Category: Events (Page 24 of 45)

UFC Live 4: A reason to get on Facebook

June 25, 2011 / Drew Ellis

If you weren’t on Facebook before, the UFC is giving you plenty of reason to do it now.

Once again, the premiere MMA organization is airing preliminary fights for an event on the social media network.

This Sunday, UFC Live 4 featured four main card bouts, but will have 7 prelim fights, and all will air live on Facebook, starting at 4:55 p.m.

Now, I am a big fan of watching any fight, but the UFC Live 4 prelims are really an impressive set of bouts.

The first fight of the night will feature Michael Johnson, who was a punch or two away from winning the Ultimate Fighter Season 13.

Then you have fighters like Joe Lauzon and Daniel Roberts taking the octagon and an impressive lightweight showdown from Charles Oliveira and Nik Lentz.

You also have the featherweight debuts from Joe Stevenson and Tyson Griffin. Griffin will face off with Manny Gamburyan in a bout that I personally think will be a PPV quality fight.

I have to hand it to the UFC. Years ago, you used to have to buy the event DVD to watch prelim fights, but now, they are providing them through all sorts of means, including YouTube and Facebook.

So, once again, if you haven’t “Liked” the UFC on Facebook, you better do it before 5 p.m. tomorrow, or you are going to miss out on some impressive fights.

Events, Fighters, News, UFC

Charles Oliveira Daniel Roberts Facebook Joe Lauzon Joe Stevenson Manny Gamburyan Michael Johnson Nik Lentz Tyson Griffin UFC Live 4

Are Kenny Florian’s Elbows Too Dangerous?

June 24, 2011 / Drew Ellis

It isn’t uncommon to see a fighter get bloodied up in the octagon, especially when they are fighting Kenny Florian.

The UFC veteran has opened up many a fighter with his razor-sharp elbows, including his latest opponent, Diego Nunes, at UFC 131.

With the Florian vs. Nunes fight long overweight, the Nunes camp is now calling for Florian’s elbows to be looked at, according to Tatame.

Coach of Diego Nunes and head-coach of Nova Uniao, Andre Pederneiras assigned his student’s loss to Kenny Florian, in UFC 131, to the blood loss during the combat.
“Those elbows, the way I see it, for where they hit him, should be reanalyzed… I’m not taking Kenny Florian’s credits for the win, not at all, but I took some pictures of Diego’s head, and I want to send it to UFC, asking them if those spots are legal. I don’t want them to change the result of the fight, because Florian was better and earned it, but I want to know if it’s legal so that I can tell my students to do it. Sometimes the rules change and we lose a fight for a silly detail”, said Andre, who complimented the Brazilian fighter, but commented on his mistakes.

Florian has stopped a few fights in his career from elbows, but all is within the rules.

Should the UFC take another look at their rules, or is this just crying over spilled milk?

What’s your take on deadly elbows?

Events, Fighters, UFC

Diego Nunes Kenny Florian UFC 131

You can’t be serious: Ken Shamrock and James Toney to fight

June 24, 2011 / Drew Ellis

April Fools!

Wait…..it’s June. So does that mean this is real?

Well, according to MMAFighting.com, it is happening.

Most people believed the multi-divisional boxing champion was one and done in the sport after losing to Randy Couture last August, but nearly a year after the disastrous debut, Toney has decided to return for another go-round. Toney and MMA pioneer Ken Shamrock have both signed on the dotted line to oppose each other in a fall event that is still being planned.
Toney’s trainer Trever Sherman confirmed the matchup to MMA Fighting.
BJPenn.com first reported the matchup, attaching it to a September 23 date in El Paso, Texas. Sherman, though, said to his knowledge, neither a date or location has been finalized. He said that Toney, Shamrock, their management teams and event promoters would meet this Saturday night to further discuss particulars.

The worst part about this matchup is that Toney could actually win and think that he is good at MMA. Shamrock is currently 2-7 in his last 9 fights and has shown little ability to still compete against anyone in MMA.

Toney was manhandled by Randy Couture at UFC 118, his only MMA contest. Still, he has the punching power to KO Shamrock if the aging veteran can’t get the fight to the ground.

Either way, a fighter is getting an undeserved win on his record when this bout is over.

Events, Fighters, News

James Toney Ken Shamrock Randy Couture

UFC Live 4 Odds: Story Favored To Beat Marquardt

June 23, 2011 / Drew Ellis

The odds for UFC Live 4 have been released, courtesy of BetOnFighting.com, and there are some interesting betting lines for the event.

In the main event, Rick Story is actually favored at -130 against Nate Marquardt, who is making his welterweight debut with a money line of +100.

Story is on a nice run, but Marquardt seems to have the better package to me. Marquardt may not be getting the respect due to his past struggles with wrestlers, but Story doesn’t have the same size that Marquardt had to deal with when he fought the likes of Chael Sonnen and Yushin Okami.

In the co-main event, Cheick Kongo is favored to beat Pat Barry as Kongo has a line of -205 while Barry has odds of +165.

Kongo has the experience factor on Barry, who has still not quite lived up to his potential. Barry has really been drilling his ground game, which will be key in this contest.

For complete odds for each of Sunday’s fights, check out the jump.

Betting Odds, Events, Fighters, News, UFC

Cheick Kongo Nate Marquardt Pat Barry Rick Story UFC Live 4

UFC Live 4 Preview: Pat Barry vs. Cheick Kongo

June 22, 2011 / Drew Ellis

The heavyweight division is too big for the likes of Pat Barry and Cheick Kongo to both survive.

So, that is why it is important for both men to get a win on Sunday night when they face off at UFC Live 4 from the Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh.

Here is a look at both sluggers coming into this contest.

Pat Barry (6-2) – Pat Barry is a legend in his own mind. The kickboxer has some tremendous skills, but his failure to build on those skills have led to some poor losses to Tim Hague and Mirko CroCop. Barry has the skills to beat a lot of top level fighters, but he needs to develop better grappling skills and have more of a killer instinct. In this fight, he will likely have a striking edge, but he will lack the overall size that Kongo has and may not have the grappling skills to match his opponent.

Cheick Kongo (15-6-2) – Kongo isn’t as intimidating as he looks. He fights very stiff and doesn’t have a lot of good technique in any area of the fight game. His striking can be powerful, but it isn’t crisp. His grappling is okay, but not great. For this fight, he isn’t going to want to stand in front of Barry much, as he will have to eat some pretty bad leg kicks to do so. Look for Kongo to fight in the clinch and put his weight on Barry to tire him out.

Who Will Win: This is a tough one to call. Both men have obvious flaws. I think Barry has more potential, but Kongo has the experience to win this fight. I think Barry’s lack of grappling skills will be a big factor in this contest. As much as I would like to see a kickboxer like Barry win, I think Kongo will pull out a decision in this one.