Silva vs. Hendo at UFC 82

Dan Henderson has apparently worked out contract issues with the UFC and will in fact make the cut down to 185 lbs. to challenge middleweight king Anderson Silva in March at UFC 82. This is good news. Early thoughts: Henderson could a nightmare on the ground for Silva, who has a definitive striking advantage. I'm excited for this fight.

Read more from 5 Oz. of Pain.

UFC 75: Put It in the Books

Dan Henderson vs. Rampage Jackson – Was it me or was the Pride belt no where to be seen? Considering that this fight was a unification bout, I foolishly expected to see both belts, but what do I know.

I gave the first round to Dangerous Dan. He controlled Rampage on the ground and against the cage, and he landed some big shots. Henderson scored a takedown early in the second, but Rampage made his way back up to is feet, took down Henderson, held him down, and stayed busy from side control. I gave a close Round 2 to Rampage.

The third round was also very close. Rampage got the early takedown and fired off some mean punches (none of which seemed to have done any real damage) in the final seconds. Henderson, meanwhile, worked some good ground-and-pound after nearly securing a kimura.

Rampage dropped Henderson early in the fourth and put some elbows into Henderson's ribs after the two were stood up by Big John. On their feet, Rampage seemed to be the fresher, stronger guy. The final round saw some good stand-up action, with Jackson getting the better of the exchanges. Henderson managed a takedown but did little damage before Rampage popped back up, connected with two big knees, took down Henderson, and fired off some more shots as the final bell sounded. Rampage took the unanimous decision.

I was especially impressed with Rampage's conditioning, his submission defense, and how he managed to to keep Henderson down. Henderson looked good too and would look even better at 185.

Matt Hamill vs. Michael Bisping – Matt Hamill just learned that shit happens when you fight an English guy in England. Hammill completely bullied the hometown product in the first round, but Bisping later came on and landed some good shots.

In my eyes, Bisping looked hesitant to engage, while Hamill, who had little problem taking Bisping down, seemed more willing to let his hands go. I don’t like the decision, and I give credit to Hamill for his graciousness after the fight.

As for Bisping, I agree with Joe Rogan that "The Count" could be a terror at middleweight.

Mirko Cro Cop Filipovic vs. Cheik Kongo – Cro Cop once again came out to Duran Duran and once again looked listless. Great first round. Mirko looked strong on the ground against Kongo, who was clearly out of his element.

Cro Cop came out attacking in the second, but Kongo scored an early takedown and landed some big knees to the body later in the round. Kongo beat up Cro Cop some more in the third and was awarded the unanimous decision win. The UFC heavyweight stable is looking good, and Kongo’s impressive showing certainly gives UFC matchmaker Joe Silva something to work with.

Cro Cop, however, needs to get some shit together. He did have moments when he looked good, but I don’t think that UFC heavyweights are as scared of him and his dreaded left head kick as previous opponents have been. He also didn’t seem so bad as he made his way down to the cage. Somewhere in Manchester, England, Dana White is cursing like he’s never cursed before.

Paul Taylor vs. Marcus Davis – Paul Taylor landed a huge head kick in the first round that dropped Davis, who fought back after taking a pounding, punished Taylor with some nasty ground-and-pound, and tapped him with an arm bar. Taylor fought very well in defeat, and Davis may have catapulted himself to the upper echelon of 170-pound fighters. I'd love to see him step up and meet stiffer competition in his next fight.

Houston Alexander vs. Alessio Sakara – Alexander hits hard! Big knee, big shots on the ground, big win. What I like most about this fight is that Alexander went a long way in establishing himself as a legitimate light heavyweight threat. Nebraska is in the building, bitches.

Bisping at Middleweight?

In his latest blog for the Orange County Register, Carlos Arias wrote about his trip up to Big Bear, CA, where he spoke with UFC 205-lb. king Quinton "Rampage" Jackson and his trainer, Juanito Ibarra, as Rampage and company prepared for his September 8 UFC 75 fight with Dan Henderson.

But what really caught my attention was Ibarra's comments on popular UFC light heavyweight contender Michael Bisping, who'd been training up at Big Bear with Rampage. Ibarra spoke very highly of Bisping, who has a nine-fight UFC deal, to Arias and insinuated that Bisping might make a move from 205 lbs to 185 lbs. Bisping even confirmed that he feels he could make the the cut down to middleweight. Wow.

The addition of Bisping's strength, athleticism, and charisma would be a real boost for the UFC middleweight class, and it would immediately create a number of mouth-watering match-ups: Bisping vs. Anderson Silva, Rich Franklin, Yushin Okami, Nate Marquardt, and even Kendall Grove (who's a friend of Bisping).

As far as I know, no timeline for Bisping's drop to 185 has been publicized, but I'll be following this carefully.

Around the UFC

- The Dayton Daily News is reporting that all hope is not yet lost for a Chuck Liddell- Wanderlei Silva fight. The Iceman and The Axe Murderer are rumored to possibly fight on the same December 29 Las Vegas card that will feature the Matt Serra-Matt Hughes welterweight championship fight. If true, this would be huge.

- Tito Ortiz vs. Rashad Evans II at UFC 77 in Cincinnati might not happen after all, the Dayton Daily News also reports. A member of Evans' camp explained, "At this point, a (Cincinnati) fight isn't a lock. With Tito, nothing is ever guaranteed." I couldn't care less if this fight never happens. But that's just me.

- UFC 75 will air on Spike TV (free!) on September 8 on tape delay beginning at 9 PM (New York time). The event will be held at The 02 Arena in London and will be headlined by the Dan Henderson-Rampage Jackson light heavyweight unification title fight.

A Tale of Two Belts

As we all know by now, Dan Henderson holds the Pride middleweight and light heavyweight belts and is poised to capture the UFC light heavyweight belt with a win over Rampage Jackson at UFC 75.

But with all the discussion about which belts (if any) would be on the line at UFC 75, there’s been no word from the UFC about Henderson fighting at 185.

Cue Dana White: “I thought when Dan Henderson came to the UFC that he'd want to fight at middleweight. He said he feels much more comfortable at light heavyweight and that's where he wants to stay.”

So does this mean he’ll just hold onto the middleweight Pride belt? Will he drop back down if he loses to Rampage? We'll see.

2007 Kodiak Half-Ass Awards

Since we’re halfway through what has been an excellent year for mixed martial arts, it is my pleasure to present to you the first ever Kodiak MMA 2007 Half-Ass Awards. The captain has asked that you bring your seats to the upright position and turn off all cell phones, pagers, and electronic devices.

Best Fighter: Dan Henderson

Not only did Hendo move up from 185 to take the 205-lb. belt, but he became the first non-heavyweight to knock out Wanderlei in 9 years. That goes a long way in my book.

Like he did in their first fight, Henderson stood in Wanderlei's face and threw bombs against the stronger, larger opponent. Adding to the glory of this fight was not only the dramatic KO win, but the overall pageantry that only a Pride title fight can deliver. Makes me sad a little, actually...

Soon enough, Henderson will hold the UFC light-heavyweight strap after he beats Rampage Jackson at UFC 75, but let's not get off topic.

Randy Couture also receives special recognition, but I'm giving this one to Henderson for holding two of the sport's most coveted belts at once, and for being a better pound-for-pound fighter.

Best Fight: Nick Diaz - Takanori Gomi

After 3 straight UFC losses to Diego Sanchez, Karo Parisyan, and Joe Riggs, Nick Diaz made his Pride debut against explosive lightweight champ Takanori Gomi at Pride 33 on February 24, 2007. Long story short, Diaz took some serious punishment from Gomi but ultimately outlasted Gomi, picking him apart with stinging jabs and hooks and finishing him in stunning fashion.

Unfortunately, Diaz tested positive for Delta-9-THC, and the fight was ruled a No Contest, but it remains one of the greatest fights that I have ever seen.

Best Submission: Nick Diaz Gogoplata

Please tell me the last time you saw a decorated champion be submitted by his opponent's shin. The best part of this submission was that my man Diaz held onto it - and possibly tightened it - for a little bit after Gomi tapped.

Biggest Upset: Matt Serra over Georges St. Pierre

Long Island's own Serra not only beat the younger, faster, stronger, heavily favored welterweight champ in his first title defense, but it's how he beat him that earns him this distinction. Serra is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu wiz who truly did shock the MMA world when he overwhelmed St. Pierre with punches and stopped him in the very first round without ever employing any of his BJJ skills.

Rampage/Liddell - Not an upset at all. Gonzaga/Cro Cop - At least some people were giving Gonzaga a chance, considering his strong ground game in the cage.

Best KO: Gabriel Gonzaga

The relatively unknown Brazilian heavyweight scored a shocking KO win over Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic with the Croatian’s own trademark move, the head kick, and left the former Pride star lying virtually lifeless in the center of the octagon.

Best Newcomer: Frankie Edgar

The Team Rhino fighter opened eyes with an awesome win over the heavily favored Tyson Griffin at UFC 67 and then showed us that he’s for real at UFC 73 when he handed Mark Bocek his first MMA loss with a with a Round 1 TKO.

I fully understand that this honor belongs to Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou, who's beaten much better competition in more convincing fashion and has better hair, but something about Edgar gets me fired up.

Best Fight Camp: Team Quest

Dan Henderson now holds two Pride championship titles, Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou scored stunning KO wins over Ricardo Arona and Antonio Rigiero Nogueira, Matt Lindland stepped up and fought Fedor Emelianenko like a bastard, and Ed Herman - yes, Ed Herman - displayed very slick submission skills over Chris Price and Scott Smith in the UFC's talent-starved middleweight division. And Chris Leben has pink hair.

Best Champion: Urijah Faber

Faber, the WEC featherweight champion, has not only made 3 title defenses so far this year, but he submitted all 3 challengers in the very first round with both chokes and strikes. In addition, he's scheduled to fight again as part of WEC's September 30th card. The "California Kid" is for real.

Best Fight Card: Pride 33 (2/24/07)

This was a no-brainer. Pride 33, the penultimate Pride event as we knew it, gave us 9 fights in 2 hours and15 minutes, and only one went to a decision.

- Dan Henderson KO Wanderlei Silva
- Nick Diaz sub Takanori Gomi
- Shogun Rua KO Alistair Overeem
- Hayato Sakurai TKO Mac Danzig
- Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou KO Antonio Rogiero Nogueira
- Joachim Hansen sub. Jason Ireland
- Frank Trigg def. Kazuo Misaki via decision (and then did color commentary)
- Sergei Kharitonov sub. Mike Russow
- James Lee sub. Travis Wuiff

Best Post-Fight Interview: Din Thomas

After tapping out Jeremy Stephens at UFC 71 (May 26) with an oh-so-lovely armbar, "DinYero" addressed members of the boxing community who had been knocking MMA. Thomas clearly felt slighted by their remarks about the UFC and MMA and issued a challenge to Kermit Cintron and Floyd Mayweather: “You wanna fight? I’m the mothaf***a to fight!”

Best Mike Goldberg Quote:

“That’s the best looking BJ we’ve seen in a long time!”

He also referred to the UFC 73 card as "the greatest card top to bottom in the history of combat sports." Nope.

Biggest Moron: Phil Baroni

Baroni called out Frank Shamrock, talked plenty of gahbage, got his ass whooped, and then tested positive for two types of anabolic steroids. Shortly thereafter, Baroni posted homophobic slurs about Georges St. Pierre and offended all of Canada on MySpace.

Worst Overall Beating: Houston Alexander vs. Keith Jardine

Jardine wasn't too thrilled with having to face newcomer Alexander UFC 71 and felt that he deserved tougher competition. Early on, Jardine landed a solid right hook that staggered Alexander. Jardine pursued but Alexander recovered, muscled Jardine against the fence, and landed 19 unanswered hooks, uppercuts, and knees that ultimately left Jardine face down on the mat with his mouthpiece a few feet away.

I watch this fight at least once a week, not only because of Alexander's awesome display of punching power, but because I absolutely cannot stand Keith Jardine. His jerkoff nickname bothers me, and he throws the ugliest punch I think I've ever seen.

Biggest Disappointment:

Diego Sanchez’ girlfriend is UFC ring girl Ali Sonoma. In case you were curious, Ali is a modelactressstudent who likes seafood and OutKast and is turned on by "confidence, optimism, and great sense of humor." Damn you, Diego.

Let’s do this again in six months, shall we?

Dana White Talks UFC Light-Heavies

There's been a lot going down recently with the UFC LHW division, so here's some of the latest 205-lb. news from UFC president Dana White.

- Dan Henderson will fight Quinton "Rampage" Jackson at UFC 75 in what will be a unification bout for the UFC and Pride belts. This is excellent news.

It was reported a while back that this fight would be non-title, and then it was supposedly for the UFC belt only, which seemed stupid, so I'm glad to see champion vs. champion for all the marmalade. Fittingly, UFC 75 has been officially titled "Champion vs. Champion."

And as I wrote earlier, even if Henderson loses his LHW belt to Jackson, he's still got the Pride middleweight strap. Henderson vs. Silva, to me at least, is infinitely more exciting than Silva-Franklin. But let's not get ahead of ourselves just yet...

- White says that former UFC light heavyweight champion Chuck "The Iceman" Liddell will "probably" make his return to the Octagon in September. No opponent has been cited. Wanderleisilvawayswhat...

- According to a Gainesville Sun article, White is claiming that Mauricio “Shogun” Rua is likely to make his UFC debut against Ryoto Machida at UFC 76. MMAWeekly reports that both Rua and Machida were scheduled to fight at UFC 76 against the dreaded TBA, so this match-up gives them each an opponent in one another. This could be an excellent showcase of Machida's polished mixed martial artistry and against Rua's furiously technical Chute Box style in a match-up between the Chute Boxe vs. Black House camps.

This fight excites me because 1) it's Shogun we're talking about here, folks, and 2) Machida is an excellent fighter who, in my opinion, has been largely overlooked by most MMA fans, partly because none of his UFC fights have been televised. The man is undefeated and holds wins over Rich Franklin and BJ Penn. Shogun, meanwhile, is widely regarded by many as the best 205-pounder on the planet, especially now that Wanderlei Silva and Chuck Liddell have both lost their belts.

It's On!!!

According to a report from today's Stephen Quadros Show, Rampage Jackson and Dan Henderson will fight for the light-heavyweight title at UFC 75.

Only the UFC belt will be on the line, so if Hendo beats Jackson, he'll be leaving the building with three championship belts. Pimp.

My guess is that Dana and the brothers Fertitta are still figuring what to do with Pride and aren't quite ready to propagate the lineage of Pride championships.

No Unification at UFC 75

Well, I don’t have a dog for you to kick, but this is just as bad.

UFC president Dana White said last week during a conference call that the Quinton “Rampage” Jackson-Dan Henderson fight at UFC 75 will not unify the Pride and UFC light-heavyweight belts, The Orange County Register’s Carlos Arias has reported.

“No. What we’re doing with that thing is we’re respecting both (the UFC and Pide) titles. The UFC title is the UFC champion and we’re respecting Dan as the Pride champion. Quinton will walk out with his belt if Dan wins and vice versa,” White said.

Wait, wait, wait, wait. So will the fight only be three rounds? Will the belts ever be unified or will we have multiple champions? Will there be top contenders for each light-heavyweight belt? Will henderson ever be given the chance to unify middleweight belts, as well? What is this?!?!?

I can understand Dana’s logic for “respecting” the two belts. Jackson and Henderson each scored big-time knockouts to capture light-heavyweight gold, and they deserve their due respect. But will the fans really respect a belt worn by a champion who was just beaten?

Overall, I think this situation works out better for Henderson than it does for Jackson and the UFC. If Henderson were to lose his belt to Jackson, he’d still hold the Pride middleweight belt. Not too shabby.

Jackson, on the other hand, just beat the immensely popular, long-time LHW champ Charles David Liddell, so losing the belt after his first title defense to a glorified middleweight could be tough pill to swallow for the UFC light-heavyweight division. Plus, plenty of UFC fans have virtually no idea who Dan Henderson even is and may find themselves baffled if the virtually unknown Henderson were to hold three belts at once.

All I know is that if Dana White plans on having more non-title fights with champions, someone better tell Takanori Gomi it’s safe to come over to the UFC.

Morning Droppings

- Despite rumors about a possible Michael Bisping-Ken Shamrock fight at UFC 75, Bisping is still scheduled to face Matt Hamill, his original rumored opponent.

- In a CBS Sportsline interview, UFC lightweight Jens Pulver has confirmed reports that he’s interested in dropping back down to 145 pounds and fighting for the WEC.

- It looks like the Joey Villasenor-Ninja Rua June 22 Strikeforce/EliteXC fight is back on. The CSAC said last night that the medical issues surrounding Rua were "likely" resolved.

- The International Fight League World Team Championship, scheduled for September 20, has be moved from The Forum in L.A. to the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, FL.

- On Tagg Radio yesterday, Frank Trigg said that, according to Hayato Sakurai's trainer, Sakurai hasn't been contacted about this reported - and highly anticipated - fight with Diego Sanchez. Does this mean the fight is off? Was it ever really on? We'll see.

- I refuse to talk about Kimbo Slice until he wins an MMA fight (legitimately).

- Nikkan Sports is reporting that the "newborn" PRIDE will hold its first new event on August 18 at Saitama Super Arena. The theme of the show will be a “Japanese all-star” presentation, centered around Hidehiko Yoshida. No one reports baseless rumor like the Japanese media, so I'll believe this when I see it.

- Pride middleweight and light heavyweight champion Dan Henderson said that the UFC's $20,000 offer to Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou "was an insult."