Fight Talk

It seems like every major MMA group out there put together a big show in the waning days of 2007. Of course, the biggest show was UFC 79 in Las Vegas on Dec.29

Georges St.-Pierre won the UFC interim welterweight title with a convincing second-round win over Matt Hughes. St. Pierre will face the injured champion, Matt Serra, to unify the belts in the spring.

Chuck Liddell stayed alive as a top UFC when he won a unanimous decision over Wanderlei Silva. Liddell needed the win after losses to Quinton Jackson and Keith Jardine. Both Liddell and Silva emerged with the fans’ respect after their bloody war.

In other bouts, Eddie Sanchez defeated Soa Palelei; Lyoto Machica downed Sokoudjou; and Rich Clementi defeated Melvin Guillard.

The IFL also wrapped up the year with its Grand Prix finals at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, Conn. on Dec. 29.

Waggney Fabiano (9-1) wiped out L.C. Davis (9-1) with a first-round armbar to become the new IFL featherweight champion.

Jay Hieron (14-4) defeated Delson Heleno (13-4) on a doctor’s stoppage in Round 1 to become the first IFL welterweight champion.

Matt “Suave” Horwich (21-9-1) knocked out B.J. Radach (19-3) in Round 2 to win the IFL middleweight title.

Ryan Schultz (18-9-1) captured the IFL lightweight title with a first-round TKO of Chris Horodecki (11-1).

Finally, Roy Nelson (11-2) won the IFL heavyweight title over Antoine Jaoude (8-3) with a TKO early in the second round.

In other fights, Fedor Emelianenko defeated Hong Man Choi with a first-round armbar on New Year’s Eve in Yurenoka, Japan.

Meanwhile, Bob Sapp defeated Bobby Ologun with a flurry of strikes at another New Year’s Eve show in Osaka.

Happy New Year and thanks for reading Fight Talk!

–Jeff Gorman

The sixth season of The Ultimate Fighter will come to a conclusion this weekend. The semifinals will air on Spike TV on Thursday (Dec. 6), while the live finale will take place on Saturday night at 9 on Spike.

Matt Arroyo (4-1) will take on Mac Danzig (19-4-1) in one semifinal fight. Arroyo is an expert in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu from Cobleskill, N.Y. He beat Dorian Price and Troy Mandoloniz to beat the final four. Danzig, a native of Pittsburgh, defeated Joseph Scarola and John Kolosci.

The other semifinal fight will pit George Sotiropoulos (9-2) against Tommy Speer (11-1). Sotiropoulos hails from Australia. He beat Jared Rollins and Richie Hightower in the first two rounds. Speer, a farm boy from Rochester, Minn., downed John Koppenhaver and Ben Saunders.

The winners will battle on Saturday’s finale show. The main event was supposed to be the traditional battle of the coaches, in this case Matt Hughes vs. Matt Serra. However, an injury to Serra ruined those plans.

Instead, the top fight will pit “The Carpenter” Clay Guida (22-5) against Roger “El Matador” Huerta (21-1-1).

WEC PLANS THREE TITLE FIGHTS

World Extreme Cagefighting will present three championship bouts on Dec. 12 at 9 p.m. on the Versus network.

The title bouts are Urijah Faber (19-1) vs. Jeff Curran (31-8-1) for the featherweight title; Paulo Filho (15-0) vs. Chael Sonnen (21-8-1) for the middleweight belt; and Doug Marshall (6-2) vs. Ariel Gandulla (4-0-1) for the light heavyweight title.

Also, Jens Pulver (21-8-1) will debut in the WEC featherweight division against Cub Swanson (11-1).