Tito Ortiz Issued Cease And Desist Order From The UFC

Tito Ortiz was recently served a cease and desist request from the UFC. The subject of the complaint was the cover of Ortiz’s recently released autobiography, entitled 'This is Going to Hurt'.

The book’s cover features Ortiz wearing the UFC Light Heavyweight Title is intellectual property of the UFC. As such, its use in promotional materials requires the company’s approval per the terms of its standard contract.

Dana White says he's completely done dealing with Ortiz but this is a bit of proof that he has such a personal vendetta against Ortiz. While Dana White has openly stated that he can't wait to never have to deal with Ortiz, it looks to be far from over. Randy Couture was friends with Dana White and you see the actions they took against him. It appears Ortiz is in for a battle.

UFC 85 is Cursed

Something strange is probably gonna happen at UFC 85. It just seems as if the entire event is cursed.

It all started when the UFC had intended to hold an event at the O2 Arena in London about 5 months ago when the venue had to cancel out on the UFC. That was the beginning of bad things to come.

Even though the UFC was able to reschedule another event for the O2 Arena (UFC 85), strange things began to happen.

Because it was the 2nd event in London, the UFC wanted to outdo it's previous draw which was a sellout.

It began with a huge fight between Chuck Liddell and Mauricio 'Shogun' Rua. Besides Rua's loss to Forrest Griffin, he's a bad dude with a superb pedigree from Pride FC. Rua had to pull out of the fight due to a knee injury.

In stepped in 'Sugar' Rashad Evans for the fight of his life against Chuck Liddell. A win against Liddell and he's surely a top contender in the lightheavyweight division. It's also a must win for Liddell who's looking for his 3rd fight against Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson.

Then comes a first. Chuck Liddell has to pull out of the fight due to tearing his hamstring which puts him on the shelf for about 2-3 months. James Irvin steps in to take on Evans but now the fight card is lacking a bonafide main event.

Chris Leben was scheduled to fight Michael Bisping in what could be an 'almost' main event so the card was ok but it would be tough to justify a ppv.

In order to warrant $45, Dana White scheduled Matt Hughes vs. Thiago Alves as the main event with the 2 other fights as the 'almost' main events.

That was until Chris Leben turned himself in for violating his parole which landed him in jail for 35 days. He had to be scrapped from the fight and in stepped Jason Day to square off against Bisping. Jason Day is a really good fighter and isn't gonna get walked over, but he's just not the name that Chris Leben is.

Well at least he still had Rashad Evans on the undercard and Matt Hughes headlining. Also on the undercard is Marcus Davis vs. Mick Swick so there are a couple names. Not worth a ppv in my opinion but my opinion doesn't count according to Dana White.

Then the news comes about that James Irvin is injured and has to pull out of the fight with Rashad Evans. At this point, it's too late to find a replacement and Evans is pulled off the fight card. It's better off and this way they can set up something that's not just desparation.

But hey, Thiago Alves just dominated Karo Parysian and the market for him vs. Hughes might be enough to carry the ppv. That is until, Alves failed to make weight and now the fight is scheduled to take place at 174 instead of 170. It's not too big of a deal considering it's not for any title but it does change the complexity of the fight. Who knows how those couple pounds will affect either fighter.

All I'm saying is I won't be watching this ppv simply because the fight card doesn't warrant $45. This event should be free on SpikeTV. My curiosity will be getting the better of me because the event seems cursed so something strange just might happen. I guess I'll have to rely on websites for updates and hope I made the right decision.

Faber Hands Pulver First Ever Loss at 145

Despite the shutout decision victory, a WEC 34 title fight between WEC featherweight champion Urijah Faber (21-1) and Jens Pulver (22-9-1) was much more entertaining than the judges' scores of 50-44 would indicate.

The title fight, billed as the biggest featherweight fight in MMA history, capped off Sunday's "WEC: Faber vs. Pulver" event at ARCO Arena in Sacramento, Calif.

Faber showed a polished stand-up game and an iron jaw as he delivered former UFC champion Pulver his first-ever career loss at 145 pounds."It's something I've always had," Faber said of his striking skills. "Jens has power, guys, but I haven't had a chance to really show mine."

Faber had punched his way to near-victory on numerous occasions, and though Pulver was staggered and dazed through the 25-minute battle, he always found a way to survive.

Despite the loss, Pulver did manage to accomplish something that no other opponent has done in nearly four years and 17 fights: he took Faber to a decision.

In the night's co-main event, WEC bantamweight champion Miguel Torres (34-1) posted his first successful title defense since defeating former champ Chase Beebe in February.

However, unlike much of the opposition in the champ's previous 14 consecutive victories, Yoshiro Maeda (23-5-2) proved a game opponent who, at least initially, could handle a frantic and relentless pace from Torres.

Torres used dangerous counter-striking, precise body kicks and an array of other blows to batter his opponent throughout three rounds of a scheduled five. A quick left hand repeatedly found its mark, and though some crowd-pleasing ground battles were had, it was the constant stream of strikes that had Maeda's face a mess.

By the end of the third round, he could barely see out of either eye. The swelling was substantial -- and enough to force a stoppage before a fourth round would get underway.

The result was a third-round TKO stoppage and a signature victory for the 27-year-old Torres.

EliteXC Musings

Some thoughts from last Saturday's EliteXC. Kimbo Slice probably won't do anything in the world of MMA and Gary Shaw is gonna have to look for a new poster child of his upstart organization.

Scott Smith was an average fighter at best from the UFC and was fighting for the Welterweight title which shows how little talent they have in the organization. It was a great fight but it was just like having 2 mediocre football teams play each other. It'll be a great game but if they played a top team, they would get stomped.

Having their top female fighter come in 3.5 pounds overweight didn't help the credibility of the organization. If their poster girl for their promotion didn't care enough to make weight, why should anyone else care?

Overall, they had the opportunity to steal an audience and probably didn't do it. The production was very amateurish and the commentary was average at best. The ratings were great but just like the XFL, I don't see this lasting too long on CBS.

EliteXC is No Threat to UFC (Yet)

Sorry about the long layoff folks. But we're back with updates from the world of MMA.

EliteXC made it's network television debut Saturday night with a terrible production of fights. It appears they have the talent in the organization but it's no threat to the UFC at the moment and Saturday's display was evident.

It was marred by controversial stoppages, poor commentating, and horrible reffing. On top of everything, Gary Shaw, the EliteXC president, couldn't keep his mug off the cameras for more than a minute. He's taking a huge page out of Dana White's book.

On to the fights:

For the first time in his professional MMA career, Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson was tested. The centerpiece of EliteXC's network debut was in a battle with British veteran James Thompson.

The event was the first live MMA event ever to air on major U.S. network television.

Despite an 11-fight undercard that resulted in a few controversial outcomes, the 8,033 spectators at Newark, N.J.'s Prudential Center were there largely for Ferguson, who moved his professional career record to 3-0 with the victory.

However, unlike his previous two fights, which lasted a combined 62 seconds, Ferguson's clash with Thompson was far from an organized street fight. Thompson repeatedly put the 34-year-old on his back, stung him with punches and elbows, and in the waning moments of the second round, tested his resolve with an extended ground-and-pound assault.

After the event, Ferguson admitted he that he's far from a polished and complete MMA fighter, but he's also not about to overlook the progress he displayed during his fight with Thompson (16-9), a former PRIDE fighter who's now lost seven of his past nine fights.

I got his big ass off of me, didn't I?" Ferguson asked.

The fight, of course, wasn't without controversy. Many watching the event, including media members in a post-event press conference, questioned the referee's decision to stop the bout while Thompson was still standing. Ferguson blasted Thompson with an early-third-round punch that popped open and bloodied the Brit's ear. However, Thompson was already wobbly before the blow and showed no signs of recovering anytime soon.

Also causing a few raised eyebrows were referee Dan Miragliotta's sometimes-hasty decisions to stand the fighters soon after the action hit the mat. Those stands-up, some of which came when Thompson was in clearly favorable positions, almost always benefited Ferguson. However, few referees are immune to the crowd's desires, and what seemed to be a largely casual fan base repeatedly called for the fighters to be restarted on their feet. Additionally, despite the stellar position, Thompson wasn't always able to do much with it.

A humbled Kimbo Slice admitted he's got a lot more work to do but was in good spirits afterwards.

In the night's co-main event, EliteXC middleweight champ Robbie Lawler and Scott Smith provided a mixed bag for viewers. At times, the bout was electric as both fighters threw punches and kicks with abandon. However, a slow start to a fight largely considered the night's unofficial main event had many fans growing impatient.

Lawler took the first round on aggressive striking and sent Smith staggering back to his corner. However, round two was an incredibly close contest that bloodied both fighters and had each within grasp of victory. The final blow, though, wasn't one of Lawler's vicious uppercuts or Smith's big rights. Instead, it was an inadvertent poke to Smith's eye at the 3:26 mark of the third round. Lawler immediately apologized for the accidental poke, and officials rushed into the cage to check the damage. Despite his claims that he was OK to keep fighting, Smith was told he'd be unable to continue.

The crowd was irate with the decision, and the anger only intensified when New Jersey State Athletic Control Board representative Nick Lembo announced that the fight would be declared a no-contest. As he explained, championship fights require the completion of at least three rounds before the result can be determined by the scorecards.

Both Lawler (15-4) and Smith (13-4) were disappointed with the result.

"I wanted to go back out," Smith said. "I probably would have been knocked out, but at least I would have been knocked out in the fight."

In other action, despite a sad new level of criticism that was further fueled when Gina Carano failed to make weight for Saturday's event, the Prudential Center crowd was firmly in her corner come fight time.

In the night's lone female bout, opponent Kaitlin Young was booed lustily upon her entrance to the cage. Carano, meanwhile, was cheered mightily with chants of "Gina!" drowning out the pre-fight promos.

After a fairly even round, Carano controlled the second with a Muay-Thai-inspired assault of punches and knees from the clinch. A kick ultimately sent Young to the mat, and only the bell could save her from Carano's subsequent rear-naked-choke attempt. However, so battered was Young's face after the round that she was declared unfit to continue.

Carano (5-0), who was lambasted by her critics after she weighed in three-and-a-half pounds over the 141-pound limit for her fight, admitted that a hectic schedule had a major impact on her preparations for Young (4-2).

"I just came back from filming 'American Gladiators,' and I didn't really put my heart into the training the way I usually like," she said. "That kind of sucks, but [Young] is cool. She took the fight, and we moved on."

In the typical war of words that precede most Phil Baroni fights, Joey Villasenor proved to be a surprisingly worthy adversary. However, once the verbal jousting was replaced with the real stuff, it was Baroni who was no longer the game competitor.

After a head kick missed its mark, Villasenor opted to stand and trade with the notoriously hard-hitting Baroni. Villasenor, though, struck first, using a left-right-left combination to force Baroni to his knees. His prayers went unanswered, and the referee was forced to halt the bout seconds later to award Villasenor (26-6) a surprisingly quick victory over Baroni (10-10).