3 Live broadcast of UFC 108 begun at (3)am GMT on ESPN UK. Didn't get to see the prelims on ESPN this event, but instead a nice hour of MMA Live, you win some you loose some.. right?
1 (1)st fight on the live card was Dos Santos Vs Yvel. Goldie said "Dos Santos welcomes Yvel to the UFC. Gilbert Yvel was 36 wins to his name, 30 by the way of knock-out. Out of them knock-outs 6 came by the way of strikes due to knees.
9 Junior Dos Santos has had a total of 10 professional fights (9) of those bouts have been Victories for Dos Santos with only one professional loose. Dos Santos is currently 3-0 in the UFC, and is in contension for a title shot.
0313 Bruce Buffer got things underway, "we are live!" at (0313) GMT
2:07 Herb Dean called a stop to the contest at (2:07) after Dos Santos dropped Yvel with some very dangerous punches. Dos Santos moves up the ladder in the heavyweight division and moves to 4-0 in the UFC. Joe Rogan said "Junior Dos Santos is for real"
0325 Promotional tapes ran at (0325)GMT for the second fight on the main card, in the lightweight division. Duane "Bang" Ludwig Vs Jim Miller. Ludwick took the fight at 2 weeks notice said Goldie.
2:58 Jim Miller gained full mount at (2:58) of the very first round from side control. Ludwig tried to buck Miller off but instead was caught in an arm bar and was forced to tap at 2:31 seconds of the same round. A great submission victory for Miller. Jim thanked the fans for attending the event and all the fighters for stepping up, to a card that has been dogged by injuries.
8 The third fight on the main card was a lightweight bout between Canadian Sam Stout and Joe Lauzon. This was a return to the UFC for Stout who was out of action for (8) months recovering from a serious knee injury.
25 This fight was truly a match up of young blood both fighters are (25) and this fight is a battle of nations, Sam Stout the Canadian and Joe Lauzon the American.
1 The (1)st round of this bout was evenly match. Lauzon tried a Camora early in the round but lost the position. Stout and Lauzon both recieved cuts. Getting further into the round Sam Stout began to pick apart Joe with a mixture of strikes to the head and body.
1:49 With (1:49) left in the second round Stout landed a head kick that rocked Lauzon.
3 At the begining of the (3)rd round Stout's coach said that "He has only got big shots left?!"
2:55 With (2:55) left of the bout Joe Rogan said "This is proably the best performance I have seen from Stout"
22 Joe Lauzon has competed in (22) professional fights but this was the first time that he has went the distance. Sam Stout won the bout (30-26, 30-27, 30-27).
75 The co main event on the UFC 108 card was Paul Daley Vs Dustin Hazelett. Dustin has one of the best ground games in the welterweight division. However the Brit Daley has a knock-out rate of (75) percent.
17 Out of 22 professional fights "Semtex" has ended a total of (17) by way of KO. In his first fight with Martin Kampmann, Daley landed a total of 29 strikes in under 2 minutes.
2 Hazelett stands (2)inches taller than Paul Daley at 6'1. Hazelett shows his acrobatic skills at the start of the fight with a dramatic front monkey flip.
2:24 Paul Daley was victorious at (2:24) seconds of the very first round with a left hook that knocked Hazelett down and then followed through with some very dangerous ground and pound. Team Ruffhouse will be a force in the Octagon, in 2010
(1) The one thing that both of the contenders in the main event at UFC 108 have in common, is a (1) loss to current 205 lbs Champion Lyoto Machida. Both fighters look to come away with the victory in order to get back into contention for a rematch with the champion to avenge otherwise perfect records.
0452 Mike Goldberg announced that they were going inside the numbers for the main event at (0452)GMT Rashad Evans -

• Lands 58% of takedown attempts
• 4 of last 5 wins by way of KO
• Holds the UFC record for most takedowns without being swept
• Former UFC 205lbs Champion

Thiago Silva -

• 12 of 13 wins by strike stoppage
• average UFC fight length 3:48
• 77% takedown defense rate

0502 The voice of the Octagon Bruce Buffer announced "This is the main event of the evening" at (0502)GMT.
3 The first round of the main event went to Evans with (3) takedowns and 1 mount. This is a sign that Evans has shifted back to his roots. At then end of the round, Silva's corner told him to stick to the plan, after loosing the first two rounds of the bout.
5 The final (5) minutes of the main event, were that of Thiago Silva. Realising that he was behind, Silva began to drop the hands and excite the crowd. The reason for this was to bate Evans into making mistakes, however with the round victory in 1 and 2 Evans pulls out the win.
If all the events for 2010 are as good as UFC 108 we will have a hell of a good year.
Get ready fight fans!

3 Live broadcast of UFC 108 begun at (3)am GMT on ESPN UK. Didn't get to see the prelims on ESPN this event, but instead a nice hour of MMA Live, you win some you loose some.. right?
1 (1)st fight on the live card was Dos Santos Vs Yvel. Goldie said "Dos Santos welcomes Yvel to the UFC. Gilbert Yvel was 36 wins to his name, 30 by the way of knock-out. Out of them knock-outs 6 came by the way of strikes due to knees.
9 Junior Dos Santos has had a total of 10 professional fights (9) of those bouts have been Victories for Dos Santos with only one professional loose. Dos Santos is currently 3-0 in the UFC, and is in contension for a title shot.
0313 Bruce Buffer got things underway, "we are live!" at (0313) GMT
2:07 Herb Dean called a stop to the contest at (2:07) after Dos Santos dropped Yvel with some very dangerous punches. Dos Santos moves up the ladder in the heavyweight division and moves to 4-0 in the UFC. Joe Rogan said "Junior Dos Santos is for real"
0325 Promotional tapes ran at (0325)GMT for the second fight on the main card, in the lightweight division. Duane "Bang" Ludwig Vs Jim Miller. Ludwick took the fight at 2 weeks notice said Goldie.
2:58 Jim Miller gained full mount at (2:58) of the very first round from side control. Ludwig tried to buck Miller off but instead was caught in an arm bar and was forced to tap at 2:31 seconds of the same round. A great submission victory for Miller. Jim thanked the fans for attending the event and all the fighters for stepping up, to a card that has been dogged by injuries.
8 The third fight on the main card was a lightweight bout between Canadian Sam Stout and Joe Lauzon. This was a return to the UFC for Stout who was out of action for (8) months recovering from a serious knee injury.
25 This fight was truly a match up of young blood both fighters are (25) and this fight is a battle of nations, Sam Stout the Canadian and Joe Lauzon the American.
1 The (1)st round of this bout was evenly match. Lauzon tried a Camora early in the round but lost the position. Stout and Lauzon both recieved cuts. Getting further into the round Sam Stout began to pick apart Joe with a mixture of strikes to the head and body.
1:49 With (1:49) left in the second round Stout landed a head kick that rocked Lauzon.
3 At the begining of the (3)rd round Stout's coach said that "He has only got big shots left?!"
2:55 With (2:55) left of the bout Joe Rogan said "This is proably the best performance I have seen from Stout"
22 Joe Lauzon has competed in (22) professional fights but this was the first time that he has went the distance. Sam Stout won the bout (30-26, 30-27, 30-27).
75 The co main event on the UFC 108 card was Paul Daley Vs Dustin Hazelett. Dustin has one of the best ground games in the welterweight division. However the Brit Daley has a knock-out rate of (75) percent.
17 Out of 22 professional fights "Semtex" has ended a total of (17) by way of KO. In his first fight with Martin Kampmann, Daley landed a total of 29 strikes in under 2 minutes.
2 Hazelett stands (2)inches taller than Paul Daley at 6'1. Hazelett shows his acrobatic skills at the start of the fight with a dramatic front monkey flip.
2:24 Paul Daley was victorious at (2:24) seconds of the very first round with a left hook that knocked Hazelett down and then followed through with some very dangerous ground and pound. Team Ruffhouse will be a force in the Octagon, in 2010
(1) The one thing that both of the contenders in the main event at UFC 108 have in common, is a (1) loss to current 205 lbs Champion Lyoto Machida. Both fighters look to come away with the victory in order to get back into contention for a rematch with the champion to avenge otherwise perfect records.
0452 Mike Goldberg announced that they were going inside the numbers for the main event at (0452)GMT Rashad Evans -

• Lands 58% of takedown attempts
• 4 of last 5 wins by way of KO
• Holds the UFC record for most takedowns without being swept
• Former UFC 205lbs Champion

Thiago Silva -

• 12 of 13 wins by strike stoppage
• average UFC fight length 3:48
• 77% takedown defense rate

0502 The voice of the Octagon Bruce Buffer announced "This is the main event of the evening" at (0502)GMT.
3 The first round of the main event went to Evans with (3) takedowns and 1 mount. This is a sign that Evans has shifted back to his roots. At then end of the round, Silva's corner told him to stick to the plan, after loosing the first two rounds of the bout.
5 The final (5) minutes of the main event, were that of Thiago Silva. Realising that he was behind, Silva began to drop the hands and excite the crowd. The reason for this was to bate Evans into making mistakes, however with the round victory in 1 and 2 Evans pulls out the win.
If all the events for 2010 are as good as UFC 108 we will have a hell of a good year.
Get ready fight fans!

What an eventful week it has been, and oh boy has Dana White put his foot in it again. I am not going to be bashing Dana White over his episode with Jake Rossen and Internet media as a collective, but I think it is important.

This week the main story has been Dana White’s attack on Jake Rossen, MMA blogger who has released an article debating the growth of MMA this year, and the future of the sport in the coming decade. This has obviously hurt the feeling of the UFC president. His argument is, on the week of a UFC 108, instead of promoting the new year’s UFC 108 event, the growth of MMA is questioned.

Lets take a little step back and think about this for a second. I am not the biggest fan of Jake Rossen, but in this case I have to side with him. I don’t agree that the UFC have stopped growing at all this year, I think that the growth from the start of the year has simply slowed. But what I do agree with is the important service that Internet media provides for the sport. Lets face it, we and not in the 80’s anymore the Internet is here, it’s large and it’s in charge. However it seems that White wants to protect the more mainstream forms of media. Forgetting about possibly his biggest audience. Is it not true that the opinions of the Internet media reflect directly the opinions of the fans? That the UFC president holds so dear.

The Internet is the heart of free speech and targeted discussion not just for the sport but for anything that is relevant into today’s world. MMA in itself is a young sport that is learning and developing from the mistakes that it makes. I think that what White and other promotional figure heads can take away from the fallout over this is. Internet media is a powerful resource and should be used to the maximum. The UFC has learned this to a certain extent with their interactive website, wealth of video material, Twitter and Youtube. But if they were to listen to the views of the normal fans on blogs and forums they could learn a lot more.

On the flip side. The MMA sites should promote fights to the best of their ability, we as fans of the sport should be united under people like Dana White to develop the sport and make it into the best thing that it can possibly be. I understand the frustrations of Dana White. Who for over 12 years has has reformed MMA and built the UFC as a brand. Lets face it for the casual fan, you don’t pay the 40 dollars for the hell of it. You pay the money because MMA, to you is the UFC. So for that reason Dana White has done his job, even though he has stepped on many toes this week doing it. The wounds will heal and the UFC will continue to march forward, with the support of Internet media or without.

UFC 108, kicks off 2010 tomorrow night, from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Boy! I can’t wait this event is going to be one of the biggest of 2010.

Headline, Rashad Evans Vs Thiago Silva. A very interesting fight for many reasons. Evans is coming off a title loss to Lyoto Machida. Rashad will want to prove that he is number 2 in the division with a win over Silva and get right back into contention for the 205 pound title. However there are other dimensions to this fight that add to my excitement, Rashad was the most recent coach on season 10 of The Ultimate Fighter. This was a very interesting season of TUF and it wasn’t just because of the great matches but also the chemistry/tension/hate between the two coaches Evans and “Rampage” Jackson. Now for the people that are not aware the UFC use TUF as a marketing tool for a fight involving the coaches after the season wraps up. For one reason or another Jackson decided to hang up his gloves and retire from the sport, preferring a career in cinema. This has lead to speculation that Evans, has been disrupted by the change in opponent and it will be interesting to see if this effects him come fight night. However it doesn’t end there, oh no, Silva last opponent was UFC Veteran Keith Jardine. Who happens to be training partner and good friend of Evans. Silva knocked Jardine out cold and left his UFC future in doubt. Evans has openly commented that he has a need for revenge.

Thiago Silva has only one loss on his record and that comes in the form of the current champion, Lyoto Machida. Why is this fight important for Silva? He wants a rematch for the championship and has said in build up to the fight that he is going to do anything to get that rematch. His sheer drive to win makes this fighting exciting.

My prediction, I believe that Reshad is going to take the victory in the second round by way of knock-out. I think that Rashad brings more to the table in terms of ability. He is a world class wrestler and has amazing striking. I think that Silva will not be able to deal with this as he has more of a brawling style. Even if Silva does loose tomorrow night he will remain a big player in the division and will develop as a fighter. Don’t be surprised to see Silva as a future champion in the UFC.

<!-- google_ad_section_end -->

What an eventful week it has been, and oh boy has Dana White put his foot in it again. I am not going to be bashing Dana White over his episode with Jake Rossen and Internet media as a collective, but I think it is important. 

This week the main story has been Dana White's attack on Jake Rossen, MMA blogger who has released an article debating the growth of MMA this year, and the future of the sport in the coming decade. This has obviously hurt the feeling of the UFC president. His argument is, on the week of a UFC 108, instead of promoting the new year's UFC 108 event, the growth of MMA is questioned. 

Lets take a little step back and think about this for a second. I am not the biggest fan of Jake Rossen, but in this case I have to side with him. I don't agree that the UFC have stopped growing at all this year, I think that the growth from the start of the year has simply slowed. But what I do agree with is the important service that Internet media provides for the sport. Lets face it, we and not in the 80's anymore the Internet is here, it's large and it's in charge. However it seems that White wants to protect the more mainstream forms of media. Forgetting about possibly his biggest audience. Is it not true that the opinions of the Internet media reflect directly the opinions of the fans? That the UFC president holds so dear.

The Internet is the heart of free speech and targeted discussion not just for the sport but for anything that is relevant into today's world.  MMA in itself is a young sport that is learning and developing from the mistakes that it makes. I think that what White and other promotional figure heads can take away from the fallout over this is. Internet media is a powerful resource and should be used to the maximum. The UFC has learned this to a certain extent  with their interactive website, wealth of video material, Twitter and Youtube. But if they were to listen to the views of the normal fans on blogs and forums they could learn a lot more. 

On the flip side. The MMA sites should promote fights to the best of their ability, we as fans of the sport should be united under people like Dana White to develop the sport and make it into the best thing that it can possibly be. I understand the frustrations of Dana White. Who for over 12 years has has reformed MMA and built the UFC as a brand. Lets face it for the casual fan, you don't pay the 40 dollars for the hell of it. You pay the money because MMA, to you is the UFC. So for that reason Dana White has done his job, even though he has stepped on many toes this week doing it. The wounds will heal and the UFC will continue to march forward, with the support of Internet media or without. 

UFC 108, kicks off 2010 tomorrow night, from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Boy! I can't wait this event is going to be one of the biggest of 2010.

Headline, Rashad Evans Vs Thiago Silva. A very interesting fight for many reasons. Evans is coming off a title loss to Lyoto Machida. Rashad will want to prove that he is number 2 in the division with a win over Silva and get right back into contention for the 205 pound title. However there are other dimensions to this fight that add to my excitement, Rashad was the most recent coach on season 10 of The Ultimate Fighter. This was a very interesting season of TUF and it wasn't just because of the great matches but also the chemistry/tension/hate between the two coaches Evans and "Rampage" Jackson. Now for the people that are not aware the UFC use TUF as a marketing tool for a fight involving the coaches after the season wraps up. For one reason or another Jackson decided to hang up his gloves and retire from the sport, preferring a career in cinema. This has lead to speculation that Evans, has been disrupted by the change in opponent and it will be interesting to see if this effects him come fight night. However it doesn't end there, oh no, Silva last opponent was UFC Veteran Keith Jardine. Who happens to be training partner and good friend of Evans. Silva knocked Jardine out cold and left his UFC future in doubt. Evans has openly commented that he has a need for revenge. 

Thiago Silva has only one loss on his record and that comes in the form of the current champion, Lyoto Machida. Why is this fight important for Silva? He wants a rematch for the championship and has said in build up to the fight that he is going to do anything to get that rematch. His sheer drive to win makes this fighting exciting.

My prediction, I believe that Reshad is going to take the victory in the second round by way of knock-out. I think that Rashad brings more to the table in terms of ability. He is a world class wrestler and has amazing striking. I think that Silva will not be able to deal with this as he has more of a brawling style. Even if Silva does loose tomorrow night he will remain a big player in the division and will develop as a fighter. Don't be surprised to see Silva as a future champion in the UFC.     

 

Does anyone remember the legendary battle between former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Tito Ortiz and UFC top dog Dana White? Now Ortiz is back and everyone is playing happy families, White has to focus on a different victim. Jake Rossen, prominent MMA blogger for ESPN and sherdog.com, is that very person.

White's attack on Rossen

I have my personal opinions about this situation but i am going to try and give opinons from both sides ,

Dana White is undoubtedly the main reason why the sport of MMA is as big as it is right now, it is only going to grow under his leadership. There is a section of MMA fans that believe that the sport is going too mainstream. I ask you, if it doesn't go mainstream then where is it to go? I understand that there are the fans out there that respect the sport for the technical abilities of the athletes. It would be fair to say that the more casual fans that begin to follow the sport, there is the risk that the this appreciation could be lost.

However for the sport to develop and as a result, the fighters being better rewarded for their efforts. There needs to be growth. We can no longer argue about if the sport is going to grow or not, we as MMA fans need to be united and encourage growth. It seems that Dana White has a problem with Rossen's approach to this sentiment.

This episode doesn't help White, for the last 13 years Zuffa has tried to re-brand the UFC and MMA in general. They have been hugely sucessful but they have been hindered by the negative media coverage that follows White. It doesn't paint the professional image that Zuffa has tried to create in other ways.

Some may argue that it is important to have White as the head of the UFC because he will defend the core values of the sport and is focused on the development of the sport. This may not happen with a different figurehead.

Now, the mistake that White has made, happens to be a major one. Not only does he attack one of the most influential MMA bloggers in Rossen. He went on to comment on one of the biggest MMA news sites in Sherdog.com. Why would you attack something that can influence your fans and for that matter gain you new support? That is a question that only White can answer. It seems to me that White is abusing his power as head of the UFC. His comments on the video give the impression that White considers sites like sherdog.com as an extension of the UFC's marketing department.

It is important for sites like sherdog.com to take an objective look at the sport from time to time because it stimulates opinions from the fans that read the articles. The fans of the sports are central to its success.

Regardless of your opinions, it is important to remember that both White and the media are vital for MMA and should work together instead of locking horns. More as the story develops.

Las Vegas, is thanking the UFC  for a very productive year ahead of UFC 108 this weekend. Although there is still people coming Sin City despite the economic recession that has gripped the world for the best part of 18 long and very painful months. It seems as a result they are spending less. Which you might logically deduced is hurting the Vegas purse.

You may be right, but there is one source of income that is going from strength to strength and seems to be recession proof. In the last year 91,000 people attended UFC events in Las Vegas alone. along with this, the events generated a total of 86 million dollars of non gaming revenue.

The average non-gambling expensive of a UFC fan is somewhere in the region of 15oo dollars almost double that of a normal visitor to Vegas. 92 percent of UFC fans come only for the UFC event, this is rare considering that your dreams can come true in Vegas, with the amount of things that are available.

On a side note, 400 random fans, in town for the UFC 108 event this Saturday were asked to complete a survey. One of the most interesting outcomes showed that 42 percent had a household income of 100,000 dollars or over.  This is compared to 24 percent of the overall visitors to Vegas. This can tell you two things. UFC fans on the whole are a wealthy set of people and with an income like that, its probably the reason why the UFC are consistently averaging, 500,000 PPV buys.

Why do the UFC make so much money from PPV buys? Well we now know the top 3 draws for this year.

Brock Lesnar - This is really not surprising considering the amount of hype that surround Lesnar's entry into the UFC and the fact that he is a very dominant Heavyweight champion. It is thought that Brock pulled 112 million dollars for the UFC. He has featured on UFC 81, 87, 91 and 100.

BJ Penn - The Lightweight Champion was brought in 105 million dollars to help out Zuffa in the same time period the events that the Champion was featured in UFC 80, 84, 94, 102 and is coming off a victory over Diego "Nightmare" Sanchez.

Frank Mir - Frank Mir is a former interim Heavyweight Champion and comes in as the third highest draw for the UFC this year. Mir has featured at UFC 81, 92, 100 and is coming off a flash knock out victory over Kongo at 107. This made the UFC  nice 98 million dollars.

Even if these figures make good reading for any MMA fan there is a problem. As we all know Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar is out of the sport for the foreseeable future. That is 112 million dollars that the UFC need to find elsewhere. Where there is a will there is a way. GSP is coming back to the octagon at UFC 111 in New Jersey. I believe that he is one of many fighters that can pick up the slack left by Lesnar until his return.    

Sources: UFC Draws, Las Vegas Now