Brock Lesnar on E:60
Bloodyelbow.com says that ESPN's next E:60 show will feature Brock Lesnar. It'll premiere Tues., Oct. 21 at 7 p.m. and will be posted here some time later if you miss it.
Bloodyelbow.com says that ESPN's next E:60 show will feature Brock Lesnar. It'll premiere Tues., Oct. 21 at 7 p.m. and will be posted here some time later if you miss it.
Features none other than ... Brock Lesnar and Randy Couture. Big surprise there.
from mmaweekly.com:
When Brock Lesnar signed with the Ultimate Fighting Championship, the former collegiate wrestling champion and former professional wrestling superstar said he wanted to fight the top heavyweights. He was serious.
At UFC 91 on Nov. 15 from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Lesnar will face Randy "The Natural" Couture for the UFC heavyweight belt in only his fourth mixed martial arts bout and third time in the Octagon.
"I've wanted a fight with Randy since before I signed a contract with the UFC," Lesnar told the media on Tuesday.
Despite his inexperience and Couture's year-long layoff from competition, expectations are high that the match-up will generate record numbers. "We actually do research on these things if you can believe it or not," said UFC president Dana White.
Finish reading 'Brock Lesnar has sights set on UFC title' »
Dana introduces the fans to the newly re-signed Randy Couture and holds a conference call with Randy and Brock Lesnar.
Las Vegas, NV (USA) - On November 15th, the champ is back.
Ultimate Fighting Championship President Dana White today announced that after a year away from the game, UFC® heavyweight champion Randy "The Natural" Couture will make his long-awaited return to the Octagon to defend his title against rising star Brock Lesnar in a clash of titans destined to shake the foundations of the sport. This championship bout, the biggest heavyweight title fight in years, will headline UFC 91: COUTURE vs. LESNAR, live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday, Nov. 15, 2008.
"I am happy to announce that UFC heavyweight champion Randy Couture will be returning to action in the Octagon," said Dana White, UFC President. "He's a legend in the UFC, and one of the fighters that helped build this sport. I have always said that wrestling is one of the best bases you can have in MMA and not only is Randy a top level wrestler but his opponent is as well. Brock Lesnar showed the MMA world that he is for real in his last fight, dismantling the far more experienced Heath Herring. His combination of speed and power was absolutely devastating. It is a fascinating matchup: the crafty, multiple-time heavyweight champion versus the younger, bigger, and stronger challenger. This is one that will go down in the history books."
Finish reading 'Press release on Couture vs. Lesnar' »
Couture
Lesnar
Multiple sites on the Internet are reporting that Randy Couture has worked out his legal problems with the UFC and signed a new deal with the organization. His first fight will be at UFC 91 on Nov. 15 in Portland, Ore. against Brock Lesnar.
from mmajunkie.com:
The long-rumored heavyweight superfight between UFC champion Randy Couture (16-8 MMA, 8-5 UFC) and WAMMA champion Fedor Emelianenko (28-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC) is currently being discussed for an as-yet-unspecified date in January or February of 2009.
Sources inside Couture's Xtreme Couture camp today informed MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) of the ongoing negotiations between the UFC and both fighters.
The fight is far from a done deal. Many of the same issues that prevented Emelianenko from signing with the UFC during previous negotiations must still be ironed out. But it appears that the UFC and representatives for both Couture and Emelianenko are working towards bringing the two legends together for a Feb. 2 bout.
Additionally, the same sources are reporting that Couture is currently "actively training for a fight."
Couture has remained in shape throughout his self-imposed 12-month layoff, but his workouts are now reportedly being geared towards an apparent upcoming bout.
Adding to previous speculation that Couture's return may be on Nov. 15 at UFC 91 against Brock Lesnar, Xtreme Couture is also reportedly making travel arrangements to bring in several "larger heavyweights" as sparring partners for Couture.
Sources indicate the Emelianenko bout is contingent upon Couture defeating Lesnar in November.
MMA Rated first reported the possibility of Emelianenko as Couture's second opponent after Lesnar. That report also stated that the UFC hopes to make an announcement regarding a new contract with Couture as early as Tuesday.
This is from Shidell, who posts at sherdog.com:
UFC was holding a fan event at the Summerfest grounds here in Milwaukee as part of the Harley-Davidson 105th celebration. Brock was on hand along with Chris Lytle to greet fans. Jardine and Herring were also supposed to be present, but either were going to be available at a later time or weren't available to make it (unfortunately). Brock was accompanied by his wife, Rena (otherwise known as "Sable").
I was most surprised by how appreciative and humble Brock was. While waiting in line, I could overhear the conversations of those in front of me, and while most fans thanked Brock for autographs and pictures, Brock was doing an equal amount of thanking in return, telling people thank you for coming out to see and support both him and the UFC.
Randy Couture caves in Tim Sylvia's face with his fist en route to winning the UFC heavyweight championship.
by Michael Rome from bloodyelbow.com:
I've spoken with a lot of people about Randy Couture in the last day. Things are definitely happening.
First, I can say with 100% certainty that there are current negotiations for Randy Couture to return in November to main event, and that the current proposed opponent is Brock Lesnar. They can't get Fedor, too many issues to work out on short notice, and he has a US-only non compete with Affliction.
This will be a new contract, not a return to the old one. It will likely pay him more and give him more benefits, but it will lock him into the UFC for the long term. In exchange for signing it Zuffa would drop all breach of contract charges.
Finish reading 'Randy reportedly negotiating new contract with UFC' »All right, things are looking great - at least on paper - in the world of MMA for the rest of the year. Here are just some the major match-ups I've heard about, most confirmed, some still just rumor, but probably will happen:
-- Matt Lindland Vs. Trevor Prangley at Affliction 2 - Day of Reckoning.
-- Jay Hieron vs. Drew Fickett, also at Affliction 2.
-- Jake Shields vs. Paul Daley at EliteXC's Oct. 4 show on CBS.
-- Georges St-Pierre vs. BJ Penn on UFC's Jan. 31 show.
-- Also upcoming on a UFC event is Brock Lesnar vs. Cheick Kongo and Joe Steveson vs. Kenny Florian.
-- Also on the CBS show, Gina Carano vs. Kelly Kobald and Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson vs. Brett Rogers.
-- And finally, another Affliction match-up, former IFL lightweight champion Chris Horodecki vs. Dan Lauzon.
Holy crap! That's a lotta MMA.
Lesnar
from the Pioneer Press:
Former Gophers wrestler Brock Lesnar, who is 2-1 as a mixed martial arts fighter, found out this week that Ultimate Fighting Championship would like him to compete next on a November card, but his opponent and site remain undetermined.
Ted's Take: So who do you think it'll be? It won't be a title shot - heavyweight champ Big Nog and contender Frank Mir are locked in doing TUF 8. Shane Carwin's only had one fight in the UFC and he and Brock appear to be cut from similar molds. I see a good clash coming with Cheick Kongo. He's a tall, lean kickboxer who has shown improvement on the ground. Lesnar is a muscular wrestler with surprising striking. Instant fireworks.
Kongo
... and finishes triumphant, but as I said before, could have been classier about it.
-- So Florian beat Huerta. The UFC had said a while back that this fight would be to determine the number one contender to BJ Penn's lightweight belt, but then reportedly backed off from that days before the bout. One could make the connection the souring on the signifcance of the fight was due to Huerta's disparraging comments in FIGHT! magazine, where he doubted their loyalty and said they paid him $50 a day for a promotional tour. So, the question is, now that Florian won, will he get a title shot, or is Dana White's next move going to be to let BJ Penn jump up a weight class to take on welterweight champ Georges St-Pierre?
-- Cheick Kongo (who some call "Cup Check" because of the four or so knees he fired at CroCop's nuggets in their fight) beat Viking Dan Evenson (who was waaay into his entrance music, by the way) ... so where does Kongo go from here? I'm still not too impressed with this guy - Herring gave him problems .. let's see how he does against tougher competition on the ground, like maybe Shane Carwin or Brock Lesnar, or even Frank Mir.
Caught a few of the fights on saturday night. Here are some thoughts:
In Lesnar/Herring and St-Pierre/Fitch, we saw the polar opposites of sportsmanship. Lesar thrashed Herring for three rounds. Totally dominated him with wrestling, but didn't seem to know how to put the veteran fighter away, a la jiu-jitsu or ground-n-pound. We did see another vicious one-punch knock-down, like he did to Frank Mir, so people better start fearing his hands.
It was a great victory for Brock. I was happy for him, until he started taunting and laughing at Herring. Before the final bell rang. Nah. That ain't cool.
St-Pierre vs. Fitch went the full 25, and gets my nomination for Fight of the Year, but more on that in a minute. St-Pierre was the first fighter to pass Fitch's guard and also handed Fitch his first loss in the Octagon. Fitch proved to the world he deserved his title shot, absorbing punch after punch, elbow after elbow, takedown after takedown.
After the grueling contest, St-Pierre got down on his knees and shook Fitch's hand. If I were to guess, he was thanking Fitch for giving him the fight of his life. Fitch in turn got down on his knees, knowing that he gave St-Pierre his biggest challenge. He then picked St-Pierre up to display him to the roaring hoard.
That's the way MMA should be. That's what makes it so special. The camaraderie between fighters. There is some unexplainable bond that is forged when you push someone to their physical and mental limits. No matter what happens in the lives from that point on, St-Pierre and Fitch will never forget that night.
BJ Penn, who seems to be making a habit of post-fight cage appearances, materialized and yelled to St-Pierre to make a re-match between the two happen. St-Pierre, in a not-so-enthusiastic repsonse, said he would fight anyone who was worthy. "Eee can't andle my widdum," anyone?
UFC.com has the video of the 87 Seek and Destroy weigh-ins up. Click here to see it.
Thanks to mmajunkie.com:
Champ Georges St. Pierre (170) vs. Jon Fitch (170)
Heath Herring (250) vs. Brock Lesnar (265)
Kenny Florian (155) vs. Roger Huerta (155)
Jason MacDonald (185) vs. Demian Maia (185)
Rob Emerson (155) vs. Manny Gamburyan (155)
Luke Cummo (167) vs. Tamdan McCrory (170)
Dan Evensen (244) vs. Cheick Kongo (235)
Andre Gusmao (205) vs. Jon Jones (205)
Steve Bruno (170) vs. Chris Wilson (170)
Ben Saunders (170) vs. Ryan Thomas (170)
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