Roundup: More Ultimate Fighter 7 Cast Members, Upcoming Fights For Top Fighters, and More
By: Kris Karkoski | Jan 28, 2008
- Tito Ortiz recently confirmed that he has accepted a May 24th bout against Lyoto Machida. He has also indicated that the fight will likely be his last with the UFC.
- Keith Jardine, who posted an upset of Chuck Liddell in September, is also likely to return at the May 24th event in Las Vegas. His opponent for the bout is not yet known.
- Mark Coleman, winner of the UFC 10 and UFC 11 tournaments as well as the UFC’s first-ever heavyweight champion, is set to be inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame at UFC 82 in Columbus, Ohio in March.
- The latest addition to the rumored fight card for UFC Fight Night 13 “Florian vs. Lauzon” is popular-lightweight Clay Guida who is set to take on UFC newcomer Samy Schiavo. Lightweight Frankie Edgar is also expected to fight on the card.
- Diego Sanchez recently announced that he will be facing UFC newcomer David Bielkheden, not Roan Carneiro, at UFC 82 in March.
- World Cage Fighting will be hosting a show on February 8th that is headlined by former-UFC fighter Dan Lauzon. UFC President Dana White as well as current-UFC fighters Marcus Davis, Kenny Florian, Jorge Rivera, and Tamdan McCrory will all be in attendance.
- The UFC recently signed South Korean welterweight Dong Hyun Kim to a multiple-fight contract with his debut likely to come in March or April.
- Patrick Cote, fresh off his recent win over Drew McFedries at UFC Fight Night 12, will reportedly be doing the French play-by-play for UFC 84 in Montreal in-place of fighting on the card.
- Nevada State Athletic Commission Executive Director Keith Kizer revealed this week that the state will now require fighters to submit to drug testing throughout the year. Previously fighters were only tested when they fought making it possible for fighters to take steroids and cycle them out of their system before a fight.
- C.B. Dollaway, Matt Brown, and Prince Mclean will all be cast members on The Ultimate Fighter 7.
- Jake Shields has announced that he will face UFC-veteran Drew Fickett on March 29th in San Jose in the first-ever EliteXC welterweight championship bout.
- In a recent interview UFC Heavyweight Champion Randy Couture picked Tim Sylvia to win next weekend’s Interim Heavyweight Title Bout between Sylvia and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira at UFC 81.
- The UFC has signed deals with both TNA and WWE to promote former-professional wrestler Brock Lesnar’s upcoming UFC debut against Frank Mir.
hope dana can sort things out with tito it will be a shame to see him go, hes still in my five top light heavyweights in the ufc
rampage
chuck
thiago silva
tito
wandi
griffin
shogun
machida
rashard
jardine
WOW THAT WAS HARD, BE NICE TO SEE OTHER PEOPLES TOP TEN NOT AS EASY AS IT SOUNDS IM STILL HAVEING DOUBTS BOUT MY OWN HAHA
“Jake Shields has announced that he will face UFC-veteran Drew Fickett on March 29th in San Jose in the promotion’s first-ever welterweight championship bout.”
What promotion??
i agree wth Randy. Sylvia knocks out Nog in the first.
Lowcash, I assume EliteXC since that is where Shields has had his last few fights and I don’t think EliteXC has ever had a welterweight champ before.
Johnboy you are crazy to have Tito in your top five lightheavyweights. He nearly lost to Rashad. I qould question Tito in the top 10. You have to say these guys are ahead of him:
1. Quinton Jackson
2. Forrest Griffin
3. Dan Henderson
4. Keith Jardine
5. Shogun Rua
6. Chuck Liddell
7. Wanderlai Silva
8. Thiago Silva
9. Lyoto Machida
10. Rashad Evans
That means Tito is at best a 11. I would consider Sokodjou above him too, and he is on his way down. BTW, I think you could argue to put Wilson Gouveia above him with Matt Hamill on his heels. Sorry Tito, no big loss if you leave. If he beats Machida that is a different story and then we would be loosing a relevant fighter, if he looses he will never again be a contender at lightheavyweight even if he stayed. I still want to see White vs. Ortiz.
If this is Tito’s last UFC fight then why not Tito vs Rashad 2 and Thiago Silva vs Machida..two unbeaten rising Light Heavies….WTF!!
If it is true that Jardine is going to fight at UFC 84, the UFC 84 and 85 will be a huge factors in the lightheavyweight divison. Already it is said that Shogun is fighting at UFC 84. His opponent very well could be Keith Jardine, with the winner being a serious top 5 and maybe earning next title shot. Chuck has called for a Liddell vs. Jardine II and very well could get it.
We already know Forrest and Jackson will fight
Thiago Silva is to fight Rashad Evans
Lyoto Machida is to fight Tito Ortiz
So that leaves 4-5 fighters to mix it up in some way: Jardine, Shogun, Liddell, Wanderlai and Sokodujou. Look for all five of those guys to be booked for a figt by the June fight card. We know it won’t be Liddell vs. Jardine. So Chuck will either fight Jardine or Shogun.
I would assume Dana wants Shogun, Wanderlai and Sokoudjou to book wins, they could get secod tier guys like Gouveia, Lambert, Schafer, or Alexander.
well hendo has gone to middleweight now so u cant realy count him in, and sokodjou come on jason u might not like tito that much but credit were credit duetito is still a top fighter, hes just a bit of a prick outside the cage,
dont think jardine is top 5 but thanks for ur views, any1 else got views?
I agree tubekid. I want to see Ortiz vs Evans II. I think his legacy is hurt by that draw, and many see it as a Rashad win. BTW, hasn’t Tito pulled out some questionable decisions? Machida vs. Silva would be a good fight. i expect both to win their next fights and to collide next. The winner of that has to be a top 3 contender if it works out that way.
In my rankings on my blog I don’t have Jardine a top five. I dont know if skills wise he is a top ten. I would add I do not know if Forrest is a top five or even top ten. Forrest hasn’t beaten anyone except Shogun. I have Sokodjou over Tito based on quality wins vs quality opponents. Tito’s last fights are:
1. A draw vs. Rashad Evans
2. A loss to Chuck
3. A win vs Ken Shamrock
4. A win vs Ken Shamrock
5. A split deicison win over Forrest Griffin
6. A split decision win over Vitor Belfort
7. A decison win over Patrick Cote
8. A loss to Liddell
9. A loss to Randy Couture
Doesn’t that speak for itself regarding Tito. He beat an aging Shamrock, and won very questionable decisions over Forrest and Belfort. I might add that I think Cote may have deserved the decision win as well.
On the other hand Sokoudjou’s last fights are
1. A loss to a top ten fighter in Machida
2. A win over a top 5 LHW in Antonio Rogerio Nogueira
3. A win over a top 5 LHW in Ricardo Arona
All I am saying is Tito is overrated. He has been too busy with other things (Punishment, Apprentice and Jenna).
The Jake Shields/Drew Fickett fight is being co-promoted by Strikeforce and EliteXC and the winner will be the first ELiteXC WW champion.
haha so his last 9 fights hes won 5 even how much u say split decison there still wins hes lost to argubly the two best fighters to step into the cage and a draw which i think he wont even wiv the point taken away, tito is not overrated when his mind is on the fight instead of as you say jenna,apprentice,punishment he can give any fighter out there a run for their money, tito will be a big loss to the ufc so dana swallow ur pride give ur bald head a shake an give tito another contract
I hope he gives Tito another contract. Tito is still a quality fighter, I just don’t think he is top ten right now, as of today. Tito says he has big news, could be he already knows where he is going after UFC. For the UFC to loose Randy, Tito and Arlovski within 6 months would be a disaster. I don’t like Tito, but a lot of folks do. He would bring a crowd to another organization. He is one of MMA’s most recognizable and popular. I would say UFC has one thing in their favor and that is Tito cares a lot about…Tito. Where will he find the most exposure? UFC. He could go to another organization and get the title fairly easily though.
I am going to agree with johnboy and say that a rededicated Tito is a threat to anyone at 205 (said it before). I also find it interesting to see how highly Keith Jardine is rated; I know he knocked out Griffin and has the split decision over chuck but really? If there was a Chuck vs Keith rematch who would still be the favorite; yes, Chuck. I also think Wilson Gouveia merits some consideration. This may be the hardest division to make a top 10 list for.
Lowcash - see Holy_dave’s response. Thanks for the heads up, I forgot to add the promotion to the article.
To the true MMA fan….. UFC is feeding it’s athletes and fans to the wolves. Paying wrestling venues to promote a guy to steal/share fan base…. brilliant to the bastards that own the UFC. What a joke. I do not want to go and see some wrestling fan sitting next to me at an MMA event. They need to start paying their fighters better…. Dumb asses. Also… they kinda ruined the sport by taking out their own competition (Pride). I think another venue will rise from the ashes. Someone should fight Dana White… Tito would have killed him… Yet he still made money off a 1 hour show about nothing. So much to b**** about; such a waste of energy.
Man, Yall some haters!!! I agree tito has not fought up to his potential in his last couple of fights but if he was in shape for the rashad fight, he would have crushed rashad!!! I hope to see a rematch between them so he could prove some people wrong…. I still consider him a top 10 light heavyweight but no top 5 until he wins a couple more fights… I would also like to see tito-silva 2, that would be entertaining and sell tickets for the ufc… Ponder on this… what if he drop down to his old weight of 185.. Couldnt he dominate there? excluding anderson silva, I think he could run through the middleweight divison.. But dont hate on the guy when a win is a win… Forrest maybe should have gotten the decison on him… but hell no on the vitor belfort fight!!! watch the damn fight… tito dominated the last two rounds period!! end of discussion
Guys the most shocking part of that list for me was the UFC Banning Affliction Clothing Wear as a sponsor for UFC athletes.. who are they to dictate who sponsors who..
This most likely is because of the Couture vs Fedor Photoshoot..
If I was Affliction I would take them to court and sue them..
Somebody has to knock this Fatboy off his perch for the good of all MMA.. they definitely could care less about the fighters..
or the fans for that matter!!!
hey im wondering how to get into stuff like this