UFC 93: The O2 Dublin (JANUARY 17, 2009)

[UkrainianGuy]

Fight Card
Rich Franklin Vs. Dan Henderson
Mark Coleman Vs. Mauricio Rua
Alan Belcher Vs. Denis Kang
Jeremy Horn Vs. Rousimar Palhares
Marcus Davis Vs. Chris Lytle
Martin Kampmann Vs. Alexandre Barros
Eric Schafer Vs. Antonio Mendes
Tomasz Drwal Vs. Ivan Serati
Tom Egan Vs. John Hathaway



http://93.ufc.com/






The Ultimate Fighting Championship on Wednesday announced that it has sold out its Jan. 17 event at the O2 Arena in Dublin, Ireland. The UFC released a statement saying it had sold more than 6,000 tickets in the opening week of ticket sales for UFC 93, with the full inventory of more than 10,000 tickets sold out less than two weeks later.

“This is our seventh successive sell-out in the British Isles since April of 2007," said UFC UK Division President Marshall Zelaznik. "We now hold records in six of the biggest arenas in all of Europe. We have the most dedicated and passionate fans in sport and we are thrilled to be bringing some of the biggest names in the sport to the Emerald Isle early in the New Year.”

UFC 93 is slated to feature a light heavyweight main event between Rich Franklin and Dan Henderson, as well as another 205-pound feature bout pitting Mark Coleman vs. Mauricio "Shogun" Rua.

[UkrainianGuy]

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[gustavo77]

Looks like a great fight between Franklin and Henderson. I would have liked to seen Franklin attempt to avenge his loss against Machida though, hopefully that will happen soon.

[trykillthis]

Rich needs to get knocked the ****ed out and hang it up..

I second that. Never cared much for his fighting.

[UkrainianGuy]

As Rich Franklin and Dan Henderson get ready for their main event match-up at UFC 93 in Dublin, Ireland, Michael Bisping, who will serve as coach against the winner on the next season of "The Ultimate Fighter" reality show weighed in with his thoughts on the bout and who he believes will win.

Since dropping to the middleweight division in early 2008, Bisping has been a hot prospect to make his way to the top of the weight class and work for a title shot. His best opportunity may come at the end of the ninth season of The Ultimate Fighter, as he will face either Henderson or Franklin.

The popular British fighter says that's exactly the fight he wants.

"I wanted one of those two guys cause their two of the best in the world, and probably No. 2 and 3 in the middleweight division," Bisping told MMAWeekly Radio recently. "So they're the guys I want to fight. There's idiots on the Internet that say I dodge good fighters and this and that, and that kind of annoys me a little bit and that's why I want to fight these guys."

With the Franklin vs. Henderson bout on the horizon and the filming of the show starting soon after the Jan. 17 event, Bisping says that he will be in Dublin for the show and will keep a very watchful eye on the main event.

"I've been watching that fight very closely," he stated. "I think it's a fantastic fight. I think it's definitely got the potential, apart from the fact that it's in January, I'd say Fight of the Year."

So how does Bisping, who competed and won the third season of The Ultimate Fighter, feel this fight between Franklin and Henderson will go?

"Rich Franklin is probably the smarter fighter out of the two. I think he's got better footwork, probably more technically composed fighter. Dan's got great knockout power obviously. They're both fantastic fighters," Bisping commented.

"If I had to pick a winner, I'd probably go out on a limb and say Rich Franklin by decision, to be honest."

Will it be Rich Franklin returning to The Ultimate Fighter house for his second term as coach? Jan. 17 will tell the tale.

[UkrainianGuy]

As UFC Hall of Famer Mark "The Hammer" Coleman readies for his return to the Octagon for the first time since 1999, he plans on leaving for Ireland a little bit earlier than expected to get past the travel woes and will work with a top U.K. team in those final days.

Traveling is nothing new to Coleman who fought for the Pride organization for many years. The former UFC heavyweight champion regularly made trips from his home in Columbus, Ohio, to Japan.

While this trip is a much shorter flight to Dublin, Ireland, the former Ohio State wrestler asked the UFC for a little more time overseas to get ready for the fight.

"For me it's going to be a shorter flight compared to in the past, but they were scheduled to bring me in on the 12th or 13th, which is only four days out and fortunately I asked them if I could get over there a little bit early and they've been great to me," Coleman told MMAWeekly Radio recently. "They've been treating me very good and they had no problem sending me over there a little bit early."

As Coleman prepares for his new life as a fighter in the 205-pound weight class, he will first fly to England before heading to Dublin for a chance to work with a top U.K. team in the final days leading up to the his match-up against Mauricio "Shogun" Rua.

"The Wolfslair team over there in England, they're going to take care of me for the first three days over there," Coleman stated. "I'm going to train with those guys for a couple days and then fly over to Dublin from England."

The team at the Wolfslair has gained quite a bit of notoriety lately beyond just working with middleweight star Michael Bisping. The team also worked with and helped lead Quinton "Rampage" Jackson and Cheick Kongo to victories in their fights at UFC 92 in December.

Coleman worked with his regular team at Hammer House in Columbus for his fight preparation, but the Wolfslair team will round out his final days before he re-enters the Octagon.

Coleman takes on Shogun on Jan. 17 in Dublin, Ireland as part of the co-main event for UFC 93.

[St]

I like Rich, i hope he will win,a very classy guy.

[UkrainianGuy]

Martin Kampmann will be making his welterweight debut against Alexandre Barros at UFC 93 in Dublin, Ireland.

Kampmann had a solid run at middleweight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, but after a loss to Nathan Marquardt back in September, he decided to give welterweight a shot.

“It's something that I considered for a long time, cutting to 170,” explained Kampmann in an interview with MMAWeekly Radio. “I pretty much walk around at 185 and on weight for the weight class. I didn't really cut weight for 185, so I considered dropping to 170. I got a loss, so I thought I'd give it a try.”

“The Hitman” always walked around pretty light at middleweight, but he never saw a reason to drop down a weight class. After all, he was a perfect 4-0 in the Octagon before his loss to Marquardt. There's a famous saying that goes, “If it isn't broke, don't fix it.” Kampmann believed that to be the truth until his recent loss.

“A lot of people were telling me to drop down to 170 before the loss, but I was like, don't fix what isn't broken,” he said. “I was doing good. I think I could still do good at 185, but we'll try this out and hopefully I'll be even better at 170.”

Some fighters won't even look at the video of a loss, but the Danish fighter did view his first loss in the UFC. That doesn't mean he wants to watch it repeatedly though. “I've seen it, but I don't like watching it to be honest with you. I made a mistake and I shouldn't have been caught the way I did, but I got a little shaky legs and he hurt me. He was really good at keeping the pressure on me once I got hurt. He never let me back in the fight and I give him credit for that. I shouldn't of have been hurt in the first place.”

Since Kampmann had never had to drop any weight before, he felt like he should do a test cut. However, after training as rigorously as he does, he found that the weight actually comes off pretty easy for him.

“I did a test cut for 170,” said the 26-year-old fighter. “I'm actually really light right now from the training. I don't think it will be any problem cutting to 175.”

It's come full circle for Kampmann, as he was supposed to fight in the UFC's first show in Belfast, Northern Ireland, before succumbing to his debilitating knee injury. A year and a half later, the Dane will finally be able to come back to take care of some business he couldn't complete in June of 2007.

His opponent is a relative unknown fighter in Alexandre Barros, however Barros is not a newcomer to the sport. Barros is a Marco Ruas trained fighter and has been fighting for 10 years professionally. He has fought some tough fighters in his time like Matt Hughes, Dave Strasser, and Aaron Riley.

Unfortunately for Kampmann, he hasn't had the opportunity to view much footage on his opponent, which doesn't make him as comfortable as he'd like to be. “I don't know much, but he's an experienced guy. He fought for a long time. He's fought bare knuckle Vale Tudo back in the '90s before I knew what MMA was. I got to give him credit. I'm sure he's a dangerous opponent. From the little footage I got of him, I can tell he's a southpaw. I definitely prefer having some more footage on the guy. It'd be a lot more comfortable, but that's how it's going to be. I can deal with this, too.”

[St]

Eric Schafer is going to be a great fight,and a great guy.

[turboturist]

I like Rich, i hope he will win,a very classy guy.

Same here but I don't think he will get past Hendo.

[Shogun]

Lookin forward to hopefully seeing the old shogun back in the cage and healthy, and if thats the case then colemans in deeeeeeep shit

[UkrainianGuy]

Eleven years into a fighting career, Dan Henderson takes improvement in bits and pieces.



“It’s just a matter of who’s in front of me and what my game plan is, and that’s kind of the things I focus on for those few months,” Henderson tells MMAWeekly.com. “There’s so many things in MMA that need improving that it’s hard to get to everything at once, so I think it’s good to take one fight by one fight and improve on certain skills.”



His impending battle with Rich Franklin at UFC 93 has been a fan dream ever since the two were champions in rival organizations. No title is at stake, however, and both fighters have options at middleweight or light heavyweight. It’s just another tough fight on a road the 38-year-old former Olympian sees himself walking for another two years, give or take.



“I guess just whatever challenge is set in front of me,” says Henderson on what keeps him going. “I’m motivated, and I’m pretty excited about this fight.”



He says the two were originally scheduled to meet in mid-2008, though earlier, a source put it at UFC 88.



“There was nothing ever signed,” says Henderson. “There was an offer that was out there, and for whatever reason, he had just got done fighting, and he didn’t want to step in on short notice. Both of us would have been on short notice. I think this is a little bit better, the way it worked out. The fans get a little bit more to look forward to.”



In a recent training session, Henderson is working on getting around the beanpole that is middleweight Cyrille Diabate. He catches kicks and returns fire with his big right hand before slipping to Diabate’s right side, locking in a clinch. The French fighter keeps him honest with a lot of kicks to the inside leg and body, much like Franklin did in his last fight against Matt Hamill.



At the other side his Team Quest gym in Temecula, Calif., “The Ultimate Fighter” season 8 alum Krzysztof Soszynski barks orders and leads a group of fighters through conditioning drills. Pride and UFC vet Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou works the clinch alongside up-and-comer Lew Polley.



Henderson sees a technical battle ahead of him on Jan. 17. Though he’s sometimes been known to swing wilder than many of his original Team Quest teammates, Henderson can also play a conservative, methodical game that grinds out opponents. His wrestling base clearly stands out as an advantage, but he’s got to get close before that becomes a factor. Franklin has often punished those who stay too long at range.



“He seems to be right up there,” says Henderson of Franklin’s stand-up abilities. “He can throw some good straight punches, and he’s got some good looping overhands and hooks too. He looks like he’s got some power; he’s knocked some guys out. He’s obviously not as skilled on his feet as Anderson Silva, but I think he’s right up there, very dangerous on his feet.”



Henderson doesn’t give much weight to his advantage on the mat.



“He’s not going to outwrestle me, but this isn’t a wrestling match,” he explains. “It’s a matter of putting everything together. It’s a matter of putting your strikes in with your wrestling and using one to set up the other.”



Like Franklin, he has been displaced by Silva at middleweight. As the fight was signed, the two decided to face each other at light heavyweight, somewhat of a relief for the former Pride champion. In his earlier career, he fought many bigger men, and never felt small doing it.



“I don’t like to cut weight if I don’t have to,” says Henderson. “I’ve never felt that – and maybe it’s just a mental thing – but I’ve never felt like I’m the smaller guy out there when I’m fighting. I’m out there trying to beat him up just the same and I’ve never felt weak and that I couldn’t do what I wanted to do with my opponents, no matter how big they were.”



But even with the extra pounds, he knows the path to a title shot at 205 isn’t any clearer.



“I think it’s probably even more mucked up than ever,” Henderson says. “Forrest beat Quinton, and Rashad beat Forrest, and Quinton just beat Wanderlei. There’s a ton of fights out there before you even get to a title fight. It’s not one guy that beat a bunch of other guys and is sitting in the number two spot because he lost, (and you) beat him and get a title shot. That’s not the way it is now.”



This fight, however, lays the groundwork for a championship bout. Because of that, it’s Henderson’s number one priority.



“I need to beat Rich Franklin, then who knows,” he says. “I’ve got a couple good years left in me, so hopefully I’ll get a title fight before then.”



Henderson’s road could be long or short on Jan. 17, but he plans on seeing it to the end.



“There’s a good chance of it being a decision,” he predicts. “I think I’ve got a better chance of stopping him – from track records, I’m talking about – than he does of stopping me. Cause he’s not going to submit me, and I’m not gonna get knocked out.”

[UkrainianGuy]

When you think of potentially great fights, Marcus Davis against Chris Lytle has to be an exciting thought. Just like Davis, Lytle has been involved in a number of great fights, including his previous contest against Paul Taylor. That fight, as exciting as it was, may be an afterthought after he and Davis mix it up at UFC 93.

The interesting aspect of this fight is that both fighters have called the other out. But it's not the fact that they don't like each other. In fact, it's quite the opposite. They get along fine and have an extreme respect for each other. They both just know that this is just one of those fights that will have fans excited from start to finish.

Lytle is very excited about the prospect of getting in the cage with this type of fight on his hands. “This is the kind of fight I've been looking for, the kind of fight I like right now,” said Lytle in a recent interview with MMAWeekly.com. “So the second they gave me the opportunity to do it, I jumped all over it.”

The welterweight division has its share of large fighters like Georges St. Pierre, Thiago Alves, and Josh Koscheck. Weight is never an issue for, Lytle who doesn't lose an extreme amount of weight to make the 170-pound limit.

“It's usually pretty easy for me,” explained the Indiana native. “I'm not one of these guys who are losing 30 pounds. I usually lose around 15 to 16 pounds. Usually when I get there, I'm 10 pounds over, so that's just a matter of working out at the right times and limiting my water intake and then find a place to sweat out the last few pounds at the very end. It's not that big of a deal for me.”

One thing that is a big deal to Lytle is to make sure he keeps on improving himself. To do that, he likes to reflect back on all of his fights to determine his strengths and weaknesses. He feels it gives him more insight on areas that he knows he should work on. “I usually like to go back and check out exactly what happened. I watch the fight. I saw that there were some good things and some bad things that happened in that fight... I learned a lot more from my losses, then my wins, but you can take something from every fight.”

Davis and Lytle have similar styles in the fact that they both have excellent boxing skills, good wrestling, and a solid ground game. Because of those facts, this fight has all the makings of being a possible fight of the year candidate. “We kind of have very similar backgrounds in boxing and I think we have a lot in common. There's definitely a mutual respect there. It's just the fact that I think it'd be a great fight. At this point in my career, that's what really motivates me a lot is just being in those kind of fights where people talk about it, like that Paul Taylor fight.”

An exciting fight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship usually transcends to major paychecks being delivered from Dana White for "Fight of the Night." While that is a motivational factor for Lytle, he would want the fight even in there were no bonuses being given out.

“That's true. I'll give you that,” responded Lytle to possibly obtaining a Fight of the Night bonus. “At the same time, I don't care if anybody sees this fight. It could be on the undercard. I'm going to enjoy the hell out of it. It's not even win, lose, or draw. It's being in it. If there is no bonus, I still want this fight.”

With the fighting styles that Lytle and Davis have, it's no secret that this fight is expected to be a stand-up slugfest. Knowing that, Lytle doesn't plan on coming into this fight with a game plan. “I don't have anything. I'm going out there and I'm going to fight. When I over-think things, it gets complicated. I'm going to keep it simple and go out there and fight!”

[UkrainianGuy]

Teaching has always come natural to Rich Franklin. From his days as a math teacher back in his hometown of Cincinnati, Ohio, the former UFC middleweight champion has always taken to his ability to teach and help a new generation learn.

During the second season of "The Ultimate Fighter" reality show, Franklin took his teaching skills to the mat and helped a group of young fighters follow their dreams in making it to the UFC. Fighters eager to learn under Franklin included Marcus Davis, Keith Jardine, Seth Petruzelli, and new UFC light heavyweight champion Rashad Evans.

Since then Franklin has had a very busy and storied career, but the chance to revisit the days of The Ultimate Fighter don't particularly excite the Ohio native, as he is set to do that very thing if he defeats Dan Henderson at UFC 93 in Ireland.

"I was really excited to do the first season," Franklin said recently. "I had never done anything like that before and it was a cool experience having never done it, but going back and doing it again, no I'm not really excited about it.

"It's six weeks in Vegas. I've lived there for six weeks before and I'm constantly in Vegas. I've gotten to the point where I could care less for staying in Vegas for that kind of extended period of time. It's time away from my family, time away from either things that I like doing or things that I can do to make money, and the show doesn't pay real well. I've had the experience before, so it's not as appealing. Anything the UFC asks me to do, I’m always on board for because they've always been good to me."

UFC president Dana White has stated on numerous occasions that the winner of the Franklin vs. Henderson bout would coach on one side, while British star Michael Bisping would contend with his team from across the pond in England. Franklin says it's business and he'll do what the UFC asks of him.

"I have not myself spoken to Dana or the UFC or any of the production people about the show. The winner of my fight with Dan here would be the coach of the show. I guess more than likely whoever between Dan and I wins would do that fight at 185 pounds," Franklin stated. "So how that makes sense to me I'm not sure.

"That's why I'm kind of taking everything one fight at a time. So if the UFC comes to me and says hey we're going to do this Bisping fight, it will be at 185 pounds, then it is what it is. That's what I'll do."

First things first, Franklin must prepare for life back at 205 pounds and the fight against Dan Henderson. Following two losses to middleweight champion Anderson Silva, Franklin admits the UFC had a hand in his eventual return to the light heavyweight division.

"I started my career at 205 pounds. I moved down to 185. UFC encouraged me to move back up to 205 after my second loss to (Anderson) Silva, which I did, so I'm kind of at a weight where I'm in between both of the weight classes," Franklin commented. "It's difficult for me to make 185, but I’m a small 205-pound fighter. I just take the fights as they come.

"The UFC offered me the fight with Dan and after everything was lined up they came back and said do you want to do the fight at 185 or 205? Since they had encouraged me to make the move to 205 pounds, I said well I'm here, I might as well stay here."

The fight against Henderson will indeed take place at 205 pounds, but presumably if he wins, Franklin would then drop back down to 185 for a fight against fellow coach Michael Bisping. While both fights are pivotal to two different weight classes, Franklin isn't under any pressure to feel like it's a title elimination situation for either fight.

"I never really particularly viewed the fight as an eliminator for either weight class," he said. "The way I view this fight is Dan's a tough opponent. He's somebody that comes into this fight with a lot of credentials, so it's going to make for a great fight. Win or lose for me, it's just another fight."

Rich Franklin battles Dan Henderson in the main event of UFC 93 in Dublin, Ireland on Saturday, Jan. 17.

[Krozone]

Rich needs to get knocked the ****ed out and hang it up..

I agree 100%

[St]

Rich will win,and Coleman is a dick.

[gustavo77]

Rich will win,and Coleman is a dick.

Bump and bump!

[turboturist]

Rich wont win even though I want him to,and Coleman is a dick.

[Mr Ontario]

lol


Rich needs to get knocked the ****ed out and hang it up..

[hugh mungus]

I watched it this afternoon...no spoilers here.

[evoke]

hendo and franklin should fight again, but not as a main event.