UFC 61

[Mad Dog]

Less than a week and counting:

UFC 61: JULY 8 IN LAS VEGAS, NV

Main Card Bouts
-Tim Sylvia vs. Andrei Arlovski
-Tito Ortiz vs. Ken Shamrock
-Yves Edwards vs. Joe Stevenson
-Josh Neer vs. Josh Burkman
-Frank Mir vs. Dan Christison

Preliminary Bouts
-Jeff Monson vs. Anthony Perosh
-Drew Fickett vs. Kurt Pellegrino
-Hermes Franca vs. Joe Jordan
-Gilbert Aldana vs. Cheick Kongo
www.mmaweekly.com/absolutenm/templates/rumors.asp?articleid=1871&zoneid=14

Some great matches from top to bottom on this show.

Though I have to wonder if Joe Stevenson is getting thrown to the wolves here. I don't know if he's good enough to face Yves. But I'm glad to see the lightweights getting some matches on the PPV.

[Knapik]

really fun card! I wish Pellegrino/Fickett was on the card instead of Burkman/Neer, but it will probably be shown anyhow. I say Stevenson has a better shot than Mark Hominick had... that being said I think Yves knows he has to win, and he won't let someone sit in position where he can be triangled so easily! He sat there for like 30 seconds until Hominick was like "Oh yeah, grappling..." Ugh, I love Yves :/

[MikeMcKinney]

I'm picking

Sylvia over Arlowski
Ortiz crushing Shamrock
Edwards over Stevenson
Burkman over Neer
Mir over Christison
Perosh over Monson
Fickett over pellegrino
Franca over Jordan
Kongo over Aldana

to be honest I haven't seen many of the guys in the Prelim bouts so their just guesses. But the Main events should be good

[Mad Dog]

Main Card Bouts
-Tim Sylvia vs. Andrei Arlovski
-Tito Ortiz vs. Ken Shamrock
-Yves Edwards vs. Joe Stevenson
-Josh Neer vs. Josh Burkman
-Frank Mir vs. Dan Christison

Preliminary Bouts
-Jeff Monson vs. Anthony Perosh
-Drew Fickett vs. Kurt Pellegrino
-Hermes Franca vs. Joe Jordan
-Gilbert Aldana vs. Cheick Kongo

My picks are bolded of course.

[LWPD]

Courtesy of PinnacleSports.com

Ultimate Fighting Championship 61:

Frank Mir -241
Dan Christison +221

Yves Edwards -220
Joe Stevenson +200

Andrei Arlovski -268
Tim Sylvia +248

Tito Ortiz -541
Ken Shamrock +491

Jeff Monson -569
Anthony Perosh +509

Drew Fickett -154
Kurt Pellegrino +144

Gilbert Aldana +106
Cheick Kongo -116

Josh Neer -140
Josh Burkman +130

LWPD (Burkman looks tempting with those numbers...as is Sylvia who's proved he's capable of taking out the questionable jaw of AA

[Knapik]

Main Card Bouts
Andrei Arlovski over Sylvia (oh god please)
Tito Ortiz over Ken Shamrock (keep swinging, Kenny!)
Yves Edwards over Joe Stevenson but I bet Stevenson looks good
Josh Burkman over Neer
Frank Mir over Dan Christison sub rd 1

Preliminary Bouts
Jeff Monson over Anthony Perosh
Drew Fickett beats Kurt Pellegrino decisively
Franca over Jordan in a good fight
Gilbert Aldana vs. Cheick Kongo -

[LWPD]

UFC 61 Predictions from Dave Meltzer

Courtesy of Wrestling Observer

*Kurt Pellgrino vs. Drew Fickett. It's Pellegrino's UFC debut. He's had quick submission wins most of his recent fights, as well as a 38 second win over Kazuki Okubo. Fickett has been in several UFC's, and holds wins over Josh Koscheck and Josh Neer via chokes. In the Koscheck fight, he was losing the entire fight but caught Koscheck with a knee on a shoot that stunned him and then won via choke. On paper, an interesting test for both. Fickett has far more experience but Pellegrino's on a winning streak.

*Cheick Kongo vs. Gilbert Aldana. I haven't seen Kongo fight. He's a heavyweight from France whose main claim to fame is wins over former pro wrestlers Joop Kastell and Hans Nijman. Aldana is a slugger who had an entertaining low level fight losing to Paul Buentello. Because the fight was good, he's being brought back. Certainly if Kongo is any kind of a prospect, he should win here. It's booked to be the undercard heavyweight slugfest.

*Anthony Perosh vs. Jeff Monson. Monson is in line for a shot at the winner of the heavyweight title match, and Perosh is not expected to have a serious chance of winning.

*Joe Jordan vs. Hermes Franca. Jordan was a late replacement for an injured Roger Huerta. He's a good, but not great, wrestler. Jordan has had a lot of fights, but Franca has tasted tougher competition and with the advantage of more training time, should (keep in mind that's not necessarily going to be the case) have more gas in his tank.

*Joe Stevenson vs. Yves Edwards. Stevenson is a takedown guy who wants it on the ground. He's moving down from 170 to 155, and had a strong record at 170. Edwards is the better stand-up fighter. Stevenson was hurt before his last fight, where he was upset by Josh Neer, when he got tired early and lost the decision. Edwards is entertaining and is the listed favorite. The question is how Stevenson adapts to the lower weight class. Will he be too strong, or will he lose strength in cutting too much weight? Stevenson, if he's in top shape at that weight, is going to have a good power edge and could conceivably win.

*Dan Christison vs. Frank Mir. Mir is a former heavyweight champion who was given Marcio Cruz in his last match as a foe he should have destroyed standing as a way to get back in the title Hunt. Instead, he was taken down and destroyed. Christison is a giant, about 6-8 and 265. He's by no means a tough fighter and his role is supposed to be to lose to Mir. But there are real questions as to what Mir has left as he looked that bad against Cruz. Everyone knows Mir is supposed to win, but I wouldn't bet this fight.

*Ken Shamrock vs. Tito Ortiz. Ortiz will probably win by ref stoppage due to ground and pound. I know a lot of people think the hatred on TV is all pro wrestling hype, and some of it probably is, but legitimately, these guys don't like each other. I do know it has been suggested to Ortiz that the ultimate way to humiliate Shamrock is to make him tap, which only Royce Gracie has done and that was 13 years ago. Ortiz has submission knowledge but never uses it. Shamrock first came up as a submission fighter. Shamrock hasn't submitted anyone of note since he left to be a pro wrestler, but he did break Don Frye's ankles and only Frye's ridiculous toughness saved him, and he did put Rich Franklin on crutches for a week after their fight even though Franklin was never close to tapping from the ankle lock and did escape. I can't conceive of Ortiz not winning, and a win by Shamrock would be considered the biggest high profile upset of the year. Shamrock being competitive and lasting into the second round would constitute a good performance for him in what should be his last high profile fight. Then again, you'd have thought after quick losses to Rich Franklin and Kazushi Sakuraba, that he had no high profile matches left. Shamrock is no longer the powerhouse he was in the mid-90s. This is a big ticket selling match but almost everyone knows the eventual outcome.

*Josh Burkman vs. Josh Neer. Burkman has been one of Ortiz's training partners the past month at Big Bear. This could go either way. I'm leaning toward Burkman. He lost his last fight to Jon Fitch, but Fitch is a superior wrestler, and that's the kind of opponent Burkman doesn't match up well with.

*Andrei Arlovsky vs. Tim Sylvia for the heavyweight title. It will probably be a knockout, the only question is who gets knocked out. First fight saw Arlovsky deck Sylvia and tap him out. Second fight saw Arlovsky deck Sylvia, who got back up, and clocked Arlovsky in the jaw and knocked him out. Arlovsky is quicker and more skilled standing, and both will want it standing. Sylvia does have a reach advantage. Both have one punch knockout power. Both can be taken out with a punch. It would be surprising for this to go five rounds, and may only go one, as the first two did. I still say that they fight ten times, Arlovsky wins eight. Or maybe seven. If Arlovsky gets it to the ground, he should finish Sylvia, but Sylvia is hard to take down so that's not happening right away.

LWPD (Dave Meltzer at one time served as a judge for UFC events...and still has one of the better heads for the sport among the media that covers it)

[MikeMcKinney]

Anybody watching this Live or PPV? if so can you post some results after the smoke clears!! tkx ahead of time

[Knapik]

www.sherdog.com/news/news.asp?n_id=4988

SILVA / CHUCK IN NOVEMBER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[habbalah]

knapik said:

www.sherdog.com/news/news.asp?n_id=4988

SILVA / CHUCK IN NOVEMBER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Please tell me that really happened and I didn't die from drinking to much?

[Knapik]

It really happened! My friend called me to confirm so I know I wasn't dreaming as well.

Babalu is TOUGH, though.

[Mad Dog]

Spoiler ahead...








The ref made absolutely the right call during the Ortiz/Shamrock fight. The people complaining about it either don't know the rules or are just upset the fight ended so quickly. The fact is that Shamrock was done. Not stopping it there would've bought an extra couple of seconds as Tito would've hit a few more elbows and then the fight was done.

Though it's interesting how Shamrock gets pounded on the ground like that against Sak, Franklin and now Ortiz and complains about early ref stops. I guess it's his lame way of trying to save face.

[LWPD]

UFC 61 Post Fight Interviews

Tim Slyvia

Yves Edwards

Tito Ortiz

Courtesy of Wrestling Observer

UFC 61 Results

Drew Fickett b Kurt Pellegrino via choke in the third round. Pellegrino was winning the fight after two rounds with takedowns. Pellegrino got the reversal in round three and pulled it out.

Cheick Kongo b Gilbert Aldana via blood stoppage in the first round. Aldana scored some slams early and was winning, but Kongo reversed, did some damage on the ground, and got to his feet and knocked him out standing.

Jeff Monson b Anthony Perosh in the first round via knockout after a series of punches.

Crowd is super hot. When Ken Shamrock was shown on the video screen, he was heavily booed. The atmosphere live is hot.

When Tito was shown on the screen, he was booed a lot as well. Reaction seems to be maybe 60-40 pro-Ortiz thus far. No clear cut babyface to the crowd. Another report has Ortiz as super face and Shamrock as super heel, so we'll see.

Hermes Franca b Joe Jordan via triangle in the third round. Said to be kind of boring for the first two rounds, dominated by Franca standing, but a really nice looking submission.

Sitting in the same row were Tank Abbott and Wayne Newton. Wanderlei Silva has been seen at ringside.

The PPV opened with them telling the story about the weigh-ins. See the morning update for that one. Ortiz looked like such a goof when he didn't make weight after all his complaining.

Joe Stevenson vs. Yves Edwards is the first match on the PPV show.

First round is tough to judge. Stevenson got three takedowns and one flurry of good ground & pound where he connected hard. Edwards rocked Stevenson once between takedowns with a high kick and strong punch, and Edwards also was working for submissions from the bottom. I'd call it even, but I guess if having to pick I'd go Stevenson. Stevenson has a bloody nose.

Stevenson took Edwards down and did a number on him with punches and hard elbows. Edwards has a sick cut up in his forehead. It was one of the bloodiest fights ever. Edwards lasted the round but they couldn't stop the bleeding so the doctor stopped it between rounds.

Frank Mir vs. Dan Christison is up next to find out if Mir can save his career.

Mir looked terrible in the first round. He still got the takedown and some ground and pound. Christison came very close with an armbar and connected with some punches late in the round. I'd go 10-9 Christison but it was close and could have gone either way. But Mir is out of shape and sluggish.

Christison won the second round. He was dominating the stand-up, and quite frankly, any good heavyweight would have destroyed Mir, who was so sluggish. Mir got a takedown but Christison did a lot more from the bottom. The only thing that saved Mir is Christison doesn't seem to have knockout power, but I've got 20-18.

Crummy fight overall. Mir got a takedown and bloodied Christison up with ground and pound. Mir is bleeding as well. I've got is 29-28 Christison, as does Eddie Bravo. We were in agreement on all three rounds. Mir very well could win because the first round was close. All three judges had it 29-28 for Mir. You know how there are fights where there are no losers. Well, this was closer to a fight where there were no winners.

Tito Ortiz vs. Ken Shamrock is up next. This came off badly. Ortiz slammed Shamrock hard and was hammering him and hit five elbows. Ken wasn't doing much to defend, well actually nothing, and it was stopped. Ken got right back up. Really Ken likely wasn't getting up, but you don't know for sure. It was too early but it was 2-3 elbows away from what what would have been it. The reaction is ugly. "Bullshit" chants. This was not what the UFC needed with this kind of momentum. Tito said they could do it again. Unfortunately, there is no market for it. Actually, they could match them on a free TV special and it would do ratings, but I just don't see it happening. At the same time, at Ken's age, I can see Herb Dean wanting to end it three early instead of three late.

Dana White came out and called in Wanderlei Silva. Challenged Chuck Liddell. Dana White announced the fight for November in Las Vegas, but Liddell first has to beat Renato Sobral in August. This didn't get a dream match reaction because a large percentage of the fans have no idea who Silva is. But the big news is this means Pride and UFC are working together, which is the real story here.

Josh Burkman vs. Josh Neer is up next. Burkman scored with a nice right to the jaw and hard slam as his big moves to win the round. Good competitive round.

Second round saw Burkman connect with more solid punches. Neer taunted Burkman and acted like nothing hurt, but wasn't doing anything to counter. I've got Burkman up 20-18, but Burkman is clearly the more tired of the two going into round three.

Third round saw Burkman get a few slams, including a power bomb off the triangle. Neer went for a lot of submissions, but never came close to any of them. I've got is 30-27 for Burkman. Eddie Bravo gave Neer round two and had it 29-28. Scores were 29-28, 30-27 and 29-28. Abe Belardo judged it and had it 29-28. Good match.

The show needs a strong main event.

Tim Sylvia vs. Andrei Arlovsky is up next for the heavyweight title.

First round went the way you'd expect. Arlovsky connected with lots of leg kicks and punches. He's much quicker and more skilled. But Sylvia stunned Arlovsky with a punch early that ws the most telling blow. I gave it to Arlovsky. Fans are totally with Arlovsky. Eddie Bravo gave it to Sylvia becaue that punch was the closest thing to finish. Andrei is too quick and coordinated but Sylvia is one punch away from a win at any time.

Pace slower in round two but a similar fight. Sylvia again got the best punch. Arlovsky has a cut at the hair line. Sylvia more countering and Arlovsky pushing. I gave it 10-9 Sylvia, Bravo had it 10-9 Arlovsky. Both 19-19 so both rounds are close.

Boring round three. Fans were booing a good deal Arlovsky connected more. Both got maybe one good punch in. Turned into a boxing match with no attempts by either to do anything else. Very close but I'd give it to Arlovsky. Bravo had same thing so both now 29-28 for Arlovsky.

More of the same in round four. More booing as well. Sylvia had the best punch. Arlovsky got a punch in late. I'd give the round to Sylvia, so I've got it 38-38, as does Bravo. This round will decide it. Arlovksy seemed to tire more than Sylvia in the last round.

Nothing really happened in the last round. Sylvia did a little more. Even if not, in a championship fight, Arlovsky did nothing to win the title. I go 48-47 for Sylvia, Bravo same score. Overall, neither guy really won the fight. Both spent five rounds fighting cautiously and it made for a dull match. No time for another fight either. Final scores were 48-47, 49-46 and 48-47 unanimous for Sylvia.

[Darth Turkish]

When announced for Liddell- Silva, how many people watching said " Who is vending silver?!?!"

That is going to be one hell of a fight!

[LWPD]

turkish said:

When announced for Liddell- Silva, how many people watching said " Who is vending silver?!?!"

That is going to be one hell of a fight!

Unfortunately very few with-in the UFC viewing audience have any clue who Vanderlai Silva is....or even know something like Pride even exists. Dana White said that DSE will allow Zuffa to use their footage to build up Silva throughout the course of his 3 fight deal...and when it's over I'm sure he'll end up drawing quite a bit of money for both promotions.

LWPD (Liddell/Babalu as the main event of UFC 62 will be a much tougher sell to the larger 'casual/fad audience' that's supporting the current boom than recent UFC main events have been...expect a drop off as this should end up being a test of UFC's current PPV Buy support level)