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Written by Matt Foust
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Saturday, 27 December 2008
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Tonight's UFC 92 card features a number of excellent match-ups, but few will be as highly anticipated as the bout between Quinton "Rampage" Jackson and Wanderlei "The Axe Murderer" Silva. This clash between bitter rivals will take place tonight at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. UFC 92: The Ultimate 2008 is scheduled to begin at 10pm ET and can be seen live on Pay-Per-View. UFC 92: Rampage Jackson vs Wanderlei Silva predictions at BetUS.com have Silva listed as a -140 favorite.  Tonight's fight will be Wanderlei Silva's third since returning to the UFC in December of 2007. The Brazilian looked as if he might be ready to retire after Chuck Liddell beat him by unanimous decision at UFC 79, but he rebounded to score a knock out of Keith Jardine in May of this year at UFC 84: ILL WILL. The quick dispatch of Jardine signaled that the agressive Silva had plenty left in the tank. The quick striking Silva has a 32-8-1 professional MMA record entering tonight's match. Jackson (28-7) had looked invincible since joining the UFC in February of 2007, scoring wins over Marvin Eastman, Chuck Liddell, and Dan Henderson. The 6'1" Memphis native earned the light heavyweight title in just his second UFC fight when he took out Liddell at 1:36 into round one. However, his brief championship reign came to end in July of this year when Forrest Griffin earned a five round unanimous decision over Rampage. There is plenty of history between these two fighters and no love lost. They have faced each other on two occasions when they both were members of PRIDE. Silva was the victor in both battles, scoring a technical knockout in November of 2003 and a knockout in October of 2004. The second win is the stuff of legend, as Silva landed a vicious knee to Jackson's face who subsequently fell through the ropes. Jackson contends that it is the only time he has ever been knocked out. BetUS.com's UFC 92 Betting Odds: Forrest Griffin (-130) vs Rashad Evans (-110) Quinton Jackson (Even) vs Wanderlei Silva (-140) Frank Mir (+225) vs Antonio Rodrigo Noguera (-350) CB Dollaway (-175) vs Mike Massenzio (+135) Cheick Kongo (-375) vs Mostapha Al Turk (+235) Yushin Okami (-350) vs Dean Lister (+225) Antoni Hardonk (-400) vs Mike Wessel (+250) Matt Hamill (-450) vs Reese Andy (+275) Ryo Chonan (-200) vs Brad Blackburn (+150) Dan Evensen (+175) vs Pat Barry (-225) |
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Last Updated ( Saturday, 27 December 2008 )
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Written by Matt Foust
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Saturday, 27 December 2008
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UFC 92: The Ultimate 2008 will take place tonight at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The huge event is scheduled to start at 10:pm ET and can be seen live on Pay-Per-View. Highlighting the card is a match-up for the Light Heavyweight Championship between current title holder Forrest Griffin and challenger Rashad Evans. UFC 92 Betting Odds at BetUS.com have Griffin listed as a -130 money line favorite.  Forrest Griffin burst onto the MMA scene back in 2005 when he became the first Ultimate Fighter Champion. Griffin beat Stephan Bonnar in an epic three round clash to win a UFC contract. Since then the former police officer has compiled a 6-2 UFC record (16-4 overall). The 6'3" Griffin earned the light heavyweight title back in July when he beat Quinton "Rampage" Jackson at UFC 86. The 29 year old came into the Jackson fight with a brilliant game plan and executed it almost flawlessly for five full rounds to secure a unanimous decision. The rangy Griffin is known primarily for his unbelievable conditioning and tremendous heart. But his skills as a fighter have gotten better in each bout, and his ground game, once viewed as a major weakness, is now quite adept. "Sugar" Rashad Evans, the Ultimate Fighter II Champion, is getting his first UFC title shot in tonight's proceedings. Evans is a former Junior College National Champion wrestler, but his fight game is well rounded as his 17-0-1 record attests. The 5'1" Evans his just as capable on his feet as he is on the ground and he has several stunning knockouts to prove it. In his last fight, UFC 88: Breakthrough in September, Evans upset former light heavyweight champ Chuck Liddell with a devasting right hook in the second round. The knock out was undoubtedly one of the best UFC highlights of 2008. Also featured on the amazing 10 fight card are battles between Rampage Jackson and Wanderlei Silva, Antonio Rodrigo Noguera and Frank Mir, and Yushin Okami and Dean Lister. BetUS.com's UFC 92 Betting Odds: Forrest Griffin (-130) vs Rashad Evans (-110) Quinton Jackson (-110) vs Wanderlei Silva(-130) Frank Mir (+225) vs Antonio Rodrigo Noguera (-350) CB Dollaway (-175) vs Mike Massenzio (+135) Cheick Kongo (-375) vs Mostapha Al Turk (+235) Yushin Okami (-350) vs Dean Lister (+225) Antoni Hardonk (-400) vs Mike Wessel (+250) Matt Hamill (-450) vs Reese Andy (+275) Ryo Chonan (-200) vs Brad Blackburn (+150) Dan Evensen (+175) vs Pat Barry (-225) |
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Last Updated ( Saturday, 27 December 2008 )
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Written by Matt Foust
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Saturday, 15 November 2008
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Tonight the man known as "The Natural" will make his long awaited return to the UFC. Randy Couture, who stills holds the UFC's heavyweight title, has not fought since August of 2007 when he took out Gabriel Gonzaga by way of TKO. Couture's opponent this evening at UFC 91 will be MMA's fastest rising star, Brock Lesnar. The highly anticipated event will take place at 9:00pm ET at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada and can be seen live on Pay Per View. MMA Fight Picks at BetUS.com have the 265lb Lesnar as a -140 favorite to take the belt from Couture. Couture is perhaps the most widely recognized name is MMA today and, even though still an active fighter, is a member of the UFC Hall of Fame. He currently sports a 16-8 record at the age of 45 and he has been a title holder in both the heavyweight and light heavyweight divisions. The former Army soldier and Oklahoma State wrestler captured the heavyweight title back on March 3rd, 2007 when he beat Tim Sylvia by unanimous decision. In October of 2007, Couture announced that he was quitting the UFC over a contract dispute. He was upset that fighters of equal or lesser caliber were being paid a bigger share than he was. In September of this year Couture ended his dispute with UFC and inked a new three fight deal, the first of which will be this evening's bout with Lesnar. Lesnar is a former All-American wrestler at the University of Minnesota and WWE champion. He has been training in MMA since 2006 and he has two UFC fights to his credit. In his first UFC match, Lesnar was submitted (knee bar) in the first round by Frank Mir. He redeemed himself this past August with a dominating unanimous decision over the hard hitting Heath Herring. This should be an interesting match-up in many ways. Couture certainly has more experience, but Lesnar is bigger, stronger, and younger. "The Natural" is adept at a variety of fighting styles; he may need to use all of them to overcome the powerful Minnesotan. Point-Spreads.com also reported earlier this week that a lawsuit had been filed against Couture in Las Vegas by New York based event production company, TOAST. The suit claims that Couture owes TOAST $125,000 for an event they helped produce on behalf of the Xtreme Couture GI Foundation. He will certainly need to put this distraction out of his mind if he is to retain his heavyweight title tonight. BetUS.com's UFC 91: Randy Couture vs Brock Lesnar Fight Picks Randy Couture +110 Brock Lesnar -140 Other matches on the nine fight card include: Kenny Florian (-200) vs Joe Stevenson (+160), Nate Quarry (+190) vs Demian Maia (-240), and Matt Brown (-210) vs Ryan Thomas (+165). |
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Last Updated ( Monday, 17 November 2008 )
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Written by Steve Hastings
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Wednesday, 12 November 2008
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 Randy Couture is expected to head to the octagon this weekend in UFC 91 against Brock Lesnar but will the former Ultimate Fighting Champion have something else on his mind? A lawsuit was filed in Las Vegas court today by event production company TOAST of New York against the mixed martial arts star. The suit claims that Couture failed to pay TOAST approximately $125,000 for an event hosted by his organization, Xtreme Couture GI Foundation. Terry Coffing, the attorney representing Toast of New York, said Couture has only paid $50,000 of his $175,000 bill.
Besides being sued by TOAST, Couture's wife Kim won a restraining order against Affliction Inc. clothing company owner Todd Eugene Beard this week. The Couture's T-shirt business partner allegedly made threats and tried to intimidation Kim.
"My fear of Mr. Beard is well-founded given his extensive criminal history. Not only has he been convicted of numerous state and federal felonies relating to fraud ...he has engaged in numerous acts of violence, including violence against women."
Kim Couture also asked the judge to prohibit Beard from attending a UFC bout featuring Randy Couture this Saturday at the MGM Grand Garden arena. Sportsbook.com has Couture a +110 underdog in UFC 91 against the former WWE Champion turned mixed martial arts fighter Brock Lesnar.
"I had to move my camp a couple hours away up in northern Minnesota," Lesnar said. "We're out in the back woods for about eight and a half or nine weeks, kind of away from the outside world. All we had was Randy Couture fights and Randy Couture books to read … so we got to know Randy pretty well."
The last time Randy Couture fought in the octagon was over a year ago and while the former champion continued to train hard at the gym, its very plausible these “out of the ring” distractions could prove costly against Lesnar. Point-Spreads.com recommends taking the focused Brock Lesnar at -140 odds with Sportsbook.com. |
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Written by Scott Burgess
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Monday, 10 November 2008
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 The MGM Grand in Las Vegas is the place to be this weekend, Saturday Nov 15, when the biggest fight in UFC history goes off. 3-time UFC Heavyweight Champ Randy "The Natural" Couture puts his Heavyweight belt on the line when he squares off against his toughest opponent yet, Brock Lesnar. UFC oddsmakers at SBGglobal.com have Randy Couture as -110 money line fav over Brock Lesnar who is listed at -120. Get your Randy Couture vs Brock Lesnar UFC 91Prediction in now at SBGglobal.com
Randy “The Natural” Couture (16-8) is the biggest name in the UFC and his return to the Octagon is going to be a must see event. Randy defended his belt back in August 25 at UFC 74 when he beat Gabriel Gonzaga by TKO in the third round. He suffered a broken left arm from blocking one of Gonzaga's kicks during the course of the fight. He regained the Heavyweight belt from Tim Sylvia in UFC 68 when Couture's first punch, at :08 of the first round, sent the 6'8" Sylvia reeling to the mat. Couture controlled the pace of the fight for five rounds, smothering Sylvia with effective striking and numerous takedowns. He won by unanimous decision making him the first fighter in UFC history to become a three-time champion. Couture is generally recognized as a clinch and ground-and-pound fighter who uses his wrestling ability to execute take downs, establish top position, and successively strike the opponent on the bottom. He has also displayed a variety of skills in boxing, Muay Thai and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, submitting two opponents using different chokeholds. Randy has seven wins by KO and two wins by submission.
Thoughts on his upcoming opponent Brock Lesnar: I have a lot of respect for Brock as an athlete and a collegiate wrestler, but I know exactly where he’s at, he’s trying to make the transition from a wrestler to mixed martial arts. I’ve been there, done that, and I know what the pitfalls are. This will be an interesting matchup, and it will be very nice to be home in the Octagon for this fight.
Brock Lesnar (2-1) is a world class wrestler and WWE star who is built like a tank. He’s only had two fights in his UFC career, one was a loss to Frank Mir just 1:30 into the first round, and he gets a title shot. Go figure. His best fight was his second fight against Heath Herring in UFC 87 when he beat Herring by unanimous decision. In the early seconds of the first round, Lesnar dropped Herring with a straight right. For the rest of the fight, Lesnar kept the fight on the ground and went on to win. In his UFC debut Lesnar took on former UFC Heavyweight Champion Frank Mir at UFC 81. Lesnar secured an early takedown, but was deducted a point for hitting Mir on the back of the head. Following another takedown by Lesnar, Mir managed to secure a kneebar and force a submission at 1:30 of the first round. In his earlier years Lesnar was an accomplished amateur wrestler winning the 2000 NCAA wrestling championship and placing second in 1999.
Thoughts on his opponent Randy Couture: It's an honor to fight Randy Couture, he's a legend in this sport, and to get the chance to test myself against him is a gift. A lot of guys would love to have this opportunity; Randy is the UFC heavyweight champion. There is one goal that I've had since I started training in MMA and that is to capture the title. Now that I'm getting the chance, nothing is going to stop me. I'm walking out of the Octagon with the belt around my waist.
Randy Couture vs Brock Lesnar UFC 91
When: Sat, Nov 15, 2008 10:00 PM ET
Line: SBGglobal.com
Pick: Lesnar -120
Point-Spreads.com Randy Couture vs Brock Lesnar UFC 91Prediction – Lesnar -120
The Bottom Line: As much as I want Randy to win, I think the big guy may have the advantage with his size and strength. Brock has been training and staying active since his start in MMA while Randy has been doing the celebrity thing and focusing on his clothing line. Get your Randy Couture vs Brock Lesnar UFC 91Prediction in now at SBGglobal.com and receive a 30% sign-up bonus on your initial deposit! |
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Last Updated ( Monday, 17 November 2008 )
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