I gotta say, props to GSP for taking the fight on such short notice after finding out Matt Serra would not be fighting Matt Hughes in December. There is no doubt Georges St. Pierre is a great fighter, and I give him a good chance at beating Matt Hughes.

However, Matt Serra will definitely be cheering for Matt Hughes to win. On the UFC website, Matt Serra said “I can’t believe the position this puts me in, I’m actually rooting for Matt Hughes so I can beat his ass.”

This is a great outcome after the Serra/Hughes fight got canned because of Serra’s injury, and it’s the third fight in a Matt Hughes/Georges St. Pierre trilogy. Both St. Pierre and Hughes have defeated each other once.

I just seem to remember GSP making some excuses after Matt Serra knocked him out, but I think he took some criticism for it. Maybe this time, he’ll come away with a victory and won’t need to make excuses.

I’m also anxious to find out how badly Matt Serra is injured. I know Matt Hughes is talking about an interim welterweight title, and that if Serra can’t fight in a year that the winner of Hughes/GSP 3 be declared the UFC welterweight champ. So… is this injury possibly career-threatening to Matt Serra?

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That sucks. I was looking forward to this fight to see if Serra could retain his championship belt. I’ve become more of a Matt Serra fan during this season of The Ultimate Fighter. I (along with most people) didn’t really give Matt Serra a chance in his fight against Georges St. Pierre, but Serra knocked him out and I enjoyed watching it.

According to the UFC website, Matt Serra suffered a herniated disc in his lower back while training on Monday. Serra is quoted as saying ““This is the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do, I’ve never had a back injury before; I could hardly get off of the MRI table. There is no way I can train through this, and I’m devastated, especially because this was such an important fight. I was looking forward to fighting Matt Hughes. All my training was going phenomenally until Monday – All I can do now is to get better and to fight again as soon as possible.”

UFC President Dana White said “This is devastating news because they were so looking forward to fighting each other, unfortunately injuries happen and I look forward to Serra recovering quickly, and to getting him back into the Octagon.”

That’s right, the announcement was made last night at the UFC 78 post-fight press conference. Dan Henderson will move down to middleweight (185lbs) to challenge current champion Anderson Silva. The fight will probably happen at UFC 82 which is planned for March 1, 2008 in Columbus, Ohio.

Seems like a good fight card to see where a few guys stand in the UFC. Will Houston Alexander be able to keep up his knockout streak, or will Thiago Silva tear him down? Also, I’m hoping to see Rashad Evans kick Michael Bisping’s ass.

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Frankie Edgar vs. Spencer Fisher

The first fight of the pay-per-view show could be a great one. Frankie Edgar vs. Spencer Fisher should be exciting. Frankie starts with a great takedown and has Spencer Fisher is a bit of a guillotine, Fisher escapes that and now has guard, Edgar stands and Fisher throws a couple of upkicks that don’t do damage, both fighters now back on their feet. Edgar scores another takedown and is in Spencer Fisher’s guard. Frankie Edgar seems content to ground-n-pound Fisher right now, but Fisher is doing a good job defending from the bottom. Uh oh, Edgar lands some good elbows and strikes but Fisher has his arm in a possible submission, nothing happens, back on their feet for a second but right back to the mat and Fisher is still on bottom absorbing some punches, some nasty elbows by Edgar with 10 seconds left in round 1, this round definitely goes to Frankie Edgar.

Round 2 starts and Fisher tries a knee but is immediately take down again where he pull guard, but Frankie Edgar passes to half-guard. Spencer Fisher get full-guard back and pushed Edgar off temporarily with an upkick but Edgar moves to side mount, but eventually both fighters are back on their feet. Unfortunately, Spencer Fisher can’t seem to stop Frankie Edgar’s takedowns, because they’re now back on the mat, usual position, Frankie Edgar on top content to use elbows and short punches. Spencer Fisher is taking a beating so far in this fight. Frankie Edgar takes Fisher’s back with 20 seconds left in round 2 but can’t do anything with it, Fisher gets guard back and the round ends. I have Frankie Edgar winning round 2 also. Spencer Fisher needs a KO/Submission or stoppage in round 3 to win.

Round 3 starts and Spencer Fisher tries some kind of spinning kick but gets taken down again and Frankie Edgar has his back again with both hooks in. Spencer Fisher is defending well and he actually reverses and gets back to his feet, now both fighters are standing up, temporarily. Fisher does more of the same (gets taken down). Edgar now has him against the fence and is beating him up. Back up, back down, more of the same. With about a minute and a half left in round three I think it’s safe to say this will be a unanimous decision for Frankie Edgar. Indeed, the judges agree.

Ed Herman vs. Joe Doerksen

in 2004, Joe Doerksen defeated Ed Herman via triangle choke, I don’t think that will happen this time. I imagine this one ends with Ed Herman winning, possibly by ground-n-pound or possibly by just holding him down for three rounds. Some dude I’ve never heard of is referee.

Round 1 starts and both dudes are swinging, maybe I’ll be wrong and this will be an exciting fight. Uh oh, after being pressed against the cage standing for a few seconds, Hermann takes Doerksen down, but now they’re back on their feet but pressed against the cage doing nothing. The referee agrees and breaks them up and starts from the center. Herman goes apeshit and throws a bunch of strikes, now back to the mat with Ed Herman on top pressing Doerksen against the cage. Doerksen is cut near his eye, possibly from an elbow thrown by Ed Herman during his apeshit flurry a minute ago. Doerksen back to his feet for a split second but falls back into Herman’s side control, Ed Herman takes mount and now back in Doerksens guard, good job by Doerksen to get guard back. Round 1 ends, Herman wins that round.

Round 2, Doerksens left eye is screwed up looking. Doerksen throws a low leg kick but falls down instead, Herman back on top in Doerksens guard. I’m sticking with my prediction, Herman by gnp or lay-n-prey. Referee stands them back up though, so maybe Ed Herman will go apeshit again. Nope, Doerksen gets the takedown this time and has Ed Hermans back! Uh oh! This could be bad for Ed Herman if he can’t get Joe Doerksen off his back. Ed Herman reverses and takes Doerksens back temporarily and Doerksen transitions to a knee bar, but doesn’t pull it off, Herman back to dominating now and land a few strikes on the ground. A couple of nice knees to the rib cage, too. OH HELL, Joe Doerksen gets a damn tight triangle at the end of the round and then turns it into a nasty armbar but Herman is literally saved by the bell! If this fight would’ve went another 10 seconds Doerksen would’ve had him asleep or tapped out. I think Doerksen wins that round, but it would be tough to call because Herman controlled a lot of it.

Herman’s corner asks him “Do you have fuckin five minutes for me?”

Round 3 starts and they’re both swinging, BOOM, Ed Herman lands a left hook to the jaw and sends Joe Doerksen falling on his ass, where Herman lands one more for good measure before the newb referee steps in and stops the fight. Winner: Ed Herman by KTFO. He says he’s happy to get his first KO so Chris Leben will quit making fun of him.

Ryo Chonan vs. Karo Parisyan

I wouldn’t mind seeing Ryo Chonan get this win. Regardless, it should be another good fight. During an interview, Karo tells us “I can’t lose to a Japanese fighter.” Ryo Chonan has a victory over current UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva.

Round one, Karo knocks down Ryo Chonan down with a left hook and landed in top position right away, not much happens and the newb referee (Kevin Mulhall) stood the fighters back up, not much else happens but Karo gets another takedown.. I’m going to the kitchen to get a snack after this round……Round 3 ends and I’m done eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. This fight goes to a judges decision, and Karo Parisyan is the winner (unanimous).

Houston Alexander vs. Thiago Silva.

Ok, maybe this fight won’t last all three rounds. Also, WAR SILVA! but props to Houston Alexander for walking out to Kid Rock’s “Bawitdaba” song. Both fighters had badass entrance music.

Round 1 starts and Houston looks like he’s gonna bumrush Silva like he has in his other 2 UFC fights, but they clinch and dance for a few seconds before the ref breaks them up. I think Silva may be a bit nervous about striking with Houston Alexander, but they clinch again. Alexander slams Silva to the mat but Silva grabs a leg and now he has Alexander on his back, this could be BAD for Houston Alexander. OH HELL, Thiago Silva now has full mount, WAR SILVA! This would be fantastic to see Alexander get TKO’d in round one.

THIAGO SILVA JUST KNOCKED HOUSTON ALEXANDER THE HELL OUT!

Alexander was actually asleep for a few seconds. Houston Alexander is still having trouble standing straight. Houston Alexander has no ground game, he just got handled fairly easily by Thiago Silva. During the post-fight interview with Joe Rogan, Thiago Silva talked for like 5 minutes straight, and I didn’t understand any of it.

Rashad Evans vs. Michael Bisping

Bisping doesn’t even deserve to be in this fight, in my opinion. Not because he’s no good, but because he should be fighting a rematch with Matt Hamill, or Hamill should be fighting Rashad Evans. Oh well, I’d like to see Rashad win this one. He’ll probably take down bisping and holds him there for three rounds, or TKO him via GNP. Michael Bisping has Rampage Jackson in his corner. On a sidenote, where the hell is Big John McCarthy tonight?

Ok, I took a break from writing during this fight. This one went all three rounds and it’s up to the judges. This fight could actually be called a draw, but I tend to give it to Rashad Evans, although I could be a bit bias.

Officially, the judges gave a split-decision victory to Rashad Evans.
 

I just started watching in time to see Bryson Kamaka get KO’d by a knee from Luke Stewart at 18 seconds into the 1st round. I missed the Sean Salmon/Jorge Santiago fight, I was hoping for Salmon to win, but it sounds like he got brutally KTFO by a flying knee from Santiago at 24 seconds into the match. According to reports, it took him several minutes to get up, and he was transported to the hospital after having a seizure in the ring. This dude should possibly consider retiring from MMA, he has been knocked out cold several times I think. It’s a shame, because I really liked watching Salmon fight, and I thought he was winning his UFC fight against Rashad Evans until he got knocked out by the kick. I hope Sean recovers quickly.

Next fight is Bobby Southworth vs. Anthony Ruiz. Most people remember Southworth from his days on “The Ultimate Fighter” reality show. Bobby scored a knockdown with a straight right hand to open up the fight. The guys fought through the first round, and Southworth got rocked with a 4 punch combination and suffered a fight-stopping cut. The doctor ended the fight in round 2. Winner: Anthony Ruiz

Next up is Lemont Davis vs. Brian Schwartz, atwo guys I don’t really know much about except that Lemont Davis fought for Chuck Norris’ WCL a few years ago I think. This is Brian Schwartz’ MMA debut, and he’s evidently a pretty good kickboxer, he landed a few strikes, then they went to the ground where Davis landed in a guillotine but Schwartz couldn’t finish it, now they’re back on their feet. Not much else happened in round 1, now we’re in round 2. Schwartz stomps Davis’ foot and Davis makes a face like WTF? then uppercuts Schwarts. There looks to be a small cut on Schwartz head, but nothing too serious, he still seems fine. He landed a couple of knees, including one to the balls of Davis. Round 2 is over. Round 3 was mostly all guilloting attempts by both guys, none were successful. Judges decision coming up. I’m not sure who they’ll give the win to, both guys held up well. The official decision is: LEMONT DAVIS (Unanimous Decision).

Next up is Paul Buentello vs. Alistair Overeem. Man I would love to see Buentello knock Overeem out tonight, but Overeem is a tough SOB… but where the hell is his sledgehammer? in PrideFC he always brought a damn sledgehammer to the ring with him. Overeem looks in great shape, Buentello has his usual beer gut, so +1 for Buentello.
Damn Overeem cracked him with a knee right off the bat and took Buentello to the ground. Buentello might get owned. Holy crap Buentello DID get heavily owned all throughout the first round, he’s lucky to make it to round 2. Overeem just kept nailing him with knees, near-guillotines, and various strikes.

Round 2 starts and Paul Buentello comes out swinging, he knows he needs to KO Alistair Overeem, Buentello is punching good and Overeem takes him back down. Now the crowd is booing because the fighters have been on the mat for awhile being rather uneventful. Referee stands them back up, more strikes, Overeem lands a knee to the ribs, Buentello falls and immediately taps, I imagine he has some cracked ribs. Damn, oh well, WAR Buentello anyway.

Between fights, Gary Millen announces Strikeforce 8 to take place on March 29th next year with a main event featuring Josh “The Punk” Thompson vs. Gilbert Melendez.

Next up for tonights event is Jorge Santiago vs. Trevor Prangley for the tournament final. Both guys won their 1st fights earlier tonight, obviously Jorge Santiago should be more rested since his first fight lasted only seconds.

Round 1 starts and they stay on their feet, Santiago lands the better strikes, he threw a Liddell-esque overhand right to Prangley’s dome and rocked him a little bit, then threw a nasty leg kick that knocked Prangley on his ass for a second. Prangley stood back up, but Santiago landed a couple of knees, one which went hard to Prangley’s midsection or ribs, ending the fight in similar fashion to the Buentello/Overeem fight.

Next up is the main event, Cung Le vs. Sammy Morgan. Again, some people might remember Sammy Morgan from The Ultimate Fighter show. I really don’t see Morgan being able to win this fight, and I’m sure not too many other people think he can win it either, but we’ll see. Cung Le is so strong with his strikes, I’m guessing this one ends with kicks/knees to the body, that seems to be the theme tonight.

Round 1 starts and Cung Le immediately starts dominating, but damn, I am now officially a fan of BOTH fighters. Sammy Morgan is going all out, swinging wildly, telegraphing every punch, but very entertaining. Sammy Morgan is certainly trying to win, but he’s not winning, at all. Regardless, homeboy has the balls to be a fighter.

Round 2 is more of the same, with Cung Le mixing in all kinds of Judo throws and hip tosses, but Sammy survives yet another round.

In round 3, it looks to be more of the same great entertainment. Cung Le finally lands a nasty kick to Sammy Morgan’s midsection and the fight is over. Sammy is hurting, he stays on the mat for awhile, but he’s sitting up, in pain.

Cung Le stays undefeated (5-0) in mixed martial arts competition. I hearby pronounce the Sammy Morgan/Cung Le bout as the greatest fight ever. After the fight, Frank Shamrock interviews Cung Le, and they’ve both already talked about fighting eachother. Frank asks Cung Le if he is “serious about fighting the Shamrock” and they both say they’ll fight one day soon. This was an awesome event.

Mark Kerr and Babalu interviewed in the video below.

The interviewer asks Babalu why he isn’t fighting in an up-and-coming organization instead of a larger organization. I was waiting for Babalu to say “because the UFC fired me.”

Well we’re going to get to see Kimbo Slice take on Bo Cantrell (10-10 mma) tonight, and we also get to see Nick “Bonghit” Diaz versus Muay Thai fighter KJ Noons. I may not be at the computer the whole time, as I plan to watch the fights, but I might sit down here sometimes to give a bit of play-by-play, or at least make some smartass comments.

Oh and go sign up for the new MMA Forum and post something. Damnit.

Obviously I would like to see Nick Diaz win one for ‘heads everywhere, as for Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson, meh, I don’t really care either way. I think they’re feeding him Bo Cantrell and I don’t see Cantrell being able to win this fight. As for Kimbo, “all day, all day.”

First fight of the show looks like it’s gonna be Antonio Silva vs. Jonathan Wiezorek. I would absolutely love to see Antonio Silva’s oversized head get KO’d by Wiezorek, but damn, that might be hard for Wiezorek to do. I kind of consider Wiezorek a homeboy, since he’s from Valdosta, Georgia, but Antonio Silva hits hard and has an abnormally caveman-like chin and forehead. And indeed, Silva took him down and GNP’d him to a TKO. Jonathan Wiezorek loses (on his wife’s birthday).

Next up we have Dr. Seth Kleinbeck vs. Kyle Noke. I got Dr. Seth Kleinbeck winning this one by stethoscope strangle. Ok I actually don’t know anything about him except that he’s a family physician in Arkansas. The dude he’s fighting works for the Crocodile Hunter’s family. First round is over, good round, hard to say who won. The doctor got a takedown and landed some decent strikes, Crocodile Hunter went for some submissions but didn’t sink anything solid. 2nd round starts, Dr. Kleinbeck is taken down, now Kyle Noke has his back and is looking for a choke, has his hooks in, Kleinbeck still defending the choke. Dr. Kleibeck reverses and is now in Noke’s guard. Referee stands them up for some reason, not really sure why, but I don’t care. Back on their feet now, Noke shoots and takes Kleinbeck down again, the doctor is on his back with Noke in his guard. Oh oh, the doctor is cut over his left eye. Oh damn, it’s a nasty cut too, they’re stopping this fight. Dr. Homeboy has a giant gash above his left eye, reminiscent of Marvin Eastman. So, winner is Kyle Noke by doctor stoppage.

I think Bill Goldberg is the same person as Bill Duff from Human Weapon. They seem exactly the same.

Next fight up is Jake Shields and Mike Pyle, this could be a good one. I see Shields getting a win here, via submission. Although I’m not doing to well tonight with my picks, so we’ll see. Yep, Jake Shields wins by RNC, round 1.

“How hurtly were you bad?” – Bill Goldberg

UP NEXT: KIMBO SLICE! Word=bond. Dats how a brotha eat. +1 for bread (also, beard). Kimbo is sporting an ultra-awesome light-blue do-rag on his head. Has his posse behind him and he looks focused backstage. In a recent interview he said he used to smoke weed before all his backyard fights, but now that he’s a pro fighter he claims he doesn’t smoke anymore. Kimbo is walking to the cage by himself, nobody behind him. Takes off his gold chain. Supposedly, Bas Rutten took Kimbo to the movies this afternoon to watch “American Gangster.”

Kimbo’s beard would beat Bo Cantrell’s goatee in a fight. Florida represent.

I don’t think Kimbo touched gloves with Cantrell. Fight started. Oh damn, Cantrell tried a spinning backfist right away and missed, then at 19 seconds into round 1 Kimbo knocks Cantrell OUT. Fight over. Kimbo isn’t even sweating, and he already has his gold chain back around his neck. I’m not sure if I’m convinced that fight was 100% legit, either.

“What’s next for Kimbo Slice? Whoever’s next. Real Talk.” – Kimbo Slice

Up next is Nick Diaz and KJ Noons. Diaz could be upset in this fight, I hope he hasn’t gotten too full of himself with his recent popularity surge, hopefully he’ll win in exciting fashion.

So far Diaz is getting owned during the first minute of the fight, hopefully he can turn this around. Noons is landing strikes and stopping takedowns though, Noons is punching great to Diaz’ body. Oh damn, Diaz is getting nervous I think, he just ate a knee trying to get a takedown, Diaz got the takedown but he’s cut, and KJ Noons escaped and got back to his feet. Nick Diaz is bleeding over his right eye now. I have a feeling this fight isn’t going to work out for Nick Diaz. If he can’t take Noons down and submit him, he’s going to lose. Diaz just got knocked on his ass. Diaz wants this fight on the ground but Noons will have none of it. Diaz is a bloody mess now. End of round 1, no doubt KJ Noons won that round.

The fight is over, the doctor looked at Nick Diaz’ cut and wouldn’t let him continue. Nick Diaz is pissed and has left the cage with his middle fingers in the air.

Winner by doctor stoppage: K.J. Noons, the new EliteXC 160lb Champion

It’s actually on right now on the U.S. East Coast, but will be repeated later also. Tonight’s episode is focusing on the Russian martial art of Sambo, and Fedor is going to be on the show.

LOL. How can anybody not like Nick Diaz? In an interview with TheSweetScience.com, Nick Diaz was asked about his Marijuana usage and his 2006 fight against Takanori Gomi. Nick Diaz won the fight, but was stripped of the victory after a post-fight piss test indicated he had elevated amounts of THC in his system.

In the interview, Diaz is quoted as saying “I feel it was done out of ignorance. The win was taken away from me because I smoke weed and that’s stupid,” said the 24-year old Diaz. “I’m a fighter and a martial artist. I feel martial artists and all artists in general could benefit from smoking weed and we should be able to smoke it all we want.”

Nick Diaz went on to say: “People say that marijuana is going to hurt my career. I say to them that on the contrary, my fight career is getting in the way of my marijuana smoking.”

Nick Diaz will fight KJ Noons for the EliteXC lightweight title this Saturday on Showtime from the American Bank Center in Corpus Christi, Texas. Also on the fight card is internet sensation Kimbo Slice.

According to Josh Gross at Sherdog, Riddick Bowe wants to compete in MMA and he has announced a “tentative” bout for December 12th of this year. I guess we can add him to the list of boxers who are giving the sport a try. Earlier this year Ray Mercer was quickly defeated by Kimbo Slice in his MMA debut, and prior to that Tommy Morrison claimed he would fight an MMA match, but it turned out to be a one-sided stand-up only match with the rules adjusted in Morrison’s favor at the last minute.

Riddick Bowe told Sherdog that “I’ve been running, doing things as I was doing them in boxing,  I guess now all I have to do is get down with the ground work.” He admitted to being a little anxious about grappling, as he’s never fought on the ground, but he is confident that he’ll be able to learn quickly.

Play the video below to listen:
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According to FightFinder, he fought as recently as 10/27/07,  and has fought five times since September of 2006, winning 4 out of 5, his only loss being a kneebar submission. I knew he had fought K-1 for a while, even scoring a super fast knockout against the legendary Andy Hug. Patrick Smith was a Taekwondo mad man, an excellent striker.

Personally, I think Patrick Smith was one of the most exciting fighters in the early UFC days, I first remember seeing him smash Scott Morris’ face in with vicious elbows, then I believe it was his fight with Rudyard Moncayo where he opened up the bout with a sweet straight kick to the torso that sent Moncayo flying backwards into the cage.

So anyway, I’m glad to see that he is fighting MMA again. I think it would be great for the UFC to have him back in the octagon, perhaps in some kind of “Legends” event or something.

from: http://enewsi.com/news.php?catid=191&itemid=12077

LAW & ORDER: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT
“FIGHT”
11-20-2007 10:00PM on NBC

A TEENAGER’S BODY IS DISCOVERED IN THE WOODS AND PROFESSIONAL FIGHTER MIKE KONA’S (GUEST STAR FORREST GRIFFIN) DNA IS FOUND ON THE SCENE — A young girl’s death seems to be linked to the world of ultimate fighting, but after questioning Kona and his girlfriend (guest star CoCo), the evidence trail leads Detectives Chester Lake (Adam Beach) and Odafin “Fin” Tutuola (Ice-T) to two young brothers (guest stars “Friday Night Lights” Gauis Charles and Arlen Escarpeta) who have more than a few skeletons in their closet. When the brothers are arrested, tension brew within the SVU. Also starring: Mariska Hargitay, Chris Meloni, Dann Florek, Ice-T, Diane Neal, Tamara Tunie, Richard Belzer, and BD Wong.