Wow… both of these guys are a couple of my favorite fighters to watch. They came out swinging fists at each other. It ended dramatically. I thought Dan Henderson was hurt. His knees buckled from a Fedor punch, and Henderson was on his back near the cage. Fedor stood over him ready to deliver more punches. Somehow Dan Henderson used his wrestling to spin out and above Fedor’s back, and landed a right hand uppercut from underneath Fedor’s arm, it looked like it landed on his chin and just flattened him. Dan Henderson kept punching until referee Herb Dean stopped the fight. Fedor says he believes the fight was stopped early.

First of all, the main event of the night for me will be Bruce Buffer doing a 360 spin as he introduces the fighters.

I’d like to see Tom Lawlor kick CB Dollaway’s ass, but I’m not really thinking it’s going to happen. I feel basically the same way about Frank Mir vs. Brock Lesnar…I’d like to see Frank Mir win again, but I don’t really think he’ll be able to…but how shocking would it be if he somehow KO’s Brock Lesnar and leaves him unconscious?

Jon Jones is going to destroy Jake O’Brien. Jones seemed unstoppable last time he fought.

I have Jim Miller beating Mac Danzig..

MARK COLEMAN over Stephan Bonnar…WTF? The UFC website says this fight “May not be broadcast”…my ass.. it better be broadcast.

Alan Belcher will defeat Yoshihiro Akiyama.

I seriously hope Dan Henderson KTFO of Michael Bisping.. I predict Bisping running and backing up much of the fight, refusing to exchange punches.

Jon Fitch will win his match against Paulo Thiago.. and I just noticed we have two guys named “Jon” on this fight card.

I’d love to see Georges St. Pierre get a dominant win over Thiago Alves, and set up a future bout with Anderson Silva.

As I already said, I’d enjoy seeing Frank Mir get a tapout, or an unbelievable knockout over Brock Lesnar…I just can’t see it happening again, but I seriously hope I’m wrong.

UFC 93 is LIVE from Ireland right now. Don’t read further unless you want to know the results. Read the rest of this entry »

Dan Henderson vs. Rich Franklin is a fight I’ve wanted to see for a long time now. Should be an action packed stand-up war. The fight is scheduled to take place at UFC 93 in Dublin, Ireland.

In a news release, Dan Henderson said “This is the fight my fans have wanted for a long time now, and they want to see me fight Rich Franklin.” Henderson continued “I think this will be a great fight for Ireland. It definitely will be exciting because we both like to stand and bang, and we both have knockout power. I’m excited to go to Ireland and to take on Rich; I think he’s a tough opponent and a huge challenge, but I don’t see myself losing to him.”

Rich Franklin had a similar statement, but of course sees himself winning the battle, saying ““Dan Henderson has great credentials, and he is going to be one of the toughest fights of my career, that being said, I’m planning on winning the fight, and I’m looking forward to fighting in the main event and fighting in Ireland. I love the fans, and the way they react by singing and chanting makes it a unique experience for me.”

Also scheduled for the same night is a rematch between Mark Coleman and Mauricia “Shogun” Rua. In February 2006, Mark Coleman defeated Shogun Rua at PRIDE 31 when Rua landed wrong and suffered a broken arm, ending the fight after only 49 seconds.

In the main event, Anderson Silva defeated Dan Henderson to retain the UFC Middleweight Championship. Silva submitted Dan Henderson with a rear-naked choke in round 2. Anderson Silva controlled the stand-up game, but Henderson was able to take Silva to the ground in round 1 and possibly won that round, but had nothing going in round two on the ground.

Evan Tanner is not a contender for the 185lb championship. He  didn’t look like he could find his range against Yushin Okami, and was ultimately knocked out with a knee. If he were fighting Anderson Silva, it would have happened much earlier in the fight.

Heath Herring looked good against Cheick Kongo, and wona split decision. It should’ve been a unanimous decision for Heath Herring.

Chris Leben KO’d Allesio Sakara in round one.

Jorge Gurgel won a decision over John Halverson

Diego Sanchez punched David Bielkheden into submission

Josh Koscheck and Dustin Hazelett fought a good fight, both got rocked throughout the slugfest, and Dustin Hazelett was TKO’d by Koscheck.

Luke Cummo lost a decision to Luigi Fioravanti

Andre Arlovski TKO’d Jake O’Brien

Jon Fitch won a decision over Chris Wilson

Who will be left to give him serious competition? Has Michael Bisping been given an opponent yet for his first middleweight fight? If so, I haven’t seen it. Although I imagine the UFC will set up Michael Bisping to fight the winner or loser of Silva/Henderson, but other than that, are there any other light heavyweights that could move down to 185lbs to fight Anderson Silva? Or are there any welterweights that could move up to middleweight to challenge him? I know in the past, Matt Hughes has expressed interest in fighting Silva, but I can’t see that happening at all, and I don’t see Matt Hughes having a chance at victory in a fight like that. I don’t see Bisping being able to compete on the level of either Silva or Dan Henderson yet, either. Maybe one day.

I’m of course interested in seeing how Evan Tanner performs Saturday night against Yushin Okami. Circa 2004, Evan Tanner would have beaten Anderson Silva.

I’m sure Rich Franklin still fits in the middleweight picture somewhere, but I don’t think a 3rd time would be a charm for him. However, I do think Travis Lutter deserves another fight with Silva.

What about other organizations? Are there any prospects the UFC could throw some money at and bring over to fight Anderson? Paulo Filho? Chael Sonnen?

In my opinion, if Dan Henderson doesn’t beat Anderson Silva, the best chance anybody would have is Matt Lindland (which won’t happen), or Jeremy Horn… yes, I said Jeremy Horn. I know he just got his ass kicked by Nate Marquardt, but I’m not using MMA math. Depending on how he performs Saturday night, I might include Evan Tanner.

Another UFC 81 Weekend photo from FirePowr.net, courtesy of Huy Nguyen.

“Hollywood” Dan Henderson at LAX Nightclub at the Luxor, Las Vegas

Former UFC Middleweight Champion Evan Tanner made the announcement yesterday through a Myspace bulletin. Maybe Evan Tanner will provide a spark in the UFC middleweight division. I think he has a style of fighting that could possibly beat current champion Anderson Silva, however, Tanner will need to win a couple of fights before that match can happen. Anderson Silva also will have to get past Dan Henderson to retain the title belt.

Evan Tanner will make his long-awaited return to the UFC on March 1st, versus Yushin Okami at UFC 82. This is the same event that will feature Anderson Silva vs. Dan Henderson, so it should turn out to be a great show for the middleweight division.

We haven’t seen Evan Tanner fight in two years now, as he has publicly battled alcohol (and grew an epic beard). Evan says he is back to his old self now, living healthy and training to fulfill a new 4 fight contract with the UFC.

Be sure to sign up on the UFC Forums and start a discussion of your own!

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.

 

How cool is this? It’s a Dan Henderson “baseball card” but of course, it highlights his wrestling career. The card is from 1998 and the back of the card says:

“After college at Arizona State, Dan became a Greco-Roman specialist and has the honor of making two Olympic teams and representing American in the world’s greatest sports showcase. Dan also has placed high in a number of international competitions, all at 187.5 pounds. He finished seventh in the 1997 Greco-Roman World Championships.”