UFC Confirms Big April Show In Manchester, England

SATURDAY, APRIL 21, 2007 LIVE FROM MANCHESTER’S MEN ARENA

Las Vegas, NV �" The Ultimate Fighting Championship® (UFC®) organization today announced its long-awaited return to Great Britain this spring when the world’s greatest mixed martial artists throw down at Manchester's MEN Arena Saturday, April 21.

The Manchester event will be the first UFC event in the United Kingdom since 2002.

Gonzaga Confirms Bout Against Mirko CroCop For UFC 70

Fighter faces Ultimate challenge

By JASON REMILLARD
jremillard@repub.com

LUDLOW - From the outside, the little storefront on East Street that houses the Marco Alvan Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Academy looks like any other martial arts school.

Inside, however, Alvan is helping his top protg and childhood friend from Brazil train for the biggest fight of his Ultimate Fighting Championship career.

Gabriel "Napao" Gonzaga, who moved to Ludlow last summer from Rio de Janeiro, is 3-0 on the UFC's pay-per-view events and holds a 7-1 overall mixed martial arts record.

That recent string of success has led to Gonzaga, 27, taking on his toughest challenge to date. On April 21 in Manchester, England, he will face one of the most feared fighters in the world - Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic - in the main event of "UFC 70."

About time we get an overseas fight. How big is the UFC/MMA over in Europe? Gaining big popularity here. Been a big fan since the beginning of UFC

ULTIMATE FIGHTING CHAMPIONSHIP® ANNOUNCES UK FIGHT CARD

UFC 70: NATIONS COLLIDE

MIRKO “CRO COP” vs. GABRIEL GONZAGA
MICHAEL BISPING vs. ELVIS SINOSIC
ANDREI ARLOVSKI vs. FABRICIO WERDUM
FORREST GRIFFIN vs. LYOTO MACHIDA

LIVE FROM MEN ARENA SATURDAY, APRIL 21

Tickets on Sale Now

The Ultimate Fighting Championship® (UFC®) organization today announced to the world it will stage UFC 70: NATIONS COLLIDE - the largest MMA event ever seen in the United Kingdom - at Manchester's MEN Arena Saturday, April 21, 2007.

Headlining UFC 70 is Croatian superstar Mirko “Cro Cop” vs. Gabriel Gonzaga. The main card also features Belaruse heavyweight Andrei Arlovski vs. Fabricio Werdum and Forrest Griffin vs. Lyoto Machida. The event will also mark the homecoming for Britain’s own Michael Bisping, the winner of the most recent season of the hit reality show, The Ultimate Fighter® 3 which airs on Spike TV in the US and on Bravo in the UK.

The Manchester show is the first of a series of high-profile events to hit Britain this year, following the announcement that the UFC now has a fully functioning London-based office. The UFC is also looking at expansions through Europe with a number of large-scale live events which will be screened live in the UK on Setanta pay per view.

“Manchester is the home of sporting legends, so what better place to launch the UFC in the UK,” said Dana White, UFC President. “The city always appreciates a great sporting event and we know that is exactly what UFC 70 will give them.”

Tickets for UFC 70: NATIONS COLLIDE went on sale today at 10:00am GMT and already the event is half-sold with 5,000 tickets purchased. Ticket prices start at £25.00 and are available through MEN Arena Box Office or by calling (011) 0870 190 8000. Tickets are also available online at www.men-arena.com or www.Ticketmaster.co.uk.

UFC 70: NATIONS COLLIDE will be screened live on Setanta PPV1 (Sky channel 481) at 8:00pm GMT on Saturday, April 21, available via remote control through Sky Box Office or by calling 08708 500 005.

For more information about UFC 70, or current UFC fight news, visit www.ufc.com or uk.ufc.com.

Anyone know if it will be on telly?

Never really heard of UFC before, but it has been advertised a lot recently in the UK. There is some dude from England in it as well.

Anyone know if it will be on telly?

Yep its been announced it will be on Sky Box Office...usually its Bravo tho

Hardly suprising

Yeah usually its a day after the ppv but seeing as its UK they are giving the UK'ers a chance to see it live instead of time delayed...

There will even be less time delay if i go see it in Manchester!

Yep its been announced it will be on Sky Box Office...usually its Bravo tho

Just heard a rumor that the deal to air UFC 70 on "HBO" might have fallen through and it will air instead on "Spike".

In the U.S. Spike airs The Ultimate Fighter (Reality show), UFC Fight Night, UFC Unleashed, and UFC Ultimate Knockouts. The numbered UFC's (Example. UFC 69) air on PPV (Pay Per View) and cost $39.99 per event, UFC 70 was going to air on HBO a premium channel that charges a monthly fee. Where as Spike is included with basic cable.

Yep its been announced it will be on Sky Box Office...usually its Bravo tho

I thought it was gonna be shown on Setanta Sports?

Nice. I just wish Bass Rutten would come to the UFC heheheh.

UFC 70: NATIONS COLLIDE will be screened live on Setanta PPV1 (Sky channel 481) available via remote control through Sky Box Office or Sky Customers Call 08708 500 005; and Virgin Media Customers Call 0845 840 7777.

The UFC returns to the United Kingdom with a vengeance on Saturday, 21 April, and nations will collide in every fight on the card! In the main event, devastating striker Mirko Cro Cop of Croatia will face off against Brazilian powerhouse Gabriel Gonzaga. Great Britain’s Michael “The Count” Bisping will take on Australian sensation Elvis Sinosic in light heavyweight competition. Plus, fights featuring former UFC Heavyweight Champion Andrei “The Pitbull” Arlovski of Belarus, and more. UFC 70: NATIONS COLLIDE is live from M.E.N. Arena, Manchester, U.K. – Saturday, 21 April.

A few tickets remain and can be purchased through Ticketmaster UK & the M.E.N Arena box office.
http://ticketmaster.co.uk

Weigh-ins for Saturday’s “UFC 70: Nations Collide” take place Friday at Bridgewater Hall on Lower Mosely Street (in Manchester, England). Doors open at 12:45 p.m. local time for the event, which is open to the public.

Free tickets to the weigh-ins are available on a first-come, first-served basis. Fans will need to get a a wristband in the foyer of the Bridgewater Hall starting at noon on Friday.

The first fighter is due on the scales at 1:30 p.m.

As of now, UFC.com has no information listed about the possible broadcast of the event via the Web or television.

UFC 70 takes place at the M.E.N. Arena in Manchester on Saturday. It’ll be the first show outside of America in nearly five years. The event airs on Spike TV in America and Canada on a tape-delay basis, and some Canadian fans will also have the option to purchase the live event via pay-per-view.

Breaking from tradition, the event will include a total of 10 bouts — rather than the usual nine — with an international roster of talent. Televised bouts include Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic vs. Gabriel Gonzaga, David Heath vs. Ryoto Machida, Michael Bisping vs. Elvis Sinosic, Andrei Arlovski vs. Fabricio Werdum, and Assuerio Silva vs. Cheick Kongo.

UFCjunkie.com will provide live updates from the event on Saturday afternoon.

In a recent interview with UFCjunkie.com, former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski (10-5 MMA, 8-4 UFC) stated that he wants a title shot as soon as one is offered.

As it turns out, a win against Fabricio Werdum (9-2-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC) on Saturday could mean a chance to reclaim his belt as soon as this fall or winter.

During his yesterday’s conference call with media, UFC president Dana White stated that Arlovski would probably get a title shot if beats PRIDE veteran Werdum at this weekend’s UFC 70 event in Manchester, England.

Arlovski, who defeated Sylvia at UFC 51 before losing two subsequent rematches, would face the winner of UFC heavyweight champion Randy Couture’s match with Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic (or Gabriel Gonzaga if he pulls off the upset this weekend). That fight is rumored to happen at a possible UFC 74 event in August. That would mean Arlovski’s title shot probably wouldn’t happen before November — if he gets by Werdum, of course.

What White didn’t say yesterday is if Werdum would get the same fast track to a title shot if he — not Arlovski — is the winner this weekend.

What also isn’t known is if Arlovski (or Werdum) would have another fight between this weekend and that late-year title fight.

Regardless, the possibilities are intriguing.

During a recent conversation with Performify, our resident MMA handicapper and PRIDE Fighting Championships expert, I discussed a potential title match of Arlovski vs. Filipovic. While I felt Arlovski’s quickness and ability to land a big shot would make him the most likely UFC heavyweight to contend with Cro Cop, Performify wasn’t as optimistic. In fact, if he weren’t such a nice guy, I think he would have laughed at my suggestion.

That conversation actually prompted me to ask Arlovski about Cro Cop and if he’s really as invincible as people think he is.

“Cro Cop has lost like all the best fighters,” Arlovski said. “People say a lot of fighters are unbeatable, and at some point in their career, every fighter seems to lose.”

Couture, of course, would present a whole other concern, seeing how he’s a part-time training partner with Arlovski. Would the two friends and training partners actually fight for a title?

It appears so.

“I know that he’s a great wrestler, and his boxing is good too,” he told us in that interview. “I would need to train even harder at jiu-jitsu, boxing and wrestling for that fight.”

In any manner, the heavyweight division — once a completely underwhelming division of the UFC — has become infused with intriguing matchups. And this weekend’s UFC 70 event will play a vital role in the process.

Not many saw that one coming (Cro Cop included)

[spoiler]That was a deadly knockout, man I feel more sorry for Randy now than I did when he was due to fight CroCop! CroCop looked absolutely devestated![/spoiler]

I know I didnt...I thought just another victim...how wrong was I to underestimate the Brazilian

How wrong was UFC to underestimate him

[spoiler]Yeah I wonder if CroCop will continue in UFC now...he said before he hates the media circus attached to it...[/spoiler]

[spoiler]Can Randy beat Gonzaga tho?...on paper experience might count but who cares about on paper....on paper was a CroCop win and that didnt happen...so who the hell knows!!![/spoiler]