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Come on, out of any card since 107 this is the one I would say you can't miss. Welterweight title fight, Interim Heavyweight between the long term no.1 contender and the former champion, Fitch vs Alves, Diaz and Almeida on the Spike card. Wow, what a night of fights, plenty of guys I like :)

I am gonna be away when its on but I will be Sky plussing the shit out of it!

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I think I'm more looking forward to UFC Live because I really like Jones, Guida, JDS, and Eliot The Fire Marshall. Plus I don't think Hardy has a shot against GSP. That Primetime was pretty entertaining though.

I don't like Vera, which doesn't help, Guida isn't definitely on the tv card, JDS should be a good crack against Gonzagagagagagagagagagagagagaga and I think the Elliot Marshal bout should be a stand up war. ts a good card, but I am excited about Hardy and I really want to see what Shane Carwin can do after so much time off and such a definitive win of Gonzagagagagagagagagagagaga last year. Plus if he beats up Mir it'll be entertaining, and the outcome either way leads to very exciting match ups vs Brock

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Huge UFC news/rumour, apparently the Tito vs Chuck fight WILL NOT happen, and instead the UFC card aimed at countering Strikeforce will be headlined by Chuck vs Franklin!

Chuck Liddell will be fighting Rich Franklin in his next bout and not rival TUF 11 coach Tito Ortiz, Fighters Only has heard from a reliable source. The switch was initially reported to us just under two weeks ago but was only a rumour at that time.

However, the rumour hit message boards late last night and an industry source confirmed that Liddell will indeed be facing former middleweight champion Rich Franklin. The fight is to headline an April 17th Fight Night event which will counter Strikeforce’s show on the same date.

Rumour has it that the event will be staged in Nashville and be broadcast for free on the Spike TV network. That would present Strikeforce with the double problem of competing head-to-head with the UFC both for arena audience and television audience.

The Tennessee State Athletic Commission has not yet received an application from the UFC to stage an event in Nashville but the organisation has until Thursday to do so. Strikeforce said recently they have the option of moving to the 24th of April but the closer the date gets the more problematic a move will become.

Ortiz is out of the fight but not because of injury; he is healthy and is not suffering back problems as some rumours claim. The reason for his withdrawal is known to Fighters Only is something that may significantly impact his future as a fighter, but we cannot report the details at this point.

Source

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Guest Mr. Potato Head

I'd say still a rumour at this point, neither the Observer nor MMAJunkie has it. Plus you'd think they'd have learned by now that Franklin is not a draw. Plus what benefit is there to UFC when Rich wins that fight?

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Either way it's a Chuck fight countering a Strikeforce card. More of the casual UFC fans are more likely to watch the UFC card as opposed to a card with a handful of guys they know on it. I hope Strikeforce overcomes it, but UFC certainly isn't going to make it easy.

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Not only is Franklin not a draw, I don't want to see him get KO'd. I'm not really a fan of Rich, but I hate having to see somebody pick his jaw up off the floor for him. Which could happen again if he fights Chuck. Fuck him for being such stand up human being.

I'm a fan of Vera, I want to see him rebound in a big way, just not at the expense of derailing Bones. And honestly, Vera isn't championship material. At least he hasn't got there yet. He's never able to push himself to the next level in fights he could be winning. Vera is such a frustrating fighter to watch when you're rooting for him.

I'm all over UFC 111. Hardy should turn out to be the most entertaining punching bag GSP has fought since Mayhem. I just want to see him get punished and if its for 5 rounds, that's perfect. I think GSP is due for a quick mugging, though. Maybe 2-3 rounds. Carwin/Mir is a huge fight. Jim Miller is awesome and Bocek is on fire right now and from Toronto. Fight sold. Fitch/Alves is a high stakes WW bout. Alves has gotten a lot better since the first fight and can draw urgency out of Fitch. Saunders/Ellenberger should end up being fun too.

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MMAJunkie has the story up now but says it is in the works as a replacement headliner for 115 and not the April show.

They say that apparently Ortiz couldn't finish the filming of Ultimate Fighter and Franklin probably was brought in to finish it off.

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Nah, he really is not. His highest buyrate for a mainevent was 375,000 against Vitor Belfort. Not bad for them, but still not a good number for UFC.

The rest of the main events he was in (in thousands): 360 against Wanderlei, 350 against Henderson, 325 vs Anderson Silva, 200 vs. Okami, 300 for first Anderson Silva fight, 290-300 against Loiseau, 200 vs Quarry. These are really not good. They are pretty much considered bottom numbers.

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Actually, Franklin is a draw. I'm not sure how you can say he's not. Every casual fan I know loves him.

Sure, he isn't considered "elite" anymore, but he's still a good fighter with a name.

Same can be said of Wanderlei and Big Nog, and while I am not proclaiming it the end of the world like certain members of the MMA community, the buyrate for UFC 110 is not impressive by the looks of things...

Just because people are known and at least were once love by casual fans it doesn't tend to mean much.

At the end of the day a mixture of Liddell and Franklin, while the fight itself doesn't mean much in terms of ranking or title shots, has the potential to be a draw, its a fan pleaser. Afterall Chuck is one of the greatest draws MMA has ever seen.

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From the F4W:

White on Twitter today said the story of Chuck Liddell vs. Rich Franklin fighting are not true, and that Franklin is fighting Randy Couture.

Those in the company have stated that White alerted people to this internally as well. White also said that he and Tito Oritz are cool and there isn't an issue with him.

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From the F4W:

White on Twitter today said the story of Chuck Liddell vs. Rich Franklin fighting are not true, and that Franklin is fighting Randy Couture.

Those in the company have stated that White alerted people to this internally as well. White also said that he and Tito Oritz are cool and there isn't an issue with him.

I saw those posts on twitter, but you have to realise what Dana White puts out on twitter is not always the gospel truth... He tends to use it as a way of keeping people guessing before official announcements are made, but either fight I like enough. Couture Franklin would be cool in a "Fromer Heavyweight champ fights Former Middleweight champ" schtick, plus Randy is a bit more relevant opponent in 205 for Rich.

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I am sure we will eventually see Roger Huerta vs. Eddie Alvarez which would be a great fight.

If all goes well you would expect it, but first I am really looking forward to the Alvarez vs Neer fight... He ain't called "The Dentist" for nothing...

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The Alvarez/Neer fight is quite interesting to me as I have wanted to see Eddie in the UFC for quite some time now. While Neer is no push-over (AT ALL), if Alvarez beats him then he beats a guy that was cut by UFC after back to back losses. On the other hand, if Neer wins then Alvarez will have been defeated by a guy that dropped back to back losses in the UFC. It's a true double edged blade if I've ever seen one.

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