UFC 100 GSP Pre Fight Interview

Georges St Pierre talks about his upcoming fight with Thiago Alves at UFC 100 and how confidant he is that he won't get knocked out but rather that he will submit or knockout Alves instead.

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Michael Bisping - Seven Defining Moments

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

UFC 100 Fight Details

UFC 100 is an upcoming mixed martial arts event to be held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) on July 11, 2009 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The event will include two championship bouts (Heavyweight and Welterweight) and a fight between the two coaches of the most recent Ultimate Fighter. The event had been announced as sold-out, before the tickets were even made available to the general public

The main event will feature a rematch between UFC Heavyweight Champion, Brock Lesnar, and UFC Interim-Heavyweight Champion, Frank Mir. This title unification bout occurred as a result of former UFC Heavyweight Champion, Randy Couture's year-long "resignation" from the company. During his absence, the UFC created an Interim-Heavyweight Championship that Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira had won by defeating Tim Sylvia. Nogeuira and Mir were scheduled to be opposing coaches in The Ultimate Fighter: Team Nogueira vs Team Mir, and would fight for the interim championship at the conclusion of the show. The Ultimate Fighter is a single-elimination reality series featuring fledgling professional MMA fighters competing for the title of The Ultimate Fighter, and a six-figure, multi-fight contract with the UFC.

During the airing of the television program, Couture returned to the company and UFC President Dana White announced that he would defend his title against Lesnar at UFC 91. This meant that the winner of the Couture-Lesnar and Nogueira-Mir matches would face off for the undisputed crown. In his fourth professional fight, Lesnar defeated Couture via technical knockout to become the UFC Heavyweight Champion. Mir was crowned the interim champion after becoming the first fighter to ever finish Nogueira. The match between Lesnar and Mir was now set for UFC 98. However, Mir suffered a knee injury during training and was forced out of the bout. It was announced a day later that the proposed fight would be moved to UFC 100 instead. Lesnar and Mir have fought once before, during Brock's UFC debut at UFC 81. Lesnar controlled much of the bout, and mounted a successful ground and pound attack. During the exchange on the ground, Mir got hold of Lesnar's leg and locked up a kneebar. Lesnar could not escape and was forced to tap out, awarding Mir the victory.

The co-main event will feature Yahoo! Sports' top pound-for-pound fighter (tied with Fedor Emelianenko), Georges St-Pierre, defending his UFC Welterweight Championship against MMAWeekly.com's 2008 Fighter of the Year, Thiago Alves. St-Pierre is a fighter with strong wrestling, and trains with the Canadian Olympic team. His conditioning, strength and athleticism have also been identified as strong attributes. Thiago Alves is well-versed in the Muay Thai striking discipline, and was dubbed by Setanta Sports as the "Muay Thai wrecking ball". Alves enters the fight with consecutive victories over three of the top UFC welterweights in Josh Koscheck, Matt Hughes, and Karo Parisyan. Meanwhile, St-Pierre enters the bout with successful title defenses against top contender Jon Fitch, and UFC Lightweight Champion BJ Penn.

The third match on the card will be between two top middleweight contenders, Dan Henderson and Michael Bisping. The two are opposing coaches in the ongoing season of The Ultimate Fighter: United States vs. United Kingdom, with Henderson leading Team USA and Bisping heading Team UK, respectively. Henderson is a former Olympic Greco-Roman wrestler also noted for the punching power in his right hand and his excellent chin. He is the first fighter to concurrently hold championship belts in two separate weight classes in a major organization (he did so in PrideFC). Following the sale of PrideFC, Henderson entered the UFC and lost his championships to Quinton Jackson and Anderson Silva in back-to-back unification contests. His latest fight was a decision victory over Rich Franklin at UFC 93. Bisping started his career as a light heavyweight and was the winner of the third season of The Ultimate Fighter. He has compiled a professional MMA record of 18–1, and has been undefeated since moving to middleweight. He enters the bout with victories over Charles McCarthy, Jason Day and Chris Leben. On June 2nd it was announced that the winner of the Henderson-Bisping Fight will get a shot at the UFC Middleweight Championship against Anderson Silva at a later date.

A preliminary match-up between Dong Hyun Kim and Jonathan Goulet was orginally scheduled to be on the card, but Goulet had to pull out of the bout with a shoulder injury. TJ Grant was named as his replacement.

from wikipedia.com