I am watching the Renzo Gracie Legacy DVD and I am wondering where Renzo Gracie has been hiding himself. So after the build up to 112, I had hoped we would see him at least a few more times in the Octagon. Hughes was a tough fight, and sitting in the crowd that night, I could feel the disappointment in the air. But the pressure is off him now, seems like there are plenty of great fights to match him up with...Are we just going to see him fight in April at AbuDhabi 2? Is he part of the 2011 Brazil show or TUF? Even if his days in the cage are limited, I personally want to see him more visible in MMA. His name should be in the (nonexistent) Hall of Fame....

If you havnt watch this Legacy DVD, very cool look into Renzo and fighting. Crazy how many people are in his gym training, or at the fights he is in (like Yvel and Overeem warming up for Japan fight). Cool to see Almeida  and Matt Sera at that point in their careers.

via fighthounds.com

This weekend is a monster card being held in Dublin Ireland. Cage Contender 5 will be live on Setanta Sports Ireland and probably several other UK Setanta replays.  Cage Contender Bantamweight Title on the line between Paul McVeigh and Artemij Sitenkov. There are eight other pro fights on the card, and two semi-pro. Dave O'Reilley takes on WIll Heffernan in a Light Heavyweight brawl. And a highly anticipated welterweight fight between Dean Barry and Phillip Mulpeter. The Irish are making themselves heard in the UK MMA arenas. Will we see some of these fighters on the upcoming UFC in March 2011 in Ireland for St. Patricks?  Tune in and find out!

I was just talkin to Brad and he has signed to fight Dan at Bellator 25 on August 19th. SO he will put his career as a sport fisherman on hold temporarily....
Brad was last seen getting a TKO loss to Demarques Johnson in Abu Dhabi at UFC112 due to blood in his eyes from a cut. With a decent 3-2 record in the UFC, his cut was a surprise.  With a strong IFL record, and some UFC under his belt, Brad looks to return strong and put on a great fight with Dan, last season's number two for Bellator.

So impatiently waiting for the official announcement and press conference today. At 10am Amsterdam time (1am Pacific) the UFC updated the site

http://uk.ufc.com/index.cfm?fa=news.detail&gid=51590

So all rumored fights are true, two belts!

It mentions Concert Arena Ferrari World, Yas Island. Here is what I found about this venue

via www.yasalam.ae

Not clear that this is an outdoor venue as repeatedly mentioned by Zuffa/Flash. Beyonce/Kings of Leon/Aerosmith and others have played this arena, so its possible it has an open roof, or has a space for secondary venue outside. I did find the following quote on a blogger site about the Jamiroquai concert there

"The Ferrari theme park is a stunning architectural structure..still under completion, but with its main structure complete, it provided a fantastic amphitheatre to hold the concerts." So she mentions amphitheater...that sounds outdoors..lol

So Ferrari World is still under construction, but the blogger has some pictures up of what this outdoor space looks like, though I expect for UFC there will be at a minimums some bleachers...but they should be nice padded ones, with gold stitching, UAE style

http://www.travelblog.org/Photos/Popped/4490567

  zoomed back...sand on floor, Ferrari structure behind stage.

http://www.travelblog.org/Photos/Popped/4490567

 more of the space/structure

http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/United-Arab-Emirates/Abu-Dhabi/blog-455025.html the rest of their photos, if you want to gather more than what Ive chosen...

Finally here is the map Yas island website provides that also has a Yas Arena, so I think there are definite possibilities...I guess we will know more soon. Ticktets? yes please!

http://www.yasisland.ae/LocationMap_en_gb.html

  number 21....

Also I am starting to plan a UFC FIght Club/BloodyElbow meetup party....let me know if you are interested, I am working on a location and special guests...