***spoilers*** UFC News and Discussion Thread

[ACCBiggz]

Heard the rumor about this awhile ago, and this is how I would have booked Vera to look credible... somewhat. Poor Mir is gonna get destroyed.

[ACCBiggz]

Josh Shockman vs. Jake O'Brien

Round 1

The first frame is all O'Brien. Jake scored three takedowns in the round and scored with some ground and pound. Sherdog.com scores it 10-9 for O'Brien.

Round 2

More of the same in the second round. O'Brien scored with several takedowns, followed more standups from referee Steve Mazzagatti. The crowd grew restless and showered the arena with boos as the pace remained slow. Sherdog.com scores the uneventful round 10-9 for O'Brien.

Round 3

Different round, same story. More takedowns from O'Brien followed by ref standups due to lack of action. Sherdog.com and the three judges' score the fight 3-27 for Jake O'Brien.

James Irvin vs. Hector Ramirez

Round 1

Ramirez charging forward with hard strikes early in the round. Irivn lands some crisp kicks to Ramirez's leg. Ramirez scores a single leg and quickly takes Irvin's back. Irvin escapes. Irvin launches a wild spinning back fist that misses. Both fighters trade punches. Ramirez scores another takedown just as the horn sounds to end the opening stanza. Sherdog.com scores it 10-9 for Ramirez.

Round 2

Irvin continues to score with the low kicks. Irivn lands a superman punch. Ramirez throws a sloppy looping punch that is countered by an Irvin straight right directly on the button. Irvin finished with a kick to the body and some some elbows to the back of his downed opponent's head. Irvin wins by TKO (Strikes) 2:36 R2.

Sherman Pendergarst vs. Antoni Hardonk

Round 1

Pendergarst scores a quick takedown. Sherman working hard with lots of punches from Hardonk's guard. The referee restarts the action to standing. Pendergarst is totally gassed out from the ground and pound he executed early in the round. Hardonk scores with a few kicks to the leg. Hardonk lands a straight left then a hard lowkick that end the fight. Hardonk wins via KO at 3:15 of the first.

Nick Diaz vs. Gleison Tibau

Round 1

Tibau stuffed an early Diaz shot and muscled the fight to the canvas. Tibau working his ground and pound from Diaz's guard. Diaz turtled and Tibau tried to take his back, but Diaz reversed the postion. Tibau then worked for an ompalata and a tight Kimura. with 1:20 left in the frame, Diaz swept and landed some nice ground and pound of his own. Sherdog.com scores the close first round 10-9 for Diaz, who stole the round in the last minute.

Round 2

Tibau pushed Diaz to the cage and worked unsuccessfully for a takedown for about 60 seconds. A visably fatigued Tibau flooped to guard. Diaz moved to knee on belly against the cage and pounded the Brazilian out. Diaz wins via TKO at 2:27 of the second round.

Joe Stevenson vs. Dokonjonosuke Mishima

Round 1

Mishima quickly throws Stevenson to the mat. Stevenson locks up a very tight guillotine but Mishima escapes. Mishima moves to side-control but Stevenson works back to guard. Stevenson locks up another guillotine but this time forces a tap. Stevenson wins via submission at 2:07 in the first round.

Brandon Vera vs. Frank Mir

Round 1

Vera with a left hook. Vera lands a straight right and a vicious knee that rocks Mir. The former champion shoots but Vera stuffs and drags him to the canvas. Vera striking from side-control. Mir is in huge trouble. The referee halts the action at the 1:09 mark.

Alessio Sakara vs. Andrew McFedries

Round 1

Right hand lands for McFedries. Sakara lands a knee from the clinch. McFedries lands a punch that briefly stuns Sakara. Sakara lands a few body punches then a straight right that ejects McFedries mouthpiece. McFedries takes the fight to the canvas after eating a Sakara right hand. Sakara starting to tee off with punches from short and long range. McFedries lands a right uppercut that drops Sakara. The American then finishes with a few punches before the referee stops the action at the 4:07 of the first.

Replays showed that Sakara tapped after McFedries pounced on him with several body shots and a heavy right punch after the delayed knockdown.

Tim Sylvia vs. Jeff Monson

A nervous looking Monson enters the cage to John Lennon’s “Imagine.” Sylvia follows to the sounds of Kanye West’s “Jesus Walks.”

Round 1

Sylvia stuffs a Monson shot. Monson shoots again but Sylvia sprawls. Monson is on his belly working for a takedown while Sylvia works his body with punches. “Big” John McCarthy restarts the action. Again Monson shoots but Sylvia has none of it. Monson lands a jab then dives in for an unsuccessful takedown. Monson lands a right hand. Sylvia has kept the fight standing but he is yet to mount any offense. Monson scores with another punch. Sherdog.com gives the round to Monson, 10-9.

Round 2

Monson lands a straight right to Tim’s body. Sylvia answers with a few jabs. Monson again tries to get the action to the canvas but Sylvia sprawls and stands over his opponent until the referee forces Monson to stand. Sylvia lands his best punch of the fight. He follows by a three punch combo that grazes. Sylvia's right hand finds its target but Monson is unfazed. Sherdog.com scores the round 10-9 for Sylvia.

Round 3

Monson quickly scores a takedown as Tim stepped into a jab. Sylvia working from his back for the first time in the bout. Monson lands a few punches from Sylvia’s guard. Sylvia scoring from the bottom with a few punches and an elbow. Monson moves to side-control. Monson goes for a guillotine but Tim escapes to north-south position. Sylvia stands up. Monson was cut from an elbow Sylvia landed from the bottom in side-control. Sylvia lands a huge knee to Monson’s body right before the horn sounds to end the round. Sherdog.com gives the frame to Sylvia 10-9.

Round 4

Monson now sporting a mouse under his right eye. Monson shoots but Sylvia ends up on top of the American Top Team Fighter. Sylvia passes to side-control. We are experiencing server issues due to heavy traffic, please bear with us. Sherdog.com scores the round 10-9 for Sylvia.

Round 5

After a few minutes of dancing, “Big” John McCarthy tells the fighters to start working. After the most boring championship round in UFC history, the bout ends to a chorus of boos. Sherdog.com scores the last round 10-9 for Sylvia.

Official score:

50-45

49-46

49-46

All for Tim Sylvia.

Matt Hughes vs. Georges St. Pierre

Round 1

The crowd chants U-S-A as the fight begins. St. Pierre is mixing up low kicks and punches effectively early in the bout. St. Pierre lands a spinning back kick. Georges continues to land a stiff jab. St. Pierre lands a groin kick. The Action stops. St. Pierre immediately kicks Hughes again in the groin. “Big” John halts the action to warn the Canadian. St. Pierre lands a right hand. He lands another then takes Hughes down to the canvas. The Canadian passes to half-guard. St. Pierre lands a knee as Hughes escapes to his feet. Hughes shoots but St. Pierre blocks it and lands a right hand. St. Pierre knocks down Hughes with a punch combo as the round ended. The first round is all St. Pierre, 10-8.

Round 2

St. Pierre lands an inside leg kick that trips up Hughes. St. Pierre lands a brutal headkick then pounces on Hughes with elbows and punches, forcing the referee to stop the fight.

Edited November 19, 2006 by ACCBiggz

[Blehschmidt]

The Country Boy Didn't Survive...........

Thank God!!!!

and that Heavyweight Title bout sounds like utter crap!

[Docpepper]

I hated the heavyweight bout especially the last round. Kinda pissed bout GSP winning but it was a good fight . Overall a good event .

[Javs]

Brandon Vera.. . Hopefully, he'll get a title shot after this. Sticking him to fight Arvloski, even though I think he would win, would be a terrible marketing decision on the UFC's part.

[VerbalPuke]

Fuck yeah, I'm so happy that St. Pierre won the gold. He's been my favorite UFC fighter since the first match of his that I saw.

I wish I hadn't fallen asleep though, as I was planning on going to my friends house for the PPV. That's no big deal though, this is good enough news for me. Now let's hope that St. Pierre can have a nice lengthy reign.

[Toe]

The Heavyweight Title fight was good until the last round. Sylvia did not throw many big shots but control the fight with his good sprawl and jab. Monson got it to the ground, but even in his own territory was controlled by Sylvia. The last round looked like Monson was too tired to go for the win, while Sylvia had too much respect for Monson's submissions to risk going for the KO.

GSP dominated over Matt Hughes. Hughes looked like he did in the early rounds against BJ Penn, and St. Pierre was landing some heavy blows. The kick that GSP smacked Hughes with was one of the best I have seen in the UFC, right up their with Pete William's kick to the face of Mark Coleman. What happens now? Does Hughes come back and go for the rematch? I have no idea, but I know that Matt Serra is going to have a really bad day when he steps into the cage with St. Pierre.

Brandon Vera and Tim Sylvia would be a good fight, because unlike Monson, Vera throws punches. Sylvia would be more inclined to be agressive and try and throw his weight around.

Edited November 19, 2006 by desiredtoe

[ACCBiggz]

The Heavyweight Title fight was good until the last round.

[Derek4jc]

I enjoyed the Heavyweight title fight too (cept for round 5, which was just the whole fatigued Monson/didn't wanna risk getting tapped when he clearly had won factor for Sylvia.) It was like a chess match, seeing who was going to be able to impose their will on the other. While sometimes the all out slugfests are more exciting, it is nice to get a fight of contrasting styles to see whose gameplan comes out on top.

GSP just utterly dominated. I picked him to win, but I didn't expect it to be like that. Wow. I'm definitely curious if Matt is going to want an immediate rematch, or what. Though it seems Serra is waiting in the wings.

By the way, anyone have any thought what was going through Alessio Sakara's head when he dropped to the ground? lol

Edited November 19, 2006 by Derek4jc

[ACCBiggz]

I'd say January or February will be GSP/Serra, Silva/Lutter, and then in May/June would be Hughes/GSP. I'd like to see Hughes/Penn III on the undercard for the #1 Contendership even though Penn is dropping to 155. I mean he had a controversial split with GSP and was owning Hughes until the whole rib thing and the series is at 1-1. Either way Penn should be #1 or #2 in the Lightweight Division already. Sanchez will be the #2 if he beats Riggs on the 13th.

Overall good card and loving the GSP.

[Toe]

I have no clue what happened to Sakara. Maybe the uppercut rocked him and his sense of balance went, maybe he was quitting, or maybe he thought he could try and fight from his back. It just looked so awkward and ended a good fight in a really strange way.

[ACCBiggz]

Rumor: UFC 68 to hail from Columbus, Ohio!

If this is true, I'm going.

[JoeMimic]

Rumor: UFC 68 to hail from Columbus, Ohio!

If this is true, I'm going.

[ACCBiggz]

It is confirmed. Silva told GSP that he will defend in Montreal, that was when GSP was going crazy and saying, "No shit!? This is like a dream come true."

But, BAH @ the notion of Sylvia/Vera, hopefully something else is on the card.

[Evansfan1]

My boy St. Pierre does it. I thought he was going to take it, but not so early in the 2nd round. Also the 2 groin kicks sound a little cheap, but who cares, he did what he had to do, win.

[ACCBiggz]

Groin kicks were unintentional. Inside leg kicks, and his ankle and/or toes would graze upwards and clip his junk. Hughes even said they didn't effect the outcome and were not intentional.

[Docpepper]

Both the Wrestling Observer and numerous independent MMAWeekly.com sources have confirmed that the Ultimate Fighting Championship has purchased, or is in the final stages of purchasing, World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC).

The Zuffa-owned WEC is expected to continue to hold shows under the WEC name and would use a UFC Octagon. Additionally, MMAWeekly has learned that WEC president Reed Harris and matchmaker Scott Adams are expected to remain with the company, and that the first WEC show to be produced under UFC ownership is an event tentatively planned for January 2007.

The Observer reports that the UFC is buying the WEC for many reasons, one of which is to serve as a venue in which to groom up-and-coming talent, and another is so that they can attempt to secure a high-profile national television deal for the WEC in a strategic maneuver to impede the chances of other MMA promotions (specifically the IFL or Pride) to secure a national TV deal in the United States.

There are only so many TV deals available for an MMA company in the United States. If a TV deal could be secured for the WEC, Zuffa would have the UFC on Spike TV, perhaps the UFC on HBO at some point, and the WEC on another network besides HDNet.

If the UFC were able to secure a deal for the WEC, this would leave any other MMA company with very limited options in terms of securing their own TV deals, with no possibility of signing with Spike TV, HBO (assuming that the UFC is able to secure some sort of deal with the premium network), Showtime (because of their agreement with Pro Elite, Inc.), and the network that would sign the WEC.

According to Ron Kruck, a broadcaster at WEC events and producer/host of WEC Exposed on HDNet, “We [HDNet] are in ongoing talks with the WEC about renewing their contract, but at this point, nothing has been signed.”

So, it appears that the HDNet deal is up in the air at this point and that the UFC may already be seeking a different outlet for their latest product.

There is definitely a higher priority being put on the television production of WEC events. Christian Printup of the Tachi Palace recently stated on WEC.tv that at least 50% of the WEC shows in 2007 are moving to the Tachi Palace’s new indoor venue, even though it is somewhat smaller than the outdoor venue where most WEC events have been held. His reasoning: “The new capacity is 1,450, and the [indoor] venue is better designed for a television audience... the [outdoor venue] was 1,800 capacity.”

As previously reported by MMAWeekly, Zuffa co-owner Lorenzo Fertitta and president Dana White were sitting in the audience at WEC 24 on October 12th. Now, with the purchase of the WEC, it has become pretty clear why they were in attendance.

[Gene Kiniski]

Holy shit.

This is amazing to say the least. I can't wait to see what comes out of this. Great news for UFC none the less.

[destroyed]

WWE next on UFC's hitlist?

[Enter Blue Guy]

WFA has the contract rights to fighters like former UFC middlewight #1 contender Matt Lindland, former Pride Middleweight #1 contender Quinton Jackson, former Pride Heavyweight #1 contender Heath Herring, as well as many other stand out talents. The interesting thing is that some of the WFA fighters are not under exclusive contracts and fight in other promotions. Example, Matt Lindland is contracted to fight in WFA, as well as IFL. So I'm not sure how that will work in terms of who gets the sole ownership if one of these fighter's contracts if they were purchased. Also, I think Bas Rutten may still be under contract to WFA in some way, shape, or form. Bas on commentary would be big time.

All this on top of the still pending decision on Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic's future is making this quite possibly the biggest powerplay in MMA history.

As you may or may not know, the future of Pride's big Openweight Grand Prix winner, Mirko Cro Cop, is up in the air right now. He is juggling offers from the UFC, Pride, and another unnamed US MMA promotion and was slated to announce his decision on Sunday. According to Mirko himself, the offer from the UFC is the best, but didn't comment on which contract he is favoring. Smart money says he stays with Pride, but with talks of a potential Pride buyout as well, and Zuffa seemingly taking no prisoners, anything could happen. The announcement was never made, but to stir things up a bit, the UFC is no stranger to delaying their biggest announcements for live on-air audiences.

UFC is starting to go the way of Vince McMahon. With Zuffa and DSE (owners of Pride) recently in talks in regards to a possible sale of Pride (don't get excited as nothing has come of it yet), UFC taking control of WFA assets, which was a promotion trying to make themselves direct competition to the UFC, and the addition of a UFC feeder promotion in the WEC, the UFC is taking aim at making the MMA a complete monopoly.

Edited December 12, 2006 by Enter Blue Guy