Heavyweight prospect Todd Duffee will make his UFC debut when he locks up in the Octagon against Mustapha Al-Turk at UFC 99 in Cologne, Germany; Duffee is currently undefeated (4-0 MMA) with his last bout taking place back in September 2008 when he fought against Assuerio Silva at a Jungle Fight event; meanwhile, Al-Turk’s last bout was a TKO loss to Cheick Kongo at UFC 92 back in December 2008.
Episode 39 of MMA Live features a WEC 39 preview, a UFC 95 recap and more.
The first round pairings have been announced for Bellator Fighting Championships‘ debut show, set to take place on April 4 in Hollywood, FL. The show will feature 12 two-hour weekly segments , airing on ESPN on Saturday nights; 8-man tournaments will be held in the featherweight, lightweight, welterweight and middleweight divisions. Non-tournament featured bouts will be shown weekly, as well. Below are the participants for the tournaments by division:
Featherweight
Lightweight
Welterweight
Middleweight
The first round pairings are as follows:
155 lbs
145 lbs
More bouts to be announced at a later date; when the information becomes available, Octagon Buzz will bring it to you, along with the most up-to-date MMA news.
This is from Joe Lauzon’s website:
Well, it looks like I will be having ACL surgery next week. I have had a history of bad luck with my knees. I have already had two knee surgeries… meniscectomies on both knees. Those surgeries were relatively simple because they just go in arthoscopically and shave down the meniscus. There is no stitching and no repairing done. The surgery scheduled for next week will not be so simple. Unlike the last two times, I will need my meniscus repaired. Instead of just shaving that little piece out, they will be stitching it up and getting it to sit back in place.
To make things much worse, I need to have my ACL repaired as well. They think my torn ACL is causing my knee to shift ever so slightly and its destroying my meniscus. They could stop after the meniscus repair but its just going to happen again. ACL surgery should fix that, but its a very long rehab and my knee may never be the same again. There are three options for the surgery (patella, hamstring and cadaver). Each has different advantages and disadvantages. I was going to do the Patella but have been convinced to go the Cadaver route.
Long story short… I will be off my feet for a month to a month and a half… training SUPER light in about 4 or 5 months… training decently hard in about 9 months and fighting in around 12-14 months. Its going to be a long rehab… but thats how it goes. Looks like I will have lots of time to play Xbox… (and no, not giving out my gamertag… sorry).
It appears that a matchup between heavyweights Cain Velasquez and Heath Herring will take place, according to MMAMania.com; the likely bout will take place at UFC 99 on June 13 from the Lanxess Arena in Cologne, Germany.
Velasquez’s last fight was a second-round TKO of Denis Stojnic at UFC Fight Night 17; his victim list – besides Stojnic – includes Jake O’Brien and Brad Morris. Meanwhile, Herring has been inactive since his loss to Brock Lesnar at UFC 87 back in August 2008.
The UFC announced that the card for UFN 18 is now filled up; the card will take place on April 1 at Sommet Center in Nashville, TN and will be televised live on Spike TV. Below is the final card:
Below is the UFC programming schedule for the week of March 2-8; all programming is on Spike TV:
The second installment in the Ultimate Knockouts series brings you even more hard hitting UFC
action. Some of the wildest knockouts the Octagon has ever seen.
On August 17th, 2006 Spike TV presented another UFC fight card on basic cable, a 2-hour UFC event that aired live from the Red Rock Resort Spa and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. The main event of the evening is a welterweight bout between The Ultimate Fighter superstar Diego Sanchez and former title contender Karo Parisyan. Other fights included: Diego Sanchez vs. Karo Parisyan, Chris Leben vs. Jorge Santiago, Dean Lister vs. Yuki Sasaki, and Josh Koscheck vs. Jonathan Goulet.
Follow along behind the scenes with the fighters as former light heavyweight champion Quinton “Rampage” Jackson prepares to battle Keith “The Dean of Mean” Jardine.
In this episode of Unleashed, Sam Stout faces Spencer Fisher and heavyweight Brandon Vera fights Fabiano Scherner. In the main event, Joe Riggs challenges longtime UFC World Welterweight champion Matt Hughes.
Bouts include: Swick vs. Schoenauer, Karalexis vs. Rafferty, Sanchez vs. Florian and Bonnar vs. Griffin.
Bouts include: Frank Edgar vs. Tyson Griffin, Spencer Fisher vs. Thiago Alves and Bisping vs. Eric Schaffer.
Coming out of a year long retirement, Randy Couture faces Tim Sylvia at UFC 68 in a history making heavyweight championship bout; other bouts include: Gabriel Gonzaga vs. Carmelo Marrero and Randy Couture vs. Tim Sylvia.
At the moment it is a rumor, but there is the likelihood that B.J. Penn and Kenny Florian may lock up in the Octagon, according to Penn’s brother, J.D. Penn and verified by Sherdog.com. UFC president Dana White told multiple press outlets last week that Penn’s next title defense against florian could take place at UFC 99 in Cologne, Germany.
Florian also confirmed that June 13 is the likeliest date that a match between him and Penn would take place as July and August are filled up; according to Florian,
“I talked to my manager Joe Cavallaro today and [UFC matchmaker] Joe Silva told him June 13. That was the date they wanted because they wanted it to be the main event and the only main event. That’s what fight made the most amount of sense for June 13. July [11, UFC 100] apparently is backed up, so July’s probably out of the question, and August…”
When more definitive information becomes available, Octagon Buzz will have it for you , along with the most up-to-date MMA news.
RITC 123 – 2X UFC Veteran Alberto Crane
Celebrity Theatre
Saturday February 28, 2009
Doors Open: 6:00 PM, Fight Time: 7:30 PM
Tickets: Cage Side ( Rows 1-4 ) $80, Reserved ( Rows 5-13 ) $50, General Admission ( B-Ring ) $30
$5 higher on fight day
In the Main Event, 2X UFC veteran Alberto Crane ( 11-3 ) faces rugged Eric Regan who lost, by decision, less than one year ago to 7X UFC veteran Melvin Guillard. Eric Regan is the current NoLimit ( TX ) Welterweight Champion.
In a Co-Main Event, hailing from Brazil, 5X World BJJ Champion Romulo Barral, in just his second mma fight, takes on Adrian Valdez. In the 2006 World BJJ semi-finals, Barral choked out UFC veteran Damien Maia ( 9-0 ) in one minute.
In another Co-Main event, popular local fighter Joe Cronin takes on Chris Gruetzmacher who is a training partner of WEC’s Ben Henderson and trains out of The Lab in Glendale Arizona.
A very strong supporting card compliments these high profile main events.
With ticket prices starting at just $30 and row 5 available for just $50 this is a “can’t miss” show.
Fight Card:
Alberto Crane ( 165 ) vs Eric Regan ( 165 )
Joe Cronin ( 170 ) vs Chris Gruetzmacher ( 170 )
Romulo Barral ( 185 ) vs Adrian Valdez ( 180 )
Mike Ashford ( 190 ) vs Jason Karpel ( 190 )
Omur Cor ( 175 ) vs Jeff Horlacher ( 175 )
Ray Robinson ( 150 ) vs Carlos Ortega ( 150 )
Curtis Ray ( 135 ) vs Justin Cuevas ( 135 )
Kevin Henderson ( 215 ) vs Daniel Feavel ( 220 )
INTERMISSION
Sean Downie ( 155 ) vs Jason Dehart ( 155 )
Lucas Stark ( 160 ) vs Sammy Ciurdar ( 155 )
Kevin Moore ( 185 ) vs James Llanes ( 175 )
David Solorio ( 170 ) vs Michael Bailey ( 170 )
David Shaw ( 170 ) vs Adam Ekstedt ( 160 )
Michael Alexander ( 165 ) vs Bryan Donovan ( 170 )
Matt Mahaerry ( 155 ) vs Michael Parker ( 155 )
Brent Agee ( 140 ) vs Dustin Saunders ( 135 )
For directions and more information visit: http://www.celebritytheatre.com/
Fight card subject to change
Co-promotion between a pair of MMA organizations is rare these days, due to petty jealousies between the organizations in question, contract obligations that a fighter has to fulfill and other minor considerations. Be that as it may, there lies the possibility that Bellator Fighting Championships is open to possibly cross-promoting select fighters.
Of course, you’re going to get night-and-day points of view on the matter as Monte Cox, who manages Eddie Alvarez, says that Alvarez (a fighter in his camp, is under exclusive contract with Bellator and would meet his contractual obligations to that promotion; meanwhile, Bjorn Rebney, CEO of Bellator, says that there’s room for Alvarez to roam; in other words, cross-promotion isn’t such a bad thing. Rebney’s take on the subject?
“From our perspective, the agreements that we have with numerous different fighters we’ve signed, that contractual opportunity absolutely exists,” he said. “We have the wherewithal and ability to put together matches and put together fights that people want to see across promotional platforms. Those are open doors.”
Rebney further adds,
“I’m kind of old school. If the best fighting the best means that (Strikeforce) fighters would match up through our ESPN alliance on Bellator shows, that’s what will happen. If the best fighting the best would mean there’s an opportunity to test an Eddie Alvarez or a Wilson Reis or a Jorge Masvidal against the best that fight for Strikeforce that would be very cool from my perspective. I’m not the kind of promoter that says you’ll fight under this banner and this banner alone. If we can make those things work – and I think Scott’s shown a pretty open willingness to make those kind of things happen – and it were the right kind of fight, I’d be completely open to it.”
So far, Strikeforce has done only one cross-promotion card (with the now dormant EliteXC); with Rebney’s statements, perhaps a partnership at some point of time can blossom between Strikeforce and Bellator. As of this writing, Strikeforce is putting the final touches on its April 11 card, as well as a proposed May show in Tacoma, WA while Bellator is expected to announce soon times and dates for its April, May and June cards this Wednesday. When further developments become available, Octagon Buzz will have them for you, as well as the most up-to-date MMA news.
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