I know this card is still 2 1/2 months away, but God damn, this card is loaded. As of right now... UFC 111: MARCH 27, 2010 venue: Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey Georges St-Pierre (19-2; #1 Welterweight) vs. Dan Hardy (23-6; #7 Welterweight) Frank Mir (13-4; #3 Heavyweight) vs. Shane Carwin (11-0; #8 Heavyweight) Jon Fitch (21-3; #2 Welterweight) vs. Thiago Alves (16-6; #3 Welterweight) Ricardo Almeida (11-3) vs. Matt Brown (11-7) And just think, not even 7 miles from my house. Hopefully they do the weigh ins right out front of the Prudential Center like they did for EliteXC. I'm not sure if I'm gonna attend the card or not, but I'll definitely be at the weigh in, camera in hand, seeing how many fighters I can get to plug Fightbeat. TFK
Best card in awhile. GSP could very well kill Dan Hardy, I hope he goes easy on the kid. Mir V Carwin is a real pick'em. With Lesnar out of the frame at the moment we could be looking at the future HW champ. I think Alves will out muscle Fitch in a war and I'm hoping Almeida can get the W over Brown.
that's the thing, the way it's been going for the UFC lately, it wouldn't surprise me to see all 4 main fights change/not happen by fight time. Nice fight between Matt Brown and Almeida. If Brown goes through Almeida he has to be considered a legit contender imho.
I agree Gatti, Matt Brown is pulling off some real nice wins. The fight with Almeida is a real good test to see if he can fight with the top of the division(minus GSP of course) I really want to see Alves beat Fitch. Nothing against Fitch, I just don't see him getting any better and I don't care to see GSP/Fitch too. The bad thing is, if I was a betting man, my money would be on Fitch to control the fight to a W. I must admit. I hate interim titles. If the champ can't fight, strip his belt. If it is due to an injury give him first shot when he is healthy. With that I think Carwin beats Mir by mirror image of Lesnar. Dan Hardy is going to get beat worse than Serra did.
I never thought much of Brown, going back to when I saw him get choked out by my boy Chris Liguori at a Combat in the Cage show back in 2006, but he really does seemed to have improved. I don't think he beats Almieda though. TFK
They added Jim Miller vs Mark Bocek to the card... http://mmajunkie.com/news/17488/mar...targeted-for-marchs-ufc-111-in-new-jersey.mma That's a great addition to an already loaded card. Miller is a local boy, so he'll defintely have the crowd behind him. I can't wait for this card. TFK
mark Bocek trains sometimes at a local gym in Hamilton. The guys i know that train there say he's a beast on the ground but has embarrassing stand up.
Another local fighter, Kurt Pelligrino, has been added to the card as well. Pellegrino was supposed to fight Frankie Edgar awhile back before getting hurt. Edgar is from the Jersey Shore, so it's possible that fight can be made again. I guess it depends on the result of the Diaz\Maynard fight on Monday. Rumor has it, if Maynard wins, he will fight BJ Penn for the title at UFC 112 in Abu Dhabi. But if Diaz wins, then Edgar will fight Penn. UFC 112 is shaping up to be a stacked card as well, with Penn vs Edgar or Maynard, Anderson Silva vs Vitor Belfort, and Matt Hughes vs. Renzo Gracie. TFK
Who deserves it more than Gray Maynard, especially if he takes care of business with Diaz? Maynard is undefeated at 8-0 and 6 of those wins are in the UFC against the likes of Jim Miller, Rich Clementi, Roger Huerta, and Frankie Edgar. Thats a pretty badass resume if you ask me, especially only having 8 professional fights. I think most on this board would agree he deserves a shot at the title alot more than your boy Hardy.
it is not that he doesn't deserve it, but he's got to make a statement against Diaz. With only 1 stoppage win to his record, he's not the most sellable contender out there. If he only records a workman like decision over Diaz, i think Edgar will get the shot, whether he deserves it as much or not. By contrast, Hardy's resume may not be the most impressive, but his style and power - along with a bunch of other factors - make him very marketable.
Lightweight, welter and middle have been cleaned out by BJ, GSP and Anderson Silva. None of the "contenders" have a shot in hell of winning. It's boring.
Good post, great points. Gray does have a very "un-marketable" style. I just think it really goes against the legitamacy of a title shot if you give Frankie the shot over Gray no matter how Gray beats Diaz, as long as Gray beats Diaz. I would make the Penn/Gray fight just to get it out of the way. Put it as a co-mainevent with an Anderson Silva/Marquardt fight. After BJ picks Gray apart, then let Frankie have a shot. If you give Frankie the shot first, it really bothers me. I would get it, but it would still bother me. And Frankie is one of my favorite fighters while Gray is one of my least favorite. I am really hoping Diaz catches him again so this whole discussion is a moot point.:: And just my opinion, but but I think Hardy being from the UK has more to do with his shot than his style. Dana is sooooo wanting to get more international market it isn't funny.
yep, that's what i meant by a 'bunch of other factors', that is most certainly one of the most significant. He's also articulate and gives good copy for the writers. Still, i think Hardy has been getting a bit of a raw deal, his win over Swick was a good one, and whilst it might not have lifted Hardy into the top 5 of the division, he's certainly a top 10 welterweight.
I like Hardy. He's fun to watch and he has some decent charisma. I think he will far surpass Bisping as far as wins in the octagon. He definitely has a punchers chance against GSP, but as we all know, that's about it. I would definitely put him top 10 of the WW division. I would have liked to see him get a win over a Koschek or Alves before the title shot but what the hell. It isn't like there is another WW just absurdly deserving of a shot over him.
Huh???... So Knowing AHEAD of Time that BJ, GSP & Silva have NO CHANCE of Losing @ 155, 170 & 185 is GOOD for MMA???... REED:dunno:
Having "A" Dominant Champion in "A" Weight Class ISN'T a Problem...But Considering UFC has what, 5 Divisions, w/3 of them Being Ruled by Guys that R Basically UNBEATABLE In those Divisions, that CAN Lead to a "Foregone Conclusion" Mentality to those Bouts... Honestly, when REED Watches BJ, GSP & Silva @ their Championship Weights, THE LAST Thing REED is Expecting is a COMPETITIVE Fight... REED:hammert:
I have to disagree there Reed. Besides a couple of Andersons last fights, I don't think any of them were so uncompetitive that they were "boring". I think both GSP and Penns last fights were entertaining. Even though they whooped their opponents, I still thought they were fun to watch. They weren't fighting chumps, it's just that they are sooo good right now. I also enjoy watching a fighter tear through a division and be truly dominant, making his mark on the sport while displaying their ridiculous skillset. This is MMA, and everything can change with 1 punch or submission. Just look at Serra, Bowles, and Aldo. Everyone was saying Gsp, Torres, and Brown were "unbeatable" at the time.
No Doubt, REED Can Appreciate the SKILL Level that BJ, GSP & Silva Exhibit...But REED Likes to Think of Himself as MORE than just a CASUAL MMA Fan...Now the CASUAL MMA Fan DOESN'T Appreciate Shit like that, they Want to See COMPETITIVE Fights... But U're NOT Gonna See that Anytime Soon from BJ, GSP & Silva, @ their Championship Weights...N Boxing, it was Often Said that Roy Jones was Tooooooooo GOOD for his Own Good, N the Sense that CASUAL Fans KNEW NOT to Expect a COMPETITIVE Fight when Roy was in the Ring... REED:hammert:
