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.

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.

Dana White: Angle Wouldn't Stand a Chance

At a post-UFC 72 press conference, Dana White confirmed that he and Olympic/professional wrestler Kurt Angle are again discussing a possible MMA debut with the UFC for the former gold medalist.

Although White said he harbors no bad feelings and truly does "respect" Angle, he feels that Angle, at 39 years of age, wouldn’t stand a chance if he were to jump right into the octagon.

"I think he needs to work on his MMA. He’ll get destroyed by any of these guys. He’s a nice guy… I like him, but I’ll tell it like it is. I think he’s going to get destroyed if he comes in and fights with the UFC. Because he’s a gold medal wrestler, I respect him for that, but… you just don’t jump from the WWE to MMA."

White also said that Angle refused a UFC contract that would pay Angle to spend a year training with UFC heavyweight champ Randy Couture and others UFC fighters.

I realize that a 39-year-old pro wrestler with no MMA experience and a busted neck is little more than hype, so I'm kind of ashamed for even posting this drivel.

Morning Droppings

- The California State Athletic Commission released details yesterday that the legendary Royce Gracie tested positive for such a copious amount of the anabolic steroid nandrolone, that the testing lab couldn't even register it. I don't like hearing news like this.

- Ken "The World's Most Ridiculous Goatee" Shamrock has confirmed that he’s in negotiations with the UFC for a return to the Octagon, but made no mention of who his next opponent will be. As for Shamrock, Shamrock explained, "That time will come when fans don’t want to watch me any longer and my body can't get ready to be at the top level." Check your watch, Ken.

- Now that Zuffa owners Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta have completed their purchase of Pride Fighting Championships, UFC president Dana White is reportedly toying with the idea of dissolving Pride and bringing many of its fighters into the UFC. "There's a lot of different things we could do right now. That is definitely one of the possibilities," White explained. I 'm not sure how I feel about this, so I reserve judgement until more facts are available.

- "Ruthless" Robbie Lawler's recently separated shoulder has pushed back ICON Sport's June 30 fight card to Sept. 15. Lawler, who became 185-lb. ICON champ after knocking out Frank Trigg in March, was injured while training and will be sidelined four to six weeks.

UFC 72 Final Shots

The Good:

- Randy Couture looked cool with the shaved head.

- Ed Herman looked strong.

- Tyson Griffin and Clay Guida continue to impress.

- Marcus Davis scored another viscious KO.

- I split the cost of the fight with my friend, so it only cost me $20.

The Bad:

- I just wasted $20.

- Zero title fights.

- No big announcement from Dana White.

- Bruce Buffer is still the announcer.

- Clay Guida was robbed.

- The main event was a non-entity.

- Forrest Griffin clearly didn't give a damn about this fight.

- Tuesday's Fight Night 10 was markedly better.

UFC 72: Rich "Ace" Franklin - Yushin Okami

I like Rich. He hits hard, Randy says his ground game is "very good, and he has a pissed off look when he walks into the cage. It's even OK that he insists in wearing pink shorts all the time.

But still, one had to wonder how the former middleweight champ would fare against a bigger, possibly stronger opponent in Yushin Okami.

Rounds 1 was uneventful for the most part uneventful. Rich landed a handful of solid hooks and kicks; Okami mounted virtually no offense. Round 2 gave us a little something worth paying for. Franklin let the hands fly against the still gun-shy Okami.

In the final round, Okami scored a takedown and nearly mounted Franklin, whom we've never seen on his back in the octagon. Okami came close to securing a guillotine and then a kimura, but Franklin managed to pop free. The final bell sounded, and Franklin was awarded both the unanimous decision win and a shot at the middleweight title.

Final Results:

- Rich Franklin defeats Yushin Okami via unanimous decision
- Forrest Griffin defeats Hector Ramirez via unanimous decision
- Jason MacDonald defeats Rory Singer via TKO (strikes) - Round 2, 3:18
- Tyson Griffin defeats Clay Guida via bullshit split decision
- Ed Herman defeats Scott Smith via submission (rear naked choke) - Round 2, 2:25
- Marcus Davis defeats Jason Tan via KO - Round 1, 1:15
- Eddie Sanchez def. Colin Robinson via TKO (strikes) - Round 2, 0:32
- Dustin Hazelett def. Steve Lynch via submission (D’Arce choke) - Round 1, 2:50

UFC 72: Forrest Griffin - Hector Ramirez

Forrest Griffin and Hector Ramirez were up next. Forrest came out to that bad-ass music from The Departed, which brought a smile to the Kodiak's face.

Early in the first round, Ramirez landed a solid shot but spent the rest of the round plodding ahead (kind of) toward the elusive Griffin, whose few strikes did little damage to Ramirez. In rounds 2 and 3, however, Griffin out-punched and -kicked Ramirez (sort of), earning a lackluster unanimous decision.

Griffin didn't show me much, and Ramirez showed me nothing. During the post-fight interview, Griffin babbled something about an injury and not training hard for this fight, and how he was sorry that Ramirez had to fight a guy who was running away the whole time.

UFC 72: Rory Singer - Jason "The Athlete" MacDonald

As soon as Rory Singer stepped out to Black Eyed Peas blaring throughout the arena, I knew not to expect much from him against Jason “The Athlete” MacDonald. And I was right.

MacDonald won Round 1 decidedly and found himself in control once again in Round 2, when Singer found himself being showered by elbows from The Athlete. Yves Levigne (great name) stepped in, awarding MacDonald the TKO victory.

UFC 72: Clay "The Carpenter" Guida - Tyson Griffin

Up next was the fight I’d been most looking forward to: Clay “The Carpenter” Guida vs. Tyson Griffin. Tyson came out to “Eye of the Tiger,” a blue chip fight song for all eternity.

Guida and Tyson are both fierce ground fighters, both are extremely tough to take down, and both throw fierce punching combinations as soon as they can. Round 1 was outstanding and belonged to Griffin.

Round 2 was more of the same, this time with Guida getting the better of the Randy Couture-backed Griffin.

The final round slowed a bit, with Guida scoring a takedown, maintaining dominant position for the last minute and a half and landing a handful of hard shots in the closing seconds. Joe Rogan, Eddie Bravo, Northern Ireland, and I all believed that Guida won the fight by taking the third round.

But what do we know.

Somehow, Griffin got the split decision. The Irish crowd, which had really been into this fight, reacted to the decision with a wave of boo’s. For once, I actually agreed with the booing.

Despite consecutive losses to Din Thomas and Tyson Griffin, Guida earned legions of fight fans with his heart, his relentless style in the cage, and with looks that would make him a very popular man in prison.

UFC 72: Ed "Short Fuse" Herman - Scott "Hands of Steel" Smith

I just got back from watching UFC 72: Victory at my buddy's place. Eh.

Scott “Hands of Steel” and Ed “Short Fuse” Herman kicked of the broadcast. Smith came out to Ozzy, Herman to Phil Collins. This is when I decided that today would be the first time I’d be rooting for Herman.

Within seconds of the opening bell, Herman took Smith down and bullied the California fighter with a variety pack of ground strikes, the most notable of which was a pair of devastating elbows. Even still, Smith fought back and weathered a very heavy storm. After the first round, and enthused Joe Rogan shouted over the dynamic crowd, “Have you ever seen a boring Scott Smith fight?!?” I guess Joe wasn’t there for Smith-Cote at UFC 67.

In the second round, Herman picked up where he left off, continuing to punish a bloodied Smith At 2:25, Herman sunk in a rear naked choke on Smith, who tapped almost immediately.

Hat’s off to Ed Herman. He dominated Smith in every facet of the fight and once again showed off a slick submission game.