UFN 18 Best Bets

Bread · 03-31-09, 07:25 PM

Tim Credeur is a doofus. GL!

j0hnnyv · 03-31-09, 11:53 PM

junie at +115 seems like a joke. i see him winning this easy???

Bread · 04-01-09, 01:42 PM

I'm also confused by the Junie spread, but not missing out on it.

Bread · 04-01-09, 01:43 PM

Will probably start up an in-game Fight Night thread tonight for anyone who is interested.

The General · 04-01-09, 01:50 PM

LOTS OF HYPE FOR TONIGHT

Enjoy

Bread · 04-01-09, 01:55 PM

Genny you throwin down on some fights tonight?

The General · 04-01-09, 05:48 PM

I doubt it, but hope to watch the action, Bread.

Carmelo Marrero and Cole Miller of American Top Team Coconut Creek will fight tonight on Spike TV's first UFC event in Nashville, Tenn.

The rising stars will compete on the nationally televised UFC Fight Night at Sommet Center.

Marrero (10-2-1), who made his Octagon debut in October 2006 at UFC 64 by winning a split decision over Cheick Kongo, fights highly touted and undefeated Ryan Bader (8-0), making his UFC debut.

After losses to Gabriel Gonzaga and Wilson Gouveia, Marrero won his last fight against Steve Steinbeiss in November.

The 9 p.m. broadcast will open with a fight between former contestants of The Ultimate Fighter. Miller (14-3), the more experienced fighter and veteran of The Ultimate Fighter 5 show, will go up against controversial Junie Browning (3-1), who reached the semifinals in the lightweight division on The Ultimate Fighter 8 show.

Miller has won three of his past four fights, including a third-round TKO submission over Jorge Gurgel at UFC 86 in July.

The main event features welterweights Carlos Condit (23-4) and Martin Kampmann (14-2). Winner of his last eight fights, Condit, the WEC welterweight champion in the UFC's sister organization, is making his UFC debut.

Page not found – Sun Sentinel

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/other/sfl-mma-ufc-fight-night-s040109sbapr01,0,265769.story

Mixed martial arts groups prepare for busy April.

In the mixed martial arts world, April is the month coming in like a lion, with a busy stretch of fights and some transition in the business.

Ultimate Fighting Championship, World Extreme Cagefighting, Japanese promotion Dream and newcomer Bellator all have cards in the first five days of the month. Tournaments are starting, business plans are being tested, and familiar faces are in new places.

UFC's Fight Night card (Wednesday, 8 p.m. ET/PT, Spike), the first UFC event in Nashville, features former WEC welterweight champion Carlos Condit moving over to WEC's corporate partner. UFC follows up with the season debut of The Ultimate Fighter (10 p.m. ET/PT Wed., Spike), which features a country-vs.-country format for the first time as American and British fighters meet.

The most ambitious schedule belongs to newcomer Bellator, which plans 12 fight cards in 12 weeks, each broadcast the following night on ESPN Deportes.

Bellator will have eight-man tournaments in four weight classes, with a few known quantities in fourth-ranked lightweight Eddie Alvarez, Sengoku and Strikeforce veteran Jorge Masvidal and EliteXC bantamweight champion Wilson Reis. The rest of the talent pool is less heralded but not raw, says CEO Bjorn Rebney, one of the league's founders.

"It's not as much of a breeding ground for new faces as it is an opportunity for guys who just haven't been given a shot yet to get that shot, teamed up with guys who can really fight and we all know it," Rebney says.

In the non-tournament fights, Bellator will feature several local fighters from the various venues, starting Friday in Hollywood, Fla. (9 p.m. ET Sat., ESPN Deportes). Local ties are also featured on the WEC card (9 p.m. ET Sun., Versus), with bantamweight champion Miguel Torres fighting in Chicago.

"People call me and ask when are you fighting in Hammond (Ind.) or Chicago, and I say I'm with WEC now, I'll be traveling for the next couple of years," Torres says.

Torres fights Takeya Mizugaki for the belt. Jeff Curran, also a Chicagoan, fights Joseph Benavidez.

Bellator's tournament model has been used often in Japan, where Sengoku and Dream have year-long tournaments in progress. Dream's next card, scheduled for Sunday and broadcast April 10 (10 p.m. ET) on HDNet, kicks off its welterweight tournament, with second-ranked lightweight Shinya Aoki moving up to welterweight to try to avenge a loss to Hayato Sakurai.

One thing Bellator will not mimic is the Japanese theatrical atmosphere.

Rebney calls the Bellator production "Roone Arledge meets Guns N' Roses. You will never see a fighter walk out of the mouth of a dragon, you won't see any pyro, you won't see girls standing up on platforms dancing."

In an MMA marketplace once again becoming crowded after several companies' failures in recent years, Rebney is intent on putting together a credible product.

"MMA is a magical game, but there has been a lot of garbage thrown at the wall," Rebney says. "Fans are gun-shy. If it's not UFC, fans are kind of frightened about it. You've got to talk to them about it."

Page Not Found (404) | USA TODAY

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/mma/2009-03-30-ufc-busy-april_N.htm

LETS's Get It ON!

Bread · 04-01-09, 05:56 PM

OK I'm down!