UFC

With UFC 88: Breakthrough set to hit Pay-Per-View everywhere on September 6, Mixed Martial Arts and Ultimate Fighting Championship fans around the world are buzzing over the match ups. Regarded as being one of the best light heavyweight match-ups ever, fan-favorite Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell will take on undefeated upstart Rashad Evans in an extreme fighting competition that is sure to be a smash. In addition, the line-up on the PPV card will include:

As blogs and posts around the world fly over the success of Breakthrough, MMA fans everywhere are stocking up on their UFC-branded MMA Gear in preparation for the event. Merchandise sales are racking up massive bucks for brands like No Fear, TapouT, and Good Money. Make sure to get your fan gear before heading to Atlanta for the big match or to your living room for one of the biggest Pay-Per-View events of the UFC season. Give support to your favorite fighter with tees, hats, gloves, and shorts that are definitely a hit, without being a power strike on your wallet. Show your martial arts pride like a champion!

MartialArtsPride.com is excited to announce the release of a MMA Fight Gear line by Good Money.

Clark Swihart and Nick Norris are behind the new line and have been brutally testing material and designs to come up with a high quality product.

MartialArtsPride.com plans on incorporating the new line into the MMA package and also plans on releasing new packages to help fill the high demand we have had for custom packages.

When it comes to high quality training gear the Good Money is on MartialArtsPride.com

The current state of Mixed Martial Arts is changing as we know it.

CBS has signed a deal with Elite XC and Affliction clothing is putting on a fight card that most consider the best to date.

Sponsors like Burger King, Harley Davidson and Bud Light have jumped on board and sports talk shows and TV shows can’t get enough.

One of the most impressive things is that the CBS Elite XC event averaged the same TV ratings as a NBA playoff game.

The UFC finally has some serious competition and it looks like it will catapult the entire sport into the living rooms across America.

-Matt Wiman def. Justin Buchholz via Submission  of Round 1.
-Corey Hill def. Joe Veres via TKO  of Round 2.
-Jeremy Stephens def. Cole Miller via TKO (strikes) at 4:44 of Round 2.
-Gray Maynard def. Dennis Siver via Unanimous Decision after 3 Rounds.
-Kurt Pellegrino def. Alberto Crane via TKO (strikes) at 1:55 of Round 2.
-Nathan Diaz def. Alvin Robinson via Submission (triangle choke) at 3:39 of Round 1.
-Thiago Tavares def. Michihiro Omigawa via Unanimous Decision after 3 Rounds.
-Patrick Cote def. Drew McFedries via TKO (strikes) at 1:44 of Round 1.
-Mike Swick def. Josh Burkman via Majority Decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-29) after 3 Rounds.

The Lightweight title fight started off quick with B.J. Penn mauling Joe Stevenson and putting him on his back quick. Mid-way though the 1st round B.J. landed a big elbow and Joe was cut bad and bleeding all over. B.J. owns Joe until he decides to choke him out by RNC in the 2nd. B.J. Penn is the new UFC Lightweight Champion of the world and celebrated by liking Joe’s blood off of his knuckles while Joe was regrouping and wondering what train just ran him over.

Results from other fights:

-Sam Stout def. Per Eklund via Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-27) after 3 Rounds.
-Alessio Sakara def. James Lee via TKO (strikes) at 1:30 of Round 1.
-Paul Kelly def. Paul Taylor via Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) after 3 Rounds.
-Antoni Hardonk def. Colin Robinson via TKO (ref stoppage) at 0:17 of Round 1.

-Jorge Rivera def. Kendall Grove via KO (punch) at 1:20 of Round 1.
-Wilson Gouveia def. Jason Lambert via KO (punch) at 0:37 of Round 2.
-Marcus Davis def. Jess Liaudin via KO (punch) at 1:04 of Round 1.
-Fabricio Werdum def. Gabriel Gonzaga via TKO (ref stoppage) at 4:34 of Round 2.

The night got started off with a bag when Rich Clementi got the best of Melvin Guillard and got the RNC sunk in late in the first round. When Melvin was recovering from the choke Rich taunted him with gestures. This prompted Melvin to try to attack Rich once he turned his back. It was a good thing Herb Dean was there to restrain Melvin when Rich was not looking.Eddie Sanchez looked good in his beat down of Sao Paleei that ended in a round 3 TKO. Lyoto Ryoto Machida also took all of Sokoudjou’s wind and choked him out with an arm triangle in the 2nd.

The most anticipated fight in years lived up to the hype and it was a 3 round war for both warriors. When there is entertainment at this level even though one of the fighters lost on paper, No one really loses. In this writer’s opinion the sport wins in the end when legends like Wanderlei Silva and Chuck Liddell meet. Chuck ended up winning the fight with a decisive 3rd round but it was a classic war.

In the title fight for the Interim Welterweight title George St. Pierre crushed Matt Hughes in every aspect of MMA. Took him down at will and beat him up until he saw it was time to end him with a submission. Matt Hughes looks bad after this showing and looks like he has maybe 2 fights or so left in his career.

-Charlie Valencia def. Ian McCall via Submission Round 1.
-Briwn Bowles vs. Marcos Galvao via TKO Round 2.
-Ed Ratcliff def. Alex Karalexis via TKO Round 2.
-Bryan Baker def. Eric Schambari via Split Decision
-John Alessio def. Todd Moore via Unanimous Decision
-Doug Marshall def. Ariel Gandulla via Submission (armbar) Round 1.
-Paulo Filho def. Chael Sonnen via Ref Stoppage (armbar) Round 2.
-Jens Pulver def. Cub Swanson via Submission (anaconda choke) Round 1.
-Urijah Faber def. Jeff Curran via Submission (guillotine choke) Round 2.

The main even saw a close match between Michael Bisping and Rashad Evans that could of went either way. Bisping decides it may be best to drop a weight division after his first loss by decision.

Thiago silva put a quick end to the Houston Alexander bandwagon. It was clear his jiu jitsu is beyond what Alexander can handle.Also on the card Karo “The Heat” Parisyan defeated Ryo Chonan in a decision and Ed Herman won KO of the night by putting away Joe Doerksen in the 3rd round. Frankie Edgar continued his 155 climb with a decision win over Spencer Fisher.

Premlims:

Thiago Alves def. Chris Lytle, TKO of round 2

Joe Lauson def. Jason Reinhardt, RNC of round 1
Marcus Aurelio def. Luke Cadillo, TKO of round 1

Akihiro Gono def. Tanden McCrory, Armbar of round 2

The first PPV bout of the night was a very competitive bout between Kalib Starnes and Alan Belcher. Kalib got cut in the first but decided to continue fight the second round. Midway though the second round the fight is stopped because the doctor claims he can see Kalib’s skull. Kalib is furious the fight got stopped and appears to momentarily feud with his own corner.

In the next PPV bout Stephan Bonnar controlled Eric Schafer up until the fight was stopped by TKO in the second. It appeared that Stephan could have any offensive position he wanted in the second. In the end the strikes cam to quickly for Schafer to defend.

Alvin Robinson also made an impressive showing in Ohio. After the first round of getting controlled by Jorge Gurgel, Alvin fought back and put he hurt on Jorge for the next two round. At the end of three it was a clear decision win for Alvin.

With all kinds of title implications after Randy Couture left the belt high and dry this next match up was a big deal for heavyweights Tim Sylvia and Brandon Vera. It looked like both wanted to keep it tight with the clinch early. This favored Tim the bigger man who was able to push Vera around in the clinch. Brandon landed a couple shots though out the first and second round but Tim clearly won the fight in the third where he pressured Vera and was landing multi punch combos which Vera had no answer for. At the end of three rounds Tim Sylvia wins a decision and puts his name in the hat for the title.

The most anticipated fight of the night was the rematch between the Champion Anderson Silva and the Challenger Rich Franklin. Rich looked determined to fight this match differently then the first. Rich even got a take down but unfortunately could not keep Silva down. Anderson then started picking Rich’s stand up apart and almost had Rich TKO’d but was saved by the bell. At the beginning of the next round spider gets the plumb locked in for the clinch and Rich gets that boy who lost his puppy look. After a few breathtaking combos that were masterfully mixed up, Anderson Leaves Rich unconscious an with broken nose again. It looks as if Anderson Silva can not be stopped at Middleweight and he is clearly one of the most exciting fighters the UFC has seen.

The first televised fight that aired was up and comer Tyson Griffin vs. Thiago Tavares. Tyson Controlled the entire fight and came out with a hard fought unanimous decision.

Next up was “Lyoto” Ryoto Machida vs. Kazuhiro Nakamura in a three round fight. Lyoto showed superior striking and stayed undefeated while handing Nakamura his first loss in the UFC. After the fight Lyoto was awarded the unanimous decision and now he awaits his next test at 205.

Mauricio “Shogun” Rua had his first fight in the UFC and what an uninspired performance it was. There were times he was the dominant fighter but he never had control for long. Forrest Griffin pushed the pace to the point where Rua gassed and got caught with a rear naked choke with 15 seconds left in the fight.

The main event was Chuck Liddell attempting to put the pieces together following his failed title defense. It ended up being three rounds of all stand up fighting between Chuck and Keith Jardine. Both rocked the other in the second round but what set Keith apart is the amount of leg kicks that he landed on Chuck. After three rounds Keith Jardine scored the victory and the upset.