UFC News and Notes

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The Canadian press has an article with some quick news and notes which you can read here

Some of the more interesting things they point out is that Brandon Vera nearly walked away with as much money for losing as Anderson Silva did for winning. However, don't forget that those are just released earnings and who knows how that shakes out with bonuses factored in the equasion.

Also, the article mentions that from 03/31 to 09/30 in the state of California there have been 43 drug test failures in the state of California. That spans 100 shows and includes steroids and street drugs.
Now where you can say that MMA has a drug problem is that 33 of those failures were MMA fighters, 8 were boxers and 2 were kick boxers. The article contains a further breakdown of how many people tested for what.

Thanks to Mike Informer for passing that on.

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UFC 77 'Hostile Territory' Round by Round coverage

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Art was scheduled to do this tonight, but his ISP is humbling him old country style so it looks like I'm in charge.
Coverage will begin around 10:00 PM ET. I'll try to have prelim results posted before then. You should know the deal by now, hit refresh to get the latest updates.

Notes: Read our staff predictions such as they are, here
If you want to hear the Casey and Euan preview of the event Download here
Weigh-in results for the show are here

Preliminary Contests

1. Lightweight Bout: Matt Grice Def. Jason Black (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
   
2. Welterweight Bout: Josh Burkman def. Forrest Petz (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
   
3. Middleweight Bout: Demian Maia Def. Ryan Jensen via submission rear naked choke 2:40 R1
   
4. Middleweight Bout: Yusnin Okami Def. Jason Macdonald via Unanimous 30-27 Decision
   

We're here with coverage. Randy Couture's segments were kept in the pre-taped preview of the show.

Goldberg and Rogan host, the texting for the main event is pretty close.

Televised Bouts:

1. Middleweight Bout: Alan Belcher Vs. Kalib Starnes
   Referee: Yves Lavigne
   
   R1: Starnes tries an early takedown but eats some strikes from Belcher for his trouble. Starnes already busted open. Kalib takes him down but Belcher back up quickly. They clinch for awhile and Belcher nails a big knee. Starnes starts to land some strikes of his own and his standup has improved since we last saw him. Belcher starts to return fire with knees and uppercuts and Starnes is bleeding pretty good. They trade more shots, uppercut by Belcher and then he throws a couple of knees and some big kicks. Leg kick from Belcher and a second at the 30 second mark. Starnes hanging tough but eating some shots. 10-9 for Belcher
   
   Dr. checks the cut, Starnes able to continue.
   
   R2: More standup to start with Starnes getting the early advantage. Then Belcher responds with leg kicks and we know how Krazy Horse feels about Leg kicks. Fight haulted so the Dr. can check Starnes' cut. This fight is called by the Dr. Starnes drops an F-bomb, and it was directed toward his corner.
   
   Winner: Alan Belcher - R2 1:39 via Dr. Stoppage
   
   
2. Light Heavyweight Bout: Stephan Bonnar Vs. Eric Schafer
   Referee: Big John McCarthy
   
   R1: Crowd behind Bonnar. Not much happens on the feet. Schafer takes Bonnar down and gets his back. Bonnar defending against Schafer's submission attempt, less than a minute left in the round. Round comes to an end. 10-9 for Schafer
   
   R2: Schafer pulls guard early but Bonnar won't go down the way he did in the first. Bonnar hits some shots and then they transition to half guard. Bonnar starts to lay in shots, but Schafer doesn't defend. Finally, McCarthy steps in and ends the fight.
   
   Winner: Stephan Bonnar - R2 2:47 TKO
   
   
3. Lightweight Bout: Alvin Robinson Vs. Jorge Gurgel
   Referee: Mark McFeaney
   
   R1: Big pop for the Cincinnati fighter Gurgel. They start trading right away. There was an audio drop, we've actually had several throughout the night. Fight goes to the ground with Gurgel doing most of the work and moving to side control. Mount by Gurgel at the end of the round. 10-9 Jorge
   
   R2: Robinson wants to trade early, then takes Gurgel down. Gurgel works and ends up on top. Robinson is no slouch of his own and switches back to the top. Robinson is laying in with hammerfists and has bloodied Gurgel. Robinson laid in the beating to end things. Robinson 10-9, 19-19.
   
   R3: Robinson takes Gurgel down immediately to start the round. The third round starting the way the second round ended. Rogan is plugging UFC's video on demand. Robinson is being active so the referee is not considering standing them up. Robinson has passed and is close to Gurgel's back, and the announcers are already talking about a disappointing loss. Robinson just lays in shots to end the round. 10-9 for Robinson, 29-28 Robinson.
   
   Winner: Alvin Robinson - Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-27, 29-27)
   
   Joe Rogan interviews Brock Larson...er...Lesnar as Rogan screwed up the name.
   
   They've made no mention of the Couture situation yet.
   
   
4. Heavyweight Bout: Tim Sylvia Vs. Brandon Vera
   Referee: Yves Lavigne
   
   Sylvia gets a mixed reaction. Now they note that the winner of this could face Nogueira for the title.
   
   R1: They clinch early and spend the early round in this position. Crowd gets hostile to the clinch work and they're finally separated. Sylvia nails a big shot, Vera answers.Vera with an elbow, Sylvia with a knee. Round ends to some major booing. Sylvia 10-9
   
   R2: Vera hits a right to start but it is back to the clinch. A very loud, and noticeable boring chant erupts. It ends when Vera takes Sylvia down and in to side control. Vera hits some knees to the body. Sylvia gets up but takes an illegal knee to the head as he still had one knee down. Sylvia is given time. Vera hits some body kicks and a flurry to finish. 10-9 for Vera.
   
   R3: Sylvia starts the round strong and pushes Vera up against the cage again trapping him. Sylvia nails more shots, lands everything and easily wins the round. 10-9 Sylvia, 29-28 Sylvia.
   
   Winner: Tim Sylvia - Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-27)
   Euan had better not hate this Sylvia performance or we'll take away his mustard.
   
   Sylvia calls out...Cheick Kongo.
   Vera puts Sylvia over as a nice guy and says he shouldn't be booed. He also said he broke his hand and went against the gameplan.
   Vera asks the crowd if Sylvia whooped his ass, they respond with "nooooo" and he says: "I'm still at heavyweight then, bitches!" I love this man.
   
   Rogan says something kind of stupid. He says that upsets are more common than expected. Um, aren't the point of upsets that they're all unexpected? Isn't that why they call them upsets?
   
   Rich Franklin comes out to "Welcome to the Jungle" and to a jufustitastinormus pop from his hometown crowd.
   Anybody who knows what song Anderson Silva came out to, let me know. The boos for Silva aren't as loud as I expected.
   
   
5. Middleweight Championship Bout: Rich Franklin Vs. Anderson Silva
   Referee: Big John McCarthy
   
   R1: Franklin hits strikes early, he avoids Silva's clinch attempts and takes him to the mat. Silva able to get back to his feet. Silva hits a body kick, Franklin responds with a right and Silva blitzes with a series of strikes. Silva blitzes Franklin again and rocks him at the end of the round dropping him at the bell. Because of the strong finish, Silva's round 10-9.
   
   R2: Silva just comes back out and fustigates Franklin in the second round. Lays in knees after knees after knees and the fight is stopped by Big John McCarthy.
   
   Winner: Anderson Silva - R2 TKO
   
   
6. Middleweight Bout: Demian Maia Vs. Ryan Jensen
   Referee: Big John McCarthy
   
   R1: Inside leg kick by Maia and takes Jensen down right away. Maia passes guard back to side control. Maia has good jiu-jitsu. Maia takes Jensen's back and is looking to finish. Maia chokes Jensen out. Impressive performance for Maia. It is too bad he's a middleweight and that's the house Anderson Silva lives in.
   
   Winner: Demian Maia - R1 2:40 Rear Naked Choke
   

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UFC 77 'Hostile Territory' Weigh-in results

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1. Middleweight: Anderson Silva (184.5) vs. Rich Franklin (184)
   
2. Heavyweight: Tim Sylvia (260.5) vs. Brandon Vera (225.5)
   
3. Light-Heavyweight: Stephan Bonnar (204) vs. Eric Schafer (203)
   
4. Middleweight: Kalib Starnes (186) vs. Alan Belcher (186)
   
5. Lightweight: Jorge Gurgel (155) vs. Alvin Robinson (155.5)
   
6. Middleweight: Jason MacDonald (184.5) vs. Yushin Okami (186)
   
7. Middleweight: Ryan Jensen (185.5) vs. Demian Maia (185)
   
8. Welterweight: Josh Burkman (171.5) vs. Forrest Petz (170)
   
9. Lightweight: Jason Black (156) vs. Matt Grice (155)

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Betting Odds for UFC 77 'Hostile Territory'

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These come from Bodog.

1. Anderson Silva: -190 Vs. Rich Franklin: +155
   
2. Brandon Vera: -165 Vs. Tim Sylvia: +135
   
3. Stephan Bonnar: -325 Vs. Eric Schafer: +250
   
4. Jorge Gurgel: -165 Vs. Alvin Robinson: +135
   
5. Alan Belcher: -115 Vs. Kalib Starnes: -115
   
6. Yushin Okami: -205 Vs. Jason MacDonald: +165
   
7. Josh Burkman: -360 Vs. Forrest Petz: +280
   
8. Jason Black: -450 Vs. Matt Grice: +300

I'm kind of surprised that with Vera out of the spotlight for so long that he's a mild favorite, but I guess Tim Sylvia was in the spotlight but in not such a good way.
I guess if you like Petz or Grice you might want to consider something but otherwise there isn't anything I'd bet on this one.

I remember seeing the Odds for Silva last Oct. when he was an underdog for Rich Franklin and seriously the fact I didn't lay money on that is a huge regret.

As a reminder if you have someone who is -205 that means you've got to bet $205 to win back $100. If you have someone who is +135 you bet $100 to win $135.

©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

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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