<%=siteName%>

Mark Cuban and his quickly growing entity HDNet Fights has entered the Randy Couture legal battle with the UFC. On Wednesday, HDNet filed a suit vs Zuffa (Owners of the UFC) in a Dallas district court, seeking a ’deglatory judgment’ regarding Couture’s promotional contract with the UFC.

Cuban is looking to receive clarification on when the contract truely expires, as there are clauses within the contract which may allow the UFC to extend it if Couture does not honor the amount of fights within its term. Bottom line, Cuban has entered the Couture sweepstakes in hopes to be a part of the Coutures next bout, which Cuban hopes will be vs Fedor and promoted by HDNet.

Cro Cop Not Making Any Friends

With Mirko Cro Cop’s exodus from the UFC, there are many fighters speaking out on his departure. Some wish him will while others could care less. My favourite has to be Cro Cop’s last opponent, Cheick Kongo, who in no uncertain terms believes Cro Cop is returning back to fighting in Japan so he can take steroids, something he could not do while fighting in the UFC.

Cro Cop was not to impressed and stated Congo was lucky to have fought him ‘during the deepest crisis’ of his career and hopes that when he returns to the Octagon, Kongo will be his first opponent. In the meantime, Cro Cop is aiming for a rematch with Fedor, which he hopes will happen sometime in 2008.

EliteXC: Street Certified Tonight

I am very excited about this card, as it marks the evolution of street fighting legend Kimbo Slice. Kimbo will be taking on the original MMA streetfighter, Tank Abbott. Personally, I don’t think Tank stands much of a chance vs Kimbo, but it is MMA, and anything can happen.

There are some other quality fights on this card including Big Antonio Silva vs former UFC Heavyweight Champion Ricco Rodriquez, as well as familiar faces in former UFC veterans Yves Edwards, Scott Smith and former Pride veteran James Thompson.

George St.Pierre Visits The Fan 590

If you didn’t get a chance to tune in to last Thursday’s show, I was joined by TheMMADigest.com’s Jatiner Dhoot, who is currently promoting his new product,”The MMA Digest’s MMA Trivia Book‘.

The second segment featured UFC Interm Welterweight Champion Georges St.Pierre, who visited The Fan 590 as part of the UFC’s media tour in Toronto. GSP and I spoke about his last fight vs Matt Serra, his mental state going into the rematch, the importance of sports psychology, his coach Greg Jackson and his thoughts on the Habs and the Leafs.

To here the show, click here.

Ciao for now,

Showdown Joe

Breaking news from The Land of The Rising Sun sees a new promotion announced with a current UFC fighter jumping ship.

Today, K-1, one of Japan’s biggest professional kickboxing organizations announced their newest MMA venture ‘DREAMS’. This new organization replaces their existing ‘HEROES’ brand and is being run by the former ‘Pride’ group. Key to all of this is that Mirko Cro Cop Filipovic has joined ‘DREAMS’.

Cro Cop reportedly left the UFC on amicable terms and reports are suggesting that Dana White has given his blessing. I personally find this extremely difficult to believe as the UFC had big plans for Cro Cop when they signed him, and instead, they were rewarded with two terrible showings in the Octagon from the Croatian. To see him leave and go to their newest Japanese competition cannot make White happy.

Looks like DREAMS will now be the new ‘Pride’ and provide serious competition to the UFC, especially when it comes to talent and options. They will be holding a lightweight tournament with the who’s who of the division, many of which the UFC were unable to sign when they bought out Pride last year.

If the UFC thought ‘Dreams’ was a headache, another Japanese promotion, World Victory Road, also announced that consensus #1 lightweight Takanori Gomi not only signed with their organization but he will now be taking on former UFC lightweight, and world famous striker, Duane ‘Bang’ Ludwig.

There is much more to all of this breaking news and it does not bode well for the UFC. To read more, check out these links:

• New Japanese Organization From K-1 - Dream (To Include Cro Cop)
• More on Mirko’s Departure: Emelianenko vs. Cro Cop II Now Possible
• K-1 Dreams and Sengoku Press Conferences
• Japanese MMA Roundup: WVR, DREAMS, and CroCop
• Editorial: Japanese MMA Confusion Leads to Giggles
• MMA Business: New Players, Familiar Faces

Ultimate Fight Night Update

There has been a change to the bout between Stephen Bonnar vs Matt Hammil, as Bonnar has had to pull out due to a serious injury and will be replaced by Tim Boetsch, who is coming off a huge victory at UFC 81 vs Heath Herring.

Finalized UFC 82: Pride Of Champion Fight Card

ANDERSON SILVA VS DAN HENDERSON
CHEICK KONGO vs. HEATH HERRING
CHRIS LEBEN vs. ALESSIO SAKARA
EVAN TANNER vs. YUSHIN OKAMI
JON FITCH vs. CHRIS WILSON
ANDREI ARLOVSKI vs. JAKE O’BRIEN
LUKE CUMMO vs. LUIGI FIORAVANTI
JOSH KOSCHECK vs. DUSTIN HAZELETT
DIEGO SANCHEZ vs. DAVID BIELKHEDEN
JORGE GURGEL vs. JOHN HALVERSON

Diego Sanchez Wants GSP Sooner Than Later

UFC Welterweight Diego ‘The Nightmare’ Sanchez recently conducted an interview where he had some interesting comments about Canadian Georges St.Pierre. The majority of the comments surrounded Sanchez’s decision to leave ‘Team Greg Jackson’ the moment GSP joined. He stated he wasn’t  going to bow down to GSP’, nor would he ‘ride his coat tails’. Sanchez said alot more but here’s hoping that these two meet in the Octagon one day, where George can teach Diego a lesson in humility.

Is Tim Sylvia Back Peddling?

I’m not sure if Tim Sylvia is backtracking on his original statements, but he is now stating he was misquoted by many MMA reporters. Sylvia posted on his personal blog that ‘I have one fight left on my contract i want to stay with the ufc but i am going to go were the money is’ and hinted at potentially signing with M-1. As a rebuttal to the news spreading like a forest fire on the internet, Sylvia posted on his blog that he was misquoted and that ’some of u people are going to get me in trouble with the ufc.’ Ironically enough, all of the aforementioned posts have now been removed from his blog.

Is Brock Lesnar vs Kurt Angle Next? 

Not that Brock Lesnar needs any more hype surrounding anything he does, but it appears there could be a little feeder bait being thrown in the water by Kurt Angle’s wife. While Lesnar made it clear to me that he and Angle are good friends, Angle’s wife Karen recently stated that if the two were to ever compete in an MMA bout, her husband ‘would absolutely kick his ass.” All of this stems from a supposed bout that Angle and Lesnar had in their WWE days where Angle was toying with Brock, tossing him around while wearing flip flops.

Misc MMA News

Growing Discontent: Ortiz and Sylvia Talk About Possible Exits from UFC

Phil Baroni signs with EliteXC; will fight Kala Kolohe Hose on March 15th

Frank Shamrock Expects To Smash Cung Le

Is M-1 For Real?

“EliteXC: Street Certified” Full Card Announced

Robbie Lawler Stripped Of ICON Sport Title

K-1 MMA Event Shaping Up

Iroquois MMA Championship II: Severn and Lamarche Victorious

Canadian UFC fans set a new UFC record this past week, by selling out UFC 83 at the Bell Centre in record time. It took a mere 30 seconds to sell out the remaining tickets that were left for the public sale yesterday afternoon. If you were unable to get tickets, there is good news and…well, sort of good news.

There will be a variety of companies that will be offering packages from various cities across Canada. Starting on Monday, I would recommend doing a few searches for these packages, which will include travel, accomodations, a ticket to the event, with higher end packages most likely including event after-party tickets and UFC Memorabilia.

The other ’sort of good news’ I was speaking about was that you can still get tickets online on Ebay; but the prices are inflated to say the least. This is the unfortunate reality of supply and demand. If you play your cards right, bid at the right time, you may be able to get a very good deal. Above all, this will only be one of many Canadian dates the UFC will add to its event calendar.

MMA News

UFC President Dana White has stated the UFC will most likely have an event in Boston or New York in 2008. Marc Ratner, UFC’s VP of Government and Regulatory Affairs also stated the UFC is looking at having events in Chicago, Vancouver and Ontario.

In 2008, the UFC will be spending a fair amount of time and money in a variety of courtrooms. At the moment, current owners, the Fertitta brothers are suing former Pride Executives in a Multi-Million Dollar Lawsuit. We all know the UFC has also filed suit against current heavyweight champion Randy Couture, and the former champion recently spoke out about the situation, leaving everyone wondering ‘who is right or wrong’.

Dana White continues to make disparraging remarks about Fedor Emelianenko and it appears the Russian has had enough. Fedor is stating he is not impressed with White’s lack of professionalism and has basically challenged the UFC President to stop talking and start putting on some real fights between UFC Champions and himself. 

Tim Sylvia is in the news and doesn’t appear to be a happy camper. Sylvia has one fight left on his existing UFC contract and has already hinted he may leave the organization once its all said and done. Sylvia is not happy with the fact that Brock Lesnar gets paid more than him and expects the UFC to change this. Sylvia also made news a few days ago as the trainers for his most recent opponent Antonio Rodrigo Noguiera, are claiming Sylvia cheated, by greasing himself up before their championship bout.

Tonight, there will be an actual MMA event in Ontario. The Iroquois MMA event goes down just outside of Hagersville, Ontario, on The Six Nations Reserve. UFC Pioneer and Legend Dan ‘The Beast’ Severn will be headling this controversial card. I had the pleasure of having Severn in studio this past Thursday, as well as Hamilton’s UFC welterweight Jeff Joslin, Event Promoter James Procyk and Grand River Athletics Corp Commissioner Jason King. Click here to hear the show.

Ciao for now,

Showdown Joe
joe@showdown.ca

While I believe it was expected that the demand for tickets to UFC 83 in Montreal would be huge, it is safe to say that I am pleasantly surprised by the incredible hype surrounding it.

Tickets sales have far surpassed what the UFC was expecting from Canadian MMA fans (over 15,000 in 24 hrs). I asked Dana White last Thursday during one of my recording sessions with him if he was sincerely ready for what the UFC is going to experience once these tickets are made available and when the event actually happens.

He said he was ready and to basically bring it on. Three days later, his eyebrows were raised and when I spoke to his assistant, even she was blown away by how many ticket requests she has received. Whether it was for blocks of 10, 50 and even 300 tickets, she stated she had never seen such an insane demand for a UFC event.

I have been promoting MMA for 10 years now, often assisting in putting on events with various promoters. I have worked for over five different events and I have never been hounded for tickets as I have for this upcoming UFC show. Dozens of emails, phone calls, Facebook and text messages…it has been non-stop for over a month now. This phenomena known as UFC 83 has been a reality check for me, not because of what it is and what it will be, but for what it represents.

The UFC is looking at this scenario closely. They realize that with this inagural event in Montreal, they are going to break not only attendance and live gate records, but there is a very good chance that the UFC 83 pay per view buy rates could be a potential threat to the existing UFC ppv buy record (775,000 held by UFC 61 - Ortiz vs Shamrock II).

What does all of this mean for the UFC? Money and Growth.

The UFC will experience a pleasant boom to their bottom line while successfully expanding their live event product into a new market. It also means that they will be back again…and again and again. It bodes well for cities like Edmonton, which is another Canadian MMA hot bed, with representatives who have been working with the UFC to bring a show to their city for over a year. I will not be surprised and sincerely hope Edmonton will be added to the UFC’s list of live event cities.

And if I may, and I will, please allow me to sound like a broken record again: just imagine if MMA was legal, sanctioned and regulated in Ontario, specifically in Toronto. This is no disrespect to any other city in our great country, but the reality is this: Toronto is the largest city in the country with the largest population, is the corporate capital of the Great White North and its local fighters and fans have been hungering for MMA longer than anyone else.

I can only imagine a UFC in Toronto…hopefully Ontario’s Athletic Commissioner, Ken Hayashi can be swayed by the event in Montreal. Hayashi has been invited (and supposedly accepted the invitation) by the UFC’s Marc Ratner  to attend UFC 83 in Montreal. I hope Hayashi will get a true taste of WHAT CAN BE, SHOULD BE and hopefully WILL BE in Ontario.

If Hayashi plays his cards right, just one UFC event in Toronto can pay his annual salary, the salary of his staff, and keep the OAC afloat for years to come. Mr. Hayashi, if you are reading this, just ask the athletic commission in Columbus, Ohio to expand on what I’m talking about. They can explain it better than I can.

Well, UFC 81 has come and gone and just when you think everything has been answered, more questions arise from the results. There was an abundance of celebrity firepower in attedance as Barry Bonds, Charles Barkely, Greg Maddux, Jay-Z and Chris Angel sat alongside former and current WWE stars Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Undertaker, Kurt Angle and Lesnar’s girlfriend, Sable.

If you missed the show, here are the results:

While Brock Lesnar lasted a ‘Mir’ 90 seconds in his UFC debut, he showcased some serious takedown and ground and pound skills. I see some true potential in Lesnar, and if built correctly (over the next year or so), he can become a serious force in the heavyweight division. If you don’t take my word for it, then take the words of UFC light heavyweight champion Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson, former champ Chuck Liddell, contender Keith Jardine and the dozens of other UFC stars who echoed the same sentiments to UFC President Dana White.

With Mir winning and Sylvia losing, my hope is that the UFC will grant Syvlia his request in rematching Mir, who broke Sylvia’s forearm in their first fight. At Thursdays press conference, Dana White said if Mir was able to defeat Lesnar, he would be one fight away from a title shot. Why not put him against the guy (Tim Sylvia) who just lost the title fight vs Antonio Noqueira?

Speaking of Nogueira…his performance on Saturday night proved why he continues to be one of my favourite fighters of all time. Fight after fight, he starts off slow and takes round after round of beatings. He patiently waits to take the fight to the ground, so he can get his top game going. During the fight, I told Sportsnet Producer Bob T, that if he can just sweep Sylvia over, start the stopwatch and count back from 30, cause that’s all the time Noguiera needs to slap on a submission. In round three, Nogueira proved my theory right.

So now the real question for Noquiera is whether or not Randy Couture will come back to the UFC and offer him a unification bout. Dana White called out ‘Captain America’ and said he expects Couture to honour his contract and his obligation to the organization, the fans and now, to Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. We still do not know who is right or wrong in the situation between Randy Couture and the UFC, but one thing is for certain: if it can get rectified soon and we are able to see the Couture/Nogueira unification bout, it would truely be one for the ages.

It has been an incredible spree of Mixed Martial Arts mayhem over the past week or so, and it does not appear to be slowing down. While I am preparing to head down to Las Vegas to cover UFC 81, so much has happened in MMA over the past week, that I would be remis if I did not share that info with you.

UFC Fight Night

 On Wednesday, UFC Fight Night went down with some interesting results:

Main Card

Mike Swick vs. Josh Burkman - Unanimous Decision
Patrick Cote def. Drew McFedries - TKO (Strikes) @ 1:44 of Rd. 1
Thiago Tavares def. Michihiro Omigawa - Unanimous Decision
Nate Diaz def. Alvin Robinson - Submission (Triangle Choke) @ 3:39 of Rd. 1

Preliminary Card

Kurt Pellegrino def. Alberto Crane - TKO (Strikes) @ 1:55 of Rd. 2
Gray Maynard def. Dennis Siver - Unanimous Decision
Jeremy Stephens def. Cole Miller - TKO (Strikes) @ 4:44 of Rd. 2
Corey Hill def. Joe Veres - TKO (Strikes) @ 0:37 of Rd. 2
Matt Wiman def. Justin Buchholz - Submission (Rear-Naked Choke) @ 2:56 of Rd. 1

There were some interesting paydays for some, not so interesting for others. Click here to see what I mean.

I was paying close attention to see what medical suspensions would be dished out after the event, especially in regards to Canadian Patrick Cote. I was hoping he would not end up getting a medical suspension so he would be ready, willing and able to fight for the UFC when they come to Montreal on April 19th.

Most of my concerns were met with a sense of releif until it was announced the Cote will not be fighting on the card. Instead, he will be a part of the french language broadcast team for the show.

UFC 81 Goes Down This Saturday Night

Later on this week, I’ll be heading to Las Vegas to cover UFC 81 for Sportsnet and The Fan 590. 

Look for daily reports, starting on Wednesday, which will include footage from the public workouts, the pre-fight press conference, one on one interviews with all the main event fighters, my predictions and much, much more.

UFC 81 Fight Card

MAIN CARD (TELEVISED)

• Brock Lesnar vs. Frank Mir
• Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Tim Sylvia (for interim heavyweight title)
• Ricardo Almeida vs. Alan Belcher
• Jeremy Horn vs. Nate Marquardt

PRELIMINARY CARD (NOT TELEVISED)

• Tyson Griffin vs. Gleison Tibau
• Kyle Bradley vs. Chris Lytle
• Marvin Eastman vs. Terry Martin
• Tim Boetsch VS. David Heath
• Rob Emerson vs. Keita Nakamura

This week on ‘The Showdown’

 Make you sure you tune in to the Fan 590 for ‘The Showdown’, this Thurday night at 10pm. Guests will include Brock Lesnar, his opponent Frank Mir and former UFC Heavyweight Champion, Tim Sylvia, who is one half of the main event competiting for the interm heavyweight title vs Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.

Also joining me on Thursday night will be the very well respected Sam Caplan, from Pro Elite, EliteXC and CBS Sports. Caplan is one of the best in the business whose insight in the sport of MMA is golden in my books.

Ciao for now,

 Showdown Joe

UFC Fight Night 12 goes down tonight, 9pm, live from The Pearl in Las Vegas.

Here are my quick picks for the event. 

MAIN CARD
Mike Swick (170) vs. Josh Burkman (170)
This will mark Mike Swick’s debut in the welterweight division and he will not have an easy test going up against Josh Burkman. As a matter of fact, I’m going with Burkman by submission in round three.

Drew McFederies (185.5) vs. Patrick Cote (184)
History teaches us that the only way to defeat Patrick Cote is by submitting him or out pointing him on the judges score card. McFrederies will not be able to do either, so I see Cote by KO in round 3.

Michihiro Omigawa (154) vs. Thiago Tavares (155)
Omigawa is as tough as they come but Tavares is that much better. I see Tavares being a top five fighter by the end of 2008 and he will start by submitting Omigawa in this fight, late in round 2.

Alvin Robinson (155) vs. Nate Diaz (155)
This is a very evenly matched bout. Both guys have great ground skills but the stand up edge goes to Robinson. I see him KO’ing Diaz in round 3.

PRELIMINARY CARD
Alberto Crane (155) vs. Kurt Pellegrino (155)
This will be a submissionfest as both guys have incredible ground games. Provided his ego and zest to submit Crane does not get in the way of his gameplan, I look for the bigger, stronger and better stiking Pellegrino to put a pounding on Crane enroute to earning a unanimous judges decision.

Dennis Siver (154) vs. Gray Maynard (155)
Maynard continues to impress, slowly but surely and will win this bout via TKO in Round 2.

Jeremy Stephens (155) vs. Cole Miller (155)
Another even match up, but I believe the difference here is Miller’s reach. He will frustrate Stephens and will eventually submit him in round 3.

Joe Veres (155) vs. Corey Hill (154)
Hill’s opponent is not just Veres, but his own mind as well. There is alot of pressure on Hill to win this bout, so if he stays focused, calm and sticks to the gameplan, he will knockout Veres in round 1.

Justin Buchholz (155) vs. Matt Wiman (155)
Buchholz is a very explosive fighter but Wiman will slow him down. He will set the pace and win a unanimous judges decision.

Another UFC event has come and gone and as is typical with every post-event pay per view, rumours run rampant about potential matchups and breaking news. UFC President Dana White quickly put an end to speculation when he confirmed that BJ Penn’s first lightweight title defence will be against the man he recently stripped the title from, Sean Sherk.

While most analysts already knew the Penn/Sherk bout was going to happen, many of us were hoping to confirm whether or not the winner of the Fabricio Werdum / Gabriel Gonzaga fight would get a title shot vs the winner of the upcoming interm heavyweight championship bout between Antonio Rodrigo Noguiera and Tim Sylvia.

Well, it didn’t take long for Dana White to make a decision. At the UFC 80 post-fight press conference, White announced that Werdum will in fact get that title shot. It’s an interesting state of affairs for the heavyweight division, one I believe the UFC did not envision. Let’s be honest for a second. Neither one of these three fighters are the posterchild that the UFC wants in their ‘big’ division. 

When it’s all said and done, I’ll be rooting for Noquiera, only because I’ve been a fan of his since I first saw him fight in July of 2001. That’s when he defeated Gary ‘Big Daddy’ Goodridge by submission. I was in awe and immedietely searched for any and all of his fights that led up to this spectacular victory over Goodridge. What I saw was astounding. Here was this big beast of a Brazilian that was fearless and was bringing my beloved submission game back to Mixed Martial Arts. Everytime he fights, I wonder if he can pull of another magical armbar, rear naked or triangle choke just to prove that knockouts are not the only exciting finishes in the sport.

As for the other fighters at UFC 80, I was blown away by Paul Kelly and Paul Taylor. These guys banged away in the first minute like their lives were at steak. Rewatching it, I cannot believe the speed of their initial exchange and that it was in real time; not sped up. These two guys were on fire and I have to tell you I was super impressed by how they continued to keep the pace up throughout the rest of the bout.

Looks like a new star was born in Paul Kelly, as this victory will surely increase the value of his stock in the eyes of not only the UFC’s matchmaking equations, but also in the eyes of the UK faithful who may have just found their next Michael Bisping. As for Paul Taylor, I feel sorry for his next opponent. Whoever it may be, they will surely be in for a long night. Taylor will be looking to prove that he still belongs in the UFC and whoever stands across from him on that night, I believe he will be the poor soul that Taylor will maul and make an example of.

Other fighters and who they may be matched up against:

Sam Stout - looks to have inked his next bout vs Rich Clementi at UFC 84 in Montreal.

Alessio Sakara - stated he wants to move down to middleweight which opens a variety of matchups. I’d like to see him take on Chris Leben.

Marcus Davis - while he continues to state he wants a bout with Takanori Gomi, I doubt it will happen. I’d like to see him take on Chris Lytle or Ryo Chonan. Even though the aforementioned fighters are coming off losses, they do represent a step up in competition for Davis.

Wilson Gouivea - I’d like to see him take on Kazuhiro Nakamura (if the UFC let him back in to the Octagon) or Houston Alexander.

 Jorge Rivera -  tough to say, but maybe a matchup vs Dean Lister. It can really solidfy which one of these two fighters belongs in the UFC and which one should pack their bags and reconsider.

Antoni Hardonk -  tough call, but perhaps Gonzaga would be a good fit, if not perhaps Brock Lesnar (whether Lesnar wins or loses against Frank Mir at UFC 81).

I’d like to see some of your thoughts?

Regards,

Showdown Joe

Newcastle MMA fans were treated to a stellar night of fights, as UFC 80 was chalk full of knockouts, submissions and a variety of upsets that left yours truly with his eyes wide open.

MAIN CARD

BJ Penn def. Joe Stevenson - Submission (Rear Naked Choke) @ 4:02 of Rd. 2
BJ was extremely focused and from the onset, landing an uppercut that dropped Stevenson to the mat. From there, he worked his ground and pound until he cut Stevenson with a perfectly placed elbow from within his guard. Stevenson survived round 1, but in the second round, he was unable to stop the continued onslaught as Penn was able to get his back, sink in the rear naked choke and become the new lightweight champ. Penn called out Sean Sherk, the former champ, and immediately the drama began with the hype to their next fight starting instantaneously.

Fabricio Werdum def. Gabriel Gonzaga - TKO (Strikes) @ 4:34 of Rd. 2 
For everyone that had the slight inclination that Werdum was going to pull out the victory over the favoured Gonzaga, it happened late in the second round. Gonzaga appeared to be in control but refused to work Werdum’s legs. After consecutively landing thunderous leg kicks and dropping Werdum to the mat, Gonzaga, strangely enough refused to work any sort of ground and pound, or at least, chop away at Werdum’s legs from

Marcus Davis def. Jess Liaudin - KO (Punch) @ 1:04 of Rd. 1
I can ramble on about how incredible Marcus Davis is, but you’ve heard and read me do it on multiple occasions. This bout with Liaudin proved once again that Davis is in dire need of elite competition and should fight opponents of higher calibre. He continues to call out World #1 Takanori Gomi, but we will have to wait and see who the UFC puts him against. His devastating KO of Jess Liaudin has all welterweights paying close attention to this young phenom.

Wilson Gouveia def. Jason Lambert - KO (Punch) @ 0:37 of Rd. 2
Lambert was dominating this fight until a very long, very wide, very extended left hook from Gouveia turned the lights out for the up and coming light heavyweight. Gouveia looked great, poised and very calm under pressure and his precise punch was akin to some old school knockouts by Chuck Liddell.

Jorge Rivera def. Kendall Grove - TKO (Strikes) @ 1:20 of Rd. 1
Rivera must have secretly found the fountain of youth as his performance last night was better than any that anything I have seen from him over the past five years. He took Grove by complete surprise and overwhelmed the young Hawaiian, knocking him out quickly, in the first round.

PRELIMINARY CARD

Sam Stout def. Per Eklund - Unanimous Decision
Alessio Sakara def. James Lee - TKO (Strikes) @ 1:30 of Rd. 1
Paul Kelly def. Paul Taylor - Unanimous Decision
Antoni Hardonk def. Colin Robinson - TKO (Strikes (JAB)) @ 0:17 of Rd. 1