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UFC 118: Edgar vs Penn 2 & Couture vs Toney

The bank holiday weekend is here! While many are travelling to the seaside or music festivals, Saturday August 28, 2010 is a huge date for fight fans, who will be glued to their sets when the action kicks off in the earlier hours of Sunday morning.

Not only will BJ Penn get a chance of redemption against Frankie Edgar in a return contest for the lightweight belt, but Zuffa are also treating us to a boxer versus mixed martial artist co-main event match-up -- Randy ‘The Natural’ Couture against boxing champ James Toney.

I’m agreeing with Tom Watson, who picks BJ Penn as the winner, in his bout with defending lightweight champ Frankie Edgar. If Penn is in tip top condition and chooses the right game plan he’s the man getting his hand raised by the referee. BJ needs to go in for the finish earlier on, Edgar is a durable fighter, with great cardio, whereas Penn has to drop quite a bit of weight to make the cut to 155 lbs.

The co-main event old school style boxer vs wrestler bout, pitting UFC Hall of Famer Couture against heavyweight boxing champ Toney has got UFC 118 a lot of mainstream attention. Toney is the highest profile heavyweight pro-boxer to challenge a veteran mixed martial artist.

According to the boxing and MMA competitors quoted in Gareth A Davies article most agree Couture is the likely winner, due to Toney’s lack of MMA experience. Randy’s tactics have got to include getting the boxer to the ground and tapping him out. If he plays his usual game of holding his opponent against the fence and dirty-boxing, it may be his undoing against a boxer of Toney’s pedigree, who’ll trade punches in the clinch and may knock out the former UFC Light-heavyweight and Heavyweight title-holder.

Another bout I’m looking forward to is Marcus Davis facing off against Nate Diaz. Diaz one my favourites from The Ultimate Fighter, has got fantastic Jiu Jitsu and some underrated boxing. Davis is known for his stand-up, but don’t underestimate him on the canvas either. Diaz versus Davis looks to be a damn good scrap. My pick is Diaz by tap-out.

Watch the weigh ins video with interviews.

The advertised card:

TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts is the location, see UFC 118 LIVE exclusively on ESPN in the UK.

UFC & MMA blog by Duane Farr

duane@bluraymma.com

BAMMA champ: Tom 'Kong' Watson

Thanks to that marvellous idea – Facebook, I was fortunate enough to ask Tom ‘Kong’ Watson a few questions, gaining an incite into the world of the BAMMA Middleweight Champion.

What’s your current favourite song?

Cloudburst by Eric Whitacre.

How do you relax between training?

I relax eating flavoured cheese.. French is the best.. Roquefort,  and sitting in the hot tub smoking a Cuaba figurado. Magnifique.

Tabloid rumours circulating at the moment are of your BAMMA 4 opponent and challenger to your middleweight crown, Alex Reid having done a deal  to appear on Ultimate Big Brother for large sum of money. How do you feel about him doing it, considering the timing?

The Reidenator should and will go into the house for around 2 weeks. Most of his sparring will already be complete. With the media attention on him presently I actually believe he can get in great shape (cardio wise) being in the house. What else is there to do when your locked in a house. Unless it is the Foursome House on Playboy.

What impact do you feel being booked to fight Celebrity Big Brother 7 winner and husband of Katie Price has on your career?

It has given me the chance to defend my belt at BAMMA.

In the previous Bravo programme following Alex in training, he tried martial arts not specific to an MMA contest. Do you think he’ll be more focussed training-wise this time around? He’s been pictured with Chuck Liddell…

Who have you been training with? Where?

What does a picture mean? I’ve been pictured with Tamara Witmer, does that mean I’m sleeping with her… I’m training in Montreal with my coaches here Eric O’Keefe, Firass Zahabi, Bruno Fernandes, Howard Grant, Mr Chaimberg and the squad at Bikram yoga. The previous Bravo filming was done much earlier than people realise. Alex wasnt rolling around trying new styles the month before he was due to fight, the show was filmed at the beginning of the year. He’ll be at London Shoot as usual training hard.

You have a fight booked for MFC in Canada, September 10, against TUF veteran Jesse Taylor. Is it wise to fight so close to your BAMMA middleweight title defence? Or do you feel keeping active in MMA competition gives you an edge over Alex?

No my wish is to eradicate poverty and suffering worldwide, fighting Jesse taylor is a chance for me to test my skills up against one of the top guys in the world. BAMMA isnt even relevant until after that fight.

Are there any specific areas you have trained in preparation for the September 25 showdown at the NIA, Birmingham? Which areas do you feel Reid’s a threat?

I train the same for every fight, I just simply try to improve in every area and make sure I am ready for whatever happens in the fight.

What is your prediction for the fight?

I will leave the cage BAMMA champion.

Where do you see yourself ranking internationally?

Maybe top 50. There are still many guys in the middleweight division who are rightly above me.

A-Team or The Expendables?

Expendable as the A-Team would have been better with Rashad as BA.

Couture or Toney?

James Toney… Come on this isnt UFC 1?? Really…

Penn or Edgar?

Baby Jay, but I think the fights the same as last time just this time Penn gets the nod from the judges.

Do you have any websites you recommend the fans visit?

Check out www.tomkongwatson.com and from there you can follow me on twitter and Facebook. Check out Vas.tv for innovative footwear, Headrush for the latest styles in MMA, Tapout because its Tapout baby and go gamble at Full Tilt Poker for the chance to become a legend.

Watch Alex Reid: Fights Back, coming soon on Bravo, for all the build up to Tom’s highly anticipated cage clash with Alex on September 25.

Interview by Duane Farr

duane@bluraymma.com

TUF 9 competitor Dean Amasinger looking on top form beating Scott Jansen by tapout.  This fight took place for Ultimate Challenge and aired on Sky Sports 2.

Amasinger is the fighter who beat Alex Reid on season 9 of The Ultimate Fighter, fighting for a place on the show. Could we see a rematch now they compete in the same league?

UFC & MMA blog by Duane Farr

duane@bluraymma.com

The Ultimate Fighter season 9 semi finals

Since cancelling my subscription to Sky as I had planned to switch to Virgin Media instead I have been playing catch up. They told me I would still retain the freeview channels but they never told me that wouldn’t include Virgin 1. Well I’m glad I didn’t take out the Virgin Media package that included Setanta Sports as sadly Setanta is no longer with us.

I managed to find links for the semi final light weight fights from episode 11, so here is my recap of those bouts to decide the 2 light weight TUF contestants to compete on the Finale show shown last Sunday.

Ross Pearson vs Jason Dent

Round 1) This first round featured a lot of rough and tough standup action, witha lot of work defending each others takedown attempts against the fence. Tough fought first round going to Pearson the more dominant combatant.

Round 2) Jason Dent comes out attacking, attempting to avenge the first round. All the action is upright until Ross Pearson throws Dent to the canvas at the 2 minute mark. But the action is soon upright once more but the aggressive Brit takes the American down, following up and damn near ending it right there at the end of the round. One more round to decide.

Round 3) Again Dent comes out firing but Ross takes control of the American brawler, once again taking him to the canvas. On the ground Pearson is relentless. Pearson didn’t quite finish the fight against the gutsy Yank but he totally dominated earning a unamanous decision and a place in the TUF finale.

So who would face Pearson? A Brit or an American?

Andre Winner vs Cameron Dollar

Round 1) Andre Winner has to constantly defend against Cameron Dollars wrestling attack, attemting takedowns on the Brit mixed martial artist. Winner does get taken to the mat but it’s a case of Yin versus Yang, turning the takedown to his advantage from underneath acheiving the Tapout win via Triangle Choke.

So there you have that it, how the 2 light weight Brits got to the final, making a win – win situation for Mike Bisping and Team UK. Great for us Brits but not good for Dan Henderson and the Americans. Don’t forget Team USA still have a man in the finale – DeMarques Johnson.

The Ultimate Fighter as shown on Virgin 1 Sunday nights at 11pm in the UK on Freeview TV, Sky or Virgin Media.

Make sure you follow BluRayMMA on Twitter to keep updated on the latest MMA and UFC news, we are sure to have news on the new channel for the UFC very soon.

UFC & MMA blog by Dynamite Duane

duane@bluraymma.com

http://twitter.com/BluRayMMA
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

At last what seemed like a long wait is over! The new season of The Ultimate Fighter premiered this past Sunday on Virgin 1 here in the UK (Wednesday on Spike TV over in the States, hot on the heels of Ultimate Fight Night 18). 16 British fighters entered but only 8 would make it through joining Michael Bisping’s Team UK in Las Vegas.  First of all to decide who would be staying on British soil and who would earn the opportunity of a lifetime, following in the footsteps of TUF winner Bisping there would be 8 fights fought over standard UFC rules with duration of 3 x 5 minute rounds.

This first episode took place just before the fight pitting Rich Franklin and Dan ‘Hendo’ Henderson, the decider of Team USA coach from UFC 93 in Dublin, Ireland back in January. Hence both Franklin and Hendo being present since at that stage Dana White and co didn’t know which combatant would coach the Americans. Fast-forward in time we now know Hendo edged out the win over Franklin taking the decision following 3 gruelling rounds of octagon action. The great usefulness about the TUF series is not just fantastic television each week but the dual purpose of creating new UFC stars while booking 2 established UFC fighters for a big money fight afterwards, when the coaches clash one on one.

The elimination bouts soon got underway on Bisping’s home turf, the Wolfslair training facility, located in Widnes near Liverpool.

First up was Bisping’s first protégé of the night – Gary Kelly, a fellow member of Wolfslair gym, taking on Andre Winner. Despite all the encouragement from Bisping Kelly wasn’t triumphant in the octagon. Andre lived up to his name winning in fine style knocking out Gary Kelly, who was on dream street! This first fight showed what a tough group of competitors had been amassed from the British ranks of mixed martial arts. First lightweight decided for Team UK, 3 more to go.

Another pair of lightweight mixed martial artists entered the cage. Jeff Lawson fights out of The Bulldog gym in my hometown – Bournemouth. Lawson a submission specialist and one of the most experienced Brits selected. His opponent striker James Bryan hailing from Bath did not fare well against the vastly more experienced Lawson. Lawson submitted Bryan to join Andre Winner on Team UK.

First of the welterweights saw James Wilks tapout Che Mills to go through. Mills’ loss was an upset considering his calibre, but that’s the way it goes in the world of mixed martial arts.

The fourth cage conflict saw Martin Stapleton of Rochdale brutalise Dan James of Swansea, giving the military man a win via tapout.

Next to go was AJ Wenn eliminated by Ross Pearson from Sunderland, another impressive mixed martial artist winning by TKO in the second round.

The second welterweight fighter to make it through would be Nick Osipczak a resident of London, who bested Tommy McGuire of Peterborough with a TKO win.

Third fight from the welterweights featured the biggest name so far – Alex Reid, a recognised face on the UK cage fighting circuit. I first saw him on ITV’s Cage Combat programme way back in 2002. Reid faced off against Dean Amarasinghe of Nottingham a younger lesser-known fighter with a lot going for him. Reid a master of showmanship lasted the full 3 rounds thanks to his experience but it was Dean who surprised besting the veteran receiving the decision. The better man won on the day but it would have been interesting to see Reid’s antics on the show, as he is a real character.

One final decider to go, giving one more opportunity for a member of the Wolfslair to make the squad. David Faulkner would be the fighter and he got the job done, defeating James Bateman grabbing a tap-out victory via Heel Hook.

So here we have it, listed below are the Brits who flew out to Las Vegas.

Team UK – The Lightweights:

Andre Winner – London

Jeff Lawson – Bournemouth

Ross Pearson – Sunderland

Martin Stapleton – Rochdale

Team UK – The Welterweights:

David Faulkner  - Liverpool

James Wilks

Nicholas Osipczak – London

Dean Amarasinghe – Nottingham

For a complete low-down on all the shows entrants see my previous blog: http://bluraymma.com/blog/the-ultimate-fighter-us-v-uk-on-virgin-1/

From the brief glimpse of next weeks show it appears the Yanks are not fully prepared. We witness entrants struggling to make weight and collapsing in a heap under the strain.

Make sure you set a reminder on your Sky planner and series link it for Virgin 1 Sundays at 11pm – you don’t want to miss a single episode!