Instead of doing a typical UFC 82 preview, I decided to run down some of the numbers, and then quickly break down some of the fights.

2: Anderson Silva VS Dan Henderson will be the second time a current PRIDE champion will fight a current UFC champion.

6: Yushin Okami has had 6 UFC fights, all of which have gone to the 3^rd round.

1156: Days since Anderson Silva’s last non DQ loss.

5: Alessio Sakara’s last 5 fights have all ended in the first round.

36: UFC events since Evan Tanner’s last fight, a triangle choke victory over Justin Levens

7: Different countries represented at UFC 82: Brazil, United States, France, Belarus, Sweden, Japan and Italy.

10-0: Jake O’Brien has a perfect 10-0 record in MMA.

70: Andrei Arlovski hasn’t fought since UFC 70 in April of last  year.

0: Number on times Dan Henderson has been knocked out

21:56: amount of time Anderson Silva has spent in the Octagon.

5: During UFC 82 Mark Coleman will be inducted as the 5^th member of the UFC Hall of Fame

15: Jon Fitch will be going for his 15^th straight victory.

8: Royce Gracie holds the record for most consecutive wins in the UFC at 8. With a win, Jon Fitch will tie him.

12/13/06: The last time Diego Sanchez won a fight. He beat Joe Riggs that night to go 17-0 for his career.

3: There are 3 contestants from the first season of the Ultimate Fighter on the fight card.

Anderson Silva VS Dan Henderson: Dan Henderson has never been knocked out. Anderson Silva is the best striker in the game putting up highlight reel KO’s including a standing elbow to Tony Fryklund, breaking Rich Franklin’s nose several times in several places and knocking out Chris Leben 3 times in one fight. Silva is great in the clinch, but Henderson will use his Greco skills to overpower Silva when in the clinch. Henderson does have power, but standing with Silva could be a mistake. I’m going with Silva via TKO in 2nd. Don’t be the least bit surprised to see Henderson win though.

Heath Herring VS Cheick Kongo: Kongo has very good standup, but his ground game is questionable. He was exposed badly against Carmelo Marrero. Since then he has defeated 2 strikers. Herring should try and take Kongo down and throw him some submissions. Herring via submission in the 2nd

Jon Fitch VS Chris Wilson: Fitch is going for the all-time record for most consecutive wins in the UFC. He is the UFC’s best kept secret. Wilson has been on the IFL and trains with Team Quest. Wilson has decent strikes and can submit you, but Fitch might be the 2^nd best 170lb fighter in the world. Fitch via Decision.

Evan Tanner VS Yushin Okami: A very weird fight. Evan hasn’t fought since UFC 59. Tanner has some amazing heart, he has some great comebacks. Okami likes to ground and pound, but Tanner has better wrestling. Don’t look for Yushin to have any fans after bashing American fighters. Tanner via Decision.  

Chris Leben VS Alessio Sakara: A classic strikers fight. They both love to throw and this fight will be a very entertaining fight. The difference is Leben can take a punch, Sakara cannot. Leben in the first via TKO.

Andrei Arlovski VS Jake O’Brien: Jake is a great wrestler, putting on a clinic against Heath Herrings. Arlovski was the UFC’s top dog about 3 years ago. Then he got KO’d by then Tim Sylvia. Since then his career has been spiraling downhill. However, on the feet, Arlovski should have no problems cleaning O’Brien clocks. Arlovski via TKO in the 2^nd. 

Check out the Fight Card show at www.getsportsradio.com and www.myspace.com/thefightcard for a full recap.

A year and a few days ago two former PRIDE superstars were about to enter the UFC’s Octagon for the first time at UF 67: All or Nothing. Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson were set to come over and take the UFC by storm.

Rampage was brought over because of his charismatic attitude and because he was the only loss on Chuck Liddell’s record that hadn’t been avenged. Rampage is renowned for being a funny goofball, always cracking jokes. He will always give you a great interview, and is always entertaining.

Cro Cop is famous for kicking people in the head.  He knocked out Wanderlei Silva with a left high kick and split Silva’s head open. He is very dry, stubborn, shows little emotion, rarely takes interviews and would be a great stand in for a serial killer in a horror movie. Cro Cop is a scary dude. He was an anti-terrorism police officer in Croatia, he currently serves on the Parliament there.

Both men were victorious that night. But the similarities between them end.

After that night, Rampage was given a title fight with Liddell. Rampage quickly disposed of Chuck via strikes. He then went on to defend his title against his good friend, Dan Henderson. Rampage is 3-0 in the UFC with 2 KO’s and a title belt. He is set to be one of the coaches on the next season of The Ultimate Fighter, and then defends his belt against Forrest Griffin. Signing with the UFC is probably the best decision Rampage has ever made.

Cro Cop’s next fight was against Gabriel Gonzaga with the winner set to face then UFC Heavyweight Champion, Randy Couture. Gonzaga used Cro Cop’s stubbornness against him. In PRIDE, where Cro Cop spent virtually his entire career, you could not throw elbows to a downed opponent. In the UFC, it is legal and one of the best tools a fighter has. Cro Cop, a kick boxer, never did much ground training. It quickly backfired on him as Gonzaga took him down and elbows came down like rain on Seattle. The two were then stood up, a questionable move that was thought to give the advantage to Cro Cop. Then BAM! It happened, left high kick, just as many predicted.

Most guessed the end correctly, but very few got the winner right. Gonzaga was the one who unleashed the kick, and Cro Cop was the one knocked out cold. When he landed, Cro Cop’s leg bent awkwardly. It looked bad enough that referee Herb Dean had to look away when he adjusted his leg. Just like that, Cro Cop had been changed forever.

Cro Cop went on to lose a decision to Cheick Kongo the same night Rampage defeated Dan Henderson. After the loss, Cro Cop contemplated retirement. He was set to make a big announcement this week, and everyone was split on whether it was the end of Cro Cop, or that he was leaving the UFC. It was the latter.

Wednesday in Tokyo, Cro Cop announced he had left the UFC and had joined the upstart DREAM organization. The man who was supposed to dominate the UFC, was leaving it 1-2. In 3 years in PRIDE, Cro Cop lost 4 times, in 7 months in the UFC, he lost twice. When Cro Cop was in PRIDE, it had all the top heavyweights, the division was stacked.

Cro Cop leaving the UFC is like Albert Pujols going to Japan and not starting for a team. This is like Peyton Manning moving to the CFL and being a 3^rd string QB. PRIDE was thought to have better fighters than the UFC. Mirko was one of the first to come over, and one of the worst failures. Moving to the UFC was the worst move Mirko Cro Cop ever made.

UFC 67: All Or Nothing proved to be correctly titled. Rampage was given a huge opportunity and took it all. He is the reigning UFC Light-heavyweight Champion, is a coach on TUF and is one of the most popular fighters in the UFC. Cro Cop was given a similar opportunity and took nothing. He lost, wussed out, and left. Sadly, most fans will remember him getting KO’d by Gabriel Gonzaga, and losing a decision to Cheick Kongo rather than his dominance in PRIDE. A legend withered away in the prime of his career.

June 23rd, 2007, Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City was on fire. On a night filled with great fights, the whole place was waiting for one man, one fight: Kevin Ferguson, also known as Kimbo Slice. Kimbo was set to make his somewhat official Mixed-Martial Arts debut. (the fight wasn’t sanctioned) His opponent, former Olympic Gold Medal winner and former WBO Heavyweight Champion, Ray Mercer. Boardwalk Hall was sold out for MMA fights in which the main event featured a former boxer against a street fighter that wasn’t sanctioned.

Leading up to the fight, Logan “Mr. Intercontinental” Novatnak asked Kimbo how he felt about critics calling the fight a circus. Kimbo took it as Logan calling it a circus and put the Fight Card on notice. Kimbo informed us, if we were to show up at the fight, he would put a hurting on us.

Flash forward to after the fight, outside Kimbo’s dressing room. The four members of the Fight Card are hastily waiting to get a chance to interview the street legend, hoping, praying he had forgotten Logan’s name. Logan goes in, and comes out with all limbs attached. Before leaving the arena, the Fight Card spoke to Felix Hernandez, promoter of the fight, and guaranteed Kimbo VS Tank Abbott in the fall. The fight was set, but a short week beforehand, a major sponsor backed out, cancelling the fight and crippling the company.

But now, the two meet this Saturday on Showtime. Since then, Kimbo defeated Bo Cantrell purely on intimidation as Cantrell virtually gave up after being struck with a forearm.

Kimbo will most likely win in his fight against Tank. Saying Tank is on the downside of his career would be like saying “Enron’s not as good as it used to be, but it’s still ok.” If Tank does win, and it is possible, it will be after catching Kimbo with perfect shot.

Kimbo and Brock Lesnar are two of the same. Brock showed how hard MMA truly is when he lost to Frank Mir. Brock was stronger, in better shape, a better wrestler, and probably has better striking. But due to his inexperience, he didn’t take advantage of his strengths and lost. But Brock put butts in seats. He is not an elite fighter, neither is Kimbo.There are fighters more talented than both Kimbo and Brock, but nowhere near the big time. But Kimbo and Brock will sell tickets, they will sell PPV’s and they will bring in people who aren’t MMA fans into the sport. More fans in the sport means more money.

Money rules the world, and Kimbo Slice = money.