MMA fans, this is an exciting weekend. Two of the greatest mixed martial artists on the planet will go toe to toe to unify the UFC and Pride 185lbs titles. UFC middleweight champion Anderson “The Spider” Silva battles “Dangerous” Dan Henderson in Columbus, Ohio tomorrow.

This PPV should be a solid one. The fight card is as follows:

Main Card Bouts:
-Anderson Silva vs. Dan Henderson
-Cheick Kongo vs. Heath Herring
-Jon Fitch vs. Chris Wilson
-Yushin Okami vs. Evan Tanner
-Chris Leben vs. Alessio Sakara

Preliminary Bouts:
-Andrei Arlovski vs. Jake O’Brien
-Josh Koscheck vs. Dustin Hazelett
-Diego Sanchez vs. David Bielkheden
-Luke Cummo vs. Luigi Fioravanti
-Jorge Gurgel vs. John Halverson

Enjoy the fights. I sure will.

Andrei Arlovski, Matt Horwich, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Dan Henderson, UFC

82 analysis and the TapouT crew are covered in this week’s edition of "Hits
from the MMA blogosphere."


From Pramit Mohapatra’s MMA Insider blog for the Baltimore Sun:

“Faith-based fighting: Q&A with IFL champ Matt Horwich”

 

Also from Mohapatra’s MMA Insider blog:

“Chillin’ with the TapouT crew”

 

From David Avila’s MMA Notebook for MSNBC.com:

“Henderson driven to beat

-and be - the best”

 

From Larry Vollmer Jr.’s Inside the Octagon blog for The Journal News:

“Andrei Arlovski needs a decisive win at UFC 82”

Also from Vollmer’s Inside the Octagon blog:

“UFC 82 breakdown and fight analysis”

 

 

From Steve Sievert’s Brawl Sports blog for the Houston Chronicle:

“Vasquez

remains in serious condition”

From Carlos Arias’ Keep Punching blog for the O.C. Register:

“Toe-to-toe with ‘Minotauro’ Nogueira”

Andrei Arlovski hit the peak of his career when the UFC was finally starting to get noticed by a large majority of the male demographic. There was a buzz around this guy who was nicknamed “The Pitbull” , wore a mouthpiece with fangs, and was knocking out the heavyweight competition left and right.

After suffering back-to-back losses to Ricco Rodriguez and Pedro Rizzo in 2001 and 2002, Arlovski compiled a 6 fight win streak against guys like Ian Freeman, Vladimir Matyushenko, Wesley Correira, and Paul Buentello. Winning all of these fights by knockout or submission, Arlovksi quickly became a fan favorite. He looked unstoppable. He was the UFC heavyweight champion and nobody could beat him.

That is, until, Tim Sylvia stopped him in the first round at UFC 59.
After dropping Sylvia with a big right hand, Sylvia quickly regained his composure and connected with an uppercut that immediately dropped Arlovski. Sylvia won the fight and became the new heavyweight champion.

Sylvia and Arlovski would fight again in a rubber match; both fighters took timid approaches, and Sylvia won a lackluster unanimous decision in one of the most hyped up, yet unmemorable, main events in UFC history.

Since suffering back-to-back losses to Sylvia, Arlovski has compiled back-to-back wins against Marcio Cruz and Febricio Werdum. Even though he stopped Cruz, Arlovski is still taking a timid approach in the octagon. The ferocity he used to bring into his fights is all but gone. His fight with Werdum was a complete bore fest. Since being dropped by Sylvia, Arlovski has a huge problem; he is afraid to get hit. You can’t approach a fight with merciless intent if you are afraid of eating a punch in the exchange.

Now it’s do or die time for Andrei Arlovski. He has been on the bench for almost a year. Since he has not been able to come to terms with the UFC for a new contract, Arlovski has signed a one-fight extension with the UFC. This fight will take place on the under card of UFC 82 this Saturday.

The UFC won’t broadcast the fight because they won’t promote a fighter who isn’t under contract with them, which is business as usual for the UFC.

Dana White promised Arlovski’s opponent, Jake O’Brien, that the fight would be televised if O’Brien defeated Arlovski.

“Yeah I wasn’t happy about that [fighting Arlovski at this young stage of his career], it kind of
sucks, but they told me If I win they’ll show it for sure”

Obviously the UFC wants to bury Arlovski in case he goes to any of the upstart organizations, which are popping up left and right these days. Arlovski could go to EliteXC, Strikeforce, IFl, M1 Global, World Victory Road, or Dream.

If “The Pitbull” wants to make any money in this sport, and preserve any of his fan following, he has to win this match and he has to win it decisively. The UFC isn’t knocking down the door to offer him a new contract and if he loses this match he will have 3 losses in his last 6 fights. Most of those fights were lackluster snooze fests. This type of record doesn’t garner the asking price Arlovski will want to fight for a high profile MMA organization.

Let’s hope, for Arlovski and for the sake of the fans, “The Pitbull” returns to the form that saw him become a heavyweight fan favorite.

One of the Fastest-Growing Spectator Sports Comes to CBS with Four Live, Two-Hour Events Per Year.

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 28 — The CBS Television Network and ProElite, Inc., a Los Angeles-based leading entertainment and media company that produces world class mixed martial arts (MMA) events, today jointly announced a multi-year agreement that will bring one of the fastest growing spectator sports to a major broadcast television network for the first time.

CBS will broadcast four MMA events per year, produced by ProElite’s EliteXC fight division, as two-hour live primetime specials targeted for Saturday nights.

The agreement augments an existing relationship between CBS Corporation (NYSE: CBS and CBS.A) and ProElite (PELE.PK), which began broadcasting its EliteXC live MMA events on CBS’s SHOWTIME premium cable network in 2007. EliteXC events will continue to air on SHOWTIME.

Additionally, CBS Interactive and ProElite’s new media division, ProElite.com, will collaborate on generating interactive content for both companies’ platforms, including CBSSports.com. The online offerings could include streaming of events, clips syndicated across the CBS Audience Network, and other enhanced content to build an online community around each CBS broadcast and ProElite event.

“Mixed martial arts is one of the fastest growing sports in the country and a wildly popular entertainment vehicle for upscale, young adult audiences,” said Kelly Kahl, Senior Executive Vice President, CBS Primetime. “It’s original programming for Saturday night; it’s live, creating an event-atmosphere; and it’s something that hasn’t been seen on network television, until now.” “This is a pivotal moment for the sport of mixed martial arts now that a major television network plans to broadcast live MMA events during primetime hours,” said Douglas DeLuca, Chief Executive Officer of ProElite. “We are delighted to enhance our partnership with CBS to bring American audiences the very best in MMA competition through our EliteXC brand.

“The network television agreement with CBS is an important milestone for ProElite as we continue to implement our growth strategy and develop existing relationships with our international partners.”

“Our world-class fighters and the high production value of our events continue to drive ProElite as a global MMA organization that is fortified by the bedrock foundation of a partnership with CBS,” said Gary Shaw, President of EliteXC. “Broadcasting our events on CBS will instantly engage a new fan base, as well as provide an opportunity for EliteXC to further establish itself as the world’s premier MMA organization.”

The intense nature of the contests and the theatrical elements of its live events have made mixed martial arts one of the fastest growing spectator sports in the United States. Over the last several years, the genre has seen tremendous growth in popularity, especially among the coveted 18-34 demographic.

Mixed martial arts is a sport evolved from a number of ancient combat disciplines including judo, jiu-jitsu, karate, wrestling and kickboxing. World-class athletes engage in hand-to-hand combat in a ring—both caged and traditional—and must adapt their fighting style to fit their opponent. The wide variety of styles and techniques make every event an unpredictable spectacle.

UFC 82 is less then a week away and I am pretty excited. The card is pretty strong and features a main event title unification match between Pride 185lbs champion “Dangerous” Dan Henderson and UFC 185lbs champion Anderson “The Spider” Silva.

Love it or hate it, here is my fight analysis of the main card bouts.

Chris Leben vs. Alessio Sakara

Just when we thought Chris Leben was on his way out of the UFC, he rebounded with a vicious TKO victory over Terry “Bam Bam” Martin at Ultimate Fight Night 11. This match showed a definite maturation of Chris Leben’s fighting style. He fought a lot smarter and looked like a much-improved fighter in the win.

After going 3-3 in the light heavyweight division, Alessio Sakara will be dropping to 185lbs in this match. Sakara has never impressed me. The UFC always touts him as a former professional boxer with excellent striking skills. For a guy with an 8-0 professional boxing record, he hasn’t really shown superb striking in the past. I’m not saying he is a bum on his feet, but when the UFC constantly hypes you as a MMA fighter with excellent hands, I guess I just expect a little more knockout power. After being absolutely mauled by Houston Alexander, Sakara showed some improvement in his win over James Lee. His take down defense was pretty good. James Lee, however, didn’t show up to fight that night and Sakara ended the fight with hammer fists. Sakara and Leben both come into this fight off wins.

I’m going with Leben on this one, perhaps by split or unanimous decision.

Yushin Okami vs. Evan Tanner

I really wish Tanner took a different opponent for his UFC comeback fight. Evan Tanner is a warrior and a fan favorite. It is hard not to like this guy, but he hasn’t fought in almost two years. Aside from training for this fight, he has done nothing but tour the country , drink a lot of beer, and eat poorly since his departure from the UFC. Check out his blog if you don’t believe me.

While Tanner was exiling into MMA obscurity, Okami was making a name for himself by piling up a 5-1 fight record in the UFC. His only loss was to Rich Franklin, and he came a hair away from submitting him in the third round of the fight.

I’m not counting Tanner out. He has been training hard . I’d love to see him pull off a slick submission, but Okami is a resilient guy who tends to go the distance with some of the toughest fighters.

Prediction: Yushin Okami

Jon Fitch vs. Chris Wilson

Jon Fitch is always a game fighter. He is riding a 14-fight win streak with 7 of those wins coming in the UFC. There are not a lot of welterweights in the UFC that can say they are undefeated in the division. This is arguably the toughest weight class in the world.

I don’t know much about Chris Wilson except that he trains with Team Quest and has fought some pretty decent guys outside of the UFC. Taking on Jon Fitch is a pretty tall order for your first UFC fight, though.

I don’t see Fitch as a guy who will take a fight lightly. He should be first in line for a welterweight title shot if provided that he wins this match. It’s either Karo Parisyan or Jon Fitch for a welterweight title shot after Matt Serra and Georges St. Pierre fight in April. Karo refused to fight Fitch because he already had number one contender status at one point in his career. He was stripped of that right when he injured himself and had to take a break from active competition. The UFC never put him against the welterweight champion when he returned, and he refused to fight Fitch before fighting for the title; Karo didn’t want to risk a loss because he would have to climb the welterweight ladder for the third time in his career. Intelligent, yes, admirable, eh.

When a guy like Karo Parisyan won’t gamble his welterweight contender status by fighting you, it’s pretty safe to say you are better then legit competition.

I expect Fitch to come in shape and make a definitive statement for a title shot when he steps into the octagon with Chris Wilson.

Prediction: Jon Fitch

Cheick Kongo vs. Heath Herring

How should Heath Herring approach this fight?

TAKEDOWN
TAKEDOWN
TAKEDOWN

If you want to know how to beat Cheick Kongo, just watch UFC 64. Kongo has a huge flaw in his fight arsenal and that flaw is exposed when he is taken to the ground. Carmello Marrero easily had his way with him when they fought on the “Unstoppable” card.

Heath Herring is a great fighter with 60 percent of his wins coming by way of submission.

One problem with this matchup is that Herring likes to stand up and give the fight fans an exciting fight. You have to respect that. He tends to keep his hands low, though, and Kongo’s kick boxing experience might help him take advantage of this flaw.

If Herring can get this fight to the ground, I see him pulling off a submission. Something tells me he won’t go for the take down, though, and if he does it will probably be after 10-12 minutes of a stand up exchange.

Prediction: Kongo wins via Herring stubbornness.

UFC 185lbs champion Anderson Silva vs. Pride 185lbs champion Dan Henderson

This is going to be an exciting fight with A LOT of buzz around it. The Columbus, Ohio MMA fans are pretty lucky. Last year they got to witness Randy Couture come out of retirement and win the heavyweight belt from Tim Sylvia. I was at that fight and the vibe in the arena was insane. I’ve never been to an event with so much excitement in my entire life.

Now they get to witness the middleweight title unification between two of the greatest fighters of all time.

I can’t really break this match down, but I’ll try.

Anderson Silva’s striking is on another level. Every punch this guy throws counts. His combos are flawless. His accuracy is amazing. His knockout power is definitive.

Dan Henderson has a chin made of iron. He wrestled in the Olympic games in 1992 and 1996. His striking isn’t too shabby and his competitors usually boast of the power he brings into the ring or cage. He is the only fighter in MMA history that held championship titles in two different weight classes in a major MMA promotion.

Dan says he is going to stand with Silva. He probably wants to make a statement. Even though Silva is a BJJ black belt, everyone knows he is one of, if not the best, striker in MMA today.

If Hendo stands and holds his own with Silva, he will further solidify his position as one of the greatest fighters of all time. If he gets picked apart standing up, Hendo can choose to take Silva down, provided he doesn’t eat a knee for his efforts. Here he will have to deal with the BJJ skills of Silva, which are usually untested. People always seem to think that Silva has a testy ground game, but when he locked submission specialist Travis Lutter in a triangle and submitted him with elbow strikes, the speculation was put to rest.

I don’t know how to call this one. I don’t want to see Hendo lose two times in a row. He put forth a great effort against Rampage Jackson, but couldn’t eek out the win. I don’t want to see Anderson or Henderson lose this match. When your greatest concern is that two of your favorite fighters are going to duke it out and one of them has to lose, I guess things aren’t that bad.

My gut says Henderson will win. My heart says Anderson will unify the titles. Take that for what it’s worth and enjoy UFC 82.

UFC 82: MARCH 1 IN COLUMBUS, OHIO

venue: Nationwide Arena

Main Card Bouts:

-Anderson Silva (#1 Middleweight in the World)* vs. Dan Henderson (#3 Light Heavyweight in the World)*

-Cheick Kongo (#10 Heavyweight in the World)* vs. Heath Herring

-Jon Fitch (#4 Welterweight in the World)* vs. Chris Wilson

-Yushin Okami (#9 Middleweight in the World)* vs. Evan Tanner

-Chris Leben vs. Alessio Sakara

Preliminary Bouts:

-Andrei Arlovski (#5 Heavyweight in the World)* vs. Jake O’Brien

-Josh Koscheck (#5 Welterweight in the World)* vs. Dustin Hazelett

-Diego Sanchez (#8 Welterweight in the World)* vs. David Bielkheden

-Luke Cummo vs. Luigi Fioravanti

-Jorge Gurgel vs. John Halverson

A ton of great info, news and analysis in this week’s edition of "Hits from

the MMA blogosphere."


From David Avila’s MMA Notebook for MSNBC.com:

"Will sanctioning organization help MMA?"




From Pramit Mohapatra’s MMA Insider blog for the Baltimore Sun:

"Thoughts on EliteXC: Street Certified"

From Steve Sievert’s Brawl Sports blog for the Houston Chronicle:

"Noons, Edwards set for lightweight showdown in April"



From Carlos Arias’ Keep Punching blog for the O.C. Register:

"Dan Henderson media day"

The Ultimate Fighting Championship announced on Thursday that it has partnered with Yahoo! to broadcast live UFC pay-per-view events via Yahoo! Sports. The partnership begins on March 1 with the online availability of UFC 82 from Columbus, Ohio.

“This relationship with Yahoo! is an important step for the UFC to build its global distribution platform for live pay-per-view events,” said Dana White, UFC President. “We are looking forward to working with Yahoo! Sports to expand our reach and bring the sport of mixed martial arts to fight fans in every corner of the world in every possible language.”

UFC 82 features a main event of UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva facing Pride’s final middleweight champion Dan Henderson in a unification bout.

You won’t save any money by purchasing the PPV online. According to Yahoo! Sports, the online pay-per-view will cost $44.95. This is the same price as the televised pay-per-view.

The online streams will be available in four different qualities: 300k, 700k, and 1200k, which should facilitate varying connection speeds. Online purchasers will also have the event available for 24 hours of unlimited archive viewing.

This is really good news, especially if you have ever tried to purchase an online PPV from the UFC website.

On December 29th, I was attending the IFL Grand Prix finals at the Mohegan Sun arena. I wasn’t going to miss this fight for the world and, looking back, I am glad I made it to the event. The IFL WGP finals has to be one of the top-ten live mma events of 2007.

There was only one problem with attending the IFL fight and that problem was that Chuck Liddell was fighting Wanderlei Silva at UFC 79 on the same night. Now if you are a die hard mixed martial arts fan, you wouldn’t miss this fight for the world. I couldn’t run the risk of watching this fight the following day because I did not want to accidentally stumble across a fight result.

Much to my chagrin, the hotel I was staying at didn’t supply pay-per-view access. They did have an option to purchase a ten-dollar wireless card so that I can gain access to the local wi-fi hotspot. Eureka – I would go to the IFL fight and race back to my hotel and watch” UFC 79: Nemesis” on my laptop. It was the best option at the time and it was my only option at the time.

As stated, the IFL Grad Prix was awesome. After the event, my brother and I were in a great mood. Normally we’d hit the casino for a round of gambling, but we already had a taxi waiting for us outside of the Mohegan Sun arena.

We got back to the hotel and fire up my laptop. We pay the fee for the PPV, but we see nothing on the screen. After a few minutes, we sign up and pay again and wait for the stream to begin. While all of this is happening, my brother checks his debit account and notices that the UFC has charged him twice. That stinks, but we could handle that later. We still had an issue waiting for the PPV stream to begin.

At this point, UFC 79 had already cost us ninety bucks – two 40-dollar charges for the PPV and the ten-dollar fee for using the wi-fi hotspot. It was two o’clock in the morning. We had been up since nine and still had three hours worth of UFC fights to watch.

We were about to give up when the oh so recognizable opera chorus that marks the beggining of every UFC PPV hit. Bingo! We bunched around the laptop and we see a black and white promo of Tim Sylvia. This was strange because Tim Sylvia was not scheduled to fight at UFC 79 . What was even more strange was that you could hear Tim Sylvia talking, but there was a Spanish speaking translator yapping over Sylvia’s dialogue. Hmm… maybe this will pass. The Sylvia interview fades out and a Jeff Monson black and white promo appears. Again, a Spanish speaking translator is talking over Monson.

We were had.

Instead of getting the product we paid for, UFC 79, we were watching a Spanish dubbed version of UFC 65 – Bad Intentions.

At this point we were defeated. We skipped a night of gambling to watch the PPV. We spent 2 hours trying to get the UFC 79 stream running. We were charged twice, we received the wrong PPV and to top it all off the PPV we did receive was not even audible in a language we speak. We went to bed disappointed. We had to watch the PPV the next day. Luckily we didn’t stumble across any of the fight results.

In all fairness, the UFC eventually refunded my brother both charges on his debit card.

It’s safe to say that less then one percent of the UFC PPV’s I watch will be online, but I am very glad that the UFC partnered with Yahoo! Sports. If I ever find myself in this same situation, I will feel a lot more confident that I will get and English speaking version of product that I intended on watching.

Thanks be to Yahoo!.

I sure don’t. In the realm of one-dimensional fighters, Tank Abbott takes the cake as king.

There was once a time in mixed martial arts where a guy could throw flailing bombs and he had a decent chance of knocking his opponent out. This was an era in MMA where every aspect of the sport was still evolving and you could get away with a sloppy stand up offense and defense.

Those days are over, though, and a training regimen of bench pressing 600 pounds and throwing ridiculous flailing punches at heavy bags just doesn’t cut it anymore . Saturday night’s EliteXC main event exemplifies this fact perfectly.

Almost every punch Tank Abbott throws is a swing for the fence. His right hand stays up near his face and his left hand is stationary around his midsection. His jab originates from this position and pulls back to this position also.Theres no force behind the punch and doesn’t set up combo very well. It also leaves a hole in Tank’s defense. Any fighter with a moderately respectable stand up game can easily neutralize this awful technique , land a couple of cross/hook combos, and put tank to the ground. Kimbo executed this game plan perfectly and scored his second mixed martial arts win.

I’ll admit that I’ve never been a fan of Tank Abbott and I don’t remember any of his fights from years past. I knew Kimbo Slice couldn’t have been the first fighter to expose this outrageous flaw in his game, so I just checked out a few of his other knockout losses.

I got through Pedro Rizzo, Paul Buentello, and Vitor Belfort knockouts of Tank Abbott before I had seen enough. Tank Abbott’s stand up game is awful at best. You learn simple offensive and defensive techniques on day one of boxing/kick boxing training. It’s pretty clear the guy steps into a fight with the ambition of collecting a paycheck first and foremost, and secondly hopes that one of his sloppily thrown over hook rights lands somewhere near his opponents face.

I get it. If you want to build a fighter up , throw a name like Tank Abbott in there to build him some recognition. Hopefully Tank Abbott is falling off of that list of names. After watching his awful display of mixed martial arts on Saturday night, I am surprised athletic commissions continue to license him. His fight game is so dated that it’s painful to watch, even before the inevitable knockout punch comes.

Let’s get to it -Check out some great MMA writings from some of the greatest MMA bloggers:

From Pramit Mohapatra’s MMA Insider blog for the Baltimore Sun:
“MMA week in review”

From Carlos Arias’ Keep Punching blog for the O.C. Register:
“Who will own the streets?”

From Steve Sievert’s Brawl Sports blog for the Houston Chronicle:
“Condit submits Prater to retain WEC title”

From Larry Vollmer Jr.’s Inside the Octagon blog for The Journal News:
“Dissecting another inacurate article about MMA”

KIMBO SLICE & TANK ABBOTT,
“BIG FOOT’ SILVA & RICCO RODRIGUEZ,
SCOTT SMITH & KYLE NOKE,
JAMES “COLOSSUS” THOMPSON & BRETT ROGERS,
EDSON BERTO & YVES EDWARDS

Thursday, Feb. 14, 2008,
Bernie Kosar’s Steakhouse, Miami, Fla.

In what will be a thrilling and entertaining heavyweight fight for as long as it lasts, the incredibly popular Pride of Perrine, Fla., Kimbo Slice (1-0), will face hard-hitting Mixed Martial Arts icon, David “Tank’’ Abbott (9-13), of Huntington Beach, Calif., in a must-see showdown this Saturday, Feb. 16, at the BankUnited Center at the University of Miami.

SHOWTIME will televise five fights including the long-awaited, eagerly anticipated Kimbo-Tank confrontation live at 10 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the West Coast), while six non-televised undercard bouts will be streamed live on the leading MMA internet site, ProElite.com.

In addition to Kimbo-Tank, the SHOWTIME telecast will include: Antonio “Big Foot” Silva (9-1), a highly touted Brazilian who lives in Coconut Creek, Fla., and is considered one of the world’s top heavyweights, versus former champion Ricco Rodriguez (27-7), of Staten Island, N.Y., England’s James “The Colossus” Thompson (16-7) battles unbeaten Brett Rogers (7-0) of St. Paul, Minn., in a heavyweight match, Australian Kyle “The Ozzie” Noke (14-3-1), the bodyguard of the late Steve “Crocodile Hunter’’ Irwin, meets Scott “Hands Of Steel’’ Smith (14-4), of Sacramento, Calif., in a terrific scrap at 185 pounds; and Edson “Little Tiger” Berto (14-4-1), of Tampa, Fla., faces Yves Edwards (32-13-1) of Conroe, Tex., in a fight at 160 pounds.

A non-televised undercard streamed live at ProElite.com will include: Rafael Feijao (4-1), of Brazil, vs. John Doyle (6-2), of Allentown, Pa., at 205; Mike Bernhard (3-0), of Miami, vs. Lorenzo Borgameo (2-0), of Miami, at 170; Eric Bradley (2-1), of Las Vegas, Nev., vs. Mikey Gomez (6-3), of Orlando, Fla., at 170; Mario Rinaldi (6-2), of Miami, vs. Dave Herman (9-0) of Indiana at 265; Jon Kirk (10-2), of Houston, vs. Yosmany Cabezas (4-0), of Tampa, Fla., at 185 pounds, and Moyses Gabin (1-0), of Miami, vs. Jirka Hlavaty (1-1), of Miami, at 265.

In addition to the fights being streamed live, fans can watch pre- and post-fight interviews on ProElite.com. The 11 contests are scheduled for three, 5-minute rounds. Note: Fighter pages for televised and non-televised bouts are below.

KIMBO SLICE

“Tank is full of (poop) if he thinks I can’t take his punches. I’m bringing the whole thing to the cage. I am bringing the hood with me to this cage.

“This fight means a lot to not only me but the entire city. This is big time. That is why I am going to break his rib, break his nose, break his arm.

“Mentally, I’m going to have to bring some extra earmuffs to try and stay focused. The crowd is going to go crazy, but I am going to have to stay focused.

“There are a lot of things in my arsenal I am going to try to use. If he’s a tad bit slow, I’m going to hurt him. I’ve trained with the best. It is going to be a long fight for him, or a short night.

“There is no extra pressure to get the KO. Nothing concerns me with Tank. I’m not overly concerned at all. I am prepared for whatever he is going to do.

“My family drives me to succeed. As long as I have all my limbs there is going to be a way. The right hand is for his top lip, the left hand is for his bottom lip.

“Bas (Rutten) is a mentor of mine. Anything Tank has to say about Bas, I am going to take it personal. I am going to make him pay for his words.

“Tank has a very big mouth. He needs to be careful about what he says. We take a lot of things personal. I just hope I don’t run into him before the fight starts. I want to settle this in the cage.

TANK ABBOTT

“Training has just evolved for this fight more than for any of my other opponents. I have taken it very seriously.

“Kimbo is tough streetwise, but he is behind the times as far as putting it all together. The only thing he has done that is only remotely close to me is he has been in a few street fights. And I don’t even consider those fights.

“Kimbo is going to get hurt, that’s for sure. The way I am and the shape I’m in right now I can’t fathom a human being who can take five minutes of my shots. I am on fire right now.

“I think it is funny that he’s got Bas Rutten to train him. This is a real fight, not a slap-fest. He should have gotten a real fighter to train him. Training with Bas is better than nothing. But you either have it or you don’t. Technique doesn’t make you tough.

“I think the guy has guts and heart. But as far as toughness, you either have it or you don’t. You can’t teach toughness.

“I think Kimbo’s motivation is to be on TV or on the Internet. I think that is why he fights. Me? I have been in over 200 street fights to various degrees, ranging from knocking a guy out at a stop light to sending someone to the ICU for a week. I fight because I love it.

“There’s nothing he can do, barring a lucky punch, to beat me. I’ve been wrestling, grappling, fighting—you name it—for 20 years. What’s he going to do? There’s nothing about his game that worries me. This is what I love to do. I like to fight. I like it because I can’t go to jail for it.

“If you make a strategy to fight someone you are developing little crutches for yourself. I don’t have a plan.

“It’s just going to be a beating, unless something bizarre happens. Where I am right now there is no man alive who can take five minutes of my punches.

“Everybody gives me (poop) about my shape. I can do 15 minutes on my head holding my breath.

ANTONIO SILVA

“My opponent is a talented fighter. I am very excited and really anticipating the fight. Saturday night is going to be a great stepping stone for my career.

“I have prepared for Ricco at his best and I expect him to be in his best physical shape. I watch his last fight against Ben Rothwell every night. I think I have better mat work than Rothwell.

“I would like to show the public what some may consider impossible, and that is to beat a ground fighter on the ground. If I have an opportunity to submit him, I will. I know he has a good ground game, but if I need to use my ground skills, I will.

“I have practiced a lot on the bottom and on the top. I will take what Ricco gives me. I think that Ricco has improved a lot since his last fight, but I have come to knock him out.

“I found it very unprofessional when he spit on Rothwell, but I have respect for him. I hope he doesn’t try to do that to me, but if he does try that they will need three referees instead of one to take me off him.

“I have a long path to run in the heavyweight division. The goal is to be the No. 1 in the world. I am working toward that now.

“I feel great fighting at 265 pounds. I’m comfortable. I am well prepared. I want to give a good fight to the fans.”

RICCO RODRIGUEZ

“I don’t know about Antonio’s system, but I know about my system. Training is going well. I am right at 265 pounds.

“Win or lose, six months from now Antonio and I will be fighting again, probably for a title. We are the two best fighters in this organization right now. Tank and Kimbo are just tomato cans. We are the two real fighters.

“I don’t see this fight going the distance, but if it does I will be very impressed.

“This guy is amazing. He does everything. I’m going to bang and I’ll just start swinging. I don’t know how the fight is going to go, but I am going to come out like I always do.

“The truth is the guy is a stud. He can fight anyone in the world.

“This fight is a mirror match. There is nothing in his arsenal that I don’t use or have. He is a better fighter than Rothwell all around. (But) No one has brought the heat to him yet.

“Setting the tempo first is going to be huge in this fight. Whoever takes the center of the cage is going to be calling the shots.

“I don’t care if I get clobbered or if I go 15 minutes. I just don’t want to get knocked out. Kicks, punches, everything is going to hurt. He’s capable of doing some damage and he’s going to be bringing it.

“It’s one of those fights you might win, but you will still be walking away from that cage hurt.

“I am confident in my striking. This is going to be the most technical fight of the night. I’m just hoping it doesn’t end in the first minute. The only way I am going to win is by a knockout. I’m banging. This is ground and pound. The key to this fight is position over submission.

“I’m just happy to be working for a big time show.”

EDSON BERTO

“It doesn’t matter how the fight goes, I can take it all. We’re going to stand up and bang. I probably have better hands than him. He may try to take it to the ground, but I’m ready.

“This is a tough fight. I respect him a lot. I looked up to him, but once we get in the ring I am trying to win.

“When I get in the ring I don’t see Yves Edwards. I see someone who is standing in my way, someone I have to beat.

YVES EDWARDS

“Training with American Top Team is great for me.

“I am motivated to leave this sport with a legacy. Twenty years from now I want people to look back at the sport and remember me. I want kids to look at me like they looked at Sonny Liston.

“I want the title to say Yves Edwards, champion of the world. I want to fight everyone, and of course, I want to fight the best. Those are the guys that motivate me.

“You can’t judge any fighter by a grouping of fights. It is unprecedented for me to lose three fights in a row, but I am doing everything it takes to come back on top.

“Six months from now, I want to be on a five fight winning streak. About a year from now, I want to be back in the top 10. A year after that I want to be the man that everyone wants to beat.

“I’m expecting to see the best out of Berto. I want to get to the top of the world and he’s standing in my way. I can’t see past him, so I’ll have to beat him on Saturday to get to where I need to be.

“I don’t think you have seen the best of me yet. In the past I have given fans the best of me, but that was my best back then. There are still a lot more surprises in my bag of tricks and I feel I have gotten a lot better. Don’t blink or you are going to miss something amazing.

“It doesn’t matter where the fight goes. I feel that I am more skilled than he is. He is going to fail at a lot of his takedown attempts. I am a better stand up fighter than him and if it goes to the ground, I will prove that I am better at Jiu-Jitsu than him.

JAMES THOMPSON

“Brett Rogers is a big guy, a strong guy. He has quick hands, but I’m not sure if he has been challenged yet. He has only fought seven fights, and I am the biggest of his career.

“I have been training hard with Randy Couture. I am more than ready for Saturday night.

“I am more well-rounded than I have ever been. Being able to spar and train with people who are actually my weight class is a huge advantage.

“Rogers is dangerous, but he’s someone I should beat. I am looking forward to it. I’ve moved base, I’ve moved teams. I’ve accepted responsibility for my losses. Now I need to move forward.

“I am more refined as a fighter now, but I will still keep the basic instinct that I have in the cage. I am aggressive, that is just my nature.

“This is a new start, a new promotion and a new team. I am very excited about fighting on EliteXC. I will not disappoint.”

BRETT ROGERS

“I’ve seen tape on him. He doesn’t have a chance. He has the experience. He may have had a couple of bad nights, but I’m not thinking he’s a pushover.

“But at the same time, I know I have skills and I know I will win. Everybody wants to see the KOs, and I want to be the guy who can deliver them.

“This fight seems like a natural progression. This is my opportunity to put myself on the map.

“I am a pretty good shot blocker and I’ll dance in circles until he slows down. I will dictate the pace. If I fall on the ground I am going to be comfortable. I use the groundwork as a defense to get back to standing up.

KYLE NOKE

“There are no easy fights. This is a long way to come for a fight from Australia, so I want to be tested every time I come here. I think this is going to be a great test for me.

“My wrestling has improved since my last fight. My takedowns and takedown defense has improved so I am more well-rounded. I don’t expect to be taken to the ground in this fight though. I expect him to keep it standing up.

“It is going to be a good, hard fight. I’m just going to go in there and fight.

“I try and improve myself for each fight. I want to put in a good show for the crowd.

“I don’t know where I stand in the division in EliteXC. It is stacked all the way through. After this fight, it will be a good judge for me to see where I am in this division. If my training team tells me I’m ready for a fight, I’m ready for a fight. I’ll fight whoever they tell me to.”

SCOTT SMITH
“I’m very excited about the fight and want to thank everyone involved. I am looking forward to this opportunity. I’m facing a very tough opponent but I’m confident I can come out with a win.

“EliteXC is loaded in the middleweight division, and I am making my debut against one of their best. If I can get past Noke, I have a chance to compete with the best in the business.

“Training has been going great. I am prepared to fight in whatever way my opponent wants to go. My stand up skills are strong, but I am always prepared to take the fight to the ground.’’