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

[Guest Takayamanofear]

Well, it's not the main event. I guess they are gonna have some of the prelims on here to soak up the hour they have left.

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[Derek4jc]

Man...I hate Leben, but I didn't really pay attention to this fight enough to argue him winning

His little promo makes me sick though.

The Main Event Is Next!

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Well, you should (if you taped it) watch the replay. It was quite good. You may hate the guy, but he put on a good fight. If you didn't tape it, tape the replay which is directly after this to watch it. It's worth watching.

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[Your Mom]

He certainly earned that "quick" nickname!

[Cole]

Wow...22 seconds...They pull out Prelim matches because they didn't fill the time and now they are going quick too

I think at this rate we'll see atleast 2 more prelims and then the Main Event. Hell, maybe even 3 prelims.

[Guest Takayamanofear]

Damn the TUF went 4-0, apparently they are better than I thought.

[Derek4jc]

That fight was terrible. Neither guy wanted to do anything. Nate seemed to win though.

[Cole]

BOO!

Super boring match.

Almost like they were told to go all three rounds so don't tire themselves out before the 3rd round

I know thats not what happened but with such a bad fight, I'm looking for excuses.

[Hellfire]

Ugh, that fight was boring as all hell. Since I kinda forgot about this and only saw two matches, I'm gonna check out the repeat.

[ACCBiggz]

I wouldn't call it a bad fight... Stalemate, good strategic fight on both fighters parts...

Leben earned my respect tonight. I gotta say, I didn't like him during TUF, then learned he joined one of my favorite camps in Team Quest. He is also the only fighter that has inked with new company Strike or Submit, a good company ran by some cool guys. I suggest jumping over their 20 dollar deal for a shirt, wristband, and keychain.

Koscheck... sigh... there is no justice in this world.

[Fitzy]

What a horrible way to end what was otherwise a very good show. Bonnar and Hoger had the Fight of the Night with Leben and Cote in second.

[punky]

Bonnar/Hoger was definately the best fight of the night and I gotta give Sam props for showing a lot of heart in the match.

Cote/Leben was another good fight and I'm glad that Leben got the win since he looked to have the upper hand for most of the fight. Grabbed the S.O.S. flex hat already and The Crippler is gonna continue to kick some UFC ass, bitches.

[Fitzy]

For those interested, a whole new UFC Unleashed is on Spike TV right now. It is a show that is used to hype up both Liddle and Horn for their upcoming fight.

And later tonight, at 11 PM EST, they are showing The Ultimate Fight Night again, but this time, according to Meltzer, they are not airing the boring main event. Instead, they'll air a much better dark match which didn't air.

Spike is also airing a full night of UFC, with at least one episode of Unleashed as well as a repeat of Saturday night's UFC Fight Night TV special, with the boring main event being replaced by a much better Kenny Florian vs. Alex Karalexis dark match.

Edited August 12, 2005 by Fitzy

[Fitzy]

ULTIMATE FIGHT NIGHT (Spike TV) - The first live telecast of "Ultimate Fight Night" drew 2.0 million viewers on Saturday, where it topped all cable networks among adults 18-49, adults 18-34, men 18-49 and men 18-34.

[ACCBiggz]

Monday, August 15, 2005

by Josh Gross (joshg@sherdog.com)

Responding to published reports that Nathan Marquardt tested positive for steroids following his August 6 fight versus Ivan Salaverry in Las Vegas, UFC President Dana White told Sherdog.com Monday night that his company fully supports the young middleweight.

“He swears to God that he didn’t take steroids,” White said. “I believe him. I support him 100 percent. He said all he takes are supplements he buys in the health food store.”

“[Marquardt] was taking some supplements,” replied Marquardt’s long-time manager Will Hendricks when asked if the Denver, Colo.-based fighter used supplements that could be mistaken for banned performance enhancers. “I don’t really know what it was. That’s one thing they’re investigating right now.”

Marquardt was in Las Vegas Monday undergoing a new urinalysis; he also retested once in Colorado, according to White.

Hendricks told Sherdog.com his fighter “adamantly” denies the allegations put forward in the complaint from the Nevada State Athletic Commission and “believes there’s some problem with the test.”

MMAWeekly broke the news Monday evening that Marquardt’s post-fight urinalysis showed a “significant” amount of nandrolone metabolite, commonly known as “Deca.”

When asked if to his knowledge Marquardt had ever used steroids, Hendricks answered, “Absolutely not. Never. He’d be the last person in the world that would take them.”

Marquardt, whose decision victory over Salaverry was the main event on the debut of SpikeTV’s “Ultimate Fight Night,” has 20 days after receiving the official complaint to respond. Should he do so, a hearing in front of the Nevada State Athletic Commission will be set at which time the five-member regulatory body would make a ruling.

If the results are upheld, Marquardt would join Josh Barnett, Tim Sylvia, and Kimo Leopoldo as UFC fighters that tested positive for steroids in Nevada.

[Enter Blue Guy]

Also, right after Ultimate Fight Night Ivan Salaverry was dropped from the UFC.

[Thrilla]

I totally missed this thread, anyway my picks from another board

So yeah, the show is this Saturday and unless I've missed it, there hasn't been a thread made about the show

Main card:

Chuck Liddell vs Jeremy Horn - This is going to be a very hard test for Liddell and to be honest I wouldn't be surprised to see him lose this one.  The veteran Horn is a machine having won 11 of his last 12 fights in all federations, including four fights already this year.  However, Liddell has beaten three of the best fighters in the UFC weightclass in his last three fights in convincing fashion and he has the power and handspeed to put anyone down, which I think will be the decisive factor in this match.  Liddell by strikes

Randy Couture vs Mike Van Arsdale - I'm sure everyone is now hyping up the end of the Couture era with his loss to Liddell and the fact that he is 41 in a young man's sport, but I fully expect Couture to beat Van Arsdale in this match up.  Van Arsdale is now slouch, but Couture is still head and shoulders above the majority of fighters at 205, the greatest wrestling and takedowns in the division and solid G+P, I can't see a way for Van Arsdale to win the match. Couture by strikes

Frank Trigg vs Georges St. Pierre - A very solid match up here, both men have proven themselves in the UFC time and again but neither has ever managed to defeat Matt Hughes and a win here will more than likely guarentee another shot at trying to do so.  Pierre comes into the match after a win at the last show, while Trigg comes in with a loss, I'm not sure if that'll effect things either way but I wouldn't be surprised to see Trigg try to dominate early on.  Pierre with his BJJ skills should be comfortable with Trigg's wrestling offence though and I see this one on the ground a lot, I don't however see either man finishing the other off in three rounds.  Trigg by split decision

Diego Sanchez vs Brian Gassaway - First time big stage for both men, with Sanchez being the more well known of the two due to his appearance of the Ultimate Fighter Finale show.  Both have extensive fighting backgrounds, but I wouldn't be surprised to see Sanchez pick up the win here.  Sanchez by submission

Tim Sylvia vs Tra Telligman - This will be an interesting one, Telligman is an intelligent fighter and has a lot of heart, but can he overcome the sheer size and striking power of Sylvia? Arlovski and Mir have both shown that Sylvia is susceptible to submissions, but Telligman from what I've seen usually stands and dukes it out.  If he goes that route I see Sylvia dispatching him in the first round, but I'm sure Telligman who hasn't fought in the UFC in two or so years, will be looking for more than that.  Anyway, Sylvia by KO

Prelims:

Joe Doerksen vs Matt Lindland - Lindland is the main who should be king in the middleweights but always seems to slip up just as he gets towards the top of the mountain.  Hopefully they'll be no slip ups from 'The Law' and he'll pick up the victory on the prelim show.  Lindland by strikes

James Irvin vs Terry Martin - I'm still to see Super Saturday so I missed Irvin's debut against Mike Kyle, but he goes up against the undefeated Terry Martin, who makes his UFC debut at this show.  Knowing little about either man, I'd say the match could go either way, but I'm going to back Irvin.  Irvin by decision

Travis Lutter vs Trevor Prangley - Another middleweight match up.  Lutter impressed me in his two UFC showings so far, despite the loss to Lindland and Prangley has a victory in the UFC from just over a year ago at UFC 48, so both men still have something to prove in the Octagon despite their records.  Should be an interesting match, but I think Lutter will prevail.  Lutter by submission

[Enter Blue Guy]

Yeah, my predictions are already in my sig and the only I feel have any serious input on that I feel like posting is Liddell vs. Horn.

Chuck Liddell vs Jeremy Horn: Liddell by KO

It seems like the "cool" thing to do is say Jeremy Horn will beat Chuck Liddell by submission. Some are even going as far to say Chuck has no chance and Jeremy will make short, easy work out him. People are attaching themselvew to Horn's nuts and seem to forget who the hell Chuck Liddell is exactly. Is Horn a great grappler with top notch submissions? Yes. Is he a fighting machine? Yes. Has he trained his ass off harder then he ever has before for this fight? So he says. Is he a lock to beat Chuck? Not even close.

Let's start off with stand up, shall we? Horn has great stand up skills, he can throw a mean punch and take one as well. His kicks aren't too shabby either, just ask Forrest Griffin. However, not many people want to stand with Chuck... go track down Liddell's record and look at the list of fighters he's beaten since 2001... Now look at how many he's knocked the fuck out. As I said right off the bat, Horn is no slouch standing, but I'm seeing a lot of better strikers on this list that Liddell has gotten the better of.

So Horn will take him down and work his magic from there, right? It's not like Chuck has the best pound for pound takedown defence in the game today.... No wait, he does. And if you get him down, you better be ready as fuck to keep him down there. It took Randy a bitch of a time to keep Chuck on the ground and Randy Couture can take down anybody and keep them there with ease. Chuck's takedown defense is second to none and only hella strong wrestlers like Quinton Jackson and Couture have been able to take him to the ground him and keep him there. Even for them it was no walk in the park. No doubt that IF Jeremy does indeed find himself in control on the ground, it could very well be his fight for the taking. That being said, Chuck is very strong and has some good sub defense skills to go along with takedown defense. Still, I feel the only surefire way this fight going to the ground is if Chuck wants to take it there. And Chucky knows Horn works best on his back, so you know that doesn't willingly want the fight to go there.

One thing that could very well bite Chuck in the ass is his cardio. Chuck doesn't have the greatest cardio, but Horn could grapple all day and all night if he wanted to. The longer this fight goes, the better for Horn. Chuck needs to dispose of Jeremy within the first two rounds. If not, he could be in trouble. But Chuck is one of the best finishers out there and can end the fight out nowhere in a blink of an eye like none other. And he's best at doing it in the opening round.

If Chuck has any doubters left, this is the fight that he will silence them, IMO. He isn't the Light Heavyweight champ for nothing, this is a guy who has spent 4 years fighting nothing but tough, top quality opponents and knocking many of them into a coma. Mezger, Randleman, Bustamante, Babalu, Belfort, Suloev, Ortiz, White, Overeem, Couture... If that's not an impressive list of victims, I don't know what is. I'm not saying it will be impossible to Horn to beat Chuck, because it very well could happen. Horn is one of the toughest dudes out there not to get the credit he deserves and people are starting realize that more than ever from the hype surronding him in this fight. However, Chuck is on fire right now and my prediction is that Jeremy Horn will be another one of those top quality fighters under Chuck's belt. Liddell by KO.

The rest are in my sig, but if you have sigs turned off... here ya go.

Randy Couture vs Mike Van Arsdale: Couture by TKO

Frank Trigg vs Georges St. Pierre: St. Pierre by dec (it pains me to predict this fight. Two of my faves, but St. Pierre is more exciting to watch, much more likelable, and he's Canadian... Plus, he's the future... Frank Trigg can't keep this boy down, you KNOW!)

Joe Doerksen vs Matt Lindland: Doerksen by dec (Upset of the night, probably also snoozerfest of the night, even though I like Joe and admire Matt, if it goes the distance like I think it will, it'll put casual fans to sleep for sure)

Tim Sylvia vs Tra Telligman: Sylvia by KO

Diego Sanchez vs Brian Gassaway: Sanchez by sub

Travis Lutter vs Trevor Prangley: Prangley by TKO

James Irvin vs Terry Martin: Irvin by KO

I could give explanations to why I picked them this way, but I get drained easily and I'm kind of spent from typing that whole Horn/Liddell bit. Maybe later when I regain some creative energy.

Also, Tra Telligman's participation in the event is now in doubt.

MMAWeekly's Ken Pishna reports that Telligman didn't complete his medicals before arriving in Vegas. He's not injured, he just didn't complete the required tests to be cleared to fight in Nevada.

It's still unclear if Tra will be medically cleared to compete this Saturday. MMAWeekly has learned that if Telligman can't be cleared the fight will be scratched from the card. The UFC did contact several fighters to step in on short notice, but all turned the fight down.

Edited August 18, 2005 by Enter Blue Guy

[Thrilla]

The commentators usually mention the car accident at the start of the fight to explain his appearance, it does look quite strange though and I've always thought it would be a prime target for people to attack as there is no muscle to cushion a blow.

Any idea on who they contacted to possibly replace Telligman?

[Enter Blue Guy]

No idea. But Tra is good to go now, though. He has been medically cleared so Sylvia vs. Telligman is still on as the swing bout for tomorrow's pay-per-view. Thank God, I was looking forward to this fight.

[JoeMimic]

Some of the fighters i'm not too familiar with but I'll do my best here.

Chuck Liddell vs Jeremy Horn: Such a tough one to call. Chuck has so much momentum but Horn is so skilled. I'm betting on the Iceman though. Liddell by KO

Randy Couture vs Mike Van Arsdale: Van Arsdale in an upset. I love Couture but I've just got one of those gut feelings here. Still I hope Couture wins

Frank Trigg vs Georges St. Pierre: Trigg learns from not finishing off Matt Hughes and knocks out St.Pierre.

Joe Doerksen vs Matt Lindland: The Law by Rear Naked Choke

Tim Sylvia vs Tra Telligman: Sylvia by KO

Diego Sanchez vs Brian Gassaway: God I don't want to hear Diego talk. Diego by sub

Travis Lutter vs Trevor Prangley: Lutter by TKO

James Irvin vs Terry Martin: Irvin by KO