Gabriel Gonzaga Vs. Fabricio Werdum at UFC 80

Send News and Event Results


That's according to this item at GracieMag.com

Werdum is coming off a loss to Andrei Arlovski at UFC 70 while Gonzaga is coming off of a loss to Randy Couture at UFC 74. Gonzaga and Werdum have fought before with Werdum being victorious.

UFC 80 is set for January in Newcastle, United Kingdom. No date has been set but Jan. 19 and Jan. 26 are being considered.

Some projected matchups:

1. Welterweight Bout: Marcus Davis Vs. Jess Liaudin
   
2. Heavyweight Bout: Gabriel Gonzaga Vs. Fabricio Werdum
   
3. Middleweight Bout: Kendall Grove Vs. TBA
   
4. Lightweight Bout: Terry Etim Vs. Sam Stout
   

©2007 Combat Hooligans. Duplication of the content from this website without permission by its author(s) is prohibited. Any news, reports and commentary used from this site must be accompanied by a link to www.combat-hooligans.com

2 more bouts for EliteXC 'Renegade'

Send News and Event Results


According to Brian Knapp of the Fight Network you can add 2 more bouts to the 11/10 EliteXC Renegade show.

Yves Edwards Vs. Moses Baca and Antonio Silva Vs. Jonathan Weizorek.

The card looks like this...

1. 160 LB Championship: Nick Diaz Vs. KJ Noons
   
2. Welterweight Bout: Jake Shields Vs. Mike Pyle
   
3. Heavyweight Bout: Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson Vs. Mike Bourke
   
4. Middleweight Bout: Kyle Noke Vs. Seth Kleinbeck
   
5. Lightweight Bout: Yves Edwards Vs. Moses Baca
   
6. Heavyweight Bout: Antonio Silva Vs. Jonathan Weizorek

©2007 Combat Hooligans. Duplication of the content from this website without permission by its author(s) is prohibited. Any news, reports and commentary used from this site must be accompanied by a link to www.combat-hooligans.com

More changes made to the IFL World Grand Prix on Nov. 3

Send News and Event Results


Brad Blackburn is out of the Welterweight bracket and former UFC fighter Gideon Ray is taking his place.

Reese Andy is out of the heavyweight division and is replaced by Shane Ott.

These changes are both the result of injury.

©2007 Combat Hooligans. Duplication of the content from this website without permission by its author(s) is prohibited. Any news, reports and commentary used from this site must be accompanied by a link to www.combat-hooligans.com

BROCK LESNAR IS THE LATEST HEAVY HITTER IN THE UFC®

Send News and Event Results


International Superstar Joins Stacked Heavyweight Division

Cincinnati, Ohio (USA) – International superstar Brock Lesnar has already achieved high grades for his transition from pro wrestling to mixed martial arts.
Now the former NCAA Champion and four-time All-American is ready for the next step in his career - taking on the best heavyweights in the world in the
Ultimate Fighting Championship® (UFC®) organization.

UFC President Dana White announced the signing of Lesnar to a promotional contract during the pay-per-view broadcast of UFC 77 at the US Bank Arena.

“I don’t think there are any other pro wrestlers that can make the transition to MMA, except for Brock Lesnar,” said White. “And if you look at his amateur
wrestling credentials, his size, and what he’s done, this guy can end up being a force in the heavyweight division of the UFC.”

“If you want to go with the NFL of the fighting game, it’s the UFC, and it was an easy choice for me,” said Lesnar. “Obviously I don’t think I’m ready
for a title shot right away, but I will be there, and I’m not gonna turn down any opponent because I’m here to prove myself. I’m not here to pick and choose
my fights. I’ll fight whomever they want. I don’t make the fights; that’s not my job. I’ve got one job to do and that’s to fight.”

The date and opponent for Lesnar’s UFC debut will be revealed in the near future.

A native of Webster, South Dakota who now makes his home in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota, the 6 foot 3 ½ , 265 pound Lesnar first made a name for himself
as a wrestler at Webster High School, compiling a 33-0 record in his senior year. This success eventually led him to Bismarck State College and the University
of Minnesota, where he was a four-time All American, two-time Big Ten Champion, a second place finisher in the 1999 NCAA Championships, and the 2000 NCAA
National Champion.

After finishing his college career with an astounding 106-5 record, Lesnar became a household name as a professional wrestler, and even had a short stint
in the NFL® with the Minnesota Vikings.

In 2007 though, Lesnar was in need of a new challenge in his life, and he turned to mixed martial arts, where world-class wrestlers like himself have had
enormous success throughout the sport’s history. On June 2, 2007, Lesnar made his long-awaited MMA debut and took only 69 seconds to destroy Min Soo Kim
with strikes that led to a submission.

Lesnar’s signing to the UFC bolsters a talent-rich heavyweight division that includes former PRIDE heavyweight champion Antonio Rodrigo ‘Minotauro’ Nogueira,
Cheick Kongo, former two-time UFC heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia, Brandon Vera, Gabriel Gonzaga, Mirko Cro Cop, Fabricio Werdum and Heath Herring.

About The Ultimate Fighting Championship The Ultimate Fighting Championship® brand is the world’s leading professional mixed martial arts organization
and offers the premier series of MMA sports events. Owned and operated by Zuffa, LLC, and headquartered in Las Vegas, Nev., the UFC® organization produces
approximately twelve to fourteen live pay-per-view events annually that are distributed through cable and satellite providers. In addition to its U.S.
distribution, UFC fight programs are distributed throughout the world including broadcast on MAIN EVENT in Australia, Globosat in Brazil and Bravo and
Setanta PPV in the United Kingdom. For more information, or current UFC fight news, visit www.ufc.com or uk.ufc.com or www.ufcespanol.com.

Ultimate Fighting Championship®, Ultimate Fighting®, UFC®, The Ultimate Fighter®, Submission®, As Real As It Gets®, Zuffa™, The Octagon™ and the eight-sided
competition mat and cage design are registered trademarks, trademarks, trade dress or service marks owned exclusively by Zuffa, LLC in the United States
and other jurisdictions. All other marks referenced herein may be the property of Zuffa, LLC or other respective owners.


©2007 Combat Hooligans. Duplication of the content from this website without permission by its author(s) is prohibited. Any news, reports and commentary used from this site must be accompanied by a link to www.combat-hooligans.com

More bouts added to Cage Rage 24 'Feel the Pain' on Dec. 1

Send News



Add a heavyweight bout between Dave Legeno and George "Triplex" Castro to the card as well as Xavier Foupa-Pokam Vs. Murilo "Ninja" Rua in a middleweight bout.

The card as set...

1. Middleweight Bout: Murilo Rua Vs. Xavier Foupa-Pokam
   
2. Light Heavyweight Bout: Evangelista "Cyborg" Santos Vs. Paul Cahoon
   
3. Welterweight Bout: Drew Fickett Vs. Mark Weir
   
4. Welterweight Bout: Marius Zaromskis Vs. Ross Pointon
   
5. Middleweight Bout: Tom Watson Vs. Mark Epstein
   
6. Heavyweight Bout: Dave Legeno Vs. George Castro
   
7. Heavyweight Bout: Neil Grove Vs. Robert Berry
   
8. Light Heavyweight Bout: Ivan Serati Vs. Lee Hasdell
   
9. Lightweight Title Bout: Abdul Mohamed Vs. Robbie Oliver
   
10. Heavyweight Bout: Robert Paczkow Vs. James McSweeney
    
11. Featherweight Bout: Ronnie Mann Vs. Brad Pickett

©2007 Combat Hooligans. Duplication of the content from this website without permission by its author(s) is prohibited. Any news, reports and commentary used from this site must be accompanied by a link to www.combat-hooligans.com

Rothwell, Whitehead out of IFL Grand Prix plus other changes

Send News


All of these are from Sam Caplan of ProElite

Ben Rothwell and Mike Whitehead have been pulled from the Nov. 3 tournament because neither has been signed to a 2008 IFL contract. The promotion had no interest in seeing 1 or both of them compete, win championships only to never defend them and jump to other organizations. The UFC also has a similar policy for not allowing fighters with one fight on their contract to fight for a championship.

Rothwell will be replaced by New York Pitbulls heavyweight Bryan Vetell. Vetell will take on Antoine Jaoude in 1 semifinal while Reese Andy will take on Roy Nelson in the other.

The Light Heavyweight Tournament has been paired down to 2 competitors. Whitehead being removed and Andre Gusmao suffering a foot injury and alternate Jamal Patterson unable to compete due to scheduling issues, the remaining 2 competitors will battle for the Light Heavyweight title on 11/3. They are Tokyo's Vladimir Matyushenko and L.A.'s Alex Schoenauer.

Three bouts from this event including the Shoenauer-Matyushenko fight and the Palaszewski-Horodecki fight have been earmarked for live TV on MyNetworkTV.

©2007 Combat Hooligans. Duplication of the content from this website without permission by its author(s) is prohibited. Any news, reports and commentary used from this site must be accompanied by a link to www.combat-hooligans.com

Report: Kongo Vs. Nogueira on tap for UFC 79

Send News


That's the word according to Brian Knapp of the Fight Network

Nogueira is coming off of a UFC 73 victory over Heath Herring in a fight he nearly lost in the first round. Cheick Kongo is coming off of back to back wins in the Octagon with the most recent being over Mirko Cro Cop at UFC 75.

The winner is going to be in line for a future heavyweight title shot.

All I can say is that Kongo had better work on his takedown defense some more.

The card for Dec. 29

1. Welterweight Championship: Matt Hughes Vs. Matt Serra
   
2. Heavyweight Bout: Antonio Rodrigo Minotauro Nogueira Vs. Cheick Kongo
   
3. Light Heavyweight Bout: Wanderlei Silva Vs. TBA
   
4. Lightweight Bout: BJ Penn Vs. TBA
   
5. Welterweight Bout: Josh Koscheck Vs. TBA
   
6. Lightweight Bout: Doug Evans Vs. TBA
   
7. Middleweight Bout: Dean Lister Vs. TBA
   
8. Lightweight Bout: Luke Caudillo Vs. TBA

©2007 Combat Hooligans. Duplication of the content from this website without permission by its author(s) is prohibited. Any news, reports and commentary used from this site must be accompanied by a link to www.combat-hooligans.com

Change to Thursday's IFL card

Send News


Tom Sauer, the injury replacement for regular New York Pitbulls heavyweight fighter Bryan Vetell has been forced out of his match with the Iowa Silverbacks' Ben Rothwell.

Taking his place will be former UFC heavyweight champion Ricco Rodriguez.


©2007 Combat Hooligans. Duplication of the content from this website without permission by its author(s) is prohibited. Any news, reports and commentary used from this site must be accompanied by a link to www.combat-hooligans.com

Junk replaces McCully on UFC 76 undercard

Send News


Justin McCully who was to face Christian Wellisch at UFC 76 on 09/22 has been forced out with an injury. It is believed he suffered an elbow injury in training for the fight, at least according to of all people Rob Van Dam on the 09/12 episode of Between the Ropes

Junk is a 6-1 fighter with a 6 fight winning streak with 5 of the 6 coming as stoppages in the first round.

This comes on the heels of the Wilson Gouveia-Jason Lambert bout being scratched due to a Gouveia injury.

The card looks like this.

1. Light Heavyweight Bout: Chuck Liddell Vs. Keith Jardine
   
2. Light Heavyweight Bout: Mauricio "Shogun" Rua Vs. Forrest Griffin
   
3. Lightweight Bout: Thiago Tavares Vs. Tyson Griffin
   
4. Light Heavyweight Bout: Kazuhiro Nakamura Vs. Lyoto Machida
   
5. Welterweight Bout: Jon Fitch Vs. Diego Sanchez
   
6. Lightweight Bout: Diego Saraiva Vs. Jeremy Stevens
   
7. Heavyweight Bout: Christian Wellisch Vs. Scott Junk
   
8. Lightweight Bout: Michihiro Omigawa Vs. Matt Wiman

*The first 5 are the bouts scheduled to air on the PPV broadcast.

©2007 Combat Hooligans. Duplication of the content from this website without permission by its author(s) is prohibited. Any news, reports and commentary used from this site must be accompanied by a link to www.combat-hooligans.com

Josh Barnett is a worker~!

Send News


Josh Barnett wrote the following message on his website: Josh Barnett.tv

Let's get straight to it and say that Randy did a phenomenal job at UFC 74 in defending his title. As a fan and a fellow Washingtonian I was happy to see
him win. But as for the title itself -- it still sits in my house. No one in UFC ever beat me for it, and as far as I am concerned, no one in the UFC can
be the heavyweight champion until they take that belt off of me in the cage.

At the post fight press conference, Dana White said ”there isn’t anyone in the world that can beat this guy” in reference to Randy. All this because Randy
beat a guy that had less than ten fights and only one noteworthy win? That’s not even a world championship level fight, let alone reason to proclaim the
winner as “unbeatable”. This comment was made even more ridiculous by the fact that I was standing right there, living proof that Randy Couture is definitely
beatable.

“Unbeatable”, Dana says. If he actually believes that, I’m more than willing to step into the cage and prove him wrong. It wouldn’t even have to be for
the belt. I already got the real belt. They can keep their pile of brass they purport as the UFC Heavyweight Title and put it on their next paper champ.

Josh

direct link here

Now, before anyone gets all pissy about what he said you have to remember that Barnett is a student of Pro Wrestling. The man knows how to work an angle and that's what he's doing. In fact, it is the perfect angle because it isn't like what he says is untrue, nobody beat him for the UFC Heavyweight title. If someone were to cut a promo back on him, they may bring up why he lost the belt but lets not get a head of ourselves.

I love Randy Couture, but have to give this a thumbs up.


©2007 Combat Hooligans. Duplication of the content from this website without permission by its author(s) is prohibited. Any news, reports and commentary used from this site must be accompanied by a link to www.combat-hooligans.com

UFC Heads To Cincinnati For UFC 77 Hostile Territory

Send News


Courtesy of the Ultimate Fighting Championship:

ULTIMATE FIGHTING CHAMPIONSHIP®
HEADS TO CINCINNATI FOR UFC 77: HOSTILE TERRITORY

UFC® MIDDLEWEIGHT WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
ANDERSON “THE SPIDER” SILVA vs. RICH “ACE” FRANKLIN

HEAVYWEIGHT FEATURE
TIM “THE MAINE-IAC” SYLVIA vs. BRANDON “THE TRUTH” VERA

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20 LIVE FROM U.S. BANK ARENA

Tickets Go on Sale Sunday, Aug. 26 at 10am ET

Las Vegas, NV (USA) – 08/21/2007 – The Ultimate Fighting Championship® (UFC®) organization today announced that UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson “The
Spider” Silva will travel to the hometown of the man he took the title from, Rich “Ace” Franklin, to defend his crown against the popular former titlist
in a highly anticipated rematch entitled UFC 77: HOSTILE TERRITORY. This event will take place at U.S. Bank Arena in Cincinnati, Ohio, on Saturday, October
20. UFC 77 marks the UFC’s second fight in Ohio this year, and its first fight ever in Cincinnati.

“Anderson Silva has shown he is probably one of the most deadly 185 pounders we’ve ever seen,” said Dana White, UFC President, “and he has shown no signs
of slowing down in his two fights since beating Rich Franklin last year. But Rich told me that he has never trained harder for a fight than he is for this
one, and he is determined to not only win his title back, but to do so in front of his hometown fans on October 20th.”

Tickets for UFC 77: HOSTILE TERRITORY go on sale Sunday, August 26 at 10am ET with prices starting at $50. The fastest and most convenient way to purchase
tickets is by visiting the Ticketmaster Web site at Ticketmaster.com. Tickets may be purchased at all Ticketmaster outlets including select Kroger stores,
or by calling Ticketmaster Charge-By-Phone at 513-562-4949. Tickets are also available at the U.S. Bank Arena Arena Box Office, and online through www.usbankarena.com
and www.ufc.com.

UFC® Fight Club™ members will have the opportunity to purchase tickets to this event Wed., Aug. 22 at 10am ET via the website www.ufc.com. A special Internet
ticket pre-sale will be available to UFC newsletter subscribers Friday, August 24 starting at 10:00am ET. To access this presale, users must register for
the UFC newsletter through www.ufc.com.

UFC 77: HOSTILE TERRITORY is available live on pay-per-view at 10 p.m. EST/7 p.m. PST on iN DEMAND, DIRECTV, DISH Network, TVN, Bell ExpressVu, Shaw Communications
and Viewer’s Choice Canada for a suggested retail price of $39.95 ($39.99 CAD) and $49.95 for HD where available.

After a devastating first round loss to Silva in their Middleweight title bout in October of 2006, Franklin has spent the last year training, fighting hard,
and winning in order to get back to the number one contender’s spot. Meanwhile, Silva, the reigning and defending champion, has fought and won twice since
taking the belt from Franklin, and his plans for UFC 77 involve defending his title and spoiling his challenger’s homecoming.

Silva (19-4), fighting out of Curitiba, Brazil, is an extremely well-rounded fighter with phenomenal striking skills as well as a Black Belt in Brazilian
Jiu-Jitsu. After defeating Chris Leben and Franklin in the first round in his first two UFC fights, “The Spider” took on Travis Lutter in February in what
was supposed to be his first title defense, but Lutter fell short of making weight by a half-pound. As a result, their fight was altered to a three-round
non-championship bout, but Silva still finished Lutter by submission at 2:11 of the second round. Silva then took on Nathan Marquardt at UFC 73 in July
and finally got his first successful title defense under his belt with an impressive first round TKO win.

Franklin (24-2) fought a good portion of his career as a light heavyweight before moving to the middleweight division. At UFC 53, he stopped UFC champion
Evan Tanner to capture the middleweight crown. He made his first title defense against Nate Quarry at UFC 56, winning by first round KO, and his second
defense against Canadian David Loiseau at UFC 58 showed his championship heart as he won a five round decision despite fighting much of the fight with
a broken hand. Franklin faced Anderson Silva in his third UFC title defense, but was stopped by the Brazilian in the first round. At UFC 68 in March, he
returned to the Octagon™, and in front of his home state crowd, stopped Jason MacDonald at the start of the second round. At UFC 72, Franklin defeated
Yushin Okami by unanimous decision to earn a rematch with Silva and a shot at redemption.

Also on the UFC 77 card will be a heavyweight matchup between former UFC Champion Tim “The Maine-iac” Sylvia and unbeaten Brandon “The Truth” Vera. This
fight will mark the first fight for Vera since a contract dispute with former management sidelined him for almost a year. The dynamic Vera (8-0) is excited
to get back in the Octagon, and he expects to pick up where he left off last year by defeating Sylvia and every opponent afterward until he becomes the
UFC heavyweight champion. The 6 foot 8 Sylvia (25-3), only the second man in UFC history to win the heavyweight title twice, would like to eventually join
the man he lost the crown to in March, Randy Couture, as the only fighters in history to win the title three times. A win over Vera will push him firmly
in that positive direction.

For more information about UFC 77 or any upcoming UFC event, visit www.ufc.com or uk.ufc.com. All bouts are live and subject to change.

About The Ultimate Fighting Championship

The Ultimate Fighting Championship® brand is the world’s leading professional mixed martial arts organization and offers the premier series of MMA sports
events. Owned and operated by Zuffa, LLC, and headquartered in Las Vegas, Nev., the UFC® organization produces approximately twelve to fourteen live pay-per-view
events annually that are distributed through cable and satellite providers. In addition to its U.S. distribution, UFC fight programs are distributed throughout
the world including broadcast on MAIN EVENT in Australia, Globosat in Brazil and Bravo and Setanta PPV in the United Kingdom. For more information, or
current UFC fight news, visit www.ufc.com or uk.ufc.com or www.ufcespanol.com.

Ultimate Fighting Championship®, Ultimate Fighting®, UFC®, The Ultimate Fighter®, Submission®, As Real As It Gets®, Zuffa™, The Octagon™ and the eight-sided
competition mat and cage design are registered trademarks, trademarks, trade dress or service marks owned exclusively by Zuffa, LLC in the United States
and other jurisdictions. All other marks referenced herein may be the property of Zuffa, LLC or other respective owners.


Note from Casey: The name hostile territory is the most appropriate name ever for a UFC event in Cincinnati, given all the legal problems caused by members of the Cincinnati Bengals football team.

©2007 Combat Hooligans. Duplication of the content from this website without permission by its author(s) is prohibited. Any news, reports and commentary used from this site must be accompanied by a link to www.combat-hooligans.com

Top 5 of the Top 5: Heavyweight Division

Send News


Welcome to the first ever combat-hooligans.com attempt at a ranking system for the 5 major weight classes in MMA: Heavyweight, Light Heavyweight, Middleweight, Welterweight and Lightweight.
A few notes on how this Is going to work. The panel is 1 person, and that one person is me. My rankings aren’t meant as a sign of all-time contributions, what could be done in the future, or a reflection of who I think would win in a fight between 2 fighters. This is pretty much the “What have you done for me lately” way of ranking things. As a result, champions get ranked hire by virtue of being champions.
I’m only ranking fighters I’ve actually seen. As time goes on this will be less and less of an issue, but I am willing to admit that my not having seen a fighter may be the only reason he’s missing from a list. Guys under or just coming off of drug suspensions are not going to be in the top 5.

We’re going to look this week at the heavyweight division (206-265)

Ranking last Updated: 08/17/2007

1. Fedor Emelianenko: 30, 6’0, 233, 26-1-0-1
   Last Fight: Def. Matt Lindland via submission at Bodog Fight ‘Clash of the Nations’ 04/14/2007
   What exactly needs to be said about the Pride Heavyweight Champion? He’s riding a 7 fight win streak that includes names like Lindland, Mark Coleman, Mark Hunt, Mirko Cro Cop and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.
   His status being up in the air may hurt him in the future when it comes to my rankings but he’s a young guy and is pretty much awesome at everything. In other words, it could be a very long time before I have to move him from this spot.
   
   
2. Antonio Rodrigo “Minautoro” Nogueira: 31, 6’2, 231, 30-4-1-1
   Last Fight: Def. Heath Herring via Unanimous Decision at UFC 73 ‘Stacked’ on 07/07/2007.
   If not for Fedor, we might be calling this guy the best ever. He’s got 4 losses, Fedor twice (they also fought to a no contest) and one each to Josh Barnett and Dan Henderson whom you may have heard of. He did avenge his loss to Barnett in September of 2006 with a unanimous decision victory in December of that same year.
   We’ll overlook the fact that Heath Herring damn near fustigated him back at UFC 73, Nogueira showed an ability to recover and managed to get the decision. One more fight in UFC and with a win he’ll be getting his title shot.
   
   
3. Randy Couture: 44, 6’1, 220, 15-8-0
   Last Fight: Def. Tim Sylvia via Unanimous decision at UFC 68 ‘Uprising’ on 03/03/2007.
   Honestly, Couture benefits greatly from the champions getting extra consideration. If he weren’t the champion I don’t think he’d be anywhere near my top 5 let alone where I’ve got him ranked now.
   However, he did show in the Sylvia fight that he does still have what it takes to be a success in mixed martial arts at the age of 44. Sure, Sylvia had a back injury which did him no favors but Couture still game planned that fight to play to his strengths and out worked a much younger and larger man for 5 rounds.
   
   
4. Gabriel Gonzaga: 6’2, 242, 8-1-0
   Last Fight: Def. Mirko Cro Cop via KO at UFC 70 ‘Nations Collide’ on 04/21/2007.
   He may be the most overlooked heavyweight going right now and that’s even after he nearly kicked Cro Cop in to retirement. It boggles my mind how some rankings still have him behind Cro Cop even with Gonzaga clearly outclassing him for the entire fight before fustigating him with a kick near the end of round 1.
   He presents the man ranked just above him with a meriod of problems and could be the next heavyweight champion of the UFC.
   
   
5. Josh Barnett: 29, 6’3, 250, 20-5-0
   Last Fight: Lost to Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira via Unanimous Decision at Pride ‘Shockwave 2006’ on 12/31/2007.
   If not for the fact his last fight was in December and that he’s currently looking for a new fighting home, he might be ranked even higher. Barnett’s losses are to Cro Cop 3 times, Pedro Rizzo and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. He’d be an interesting matchup for Fedor and has a victory over Couture. He is the last of the top 5 because after that I’ve got serious question marks for a lot of fighters.

Other thoughts:
Fighter on the Rise: Brandon Vera
He’s a guy I’d expect to rank in the top 5 one day. He’s hurt by the lengthy layoff between fights but is expected back soon. He’s an entertaining heavyweight and is charismatic as well which helps his cause.

Fighter on the Decline: Andrei Arlovski/Mirko Cro Cop
It is a tie because even though Arlovski won his last fight against Fabricio Werdum he didn’t have an entertaining fight and he also has a couple of recent losses to Tim Sylvia on his record. He does however have a Great Sponsor
Cro Cop was fustigated by Gabriel Gonzaga at UFC 70 and nearly retired. We’ll see how he does against Cheick Kongo on 09/09 but another poor showing might be it for him.

Fighter on the way back: Tim Sylvia
I give Tim Sylvia a bad time mainly because it annoys Ric and I find that to be more fun than most other activities. However, he’s still going to be a force because of his size, reach over most opponents and the fact he has something to strive for which is recapturing his heavyweight title. He needs to get healthy though as back surgery and a staff infection have been in his way.

Honorable Mention: Ben Rothwell
Easily the best heavyweight in the IFL, no doubt about it. The trouble is that he’s not facing the kind of competition he would see in other organizations like the UFC so right now he’ll have to settle for being a man among boys as it were in the IFL’s heavyweight division.

So there’s the top 5 heavyweights in my view. Next time we’ll drop 1 weight class down and look at the Light Heavyweight Division, probably the deepest division in the world though a case can be made for Welterweight.

You can leave your own rankings in the comments section.


©2007 Combat Hooligans. Duplication of the content from this website without permission by its author(s) is prohibited. Any news, reports and commentary used from this site must be accompanied by a link to www.combat-hooligans.com

New Bout added to Cage Rage 23 'Unbelievable'

Send News


Add a heavyweight bout between Domonic Ostich (Cage Rage's spelling so I'm not sure that's right or not) and Neil Wain to the Sept. 22 card.

The card thus far...

1. Heavyweight Bout: Gary Turner Vs. Julius Francis
   
2. Light Heavyweight Championship Bout: James Zikic Vs. Vitor Belfort
   
3. Middleweight British Championship Bout: Alex Reid Vs. Zelg "Benkei" Galesic
   
4. Welterweight World and British Championship Bout: Mark Weir Vs. Paul Daley
   
5. British Heavyweight Championship Bout: Tengiz Tedoradze Vs. Mustapha Al Turk
   
6. Light Heavyweight Bout: Ed Smith Vs. Roman Webber
   
7. Middleweight Bout: Xavier Foupa-Pokam Vs. Pierre Guillet
   
8. Heavyweight Bout: Domonic Ostich Vs. Neil Wain
   
9. Welterweight Bout: Paul Kelly Vs. Che Mills
   
10. Welterweight Bout: Jason Barrett Vs. Lee Doski

At least one more bout is coming according to the CR website.

UFC 76 card updated

Send News

1. Light Heavyweight Bout: "The Ice Man" Chuck Liddell Vs. Keith "The Dean of Mean" Jardine
   
2. Light Heavyweight Bout: Mauricio "Shogun" Rua Vs. Forrest Griffin
   
3. Welterweight Bout: Jon Fitch Vs. Diego "Nightmare" Sanchez
   
4. Lightweight Bout: Tyson Griffin Vs. Thiago Tavares
   
5. Light Heavyweight Bout: Lyoto Machida Vs. Kazuhiro Nakamura
   
6. Light Heavyweight Bout: Wilson Gouveia Vs. Jason Lambert
   
7. Lightweight Bout: Matt Wiman Vs. Michihiro Omigawa
   
8. Heavyweight Bout: Justin "The Insane One" McCully Vs. Christian Wellisch
   
9. Lightweight Bout: Jeremy "Lil' Heathen" Stevens Vs. Nate Mohr

I'm digging this card a lot.

New Site Feature: The Top 5 of the Top 5 - to debut on 08/17

Send News


The top 5 of the top 5 is my own rankings of the top 5 fighters in each of the 5 major MMA weight classes:

1. Lightweight: 146-155
   
2. Welterweight: 156-170
   
3. Middleweight: 171-185
   
4. Light Heavyweight: 186-205
   
5. Heavyweight: 206-265

A couple of notes:

1. I'm not doing featherweight and bantamweight rankings due to not having seen much of either division, and the fact that I believe the 2 weight classes finally starting to come to prominence is leaving them in flux. Once I've seen a larger cross-section of fighters in those classes, I'll add them to the rankings.
   
2. The same is true for Women's MMA.
   
3. I'll debut 1 weight class a week for the next 5 weeks.
   
4. After the 5 weeks are done, I'll revise the rankings periodically, though not sure how periodically.

The criteria I will use for my rankings:

1. I'm the single voter. If any other guys on the site want to weigh-in on their top 5 of the top 5 that's fully within their rights but these rankings are going to be determined by myself.
   
2. In order to qualify for the top 5, I've had to see you fight more than once. I'm not going to rank someone in my top 5 because other sites say that they're good fighters, I have to actually watch a fighter so I can make my own evaluation. This will prevent some big names, who I've not seen yet from cracking the top 5 but as time passes this will become less and less of an issue.
   
   
3. The rankings are going to be based off of recent accomplishment more than anything else. I'm not saying that my #2 heavyweight would beat my #4 heavyweight, you don't rank something to project future outcomes, especially in fighting. You can however, rank people based on what they have done recently.
   
4. Champions for major organizations are going to get extra consideration.
   
5. Level of competition will be a factor.
   
6. Inactivity hurts. Guys that haven't fought in awhile will be dropped a bit by that fact. What constitutes a prolonged absense is purely going to be arbitrary I will admit.
   
7. Ultimately, this is a list of who has caught my eye and why.

So, next week, I debut the top 5 of the top 5 in the heavyweight division.