UFC 85 Awards

The fight of the night, submission of the night and KO of the night bonuses have been awarded.

The fight of the night was awarded to one of the undercard bouts, which proved to be suprisingly exciting and well worth the award. The fighters to receive this were Matt Wiman and Thiago tavares. Wiman has been training with California based fight team The Pit, headed by John Hackleman and home of former Light Heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell. This new training regime seems to have worked wonders on Wiman, who was more dynamic and exposive than we have ever seen him before. Both fighters were constantly working for submissions throughout the fight, until Wiman was able to secure the finish with a flurry of punches.

In a stunning finish, Thiago Alves took KO of the night for his brutal knock out of former Welterweight Champion Matt Hughes. Alves delivered a flying knee to Hughes' chin which sent him careering into the mat, and finished it off with a few solid punches to the face before it was stopped. There is some controversy amongst fans, as many believe that, as Alves didn't make weight, he shouldn't be awarded the bonus.

The submission of the night came from an unaired prelim fight, although fans were treated to a highlight of the finish in between fights. The award went to UFC newcomer Kevin Burns for his submission over Roan Carneiro. Burns submitted Carneiro via triangle choke in round 1. This is an amazing feat for so many reasons. Kevin Burns took the fight on less than two weeks notice, as Carneiro's original opponent, Ryo Chonan, pulled out of the event. Burns is a blue belt in jiu-jitsu, and managed to submit a world champion jiu-jitsu black belt in less than one round. This was, to most fans, an unthinkable outcome.

All fighters mentioned received a bonus of $50,000 dollars.

UFC 85 Results

Here are the results for this evening's fights

Antoni Hardonk def. Eddie Sanchez by TKO at 4:15, R2

Paul Taylor def. Jess Liaudin by split decision, R3

Luis Cane def. Jason Lambert by TKO at 2:07, R1

Kevin Burns def. Roan Carneiro by submission (triangle choke) at 3:56, R2

Matt Wiman def. Thiago Tavares by KO at 1:57, R2

Martin Kampmann def. Jorge Rivera by submission (guillotine choke) at 2:34, R1

Fabricio Werdum def. Brandon Vera by TKO (punches on the ground) at 4:40, R1

Thales Leites def. Nate Marquardt by split decision (28-27, 28-27, 27-28)

Mike Swick def. Marcus Davis by unanimous decision (29-27, 29-27, 29-27)

Michael Bisping def. Jason Day by TKO (punches on the ground) at 3:42, R1

Thiago Alves def. Matt Hughes by TKO (strikes) at 1:02, R2

UFC 85 Full Weigh In Results

The weigh ins for UFC 85 took place today. As we posted earlier, Thiago Alves failed to make weight, so the fight will take place at a catch weight of 174 lbs. Apart from this, all fighters made weight successfully. Here are the official weights for each fighter:

Thiago Alves (174) VS Matt Hughes (170)

Jason Day (184) VS Michael Bisping (184)

Mike Swick (170) VS Marcus Davis (170)

Thales Leites (185) VS Nate Marquardt (185)

Fabricio Werdum (247) VS Brandon Vera (228)

Martin Kampmann (186) VS Jorge Rivera (185)

Thiago Tavares (154.5) VS Matt Wiman (155)

Roan Carneiro (171) VS Kevin Burns (170)

Luiz Cane (204) VS Jason Lambert (205)

Jess Liaudin (169) VS Paul Taylor (169)

Eddie Sanchez (244) VS Antoni Hardonk (247)

Thiago Alves Fails To Make Weight

At today's weigh ins for UFC 85, welterweight fighter Thiago Alves failed to reach the 170lb weight limit.

Instead of having to drop the extra weight, Alves and his opponent Matt Hughes agreed to fight at a catch weight of 174lbs.

Alves was found guilty of using a banned diuretic before one of his fights, which is a sure sign that he struggles to amke weight for his bout. We will have to wait and see if this heavy weight cut will take it's toll on Alves.

UPDATE: UFC 85 Official Fight Card

We have held of posting the full fight card for UFC 85 since there was so many changes, even in the final two weeks. With the event beginning in just 24 hours, we decided it was safe to post the card now. So here it is:

Main Card:

-Matt Hughes vs. Thiago Alves
-Nate Marquardt vs. Thales Leites
-Fabricio Werdum vs. Brandon Vera
-Michael Bisping vs. Jason Day
-Marcus Davis vs. Mike Swick

Preliminary Card:

-Martin Kampmann vs. Jorge Rivera
-Kevin Burns vs. Roan Carneiro
-Thiago Tavares vs. Matt Wiman
-Jess Liaudin vs. Paul Taylor
-Eddie Sanchez vs. Antoni Hardonk
-Jason Lambert vs. Luiz Arthur Cane

Another Change To UFC 85

The UFC match makers are surely tearing their hair out over the number of injuries and other issues surrounding the UFC 85 card.

Once again, they have been left to ring round looking for a last minute replacement for an injured fighter. This time, British fighter Neil Wain has pulled out of the event due to a broken nose, leaving Antoni Hardonk without an opponent.

Heavyweighgt fighter Eddie Sanchez has agreed to step in as a replacement, less than two weeks before the event, despite the fact that the event is to be held in a completely different country. Sanchez is 8-1 in his professional career, and 3-1 in the UFC. His only career loss came to Mirko Cro Cop at UFC 67.

The event will take place on June 7th at the O2 Arena in London, England, featuring a main event of Matt Hughes versus Thiago Alves.

Ryo Chonan Out Of UFC 85

Former Pride fighter Ryo Chonan is reportedly out of UFC 85, although no reason has yet been given.

The UFC have drafted in Kevin "The Fire" Burns to replace him. This will be Burns' first time in the UFC, and has little under two weeks to get himself in shape, and travel from Iowa to the UK.

Burns holds a record of 4-1 and has stopped his opponents in all four of his wins, three of them by submission. Credit has to be given to Burns for taking the fight on such short notice. His opponent will be Roan Carneiro, who has a professional record of 12-6 and is 2-1 in the UFC.

Confirmed Fight Card For UFC 85

With the removal and rearranging of so many fights for UFC 85, I thought I would repost the card as it stands. The UFC have confirmed that this is the final draft.

Matt Hughes (42-6) vs. Thiago Alves (14-3)
Michael Bisping (15-1) vs. Jason Day (17-5)

Mike Swick (11-2) vs. Marcus Davis (14-3)

Nate Marquardt (26-7) vs. Thales Leites (12-1)

Brandon Vera (8-1) vs. Fabricio Werdum (10-3-1)
Martin Kampmann (15-2) vs. Jorge Rivera (15-6)

Thiago Tavares (13-1) vs. Matt Wiman (9-3)

Roan Carneiro (12-6) vs. Ryo Chonan (14-8)

Jason Lambert (23-7) vs. Luis Arthur Cane (7-1)

Jess Liaudin (12-9) vs. Paul Taylor (8-3-1)

Neil Wain (4-0) vs. Antoni Hardonk (6-4)

UPDATE: Evans Bout Scratched From UFC 85

Yesterday we announced that Rashad Evans would be fighting Luiz Cane at UFC 85, after James Irvin broke his foot in training, (See here for original story http://mmatrivia.blogspot.com/2008/05/james-irvin-out-luiz-cane-in-at-ufc-85.html)

In an update from the UFC, it has been revealed that Evans has been removed from the card altogether. Luiz Cane will now fight his original opponent, Jason Lambert. No reason has been given for the last minute change, but it is suspected that Rashad didn't want to fight someone with such a different style to his original opponent. This would mean he would have to change his training significally, and with the fight being less than three weeks away, it would be a very tough thing to do.

The UFC 85 card, set to take place on Saturday June 7th at London's O2 Arena, has only 11 bouts on the card, instead of it's original 13.

James Irvin Out, Luiz Cane In At UFC 85

An arranged bout between James "The Sandman" Irvin and "Sugar" Rashad Evans has been scratched from UFC 85 due to injury.

Irvin has reportedly suffered a broken foot in training and has been forced off the card. This could come as a serious blow to Evans,who was originally slated to face Chuck Liddell, followed by James Irvin. Now, with less than three weeks to go, Evan's opponent has changed again.

Luiz Cane is now slated to fight Rashad Evans, although he was originally booked to fight Jason Lambert on the same card. Lambert has since been removed from the card altogether.

The UFC has been advertising this card as an event with 13 fights, the largest event in UFC history, but now has lost this by only listing 11 fights on their website. With less than three weeks to go, can the UFC find an extra two fights? This card, entitled Bedlam, has been plagued with issues, losing Chuck Liddell, Mauricio Rua, Jonathan Goulet, Paul Kelly and James Irvin to injury, and Chris Leben due to being arrested.

Michael Bisping's Opinions On New Opponent

This was taken from Michael Bispings official website:

Hi everyone,

So, I get a call while I am at my mother-in-law’shouse last night telling me Chris Leben has been sentenced to 35 days in prison and my new opponent is Jason Day. I faxed back the new contract this morning and, with 29 days to go, I am fighting Jason Day.
As for Chris Leben, yeah, I am a little disappointed the fight won’t be happening in June. Not only was I looking forward to finally – finally! – getting to fight a striker in the UFC after two years of grapplers and wrestlers but most importantly the fans were really excited about it. I feel very sorry for Chris here, I can’t imagine how frustrated he must be in jail missing out on a big fight overseas like this. If I were in his position, I would be pretty devastated.
So, I offer my condolences to Chris and maybe we can get this on at some point in the future. Also, I offer him the following sage advice: “Chris, don’t drop the soap in the shower, mate!”

More seriously, big respect to Joe Silva who found anopponent who I feel is every bit as dangerous as Leben but - unfortunately for me - isn’t as well know and doesn’t have the same reputation with the UFC fans Chris has after only one UFC fight. That’s no reflection of Jason’s skills but obviously most UFC fans won’t have seen him as he was on the undercard inMontreal.
However, I did see his fight and he put a hurting on Alan Belcher in very impressive style.
Some people have already said I’m in just as dangerous a fight with not as much to gain, but I don’t really see it like that. As soon as I learned it was Day and not Leben, boom, my mind was 100% on Day as if he was the opponent from… well… Day One (boom boom).

This is my job, I am a professional fighter, this is what I do to earn a living and the news was no big deal to me. As far as I am concerned, I want to fight often and I am very excited to be fighting in front of 20,000 people at the o2 Arena next month. I don’t care if the opponent changes 1000 times, I’ve got a date and whoever is across the Octagon from me on that date I’ll fight.

You have to respect Jason Day for taking this fight. Not only is it even shorter notice than I got that I was getting added to UFC 85, but it is also in another time zone half way around the world. I give Jason alot of credit here; as if you couldn’t tell from his performance at UFC 83, this guy is all fighter and I am looking forward to meeting him June 7. He said he thinks this will be the fight of the night and if he fights me like he did Alan Belcher at UFC 84 it could well be very explosive.

- The Count

This shows what a gentleman Bisping is, and we wish him the best of luck in his fight.

UPDATE: Jason Day To Replace Leben

Following the recent legal issues surrounding Chris Leben, we announced earlier today that Leben had been pulled from UFC 85 (See here for original story http://mmatrivia.blogspot.com/2008/05/update-chris-leben-given-jail-time.html)

We have learned from the UFC that Nate Quarry will not be replacing Leben, as he has reportedly suffered an elbow injury. Bisping will instead face Jason "Dooms" Day.

Day is currently coming off a win in the UFC, after beating Alan Belcher. Bisping is not taking his opponent lightly and gave this quote to the UFC "Jason Day looked bloody dangerous in his fight with Belcher and I think this fight has exactly the same potential as the Leben fight to be a real war."

UPDATE: Leben Out Of UFC 85

Following his recent jail sentence, Chris Leben has been pulled from UFC 85.

This is possibly due to a combination of the visa requirements to allow him to fight in England, and the length of time he will be in prison, giving him only a few days to train and fly to England.

No official replacement has been named by the UFC, but it is rumored that Nate "The Rock" Quarry will take his place against Michael Bisping in June. We will bring you confirmation of this as soon as we can.

Jonathan Goulet Off UFC 85

Jonathan Goulet has announced that he will no longer be fighting at UFC 85 in London, due to undisclosed health reasons.

Goulet, who is coming off a win against Kuniyoshi Hironaka, was scheduled to fight Paul Kelly in a preliminary bout. Goulet stated that this fight is one he does want, and will attempt to rearrange it with the UFC at the earliest opportunity.

UPDATE: Taylor - Liaudin Fight Confirmed

The rumored match up between Jess "Joker" Liaudin and Paul Taylor has been confirmed by the UFC.

This match will take place on the preliminary portion of UFC 85 in London. Both fighters fight out of England, and are fan favourites in their home country. This fight is the last fight to be confirmed for the June 7th card, bringing the total number of fights to 13. This makes the event the biggest card in UFC history.

Chonan-Carneiro Scheduled For UFC 85

The UFC has today announced an additional bout for UFC 85.

The event will now feature a Welterweight bout between Ryo "Piranya" Chonan and Roan "Jucao" Carneiro. This will be their first time in England with the UFC, although Carneiro has fought in England before, for the now defunct promotion WCFC.

If the bouts already announced between Paul Kelly and Jonathan Goulet, and Jess Liaudin and Paul Taylor are confirmed, the card for this event will be complete.

RUMOR: New Prelim Bout Added To UFC 85

It is believed that Paul Kelly and Jonathan Goulet have signed to fight each other at UFC 85 in London.

Although not officially confirmed by the UFC, sources close to both fighters told UFC Junkie today that the deal was done. This card is headlined by Matt Hughes and Thiago Alves, after Chuck Liddell was forced to pull out due to a torn hamstring. This new fight is the 13th fight sceduled for this event, making it the biggest event in UFC history.

Michael Bisping Ready For Chris Leben

In an article published in The Sun newspaper today, Michael Bisping has decleared that he is excited to be fighting again so soon after his last win, and that he believes he is more technical than Leben, which will give him an advantage in this fight.

Check out The Sun's story here http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/ufc/bispingblog/article1105169.ece