UFC 97 has some exciting fights coming up. With Anderson Silva on the card it’s always going to be a good fight. You have Chuck Liddell, but some are wondering what he has left in him. Then there is UFC newcomer Krzystoc Soszynski pitted against Brian Stann.

So here are my simple win/lose predictions for those three fights.

Anderson Silva Vs. Thales Leites

• I would not bet money against Anderson Silva. Not right now anyway. I know that he’s going to lose a fight sooner or later, but I don’t think it’s going to happen at UFC 97.

Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell Vs. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua

• Chuck Liddell hasn’t had the best MMA record in his last 5 fights only winning 3 of his last 5 and getting KO’s by Rashad Evans at his last fight. However, if Mauricio Rua performs at UFC 97 anything like he did at UFC 93, then Chuck could very well beat Rua.

Krzystof Soszynski Vs. Brian Stann

• Both of these fighters match up pretty well as far as height and weight go. Krystof has more fights under his belt, but he also has more losses. Brian Stann is a pretty fierce fighter and some would say that he kind of got lucky when he beat Doug Marshall, but this fight could really go either way. I’ve never seen Stann go to the ground, he’s always won by strikes or knockout so this one is almost hard to call. Krystof has a little ground game that Stann needs to be careful of. If I had to predict this fight by rounded fighters, I would have to say that Krzystof Soszynski has a huge chance of winning this one.

Image: PRPhotos.com

Post from: EveryJoe

A Few UFC 97 Predictions

• Anderson Silva vs. Thales Leites For the Middleweight Cahmpionship
• Chuck Liddell vs. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua
• Krzystof Soszynski vs. Brian Stann
• Cheick Kongo vs. Antoni Hardonk
• Steve Cantwell vs. Luiz Cane
• Eliot Marshall vs. Mike Ciesnolevicz
• Denis Kang vs. Xavier Foupa-Pokam
• Nate Quarry vs. Jason Macdonald
• David Loiseau vs. Ed Herman
• Mark Bocek vs. David Bielkheden
• Ryo Chonan vs. TJ Grant
• Sam Stout vs. Matt Wiman

UFC 97 will take place live from the Bell Centre, Saturday April 18, 2009 on Montreal, Canada.

And now the complete Fight Card for WEC Torres Vs. Mizugaki live on Versus from Chicago’s UIC Pavilion.

Miguel Torres vs. Takeya Mizugaki
Jeff Curran vs. Joseph Benavidez
Jameel Massouh vs. Raphael Assuncao
Ben Henderson vs. Shane Roller
Akitoshi Tamura vs. Manny Tapia
Rani Yahya vs. Eddie Wineland
Fredson Paixao vs. Wagnney Fabiano
Diego Ninues vs. Cub Swanson
Ivan Lopez vs. Dominick Cruz
Anthony Pettis vs. Anthony Njokuani
Cole Province vs. Rafael Diaz

UFC Card via UFC.Com

WEC Card Via WEC.tv

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UFC 97 and WEC Torres Vs. Mizugaki

For the current information on The Ultimate Fighter 10 Tryouts visit MMA Junkie.

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Open Tryouts For TUF Season 10

‘Mask’ who’s real name is Charles Lewis Jr. started the Tapout company out of the trunk of his car in the late 90’s and with support of his partners built Tapout in to a multimillion dollar, Goliath of a company that it is today. Tapout and the Tapout crew have become a household name in the sport of Mixed Martial Arts and can often be seen at UFC and various MMA events. They have even helped launch the careers of various MMA fighters.

Tapout.com released the following statement:

DEAREST FRIENDS AND FAMILY
It is with heavy hearts and great sadness that we must regretfully confirm the passing of our beloved friend, brother and co-founder Charles “Mask” Lewis following a car accident that occurred last night. We are currently in the process of setting up a memorial service in his honor and will release more details as they become available.

Many thanks to all for the outpouring of blessings and well-wishes during this incredibly difficult time.

Here is a short clip of the report as told by by Fox News 11 out of Los Angeles. There is probably much more to this story than him simply losing control and we’ll probably know more in the coming days. It is know that there was a second car involved and the driver of that car was intoxicated.

My condolences go out to his family and the Tapout Crew. He will be missed and there will be an empty void in the sport and company.

Image: Newscom

Post from: EveryJoe

Tapout Founder Charles Lewis Jr. AKA "Mask" Killed In Car Accident

UFC Undisputed

The screen-shots look nice but I think they will smooth things out a bit more, plus it’s always a little different in screen-shots. You can view a video of the game in action here (Look how shiny they are!). Like any other game, it’s a bit exaggerated than real life. Still looks like it will be fun to play and I’ll definitely be adding it to my XBox 360 library.

You can pre-order the game from Amazon.com or directly from the product site. It will cost you the typical price of a new XBox or PS3 game at $56.99.

Confirmed playable Heavyweights

• Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
• Cheik Kongo
• Frank Mir

Confirmed Playable Light-Heavyweights

• Forrest Griffin
• Keith Jardine
• Quinton Jackson
• Rich Franklin
• Wanderlei Silva

Confirmed Playable Middleweights

• Michael Nisping
• Nate Marquardt

Confirmed Playable Welterweights

• GSP
• Diego Sanchez
• Marcus Davis
• Josh Coscheck

Confirmed Playable Lightweights

• Joe Stevenson
• Kenny Florian
• Kenny Florian

I’m sure more will be named before the release of the game in June. You can find out more at UFCUndisputed.com.

All Images from Amazon.com

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UFC Undisputed from THQ

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Brock Lesnar’s First Professional MMA Fight

• Shane Nelson defeated Aaron Riley by strikes TKO at :44 of round 1, earning $8k for the fight and another $8k for a win bonus. Riley earned $6k for the fight.
• Brandon Vera defeated Michael Pratt via a TKO at 1:27 of round 2 from leg kicks. Vera earned $60k ($30k for fighting/ $30k for winning). Pratt earned $5k.
• Jason Brilz defeated Tim Boetsch by unanimous decision after 3 rounds. He earned $10k ($5k for fighting/ $5k for winning). Boetsch earned $12k for fighting.
• Kendall Grove defeated Jason Day with a strikes TKO in round 1 at 1:32, earning $22k for fighting and another $22k for the win. Jason day went took in $5k.
• Tamdan McRory beat Ryan Madigan at 3:35 in round one with strikes, earning himself $20k ( $10k for fighting/ $10k for winning). Madigan earned $3k.
• Gray Maynard got the unanimous decision over Jim Miller after three rounds. Maynard earned $20k (includes $10k bonus for the win). Miller earned $9k.
• Matt Hamill knocked out Mark Munoz with a big head kick in round 1 at 3:53, earning $40k (20k+20k). Munoz earned $12k.
• Matt Brown defeated Pete Sell via a strikes Tko with a furious ground and pound at 1:32 in round 1, earning him probably more respect than money. He earned $16k (including an $8k win bonus). Sell earned $12k.
• Gabriel Gonzaga was defeated at the hands of Shane Carwin by a knockout punch. Gonzaga earned $60k, while Carwin won $16k and another $16k win bonus.
• Quinton Jackson won by unanimous decision, beating Keith Jardine after 3 rounds, earning himself a whopping $325K that includes a fat $100k win bonus. Jardine earned $55k.

In other UFC News:

• It was announced at the post fight that Frank Mir will have to postpone his fight with Brock Lesnar due to a knee injury Mir sustained during training. Read more on that at UFC.Com.
• Quinton Jackson earned himself a title shot against Rashad Evans later this year.
• Dana White was upset by referees decisions at UFC 96 when ref Rick Fike stopped the Shane Nelson Vs. Aaron Riley Fight and again when ref Ives Lavigne didn’t stop the Brown/ Sell fight sooner. It seems to me that there have been quite a few referees making bad calls as of late. It’s a tough job and I’m sure it’s not as easy being a ref as most would think. You can read more on this at MMA Junkie.

Last week I held a quick poll to see what the readers expected the outcome of UFC 96 main event between Jackson And Jardine to end.

Only one person got it 100% correct and that was me this morning after I already knew the results so that doesn’t count.

As you can see from the results, most thought Jackson would win by TKO. the other Majority thought it would for to decision in Jardine’s favor. Maybe this was expected after Jardine’s decision over Chuck Liddell.

Post from: EveryJoe

UFC 96 Recap and Other UFC News

• Jackson beat Wanderlei Silva at UFC 92
• Silva beat Jardine at UFC 84
• Jardine beat Lidell at UFC 76
• Jackson Beat Lidell at UFC 71
• Jardine Beat Forest Griffin at UFC 66
• Griffin beat Jackson at UFC 86

Looking at these statistics, this fight could go either way. So which way do you think this fight is going to go?

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Post from: EveryJoe

Poll: Jackson Vs. Jardine Who Do You Think Will Win?

Coming a year a a few months since his first and last loss in UFC, heavyweight Brock Lesnar will face the man that made his first fight in the UFC a loss. Frank Mir is the number 1 contender after beating Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.

Frank Mir is eager to win the heavyweight Championship from Lesnar who won it after beating a returning Randy Couture whom held the UFC heavyweight title during his absence from the UFC. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira was the “Interim” Heavyweight champion and I can only assume that if Frank Mir wins the “Interim” championship will no longer exist and it will only be the Heavyweight Championship.

Lesnar has won two fights since his first loss to Mir and chances are he will be more cautious of Mir’s Jiu-Jitsu this time and will look to keep it standing until a good ground and pound game-plan can be executed.

UFC 98 will take place on May 23rd at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

For a rumored fight card and more information on this event visit MMA Junkie.

Image: Newscom

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Lesnar Vs. Mir II Officially Set For UFC 98

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Koscheck Vs. Thiago: Early Stoppage Or Legit?