Silva vs.Bisping On UFC Fight Pass

UFC President Dana White has announced that former UFC Middleweight Champion, Anderson "the Spider "Silva, will be making his UFC return against Michael "the Count" Bisping in London.  The fight will take place on February 27 and air exclusively on UFC Fight Pass.  This fight will be the first fight for Silva since his five round clash with Nick Diaz at UFC 183 in January.  This should be an excited fight that is years in the making.

Who wins in the Anderson Silva vs. Michael Bisping bout?

Anderson Silva

Michael Bisping

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Is the Bisping/Silva fight a big enough draw to get you to subscribe to UFC Fight Pass?

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Anderson Silva Returning in 2015

Former UFC Middleweight Champion, Anderson Silva, was last seen in action at UFC 168 in which he tried to recover the UFC title that he lost at UFC 162 to Chris Weidman.  During their clash, Anderson Silva broke his leg throwing a kick that was checked by Chris Weidman.  Since that moment Silva has been out of action trying to recover from his injury.  Silva quickly underwent surgery and has slowly been recovering and even sharing videos of him training on his various social media accounts.  This week, Anderson Silva's doctor in Brazil has cleared him to begin training and resuming his MMA career.  MMA H.E.A.T.'s Karyn Bryan sat down with Silva and asked him about his future in MMA.



Silva is expecting to return in 2015 and doesn't yet have an opponent in mind yet.  Many are buzzing about possibly seeing a bout that has seemed to elude the UFC fans for years--a fight between Silva and Michael Bisping.  I personally wouldn't mind seeing Silva go up to 205lb for a fourth time or possibly see him face Vitor Belfort or Rich Franklin in a rematch.  Franklin believes that he could defeat Silva if he got his hands on Silva for a third time.  Franklin has one last fight on his contract and I wouldn't be opposed to another round of Silva and Franklin.  If Penn can get a third shot at Edgar in a similar situation, why shouldn't we see Franklin try to redeem himself against the man who took his title?  Also a super fight with Georges St. Pierre has been buzzed about, but I'd rather see a clash with Franklin, Belfort or Bisping over a fight with GSP.  Who would you all like to see the Spider face?

UFC 172: Countdown to UFC 172

Kennedy Suffers Broken Hand in Bisping Fight

Former Army Ranger and current UFC Middleweight, Tim Kennedy, suffered a broken hand last night at the TUF Nations Finale.  Kennedy called out top-ten UFC Middleweight, Michael Bisping during the end of last year and finally got to pit his skills against Bisping. Kennedy put up a less-than-spectacular performance against a ring-rusted Michael Bisping last night and was able to win over all three judges and get the unanimous decision. Kennedy turned the fight into grappling match instead of a true MMA fight. While they were standing,  Kennedy did manage to catch Bisping a few times with his right hand.  It's not an impressive victory whatsoever, but the punches thrown were enough to damage his hand.

TUF Nations Finale: Event Results/Post Fight Conference

Main Card:
Tim Kennedy def. Michael Bisping via unanimous decision
Patrick Cote def. Kyle Noke via unanimous decision
Elias Theodorou def. Sheldon Westcott via second-round TKO
Chad Laprise def. Olivier Aubin-Mercier via split decision
Dustin Poirier def. Akira Corassani via second-round TKO

Preliminary Card:
K.J. Noons def. Sam Stout via first-round KO
Sarah Kaufman def. Leslie Smith via unanimous decision
Ryan Jimmo def. Sean O'connell via KO in round 1
George Roop def. Dustin Kimura via unanimous decision
Mark Bocek def. Mike de la Torre via split decision
Nordine Taleb def. Vik Grujic via unanimous decision
Richard Walsh def. Chris Indich via unanimous decision
Mitch Gagnon def. Tim Gorman via unanimous decision

TUF Nations Finale: Weigh-in Results

Main Card:

Michael Bisping (186) vs. Tim Kennedy (186)
Patrick Cote (170) vs. Kyle Noke (171)
Elias Theodorou (185) vs. Sheldon Westcott (184)
Olivier Aubin-Mercier (169) vs. Chad Laprise (170)
Akira Corassani (145) vs. Dustin Poirier (145)

Preliminary Card:

K.J. Noons (168) vs. Sam Stout (169)
Sarah Kaufman (135) vs. Leslie Smith (135)
Ryan Jimmo (205) vs. Sean O’Connell (204)
Dustin Kimura (136) vs. George Roop (135)
Mark Bocek (156) vs. Mike De La Torre (156)
Vik Grujic (186) vs. Nordine Taleb (185)
Chris Indich (170) vs. Richard Walsh (171)
Mitch Gagnon (135) vs. Tim Gorman (135)

Te Huna and Marquart Meet at 185 lbs.

The UFC has announced a UFC Fight Night event that will showcase an electrifying main event between UFC/Strikeforce veteran Nate Marquardt and James Te Huna, in New Zealand.  Nate Marquardt has had a hard time getting back into the win column since the re-joining the UFC.  Marquartdt hasn't won a fight since making his welterweight debut and capturing the Strikeforce Welterweight title in July 2012.  After winning the title, he was unable to successfully defend it against Tarec Saffiedine and then he suffered first round KOs to the hands of Jake Ellenberger and then Hector Lombard.  Nate Marquardt is returning to the weight class that originally found him success in the UFC and in Pancrase in Japan.

On the other hand, James Te Huna will be making his debut to the Middleweight division in this New Zealand clash.  James Te Huna began his career at Light Heavyweight, but a two-fight losing streak has caused Te Huna to make the move to the 185 lb weight class.

This is going to be an exciting fight that will probably be The Fight of the Night.  
This fight will allow one of these men to get there career back together.  I think that it will be a fight that Marquardt will have to win coming off of a three fight losing streak in the UFC and Strikeforce.  If Te Huna were to lose he could possibly still have one last fight left in the UFC.

Francis Carmont and CB Dollaway Added to UFC Fight Night 41

The UFC has announced that the co-main event for the Munoz-Mousasi card will feature another bout at middleweight as CB Dolloway and Francis Carmont are set to go to battle in the Octogon.  Francis Carmont is coming off of a decision loss to grappling wizard "Jacare" Souza at UFC Fight Night 36 in February.  Before that fight, Carmont was on an eleven-fight win streak with six of those fights in the UFC.  With his streak ended, Carmont is looking to get back right into the title picture again.  Dollaway is coming off of a 39 second TKO win over TUF Brazil  season one winner, Cezar Ferreira at UFC Fight Night 38 in March.

This is an important fight for both men as they look to move up the ladder of contenders.  It should be an interesting fight between these two entertaining fighters.  Both men are great wrestlers, but I believe that Dollaway carries a little more power than Carmont.  Carmont has great technical striking though Dollaway will definitely be the harder hitter of the two men.  I see Carmont's excellent technique and takedown defense being too much Dollaway.

Munoz and Mousasi Set for Battle in May

UFC Middleweight contenders, Mark Munoz and Gegard Mousasi have been scheduled to face each other in a headline bout against each other on May 31.  The two men will square off in a five round fight that will headline a UFC Fight Night Card (UFC Fight Night 41) in Berlin.

Both men share a common link in their most recent outings.  Both men have been the victim of Lyoto Machida's drop down to the Middleweight Division.  Lyoto Machida dropped down to Middleweight after losing a controversial loss to Phil Davis at UFC 163.  Since dropping down to Middleweight, Machida has defeated Mark Munoz and then followed that performance with a win over Gegard Mousasi.  Both men will need to get a win to stay relevant in the title picture.  Both men are high level athletes who have lost to a superior athlete in the form of Lyoto Machida.  It will be interesting to see who will win this showdown and potentially stay in the mix at the top of the 185 lb weight class.

UFC 173: Main Event Rescheduled to UFC 175 in July

It seems that UFC Middleweight Champion, Chris Weidman, has suffered a knee injury and has been forced to pull out of his second title defense against Lyoto Machida. The match has now been moved to UFC 175 on July 5th.  This now leaves the UFC 173 card without a main event.  They could make the heavyweight clash between dos Santos and Miocic the main event, but that is doubtful.

Dan Henderson, who is coming off of a TKO win in Brazil this weekend, has petitioned for a rematch with Machida to fill in for the main event card.  I also find this rematch unlikely to replace the main event, though I wouldn't mind seeing that fight.  We will have to wait and see the fate of UFC 173.

Rich Franklin Where Are You?

As a huge Rich Franklin fan I would first like to start off by saying that i am a little frustrated by Rich Franklin's absence from MMA.  Rich Franklin last fought in November 2012 against Cung Le in Macao live on Fuel TV.  Rich Franklin was knocked out cold by the dynamic striker within the first 2:17m of the first round.  Since then we have not seen Rich Franklin in action.  Franklin is one of the most talented individuals to walk into the Octogon.  Rich Franklin is a former school teacher who taught himself martial arts through instructional videos before he became a professional fighter. He made his UFC debut back in 2003 against Evan Tanner at UFC 42 in April of that year.  He came out and scored a spectacular TKO win.  A little over two years later he would become the UFC Middleweight Champion by defeating Evan Tanner in their rematch at UFC 53.  Franklin lost the title to the great Anderson Silva back in 2006 at UFC 64 after two successful title defenses.  Rich Franklin has competed against some of the best athletes in the world while he was active in the sport such as Marvin Eastman, Lyoto Machida Jorge Rivera, Ken Shamrock, David Loiseau, Yushin Okami, Dan Henderson, Wanderlei Silva, Vitor Belfort, Chuck Liddell and Forest Griffin.

Whether you are a fan of Rich Franklin or not, you must appreciate Franklin's confidence to take on any man that the UFC has put in front of him.  Franklin never turned down a fight and even continued to fight with injuries in fights with David Loiseau and Chuck Liddell.  Franklin has stated within the last few months that he still has one more fight left on his UFC contract and he plans on completing his contract and taking that last fight.  Since stating his contract status, we haven't heard much out of Franklin.  If you don't follow Rich Franklin then you wouldn't know that Franklin has been busy with doing some work outside of the UFC.  Franklin has been working on studying nutrition and even opened up a successful juice bar in Beverly Hills.

Post by Rich Franklin.

In February, the UFC announced that they would be hosting a UFC Fight Night event in Cincinnati, OH and I was sure that within a few days an announcement would be made that Rich Franklin would be headlining that event for his final fight.    That announcement never came and instead it was announced that Erick Silva and Matt Brown have been named as the main event for the Fight Night event.  The longer he stays away from the cage the less likely that he will return.  I feel that there are many interesting match ups that could be made for Rich Franklin's last fight. I honestly would watch him fight anyone at Light Heavyweight or Middleweight.  Hopefully he keeps to his word and finishes the contract, but if he doesn't, it has been a pleasure to watch him compete for many years.

Cung Le Interested in Silva Rematch

Former Strikeforce Middleweight Champion, Cung Le has been a very busy man over the last few months as he was playing the role of Dana White during the shooting of the Ultimate Fighter China.  Though he has been a busy man, he has kept up with the events going on in Las Vegas in regards to TRT.  Le has stated that he wouldn't mind stepping in against Wanderlei Silva if Chael Sonnen needed to pull out due to the new TRT ban in the UFC.  Cung Le and Wanderlei Silva first met at UFC 139 in 2011.  Le was winning the stand up war until Silva caught him and earned the second round TKO.  Le felt that he didn't put out his best work in that fight and would like a second chance to prove himself against Wanderlei Silva.

It has been nearly a year and a half since we have last seen Cung Le in action and that is sad considering the talent level that Cung Le is at.  He is definitely one of the most elite strikers in MMA.  Cung Le is now in that phase of his career in which he knows that he isn't going to be fighting for a championship again and all of his fights would purely be for entertainment purposes only.  I wouldn't mind seeing the two of them compete again.  Both men are on the final stretch of their careers and have nothing left to prove as they are both former champions of premier organizations.The match would be an easy sell for a UFC Fight Night Event like the rematch between Shogun Rua and Dan Henderson later this month.

UFC 173: Machida Replaces Belfort in Title Fight

There has been a major change to the UFC 173 card as the main event has changed.  Due to the recent NSAC changes, UFC Middleweight contender Vitor Belfort has been forced to pull out of his title fight with current Champion Chris Weidman.  Vitor Belfort is perhaps the scrutinized TRT user currently signed on the UFC roster despite other big name users also using the testosterone balancing treatment.  With Belfort out of the title fight with Weidman, former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Lyoto Machida has been booked as his replacement to fight for the title.

Lyoto Machida is coming off a close decision victory over former multi-promotion champion, Gegard Mousasi.  Machida made his 185 lb debut at the end of 2013 after defeating top ten contender and friend, Mark Munoz.  He first decided to drop to middleweight after a highly controversial decision loss to Phil Davis at UFC 163.  Many felt that Machida clearly won the fight, but he still fell short on the judges' scorecards.

Lyoto Machida may only sport a 2-0 record in the UFC's Middleweight Division, but he is definitely a worthy and deserving challenger.  His two fights at 185 lbs. both earned him post-fight bonuses.  He earned KO of the Night over Mark Munoz and Fight of the Night in his most recent bout with Gegard Mousasi.  As a Light Heavyweight, Lyoto Machida had a record of 11-4 with all of his wins clear decisions or stoppages.  His four losses came by the hands of three current or former UFC champions (Mauricio Rua, Quinton Jackson and Jon Jones) and one top ten contender (Phil Davis).  His fights with Mauricio Rua and Jon Jones were stoppages, but his fights with Jackson and Davis could arguably have been wins for Machida.

Machida has an evasive style similar to Anderson Silva, but with a greater emphasis on complete evasiveness and not just head movement.  Machida has an unorthodox fighting style that I believe will give Weidman some trouble and make it hard for Weidman to grab a hold of him.  If Weidman wants to gain a victory over Machida, He will need to somehow cut off the cage from Machida, grab him and smash him on the ground.  I don't see Weidman earning a quick KO over Machida.  I feel that Weidman will have to work hard for a win over Machida.  He'll be playing a dangerous game of cat and mouse that usually frustrates most of Machida's opponents.  Will he be able to retain the title against a man who I feel is a tougher test than Anderson Silva.  Only time will tell and I am excited to find out.

Machida Not Opposed to Facing Jacare or Bisping

Former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion, Lyoto Machida looked great at UFC Fight Night 36 in Brazil this past weekend against Gegard Mousasi.  Though it has come out that Gegard Mousasi landed more strikes than Lyoto Machida, Machida was still able to walk away with the victory.  Machida felt that the win over Mousasi was enough to earn him a title shot, but he wouldn't be opposed to taking another fight until he gets the title shot.  When speaking of a possible shot or future opponents, he mentioned two names.  Those names were "Jacare" Souza and Michael Bisping.  Michael Bisping has already signed an agreement to fight Tim Kennedy in a few months, but Jacare who also fought on the same night as Machida hasn't already agreed to face another opponent.  Machida and Jacare share a common training partner in former UFC Middleweight Champion, Anderson "the Spider" Silva.

Which fighter would you prefer to see Lyoto Machida face if he must earn another win before fighting for the title?--Tough Spar MMA

Jacare Souza

Michael Bisping

Other

Please Specify:

Poll Maker

UFC Fight Night 36: Fight Results

Main Card:

Lyoto Machida def. Gegard Mousasi via unanimous decision
Ronaldo Souza def. Francis Carmont via unanimous decision
Erick Silva def. Takenori Sato via first-round TKO
Nicholas Musoke def. Viscardi Andrade via unanimous decision
Charles Oliveira def. Andy Ogle via submission (triangle choke)

Preliminary Card:

Joe Proctor def. Cristiano Marcello via unanimous decision
Rodrigo Damm def. Ivan Jorge via unanimous decision
Francisco Trinaldo def. Jesse Ronson via split decision
Iuri Alcantara def. Wilson Reis via split decision
Felipe Arantes def. Maximo Blanco via unanimous decision
Ildemar Alcantara def. Albert Tumenov via split decision
Zubaira Tukhugov def. Douglas Silva de Andrade via unanimous decision

UFC Fight Night 36 Weigh-in Results

Main Card:

Lyoto Machida (185) vs. Gegard Mousasi (186)
Ronaldo Souza (185) vs. Francis Carmont (185)
Erick Silva (170) vs. Takenori Sato (170)
Viscardi Andrade (170) vs. Nicholas Musoke (170)
Charles Oliveira (143) vs. Andy Ogle (146)

Preliminary Card:

Cristiano Marcello (156) vs. Joe Proctor (155)
Rodrigo Damm (156) vs. Ivan Jorge (156)
Francisco Trinaldo (155) vs. Jesse Ronson (156)
Iuri Alcantara (136) vs. Wilson Reis (135)
Felipe Arantes (146) vs. Maximo Blanco (145)
Ildemar Alcantara (171) vs. Albert Tumenov (170)
Douglas Silva de Andrade (145) vs. Zubair Tuhugov (146)

Machida May Get Weidman/Belfort Winner

Former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion, Lyoto Machida faces Gegard Mousasi February 22nd at UFC Fight Night 36 in Brazil.  UFC President, Dana White has stated that Lyoto Machida could be fighting for the UFC Middleweight Championship if he wins against Mousasi in their five round fight.  We've heard these same statement from White while Machida was the #2 guy behind Jones.  Hopefully he won't get passed up with a victory over Mousasi.  Machida and Jacare Souza are definitely the best options for the next title fight.

Jones and Weidman Both Interested in Super Fight

It seems that current UFC Champions Jon Jones and Chris Weidman both share an interest in competing with one another in a potential super fight.  Before you quote us in saying that this is going to happen soon, please realize that the two only share an interest and have not made steps towards trying to make this fight happen.

Both men share a sudden meteoric rise to stardom on their way to becoming champions.  Both men are strong offensive and defensive wrestlers who also have the ability to strike with guys who are considered to have better stand up skills.  This would be an interesting fight if it were to occur down the road after Weidman has at least 3 to 4 more title defense under his belt and both men are still champions a few years from now.  Now just wouldn't be the time for this fight to occur.  Had Silva not lost the UFC title at UFC 162 or possibly regained it at UFC 168, the Silva Jones fight would have been perfect.

Sonnen/W. Silva to Be Paired With Weidman/Belfort

UFC President, Dana White, has expressed an interest in having the Light Heavyweight bout between Wanderlei Silva and Chael Sonnen be placed on the same card as the UFC Middleweight Championship fight between Chris Weidman and Vitor Belfort.  The date is not final for that bout, but the fight is scheduled to occur in Las Vegas sometime in May or Fourth of July weekend.  Chael Sonnen and Wanderlei Silva have been exchanging words with each other for the last year or so and they will finally get to back up all of their talk in the cage.  The two men have already come to blows while filming TUF Brazil 3.

Who wins Sonnen vs. W. Silva?--Tough Spar MMA

Chael Sonnen

Wanderlei Silva

Poll Maker

Bisping and Kennedy Ready for Battle

After an eye injury that has left "The Count" Michael Bisping has finally been cleared by his doctor to compete again.  Bisping was pulled from his last fight against Mark Munoz before it could even happen due to the injury. Bisping already had agreed to fight Tim Kennedy whom he had been feuding with via the MMA schoolyard known as Twitter.  The two men will meet at the TUF Nations finale in Quebec.  This will be Tim Kennedy's biggest name opponent in his professional career and also the toughest test since joining the UFC.