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

[Toe]

Ahhh. Thanks.

[Fitzy]

UFC's proposed show for 10/3 on Spike could be in trouble as Stephan Bonnar, figured to be the biggest draw on the show, suffered a clean break of his right hand in training and won't be able to fight. Bonnar was scheduled against James Irvin in the main event for a show that now has to be seriously considered whether it's a good idea to go forward with.

[Enter Blue Guy]

Damnit, I was looking forward to seeing Bonnar KO Irvin. Hopefully he'll recover quickly.

Oh well, the fight I'm looking forward to most is still there, Evan Tanner vs. David Loiseau. And I'm pretty sure Loiseau vs. Tanner was supposed to be the main event, even before this incident.

I'm interested to see who they put in Bonnar's place, if anybody. Maybe they'll just scrap it entirely.

What else is on that card.. Chris Leben vs. Edwin Dewees could be good. I dunno. I really hope they find a suitable replacement for Bonnar instead of just taking the fight out, I really want to see somebody maul Irvin.

Hopefully this card will have some exciting sleeper fights on it that nobody will expect.

At least TUF 2 Finale is looking great so far. Diego Sanchez vs. Nick Diaz and Karo Pariysan vs. Matt Hughes?!? That's amazing. That's almost Welterweightmania right there. And with St. Pierre vs. Sean Sherk a few weeks after at UFC 56, the UFC Welterweight division is on fire. Man, the UFC could so easily hold a kick ass Welterweight tourney right now. Assuming they can stay in close connections with Jorge Gurgel and Joe Stevenson after TUF 2 wraps up, this could easily be pound for pound the best weight class in all of MMA today. But remembering the many times the UFC screwed up with their purely awesome Lightweight Division, who knows. One day you have guys BJ Penn, Caol Uno, Yves Edwards, Genki Sudo, Josh Thomson, Hermes Franca, Din Thomas, and Matt Serra repping a flawless LW division then what seems like the next day you have nothing (well, not nothing, Serra is Welterweight now and I'm assuming Yves and Josh will return to the UFC sometime.. hopefully) .... I mean how could you screw a division that awesome, that badly. Thankfully, UFC keeps their Welterweight division on high accord, so the same thing probably won't happen, but still. Every time I think about how badly UFC dropped the ball with the LW division I get sick to my stomach.

Edited September 20, 2005 by Enter Blue Guy

[Farmer Reil]

I'm not exactly the biggest UFC fan ever, but I follow it moderaterly closely and I've never even heard of Stephan Bonnar.

Since when was he a bigger draw than Evan Tanner and David Loiseau?

Edit: Ah, Ultimate Fighter guy... that explains why I'd never heard of him

But still, he's had four fights in the UFC, and three of them were on Ultimate Fighter. How does that make him a bigger draw than Tanner? I know this a Spike show, and TUF was on Spike, but the majority of people that watch TUF would be at least familiar with UFC, yes? So...

Edited September 21, 2005 by TheReilDeal

[Enter Blue Guy]

Bonnar is one of the poster boys of not only UFC and TUF, but almost Spike in general. All the casual fans who only watched UFC mainly through TUF know who Bonnar is and how he fights. All his bouts have been on cable TV free of charge, casual fans love him, most dedicated UFC fans enjoy his fights and respect him as well. Sure Tanner is still very popular with the diehard fans, and while casuals may know of him, many of those who followed just UFC on Spike aren't not half as familiar with him as they're with Bonnar. Both fan bases, both casual and dedicated, can identify with Bonnar, while really only those who have seen the DVDs or watch the PPVs can really identify Evan Tanner. Still, Tanner vs. Loiseau should be great.

[Guest G3NXCMF]

I don't know if it was a new show because I don't normally watch but the Maniac Silvia just grabbed the Heavyweight Title in the first round. Pretty impressive.

And the Crow hit a really good kick in his bout for the win.

[Fitzy]

That's UFC Unleashed, which is just a one hour show of rights (most of the time usually featuring the top stars on the upcoming PPV being highlighted) from various UFC PPVs. It's not a new, live (or taped) show. TThey do, though, have free live shows on Spike TV once in a while. This Saturday they have the live three hour fight featuring the Ultimate Fighter finales and The Ultimate Fighter season one middleweight winner Diego Sanchez vs. Nick Diaz.

[Enter Blue Guy]

Bolded are the previously announced main events for the show.

Are you ready for a USA vs Canada battle? It's happening at UFC 58 most likely on March 4th from the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. MMAWeekly.com has learned that the rumors of a USA vs Canada card at UFC 58 are in fact true, with a minor change to the card.

It looks as though it will be Joe Doerksen squaring off against Nathan Marquardt at UFC 58. There were a few combinations out there that involved Marquardt. There was talk that Ivan Salaverry would get a rematch or Marquardt could possibly face Jeremy Horn, but Doerksen will be the man squaring off against Marquardt. Many believe if Marquardt can get the win, that would set up a title shot for Marquardt.

Speaking of the 185lbs title, Rich Franklin will be the featured main event putting his title on the line going against David Loiseau for the 185lbs title. Georges St. Pierre will square off against BJ Penn continuing the Canada vs USA theme.

There is talk of Jonathan Goulet on this card facing Diego Sanchez, but Duane "Bang" Ludwig has something to say about that, as Ludwig squares off against Goulet on Monday's Spike TV show.

Some other names that are rumored to be on the card are Mike Swick (depends on his health), Sam Stout vs Kenny Florian, and Seth Petruzelli vs. Rob MacDonald.

Credit: MMAWeekly.com

[naiwf]

Any word on when we might see Joe Stevenson, Rashad or Luke Cummo? It seems kind of weird that a whole bunch of TUF 2 rejects are possibly going to get paydays before 'The Big 3'.

[Enter Blue Guy]

To the best of my knowledge Joe is still recovering from his shoulder injury that he got in training for his fight with Luke. Besides that, nobody is sure whether he'll fight at 170 or 155.

I have no clue what Rashad and Luke are doing for sure as I never bothered to really look into it. I'm guessing for a guy like Luke it's hard to find a place for him at Welterweight right now when it's stacked to the brim. We'll see him soon, no doubt. And Rashad is most likely going down to 205, not sure when he'll fight though.

[Guest Takayamanofear]

Since the Ultimate Fighter 2 people are not seen as popular as the UF1 people. I am pretty sure that they are going have a few matches on the UFN to make sure they are PPV worthy.

[Enter Blue Guy]

Yeah, it's probably best that the more regarded and potential bankable fighters from the TUF test the waters on UFN's and unaired prelims fighter lower classed or other up and coming fighters before being thrown into big bouts. See the Nathan Quarry disaster. He was thrown into the fire far too soon against Rich Franklin and got burned. Badly. If they see a future with these tough guys, they should be putting them up against C and eventually B level fighters to see they can hold their own and work up from there. Personally, I felt they put Diego up against Nick Diaz a fight or two too soon, fortunately, it turns out he can hold his own against tough company and won. However, that win was by no means an indication he is ready for guys like BJ Penn, Matt Hughes, or Georges St. Pierre.

And Forrest Griffin is fighting a guy the caliber of Tito Ortiz waaay too soon. Forrest is talented, he has a bright future, and who knows, he may win it... But personally, it's too risky for my liking. Too risky for a guy that the UFC holds so much stock in to be their next flag bearer. If Tito beats Forrest, I mean not just beats him, but HANDLES him, that's gotta fade his star something big. Not only is it a loss only a few fights into his UFC career, not only is it a loss on his first PPV main event... but it's also against Tito Ortiz, a guy who will rub it in your face and let you know you lost, then walk right over you as if were nothing to begin with. And fans will remember it. And if Forrest wins? Well, does that not put a damper on the short term plans of the UFC? Let's say Forrest beats Ortiz, makes him look silly, outclasses him, and all that jazz. This is a guy the UFC is banking on to bring in ratings with TUF 3 and the inevitable rematch again Shamrock on PPV. Sure, fans will tune into TUF to see the drama unfold between Ken and Tito, and no doubt a Ken vs. Tito headlined PPV will still draw big, but personally, I can see a clean cut loss, convincing loss to Forrest Griffen on Ortiz' return bout taking a toll on how serious the viewers take not only Tito, but Ken as well. I can see casual fans thinking, "oh yeah, a TUF guy whooped Chetto Ortiz and Ortiz whooped Ken" and whatnot... You get my drift. It won't effect it huge, because I bet most people wouldn't mind seeing Griffin putting the beating on Chetto and anytime Ken and Ortiz face off, big bucks are gonna come in, but like I said, it would effect how seriously people see the fight being and as well as how serious they see Tito especially in the long run. The best case scenario is that this fight is an all out war with potential for a rematch. Wrong time for this fight to be taking place, for both men. Besides, the odds are obviously in Ortiz' favor and for good reason.

[Enter Blue Guy]

The official poster for the event. I think it looks pretty fucking awesome.

[Toe]

That UFC 58 card is looking stacked. I would so want to see that one! It's going to be bloody, as Franklin is going up against an expert with the elbows.

And I didn't know there was a UFC Ultimate Fight Night coming up on Monday!

[Troy Maskell]

Tito Ortiz vs Forrest Griffin

[GRIFT]

How far off do you think St. Pierre is from a title shot?

[ACCBiggz]

If he beats Penn he's got it next. I believe it's basically a Penn/GSP #1 Contender's type of Fight.

I like both Ace and Loiseau, GSP and Penn, so I refuse to make predictions, although I will most likely

[GRIFT]

I've really taken to GSP in the last few months. There is something very likeable about him and his fighting style... and I fucking hate Hughes, and he seems to be the only person who can get the belt off him.

[Enter Blue Guy]

Biggz is on the money, winner of this fight is gets the winner of the title fight between Matt Hughes and Karo Parisyan which should go down at UFC 59. In fact, if Karo wasn't injured before UFC 56 and BJ Penn wasn't resigned, GSP would've been facing Hughes (or who ever would have won between Karo and Hughes) for the belt at 58.

Really, BJ Penn and GSP could easily both be just given title shots right now. Seeing as BJ never lost the welterweight title in the first place and he made Hughes his bitch inside the first round, I would have liked to see him get the shot first. Personally, I don't think Karo deserved a title shot before GSP, so to further what I would've done in my fantasy scenario, I'd make GSP vs. Karo II for the numero uno contendership and the winner faces to face Hughes or Penn. I'm not complaining though, I like this deal as well.

Loiseau vs. Franklin should be freakin' amazing. I think a lot of people don't realize just how dangerous Loiseau can be and he's more of a threat to Franklin than Evan Tanner ever was. Very explosive, likes to push the pace, extremely dangerous in the clinch, a terror when he's on top of you. Especially with those elbows. They're fucking apocalyptic. This should be a hell of a close fight, dare I say a war.

Edited January 13, 2006 by Enter Blue Guy 27

[Blehschmidt]

I have been watching a ton of UFC lately, and I really think that Loiseau is going to beat Franklin. Those elbows of his are just so freaking dangerous.

I fully agree that it is way too early for Griffin to be fighting Ortiz. While I dislike Ortiz, I think he will dispatch Forrest handily, and that's not a good thing since UFC is trying to build Griffin up like the golden boy of the company.

Lastly, I can not wait for Arlovski v.s. Mir. The big problem is, that if Arlovski decimates Mir like he has everyone else....who the hell is left for him to fight in UFC?

Andrei is my favorite fighter these days, and while I know fights against CroCop and Fedor would be amazing...I wouldn't get to see them...so I really hope UFC can pull in some more Heavyweight Talent.