|
|
By Anthony De Franco  September 3, 2009, at 10:18 pm  Well, it looks like Dana White isn’t going to wait for Strikeforce to schedule Fedor’s first fight to have B.J. Penn defend his lightweight title. According to MMA Weekly, Diego Sanchez will get his shot against the Hawaiian on December 12th on Pay-Per-View.
After weeks of speculation, the fight is settled and so is the date.
UFC lightweight champion B.J. Penn will fight Diego Sanchez in the co-main event of UFC 107, which also features a battle between The Ultimate Fighter Season 10 coaches Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Rashad Evans.
“B.J. is fighting Dec. 12,” UFC president Dana White stated Thursday afternoon in a video blog on BJPenn.com.
White already confirmed the bout a week ago at the UFC 102 pre-fight press conference. At the time, he said there was a chance it would headline an as of yet unannounced third November event that would be neither a pay-per-view nor a Spike TV event, leading to speculation about the oft-rumored network television deal.
Whatever the reason, a third November event has yet to materialize.
White has frequently stated, “Once we get the right offer, we will be on network television.” Apparently the right offer hasn’t yet arrived, or at least not in time for November.
There have long been rumors that whenever Fedor stepped foot into a Strikeforce ring, White and the UFC would counterprogram a huge draw like Penn or Anderson Silva on free TV. Since Silva doesn’t seem to want fight anyone right now, It was assumed that Penn and Sanchez would be the fight headlining that card. Now, You have to wonder what White still has left in the cupboard to counterprogram with. All the champions and big draws are booked through the end of the year.
As for the fight, I still am not a big beleiver in Sanchez. He has a very good ground game as long as he is on top, and showed decent elbows from the bottom in his instant classic bout against Clay Guida, but make no mistake; Penn is not Clay Guida. I wonder if Sanchez will be able to get Penn down, and if he does, Penn will completely neutralize his submission game and maybe even sweep him. B.J. is sharper on the feet as well, and will likely dominate this fight.
By Anthony De Franco September 3, 2009, at 12:10 pm From Rotoworld:
Sinorice Moss and Derek Hagan will have their last fight for the final Giants receiver spot Thursday in New England.
Neither Moss nor Hagan has done much in the preseason, but tonight they will get extended playing time to prove they belong. Hagan has three catches for 31 yards while Moss has two grabs for 10 yards so far. David Tyree is on his way out since he won’t play tonight because of a hamstring injury.
I’m just really done with Sinorice Moss. He has been injury prone and for every good play that he makes, he makes three where starts running backwards. I hated him when he drafted, and people insisted that his speed was a weapon. His only chance to succeed was in the slot, and that spot is going to be occupied by Steve Smith, who is the Giants most consistent receiver.
As for Hagan, the former Arizona State Scum Devil has a little bit more size than Moss and has produced in the league before. If nothing else, he is a better option at the final receiver slot than Moss.
By Anthony De Franco September 3, 2009, at 11:00 am Once again, We are all a little late, but I’m really not sure that TapouT even sold this shirt before last Saturday’s fight. There is no doubt that they have probably sold a ton of them to new Nate Marquardt fans after he brutally knocked out Demian Maia. Here’s the shirt:
It’s relatively straight forward. We’re not quite sure what’s next for Nate, but we think it should be a number one contenders fight with Dan Henderson.
Wanna buy one? Check out MMA Warehouse, and click on the link that says UFC 102.
By Anthony De Franco September 3, 2009, at 8:00 am Better late than never. Randy has his own clothing line, Xtreme Couture, who was one of the first groups to get involved in this whole MMA clothing thing. However, it was really hard to find out what his shirt was going to look like. However, here it is in all of it’s coolness and glory.
What better way to describe a guy named Captain America than by throwing an American flag and a bald eagle on the shirt. It’s pretty cool. Want one? Check out MMAwarehouse.com and click the UFC 102 section.
By Jordan Lauterbach September 3, 2009, at 3:26 am The wait is finally over. College football starts tonight!
Full picks column coming by Friday night, but here are some quick ones for opening night.
South Carolina vs. N.C State – South Carolina won 34-0 last year. Expect different things this year. South Carolina has a young team with some uncertainty at the quarterback position. NC State’s Russell Wilson threw only one interception last season and is ready to take that next step. If Wilson improves on his 54% completion percentage, he should be able to do that. Also, don’t think 34-0 hasn’t been thrown around a lot this week. Players have pride.
The Pick: NC State
North Texas vs. Ball State – After a season in which he ran for over 1700 yards, Ball State’s Miqual Lewis is the leading returning rusher in the country. Look for him to have a big game
The Pick: Ball State
Utah State vs. Utah – Utah needs every game in what should be a fascinating MWC. They have some uncertainty at quarterback now that Corbin Louks has moved on to Nevada. The jury was still out on whether Louks would win the job anyway, but now Utah is looking at even less experience at quarterback. I think this will hurt them late in the year when they play TCU. However, it won’t make much of a difference tonight.
The Pick: Utah
Oregon vs. Boise State – The game of the night, by far. Maybe the game of the weekend (it’s at least top three). It’s rare that you can say this on the season’s opening night, but this is a really important game. Boise State needs to go undefeated to have a shot at the BCS. Oregon is, by far, the toughest game on the schedule. Kellen Moore had a great season for the Broncos last year and will be just as good, if not better, this season. This will be the first taste of how he meshes with his new group of top receivers (three of Moore’s go to guys in ‘08 are gone for ‘09).
Call me crazy if you’d like, but I think Oregon is overrated. The defense is rebuilding. The head coach, while from inside the program, is new. LeGarrette Blount is really good, but I think the defense will struggle a lot early. Going on the road against the high powered Broncos spells bad news.
The Pick: Boise State
|
|
Tags: 
