UFC 68: The Uprising
The Ultimate Fighting Championship has one of its biggest events (without Chuck Liddell) set for Saturday night. The main event features a bout between former light heavyweight champion and UFC Hall of Famer Randy “The Natural” Couture against current heavyweight champ Tim “The Maniac” Sylvia.
I was shocked when I heard of this bout. Couture shuns retirement to come back and fight one of the biggest, baddest dudes in the sport? Yikes.
The rest of the card is overwhelming. You have two champions in their first fight back from losing the title – Rich Franklin and Matt Hughes.
Franklin had his face rearranged by Anderson Silva while Matt Hughes was knocked out by Georges St. Pierre.
Franklin will face Jason MacDonald while Hughes steps up against Chris Lytle. Many believe Lytle got hosed in a decision in the finale of The Ultimate Fighter: 4 reality show against Matt Serra. I was at that bout in Vegas and Lytle certainly deserved a better fate. Here is Lytle’s chance to prove himself.
Another battle features Renato Sobral and Jason Lambert. Sobral has lost just two fights in the past 4 ½ year – both to Liddell, including an Aug. 26 loss in UFC: 62. This dude is tough.
FROM COLUMBIA DISPATCH: The highest-grossing event at Columbus, Ohio's Nationwide Arena isn’t a hockey game or rock concert. It’s Saturday’s kicking, grappling and punching UFC match. The sold-out event has reaped $2.8 million in ticket sales. More than the Rolling Stones, the Blue Jackets or the combined effort of Billy Joel and Elton John. In the first day of sales, 16,000 fans paid between $100 and $400 to see nearly naked men armed with only their fists and feet climb into an octagonal cage with one goal: beat an opponent into submission.
Fight card and official weight-in Friday afternoon:
Championship fight-Heavyweight Division
Randy Couture (222.5) vs. Tim Sylvia (263)
Middleweight Division
Jason MacDonald (183.5) vs. Rich Franklin (185)
Welterweight Division
Chris Lytle (169) vs Matt Hughes (171)
Light Heavyweight Division
Jason Lambert (204) vs. Renato Sobral (204)
Middleweight Division
Drew McFedries (185) vs. Mark Kampmann (185.5)
Light Heavyweight Division
Rex Holman (205) vs. Matt Hamill (202.5)
Welterweight Division
Luigi Fioravanti (171) vs. Jon Fitch (171)
Lightweight Division
Gleison Tubau (155.5) vs. Jason Dent (156)
Lightweight Division
Jason Gilliam (155.5) vs. Jamie Varner (155.5)
I was shocked when I heard of this bout. Couture shuns retirement to come back and fight one of the biggest, baddest dudes in the sport? Yikes.
The rest of the card is overwhelming. You have two champions in their first fight back from losing the title – Rich Franklin and Matt Hughes.
Franklin had his face rearranged by Anderson Silva while Matt Hughes was knocked out by Georges St. Pierre.
Franklin will face Jason MacDonald while Hughes steps up against Chris Lytle. Many believe Lytle got hosed in a decision in the finale of The Ultimate Fighter: 4 reality show against Matt Serra. I was at that bout in Vegas and Lytle certainly deserved a better fate. Here is Lytle’s chance to prove himself.
Another battle features Renato Sobral and Jason Lambert. Sobral has lost just two fights in the past 4 ½ year – both to Liddell, including an Aug. 26 loss in UFC: 62. This dude is tough.
FROM COLUMBIA DISPATCH: The highest-grossing event at Columbus, Ohio's Nationwide Arena isn’t a hockey game or rock concert. It’s Saturday’s kicking, grappling and punching UFC match. The sold-out event has reaped $2.8 million in ticket sales. More than the Rolling Stones, the Blue Jackets or the combined effort of Billy Joel and Elton John. In the first day of sales, 16,000 fans paid between $100 and $400 to see nearly naked men armed with only their fists and feet climb into an octagonal cage with one goal: beat an opponent into submission.
Fight card and official weight-in Friday afternoon:
Championship fight-Heavyweight Division
Randy Couture (222.5) vs. Tim Sylvia (263)
Middleweight Division
Jason MacDonald (183.5) vs. Rich Franklin (185)
Welterweight Division
Chris Lytle (169) vs Matt Hughes (171)
Light Heavyweight Division
Jason Lambert (204) vs. Renato Sobral (204)
Middleweight Division
Drew McFedries (185) vs. Mark Kampmann (185.5)
Light Heavyweight Division
Rex Holman (205) vs. Matt Hamill (202.5)
Welterweight Division
Luigi Fioravanti (171) vs. Jon Fitch (171)
Lightweight Division
Gleison Tubau (155.5) vs. Jason Dent (156)
Lightweight Division
Jason Gilliam (155.5) vs. Jamie Varner (155.5)
posted by Roy Lang III at 3:00 PM
1 Comments:
Not to nitpick, but Tim Sylvia's nick name isn't "The Maniac"...it's "The Maine-iac" as he is from Maine.
But kudos on the recent UFC coverage. As the brother of a fighter I am extremely impressed with the coverage on your box score pages the past couple of months and the stroy you did. Good job.
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