UFC 85 Hughes vs Alves, Leben vs Bisbing!!!

[Capt.Caveman]

Hughes vs. Alves tapped for UFC 85 main eventFormer UFC welterweight champion Matt Hughes (42-6 MMA, 15-3 UFC) and highly ranked 170-pounder contender Thiago Alves (14-3 MMA, 7-2 UFC) have stepped up to fill the UFC 85 main-event slot vacated by an injured Chuck Liddell.

Hughes made the announcement on his official website. However, the UFC hadn't announced the bout as of Friday afternoon.

UFC 85 takes place June 7 at the O2 Arena in London, England.

Hughes, who said he wants to fight rival Matt Serra after the fight with Alves, is coming off a UFC 79 loss to Georges St. Pierre for the UFC's interim welterweight title. Prior to that, he had defeated Chris Lytle via unanimous decision at UFC 68.

"June 7, in England, I fight Thiago Alves," Hughes wrote. "The fight is confirmed, (and) it will be the main event for the card. Dana (White) just called me with the news.

"No matter what happens in this fight, I've got Serra next."

Hughes will now take on Alves, one of the UFC's top fighters who's somehow managed to fly under the radar. He's currently riding a five-fight win streak with his only losses in the UFC coming to Jon Fitch and Spencer Fisher. He most recently defeated Karo Parisyan with a second-round TKO at UFC Fight Night 13 earlier this month, which moved him up the world 170-pound rankings.

Liddell, who tore a hamstring during a recent training session, was slated to headline the event with Rashad Evans. Evans now faces James Irvin instead.


Leben vs. Bisping confirmed for UFC 85
Just hours after the organization announced a UFC 85 main event of Matt Hughes vs. Thiago Alves, the UFC also confirmed a main-card bout between Chris Leben (18-4 MMA, 8-3 UFC) and Michael Bisping (15-1 MMA, 5-1 UFC).

MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) mentioned the possibility of the bout on Wednesday, and on Friday evening, the UFC made it official.

UFC 85, which also features a bout between former headliner Rashad Evans and James Irvin (a replacement for injured Chuck Liddell), takes place at the O2 Arena in London, England.

Bisping agreed to the bout less than a week after his UFC 83 main-card victory over Charles McCarthy. Bisping, the light heavyweight winner of "The Ultimate Fighter 3," made his middleweight debut with a first-round TKO at the event. McCarthy announced his retirement just days after the fight.

Bisping will now take on hard-hitting Leben, a product of the first season of "The Ultimate Fighter" who most recently TKO'd Alessio Sakara at UFC 82 in March. The 27-year-old, who began his UFC career with five straight victories, will now go for his third straight win after back-to-back losses to Jason MacDonald and Kalib Starnes.

With this week's flurry of UFC 85 transactions, a solid middleweight bout between Nate Marquardt and Thales Leites has now officially been relegated to the un-televised preliminary card.

UFC 85 is currently slated to air on pay per view.

The latest card now includes:

MAIN CARD (TELEVISED)

Thiago Alves vs. Matt Hughes
Michael Bisping vs. Chris Leben
Marcus Davis vs. Mike Swick
Rashad Evans vs. James Irvin
Brandon Vera vs. Fabricio Werdum
PRELIMINARY CARD (NOT TELEVISED)

Martin Kampmann vs. Jorge Rivera
Thiago Tavares vs. Matt Wiman
Thales Leites vs. Nate Marquardt
Luiz Cane vs. Jason Lambert
Roan Carneiro vs. Ryo Chonan
Jess Liaudin vs. Paul Taylor
Antoni Hardonk vs. Neil Wain

[sniper]

Not a big fan of Leben, but if he comes out to fight the way he did against Sakara this should be a great fight.

[Capt.Caveman]

Not a big fan of Leben, but if he comes out to fight the way he did against Sakara this should be a great fight.

bisbing isn't gonna try to stand with him. sakara's a boxer. bisbing's a smart fighter he'll take it to the ground

[StonerJack]

Hughes vs. Alves tapped for UFC 85 main eventMAIN CARD (TELEVISED)

Thiago Alves vs. Matt Hughes
Michael Bisping vs. Chris Leben
Marcus Davis vs. Mike Swick
Rashad Evans vs. James Irvin
Brandon Vera vs. Fabricio Werdum
PRELIMINARY CARD (NOT TELEVISED)

Martin Kampmann vs. Jorge Rivera
Thiago Tavares vs. Matt Wiman
Thales Leites vs. Nate Marquardt
Luiz Cane vs. Jason Lambert
Roan Carneiro vs. Ryo Chonan
Jess Liaudin vs. Paul Taylor
Antoni Hardonk vs. Neil Wain


Thats a real solid card. Alot of exciting fights.
I like Alves alot, but Matt will probably be too much for him. If Alves can stop the takedowns, he will cruise. But that's a big if.
Bisping v Leben could go either way, but I'm going with Leben, Mike gets put in troble in nearly every fight, I think Chris will make him pay when he gets sloppy.
Swick v Davis should be explosive. I used to love Swick and hate Davis, now it's the other way, Davis wins via ref stoppage.
Evans will GnP Irvin.
I hope Vera KO's Werdum with a thai knee. But wouldn't be surprised to see Werdum sub him. Vera by decision.
They better show the Thiago Tavares fight, that kid is a wizard.

[Eagle.007]

The best part is, according to the fight network, this card will be on Spike TV.

[StonerJack]

The best part is, according to the fight network, this card will be on Spike TV.

MMAJunkie has it as a PPV. But without a title match, I could see this being free.

[Eagle.007]

It will be on PPV live and then air on Spike at 10. At least that is what the UFC has done before. I was a bit surprised to see it will be on Spike because the TUF 7 finale is just two weeks later. But without a title fight and without Chuck they will have trouble drawing big numbers.

[Cromwell]

Good bouts. Hughes-Alves should be exciting. I know Matt will be eager to get back into the win column. He'll be able to take Alves down. Hell, he'll be able to carry him across the ring and do the sideways bodyslam he's famous for if he has to. Alves is a good striker, but he doesn't have the physical attributes of GSP (and frankly, who does?)

Leben-Bisbing looks to be an exciting fight. Bisbing likes to think of himself as a striker and Leben does too. Yet both know pretty good jitz. They just showed that Leben-Martin fight again on Spike recently - that was a *great* fight. Chris showed some good poise and sold jitz. I think he beats Bisbing.

[sniper]

So much for that.
Leben will be in jail until May 27th. Bisping will now be fighting a Jason Day, who has 1 ufc undercard win... UFC 85 was doomed from the beginning, they should just show this on Spike at this point.

http://mmamania.com/2008/05/09/michael-bisping-vs-jason-day-ufc-85-fight-confirmed/

UFC matchmaker and other officials continue to work over time to cobble together a solid UFC 85: “Bedlam” fight card for the June 7 pay-per-view (PPV) event that takes place at the O2 Arena in London, England.

This time it’s Jason Day who has been asked to step up and fill-in for the incarcerated Chris Leben and fight hometown favorite, Michael Bisping, in a middleweight showdown slated for the main card.

Talk about one hell of an opportunity for the Canadian native to step up big against one of the promotion’s most marketed fighters, eh?

Day is an extremely tough — albeit relatively unknown — fighter who wowed fans and critics alike with his knockout of Alan Belcher at UFC 83: “Serra vs. St. Pierre 2″ on April 19. He was an underdog heading in to the bout, meaning most did not expect him to win … especially the way that he did.

It was an impressive Octagon debut, and in the UFC world where no good deed goes unpunished, Day has been rewarded with a high profile fight against the charismatic The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 3 205-pound champion.

Bisping is fresh of a dominant performance at UFC 83 himself, putting it on Charles McCarthy for the majority of the first round. “Chainsaw” could not answer the bell for the second frame because of an arm injury and Bisping secured his first win at 185.

This is actually a very tricky fight for Bisping — Day is a very well-rounded fighter who appears to improve fight after fight. This can and will more than likely be a very competitive bout. He is not a “can” or some other sacrificial lamb who the UFC is “feeding” Bisping.

Day has got some nice skills and will look to capitalize on a great opportunity. While the Leben fight had fireworks written all over it, don’t write this one off too quick … it should be an entertaining scrap.

[Capt.Caveman]

So much for that.
Leben will be in jail until May 27th. Bisping will now be fighting a Jason Day, who has 1 ufc undercard win... UFC 85 was doomed from the beginning, they should just show this on Spike at this point.

http://mmamania.com/2008/05/09/michael-bisping-vs-jason-day-ufc-85-fight-confirmed/

Their gonna have to put it on spike

[Cromwell]

Lol!

Leben arrested.

What did he do?

I don't really care - I just want to see Hughes fight again.

[Capt.Caveman]

This card took a shit in a hurry. Hughes Alves isn't a main event fight imo

[Eagle.007]

And it isn't on Spike, fuck that.

[Eagle.007]

Lol!

Leben arrested.

What did he do?

I don't really care - I just want to see Hughes fight again.

Leben turned himself in for a parole violation. He knew he wouldn't be able to make the trip with that on his record. He turned himself in and they put him in jail for what was going to be about a month, he was released early.

[supers4972]

And it isn't on Spike, fuck that.

Agreed.

Anyone have links to the webstreams?

[VMS]

Going to be at Delilah's of Philadelphia to watch this fight Saturday night, to wash the stench of that EliteXC abortion from my mouth.

First Wackbagger who PMs me is invited to watch it with me. I've got a VIP card for the place, and we should be able to get a decent seat to watch the fight on the TVs there. No sound, but you get the strippers to look at and the bouncers are actually pretty cool to talk to at the fight.