UFC 102 Results

In one of the most thrilling heavyweights fights in recent UFC history, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira topped fellow ex-champion and an exceptionally resilient "Captain America" Randy Couture in a fight that was years in the making. Thiago Silva bounced back from his KO loss the Lyoto Machida when he KO'd Keith Jardine just 95 seconds into the first round. And Nate Marquardt puts himself into the title picture at Middleweight with hi KO of Demian Maia in just 21 seconds. All and all, a very exciting card from top to bottom.

-Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira def. Randy Couture via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
-Thiago Silva def. Keith Jardine via TKO (strikes) - Round 1, 1:35
-Jake Rosholt def. Chris Leben via technical submission (arm-triangle choke) - Round 3, 1:30
-Nate Marquardt def. Demian Maia via knockout (punch) - Round 1, 0:21
-Brandon Vera def. Krzysztof Soszynski via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
-Aaron Simpson def. Ed Herman via TKO (injury) - Round 2, 0:17
-Gabriel Gonzaga def. Chris Tuchscherer via TKO (punches) - Round 1, 4:27
-Mike Russow def. Justin McCully via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-26, 30-27)
-Todd Duffee def. Tim Hague via knockout (punches) - Round 1, 0:07
-Mark Munoz def. Nick Catone via split decision (28-29, 30-27, 29-28)
-Evan Dunham def. Marcus Aurelio via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 30-27)

The UFC paid out $1,525,000 in reported salaries and bonuses for UFC 102, with the night's headliners taking home just over half of the total. The numbers are below. Keep in mind that they don't include income from sponsorships, cuts of the pay-per-view revenue (which Randy Couture reportedly receives), or the UFC's shadowy "locker room bonuses" (which Silva and Duffee likely got a taste of).

- Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira: $460,000 (includes $150,000 win bonus and $60,000 Fight of the Night bonus)
- Randy Couture: $310,000 (includes $60,000 Fight of the Night bonus)
- Nate Marquardt: $140,000 (includes $40,000 win bonus and $60,000 Knockout of the Night bonus)
- Gabriel Gonzaga: $120,000 (includes $60,000 win bonus)
- Jake Rosholt: $86,000 (includes $13,000 win bonus and $60,000 Submission of the Night bonus)
- Brandon Vera: $70,000 (includes $35,000 win bonus)
- Thiago Silva: $58,000 (includes $29,000 win bonus)
- Keith Jardine: $55,000
- Chris Leben: $30,000
- Demian Maia: $28,000
- Mark Munoz: $24,000 (includes $12,000 win bonus)
- Ed Herman: $24,000
- Mike Russow: $20,000 (includes $10,000 win bonus)
- Aaron Simpson: $18,000 (includes $9,000 win bonus)
- Justin McCully: $15,000
- Evan Dunham: $14,000 (includes $7,000 win bonus)
- Marcus Aurelio: $13,000
- Todd Duffee: $10,000 (includes $5,000 win bonus)
- Chris Tuchscherer: $10,000
- Krzystzof Soszynski: $8,000
- Tim Hague: $7,000
- Nick Catone: $5,000

UFC 102: This Saturday

UFC 102 is this Saturday night live on PPV. The main event features two legends of the sport as Randy Couture takes on Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.

Here is the full card:
-Randy Couture vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
-Keith Jardine vs. Thiago Silva
-Chris Leben vs. Jake Rosholt
-Demian Maia vs. Nate Marquardt
-Krzysztof Soszynski vs. Brandon Vera
-Gabriel Gonzaga vs. Chris Tuchscherer
-Justin McCully vs. Mike Russow
-Todd Duffee vs. Tim Hague
-Nick Catone vs. Mark Munoz
-Marcus Aurelio vs. Evan Dunham
-Ed Herman vs. Aaron Simpson

Four Things We’ll Know For Sure Once UFC 102 Is Over (by Cage Potato)

1. If Randy Couture Will Ever Get One More Title Shot
Couture keeps talking about wanting another chance at UFC gold as if he isn’t in his mid-forties with only one fight left on his contract after UFC 102. While we respect a guy with long term goals, how he performs in this fight will determine whether those goals ever come to fruition. It probably won’t be enough just to beat Nogueira. He needs to dominate him like he’s just another Gabriel Gonzaga with more scar tissue. If he can’t do that the UFC will be taking a hard look at his price tag and future prospects when it comes time to talk about a new contract.

2. If Demian Maia Can Really Threaten Anderson Silva
It’s tough to know what to make of Maia at this point. Either he’s too one-dimensional to ever dominate top competition, or he really is so good at what he does that he doesn’t have to do anything else. We don’t know yet, because nobody has been able to keep him standing long enough to test the rest of his game. Nate Marquardt will. He’s well-rounded and he’s a great athlete. Getting him into a grappling match won’t be as easy as pulling half-guard. If Maia can do to Marquardt what he did to Nate Quarry and Chael Sonnen, Anderson Silva will have a very good reason to come back to the middleweight division.

3. If Brandon Vera Finally Has His Shit Together
Three years ago Vera looked like the future of the UFC. A young, explosive ass-kicker who could do it all and talk a fair amount of smack afterwards. Somewhere along the way he got rich and a little lazy. Suddenly his bright, shining star looked more like a passing satellite, even after a drop in weight. Now he says he’s got his focus back, and K-Sos is the kind of fighter who can find out. A really good fighter can still beat him, but a decent, somewhat distracted fighter can’t. If Vera’s ever going to fulfill his promise, it’s now or never.

4. If the Pacific Northwest Will Get Another UFC Event Any Time Soon
You may not know it, but the Northwest loves them some MMA. Sportfight has filled moderately-sized arenas for years now, and the Seattle/Tacoma area has a regular series of events and enough fighters and fans to justify it. But unemployment and high taxes seem to be conspiring to leave the UFC with either a half-full arena or a bunch of people in discounted seats. If that’s what happens when they bring Couture to town, don’t expect them to come back soon based solely on Chris Leben’s drawing power.

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UFC 103 under card may be televised on Spike TV

According to the Orange County Register, the UFC 103 under card will air live commercial free on Spike TV before the PPV on September 19th.

"The UFC 103: Franklin vs. Belfort pay-per-view card is going toe-to-toe with (boxing's) Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Juan Manuel Marquez HBO pay-per-view event on Sept. 19.
The UFC is known for its creative marketing and counter-programming tactics and it looks like the MMA giant has come up with a good plan to beef up awareness for UFC 103.
The UFC will air a two-hour telecast of the UFC 103 undercard commercial free on Spike TV as a lead in for the UFC 103 main card on pay-per-view, according to a source at the UFC.
It remains to be seen how well either event will do with two major PPV events on the same night.
Will the UFC, which has been flourishing on PPV in these tough economic times, take a hit going head-to-head with a major boxing card?
Is Mayweather a legit pay-per-view draw? He had Oscar De La Hoya and Ricky Hatton to help pump up sales in his two biggest PPV fights.
Will boxing fans, who also follow MMA, bail on the UFC to see Mayweather back in action or will they be lured into watching Rich Franklin take on Vitor Belfort at UFC 103?
One thing is for sure, it’s going to be an interesting night of fights."

UFC 103 main card on PPV:
-Vitor Belfort vs. Rich Franklin
-Junior Dos Santos vs. Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic
-Martin Kampmann vs. Mike Swick
-Josh Koscheck vs. Frank Trigg
-Hermes Franca vs. Tyson Griffin
UFC 103 under card on Spike TV:
-Efrain Escudero vs. Cole Miller
-Jim Miller vs. TBA
-Dan Lauzon vs. Rafaello Oliveira
-Paul Daley vs. Brian Foster
-Tomasz Drwal vs. Drew McFedries
-Jason Brilz vs. Eliot Marshall
-Vladimir Matyushenko vs. Igor Pokrajac
-Rafael dos Anjos vs. Rob Emerson

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Strikeforce: Carano vs Santos

Gina Carano in her final week before her Strikeforce Womens Title bout against Cris "Cyborg" Santos.

Watch Gina Carano Is Ready For Cyborg And There Is No Sex Tape! on RawVegas.tv

UFC 101 Results

BJ Penn successfully defended his UFC Lightweight Championship last night against Kenny Florian. Florian constantly pressed Penn against the cage, trying to wear down the UFC lightweight champ. But all he did was get the worst of the standup each time they separated. Florian never came close to threatening a takedown. Penn took the first three rounds with great takedown defense and the more effective striking. In the fourth, Florian let his guard down and was taken down. That's when Penn's excellent jiu-jitsu went on display. The Hawaiian quickly worked to a dominant position, eventually got Florian's back and choked him for the submission at 3:54 of the fourth round to retain his title in the main event at UFC 101.

Anderson Silva showed why he is the top pound-for-pound fighter in MMA as was able to dominate former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Forrest Griffin. Silva floored Griffin 1:54 into the fight, and from there Griffin looked tentative and slow. Silva was so confident that he started dropping his hands and mocking the much bigger Griffin. Griffin tried a lunging right-left combination, Silva deftly backed out of the way and knocked down the big guy with a right moving backward. Griffin fell to his back. He was done and the fight was stopped at the 3:23 mark. The always-emotional Griffin ran from the cage back to the locker room. The Griffin camp confirmed earlier this morning his jaw was in fact dislocated and required immediate medical attention. Griffin was unable to hear out of one ear, according to the report. (Or Maybe Not)

Here are the UFC 101 fight results:
-B.J. Penn def. Kenny Florian via submission (rear-naked choke) - Round 4, 3:54 (to defend lightweight title)
-Anderson Silva def. Forrest Griffin via knockout (punch) - Round 1, 3:23
-Aaron Riley def. Shane Nelson via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
-Johnny Hendricks def. Amir Sadollah via TKO (strikes) - Round 1, 0:29
-Ricardo Almeida def. Kendall Grove via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 20-27)
-Kurt Pellegrino def. Josh Neer via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
-John Howard def. Tamdan McCrory via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
-Alessio Sakara def. Thales Leites via split decision (29-28, 27-30, 29-28)
-Matthew Riddle def. Dan Cramer via unanimous decision (29-27, 30-26, 30-27)
-George Sotiropoulos def. George Roop via submission (kimura) - Round 2, 1:59
-Jesse Lennox def. Danillo Villefort via TKO (cut) - Round 3, 3:37

UFC 101 Bonuses ($60,000):
-Fight of the Night: Anderson Silva vs Forrest Griffin
-Knockout of the Night: Anderson Silva
-Submission of the Night: B.J. Penn

The sold-out show, which took place at the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia, drew 17,411 spectators for a Pennsylvania record $3.55 million gate, UFC president Dana White announced in a post-fight press conference. The gate is a combat-sports record for Pennsylvania, a state that only recently began regulating mixed martial arts but has a rich boxing history that includes a 1926 Jack Dempsey vs. Gene Tunney match that drew 120,557 spectators.

-Would Anderson Silva really vacate the UFC Middleweight Championship and move up to Light Heavyweight permanently?

MMA Live Post Fight Show:

UFC 101: This Saturday

UFC 101 is this Saturday Night Live from Philly. It features two of the top ten pound for pound fighters in the world as (#6) BJ Penn defends his UFC Lightweight Championship against Kenny Florian, and UFC Middleweight Champion (#3) Anderson Silva moves up to Light Heavyweight to face former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Forrest Griffin. Also on the card is the (hopefully) official debut of TUF7 winner Amir Sadollah.

Here is the full fight card:

(22pts) Kenny Florian (+180) vs. (18pts) BJ Penn (-220)

(13pts) Forrest Griffin (+300) vs. (6pts) Anderson Silva (-400)

(5pts) Johny Hendricks (+110) vs. (5pts) Amir Sadollah (-140)

(5pts) Ricardo Almeida (-115) vs. (5pts) Kendall Grove (-115)

(6pts) Kurt Pellegrino (+190) vs. (3pts) Josh Neer (-240)

(2pts) Shane Nelson (+150) vs. (1pt) Aaron Riley (-180)

(2pts) John Howard (+210) vs. (1pt) Tamden McCrory (-270)

(3pts) Alessio Sakara (+250) vs. (1pt) Thales Leites (-330)

(2pts) Dan Cramer (+170) vs. (1pt) Matt Riddle (-200)

(2pts) George Roop (+190) vs. (1pt) George Sotiropoulos (-240)

(1pt) Jesse Lennox (+130) vs. (1pt) Danillo Villefort (-160)

Fedor signs with Strikeforce

From Yahoo sports:

Well. This certainly changes things, doesn't it? Fedor Emelianenko, the number two fighter in Yahoo's pound-for-pound rankings, and the subject of contentious negotiations with the UFC, has now signed with Strikeforce. From the Strikeforce press release:

“I am looking forward to going back to work and fighting at the highest level," said the 33-year-old Emelianenko. During his nine year professional fight career, which included a four and a half year stay with the world’s former top MMA promotion, the now defunct PRIDE Fighting Championship, the Russian native has faced and defeated all comers.

The good: Fedor will fight soon, and he will fight on Showtime, more widely available to average American MMA fans than a pay-per-view. This will definitely bolster Strikeforce's reputation as a promotion as their willingness to co-promote with M-1 means that they beat out the UFC on getting Fedor. Co-promotion was a sticking point with Fedor and the UFC, as the UFC was willing to give Fedor every demand except for that one. This could also help Strikeforce attract up-and-coming heavyweights, as it seems everyone wants a shot at Fedor.

The bad: In Strikeforce, Fedor will likely face Alistair Overeem, Fabricio Werdum or Brett Rogers. As an MMA fan, I know that they are formidable opponents. But those names do nothing to rouse the interest of a casual fan, and any fight that Strikeforce can make will not get anywhere near the buzz as Fedor vs. Brock Lesnar would have.