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Former UFC heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia (23-3 MMA, 8-3 UFC) and former PRIDE heavyweight champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (30-4-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC) will meet at UFC 81 — for a five-round championship fight that earns the winner the UFC’s interim (not “vacant”) heavyweight title.

The announcement was made during Saturday’s UFC 79 pay-per-view broadcast. MMAjunkie.com first mentioned the rumored bout earlier this month.

UFC 81 takes place Feb. 2 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas. With the Sylvia-Nogueira booking now official, a heavyweight bout between former UFC heavyweight champ Frank Mir and UFC newcomer (and former WWE performer) Brock Lesnar has been bumped to co-main-event status.

The fact that the Sylvia-Nogueira fight is now for an interim title, rather than an interim belt, is surprising. Because current UFC heavyweight champion Randy Couture has resigned from the organization and recently stated that he won’t fight again until his UFC contract expires, many fans expected the 44-year-old UFC hall-of-famer to be stripped of the title.

Perhaps UFC officials expect Couture to have a change of heart. Or more likely, they want to stick by their position that Couture can’t walk away from the contract — even with the expiration date — until he fulfills the terms of the deal, which means fighting for the UFC again.

Couture resigned from the UFC in October over what he perceived to be a lack of respect by the organization. He also cited issues with his pay and the organization’s inability to sign then-free agent (and top-ranked heavyweight) Fedor Emelianenko as a reason for the departure. He claims his fight contract expires in July and that his employment contract expires in October.

Sylvia, who won the heavyweight title at UFC 41 and regained it at UFC 59, bounced back from a UFC 68 title loss to Couture with a unanimous-decision victory over Brandon Vera in October at UFC 77. Nogueira made his UFC debut back in July at UFC 73 with a unanimous-decision victory over Heath Herring.

Although former WWE performer and NCAA Division 1 national wrestling champion Brock Lesnar has been prominently displayed in UFC 81 marketing materials, it appears the UFC has officially bumped another heavyweight fight into the night’s main event.

Former UFC heavyweight champ Tim Sylvia and former PRIDE champ Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, who fight next month for the UFC’s interim heavyweight title, have been slotted for UFC 81’s main event, according to UFC.com.

UFC 81 takes place Feb. 2 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas and airs live on pay-per-view.

Lesnar, a highly sought-after free agent who inked a deal with the UFC in October, is set to face former champ Frank Mir at UFC 81. The two heavyweights have been featured prominently in recent advertisements for the event — even after the Nogueira-Sylvia fight was made official. However, the Lesnar-Mir fight has been bumped from the top spot on UFC 81’s events page for the first time.

Sylvia (23-3 MMA, 8-3 UFC) , who won the heavyweight title at UFC 41 and regained it at UFC 59, bounced back from a UFC 68 title loss to Couture with a unanimous-decision victory over Brandon Vera in October at UFC 77. Nogueira (30-4-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC), a longtime PRIDE fighter, made his UFC debut back in July at UFC 73 with a unanimous-decision victory over Heath Herring.

Current heavyweight champ Randy Couture was originally offered the top spot at UFC 81, but the UFC hall-of-famer is currently on the outs with UFC management after what he perceives to be a lack of respect, as well as issues over his pay and the UFC’s inability to sign top heavyweight free agent Fedor Emelianenko — a competitor the 44-year-old desperately wants to fight before retiring from the sport.

UFC 81, which takes place the night before the SuperBowl, features other bouts such as Ricardo Almeida vs. Alan Belcher, Jeremy Horn vs. Nate Marquardt, and Tyson Griffin vs. Gleison Tibau.

Former WWE superstar and relative MMA newcomer Brock Lesnar (1-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC) is confident as he prepares for his highly anticipated octagon debut against former UFC heavyweight champ Frank Mir (10-3 MMA, 8-3 UFC) at UFC 81. Lesnar discussed his preparation with the crew of TAGG Radio (www.taggradio.com) on Wednesday.

“I’m very excited,” Lesnar said. “Frank is more than a credible opponent for me, and it’s a true test for me. It’s a make-or-break opportunity for me to bust into the MMA world.“

The Lesnar-Mir fight is set for UFC 81, which takes place Feb. 2 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas. The bout appears on the televised main card of the pay-per-view event.

Lesnar, a former high school and collegiate wrestling stand-out, said he would not hesitate to go to the mat with Mir, a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt.

“I’m not afraid to take this fight to the ground,” Lesnar said. “The key for me is to be able to control his hips on the ground… and in the meantime put as much leather on his face as possible.“

In just his second professional MMA fight, Lesnar recognizes that Mir will have the edge in overall cage experience, but he doesn’t see many other factors in Mir’s favor.

“I don’t think Frank is going to be able to overpower me,” Lesnar said. “If he does get his hands on me, I don’t think he’s going to be able to finish it. And I’m very confident in my stand-up game… I plan to be in his face the whole time and break him. I’m going to push the pace of this fight to a limit he’s not going to be able to hang with. I do believe that.“

Lesnar has been training at the Minnesota Mixed Martial Arts Academy, the home gym of former UFC lightweight champion Sean Sherk. Lesnar also credited Shooto veteran Erik Paulson for being the training partner most able to emulate the style of Mir in sparring sessions.

And while Lesnar admitted to the importance of this fight for his budding career, saying that he has “all to gain and everything to lose,” he’s not focused on the fact that he’s actually considered a small favorite to defeat a former champ so early in his career.

“I don’t have any added pressure,” Lesnar said. “I’ve got one plan, and that’s to go out and perform to the best of my capabilities and to win this fight.“

We have learned that UFC and TNA Wrestling have reached a deal regarding promotion for the UFC's February 2nd show featuring Brock Lesnar vs. Frank Mir.

Sources are saying that there will be heavy advertising of the next UFC during the TNA shows over the next two weeks. The TNA shows will also hype packages to build up the match.

Next week's TNA iMPACT! will include a Brock Lesnar training package, as well as a Kurt Angle interview, where he breaks down the Lesnar vs. Mir match.

I am praying to god that this gets shown on Bravo over here. I need to see Brock Lesnar make his debut! He was a f'ing powerhouse in WWE, but that was fake. Time to see what he's really made of!

Well Sentanta just signed a deal to show all UFC events in 2008 and 2009 so not sure when that starts.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship® (UFC) organisation and Setanta Sports have announced a multi-year deal to make Setanta Sports 1 the exclusive home for all of the UFC’s big UK and US fights plus all other UFC programming, in Britain and Ireland.

The deal will see Setanta Sports broadcasting all the UFC UK fights in 2008 and 2009 and later in July 2008 all other cards will be available exclusively live on Setanta. As such, Setanta subscribers in 2008 will be able to see at least four UK live events and after July, all other US live events.

UFC fans should note that all the UFC supercards will NOT be available on a pay-per-view basis, but only to Setanta Sports subscribers at just £9.99 a month, reinforcing Setanta’s position as premium sports broadcasters offering great value to sports fans.

For more information on UFC, visit our dedicated microsite here.

Frank Mir Knows He Must Finish Lesnar Early Or Lose

If you haven't heard, Brock Lesnar makes his UFC debut Saturday night at UFC 81: BREAKING POINT. Both men have their strengths in a fight that analysts are calling "too close to call".

Just days before the big showdown, Frank Mir spoke to MMAWeekly and gave some insight as to his strategy and what he must do to win:

“… in this fight it looks like I’m going to be able to use a lot of half guard and closed guard maneuvers, because that’s his style. And no matter what training he’s done, even if he tries to throw punches and back up to use his wrestling to counter my takedowns, eventually he’s going to take me down…. Definitely a finish cause that’s the only way I’m going to win. I’m not going to out-wrestle Lesnar for 15 minutes and put him on his back and hold him down. So for me to win I either have to take his arm or neck, or knock him upside his head.”

Anbody catch this?
http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/fightscience/

The analyze the force that the MMA fighters have in their punches and kicks as compared to boxers - the MMA guys blow the other types out. Definitely check it out if you can.