UFC 79 : Nemesis

[Rappy Veteran]

2 Matches Named So Far:

Matt Serra vs Matt Hughes (Welterweight Championship)

Cheick Kongo vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira

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Do you think thats wrong? I mean Kongo deserves a crack against someone who could lead him to the title.

Edited October 17, 2007 by Rappy

[Zoom7000]

Both UFC 78 and UFC 79 have the same names? :huh:

As for Kongo, well I think they're putting him up against Nogueira so that the winner of that fight could possibly get a title shot. I think it's more about giving the ex-PRIDE fighters a chance, after all they have paid them the big bucks. Whatever happens, Nogueira is gonna have to improve big time to get past Kongo.

[Rappy Veteran]

Both UFC 78 and UFC 79 have the same names? :huh:

As for Kongo, well I think they're putting him up against Nogueira so that the winner of that fight could possibly get a title shot. I think it's more about giving the ex-PRIDE fighters a chance, after all they have paid them the big bucks. Whatever happens, Nogueira is gonna have to improve big time to get past Kongo.

Yeah I know Wikipedia had that down as the name I think it was just an error I will change when announced.

[Rappy Veteran]

[Yorak]

God I hope Serra wins...Hughes is such a cocky tool.

[Christopher]

In all honesty I think it is now Serra who is the cocky and arrogant one.

Just watch one episode of The Ultimate Fighter.

He is truly full of himself because of that one (dont get angry at me here, just my opinion) "flukey" win over St. Pierre.

When he said he is 'on cloud 9', boy did he mean it.

We have seen what used to be the 'coach and friend' Matt Serra become the 'Im the best and somehow managed to get my hands on a title so I dont really care about you losers' Serra.

Dont get me wrong, I really liked Matt Serra when he was a contestant on The Ultimate Fighter.

Hes just taken a huge turn for the worse.

[Zoom7000]

I just wanna see GSP get his rematch and get back at the top after that slip up against Serra.

[Rappy Veteran]

I just wanna see GSP get his rematch and get back at the top after that slip up against Serra.

I thought GSP was very disappointing last time out yeah he had the skills but he just wasn't that great.

[Christopher]

Well you can add Chuck Liddell and Wanderlei Silva to that card.

Took them long enough.

[Zoom7000]

Finally, the card is starting to look better. Far too many events have been hyped around the main event, here we have a potential big 3. Looking forward to this one!

[Googintosh]

Well you can add Chuck Liddell and Wanderlei Silva to that card.

Took them long enough.

Is it just me or does this not have that much appeal? Not because both lost their last two fights; but due to the UFC rule set. I want to see Wanderlei when he's free to knee a downed opponent, stomp and soccer kick.

And come to think of it, in the Vera-Sylvia fight, Vera could have very well finished Sylvia off had knees to a downed opponent been legal.

I wish the "unified" rules would change. I'm tired of watching grainy Rio Heroes videos.

[phantasmorph]

Is it just me or does this not have that much appeal? Not because both lost their last two fights; but due to the UFC rule set. I want to see Wanderlei when he's free to knee a downed opponent, stomp and soccer kick.

And come to think of it, in the Vera-Sylvia fight, Vera could have very well finished Sylvia off had knees to a downed opponent been legal.

I wish the "unified" rules would change. I'm tired of watching grainy Rio Heroes videos.

I'm tired of seeing Chuck, period. I just wish he'd look like he's at least putting some sort of half-assed effort into a fight anymore.

[Rappy Veteran]

Well I am not sure if I am stoked by Chuck vs Wandy because in my opinion Chuck is washed up now after he pwned by Rampage and beaten by Jardine, but they could surprise it is the UFC after all!

[Zoom7000]

Chuck seemed to take defeat to Rampage and loss of the title pretty bad. He was pretty dire against Jardine too. As Dana White said, it seemed as though he had lost his fire. I'm gonna give Chuck 1 last benefit of the doubt, purely based on his record prior to the title loss. However, 2 losses in a row seems to be disaster nowadays in the UFC, 3 defeats would surely mean retirement. I personally wouldn't like to see Chuck go out like that though. Maybe not another title run, but at least some credit! That's what makes a true champion though, the ability to fight back, and so far, Chuck hasn't shown it.

[Googintosh]

I don't know how Liddell's contract is structured. But if he loses for a third time and is near the end of his contract. I can see M-1 throwing more money at him than he's worth. I don't know what parts of Europe where open-weight fights are sanctioned but they could definitely do it in Asia; Liddell vs Fedor. Yes, wishful thinking based on assumptions. :)

[Rappy Veteran]

M-1 I can see being a massive force in the MMA business in about a year or so to come.

[caster316]

I don't know how Liddell's contract is structured. But if he loses for a third time and is near the end of his contract. I can see M-1 throwing more money at him than he's worth. I don't know what parts of Europe where open-weight fights are sanctioned but they could definitely do it in Asia; Liddell vs Fedor. Yes, wishful thinking based on assumptions.

Liddell's much to loyal to the UFC/Dana to do that, I think it's much more likely he would have a go at the UFC heavyweight division.

[Zoom7000]

I think Liddell would do pretty well in the Heavyweight division. Although that's probably because the current pack kinda suck. I'd love to see him own Tim Sylvia, but then anyone owning Sylvia is a good thing! :p

I can just see the lower end of the LHW division making the step up. If Tito doesn't go anywhere fast, he may be next to make the move. It'll be interesting to see if CroCop goes the opposite way.

[Rappy Veteran]

I think we will see either Rashad Evans or Bisping making the step closer to number 1 contender status after their match at UFC 78 but that doesnt mean that Chuck is out the picture I think he can return bigger then ever because I feel the jardine match was a blip.

[Rappy Veteran]

The UFC 79 main event is no more.

UFC welterweight champion and current ?The Ultimate Fighter? coach Matt Serra (9-4 MMA, 6-4 UFC) suffered a herniated disc during a Monday training session and has been forced to pull out of his headline bout with former champ Matt Hughes (41-5 MMA, 15-3 UFC).

The fight was supposed to be the main draw of UFC 79, which takes place Dec. 29 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas.

?This is devastating news because they were so looking forward to fighting each other,? stated UFC President Dana White on UFC.com. ?Unfortunately, injuries happen, and I look forward to Serra recovering quickly and to getting him back into the octagon.?

According to the report, Serra had just finished a routine training session when he was ?gripped with pain and fell to the floor? while demonstrating a move. The 33-year-old New Yorker was rushed to a hospital, where an MRI revealed the herniated disc in his lower back.

There was no word on how long Serra might be out of action.

?This is the hardest thing I?ve ever had to do,? Serra stated. ?I?ve never had a back injury before; I could hardly get off of the MRI table. There is no way I can train through this, and I?m devastated, especially because this was such an important fight. I was looking forward to fighting Matt Hughes. All my training was going phenomenally until Monday. All I can do now is to get better and to fight again as soon as possible.?

Unfortunately, the welterweight division?s title picture ? which was already shut down for the taping and release of ?The Ultimate Fighter: Team Hughes vs. Team Serra? ? will be further delayed.

The division, which is perhaps the deepest in the organization, has been on hold since Serra defeated former champ Georges St. Pierre nearly eight months ago. Soon after winning the belt, Serra was offered a chance to coach opposite Hughes, with whom he has a fairly bitter feud. The championship fight was supposed to cap off the Spike TV reality series.

In fact, St. Pierre, who scored a unanimous-decision over Josh Koscheck in August to earn top-contender?s status, could also be out of action for an extended period of time. White said that St. Pierre won?t fight again until his title shot with the winner of Serra vs. Hughes, and the former champion has already been on the sideline for the past three months.

With the loss of Serra vs. Hughes, and with the short time frame until UFC 79, a main-card bout between former UFC light heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell and former PRIDE title-holder Wanderlei Silva could be bumped up to main-event status for the pay-per-view event. Both fighters are coming off back-to-back losses, but the bout remains one of the most-anticipated in mixed martial arts.

Puts pay to that!

[Christopher]

He wont even be able to show after talking such a big game.

Saw that one coming a mile away.

I bet the people who had already purchased tickets are ****ed.

How could they even be close to compensated after a title shot is removed from the card?

Chuck vs. Silva just isnt enough. I wonder what Dana will (try to?)do to make up for this.

[Zoom7000]

Serra just got a few more months on his title reign. Hughes has his number big time IMO. When they do eventually meet in the Octogon, I think Hughes will have a relatively easy victory with Hughes/GSP 3 coming soon afterwards.

I think Dana needs to put another "decent" match on the card but he'll get away with bumping Liddell/Silva to main event status. Infact, that is probably what he wanted all along.

[Rappy Veteran]

Georges St. Pierre (14-2 MMA, 8-2 UFC) will fill in for injured UFC welterweight champion Matt Serra and fight Matt Hughes (41-5 MMA, 15-3 UFC) for the interim title at UFC 79.

The five-round title fight will headline the Dec. 29 pay-per-view event, which takes place at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas.

The stunning announcement came Saturday evening from UFC.com. Hughes confirmed the fight on his official website, matt-hughes.com.

Additionally, a source close to the UFC today told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) that St. Pierre showed no hesitation in taking the fight on short notice.

We passed along the news from early Friday morning that Serra had suffered a herniated disc. The injury occurred during a workout session earlier this week, prompting an announcement that the fighter would be unavailable to compete at UFC 79. Serra, who won the title by upsetting St. Pierre at UFC 69 in April, coached opposite Hughes on the current sixth season of ?The Ultimate Fighter.? The show was supposed to build up to their title fight.

Serra doesn?t know how long the injury will keep him sidelined.

However, possibly fearing the worst, UFC President Dana White decided to book the interim title fight. Apparently, though, it didn?t come without a few stipulations from Hughes.

?I?ve asked for this to be for an interim title, and if Matt Serra can?t fight in a year, then this would just be the title fight,? Hughes stated on his site. ?But I don?t know if that is going to happen right now. I will keep you all posted.?

Gonna be good!

[Rappy Veteran]

Tonight Peeps!

[Zoom7000]

Can't wait! Big time career breaker for Liddell/Silva. Who can come out on top?

I'd say it's more important for Liddell because Silva has just made the transition from PRIDE. It'll be more easily forgiven should he lose his first in the UFC.

As for Liddell, I think the move to heavyweight beckons should he lose. However, if he wins, he'll definately want to be on the fast track to one more title reign. I wish he does move to HW though. Anyone kicking Sylvia's ass at the moment would be wonderful viewing!