It seems like it has taken forever, however the UFC today made official three more bouts for its “Breakthrough” pay-per-view (PPV) event, which will take place from the Philips Arena in Atlanta, Ga., on September 6.
There’s no real Earth-shattering news to report because we’ve already passed along the match ups to our readers weeks ago. Then again no fight is truly official until it appears on the promotion’s Web site in some way, shape or form.
Nonetheless, as previously reported “three of mixed martial arts’ biggest stars” will be in action in little more than one month, including Rich Franklin, Dan Henderson and Karo Parisyan. That’s in addition to, of course, the main event of the evening between Chuck Liddell and Rashad Evans.
Just a quick refresher for those who may have missed the earlier reports here at MMAmania.com: Franklin will return to the 205-pound division to take on Matt Hamill, Henderson is in-line to face submission specialist Rousimar Palhares, and Parisyan has a very tough test against Japanese import (and fellow Judo player), Yoshiyuki Yoshida.
UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva was thought to perhaps defend his 185-title at the show; however, with a hand injury to likely opponent Yushin Okami it’s possible that he will now compete on an October card against Patrick Cote.
To check out the latest UFC 88 card and rumors click here.
100 Comments »
No titles again?
Anderson Silva vs Patrick Cote would be a complete waste of 4 months of Andrson Silva in his prime. The potential Silva/Cote fight would go down very similar to the Silva/Leben fight, except Cote won’t be able to get back up like Leben did after the first barrage of punches.
Since Okami is injured, I think that the UFC should let Anderson dabble in the LHW division for another fight if he wishes, and have the winner of Leben/Bisping fight Cote in an official #1 contender fight. That makes more sense to me. However, you can not have Anderson Spider Silva not fighting for more than 4 months because right now, he is the hottest fighter on the planet (tied with Fedor).
i wish a. silva would stay at lhw permanantly. theres no real competition for him at mw and lyoto hasnt won the title yet. a.silva is gonna have to fight another brazillian sooner or later, just like an aka fighter is gonna have to fight another sooner or later. there’s just too many of them around the same weight class.
I do not see LYoto and anderson fighting they were from the sam camp and are good friends. Maybe they would put that all aside as professionals but not sure.
I dont see Cote winning the fight but I think he will do better then Leben did. Cote seems to be a more technical and methodical striker then leben. He looks toward defense as well as offense when striking. Leben just wades in and hopes he knocks his opponent out before he gets knocked out. Cote might not have Lebens chin but his chin is pretty damn good. I am thinking that Cote might even try for some GNP. The fight should be entertaining and better then you think.
Like it or not, Cote deserves his shot. Its not Cote’s fault that the MW division is thin because Anderson Silva cleared it out. With Okami out, Cote is the next deserving contender.
I don’t see how Cote has a prayer against Anderson Silva, much less have desire to get in the cage with Silva…but, Cote’s earned the opportunity.
I think Cote will do better than Leben too, but mostly because I don’t think Leben landed a single punch. As I recall, he just basically played the part of punching bag in that fight.
In fairness, Leben was the first guy in the UFC who fought Anderson. I don’t think any of the fighters knew what a can of whoopass Anderson Silva would become.
Cote’s a good fighter with a strong chin. I see Silva as the heavy favorite, but I wouldn’t COMPLETELY rule out an upset, especially if Cote has a smart training camp.
By the way – Franklin should be fighting Henderson at this show. Screw the LHW experiment for Franklin, especially if it’s only for this fight. He can’t compete at 205 (I see Hamill KOing him)- the UFC should be marketing Hendo/Franklin along side Bisping/Leben.
Dude…Martin Kampmann, Danish Thai boxing champ, proven chin, slick submissions. Don’t think he would win but he would put on a much better showing than Cote…and I like Cote.
MIght as well give cote his title shot and get him out of the way. Like it or not he is right behind okami waiting for a title shot. If Yushin hadn’t gotten hurt Silva would still have to defend the title against Okami and then Cote, so lets have the fight ASAP and get it over with so Anderson can more on to better challenges.
Unless they add Silva vs. Cote to UFC 88, then I will be very dissapointed with the card!
Chuck vs. Rashad…STUPID! another tailor made opponent for the ICEman, they might as well just keep letting him beat up and TIto and Babalu, I mean come on! Hendo vs. Chuck would have been bad ass or Franklin vs. Chuck at 205 would have been better as well!
Franklin vs. Hamil is just stupid!
Hendo vs. Rusimar is Dumb also!
I wanted to see Franklin vs. Hendo but the UFC is booking everything except for this fight and I just dont get it!
Karo vs. Yoshida (I admit will be good, unless Karo9 gets on top of him, then we will know that it will be up to the judges cause Karo cant finish anyone
Hendo vs Chuck would have been sick! but Dan has said that he wants to stay at mw because he wants another shot at the spider.
NEWS Flash:
It was reported earlier today that both reigning IFL Middleweight Champion Dan Miller, and his brother Jim Miller, who also fights in the IFL, have both signed multi-fight deals with the UFC.
The contracts are both exclusive and span four fights. The financial specifics have not been released.
Yo Violent Mike not trying to have a dig but Cote has earned his title shot and deserves to fight Anderson Silva for the title whether anyone thinks he can win or not. I don’t think he can win but he deserves his title fight, yes Anderson is better on paper but fights aren’t judged on paper now are they. Just because we don’t expect people to win dosn’t mean they won’t. I’m pretty sure everyone expected Rampage to destroy Forrest, same with GSP and Serra 1 etc. Anything can in happen in a fight.
I guess I want to see Cote BEAT a top MW before getting a shot at the title. That was just Big Dog’s 2nd fight after his long hiatus.
Cote’s win streak consists of:
Decision win over Scott Smith
TKO over Kendall Grove
TKO over Drew McFedries
SPLIT Decision win over Almeida.
Big Dog looked SO weak in that fight, that Cote should be very dissapointed in himself that he couldn’t finish that fight in the 3rd.
Yes, 4 wins in the UFC is impressive, but why did Fitch need 9 wins to get a title shot?
are you kidding? Neither leben or Bisping are even close to being the number 1 contender
how can dan henderson and rich franklin be on the same card and not be fighting each other??? just another way dana doesn’t always give the fans what they most wanna see! hendo vs. franklin is a dream match-up fight fans have been critiquing who’d win for years now. what a wash man, a farce!
maybe Dana was gambling for Rich and Hendo to win their fight so they’ll clash each other after this event.
oh yea Hendo’s 185 so Frank needs to drop down to 185 or Hendo move up to 205 to make this fight happen.
Serious… I love how it’s marketed as 3 of the biggest names on the same card but you have to read the fine print to see that they aren’t fighting eachother…or anyone worth a damn. I don’t know maybe I’m being mean, i guess the only way up and comers can become stars is by beating stars (not including Yoshida in the “up and comers” category)
Well even if there are no titles, it’s still all good ‘coz of the quality match ups between fighters. I know Parisyan can still bring on the “heat” against Japanese cans[just ask Ryo Chonan]. I just don’t life the f*ckin’ idea that The Spider still has to deal with Cote. I mean, what’s the effin’ deal?!
Just cause you dont know who Yoshida is, that does not mean that he is sum Japanese can….yoshida is the truth and he may Cool Off tyhe heat come September!
I would hope anyone posting on here would know who Yoshida is, i just don’t think anyone cares. At least Karo was a #1 contender at some point Yoshida isn’t even a has been, he’s a never was. If this were a grappling match it would be something to see and I would give the edge to Yoshida, but it isn’t. I mean come on, when the biggest win in your MMA career is against Mark Hunt maybe you should stick to being a trainer.
Well I really don’t care much about Jap fighters[except for Sakuraba and Genki Sudo I guess, as well as Kaz Nakamura 'coz of his antics]. but for the rest, they all look the same!Except for Maria Ozawa of course, she’s the bomb!!
are u gunna post fedor and arlovski is official?
really that would be awesome
hey it offcial man
Yep, it’s confirmed. That would be hell in Sin City I believe. AA should still wear those fangs!!!
Sick Ass Card!
Parisyan vs Yoshida is the fight i am really looking forward to.
UFC 87, 88 & 89 are looking real good.
i agree gonna see so many throws or that might kinda cancel each other out and who eva stand up iz better will win but dan henderson has a big fight as well with that ju jit su guy who walked through ivan salverry
Of all of the fights, the one you want most is the Parisyan fight? Personally, I am looking forward to seeing Chuck break Evan’s undefeated streak. Also, Hendo and Franklin are just more exciting than Parisyan. But, at least the Parisyan fight, on paper, looks to be more entertaining than his last few fights.
classic match up of two judo fighters. amped to see this fight!
Hendo is gonna look past Toquinho get leglocked. I wonder what his excuse will be?
Hendo is definitely in for a tought fight against Palhares. Or should I say, a tought grappling match. If Hendo can keep the fight standing, he walks away with a easy KO. But once the fight his the ground, LOOK OUT for Rousimar! Has anyone seen odds on this fight yet?
Palhares wouldn’t stand a chance. He’s just a midget, so he better bring the fight to the ground A.S.A.P. because the guy just couldn’t stand and bang with Hendo. IMO, Hendo’s stand up looked pretty good when he was facin’ the Spider, so Palhares would just be a walk in the park. Just another day in the office for Hendo, hehehe!!
It’s a tough fight for Hendo but i can’t judge solely on 1 fight i’ve seen and the overhype from Joe Rogan about Rousimar’s ju jitsu. I say Hendo grinding a 3 round decision win. I also predict a Franklin and Parisyan victory.
Check him out in Fury FC on youtube. I’ve never seen a slicker leglock submission than the one he pulled on Negao. this fight is not going to decision. Hendo is gonna have to knock him out. The fact that hendo is a wrestler is not helping his case either. The second this goes to the mat, hendo is getting subbed.
FEDOR VS ARLOVSKI NEXT AFFLICTION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!PROPS TO !!!!!!!DREAMFIGHTERS!!!!.COM
just went there! fedor himself has said that it is confirmed. i hope its 100%, cuz it sounds close. this is the fight i wanna see next for fedor. more than randy/fedor or barnett/fedor. at this point i think fedor would blow right thru randy or josh, unless they try and bumrush him and hold on (like coleman). a.a. seems like the only h.w with enough handspeed,power and atheleticism to give fedor a true test. fedor also said he wants the fight moved up to oct instead of nov, contrary to what atencio has said, so we’ll see. i cant wait!
I find it strange that there is NO mention of Randy Couture in that article. I thought that Fedor wants Randy as long as the courts clear everything up??? Whats up with that?
Also, only Fedor’s camp is saying this. The article itself says that its not 100% official. Affliction has said nothing thusfar.
Hendo vs Palhares was known for months, but it just became OFFICIAL today. I’m sure mania will post Fedor/Arlovski as soon as it is official. I’m prettty sure that that will indeed be newsworthy!!!
randy might not get cleared to fight in time. who knows? july is almost over and thats when the hearing was supposed to be finalized and a ruling to be made.
Randy-Fedor might be the NYE fight.
that might even be better, save it for nye
Thats if Randy gets cleared!! it’s not a dead cert, Zuffa will have some very good lawyers.
question: I dont know anything about Contract law, but what would happen if Randy said screw the courts and just went and Fought Fedor in dREAM in Japan?
Poor Arlovski! I want to see the fight, but I hate to see Andre get abused and Manhandled! Poor Andre! Poor Andre!
i remember franca wanting to take a fight when he was banned and the problem was if he did he would not get reinstated witch would not matter to coulture since he would probally retire after the fight, i don’t know if the ufc could sue or not for working in japan that would be his only problem i think.
He would get sued…ie, monetarily fine going to the UFC. How much would be the question.
I am sure that zuffa would just sue the heck out of Randy and probably anybody else that was involved with the fight. I.e promoters, sponsors, managers and tv networks.
You could sue them for taping Randy up to not honoring his contract.
It would be very nasty, the only winners would be the lawyers – who would end up very rich.
Can American’s sue a japanese business?
Is there no jurisdiction wit contract Law?
Anybody can sue anybody in the world of business.
When a contact is signed, it specifies which contries laws apply to the contact.
Randys contract would (i think) be subject to US law, so Zuffa would sue them through the american courts.
Its like David beckham saying I’ve had enough of LA Galaxy and want to go play for Manchester United. He can’t just pack his bags and go. LA would sue Beckham AND Man Utd.
Makes sense,thanks for clearing that up
F*ck the system, let Randy fight!!
The LHW is stacked as is not Rich and Anderson are testing the waters also..Interesting. I dont see hamill holding Franklin down to a decision win or a GnP. Go Franklin.
yeah i see a sick submission by franklin if it does hit the matts. his wrestling offense isnt that great but his defense is very good. as well as his BJJ defense which hamill lack anyways. but hamill is tough im sure he is gonna eat a ton of strikes till a tko is announced should be a fun fight to watch. Now the paryisian/yoshida fight should be an awesoome high paced ground fight or it could be boring…its upto karo. and as for henderson, im sure he will have a nice victory over palahares but not after a couple close calls.
When has Franklin submitted anyone? Henderson is a tapper, if it is close he will likely tap out.
Look at franklins record halljam2. i know your a hater by the way you responded to that comment with out even looking at the records. franklin just likes to stand up like some other well rounded fighters. Anderson silva has great BJJ as well as BJ penn..but hey alway prefer to stand. unlike your palahres, maias, lutters, and almeida’ who have great ground game and just milk their entire career off that. henderson is no tapper he is only been submitted by the very best in the world…wat the crap man..are you that uninformed? henderson has been submitted by some of the truly best in noguiera (twice) and anderson silva. he has maded thru other good bjj artist in gracie, arona, gono, velfort, rua, sobral, and he did beat noguiera in their first encounter. SCHOOLED.
you should watch hendo vs nog, he escaped so many subs before getting caught it was insane.
Thanks man, I never saw that fight. I will do some searching for it. I checked him out on sherdog and it looks like he tapped to big Nog twice. Was it the most recent one? He was in a bad position against Anderson Silva but he tapped sooooo fast.
I’m pretty sure it was the first time they fought in 2002, pride 24 cold fury. Nog doesn’t actually get him till rd 3, but he escapes a crap load of subs in that fight.
And he tapped against A. Silva but he got rocked on the feet first, I don’t think Anderson would have taken his back and sunk in a choke if he hadn’t rocked him good first.
Don’t forget that great armbar that Rogerio Nogueira pulled on Henderson at the 2003 GP.
hayden it is interesting..i wonder if they will build themselves up in 205 and evetually down the road set up a 3rd installment to their rivalry at 205lbs that would be a cool and very marketable way to garner buys to the general mma public.
fuck they took anderson out of atlanta…
damn oh well but its cool cuz i got my ticket already and im ready to see chuck hendo and franklin
i want rashad to win cause i dnt wanna see chuck fight for the title just yet. i think hamill will pull out a decsion on rich. and i think hendersons gonna lose to.
Someone drank their haterade this morning
lol i just dont wanna see chuck vs forrest. id rather see machida get the shot. i seriously think hamill will pull out a decision. i hope henderson wins but for some reason i dont think he will.
Chuck vs. Forrest would be one of the biggest selling UFC PPVs of all time. You know Dana’s got a raging hard-on just thinking about that fight.
can you imagine if Chuck, Henderson and Franklin all lose??? Talk about bad news for the UFC…thatd be 3 marketable guys losing major stock!
Chuck should beat Rashad with ease. I would like to see the old Iceman come out with a T/KO round 1, but I suspect Rashad will dance and run all night, even though he says he will stand and trade. I hope he sticks to his word so he can get knocked out if the old Chuck will show up! or at least the same one who fought Wanderlei. Alot of people think if it goes to the mat Chuck will lose a decision, I do not think this is the case. Chuck is a great wrestler, he just prefers to stand and strike. The guy wrestled with Randy 3 times and gave Randy trouble each time they fought, plus Tito couldn’t take down Chcuk but once and Chuck popped right back up instantly. Sorry, but Rashad will not be able to keep Chuck down even if he does take him down.
Tito and Rashad are different wrestlers. Rashad is more of a clinch wrestler. If it gets against the cage Rashad could scoop a leg and take him down. I don’t think it will stay there very long though until the latter rounds. Tito is just a dive shooter. His wrestling has looked worse and worse since the Forrest fight.
I don’t see Rich losing that fight, he’s been kicking ass against the grapplers lately.
thats funny, i cant see rich winning that fight, hamill is tough as nails
Hammil better keep his hands UP. Even in his last fight he was dropping his hands and getting nailed.
The picture above reminds me of the song “One of these things is not like the others. One of these things just doesn’t belong.”
and that would definitely be Karo…….
Man Karo should complain, thats a horrid picture. Hendo and Rich get to look all ripped and ready to go while Karo looks beat down/sad. I bet mania’s getting an email right now subject line “Do you know who I am?”
Didn’t you hear that the next time he fights Alvez its going to be disturbing what he does to him??? hahahahahaha
Its probably the only picture they could find of him which somewhat didn’t show his love handles.
But as for the black eye, that wasn’t because of a punch but a left pelvic thrust…….
lmao.
Nice to see Hendo back in the game. I was getting an impression that they were about to let him loose after his recent losses.
way off topic but anyone ever play the pride fc game for ps2?? is it worth buying?
ha, that game has to be like $10.00, I played an old one for ps2 and it was mildly entertaining.
i found it online for 12.99..never even knew they had one
played it, hated it, don’t buy it, seriously the game’s horrible.
I definitely believe there is a better pic of the “Heat” around somewhere. LOL
Rob Dib
http://www.break-your-face.com
lolol. yea just like how theres a worser pic of “Ace” readily available somewhere.
some good fights there on the main card,
hamill is gonna body slam franklin back into the middleweight division
which is good because hamill will def. be underdog, $ $ $ !!!!
Im seeing a lot of support for a Bisping v Silva fight if Bisping wins!
yea that would be a pretty good match
I figured Karo would be on the undercard fights by now.
chuck
Hamill
R Palhares
Yoshida
Boetsch
I know for a fact that Rich and Matt are both good friends. I read somewhere that Rich was the one who called somebody at UFC and got Matt into the UFC. They both have respects for each other. So, this is going to be an interesting fight. I’m sure they’ll still be friends afterward.
??? I thought Tito Ortiz taking Hamil under his wing after that TUF season aired was what got him in? So it was Franklin that got him into TUF then? Didn’t know that.
Yeah that’s what I read. It was Franklin who officiated one of Matt’s fights before introducing him to UFC. Then it was Tito who took him under his wing during and after the TUF 3.
hey guys someone knows about the diego sanches vs thiago alves fight…. i need some information i been desconected… thanks
Alves will knock him out..that about all there is to know
Franklin will beat Hamil to Def
Sorry I couldn’t help it
Franklin wont beat Hammil at all