MMA Universe

This is a great video by Ryron and Rener Gracie showing how Werdum was able to trap and submit Fedor so quickly.

Michael DiSanto, UFC - It's amazing to think that Brock Lesnar's mixed martial arts career began just three years ago. During that time, he has competed five times, including four wins, a dominant performance over a living legend and, of course, he has both won and successfully defended the UFC Heavyweight Championship.

Frank Shamrock (23-10-2) announced his retirement from mixed martial arts midway through last night's (June 26) Strikeforce: "Fedor vs. Werdum" Showtime telecast from the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California.

"The Legend" was last seen getting hammered into a TKO stoppage by current Strikeforce Welterweight Champion Nick Diaz. It was his second straight defeat after coughing up the promotion's 185-pound title to San Shou Striker Cung Le.

Shamrock was the first fighter to hold the UFC Middleweight Championship (later renamed the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship), held the interim King of Pancrase title in addition to the WEC Light Heavyweight Championship, and in his final run, the Strikeforce Middleweight Championship.

Unless he pulls a Randy Couture and decides to come back and take on a new generation, the 37-year-old middleweight is calling it a career. Where does he rank on your all-time list?

Let's hear your thoughts, Maniacs.

Who you got?

The Vancouver Athletic Commission (VAC) today issued its list of medical suspensions for UFC 115: "Liddell vs. Franklin," which took place on Saturday, June 12, 2010, from the GM Place in Vancouver, British Colombia, Canada.

With several of the bouts ending early (and violently), there were a handful of fighters who were flagged follow up visits with their doctors.

Chief among them is Rich "Ace" Franklin — whose bone-crunching win over Chuck "The Iceman" Liddell left him in a pink cast. Also getting benched was Pat Barry in his loss to Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic. "HD" went home with a foot that looked like it belonged to Thunder just before he exploded in Big Trouble in Little China.

But that's not all.

Here is the complete list of UFC 115 injuries and their medical instructions:

Rich Franklin: Suspended 60 days (60 days no contact). Additional suspension of 180 days (left forearm) unless cleared by an orthopedic doctor.
Chuck Liddell: Suspended 60 days (60 days no contact). Additional suspension of 180 days (head/face contusions and lacerations) unless cleared by negative CT scan.
Pat Barry: Suspended 45 days (30 days no contact). Additional suspension of 180 days (right hand and left ankle) unless cleared by an orthopedic doctor with negative X-rays.
Mirko Filipovic: Suspended 45 days (30 days no contact). Additional suspension of 180 days (head/face contusions) unless cleared by a Maxillofacial doctor with negative CT scan.
Gilbert Yvel: Suspended 45 days (30 days no contact). Additional suspension of 180 days (head contusions, left thumb and right hip) unless cleared by negative CT scan and X-rays.
Ben Rothwell: Suspended 30 days (21 days no contact). Additional suspension of 180 days (right knee) unless cleared by an orthopedic doctor.
Rory MacDonald: Suspended 45 days (30 days no contact). Additional suspension of 180 days (head/face contusions) unless cleared by negative CT scan.
Mac Danzig: Suspended 30 days (21 days no contact). Additional suspension of 180 days (left elbow) unless cleared by negative X-rays.
Mario Miranda: Suspended 180 days (left forearm) unless cleared by negative X-rays.
David Loiseau: Suspended 45 days (30 days no contact). Additional suspension of 180 days (head/face contusions) unless cleared by negative CT scan.
Ricardo Funch: Suspended 45 days (30 days no contact). Additional suspension of 180 days (left foot) unless cleared by negative X-rays.
Jesse Lennox: Suspended 45 days (30 days no contact). Additional suspension of 180 days (left thumb and right ankle) unless cleared by negative X-rays.
Paulo Thiago: Suspended 45 days with 30 days no contact (head contusions).
Evan Dunham: Suspended 30 days with 21 days no contact (head contusions).

14 Day Suspensions (Precautionary reasons):
Martin Kampmann
Carlos Condit
Tyson Griffin
Matt Wiman
Peter Sobotta
James Wilks
Claude Patrick
Mike Pyle

Just a quick reminder: Fighters often return to action much quicker once doctors give them the green light. The lengthy suspensions are just a precaution in most cases.

For complete UFC 115 results and blow-by-blow coverage of the main card action click here and here.

Cyborg is a massive favorite on Saturday night ... here's why:

MMAPayout.com has learned that the TUF 11 Finale on Spike TV drew a 1.4 HH rating on the strength of 2 million average viewers over its three hour broadcast on Saturday night. However, the show peaked at 2.4 million viewers for the main event that saw Court McGee defeat Kris McCray.

The program also garnered a 2.3 in the M18-34 and 1.8 in the M18-49 demographics.

Payout Perspective:

The broadcast is probably a poor result when you compare it to previous TUF Finale events; the 1.4 HH is the lowest TUF Finale rating since Season 4 did a 1.1 HH (the season that Serra and Lutter won title shots).

I think this is ultimately a reflection of the quality of the fight card. Interesting fights will bring a crowd. No disrespect to McGee vs. McCray or Hamill vs. Jardine, but neither was a fight that anyone had a great deal of interest in seeing. This is especially true when you consider that the last Spike card featured Florian vs. Gomi and the next free television card (on Versus) will feature Jon Jones vs. Vlady Matyushenko. There’s a huge discrepancy there.

——-

Where does the UFC go from here? It would seem that more of the status quo is in order:

• Two big name coaches: Team St-Pierre vs. Team Koscheck
• No big format change: the talk within the industry is that it’s more or less the same format (nothing drastic)
• Same promises: once again, officials are already leaking bits of news that it’s “the most exciting TUF ever”.

I’d obviously like to see them make a change. I tend to side with being proactive rather than reactive, but I’m not sure it’s that simple, either. If the company is planning to leverage TUF as a component of its international expansion strategy, then it can’t very well change the entire format right now.

With that said, I do think that each show is going to require some tinkering to fit in with its local market. Some of the crap that happened on the show in the US won’t fly in the UAE and China – or even markets like Australia.

MMA legend Randy Couture is helping former foe Brock Lesnar prepare for his upcoming five-round, 25-minute battle with Shane Carwin at UFC 116 in July. Couture said the trip to Minnesota was more to help learn from Lesnar’s camp, and not necessarily trying to train Lesnar.

At UFC 91 in November 2008, Couture lost via second-round TKO to Lesnar, so it’s unlikely their paths will meet inside the octagon. Since a rematch isn’t on the horizon, both fighters have been able to help each other train for upcoming fights in the octagon.

Possible ring rust was brought up by some MMA fans, but Couture shot down that idea. (Lesnar’s last fight was last July, and he picked up a TKO victory against Frank Mir.)

“I don’t think the year off has hurt him,” Couture recently said. He’s made the adjustments physically and dietarily. “He’s back to 100 percent full strength and I think that having the downtime wasn’t a huge issue for him. He was back pretty quickly to being able to train. Technically, he’s probably learned more and is a better fighter than he was a year ago.”

Despite dietary changes related to his battle with diverticulosis, the lighter, leaner Lesnar is still lighting fast and extremely powerful.

Whether you love him or hate him, Lesnar has a natural physical size, strength and ability to match a fast speed. Carwin also is a large heavyweight with good wrestling and heavy hands that have previously dismantled opponents. I don’t know who will win, but know the winner of UFC 116’s heavyweight title-unification bout is a true warrior.

WEC 49: "Varner vs. Shalorus" has come to a close from the Rexall Place in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, and despite not having a ton of star power on the card, the first-ever showing in Canada was another trademark action-packed event for the promotion.

Lightweight stars Jamie Varner and Kamal Shalorus threw down in the main event of the evening to try and determine who was the more relevant fighter among the top 155-pound contenders.

Results were inconclusive.

Before the fight, Varner referred to Shalorus as "The best fighter you've never heard of," mainly due to his impressive wrestling credentials from the time he spent competing on the Olympic stage earlier in his career.

However, the "Prince of Persia" elected to trade strikes with the former champion and he held his own for the full three rounds by detonating "C-4" with an abundance of leg kicks and power punches.

In fact, the Iranian apparently did enough to win the fight on the judge's scorecards. The only thing that prevented him from going home a winner was the unintentional kick to Varner's groin that cost him a point in the second stanza.

Shalorus was called for the foul on three separate occasions during the second and third rounds. While they were all unintentional, referee Josh Rosenthal felt the point had to be taken. If it wasn't, he would have likely won a split decision.

Instead, the fight ended in a draw after one judge scored it 29-27 for Varner, another saw it 29-27 for Shalorus, and the third called it 28-28.

"Varner vs. Shalorus 2" -- coming soon to a WEC near you.

Besides that unfulfilling outcome, there were several other great fights on this card, starting with the co-main event between Canadian featherweights Mark  Hominick and Yves Jabouin. The two countrymen delighted the crowd with a fantastic back-and-forth battle across two rounds.

Jabouin's striking looked great early on. He pounded away at Hominick for most of the first round and even at the beginning of the second with an insane amount of kicks and punches. But "The Machine" lived up to his nickname by literally walking through every strike "Tiger" Jabouin offered.

He continued to walk forward and throw his power strikes, even if Jabouin was easily landing ten strikes to every one of his. The strategy didn't seem to be working until he crumbled Jabouin with a body punch midway through the second.

It appeared Hominick was going to get the finish right then and there, but Jabouin battled back to his feet and finally unloaded with some power of his own that sent Hominick reeling.

Again it appeared that the fight was near its end, but again there was a shift in momentum.

Jabouin pounced to finish off his downed opponent, but Hominick recovered quickly and swept his way into a full mount. Jabouin tried desperately to free himself, but he couldn't escape Hominick's grasp and this time the fight really was over.

The win marked two in a row for Hominick, who appears to now be a player in the crowded WEC featherweight division.

Speaking of players in the crowded WEC featherweight division, one of the top 145-pound prospects in the world, twenty-one year old Josh Grispi, made his return to the cage after spending over a year on the sidelines due to an injured ankle.

"The Fluke" has already made a name for himself at such a young age by finishing 12 of 14 career opponents inside the first round, including all three of his WEC foes (Hominick, Jens Pulver and Micah Miller.) That trend continued tonight, as the youngster dominated well-rounded veteran L.C. Davis and notched victory number 13 inside the opening frame.

The nearly six-foot-tall athletic monster frustrated Davis with an assortment of kicks on all three levels throughout the first couple of minutes of the fight. Davis tried to counter by shooting in for a takedown, but by doing so he landed right into a deep guillotine choke.

Grispi's strength was too much for Davis, who drifted into la-la land instead of tapping out.

Afterward, Grispi talked about being ready to fight anybody in the WEC, specifically 145-pound champion Jose "Junior" Aldo.

Aldo vs. Grispi? Yes, please.

Former IFL slugger Chris Horodecki got his first win under the WEC banner by dominating newcomer Danny Downes en route to a third round submission finish via rear naked choke.

To be fair, Danny "Boy" stepped in on super short notice to take this fight in place of an injured Ed Ratclif, and "The Polish Hammer" was a huge step up in competition for the promotion rookie.

Still, Downes showed a ton of grit and heart during the fight. It was clear his cardio was up to par and he continued to battle until the end and in the process, likely earned himself another fight in the WEC, perhaps one with a full training camp.

Regardless, Horodecki handled his business and came away with the first win of his WEC career.

Former featherweight champion Eddie Wineland opened up the Versus telecast with solid performance against young, up-and-coming striker Will Campuzano.

Wineland's head movement and boxing won him the fight. He beat Campuzano to the punch on just about every exchange and he finished off the lanky striker near the end of the second round with a vicious body shot.

The ex-champ appears to be in top form and ready for another title run.

That's a wrap from Edmonton.

To check out the complete results and our blow-by-blow coverage of the main card action click here.

Coming up next: WEC 50 is set for August 18 at The Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Newly crowned bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz will defend his title for the first time against number one contender Joseph Benavidez in the featured fight of the night.

In the co-main event, former featherweight king Urijah "The California Kid" Faber will make his highly anticipated debut in the bantamweight division against Takaya Mizugaki.

Keep it locked to MMAmania.com for more on that developing fight card and all your WEC news and notes.

The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 11 Finale from the "The Pearl" at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada, which went down earlier this evening (Sat., June 10, 2010), is in record books.

Court McGee and Kris McCray were featured in the main event of the evening, competing for the "six-figure" contract and the top spot in the 16-man tournament.

McGee, a grinder, lived up to that billing tonight against McCray, putting his head down and getting his opponent on his back early and often. McCray, obviously, put up a fight, but the relentless and smothering attack from McGee was just too much to overcome.

The Team Liddell product eventually went on to register a second round rear naked choke victory, putting a ribbon on a very gritty performance this evening and on the show. He's certainly not the most marketable TUF winner, but it could not have happened to a more deserving participant.

Truly, a storybook ending.

Matt Hamill and Keith Jardine threw down in a co main event between two losing fighters (in their most recent bouts) who needed big wins to prove that they belonged in very stacked 205-pound division.

Despite a very trim, focused and "renewed" Jardine, Hamill was able to find his range and plod forward en route to a close majority decision win. An inadvertent eye poke in the second round, which cost "The Dean of Mean" a point, was more than likely a huge help in the final decision.

Jardine, sporting a massive Frankenstein cut on his forehead, did what he could, but that one point appeared to be a huge difference maker. Hamill didn't do anything super special ... he was just gritty enough to earn a win on the judges scorecards.

Ho-hum.

The original TUF bad boy, Chris Leben, needed a win tonight bad after losing two of his last three contests. And UFC matchmaker Joe Silva did him zero favors by matching him up with the undefeated, and very durabale, wrestling standout Aaron Simpson.

"The Crippler" answered the call.

Leben denied the takedowns and broke Simpson down with solid punches through two rounds. He eventually found a home for his patented left haymaker, which left Simpson dazed and confused. In fact, Simpson had enough and tried to get away from Leben after several well-placed blows, which sent him stumbling across the Octagon like a town drunk.

Fortunately, the referee saw enough and called a halt to the action ... to the benefit of Mr. Simpson and his fight future.

Spencer Fisher and Dennis Siver went toe-to-toe in a lightweight showdown, which was teed up to be a strike fest. It was, but apparently their styles did something to cancel out the excitement.

Both fighters traded blows for 15 minutes -- the fight never made it to the ground -- but neither one of them ever appeared to be hurt or damage the other with significant force.In theory, the matchmaking was solid, the fight, however, just didn't deliver.

Nonetheless, "The King" is on a two fight skid, and his counterpart, Siver, has won five of his last six.

Wonder who will move on to bigger, and better, competition moving forward (sarcasm).

Polarizing contestant Jamie Yager looked to redeem himself against, Rich Attonito, who was forced off the show because of a hand injury, in the opening fight of the televised card.

Didn't happen.

Even though Yager started off strong (as usual) he quickly wilted as the New Jersey-born wrestler took the fight to him, taking him down and beating him up in the inside. It wasn't long before Attonito broke him down and took his back, angling for a submission finish.

Yager defended, but couldn't stop the ground-and-pound of the American Top Team product, proving that you can't judge a book by its cover ... or he's all bark but no bite.

Whatever, pick your cliche. Yager is toast.

That’s enough from us — now it’s your turn to discuss TUF 11 Finale in the comments section below. Sound off, Maniacs. Let’s hear what you have to say.

For complete TUF 11 Finale results and detailed blow-by-blow commentary of the televised main card fights click here.

Below are the official weigh-in results for Saturday night's Ultimate Fighter Finale event. The TUF11 Finale, which is headlined by the season 11 final between Kris McCray and Court McGee, and the light heavyweight bout between Keith Jardine and Matt Hamill, airs on Spike TV from The Pearl at The Palms in Las Vegas beginning at 9pm ET / PT.

The UFC is coming, the UFC is coming!

Dana White today made his homecoming official, announcing that his promotion will stage a blockbuster pay-per-view (PPV) event for the first-time ever in his native Boston, Mass., at the TD Garden on Aug. 28, 2010.

UFC 118: "Edgar vs. Penn 2" (as its name suggests) will feature a rematch for the lightweight title between B.J. Penn and division champion Frankie Edgar in the main event of the evening. "The Answer" figured out the "Prodigy" at UFC 112 back in April, earning a five-round unanimous decision over the Hawaiian.

It's the centerpiece of a blockbuster weekend that has white downright giddy:

"Without a doubt, August 28th will be one of the highlights of my career, I’m thrilled to bring the UFC to Boston for the first time in our history. Boston is one of the world’s greatest fight towns, fans only expect the best, and we are bringing it with the rematch between BJ Penn and Frankie Edgar, and the Octagon-debut of boxing legend James Toney vs. one of the greatest UFC heavyweights of all-time, Randy Couture."

That's right, former light heavyweight and heavyweight champion Randy Couture will indeed ntroduce professional boxing champion James Toney to the Octagon in the co-featured fight of the night. Another exciting 155-pound showdown between Kenny Florian and Gray Maynard has also been made official.

There's more.

The promotion also plans to coordinate a two-day "Fan Expo" at the nearby Hynes Convention Center from Aug. 27 right up until fight time to coincide with the PPV event.

It will include meet and greets with legendary UFC, Pride FC and WEC fighters, mixed martial arts (MMA) demonstrations, grappling "Super Fights," fan-inspired special events, training and development sessions, as well as other combat related opportunities and entertainment.

For the latest UFC 118: "Edgar vs. Penn 2" fight card and rumors click here.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

More pics after the jump. Complete Strikeforce: "Los Angeles" weigh in results here.

Main event:

195 lbs.: Robbie Lawler vs. Renato Sobral

Main card (Televised):

170 lbs.: Evangelista Santos vs. Marius Zaramoskis
205 lbs.: Tim Kennedy vs. Trevor Prangley
155 lbs.: Conor Heun vs. K.J. Noons

Under card (May not be broadcast):

160 lbs.: R.J. Clifford vs. Jeremy Umphries
135 lbs.: Marcus Kowal vs. Hugo Sandoval

Remember: MMAmania.com will provide LIVE blow-by-blow, round-by-round coverage of "Los Angeles," beginning with the Showtime telecast at 11 p.m. ET on June 16. In addition, we will deliver up-to-the-minute quick results of all the under card action as it starts to flow around 10:00 p.m. ET.

It’s going to be a fun night of fights so don’t miss it. And remember to check us out for all the pre, during and post-fight "Los Angeles" coverage you can handle.

UFC on Versus 2, which was supposed to be the first-ever event for the promotion in Utah from EnergySolutions Arena in Salt Lake City on Aug. 1, has been moved to the San Diego Sports Arena in San Diego, Calif., instead.

Poor ticket sales are apparently to blame for the relatively last-minute switch.

Here's a snip from company president Dana White:

"Our television ratings in Salt Lake City have always been strong. When we finally found the opportunity to bring a UFC event there with a great card, I was very surprised and disappointed in ticket sales. As a result, for the first time in UFC history, I decided to pull the plug and move this August 1st event to the San Diego Sports Arena."

Those who purchased tickets for the event in "The Beehive State" will receive a full refund. There's currently no announcement for the tickets sale in San Diego; however, expect one to come real soon with just a few weeks until fight night.

UFC on Versus 2 will feature a match up between light heavyweight superstar in the making Jon Jones and Belarusian brawler Vladimir Matyushenko. 

Also on tap for the second such event on the cable network are bouts between Mark Munoz and Yushin Okami as well as Takanori Gomi and Joe Stevenson.

For more on UFC on Versus 2 stay dialed in to MMAmania.com and remember to check out our event archive for the latest fight card and rumors right here.

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) tonight (June 12) made its debut in Western Canada, with a quartet of preliminary fights that had the crowd at GM Place in Vancouver buzzing.

No doubt the MMA faithful had gathered primarily to witness the likes of Chuck Liddell, Rich Franklin, and Mirko Cro-cop, but the fight hungry audience of Canucks was alive from the opening minutes of UFC 115.

With the rain letting up in one of North America’s wettest city, the sun had finally come out literally and figuratively. After much red tape and hoop-jumping to get this event off the ground, big time MMA had arrived in Vancouver along with the sunshine outdoors.

The Vancouver crowd was ready, and so were the fighters.

The welterweight showdown between Jesse Lennox and Mike Pyle kicked off the night.

The fight started with Lennox and Pyle feeling each other out on their feet. Each fighter landed a few shots, with Lennox pressing the pace while Pyle was elusive. Near the four-minute mark, Lennox landed a huge right hand that stunned Pyle, but when he went in for the finish, Pyle landed a punch of his own that put Lennox on one knee.

Pyle dove on Lennox on the ground, but didn’t land much offense as the final seconds of round one dwindled.

To start round two, Pyle had found his range on his feet, landing punches and slipping Lennox’s strikes. Pyle got the edge on the ground as well, and looked to be gaining momentum.

In the third round, the two traded leg kicks, but after a while, Pyle start to land the better shots. Pyle used his reach and picked away at Lennox by getting in, landing a punch, and getting out of striking range. Pyle was cruising to a decision victory when Lennox landed a big shot in the final minute.

Once again, he went in for the kill and his aggression cost him.

Pyle went to his back and tried to pull guard. Lennox stacked him and was throwing punches when Pyle caught him in a triangle choke. Pyle wrapped him up tight and threw a few elbows from that position before turning to the ref to tell him that Lennox was out.

The referee checked, and then quickly stopped match. Lennox was in dreamland. Pyle went on to earn a big victory via triangle choke (referee stoppage).

Canadian Claude Patrick came out to a loud ovation from the Vancouver crowd. It apparently got him amped for his Octagon debut -- he launched his attack immediately, pinning his opponent, Ricardo Funch, to the cage.

Funch reversed the position, but Patrick landed a trip that took Funch to the canvas. Patrick landed one big shot from in Funch’s guard, but mostly just dominated position for the duration of the first round.

In the second round, it was Funch’s turn to try to get the grappling edge. But Patrick defended Funch’s shot, and the two ended up in a stalemate against the cage. Then with 3:20 left in the second round Patrick grabbed a deep guillotine and fell to his guard.

Within seconds, Funch was tapping and the Canadian crowd was cheering its countryman as Patrick had his hand raised. Claude Patrick wins via submission (guillotine choke).

The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) season nine winner James Wilks took on Germany’s Peter Sobotta in the third fight of the night. Wilkes looked bigger and better conditioned, but the fight started off closely contested. Most of this fight took place against the cage and on the ground, with only a small portion featuring striking exchanges.

Midway through the first round, with the fight on the mat, Wilks grabbed an armbar from guard and swept Sobotta. Sobotta looked to be in some trouble, but was able to stack Wilks up and slip out, sending the fighters back to their feet. They ended up against the cage again, when Wilks jumped guard and tried to hit a gogoplata from rubber guard, but once again Sobotta slipped out, sending the fight to round two with a slight edge going to Wilks.

Sobotta opened round two by unleashing an aggressive combination that put Wilks against the fence. As they disengaged, this time it was Wilks’ turn to press forward. He landed a big right hand, and pressed Sobotta against the mesh. After some grappling on their feet, they hit the ground with Wilks ending up in the mount, but Sobotta managed to pass to his guard.

The two fighters remained active on the canvas, and exchanged superior ground positions leading up to the third round.

Sobotta looked tired to start the third, and Wilks came out very aggressive. He threw a big combo right away that backed Sobotta against the cage. When the fight hit the ground again, the scramble continued. Wilks went for a leg lock but gave up his back.

Sobotta worked to slip in a rear naked choke. Wilkes survived and turned Sobotta over, ending up in his guard. Wilkes finished the fight in a dominant position, landing blows, and looking like he had done enough to edge out each round.

Wilks earned the unanimous decision with judges scoring the fight 30-27, 30-27, 30-28.

David "The Crow" Loiseau walked out to a huge ovation in front of the Canadian crowd. But the roar of the partisan audience had no impact on Mario Miranda’s performance.

Miranda landed a quick slam and was all over The Crow early. Late in the round Loiseau managed to work to his feet, but Miranda took him down again and worked him over there. Loiseau scrambled back to his feet near the end of the round. He pushed Miranda against the cage, but couldn’t do anything with the position.

When the referee separated them and reset them on their feet, Miranda’s quickness advantage was even more apparent. Loiseau’s age was showing.

However, Loiseau began the second round with a couple of good strikes from his feet, showing signs of life after being dominated in the first. But Miranda quickly closed the distance and put Loiseau on the mat again. There, he unleashed strikes and opened up a cut on Loiseau’s head over his left ear.

Miranda continued to drop bombs while Loiseau lay on his belly covering up. Eventually, the referee jumped in and called an end to the fight. Miranda was faster and by far the superior grappler. Loiseau was overmatched from the outset. Miranda wins via technical knockout.

To check out the rest of the UFC 115: "Liddell vs. Franklin" results, as well as complete play-by-play coverage of the Spike TV and pay-per-view (PPV) broadcasts click here.

VANCOUVER, BC - Below are the official weigh-in results for Saturday night's UFC 115 event. UFC 115, which is headlined by the light heavyweight bout between Chuck Liddell and Rich Franklin and the heavyweight bout between Mirko Cro Cop and Pat Barry, airs live on Pay-Per-View from General Motors Place in Vancouver, BC, Canada, at 10pm ET / 7pm PT. Fans can also tune in to Spike TV at 9pm ET / 6pm PT to see live UFC 115 preliminary bouts.

This Saturday June 12th, the UFC makes its first visit to Vancouver.  The main story regarding this move to Vancouver has been the enormous insurance cost for this event.  While Dana has refused to divulge the actual cost but the word on the street is that the UFC was forced to pay upwards of 12 million dollars (Canadian).  It’s an outrageous amount and most people assume that the UFC will be lucky to break even in this event but I won’t get into it much further than that.  Tito Ortiz dropped out of his fight against Chuck Liddell some months back, so now Rich Franklin will step up to fight “The Iceman”.  David “The Crow” Loiseau makes his return to the octagon after being rejected by the commission Montreal.  There will be 2 preliminary fights shown live on SpikeTV and you can also see this event in theaters if you like.  Here is how I see this event playing out.

Chuck Liddell vs Rich Franklin : I wanted to see Chuck put Tito to sleep for a third time but we are actually in for a much more competitive fight with this substitution.  Chuck is still a very dangerous striker although he has clearly slowed down, especially his reaction time.  His takedown defense is as strong as ever but I doubt he will be using it much against Franklin.  Dana White has once again stated that if Chuck loses this fight he will retire.  Rich has been bouncing between 185, 195 and 205 for about 2 years now which has negatively impacted his performance.  Not to mention the fact that he’s been fighting legends of the sport during this unending transitional period in his career.  Hopefully Rich wasn’t too badly affected by his crushing defeat to Vitor Belfort about 9 months ago and will be at 100% physically and mentally for his battle with Liddell.

Chuck will be looking to KO Franklin in this fight using his tried and true sprawl and brawl counter punching game plan (surprise, surprise).  Franklin has better footwork than Chuck and even though the reach will be equal for both fighters, Franklin will be able to work Chuck over from the outside.  I have a feeling that after a good 1st round by Franklin, Chuck will change gears and be more aggressive which will likely fail. Chuck has gotten himself in some bad situations using forward motion and Franklin being quicker on his feet should be able to tag Chuck on the way in and get back out of range.  However, Franklin has proved to be gun shy in his fights so I doubt he will REALLY be looking for a finish in this fight.  A decision victory for Franklin, especially considering this is only a 3 round affair.

Winner : Rich Franklin

Mirko Filipovic vs Pat Barry : Most people are counting out CroCop in this fight and they think he’s done, blah blah… I haven’t given up on CroCop and I never will just like Wand, Saku, Fedor, etc..  So I am clearly biased about this fight.  Pat Barry himself claims that Mirko is his idol and he was very animated about it in the pre-fight presser.  In the past we have seen fighters seem to be slightly intimidated by fighting their idols which can impact their performance in the fight.  They tend to give them too much respect and it can cause a fighter to be tentative about exchanging or being overly aggressive.  I’m not saying this will decide the outcome of the fight but it will definitely be in the back of Pat Barry’s mind during the course of the fight.  Mirko has been under a ton of pressure lately and since coming off his win over Anthony Perosh he has seemed to loosen up a bit inside the octagon.  I think we will see a very decent version of CroCop on Saturday, and he may have a few tricks up his sleeve for Barry.  Both fighters are very undersized Heavyweights.

Both of these guys are adept kickboxers with KO power in both their arms and legs so anything could happen at any moment.  Mirko has experience and the better quality opponents on his side while Barry has youth and a slight reach advantage.  Barry’s camp expressed to CroCop that they were willing to stand up if he was, and Mirko seemed to like the idea, but I have a feeling that Mirko will be looking to take this fight to the ground if he starts getting the worse of the exchanges.  He’s actually a BJJ brown belt under Werdum and even though he is not particularly talented on the ground, he still greatly outclasses the full fledged white belt Pat Barry.  The smart money is on Barry in this fight, but considering I’m biased and delusional I am picking CroCop to win this fight by submission.

Winner : Mirko Filipovic

Martin Kampmann vs Paulo Thiago : This could be the fight of the night, both these guys like to throw down, they’re both dangerous on the ground and they’re both finishers.  Kampmann’s Muay Thai is his primary weapon and he will probably look to utilize his legs to keep Thiago at bay and slow him down.  Paulo will be looking to close the gap on Kampmann to showcase his explosive hands.  His Judo skills should allow him to land a throw or two and if he gets Kampmann on his back he could pound him out or soften him up for a submission.  The thing is, the reverse is also true as Kampmann is very capable of using his wrestling to put Paulo on his back which is what makes this such an interesting fight.  Kampmann is definitely the more conventional fighter while Thiago has a more unorthodox and exotic kind of style.

I think they exchange for a while, maybe light each other up a few times until someone get dropped or decides to take it to the ground.  The man on top will have the advantage but Thiago is better off his back than Kampmann so that says something.  I say Thiago wins this fight with some crazy unorthodox BOPE choke which momentarily catches a dazed Kampmann off guard.

Winner : Paulo Thiago

Ben Rothwell vs Gilbert Yvel : Both these guys have a wealth of experience under their belts but Yvel has just a little more.  Ben has some great power in his strikes but I think Gilbert has a little more.  Ben has passable speed for a guy his size but Gilbert is a bit faster.  This is the story of this fight in my eyes.  We should see a stand up war between the two and while they do have ground skills, I think the outcome of this fight will be decided by strikes.

Gilbert has been fading a bit and he may leave the door open for Big Ben to impose his will on Yvel by jamming him against the fence and wearing him down while winning the round by controlling the position.  At some point Yvel will unleash hell on Ben and either knock him out or gas out.  Ben is a tough dude and he may be able to weather the storm.  This is tough fight to call, but unless Yvel lands a power shot flush, Rothwell squeaks out a decision.

Winner : Ben Rothwell

Carlos Condit vs Rory MacDonald : This is an interesting fight considering it showcases the only Canadian fighter on the main card.  Condit is a well rounded fighter and former WEC champion who was absorbed by the UFC.  He has a lot of fights under his belt some of which are very strong opponents and he’s had mixed results against the upper echelon  fighters.  Rory MacDonald is a 20 year old kid with a 10-0 record fighting in his home province.  He made his octagon debut against Mike Guymon who he submitted in the 1st round but he really hasn’t faced anyone at Condit’s level in his young career.

Condit is a good bet here, but I’m pulling for the hometown boy to surprise everyone and pull off the upset.  Rory has very good BJJ and I believe that he definitely has the capability of submitting Condit under the right circumstances.  Condit had 3 of his 5 losses come by way of submission and he may have underestimated this kid, not likely because he is a smart fighter and a veteran of the sport but… As we saw at UFC 114 anything can happen and I believe Rory MacDonald can make it happen.

Winner : Rory Macdonald

** Note: Don’t forget to get your picks in on the playground.  This will be the first event of the new season so get a good start as the first event usually sets the tone for the whole season.  Good luck everyone!