Popular MMA news source Sherdog.com has now partnered up with the worldwide leader in sports, ESPN. Sherdog will have a link from ESPN's site to theirs, as well as having Sherdog radio shows Beatdown, and Savage Dog Show in their Podcast section. This partnership comes on the heels of ESPN's 1st covering of a UFC event by showing highlights on the uber-popular Sportscenter. Sherdog will cover all the major MMA promotions as well, and the content will bleed over into ESPN's natural sports coverage. The sport of MMA continues its rise into the mainstream.
Yushin Okami will be stepping in for the injured Martin Kampmann to face Rich Franklin at UFC 72 in Ireland. The show was originally to be aired for free on Spike TV, but now it looks as though it will be a PPV. Okami is legitimately in the top 5 185ers in the UFC, so the winner should easily be in line for a title shot.
Speaking of title shots, the GSP vs Josh Koscheck upcoming fight is officially for the #1 contenders spot for the Welterweight Championship. They will have to wait a while as current Champ Matt Serra will have to finish shooting the Ultimate Fighter 6 with his first opponent Matt Hughes.
After defending the honor of MMA last weekend at the boring De La Hoya/Mayweather fight, rumors are flying that Max Kellerman will be one of the mic men for the upcoming UFC/HBO show. This would be great, as Max knows the boxing game well, and with his intelligence and charisma, could easily translate over to MMA announcer. By the way, HBO forced Jim "Lady Hitter" Lampley to apologize for his disparaging remarks toward MMA. And a final bit of joyous boxing news, Larry Merchant was told HBO will not be offering him a new contract. Hurray, the worst and most hated sports announcer of all time is gone!
Sakuraba and Royce Gracie should hook up again in a sequel to their 90 minute marathon bout at K-1's Dynamite show in America. Brock Lesnar will be making his MMA debut on the card, but the focus is on the two legends and their rematch. The contracts are signed, but Sakuraba must pass a medical check for the bout to happen. Fingers crossed, and this will be a 3 round match.
Tommy Morrison, who has recently returned to boxing with his 1st win after doctors could no longer find traces of HIV in his body, has signed an MMA fight against 8 fight vet John Stover. It all came about when an inebriated Chuck Liddell said he wanted to fight Morrison on a morning radio show as a joke. Morrison was offended and has stated many times he'd fight Chuck anytime, anywhere, and under any rules. To prove he is serious, he is taking this 1st MMA bout. We shall see if Dana White sees dollar signs here.
And finally, some movie producing jackass has decided it would be funny to cast Tim "Disney Whore" Allen as an MMA fighter in the upcoming movie "Redbelt." This is not a joke, and I doubt the jokes in the movie will be funny. Somehow they have gotten Randy Couture to co-star in this soon to be debacle. Allah help us.
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