[SIZE="7"][FONT="Century Gothic"] Michael Bisping vs. Charley McCarthy Set for UFC 83[/FONT][/SIZE]
Posted by MMA Junkie on February 1, 2008 at 2:15 pm ET
Michael Bisping“The Ultimate Fighter 3” winner Michael Bisping (14-1 MMA, 4-1 UFC), who last suffered a split-decision loss to Rashad Evans in the main event of UFC 78, will make his middleweight debut vs. Charles McCarthy (10-4 MMA, 1-1 UFC) at a UFC 83 event in Montreal.
Bisping confirmed the fight during a recent video interview with Sportsnet.ca.
The Bisping-McCarthy fight was tentatively scheduled to take place at a March 8 event in England. Although the event was never officially announced, multiple fighters and agents told MMAjunkie.com (You are not allowed to view links.
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With the England event postponed/delayed, Bisping — one of the U.K.‘s most popular fighters — will instead fight at Montreal’s Bell Centre, which hosts UFC 83 on April 19.
Bisping only recently decided to move to middleweight. The 28-year-old cited a distinct size disadvantage as a reason; many fellow light heavyweights were cutting weight from 220 or 225 lbs. down to 205, whereas Bisping was dropping from just 210 lbs.
Bisping’s loss to Evans back in November snapped his 14-fight win streak, which included a controversial split-decision victory over Matt Hamill in September.
As for McCarthy, he’ll look for his second consecutive win inside the octagon. The 27-year-old suffered a legendary TKO (via spinning back kick) to David Loiseau at UFC 53 before earning a spot on “The Ultimate Fighter 4,” a special “comeback” season of the UFC’s popular reality series. He lost to Pete Sell in a preliminary bout but bounced back for a first-round submission of Gideon Ray in the show’s live finale.
The UFC 83 fight will be McCarthy’s first in more than 17 months.
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[COLOR="Red"][SIZE="7"][FONT="Book Antiqua"]
All Fighters Make Weight for UFC 81[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR]
Posted by MMA Junkie on February 1, 2008 at 7:26 pm ET
Brock LesnarAll 18 fighters slated to take part in tomorrow’s UFC 81 event today made weight. The fighters hit the scales at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas — the same venue that hosts tomorrow’s pay-per-view event.
The weigh-ins were streamed live online by Yahoo! Sports, a content-partner site of MMAjunkie.com (You are not allowed to view links.
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All fighters were allowed a one-pound cushion except for Tim Sylvia and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, who fight for the UFC’s interim heavyweight title in tomorrow’s main event. The fighters had to weigh in at no more than 265 lbs.; Sylvia weighed in at 261 lbs., and Nogeuira tipped the scales at 237 lbs.
One other heavyweight bout has received a lot of attention during the lead-up to UFC 81, thanks largely to the UFC debut of WWE-performer turned NFL-player turned MMA-fighter Brock Lesnar. Lesnar today weighed 265 lbs., and his opponent — former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir — was a svelte 255 lbs.
The full weigh-in results included:
* Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (237) vs. Tim Sylvia (261)
* Brock Lesnar (265) vs. Frank Mir (255)
* Jeremy Horn (185) vs. Nate Marquardt (185)
* Ricardo Almeida (185) vs. Rob Yundt (185)
* Tyson Griffin (155) vs. Gleison Tibau (156)
* Kyle Bradley (170) vs. Chris Lytle (170)
* Tim Boetsch (205) vs. David Heath (205)
* Marvin Eastman (185) vs. Terry Martin (186)
* Rob Emerson (155) vs. Keita Nakamura (155)
Join MMAjunkie.com tomorrow for live round-by-round updates and live results from tomorrow’s UFC 81 preliminary and main cards. The results will begin at approximately 8:15 p.m. ET/5:15 p.m. PT.
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[SIZE="7"][FONT="Century Gothic"]Chuck Liddell vs. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua Possible[/FONT][/SIZE]
Posted by MMA Junkie on February 1, 2008 at 11:23 am ET
Chuck LiddellChuck Liddell, a former UFC light heavyweight champion who rebounded from back-to-back losses with a win over Wanderlei Silva in December, could next fight Mauricio “Shogun” Rua at either UFC 84 on May 24 (Las Vegas) or UFC 85 on June 14 (in London).
News of the potential bout first surfaced in a recent SportsIllustrated.com interview with Liddell.
Additionally, MMAjunkie.com (You are not allowed to view links.
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Liddell, who won the 205-lb. title at UFC 52, made four successful title defenses before a loss to Quinton Jackson this past May. He then dropped a split decision to Jardine in September. However, in a fight that was one of the most-anticipated in the sport’s history, he defeated former PRIDE champion and recent UFC signee Silva via unanimous decision in the co-main event of UFC 79.
The 26-year-old Rua made his octagon debut at UFC 76, but the Brazilian suffered an upset submission loss (via rear-naked choke) to Forrest Griffin. Prior to the bout, he had won 12 of 13 fights. Rua underwent knee surgery after the fight but said he wasn’t using it as an excuse for the loss.
According to the SI.com piece, Liddell and his camp are pushing for the fight to take place at UFC 84, which takes place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, rather than an overseas event.
For all the latest rumored fight cards, check out the UFC Rumors section of MMAjunkie.com.
