UFC 75

[Just call me Dan]

Seems like Cro Cop has to go to 205 whether he likes it or not.

 

My guess, Dana orders a re-match on one of the next PPV at UFN 11 and says he's going to set the record straight. Might even throw it in with Evans/Ortiz II

[Lord of The Curry]

A lot of people are pointing to the fact that Rogan kissed Bisping's ass in the post-fight interview with no mention of the decision as a sign that the end of the fight was set in stone.

[Mik]

Do you really think Mirko can make 205? I have a hard time seeing it.

 

[Lord of The Curry]

Mirko could make 205 but I'm not sure it's going to help at this point. He wasn't the killer they needed him to be against Sanchez, got smoked in every aspect of the Gonzaga fight and has now lost to a man who was beaten by Carmello Marrero.

[Just call me Dan]

He could match up A LOT better with the smaller guys in Light- Heavyweight.

 

If he drops about 15 pounds on his own, he can sweat the rest out before the weigh-ins.

 

I can't see Griffin/Jardine/Ortiz/Evans beating the guy, so if he were to stram roll through two of those, he'd be in the title hunt. He'd hulk over most of 'em, and if they give him any respect at all, he'd be a killer.

[Mik]

Longtime MMA judge Jeff Mullen, one of the two officials who scored Saturday’s UFC 75 fight between Michael Bisping and Matt Hamill as a victory for the U.K fighter, says that the angle in which he was watched the fight played a major role in his final decision.

 

The Bisping-Hamill fight took place Saturday at the 02 Arena in London, England. The final verdict was a controversial split-decision victory for Bisping, “The Ultimate Fighter 3” light-heavyweight winner.

 

Mullen, who says he first started judging UFC contests in 1996 (and has been doing it twice as long as any other current judge), recently posted a message on The Underground Forum, where he’s been a member since 2001.

 

Mullen argues that he had a clear view of Bisping early in the second round — a view that the television camera and the UFC broadcasters didn’t have — and that the local fighter “was landing the jab again and again and not getting hit.” Additionally, he argues that Bipsing was “using an active guard trying to turn for armbars and sweeps” in the second round while Hamill was “doing very little on top.“

 

Both Jeff Mullen and Cecil Peoples scored the fight 29-28 (awarding Bisping the second and third rounds) while British judge Chris Watts gave all three rounds to Hamill.

 

In the end, it was a controversial split-decision for Bisping.

 

“By the way, Mario Yamasaki thought Bisping won rounds two and three,” Mullen wrote. “Mario was the ref and had a better view than any of us.

 

Because England has no athletic commission, the UFC was responsible for regulating the event. UFC Vice President of Regulatory Affairs Marc Ratner was charged with the tasks of drug testing the fighters and choosing officials — including Mullen — to judge Saturday’s fights.

[Mik]

Another great article on the Bisping fight.

 

http://mmajunkie.com/2007/09/10/ufc-75s-qu...m-yahoo-sports/

 

[Dangerous A]

According to F4W website, the show did a 3.1 rating. Internally UFC and Spike were predicting a 1.9. This blew away expectations by a large margin.

 

Here is the Spike press release....

 

"UFC 75” ON SPIKE TV IS THE MOST WATCHED UFC EVENT IN HISTORY

 

4.7 Million Viewers Tune In To See First Ever UFC Title Bout On Spike TV

 

Fight Card Outdrew Everything Else On Television With Young Men On September 8 Including College Football And NASCAR

 

New York, NY – September 11, 2007 – The first ever UFC title fight on Spike TV drew a staggering 4.7 million viewers on Saturday, September 8 (9:00pm-12:11am) making it the most watched UFC event ever and the most watched mixed martial arts event ever in North America. The “UFC 75” telecast emanating from the O2 Arena in London, England peaked at 5.6 million for the bout between UFC light heavyweight champion Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and PRIDE champ Dan Henderson. The fight card drew more Men 18-34 and Men 18-49 than anything else on television, broadcast or cable on September 8, including heavy sports competition from college football on ABC and ESPN, NASCAR on ABC, and the U.S. Open Women’s Final on CBS.

 

“The ratings are further proof that the tide in American sports is changing,” said Kevin Kay, General Manager, Spike TV. “Young men, who constitute the Spike TV core audience, prefer the incredible action and athleticism of the UFC to more traditional sports.”

 

“We're very proud to have added to the rich history of sports in London with this watershed mixed martial arts event,” said Dana White, UFC President. “Not only did UFC 75 showcase the bout that unified the 205 lb Pride and UFC titles, it did so in front of a record breaking crowd at the O2 Arena in London, and in front of the largest U.S. audience to ever tune in to an MMA card during its Spike TV telecast.”

 

“UFC 75” on Spike TV scored 2,503,000 Men 18-49 compared to 2.3 million for Oregon vs. Michigan on ABC; 2.1 million for NASCAR on ABC; 1.3 million for Virginia Tech vs. LSU on ESPN; 1.3 million for Notre Dame vs. Penn St on ESPN, and 546,000 for the U.S. Open Women’s Final on CBS.

 

“UFC 75” on Spike TV scored 1,622,000 Men 18-34 compared to 1.2 million for Oregon vs. Michigan on ABC; 717,000 for NASCAR on ABC; 656,000 million for Virginia Tech vs. LSU on ESPN; 687,000 for Notre Dame vs. Penn St on ESPN and 190,000 for the U.S. Open Women’s Final on CBS.

 

Overall, the Spike TV telecast drew a 3.1 rating (3.0 million homes), 5.7 Men 18-34 (1.6 million), 4.5 in M18-49 (2.5 million), and 6.2 rating in M25-34 (1.0 million).

 

Jackson won a hard fought, five round, unanimous decision over Henderson to unify the UFC and PRIDE titles in the 205lb weight class. The night's action also featured a hotly contested three round battle between former The Ultimate Fighter 3 teammates Michael “The Count” Bisping and Matt “The Hammer” Hamill, with a split decision going to Bisping. Frenchman Cheick Kongo and Mirko Cro Cop went head to head in a battle of feared kickboxers, with Kongo earning a unanimous decision after three rounds in the Octagon.

 

The action-packed undercard also featured Nebraska native Houston Alexander winning his second straight UFC bout in stunning fashion, knocking out his opponent Alessio Sakara in just over a minute into the first round, and surging welterweight contender Marcus “The Irish Hand Grenade” Davis extending his UFC win streak to six after submitting Paul Taylor via arm-bar in the first round of their match-up.

 

Spike TV is the exclusive cable television home to the premier mixed martial arts organization in the world, The Ultimate Fighting Championship®. The sixth season of the highly-rated reality series, “The Ultimate Fighter,” featuring UFC welterweight champion Matt Serra and former champ Matt Hughes as coaches, premieres Wednesday, September 19 at 11:00pm ET/PT.

 

Spike TV is available in 93.6 million homes and is a division of MTV Networks. A unit of Viacom (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), MTV Networks is one of the world’s leading creators of programming and content across all media platforms.

[RavishingRickRudo]

The whole televised show is up here in installments:

 

http://www.youtube.com/profile_videos?sear...EAST&page=2

 

Points:

 

Cro Cop at whatever weight won't stop the stylistic problems he has in the cage and in a post fedor world. He's the last of a dying breed of single disciplined fighters. I think we are entering a time where even if you have skills to complement your single discipline (takedown defense for a stand up fighter), it is not enough. You need to be able to change it up and adapt. GSP is a good example of that - get them thinking punch, got for a shot. Get them thinking low kick, go high. Kongos greatest weakness is his ground game, not his stand up. Cro Cop could have done a lot more if he had inserted takedowns into his strategy.

 

Hamill/Bisping was closer upon second viewing. Hamills post fight interview almost made me cry. Bisping is a ponce. Both guys looked a million miles away from the upper tier of any division on the planet.

 

Davis/Taylor was superdope. That was a sick headkick. Nice armbar.

 

Houston Alexander answered ALL questions... cept for "how well does he do off his back?" and various other grappling questions. Still, HOU-AYE~!

 

Still watching Hendo/Ramp... Big ups to whoever wrote "big right hand" in Hendos strengths.

 

When discussing Hendos knees to Quintons thighs, Randy pointing out that they are able to get Quintons legs closer together to aid in a takedown was near strategasmic. Randy always brings the goods.

 

Through 3 and it's not out of the realm of possibility to give all those rounds to Danny.

[HollywoodSpikeJenkins]

I think Cro Cops biggest weakness is the cage. His game plan is usually the same for every fight. Back them into a corner and knock them out. In Pride, he was able to push people back into the ropes/corner. Inside the cage, his opponents are able to circle around forever.

 

 

Also the fact that if you put pressure on him and push the pace, he will fall.

[RavishingRickRudo]

Plus if anyone chased him in the ring and got a hold of him, they could only back him into a corner. With the cage, Cro Cop can be pushed against it and it's a whole new game in regards to the takedown that will take him more than a couple of months to master.

[Si82]

The whole televised show is up here in installments:

 

http://www.youtube.com/profile_videos?sear...EAST&page=2

Thank you very much for that sir. Now I can see the show.

[Conspiracy_Victim]

Well, I'm just now getting a chance to watch the show. I'm no MMA expert, but that Bisping/Hamill decision was fucking atrocious. Bisping looked like he knew he couldn't take it to the ground, and after the first round he looked like he wasn't too sure he could win the striking game either. He spent most of the fight on a bicycle trying desperately not to get drawn in to a clinch and apart from a couple of shots really just looked like he was on the defensive.

 

Hamill, while I appreciate his trying to push the pace a bit and stalk Bisping, does not look ready for the big time. His striking looks vastly improved from TUF, but his punches take forever to throw and he tends to overextend. And if he keeps dropping his arms he's going to spend a lot of time napping courtesy of a good striking/kneeing opponent (a good Muy Thai guy might cave his face in).

 

All in all, that was a travesty of a decision and Bisping was lucky as hell they were fighting in London. If that fight was in Las Vegas the fans might have booed the judges out of the building. Oh yeah, Bisping was a major league asshole in the after fight. "Go back to wrestling"? You're lucky and you know it.