UFC 100, 101 and 102 sound like prerequisites for an undergraduate degree in MMA but they are actually three of the summer’s hottest Ultimate Fighting events.
UFC 100 takes place July 11th at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. You want two big time main events? You got them.
In one main event, Georges St-Pierre defends his UFC Welterweight Championship against the Muay Thai wrecking ball, Thiago Alves. GSP is known for his wrestling and his conditioning while Alves seldom gets knocked down. He devours opponents with his ferocious leg kicks. MMA fans with UFC tickets will get to revel in this dream matchup pitting St-Pierre’s Jiu-Jitsu against Alves’ Muay Thai.
In the other main event, UFC Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar takes on UFC Interim-Heavyweight Champion Frank Mir. Lesnar-Mir is a title unification match brought about due to a series of events involving Randy Coture’s departure, and then sudden return, to UFC. This match was supposed to happen at UFC 98, but had to be pushed back when Mir suffered a knee injury.
These two behemoths have crossed paths before in UFC 81. Lesnar controlled the match, but Mir was able to get the former NCAA Division I wrestling champion into a kneebar. The hold eventually forced Lesnar to tap out.
Also on the card, Dan Henderson faces off against Michael Bisping, the winner gets a shot at the UFC middleweight belt.
Less than a month later, UFC 101: Declaration comes to the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The August 8th event features BJ Penn taking on Kenny Florian, Anderson Silva fighting Forrest Griffin, and Amir Sadollah battling Johny Hendricks.
The Brandon Vera versus Matt Hamill match is being pushed back to UFC 102. Another scheduled event, Rousimar Palhares versus Alessio Sakara, has been canceled due to Palhares breaking his leg. Instead, Sakara will face Brazilian Thales Leites in The Octagon.
UFC 102 is being held in MMA-crazy Portland, Oregon at the famed Rose Garden on August 29th and is the last UFC event of the summer. The main event will feature the living legend Randy Couture matching up with Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira.
The other big match will feature Nate Marquardt squaring off against undefeated Demian Maia. The winner of this match will likely be the number one contender in the middleweight division.
With two events scheduled in August, the summer of 2009 is definitely geared towards MMA fans. Whether on pay-per-view or at the arena, UFC fans won't want to miss a single kick, punch or take down.
Subscribe