by Jeff Gorman
UFC will kick off its big weekend with an episode of The Ultimate Fighter 5 tonight at 10 Eastern on Spike TV. A fight breaks out between two of the contestants, and the first quarterfinal bout takes place in the lightweight tournament.
Following TUF 5, Spike TV will replay its “UFC 71 Countdown” show, which first aired on Monday night. The show is designed to get fans excited for Saturday’s pay-per-view between light heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell and Quinton Jackson.
On Friday, the Liddell-Jackson weigh-in will air live on ESPN News and on UFC.com. The pay-per-view will air at 10 p.m. on Saturday, and we will have a full preview tomorrow.
Looking ahead to future pay-per-views, “UFC 72: Victory” will take place in Belfast, Northern Ireland, on June 16. The top bouts are Rich Franklin vs. Yushin Okami at 185 pounds, and Hector Ramirez vs. Forrest Griffin at 205.
Middleweight champion Anderson Silva will headline “UFC 73: Stacked” against Nate Marquardt. That show will take place on July 7 at Arco Arena in Sacramento, Calif.
After, that, UFC 74 is set for Aug. 25 with heavyweight champion Randy Couture vs. Gabriel Gonzaga; and Georges St. Pierre vs. Josh Koscheck.
by Jeff Gorman
Former WWE champion Brock Lesnar will step into the world of mixed martial arts for the first time on June 2 in Los Angeles. ProElite is promoting the show, called Dynamite USA, on Showtime pay-per-view.
Lesnar will battle 7-foot-2 Hong Man Choi of South Korea. Choi, nicknamed “Techno Goliath,” is 1-0 after a TKO win over Bobby Ologun on New Year’s Eve.
In a recent press conference, Lesnar said he has been training for the fight for a year. He also said he will rely on his 18 years of amateur wrestling experience.
This isn’t the first time Lesnar has taken up a new sporting venture. He walked out of the WWE in 2005 in order to take a shot at an NFL contract with the Minnesota Vikings. He didn’t make the team, and he has been wrestling on and off in Japan ever since.
The Dynamite USA card will also feature Royce Gracie vs. Kazuski Sakuraba; as well as the MMA debut of former football player Johnnie Morton.
You can learn about the event at http://www.elitexc.com/
by Jeff Gorman
PRIDE Fighting Championships is promoting “Decade,” a retrospective of the first 10 years of the promotion. It is available on demand on pay-per-view.
Stars of the ‘Decade’ show include Chuck Liddell, Mark Kerr, Don Frye, Kevin Randleman, Frank Trigg, Nobuhiko Takaka, Quinton Jackson and Renzo Gracie.
Speaking of Gracie, he was in the main event of the Pride TV show on Fox Sports Net last week. Gracie faced in Kazushi Sakuraba in a fight from PRIDE 10: Return of the Warriors back in 2000.
The first 10-minute round was painfully slow, as the fighters spent more than a minute in a clinch. The action revved up in the second round, and Sakuraba caught Gracie in a wicked-looking kimura armbar for the victory.
PRIDE also aired a fight from Shockwave 2005 with James “The Debt Collector” Thompson against the 7-foot-2 Giant Silva from Brazil. Thompson knocked the former WWE wrestler off his feet and clobbered him in less than 90 seconds.
You can learn everything about PRIDE at www.pridefc.com
PRIDE, Renzo Gracie, Giant Silva
by Jeff Gorman
The main event at IFL’s Chicago show on May 20 was a battle of former UFC stars as Maurice Smith defeated Marco Ruas. Both men were coming off five-year layoffs from MMA competition. It was a rematch of a 1999 fight that saw Ruas lose due to a knee injury.
This time, both men showed their age (mid-40s) as the action in the first three rounds was painfully slow. Many of the fans booed or left the building. Ruas finally ran out of gas in Round 4 and was unable to stop Smith from pummeling him into submission. Just like in 1999, Ruas’ cornermen threw in the towel.
Earlier, a pair of IFL team competitions took place. The Southern California Condors eked out a 3-2 win over the San Jose Razorclaws at the IFL show on May 19 in Chicago. Antoine Jaoude, Adam Lynn and Emanuel Newton won their fights for SoCal.
Similarly, the Quad Cities Silverbacks knocked off the hometown Chicago Red Bears 3-2. Winning for Quad Cities were Bart Palaszewski, Mike Ciesnolevicz and Ben Rothwell.
With the victories, Quad Cities and So Cal are both 2-1 and are still alive for a spot in the playoffs.
IFL Battleground is on tonight at 8 on MyNetwork TV. Quad Cities, coached by Pat Miletich, will battle Ken Shamrock’s Nevada Lions.
You can learn about IFL at http://www.ifl.tv
IFL, Marco Ruas, Maurice Smith
by Jeff Gorman
Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell is the top fighter in the world right now, even at the age of 37. Things can change quickly, however. Liddell will defend his UFC light heavyweight title against Quinton “Rampage” Jackson at UFC 71 on May 26 in Las Vegas.
Liddell (20-3) has won seven fights in a row, and the last man to beat him was Jackson at Pride Final Conflict in 2003. Rampage won by a TKO with a flurry of elbows in Round 2.
Since then, both fighters have been on a roll. Liddell won the biggest fight in mixed martial arts (MMA) history when he stopped Tito Ortiz at UFC 66. Jackson (26-6) made his debut by knocking out Marvin Eastman at UFC 67 on Feb. 3. Now, he has a chance to win the title and become the first man to beat Liddell twice.
As Fight Night approaches, we will be looking at the undercard, which includes Josh Burkman vs. Karo Parisyan; and Terry Martin vs. Ivan Salaverry. You can get all of the info on UFC 71 at http://71.ufc.com
Finally, I want to thank you for getting in on the ground (and pound) floor of Fight Talk Online. We will cover the entire world of MMA and have a great time doing so!
UFC 71, Liddell, Rampage, Jackson
