Born:

Chris “The Exorcist” Price is a relative newcomber when it comes to both MMA and the UFC. In his only UFC fight Chris fell to Kendall Grove at Ortiz v. Shamrock 3 – The Final Chapter. In the loss Price tapped out 3:59 into the first round. He will look to rebound from the loss when he takes to the ring for his second UFC bout.

Before coming to the UFC Price fought nearly entirely in the Legends of Fighting Championship where he became their Middleweight Champion. He strung together 7 straight wins in LOF as well as one in Diesel Fighting Champioships before losing his first match in the UFC.

“The Executioner” is a strong wrestler and is well conditioned to go late into fights, although he has rarely had to with just 3 of his fights going to decision. Look for Price to use his wrestling skills to his advantage as he will try to primarily ground and pound his opponent. 50% of Chris’ wins have come from (T)KOs while 3 have come from decisions and one from submissions. His lone loss, mentioned, earlier came via submission from strikes so he will not want to let his guard down for too long.

If his Fight Night 8 opponent Ed Herman’s nickname, Short Fuse, is any indication we should have a pretty good and explosive bout on our hands.

Post from: EveryJoe

UFC Fight Night 8 Profile: Chris Price

Liddell is regarded by many as one of the most dangerous MMA fighters. Both men come in at just over 6 feet tall and weighing in at 204 pounds. Liddell hasn’t lost a UFC match in over three years. As a testament to his danger his last fight decided by judges was also his last loss when Hall of Famer Randy Couture beat Liddell in June 2003. “The Iceman” won the title in June 2005 when he beat Couture again. He has since defended the title successfully three times.

Chuck Liddell v. Tito Ortiz I occurred in April 2004. Liddell won when he TKO’d Ortiz at UFC 47 in the second round. Ortiz last wore the belt nearly 6 years ago and is hungry to wear the belt yet again. Ortiz will focus on using his wrestling skill and taking Liddell to the mat in hopes of scoring his submission. Tito prides himself on conditioning and can last deep into the fight provided he survives the barrages Liddell will be throwing at him.

Ortiz is wrapping up a great year started with a narrow defeat of fan favorite Forrest Griffin in April via split decision. Following up the Griffin match were two relatively easy matches against rival Ken Shamrock. Both matches were over in the first round when Ortiz knocked to veteran out.

Now for the undercard. Forrest Griffin will face Keith Jardine in another light heavyweight bout. The title may turn out to be a chance for the winner to get a shot at the Light Heavyweight Champion. Look for lots of big punches to be thrown in this one as both are predominantly punching boxers.

One of the other top matches on the undercard will be Former UFC Heavyweight Champion Andrei “Pit Bull” Arlovski returning to the octagon to face Marcio “Pe De Pano” Cruz. The bout will be Arlovski’s first since losing the Heavyweight title this summer. Look for him to take Cruz to the mat since his punches are regarded by many as relatively weak. Cruz last fought in April in a losing attempt. He specializes in submission so he will too be looking to take advantage of a downed “Pit Bull”. A win by Arlovski will aid his chances at getting another title shot in 2007.

As I discussed earlier Chris “The Crippler” Leben will make his UFC PPV debut when he fights Jason “The Athlete” McDonald in a middleweight bout. Both athletes are fresh to the PPV scene although Leben has made quite a name for himself both on the first season of UFC’s Ultimate Fighter and on SpikeTV bouts. Leben will try to knock McDonald out with a solid punch while McDonald will hope to make Leben tap out.

The final undercard match is a light-heavyweight bout featuring Michael “The Count” Bisping and Eric “Ravishing Red” Schafer. Bisping brings a large fan following into the fight thanks largely to his time on the Ultimate Fighter. He is a well rounded fighter with little UFC experience with just a 1-0 record. Bisping has yet to fight on a PPV. Schafer made his PPV debut in August. He made Rob McDonald submit in the fight, which is his specialty. Bisping will try to keep striking with Schafer looking to take the fight to the mat.

Other fights scheduled for the night, though not planned to air on PPV include:

Tony DeSouza Vs. Thiago “Pitbull” Alves
Carmelo “The Fury” Marrero Vs. Gabriel “Napao” Gonzaga
Yushin Okami Vs. Rory “Outburst” Singer
“The Hippo” Anthony Perosh Vs. “The Hungarian Nightmare” Christian Wellisch

Post from: EveryJoe

UFC 66 Preview