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UFC 84 Web site for ‘Ill Will’ is up and running Posted: 22 Apr 2008 08:19 AM CDT Props: 84.UFC.com This is gonna be good …

Chuck Liddell hamstring injury (Pic) Posted: 22 Apr 2008 08:18 AM CDT This picture is worth a thousands words for all the critics who incorrectly surmised that former UFC light heavyweight champion, Chuck Liddell, pulled out of his fight with Rashad Evans at UFC 85 in London, England, on June 7 because he didn’t want to travel overseas or for some other ridiculous reason. The “Iceman” is clearly injured (torn hamstring), which UFC.com demonstrated earlier this morning with rather painful-looking evidence. Here’s a snip from UFC President Dana White: “Unfortunately, Chuck Liddell tore his right hamstring during training last week, and being the warrior that he is, he still wanted to fight, which is the reason why everyone in the world loves him. But I wouldn’t let anyone fight with his leg looking that way. Let him heal and come back and fight when he is 100 percent…. We’re adding fights to the card and rearranging it so the UK fans won’t have to worry, we’ll still be bringing an amazing card to London and the O2 Arena. The UFC always delivers.” According to the report, the promotion will announce a new main event shortly, as well as the complete 13-fight line up for the show. In the meantime, check out the latest UFC 85 fight card right here. Stay tuned for more details.

Ken Shamrock officially sues the UFC Posted: 21 Apr 2008 10:14 PM CDT Last November Ken Shamrock mentioned his intention to sue the UFC for not allowing him to complete the second and final fight of his UFC contract. Now it’s official. In a lawsuit filed last Tuesday in Nevada, “The World’s Most Dangerous Man” claims he made a two-fight deal with the UFC that would allow him a second fight after finishing his trilogy with Tito Ortiz at UFC: The Final Chapter back in October of 2006. Shamrock had the option of not fighting for a second time if he chose to retire after his final bout with Ortiz (which he did). Then in June of 2007 Shamrock had a change of heart and tried to return to the Octagon for his second fight but the UFC had already moved on, accepting Shamrock’s October retirement as the end of their relationship. While he may be a UFC hall-of-famer and pioneer of the sport, the 44 year-old Shamrock is 2-8 in his last ten fights, including five straight (T)KO losses since 2004. Perhaps the UFC chose to accept his retirement at face value. Or perhaps Ken Shamrock is no longer a marketable fighter whose diminished skills puts him one fight away from serious injury. Either way, it’s clear the UFC has no intention of using him in future events - which Shamrock seems to be okay with - so long as he’s paid. Does the UFC have a financial obligation to Shamrock? Or did Shamrock surrender that obligation on the day he retired? That is a matter to be settled in court. Though I have a pretty good idea what the verdict is in the court of public opinion.

Dana White: Rich Franklin vs. Michael Bisping fight can happen (Video) Posted: 21 Apr 2008 08:17 PM CDT

Canada Bound: Five Things I Learned at UFC 83 (Part VI) Posted: 21 Apr 2008 07:55 PM CDT Adam Wagner is a writer for MMAmania.com. He is in Canada as part of the UFC 83: "Serra vs. St. Pierre 2″ Ultimate Fight Train experience. He'll blog about his whirlwind trip throughout the weekend, providing an inside account of what it's like to be in Montreal (and Toronto) when the UFC comes to town for the first time ever. Enjoy. Canadian fans know how to cheer on a fight. I've had the privilege of attending a few UFC events, as well as professional sporting events for every major sport except basketball. To date, there have been 3 crowds that I have witnessed that were truly a spectacle to beyond. You could tell history was being made—it was in the air: FedExField, Landover, MD. The Washington Redskins swept the favored Dallas Cowboys on December 18, 2005 in a must-win situation to earn a playoff berth, crushing their hated rivals 35 – 7. I'm a die-hard Steelers fan since forever, but I was proud to be living in D.C. on that day. Nationwide Arena, Columbus, OH. The first-ever UFC event in the Buckeye State was UFC 68, when Randy Couture returned from retirement to take Tim "The Maine-iac" Sylvia's Heavyweight title. From the moment Couture knocked Sylvia to the ground with his very first punch, the crowd neverreturned to their seats for five rounds of action. The Bell Centre, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It's hard to gauge who was louder, the Canadians during GSP's ass-kicking of Matt Serra at UFC 83 or the Americans at UFC 68. But I can tell you this without a doubt: I have never witnessed such an intense crowd from the getgo—even during the undercard, this crowd was bumping. It felt like I was watching the 7th game of the Stanley Cup Finals…in Canada It takes an intense degree of dedication to be a fighter that most of us know nothing about. I know most of us fantasize about being a fighter from time to time, even when we know it'll never happen. Hell, Canadian glam rocker Robin Black fantasizes about it to the point of actually throwing his hat in the ring (and if he wins his upcoming debut, I'll eat my hat … then blog about it). But in the end, most of us like our faces the way they are. The amount of scar tissue on some of these fighters' faces is unbelievable. You can't tell by watching a season of TUF (the production crew has a make-up professional for a reason); you can only see it up close. They've truly made themselves ugly through their love of the sport. I love fights, but I don't gotta love the spectacle. Some people are involved in the MMA community because they love to fight or they love to promote fights. Others love to promote themselves. I realized this weekend more than ever before that I'm just a writer who's terrible at self-promotion (this has been and will continue to be my downfall, professionally speaking). But I don't give a damn. I hate costumes and phony one-name celebrities. My hat goes off to my Canadian hosts for the weekend, Sean McManus (contributing writer to MMAmania.com and Director of Media Relations for MMACanada.net) and Justin Curtin (Owner of and Director of Operations for MMA Fight Gear and the mastermind behind the Ultimate Fight Train) for being two of the good guys. Kalib Starnes ought to look for a better excuse. I think it's pure crap that the UFC — or any fight promotion — doesn't provide the best healthcare money can buy for its fighters so they can keep their fight purse, win or lose. I don't know the facts, whether they do in some cases and don't in others, but if they don't for each and every fighter on a fight card, that needs to change. Although as far as I can remember Starnes is the only UFC fighter to complain about medical bills that were not picked up 100 percent after a fight inside the Octagon (his loss to Alan Belcher) under the Fertitta regime. That said, Starnes looked like a scared 12-year-old in his fight against Quarry. The fans next to me were saying, "He must have broken his arm or something" to try to explain away why he refused to engage. I was actually thinking the same thing myself, "Something's GOT to be the matter with him." I think I was right, there is something the matter with him, and now the whole world knows it. I can't believe Chris Leben lost to this guy. Hell, I can't believe Danny Abbadi lost to this guy! Mania RULES! I don't know if you guys noticed, but since I was last at my computer on Thursday night before leaving for Toronto, MMAmania.com has featured more than 30 articles of some of the best MMA coverage on the Internet today (and one stunning photo of Arianny Celeste). I was floored when I went online today at the sheer volume. Now I gotta play catch up. Ah yes, life is good. Thanks again, Mania, for sending me to Canada and making my weekend one of the most rewarding experiences I've had in a very long time. *** To check out Adam’s entire journey from start to finish here are all the stories from the six-part UFC 83 adventure: Part I | Part II | Part III | Part IV | Part V. Check out some pics after the jump.

Report: Chuck Liddell vs. Rashad Evans UFC 85 fight scrapped Posted: 21 Apr 2008 03:32 PM CDT Former light heavyweight champion, Chuck Liddell, has been forced to withdraw from his upcoming main event fight against Rashad Evans at UFC 85 in London, England, on June 7 because of an injury sustained during training, according to MMARated.com. Here’s a snip: “No word on the extent of the injury and how long he will be out but plans are for both men to face each other later in the summer.” “Iceman” was originally scheduled to duke it out with Mauricio “Shogun” Rua at the O2 Arena; however, an injury to the Brazilian sidelined him and “Sugar” stepped in. More on this breaking news in a bit.

Matt Hughes: Matt Serra fight possible in ’six to eight months’ Posted: 21 Apr 2008 03:15 PM CDT Props: Matt-Hughes.com Quoteworthy: "GSP had a good game plan to take Matt Serra down and wear him out. I found myself rooting for Serra at the end of the second round, I wanted him to make it to the third round. I thought if it would get to the third round GSP would decide to stand up with him and possibly knock him out. I just wanted Matt to get beat on for five rounds, not just two; but I knew the ref was about ready to stop it. The UFC said that if Serra loses I get him, but I don't know when that will be. I'm going to guess six to eight months, so I've found myself watching my diet and exercising more." Former welterweight champion Matt Hughes shares his thoughts on the fight this weekend between Georges St. Pierre and Matt Serra at UFC 83: "Serra vs. St. Pierre 2" at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec. Serra's loss more than likely earned him a fight with Hughes – the two opposing coaches on season six of The Ultimate Figher (TUF) were supposed to fight at UFC 79: "Nemesis" in December 2007. However, Serra had to withdraw from the bout because of a back injury sustained during training. (Thanks to MMAmania.com reader “Kevin” for the assist.)

UFC cuts Kalib Starnes after UFC 83 track meet (Update) Posted: 21 Apr 2008 02:56 PM CDT The UFC didn’t waste much time, releasing former The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) contestant and UFC 83 main card participant, Kalib Starnes, from his contract after a puzzling performance against Nate Quarry this weekend, according to Yahoo!Sports.com. Starnes — a native of Surrey, British Columbia, Canada — spent most of the 15 minutes of his middleweight bout with “The Rock” playing keep away. He simply refused to engage. In fact, Quarry mocked him inside the Octagon toward the tail end of the fight for his performance. Here’s a snip from UFC President Dana White: “He just doesn't belong in the UFC and after his performance the other night, he should consider a new line of work.” Starnes was looking to rebound from a technical knockout loss to Alan Belcher that ended because of a grizzly cut. He was displeased with the stoppage (even though his skull was visible) and was even more displeased with the financial hit he took to recover from the axe wound. There’s actually some unsubstantiated Internet chatter that Starnes was interviewed after the Quarry loss and indicated that the UFCs reluctance to cover his medical costs is part of the reason for his performance on Saturday night. However, the Yahoo! report was unable to confirm or deny that statement. Again … it’s unsubstantiated. Regardless, Starnes did himself and his career a major disservice this weekend. He has much to prove going forward … if he’s even still interested. UPDATE: Starnes claims that he requested to be released from his UFC contract and “couldn’t be happier” now that he is no longer with the organization. He indicated that a complete announcement will be forthcoming as soon as all the final paperwork is complete.

Demian Maia vs. Ed Herman UFC 83 submission of the night Posted: 21 Apr 2008 01:50 PM CDT Demian Maia photo: MMAPredictions.com It’s right here … and it doesn’t get much prettier — “Short Fuse” gets simultaneously strangled and pounded. Pure ownage.

Arianny Celeste is getting hotter … Posted: 21 Apr 2008 09:59 AM CDT … Edith LaBelle ain’t too shabby either: For more UFC 83 afterparty pics hit up CombatLifestyle.com right now.

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