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Chris Leben looks to clear up DUI charge prior to UFC 85 Posted: 01 May 2008 09:23 AM CDT Chris Leben flew from Hawaii to Oregon to turn himself in on an old Driving Under the Influence (DUI) charge, clearing the way for him to obtain his visa and take on Michael Bisping at UFC 85: “Bedlam” at the O2 Arena in London, England, on June 7. According to TJ Thompson of Icon Sport, “The Crippler” will have to sit in jail for 8-10 days before he gets a hearing because the warrant was a “no bail” warrant. Here’s a snip: “When he got the call to fight Bisping on June 7th in London he knew what he had to do. He immediately flew to Oregon and turned himself in on the probation violation…. The moment he appeared before the judge after turning himself in the warrant was revoked and he is able to get his VISA for London.” This appears to be just minor setback for Leben — with more than eight weeks to prepare for “The Count” a little time in the slammer doesn’t seem like it will impact his preparation for the 185-pound tilt. In fact, Thompson affirms that Leben is in excellent shape and that his decision to turn himself in shows his growth “spiritually and mentally” as a fighter and person. Leben, he affirms, will be ready for Bisping on June 7.

The Ultimate Fighter 7: Episode 5 recap and discussion Posted: 30 Apr 2008 09:59 PM CDT Episode five of The Ultimate Fighter 7 begins with a recap of Matthew Riddle helping Coach Rampage and the rest of Team Blue get off to a frigid 0-2 start. Tim Credeur pays a visit to Riddle after the fight and congratulates him on a close fight - and then inexplicably offers to buy him an X-box 360. Riddle returns the favor by telling the cameras he feels like he won. He also mentioned something about becoming a Chippendale but my Gaydar immediately blocked any further incoming transmissions. Out of nowhere Jeremy May decides to compensate for his low self-esteem by telling the world he gets the skins 2-3 times a day and that his girlfriend is in danger of having her back broken upon his return. Wherever she is Jeremy, I’m sure her and her parents will appreciate your delicate approach to bedroom intimacy. May also finds humor in locking guys out of the house and throwing random objects at people like Jesse Taylor who possess a low tolerance for immaturity. Coach Rampage reminds his team during drills that they’re not playing pattycake. I’m sure at that time he missed the irony in using a reference from an old English nursery rhyme prior to introducing Michael “The Count” Bisping as a guest trainer (sans subtitles). He gets a typical warm American greeting by getting kicked right in the nuts. Welcome to TUF 7 Mr. Bisping. Jeremy May feels like he is going to get picked next. Rampage still thinks it’s going to be Patrick Shultz. May also believes there is no one on Team Brown that could (or would) stand with him. Riddle politely nods as visions of X-box dance in his head. A confident Team Brown starts sparring and Matt Brown gets a warning from Coach Griffin to ease off the throttle. I wouldn’t call Matt Brown stoic but he seems to skulk about the gym like Yul Brynner in Westworld. Even though his teammates respect his intensity there is always an element of risk in hard-sparring which Griffin is hoping to avoid. Back at the house Jeremy May continues his quest to become this season’s most loathsome contestant by spiking Matt Brown’s chewing tobacco with lime juice. My spidey-sense compels me to check the preview notes for the episode title and it does not disappoint: Chewbacle. May dismisses the prank as mind games while Dolce and Credeur shake their heads in disbelief and anxiously await the return of Brown himself. Brown doesn’t blow his stack but instead promises May he’ll be the next pick. May is disappointed in Brown’s sense of humor and wants to punch his face in as punishment for not appreciating a good joke. Unfortunately Brown will have to wait because Coach Griffin has already chosen Dante Rivera to fight Brandon Sene. Sene gets the toughness seal of approval from Coach Rampage and reveals that he is a former Marine Sniper who knows how to play mind games. Rivera looks to use his age and experience to his advantage and the game plan is to secure the takedown and lock in the submission (despite the marked difference in size). Team Brown’s Dante Rivera (10-2) vs. Team Blue’s Brandon Sene (2-0) Round 1: Rivera charges in with a combo and they lock up against the cage. Rivera eventually turns him and gets the trip. Rivera working for side-control. Sene powers out and they get to their feet. Rivera charges again and they’re back standing against the cage. Sene turns him and uses knees to the leg. Rivera answers. Rivera trying for the takedown but Sene isn’t having it. Mazz warns about the slow pace and eventually breaks it up. Rivera shoots and they hit the side of the cage for the third time. Rivera gets him airborne and lands a huge slam. Rivera eats some elbows from the bottom and seems unable to get any offense going. Rivera drops down and looks for a leg submission. Sene kicks out but Rivera stays on top until the round ends. Round 2: Sene stalking but Rivera gets him against the cage. Sene busy with knees. Rivera doing nothing. Mazz tries to stop the action just as Rivera scoops and slams so Mazz lets it go. Definitely an awkward moment. Rivera on top but still not delivering much offense. Sene again muscles his way out but Rivera is able to trip him back down. Rampage calls for the time and no one answers. Sene gets warned for an errant bottom elbow and it must have angered him because he sweeps and starts dropping vicious elbows from the top to a bewildered Rivera. From guard Rivera ties him up and they appear to briefly talk and smile at each other. Time expires with Sene on top. Very close. The group is calling for a third round (sudden victory) and they get it. Round 3: Rivera looks deflated. They exchange punches and a lazy shoot from Rivera backs Sene to the cage. Sene using knees while Rivera seems content to just hold. Mazz breaks it up and they start anew. Again Rivera rushes and backs Sene to the cage. Rivera drops down and finds just enough strength to scoop him up and drop him down. Sene very busy from the bottom with elbows. Rivera has position but can do nothing with it. He switches to side control and tries some knees. Rivera for the first time in the entire fight is starting to land some shots. Sene trying to escape but getting smothered. Round ends with Rivera in control. Again, very close. Dante Rivera defeats Brandon Sene by unanimous decision Like last week, this was not a very technical fight. The skill level displayed in my opinion falls short of what I would expect from a show that has reached its seventh season. Backstage, Coach Rampage goes berserk and starts screaming about the bad judging. He leaves the gym to get some air and gives an unsuspecting parking sign a King Haku style death chop. Team Blue is appalled by the decision and while it’s not something I would call a travesty, Team Brown looks to have stolen one. Either way its 3-0 for Browntown. They waste no time announcing next week’s fight: Jeremy May vs. Matt Brown (complete with staredown). Forrest compares Matt Brown to Chuck Norris. Hopefully Griffin was referring to the ass-kicking Invasion USA Norris and not the addle twit who’s peddling the Total Gym like it’s not the flimsiest piece of crap since the Sports Illustrated sneaker phone. Stay tuned next week as Brown and May settle their score (which Amir Sadollah predicts Brown will win via murder) and we get a second preliminary fight in the same episode (which lends serious credibility to Sadollah’s prediction). See you then!

MMA a tough sell in Hollywood - even for David Mamet Posted: 30 Apr 2008 09:52 PM CDT Quoteworthy: “Nobody wanted [Redbelt] in Hollywood except for Sony Classics. I think it was my third or fourth film for them, so they said, “Yeah, sure.” I talked to everybody in Hollywood and said, “If you don’t get it, look at the demographics. This is the hugest demographics in the world of young males 18 to 25. They all watch the UFC. Look at what they did last year in DVDs, are you nuts? If they make the worst movie ever made, all these kids are going to watch their movie. Guess who I’m going to put in it,” and they all said, “Yeah, yeah, yeah, no thanks,” They all want to make movies about people standing up on a beach with their arms spread, looking up at the heavens, and twirling because they’ve understood the meanings of life, and indeed, they have.” -Director and legendary screenwriter David Mamet talks to ComingSoon.net about the difficulty in convincing Hollywood that his upcoming MMA movie Redbelt is celluloid-worthy. The same Hollywood that greenlights movies like The Hottie and the Nottie. Whatever. For more on Redbelt click here.

UFC 85: Jonathan Goulet vs. Paul Kelly Posted: 30 Apr 2008 05:47 PM CDT Jonathan Goulet (22-9) will face undefeated welterweight Paul Kelly (7-0) at UFC 85: Bedlam which takes place at the O2 Arena in London, England, on June 7, according to a report from Canada’s TKO Extreme. Goulet is riding a two-fight winning streak after a recent TKO stoppage of Kuniyoshi Hironaka at UFC 83. Prior to that he choked out Paul Georgieff in the first round at The Ultimate Fighter 6 Finale. Opposing him will be England’s Paul Kelly, who won his UFC debut with a unanimous decision victory over Paul Taylor at UFC 80. Prior to that decision, Kelly has stopped all of his fights - five of them in the first round. It should be an interesting match-up as Goulet (who does have 11 TKO victories) will try and use his experience to manhandle the younger Kelly (who trains at the Wolfslair Academy). UFC 85 features the main even between former welterweight champion Matt Hughes and Thiago Alves. Also scheduled to battle are Michael “The Count” Bisping and Chris “The Crippler” Leben. To check out the remaining UFC 85 card click here.

All in the numbers: UFC vs. Boxing salaries Posted: 30 Apr 2008 05:06 PM CDT Kevin Iole has an interesting article over at Yahoo Sports in which he compares the recent salaries from a boxing and UFC event(s). With all the scuttlebutt stemming from the Randy Couture lawsuit and other deposed fighters, it’s interesting to see how the two stack-up. From Iole: I called the Nevada Athletic Commission and got the payment verification sheets for the last two major boxing shows (Bernard Hopkins-Joe Calzaghe on April 19 and Manny Pacquiao-Juan Manuel Marquez on March 15) as well as for the last major UFC show in the state, UFC 81 on Feb. 2. According to state records, Hopkins and Calzaghe were each paid $3 million for their work. The next highest-paid fighter on that card was Audley Harrison, who made $20,000. There were nine fighters who made $5,000 or less, including two men, Marcos Mendias and Jermell Charlo, who made but $1,500. Pacquiao made $3 million and Marquez $1 million for their epic rematch, but there were five fighters of the 14 on that show who made $3,500 or less. At the UFC show, the lowest base pay for any of the 18 fighters on the card was the $4,000 that Kyle Bradley made. The UFC also paid out $60,000 bonuses that night for knockout of the night, submission of the night and fight of the night. Plus, most of the fighters had bonuses for winning, so the opportunity was there for them to double their pay, which was not for the boxers. It’s interesting to note that aside from the main event, the lower-tier salaries don’t seem to be much different. In fact one can argue that the incentive-based bonuses may actually push the UFC ahead of boxing in terms of salary for undercard fighters. To read the entire article click here.

DREAM 3: Shinya Aoki out, JZ Calvancante NOT in Posted: 30 Apr 2008 04:36 PM CDT It took two fights for Shinya Aoki to defeat the uber-talented Gesias “JZ” Calvancante in the DREAM Lightweight Grand Prix - and he doesn’t even get to advance to the next round for his efforts. The “Tobikan Judan” was first injured against Calvancante in their initial meeting at DREAM 1 back in March when an illegal elbow from JZ put Aoki on his back and unable to continue. The bout was ruled a no-contest and both fighters were slated to face off again at DREAM 2 last Tuesday to determine who would advance to the Grand Prix semifinals. Again, Aoki suffered a facial injury but this time was able to finish the fight and outpoint the Brazilian for the win. Despite the victory, the injury is reportedly too severe to allow Aoki enough time to recover before the semifinals at DREAM 3 on May 11th - barely two weeks away. The first choice for a replacement was of course Calvancante, but Sherdog.com is reporting that JZ was unable to reach acceptable terms with the organization and has already left Japan. While surely a disappointment for Aoki, no question this development has DREAM officials in a panic, with just two weeks to find a suitable replacement.

Tito Ortiz Big Bear training camp for UFC 84 Lyoto Machida fight (Video) Posted: 30 Apr 2008 03:25 PM CDT (Thanks to MMAmania.com reader “Roy” for the assist.)

WEC 34: Faber vs Pulver card finalized for June 1 Posted: 30 Apr 2008 09:54 AM CDT World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) yesterday released the final card for its biggest event in the organization’s history at the Arco Arena in Sacramento, Calif., on June 1. The blockbuster event will feature two title fights along with the return of former champions “Razor” Rob McCullough and Chase Beebe. Here’s the final line up: Main event WEC Featherweight Champion Urijah Faber vs. Jens Pulver Main card (televised) WEC Bantamweight Champion Miguel Torres vs. Yoshiro Maeda Mark Munoz vs. Chuck Grisby “Razor” Rob McCullough vs. Kenneth Alexander Under card (may not be broadcast) Donald Cerrone vs. Richard Crunkilton Jeff Curran vs. Mike Brown Chase Beebe vs. Will Ribiero Tim McKenzie vs. Eric Schambari Alex Serdyukov vs. Luis Sapo Alexandre Noguiera vs. Jose Aldo Charlie Valencia vs. Dominick Cruz WEC 34 is arguably the promotion’s deepest card ever. In addition to the title fights, as well as the main card action, former NCAA Division I champion Mark Munoz will make his debut. Munoz is considered by many to be one of the best pure wrestlers to ever enter the sport and will look to make big splash against Grisby. Also making his WEC debut is former 143-pound SHOOTO champion, ‘Pequeno’ Noguiera, who is one of the best submission fighters in the world in regardless of weight class. In short, this is one hell of a card that will be shown on VERSUS on June 1 at 9 p.m. ET.

Michael Bisping: Fireworks guaranteed against Leben at UFC 85 Posted: 30 Apr 2008 09:50 AM CDT Props: The Sun Quoteworthy: "The fight [with Chris Leben at UFC 85] was offered to me the day after I fought Charles McCarthy [at UFC 83]. There wasn't a single moment of hesitation from me. Not a single breath. Chris has put himself back into the mix at middleweight and if I want to go for the title then I need to beat guys like him. Chris has beaten a lot of good guys. 18-4 is a good record in MMA. He's a colourful character and I like him…he reminds me of myself in some ways. He likes to fight and he's a real person. Leben's tough, has got heavy hands and swings hard and he's skilled on the ground despite not being known for that. It might come down to who's got the better chin out of both of us, but it could be more a case of who's technically better. I think I'm technically better than Chris Leben. He's quite a brawler, he'll take a couple of shots on the way in to land one of his own. He chases people round a little bit so I think fireworks are pretty much guaranteed." Michael “The Count” Bisping (15-1) shares his thoughts (and respect) for Chris “The Crippler” Leben (18-4) in anticipation of their middleweight contest at UFC 85: Bedlam on June 7.

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