Fight Talk

James Irvin tied the record for the fastest knockout in UFC history when he obliterated Houston Alexander in eight seconds at the Fight Night TV show on April 2.

In the main event, Kenny Florian maintained his status as a top lightweight contender by pounding out a second-round TKO win over Joe Lauzon.

In other bouts, Anthony Johnson knocked out Tommy Speer in 51 seconds; Nate Diaz made Kurt Pellegrino tap out to a triangle choke; Matt Hamill beat Tim Boetsch by TKO in Round 2; and Thiago Alves beat Karo Parisyan by TKO in Round 2; and Gray Maynard beat Frankie Edgar by unanimous decision.

Also that night, UFC debuted the seventh season of The Ultimate Fighter reality series. Light heavyweight champion Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and his next challenger, Forrest Griffin, are the coaches.

Cung Le won a wild battle with Frank Shamrock in the main event of the latest Strikeforce show, which aired last Saturday night on Showtime.

Le clobbered Shamrock with kicks and punches into the third round before Shamrock mounted a furious comeback. Le stopped the flurry with a pair of head kicks, and Shamrock could not respond.

Strikeforce also made headlines earlier in the week by signing a deal with NBC to produce shows on Saturday nights. You better set your TiVo, because it will air at 2 in the morning after “Showtime at the Apollo.”

Gilbert Melendez is the Strikeforce lightweight champion after a dominating victory over Gabe Lemley.

In other action, Drew Fickett beat Jae Suk Lim with the guillotine; Wayne Cole beat Mike Kyle with an armbar in 42 seconds; and Joey Villasenor knocked out Ryan Jensen.

Ultimate Fighting Championship is preparing for a double-bill of televised events on April 2 before its next pay-per-view on April 19.

The next Ultimate Fight Night special will be a three-hour event starting at 7 p.m. Eastern on April 2. The main event will be a battle of lightweight contenders as Kenny Florian (9-3) takes on Joe Lauzon (15-3).

Karo “The Heat” Parisyan (25-4) will take on Thiago Alves (18-4) in a featured welterweight fight. Also, Matt “The Hammer” Hamill (5-1) will battle Tim “The Barbarian” Boetsch (7-1) in a light heavyweight bout.

After the show, Spike TV will air the first episode of The Ultimate Fighter 6. Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Forrest Griffin will be the team captains.

The next pay-per-view will feature a battle of welterweight stars as Matt Serra faces Georges St. Pierre on April 19 in Montreal, Quebec to determine the undisputed champion of that weight class. Serra won the title from St. Pierre last year.

Also, UFC 83 will feature a pair of middleweight fights. Rich Franklin will take on Travis Lutter; and Nate Quarry will battle Kalib Starnes.

Anderson Silva erased all doubt that he is the world’s top middleweight fighter when he choked out Dan Henderson at UFC 82: Pride of a Champion.

Silva retained the UFC middleweight title and unified it with Henderson’s Pride 185-pound championship.

Henderson hung in there with Silva early. However, Silva used his skills as a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu to take over on the mat, winning with a rear naked choke at 4:52.

Chris Leben moved closer to a shot at Silva with a convincing win over Alessio Sakara of Italy. Leben floored Sakara with a left and pounded his way to a TKO victory at 3:16.

In a battle of heavyweight contenders, Heath Herring won a split decision over Cheick Kongo of France. Kongo looked great at first, but he didn’t have a solid strategy to put Herring away. Herring recovered and controlled the pace on the mat in Rounds 2 and 3 to pick up the win.

Japanese welterweight Yushin Okami knocked out Evan Tanner with a knee strike at 3 minutes of Round 2.

Also, John Fitch won a unanimous decision over Chris Wilson in the middleweight opener; and Josh Koscheck defeated Dustin Hazelett on a TKO in Round 2.

Dan Henderson lost his Pride welterweight title to Quentin Jackson last year. He has a chance for redemption tonight against Anderson “The Spider” Silva (20-4).

Henderson also holds the Pride middleweight title, and he will unify the belts in his bout with UFC champ Silva at UFC 82: Pride of a Champion in Columbus, Ohio.

Middleweights will also be featured on the undercard, as Alessio Sakara (16-6-1) will face Chris Leben (17-4), while Yushin “Thunder” Okami (22-4) battles Evan Tanner (34-6).

Also, French heavyweight Cheick Kongo (11-3-1) will try to follow up on his win over Mirko Cro Cop when he faces Heath Herring (27-13-1).

In addition, Chris “The Professor” Wilson (12-3-1) will face Jon Fitch (20-2-1) in a welterweight fight.

In other news, CBS signed a deal to air prime-time MMA specials with the Elite XC promotion. Kimbo Slice beat Tank Abbott in the last Elite XC show on Showtime. This will be the first time MMA has aired on network television.

WEC presented its first show of 2008 on Feb. 13 on the Versus network. Carlos Condit hung on to his welterweight title with a quick guillotine choke on Carlo Prater.
The champions in the other two title fights didn’t fare so well. Jamie Varner became the new WEC lightweight champion when he knocked out Rob McCullough in the third round.
Also, Miguel Torres won the bantamweight title over Chase Beebe with a rear naked choke in the first round.
The WEC is owned by UFC and features the fighters in the lower weight classes.
Elite XC also started up for the year on Feb. 16 on Showtime. Kimbo Slice destroyed Tank Abbott in the main event, winning by knockout in just 43 seconds.

Mirko Cro Cop is gone from UFC after a year, and he will compete for the DREAM promotion, which will debut in Japan on March 15. Officials from PRIDE, Heroes and K-1 are running the new venture.

Brock Lesnar lost his UFC debut to Frank Mir on Feb. 2 at UFC 81: Breaking Point. Still, he showed the potential to be a force in the heavyweight division someday soon.

Lesnar landed some big strikes early in the fight, but Mir caught his with a kneebar for the tapout at 1:37.

Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira won the UFC interim heavyweight title with by defeating Tim “The Maine-iac” Sylvia with the guillotine in Round 3. Nogueira asked for a fight with current UFC heavyweight champ Randy Couture, who is sitting out due to a contract dispute.

Middleweight Nate “The Great” Marquardt improved his UFC record to 5-1 by defeating Jeremy Horn in Round 2 with the guillotine.

In other fights, Chris Lytle knocked out Kyle Bradley in 33 seconds; Robert Emerson bear Keita Nakamura by split decision; Tim Boetsch beat David Heath by TKO in Round 1; Tyson Griffin beat Gleison Tibau by unanimous decision; and Ricardo “Big Dog“ Almeida beat Rob Yundt with the guillotine in 68 seconds.

UFC will crown a new heavyweight champion tonight, but all everyone wants to talk about is Brock Lesnar.

That’s because the former WWE champion stands to become a huge star if his fight against Frank Mir goes as well as his MMA debut over Min Soo Kim on June 2.

UFC 81: Breaking Point will begin at 10 p.m. Eastern.

Mir is no pushover, as he enters the fight with a 10-3 record. He used the Kimura armlock to beat Antoni Hardonk back in August.

The winner will be a potential challenger for the new UFC interim heavyweight champion, which will also be decided that night. Tim “The Maine-iac” Sylvia (26-3) will face Antonio Rodrigo Noguiera (30-4-1) for the belt.

Current champion Randy “The Natural” Couture is still recognized as the UFC champion, despite his lengthy contract dispute with UFC.

Sylvia lost the UFC heavyweight title to Couture last March, but he bounced back to beat Brandon Vera in October. Noguiera is coming off a unanimous decision win over Heath Herring in July.

Middleweights will battle in the other two top bouts of the night. Jeremy Horn (88-16-5) will face Nate Marquardt (28-7-1), while Rob Yundt (7-0) battles Ricardo “Big Dog” Almeida (8-2).

Mike Swick won last night’s Ultimate Fight Night over Josh Burkman in a battle of welterweights. The crowd booed after a bout that didn’t live up to expectations from an action standpoint.

Swick improved his record to 11-2, while Burkman dropped to 9-5.

Nate Diaz, the winner of The Ultimate Fighter 5, defeated Alvin Robinson in Round 1 with a triangle choke.

In other bouts, Patrick Cote knocked off Drew McFedries by TKO in the first round; and Thiago Tavares defeated Michihiro Omigawa by unanimous decision.

B.J. Penn captured the vacant UFC lightweight title with a win over Joe Stevenson at UFC 80: Rapid Fire in Newcastle, England.

Penn clobbered Stevenson early, almost winning the bout in the opening seconds. Penn opened up Stevenson’s forehead before putting him away with a rear naked choke late in the first round.

Penn, a former welterweight champion, became the second man to win UFC titles in different weight divisions. Randy Couture was the first (light heavyweight and heavyweight).

Sean Sherk did commentary at ringside. He lost the lightweight title after testing positive for a banned substance. Sherk will battle Penn at a future pay-per-view to determine the undisputed king of the lightweight (155-pound) division.

In the heavyweight division, Fabricio Werdum upset fellow Brazilian Gabriel Gonzaga by TKO with a flurry of punches late in Round 2.

In other bouts:

– Marcus Davis beat Jess Liaudin with a very quick knockout.
– Jorge Rivera upset Kendall Grove with a first-round knockout.
– Wilson Gouveia took an early beating but came back to knock out Jason Lambert in Round 2.
– Paul Kelly and Paul Taylor, a pair of British fighters, opened their fight with a wild slugfest. The bout went the distance with Kelly winning a unanimous decision.

Ultimate Fighting Championship will present its 80th big show, Rapid Fire, live on pay-per-view on Jan. 19 at 3 p.m. Eastern from Newcastle, England.

“The Prodigy” B.J. Penn will headline the event, as he will battle Joe Stevenson for the vacant UFC lightweight title. Previous champion Sean Sherk was stripped of the belt late last year after testing positive for a banned substance.

Penn’s last fight took place six month ago, when he choked out Jens Pulver at the Ultimate Fighter 5 finale. Penn has a record of 11-4-1 and is a former UFC welterweight champion.

Stevenson (28-7) has slugged his way into contention with four wins in a row, most recently a unanimous decision over Kurt Pellegrino in August.

The second-to-top match will be a battle between Brazilian heavyweights Gabriel Gonzaga and Fabricio Werdum.

Gonzaga put himself on the map when he knocked out Mirko Cro Cop last April. That win earned him a shot at UFC heavyweight champion Randy “The Natural” Couture, who defeated him on a TKO in August.

Werdum is 9-3-1 but lost his only UFC fight to Andrei Arlovski by unanimous decision last April.

This show will show how big UFC’s core fan base is, since it’s last big show from the U.K. aired on a tape delay on prime-time TV. This time, UFC is hoping its fans will pay for the show and watch it live on a Saturday afternoon.

The rest of the undercard includes Jess Jiaudin vs. Marcus Davis (welterweights); Wilson Gouveia vs. Jason Lambert (light heavyweights); and Jorge Rivera vs. Kendall Grove (middleweights).

The first big MMA show of 2008 will be “UFC 80: Rapid Fire” from Newcastle, England on Jan. 19. After the suspension of lightweight champion Sean Sherk, B.J. Penn will battle Joe Stevenson for the interim lightweight title.

In a battle of heavyweights, Gabriel Gonzaga will take on Fabricio Werdum. Other bouts include Marcus Davis vs. Jess Liaudin; Wilson Gouveia vs. Jason Lambert; and Kendall Grove vs. Jorge Rivera.

Brock Lesnar’s debut against Frank Mir will take place at “UFC 81:Breaking Point” in Las Vegas on Feb. 2. Also, Tim Sylvia will face Antonio Rodrigo Noguiera in a heavyweight fight.

The first Elite XC show of the year will air on Showtime on Jan. 25 from Atlantic City, N.J. Bellaton “Eurothrash” Frederick will battle Kala Kolohe Hose, while Kyle Bradley will fight Yves Edwards.

In women’s action, Julie Kedzie will take on Tonya Evinger.

Elite XC will come right back to Showtime again on Feb. 16 as Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson takes on UFC legend Tank Abbott. The show will take place in Miami.

Scott Smith will fight Kyle Noke on the show, while James “Colossus” Thompson and Antonio Silva will also fight on the show.

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).

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.