This will be the final WEC event before they completlely merge with the UFC. Here are some of my quick picks.

Ben Henderson over Anthony Pettis
Dominick Cruz over Scott Jorgensen
Donald Cerrone over Chris Horodecki
Bart Palaszewski over Kamal Shalorus

Jamie Varner is hilarious, in an unintentional way. He was beat easily by Ben Henderson last night, and in his post-fight interview said “I came to fight. Ben was the better man. He caught me in the guillotine. S–t happens. I was winning the fight. I came to fight; Ben came to grapple.”

So, Jamie wanted to “fight”, but instead got choked and started tapping almost immediately. He didn’t even fight the choke, he just tapped out. Then after losing, he insults Ben Henderson for just wanting to “grapple” instead of fight, however, it was Varner who shot in for a takedown (grappling, much?) Oh but wait, he was winning until he got tapped out.

Wow, Brian Bowles hits really hard. He put Miguel Torres to sleep, and walked away with his championship belt, remaining undefeated (8-0). He rocked Torres early, scored a takedown, gave him some shots on the ground before they both stood back up. Miguel Torres hits Bowles with some good shots and was moving forward. Torres perhaps got overly aggressive, and Bowles threw a right hand that connected and sent Torres to the mat. Brian Bowles followed him to the mat and pounded his head until he was unconscious.

After the fight, Bowles said “He had me rattled there pretty bad and I kind of recovered, I seen him coming in a little hard and just swung a good hook and hit him right on the jaw.”

This was the first loss for Miguel Torres since 2003, he had won 17 fights in a row prior to this loss, and had never been stopped.

Unbelievable. Just 28 years old, UFC veteran Justin Levens and his wife Sarah McLean-Levens were found shot to death in their home in California. TMZ first reported the death, and their website says that cops are investigating the deaths as a murder/suicide.

Levens has fought notable names such as Evan Tanner, Vladimir Matyushenko, Jorge Santiago, Scott Smith and Reese Andy. However, Levens hasn’t fought in more than a year, and lost his last 5 fights.

I havent blogged anything here in awhile, mostly because I was busy last week with the holidays, but I will try to post more often now. Wednesday night was a busy night for fights, several good shows came on, most notably the LIVE WEC event on Vs. featuring a main event bout between previously undefeated Manny Tapia and WEC Bantamweight Champ Miguel Torres.

Torres took just a little more than 1 round to KO Manny Tapia. The reach seemed to much for Tapia to handle, and after being rocked, the referee gave him every chance to recover but Tapia couldn’t do it. With this 16th win in a row, Miguel Torres makes it more apparent that he is one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world. He controlled the fight with his long jab, but ended it with a hard right, improving his record to 35 wins and just 1 loss.

After the fight, Torres said “I wanted to fight a little bit calm this time, last time I fought, I got kind of emotional and got kind of crazy. If I calm myself down, I fight like this pretty much all the time. I knew Manny was gonna come with big punches. I wanted to keep my range, use my jab to measure him up and then throw a couple of feints and a big right hand.” He went on to say “The next step is to fight the next person in line, whoever that may be. The WEC has a lot of great 135-pounders out there. To me, they got the best in the world. I’m here to fight the best in the world.”

Other fights on the card included undefeated Brian Bowles, who remains without a loss after an impressive win by guillotine over Wil Ribeiro.

Joseph Benavidez defeated Danny Martinez by unanimous decision, improving his record to 9-0.

Waggney Fabiano defeated Akitoshi Tamura by arm triangle choke with just 12 seconds left in the fight, which was controlled on the ground the entire time by Fabiano.

Non-televised fights included:
Shane Roller defeating Mike Budnik by Submission (Guillotine Choke) round 1
Cub Swanson defeated Hiroyuki Takaya by Unanimous Decision
Bart Palaszewski defeated Alex Karalexis by TKO (Punches) round 2
Diego Nunes defeated Cole Province by Unanimous Decision
Mark Munoz defeated Ricardo Barros by TKO (Punches) round 1
Johny Hendricks defeated Justin Haskins by TKO (Punches) round 2

Homeboy must’ve been tossing back some liquor at the WEC event or a post-fight party. He was released on his own recognizance a few hours later.

For a short fight, it was awesome. The ending was great, but not for Urijah Faber. Mike Brown scored a takedown, Faber got back up and was in awkward position with his back towards Brown. Faber tried to throw a good backwards elbow, and almost connected, but his chin ran into Mike Browns right fist. Urijah Faber fell to the ground and turtled up, and Mike Brown capitalized by landing a million punches to Fabers dome before the referee stopped the fight. Mike Brown is the new WEC Featherweight Champ.

At least in my area, at 9pm EST, the WEC will be airing it’s LIVE show on the VS. network, and the UFC will be airing an episode of Unleashed on SpikeTV . Also on CNBC will be a repeat of Ultimate Fighting: From Bloodsport To Bigtime documentary about the business of the UFC. All of these shows start at 9pm EST.

WECâ„¢ INVADES FLORIDA FOR THE FIRST TIME

URIJAH FABER vs. MIKE BROWN
PAULO FILHO vs. CHAEL SONNEN

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2008 LIVE FROM THE SEMINOLE HARD ROCK HOTEL & CASINO IN HOLLYWOOD, FL

LIVE ON VERSUS 9 P.M. ET/6 P.M. PT

Tickets Go on Sale Monday, July 21 at Noon

Las Vegas –World Extreme Cagefighting® (WEC™) announced today that two world titles will be on the line on Wednesday, September 10th when the organization makes its initial foray into the great state of Florida. In the main event, WEC Featherweight Champion “The California Kid” Urijah Faber defends his title against Florida’s own Mike Brown, and in the co-featured bout, WEC Middleweight Champion Paulo “Eli” Filho returns to action to battle Chael Sonnen in their highly anticipated rematch. This championship doubleheader will take place at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida.

WEC: FABER vs. BROWN will be televised live nationally on VERSUS beginning at 9:00 pm ET/6:00 pm PT. All live WEC events will be presented in Hi-Definition (HD) and SAP where available. For more information and how to find VERSUS in your local viewing area, visit http://www.versus.com/findversus.

Tickets for WEC: FABER vs. BROWN go on sale Monday, July 21 at noon and are priced at $175, $125, $100, and $50 (not including applicable services or taxes). Tickets are available at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino box office and all Ticketmaster locations. To charge by phone with a major credit card, call Ticketmaster at (954) 523-3309. Tickets also are available online through www.wec.tv or www.ticketmaster.com.

With technique, tenacity, and charisma, “The California Kid” Urijah Faber (21-1), has proven time and time again why he is considered one of the best fighters in MMA today. Faber captured the WEC title in March of 2006 with a decisive second round stoppage of Cole Escovedo. Since then, he has continued to dominate the division, defending his crown with first round wins over Joe Pearson, Dominic Cruz, and Chance Farrar. His most recent victory came in the long-awaited superfight against Jens Pulver, where he displayed top notch striking and a champion’s heart in defeating the future Hall of Famer by unanimous decision in front 12,000 fans. But there is no rest for the man on top of the heap, and on September 10, he will return to fight one of his toughest opponents yet in Florida’s own Mike Brown.

Mike Brown (19-4) has compiled an impressive MMA record over his seven year pro career, and his aggressive style in the cage has earned him a large fan following. In his most recent bout on June 1st, the well-rounded American Top Team fighter earned a title shot with an exciting three round win over a game Jeff Curran, and he is undoubtedly going to have a hometown crowd in his corner when he challenges Faber for supremacy at 145 pounds. Brown fights out of Coconut Creek, Florida where he earned his reputation as a top ranked 145 lb. fighter.

Considered by many to be the premier middleweight fighter in the world today, WEC Champion Paulo ‘Eli’ Filho (16-0) has fought the best that the 185-pound division has to offer, both here and abroad, and he has yet to taste defeat. In 2007, Filho made his WEC debut in stirring fashion, stopping Joe Doerksen in the first round to win the organization title. He was pushed to the limit in his first title defense last December though, when Chael Sonnen got him in trouble early and dominated the first round. In the second round, Filho rebounded, catching Sonnen in an armbar with only seconds to go in the frame. And while there was some controversy over whether Sonnen verbally submitted or not, the fight was halted with five seconds left in the round and Filho retained his crown. Yet like a true champion, Filho respected the challenger’s performance and didn’t want his victory to have any question marks surrounding it, so he granted Sonnen a rematch.

Chael Sonnen (21-9-1) left quite an impression in his WEC debut last December with his stellar performance against Filho. But this six-year MMA veteran is no stranger to competing at the top levels of the sport, having beaten world-class fighters such as Jason Miller, Jason Lambert, Trevor Prangley, and Amar Suloev. Now approaching his prime as a fighter at 31, Sonnen plans on bringing the belt home in his second shot on September 10.

The remaining bouts for WEC: FABER vs. BROWN will be announced in the near future. All bouts subject to change.

(Phoenix, AZ) – MTX Audio, the leader in high performance mobile audio products, is growing its MMA presence by supporting three MMA fighters on three different fight cards all on the same evening. On July 19th, MTX Fight Team member, C.B. Dollaway (6-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC), will return to the UFC octagon for the second time in two months to battle former TUF 7 alumnus, Jesse Taylor (6-2 MMA, 0-0 UFC), on UFC Fight Night live from Las Vegas which will be broadcast free on Spike TV. Dollaway is looking to get his first UFC win and to prove he belongs in the UFC against a determined fighter in Taylor who is looking for redemption in the eyes of the world. Also on July 19th, MTX will be supporting Ray Lizama (5-5-0) on Affliction’s first ever fight card to be broadcast on PPV. Lizama will be looking to advance in the ranks by defeating Justin Levens (9-8-0) at the Affliction: Banned event at the Honda Center in Anaheim, CA. On Monday, July 21st, HDNet Fights will broadcast the conclusion of the DREAM Lightweight Grand Prix Tournament from Osaka, Japan where MTX MMA fighter, Joachim Hansen (17-7-1) will go toe-to-toe with Kultar Gill (9-7).

UFC Fight Night 14 features a main event between the UFC Middleweight Champion, Anderson Silva, and James Irvin in a light heavyweight battle. This step up to 205lbs will be the first for Silva in his UFC career. On the same card, C.B. Dollaway, an MTX MMA Fight Team member and TUF 7 finalist, will fight against Jesse Taylor who used his ground and pound to get into the TUF 7 finals before he was formally removed from the show by UFC President Dana White for inappropriate behavior outside the cage.

The Affliction: Banned event features a heavyweight bout between Russian Fedor Emelianenko and American Tim Sylvia. During that night MTX MMA Fighter, Ray “Lights Out” Lizama, is set to match up against Jesse Levins, an aggressive fighter who has built a cult following for himself in the central valley of California and who recently gained attention with his quick defeat of Tony Lopez at WEC 15 on May 19th of this year.

Finally, MTX MMA Fighter, Joachim Hansen, fresh off one of the best MMA fights of the year despite his loss to Eddie Alvarez, will go to battle with Kultar “Black Mamba” Gill. The DREAM 5 event in Osaka, Japan will be broadcast live on HDNet Fights, Monday, July 21st at 2:00AM ET and there will be a rebroadcast at 10:00PM ET.

With three different event cards in three different organizations all in one weekend, MTX is front and center in the face of MMA fans worldwide. MMA fans have some big decisions to make when July 19th rolls around and will have Tivo’s working overtime. Rest assured, no matter which event you choose, MTX is going to be there!

MTX is taking the audio industry by storm by setting the standard for all others to follow with reaching all corners of the automotive industry. Visit www.mtx.com for up-to-date information regarding the new MTX Mobile Audio products and news.

THE TAPOUT CREW CONTINUES THEIR SEARCH TO FIND THE NEXT MMA SUPERSTARS
Season Two of TapouT to Premiere July 24 on VERSUS on Demand;
Network Debut Scheduled for July 30 at 10 P.M. ET

New York (July 9, 2008) – VERSUS, the network that celebrates real competition, will debut the second season of the hit reality series TapouT on Thursday, July 24, on VERSUS on Demand and on Wednesday, July 30, at 10 p.m. ET on VERSUS. The second season includes 10 one-hour episodes that follow Mask, Punkass and Skyskrape—the crew behind the premier mixed martial arts clothing and gear line TapouT—on their cross country travels in search of the next MMA superstar. TapouT is produced by Pilgrim Films, of American Chopper and Dirty Jobs fame.

Traveling around the country in a tricked out tour bus, the crew is on the hunt to discover a fighter who has what it takes to represent the TapouT label; but before these up-and-comers fight their way out of the cage, they have to fight their way in with the TapouT crew. The crew bonds with their fighter as they test out his personality and, in between the usual TapouT mayhem, makes sure their new protégé gets the proper training before the big fight. In each episode, it’s all on the line as each fighter gets one shot to impress the crew and show off his skills in the cage.

“Since its debut a year ago, more than 40 million viewers have tuned in to see TapouT and we’re optimistic that the second season will have even greater success,” said Marc Fein, Executive Vice President of Programming, Production and Business Operations for the VERSUS. “This hugely popular original reality series, in conjunction with the monumental growth we’ve seen with our live World Extreme Cagefighting telecasts, solidifies VERSUS as one of the premier television destinations in the MMA category.”

In the season two premiere, the TapouT crew travels to San Luis Obispo, Calif. to ‘The PIT’ to see one of John Hackleman’s up-and-coming MMA fighters, Scott Lighty. Scott is accompanied by his best friend and training partner, Glover Teixeira and the crew quickly realizes the potential Glover has, and decides to sponsor both Scott and Glover who are fighting on the same card. UFC legend Chuck Liddell, who is both Scott and Glover’s trainer, makes a special guest appearance.

“MMA has exploded, and our Crew has been there since the beginning finding and supporting fighters,” said TapouT Founder Mask. “TapouT shows viewers what goes down on the road and lets fans be a part of the action. There are unbelievable fighters with incredible stories, as well as TapouT friends old and new, including MMA superstar Chuck Liddell and UFC President Dana White.”

New episodes of TapouT featuring the bad boys of MMA will premiere on VERSUS each Wednesday at 10 p.m. ET from July 30 through September 24. The full-length episodes will be available on VERSUS on Demand the Thursday prior to the network debut. For more information, including complete episode descriptions and complete schedule information, visit VERSUS.com.

VERSUS celebrates real competition across all platforms (VERSUS.com, VERSUS on Demand and VERSUS HD). Now in more than 73 million homes, the network is the national cable home of the National Hockey League (NHL) and the Stanley Cup Playoffs as well as best-in-class events such as The Tour de France, Davis Cup Tennis, the Professional Bull Riders (PBR), World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) and Professional Boxing. The network also offers collegiate sports featuring nationally-ranked teams from top conferences such as the Pac-10, Big 12 and Mountain West. VERSUS features the best field sports programming on television and is a destination for sports fans, athletes and sportsmen to find exclusive, competitive events that audiences can’t find elsewhere. VERSUS, a wholly owned company of Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ: CMCSA, CMCSK), is distributed via cable systems and satellite operators throughout the United States.

An independently operated and owned mixed martial arts lifestyle company, TapouT boasts a sought-after clothing line for MMA enthusiasts, sponsors the best MMA Fighters (Chuck Liddell, Anderson Silva), and stars in a hit TV reality show on VERSUS. Their passion for the sport has turned into a full-on underground culture, as owners Mask, Punkass and Skyskrape extend the growing popularity of MMA through their presence at the most extreme events, supporting fighters and offering the hottest, edgiest apparel for men and women. TapouT most recently was named the first-ever exclusive apparel sponsor for season seven of “The Ultimate Fighter,” on Spike TV. Their distinctive logo graces everything from hats, tees and car windows, to their special limited edition 2007 Toyota Tundra TapouT truck. The TapouT logo has become so noteworthy that its most devoted fans are tattooing it on their bodies, demonstrating the ultimate in commitment.

FIGHTERS INCLUDE BJ PENN, MICHAEL BISPING, URIJAH FABER, CARLOS CONDIT

Las Vegas, NV – In late June, the Ultimate Fighting Championship® (UFC®) organization and World Extreme Cagefighting® (WEC™) will send UFC and WEC superstars BJ Penn, Michael Bisping, Urijah Faber, and Carlos Condit across the globe to meet and greet the troops of the United States Military stationed in Afghanistan. The fighters will have the honor of visiting with various units during this trip, and Penn, Bisping, Faber, and Condit will tour a total of six military bases.

“We are honored to send UFC and WEC fighters to visit the men and women of the United States Military,” said UFC President Dana White. “We are pleased to be giving back to such a great cause; many of our fighters have served in the military and understand what a great contribution our troops are making overseas.”

“The U.S. Military admires the sport of mixed martial arts. We will be pleased to welcome UFC and WEC legends to our bases in Afghanistan. Their presence will certainly help boost the morale of the soldiers which is so important during their duties overseas,” said Special Sergeant Bart Murphy of the 101st Airborne Division.

Both the UFC and WEC have a strong commitment to the men and women of the armed forces. On December 13, 2006 the UFC held a spectacular event at Miramar Marine Corps Air Station in front of 3,000 soldiers. The organization also has a long running agreement with the Armed Forces Network and consistently visits the troops at various bases across the United States.

The UFC and WEC will provide more information following this military tour.

WORLD EXTREME CAGEFIGHTING® ANNOUNCES CHAMPIONSHIP TRIPLEHEADER IN AUGUST
CARLOS CONDIT, BRIAN STANN, AND JAMIE VARNER ALL DEFEND THEIR CROWNS
SUNDAY, AUGUST 3, 2008
LIVE FROM THE HARD ROCK HOTEL & CASINO IN LAS VEGAS
Tickets On Sale Now

Las Vegas – The World Extreme Cagefighting® (WEC™) organization announced today that three world titles will be on the line when WEC Welterweight Champion Carlos “The Natural Born Killer” Condit, WEC Light Heavyweight Champion “All American” Brian Stann, and WEC Lightweight Champion Jamie Varner all return to action at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas on Sunday, August 3.

Tickets for World Extreme Cagefighting are on sale now and are priced at $200, $150, and $75 (not including applicable services or taxes). Tickets are available at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino box office and all Ticketmaster locations. To charge by phone with a major credit card, call Ticketmaster at (702) 474-4000. Tickets also are available online through www.wec.tv or www.ticketmaster.com.

World Extreme Cagefighting will be televised live nationally on VERSUS beginning at 9:00 pm ET/6:00 pm PT. All live WEC events will be presented in Hi-Definition (HD) where available. For more information and how to find VERSUS in your local viewing area, visit http://www.versus.com/findversus.

One of the best 170-pound fighters on the planet, Carlos Condit (22-4) will defend his title after dominating his last three opponents in the WEC cage. Following his dominating first round submission win over Carlos Prater in February, Condit is eager to get back to work before the best fans in mixed martial arts. The Albuquerque native’s take no prisoners style has propelled him to the top of the rankings in the MMA world, and he looks to continue on his march to greatness this summer. In order to do that he will have to get past Tokyo, Japan’s Hiromitsu Miura (9-4). Miura’s last outing in the WEC Cage was a rousing KO victory over Blas Avena in March, and he will be bringing his power and world-class skills with him to Las Vegas as he looks to take Condit’s crown.

A Captain of the United States Marine Corps who was awarded the Silver Star for his bravery in battle during the Iraq War, Brian “All-American” Stann (6-0) has made a significant impact in and out of the WEC cage. Inside of it, the 27-year old Pennsylvanian captured the WEC Light Heavyweight Title in March with an impressive first round TKO victory over Doug “The Rhino” Marshall. Stann will look to hold onto his newly crowned title when he returns to the cage against Steve Cantwell. Las Vegas’ Cantwell (5-1) isn’t just in search of a title on August 3rd, but he is after redemption after a 2007 defeat to Stann. Winner of bouts over Justin McElfresh and Tim McKenzie that lasted just a combined three minutes, Cantwell has worked his way back to the top of the 205-pound weight class and he is coming to take the belt on August 3.

Jamie Varner (14-2, 1 NC) announced his arrival on the world stage in February when he captured the lightweight title with a hard fought KO victory over veteran “Razor” Rob McCullough in February. Now Varner looks to show the MMA world that he is a legitimate champion in the 155 lb. division and he is eager to prove that he has what it takes to be on top of the MMA food chain, he will have his hands full when he takes on Marcus Hicks. Hicks (8-0) has tore through his last three opponents in the WEC, defeating all three by submission. Will he keep his spotless record intact on August 3rd? He will have to walk through fire against Varner to do so.

The remaining bouts for World Extreme Cagefighting will be announced in the near future. All bouts subject to change. For more information about World Extreme Cagefighting and current WEC fight news, visit www.wec.tv.

This was really a good show, and Urijah Faber had a dominant 5-round performance against a very worthy Jens Pulver. Both fighters kicked much ass and showed a lot of heart, but Urijah Faber definitely did the most damage, and surprised Jens Pulver with some great striking skills. Not many people were expecting to see Faber come out and throw strikes like he did. Jens Pulver looked like he might have had a broken orbital bone on his left eye, homeboy was looking rough after the fight.

Miguel Torres and Yoshiro Maeda had a great fight also. Maeda put up a good fight and was able to survive through 3 rounds before the fight was stopped by the doctor. Maeda’s right eye had completely closed and he was getting picked off by the left hand of Miguel Torres, because he was unable to see punches coming.

Official WEC Results
-Urijah Faber def. Jens Pulver by Unanimous Decision, R5
-Miguel Torres def. Yoshiro Maeda by TKO (Injury Stoppage) at 5:00, R3
-Mark Munoz def. Chuck Grigsby by TKO (Strikes) at 4:15, R1
-Rob McCullough def. Kenneth Alexander by Split Decision, R3
-Donald Cerrone def. Danny Castillo by Submission (Armbar) at 0:30, R1
-Mike Brown def. Jeff Curran by Unanimous Decision, R3
-Will Ribeiro def. Chase Beebe by Split Decision, R3
-Tim McKenzie def. Jeremy Lang by Submission (Guillotine Choke) at 0:40, R3
-Alex Serdyukov def. Luis Sapo by TKO at 5:00, R1
-Jose Aldo def. Alexandre Franca Nogueira by TKO at 3:22, R2
-Dominick Cruz def. Charlie Valencia by Unanimous Decision, R3

Curran Reflects on Faber, Sees A Threat In Mike Brown
05/05/2008
By Frank Curreri

It’s been nearly five months since his loss to Urijah Faber, but the sting of defeat still weighs on Jeff Curran’s mind. There has been plenty of second-guessing his decision making in the final 30 seconds of their fight, plenty of introspection about how he might have more aggressively pressured Faber while riding the champion’s back in the first round.

Curran doesn’t know if he’ll ever get another crack at the title. But he made one thing crystal clear to WEC matchmaker Scott Adams when they discussed who Curran’s next opponent should be.

“I told him, ‘I’m not fighting anybody with five or six fights and coming off a loss or two,’ Curran said. “I don’t need ‘builder’ fights. I need tough guys that are going to earn me another shot at the belt. I want to make sure the fights I take will go down in the books as contender-type fights.”

Weeks later Adams called Curran. How about Mike Brown?

“Perfect,” Curran said. “Anybody that beats this guy is the real deal. It’s a fight that you have to be motivated to train for. Coming off the fight with Urijah, if it had been some low-level guy I don’t think I would have been mentally motivated to train (hard) for it.”

For those who don’t know much about Mike Thomas Brown, well, he’s 18-4, a 145-pound slab of hulking muscle like Faber, has won six straight and owns wins over Yves Edwards and Mark Hominick. The Portland, Maine native has a bachelor’s degree in biology, trains with American Top Team and his MySpace profile is packed with pictures of him partying with friends and making weird faces.

This is Curran’s scouting report on the man he will face June 1 in Sacramento:

“I have been following Mike Brown for a long time. He’s a solid wrestler and he’s well-rounded. He works with American Top Team and his stand-up looks really clean; he looks like he throws hard punches. He looks like he’s going to be strong.”

In recent months, Curran had struck up a friendship with Marcelo Garcia, the famed Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion and Abu Dhabi submission grappling king. Garcia trains with Brown, so he will temporarily suspend his collaboration with Curran. But before Curran learned he would be fighting Brown, he had trained with Garcia and picked his brain about a myriad of topics, including how to defend the guillotine choke Faber finished him with.

“We talked a lot about the fight,” said Curran (29-9-1). “I saw a chance in the last 50 seconds of the second round, even though I was cut, I thought, ‘Hey, why not push the pace, try to get back to my feet at least, pull something off. Maybe get a takedown, maybe tie him up, throw some knees, do some damage. Just something to show everybody I’m still in it and I’m not going anywhere.

“I didn’t for one second think I was in trouble or that I was in a bad spot. The worst spot I was in was that last 10 seconds where I got caught in that choke. So I spent a lot of time looking at that choke, how he took it and the angle that he took it and trying to come up with some solutions to that.

“In the first round, I felt stronger than him, I felt more technical than him on the ground. It’s just that he has great defense and he’s a scrapper. He’s unpredictable like that. Because of that I played it conservative myself. I wanted to make sure something freaky didn’t happen. It happened anyway. I’m a little upset at that decision, but other than that I have to look past it. It’s been eating me up ever since. If it’s meant to be for us to fight again then it’s going to come again.”

As for Faber’s mega-fight with Jens Pulver on June 1, Curran has mixed feelings about the outcome.

“I kind of see it as a 50-50, whoever puts the other person on their back probably has a better chance,” he said. “I don’t think that Urijah should stand with Jens, that would probably be a stupid move. But I think Urijah is capable enough to cause a threat in any area of the game for Jens. If somehow Urijah tags him and puts him on his back and Jens has to play his guard – Urijah has those elbows. And unless Jens has a really good guard and can attack from there then he’s going to probably wind up getting cut open. But if Jens puts Urijah on his back he’s going to be the stronger of the two for sure and will be able to probably bully him around a little bit. That’s how I see it.”

Curran, a 10-year veteran, says he still hungers to work his way back into title contention. He’s still only 30 and always improving.

“I think I’m a steppingstone for Mike Brown but he’s a steppingstone for me, too,” Curran said. “I think Urijah’s going to hold his seat at the top for awhile. If I can manage to work my way back, then great.”

ULTIMATE FIGHTING CHAMPIONSHIP® JOINS FORCES
WITH STUBHUB AND RAZORGATOR TO BRING ULTIMATE TICKETING OPTIONS TO UFC® FANS

Las Vegas, NV (USA) – The Ultimate Fighting Championship® (UFC®) organization today announced a new relationship with two ticket industry heavyweights StubHub and PrimeSport (a RazorGator Company) to become the official ticketing and hospitality partners of the UFC.

The new multi-year agreement designates StubHub as the “Official Fan to Fan Ticket Marketplace” of the UFC, while PrimeSport will become the “Official Ticket Package Partner” of the UFC. The deal promises to offer UFC fans the most user-friendly experience to buy and sell secondary tickets as well as exclusive package and hospitality opportunities that have never been available before for UFC events.

With these new partners, UFC fans will enjoy two best-of-class services for secondary ticket purchase or resale, as well as special packages to UFC events. With a majority of UFC events selling out quickly, fans are regularly seeking alternative ways to attend live events.

“The UFC has the most passionate, loyal sports fans who are always seeking opportunities to experience UFC fights live and in person,” said Dana White, UFC President. “The partnership we’ve struck with StubHub and PrimeSport ensures our fans will work with two of the best services in the industry to get to our live events.”

As the world’s largest ticket marketplace, StubHub offers the widest selection of UFC tickets. The company is renowned for its attention to customer service and manages each buyer transaction directly, ensuring complete consumer protection while offering the finest ticket shopping experience in the market today. StubHub is the Official Fan to Fan Ticket Marketplace for 29 Major League Baseball teams and dozens of professional and collegiate sports teams.

“Partnering with the UFC is an opportunity we have long welcomed, as we’ve witnessed an explosion of interest from UFC fans in our marketplace,” said Chris Tsakalakis, President of StubHub.

As the global leader in Hard-to-GetTM event packages and hospitality services for sold-out sports and concerts worldwide, PrimeSport continues to set and surpass standards in the sports travel industry. Always delivering a first class experience, PrimeSport will offer fans a wide selection of competitively-priced UFC packages and the assistance of experienced event management specialists. Packages can include tickets, hotel accommodations, transportation and exclusive parties.

“This strong collaboration of forces will allow UFC fans to customize their own ultimate experience. We are excited to partner with the UFC with the same intensity that both this sport and its fans possess”, states Jeff Lapin, CEO of PrimeSport and RazorGator.

UFC will promote the new relationships through online and offline marketing elements, including signage at select events, emails, website presence and other high-visibility branding exposures, all aimed at driving fans to StubHub and PrimeSport. Similarly, StubHub and PrimeSport will market UFC tickets and packages in online and offline campaigns through website presence, emails, direct mail and TV and radio advertising.

StubHub and PrimeSport also announced today that they have signed exclusive secondary ticket agreements with the World Extreme Cagefighting® (WEC™) organization. Much like the relationship with the UFC, StubHub and PrimeSport will provide an opportunity for WEC fans to purchase and resell WEC event tickets.

This looks like a great WEC event, and it airs on the Versus Network. I want to see Jens Pulver win this. The cards main event though is Urijah Faber vs. Jeff Curran, and I’d like to see Curran win that fight, and I think he can.

MMA-Extreme.com

Paulo Filho has a bout against Chael Sonnen tonight, both fighters are veterans, but Filho is considered by many to be the best middleweight in the world right now.

The rest of the fights on the card are:

Doug Marshall Vs. Ariel Gandulla
John Alessio Vs. Todd Moore
Bryan Baker Vs. Eric Schambari
Alex Karalexis Vs. Ed Ratcliff
Ian McCall Vs. Charlie Valencia
Brian Bowles Vs. Marcos Galvao