The MMA Update for Monday June 11th, 2007
Written by Chris Howie
Back again for a new week of MMA Updates. This week is definitely going to be a busy one for all MMA fans, with Fight Night tomorrow night and UFC 72 this week there should be something for everyone in terms of fights they want to see. Quite a few interesting news tidbids happened over the weekend so lets get to it.
Tommy Morrison Makes Succesful MMA (sorta) Debut
Tommy “The Duke” Morrison ventured into the cage for the first time to fight his MMA fight. Before the fight the majority of the MMA rules were thrown out the window and this basically became a boxing fight in a cage. Morrison defeated his opponent, John Stover, in 2:08 of the first round by TKO. “The Duke” busted Stover's nose in the process of winning the fight. Fans in the building booed Morrison out of the cage as Tommy panted heavily while getting his armed raised. There have been many rumours circulating that Morrison has not offcially been cleared of having HIV. His former agent says Tommy has never been cleared. Lucky for Stover he did not come into any contact with any blood of Morrisons but considering the high risk factors involved and also considering Tommy did not pass a blood test it damn for sure would not have been me getting in there with him. If in fact, Morrison does have HIV and has just been covering it up for a quick pay day I think it would be in everyones best interest for Tommy Morrison to be thrown in jail. The sport of MMA does not need a black spot on it like this.
Vernon White Claims Chuck Liddell In Rehab Prior To Fight With Jackson
Now I'm not overly sure if there is any truth to this but in a recent statement Vernon White has said that “The Iceman” was in rehab. There is no love lost between White or Liddell as both have had choice words for the other over the years. Whites actual statement was as follows:
“Chuck just got out of rehab, but I do have to say it was stupid for him to come out of rehab and fight Quinton the way he fought him. He should have fought a smarter fight. Quinton’s my boy, I love you, and hold that belt forever. “
Who's to say this is actually truthful but considering Chuck's party hard lifestyle there could be some truth to it. It also could just be a misinterpurtation on White's behalf. Hopefully a little more on this will surface but until then take it with a grain of salt.
Cro Cop To Fight Kongo?
On a Dutch MMA website Cheick Kongo was quoted as saying that his next opponent will be none other than Mirko Cro Cop at UFC 75 in London England. This fight has been rumoured for a week or so now but now seems to be more than a rumoured with Kongo's comments. I personally think this would be a good fight for both fighters. Kongo has been having alot of trouble with wrestlers in his last few matches and his ground game has been looking horrible. Cro Cop is most likely going to stand with Kongo so this fight has the makings of a stand up war written all over it.
Diego Sanchez vs. Hayoto “Mach” Sakurai At UFC 74?
KRQE News 13 in Albequerque NM is reporting that Diego sanchez next fight after a disappointing loss to Josh Koscheck at UFC 69 will be against one of the best in the world in “Mach” Sakurai. I see this as being a true test for Sanchez as to where he actually stands in the UFC welterweight picture. Sakurai will be making his return to the Octagon and I'm sure that will be much welcomed into the high competitive UFC welterweight division.
UFC Fight Night Live Card Finalized
The UFC Fight Night card has been finalized for tomorrow night. This should definately be a good card to watch with the Fisher VS Stout rematch in the main event. Jon Fitch finally gets a little face time on TV so it will also be good to see him.
Main Card Bouts:
-Spencer Fisher vs. Sam Stout
-Jon Fitch vs. Roan Carneiro
-Drew McFedries vs. Jordan Radev
Preliminary Bouts:
-Jason Black vs. Thiago Tavares
-Luigi Fioravanti vs. Forrest Petz
-Pete Spratt vs. Tamdan McCrory
-Nate Mohr vs. Luke Caudillo
-Gleison Tibau vs. Jeff Cox
-Chad Reiner vs. Anthony Johnson
It's Letter Time, It's Letter Time
A few questions this week so lets get to them:
Keith chime in with:
This is only a small question, but a question none the less. I want to know what are the chances of Robbie Lawler rejoining the UFC, and maybe even Marvin Eastman dropping to 185 lbs. and going to fight in the UFC middleweight division. I think he would be a beast in the division and I miss Ruthless Robbie?
Answer: Well Keith, considering Lawler just defeated Frank Trigg for the ICON Sport Middleweight championship I think it will be a while before we see him making a return to the Octagon. Most likely I think we'll see a rematch between him and Jason Miller or him and Trigg for the title in ICON.
Mike from Martinsburg, WV writes:
If I read the first part of the Thomas/Sims “cancellation” article right then it was Spike TV that decided not to air UFC 72 for free. If so, what was Spike TV's logic behind not wanting to air this one? I thought UFC 70 was a sucess for everyone involved (except for Cro Cop) and that they would be more than happy to air another “big” event. Like Mike stated in his letter, I can't justify paying for UFC 72 when I look at the fight card. I will however be anticipating UFC's 73 and 74 though and Dana can already count me in as one who's going to be paying to see those two.
After falling asleep (literally) during the last Sylvia/Arlovski fight I've been a lot more selctive on which ones I'll pay for. I really feel like the UFC brass could have done a better job with the undercard selections on UFC 72 if they expect people to pay $40 to see it.
I'm not even sure UFC 72 was going to be on Spike in the first place. There have been alot of rumours circulating on this one such as Spike thinking the UFC 72 card wasn't compelling enough. With that being said even with a lackluster card it would have made a lot of sense to show this card on Spike. It definately would have brought alot of viewers on board because from what I'm seeing in a lot of places not to many people are impressed enough with this card to actually shell out 40 bucks for it.
If you have any questions make sure to send them in to [email protected]
MMANews Weekly Awards
Not much went on this week in the world of MMA but there was still enough to hand out these awards.
Fighter of the Week: Manny Gambaryan – This guy can go. He may be small but damn he was impressive Thursday
Fight of the Week: Manny Gambaryan VS Matt Wiman – This was a good one. Check it out on TUF replays if you get a chance
Fuck You of the Week: Fuck you Tommy Morrison, Do you have HIV or not… and why all the special rules for someone ready to make MMA's first death happen?
Outro
Well folks that's it for today but make sure to check back tomorrow for a preview of the FIght Night card.
Also make sure to check out Rich Davidson's latest article “The Way It Is (And Not Much Else) Frankin-Okami”. Rich has a good look into the main event of UFC 72. You can check it out here: https://www.mmanews.com/ufc/The-Way-It-Is-And-Not-Much-Else—Franklin-Okami.html
From the end of last week you can check out my in depth interview with NYBA Phil Baroni. It's definately an interesting read. Check it out here: https://www.mmanews.com/other/Very-In-Depth-Interview-With-NYBA-Phil-Baroni.html
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