***spoilers*** UFC News and Discussion Thread

[Dingle]

Rampage vs Liddel

This was fucking great, didn't go very long but it didn't matter because that great hook by Rampage looked superb. Liddel might have argued with the stoppage but his body went into dead mans position and it looked like one of Rampage's shots woke him back up, but as the replay showed his eyes were very glazed over after Rampage left him. The promo afterwards was GREAT, but Dan Henderson no selling Rampage's wackiness is not good. DAN HENDERSON IF YOU AINT DOWN WITH RAMPAGE HE'S GONNA WHUP DAT ASS!

It's good stuff in the long run because even though Liddel/Dan would be bigger, right now in America Pride/UFC isn't THAT big of a deal yet because not many people apart from the hardcore fans would know much about PRIDE. Might mean something when they plan to have that MMA Superbowl show, but until then it doesn't really matter. This match also built a rematch that would mean something after Henderson/Rampage. Oh and it was fun too!!

Karo was pretty good, but the fight in all just annoyed me because even though Parisyan's cardio was really good, Burkman was gassed really quickly into the second round and from then on I kinda just got a bit bored until the final round kinda picked up. I was waiting for aaaaages for Karo to finish Burkman, but he just didn't. The best thing was the post-match song about how his throws are great and all others are like little girls.

Leben, god damnit, he annoyed me. I've heard really good stuff about him before, but once again they got really gassed and it kinda annoyed me. All in all it was kinda just there. Only thing I remember was that I'd disagree with the 30-27 scoring, ah well.

Houston Alexander was fucking GREAT. I randomly chose him for predictions not knowing who he was. He did great and I would never have known that this was supposed to be an upset, but apparently Jardine got really cocky; at least he did as soon as he rocked him early on. Then Alexander fucked him up and crushed him with a badass uppercut. This was GREAT for 48 seconds or whatever!

Din Thomas and Jeremy Stevens was GREAT. The grappling all over the ground was pretty fun and then at the end of the round I figured Stevens was sooo close to getting the win with that flurry, alas. The armbar was a bit iffy, but the replays KIND OF showed that he wasn't getting out of it and everyone else seemed to say that Din had it deep.

All in all, this PPV sold me on UFC completely. Now and then I usually catch the bigger fights and fights that are said to be really good. This has kinda pushed me to wanting to see more full UFC PPV's and it was GREAT. Apparently this had a lot of hype all over America, and from what I hear this is gonna do good things for UFC. Especially since it was so well done, some new guys were introduced and we had some real good fights

[Enter Blue Guy]

If 2007 has showed us anything, it's that fighters are getting better as a whole. The sport has a defined method of what is needed to be successful, training has become more efficient, more credible camps and trainers are all over the place now, and the result is competition reaching a new level. The days of there being an elite group of fighters above the rest of the promotions weight classes are over, anybody who fights for a belt now is capable of winning it. Parody is running wild over MMA, so don't expect the train of upsets to stop here.

The following is an excerpt from an article from TSN.ca:

After the fight, Pride star Dan Henderson entered the ring to challenge Jackson.

Liddell said after he planned to continue fighting, with UFC president Dana White saying Brazilian Wanderlei Silva would be his likely next opponent.

''I still love to fight. Nothing's changed. So yeah, I'll keep training and fighting. All stuff like this makes me want to do is get back in the gym and train more. I was in great shape for this fight and I was healthy. I made a mistake. I'll be back.''

The card drew a sellout of 14,728 and a live gate of US$4.3 million.

MMA News.com

Edited May 28, 2007 by Enter Blue Guy

[ACCBiggz]

With them keeping PRIDE open it makes no sense, whoever wins has to defend in two seperate organizations.... you never have 2 seperate champions again, for all intensive purposes as whoever wins from there on out is thought of as the unified champion...... plus it takes away from how many defenses they have. ESPECIALLY if Hendo wins, he already is going to have trouble defending both 185 and 205 in PRIDE, if he wins the UFC belt he'll be between two promotions and two weight classes. And from everything I heard, I did NOT hear anyone say there would be a title on the line. All they said was the winner would fight Dan Henderson to find out who was the best at 205. Because seriously, when they planned on Champion vs. Champion during PRIDE v. UFC... you honestly think both titles would be on the line in all the divisions? No. It'd be special exhibition fights with the fighters keeping there belts for the respective organizations as that is the ONLY thing that makes sense unless an oficial announcement comes down that they are just going to scrap PRIDE.

And nice Chutebox sig EBG.

[Gabriel]

-Dana White announced at the post UFC 71 press conference that the sale

of Pride Fighting Championship to Lorenzo & Frank Fertitta is complete.

It seems now their plan is to bring the major Pride names to the UFC

instead of keeping Pride and the UFC separate. In my opinion I always

thought this was going to be the case. Even if the Fertitta's re launch

Pride it will be presented a few levels ahead of WEC but the Ultimate

Fighting Championship will be the dominant brand in Mixed Martial Arts.

[Enter Blue Guy]

Man, I hope that's not true.

[ACCBiggz]

That is so gay and completly destroys the HUGE PRIDE vs. UFC show they could have done with that.

[ACCBiggz]

Not that I don't think Gerweck is ok... as you said they have no source and I've never really heard them speak MMA. So I don't trust them on these issues... so I went searching for some Meltzer.

--I want to clarify some stuff that's on the web attributed to me that Pride is done. That is not the case. Dana White said that over the next two weeks he was going to sort out the Pride situation and probably make some announcements at that point. As far as what happens and when it happens is anyone's guess. White indicated the goal was to get Pride back on Japanese TV and up and running.

[Gabriel]

Not that I don't think Gerweck is ok... as you said they have no source and I've never really heard them speak MMA. So I don't trust them on these issues... so I went searching for some Meltzer.

--I want to clarify some stuff that's on the web attributed to me that Pride is done. That is not the case. Dana White said that over the next two weeks he was going to sort out the Pride situation and probably make some announcements at that point. As far as what happens and when it happens is anyone's guess. White indicated the goal was to get Pride back on Japanese TV and up and running.

[ACCBiggz]

I just report what I read, haha.

[EndOfAnEra]

How big are the PRIDE fighters in the US though? I mean aside from the core UFC audience, they don't seem to have the recognition yet.

[Gabriel]

How big are the PRIDE fighters in the US though? I mean aside from the core UFC audience, they don't seem to have the recognition yet.

[Enter Blue Guy]

A good way to market Shogun as an instant threat? Show clips of when he tooled Rampage. Footage of that classic beatdown would certainly garner interest instantly.

Edited May 29, 2007 by Enter Blue Guy

[Godfatha]

Was it Shogun who kneed a guy in the groin (by accident) which shattered his cup? If it is him, that has to be in the highlight clips to show how deadly his knees are.

[Toe]

I don't want to have to order 2 MMA PPVs in a month!

[ACCBiggz]

Try doing it on the same night...UFC 69 & PRIDE 34.

[Gabriel]

More news on the PRIDE situation... and it's not looking good.

- At the UFC 71 post-fight news conference, Dana White told the reporters

gathered that the sale of PRIDE FC from DSE to Zuffa was finalized "one or

two days" before the UFC 71 event.

Dana White also went on to say: "We’re still trying to figure out this

whole Pride and UFC thing. The deal is done. We acquired the company

yesterday or the day before."

"Talking about all the Pride stuff, we're going to work on that stuff over

the next [weeks]now that the deal is officially closed. You can't start

running a business when you don't own it yet. We've owned it for two days.

I know we made the big announcement [on March 27], but it might have been

a little premature. The deal wasn't done yet. The deal was pending, but we

were far enough along where we felt comfortable announcing the deal. Now

that it's closed two days ago, we'll get that straightened out."

The future of the PRIDE Fighting Championships has been blurred by the

many rumors raging on both sides of the world. Dana White touched on the

future of the company and also commented on the fate of some of PRIDE FC's

biggest fighters, putting to rest the hopes that PRIDE FC would be run as

a separate organization. At least for the time being.

"We’re going to have them all," White said. "We’re going to have them all.

At the end of the day, if you want to fight the best fighters in the

world, if you want to cement your place in history... and at the end of

the day, the money is great, all that stuff is good, but for me I’m one of

those types of people... it’s all about cementing your place in history.

Who is the greatest fighter in every weight division? It’s here. It’s in

the UFC. They’re all going to be here."

These comments will no doubt anger each and every one of PRIDE's loyal

fans in Japan and all over the world. The great merger is now an

afterthought.

When asked about Wanderlei Silva, White said: "We're going to have them

all here. He [silva] is going to be here. They're all going to fight...

they're all under contract.” He then hinted that Chuck could fight Silva

next.

The situation with Fedor Emelianenko came up. "We're working on Fedor

right now, too. We're working on everybody. Everybody means everybody, all

of them. We're trying to get them all. They're all going to be here. If

not now, eventually we'll have them all."

He was asked about the title belts from PRIDE FC and if they'd be

recognized. "I don’t think we should disrespect the guys who have belts in

Pride. They were champions in that organization, and they have belts, too.

We’ve still got to figure this thing out, but at the end of the day the

great thing is that the best are going to fight the best. That’s all that

really matters at the end of the day."

The future of the PRIDE Fighting Championships is as up in the air as it

was after PRIDE.34. Will it ever run as a separate organization again?

Only time will tell. Dana White plans on using PRIDE FC, it seems, to

bolster his own company at the expense of another.

Stick with Gerweck.net for the latest on this story...

[EndOfAnEra]

Dana White plans on using PRIDE FC, it seems, to

bolster his own company at the expense of another.

[Gabriel]

Dana White plans on using PRIDE FC, it seems, to

bolster his own company at the expense of another.

Please. They bought the company, they can bolster the UFC as they see fit. They're not putting a company out of business if they do so.

I'd like to see PRIDE run seperate, but if they don't do it I won't be all that dissapointed. I really do want to see PRIDE fighters in the UFC asap.

[Godfatha]

If this goes down, I'm torn. On the one hand it'd be huge to see Silva vs. Liddell and whatnot, but, PRIDE fighters have to get used to fighting in the cage. That's something that's hurt Cro Cop's stock IMO. So, the PRIDE folks would have to fight in the cage for a fight or two before getting title shots. That said though, the minute they do that, it hurts the PRIDE fighters as it would be seen that the top of the PRIDE league isn't guaranteed a title shot, but rather they would have to go through the ranks like everyone else which gives the impression that UFC is better than PRIDE in terms of fighters. If they rush it and immediately put PRIDE fighters in the cage, the fighters would not be at their best which also can hurt the impression on the company.

Perhaps I'm being paranoid and overanalyzing things, but I hope that isn't the case.

[Asuka's Gonna Kill You]

Liddell/Jackson was unbelievable. I just had a feeling Chuck was going to lose on the night. It slightly felt like when CroCop lost the other month, I just felt Chuck looked nervous and didn't want to go full force into attack, while Jackson was just coming straight at him. Gutted because while I like Jackson, I really wanted Chuck to knock him out.

Oh and the Jardine knock out was CRAZY. He got battered, I was literally left with my mouth wide open. Thought it was actually a really good show.