The UFC Results

More information has become available since news broke that Mark Cuban of HDNet is taking Zuffa (UFC) to court. Randy Couture has signed a contract with HDNet that is going to be activated once the promotional end of Couture’s contract expires.

The speculation all points to a mega-fight between Fedor and Couture in Dallas, Texas. This contract is necessary because without it there would be no basis for HDNet to take the UFC to court. The angle Mark Cuban is trying to use is that the UFC is putting into place an illegal block on Randy Couture’s ability to practice his trade. What makes this even more interesting is that Texas law prohibits indefinite employment restrictions.

This is enormous news for MMA fans and what is happening is a great thing. We love the UFC and what it has done for MMA but their abusive tactics are too much at times and hurt the sport and the fans that line their pockets. This all could have been avoided if the UFC would have not been so stiff when trying to aquire Fedor.

Popularity: 17% [?]

Mirko “Cro Cop” has announced that he is leaving the UFC today. There have been rumblings of contractual issues between the UFC and Mirko for the last couple of days. Speculation has been that the UFC is considering him to be too expensive for the disappointing 1-2 record. He has signed with a new company called Dream which is a collective project of a few MMA organizations (K-1, Heroes, Former Pride Management). “Cro Cop” never really found his feet in the Octagon, which is really too bad. Despite his last two showings “Cro Cop” is one of the best fighters in the world. The UFC has landed some huge names recently but not getting Gomi, Fedor and now losing “Cro Cop” is a bit frustrating for fans. The UFC is giving of the vibe that they only care about what is best for the UFC not for MMA as a whole, or for the fans that line their pockets.

Popularity: 17% [?]

Tim Sylvia has recently commented in his forum that “I have one fight left on my contract I want to stay with the UFC but I am going to go were the money is right now Brock is making more money then me that has to change I have a better name then him and I am a better fighter then him, in case u didn’t know my manager runs m1 so I have a pretty good in so we will see what happens in the next few months.”

Since he has that in with M1, this could actually provide the organization with a real heavy weight for Fedor to fight. This could be very, very interesting to see. Even though we would much rather see Fedor and Couture, this potential fight would at least give us something to speculate on. Would Fedor be able to finish, will he be able to stand up with Sylvia, etc, there are so many comparisons to made.

Even though we are not real hot on Tim Sylvia, he has been the champ twice, and is very well known in the UFC. If the UFC were to lose him it would be a huge blow and only thin out the already thinning heavy weight division more.

Popularity: 19% [?]

Chuck Liddell and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua are set to fight at UFC 85 in London. Like every fight in the UFC it could be scheduled today and canceled tomorrow, but let’s cross our fingers.

This is a very good test for Chuck Liddell. Yes, he just beat Wanderlei Silva (see the quick UFC 79 Results) but people have questioned him recently because he has suffered some pretty nasty knockouts in his last few fights. But when it comes down to it Chuck Liddell still beat Wanderlei Silva! Since Liddell lost to Keith Jardin he has so much to prove and the UFC is not letting him off the hook with Mauricio “Shogun” Rua.

Shogun is a scary fighter. There were rumors of him being injured before the Forest Griffin fight, but he still lost, and lost decisively. An injury can hurt a fighter’s confidence, so a healthy, fired up Shogun coming off of a loss is a lot to handle for Liddell. If Shogun beats The Iceman he is back but will either face Griffin for a title shot (if Griffin wins) or will face Griffin for a rematch before moving on to fight Rampage.

The title shot route for Liddell will probably be similar. The UFC management wants to make as much money as possible. Chuck Liddell is a money maker, especially when he is trying to get revenge. If Liddell gets passed Rua, Rampage/Liddell 3 is almost inevitable. So I guess we just sit back and watch the 205 lbs. fireworks go off!

Popularity: 19% [?]

Antonio Rodrigo “Minotauro” Nogueira vs. Tim Sylvia
Winner: Antonio Rodrigo “Minotauro” Nogueira via Submission (guillotine choke)

Frank Mir vs. Brock Lesnar
Winner: Frank Mir via submission (kneebar)

Nate Marquardt vs. Jeremy Horn
Winner: Nate Marquardt via submission (guillotine choke)

Alan Belcher vs. Ricardo Almeida
Winner: Ricardo Almeida via submission (guillotine choke)

Tyson Griffin vs. Gleison Tibau
Winner: Tyson Griffin via unanimous decision

Chris Lytle vs. Kyle Bradley
Winner: Chris Lytle via technical knockout (strikes)

Tim Boetsch vs. David Heath
Winner: Tim Boetsch via technical knockout (strikes)

Terry Martin vs. Marvin Eastman
Winner: Marvin Eastman via unanimous decision

Keita Nakamura vs. Rob Emerson
Winner: Rob Emerson via split decision

Popularity: 26% [?]