Kyle Kingsbury over Razak Al-Hassan
Jorge Rivera over Rob Kimmons
Chael Sonnen over Yushin Okami

Antoni Hardonk Vs. Pat Barry - I am excited about this fight.. should be interesting. Somebody is getting kicked. I’ll go with Pat Barry for the win.

Eric Schafer over Ryan Bader
Anthony Johnson over Yoshiyuki Yoshida
Spencer Fisher over Joe Stevenson
Josh Neer over Gleison Tibau
Ben Rothwell over Cain Velasquez

and… Lyoto Machida will defeat Shogun Rua.

“THE ULTIMATE FIGHTER 3” CHAMPION MICHAEL BISPING BATTLES CHRIS LEBEN ON SPIKE TV OCTOBER 18

UFC® 89 From Birmingham, England To Air Free On Spike TV With All-Star Card Also Featuring Keith Jardine, Lyoto Machida, Brandon Vera, Thiago Silva, Rameau Sokoudjou, Chris Lytle, and Marcus “The Irish Hand Grenade” Davis

New York, NY, July 28, 2008 — Spike TV heads across the Atlantic Ocean for the third time to telecast a UFC fight card with middleweights “The Ultimate Fighter 3” champ Michael Bisping and “The Ultimate Fighter 1” standout Chris Leben headlining on Saturday, October 18 at 9:00pm ET/PT (same-day tape delay) from The National Indoor Arena in Birmingham, England.

UFC 89 will also include two action-packed co-feature bouts with four of the top contenders in the light heavyweight division. Lyoto Machida and Thiago Silva, both undefeated square off in the Octagon® with the winner on the cusp of a title shot. “The Ultimate Fighter 2” alum Keith Jardine looking to rebound from a loss to Wanderlei Silva, takes on veteran Brandon “The Truth” Vera, who is 1-0 since moving down in weight class.

On the undercard, exciting light heavyweight Rameau Sokoudjou takes on Luiz Cane, “The Ultimate Fighter 4” alum Chris “Lights Out” Lytle battles British native Paul Taylor, and “The Ultimate Fighter 2” vet Marcus “The Irish Hand Grenade” takes on undefeated Briton Paul Kelly.

“The Count” Bisping (17-1) from Manchester, England, who gained recognition from American mixed martial arts fans by winning “The Ultimate Fighter 3,” will be headlining a UFC fight card in front of his fellow British countrymen for the first time. The 29 year-old has won six of seven fights in the Octagon and is 2-0 since dropping down in weight classes from light heavyweight to middleweight this past April. His most recent fight was a dominating performance resulting in a first round TKO over Jason Day at UFC 85 in June.

Bisping’s opponent is the entertaining and enigmatic “The Crippler” Leben (18-4), a breakout star from the first season of “The Ultimate Fighter” who has won his last two UFC fights. Leben’s meteoric rise in the UFC included seven straight wins over such notables as Jorge Rivera, Patrick Cote, and Luigi Fioravanti. However, his title aspirations were derailed in April 2006 in a nationally televised main event live on Spike TV by a devastating punch from a relatively unknown Brazilian fighter, current UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva. Now, over two years later, Leben is back fighting in a main event on Spike TV in search of a victory that will catapult him to a long-desired shot at the title.

The co-feature pits two Brazilian undefeated light heavyweights with their sights set on a shot at the UFC crown. Lyoto Machida sports a perfect 13-0 professional record and is coming off a victory in over Tito Ortiz at UFC 84 in May. Thiago Silva (13-0) has thoroughly demolished his opponents in his four UFC fights – all via submission or TKO with only one going more than a round. The black belt in Brazilian jiu jitsu will now face his toughest test against fellow countryman, Machida.

Fighting out of San Diego, CA, “The Truth” Vera (8-2) was a rising star in the heavyweight division of the UFC, with wins against Frank Mir and Assuerio Silva under his belt. However, losses to Tim Sylvia and Fabricio Werdum preceded a move to the light heavyweight division, where Vera made his debut at UFC: Silva Vs Irvin on Saturday, July 19. Grinding out a decision win over Reese Andy, Vera, an Air Force veteran, will look to keep on the winning track as he takes on “The Dean of Mean” Jardine.

A member of Greg Jackson’s New Mexico based team, Jardine (13-5-1) also broke into the UFC as a heavyweight while being featured on Season 2 of “The Ultimate Fighter.” Dropping down to light heavyweight after winning at that season’s finale, Jardine boasts an impressive fight resumé, with wins over former UFC light heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell and current champion Forrest Griffin under his belt. Jardine looked destined for a title shot, but his ascent was derailed at UFC 84 this past May, as he suffered a setback in the form of a devastating combination of punches from Wanderlei Silva, resulting in a TKO loss.

On the undercard, Sokoudjou (5-2), a native of Cameroon who currently trains in Temecula, CA, is coming off a first round TKO over Kazuhiro Nakamura at UFC 84 in June. “The African Assassin” will take on muay thai expert Luiz Cane from Sao Paolo, Brazil (9-1) whose only professional loss was to James Irvin at UFC 79 last December.

After having a six fight winning streak in the UFC snapped against Mike Swick at UFC 85, “The Irish Hand Grenade” Davis (19-5) looks to embark on a new string of victories against British native Paul Taylor (9-3-1), who also fought at UFC 85, defeating Jess Liaudin.

After showing incredible toughness in enduring a unanimous decision loss to Josh Koscheck at UFC 86 in July, Chris “Lights Out” Lytle (35-16-4) is looking to bounce back against UK local and teammate of Michael Bisping at Wolfslair Academy, undefeated Paul Kelly (8-0).

Spike TV is available in 96.1 million homes and is a division of MTV Networks. A unit of Viacom (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), MTV Networks is one of the world’s leading creators of programming and content across all media platforms. Spike TV’s Internet address is www.spike.com and for up-to-the-minute and archival press information and photographs, visit Spike TV’s press site at http://www.spike.com/press.

Written by Sal Carrillo
Boston, MA – Fans once again packed the Shriners Auditorium Friday night for the third installment of World Championship Fighting. The night was filled with action packed fights from start to finish and a special autograph session with UFC Fighters: Marcus “the Irish Hand Grenade” Davis, Kenny “KenFlo” Florian, Jorge “El Conquistador” Rivera, Joe “J-Lau” Lauzon, and Internet Legend Sean “The Gladiator” Gannon the only man to beat Kimbo Slice. The night’s action included UFC veteran Dan “The Upgrade” Lauzon and Brendan Hoxie engaging in a battle that continuously saw Lauzon get the better of the exchanges. Not one for backing down, Hoxie displayed incredible resiliency and was able to endure the punishment being dished out by Lauzon. Lauzon was able to finish the fight late in the second round by TKO improving his record to 10-2 and extending his win streak to six straight.

In the night’s other featured bout, local favorites Mike Campbell and Rich Moskowitz faced each other in one of the longest and most electric stare-downs with both fighters motioning to the crowd and jawing at each other. At one point Rich Moskowitz removed his mouthpiece to exchange some words with Campbell before the bout started. The fight began with both fighters coming out looking to impose their will, with Campbell getting the better of the Moskowitz on his feet. Campbell then landed a crushing right hand that floored Moskowitz and allowed Campbell the opportunity to close in and land punches from the top until the referee jumped in to stop the fight.

World Championship Fighting promoter Joe Cavallaro said about the event, “We are so excited to see the overwhelming support from our fans. We couldn’t be any happier with the crowds we see here every single show and with the amazing fights we’re treated to each time out. It’s really a thrill for us to bring this action to the fans here in Massachusetts.” The event drew between 3,000 and 3,400 fans and once again had the fans talking about the fights all the way out to the parking lots. As a testiment to the excitement being generated by World Championship Fighting, the event was covered by a trio of major media outlets including ESPN, NBCSports.com, and HDNet. This marks the first time a local New England MMA promotion has been covered by such a prestigious group of media. In addition to media coverage, WBCN The Rock of Boston was on hand with the WBCN street team to support World Championship Fighting. WCF and WBCN announced a partnership between the two companies earlier this month. World Championship Fighting would like to thank all of fighters, fans, media and its great sponsors for making the event such an overwhelming success. Mark your calendars now for our upcoming event on September 19th!

We’ll see you at the fights!

Official Results:
Dan Bonnell def Barrington Douse via Decision Rd 2
John Benoit def Travis Lerchen via Split Decision Rd 3
Ken Stone def Ethan Kean via TKO Rd 1
Dan O’Keefe def Garth Krane via TKO
Jon Jones def Parker Porter via KO Rd 1
Jim Bermudez def Chris Grandmaison via Armbar Submission
Mike Campbell def Rich Moskowitz via TKO Rd 1
Dan Lauzon def Brendan Hoxie via TKO Rd 2