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First UFC Event in Toronto Attracts 40,000 Tickets

Published at: 12:01 pm - Thursday January 27 2011

In Canada’s largest city, Toronto, UFC 129: St-Pierre vs. Shields will mark the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s first event. For a mixed martial arts event, it is also expected to break any and all North American attendance records.

For WWE’s WrestleMania X8 in 2002, the Rogers Centre, when it was still called the SkyDome, held more than 68,000 fans. However, the UFC will not be scaling its seating up to that type of configuration.

Approximately 42,000 tickets will be made available to fans, according to the promotion, which would come close to the North American record of 42,757. In 2007, that packed Memorial Coliseum for “K-1 Dynamite USA” in Los Angeles. With just 3,674 tickets issued from outlets other than promoter FEG, that event earned a live gate of just $2,545,590. The exact attendance figure is often called into question. Next month, the tickets will go on sale and the range in price from $50 to $800. Under the $100 mark, almost one-quarter of those tickets will be made available.

The UFC’s director of Canadian operations Tom Wright stated in today’s press release that they want to create the ultimate experience for fans and they are really excited to bring a UFC event to Rogers Centre. On specialized fan zones and other unique features, they are working on, which will make this a can’t-miss event.

To make sure the live spectacle will not be diminished in such a large venue, UFC President Dana White has stressed that his organization will pull out all the stops. For baseball, the Rogers Centre says its capacity is 46,105 and 46,374 for football, not including luxury suite seats.

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Welterweight Title Fight – UFC 129 – Wilks vs. MacDonald

Published at: 09:01 am - Tuesday January 11 2011

For UFC 129, a welterweight bout between “The Ultimate Fighter 9″ winner James Wilks (7-4 MMA, 2-2 UFC) and Rory MacDonald (10-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC). At Toronto’s Rogers Centre, UFC 129 takes place and features a pay-per-view welterweight title fight between current champion Georges St-Pierre and top contender Jake Shields.

A fast-rising Canadian prospect, MacDonald submitted veteran Mike “Joker” Guymon in his early-2010 UFC debut. With a third-round TKO defeat to contender Carlos Condit at UFC 115, he recently suffered his first career loss. At UFC 123, MacDonald then was slated to fight Matt Brown but was forced off the card with a knee injury.

MacDonald put together a 3-1 record outside of the organization to get a call back at UFC 113 last May, after being released by the UFC after an April 2009 loss. Unfortunately, MacDonald suffered a gruesome leg break in the first round of his bout with John Salter. Since suffering the injury, this will be the Canadian’s first bout.

After going 0-2 with submission losses to Demian Maia and Thales Leites in 2007, in 2008, the 33-year-old return to the promotion while rotating between wins and losses. Jensen is in his second UFC stint. The defeats have come to Gouveia, Mark Munoz and Court McGee, while the victories have come over Jesse Forbes and Steve Steinbess. Despite a 2-3 mark in most recent run in the organization, Jensen is getting another fight in the Octagon and only a 2-5 record overall in seven career fights in the UFC. In his most recent fight, he lost to Ultimate Fighter 11 winner Court McGee at UFC 121 in October via submission.

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UFC in 1995

Published at: 06:12 am - Wednesday December 29 2010

After two years of fighting, the UFC continued to move forward in 1995. The UF C was gradually growing in popularity. This year would feature three UFC Events and new features within the events.

Prior to UFC 5, the event featured a “Superfight.” This fight would have two of the most famous fighters of that time squaring off to see who the greatest fighters of that time.

Royce Gracie and Ken Shamrock would be square off. Gracie had been dominant in his fighting in the UFC to this point and was the Champion. Ken Shamrock was the World Shootfighting Champion. This fight would be the most highly anticipated fight. There were no judged in the match after 36 minutes the fight was declared a draw according to UFC news. The other portion of the event featured Dan Severn; he would be the champion of the bracket.

In the tournament, UFC 6 would reward Severn for his great achievement. Severn would take on Shamrock, who ended his battle with a draw against Gracie and this fight was owned by Shamrock. In just over 2 minutes Shamrock won with a guillotine choke. Shamrock was named the UFC Superfight Champion. The UFC 6 Bracket was owned by Oleg Taktarov. Including Tank Abbott in the final, to win the event he overcame three fighters.

In UFC 7, Ken Shamrock would square off against Oleg Taktarov. This fight would be another fight that had no judges and would end in a draw. The fight was 33 minutes long and no winner was declared. This fight was a turning point in the UFC. The UFC would make the change to allow ringside judges. This way the fights would not end in draws. Shamrock was clearly dominant in this and Shamrock retained his title.

The UFC 7 Bracket featured two fighters Paul Varelans and Marco Ruas, who beat their first two opponents in order to square off in the Finals. The Final round ended in favor of Marco Ruas. UFC 7 would be the last event of the year. As the top fighter in the UFC, Ken Shamrock would end 1995.

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Overeem vs. Lashley Bout Now Dead And Buried – UFC

Published at: 11:12 am - Thursday December 23 2010

Rumors of a potential fight with Former UFC Heavyweight Todd Duffee has surfaced, after the proposed bout between Alistair Overeem and Bobby Lashley now dead and buried, left “The Reem” in search for an opponent.

With both sides locked in tense negotiations, reports were quick to surface that an agreement was possible and it looks like the fight will go ahead. Duffee released a message via his own Facebook account, which read that he has no plans for NYE yet and Dream Dynamite 2010 between him and Overeem is on the cards.

Since Duffee lost his job in the UFC, this bout would be his first return to MMA. He holds a respectable 6-1 record. Defeating Tim Hague in just 7 seconds, he went 1-1 under the UFC banner, earning the title of the UFC’s “fastest KO”. With Dana White blaming attitude problems for the parting of ways, Duffee was subsequently released from the UFC. Despite an unexpected KO loss in a fight Duffee was clearly winning in the UFC earlier this year, he is seen as one of the most promising rising talents in the game. From the UFC in September, attitude problems led him to his dismissal. He needs a win in a high profile fight to let everyone know that he is still the real deal and this fight would be the perfect way for him to end the year on a high.

At this moment in time, outside of the UFC, Overeem is of course seen as one of the premier heavyweight fighters, thanks for holding on to the Strikeforce title, with a three year unbeaten run in MMA competition and recently conquering the K-1 World GP title as well. Overeem proved his dominance to the world in 2010 by winning this year’s K-1 tournament and dismantling of Brett Rogers back in May. Overeem defeated Brett Rogers by TKO in just under four minutes at Strikeforce. At the New Years Eve show, the 33-11 Strikeforce Champion is certain to compete against Duffee.

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Josh Koscheck Meets Georges St-Pierre In Highly Anticipated Fight Of The Year

Published at: 06:12 am - Thursday December 09 2010

At the upcoming UFC 124 event, Josh Koscheck will face Georges St-Pierre and which may be the most highly anticipated fight of the year as this event will be the last fight of the year and this fight between these two fighters. Most UFC betting enthusiastic are keenly waiting for this event.

Even though St-Pierre hit a rough patch a few years ago, he has been dominant for years. He had to work to get his welterweight title belt back which he lost. In order to win back his belt he came across Josh Koscheck. The match came down to a unanimous decision in favor of St-Pierre as these two fought.

These fighters are both better than ever, and many times has passed since that fight. In every part of his game, St-Pierre seems to progress. He has a ground game that rivals the best in his weight class as well as he is fast and powerful on his feet.

The number one competitor is Josh Koscheck, while fighting “GSP” (Georges St-Pierre) he will have a lot on his plate. Since the last time these two squared off, he is a much better fighter than he used to be. He was only known for his ground game and wrestling style earlier. He has become a great standup fighter and a tough striker by improving his game. He has all of the tools to take on the best in the game, even as he does have some room for improvement.

Both these fighters should catch the attention of all of the MMA fans out there as they will be on the Main Card.

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UFC 123′s Gerald Harris Discusses Timekeeping Issue

Published at: 01:11 pm - Friday November 26 2010

UFC 123 finished with its fair share of hullabaloo similar to most fight cards. Much have the attention has shifted to one of the under card bouts, at the same time as the show was highlighted by a razors edge judgment in the Jackson vs. Machida bout, which Jackson won 2 rounds to 1, as well as a startling 21 second win for BJ Penn.

Regarding an inconsistency in the clock keeping of a middleweight fight between Miaquel Falcao, and Gerald Harris the UFC is conducting an investigation of the Michigan Unarmed Combat Commission.

The bell Falcao secured a rear naked choke on Harris since the first round of the match neared. It seemed that Falcao was about to put him to sleep until the end of the round with Harris struggling to hold on. The bell which rang seven seconds early was the only problem.

The fight would carry on on for a further two rounds as those seven seconds likely saved Harris. Yet many people feel that the fight was over in the first round Falcao would end up winning the bout in a lackluster judgment.

The Michigan Unarmed Combat Commission try to piece together the events and work out what precisely happened in the closing seconds of the match has declined UFC investigations up to this point.

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BJ Penn and Matt Hughes clash for 3rd time at UFC 123

Published at: 05:11 am - Friday November 19 2010

UFC 123 with feature the third match up between former champions BJ Penn and Matt Hughes.

Penn is a -175 moneyline favorite and Hughes is a +145 underdog in MMA Odds.

In their past two fights they have gone 1-1 so this third match will determine the winner in the series.

Matt Hughes was once one of the most fearsome fighters in MMA, and owner of one of the longest winning streaks in UFC history. However as with all warriors age has begun to creep up on Hughes in the last few years. Despite his advancing age and deteriorating skills Hughes is still a dangerous opponent who has defeated his last three opponents. His power wrestling has been the foil of many fighters. Hughes possesses some of the most intense ground and pound in the welterweight division, and his striking is none too shabby.

BJ Penn, once hailed as the Prodigy is also on the downside of his career, and is coming off back to back losses to new light weight kingpin Frankie Edgar. Penn is one of the truly masterful natural grapplers, and his BJJ is some of the most dangerous ever seen in the history of MMA.

While age hasn’t affected Penn in the same way it has Hughes, BJ has a history of bad stamina, and sometimes looks to give up on close fights.

If Hughes can take this into the late rounds then Penn will likely wear out. BJ can strike quickly and put an end to this match at any point, but his chances fade as the match grow longer.

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UFC 122: Middleweight bout: Jorge Rivera vs. Alessio Sakara

Published at: 07:11 am - Thursday November 11 2010

Jorge Rivera and Alessio Sakara will take one each other at UFC 122. This event will be in Germany. This is only the 2nd time that the UFC has gone to Germany. These fighters will be fighting at 185 pounds in what should be an excellent matchup in UFC betting.

Both of these fighters have had successful MMA careers to this point. Rivera has managed 18 wins in his 25 opportunities. Alessio Sakara has won 15 of his 22 matches. While these records are impressive, they have both not been quite as dominant in their matches within the UFC. Both fighters are over .500, but 8-5 for Rivera and 6-4 for Sakara do not sound nearly as impressive as their records outside of the UFC.

The key for Rivera has been the momentum that he has gained recently. After losing 5 of his first 10 UFC matches he has bounced back. Rivera will enter this matchup with a 3 fight winning streak.

Sakara has likewise strung together several victories in a row. He had hit a rough patch in his MMA career, but he has bounced back with 3 consecutive wins at all. It is clear that these fighters will both enter the ring with a lot of momentum behind them.

This fight will be highly anticipated as most people thought it would take place several events ago. They were initially scheduled to square off in UFC 118, but Rivera sustained a broken arm and was unable to take part in the event.

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UFC, WEC to Unite in 2011

Published at: 09:11 am - Tuesday November 02 2010

On Thursday, UFC President Dana White announced that ZUFFA would merge the WEC with the UFC in 2011.

White said during a conference call, “It’s time. As we continue to grow globally, we’re doing enough fights to fold [the WEC] into the UFC.”

White said, all WEC talent would be retained. At the promotion’s final event, WEC 53, in December, WEC featherweight titleholder Jose Aldo will be the new UFC featherweight champion, and the same will go for the winner of Dominick Cruz’s title defense against Scott Jorgensen.

But what about the WEC lightweights? Already, the UFC has its own 155-pound title and a lot of good fighters in that division. Unifying the two belts with a miniature tournament, White said he intends to fold all the WEC lightweights into the UFC.

Additionally, the UFC just penned a new contract with Versus to air four events on the network in 2011, announced White. While the loss of several WEC events on Versus actually decreases the total number of Zuffa-owned shows airing on the network, technically that doubles the number of UFC shows from 2010.

White said, “It’s a positive. We get [more] UFC on Versus. If you ask Versus, they were happy with the WEC’s ratings, but the UFC is going to pull bigger ratings.”

White said, Job security is not exclusive to the WEC’s fighters, as other WEC employees will keep their jobs.

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UFC 121: Middleweight bout: Court McGee vs. Ryan Jensen

Published at: 06:10 am - Tuesday October 19 2010

Spike TV will show two undercard fights from UFC 121 on Saturday, October 23. The second of the two fights will pit Court McGee against Ryan Jensen.

McGee will return to the octagon for the first time since winning The Ultimate Fighter this past June. He won the crown by submitting Kris McCray via rear-naked choke in the second round. The submission was also good enough to earn McGee “Submission of the Night.”

The win against McCray was McGee’s sixth in a row. He has amassed a 12-1 record in his career with six of his wins coming by submission. His lone loss was by unanimous decision against Jeremy Horn at the Ultimate Combat Experience in December of 2007.

Ryan Jensen has been competing in MMA since 1997. He has compiled a 15-6 record in the timeframe and is 2-4 in UFC fights. Jensen is 2-2 in his last four fights. He lost to Wilson Gouveia at UFC Fight Night 19 and to Mark Muñoz at UFC 108. Both losses came by way of submission. In his most recent fight, he defeated Jesse Forbes with a guillotine choke submission 66 seconds into the first round.

As the winner of a popular reality show, McGee comes into the fight with a lot of hype. Jensen isn’t concerned about the hype or about McGee’s strong record and believes he can win back-to-back UFC fights for the first time. “I’m not really worried about this dude at all technically,” said Jensen. “He hasn’t fought anybody tough.”

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