Fall brawl: UFC heads to Vegas - not Portland; Penn and St. Pierre get a date (Updated)
By: Jesse Holland
Westward No!
UFC President Dana White had originally confirmed with Yahoo! Sports that UFC 91, featuring the lightweight match-up between Kenny Florian and Joe Stevenson, would indeed take place at the Rose Garden in Portland, Oregon — but that all goes right out the window since the return of Randy Couture.
Instead, UFC 91 will be held at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada and will feature the heavyweight title bout of Randy Couture vs. Brock Lesnar.
White also penciled in the inevitable showdown between BJ Penn and Georges St. Pierre for UFC 94 on January 31, 2009 (Superbowl weekend). That fight was rumored to be at UFC 92 in December, much like the next fight for light heavyweight superstar Wanderlei Silva.
“The Axe Murderer” went on the record during an August 8 session with UFC Fight Club members about fighting at UFC 92, but White was very non-committal about the date and instead hinted at something early in 2009 for the former PRIDE star.
Not to worry Wandy, most fans will agree with me that some things are worth the wait.
Here is a tentative schedule for some of the upcoming UFC events:
- September 6: UFC 88 ‘Chuck Liddell vs Rashad Evans’ (Atlanta)
- September 17: UFC Fight Night 15 ‘Nate Diaz vs. Josh Neer’ (Omaha)
- October 18: UFC 89 ‘Michael Bisping vs. Chris Leben’ (Birmingham)
- October 25: UFC 90 ‘Anderson Silva vs. Patrick Cote’ (Rosemont)
- November 15: UFC 91 ‘Randy Couture vs. Brock Lesnar’ (Las Vegas)
- December 13: UFC Finale ‘The Ultimate Fighter Season 8′ (Las Vegas)
- December 27: UFC 92 ‘Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Frank Mir’ (Las Vegas)
- January 17: UFC 93 ‘Franklin vs Henderson’ (Dublin, Ireland)
- January 31: UFC 94 ‘Penn vs. St. Pierre 2′ (Las Vegas)
We’ll keep you posted on any card updates and confirmations for these events as they happen. We have a lot of UFC shows to look forward to over the next few months.
And three of them are free!
95 Comments »
Super bowl weekend!!!!! Been waitign for freaking football season to start and no I’ll almost be looking foward to it to end.
I read your comment like 3 times. It makes a big difference forgetting the “w” in “now”.
Just a BJ PENN Highlight i found on youtube, it definatley does him justice
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IP2e6cajK8Y
Nice highlight. The ending of it all was what made the video. It’s funny how it was 8 minutes long yet it wasn’t able to show half of what BJ can do. That just goes to show how incredible of a fighter he is.
Umm, BJ is great don’t get me wrong, but let’s not get carried away, that clip showed most of it; submissions, wrestling, stand-up, defense. It ran out of highlights and started showing the same thing over again towards the end. Great song though at the beginning. Morriconne is the man. Great highlight.
Watching that clip makes me realize how strong BJ is at 155….just doesn’t have the frame for 170
BJ is a freak of nature. Besides his dexterity and flexibility, his heart is as big as anyone’s in the game right now!….St.Pierre could easily win this one based on athleticism alone, but Penn is a freak and that bring a different perspective comin’ in this fight. Penn by split decision!!!
Wow you think the fight will go five rounds?? That would be a war.. What game plan do you think GSP will come with? Takedowns? Or do you think would have guts to bang with BJ?
You gotta believe that Gsp’s game plan would be to take Bj down and score points from the mount. George almost never has had to fight from his back and going toe to toe with anyone who has the ability to knock you out is always risky.
PLEASE COME TO PORTLAND…..
WHAT ARE TICKETS GOING FOR NOW AH DAYS?
Like a buck fifty for something decent. $400 for the floor. $60 or so for the cheapies.
Oh well. I was hoping for the Xmas Fight Bonanza:
Dec 27: Nog vs Mir, Wandy vs Rampage 3 (go on Dana), Penn vs GSP 2!
Now that would have been a card! At least it would have made up for the fairly dull main event. Can’t blame Dana for milking it though but it would have been a nice late Xmas present for all the fans.
MAN, you want to talk about milking it! Just look at the next 4 PPV’s.
UFC 88 ‘Chuck Liddell vs Rashad Evans’,
UFC 89 ‘Michael Bisping vs. Chris Leben’,
UFC 90 ‘Anderson Silva vs. Patrick Cote’,
UFC 91 ‘Kenny Florian vs. Joe Stevenson’
There is ONLY 1 Title fight in the next 4 PPV’s!!! WTF is that all about! There should be a title defended at every PPV. 1 PPV per month means 2.5 title defenses per year per division. A long reigning champ would fight 5 times over 2 years. Is that REALLY too much to ask for as a fan?
And the only championship fight involves Patrick Cote??? WHAT? That’s it. I’m going back to watching EliteXC exclusively where they always have a couple of title fights per card!! LOL, I kid, I kid. (in Triumph’s voice)
Call me crazy but the Bisping vs Leben is actually the fight I want to see most out of those 4. Seeing that both of these fighters are love ‘em or hate ‘em personalities, if this was a PPV it would get more buys than Florian/Stevenson
Excellent point VM! That shouldn’t be too many title defenses at all, unless you are KJ Noons.
Noon’s manager is almost as big of a douchebag as Noons is.
http://www.cagepotato.com/2008/08/21/kj-noons-manager-tells-elite-xc-what-they-can-do-with-their-deadline/#more-2376
Thanks for the link.
Quote from Mark Dion
“As far as Nick Diaz, he’s not the No. 1 contender out there,” Dion said. “To [EliteXC] he is. He’s the number one (for getting) eyeballs to (watch) them. They’re pushing on eyeballs versus a career move for a champion like KJ. KJ is really not the one who gets anything out of the fight. Diaz does and so does ProElite.”
Nick Diaz isn’t the real #1 contender, only EliteXC’s #1 contener. Ok, then what does that make KJ? He is not he LW champ, he is the EliteXC LW champ.
I just KNEW that Dion was the problem here - greedy mother F’er, lol.
Dion said that Eddie Alvarez should be the #1 contender. When told that Alvarez was unavailable to fight because he’s taking time off to get married, Dion responded, “that’s not our problem…People get married in five or 10 minutes.”
Mark Dion is a real deuchebag!
VM man.. I TOTALLY AGREE.. who is Forrsst Fighting next ?
RealDrew the apple does not fall too far from the tree.
noons is ducking diaz
They are waiting to see who wins the Chuck vs. Rashad match befor ethey book Forrest anybody
VM-
Looks like we were both right. Shady management and a greed for more $$$.
Bottom line KJ is scared of Nick. If he wasn’t he would be happy they were not making him fight the top guy, it would be an easy win for him and then he could fight again as champion and make even more money. The truth is he doesn’t want to get beat down on CBS and that is exactly what will/would happen and he knows it. He is being very difficult and sad to say but what orginazation is going to want him now. Kimbo is making good money because everyone knows him and he puts buts in the seats. Brandon Verra is making good money because he is a decent fighter. If KJ wants to make the big bucks all he has to do is beat Nick on CBS and would gain exposer, some respect and possibly a few fans. A win a legitimate win not winning because of a cut would justify paying him more money and he would have done it the old fashion way, HE would have earned it.
I’m glad he didn’t touch on the fact that EXC is financially hurting and what kind of champ can he be without EXC? Exactly he wouldn’t be champ in any other org. He’s trying to rush Alvarez after the war Eddie went through with DREAM. Eddie should be more worried about a rematch with Jochiam or the match he missed against Aoki. Where it doesn’t make sense career wise for KJ to fight Diaz it doesn’t make career sense for Eddie to fight KJ. Anyone can try to dispute that because Eddie could get a great deal of publicity but the same can be said for KJ Diaz. They should just strip KJ of his title and have Diaz and Alvaraz face off for it. I’m thinking Alvarez is the uncrowned champ of EXC anyway.
First of all, we don’t know if Florian/Stevenson is headlining 91. That’s just the way the card is set up now. A LOT of things can change. Although, the only title that COULD be defended is the LHW title, and I don’t think that will be the case. Anyway, title fights aside, there are still a lot of good fights to come.
Also, the Leben/Bisping card has Machida/Thiago Silva, Keith Jardine/Brandon Vera, and Soko/Luiz Cane for FREE on Spike TV. So, I’m certainly not going to complain about that card.
let’s not freak out too quickly. I’m sure Florian/Stevenson is NOT the main event. The UFC hasn’t even “officially” announced the Portland November card (its not on the website) and this is just one fight that they were able to have signed early. I seriously doubt it’s the main event. If it is then we can all start bitching because that’s BS BUT let’s give them the benefit of the doubt.
I think what’s going to happen is Wanderlei vs. Rampage which is why he wouldn’t commit to Wanderlei at 92 because he wants him at 91!!
And 92 can still have Liddell vs. Griffin as the headliner if Liddell smokes Evans like he should and Shogun on it as well. Not to mention Soko and a bunch of other talented guys available.
um… sorry to say but those aren’t all PPV UFC 89 is goin to be shown on Spike… n im pretty sure da ufc 94 or 5 will be sum defenses… cuz whoeva who wins at 88 probably will get a shot… same wit 91… which i think florian will win n he will get a shot at penn… but jus wanted to point this out
yea bro ur 100% percent right…this is pretty ridiculous..and the only title fight is going to be 45 seconds long..ive been spending alot of money on these pay per views the last 4 years… i need a lil more quality form these ppvs
Nog vs Mir doesn’t excite me at all.. it’s going to be all ground, and i’m more of a striker fan, not brawler, m-thai type of fighter.
what happened to shogun, what happened to coleman?
Penn/GSP 2 is scheduled for January 31, 2009. I think it’s crazy that on that day five years earlier, GSP made his UFC debut, and BJ Penn went on to defeat Matt Hughes to become the new UFC Welterweight Champion.
BJ PENN VS GSP II:
COMMECENCE TRASH TALKING NOW….
I myself have looked foward to BJ vs. GSP II forever. I also believe that GSP didn’t do a damn thing to BJ the first time round but some Sean Sherk style lay-n-pray. This is going to be the fight of the year, decade, and quite possibly every!!!!!!!
I’m a BJ fan (some won’t believe that, but they should’ve seen me go insane in the Sherk fight), and an even bigger GSP fan, but this fight might disappoint. If BJ wins, it’s probably an exciting fight. If GSP wins, it’s probably via a wrestling clinic. I know BJ has great TD defense, but even if it takes GSP 3 tries to get every 1 takedown, if he can get BJ down 3 or 4 times throughout the fight, and keep it relatively even on the feet, he’ll win a decision.
This is great now BJ has the time to have a WW fight to see if he even deserves a title shot.
LOL, that would be nice though, but wouldn’ happen in a zillion years.
BJ VS JON FITCH. bj could shut up all his doubters who say he is 0-2 in last 2 ww fights and fich wants desperatley to redeem himself cuz he aint used to losing. everybody wants fitch/kos or bj/kos, why not fitch/bj. put that fight on nov 15 and when bj wins (sorry fitch fans) he will have plenty of time to recoop and be ready by jan 31.
There is a very GOOD chance that BJ would lose that fight and a lot of the hype for the BJ-GSP fight would be lost. Even if BJ did win, it’s hardly enough to shut up his doubters. Is 1-2 really that much better? Or his whole WW record (would be 2-2).
Kos should get beaten up by the Prodigy, and I mean NOW!!
So Kevin, all you have to do is wait an extra month. Is that good enough for you? Is GSP not scared anymore? You guys that were saying GSP was scared can now relax. Problem is, now you guys get to see your idol (BJ Penn) lose…AGAIN!
That just gives BJ 1 more month to gain weight the correct way. GSP is in even bigger trouble now!
You mean like all that slop he was putting on his mashed potatoes in his last interview. Did you see how big his gut was. He has to lose weight to get to 170, not gain it.
Go check it out… This was 2 days ago. Try to tell me he won’t be in shape with 5-1/2 months to train and more motivation than he has ever had.
http://www.bjpenn.com/
BJ will be ready. He’ll learn from his mistakes in the past at WW.
BNF, that’s what I’m talking about. Did you see all the shit he was puting on that 2000 calorie plate of potatoes? That wasn’t one of his personal chef’s meals. That was GREASE laden cafeteria food and he will never be his best if he eats that crap. Maybe if he asks GSP nicely , he will show him how to eat healthy ,performance enhancing and muscle building food, year round.
You beat me to it. All that whining and sniveling about GSP not wanting to fight BJ and being scared of him. So we have to wait one more month, big deal. That whole speal about GSP needing a break is nothing more than negotiation tactics. It wasn’t more than a day or 2 later, that GSP was saying he was going to Brazil and he would start training in a week. He said , “even on my vacation I like to train or I will go nuts”. GSP is addicted to training and being in shape, so if he says he needs a LONG break, you have to read between the lines. That would drain his batteries more than it would recharge them.
Blah blah blah. I love how everyone thinks BJ is going to handle GSP. You guys are confused. I agree that this will be a war, but it’s really a toss up as to who will win. 2 of the best 3 fighters in the world going head to head.
two of the best three?? who is the other one. cause i think you are leaving some other fighters out!
Silva. I’m not the Fedor fan that most are. He’s #4 on my list.
damn right it’s Silva, GSP and Penn! Fuck Fedor. I still have Rampage at #4, that last fight was a fluke I tell you!! A fluke!
you guys crack me up, I reported it would be at the superbowl show 3 days ago. Of course I’m excited, this is a “wet dream” type of fight. BJ will come in at 165-170. ! day of heavy training and he’ll have to gain weight. I wish more of you gus could be like buster, intelligent even when disagreeing!
Do you think they’re going to try to stack the Super Bowl card instead of the New Year’s card?
I really hope they don’t separate all of the good fights. I was hoping for one REALLY stacked card.
Me too R-Dizzle. I want to attend one of these Vegas shows and make it not only my first UFC, but first trip to Vegas. Soooo they better stack one of them up. I was leaning to the Christmas one b.c its at that time of year and looked like it was gonna be stacked but as it is now, I’d rather see Penn/GSP 2 then Mir/Nog.
Surely it’ll now be Anderson Silva on NYE? I think if Chuck loses to Rashad they’ll do that.
I’m from Canada, and am for one glad it’s not in Montreal.
Honestly — do not bring a UFC to Canada in the winter. BAD IDEA. Waiting out in the long lineups in April was fine — but December-February, no f’in way! That would be some messed up shit right there.
Nice pic that Mania chose for the announcement of GSP vs Penn 2….BJ getting over powered by GSP..look at the face he is making!! LOL, looks like he is struggling to deal with the power of GSP…..is that a little foreshadowing???….I think so. I don’t think that anything will change in this fight…GSP gets the W and retains the WW title and Porky Penn goes back to 155 lbs. where he belongs.
That pic is photo-shopped. Remember, GSP did nothing to BJ on the ground.
In that picture, GSP looks beat up and BJ Penn looks like Robbie Lawler
Good call lol
that picture is NOT photo-shopped.
Robbie Lawler? lol!!….and you may be right b.w. I believe this site doesn’t photoshop stuff.
All non-hardcore fans are going to take the super bowl over the UFC if it is the same weekend.
lol yeah, makes sense considering super bowl is on sunday and UFC is saturday!
yeah, obviously not a football fan :).
I think that if the UFC was on scheduled for another weekend, they would receive more press. I think this fight should get more press and media coverage than the Liddell/Jackson 2 fight. But most sports networks like ESPN and Fox Sports will be having countdowns leading up to the Superbowl and what not. IF the UFC planned on billing this fight as a super fight, they chose the wrong weekend to do it. Most true MMA fans will watch regardless, but if the UFC is looking for new fans to take interest, in my opinion the timing is bad.
Other than that, WAARRRRRRRRRRRRR PENNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!!!!
Good point punishment. On the Eve of the Super Bowl, not too many average sports fans are wondering what’s going on in the world of MMA, especially one they need to spend $45 to watch. Rather, all of thier attention will be on Eli and the Giants wondering if they can pull the repeat!
lol eli or the giants won’t even be being talked about that week end…but the pats will
Oh hell yeah! Super bowl weekend and UFC 93. Possibly the greatest weekend of all time! UFC 91 coming to my home town too. They better come up w/ something better than Florian vs Stevenson, or I’m not going.
Being in Seattle it was well worth the wait for them to go to Portland instead of flying out somewhere to and event. The money I’d spend on a flight/etc… will easily pay for a great (I’m not cheap) seat. UFC is going to new places to insure sell-outs as well as build up demand back in Vegas for them.
This what the UFC should do make Florian vs Stevenson a five round title fight. BJ should he lose could get the winner. I personal think BJ will beat GSP making it near impossible for him to defend both belts unless the UFC doesn’t mind there titles being defended once a year.
GSP has evolved since their last fight. BJ has been fighting at a different weight class and will therefore be in different shape. So the odds, for this reason would be in GSP’s favor. However, if BJ can get his cardio up and train harder than ever before, this should be incredible. I hope to see BJ win just so I can witness a historical moment in UFC history.
I am really not sure who is going to pull out the win. Like some of you, I believe it is going to be a toss up. What I am really wondering is who will be the favorite/underdog. Could be a decent payday PPV for some people.
GSP will DEFINITELY be (and should be ) the favorite. GSP’s record at WW vs Penn’s at WW and the fact that he already beat BJ, makes it not even arguable. GSP will win this fight, it’s not a toss up. When people were saying Hughes, Serra 2 and Fitch would be a close fight, I said GSP would give them a one sided beat down. BJ will be a slightly less one sided beat down. You can bet on that. BTW I also said GSP would likely lose to Serra the first time , in case you think I always pick GSP. When GSP is 110% and confident, I always pick him to win, because he always does and in dominant fashion too.
How could you have picked Serra to beat Gsp? That’s crazy. (even thought it was correct) Gsp is one of my favorite fighters and I never thought he would’ve lost to Serra.
Go and watch all of GSP’s interviews regarding the Serra fight. He looked sad, his eyes were red and he didn’t sound confident at all (something wasn’t right). Prior to all of GSP’s other fights, he has said stuff like, ” I will hurt him from the begining to the end” “My job is to destroy my opponent” ” nobody can andle my riddum”. Only in the Serra fight, he said no such thing. What sealed the deal was seeing GSP MOPE without his confident swagger to the cage. He looked so nervous and totally out of his game. A confident fighter is a dangerous fighter and a fighter without confidence will more than likely lose. To me it was apparent that GSP was having some problems and he wasn’t anywhere near himself. Serra is good enough to beat a 50% GSP and he showed it.
Bj is gonna get thrashed. Gsp takes this kinda disrespect personally (coming into the ring after his domination of fitch and demanding the fight). He is gonna push BJ to places he has never been and probably wont go again cardiowise. The only way I can see Bj doin well is in standup and if it isnt going well for georges on the feet he can take it to the ground AT WILL. Book it baby.
Oh, it’s booked alright.
When has Penn ever been thrashed?? NEVER!! Not even against 205 pound Machida. To even say so is completely ignorant. I don’t have a problem with people saying GSP will win, but when they say he’s going to dominate Penn is a joke.
I hope you don’t agree with this guy Gord, because I know you’ve been a member on this site for a while now, and to say GSP will dominate Penn will remove all your credibility.
You can never thrash Penn because his leathery skin just doesn’t get cut. HE may have a few bumps on the face though…
Punishment, depending on ones definition of thrashed, it could be said that Hughes was thrashing BJ, when he was pounding his head into the mat. When has Fitch been thrashed? I’d say he got thrashed by GSP. I don’t think it will be as one sided as GSP’s last 3 fights, but I do think it will be onesided. BJ is a great fighter, but GSP ain’t Sherk or Stevenson.I think a fighter would have to OWN Sherk in under 2 rounds to even have a chance with GSP. He’s on another level from all other WW and that includes BJ. I guess we will find out in January. GSP has not only gotten better, he has gotten MUCH stronger and that BIG strength advantage will gas Penn fast. Regardless of how much BJ improved his cardio, it will never be as good as Fitches, because being smaller and not as strong, he’ll have his gas pedal to the floor to deal with GSP’s agressive strength and that drains the tank FAST. BJ’s only chance is to win very early in the fight.
I’m gonna have to pull for BJ on this one, even though St. Pierre is at the top of his game with all the tools to beat BJ. But the same goes for Penn. I think BJ is soo focused on beating St.Pierre that hes already won in his mind. I see Bj Penn dissapointing GSP fans with a submission round 2.
If GSP came even close to getting submitted by BJJ black belts like Serra, Fitch and even BJ, you might have something there, but he was NEVER in any trouble.
ooooo shnnaps! thank you DW! portland is near where I live (seattle area)!
January ? What the hell are GSP & Penn gonna do till then ? No other fights before that ?
since gsp just fought a few weeks ago and bj hasnt fought since may, maybee b.j should fight kos or fitch to get himself primed for a stronger gsp. perhaps in oct or nov. that would give him enough time to train,fight, recoup and be ready for gsp come jan 31. i know dana’s not going to have anything to do with this though.
I hope the fight is in Vegas. That’s the closest to Hawaii that it can get. If it is in Vegas, I WILL be there.
BJ should beat up Kos, right NOW!!Sorry if I had to say that again, hehe!!
The problem is, if one of these cats loses before the fight in January, they are f%$&ed. Both part of the top 3 P4P fighters in the world, they still risk losing a fight before January. What if Kos gets lucky ? Haha! Not a lot of fighters will risk it like Chuck Lidell did while he was getting ready for his title shot against Ortiz. Only true fighters will stand against whoever is being out I front of them, title or not. Someone mentionned that a champ should have to defend his title 3 times in the year. Great idea!!!
That pic is just a small glimpse for all you Porky Penn nut huggers, it’s called imposing your will…GSP looks beat up cuz he got poked in the eye and took a big shot on the nose right afterwards and he still dominated him physically…I see more of the same in the next fight except Porky Penn gets more punishment delivered for his disrespect at UFC 87…GSP will roll his fat a$$ back to the LW division
u see the shin under GSP’s neck? its called “Houston Houston we have a problem. running low on oxygen!” HAHA!
Surely they’re going to have some kind of title fight besides Cote and Silva. I’m really hoping atleast. Nonetheless, I won’t be ordering Florian Stevenson (I’ll watch on the net) and I won’t be ordering Bisping vs Leben or Liddel vs Rashad. Pretty much because it isn’t exciting when there isn’t a title fight. I’m fine with watching them on the net. I can understand not having a title fight on every single card, but on most cards there should be.
Every card should have a title fight. There are 5 champions and all champs should defend their belt 3 times per year (15 title fights). Some events should have 2 title fights, because there isn’t 15 UFC events in a year. The problem is, there is this gay reality show that ties up champs for most of the year.
Bisping vs Leben is free on Spike so u don’t have to order it
There aren’t that many titles in the UFC, they can’t have a title fight all the time. Forrest is waiting for his next opponent-Chuck vs. Rashad. GSP and BJ Penn are fighting each other in January. Silva is fighting Cote soon, and Nog has his belt tied up in the stupid show. Every title holder except Silva is busy or waiting to headline a future show. I think everyone should ban together and tell Dana that the title holder can no longer be a part of the TUF show. That show keeps people in limbo way too long. Let other fighters do it that don’t have titles but could use the free publicity, or let entire gyms be the coaches. Like AKA vs. ATT. that sort of thing.
I’m with Jay. I love the show but they should fighter has-beens as coaches, not current champions. We watch the show show to see fighters, not drama amongst champs…
Can soneone tell my boy GSP to stop wearing that type shit he has been wearing at his fights ? It makes me feel uncomfortable ;o))
This should be a great fight, wonder why so late, should be this year. Gsp has more tools in his tool box than penn and I think he’s the one who’s more improved since there last fight. Kinda weird seeing one weight class winner moving up and challenging another champ. One day I wouldn’t mind seeing gsp fight silva, now that would be a fight.