July will be a hot month here in Ga, but for fans of MMA, it will be even hotter. With UFC 86 on July 6th, Affliction-Banned on July 19th, UFC 86 1/2 also on July 19th, and Elite XC on CBS July 26th, it should be a great month of fights.
UFC 86
With Tyson Griffin, Patrick Cote, Josh Koscheck, Forrest Griffin, and Rampage this is a good card. It's not as stacked as UFC 84, but its better than UFC 85.
Rampage has promised to release his "Whoop his ass" strategy on Forrest, that should be interesting, as he has already shown us what it looks like against Liddell.
Patrick Cote gets to show us if he is for real or not, having won his last four fights. Problem is, that may result in him getting a beatdown from Anderson Silva.
Gabriel Gonzaga still hasn't shown the promise he showed against Cro Cop, having dropped two since. He needs to win, and win impressively, to not be labeled a bust.
If you only have $50 to spend on a PPV next month, watch this in a bar. The card you really wanna spend your money on is....................
Affliction:Banned
Ok so most of the fighters on this card come from the UFC. Who cares? To me that just means I don't need to watch a 5 min intro about each fighter im watching to wonder why I should care.
Tim Sylvia vs Fedor is not for the championship of anything. Forget that WAMMA garbage. If they want to make that a championship fight, make up an Affliction belt. What it is, however, is a good indicator of where Fedor's game is right now.
Im looking forward to seeing how Arlovski and Barnett look in their respective fights, as a matchup between these two is what I really want to see.
Today's Must Reads
If Vitor should beat Terry Martin, it is rumored he will get the first crack at Tito Ortiz should he sign with Affliction.
When will promoters realize the majority of fans don't want to see Megadeth, Snoop Dogg, or whoever perform, we just want to see fights?
The biggest X-factors on this show will be the production value and the announce team, which is reported to be Ranallo from Elite XC and none other than Big John McCarthy, who I hope can also referee all the fights.(joke)
This is the card to buy on PPV, if you can only afford one.
UFC 86 1/2
Ok, so it really isn't called this, but that's what it is. Its actually called Fight Night 14.
So we get to see the debut of Anderson Silva at 205. Im very interested to see how he looks, as he could really open the division up.
Brandon Vera also debuts at 205, coming down from heavyweight. Should he get by Reese Andy I hope he stays at 205. The division was already deep to begin with, but its really stacked with both these guys coming in.
Hermes Franca is back in action after his suspension. His last fight was a decision loss to Sean Sherk in the battle of whose steroids worked better. Apparently, it was Sherk's.
This is a good card for free, considering what gets put on PPV these days. If you can't watch it live, set your TIVO.
Elite XC On CBS
Ok so no Fergie on this card. Also, no Gina Carano. Will the ratings plummet?
Overall, this is a solid card, and no matter how the diehard fan may feel about the last debacle, there is a difference between a PPV card and a free one. No matter how bad you think the stoppages were on the first CBS show, for free its worth watching to see if they get it right this time.
The rematch of Lawler and Smith should be good, glad they made it the main event this time.
Antonio Silva is fighting for the heavyweight title against TBA. lol. Hope Butterbean is available.
Jake Shields is on the card against Nick Thompson, should be another good fight.
Shana Baszler is rumored to be on this card, I remember her as the chick with the guitar. I like what I've seen from women's MMA so far, I hope it continues to grow.
Really Random Thoughts
So there are actually two more major events planned that I know of in July. Cage Rage and Dream are holding events.
I didn't mention Cage Rage because it is headlined by Phil Baroni, and in what country is he a headliner after losing his last three fights by TKO? Oh wait, in England.
Dream 5 looks like a good card. Denis Kang, Cro Cop, and the Kid are on this card, so its worth watching. I don't have HDnet though, so I won't be able to see this one.
So to sum up my month on the 6th I'll be at Hooters watching UFC 86, on the 19th I'll be ordering Affliction at my house and recording Fight Night 14 on TIVO, the 21st I will be searching for YouTube videos of the Dream fights, and the 26th I will be watching Elite XC on CBS.
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2 months ago
Silva is fighting Kharitonov for the Elite belt. Russian Top Team has beat Rizzo, Schilt and Werdum.
from 2 months ago
ok so a background check on Kharitonov says that he has the credentials to beat Fergie as well as Silva. I'm not gonna lie and say im terribly excited about this fight, as ive never seen Kharitonov and Silva hasn't impressed me that much when I have seen him. The matchup I want to see is Fergie vs Rogers, and then Rogers fighting whoever holds the belt.
from 2 months ago
The Silva vs. Kharitonov fight just got scratched. Not gonna happen according to Shaw. No immediate plan for Kimbo vs. Rogers but may happen in the next twelve months. Good news, talk is that Gary Shaw may be stepping down from elite XC.
from 2 months ago
Gary Shaw stepping down would be the greatest thing to happen to MMA.
2 months ago
Ryan, you just made my day
2 months ago
And mine.
2 months ago
You should also have mentioned that Dream 5 is the end of the lightweight grand prix. Should be good. There's Aoki vs Uno and winner of that fight faces winner of Alvarez vs Kawajiri that same night in the final. I'm hoping for Aoki to pull off some more impressive submissions and legitimize himself as the #2 lightweight in the world. I really hope he joins the UFC someday. There'd be so many great fights for him. The battle of insane flexibility vs Penn would be great. He just needs to continue working on his stand up. Really the Dream 5 card seems better than Elite XC's card and UFC 86 1/2. Although I must admit I'm really interested to say Anderson at 205 and I think the Edgar/Franca fight is a great stylistic matchup.
And UFC 86 definitely seems to be a much better card than 85. And it's really hard to live up to how great a card UFC 84 was. UFC 87 might do it if they add 2 more good fights to the main card though.
2 months ago
Good article Bryan . . . Megadeth is really going to be at the Affliction Card?
I think you have summed up a good strategy on watching these fights.
Even if Elite XC had all their big dogs their ratings would plummit (thinking about events on tv in historical terms). I think their will be a huge decline in the ratings, as their is considerable less hype.
from 2 months ago
I can't say ill be all too broke up about the ratings decline because I have showtime anyways. lol.
2 months ago
The annual writers ufc pick em is up http://bleacherreport.com/articles/33155-1st-annual-writers-competition-ufc-86-jackson-vs-griffin
2 months ago
Ready for this, Silva is going to face.....Justin Eilers for the belt. Thanks Gary Shaw for that great match-up! That belt really means something.
from 2 months ago
I must say though Ryan, Elite XC has done a lot considering they have very little talent on their roster. Silva vs Eilers should not be for the championship of anything though. These guys need a legit heavy, and asap.
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