MMA Coverage

Lightweight Tyson Griffin is known for putting on a show. His bouts against Clay Guida at UFC 73 and Frankie Edgar at UFC 67 were both judged fight of the night.Just 23, Griffin boasts a mixed martial arts record of 9-1 with five TKOs and three submissions. He is explosive and exciting to watch.

The Edgar fight was his only loss. He beat Guida on a close split decision.

“Definitely I’m happy with the way my career’s progressing,” Griffin said prior to his UFC 76 showdown Saturday night against unbeaten Brazilian Thiago Tavares. “Those were actually my only two fights that have gone the distance, so I’m really happy they came out receiving high accolades and getting a lot of credit for it.”

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Keith Jardine hadn’t heard of Houston Alexander. So when Alexander, who was making his Ultimate Fighting Championship debut, pummeled “The Dean of Mean” in UFC 71, Jardine thought he may have landed himself on the next undercard.

Instead, Jardine will go from losing a lower-tier bout to the chance to redeem himself against the biggest name in mixed martial arts — Chuck Liddell– in tonight’s featured fight at UFC 76 in Anaheim, Calif.

After that loss, “I didn’t know what was going to happen,” Jardine said. “And honestly, when I got the call I thought, ‘Oh, I am being joked with.’ I thought it was a joke and I didn’t believe it right away.”

Tags: Keith Jardine, Chuck Liddell by MMACoverage
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The Ultimate Fighting Championship makes its only Southern California appearance of the year tonight with a Honda Center card noticeably lacking a title fight, and anchored by a main event that’s expected to be one-sided.

Nevertheless, in UFC 76, the mixed martial arts organization is not skimping on showcasing the depth of its strongest divisions, light-heavyweight and welterweight.

In addition to the main event fight pitting recently deposed light-heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell (20-4) against Keith Jardine (12-4-1), the UFC will unveil one of its latest PRIDE Fighting Championships signees, light-heavyweight Mauricio “Shogun” Rua (16-2) of Brazil, along with a welterweight clash between top title contenders Diego Sanchez (19-1) of San Diego and Jon Fitch (19-2) of San Jose.

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The thump of a right fist to the face may have been the last thing Brandon Cooper heard, but it was quickly followed by a thud and a roar.Falling victim to a roundhouse right hand, the Stephens City man sank flat to the floor, powerless to stop his attacker.

In a boxing ring, the assault would have been over. On the street, someone may have been able to cry for help.

But in this case, the nearest police officer happened to be the man jumping on top of Cooper’s limp body and unloading two more blows.

Tags: UFC by MMACoverage
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Ultimate fighting events could soon be staged in Richmond now that Vancouver has banned the violent sport.

On Thursday, civic politicians in Vancouver voted to cease sanctioning ultimate fighting and mixed martial arts contests until city staff can get a handle on how to manage the fights.

They also requested the provincial government set up a provincial agency to regulate the matches—instead of leaving it up to athletic commissions of cities.

But the Richmond Athletic Commission only regulates professional boxing matches and fighters and their promoters could soon make a beachhead in Richmond at River Rock Casino Resort.

Tags: UFC by MMACoverage
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In a promising sign for the blossoming relationship between Cage Rage and EliteXC, boxing-turned-MMA promoter Gary Shaw attended the Cage Rage 23 weigh-ins.

The fighters seemed to note the significance of the experienced promoter’s presence, as they gathered around and listened in silence while Shaw took the microphone.

Shaw insisted that Cage Rage promoters Andy Geer and Dave O’Donnell would continue organizing their own show and dismissed concerns about his future plans for Cage Rage.

“I think it’s very important that [the event] has the identity of an English brand,” Shaw said. “I think Dave and Andy have done a spectacular job of building the brand here. It’s here to stay.”

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Anaheim Iceman or the Dean of Mean?

Saturday night, we will find out.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship is back in town, at the Honda Center.

Security will be tight – 200 security guards are lined up for the UFC 76: Knockout. That’s twice as many as at a concert or a game. The center only brought in 120 guards to control crazed fans during this year’s Stanley Cup playoffs.

So someone is thinking that the fans might get a little rowdy?

The sport – once illegal in California and other states because of it violence – enjoys a cult-like following, dominated by young men.

Tags: UFC by MMACoverage
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