UFC 73

Here are the UFC 73 Results

Here is the UFC 73 Fight Card

Title Bouts

• Champion Anderson Silva vs. Nate Marquardt (for middleweight title)
  
• Champion Sean Sherk vs. Hermes Franca (for lightweight title)
  
  other fights
  
• Rashad Evans vs. Tito Ortiz
  
• Heath Herring vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
  
• Kenny Florian vs. Alvin Robinson
  
• Stephan Bonnar vs. Mike Nickels
  
• Drew Fickett vs. Chris Lytle
  
• Jorge Gurgel vs. Diego Saraiva
  
• Mark Bocek vs. Frank Edgar
  

Event results are after the jump.

Continue reading "UFC 73 Results" »

In a post UFC 73 Press conference, Dana White confirmed that Tito Ortiz and Rashad Evans will have their rematch. This was after the fighters exchanced some heated words. Apparently they both think that they won their fight last night. Continue reading "UFC 73 - Ortiz and Evans will have a rematch" »

I am so excited about this weekends UFC 73 "Stacked" fight card that I can hardly concentrate. I've been waiting for a long time to see former Pride heavyweight Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira fight in the cage. I think his style will work out well in the cage. Big Nog is not a striker (although he has good hands and holds his own on his feet), so the difference in ring shape shouldn't matter. I do however wonder how the UFC's habit of standing up grapplers after just a minute of seeming inactivity will affect a submission master like Nog.

I also find the Tito Ortiz vs Rashad Evans matchup at UFC 73 to be intriguing. We've been hearing about how stellar Rashad's wrestling is for quite some time now, but Tito says Rashad was about a .500 wrestler in college. This one is almost a new school fan vs old guard fan matchup, I can't help but laugh at that aspect since it was Tito himself who faced the old guard in his dominant performances over Ken Shamrock. Lately the Ultimate Fighter alumni have been handed a couple of losses (see Keith Jardine vs Houston Alexander, Griffin vs Jardine, etc). Will this be another reality star beatdown, or is Rashad the real deal? We'll find out on Saturday night.

Sherk vs Franca. If Sean Sherk's match with Kenny Florian or Hermes Franca's match with Spencer Fisher are indicators of what we may see in this bout, watch closely. Will Sherk ground and pound his way to victory, or will Franca pull out one of his come from behind miracles?

Silva vs Marquardt is probably the most anticipated title matchup at UFC 73. Silva is coming off a victory against Travis Lutter which had it's shakey moments and Marquardt is considered by some to be one of the best ground guys in the UFC 185 division. Is Nate "The Great" going to end Silva's reign of terror, or will Anderson Silva pull off another spectacular victory? Saturday night folks, Saturday night.

Don't forget to come back here on Saturday night/Sunday morning for full UFC 73 Results

Background : Tito Ortiz faces undefeated Rashad Evans at UFC 73 on Saturday July 9th.

This weekend I did a bit of camping and as things sometimes do, the talk turned to fighting. A lot of people were asking me what I thought about Tito vs Rashad next weekend. The people I was camping with are mostly fairly new MMA fans and although a couple of them have started training with some BJJ and kickboxing most of them weren't watching MMA when Tito Ortiz was fighting Frank Shamrock instead of Ken Shamrock.

The general consensus among these relatively new MMA fans is that Rashad is an "animal" who will easily defeat Tito. With the memory of Rashad Evans KO'ing Sean Salmon fresh in their memories and Tito loosing to Chuck Liddell there as well, who can blame them?

I decided to throw my viewpoint into the ring and see what they had to say about it. My viewpoint is that Tito has only lost to the very best in the sport (if you exclude his early career loss to Guy M). Tito has lost to Frank Shamrock (a fight he was dominating until he ran out of gas), to Randy Couture and twice to Chuck Liddell.

Considering that Shamrock retired as champion (he's now fighting again in EliteXC), Liddell held the title for 3 years and Randy is a legend with titles in two weight classes; I don't think Tito has done too badly.

Tito is a good wrestler, but more importantly, if Tito puts you on your back you are in danger. I've seen a bunch of postings on UFCJunkie.com (in the comments sections) of how Tito won't be able to lay and pray on Rashad. I can't remember the last fight where Tito layed and prayed. Tito has one of the most active ground games out there. From top position Tito can land hard punches and elbows from full guard, something a lot of fighters have trouble doing). For those who accuse Tito of laying and praying, dig up some old tapes and watch Tito against Forrest (round 1), Tito against Elvis, Tanner or Ken Shamrock...

Now, let's get Rashad his due, he has done very well and is undefeated, but look at who he's faced. The only big name on his list is Stephan Bonner. Bonner is tough, no doubt, but he hasn't exactly risen to the top of the division.

We'll see who's right on Saturday night. I personally think that Tito Ortizwill defeat Rashad Evans...but as they say, anything can happen...that's why they hold the fight.

UFC 73 Prediction : Tito Ortiz

I'm going to claim this outright...UFC 73 is the best card that the UFC has ever put on.

Part of press release from ufc.com

“We have five UFC events lined up now through July in the US and UK, and every one of them is stacked with great fights,” said UFC President Dana White. “No matter where we have a UFC, our goal is always the same – to deliver the best fights between the best mixed martial arts fighters. Our fans know they will always see a good fight, and that’s why the UFC reigns supreme in live sports today.”

White continues, “UFC 73 is one of the best cards we’ve put together this year. It’s going to deliver the one-two punch fight fans want – it has Tito Ortiz and Rashad Evans, two all-state college wrestlers, both who dislike each other, settling their differences in the Octagon, as well as title defenses by our two champions Anderson Silva and Sean Sherk. We’re working on more fights right now to pack this card even heavier from top to bottom.”

About his upcoming fight versus Rashad Evans, “Huntington Beach Bad Boy” Tito Ortiz stated, “Everybody should expect fireworks. Rashad is standing in the way of my getting another title shot, and my prediction is that he won’t be able to handle my tempo or the 18,000 Tito Ortiz fans that are in Sacramento to see me win. My prediction is that fans will definitely get their money’s worth.”

Evans countered, “Tito needs to learn the meaning of respect. On July 7, I’m going to teach him what that’s all about. Let him come down from the mountain to Greg Jackson’s training camp and he’ll see what he’s up against. I’m focused and on a mission, and my goal is to knock him out.”

Read more at ufc.com

The news is out, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira's opponent at UFC 73 will be Heath Herring. This news has surprised a lot of MMA fan sites who believe that the UFC is sacraficing one of their potential stars (Heath Herring) to the much more talented Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. This may be true, but a good showing by Herring in this fight might just raise his stock a little. I personally expect "Big Nog" to take this fight, but never count anyone out in this game.

UFC newcomer Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira will make his Octagon debut at UFC 73. This according to Dana White.
Dana spilled the beans on the Scott Ferrall Radio Show. UFC 73 will take place on July 7.

I found this info while reading UFCJunkie.com