Barnett Set To Make Return To Octagon

Former UFC champion and 'Strikeforce' veteran Josh 'The Warmaster' Barnett is set to make his return to the octagon at UFC164. 'The Warmaster' is back and this time he's sporting a 32-6 record. Winning 9 of his last 10 fights, the only loss came to up-and-coming UFC heavyweight and fellow 'Strikeforce' veteran Daniel Cormier (when they last fought in the now-defunct promotion). 

Cormier has only had one fight in the UFC and in his debut he beat Barnett's upcoming opponent, Former two-time UFC Champion Frank Mir via Unanimous Decision, imposing the superior grappling skill he's been known for since his before his Olympic wrestling days. 

Since Barnett's last stint in the octagon (his last fight being his victory over Randy Couture to secure the UFC Heavyweight title), he's fought in the Pride FC, Sengoku, Affliction, Dream, Impact FC and Strikeforce promotions claiming a mostly successful 14-5  record in his time outside the UFC.

Barnett looks to make a successful return to the octagon against Mir with the latter desperately looking to get back in the 'win' column after losing his last two fights to former champion Junior Dos Santos and former Strikeforce champion Daniel Cormier.

BLACKZILLA's TIP: As much as i like Frank Mir, i think Barnett takes this, either by 1st Round KO/TKO  or by Unanimous Decision and with this loss, i think Frank will seriously consider calling it a career.

On another completely unrelated topic, I should probably go to sleep, it's 3:51am and i have a 16 hour shift at work that starts in just over 3 hours.

So on that note...
Until next time,
Peace!

TJ Grant Set To Challenge For 155-Pound Title

It's official! Canadian lightweight TJ Grant (shown punching Gray Maynard in the picture above) has been awarded the next shot at Benson 'Smooth' Henderson's 155-pound title. Dana White was quick to award the title shot to Grant following his devastating performance against perennial contender Gray 'The Bully' Maynard. 

Grant was sporting a 20-5 record and riding a four-fight win-streak heading into the UFC160 bout against Maynard and was able to dispose of his opponent quickly, knocking him out at around the 2 minute 10 second mark of the very first round.

The 'TJ Grant vs. Benson Henderson' title fight hasn't been given a set date but has is being considered for the UFC's debut card on the new Fox Sports 1 channel on August 18, according to UFC President Dana White. If the fight gets added to the Fox Sports 1 card, then it'll join already-named bouts: Alistair Overeem vs. Travis Browne (Heavyweight Division), Matt Brown vs. Thiago Alves (Welterweight Division) and Joe Lauzon vs. Michael Johnson (Lightweight Division) as well as other yet-to-be-named bouts.

Personally, I hope this fight gets set for August 18th, as it would only increase the appeal of the Fox Sports 1 card which is already shaping up to flaunt a pretty interesting mix of fights from a number of different weight classes. 

Either way, I'm not gonna miss the fight even if it's on pay-per-view. I'm intrigued as to whether or not TJ Grant is on Henderson's level. 

I guess we'll just have to wait see...
Until next time, 
Peace!

Upcoming Fight Cards On The UFC Schedule

Just figured i'd get everybody excited and post up some of the upcoming cards that are on the UFC schedule and highlight some of the fights i can't wait to see.

So here goes...

UFC On Fuel TV 10

Preliminary Card:
- Antonio Braga Neto vs. Anthony 'Lionheart' Smith.
- Caio 'Hellboy' Magalhaes vs. Karlos Vemola.
- Rodrigo Damm vs. Mizuto 'Pugnus' Hirota.
- Ildemar 'Marajo' Alcantara vs. Leandro Silva.
- Godofredo Pepey vs. Felipe 'Sertanejo' Arantes.
- Ronny Markes vs. Derek Brunson.
- Raphael Assuncao vs. Vaughan Lee.

Main Card:
- Rony Jason vs. Mike 'The Warrior' Wilkinson.
- Erick Silva vs. Jason 'The Kansas City Bandit' High.
- Daniel Sarafian vs. Eddie Mendez.
- Thiago Silva vs. Rafael 'Feijao' Cavalcante.
- Antonio 'Minotauro' Nogueira vs. Fabricio 'Vai Cavalo' Werdum.

BLACKZILLA's choices: I'm interested to see how the fight betwen Mike Wilkinson and Rony Jason goes considering both are alumni of different TUF seasons (TUF: Brazil Series 1 and TUF: Smashes, respectively). I'm also hanging out to see the slugfest between Big Nog and Fabricio Werdum. Hopefully, Werdum and Wilkinson pull off the victories, i'd like to see Werdum to work his way back into title contention.

UFC161

Note: This is the UPDATED card after the 'Renan Barao vs. Eddie Wineland' bantamweight title fight was pulled after Barao withdrew due to injury. The change forced the Rashad Evans vs. Dan Henderson into the Main event slot and moved Stipe Miocic (who was originally billed to fight Soa 'The Hulk' Palelei in the prelims) onto the main card for a heavyweight matchup against Roy 'Big Country' Nelson. Soa Palelei has been left without an opponent and will be used as an alternate should any of the heavyweights pull out of the card.

Preliminary Card:

- Yves 'Tiger' Jabouin vs. Dustin 'The Disciple' Pague.

- Mitch 'Danger Zone' Clarke vs. John 'The One' Maguire.

- Roland Delorme vs. Edwin 'El Feroz' Figueroa.

- Sean 'The Punisher' Pierson vs. Kenny Robertson.

- Ryan 'Big Deal' Jimmo vs. Igor 'The Duke' Pokrajac.

- Sam 'Hands Of Stone' Stout vs. James Krause.

Main Card:

- Jake Shields vs. Tyron 'The Chosen One' Woodley.

- Pat 'HD' Barry vs. Shawn 'The Savage' Jordan.

- Alexis Davis vs. Rosi 'The Surgeon' Sexton.

- Roy 'Big Country' Nelson vs. Stipe Miocic.

- Mauricio 'Shogun' Rua vs. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira.

- 'Suga' Rashad Evans vs. Dan 'Hendo' Henderson.

BLACKZILLA's choices: I can't wait to see Jake Shields throw down against fellow 'Strikeforce' veteran Tyron Woodley. I see Shields being a better all-round fighter but Woodley has power in his hands and i'd like to see him get the KO/TKO finish. Also, i'm backing 'Suga' Rashad Evans to get the win over Henderson. As much as i am a fan of Hendo, I see youth getting the better of him. Evans has looked a little inconsistent of late, and i'm hoping he can make a statement in this fight. I'm picking Evans by Unanimous Decision.

I'm really looking forward to these two cards and hopefully they can both produce some real solid fights. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

Until Next Time, 

Peace!

Griffin And Bonnar To Join UFC Hall Of Fame

The UFC160 post-fight press conference saw one of the UFC's favourite sons announce his retirement from active competition. Forrest Griffin made the call that he was finally hanging up his gloves for good naming a recent bad run of injuries as one of the more conclusive factors that helped him make his decision. 

Griffin retires sporting a healthy 19-7 record and having won his last fight by Unanimous Decision at  UFC148 against the also retired Tito Ortiz. He was also a former UFC Light Heavyweight champion after having beaten Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson to claim the strap at UFC86 in 2008.

Shortly after Forrest's announcement, UFC President Dana White announced that Griffin along with his TUF Season 1 Finale opponent Stephan 'The American Psycho' Bonnar would be the next two fighters to be inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame joining the likes of legends such as: Royce Gracie, Chuck 'The Iceman' Liddell, Randy 'The Natural' Couture and 'The Huntington Beach Bad Boy' Tito Ortiz. 

Griffin and Bonnar are remembered for their performance in the finale of the first season of The Ultimate Fighter which turned out to be a one of the all-time greatest fights in MMA history. Griffin won a close Unanimous Decision. 

While Griffin won the inaugural 'Ultimate Fighter' title for the 205-pound division as well as the UFC Light Heavyweight title, Bonnar never quite reached championship heights, despite having challenged for the title on more than one occasion. This, in conjunction with his having tested positive for illegal performance enhancing substances on two occasions, has caused people to question whether he really deserves a spot among such a highly regarded group of MMA personalities.

Either way, the dynamic pair will become the 10th and 11th members (respectively) of the Hall of Fame when they are inducted at the UFC Fan Expo that takes place in the lead up to UFC162: Silva vs. Weidman.

Until next time, 
Peace!

Rousey's New TUF Opponent

TUF18 was always going to be an exciting prospect. In 21 seasons (including The Ultimate Fighter Brazil season 1 & 2 and TUF: Smashes) never has there been female coaches on the show, let alone female competitors. 

Premiering on the new Fox Sports (FS) 1 Channel, The Ultimate Fighter 18 was slated to have UFC Women's Bantamweight Champion Ronda 'Rowdy' Rousey coach against #1 contender Cat Zingano with the series culminating in a title fight between the two at the finale which would also feature the 135-pound men's and 135-pound women's respective finals matchups.

Unfortunately for Zingano, she ruptured her ACL and Miniscus prior to the commencement of filming which left her unable to coach and compete for the title on the finale.

Enter Miesha Tate.

Tate shows up to the first day of filming at the UFC gym to be met by a stunned Ronda Rousey who's (up until that point) unaware of the change of opponent. Upon settling, Rousey warms up to her new challenge, noting that the pair have history leading back to their days in (the now-defunct) 'Strikeforce' promotion where Rousey defeated Tate for her Strikeforce Women's Bantamweight Title in 2011.

Former Strikeforce Chamption Miesha Tate will now face off with Ronda Rousey for the UFC Women's Bantamweight Title on 28th December, 2013 in what is sure to be a 'can't miss' conclusion of this upcoming series of 'The Ultimate Fighter'.

Until next time...
Peace!

IT'S TIME...

After taking an extended hiatus from the world of 'blogging', i have finally been led back to this medium with somewhat of a renewed vigor and a new focus. For those who are wondering, it was my fanboy-like attitude towards the MMA world (and in particular the 'UFC') that caused this prodigal son to return home.

So... The best way to kick things off is to jump straight into the UFC's most recent event - UFC160: Velasquez vs. Bigfoot 2.

UFC160 saw three Top 10 ranked heavyweights accompanied by division champion Cain Velasquez go to battle at the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. 

The co-main event (which was arguably just as hyped if not more than the main event) featured former K1 Kickboxing world champion and Pride FC Veteran Mark 'The Super Samoan' Hunt take on Former UFC Heavyweight Champion Junior 'Cigano' Dos Santos in a three-round slugfest. Cigano claimed victory with 42 seconds remaining in the final stanza by way of a spinning wheel kick KO which had Hunt unconscious before he hit the canvas.

The main event saw the second installment of the series between defending champion Cain Velasquez and former EliteXC heavyweight champion Antonio 'Bigfoot' Silva. The pair had faced off twelve months earlier in Silva's UFC debut, when Velasquez was looking to make a statement after earlier losing his strap to Junior Dos Santos. This time around however, was reminiscent of their first battle, with Velasquez flaunting his superior footwork and striking skill to claim his second straight KO/TKO victory over Bigfoot to successfully defend his belt.

The rest of the card saw the results fall the way of:
- Glover Texeira def. James Te Huna by way of 1st Round Submission.
- T.J. Grant def. Gray Maynard by way of 1st Round KO/TKO.
- Donald Cerrone def. KJ Noons by way of Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26).
- Mike Pyle def. Rick Story by way of Split Decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28).
- Dennis Bermudez def. Max Holloway by way of Split Decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28).
- Robert Whittaker def. Colton Smith by way of 3rd Round KO/TKO.
- Khabib Nurmagomedov def. Abel Trujillo by way of Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27).
- Stephen Thompson def. Nah-Shon Burrell by way of Unanimous Decision (29-28, 30-27, 29-28).
- George Roop def. Brian Bowles by way of 2nd Round KO/TKO.
- Jeremy Stephens def. Estevan Payan by way of Unanimous Decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-27).  

The $50,000 Bonuses were as follows:
- Fight of the Night: Junior Dos Santos/Mark Hunt.
- KO of the Night: T.J. Grant.
- Submission of the Night: Glover Texeira.

Anyways, this is it for now, however the next few posts will take a deeper look into some of the events/happenings surrounding UFC160 (and the UFC at large) as well covering the lead up to UFC on Fuel TV 10: Nogueira vs. Werdum.

Until next time,
Peace!