Heavyweight champions Brock Lesnar and Frank Mir faced off on Thursday at a press conference to promote UFC 100 in Las Vegas.
Also in attendance were UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre, challenger Thiago Alves and Dana White. Sherdog.com was on hand for the photocall.
Ultimate Fighting Championship events generally cost a pretty penny to attend, and getting a spot at ringside isn't just a matter of having the means to pay for it - you also have to buy your tickets within a few minutes of them going on sale.
But demand for tickets for July 11's UFC 100 mega-event at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, in which Canada's Georges St Pierre will defend his world welterweight title against Brazilian Thiago Alves, is so heavy that ticket resellers are asking as much as $40,000 for a ringside seat.
UFC will be the most historic UFC event in history. The UFC President, Dana White wanted to stack the event with the greatest fighters from around the world. One of the key fights will be a rematch between Brock Lesnar and Frank Mir.
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Some interesting information about UFC 100:
The UFC 100 was one of the fastest sellouts in UFC® history. This historic UFC 100 event that already has three blockbuster fights confirmed received an unbelievable response from UFC® Fight Club™ and Newsletter members, creating a sellout in record time.
The event which takes place on Saturday July 11th at the Mandalay Bay Events Center will be shown as a pay per view show in the United States.
"I started hearing about UFC 100 around UFC 90. I am blown away by how excited fans were for this event," said Dana White, UFC President. "So I made sure to stack this card with the greatest fights and greatest fighters in the world, and keep ticket prices consistent with our other big events. Once again, our fans responded with a record sellout. This is another great milestone for the UFC, and July 11 is going to be an amazing event."
After an unprecedented turnout from the Internet presale on April 9th for UFC Fight Club fans, most of the seats were sold by 3pm ET.
In the UFC 100 main event, the big UFC Heavyweight Championship will be decided when the famous reigning titleholder Brock Lesnar faces interim champion Frank Mir in one of the most highly waited upon rematches in heavyweight history.
The co-featured bout of the evening will be the UFC Welterweight Champion Georges "Rush" St-Pierre vs. fearful Thiago "Pitbull" Alves, a man that is believed to have the style and size to defeat this so called unbeatable champion.
And the grand finale in this trio of superfights is a pivotal middleweight matchup pitting the coaches of the ninth season of The Ultimate Fighter®, Dan Henderson and Michael "The Count" Bisping, against each other in a contest that will bring the winner even closer to a 185-pound title shot.
UFC fans who want to be a part of the historic UFC 100 event can still take part in UFC® Fan Expo™, a two-day fan exposition of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) activities starting Friday, July 10th and leading right up to the start of the fights Saturday, July 11th. UFC Fan Expo will take place inside the Mandalay Bay Convention Center, and will be the first event of its kind for UFC fans.
Among the UFC Fan Expo two-day roster of activities will be meet and greets with legendary UFC and WEC fighters, MMA demonstrations, fan-inspired special events, training and development sessions, and other exciting opportunities and entertainment. All the UFC Fan Expo activities will be planned in conjunction with UFC 100, including the free-to-the-public weigh-in event on Friday, July 10th.
To see our online inventory of UFC 100 tickets for July 11, 2009 at the Mandalay Events Center in Las Vegas Nevada, click this link.
As those who have taken part in MMA betting for any length of time know, absolutely anything can happen inside the octagon (or squared circle, for fans of Affliction betting and PRIDE). When two trained fighters are pitted against one another, generally with both holding black belts in one discipline or another, it is difficult to give credence to MMA odds. Most fans would consider every bout to be a coin toss, given that both men or women have an equal opportunity of winning.
This idea is part of the reason why MMA and UFC betting has become such a worldwide phenomenon. Detractors from the sport of boxing left generally because of a lack of competition, meaningless “tune up” fights, and a general confusion over the many sanctioning bodies and weight classes. In the world of mixed martial arts, things come quick and easy. The UFC is the NFL of mixed-martial arts—that’s easy to see. Knockouts can happen at any time—that’s exciting. Not to mention that fighters have entered the cage simply as “street brawlers,” and have had reasonable success. As a result, fans have related to the budding sport.
The problem is that this fascination with the underdog can lead to many bad sports betting choices due to the MMA lines. In fact, more often than not, the favorite in the bout does in fact win. In addition, more fights end in a stoppage of some sort than a decision, meaning that MMA prop betting is also a tremendous idea.
It is important to examine the styles of fighters when preparing to bet on MMA matches as well. If two brawlers are facing off, it is a terrific bet to look on the BetUS sportsbook and choose an outcome such as a knockout or TKO, as the brutes are unlikely to take to the mat. Similarly, if two submission fighters are facing off, a decision is possible, but more than likely, over the course of three to five rounds, one participant will ultimately lock in a hold resulting in a stoppage.
In addition, still consider that promoters are indeed businessmen. A new champion is unlikely to be thrown to the wolves immediately. Dana White, or whomever the champion may be, want to build their champion up with a tune-up bout, similar to boxing, before truly hyping and marketing a pay-per-view attraction.
In the end, those betting on MMA simply need to think reasonably—like a promoter—and err on the side of favourites.
UFC 100 Fights (Bets)
Fitch vs Thiago
Jon Fitch -450
Paulo Thiago +325
Akiyama vs Belcher
Yoshihiro Akiyama -300
Alan Belcher +220
Coleman vs Bonnar
Mark Coleman +250
Stephan Bonnar -350
Danzig vs Miller
Mac Danzig +160
Jim Miller -200
Jones vs Brien
Jon Jones -450
Jake O'Brien +325
Lesnar vs Mir
Brock Lesnar -240
Frank Mir +190
St Pierre vs Alves
Georges St Pierre -300
Thiago Alves +220
Henderson vs Bisping
Dan Henderson -230
Michael Bisping +180
Source
Thiago Alves has Wanderlei Silva as a hero and idol and will be coming to Las Vegas before his fight against George St. Pierre to train at the Wand Fight Team.
Without question, Michael Bisping is the most influential mixed martial artist to ever hail from the United Kingdom, with his Ultimate Fighter 3 win and subsequent UFC victories practically putting MMA on the map across the pond. But Bisping’s popularity and acclaim will skyrocket even higher if he wins a world title, and a win over Dan Henderson at UFC 100 on July 11th will move him even closer to that goal. Read on for ‘The Count’s seven defining moments.
Mark Epstein I – July 10, 2004 – Cage Rage 7
Result – Bisping TKO2
Unbeaten, yet untested, a young Michael Bisping was just 2-0 as a pro when he got the call to take on then 6-3 Mark ‘The Beast’ Epstein, and almost immediately, Bisping got a rude welcome to the next level as he was dropped to a knee by a punch and later sent to the canvas, where he spent the majority of the first round fighting from his back. And though Bisping was obviously still raw as far as technique was concerned, his resilience was already evident, and he came out strong in the second round, eventually stopping Epstein at the 1:27 mark. He would notch a KO win over Epstein in their rematch four months later, and the 24-year old from Manchester was on his way to the top.
Josh Haynes – June 24, 2006 – TUF 3 Finale
Result – Bisping TKO2
With British fighters Mark Weir, Ian Freeman, Lee Murray and Leigh Remedios only having spotty success in the UFC, you wouldn’t have been criticized too much for suggesting that Bisping, along with Ross Pointon, weren’t going to make much noise on the third season of The Ultimate Fighter. And while Pointon made more fans for his personality than his fighting, Bisping quickly soared to the finals of TUF3, with his two round thrashing of Josh Haynes in the finale a mere formality. The UFC had a new Ultimate Fighter, and England finally had someone in the organization who looked like he would be staying around for a while.
Elvis Sinosic – April 21, 2007 – UFC 70
Result – Bisping TKO2
After getting his first post-TUF win over Eric Schafer at UFC 66, Bisping was the natural choice to lead the UFC back into the UK for UFC 70 in Manchester. It was the type of pressure cooker environment that could very well break a fighter, but Bisping took it all in stride, and from the moment he entered the M.E.N. Arena to Blur’s “Song 2”, he owned the hometown crowd. Sinosic took a little more convincing, but after scoring a knockdown and almost locking in a kimura, the Australian was stopped by Bisping in the second round, and a British star was born.
Matt Hamill – September 8, 2007 – UFC 75
Result – Bisping W3
Having done no wrong thus far in his UFC career, it was inevitable that somewhere along the line, Bisping would hit a bump in the road. That bump was his TUF3 housemate and rival Matt Hamill, a fighter Bisping figured he would have his way with given his superior striking. But it was Hamill who showed up with improved standup that night in London, and after three closely contested rounds, many thought the fighter ending up with a “1” on a previously unbeaten record would be Bisping. But it was Hamill on the short end of the split decision, sending fans into a frenzy on internet message boards for weeks. As for Bisping, he got the win, and wasn’t shy about letting people know about it. “Of course, don’t insult me like that,” said Bisping when asked at the post-fight press conference if he believed he deserved the decision. “I’ll give him the first round, I won the second, and I won the third.”
Rashad Evans – November 17, 2007 – UFC 78
Result – Evans W3
Two months after the Hamill bout, Bisping was back in action, and this time he was being asked to headline a pay-per-view event against fellow unbeaten Rashad Evans. This would be the true barometer of both fighters’ popularity, and after an entertaining war of words leading up to the bout, he and Evans delivered on all fronts, as the match garnered a considerable buzz by the time the opening bell rang. In the Octagon though, it would be Bisping falling short of victory for the first time, as Evans held off a late charge from the Brit to take a three round split decision.
Charles McCarthy – April 19, 2008 – UFC 83
Result – Bisping TKO1
After the loss to Evans, Bisping decided that it was time to test the waters at middleweight, where he wouldn’t be forced into the role of ‘small guy’ every time he fought. Of course, TUF4’s Charles McCarthy took exception to being Bisping’s ‘break-in’ fight at 185 pounds and he let Bisping know it at every opportunity. Such talk between the two made the fight perhaps the second most anticipated to Georges St-Pierre’s triumphant Montreal homecoming against Matt Serra, but Bisping wasn’t about to get into a prolonged war with ‘Chainsaw Charles’. Instead, Bisping stalked his foe, avoided a mid-round submission attempt and then proceeded to unleash a barrage of knees that broke McCarthy’s arm and forced a halt to the fight at the end of the first round. Middleweight? No problem.
Chris Leben – October 18, 2008 – UFC 89
Result – Bisping W3
After the win over McCarthy, Bisping made short work of Jason Day at UFC 85 and was then given another headlining gig against Chris Leben in Birmingham, England. Now matched up with a striker for the first time since his TUF3 win over Haynes, Bisping was expected to engage in a toe-to-toe brawl with Leben. But showing maturity and restraint, Bisping used a disciplined stick and move strategy that kept the wild-swinging Leben at bay and allowed him to sail to a three round unanimous decision victory. It wasn’t going to win any Fight of the Year awards, but in victory, Bisping showed that he wasn’t the same fighter that beat Mark Epstein four years earlier. He was a versatile and dangerous contender now, something he plans on showing Dan Henderson at UFC 100.
This is an article written by Thomas Gerbasi for UFC.com
