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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

Rashad and Rampage squaring up.

Excuse the delay, here is a recap of the first episode of The Ultimate Fighter season 10. Keep an eye out here for the recaps of all episodes so far.

From the get-go coaches Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and “Sugar” Rashad Evans are at each other with the verbal wars. This is going to be some great television between this pairing, just a shame knowing the pay per view marquee bout won’t happen now bewteen them since Quinton left the UFC for a full-time Hollywood career. Who knows it could still eventually happen one day.

How will the teams fare under the tutilage of these 2 UFC superstars?

Rashad is the first ever TUF heavyweight winner, a former light-heavyweight champion, backed up by Greg Jackson as an assistant coach. Jackson is one of the most reputable coaches in the MMA game, with a team that includes notable fighters including Rashad and current UFC welterweight title holder Georges St Pierre.

Rampage is the fan favourite as the show starts, a huge character and an all round bad ass dude. Once again a former light-heavyweight belt wearer, plus a former Pride FC champion. Going into TUF 10 Quinton’s form is not good having lost as a coach previously.

Most of the contestants are present, including several ex NFL players, a few MMA veterans, some giants, an ex-champion but one controversial fighter we are all waiting to appear is missing. Dana White introduces street fighting, internet sensation Kimbo Slice. Immediately street-wise badboy Rampage makes it clear Slice is the main man he wants on his team.

Rashad wins the toss of the coin, gaining the first pick.

The team selections were as follows:

Team Rashad

James McSweeney

Brendan Schaub

Justin Wren

John Madsen

Roy Nelson

Darrill Schoonover

Matt Matrione

Mike Wessel

Team Rampage

Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson

Abe Wagner

Demico Rogers

Wes Sims

Scott Junk

Wes Shivers

Marcus Jones

Zak Jensen

Rashad expresses high hopes for Team Jackson team mates Brit James McSweeney and Brendan Schaub an NFL veteran.

Unlike last season there is no time wasted in kicking the action off. First fight announced is the pairing of Abe Wagner of Team Rampage, squaring off against John Madsen of Team Rashad. Madsen is reported to be an excellent wrestler where as striker Wagner lacks on the ground.

Pre fight Abe is shown puking into a bucket, not a good sign.

Round 1)

Madsen totally dominates Wagner utilising superior wrestling skill and power coupled with brutal ground and pound. Barely surviving the first round Wagner is bloodied up.

Round 2)

The second is much the same, Wagner did little from his back. Madsen the clear winner after 2 rounds.  This first fight was a total mismatch and horrible to watch, it’s a shame no one was willing to throw in the towel for Abe Wagner.

Rashad’s face is gleemimg, smiling at the first win for Team Rashad.

Team Rashad 1-0 Team Rampage.

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

Ultimate Fighter: The Aftermath

http://www.ufc.com/index.cfm?fa=VideoPlayer.home&gid=22771

Watch The Ultimate Fighter: Heavyweights Saturday nights on FIVE USA,  11pm in the UK on Freeview 31, Sky 174, Virgin Media 150 and Tiscali 30.  Also to be shown on subscription channel ESPN.

UFC & MMA blog by Duane Farr

duane@bluraymma.com

The monumental UFC 100 has not long passed us that took place on Saturday 11th July on The Racing channel. A bit of a strange choice of TV channel for the Ultimate Fighting Championship historic event but wasn’t it great to see the 3 hour event live without any ad break interuptions? It appears as the UFC 100 got closer a deal could not be agreed in time so something was worked
out to include the mammoth fight card on Seatanta Ireland and The Racing Channel owned by the Irish channel. Not only did we get the whole event free but on top of that the UFC treated us to a very nice bonus of several extra hours of UFC TV programming including the top 100 of UFC fights.

Post July 11th we are still left not knowing the new home for the UFC on British airwaves. With the Disney owned ESPN looking to expand in the UK by buying premiership football games available since the demise of Setanta Sports it appears the forthcoming ESPN subscription channel will be the likely UK television home for the UFC, although at this point has not been confirmed.

Since July 11th I have been fortunate to have the use of Sky + including Sky Sports and Bravo. Not many days after on Wed 15th July Cage Rage successor Ultimate Challenge aired Sky Sports 3. After seeing UFC 100 so this British MMA offering was not likely to compare but to be fair the show was pretty good including 2 UK1 kickboxing bouts, one of which featuring top name on the circuit Aldershot’s own Alex Reid. Reid is top class showman as well as one tough competitor. TUF 9 entrant totally outclassed his opponent.

Next next month on the small screen will hopefully be the return of Affliction to Bravo for their 3rd event titled Affliction M1 Global Trilogy taking place August 1st in Anaheim, Claifornia. The fight card will boast awesome heavyweight title bout main event of Fedor Emelianko taking on challenger Josh Barnett. As yet there are no adverts for the event on Bravo but fingers crossed Bravo won’t let us down.

The following week it’s UFC 101 on August 8th. Anderson Silva vs Forrest Griffin fighting at lightheavyweight is the scheduled headliner. Again though we are still presently in the dark regarding what channel, but have faith I’m Dana and co will not let us down.

Hopping back over to Bravo we have the 2nd BAMMA event airing August 16th from London.

If you are lucky you might just be able to catch another showing of the fantastic programme from The Biography Channel – How Bruce Lee Changed The World. I highly recommend viewing this 2 hour covering ways Bruce Lee was such massive influence on our modern cultural including being the Father of Mixed Martial Arts. Hear what Dana White, The RZA, Jackie Chan and many others have to say about this iconic figure of the 20th century who long after his death continues to be a huge inspiration on into the new millenium.

UFC & MMA blog by Duane Farr

duane@bluraymma.com

http://twitter.com/BluRayMMA
www.myspace.com/dynamite_duane

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UFC 100 will air on UK TV but we've still got to wait a bit longer.

UFC 100 – July 11th, Mandalay Bay Centre, Las Vegas

The mammoth fight card UFC 100 is fast approaching, as I type there are under
4 days to go until the big one. UFC 100 is a monumental milestone for the
Zuffa owned Ultimate Fighting Championship organisation. This Saturday’s
pay per view event is more than just hype, once again matchmakers Dana White and Joe Silva have put together a stacked bill of highly anticipated clashes in the cage.

First of all let’s take a look at the triple threat lined up at the top of the
event for all you mixed martial arts junkies out there.

Frank Mir vs. Brock Lesnar – Heavyweight Title unification
You can easily label this one UFC the next generation as when you look back at what established the UFC originally was Royce Gracie vs Ken Shamrock,
a pro wrestler taking on a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu expert in a fight to see which
style was supreme. Now reaching the century history repeats itself as
once again a former pro wrestler battles it out with a BJJ expert.

Lesnar going in as defending champion has everything to prove. There are still many who do not feel he had earned his spot as top dog. As a former WWE wrestler The vanila Gorila has got to work harder to prove he is the real deal but ultimately getting the win is all that counts despite the opinions of others. Both fighters looked impressive in their last outings inside the octagon, but despite beating the best of the old guard – Randy Couture and Antonio Minotauro Nogueira it can be said that they were both past their best. It was clear Nog wasn’t in his best condition for their fight but Couture looked good but just did not have what was needed to beat the almost not human Brock Lesnar.

So going back to their first outing what has changed? Has Lesnar now got what it takes to avenge his loss to the interim champion? I am going to answer yes being slightly biassed as a fan of pro wrestling before getting hooked on MMA. I feel Lesnar since losing to Mir having fought and beaten both Heath Herring and the legend that is Randy ‘The Natural’ Couture now has the experience under his belt not to make the same rookie mistake getting caught in a heel hook. However there is still the possibility it could happen again. The clash of their opposing styles is the Yin and Yang principle used in traditional martial arts. You use your opponents
strengths to your advantage. That is what the power of Lesnar’s wrestling
versus Mir’s BJJ is – Yang versus Yin.

My prediction is a TKO win within the first 2 rounds for Lesnar.

Georges ‘Rush’ St Pierre vs Thiago Alves – Welterweight Title bout
GSP the welterweight champion and arguably the best pound for pound mixed martial artist in the world will face his tougest test yet in the form of
Muay Thai kickboxing specialist Thiago ‘Pitbull’ Alves. We all know St Pierre
is a well rounded fighter but he usaully enters the cage with the size
advantage, this time it is not the case. Alves a man naturally of 200lbs cuts
weight to 170lbs but come fight time he is back up there with an added 30  pounds. Both combatants are at the top of their game but the question is wether they will both be issue free. In the past GSP has lost mentally where as Alves’ had drug issues.

My prediction is GSP to win, the dude just keeps on improving and I would love to see him clash with Anderson Silva next year for a dream match.

Michael ‘The Count’ Bisping vs Dan Henderson – TUF 9 Coaches Collide 
A non title fight but like Lesnar versus Mir it’s another highly anticipated
showdown. Having built up via the recent Ultimate Fighter 9 which saw
Bisping’s Team UK beat Henderson’s Team USA by snatching both the lightweight and welterweight prizes in the Ultimate Finale. Bisping seen as the cocky Englishman by the Americans is the dynamic opposite of mild mannered Olympian Dan Henderson. Henderson a former PRIDE FC star in Japan and title holder does not have father time on his side. Bisping is younger and an ever improving fighter of the TUF generation of UFC star names.

I am hoping Bisping impresses with a TKO win elevating the Brit fighter to
title challenger status.

Time for all the talk to cease as all the questions will be answered in the
octagon on Saturday July 11th.

The rest of the card.

Jon Fitch vs Paulo Thiago

Yoshiro Akiyama vs Alan Belcher

Mark Coleman vs Stephen Bonnar

Mac Danzig vs Jim Miller

Jon Jones vs Jake O’Brien

Dong Hyun Kim vs Jonathan Goulet

CB Dollaway vs Tom Lawlor

Matt Grice vs Shannon Gugerty
Limp Bizkit will be performing on the weekend plus there is a grappling
competiton, fanfest, UFC Hall of Fame inductions including Mask the
recently passed away founder of Tapout Clothing plus much more happening.

You can read an interview with Mike Bisping on the Henderson trash talk at Mirror.co.uk
http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/more-sport/mma-and-wrestling/2009/07/02/ufc-100-interview-exclusive-michael-bisping-s-fury-at-dan-henderson-s-trash-talk-115875-21489783/

Keep an eye the official UFC 100 website for videos and news build up.

http://100.ufc.com/

It appears to still be up in the air what channel will be airing UFC 100
in the UK but having just seen the Sky EPG fans in Ireland needn’t worry
since Setanta Ireland seems to be still on air scheduled to show the event
live at 3am despite the demise of the subscription channel back in the UK. Well I have my new Sky + installation booked ready for Saturday
with our package including Sky Sports  free for a month so all being well
I won’t have to wait to see this one.

Don’t forget if you want to take advantage of the latest offers from Sky
or Virgin Media join http://www.topcashback.co.uk/ref/DuaneDaStinge via the link in my signature and you will earn yourself upto £65 cashback in the process plus you’ll be supporting BluRayMMA.com as I’ll receive £2.50 as a referral.

UFC & MMA blog by Duane Farr

duane@bluraymma.com

http://twitter.com/BluRayMMA
www.myspace.com/dynamite_duane

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