<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>The Ultimate Fighting Championship on Friday officially announced additional bouts for its UFC 82 event scheduled for March 2 in Columbus, Ohio. The main event features a middleweight title bout between defending champion Anderson Silva and the final Pride Fighting Championship middleweight titleholder, Dan Henderson. The promotion confirmed three more fights that had been highly rumored by MMAWeekly.com for some time. Those bouts include a heavyweight fight between former Pride fighter Heath Herring and French kickboxer Cheick Kongo, a middleweight contest of Yushin Okami versus the returning Evan Tanner, and a lightweight bout between Ultimate Fighter veteran Josh Koscheck and local Ohio favorite Dustin Hazelett. The March 2 event takes place at the Nationwide Arena, the same location where the UFC set the national total attendance record for a mixed martial arts event at 19,079. UFC 82 bouts, officially announced: -Anderson Silva vs. Dan Henderson -Cheick Kongo vs. Heath Herring -Yushin Okami vs. Evan Tanner -Josh Koscheck vs. Dustin Hazelett UFC 82 rumored bouts, not yet announced: -Jon Fitch vs. Chris Wilson -Andrei Arlovski vs. Jake O'Brien -Diego Sanchez vs. David Bielkheden -Luke Cummo vs. Luigi Fioravanti -Jorge Gurgel vs. John Halverson</div> source mmaweekly.com this is shaping up to b ea very good card. Hearring vs Kongo should be interesting stylistically speaking. Can't wait to see what Tanner has left in him after such a long break.
Tanners done imo, he looked like he had little power left when he fought David Louseaux, and basically was only in the match by his ability to take down David and stay on top. For the periods of time he was standing or on the bottom, he was getting a beating. Well, there is always the chance of the right punch hitting at the right time, so maybe he'll prove me wrong.
yeah but Tanner is a very unique guy. I have him as a friend on myspace, his blogs are priceless. Dude just up and went on a 6 month motorcycle trip across the west, posting pictures of the scenery and ppl he ment. I wouldn't be surprised if he looks horrible and I wouldn't be surprised if he blows right through okami
Looks like a great card, can't wait. Putting Tanner against the Okami blanket is a good test. Okami is a powerful wrestler who will wear on him. If Tanner can overcome Okami, his comeback is for real. If not, he'll still get another chance to prove himself, but not against a ranked middleweight, IMHO.
wow this would add a lot of excitment to an already good looking card From MMA Junkie & five ounces of pain <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>Chris Leben vs. Alessio Sakara at UFC 82 Chris Leben (17-4 MMA, 7-3 UFC), fresh off a stunning knockout of Terry Martin at UFC Fight Night 11 in September, will return to the octagon to face Alessio Sakara (12-6 MMA, 3-3 UFC) at UFC 82. Sam Caplan of fiveouncesofpain.com was the first to confirm the rumored match. UFC 82 takes place March 1 at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva meets Dan Henderson in the night’s main event. The events airs live on pay-per-view. The Leben-Sakara fight will take place on the night’s un-televised preliminary card. Leben, who earned his way into the UFC through the first season of “The Ultimate Fighter,” snapped a two-fight losing streak (to Jason MacDonald and Kalib Starnes) with his victory over Martin. In the televised fight, Leben was on the verge of being knocked out himself. After eating a series of punches, his legs began to wobble, and Leben began to stumble in the third round. However, with just a minute to go in the fight, he cracked Martin with a left hook that instantly dropped the fighter. It was a remarkable come-from-behind victory. “The Crippler” will now take on Sakara, who’s won two his past three fights. Sakara, a former light heavyweight who will make his debut at middleweight, defeated Victor Valimaki with a first-round TKO at UFC 70 before suffering a 61-second TKO to Houston Alexander at UFC 75. Earlier this month, though, Sakara disposed of James Lee in just 90 seconds at UFC 80 to push his UFC record to 3-3. With the Leben-Sakara booking, the UFC 82 fight card now looks complete. And some major, major starpower — including major names from the first season of “The Ultimate Fighter” — will likely be relegated to the night’s un-televised undercard</div> Leben never has a dull fight and Sakara loves to stand and bang. Someone ain't making it to the 3rd bell.
Why don't my favourite guys get as many fights as Alessio Sakara? The guy is extremely mediocre and he gets fights every three or four months like clockwork.
