UFC 76

Here are the full results from UFC 76 (play by play is a separate posting)

Keith Jardine def. Chuck Liddell via split decision
Forrest Griffin def. Mauricio Shogun Rua via submission
Jon Fitch def. Diego Sanchez via unanimous decision
Lyoto Machida def. Kazuhiro Nakamura via unanimous decision
Tyson Griffin def. Thiago Tavares via unanimous decision
Rich Clementi def. Anthony Johnson via submission (guillotine choke)
Jeremy Stephens def. Diego Saraiva via unanimous decision
Christian Wellisch def. Scott Junk via submission (heel hook)
Matt Wiman def. Michihiro Omigawa

So, my predictions were Liddell, Shogun, Fitch, Wiman, Machida, Griffin and Stephens. I did not pick on the Clementi or Wellisch fights.

That makes me 5-2 on the night, missing both of the big upsets. Not a bad night.

Pretty soon I'll be posting my UFC 77 Predictions where Rich Franklin is taking on middleweight champion Anderson Silva and Tim Sylvia and Brandon Vera will be trying to prove that they still are relevant in the UFC heavyweight division.

Check here for your UFC 76 Results. UFC 76 is happening on September 22nd and we will have the results here in real time, as they happen.

Here is the UFC 76 Fight Card

Chuck Liddell vs Keith Jardine
Forrest Griffin vs Mauricio Shogun Rua
Diego Sanchez vs Jon Fitch
Thiago Tavaras vs Tyson Griffin

Lyoto Machida vs Kazuhiro Nakamura
Wilson Gouveia vs Jason Lambert (cancelled)
Michihiro Omigawa vs Matt Wiman
Justin McCully vs Christian Wellisch
Diego Saraiva vs Jeremy Stephens



UFC 76 Results are after the jump...warning spoilers Continue reading "UFC 76 Results" »

UFC 76 is being held on September 22nd and will be available on Pay Per View. There are a couple of good fights on the card, but the highlight fight must be the UFC debut of Mauricio "Shogun" Rua who takes on Forrest Griffin. The other notable fight is Chuck Liddell vs Keith Jardine.

I'm going to start doing the UFC 76 Predictions today and will follow up with one or two more fights added each day this week.

Chuck Liddell vs Keith Jardine
It's hard to find a fighter in the light heavyweight division with better credentials than Chuck Liddell. Think about this, he's defeated the UFC heavyweight champion (Randy Couture) twice. He's defeated the long time UFC light heavyweight champion (Tito Ortiz) twice. He's defeated Ranalto Babalu Sobral twice.

Yes, Chuck has lost to Quinton Jackson twice, but hear me out. Look down the chain a bit and look at some of the fighters that Chuck has defeated and look at their accomplishments in MMA.

Tito defeated Wanderlei Silva
Babalu defeated Shogun
Randy defeated Gabrial Gonzaga, Vitor Belfor and Tito Ortiz

When you add that up, you can't help but put Chuck near the top of the 205lb food chain.

Keith Jardine is no slouch, but he doesn't have the resume that Chuck Liddell has. He defeated Forrest Griffen quite easily, but then got beaten by Houston Alexander in the same way.

UFC 76 Prediction : Chuck Liddell by KO.

Forrest Griffin vs Mauricio Rua
Forrest Griffin is the winner of season 1 of the Ultimate Fighter reality series. Big names Forrest has fought include Tito Ortiz, Keith Jardine and of course his career defining battles with Stephan Bonnar.

Forrest has a good all around game and faired well against Tito and Stephan. He was beaten decisively by Keith Jardine, however.

Mauricio Rua has been a dominant force in the Pride ring over the last few years. He has notched wins over little Nog, Kevin Randleman, Ricardo Arona, Alistair Overeem and of course current UFC light heavyweight champion Quinton Jackson.

The one thing that is sure about this fight is that it will be high intensity with neither fighter backing down. Both guys leave it all in the ring and both have cardio for miles. I think Shogun has the edge in previous competition and his dominance against other great fighters (like Rampage) gives him the edge here.

UFC 76 Prediction : Mauricio "Shogun" Rua

Diego Sanchez vs. Jon Fitch
This is one fight that I believe could go either way. Diego Sanchez has won all but one of his fights, but his performance against Josh Koscheck was very lacklustre. On the other hand Jon Fitch has won 13 in a row. Seriously, this one could go either way, but I think Fitch may win this one.

UFC 76 Prediction : Jon Fitch

Matt Wiman vs. Michihiro Omigawa
I've seen Wiman fight some toughter opponents and fair pretty well. Looking at Michihiro's record he has some wins, but mostly in smaller organizations. I'll take Wiman in this one.

UFC 76 Prediction : Matt Wiman

Kazuhiro Nakamura vs Lyoto Machida
This is a really good match up. You hae two guys who most UFC fans have no idea about, but combined they've defeated the likes of Rich Franklin, BJ Penn, Vernon White, Randleman, Leko and Bustamante. I'll give the edge in competition faced to Nakamura and the edge in success to Machida. I have to take Machida in this fight.

UFC 76 Prediction : Lyoto Machida

Tyson Griffin vs Thiago Tavares
I like both of these guys and they are both rising stars in the UFC, however I have to take Tyson Griffin in this fight. I think Griffin has faced the tougher competition in the past and even his one loss was a very close fight.

UFC 76 Prediction : Tyson Griffin

Scott Junk vs Christian Wellisch
I'm not going to pick in this fight...sorry

UFC 76 Prediction : no prediction

Diego Saraiva vs Jeremy Stephens
Diego Sraiva is coming off two losses in a row while Jeremy Stephens is coming off a win and an enthusiastic loss to Din Thomas. Stephens impressed me in that fight and I'm picking him to win.

UFC 76 Prediction : Jeremy Stephens

That's it for my UFC 76 Predictions, feel free to comment with your own predictions and of course come back for our UFC 76 Results.

Looks like the Lambert vs Gouveia fight has been scrapped because of a broken nose suffered by Gouveia during training. This leaves the UFC 76 Fight Card as follows:

Chuck Liddell vs. Keith Jardine
Mauricio "Shogun" Rua vs. Forrest Griffin
Diego Sanchez vs. Jon Fitch
Kazuhiro Nakamura vs. Lyoto Machida
Tyson Griffin vs. Thiago Tavares
Justin McCully vs. Christian Wellisch
Diego Saraiva vs. Jeremy Stephens
Matt Wiman vs. Michihiro Omigawa

Here is the fight card for UFC 76.

Here are the matches Officially Announced on UFC.com.
Chuck Liddell vs Keith Jardine
Forrest Griffin vs Mauricio Shogun Rua
Diego Sanchez vs Jon Fitch
Thiago Tavaras vs Tyson Griffin

Here are some rumours I found (which are likely accurate)
Lyoto Machida vs Kazuhiro Nakamura
Wilson Gouveia vs Jason Lambert
Michihiro Omigawa vs Matt Wiman
Justin McCully vs Christian Wellisch
Diego Saraiva vs Jeremy Stephens

Forrest Griffin and Mauricio Shogun Rua face off at UFC 76 on September 22nd in Shogun's UFC debut. This one could either be over very quickly, or turn into the fight of the night. Which one happens depends more on Forrest Griffin's strategy going into the fight than anything else.

Forrest Griffin won the first season of the Ultimate Fighter reality season in an epic battle with Stephan Bonnar and mixed martial arts has never been the same. This was really the first time that a great fight was available, and watched, by a large audience on free TV. The people loved it and the UFC's popularity grew enormously.

Since that fight, Griffin has battled some big names in the light heavyweight division, including Tito Ortiz, Keith Jardine, Elvis Sinosic and Stephan Bonnar again. Griffin defeated both Sinosic and Bonnar, put on a good show against Ortiz (maybe even a draw), but lost badly to Keith Jardine. The Jardine fight was particularly interesting as Jardine was able to TKO Griffin even though we've seen many times before that Forrest Griffin has a good chin and doesn't mind getting hit. I'd even say he usually fights better when he's a bit bloodied up, just look at his fights with Ortiz and Bonnar as examples of this.

Mauricio Shogun Rua has faced almost every light heavyweight worth fighting in the Pride organization, with the sole exception of his Chute Box team mate Wanderlei Silva. To say that Shogun has had success is somewhat of an understatement. He has a dominant win over current UFC light heavyweight champion Quinton Jackson and wins over big names like Kevin Randleman, Ricardo Arona, Alistair Overeem and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (little Nog). He lost a match to Mark Coleman in 2006, but only because he suffered a broken arm after coming down on a bad angle during a slam.

Mauricio Rua has an aggressive style. He quite simply overwhelms his opponents with vicious strikes and kicks. He has won 12 out of his last 13 fights, 10 of them in the 1st round and 9 by KO or TKO. If you're wondering if he has the cardio to go into later rounds, consider that he won a three round fight over Antonio Rogerio Nogueira by decision. Cardio for Shogun is not an issue, in fact it is one of the reasons that he can go all out and not worry about what he's got left for later in the fight.

First of all, I don't believe that Forrest will win this fight. When facing top competition, Shogun has a much better record, not just winning, but winning decisively. That said, Shogun's aggression can be his Achilles' heel. Sometimes he over extends himself and commits to bad situations. Usually, this works out for Shogun because he is so talented, but I can see where a Chuck Liddell could take advantage of this and knock Shogun out. Unfortunately for Forrest, he is not a knockout artist. He likes to stand and bang, but he hit Tito and Bonnar for a total of 9 rounds and didn't knock either out.

On the ground, I don't think that the story gets any better for Forrest. Sure he has submitted guys like Bill Mahood, but Shogun is a completely different animal. He trains in Brazil, along with his other Chute Box team mates. There is a reason why the B in BJJ is for Brazil and I have my doubt that Forrest will catch Shogun in a submission.

So the only way I can see Forrest Griffin winning this fight is by decision. Forrest showed us in his last fight, against Hector Ramirez, that he's able to stick with a game plan and win a fight from the outside using good boxing. He will need to do this against Shogun to be successful. He will need to establish his jab early and keep Shogun at a distance to have any chance of winning this fight.

Sadly, Shogun just doesn't let his opponents do that. Ask Alistair Overeem, a good striker who gave Chuck Liddell a run in their fight early. Shogun had some trouble with Alistair early, but eventually he was able to get the upper hand and defeat him with punches on the ground.

I've waited a long time to see Mauricio Shogun Rua fight in the UFC. I want to see him take on the likes of Chuck Liddell, Tito Ortiz and yes, Forrest Griffin. I'd love to see a rematch with Quinton Jackson, or how about avenging his brother "Ninja"'s loss to Dan Henderson. One thing is for sure, the UFC light heavyweight division is stacked. It's a great time to be an MMA fan!

If you're like me you've been feeling the lack of UFC action lately. Dana and the boys have taken a long break between the July 7th show and the next big event on August 25th, but in the span of 1 month we're going to have 4 shows and the start of the ultimate fighter season 6.

First off, we have a WEC event this weekend (Sunday night). I think it's being shown on the Versus network. Not sure if it will be available by Pay Per View or not.

August 25th is UFC 74 "Respect" featuring a bout for the heavyweight title between Randy Couture and Gabriel Gonzoga. Also on that card is Josh Koscheck vs Georges St Pierre.

September 8th from London is the UFC 75 "Champion vs Champion" card where Pride 205 lb champ Dan Henderson will take on the new UFC light heavyweight champion Quinton "Rampage" Jackson.

September 19th is a UFC Fight Night card featuring Spencer Fisher vs Din Thomas an Mike Swick vs Jonathon Goulet. Also an interesting bout between Chris Leben and Terry Martin (fully expecting a KO in that one, just not sure who will be KO'd).

September 19th will also be the season premiere of Ultimate Fighter season 6. This season will feature coaches Matt Serra and Matt Hughes...and a bunch of welterweight fighters.

And finally on September 22nd will be UFC 76 "Knockout" featuring Chuck Liddell vs Keith Jardine and Mauricio "Shogun" Rua taking on Forrest Griffin.

So, relax and enjoy the next 3 weeks...after that it's all UFC all the time!

Don't forget about the WEC card on Sunday. The feature bout is between Joe Doerksen and Paulo Filho and should be interesting.

Jardine vs Liddell has been scheduled for UFC 76 in Anaheim California. Liddell and Jardine are both coming off of devastating first round TKO losses.

Chuck Liddell was the victim of a perfectly placed punch by Quinton Jackson, followed up by some aggressive ground and pound to finish off the former light heavyweight champion.

The "Dean of Mean", Keith Jardine was basically mugged by UFC newcoming Houston Alexander in the first round of their matchup. Before the beatdown, Jardine was getting close to a title shot, now he finds himself back in the mix of one of MMA's strongest divisions.

Also on the UFC 76 card will be Pride standout and UFC newcoming Mauricio "Shogun" Rua who will face Forrest Griffin.

I guess this is where the reality show rubber hits the road with 205's best reality show prospects going up with two fighters who are definitely top 5 material. This should be an outstanding card.

My early prediction is wins by both Liddell and Shogun, but this is MMA and anything can happen. One thing I can predict with near certainty is that one of these four fighters will be the next in line for a title shot against the winner of Rampage Jackson and Dan Henderson. If both Liddell and Shogun are victorious (as I expect them to be), I wonder who Dana White will grant the title shot to?

For more UFC 76 predictions and more UFC predictions in general, check back here as the fights draw closer.

So, I surf over to UFC.com like I always do (multiple times daily) and what do I see in the headlines?

"Liddell-Silva Scrapped...Again"

C'mon, when Dana white had Silva step into the ring at UFC 61 and announce "I wanna f' Chuck" I almost fell off the edge of my seat. I was pumping my fist in the air, shouting! Of course, the fight didn't happen that time because of the Pride and UFC ownership clashing heads.

With the UFC ownership purchasing Pride and both Liddell and Silva loosing their last fights I thought it was really going to happen, then when I started reading rumors to that effect last week I was getting excited again.

Now, it appears that once again I will be disappointed. UFC.com is saying that it was Silva who said he didn't want the fight and Chuck Liddell is saying that he wasn't holding his breath for it to happen.

Sniff I'm just going to go into a corner now and cry myself to sleep...

This story was broken by our friends at ufcjunkie.com

Apparently the fighters have reached a verbal aggreement to fight at UFC 76 in September. This is a fight that I've been waiting for for a very long time.

Chuck Liddell is coming off a loss to Quinton Jackson while Wanderlei Silva just lost to Dan Henderson. Jackson and Henderson are facing each other at UFC 75, you can expect the winner of Silva vs Liddell to get a title shot.