UFC/SPIKE TV GO AFTER COTTO-MANNY FANS
November 12th, 2009 By Matthew Grizzle
FREE CARD ON SPIKE TV VS. BOXING PAY PER VIEW
Manchester, UK- Former UFC heavyweight (205 lbs +) and light heavyweight (-205) champ Randy Couture, Corvallis, Oregon (16-10, 7 KOs, 2 SUBs) meets Brandon Vera, San Diego, California (11-3, 7 KOs, 1 SUB) in the SPIKE TV Saturday night main event. This card, the programming date and time, this is the UFC czar Dana White taking some ducats out of Top Rank’s PPV Miguel Cotto-Manny Pacquiao coffers.
COUTURE DOESN’T KNOW WHEN TO SAY WHEN
Couture has a multi fight contract with the UFC that entitles him to up to six fights over a two and a half year period. I don’t know if the UFC will be able to squeeze that much out of a 46 year old man. Couture looked noticeably diminished in his last fight, a unanimous decision loss to 240 lb. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (32-5-1, 2 KOs, 20 SUBs) in a heavyweight bout. Now Couture returns to light heavy to face Brandon Vera . Simply put, Couture is done, and should he go the distance with Vera, that will be a victory in and of itself. Prediction: Vera by TKO or UD.
REST OF SPIKE TV CARD
Michael Bisping, Liverpool, England (17-2, 11 KOs, 4 SUBs) vs. Denis Kang, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada (32-11-1, 12 KOs, 15 SUBs) Bisping will look to rebound from his crushing KO loss at the hands of Dan Henderson (25-7, 11 KOs, 1 SUB) last July. He will be taking on the rugged and well rounded Denis Kang. Bisping will have a huge home country advantage and will probably end up getting a close UD victory, deserved or not. Prediction: Bisping by UD.
Mike Swick, San Jose, California (14-2, 7 KOs, 2 SUBs) vs. Dan Hardy, Nottingham, England (22-6, 11 KOs, 4 SUBs) This should be a very exciting fight; I am calling for fight of the night here. Both these guys are very explosive and don’t need any encouragement to engage. Hardy is an extremely live underdog and this fight should be even money in my opinion. Prediction: Swick by SD.
Ross Pearson, Sunderland, England (9-3, 2 KOs, 5 SUBs) vs. Aaron Riley, Herndon, Virginia (28-11-1, 5 KOs, 13 SUBs) The TUF 9 (U.S. vs. U.K.) winner Ross Pearson looks to take on the highly experienced Aaron Riley in Pearson’s home country of England. Pearson is a tough, strong competitor and if he can avoid succumbing to a slick submission from Riley, he should cruise to victory. Prediction: Pearson by UD.
James Wilks, Laguna Hills, California (6-2, 2 KOs, 4 SUBs) vs. Matt Brown, Columbus, Ohio (10-7, 5 KOs, 5 SUBs)
Paul Taylor, Walsall, England (10-4-1, 5 KOs, 2 SUBs) vs. John Hathaway, Brighton, England (11-0, 5 KOs, 3 SUBs)
Matt Grizzle
This card is a far cry from the Pacquiao/Cotto CARD!! Nothing to write home about!!
Been very disappointed in the last ufc cards, strikeforce has been putting on better fights lately. As far as tomorrow night pacquiao-cotto is THE ONLY THING that matters!
UFC is stupid for going against a monster spectacle like Cotto vs Pacquiao. Nonetheless shame on Bob Arum for the shittiest undercards in years. He should use the magnificent talent he under top rank for mega events like these.
Mma is temperaly obsolete when a mega fight like pacquiao vs cotto is on. No contest mma.
LOL! Dana White doesn’t dare to put his show on PPV after he got his ass handed to him when he tried to go up against Mayweather vs. Marquez. There are over 1600 journalists in Vegas covering the Pacman and Cotto. You will never see that for an MMA fight.