Brock Lesnar dropped off UFC 131 card, Diverticulitis might end MMA career

Former WWE star Brock Lesnar out at UFC 131, Diverticulitis might end MMA career

On Thursday, former WWE champion and current UFC 'top draw', Brock Lesnar announced at a media conference call that he was forced to pull out of his main event fight with Junior Dos Santos at UFC 131 due to another bout of diverticulitis according to MMAJunkie.com. Two years ago, Lesnar suffered his first bout with diverticulitis and ended up in the hospital for almost two weeks. Lesnar lost 40 pounds and doctors said his life was in jeopardy. Lesnar was able to overcome it, regain his health, change his lifestyle, and learn to live and fight with this condition.

Dana White's UFC 108 Post-Fight Press Conference

Dana White discusses the bouts from UFC 108 and specualtes on the future holds for Junior Dos Santos and the heavyweight division.

Countdown to UFC Randy Couture

Preview to UFC 110

UFC packs a punch in partnership with UAE

The UFC has shown its pulling power by signing a partnership deal with United Arab Emirates.



Hard-hitting: Rashad Evans (right) and Thiago Sliva slug it out during UFC108 in Las Vegas Photo: AP The partnering of the UFC’s parent company Zuffa and Abu Dhabi’s entertainment arm housed within its Government offices on Tuesday is a sign of two things: globally, the UFC has the pulling power to acquire major partners as the driving force behind a pioneering sport/entertainment industry worth investing in. Secondly, Zuffa, like all other companies, will need cash injections and overseas partners if the vision of making MMA a global sport is to be realised.

There will come a time when the UFC will need to franchise itself if the plans to grow exponentially are realised year on year. In some ways, the company already creaks with too few employees, and a need for visibility in several territories simultaneously. There are rumours that the travelling demands on the top brass are beginning to wear. No surprise, there.

Like all major companies, Zuffa has major cash flow operations. No figures were revealed yesterday, but rewind a few months to UFC president Dana White’s statements about the worldwide growth of the brand. I wouldn’t mind betting that over those days, there had been talks with Lorenzo Fertitta, co-owner of Zuffa, with the new investors.

Flash Entertainment is a subsidiary entertainment arm of Abu Dhabi's government, and has acquired one tenth of Zuffa, the controlling company for both the mixed martial arts Ultimate Fighting Championship and World Extreme Cagefighting organisations.

The deal was brokered by Goldman Sachs, with Fertitta revealing that new offers have come from many private equity funds, as well as several media companies and hedge funds.

Leaked reports last week went viral online suggesting that Abu Dhabi Sheik Tahnoon bin Zayed al Nahyan himself had bought a stake in Zuffa, but the buyer was in fact the government's Flash arm. That was re-affirmed yesterday by White and Fertitta.

Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, is home to around 8 percent of the world’s oil supply, and has embarked on an expansion and modernization plan as it looks to diversify away from the oil-led economy.

The government’s 2030 plan, devised in 2007, foresees the population growing to as much as 5 million from an estimated 1.6 million in 2008. The emirate hosted its first Formula One race in November 2009, it is also building a branch of Paris’ Sorbonne University and Louvre and Guggenheim museums, and has become a destination for travellers.

There are plans for a UFC event there in April 2010. It will include welterweight ex-champion Matt Hughes taking on Renzo Gracie, who has ties to Tahnoon, founder of the Abu Dhabi Combat Club.

Reports from the Las Vegas Journal report that Zuffa has $450 million in debt, including a $25 million due in 2012 and $425 million due in 2015, according to Moody's Investors Service. But the credit rating agency believes Zuffa's income should be enough to cover payments. The UFC earned $200 million in 2009, expect revenue to have exceeded $300 million in 2009, and recession proof as it appears, could grow exponentially in 2010 as more world markets are exposed to the sport.

Fertitta insisted Tuesday that the deal with Flash Entertainment, a subsidiary owned by the emirate's government, was done to create increased value for UFC and help the mixed martial arts juggernaut expand in the Middle East and Asia. The Abu Dhabi government's Flash arm has valuable contacts in markets such as China, South Korea and Indiathat can help Zuffa expand its global reach. Depp down, this is sensible business. On the surface, it looks like they are scratching for funds. Not so.

An article in Forbes Magazine in May 2008 estimated the privately held company was worth perhaps US$1 billion. That could be 20 per cent richer in 2010. Fertitta said then that several investors have offered more than that for the company.

The Fertittas bought the UFC organization in 2001 for $2 million, pouring $40 million into a cash rich black hole before the sport, which had been banned in many US states, began to mushroom in popularity in 2005/2006.

The UFC is expected to hold a show in Abu Dhabi in April and entertained members of the royal family at UFC 103 in Dallas in September. A show is slated for Australia next month.

"We're building a global brand," Fertitta said. "It's never been done before in the fight business. We made the decision early on that if we were to bring on a partner, it wasn't for financial reasons," Fertitta said.

"We didn't need to raise any money, that wasn't the purpose. If we were going to bring somebody it was going to be with someone that could really be a true strategic partner and could help create an increased value for the company long term."

Right move, right time. It’s all about timing.

ZUFFA stakes: Lorenzo Fertitta 40 per cent, Frank Fertitta III 40 pc, Dana White 10 pc, Flash Entertainment 10pc


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Cro Cop makes Bob Sapp Cry

UFC Star Mirko Cro Cop in a older bout againist Bob Sapp

UFC 110 Michael Bisping faces hero Wanderlei Silva

Silva was “a hero” for Bisping when he was fighting in Pride, but Bisping insisted to Telegraph Sport that respect has been put aside for this contest.

In spite of Silva coming down to the 185lb middleweight limit for the first time it remains a tough fight for Bisping because should he triumph, many will insist that Silva was past his best.

Ask Rich Franklin about that. The US fighter - who met Silva at a catchweight 195lbs in Cologne last June - knows just how difficult a prospect the powerful striker and muay thai fighter can be.

Bisping is now three weeks into training camp at the Wolfslair, in Widnes, with hard sparring having been ongoing for a fortnight.

The British mixed martial artist, who has the propensity to divide fans in the sport, but who is as popular as he is sledged, explained to Telegraph Sport: “There’s not too much to study with Wanderlei Silva. I have seen enough of him, he was a hero for me when he was fighting in Pride. There are no real surprises in his style, very powerful knees, good Muay Thai, good BJJ, slightly weaker in the wrestling department. I watched DVDs of his fights, but after that I decided to stop.

“I’m not interested in his old fights. I don’t watch to watch him KO people, because I don’t want to give him too much respect. Besides, we have a team of coaches who study the opponent and come up with the fight plan and strategy.”

Bisping added: “I’ll train in the Wolfslair until two weeks before the fight. We have a great group of guys here, and we have brought in some Muay Thai guys and wrestlers from the United States, and we are getting all bases covered. This is a real winnable fight for me.”

Bisping started “the real intense stuff” two weeks ago, having performed well in his last outing, with a clear-headed, emphatic victory, ended by ground-and-pound over Denis Kang at UFC 105 in Manchester in November.

Bisping has been watching his weight for several weeks as he prepares for the weight cut, and insists pounding the streets at 6am is the secret. “The main thing has been the morning run - a lot of fighters don’t do it, but with a four-mile run five days a week, the weight comes off.”

Bisping is one of the fighters whom UFC’s UK president Marshall Zelaznik rates as having the potential to take over the world of MMA in 2010. Nottingham welterweight Dan Hardy meets Georges St Pierre for the UFC 170lb title, Bisping faces Silva in Sydney, Paul Daley goes from strength to strength, and Zelaznik sees a great year stretching out ahead.

“Obviously Dan and Mike are both involved in huge fights, certainly the biggest two fights for British fighters in the history of the sport. But there’s a whole squadron of UK talent coming up. We’re going to see more Brits in these types of fights over the next 18 months.”

“Daley has had a huge impact on the welterweight division. I can’t think of any other fighter in the UFC since Brock Lesnar or Anderson Silva to score two such impressive wins so quickly in the UFC. He is going to have a huge 2010.”

Daley is penned in to face Josh Koscheck in April, while Terry Etim and John Hathaway are also well set for an assault on the upper echelons.

Zelaznik added: “Terry is a massive talent. It is now time for him to step up to the top tier at lightweight. John is another young fighter who, although softly-spoken, has serious ability in the Octagon. If he continues to round out his game he has a very bright future.

“Guys like Daley, Bisping and Hardy are characters and when you ask them a honest question, they give you a honest answer. They don’t mince their words. Sometimes that gets lost in translation and certain sections of the US blogosphere just don’t get it.”

Zelaznik also hinted that shows in the UK are being planned for later this year. London is expected to host an event early in the summer.


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UFC Sure Picks to Win

There are fighters who are good, fighters who are great and fighters who you'd bet on no matter who their opponents are. Who are the absolute best fighters in the UFC? The fighters who define their weight classes and perhaps could compete at a weight class higher.

The UFC has five weight classes. Each weight class, with the exception of heavyweights spans 15 lbs and each class has their own sets of tried and true stars and outstanding performers.

The lightweight class goes from 155lbs to 170 lbs and features such great fighters as Sean Sherk, Spencer Fisher, Frank Edgar, BJ Penn, Joe Stevenson, Hermes Franca and Kenny Florian.

Welterweights go from 170lbs to 185 lbs and has such notables as Matt Hughes, Matt Serra, Diego Sanchez, Jon Fitch, Karo Parisyan, Josh Koscheck and Georges St Pierre.

Middleweights are between 170lbs and 185lbs. Top level UFC middleweight fighters include Anderson Silva, Rich Franklin, Evan Tanner, Dan Henderson (sometimes), Yushin Okami and Jason MacDonald.

The UFC light heavyweight division is perhaps the most talent deep of all the divisions in the UFC and covers 185lbs to 205lbs. The light heavyweight division has fighters such as Chuck Liddell, Tito Ortiz, Keith Jardine, Shogun Rua, Forrest Griffin, Stephan Bonnar, Wanderlei Silva and Houston Alexander.

Heavyweight is the heaviest of all divisions in the UFC (there is no super heavyweight division). The UFC heavyweight division with it's recent resignation of Randy Couture has a bit of an identity crisis, but features fighters like Brock Lesnar, Frank Mir, Mirko Cro Cop, Tim Sylvia, Brandon Vera and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.

Out of these five divisions, I could only find four fighters that I would bet on no matter who they were fighting (within their own divisions), but even having said that there is always one guy who you think might, just might take them down.

As far as I'm concerned, the king of all lightweights in the UFC isn't even the current title holder, in fact he's never held the UFC lightweight title. BJ Penn is best known to new UFC fans as a former coach on the Ultimate Fighter TV series and for holding a win over Jens Pulver. Long time fans will remember the younger BJ Penn who completely dominated competition in the UFC lightweight division before being defeated by Pulver and then leaving the UFC. Penn returned to the UFC as a welterweight and defeated then welterweight champion Matt Hughes by submission.

In a re-match event, Penn dominated Hughes early on, but was eventually defeated by ref stoppage. It was later determined that BJ Penn had suffered a broken rib in that match up. BJ also had a very good showing against another top UFC welterweight, Georges St Pierre. In that fight BJ hurt St Pierre early on, but eventually lost a very close split decision. If there was one lightweight in the UFC who I would bet on every time, it would be BJ Penn. Honorable mention in this category goes to Sean Sherk, who I would bet on every time, except when he fights BJ Penn.

The UFC welterweight division is full of talent and full of matches which could go either way. For instance Matt Serra poses a problem for many UFC welterweights, but for others I think he is outmatched in size and strength. There is one guy in the UFC welterweight division who I believe stands head and shoulders above the rest, Georges St Pierre can match any of the other welterweights in size, strength, speed, stand up abilities and wrestling.

He is likely the most well rounded fighter in all of mixed martial arts. Even with Georges physical advantages you need to look at Matt Hughes as well. Hughes has a victory over St Pierre, but St Pierre avenged that loss with a dominant TKO stoppage of Hughes. If there was one welterweight in the UFC that I would put money on every time, it is Georges St Pierre.

Of all the divisions in the UFC, the middleweight division is the easiest to pick out a dominant fighter. Anderson Silva has dominated just about every match up he's been in since joining the UFC middleweight division mid way through 2006. Silva has taken out 5 top UFC middleweight fighters and could be king of that division for a long time.

In fact, the only guy who I see giving Anderson Silva trouble is his next opponent. Silva will take on Pride 185lb champion Dan Henderson in what should be an outstanding match up at 185lbs, still you've got to make Silva the odds on favorite given his performances over the last year and a half.

I do not have a pick in the UFC light heavyweight division. Sure, Quinton Jackson has looked great in his matches against Chuck Liddell and Dan Henderson, but still I wouldn't pick Quinton against say Wanderlei Silva. I believe Wanderlei Silva would have trouble with his former Chute Box team-mate, Shogun Rua, or maybe even against Chuck Liddell, a fight which takes place on December 29th. I cannot find a single light heavyweight fighter in the UFC who I believe can defeat all top contenders, that's the true mark of a talent laden division.

Since Randy Couture has left the UFC heavyweight division I do see a top dog emerging. That top dog is Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. Big Nog has defeated Cro Cop, Barnett and just about every fighter (except Fedor) that Pride has put in front of him. I expect Nogueira to do the same against all of the existing UFC heavyweights. Fighters like Lesnar aren't ready for him, fighters like Sylvia and Cro Cop aren't well rounded enough to compete with Nogueira on the ground. I could see Gabriel Gonzaga giving Big Nog a good match after about another year of experience.

Five divisions, four sure picks to win any match up within their divisions. The UFC is stacked with talent and there are some truly outstanding fighters-athletes who make watching mixed martial arts a real joy. Penn, St Pierre, Anderson Silva and Nogueira are all stand out fighters in their respective UFC divisions and I expect each of them to be title holders some time during 2008.

For UFC Fight Card information visit UFC Results, the best place to go for UFC Predictions, Results and News. For UFC Results visit http://www.ufcresultslive.com

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