Pride FC News

Two fights announced for the Open Weight Gran Prix Tournament aptly called Final Conflict Absolute on Sept 10th in Japan. The announced fights are as follows: Wanderlei "The Axe Murderer" Silva (31-5-1) vs Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic (19-4-2) Wanderlei defeated Kazuyuki Fujita (13-5-0) to advance in the tournament. "Cro Cop" defeated Hidehiko Yoshida (7-4-1) to advance in the tournament. Antonio Rodrigo "Minotauro" Nogueira (28-3-1) vs Josh "The Baby Faced Assassin" Barnett (18-3-0). Nogueira defeated Fabricio Werdum (8-2-1) to advance. Barnett defeated Mark Hunt (5-2-0) to advance.

UFC News

Another fight has been announced for UFC 62. Forrest Griffin (12-3-0) will face Stephan "American Psycho" Bonnar (12-2-0)for the second time. The first time was their memorable fight at The Ultimate Fighter 1 finale on Spike in which Forrest Griffin won by a slim margin (both Griffin and Bonnar were given UFC contracts despite Bonnar barely losing). In other news, the main event for UFC 63 to be held at the Arrowhead Pond in Anaheim, CA will feature the UFC Middleweight Champion, Matt Hughes (39-4-0) will defend his title against Georges "Rush" St. Pierre (12-1-0. Interesting note is St. Pierre's only loss came from Matt Hughes when he submitted him in the first round with an armbar at UFC 50: The War Of '04.

My Views

To clear up any confusion, I am not partial to either the UFC or Pride FC. I think they both have a place in the world of MMA and will not try to engage in petty bickering between which one is better. Granted there are differences besides geography, but both are very entertaining. Now in no particular order here are my favorite fighters at the moment: Renato "Babalu" Sobral (27-5-0) Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic (19-4-2) Jeff "Snowman" Monson (22-5-0) Wanderlei "The Axe Murderer" Silva (31-5-1 and 1 No Contest) Brandon "The Truth" Vera (7-0-0) Genki "Neo-Samurai" Sudo (14-4-1) Forrest Griffin (12-3-0) Michael "The Count" Bisping (11-0-0) The list isn't all inclusive, I am sure I forgot some too. One last thing, I am seriously experiencing some mixed emotions with the latest news from the UFC/Pride situation. First Babalu is scheduled to fight Chuck "The Iceman" Liddell for the UFC Light-Heavyweight title, but at UFC 61 it was announced that if Liddell successfully defends the title at UFC 62 and stays injury free and Wanderlei Silva stays healthy against his upcoming fight at Final Conflict Absolute against Cro Cop, the Iceman and the Axe Murderer will meet in the Octagon. That should bring cheers from any MMA fan except for big Babalu fans. Like I said, mixed emotions....

Welcome All

This is my new blog dedicated to the growing sport of MMA. I started watching with intrigue as they were showing the pay per view of UFC 3 at the sports bar at the Norfolk Naval Station. I was distinctly in awe of Royce Gracie being the smaller person and taking out the bigger person with takedowns and submissions. Then for the most part in 1997, the sport that had been marketed as "No Holds Barred" with very few rules (the only rules at that point had been no eye gouging or fish hooking). By UFC V they had instituted a 30 minute time limit, and by UFC VI the started using judges. Sen. John McCain started campaigning to have the sport of MMA outlawed and effectively killed the PPV for the UFC, so by then you could only either buy or rent the VHS or attend one in person. In 2001, the UFC was bought by the current owners, Zuffa LLC, owned by Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta who sought to bring legitimacy to the sport of MMA. They instituted new rules and weight classes which allowed the sport to be sanctioned by athletic commissions and opening markets in places like Las Vegas and Atlantic City. Also in 2001 it marked a return to PPV for the UFC with UFC 30. UFC has been growing ever since, and reached even higher with the addition of the Ultimate Fighter reality tv series which just finished there 3rd season which is shown on Spike TV. I look forward as the sport grows here in the USA (unlike Japan that has Pride FC