Fight Talk

UFC welterweight champion Matt Serra won’t be able to defend his title against Matt Hughes, ruining the battle of coaches from the sixth season of The Ultimate Fighter 6.

Instead, former champion Georges St. Pierre will battle Hughes for the interim title on Dec. 29, which is the same show that will see Chuck Liddell’s must-win fight against Wanderlei Silva.
Serra will face the winner of the interim title match when he recovers.

On last week’s episode of The Ultimate Fighter 6, four members of Serra’s team battled each other in quarterfinal bouts. First, Matthew Arroyo (3-1) defeated Troy Mandoloniz (3-2) with an armbar.

In the second fight, Australia’s George Sotiropolous (8-2) knocked off Richie Hightower (7-2) with a Kimura.

The last quarterfinal bout will pit Ben Saunders against Tommy Spears.

In other UFC news, the company signed Andre Gusmao, who will debut against Dave Heath on Feb. 2. Gusmao recently competed for the New York Pitbulls of the IFL.

Rashad Evans maintained his undefeated record with a split decision over Michael “The Count” Bisping at UFC 78: Validation last Saturday in Newark, N.J.

Evans (11-0-1) had fought to a draw with Tito Ortiz in his last fight, so Evans still has credibility as a UFC main eventer. Now, Evans is positioned for a chance at even more validation if he can get a shot at UFC light heavyweight champion Quentin “Rampage” Jackson.

The bout was the first-ever meeting of “The Ultimate Fighter” champions. Evans won season 2, while Bisping won season 3.

Evans looked good early against Bisping (14-1), who wasn’t able to mount much offense. Bisping looked much better in Round 2 as Evans started to lose energy.

In the final round, Evans got his second wind and scored enough takedowns to convince two of the three judges to give him the win.

In the co-main event, Thiago Silva halted the momentum of Houston Alexander with a quick knockout in the first round. Everyone was stunned because Alexander had the makings of a future star.

In other fights, Frank Edgar won by unanimous decision over Spencer Fisher; Ed Herman knocked out Joe Doerksen in Round 3; and Karo Parisyan won a unanimous decision over Ryo Chonan.

The Ultimate Fighter 6 Update

Last week’s episode of “The Ultimate Fighter 6” saw Mac Danzig (17-4-1) of Team Hughes take on John Kolosci of Team Serra (8-4). Danzig completely shut down Kolosci’s offense and won in just under two minutes with the rear naked choke.

The fighters who are still alive include Danzig, Matthew Arroyo, Richie Hightower, Ben Saunders, Troy Mandaloniz, George Sotiropoulos and Tommy Speer. You can catch up on the entire series as Spike TV runs a TUF 6 marathon on Wednesday, Nov. 21 from 1-11 p.m. Eastern time.

Former Ultimate Fighter winners will collide in at UFC 78: Validation on Nov. 17 in Newark, N.J. Michael “The Court” Bisping (15-0) will take on Rashad Evans (15-0-1) in the main event.

Evans already achieved a measure of validation when he battled to a draw with Tito Ortiz on July 7 . Bisping is coming off a split decision win over Matt Hamill on Sept. 8. The winner could be in line for a shot at UFC light heavyweight champion Quinton “Rampage” Jackson.

In another battle of light heavyweight contenders, Houston Alexander (8-1) will battle Thiago Silva (11-0)

The company will wrap up the year on Dec. 29 in Las Vegas with UFC 79: Nemesis. Matt “The Terror” Serra (16-4) will face Matt Hughes (43-5) in a battle of two of the most successful welterweights in company history.

Also on that show, Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell will battle for his spot as a current top star when he faces PRIDE veteran Wanderlei “The Axe Murderer” Silva. Liddell is coming off losses to Jackson and Keith Jardine.

To start the new year, UFC will run a show in Newcastle, England on Jan. 19. B.J. Penn and Joe Stevenson will fight for the interim lightweight title, while the Sean Sherk substance controversy is worked out.

Finally, on this week’s episode of The Ultimate Fighter 6, George Sotiropoulos (8-2) of Team Serra beat Jared Rollins (9-4) of Team Hughes by TKO at the 2:49 mark.