. Tim Sylvia via unanimouse decision (50-45, 50-45, 50-45) after 5 rounds to win the UFC World Heavyweight Title

Couture comes in to Aerosmith’s “Back in the Saddle” while Sylvia enters to “Jesus Walks” by Kanye West.

Round 1: Couture drops Sylvia off the bat and takes control of his back. Randy is on his back with Sylvia on top but Couture has control and is trying for a choke. Sylvia appears hurt but continues to defend the choke. The round ends with Couture in control but Sylvia defending well with contol of “The Natural’s” hands. MMAFrenzy.com scores the round 10-9 for Couture.

Round 2: Couture connects with another punch then takes down Sylvia who gets full guard. Couture mounts and throws some punches. Sylvia is looking to get Couture to bleed with some elbows. Couture keeps on pounding but Sylvia is trying to use his legs for a choke. Sylvia’s nose is bloodied and Couture is dominating with 2 minutes left in the round. The fights goes against the fence and”The Natural” lands some hits but the fighters are stood up. Couture gets another take down as the round ends. MMAFrenzy.com scores the round 10-9 for Couture.

Round 3: They trade punches. Randy lands a few solid hits and takes one. Crowds getting behind Randy as the chants start. Couture needs to pace himself to avoid burnout. Sylvia isn’t connecting with much yet. Sylvia finally lands a left and a knee to get back into the action. Couture is tired but is winning the fight if it goes to decision. MMAFrenzy.com scores the round 10-9 for Couture.

Round 4: Sylvia goes for a takedown and Sylvia avoids but Couture takes him down and is working from Sylvia’s full guard. Couture lands a few lefts before Big John stands the fighters back up. Two more rights by Couture and the fight goes to the mat again as “The Natural” gets side control. Randy mounts and gets some elbows. Sylvia escapes but Couture catches him with some more strikes before the round ends. All Couture so far. If he can go the distance the belt is his. MMAFrenzy.com scores the round 10-9 for Couture.

Round 5: Couture takes it to the may yet again and is working in half guard. Sylvia sense he’s going to lose and tries for a leg choke but Couture defends and moves to side control. Couture with some knees as we are under 2:00 left in the fight. Couture lands some punches from mount but Sylvia escapes only to be sent to the mat again. The round and fight are over. MMAFrenzy.com scores the round 10-9 for Couture giving him the 50-45 win pending the official announcement. Its official: Randy Couture is the NEW UFC Heavyweight Champion of the World via unanimous decision.

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