‘UFC 123: Rampage vs. Machida’ to Go Down 11/20 in Auburn Hills

(Some fan-made video hype from SandmanMMAPromotions)
MMAFighting has confirmed that the previously reported bout between former UFC light-heavyweight champions Quinton Jackson and Lyoto Machida will headline November 20th’s UFC 123 card, which wi…

(Some fan-made video hype from SandmanMMAPromotions)

MMAFighting has confirmed that the previously reported bout between former UFC light-heavyweight champions Quinton Jackson and Lyoto Machida will headline November 20th’s UFC 123 card, which will take place at the Palace of Auburn Hills in Auburn Hills, Michigan. It will be the UFC’s first event in the Great Lakes State since the spectacularly bad UFC 9, which was marked by an official ban on head-punches and a 30-minute Superfight Championship between Ken Shamrock and Dan Severn, in which both future Hall of Famers refused to engage, circling each other for the majority of the bout. That ill-fated event was held at Detroit’s Cobo Hall; now that Detroit has returned to wilderness, the UFC will instead head north to the suburb of Auburn Hills and the longtime home stadium of the Detroit Pistons.

At this point, the only other match reported for the event is a welterweight scrap between Matt Brown and Rory MacDonald. Brown is coming off consecutive submission losses against Ricardo Almeida and Chris Lytle, while MacDonald most recently succumbed to a TKO with just seven seconds remaining of his UFC 115 fight against Carlos Condit. You could say it’s one of those "must win" fights for both sides. And yet one of them will inevitably lose. Doesn’t seem fair, does it.

Sobotta-Sadollah and Reljic-Soszynski Penciled in for UFC 122 and Brown-MacDonald Being Targeted for UFC 123

(The Waterboy will look to exploit "The Immortal" Matt Brown’s mortal ground game.)
UFC matchmaker Joe Silva has been busy the past week securing fights for some of the promotion’s upcoming cards.
According to German MMA website groundand…


(The Waterboy will look to exploit "The Immortal" Matt Brown’s mortal ground game.)

UFC matchmaker Joe Silva has been busy the past week securing fights for some of the promotion’s upcoming cards.

According to German MMA website groundandpound.de, Polish-German welterweight fighter Peter Sobotta will take on The Ultimate Fighter Season 7 winner Amir Sadollah at UFC 122 when the UFC travels to Germany in November.

0-2 in two Octagon appearances, having dropped unanimous decisions to Paul Taylor and James Wilks at UFC 99 and 115, respectively, Sobotta may find him self unemployed if he loses another bout.

Sadollah, who isn’t quite on the chopping block yet, will be looking to rebound from a lackluster performance against Dong Hyun Kim at UFC 114. Prior to that, the Brooklyn-born, Richmond, Virginia-raised fighter won two in a row against Brad Blackburn and Phil Baroni — both via unanimous decision.

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Falling Action: Best and Worst of UFC 115

Filed under: UFCSunday afternoon I was sitting at my desk, staring at my computer screen in the hopes that words would magically appear on their own, and my dog barked right behind me. It was a bit startling, so I swiveled around expecting to see eithe…

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Sunday afternoon I was sitting at my desk, staring at my computer screen in the hopes that words would magically appear on their own, and my dog barked right behind me. It was a bit startling, so I swiveled around expecting to see either a burglar or a rabbit in the house, and that’s when I banged my knee against what turned out to be a really solid desk drawer.

I won’t lie: it hurt. It hurt a lot. Naturally, I began swearing. A lot. Then I limped around my office for a minute or two, wondering out loud what I’d ever done to my dog or the universe to deserve this.

That’s when I remembered Rich Franklin’s performance at UFC 115.

Carlos Condit, Killer Instinct and the Art of the Third-Round Comeback

Filed under: UFCMixed martial arts is a sport so new that good statistics aren’t readily available for many scenarios worth examining. But watching for years gives you the ability to make general observations, and one of them is the conclusion that fig…

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Mixed martial arts is a sport so new that good statistics aren’t readily available for many scenarios worth examining. But watching for years gives you the ability to make general observations, and one of them is the conclusion that fighters that lose both of the first two rounds of a bout rarely come back to finish an opponent in the third.

There are multiple reasons for this, but the most simple one is that if Fighter A was good enough to control the action for 10 minutes, the possibility of Fighter B turning it around and finishing him sometime in the last five is probably not good.

And that is part of what makes Carlos Condit‘s comeback win over Rory MacDonald at UFC 115 so outstanding.

Rich Franklin Puts Chuck Liddell on Ice; Underdogs Have Their Day at UFC 115

Filed under: UFC, NewsNo matter the sport, the great ones always seem to hold on a bit too long. Emmitt Smith closed out his football career as a struggling tailback for the Arizona Cardinals, Babe Ruth hit .181 in his last year for the Boston Braves a…

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Rich Franklin knocks out Chuck Liddell at UFC 115.No matter the sport, the great ones always seem to hold on a bit too long. Emmitt Smith closed out his football career as a struggling tailback for the Arizona Cardinals, Babe Ruth hit .181 in his last year for the Boston Braves and Michael Jordan clanged jumpers off the iron for the lowly Washington Wizards.

The last memory of Chuck Liddell in the Octagon is also likely to be a sight that most fans would rather not remember. After a spirited round in which he showed more variety to his offense than he’s shown in years, it all came crashing down around the legend. Despite his newfound diet and his hard work, the lasting image of Liddell from UFC 115 was like the few that had come in the fights directly before it: Liddell falling backwards, his head bouncing backwards to the mat as he fell unconscious. This time the punch came from Rich Franklin, putting a close on the event, and likely Liddell’s career.

Asked if it was the end for the UFC Hall of Famer, UFC President Dana White answered directly.

Carlos Condit Wrecks MacDonald’s Face

Carlos Condit came out for the first two rounds playing a soft game. Rory MacDonald had some great trips, takedowns, and overall standup game. He was able to control Condit for the first two rounds. It wasn’t looking good for Condit. He had to get a stoppage to win the fight. Carlos Condit’s coach Greg […]

Carlos Condit came out for the first two rounds playing a soft game. Rory MacDonald had some great trips, takedowns, and overall standup game. He was able to control Condit for the first two rounds. It wasn’t looking good for Condit. He had to get a stoppage to win the fight.

Carlos Condit’s coach Greg Jackson was yelling at him on the stool, saying something like “Its time for war, make it a war.”

And a war, Condit made it.

Carlos got MacDonald on the ground early, and dropped elbow after elbow, Evan Tanner style. Condit maintained top control the whole third round. The referee stopped the fight with 9 seconds left on the clock. MacDonald admitted it was a good stoppage. I think it was as well. Just one more shot was more than unnecessary. When MacDonald stood for the decision he looked like Slough from The Goonies. Both eyes were jacked up, his nose was 3x the normal size, and his face was more than bloodied. It would’ve been a 10-8 round had the referee not stopped the fight.

I was glad to have seen more of Rory MacDonald in this fight. He has a lot of potential. He manhandled Condit in those first rounds and I expect good things from him in the future.