UFC 77: Hostile Territory

Billed: Former middleweight champion Rich "Ace" Franklin in a rematch against the man who took his title, Anderson "Spider" Silva, in Franklin's hometown of Cincinnati, Ohio.</p>

Matches announced:</p>

Heavyweight (206-265)</p>

Brandon Vera vs. Tim Sylvia</p>

Light Heavyweight (186-205)</p>

Eric Schafer vs. Stephan Bonnar</p>

Middleweight (171-185)</p>

Anderson Silva &copy; vs. Rich Franklin</p>

Yushin Okami vs. Jason MacDonald</p>

Kalib Starnes vs. Alan Belcher</p>

Welterweight (156-170)</p>

Josh Burkman vs. Forrest Petz</p>

Lightweight (146-155)</p>

Jorge Gurgel vs. Alvin Robinson</p>

 

I'm almost looking forward to the heavyweight tilt more than the title fight.</p>

Vera has been one of my favourites for a while so waiting nearly a year for him to come back to the UFC has been hard. I am psyched that he is going to get first crack at a belt-less Tim Sylvia. Unless the Maine-iac decides he wants to be aggressive again, or gets back on the juice, I can see Vera scoring an easy TKO victory. Case in point, Frank Mir broke Timbo's arm, and Vera recently mauled Mir. Different time, different place, I know, but what else can we go off of? Vera is one of the most well-rounded heavyweights around, he is just a bit green.</p>

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (NTC)</div><div class='quotemain'>It'll be good to watch Franklin get destroyed again.</div></p>

Co-sign.</p>

I just hope Anderson doesn't take him lightly after smashing his face the first time around.</p>

</p>

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (shapecity)</div><div class='quotemain'></p>

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (NTC)</div><div class='quotemain'>It'll be good to watch Franklin get destroyed again.</div></p>

Co-sign.</p>

I just hope Anderson doesn't take him lightly after smashing his face the first time around.</p>

</p>

</div></p>

I think Silva's performances against Lutter and Marquardt demonstrate the kind of professional he is. He won't hold back.</p>

I think we will see a better version of Franklin, though. The pressure on him in Ohio will be tremendous but he should put together a better performance than last time. He was visibly drained for the first fight but was too classy to admit an illness (the flu, reportedly) kept him from being 100%.</p>

I like Rich Franklin so I hope their fight will be a good one. I like Silva better though so I'm pulling for him to win again.</p>

 

Ryan Jensen vs. Demian Maia and Jason Black vs. Matt Grice have been added.</p>

I'm interested in seeing Black fight again. He is one of the few Miletich guys I can stand.</p>

 

Silva was late arriving to Cin-city due to visa issues but was able to have a training session with Big Nog that helped him get down to 190 lbs.</p>

Early word is that Liddell vs. Silva for the next PPV will be announced at the event tomorrow, which is arguably one of the biggest fights in MMA history despite the recent records of both fighters.</p>

 

Results:</p>
<div align="center"></div>

<table width="600" height="273" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="1" border="1">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td align="center">Winner</td>
<td align="center">Loser</td>
<td align="center">Method</td>
<td align="center">Round</td>
<td align="center">Time</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="center">Matt Grice</td>
<td align="center">Jason Black</td>
<td align="center">(Split) Decision</td>
<td align="center">3</td>
<td align="center">5:00</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="center">Josh Burkman</td>
<td align="center">Forrest Petz</td>
<td align="center">(Split) Decision</td>
<td align="center">3</td>
<td align="center">5:00</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="center">Demian Maia</td>
<td align="center">Ryan Jensen</td>
<td align="center">Submission (Rear Naked Choke)</td>
<td align="center">1</td>
<td align="center">2:40</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="center">Yushin Okami</td>
<td align="center">Jason MacDonald</td>
<td align="center">(Unanimous) Decision</td>
<td align="center">3</td>
<td align="center">5:00</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="center">Alan Belcher</td>
<td align="center">Kalib Starnes</td>
<td align="center">Doctor's Stoppage (Cut)</td>
<td align="center">2</td>
<td align="center">1:39</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="center">Alvin Robinson</td>
<td align="center">Jorge Gurgel</td>
<td align="center">(Unanimous) Decision</td>
<td align="center">3</td>
<td align="center">5:00</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="center">Stephan Bonnar</td>
<td align="center">Eric Schafer</td>
<td align="center">(Technical) Knock Out</td>
<td align="center">2</td>
<td align="center">2:47</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="center">Tim Sylvia</td>
<td align="center">Brandon Vera</td>
<td align="center">(Unanimous) Decision</td>
<td align="center">3</td>
<td align="center">5:00</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="center">Anderson Silva</td>
<td align="center">Rich Franklin</td>
<td align="center">(Technical) Knock Out</td>
<td align="center">2</td>
<td align="center">1:07</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</p>