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Live from Omaha Nebraska, and FREE on SpikeTV UFN 15 Diaz VS Neer!

Winner of the Ultimate Fighter 5 Nate Diaz will look to remain undfeated within the lightweight division as he squares off with Josh "The Dentist" Neer.

Diaz is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Brown Belt under Cesar Gracie and has outstanding submission skills.  He loves to fight and brings that mentality to each of his fights.  He will have a tough test tonight in the form of Josh Neer.

Neer is a team Miletich fighter out of Iowa, he’s trained with Matt Hughes, Tim Sylvia and Jens Pulver, so we know he has some skills.  At only 25 years old he has over 30 fights under his belt.  This will be his second fight within the lightweight division.

Should be a great night of fights!  Check out my preview!

I’m at Mick Doyle’s gym in Omaha, Nebraska. This is where Houston Alexander trains. He’s been busy doing interviews all day. Tonight I’m here photographing/filming him train one last time before his fight on Wednesday.

I just learned he will be the first fight on the brodcast. Those fights start at 7pm. Check back for more info and stay tuned this week for my video from Mick Doyle’s gym.

MMAweekly.com has the full story about the former UFC champ, Evan Tanner’s death. I had the chance to meet Evan at UFC ILL-WILL earlier this year. Seemed like a nice guy who took time to pose with all the fans at the weigh-ins. Here’s a shot from that event. Sad story and my thoughts go out to his family and friends.

Evan Tanner posing with fans at a recent UFC event.

Rashad comes out to the sounds of Nas with Keith Jardine in his corner, Jardine was the last man to defeat Chuck Liddell.  Rashad is going to have a tough time with the reach advantage of Liddell.  The arena is deafening, the sounds of DMX run rampant through the arena and here comes the Iceman!

Everyone is on their feet for this one.  Rashad looks nervous, but here we go.
Round 1
a 1 2 combo stuns Evans.  No action, the crowd boos.  Big right hand from Evans, big right from Chuck, Evans dances it off.  Leg kick lands to the thigh of Liddell.  Chuck is looking for that one right hand that will knock out Evans.  Chants of Chuck fill the arena, then followed up with some boos.  Chuck checks a big right leg kick from Evans.  Evans is having a hard time getting inside of Chuck’s reach.  A left hook from Evans opens up a cut under the right eye of Liddell.  Chuck misses with a right head kick as time expires.  Tough call 10-9 Chuck for him pushing the pace.

Round 2
Both fighters exchange punches with some power and Liddell is knocked unconcious with a huge right hook.  Rashad faked with a left and knocked him out with a right.  It doesn’t look good for Liddell, he’s shaking in the ring and is finally helped up by the paramedics and is getting oxygen from them.  Bad news for Liddell.  Winner by KO 1:51 in the second round "Sugar" Rashad Evans!
The win sure makes a mess of the title picture, but I hope they give a rematch to Rampage!  

Liddell is able to walk off under his own power.  Great night of fights!  Stay tuned for my UFC 88 Review!

Rich Franklin makes his way back to the lightheavy weight division against Matt Hamill one of his old training partners.

Round 1
Huge ovation for Matt Hamill.  He’s also sporting our BodyBuilding.com logo on the back of his shorts!  Deafening ovation for the former middleweight champ Rich Frankin.  This is the Co-Main Event of the evening.  
Here we go, both have fighters have a lot of respect for each other as they touch gloves.  They exchange some punches and leg kicks.  A missed super man punch from Hamill.  Slow action, both fighters exchange but nothing to effective.  Franklin lands a kick to Hamill’s leg.  Hamill opened Franklin up with a left hook right under his right eye.  Hamill takes Franklin down and lands a few punches and Franklin nearly caught him in an armbar.  Both fighters are cut somewhere near the right eye, as the round ends they touch gloves.  10-9 Franklin he is killing him with his relentless kicks.

Round 2
Franklin is badly cut over the upper right part of his eye.  They give each other a thumbs up as the second round begins.  Franklin attemps a leg kick and Hamill attempts to grab it and take him down.  Hamill is nearly rocked with a head kick from from Franklin.  The ref halts the fight to have the doctor check the eye of Franklin.  Hamill goes for a single leg takedown but is stuffed.  He eats a few punches as he gets to his feet.  Big head kick from Franklin.  Ref halts the fight again due to an inadvertant low blow to Hamill.  Franklin apologizes as they continue the fight.  Big left hooks from Hamill but Franklin counters with some rights of his own.  Hamill contiues to look for the takedown with no success.  Hamill looks tired he continues to drop his hands.  Nice 1 2 combo from Franklin and lands a good kick to the stomach of Hamill.  Another solid head kick lands on Hamill.  A missed flying knee ends the round for Franklin.  10-9 for Franklin, continues to push the pace with solid body shots and head kicks.

Round 3
Franklin gets the crowd going, more of the same, leg kick after leg kick fro Franklin.  A kick to the mid section by Franklin ends the fight.  
Winner by TKO in 39 seconds in the third round.  Great effort by both fighters and adding Rich Franklin to the 205 mix is a great thing.

This will be no cake walk  for Henderson he needs a victory here tonight in a bad way.  Big ovation for Hendo!

Round 1
Both fighters are sizing each other up.  Hendo rocks him with a big overhand right and Palhares falls but almost locks in a leg lock.  Hendo escapes and stuffs two takedown attempts from Palhares.  Nice action!  Big leg kick to the body of Henderson’s,  Palhares misses a round house kick that got the crowd going.  Both fighters attempt big hay makers and miss.  Palhares continues to look for the head kick.  Big right hands from Hendo but Palhares survives yet again.  Hendo tells him to "come on" and Palhares lands some big leg kicks to the body that rocked Hendo.  A single leg takedown from Palhares, Hendo nearly gets him with a leg scissors but Palhares escapes and gains control from the top.  Great action as the first round ends! Close call 10-9 Palhares
Round 2
Touch of the gloves, fighters set a rapid pace in the first lets see if they can continue.  Big right hand from Hendo a head kick counter from Palhares.  Huge thundering slam from Palhares that sends a boom throughout the arena.  Palhares has Hendo’s ankle, wow Hendo nearly taps but somehow escapes, the crowd is going wild.  Palhares is clearly looking for the takedowns to apply submissions.  Big uppercut from Hendo, Palhares’ has a iron chin.  I don’t think he can take too much more of those punches.  Henderson is in Palhares’ guard and covers his mouth to interupt the breathing of Palhares.  No action so Herb Dean stands them up.  Both fighters look fatigued.  Hendo continues with his over hand rights.  another close round Ill go 10-9 Palhares but it could go either way.

Round 3
Palhares jabs and attempts a takedown, he eats a knee for doing so.  Hendo needs to push to pace if he wants to win.  Palhares misses another roundhouse kick.  Boos fro the crowd, nice combo from Hendo.  Left hook from Palhares has Hendo squinting.  More boos, Hendo’s gonna lose this one if he doesn’t do something in the next 2 minutes.  More stalling brings more boos.  Hendo jabs and brings some hooks that nearly miss.  Hendo stuffs another double leg takedown from Palhares.  Less than a minute to go.  Palhares attempts a heal hook and Hendo escapes.  Hendo rocks Palhares with another overhand right, great fight, too close to call.  Ill give that last round to Hendo 10-9.  I gotta give it to Palhares though!  Let’s see what the judges say.  

Wow Dan Henderson won by Unanimous decision, but that was a close fight.  I thought Palhares won due to his submission attempts that nearly won him the fight.  Hendo was able to land the more powerful punches that scored him the most points.

Big fight in the middle weight division, this could be a potential number 1 contender fight for Anderson Silva.  Randy Couture comes out with Kampmann.

Round 1
Body punch from Nate starts the fight off.  Kampmann stuns him with a right of his own, and then rocked by a right head kick by Nate who follows it up with a flurry of punches, hooks, uppercuts nasty stuff.  Kampmann is rocked and trying to block the punches, he falls to his butt and the ref stops the fight.

Winner by TKO Nate Marquardt.

After the great UFC montage with the music from "The Who" We start off the show with a Welterweight bout.  The Phillips arena is nearly sold out.  The crowd is electric and we wait in anticipation for the first bout.  As I reported yesterday the bout between Karo Parisyan and Yoshida has been cancelled due to a back injury to Parisyan so that is a bummer.  But here we goooo.

Matt Brown comes out to a great ovation from the crowd, some weird county music too.  He looks pumped and excited for his first pay per view bout.  Kim from South Korea comes out to some old school rock.  He’s a Judo black belt so there should be some entertaining throws.

Round 1
Mario Yamasaki is the ref, here we go.  Touch of the gloves, Brow comes out swinging but misses.  Kim gets him in his clinch lands a big knee.  Kim gets him down and gets control of his back.  Rear naked choked but, Brown escapes.  Kim continues to control Brown’s back as he hangs onto the choke.  Brown reverses and gains top control.  They both stand up, Brown is landing some nice leg kicks, one grazes the face of Kim.  Kim lands a nice overhand right that finds its mark.  Big knee from Brown that hits Kim’s face.  They lock up against the cage.  An attempted Judo hip throw from Kim is reversed by Brown and he uses it to sink in a choke.  Kim gets out and gains control of Brown’s back and attempts an armbar as the round ends.  Close round but 10-9 Brown.

Round 2
Brown comes out with some stinging kicks to the leg.  Flying knee from Kim, he loses his balance and falls to the mat.  Brown lets him up and gets him in the clinch where he lands some vicious knees to the dome.  Kim survives and throws some haymakers in the process.  Brown gets him against the cage where he continues to land some stiff hooks.  Kim goes to the ground and pulls guard.  Kim attempts a triangle choke but Brown escapes with ease.  Kim lands a big up kick that finds its mark.  Brown lets him up and Kim ties Brown up against the cage.  Knees to the body of Kim, big missed punch from Kim and he eats a big combo from Brown.  Brown takes him down again and looks to mount with 20 seconds left.  Brown lands some elbows to the body as the round ends.  10-9 Brown

Round 3
Brown is pumping up the crowd and they touch gloves.  Brown asks for a timeout due to him losing his mouth piece.  Missed punches by both fighters, Brown continues to utilize his leg kicks.  Kim is able to takedown Brown and gains side control.  Brown escapes to his feet and lands a knee to the body.  Nice front leg kick from Brown.  Kim is able to take Brown down, Brown pulls guard.  Little action from Kim as he has top control.  30 seconds left in the fight,  Kim lands a sharp elbow that opens Brown up pretty bad.  Too little too late for Kim as the fight ends.  10-9 Kim and most likely your winner.

Somehow Kim gets the split decision win.   The crowd is littering the arena with boos and rightfully so.  Brown won that fight.  

3 rounds in the lightweight division.

Pellegrino comes out with Kenny Florian in his corner.  I was eating at a local diner when he came in to eat and a few minutes later Martin Kampmann came in aswell to eat so that was cool.
Tavares comes out and he looks like a mini Vitor Belfort.  Im going with Tavares.

Round 1
They touch gloves,  feeling out process, Right hand rocks Tavares to the ground, he somehow survives a flurry of punches and gets to his feet as Pellegrino rocks him again and pounces on him and lands some big elbows and punches.  Ref steps in but doesnt stop the fight and Tavares survives yet again!!  Pellegrino mounts but Tavares pulls guard, Tavares is bloody on both eyes.  Pellegrino’s hair is remeniscent of Ric Flairs its bleach blonde and red due to the blood from Tavares.  Pellegrino continues to put pressure as Tavares somehow stands back up.  Pellegrino takes him down and Tavares pulls guard.  Tavares is a bloody mess.  Crazy first round probably could have been stopped twice, but Tavares showed some real heart by surviving.  The blonde hair of Pellegrino is red and Tavares’ right eye is closed shut. 10-8 Pellegrino maybe 10-9 due to Tavares coming back.

Round 2
Missed high leg kick by Tavares, Pellegrino gets poked in the eye and asks for a timeout, the ref hears it from the crowd as they boo heavily.  They come back out and Tavares lands a nice 1 2 combo and a leg kick to the body.  Pellegrino is bobbing and weaving and lands a stiff jab, Tavares counters with a leg kick to the body again.  They lock up and Tavares takes Pellegrino down.  Tavares lands some nice hammer fists and shots to the body from top position.   An attempted arm bar from Pellegrino, but Tavares escapes.  Tavares attempts to mount, but to no avail.  Tavares lands some jabs on the downed Pellegrino with less than a minute left.  He continues to land hammer fists as Pellegrino tries to escape.  Round 2 is over 10-9 Tavares, nice comeback!  Pellegrino looks gassed after that crazy first round!

Round 3
Replay showed that Tavares tapped once during the arm bar in the second round that got the crowd going.  Fighters come out and Pellegrino is able to take Tavares down.  Tavares gets back up but eats a punch doing so.  Big knee to the head of Pellegrino but he shrugs it off.  Fighters lock up against the cage with 2 minutes to go.  It’s anybodies fight.  Judo throw from Tavares and both fighters hit the floor and Pellegrino gets his back for a second.  Both are locked up against the cage with a minute left.  The ref stands them up, both fighters look gassed.  Pellegrino stuffs an attempted takedown from Tavares and gains top position.  Pellegrino is attempting an mount as the fight ends.  Could be fight of the night!  10-9 Pellegrino Should be enough for the win.  
Lets see how the judges score the bout.  Tavares’ face looks pretty messed up.  A controversial fight if Pellegrino loses due to what looked to be a tapout in the second round!
29-27 29-7 29-28 unanimous decision for Kurt "Batman" Pellegrino!  Great fight!

Pellegrino didn’t know that Tavares tapped and didn’t let go due to that, Tavares was able to escape.

3 Rounds in the Light Heavy Weight division.  Should be a slobber knocker!

Round 1
Touch of the gloves, Leg kick by Patt countered by a big right from Tim.  Both land a flurry of big punches.  Tim is landing some stiff jabs.  This is going to be a stand up war!  Patt is looking for the legs kicks but Boetsch lands a stiff right that floors Pat and Boetsch is able to follow it up with a flurry of punches and the ref has no other choice to stop the fight in the very first round at 2:03.
Winner by TKO Tim "The Barbarian" Boetsch.  This dude is someone to be reckoned with in the 205 division!

Middleweight fight for 3 rounds
Lambert used to fight in the light heavy weight, but since he was small for that division he moved down and looks fairly skinny.  If he wins tonight he could be a threat for Anderson Silva.

Round 1
Macdonald throws some nice combos and takes Lambert down.  Lambert pulls guard and attempts a guillotine, Macdonald slips out and is still on top landing some elbows and punches, but not too damaging.  Macdonald has Lambert pinned against the cage and lands more elbows.  Round ends with another attempted guillotine choke from Lambert that had Macdonald in trouble, but Macdonald was able to hold on for the last 10 seconds.  Would have been 10-8 Macdonald till that guillotine from Lambert. 10-9 Macdonald.

Round 2 big haymakers from both fighters, each land huge uppercuts but Macdonald takes Lambert down again and slips into a full mount.  Macdonald takes his back with a body triangle and rear naked choke.  Lambert taps 3:40 of round 2 via rear naked choke.

Winner Jason Macdonald

Live from the Phillips Arena, the arena is almost full which is a surprise.
First Round:
3 round fight within the welter weight division.  Chonan comes out with some leg kicks.  Takes Roan down and Roan pulls guard.  Triangle attempt with a kimura attempt by Roan, gets the crowd going, Roan fights out of the ATL.  Ryo slips out of the submission attempt.  Roan takes top position, half guard, trying to get full mount.  Elbows to Ryo’s face which cuts him open.  Both fighters are on their feet and Ryo stuffs a takedown attempt from Roan.  Missed haymakers by both fighters as the 1st round ends.  Close round 10-9 Carneiro

Round 2
Ryo opens up with a leg kick, and reverses an attempted takedown from Roan.  Ryo gains top postion and lands some stiff elbows and punches.  More of the same from Ryo, Roan attempts some up-kicks that do little damage.  Ryo gains side control and does a little ground and pound but Roan isn’t in trouble.  Crowd begins to boo but Herb Dean doesn’t stand them up. 10-9 Chonan maybe 10-8

Round 3
Fight could be won this round.  Roan takes Ryo down right out of the gate.  Little action from the gound and both fighters stand up.  Ryo gets a nice body shot with a leg kick but is quickly taken down.  Roan is attempting to mount and gains side control and is landing a few punches in the process, but none are damaging.  Roan continues to stay on top with a minute left, as the crowd boos, Ryo is able to get to his feet.  Stiff left from Ryo and he reverses a Roan takedown and is on top.  Ryo is eating some elbows to the head as the  round ends.  Close fight but I think Ryo might have a split decision victory due to him dominating the second round.

Result:   I was right Ryo Chonan by split decision.  It was the second round that did it for him!

Ryo Chonan (170) versus Roan Carneiro (170)
Jason MacDonald (185) versus Jason Lambert (185)
Matt Brown (170) versus Dong Hyun Kim (170) First pay per view fight
Mike Patt (205.25) versus Tim Boetsch (205)
Kurt Pellegrino (156) versus Thiago Tavares (155)
Nate Marquardt (185) versus Martin Kampmann (184.5)
Rousimar Palhares (184.5) versus Dan Henderson (185)
Matt Hamill (205) versus Rich Franklin (204.5)
*Main Event*
Rashad Evans (205) versus Chuck Liddell (204)
Chuck looks better than ever no belly!  Mean staredown!
Should be a great fight.
Karo Parisyan hurt his back so he will not be fighting.  No replacement fight was made.  That sucks!
Check back for photos

UFC fight club with Athens Georgia’s own Forrest Griffin!  Hosted by Mike Goldberg

First question was about Forrest’s weight and why he doesn’t keep is weight closer to his fighting weight (205) his response was that he liked to eat these things called, cookies.

Who does Forrest want to fight next?  We’ll find out Saturday night but he would prefer a huge fight with Chuck Liddell.

Some funny people here in Atlanta!  Forrest is involved with the yellow ribbon fund and helps with people coming  back from Iraq.

Question if Forrest still has handcuffs from his police training days and his was response was a he has the handcuffs that come with a wife.

A loss that he would want to avenge would have to be the Jardine loss.

As an underdog what goes through your head?  Two things that goes through is mind is that he is mentally and physically prepared and that he has the "no quit" attitude.

Did you think that Rampage was winning during his last fight?  Yes, his corner was telling him to push the pace cause he was losing.

What does Forrest Griffin have to do to solidify him as the best?  keep winning?!?!

Are you going to help Couture train for Brock Lesnar?  Currently is recovering from broken ribs, but will help Randy this next coming week.

He trains 3 to 4 hours a day 6 days a week.

Some dude named Chad wants to fight Forrest which was quite entertaining. LOL

No truth to the Kimbo Slice rumor where Forrest knocked him out with a kick, Forrest said he’s a good guy and wants to learn and that he isn’t a thug.  No truth to Wanderlei Silva knocking Forrest out either.

Forrest has been leaning on the weighin scale that has been calibrated and they told him to get off…lol

Randy vs. Fedor who wins?  Randy due to Forrest putting visine in Fedor’s water.

He thought the Tito Ortiz fight was a draw but didn’t think he was the clear winner.  Any thoughts about a rematch with Tito?  It could happen!

He doesn’t agree with little kids in MMA, and atleast a freshman in high school should be the minimum to fight but no blows to the head.

Does Lesnar deserve a title shot?  He doesn’t care for the guy but name 5 heavyweights that are better than him in the UFC.  If he wins over Couture, the win will justify Brock Lesnar.  He beleives that Noguiera will kill Brock if they both win their fights.

He prefers fighting the bigger name fighters and avoiding fights with the likes of Machida and Sokodjou.

Be sure to check out Matt Hamill’s trunks at UFC 88.  Bodybuilding.com sponsored him for this fight!

Mark Mason and I are in Atlanta right now waiting for the start of the UFC fight club Q and A.  Looks like theres about 500 people as of right now in the Phillips Arena.  I’ll keep ya posted about the festivities and weigh in that follows.  I was at Hooters last night and Chuck Liddell was also there eating, I hope he makes weight lol!

Hotlanta is the place to be this Saturday night as the UFC returns with yet another stellar card.  The legendary Chuck "The Iceman" Liddell returns to the octagon and will lock horns with Rashad "Sugar" Evans.  

This is a big fight for both fighters, Evans suprisingly is still undefeated and still searching for that "big" win over a name opponent.  No name is bigger than Chuck Liddell!  A win over the Iceman will immediatley catapult Evans into the title picture within the LHW division.  

Chuck Liddell hasn’t fought since his huge victory over Wanderlei Silva at UFC 79.  The 39 year old Liddell is recovery from a hamstring tear and says he is 100%.  Liddell’s resume speaks for itself and is hungry to regain what he believes is his, the UFC LHW belt.  A win against Evans might be the golden ticket to that title match with Forrest Griffin.

No doubt about it, this will be an excellent main event.  Check out the UFC 88 main page and for my preview and predictions!

Weeks of speculation have come to an end, as UFC President Dana White announced today that Randy Couture has signed a new 3 fight contract and that his first fight will be against the phenom known as Brock Lesnar.  The rumor was that the fight was going to take place in Portland Oregon but it’s confirmed to be in Sin City baby!!  November 15 2008 for the UFC heavyweight title Couture vs Lesnar.

Looks like it’ll be somewhat of a final four tournament the winner of the Couture Lesnar fight will face the winner of the Noguiera Mir fight to unify the belts sometime in 2009.  Can’t wait for that one! cya in Vegas!