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Press Release

BILOXI, Miss. (May 21, 2009) – Fresh off his 24-second destruction of Mike Cook, former WWE superstar Bobby Lashley called his June 27th showdown against Bob “The Beast” Sapp in the “Ultimate Chaos” pay-per-view event headliner, live from the Mississippi Gulf Coast Coliseum in Biloxi, Mississippi, the “Battle of the Giants.”

Ultimate Chaos,” presented by Prize Fight Promotions and Fight Force International, in association with the Mississippi Gulf Coast Coliseum, Treasure Bay Casino and Budweiser, is being produced and distributed by Gotham MMA and Integrated Sports at 9:00PM ET/6:00PM PT in the United States and Canada on cable and satellite Pay Per View via iNDemand, TVN, DirecTV, Bell TV, Shaw, Star Choice and Viewer’s Choice for a suggested retail price of only $29.95.

The 6-2, 255-pound Lashley, 3-time NAIA wrestling champion at Missouri Valley College, is an incredible physical specimen. Bobby joined the U.S. Army and was a 2-time Armed Forces Champion and 2002 Military Games Championship silver medalist. Two years ago, the chiseled Lashley became a WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) superstar, joining Donald Trump at Wrestlemania 23 in a bet against WWE president Vince McMahon. Lashley won the match and helped Trump shave McMahon’s head in the ring.

Bobby’s third pro MMA fight was a major hit last weekend as he displayed tremendous power submitting Cook, who had taunted the unbeaten Lashley by wearing a pro wrestling-type mask into their fight, with a near spine-snapping Guillotine choke. Bobby looked like a much more polished MMA fighter than he did in his previous three-round decision against Jason Guida.

“He tried to get in my head but I wasn’t going to let him,” Bobby explained. “He probably saw that the opponent in my previous fight had gotten a little in my head, but I learned from that experience and just shrugged it off this time. I trained hard and knew I was ready for that fight. My cardio was great and I worked on my boxing. I’ve reached a level of validation. When he put that mask on, I was only concerned with being validated to my opponent. The WWE thing will always be there, whether I have three or 300 MMA fights, but I’m glad that I have that WWE fanbase.”

Lashley fights a larger man for the first time in MMA action when he steps into the cage against an imposing 6-4, 350-pound Sapp (10-3-1), who played in the NFL for four years before becoming an iconic combat fighter in Japan, where he starred in PRIDE and K-1.

“Most heavyweights (in MMA) weigh 230-240 and that’s the size of guys I’ve fought,” Lashley said. “But I’m fighting a huge opponent in this coming fight. This guy must have weighed 370 at the press conference. Even if he gets down to 340, he’ll still outweighs me by around 85 pounds. Sapp’s really aggressive and I know he’s going to come out hard. He won’t be able to go through me, though. He’s strong but his weakness is in the gas tank, even though I know he’s training hard for this fight. It’s going to be a good fight.

“We liked this fight when it was first offered. When I fight there’s always been a ‘but’ after it. It was a good fight but …….fill in the blank. Well, I’m fighting a bigger guy who’s popular overseas. I don’t think this fight will go long. It certainly won’t be a long, drawn-out fight. There will be a lot of heavy blows, lots of banging – ‘Battle of the Giants!’ I’m training right now back home in Colorado. I like working in the altitude but I’ll probably make a brief trip to train (with American Top Team) in Florida where there are a lot of big guys at our fight club. I may have to stack three guys up (to simulate Sapp, Bobby jokingly said). I have some big guys here I’m training with. They not be quite as big as Sapp, but they’re big, very strong and have heavy hands like Bob.”

Controversial Dutch heavyweight Gilbert “The Hurricane” Yvel (35-13-3) takes on 3-time UFC title challenger Pedro “The Rock” Rizzo (16-8-0) in an intriguing co-feature. Former King Of The Cage and Gladiator Challenge champion Javier “Showtime” Vasquez (12-2-0) meets dangerous lightweight Din “Dinyero” Thomas (24-8-0), star of The Ultimate Fighter 4; Canadian lightweight sensation Chris “The Polish Hammer” Horodecki (12-1-0) faces 4-time World Muay Thai champion William “The Bull” Sriyapai (12-4-0).

Also fighting on the card are welterweights Brett Cooper (8-4-0) vs. Waachiim “Native Warrior” Spirit Wolf (5-4), Affliction vice president Tom Atencio (1-0) vs. pro debuting lightweight Randy Hedderick, middleweight James Orso (8-3-0) vs. Colby McMahan (3-1-0), The Ultimate Fighter 3 star Danny Abbadi (3-4-0) vs. veteran middleweight Lance Thomson (4-2-0); welterweight Eric Bradley (2-1-0), 2-time All-America wrestler and 2003 NCAA boxing champion at Penn State, vs. Belfast, Northern Ireland brawler Colin McKee (3-2-0). All fights and fighters are subject to change.

Tickets are priced at $25.00 (limited discount seating), $40.00 (general admission) and $55.00 (premium reserved seating) and sale at the Mississippi Gulf Coast Coliseum and all TicketMaster outlets.

For more information go to www.theultimatechaos.com, www.fightforce.org or www.mscoastcoliseum.com. Doors open at 5PM/CT, first fight 6 PM/CT, and the first PPV fight is at 8 PM/CT.

 

- So there we have it’s now 100% official! I am just hoping Bravo or another satellite channel in the UK grab the chance to air this for us MMA fans not stateside.

 

MMA blog by Dynamite Duane

duane@bluraymma.com

www.myspace.com/dynamite_duane

Michael ‘The Count’ Bisping is pleased to be in the lead once again but will
Team UK maintain their lead over their American counterparts – Team USA?

The next pair of Welter Weights to compete on TUF 9 will be Brit and Wolfslair graduate David Faulkner taking on the American Jason Pierce. A bit of an odd matchup in the sense that these 2 have bonded well and become good mates. All of that will have to be left behind when they enter the UFC octagon.

Ginger haired Richie Whitson has the contagious skin condition Impetigo,
fellow American Jason Pierce is paranoid about catching it, hoping to prevent the spread to him and everyone else he sprays a can of disinfectant all over the TUF house.

Pierce has an ankle injury giving him bother in trainin, which doesn’t bode well going into his fight versus Faulkner.

Mike Bisping employs the use of a slegde hammer and a massive 6 foot wide tractor tyre for Team UK fighters which doesn’t go smoothly to say the least!  One wack of the hammer misses the tyre denting the floor while someone else breaks the mat!

Back over in the American camp Pierce grumbles about the way he is being pushed physcially. Dripping in sweat Pierce quits the sparring session inside the cage. Some of his team mates get the impression Pierce does not want to fight Faulkner. We have the same old story of Team USA not sticking together as a unit.

You remember the sledge hammer incidents? Well there was one more, Faulkner accidently hit his own leg causing himself an injury resulted in the need for antibiotics due to infection. Pre fight it doesn’t look for positive for either welter weight fighter.

Time for some fun games as this week is the Coaches Challenge. UFC main man Dana White chooses tennis of all things. The money on the table is $1500 each for the winning team. Dan Henderson turns out to the better man on the court and there is a lot barracking from the USA team mates. Bisping wins some games but ultimately gets thrashed by Hendo to the pleasure of the American TUF 9 contestants. Bisping was peeed off at the jibes aimed at his pale legs.

The programme makers keep us in suspense as to wether the welter weight matchup will happen as a lightweight clash is announced for between American Richie Whitson and Brit battler Ross Pearson from Sunderland. Dan Henderson has high hopes for Whitson one of his proteges. Before their fight Richie celebrates his birthday with a surprise cake complete with candles courtesy of the UFC.

Both Whitson and Pearson make the required 155 lbs weight bracket at the weigh-ins. Pearson looks to be a real force to be contended with for Whitson.

Round 1)
The fight is a real rough and tough brawl. Whitson receives a slamming from the aggressive Pearson. During Whitson’s takedown attempt on Pearson the Brit strikes the American straight in the face kneeing him. Due to Whitson’s position the blow was illegal, consequently he Ross Pearson loses one point and Whitson is allowed a timeout. The timeout does ginger haired Whitson no favours as Pearson snatches a the tapout victory via Armbar submission. A win for Pearson and Bisping’s Team UK extend their lead over their American opposition.

UK 4-2 USA.

The action and excitement gets better each week. Next we’ll finally see what transpires between David Faulkner and Jason Pierce.

Make sure you tune into Virgin 1 every Sunday at 11pm in the UK on Freeview TV, Sky or Virgin Media. Setanta Sports subscribers can catch The Ultimate Fighter second showing every Wednesday. Over in the States the programme is aired on Spike TV a few days earlier.

MMA blog by Dynamite Duane

duane@bluraymma.com

www.myspace.com/dynamite_duane

UFC 98 is fast approaching with just a week to go until May 23rd when the UFC return to Las Vegas and live PPV cage fighting action. The original plan for the main event was all set to decide the UFC Heavyweight championship between Interim champ Frank Mir and defending champion Brock Lesnar in his first title defence but as we all now know that fight is rescheduled for UFC 100 in July.  So we have a little longer to wait but the double main event heading UFC 98 looks wicked.

First off in the top slot Rashad Evans defends the Light Heavyweight crown against challenger Lyoto Machida. For Rashad this will be his first defence of the title against Machida, a very worthy contender. Machida is undeated in the octagon boasting a unique style of countering his opponents attack coupled with a fantastic ability to avoid taking punishment from his attacker. Evans versus Machida the Karate master will be interesting seeing as they are stylistic so different where Evans is a superb wrestler and excellent striker. Can Evans overcome Machida’s strategy or will Lyoto continuing his winning streak and add the UFC Light Heavyweight belt to his trophy cabinet?

Check out this highlight preview video at youtube.com to wet your appetite for their light heavyweight championship showdown next weekend.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBzYdPq59kw

The co-headliner for UFC 98 will be the long-delayed welterweight
bout between Matt Hughes and Matt Serra. This one is a grudge match dating back to season 6 of The Ultimate Fighter where Serra and Hughes were the opposing coaches of the welterweight fighters. These guys just do not like each other, it’s as simple as that. Each fighter are two totally opposite characters. Hughes is the Mid-Western famer’s boy with Christian values, then we have Serra a loud mouthed Italian American hailing from New York. It’s fair to say both fighters need to prove themselves in this fight to climb back up to the challengers position for another shot at Georges St Pierre’s Welterweight belt. As with Machida and Evans here again Joe Silva and Dana White have booked another clash of styles which is what makes an exciting fight when you have wrestler against a BJJ submission specialist.  Personally I would love to see Serra take the victory due to how Serra comes across as a nice guy and Hughes is the villain you love to hate.

Follow the build up to Matt Serra versus Matt Hughes at UFC98.
If you enjoyed watching Serra on TUF 6 you will love this, he’s a great little character. Serra is a down to earth engaging guy you would want to go for a beer with.

Matt Serra UFC 98 Video Blog – Day 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rb4bK8K2sUQ

Matt Serra UFC 98 Video Blog – Day 2, taped on 5/6/09
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvrkaRUTcCM

Matt Serra UFC 98 Video Blog – Day 3 Matt Serra UFC 98 Video Blog – Day 3 (Last Day, taped on 5/8)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhuCp5BUDo4

See Serra and his trainer make media appearances on TV and radio,
including a phone in to Setanta Sports Ultimate Talk from the gym.

Here is the finalised event card in full.

Main Card Bouts:
-Rashad Evans (16-0-1) vs. Lyoto Machida (14-0)
-Matt Hughes (42-7) vs. Matt Serra (11-5)
-Dan Miller (11-1) vs. Chael Sonnen (21-10-1)
-Sean Sherk (33-3-1) vs. Frankie Edgar (9-1)
-Drew McFedries (7-5) vs. Xavier Foupa-Pokam (20-10)

Preliminary Card Bouts:
-Brock Larson (25-2) vs. Chris Wilson (14-5)
-Yoshiyuki Yoshida (10-3) vs. Brandon Wolff (7-3)
-Tim Hague (9-1) vs. Patrick Barry (4-0)
-Phillipe Nover (7-1) vs. Kyle Bradley (13-6)
-Andre Gusmao (5-1) vs. Krzysztof Soszynski (17-8-1)
-George Roop (10-5) vs. David Kaplan (3-3)

You can watch UFC 98 live on Setanta Sports in the UK or on pay per view in the USA.

MMA blog by Dynamite Duane

duane@bluraymma.com

www.myspace.com/dynamite_duane

Tonight’s first fight is announced between Martin Stapleton from Rochdale
taking on American Cameron Dollar in the Light weight bracket.
Royal Marine Stapleton is very confident where as Dollar
confesses to being nervous.

Following last episodes no showing by Mike Bisping we see him wholeheartedly apologise to Dean Amarasinghe for his absence at cage side. Bisping explains he overslept due to not sleeping sleeping well since landing in the US.

Stapes is the sort of bloke you would respect but not want to get on the wrong side of down your local boozer carries himself with the confidence you would expect from a tough as a nails military man. Dollar looks scared of the northener when he comes near him.

Dollar’s strengths lay in wrestling so in training he concentrates on improving his stand up game. But will it pay off for him inside the octagon?

Stapes the very confident 8 year army veteran confesses to missing his daughter.

All preparation is over – it’s fight time!

Round 1)
It transpired that coach Dan Henderson did a fantastic job training and inspiring Cameron Dollar who demolished the British fighter Martin Stapleton. Stapes following a powerful blow to the head tapped out to the American’s Rear Naked Choke submission. Now that is what I call a surprise result, that is why the UFC and the sport of MMA is so damn exciting for us spectators.

At 2 a piece it made the scores even between Team UK and Team USA but don’t forget there was one more fight to be shown on episode 6.

The next bout was chosen between 2 welters this time, Frank Lester of San Diego taking on James Wilks originally from the Midlands. Wilks a resident in the States moved to the US having trained in Orange County, California. Lester labels Wilks a traitor to his country having left the UK to train MMA stateside, also saying he is spoilt.

Frank Lester in training is an intense dude. Dan Henderson sits down and has a chat with him encouraging the guy to loosen up and relax more as he needs a clear mind pre-fight.

Round 1)
Worthy of note here Steve Mazzagatti as the asigned referee. Lester looks the better striker but Wilks takes a leg of Lester’s attempting a heel hook submission showing he isn’t a one dimensional Brit striker but a skilled BJJ grappler. A tough fought round going mostly Wilks’ way, ending with Lester being saved by the bell caught in Wilks’ choke hold. There is a delay in starting the second round due to Lester have teeth knocked out by the Brit fighter stuck in his gum-shield. Mazzagatti instructs the cornermen to remove the teeth and continue the contest. Bisping expresses disapproval that if he is unable to start then his man Wilks has won the fight by default.

Round 2)
The 2nd round under way and Wilks is mauling his American counterpart. It’s not long before James Wilks takes a tap out win via Arm-bar. Awesome fight. Frank Lester showed a lot of heart continuing despite having teeth knocked out but the battling Brit fighter was the better man on the day.

UK 3-2 USA, yes Team UK is back in the lead. Two more scraps next week where it could all change.

Make sure you tune into Virgin 1 every Sunday at 11pm in the UK on Freeview TV, Sky or Virgin Media. Setanta Sports subscribers can catch The Ultimate Fighter second showing every Wednesday. Over in the States the programme is aired on Spike TV a few days earlier.

MMA blog by Dynamite Duane

duane@bluraymma.com

www.myspace.com/dynamite_duane

Following Nick Osipczak’s knockout win for Team UK the American TUF hopefuls came to realise the Brits mean business. Where the Yanks went wrong is believing the British fighters are one-dimensional strikers. Osipczak showed himself to be a canny well-rounded fighter.

Next we get to see Team USA training but mostly not getting on and picking fights we each other. Generally it seems they are all out for themselves, not willing to help each other. Henderson attempts to pull them together as a unit boosting morale in the American camp.

Time to choose the next preliminary bout it’s Bisping’s turn he picks Andre Winner representing the UK against former IFL fighter Santino Defranco in the lightweight bracket.

Dre looks impressive in training taking down Mike Bisping having just learnt the skill from him.

Defranco has got a lot of heart since returning to MMA following brain surgery after attempting to be on an earlier season of The Ultimate Fighter. That really shows strength of character.

Fight time.
Round 1)
Dre looks good defending and attacking in the stand up battle. On the mat Dre gets snared in Defranco’s guard, it doesn’t look good for the Brit but he takes Bispings advice breaking free to drop some bombs on his grounded opponent grabbing the TKO win. Team UK 2-0!

Defranco’s loss was the second consecutive loss for Dan Henderon’s team. Hendo doesn’t seem great at inspiring his fighters plus Team USA are not gelling well as a unit. The difference with the two factions is Team UK have no egos and happily learn from each other and have fun along the way but the American TUF contestants are a different kettle of fish.

This week we are treated to a second battle inside the cage as the competition continues Henderson gets the pick. For the third preliminary bout it is the turn of the welterweights. DaMarques Johnson is chosen versus Dean Amarasinghe of Nottingham. Both fighters are hot prospects, Dean beat veteran Brit mixed martial artist Alex Reid and DaMarques is the more experienced taller fighter. Pre fight the Utah native Johnson prays inside the octagon grateful for the opportunity.

It is fight time but someone is missing, Mike Bisping is AWOL, which does not bode well for Amarasinghe. Dean is not without a corner-man as Bispng’s own coaches Mario Sukata and Dave Jackson are on hand.

Round 1)
Johnson swiftly shoots in taking down Amarasinghe to the canvas. Johnson outclasses the Brit utilising his BJJ skills taking the first win for via Triangle submission tapping him out.

The win appears to be a huge morale booster for the American lads but the UK loss reflects badly on the absent Michael Bisping, ultimately Johnson was the better man on the day getting the result that counted.

Next week:
Where was Bisping? Will Team USA work together? Two more fights inside the UFC octagon.

Make sure you tune into Virgin 1 every Sunday at 11pm in the UK on
Freeview TV, Sky or Virgin Media. Setanta Sports subscribers can catch The Ultimate Fighter the second showing every Wednesday. Over in the States the programme is aired on Spike TV.

MMA blog by Dynamite Duane
duane@bluraymma.com
www.myspace.com/dynamite_duane

The war for the UFC contract begins as nations collide. Finally Team UK and Team USA battle it out following the elimination fights to decide the final members of Dan Henderson’s Team USA. As episode 4 begins Michael ‘The Count’ Bisping arrives at The Ultimate Fighter training facility in Las Vegas where he introduces us to his two assistant coaches for the series. Mario Sukata specialising in wrestling and submission along with Dave Jackson for Muay Thai training. In fact they are the duo that keep Bisping in top cage condition back at the wolfslair near Liverpool. We get our first opportunity to see Team UK in training. Bisping takes his new recruits through their paces and he is not easy on them. Already the programme is portraying Bisping as the villain of the series as they highlight all his banter with Henderson and his team when they meet.

As you will recall from episode 3 Hendo has the pick of the first fight thanks to the toss of the TUF 9 coin. And so it is decided, the first pairing between the welterweights is Mark Miller of Team USA, taking on Nick Osipczak representing the United Kingdom.

Due to Bisping arriving late in the US due to Visa issues he takes the opportunity to review Mark Miller’s previous fight on tape to plan a strategy with Sukata and Jackson. Their main strategy is for their man to take the action to the deck, which will be unexpected.

Discovering a Team UK t-shirt Team USA decide it is fair game holding the garment for ransom. Yes the game of silly buggers has commenced! The t-shirt is scrawled on claiming 1-0 to Team USA. We discover the shirt belongs to Dave Faulkner who doesn’t appear terribly bothered. But it doesn’t end there, next Ross Pearson’s wrestling shoes are found discarded and they too are defaced with similar sentiments. Ross Pearson does not take it so well, he is not a happy chappy but you can’t blame him eh? Bisping’s responds by telling his squad to keep a level head about it all and rise above it.

Pre fight both Mark Miller and Nick Osipczak sound confident for their forthcoming confrontation inside the cage.

Round 1)

Fight time! Nick utilises the strategy as planned by his coaching team, swooping in for a takedown on the American fighter. On the ground a grappling battle ensues. During the round Miller appears to tap whilst held tight by Nick’s guillotine choke but he breaks free to drop some bombs on the British mixed martial artist. First round to Nick Osipczak.
Round 2)

As the round progresses Miller cinches in a deep guillotine hold on the Brit appearing momentarily like it is all over for the Londoner but fortunately the canny combatant sneaks out. It is a struggle of wills on the ground as the second round progresses until both fighters are upright. Out of nowhere Nick knocks Miller clean out with an awesome kick sending the American crashing to the canvas.

One nil to Team UK! A phenomenal start for Bisping’s Team UK, bagging the first victory.

Make sure you tune into Virgin 1 every Sunday at 11pm in the UK on

Freeview TV, Sky or Virgin Media. Setanta Sports subscribers can catch The Ultimate Fighter the second showing every Wednesday. Over in the States the programme is aired on Spike TV.
MMA blog by Dynamite Duane

duane@bluraymma.com

www.myspace.com/dynamite_duane

Saturday, April 18, 2009

Bell Centre, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Pay per view review

As often is the case the UFC doesn’t rely on one fight as the main event but rather feature a double main event to sell their monthly pay per views. In this case of the UFC return to Canada UFC 97 featured one championship title clash from Anderson ‘Spider’ Silva challenged by top contender Thales Leites, backed up by a fight featuring arguably the most marketable face of the UFC ‘The Iceman’ Chuck Liddell. Skipping forward to the two main events we’ll take a detailed look at both bouts.

Chuck Liddell vs. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua

Liddell’s opponent on the night was Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, both

Light-heavyweights had something to prove tonight in Montreal. Chuck the most recognisable MMA fighter in the world, with a distinct look plus a great fighter who put the UFC firmly in the mainstream along with Randy ‘The Natural’ Couture and Tito Ortiz, is now at a junction in his career. When I first started watching the UFC Liddell was the exciting dominant light-heavyweight champion who consistently won by knocking his opponents to the deck. Time has passed Liddell’s star is fading following a succession of losses inside the octagon. It is make or break versus Shogun. Then we have Rua another fighter with past glories on a comeback trail. The difference with Rua is he a younger fighter than Chuck who has been recovering from an injury for a long time. Will Shogun return to his form in Pride or will Liddell surprise us? Let’s see what went down in this decisive fight for Liddell and Shogun.

Round 1)

First round underway, Shogun looks noticeable light and nibble with great footwork. Liddell receives some brutal leg kicks from Shogun to weaken his defence. On the ground Shogun attempts a leg submission on Liddell. The action is up and down from the mat and back to an upright position. Chuck shoots in on Rua taking him down but he defends well standing back up. In a flash Rua knocks down former champ Liddell, pounces on his him laying in hammer fists. The Iceman was down and out! He didn’t know what had happened, asking referee Mario Yamazaki what had happened. Rua got the TKO win.

Liddell and Rua gave us an exciting scrap with a decisive win, but perhaps not the fighter most fans wanted to win. Sad to see Liddell lose again but it seems his best is past him. The fight could possibly be the last appearance inside the octagon for the Iceman. For Rua it pushes him higher up the ladder towards the gold with this impressive performance.

Anderson ‘The Spider’ Silva vs. Thales Leites

- Middleweight Championship fight

The story here is we have Anderson ‘The Spider’ Silva the seemingly undefeatable champion a master Muay Thai kickboxer who is great on the ground defending against Thales Leites a fantastic BJJ practioner unbeaten in the UFC since 2006. Both men are Brazilians so neither are as marketable as an English speaking fighter both none the less both are outstanding martial artists. Anderson Silva is up there as one of the top 3 pound for pound best fighters in the world so Leites has a tough contest ahead of him but would the Canadian fans get their money’s worth?

Round 1)

Just before the first round Georges St Pierre shown sitting in the front row gets a huge ovation from his Montreal fan base. Both fighters are slow getting started; Silva keeps his arms low inviting his opponent in, as he is a fighter who plays the counter attack game. Silva sweep kicks Leites off of his feet landing him on the canvas. Silva despite possessing excellent BJJ skills stays standing deciding not to follow, letting Leites back up to his feet.

Round 2)

In the second round Leites takes down Silva, he defends well underneath eventually regaining a standing position. On their feet neither fighter show any clear sign of wanting to win, making it frustrating viewing. The fighting spirit is missing.

Round 3)

The fight continues into the third round of this five round title fight. Throughout the round Anderson avoids Leites guard repeatedly creating pauses in the action. We hear chants of GSP! GSP! He’s not in this fight but the Montreal fans make it clear he’s the man to beat Anderson ‘The Spider’ Silva. Forget the idea of a BJ Penn and GSP rematch a dream match-up of GSP versus Silva is the way to go. By the sounds of the crowd the Montreal fans will lap it up! Back to what is happening inside the octagon and it is much of the same – Leites laying on his back but Silva wants no part in a BJJ contest.

Round 4)

The way it looks by round four we have Silva mentally winning as he frustrates Leites but the Brazilian is not doing enough to finish the fight. Silva shimmies, putting on a show as he dominates in the striking game. Anderson is amazingly nibble and loose limbed making it hard for Leites to get him to the ground.

Round 5)

Here we are the fifth and final round of the middleweight title contest. Silva is without a doubt intelligently defending himself appearing unscathed but the fight is rarely exciting. Chants of BULLSHIT! BULLSHIT! Followed by GSP! Then boos are heard from the crowd. Silva wins on a judge’s decision but failed to entertain the masses. Was it his fault? Both fighters could be to blame if we are to be fair. Despite not putting on the fight the fans wanted Anderson set the record for the most championship defences. Plus it was the first time he had gone the distance since September 2004.

The rest of the PPV from the bottom up:

Luis Cane vs. Steve Cantwell – Light Heavyweight

A tough stand-up battle fought over the 3 round the time limit. Brazilian Cane won this close fight on a decision over Cantwell, the last WEC Light Heavyweight titleholder.

Cheick Kongo vs. Antoni Hardonk – Heavyweight

A battle of heavy hitters that was won by fan favourite Kongo using a successful strategy of taking the fight to the ground thus besting the Dutchman with brutal ground and pound in the second round. Another impressive victory for the French man.

Krzysztof Soszynski vs. Brian Stann – Light Heavyweight

Canadian Soszynski successfully beat Stann in the 1^st round via Kimura submission for the tap-out win. Very impressive.

Sam Stout vs. Matt Wiman - Lightweight

(Aired from the preliminary card) A fast paced contest that became a pure battle of wills between 2 young warriors of the cage. After 3 tough rounds Canadian Sam Stout is declared the winner on the judges scorecard.

Some great performances from the Canadian fan favourites. Unfortunately it was a shame Silva versus Leites did not deliver.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship returns to PPV on May 23^rd for UFC 98 at the MGM Grand, Las Vegas. Top of the bill will see Lyoto Machida challenging Rashad Evans for his Light Heavyweight crown. Co-headlining for UFC 98 will be the long-delayed welterweight bout between Matt Hughes and Matt Serra.

MMA blog by Dynamite Duane

duane@bluraymma.com

www.myspace.com/dynamite_duane