Few Saturdays are as synonymous with the UFC putting on a major event as the card offered annually on Super Bowl weekend. With past years providing action featuring Randy Couture, Lyoto Machida, Rashad Evans, Frank Edgar, and a number of the sport’s biggest stars, 2011 will be no exception as the UFC has officially announced a trio of main card bouts with a current champion, three former title-holders, and two of the brightest young stars in the light heavyweight division.
As expected, Anderson Silva will put his middleweight belt up for grabs against former 205-pound champ Vitor Belfort in the evening’s headlining match-up on February 5 at UFC 126.
“This is a fight I’ve been looking forward to for a while,” Silva said of his upcoming defense against Belfort. “Vitor is a very talented striker and a tough competitor. I am training very hard and I know that the fight could go anywhere, but I expect a standup war. I also want to say that I’m very excited to be fighting in Las Vegas again. I have a lot of fans in Vegas and it’s been a while since I’ve fought there. The fans are always very loud in Las Vegas and I feed off that energy.”
“UFC fans expect big things from us every year for our Super Bowl weekend show, and this year could be our biggest ever,” an equally excited Dana White said. “Silva vs. Belfort is a fight fan’s dream match. It’s a fight people have wanted for years. Don’t blink because both of these guys have dynamite in their hands and can end the night quickly and in very exciting fashion.”
Also slated for action against each other are two of the UFC’s most-popular fighters, as well as former champions in their own right, Forrest Griffin and Rich Franklin. Griffin has not fought since his split decision win over Tito Ortiz in November 2009 and will no doubt be anxious to engage with “Ace” once the cage door closes.
In addition to Griffin vs. Franklin, the UFC confirmed another pair of light heavyweights would be facing off at the event – Jon Jones and Ryan Bader. Bader is currently undefeated in thirteen professional appearances, while Jones’ only loss was the result of landing an ultimately meaningless illegal elbow in the process of pounding Matt Hamill out last December and being disqualified. Both are coming off impressive victories, albeit of a different variety. Bader out-pointed Antonio Rogerio Nogueira at UFC 119 in September, while Jones has back-to-back first round TKOs over Brandon Vera and Vladimir Matyushenko since the disappointing “DQ” defeat to Hamill.Similar Posts:
Welcome back to another edition of “MMA Link Club”, Five Ounces of Pain‘s weekly smorgasbord of work from our brothers and sisters in the MMA community. Enjoy…
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Bellator Middleweight Hector Lombard Wants to Fight Josh Barnett for Personal Reasons (CagePotato.com)
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Jon Jones is Tired of Wrestlers and Explains Why (MMAConvert.com)
Rich Franklin raffles off the pink cast he wore after breaking his left forearm in his fight with Chuck Liddell at UFC 115 in Vancouver, Canada in May. “Ace” had Liddell sign the cast which went to “Eugene Lawrance” ticket # 2427. Franklin also gave away a few other items (three autographed pictures, two shirts and two mouthpieces) to fans who entered the contest.
UFC light heavyweight Rich Franklin got some good news from doctors on Monday.
The former champ, who broke his arm in a UFC 115 main-event victory over Chuck Liddell, does not need surgery on the left limb, and a targeted December or January return date is still a possibility.
Franklin's business manager, J.T. Stewart, today told MMAjunkie.com that the fighter's full-arm cast was removed and replaced with a smaller, lighter forearm cast.
MMA BIG SHOW PRESENTS LOCAL FAVORITES CHRIS BENNETT, MOJO HORNE, AND TJ BALL
AS THEY PUT IT ALL ON THE LINE AT “ALL OR NOTHING”
Event to take place live at Belterra Casino Resort & Spa on July 17th
Indiana (USA): MMA Big Show, one of the top fight promotions in the Midwest, will present its next exciting event, “ALL OR NOTHING,” which will take place on July 17th at Belterra Casino Resort & Spa in Indiana. In the main event, big-time local favorite Mojo Horne (7-2) will face one of his toughest tests to date, as he tangles with extremely experienced American Top Team product Lucas Lopes (19-8, fifteen finishes). Also featured on the card will be rising young local prospect “The Samurai” Chris Bennett (0-1 pro, 18-1 amateur), as he attempts to capture his first pro win from Brad Smith (1-1). Another notable local showcased on the fight card will be T.J. Ball (1-1), who will be looking to increase his pro experience against Danny “The Hammer” Surface (3-2). And making his return to Big Show will be Scott Cornwell (1-1), who made his Big Show debut last fall against UFC veteran Junie “The Lunatic” Browning (4-3). Tickets for “ALL OR NOTHING” are priced at $25, $45, and $75, and are available through Ticketmaster, as well as http://www.mmabigshow.com/. 21 and over only, please.
A training partner of Rich Franklin and a former MMA Big Show Middleweight Champion, Mojo Horne was glad to put 2009 behind him, as he suffered the first losses of his pro career. However, he ended the campaign on a high note, as he submitted Kevin Barkdull in the first round at November’s “ONSLAUGHT” event. Now back to his winning ways, Horne is looking to target his title once again in 2010. Standing in his way will be extremely experienced veteran Lucas Lopes. A veteran of 27 MMA fights, Lopes has
fought well-known competitors Sean Salmon and StrikeForce fighter Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos, and has defeated UFC welterweight contender Thiago Alves and former UFC fighter Antonio “Samuray” Mendes. Lopes is on a four-fight winning streak, including two straight wins in StrikeForce. Lucas is coming off a KO victory over Robert “Bubba” McDaniel, who previous defeated Mojo via ref stoppage after Horne’s nose was broken. This is Mojo’s opportunity to, in a way, avenge his loss to McDaniel, and come out ahead of a highly experience ATT fighter. Certainly, this will be a difficult test for Horne, but he’s ready to go out there and prove that not only can he beat a veteran like Lopes, he is deserving of a shot at “his” belt. “I’m hoping that if I win this fight, that I’ll be able to fight for my title again. From there, once I get my title back, Jason says he has some plans for me. So I’m excited about that.” What does he think about facing a competitor like his opponent? “I’ve seen some footage on him. He looks like more of a standup fighter. Don’t know much about his ground. The fight footage on him doesn’t show much about the ground. But I’m a firm believer in fighting the fight, not the fighter. So I’m just gonna go in there and do my thing.” And to the fans, Mojo had this to say: “I’m going to do my best for you guys, as I always do. Hopefully, I get the KO or submission, and everyone get’s their money’s worth.”
“The Samurai” Chris Bennett built a name for himself with MMA Big Show fans with his incredibly exciting fights. A real crowd-pleaser, he turned professional earlier this year after piling up eighteen amateur victories. Bennett, currently a 0-1 as a pro, is looking to rebound after a devastating loss to American Top Team’s Tony Simms and prove that he’s a serious contender against Brad Smith at “ALL OR NOTHING.” Additionally, T.J. Ball will be fighting the very tough Danny “The Hammer” Surface, who will be making his pro debut. Both fighters recently dropped to 185 lbs. from their former heavyweight status. As a result, this is going to be a war between two muscle-packed fighters looking to dominate.
Fearsome fighter Scott Cornwell put on a show in the main event of Big Show’s “ONSLAUGHT” in November of 2009. is a Cincinnati native who started learning Tae Kwon Do at the age of three under Master David Huffstutler. As a teenager, Cornwell quickly progressed through the ranks, and currently holds a 3rd degree black belt, winning several local and national tournaments. He also had a very impressive high school wrestling career, where he competed for multiple national teams in freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling. His amateur mixed martial arts career began in 2007 while training under 4th degree black belt and renowned MMA instructor Rob Gerhardt, and he won his first five amateur fights, amassing an impressive record of 7-2. In preparation for his pro debut, Scott began additional training with Rod Housley at Team Vision while continuing to train and teach at Hamilton-Fairfield Tae Kwon Do. In short, Scott is an excellent striker and wrestler, and is well-versed in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
Fans can bet on these fights through the MMA Big Show iPhone Fantasy Better, and can also watch the event LIVE on R&R Channel 354 on DirecTV at 8 PM EST on the 17th.
In addition, the Big Show Gym, a 19,000 square foot MMA & Fitness Facility will be opening on June 27th in Eastgate Mall in Batavia, OH. This new facility will opening softly on the 27th and will host a grand opening event approximately 30 days later, once all of the equipment and build-out has been completed. This gym will feature a full strength and cardio center, full MMA cage (the actual MMA Big Show Cage), BJJ mats, Muay Thai center, and will host a multitude of training and group classes such as Extreme Fitness Boxing, Zumba, yoga, aerobics and much more. Please visit http://www.bigshowgym.com/ for more information.
The MMA Big Show is currently looking for both national sponsors for its live national broadcasts as well as the gym.
The full fight card for “ALL OR NOTHING” includes:
Mojo Horne vs. Lucas Lopes
T.J. Ball vs. Danny Surface
Chris Bennett vs. Brad Smith
Scott Cornwell vs. James Baumgardner
Brendon Hampton vs. Josh Curry
Tyler Riley vs. Shannon Casey
Trevor Riley vs. Chris Anness
Joe Pegg vs. Marcus Lewis
Dave Coghlan vs. Eric Grifford
Jordan Seals vs. Jimmie Allen
Nikolas Hoobler- Scherff vs. Korey Comptan
TJ Wash vs. Dallas Rice
BJ Wulff vs. Justin Bruster
Shannon Powell vs. Phil Colston
Denver Myers vs. John Risley
Kirk Miller vs. Dom Steele
William Kimrey vs. Ryan Holubek
Michael Ormes vs. David Smallwood
Vic Sims vs. Colt Helton
UFC 119 in Indianapolis still needs a headliner, but one regional fighter won't be available for the September event.
Due to the broken arm he suffered in a recent knockout win over Chuck Liddell, Cincinnati-area fighter Rich Franklin is unavailable for main-event duties at the show, which takes place Sept. 25 at Conseco Fieldhouse.
J.T. Stewart, Franklin's business manager, today told MMAjunkie.com that Franklin expects to be sidelined until December.
UFC veteran fighter Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell is still mulling over the idea of retirement, though many MMA insiders are certainly looking for him to do so after his KO loss to Rich Franklin at UFC 115. On the other side of the coin Liddell can still sell seats and his conditioning seemed much better; however it seems like his chin is the main issue, and medically is it even safe for Liddell to continue to take the beatings inside the Octagon? Your thoughts?
You knew it wasn’t going to be long before UFC president Dana White had something to say concerning top heavyweight fighter Fedor Emelianenko and his recent comments about the UFC. MMAJunkie recently did a great interview with White, and here’s his take on Fedor as it pertains to being signed:
“I’ve signed Brock Lesnar, who came from the WWE, James Toney from boxing – he’s a nut chasing me all over the place – Tito Ortiz, whom I hated, and he hated me. I signed him twice when we hated each other. I’ve kept Chuck Liddell, kept Matt Hughes, kept Rich Franklin, when they were all champions. Anderson Silva, I’ve dealt with all the crazy [expletive] with him.
“But I can’t sign Fedor? How is this possible that I can’t sign this guy? It’s not possible. These guys don’t want to fight the best in the world.”
The entire interview is quite interesting, epecially where White talks about the amount of tickets sold for the upcoming Fedor vs. Werdum card. Will Fedor ever end up in the UFC, or will he retire before that even becomes an option? Only time will tell.
Talk about fighting through the pain: A broken arm was never going to be the reason Rich Franklin didn’t get his hand raised at the end of the night at UFC 115.
Welcome back to another edition of “MMA Link Club” where FiveOuncesofPain.com gets a little help from our friends to bring all of the latest ramblings from the MMA landscape to your front door. Enjoy…
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Few Saturdays are as synonymous with the UFC putting on a major event as the card offered annually on Super Bowl weekend. With past years providing action featuring Randy Couture, Lyoto Machida, Rashad Evans, Frank Edgar, and a number of the sport’s biggest stars, 2011 will be no exception as the UFC has officially announced a trio of main card bouts with a current champion, three former title-holders, and two of the brightest young stars in the light heavyweight division.
UFC light heavyweight Rich Franklin got some good news from doctors on Monday.
