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By Anthony De Franco  November 25, 2009, at 5:25 pm  Looks like everyone’s favorite Long Island based fighter is getting back in the cage for the UFC.
Matt Serra has announced that he is taking on Frank Trigg at UFC 109. Here’s the news from MMA Weekly:
Matt Serra on Wednesday confirmed his next fight, posting on his official facebook page that he has signed to fight Frank Trigg on Feb. 6 at UFC 109. The event is scheduled for the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
“Signed to fight Frank Trigg on Feb. 6 in Vegas (UFC). Should be an exciting fight!!!” wrote Serra. “I love the UFC… they keep hooking me up with the most arrogant guys to punch in the face!!!”
Serra (9-6) is currently on a two-fight skid, losing the UFC welterweight title to Georges St-Pierre and then dropping a decision to former champion Matt Hughes in May of this year. He is 1-2 in the Octagon since making his return via “The Ultimate Fighter 4: The Comeback.” Serra was granted a title shot for winning the reality series, taking full advantage by taking the belt from St-Pierre before losing it in their rematch.
Trigg (19-7) made his return to the Octagon at UFC 103 in Dallas, where he quickly suffered a TKO loss to Josh Koscheck in the opening round. Having captured titles in many smaller organizations, he is currently 37 years old and making what is likely his last run at success in the UFC.
This is a matchup between two veterans who desperately need this fight. Serra is coming off a loss to Matt Hughes that he claims he won, but I think he was a little delusional. Trigg is coming off a loss to a top five welterweight in Josh Koscheck where he thinks that the fight was stopped early.
This is a fight where you have two guys whose base arts are on the ground. If Trigg was to take Serra down, could “The Terror” use his excellent BJJ to submit him? Sure. Could Trigg put enough pressure on Serra to grind out a decision? Probably.
For whatever reason, I see this fight staying on the feet, and I see Trigg outclassing Serra in a decision.
That being said, I love both these guys and wish them the best of luck.
By Anthony De Franco November 25, 2009, at 2:58 pm This fight just got a whole lot more interesting.
Wanderlei Silva went from taking on a little known Japanese star to fighting Britain’s MMA poster boy in the span of a few short days.
From MMA Weekly:
Wanderlei Silva and Michael Bisping have verbally agreed to meet at UFC 110, MMAWeekly.com confirmed Tuesday evening with sources close to the fight.
The news was first reported Monday by Fighters Only.
UFC 110 is slated for Feb. 23 at Acer Arena in Sydney, Australia, though the event has yet to be confirmed by the promotion.
Until news of the match-up broke, Silva was originally expected headline the down under event with Yoshihiro Akiyama. The Japanese star’s fate is unknown at this time. Silva vs. Bisping is expected to be a co-main event.
Silva (32-10-1) last fought in January at UFC 93, losing a unanimous decision to Rich Franklin in a 195-pound catchweight fight. Silva disagreed with the call and said he would like to rematch the former middleweight champion down the line.
Following the fight, Silva underwent surgery to reduce scar tissue around his eyes and took the second half of 2009 off.
There are a ton of interesting story lines to talk about around this fight. Is Bisping completely back from his defeat at the hands of Dan Henderson? Will the knockout effect his chin long term? Speaking of chis, how will Wanderlei’s facial surgery effect his ability to take a punch? Will he have problems cutting down to his new weight class?
Most of all, Does Silva have anything left?
We’ll find out in Australia.
By Anthony De Franco November 9, 2009, at 12:29 pm Nothing like putting two big slow white guys the ring together. Here’s the news from MMA Weekly:
Light heavyweights Stephan Bonnar and Krzysztof Soszynski are expected to do battle at UFC 110.
MMAWeekly.com learned of the match-up Friday from sources close to the situation. Though bout agreements have not been signed, both fighters have agreed to the fight and are expected to put pen to paper shortly.
UFC 110 has yet to be officially announced by the promotion but is expected for Feb. 21 at the Acer Arena in Sydney, Australia.
Bonnar (11-6) last appeared at UFC 100 in July, where he lost by unanimous decision to former heavyweight champion Mark Coleman in the promotion’s blockbuster summer event. It was his second consecutive loss on points after a setback to Jon Jones at UFC 94.
Since emerging from the inaugural season of “The Ultimate Fighter,” Bonnar has gone 5-5 in the Octagon.
Well, here’s the good part. Neither of these two are going to take this thing to the ground. They are going to slug it out. It ends one of two ways. Either one of them gets put down, or it’s a sloppy fight that ends in a decision.
How is Stephan Bonnar still employed? How much more goodwill can he have from The Ultimate Fighter One finale? Since entering the UFC, he’s 5-5, not to mention that whole thing where he was suspended for taking horse steroids. We’ve talked before about how he should be cut, but if he loses this one it really has to be over.
By Anthony De Franco October 29, 2009, at 5:22 pm YES! The best looking man in MMA, Urijah Faber, is finally back from his two broken hands and will be fighting Raphael Assuncao at WEC 46 in January. Some people were suggesting that he wouldn’t be back in the cage until March, but never count out “The California Kid.” MMA Weekly broke the news.
The long-awaited return of World Extreme Cagefighting fan favorite Urijah Faber is now set.
MMAWeekly.com sources on Thursday confirmed that Faber would return at WEC 46 on Jan. 10 to face fellow featherweight contender Raphael Assuncao. They have verbally agreed to fight when the promotion returns to Faber’s backyard of Sacramento, Calif., at the ARCO Arena.
Faber (22-3) last fought in a loss to current 145-pound champion Mike Brown at WEC 41 in June, also in Sacramento. He fractured his right hand in the bout and has spent the past few months healing.
“That would be perfect timing for me,” Faber told MMAWeekly.com earlier this month when asked about a January return.
Faber is stuck in one of the weirdest situations in MMA. He lost his first fight with Mike Brown because he was being stupid and threw a spinning back elbow against a damn good fighter. Then, after beating Jens Pulver before getting a rematch, he broke one hand and seriously hurt his other during the fight. Even with that, he was to land some funky elbows, and held Mike Thomas Brown to a somewhat unimpressive victory.
Now, people are still calling Faber one of the best featherweight fighters in the world, which is not something that you would normally say about a guy who has lost two out of his last three fights. I think that he needs two fights before getting back to Brown, and he’ll get his first win against a fighter that just isn’t in the same class.
By Anthony De Franco October 19, 2009, at 10:02 am Lots of post coming today. Ton of MMA news from the weekend, and needless to say there’s some football coming as well. However, we’ll start today with a good fight that is scheduled for early next season. Tyson Griffin in coming off a win over Hermes Franca at Fight Night 19 and is making a push to be considered as a top-five lightweight in the UFC. His next challenge will be underrated Jersey fighter Jim Miller. Here’s the news from MMA Weekly:
A rumored bout between Tyson Griffin and Jim Miller is a step away from finalization. MMAWeekly.com sources indicate the fight has been verbally agreed to and bout agreements are awaiting signatures.
The fight, first reported by MMAJunkie.com, will grace the undercard at UFC 108 on Jan. 2 in Las Vegas. The UFC is trying to put a headline title bout together between current middleweight champion Anderson Silva and Vitor Belfort for the event at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, as well as a light heavyweight bout between Top 10 fighters Rashad Evans and Thiago Silva.
Griffin (14-2) has steadily worked his way towards a UFC lightweight title shot amassing a record of 7-2 in the Octagon. His most recent slip was an arguable unanimous decision loss to Sean Sherk at UFC 90 in October 2008. He has since put together back-to-back wins over Rafael dos Anjos and Hermes Franca this year.
Miller (15-2) is 4-1 since joining the UFC lightweight ranks, losing only to an undefeated Gray Maynard at UFC 96 in March. He also won his next two bouts, defeating Ultimate Fighter Season Six winner Mac Danzig at UFC 100 and Steve Lopez at UFC 103.
This is a sneaky good fight. Griffin really needs another big win to cement his status as a top contender. Now, the question becomes: is Miller a big enough name to catapult him to a title shot? While Miller is a tough fighter that is capable of an upset, but he isn’t the kind of win that you can sell a top contender on. A Tyson Griffin win would likely set up a #1 contender fight between him and Gray Maynard. Now, that would be a sick fight.
By Anthony De Franco October 16, 2009, at 3:43 pm Get ready to put another shrimp on the barbi, fight fans.
UFC 111 will take place in February in Australia as many have suggested over the last couple of months. The main event will mark Wanderlei Silva’s debut at 185, and return from facial surgery that is supposed to resurrect his career. His opponent will be Japanese pop-icon Yoshihiro Akiyama. The man affectionately known as “Sexy-yama” won his UFC debut in a controversial split decision that this blog felt the judges got very wrong. Here’s the news from MMA Weekly:
Wanderlei Silva, in a video posted to his official YouTube channel on Thursday night, confirmed his next fight would be at the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s debut in Australia.
He will face Yoshihiro Akiyama at UFC 111 when the promotion lands at the Acer Arena in Sydney. Akiyama first mentioned the bout at a recent press conference in Japan touting the UFC’s new “Undisputed” video game.
“I am so happy because it is the first event there,” said Silva with a huge smile across his face. “This is a great honor for me because I fight in the main event in Cologne, Germany, in the first event there, and I’m gonna fight in the first event in Australia.”
Silva (32-10-1) hasn’t fought since Germany in June, where he lost a unanimous decision in a 195-pound catchweight to Rich Franklin. Accruing a 1-3 record since joining the ranks of the UFC, the bout with Akiyama will be Silva’s first at 185 pounds, a move that will put him on a more level playing field with his opposition.
The logic is as follows: Austrailia is close to Japan, right? Silva is a legend is the Far East from his days as PRIDE’s biggest draw. Akiyama is a legend in that part of the world because he’s a pop music sensation in addition to a fighter. (No, I am not kidding.) Let’s just assume that the Japanese, a country full of MMA fans, will make the 10-hour plane trek to get to the Outback.
Personally, I wasn’t that impressed with Akiyama, and I’d expect the Axe murderer to get back on track.
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