UFC 72: Victory

[Lord of The Curry 0]

When: June 16th

Where: Belfast, Northern Ireland

 

This, like UFC 70 will air free on SpikeTV.

 

Main Event: Yushin Okami vs Rich Franklin

Forrest Griffin vs Hector Ramirez

Tyson Griffin vs Clay Guida

Jason McDonald vs Rory Singer

Scott Smith vs Ed Herman

Eddie Sanchez vs Colin Robinson

Marcus Davis vs TBA (Luke Cummo is a rumored opponent)

Dustin Hazelett vs TBA

[Mik 0]

I'm hoping that with the HBO deal they switch it over to that, because the commercial breaks ruined the flow of UFC 70 as far as I'm concerned. I'm interested to see what Kampmann can muster up in the matchup w/ Franklin. I was impressed with his performance against McFedries.

 

 

T. Griffin vs. Guida should be awesome, you're right on that. F. Griffin should be interesting too because he NEEDS to win after getting his head implanted into the mat by Jardine at 66.

 

I'm also hoping for a big win by "The Athlete", Ed Herman getting KTFO by Scott Smith (I can dream), and a nice comeback for Sanchez.

[Lt. Al Giardello 0]

I'm looking forward to Griffin/Ramirez, should be interesting to see how Griffin comes back. Ramirez is a game fighter, he could cause Griffin problem.

[Hunter's Torn Quad 0]

Kampmann is out:

 

Martin Kampmann is out of the announced main event for the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s first foray into Northern Ireland. He was scheduled to enter the Octagon to face the #4 ranked middleweight fighter in the world and former UFC Middleweight Champion Rich Franklin.

 

According to his manager, Ken Pavia of Pavia, Ciscone, & Associates, Kampmann injured his knee while wrestling in training last week at UFC Heavyweight Champion Randy Couture’s gym in Las Vegas, Nev.

 

“Martin’s out,” said Pavia. And it is likely that he may stay that way for the next few months. Pavia stated that they have gone through initial examinations that are indicative of a severe enough injury to keep Kampmann out of the June 16 bout with Franklin, but didn’t want to get into the specifics of the injury until they go through a second examination to accurately verify the extent of the damage.

 

Even if the injury to the knee is the worst of what initial examinations indicate, which would likely include surgery and Kampmann being out of action for the next 6 months or so, Pavia was optimistic.

 

“Martin is obviously devastated. He was really looking forward to fighting Rich Franklin in a UFC main event,” said Pavia. “But many guys have come back from much more devastating injuries and we’re confident that Martin will be back stronger than ever.”

 

Kampmann made his successful UFC debut in August of 2006 with a submission of Crafton Wallace after a one-fight stint in the World Fighting Alliance. Wallace was the first of three consecutive UFC victories for the Aarhus, Denmark native, which also included a unanimous decision over Thales Leites and a submission of Miletich fighter Drew McFedries at UFC 68.

 

With a professional MMA record of 15-2, Kampmann was just gaining momentum and rising through the ranks of the UFC. A win over Franklin would have likely propelled him into title contender status and possibly landed him a shot at the winner of the Anderson Silva vs. Nate Marquardt UFC Middleweight Championship fight scheduled for July 7 in Sacramento, Calif.

 

MMA Weekly

[Mik 0]

ufcjunkie says they are trying to get Okami to take that place.

[AboveAverage484 0]

ufcjunkie says they are trying to get Okami to take that place.

 

More interesting fight? I think so.

[Your Paragon of Virtue 0]

Well they only said that was the logical choice. It is all speculation. I don't think he should take the fight at this point, as I am pretty certain he's next in line for a title shot.

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

Someone posted on the underground that Amar Suloev was contacted and subsequently turned it down. That would have been a good fight.

 

Me?

 

I say bring Ricardo Almeida out of retirement.

[Your Paragon of Virtue 0]

Why would he turn it down? I can only guess that he's not ready, that would have been awesome though. He would have really brought it to Franklin, his strikes are more accurate and he's very quick. He's a little smallish, but would Rich be smart enough to take him down or would he be a dumbass like against Anderson?

 

Ricardo Almeida would get raped methinks. Just a bad style matchup.

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

You know what would be a good fight? Ryo Chonan vs. Rich Franklin.

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

Oh, and the only thing getting raped in that fight would be your retard-faggot sensibilities. BIG DOG!!

[Your Paragon of Virtue 0]

Are you serious about Chonan?

 

I think a fight between Franklin and Doerksen would be awesome, but that's just because anything involving Menno Joe is awesome. I think they train together though.

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

Assuming that Chonan doesn't get hit with a right that drops him immediately, it would be a good fight. While inconsistent, Chonan does have wins over good competition, his striking is solid -though he tends find himself on the losing end of brawls- where he has very good leg kicks and uppercuts, and his ground game is probably better than Franklins. He always brings it and since Franklin isn't stylistically similar to Hendo or Baroni, I could see this going beyond 2 minutes. The only doubt would be his chin and the way he moves his big retard head, but then again he got hit by two of the hardest hitters in the division so it would be nice to see where Franklin stands in that dept.

 

They could also try and dust off Dave Terrell and hope he doesn't get injured in the process.

[Your Paragon of Virtue 0]

Ahhh I forgot about him completely. I pegged him as the future of the division at one point. I still do if he manages to heal up and stuff. He's got the skills and physical ability, it's all mental/injury-related with him.

[Lord of The Curry 0]

Franklin vs Okami is on.

 

I'm frankly more interested in this fight because Okami's style will be a change from how Franklin was likely preparing for Kampmann and Okami is also a big MW and Rich might have difficulty muscling him around like he would've with Martin.

[KingPK 0]

This is going to air live live instead of "tape delay with the 'Spike Live' watermark in the corner" live, starting at 3PM Eastern/Noon PT. I just know that I'm going to have to work that day so I hope they re-air it at 9-10 PM that night.

Edited May 9, 2007 by KingPK

[Lord of The Curry 0]

Not so, unfortunately.

 

Rumors now point to this being on PPV. If so, say hello to your lowest-buyrate PPV in quite some time.

[Youth N Asia 0]

There isn't a single match on this card to sell it as a major ppv. Not saying there aren't good matches, but no money matches.

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

I really like this card. Guida/Griffin.

[Lord of The Curry 0]

There isn't a single match on this card to sell it as a major ppv. Not saying there aren't good matches, but no money matches.

 

Franklin vs Okami is totally marketable. This is the most definitive #1 Contender fight they've had in the MW division in quite some time. Franklin has his road back to the title and one of the only guys to defeat the guy who whooped him (albeit by DQ) is standing in his way. They can also play up the fact that Swick was being touted as a challenger to Franklin and Okami stopped him cold.

 

UFC, of course, will not use any of these ideas.

[AboveAverage484 0]

There isn't a single match on this card to sell it as a major ppv. Not saying there aren't good matches, but no money matches.

 

Franklin vs Okami is totally marketable. This is the most definitive #1 Contender fight they've had in the MW division in quite some time. Franklin has his road back to the title and one of the only guys to defeat the guy who whooped him (albeit by DQ) is standing in his way. They can also play up the fact that Swick was being touted as a challenger to Franklin and Okami stopped him cold.

 

UFC, of course, will not use any of these ideas.

 

I'm going to have to agree with YNA. Unfortunately, nobody gives a shit about Okami because his matches are never televised, and he hasn't been built up as a serious contender, even though he is. Truthfully, this card does look pretty craptastic.

[Youth N Asia 0]

With the exception of 70, which was free, and 60, which had HUghes and Gracie as a huge selling point, the shows usually have a title defense. This show doesn't have one and I think that takes a little away from it

[Lt. Al Giardello 0]

There isn't a single match on this card to sell it as a major ppv. Not saying there aren't good matches, but no money matches.

 

It's not a PPV though, it's on free TV.

[Lord of The Curry 0]

UFC.com has it listed under Live PPV so no, it's not.

[Lt. Al Giardello 0]

UFC.com has it listed under Live PPV so no, it's not.

 

[Ron Simmons]DAMN![/Ron Simmons]

 

Looks like I'm going to the strippers for this fight card.

[starvenger 0]

UFC.com has it listed under Live PPV so no, it's not.

 

[Ron Simmons]DAMN![/Ron Simmons]

 

Looks like I'm going to the strippers for this fight card.

You gotta love it when you go to a strip club to watch TV:

 

"Want some company?"

"Not now - check out the way these guys are rolling around with each other."

 

And it's not like I haven't done this either - I'm amused by it in general. Still, if you've got a boring match on, you can watch other stuff. But if the in house entertainment is also boring... well, I can't help you.

[snuffbox 0]

Why is this ppv?

[Lord of The Curry 0]

Because Dana is using it as a guinea pig to see just how much his fans will pay for lower-quality cards.

[AntiLeaf33 0]

UFC should have a few of the weaker cards of Spike for free, but don't number the free ones. It seems to take something away from it if you number every single event.

[Mik 0]

This is where the HBO deal would be key.

 

I'm definitely skipping this one.