After numerous attempts at booking the Rose Garden, the UFC has finally been able to pin down a date on which to visit Portland--August 29th. The show will feature a heavyweight showdown between two legends of the sport: Everett, Washington's Randy "The Natural" Couture, the three time All-American wrestler from Oklahoma State and six-time UFC champion, and Brazilian Antônio Rodrigo "Minotauro" Nogueira, former PRIDE FC and UFC heavyweight champion, in a match that's been fantasized about for nearly a decade. Keep an eye on: undefeated Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu World Champion Demian Maia, who has choked-out all five of his UFC opponents to date. Also featured on the card: Portland, Oregon native Chris "The Crippler" Leben, and Eugene, Oregon native Evan Dunham; Vancouver, Washingon native Ed Herman, who fights out of Portland, Oregon. Tickets go on sale to the public on June 20th. UFC Fight Club members can purchase from a limited amount of pre-sale tickets on the 18th and UFC Newsletter subscribers will have tickets made available for purchase on the 19th. The event will be broadcast on PPV at 10:00PM EST. UFC 102 August 29th, 2009 The Rose Garden, Portland, Oregon PPV (10:00PM EST) MAIN EVENT 265lbs. Randy 'The Natural' Couture [USA] (16-7) vs. Antônio Rodrigo 'Minotauro' Nogueira [Brazil] (31-5-1) HEADLINE 205lbs. 'The Dean of Mean' Keith Jardine [USA] (14-6-1) vs. Thiago Silva [Brazil] (13-1) UNDERCARD 185lbs. Chris 'Crippler' Leben [USA] (18-5) vs. Jake Rosholt [USA] (5-1) 185lbs. Nate 'The Great' Marquart [USA] (31-8-2) vs. Demian Maia [Brazil] (11-0) 205lbs. Brandon 'The Truth' Vera [USA] (10-3) vs. Krzysztof 'The Polish Experiment' Soszynski [Canada] (18-8-1) PRELIMINARY BOUTS 265lbs. Gabriel 'Napao' Gonzaga [Brazil] (10-4) vs. Chris Tuchscherer [USA] (17-1-0-1) 185lbs. Ed 'Short Fuse' Herman [USA] (15-7) vs. Aaron 'A-Train' Simpson [USA] (5-0) 185lbs. Nick Catone [USA] (7-1) vs. Mark 'The Filipino Wrecking Machine' Munoz [USA] (5-1) 170lbs. Marcus 'Maximus' Aurelio [Brazil] (18-7) vs. Evan Dunham [USA] (8-0) 265lbs. Justin 'The Insane 1' McCully [USA] (9-4-2) vs. Mike Russow [USA] (11-1-1) 265lbs. Tim 'The Thrashing Machine' Hague [Canada] (10-1) vs. Todd Duffee [USA] (4-0)
Re: The UFC is finally coming to Portland [video=youtube;Vo_A2qUs40Q]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vo_A2qUs40Q[/video]
Re: The UFC is finally coming to Portland My friend, BLAZER PROPHET, knows nothing about UFC........nor, does he really care. Yet, through his company, gets the use of a suite...and is taking his daughter and son-in-law who are UFC fanatics.
Re: The UFC is finally coming to Portland Pfft...if I want to see something like the UFC offers, I can just hang out in the parking lot of the Copper Penny on a Saturday night.
Re: The UFC is finally coming to Portland There's just a tad more strategy involved in UFC than just punching eatchother in the face for 10 seconds then both guys are winded.
Re: The UFC is finally coming to Portland Then you've never seen a fight with two dudes on angel dust.
Re: The UFC is finally coming to Portland Undefeated Phoenix native Aaron Simpson replaces Wilson Gouveia, who withdraws due to a back injury.
Re: The UFC is finally coming to Portland Well if you get the opportunity to join them don't pass it up. The UFC atmosphere is unlike any other live sporting event.
Re: The UFC is finally coming to Portland Have you ever been to a Guatemalan cock fight? I didn't think so.
Re: The UFC is finally coming to Portland I've got 4 tickets to the ODS multi million dollar luxury suite. We're right next to Nike. Free parking passes, HUGE free dinner and all kinds of food... The funny thing is that I don't like MMA. At all. I did this for my daughter and her husband- they love this garbage. But, as their host, I have to be there.
Re: The UFC is finally coming to Portland Holy crap that is sweet, I'd definitely be there in a heartbeat.
Re: The UFC is finally coming to Portland Yeah, this is going to be riff-raff city. As I understand it, guns, knives shives & chains have to be checked at the door.
Re: The UFC is finally coming to Portland [video=youtube;nZniGIH213w]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZniGIH213w[/video] [video=youtube;Y4w9scY8Aro]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4w9scY8Aro[/video]
Re: The UFC is finally coming to Portland As much as I like MMA, I really have to wonder if it's that much fun to watch in an arena (unless you pay the big bucks to be 30 yards away). A lot of it boils down to submissions and wrestling, and that stuff is pretty hard to see at 150 yards. Except on the jumbotron, and at that point you might as well stay home and watch it on the big screen. If you want the big crowd environment, just go to a sports bar. That said, if I were BP I'd be pretty stoked just to get in for free. Even during the Blazers' 21 season, every time I've left the Rose Garden I've felt like I got my money's worth. It's just a great arena.
