SeanDMan Posted January 26, 2007 Report Share Posted January 26, 2007 I wonder if they'll have Ortiz and Rampage with the winner getting a shot at Chuck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enter Blue Guy Posted January 26, 2007 Report Share Posted January 26, 2007 (edited) I doubt it, Rampage and Tito have a lot of history and apparently are still great friends. IIRC Rampage compared him fighting Tito to Matt Hughes fighting Pat Miletich. Is it exactly the same? Probably not, but it shows both men are extremely close to each other. Rashad has been calling out Rampage big time and that is a very interesting potential match up. I highly doubt we see Rampage/Evans before we see Chuck/Rampage II. Edited January 26, 2007 by Enter Blue Guy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ACCBiggz Posted January 26, 2007 Report Share Posted January 26, 2007 (edited) I don't actually, I would think after Eastman UFC would want Chuck/Rampage, but on Inside the UFC Rampage said he wanted 2-3 fights before Chuck. So he is looking for at least one more bout after Eastman, I'm just not sure it'd be Rashad at this point. Tito and Forrest are on the April 21st card as you shown, but not against each other, which kind of surprised me, but reflecting on it they are probably protecting Forrest. I could see a Forrest/Rashad type match or Jardine/Rampage or Jardine/Tito. From today’s latimes.com: Perhaps the most interesting exchange took place after the show at the press conference. When a reporter asked about a prospective match with Evans vs. Keith Jardine, who made a name for himself by knocking out Forrest Griffin on Dec. 30 in Las Vegas, UFC President Dana White said that sounded like a great idea. Evans shot back that he trains regularly with Jardine in Albuquerque, and he would never fight him. White said that if he made the match, he’d fight him. Evans shot back that he would not, and the awkward exchange ended at that point. Edited January 26, 2007 by ACCBiggz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ACCBiggz Posted January 29, 2007 Report Share Posted January 29, 2007 UFC might be in ESPN’s picture By Herald staff Sunday, January 28, 2007 Picture this: You’re watching your nightly dose of “SportsCenter” and the Top 10 plays are ticking down: # No. 3: Another dunk that looks slightly better than the dunk that logged in at No. 5. # No. 2: Another home run that looked a lot like the one that left the park at No. 6. # No. 1: Chuck Liddell pounding unmercifully on some poor guy’s face before the ref finally pulls him off. Huh? That’s right. ESPN may soon hop on the UFC bandwagon. “All the top meetings over there are about the UFC,” said UFC president Dana White, who is flying to New York soon for meetings with the network. “When they start talking about this stuff on ‘SportsCenter,’ that’s really going to help us. That’s going to help us get to the next level.” The next level, of course, is the mainstream sports world. For all the ratings, recognition, coverage and popularity the UFC has enjoyed the last couple of years, that mainstream sports world is still a ways away, according to White. “That’s the beauty of the business,” White said. “We’re the biggest thing on pay per view. We’re bigger than boxing. We’re bigger than WWE. But we’re so (expletive) far from mainstream. Mainstream is Shaquille O’Neal. If Shaq is walking down the street, everyone knows who he is. “The weird thing about this is Chuck Liddell is one of the biggest superstars in other places. We went to Ibiza, Spain, and he’s getting mobbed there. We couldn’t go anywhere. He goes to New York and people are all over him. I mean, it’s tough to miss a guy with a Mohawk and Chinese writing on his head. They might recognize him, but they don’t immediately know the UFC.” Then again, not many knew the UFC just a mere few years ago. Now, fights like the Dec. 30 Liddell-Tito Ortiz card is drawing attention everywhere, and making giants like HBO and ESPN stand up and notice. “That fight was a huge moment for us,” White said. “It was a big turning point in the pay-per-view industry. But the funny thing is I say that every time we have a fight. We just keep getting bigger and bigger and bigger.” New blood White thinks the UFC will soon be able to consistently stage upward of three fight cards per month. With HBO soon to be in the picture -- televising live fights as Spike TV already does -- and with the huge pay-per-view interest, there will be a lot of demand for fights. With that many fights, you need fighters. To that end, White and his crew have been working to bulk up on the talent. The UFC already has a talent relations department, and that’s only going to grow. “Going out and acquiring guys is huge,” White said. “I’ve got guys in here making more money than NBA players. The talented, athletic people out there are going to start coming out and doing this.” UFC 67, set for Feb. 3 in Vegas, will feature two such talented, athletic fighters. Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Croatian Mirko Cro Cop will each make their UFC debut be on the undercard of the Travis Lutter-Anderson Silva match. Rampage’s reputation precedes him. He is an exciting, charismatic, popular figure. You’ll probably see him fight twice and then take on light heavyweight champ Liddell for the title in June. Cro Cop, meanwhile, was the 2006 Open Weight Grand Prix champ while fighting for the Pride organization. He takes on Eddie Sanchez Saturday and then will probably find himself head-to-head with heavyweight champ Tim Sylvia right after that. “Wait till you see Cro Cop, he’s a straight killer,” White said of the 6-foot-2, 220-pound 32-year-old. “Never in your life will you go to a fight live and see or hear what it sounds like when he kicks people. When he kicks to an opponent’s body, it immediately turns black and blue. It’s like getting hit with a baseball bat. “He fought this guy in Japan (while with Pride), and every time he kicked him, you just heard this crack, like when you’re at a baseball game and there’s a real, nice home run. That’s what it sounds like when he kicks a guy. They instantly turn black and blue.” Place to be Rampage’s contract was acquired when the UFC bought a smaller organization, the WFA. Cro Cop’s contract with Pride expired and the UFC was where he wanted to be next. “I talked to his manager. It was simple. He wanted to be with us,” White said. “Pride is our big competition and I’m out there trying to lock up their big talent as soon as their contracts with them are over. I want them in the UFC.” With the media attention and exposure on the rise, and with the biggest names gravitating toward the sport, it can only get better for mixed martial arts fans. “Over the next couple of months, you’re going to see us starting to grab up everybody,” White said. “We’re aggressive anyway. But as this thing becomes more successful, we want the power and leverage to take over different parts of the world.” Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldskool Posted January 29, 2007 Report Share Posted January 29, 2007 They'll need a new PPV naming system if they go to 3 a month...I mean, it sounds cheap if you go 1-67 in however long the UFC's been around, and then jump to like UFC 229: Liddell/Ortiz VIII a year later. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ACCBiggz Posted January 29, 2007 Report Share Posted January 29, 2007 Not three PPV's, 1 on HBO, 1 for Spike, and 1 PPV. Plus they have the WEC they are working on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MyKILLv2.0 Posted January 29, 2007 Report Share Posted January 29, 2007 I'm not really surprised by this at all. First off, don't they have MMA shows on ESPN2 or something like that? Besides both companies target audience is the same demographic, Males 18-35. That is who ESPN targets, and that is who UFC is built for. ESPN's marriage to boxing is losing viewership fast, and I wouldn't be surprised to see ESPN give UFC a shot. Due to the violence, I don't know if UFC could ever make the jump to a major channel like ABC, CBS, NBC, or Fox (Fox being the most likely of the bunch I have to believe), but I see no reason why ESPN wouldn't want to do this. I'm kind of shocked that it has taken this long. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ACCBiggz Posted January 29, 2007 Report Share Posted January 29, 2007 I wish I had my copy of MMA Fighter from a couple months back, they had the head of ESPN talk about it. Reasons why it hadn't made it on ESPN and their interest level, which wasn't high. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeanDMan Posted January 29, 2007 Report Share Posted January 29, 2007 Thay've started showing UFC on SportsNet up here. It's weird when they have friday night fight clips with 3 hockey brawls and then Chuck Liddell shitkicking Tito Ortiz. It took some getting used to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toe Posted January 30, 2007 Report Share Posted January 30, 2007 I think that the UFC, running Ultimate Fight Nights on Spike and having events on HBO and ESPN would be amazing. It would allow more fighters to step up to the top level of the sport. Also, it would allow them to hype up the huge pay-per-view fights even more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Psicosis Posted January 30, 2007 Report Share Posted January 30, 2007 I swore I read an article about how ESPN was put off by MMA after dismal buys for their K-1 events from a few years back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheCrippler Posted January 30, 2007 Report Share Posted January 30, 2007 I know that Bravo on Sky shows some UFC and stuff, but I have no idea what they show, or when they show it. Could anybody clue me in? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thrilla Posted January 30, 2007 Report Share Posted January 30, 2007 Bravo2 show The Ultimate Fighter pretty much every night at 10. Then a clipped version of a UFC PPV for an hour at 11. They show the PPVs in full a couple of days after the events take place in the US as well. Although I did think this thread was going to be about the UFC's upcoming show in Manchester. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The LBTN Express Posted January 30, 2007 Report Share Posted January 30, 2007 (edited) It's usually the night after with PPV's. UFC PPV's are usually on a Saturday and Bravo usually airs them the day after on Sunday at 9pm. They show the Ultimate Fight Nights and Ultimate Fighter and I'm pretty sure they'll start airing the events that will air on HBO in the US as well as Bravo has a contract for all UFC shows produced. The only thing we don't get is the specials leading to the PPV's, the hype shows. Edited January 30, 2007 by LBTN Killed Monkey? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheCrippler Posted January 30, 2007 Report Share Posted January 30, 2007 Cool, I didn't know they showed full PPV's. How often do they happen then? Is it monthly? And when's the next one being shown in the UK? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The LBTN Express Posted January 30, 2007 Report Share Posted January 30, 2007 The next one is this weekend. Should be on Sunday at 9. It's the PPV that has the Quinton Jackson and Cro Cop debuts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheCrippler Posted January 30, 2007 Report Share Posted January 30, 2007 The next one is this weekend. Should be on Sunday at 9. It's the PPV that has the Quinton Jackson and Cro Cop debuts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The LBTN Express Posted January 30, 2007 Report Share Posted January 30, 2007 (edited) Anderson Silva vs. Travis Lutter Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic vs. Eddie Sanchez Quinton “Rampage” Jackson vs. Marvin Eastman Ryoto Machida vs. Sam Hoger Tyson Griffin vs. Frank Edgar Melvin Guillard vs. Dustin Hazelett Scott Smith vs. Patrick Cote Jorge Rivera vs. Terry Martin Roger Huerta vs. John Halverson Edited January 30, 2007 by LBTN Killed Monkey? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ACCBiggz Posted January 30, 2007 Report Share Posted January 30, 2007 I think that the UFC, running Ultimate Fight Nights on Spike and having events on HBO and ESPN would be amazing. It would allow more fighters to step up to the top level of the sport. Also, it would allow them to hype up the huge pay-per-view fights even more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ACCBiggz Posted January 30, 2007 Report Share Posted January 30, 2007 from Wrestling Observer: –UFC 67 line-up for Saturday in order: Off-TV Diego Saraieva vs. Dustin Hazelett Frank Edgar vs. Tyson Griffin Terry Martin vs. Jorge Rivera Sam Hoger vs. Lyoto Machida Live show Patrick Cote vs. Scott “desperation punch” Smith Marvin Eastman vs. Quinton Rampage Jackson Eddie Sanchez vs. Mirko Cro Cop John Halverson vs. Roger Huerta Anderson Silva vs. Travis Lutter for the middelweight title Depending on how the show is going, they could reverse No. 3 and No. 4, which will happen if the first two matches don’t go the distance Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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