BlurayMMA.com

This one seemed to have slipped past me: According to this Bravo promo video for  BAMMA 4 and confirmed at BAMMA.com, the middleweight marquee Championship fight of Alex Reid versus Tom ‘Kong’ Watson fight goes out LIVE on Bravo (channel 123) on September 25.

This is huge news for UK MMA. We don’t usually get treated to live fight cards on home soil, unless it’s the UFC events on subscription channel ESPN. Bravo comes as part of  the standard Sky package. The fight should do good viewing figures, many will be tuning in for the first time to see Celebrity Big Brother 7 winner and husband to Katie Price -- Alex Reid slug it out inside the cage.

Added bonus of being able to watch the fight live is it makes it more fun if you’ve placed a bet on the outcome. Be interesting to see what prices bookmakers are offering on either fighter.

Who’s your pick, The Reidenator or Kong?

Keep an eye on Bravo TV and BAMMA.com - as there are plans to air the rest of the card too, at a later date.

UFC & MMA blog by Duane Farr

duane@bluraymma.com

Strikeforce: Heavy Artillery on Bravo 2

A quick heads up for Strikeforce fans, Bravo 2 are scheduled to air Heavy Artillery. The loaded fight card featuring the heavyweight title bout between defending champ Alistair Overeem against challenger Brett Rogers is listed for Monday 17th May, 10pm-12midnight.

Heavyweight competitor Andrei Arlovski, a face last seen on our screens for Affliction, attempting to dethrone ‘The Last Emperor’ Fedor Emelianenko, faces Antonio Silva.

Seeing as the time slot allocated for the MMA fight card is barely 2 hours, it’s clear the Virgin Media channel won’t show the full event. However here is the list of match-ups originally advertised for the May 15 show from St Louis:

* Champ Alistair Overeem vs. Brett Rogers (for heavyweight title)

* Andrei Arlovski vs. Antonio Silva

* Ronaldo “Souza” Jacare vs. Joey Villasenor

* Roger Gracie vs. Kevin Randleman

* Antwain Britt vs. Rafael “Feijao” Cavalcante

Hopefully a company here in the UK will win the license to distribute Strikeforce DVD releases in the not too distant future, enabling the fight fans to see the action in full.

Bravo and Bravo 2 are both available on Virgin Media and Sky platforms.

UFC & MMA blog by Duane Farr

duane@bluraymma.com

Watch the latest video teaser featuring Celebrity Big Brother 7 winner and BAMMA competitor Alex Reid. Alex Reid -- The Fight of his Life, coming to Bravo soon.

EDIT:

Alex Reid: The Fight Of His Life, starts Monday 12th April, 10pm, Bravo (Sky 123).

UFC 100 - now available on DVD

Back on July 11th 2009 took place the Zuffa brand’s monumental hundredth numbered event. I remember the weekend well having timed my Sky + installation so I had no fear of missing this epic card. The biggest bonus of all the UFC treated those with Sky to the PPV card for free, on an obscure horse racing channel, despite all the Setanta debacle plus hours of extra UFC viewing thrown to boot.

UFC 100 was truly something special, drawing in the punters via a hat-trick of marquee match-ups. Making up that trifecta were all highly anticipated fights 2 of which were contesting over championship title ownership.

Team USA coach Dan ‘Hendo’ Henderson versus rival TUF 9 rival, our very own Mike ‘The Count’ Bisping was a fight the fans on both sides of the pond were eager to see, having followed the middleweight contenders coach their nation’s team each week on the MMA reality TV show – The Ultimate Fighter: US vs UK. The outcome of their middleweight showdown was not what I and most British fans hoped for, Bisping was not the best man on the night. Despite the loss for Bisping the bigger disappointment was the way Henderson dived in fist first when his opponent was clearly out of it. It was a brutal move, not good for the sport of MMA, neither was his reaction post fight. If Brit Bisping acted in the same manner smirking, acting all cocky the American crowd would have reacted in a far different way but hey, Mike is the British villain.

The second reason for buying this collectors DVD is Georges ‘Rush’ St Pierre successfully defending his welterweight crown versus Thiago Alves, in gruelling 5 round battle of wills.

The hugest history making moment, making up the third part of the triple main event at the top of the card was the most highly anticipated heavyweight title clash between former pro wrestler Brock Lesnar and Frank Mir. Lesnar solidified his thrown, sitting at the top of the UFC heavyweight division, dominating Mir in brutal style, thus avenging his only MMA loss. In the process he shut up Mir and all the doubters.

Disc 2 includes 6 preliminary fights, including UFC hall of famer Mark ‘The Hammer’ Coleman in action against The Ultimate Fighter 1 light-heavyweight finalist Stephan Bonnar. 44 year old Coleman proves he can still do it versus a man 12 years his junior in this bonus bout.  Further bonus material includes Countdown to UFC 100 plus UFC 100: Behind The Scenes.

UFC 100: Making History is a must have DVD, however it is just a shame they chose to edit some of the post fight interviews and octagon entrances from the live recording. Plus a hall of fame induction ceremony, announcing the new inductees would have completed the package. In the world of pro wrestling the WWE make a huge deal of their Hall of Fame inductions annually at the weekend of Wrestlemania, the UFC would do well to do similar, I’m sure the fight fans would love it.

UFC 107 - Penn vs Sanchez

December 12th 2009, FedEx Forum, Memphis, Tenn.

Here is a brief preview of the event broadcasting live tonight on ESPN and ESPN HD on the Sky and Virgin Media platforms.

B.J. “The Prodigy” Penn vs. Diego “The Nightmare” Sanchez

So who is your money on in this lightweight title contest? The odds on favourite in the UFC 107 main event is veteran Penn but in the world of MMA anything can happen. If I was a betting man Penn would be the fighter I would choose to place a bet on. The Hawaii native is the man with the tools needed for the job, knock-out boxing, awesome Ju Jitsu skills packaged up with experience.

As has been discussed frequently on the internet forums in recent times the UFC fighters wearing the belts around their waists look to remain dominant for some time, although questions look to be answered with light-heavyweight champ since his controversial points win over Shogun Rua. However I don’t see BJ leaving the octagon minus the strap.

Sanchez is an overwhelming force inside the octagon but versus veteran title holder BJ Penn he could well make a mistake rushing in, giving Penn the opening to take advantage of in the heat of cage combat. A question to be answered in this championship showdown is whether The Nightmare has the conditioning required to go the full 5 rounds as the challenger. Tonight we shall find out.

Cheick Kongo vs. Frank Mir

Both heavyweight fighters are on the comeback trail, hoping to avenge their summertime losses. Mir lost to Lesnar at UFC 100 and Kongo to Velasquez at UFC 99. The humble Kongo intends to end the reign of the big mouthed American.  A contrast in characters here I feel. Taking on big Brock many UFC fans booed Lesnar and cheered Mir, partly because of arrogance displayed by the former WWE star and partly due to him being a former pro wrestler. In this match-up it’s clear Mir is the one with all the swagger. Despite Mir not endearing himself, I’m picking him to beat Kongo via tap-out within the 2nd round.

The full fight line up:

B.J. Penn vs. Diego Sanchez – lightweight title clash

Cheick Kongo vs. Frank Mir

Jon Fitch vs. Mike Pierce

Kenny Florian vs. Clay Guida

Paul Buentello vs. Stefan Struve

Unaired prelims:

Alan Belcher vs. Wilson Gouveia

Shane Nelson vs. Matt Wiman

Ricardo Funch vs. Johny Hendricks

Lucio Linhares vs. Rousimar Palhares

Edgar Garcia vs. DaMarques Johnson

Kevin Burns vs. T.J. Grant

UK viewers can see UFC 107 live as it happens on ESPN and ESPN HD in the early hours of Sunday morning at 3am. As a subscriber you can see the prelims and more from 11:30pm onwards:

11:30pm-UFC Unleashed

12:30am-MMA Live

1am-Countdown to UFC 107

2am-UFC 107 Prelims Live

3am-UFC 107:Penn vs Sanchez Live

UFC & MMA blog by Duane Farr

duane@bluraymma.com

Coaches clash: Rashad and Rampage

FIVE USA are showing episodes 11 + 12 back to back in the usual Saturday night time slot, giving us a double of whammy of The Ultimate Fighter. The finale show is being aired the following Thursday or ESPN subscribers can see the finale live at 2am in the early hours of Sunday morning. Before then let’s take a look back at episode 10 recapping on what took place.

Is Mitrione in or not? Matt Mitrione informs his coach Rashad Evans that he has swelling of the brain but should be OK to fight. Mean while Brit James McSweeney does not trust Matt’s motives.  Street brawler turned mixed martial arts competitor Kimbo Slice prepares for kick boxer McSweeney eager to replace Mitrione.

The confirmed match-up for this episode was Brendan Schaub battling it out with John Madsen. McSweeney does a fantastic job preparing Schaub, while Rashad leaves them to it, remaining impartial.

This episode was the week of the coaches challenge, the challenge was 2 on 2 volley ball – Rashad and Mike vs Rampage and Tiki. Amazingly these sets of tough dudes did well. The win went to Rashad, gaining $10,000 for Team Rashad. As you can imagine Evans was quick to rub it in Quinton’s face.

To the amusement of the rest of the house Kimbo endures an ice bath, to help work through knee pain. There is no doubt Slice is serious about being an Ultimate Fighter.

John Madsen is fortunate to train with fellow wrestler and former UFC light-heavyweight champion Rashad. So he changed his mind about being impartial after all.

Coaches Rashad and Mike have it out with Mitrione about whether he will continue to compete or not. Following this chat Dana White addresses the remaining TUF 10 entrants about the Mitrione situation, explaining how huge an opportunity the ultimate fighter is.

Comparing Madsen and Schaub it’s NFL veteran Schaub going into the fight having more experience but Madsen comes from Matt Hughes’ camp and is a serious threat in the octagon with pure wrestling strength.

Fight time. McSweeney hypes up Brendan by slapping his face.

Round 1)

Madsen utilises his strength advantage slamming down Schaub to the deck. Madsen however doesn’t do enough on top, the referee calls for a restart back upright. Madsen wastes no time once again slamming NFL veteran Brendan but again he lays and prays, simply not doing enough despite his dominant position.

Round 2)

Corner-man McSweeney encourages Schaub at the end of round interval. Brendan defends much better come round 2. The pace of action slows down due to the energy exerted in the previous round. Out of nowhere Brendan knocks out Madsen smashing the wrestler with 2 punches. Schaub is one to look out for, he has heavy hands.

Winner Brendan Schaub advances to the semi finals. McSweeney’s seconding was of a great help in keeping the ex American football player focussed.

That leaves us with Marcus Jones vs. Darrill Schoonover and Matt Mitrione vs. James McSweeney followed by the semi finals.

The Finale show will feature Matt Hamill vs Jon Jones and 2 heavy hitters - Kimbo Slice vs Houston Alexander. Plus of course TUF 10 winner will be crowned.

Don’t forget you can watch all the Aftemath videos at UFC.com

Watch The Ultimate Fighter: Heavyweights Saturdays 11pm on FIVE USA,

in the UK on Freeview 31, Sky 174, Virgin Media 150 and Tiscali 30. Also shown on subscription channel ESPN and ESPN HD.

Wednesdays on Spike TV in the US.

UFC & MMA blog by Duane Farr

duane@bluraymma.com

The Ultimate Fighter: Heavyweights

Following the live action of UFC 105, it is time to catchup on episode 9 of The Ultimate Fighter: Heavyweights.

This week Roy ‘Kimbo Slayer’ Nelson squares off against Justin Wren. Aside of from the experience factor these guys appear pretty evenly matched when it comes to style and physicality, although Roy seems to carrying some extra timber.

Following the hard hits Matt Mitrione  received from Scott Junk, Matt seems to be still reeling from the effects. Suffering with a bad headache and dizziness, followed by throwing up, seems the Team Rashad member has concussion. Could this be another opportunity for a Kimbo Slice comeback? Whether Slice will be given another opportunity is unclear but the producers love to tease us don’t they?

In another entertaining moment from the show Rampage and Tiki prank Rashad, planting some chickens in his car. A chance for Rampage to get his own back since all the ribbing at his poor coaching ability and only one win for Team Rampage. Mike and Rashad saw the funny side though, the joke backfires and they are treated to  spanking new rental cars.

Mitrione returns from hospital, he wants to fight but is yet to receive medical clearance.

Pre-fight it is clear Nelson and Wren are well matched in grappling, the difference is the experience factor versus youth.

Round 1)

The first round is a tough fought brawl. Nelson defends well against Wren the aggressor, negating his attack. Neither combatant utilise their ground grapple skills. Throughout Brit and fellow member of Team Rashad – James McSweeney does a first rate job cornering Wren.

Round 2)

Come round round 2 Wren appears tired after the exertion in the first. The action continues upright through the majority of the bout. Overall it appeared even, giving good reason for a third round to decide the winner but it wasn’t to be. IFL veteran was announced the winner via a majority decision on the score cards.

Young hopeful Justin Wren was disappointed as you could imagine  but he gave it his all, Nelson had the better defence being the more experienced MMA fighter.

Dana White once again wasn’t impressed Roy Nelson’s performance despite the win, he does not seem to like the guy. Perhaps the fact Nelson is the ‘Kimbo Slayer’ plays a part in his low affinity for the heavyweight contestant? It’s clear Dana sees Kimbo as a good investment and displays respect for the street-fighter earning his dues joining the cast of TUF 10.

Episode 10 will feature Brendan battling it out with John for a place in the next round of the competition, plus it will be the week of the coaches challenge.

Don’t forget you can watch all the Aftemath videos at UFC.com

Watch The Ultimate Fighter: Heavyweights Saturdays 11pm on FIVE USA, in the UK on Freeview 31, Sky 174, Virgin Media 150 and Tiscali 30. Also shown on subscription channel ESPN and ESPN HD. Wednesdays on Spike TV in the US.

UFC & MMA blog by Duane Farr

duane@bluraymma.com

ESPN Classic available on Sky +

Flicking through the channels on Sky + I noticed ESPN Classic are showing The Ultimate Fighter from the beginning.  If you missed the very first season this is a great opportunity to see where it all began.

I didn’t have the channel in my package but looked it up at Sky.com to find it would cost me just £1 per month to receive the channel. ESPN Classic comes as part of the News and Events pack, along with Extreme Sports which airs past Cage Rage, King of The Cage and Strikeforce events. Plus you also have Eurosport thrown in who show K1 Grand Prix.

For just £1 extra a month this a brilliant deal for a combat sport fan.

I highly recommend this to see UFC icons Chuck ‘The Iceman’ Liddell and Randy ‘The Natural’ Couture coaching future stars including Forrest Griffin, Josh Koscheck and Kenny Florian. Here’s hoping they air TUF 3, featuring coaches Tito Ortiz and Ken Shamrock.

Check the link below at the Sky.com website

News & Events Pack

http://mysky.sky.com/portal/site/skycom/skyproducts/skytv/whatcaniwatch/newsandeventspack

See The Ultimate Fighter season one every Wednesday night at 10:30pm on ESPN Classic.

UFC & MMA blog by Duane Farr

duane@bluraymma.com