UFC Ultimate Fighting Championship

[Gnrfan]

Hey D and Stoned

I got a friend who is really into this sorta thing and he tells me that UFC isn't as good as PRIDE.

He was telling me the story that you were telling at the top of the page about Chuck.

He says that its happened a few times where UFC has thrown a guy into another company and they never do well.

Is that because of the different rings or is PRIDE really better

[Hammy]

Hey D and Stoned

I got a friend who is really into this sorta thing and he tells me that UFC isn't as good as PRIDE.

He was telling me the story that you were telling at the top of the page about Chuck.

He says that its happened a few times where UFC has thrown a guy into another company and they never do well.

Is that because of the different rings or is PRIDE really better

Depends what weight division you look at.

PRIDE heavyweights are far superior to UFC's whereas UFC has a far better Welterweight Division.  Until recently, overall, i would say PRIDE had better fighters but with the way the company is going and fighters are jumping ship that's changing.  PRIDE is a different ball game, you are in a ring, not cage.  You can push them up against the cage and ground and pund, you get the the edge of the ring and they drag you back to the middle and restart it their.  In PRIDE stomping and soccer kicks are legal, they aren't in UFC, in UFC elbows are legal making it easier to win via cuts, in PRIDE they are illegal.  Totally different ball game really.  I recommend you download some PRIDE shows though, it makes great viewing.

At the end of the day both promotions are great.....here's something from mmanews.com gives you an idea of who's the top dog and where....

PRIDE
UFC
OTHER

LIGHT WEIGHT DIVISION (155 LBS.)

1. Takanori Gomi
2. Tatsuya Kawajiri
3. Mitsuhiro Ishida
4. Marcus Aurelio
5. Vitor Ribeiro
6. Hayato Sakurai
7. Sean Sherk
8. Hermes Franca
9. Joachim Hansen
10. Gilbert Melendez


WELTERWEIGHT DIVISION (170 LBS.)

1. Georges St. Pierre
2. Matt Hughes
3. B.J. Penn
4. Diego Sanchez
5. Karo Parisyan
6. Jon Fitch
7. Jake Shields
8. Akira Kikuchi
9. Josh Koscheck
10. Nick Diaz


MIDDLEWEIGHT DIVISION (185 LBS.)

1. Matt Lindland
2. Anderson Silva
3. Paulo Filho
4. Kazuo Misaki
5. Dan Henderson
6. Rich Franklin
7. Nathan Marquardt
8. Denis Kang
9. Amar Suloev
10. Murilo Bustamante

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT DIVISION (205 LBS.)

1. Chuck Liddell
2. Mauricio Rua
3. Wanderlei Silva
4. Ricardo Arona
5. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira
6. Tito Ortiz
7. Kazuhiro Nakamura
8. Renato Sobral
9. Quinton Jackson
10. Alistair Overeem


HEAVYWEIGHT DIVISION (up to 265 LBS.)

1. Fedor Emelianenko
2. Mirko Cro Cop
3. Josh Barnett
4. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
5. Tim Sylvia
6. Andrei Arlovski
7. Fabricio Werdum (Was PRIDE, signed with UFC debuts at UFC70)
8. Brandon Vera
9. Mark Hunt
10. Aleksander Emelianenko


POUND FOR POUND (No Limit)

1. Fedor Emelianenko
2. Chuck Liddell
3. Georges St. Pierre
4. Paulo Filho
5. Mirko Cro Cop
6. Matt Lindland
7. Matt Hughes
8. Josh Barnett
9. B.J. Penn
10. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira

[Gnrfan]

so tito isn't in top 10. i thought he was like one of the best

[Hammy]

so tito isn't in top 10. i thought he was like one of the best

He IS dude.

Firstly that list is not "Official" it's merely the view of the staff at mmanews.com but overall i think they are fairly spot on.

And those PRIDE guys they rate above him, they are fantastic, a lot of this is guesswork though, being in different companys they haven't fought (Well Ortiz beat Wanderlai but that was like 6 or 7 years since) so it's hard to say who would win.

And hell dude, being rated as the No.6 Light-Heavyweight in the WORLD is pretty damn good, if i can just scrape into one of these lists one day i will be an extremely proud guy.

The main point of me showing these lists was to show both promotions have fantastic fighters and have strengths and weaknesses depending on which division you look at......

[D]

Pride also have 10 minute rounds whereas UFC are 5 minute rounds.


Im not a huge fan of Pride.  Their fighters are great but I think the UFC is way more entertaining.

[Axlfreek]

Im going up to columbus today to watch the and meet the fighters weigh in. i cant wait, im gonna talk so much shit to tim silvia, i hate that cave troll.

[D]

^
That is awesome

Let us know how it all goes.

I'll be watching it live tomorrow night via PPV.

[Axlfreek]

^
That is awesome

Let us know how it all goes.

I'll be watching it live tomorrow night via PPV.

It was awsome, everbody boo'd the hell out of tim silvia and cheered for Randy. Huuuuge turn out, 19,000 plus people attended.

[slash666]

heres some strange news:

LAS VEGAS -- " Nevada regulators today approved an unusual grudge match between Ultimate Fighting Championship president Dana White and the "bad boy" of Huntington Beach, Calif., Tito Ortiz.

White is the 37-year-old president of the mixed-martial arts promotion company that has become a heavyweight in the pay-per-view business. Ortiz (15-5-0) is one of its toughest, most popular combatants.

Ortiz made the three-round match -- " in which both fighters will box only, no grappling -- " a condition of his recent contract negotiations.

White was once Ortiz' manager, but the two "had a real bad falling out" in 2003, White said.

"The last time Tito and I boxed was six years ago, and he's a lot better than he was six years ago," White said after a hearing at the Nevada Athletic Commission, which approved the fight 3-1. "I'm a lot older than I was six years ago, so we'll see."

Regulators expressed concern that White would be seriously hurt by Ortiz, 32.

But most commissioners were reassured by sparring tapes showing White in the ring against another heavyweight from two months ago. White said he's been training since last July.

"I've seen Tito as a boxer, and he's probably not as good as you are," commission chair Dr. Tony Alamo told White.

Ortiz will weigh in at 205 pounds, while White weighs 196 pounds, both the boxing equivalent of heavyweight fighters.

The fight March 24 will likely take place at the UFC training center in Las Vegas and be broadcast later on the company's Web site, www.ufc.com, the company said.

[Thorazine Shuffle]

Oh dear lord they're turning into the WWE.

I'll still watch it though, what if Dana whips his ass?

[Hammy]

It was announced on the "Beatdown" radio show on Sherdog.com by writer Josh Gross that Chute Boxe stand-out Mauricio "Shogun" Rua has signed a new unique fight contract.

In what has to be considered another sign that there is a deal between DSE (Dreamstage Entertainment) and the Fertitta brothers (Frank and Lorenzo, UFC owners) involving the future of PRIDE, Shogun signed a new contract that calls for two fights under the PRIDE banner, and two for the UFC.

Nothing much other than that was mentioned, but that's another huge coup for the UFC if true. Not only do they have Quinton "Rampage" Jackson and "Lyoto" Ryoto Machida to spice up their Light Heavyweight division, with Rashad Evans and Keith Jardine rising up the ranks and now Mauricio "Shogun" Rua added to the mix, Chuck Liddell's future just got a lot busier.

Shogun is the best Light Heavyweight besides Chuck hell he might be better, Shogun is way better than Rampage that's for sure so he best get worried.  Fighting in the UFC though will change things for him a lot, this guy specialises in Stomps, Soccer Kicks which are illegal in the UFC and he's also used to fighting in a ring not being pushed or pushing people up against a cage....

[slash666]

heres a big announcement!:

Source: MMAWeekly

It's been rumored for months but now the deal is completed. Several major Japanese newspapers (including "SportsHochi") are confirming today that Frank Fertitta of the Zuffa company (which owns UFC) has purchased PRIDE Fighting Championship.

Fertitta will disband Dream Stage Entertainment (the former parent company of PRIDE) and form a new entity that will be seperate from UFC and its parent company, Zuffa, LLC. Pride 34 on April 8th will be the final PRIDE show under the DSE company.

PRIDE will continue to run shows in both Japan and the United States.

Although PRIDE will be run seperately from UFC, there are plans to run an annual supershow event on Pay-Per-View featuring fighters and dream matches from both companies (!!).

Recently there were rumors that the McMahons were interested in entering the world of mixed martial arts and were considered potential buyers for PRIDE. Those plans have clearly fallen through.

There is a press conference scheduled for tomorrow at the Roppongi Hills Arena in Tokyo to announce further details on this huge acquisiion.

[Thorazine Shuffle]

It's official.





UFC acquires Pride

Multimillion-dollar deal includes all assets

By KEVIN IOLE
REVIEW-JOURNAL
The owners of the Ultimate Fighting Championship scooped up their primary rival Monday, reaching a multimillion-dollar deal to purchase the Japanese-based Pride Fighting Championship.

UFC president Dana White said he and partners Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta formed a new company, Pride Worldwide, that purchased the assets of the Pride FC.

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White, who said the deal was completed about 1:30 p.m. PDT Monday, would not reveal the purchase price, but intimated it was an eight-figure deal.

"I don't like to talk about money, but it was a lot of money, I can tell you that," White said by telephone from Japan. "It was a hell of a lot more than Barry Bonds is making."

Bonds, the second-leading home run hitter in baseball history, signed a $15.8 million, one-year deal with the San Francisco Giants in February.

The UFC deal transfers all Pride assets, including fighter contracts, fight video library and trademarks, to the new company. White said he would retain Pride's Japanese employees and that the company's planned April 7 show would go on as planned in Tokyo.

Pride has many of the sport's best fighters, including heavyweight champion Fedor Emialenenko, Wanderlei Silva, Dan Henderson, Shogun Rua, Takanori Gomi and Hayato Sakurai, signed to promotional contracts.

White said Pride would adopt the same rules that are used in the United States and expressed a desire to use the so-called unified rules around the world. Soccer kicks and knees to the head were legal in Pride fights in Japan, but they were outlawed in two shows that were held at the Thomas & Mack Center.

However, White said any fight held with the Pride banner would continue to be in a ring. UFC fights are in a cage.

"This is a sport and we're going to follow the unified rules that were established in New Jersey and then in Nevada," White said. "It's a sport -- mixed martial arts -- and the sport should have the same rules everywhere. As far as I'm concerned, if an organization doesn't follow these rules, it's not MMA. It's something else, but that's not MMA."

White said he will create a "Super Bowl" of MMA that will match the best fighters in Pride against the best in the UFC. White said he hadn't had time to think through the logistics, but said the concept could become the biggest annual event in the sport.

He said he has the option to use Pride fighters in UFC shows if he chooses, but plans to run distinct brands.

"Pride is a powerful brand," White said. "The winners in this are the fans, because they're going to see the question answered. How many times have I heard someone say, 'Pride is better,' or 'UFC is better?' Well, wherever you come down on that, we'll answer the question because we'll make certain we put them in with each other and get an answer."

One of Pride's downfalls in the last year in Japan was the loss of its contract with Fuji TV. White said it was one of the new ownership group's leading priorities to negotiate a new television deal in Japan.
 

[Hammy]

UFC 69: Shootout (April 7th)

Fight Card

Georges St. Pierre vs. Matt Serra
Diego Sanchez vs. Josh Koscheck
Roger Huerta vs. Leonard Garcia
Mike Swick vs. Yushin Okami
Alan Belcher vs. Kendall Grove

Non-Televised

Brad Imes vs. Heath Herring
Thales Leites vs. Pete Sell
Marcus Davis vs. Pete Spratt
Josh Haynes vs. Luke Cummo

So that's the final card for this coming weekend.  Nothing amazing, it will be good to see Kendall fighting again and Swick is damn good.  Only fight i am really looking forward to though is Sanchez vs. Koscheck, i think this will be great.  GSP will beat Serra in the 1st Round, I like Serra but he's just not at that level and the 4 inch height advantage GSP has doesn't help either...

[Axlfreek]

I am crying in shame GSP lost 

I was utterly shocked and speachless at Serra's peformance. well done. but GSP will always be my fighter of choice.

I was also glad to see Koscheck beat that little bitch Sanchez.

[D]

I had extremely low expectations for this card but it turned out to be an ok PPV.


Swick defeated himself mentally after the first round, he refused to let his hands go and that is what beat him.



I dont know what happened to Diego, the guy just didnt come to fight. He did absolutely nothing.


I was jumping up and down and was absolutely speechless when Serra TKO'd GSP, I was screaming WTF, WTF, Holy SHIT over and over and over. I had chills all over my body. I cant believe that Matt Serra holds the Welterweight title. It is insane and still doesnt seem possible.

[Timothy]

GSP losing shocked the hell out of me. Was defiantly one of those holy fucking shit moments.

[Gnrfan]

GSP will beat Serra in the 1st Round, I like Serra but he's just not at that level and the 4 inch height advantage GSP has doesn't help either...

good call stoned.

thats Jim like jugdementv

[Axlfreek]

GSP will beat Serra in the 1st Round, I like Serra but he's just not at that level and the 4 inch height advantage GSP has doesn't help either...

good call stoned.

thats Jim like jugdementv

everybody thought GSP was gonna win. not just him.

[Gnrfan]

GSP will beat Serra in the 1st Round, I like Serra but he's just not at that level and the 4 inch height advantage GSP has doesn't help either...

good call stoned.

thats Jim like jugdementv

everybody thought GSP was gonna win. not just him.

I know i was just jesting. He isn't often wrong

I heard that it was the biggest upset in history of UFC.

Any other contenders besides this one folks