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IDOL, do you watch the Pay-Per-Views at Wild Wings in Watertown? If so, I will be seeing you there tomorrow night for the break out party of Matt Fucking Hamill.

But one thing I did want to talk about was Brock/Couture. When I look at this fight, I know people are thinking Werdum is next in line, but he beat Gabriel Gonzaga and Brandon Vera. Let's see... Gonzaga has gone nowhere since his miracle KO of Cro Cop, and he isn't really a top of the line Heavyweight. Let's be honest here. Then there is Brandon Vera who before losing to Werdum lost to only Tim Sylvia which isn't that bad, but a loss is a loss. In the end, I don't see Vera or Gonzaga as "true" challengers to the Heavyweight championship.

Then there is Brock Lesnar who loss to the former UFC Heavyweight champion Frank Mir, but then proceeded to beat Heath Herring who had the current champion in a position to be defeated in his debut in the UFC. If anything, I would say that there should have been a "play in fight" with the winner facing Lesnar, because I believe that both Werdum and Lesnar are on equal footing. But I do think that the right person was chosen to fight Randy, and that is because if I can picture anyone beating Couture, it's Lesnar. Plus, like it has already been said, the money is right there for the taking.

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If Lesnar beats Couture, will they call him the Heavyweight Champion or the Interim Champion or something? Imagine the bizarre potential situation if Mir then beats Nog - you'd have The Guy Who Beat The Interim Champion (But Isn't The Champion) versus The Guy Who Beat The Champion (But Isn't The Champion Either) for the title.

As for Lesnar's rapid elevation, it's to all intents and purposes a four-person title tournament as the confusing situation I described above confirms. Couture, Mir and Nog are the top three heavyweights and Lesnar's drawing power has moved him up from being the (widely-accepted) number 5 heavyweight to being the number four heavyweight.

Lesnar Vs Couture will sell... but Randy Couture would probably have sold just as much against anyone else, being that it's his big return.

Do you think Werdum vs. Couture would draw as much as Lesnar vs. Couture? Because I certainly don't. The fact that it's Couture's return will sell PPVs and the fact that it's Lesnar vs. Couture will sell PPVs. Just because you think one factor is bigger doesn't negate the other.

UFC isn't a sport, MMA is a sport. UFC is a business and their aim is to give people fights they want to see. Some people want to see legitimacy and some people want to see big names in marquee matches. It's not even simply a case of Lesnar being someone with drawing power and no ability, there's also the fact that Lesnar is an unknown quantity who is far more likely to be a strong Heavyweight champion than Werdum is. He's also more likely than Werdum to lose and go nowhere, but Dana is probably prepared to take that risk because Lesnar's fights make him a shitload of money.

I don't agree that the Lesnar vs. Couture fight can be delayed either - if only for the possibility that Fedor might still sign a deal with UFC. If UFC scheduled Couture vs. Werdum first (and Couture won) he'd then have to fight Nog/Mir and then, potentially, Fedor. Those are three big matches and losing any one of them would seriously diminish Couture's drawing power and the Couture/Lesnar matches would lose prestige for not being for the title. It would also be four matches for Couture, and does he definitely have four matches left in him?

Edited by -A-
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Couture returning against Werdum or any of the other heavyweights that aren't already scheduled for fights or aren't Brock, really wouldn't be that big of a deal. I'd be surprised if it got more than half a million buys. Couture/Lesnar will do a million buys easily, Dana White said it could do as many as one and half million buys. On top of that it'll easily be a $5 million dollar gate in Las Vegas. The UFC went from having a show that seemingly had nothing to put on in the main event in a city that's never had a UFC show held there before, to having the most talked about match in years back in its home town. Crazy, Dana must be laughing all the way to the bank.

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I just watched the newest episode of Inside MMA. Good coverage of the Couture saga with Zuffa and 2 nice pieces on the Slice/Shamrock fight as well.

But, goddamnit, Matt Horwich is just an awkward little man.

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I just watched the newest episode of Inside MMA. Good coverage of the Couture saga with Zuffa and 2 nice pieces on the Slice/Shamrock fight as well.

But, goddamnit, Matt Horwich is just an awkward little man.

Is that the show on HDNet?

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So...is that it for Chuck? That was a brutal knockout for Evans, he looked like a real competitor in the division. Also, Rich Franklin beat Hamill in convincing fashion. Great kick to the body to end it.

I doubt that's it. Something tells me we'll get a rematch. Maybe another Chuck/Tito in the undercard someday.
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Gotta say that I am sad to see my bow Hamill go down, but there was nothing he could do. Never really shot in for the take down and just grabs Franklin's ankle every time instead of going for the thigh area. Oh well, he will bounce back. This is probably best for him. The real story of the night is...

FUCKING RASHAD EVANS. I really can't believe that I saw that happen, but you best believe me that when it did, me and about the other 100 people in Wild Wings were going ape shit. I mean, that knockout was absolutely devastating. He sent him down to the ground like a bag of rocks and I was waiting for Chuck to get up, but when I saw him start to fall down without his arms out or anything, I knew that he was done for good. Must I say though that I believe this puts Evans right at the top of the division. A decision win just wouldn't have been convincing enough for a lot of people, but a KO, not a TKO really proves just who he is. I am seeing a future date with Forrest Griffin unless he ends up facing Machida after he wins next month. Other than that, I wasn't really shocked with anything tonight.

Oh, and did Nate Marquardt ever look like he was fucking ready. He just destroyed Martin Kampmann.
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Guest Mr. Potato Head

Liddell:

There's no way that's it for him. He's still one of the biggest names they've got, and it's not like he was totally outclassed. I don't know who else they'll put him up against, but he's got another semi-main-event or two UFC can milk him for yet.
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Yeah they've still got Chuck/Shogun to do, which I won't be suprised if that is his next fight. I'm sure they also want to try and pull off Chuck vs Anderson in some capacity, be it MW or LH
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White confirmed it will be Forrest Griffin defending vs. Rashad Evans. No date announced, though. But I am sure that even if UFC probably wanted Liddell to win, they can at least continue to shut up those haters of TUF (are there still any of them? I don't really read other MMA forums) with a battle of season 1 winner vs. season 2 winner for the Light Heavyweight title.
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White confirmed it will be Forrest Griffin defending vs. Rashad Evans. No date announced, though. But I am sure that even if UFC probably wanted Liddell to win, they can at least continue to shut up those haters of TUF (are there still any of them? I don't really read other MMA forums) with a battle of season 1 winner vs. season 2 winner for the Light Heavyweight title.

You have no idea then. I tried browsing the sherdog forums during the fights last night since EWB was done and I wanted to punch the computer screen so I had to leave.
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