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UFC 95 (2/21 London) card line-up
By Zach Arnold | February 21, 2009
Dark matches
- 155 pounds (Lightweights): Terry Etim vs. Justin Buchholz
- Heavyweights; Junior Dos Santos vs. Stefan Struve
- Heavyweights: Mike Ciesnolevicz vs. Neil Grove
- 155 pounds (Lightweights): Per Eklund vs. Evan Dunham
- 170 pounds (Welterweights): Paul Kelly vs. Troy Mandaloniz
Main card
- 170 pounds (Welterweights): Josh Koscheck vs. Paulo Thiago
- 185 pounds (Middleweights): Demian Maia vs. Chael Sonnen
- 185 pounds (Middleweights): Nathan Marquardt vs. Wilson Gouveia
- 170 pounds (Welterweights): Dan Hardy vs. Rory Markham
- 155 pounds (Lightweights): Joe Stevenson vs. Diego Sanchez
The event will air on Spike TV in America.
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Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, UK, Zach Arnold | 56 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
This is actually a pretty good card for a Spike TV card. It would have been a crummy PPV, so I’m glad they are airing it for free.
I agree.
Sanchez makes his debut at LW.
Wilson Gouveia gets a chance to stake a claim as a legit contender at MW.
Hardy-Markham has FOTY potential.
Maia gets his toughest test to date versus the WEC champion.
Hopefully, Struve-Dos Santos makes the televised portion as well. Both of those guys look like very interesting prospects who could eventually make some noise in the HW division.
In terms of selling value, it wouldn’t do very well on PPV. However, this card has the potential to be the most exciting card so far this year. I’m very excited for this card.
I like the main card here and I really hope they get the chance to show the Dos Santos – Struve fight.
And of course as a swede I hope I get to see Per Eklund fight.
Surprising that Diego Sanchez went down to 155. I was expecting Sanchez to get a title fight vs. GSP if/when he defeats Thiago Alves.
After Alves I don’t know who else is left at Welterweight for GSP? He’s cleaned out the division, much like Anderson Silva cleaned out Middleweight.
Definitely worth setting the DVR for.
How is Junior dos Santos in the prelims immediately after he knocks out one of the top ten heavyweights in the world?
And looking ahead to the April 1st event, Junie Browning is on the main card while Brock Larson, Tyson Griffin, and Ricardo Almeida are on the prelims.
Its interesting that people are happy about this show since its on Spike TV and not pay-per-view. Over here, in England, its a show with no main event that’s in a pretty huge arena.
As a live event, this is still a HUGE disappointment in terms of star power, especially as UFC usually seem to have that weird obsession with London that foreigners often have.
Ivan:
How about keeping the discussion to the show in question?
And exactly which fight on this event would you replace with the Dos Santos-Struve fight?
Rory Markham vs. Dan Hardy. Neither of them has a win that is remotely close to dos Santos’ knockout of top-ten-ranked Fabricio Werdum.
I think that Larson vs Condit should be a number one contender fight, whenever it happens. Assuming they beat their assigned opponents, they should face off and then the winner should get GSP.
Ivan:
Without Dan Hardy, the most consistently entertaining British fighter in the entire sport, the show has NO real appeal in the UK beyond the simple fact of being a UFC event.
The TV show that airs in the US on Spike TV essentially has to be the same as the one that airs here, live on Setanta. Are you actually saying they should run a live show in the UK without a single British fighter on it? Doesn’t that seem ridiculous?
Wow.
I couldn’t disagree with you more Ivan. I am more excited about the Markham-Hardy fight than anything else on the card. That fight has FotN written all over it. I would be super pissed if that was stuck on the prelims.
I would like to see Dos Santos-Struve too, but not at the expense of Markham-Hardy.
Over time, I have gotten less and less worried about who is on the undercard and who is on the main card.
Yes, there are the obvious robberies, like Fitch/Gono not being on the main card.
For the rest, Zuffa is in a tough position. They have an 11 fight card, and only 4 of the fights are guaranteed to be shown. No matter what they do, somebody is going to get left off. Not to mention that I’m sure SpikeTV has a slight say in guys like Junie Browning being on the show.
At the end of the day, as long as winning means a fighter moves up the ranks closer to a potential title shot, then I’m happy.
“The TV show that airs in the US on Spike TV essentially has to be the same as the one that airs here, live on Setanta.”
That’s not necessarily the case. The U.K. events air on a tape delay in the United States, and the UFC has the ability to edit out fights and replace them with other fights. For example, they edited the Machida-Heath fight completely off of that broadcast in the U.S.
I’m going to the card live and I’m not amused. It’s a card with no main event but for the third London event in a row, the ticket prices were increased.
The first event we went to was £25 for the front row of the nosebleeds. The second event it was £50 for teh front row of the nose bleeds. This event the same tickets are £75.
Additionally, the card is grappling heavy. Now, I personally have no problem with that but it shows a complete lack of understanding of the market. The UK has zero grappling culture. We don’t do wrestling in school and as a result, the casuals have even less of a clue about what’s going on on the ground. So to have this “main event” here in particular is ridiculous.
In general, it really is a non-event of a main event. I really don’t care who wins and I really don’t think it matters who wins either because we’ve found both fighters’ limits already.
Sanchez vs Stevenson is much better main event than Bisping vs Leben, and the whole card is better.
That Birmingham card was absolutely terrible though, so it’s really not much of a point. Again, I went to that one too.
Marquardt vs. Gouveia is more intersting to me than the main event. So is the Dan Hardy fight. And to be honest, so was Bisping vs Leben.
Whoever wins out of Stevenson vs Sanchez is still exactly the same fighter that they were before the fight, with the same glaring limitations and inability to move any further up the rankings than their current position. I really don’t care who wins because it really makes no difference.
At least with all the other fights mentioned, there’s an element of “how far can this guy go” or “this guy is genuinely elite”.
As a side point, beating Gono over a decision is way more impressive and noteworthy than 1 punch KOing Werdum. The Gono vs Hardy fight was a great fight and it would be ridiculous to drop that fight off the main card because Hardy earned his way onto TV without a doubt. Dos Santos may be good eventually but let’s not go all Houston Alexander on him.
I believe that if Sanchez wins UFC will push him very quickly to the title shot. In LW he could be awsome force (in WW he barely lost to Fitch). His rematch with Florian would be really interesting. So I guess it makes difference.
I don’t disagree that the UFC would push Sanchez if he wins. Honestly though I just have no interest in the guy and I think that’s what it boils down to.
I should clarify actually. I have no interest in him as a headline fighter. He’s like Clay Guida or Roger Huerta or something. Aggressive and in your face but I don’t enjoy watching someone flail around, I enjoy someone displaying precision and technique. Keep the flailers on the co-main or just featured bouts unless they work their way up (somehow) to a title shot. Or have them main event a fight night.
I think this event can be viewed very differently by someone who is in the states and will see the card on free TV, compared to someone who has paid $75 for the back row of a 22,000 seater arena. This is a fight night quality main event when we’re paying PROPER main event prices and actually 3x the ticket price we paid for Rampage vs Henderson.
just a little p.s.
It’s not Sanchez that I have a problem being in the main event, it’s Stevenson. He just got absolutely obliterated by KenFlo in less than a round. On what planet does that make you suitable to headline a 22,000 seat arena event? If it was Sanchez vs Florian or Sherk then I would have less of a problem.
MMA Game makes some excellent points that I doubt most people outside the UK have considered.
But back to my conversation with Ivan Trembow – if the UFC have the ability to change and edit the broadcast for the US audience, WHY are you complaining in the first place? Surely that means there’s a chance the Dos Santos fight will air in your country and the official ‘main card’ and ‘prelim’ demarcations are meaningless anyway.
If Dos Santos wins quickly (first round), he’ll be on the broadcast. I guarantee it. The UFC wants to build up their up-and-coming HWs.
The reason that fight isn’t on the main card isn’t because of Dos Santos, it’s because of Struve. I’ve never heard of the guy. Dos Santos is relevant to the HW division, but this fight isn’t. At best, it’s a showcase for Dos Santos, at worst it takes the wind out of the sails of one of the UFC’s top prospects.
Actually Stefan Struve is probably the top HW prospect in Europe.
Struve should be more or less on par with Herring, this is a real test for Junior.
FYI: Justin Buccholz is injured and was replaced by Brian Cobb.
UFC 99: Caol Uno vs. Spencer Fisher
WEC signed Rafael Assuncao.
MMA Game – If you are so disappointed in the card and the increased prices then why are you attending? Your $ speaks louder than what you write online.
Spending $ on an event you’re not “amused” with tells the UFC that they can continue putting on sub par events without any negative consequences.
This is a great free card, though.
You UK dudes are getting worked, no doubt. I mean, these cards they are tossing at you are pretty minor. Barely about UFN cards.
Ivan, I totally agree with you about the next UFN card. I looked at it today and was just laughing, the undercard outshines the main card with ease.
Assuncao is the real deal. He could easily be ranked in the top 10 depending on individual preferences. I think he’s better than Penn, of course, Penn won’t ever live up to his potential.
I feel for the British fans, that is indeed a crappy card to be stuck with, when you’re paying to watch live.
Having said that, when you look at it as a card on free TV, it appears absolutely stacked. I’m really excited for these fights, on the main card and the undercard.
The original plans for UFC 95 was to have either Chuck Liddell or Anderson Silva headline the card which is why they charged extra high ticket prices. But they both declined, probably because they realized their ppv bonus wouldn’t be as big on an overseas card.
***for canadians
just checked the sportsnet schedule and as of right now, the schedule says they will air the fights live at 3 pm and also later at 9 pm.
The original plans for UFC 95 was to have either Chuck Liddell or Anderson Silva headline the card which is why they charged extra high ticket prices. But they both declined, probably because they realized their ppv bonus wouldn’t be as big on an overseas card.
If the UFC really wants big names to fight over in the UK, it’s their responsibility to pay them more guaranteed money. Their supposed intentions are not met with comparable action, and I’d say its exceedingly more likely that they decided to skip spending the cash. Besides, by all accounts, this is not gonna be anything remotely close to a sell out.
Also, in Canada we get it in HD if you have SportsNet HD, which kicks ass.
Up north, Spike TV is only available in standard fuzzy-vision.
“Besides, by all accounts, this is not gonna be anything remotely close to a sell out.”
Huh?
That is the first I have heard of this. Do you have a source?
They pushed 4,000 tickets out the door early, but given that they’ve booked zero draws for the show and that there are scalpers trying to get rid of tickets at below face value, that’s probably not a good sign. I’ll be surprised if 10,000 people show up including folks papered in.
Lol @ Maia x Sonnen not being the main event of the evening.
I mean nothing against Diego (top 10 welter weight) and Daddy (top 10 light weight), but come on, real MMA fans know who is supposed to be topping the bill.
Demian Maia (top 5 MW).
He is the world champion of BJJ/ADCC and he’s already top 5 in the 185 lb division.
Chael Sonnen (WEC champ).
Ex-King of WEC’s own 185lb division that is equally competitive to UFC middle weight.
Maia is up there with Xande Ribeiro and Robert Drysdale and they are the teachers for Diego and Joe Daddy. If Maia x Sonnen is the master’s fight, the main event features students’ fight.
#34 – So no source, just supposition.
#34 – So no source, just supposition.
When Affliction has tickets available from Ticketmaster, available in all tiers, its news to talk about poor sales. When UFC 95 has tickets available in all tiers from Ticketmaster, its not news, but rather supposition that its probably not selling as well as they might like. You can intune that as me “wanting the UFC to fail” or something ridiculous like that if you’d like, but its telling the truth.
You can buy chunks of tickets on the floor on Ticketmaster (assuming you have a UK IP address). I’d say that’s a good sign its not sold out.
Also, rainrider, no one cares about Maia/Sonnen because the only possible top level middleweight in the WEC was drugged up to a nearly catatonic state. Sonnen’s career highlight reel is him getting subbed inside some superior grappler’s guard, and everyone who is picking Sonnen because of his defensive wrestling is missing that totally. Maia is going to shoot a single and then pull guard, just as he did Quarry, and the same thing is gonna happen after that to Sonnen that happened to Nate. Sonnen’s a decent gatekeeper/journeyman type but he’s not far beyond that, worthless bauble be damned.
As for Maia, he is a promising new fighter but can hardly be considered “Top 5”. I have him ranked just outside the Top 10 MWs, considering his biggest accomplishment so far in MMA is defeating Jason MacDonald. In a pretty competitive fight, I might add.
Agreed.
No way in hell does Maia deserve to be ranked in the top 5.
He has top 5 ability/talent, but nowhere near the types of wins that would merit such a lofty ranking.
For a free card this was essentially pretty damned awesome. That is all I’ll say until it airs on Spike.
I don’t know the results yet….
Paulo Thiago vs. Josh Koscheck – I was VERY MAD during the commercial break, as I thought it was a horrible stoppage. After the break, I had to agree with Rogan. It was actually a very good stoppage.
Beautfiul lateral drop into mount-based Triangle Choke finish by Maia. That guys fun to watch. 🙂
Fantastic event.
We saw several beautiful displays tonight of grappling in MMA.
Maia’s about as Top 5 as Mousasi is…. Which isn’t at all. The Top 5 Middleweights are:
1. Anderson Silva
2. Dan Henderson
3. Nathan Marquardt
4. Yushin Okami
5. Robbie Lawler
If Franklin drops back down, he would be #3. I think Maia is Top 10 after that win.
Overall, very entertaining card. Tough night to be a ref. I would rather see a fighter take one extra punch just so we know he is finished. A few of the refs did not let that happen, which is a shame.
I’m guessing Maia will fight Marquardt or Okami next given that there really isn’t anyone else to put his way that will build him up towards a shot at Silva.
My best shot at linear ranking of the suddenly exciting MW division:
1. Silva
2. Henderson
3. Franklin
4. Okami
5. Belfort
6. Lindland
7. Maia
8. Sonnen
9. Filho
10. Leites
11. Marquardt
12. Gouveia
13. Lutter
14. Cote
15. MacDonald
16. Musasi
17. Souza
18. J. Miller
19. Lawler
20. Kampman
21. Bisping
22. Day
23. Belcher
24. Quarry
25. Starnes
26. Leben
27. Rivera
28. Grove
29. Santiago
30. Misaki
31. Akiyama
32. Kang
45, I agree with your top 4 (5 with Franklin). Those guys have clearly removed themselves from the pack imo. Okami less so than the others, but it’s still a better record than the rest of the top 10.
However, I think that after that, the next 4 or 5 guys (Lawler, Maia, Leites, Mousasi, etc) are all fairly interchangeable. None of them really have big wins that really stand out against their peers.
Maia’s 10-0, and has looked like a stud. Most importantly, he doesn’t have any losses in the last couple years, which is holding back my enthusiasm for many of the others. Mousasi lost to Gono, Lawler lost to Miller, and Santiago lost to Belcher and Leben, all of which occurred at the end of 2006. That’s only 2 and half years ago, and the guys they lost to aren’t anywhere near a MW top 10. (I know you’re not big on Mousasi and Santiago, I’m just including them for the rest of the posters here.)
Because of this, I don’t fault anyone for having Maia at #5. I’m awfully tempted to put him there myself.