Breaking it Down: UFC 144 (MAIN CARD)

The Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan is the place to be this Saturday night (or Sunday morning, if you’re actually in Japan) as UFC 144: Edgar vs Henderson goes down. Featuring a seven-fight main card, the PPV portion of this card is stacked with exciting, important, and downright awesome fights that can make even [...]

Source: http://fiveouncesofpain.com/2012/02/24/breaking-it-down-ufc-144-main-card/

Ryan Gracie Peter Graham Forrest Griffin Tyson Griffin

Mark Hunt takes out Cheick Kongo in the first round at UFC 144

Mark Hunt made his name in combat sports in Japan, as he was a well-known and credentialed kickboxer. He thanked the Japanese fans with a quick knockout of Cheick Kongo at UFC 144.

The two tentatively felt each other out, but when Kongo came inside, Hunt met him with a huge left that sent Kongo flying. Kongo returned to his feet, then Hunt threw a right-left combo that wobbled his opponent. He followed it with uppercuts until Kongo's legs fell out from underneath him. The bout was stopped at 2:11 in the first round.

At 37 years old, Hunt now has three straight wins in the UFC and an overall record of 8-7. For Kongo, this loss stops him from getting a three-fight win streak.

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Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/mark-hunt-takes-cheick-kongo-first-round-ufc-051328019.html

Rob Broughton  Mike Brown  Junie Browning Paul Buentello 

More bang for your buck at UFC 144, but you have to stay up a little later

As hardcore MMA fans know, holding a fight card in Japan comes with plenty of challenges. The biggest hurdle to clear is the time difference. Watching DREAM and Sengoku on HDNet, fans are usually subjected to 3 a.m. ET starts and a finish around 6 a.m.

According to USA Today, the UFC didn't want to do that plus it would kill pay-per-view buys so the promotion came up with a solution of extending the PPV portion to four hours and seven fights.

The downside? That means the main event between UFC lightweight champ Frankie Edgar and Benson Henderson won't start until 1 a.m. ET.

Rather than ask the audience in Japan to show up at an unusually early time for a sports event, UFC opted to shorten the preliminary card and lengthen the pay-per-view portion instead, said Anthony Evans, a spokesman for Zuffa.

The Saitama fight card will feature these fights on the PPV portion:

Frankie Edgar vs. Benson Henderson
Ryan Bader vs. Quinton "Rampage" Jackson
Mark Hunt vs. Cheick Kongo
Yoshihiro "Sexyama" Akiyama vs. Jake Shields
Joe Lauzon vs. Anthony Pettis
Tim Boetsch vs. Yushin Okami
Hatsu Hioki vs. Bart Palaszewski

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/more-bang-buck-ufc-144-stay-little-later-204841083.html

Lyman Good Gary Goodridge Gerard Gordeau Jonathan Goulet

UFC 144: Frankie Edgar vs. Benson Henderson Official Box Score

Benson Henderson may have been awarded a convincing unanimous decision victory at UFC 144, but Frankie Edgar (Pictured) believed he had done enough to retain his lightweight title on Sunday. If you were to peruse the stat sheet, the judges’ verdict may have been the correct one. According to the UFC’s official number crunchers, Henderson [...]

Source: http://www.5thRound.com/107354/ufc-144-frankie-edgar-vs-benson-henderson-official-box-score/

Houston Alexander Ricardo Almeida  Eddie Alvarez Thiago Alves 

Aaron Simpson planning move to welterweight

After suffering a Split Decision loss to Ronny Markes earlier this week at UFC on Fuel 1 it appears Aaron Simpson is considering a drop down to 170 pounds to take advantage of his size rather than suffer as a smaller opponent. The 37-year old grappler leveled his Brazilian adversary in their bout but struggled [...]

Source: http://www.fighters.com/02/17/aaron-simpson-planning-move-to-welterweight

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Anthony Pettis Has ?Something New? Planned for Joe Lauzon

Fourteen months ago, Anthony Pettis (Pictured) became an overnight sensation when he posterized Benson Henderson with his “Showtime kick” to capture the WEC lightweight crown. The 25-year-old was slated to parlay the sensational strike into a UFC title fight, but various factors prevented the championship affair from coming to fruition. The immediate rematch that was [...]

Source: http://www.5thRound.com/107077/anthony-pettis-has-something-new-planned-for-joe-lauzon/

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UFC on FX 2 Main Card Official with 4 Fight Main Card on FX, Prelims on Fuel TV & Facebook

While the UFC makes its return to Japan this weekend, they will also be traveling across the world for the next event the following weekend with UFC on FX 2. The event takes place at Allphones Arena in Sydney, Australia. This will be the UFC's third event in the last three years in Australia, following UFC 110 and UFC 127, which also took place in Sydney.

Source: http://mmafrenzy.com/27638/ufc-on-fx-2-main-card-official-with-4-fight-main-card-on-fx-prelims-likely-to-air-on-fuel-tv/

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UFC 144?s Bart Palaszewski Ready to Spoil Hatsu Hioki?s Homecoming

The UFC is returning to Japan for the first time since December 2000. Thirteen months after that last event in Japan, another milestone was being made, as Bart Palaszewski was making his professional MMA debut in January 2002. Since then, Palaszewski has risen through the ranks of many MMA organizations. Read how Palaszewski feels about fighting in Japan, along with what his future brings in this exclusive interview with MMAFrenzy.com

Source: http://mmafrenzy.com/27692/ufc-144s-bart-palaszewski-ready-to-spoil-hatsu-hiokis-homecoming/

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