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• Pitting Randy Couture against Mark Coleman was about as awesome as when the IFL had that faded fighter take on that has-been in a superfight.
• It took Matt Serra less time to knock Frank Trigg out than it did Robbie Lawler. Is it time for Serra vs. BJ Penn at 170? It was damn close when they fought at 155.
• Congrats to Chael Sonnen for utterly dominating Nate Marquardt, and a huge congrats to Sonnen for actually proving himself to be a viable contender for the 185-pound title. The dude went from zero to hero in the span of two flawless fights.
• Demian Maia… meh.
• Paulo Thiago is legit. Or Mike Swick has started to suck.
• Mac Danzig was tossed a softball and came ridiculously close to striking out.
• Is it me or was Melvin Guillard the recipient of a gift decision?
• One more loss for Brian Stann and he’s going to lose that GI Joe action figure modeled after him.
• Did Rolles Gracie not know he was supposed to fight in the UFC this past weekend? Was his Octagon debut some sort of prank? Dude, do some cardio.

UFC 109 approaches, and with its star-studded headlining bout of Oldie McOld versus Captain Oldenstein, one thing becomes more apparent than ever before: holy cow has Zuffa run out of worthy headliners. Granted, Randy Couture and Mark Coleman are ex-champs, but they’re… how do you say it… ah yes, freakin’ old (and pretty irrelevant). So here we go, another UFC that means nothing - unless you’re into dudes who fought in World War I and who are getting perilously close to collecting Social Security checks. Predictions:

• Matt Serra is facing Frank Trigg. Why? Who knows. But now we get to see the man who inspired the cast of MTV’s “Jersey Shore” wreck a man who posed nude for some gay magazine.
• Demian Maia is going to work some top-level jiu-jitsu magic on Dan Miller. Until, of course, Miller punches him in the face. Then the Brazilian is going to go flying!
• Paulo Thiago over Mike Swick via concussion grenade and submachine gun. BOPA!
• The winner of Nate Marquardt vs. Chael Sonnen gets to the winner of Anderson Silva vs. Vitor Belfort. So in essence, whoever survives on Saturday night gets to die at a later date.
• Randy Couture wins out of sheer oldness.

Because, hey, you can’t have too much going on if you’re a betting aficionado right? Unless of course, you’re losing.

Two UFC Hall of Famers collide in UFC 109: Relentless at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada a day before the rest of the world go ga-ga over the Super Bowl. And just because Super Bowl XLIV is that big of a game, the UFC is bringing out the big guns for Saturday night.

UFC fans have waited ten years for this match between Hall of Famers Randy Couture and Mark Coleman as they finally square off in a battle for the ages. Couture is a former three-time former heavyweight champion and a two-time light-heavyweight champion in the UFC, while Coleman was the first ever UFC heavyweight champion.

This fight was scheduled to go ahead 12 years ago in 1998, however Randy Couture had to withdraw due to injury. Since then both fighters have gone on to have impressive careers, Couture has a record of 17-10 whereas Mark Coleman, who spent most of his years fighting in Japan, has a record of 16-9.

The last two-years, Couture has fought some formidable opponents, such as the current UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. He lost both of these fights before winning his most recent fight against Brandon Vera.

Coleman has somewhat restarted his career within…

Bettors take a trip inside the Octagon before they wet their pants watching the Super Bowl this Sunday.

And in case you didn’t get that, businessman extraordinaire and UFC President Dana White managed to squeeze his little UFC pay per view event right before Super Bowl XLIV.

You read it, before we get to see the Colts and the Saints play for the championship in Miami, Randy Couture and Mark Coleman, two Hall of Famers inside the Octagon, will headline UFC 109: Relentless as both try to make their way back to the title picture in the heavyweight division.

UFC 109 on Saturday, February 6 has 11 bouts on the card including the headliner that includes Randy Couture and Mark Coleman. There are five fights on the pay-per-view portion of the card and six preliminary bouts, two of which will be televised on Spike TV.

UFC 109 has a lot of big UFC odds favorites and that is somewhat unusual. Randy Couture is listed as -450 in UFC odds at SBG Global for his bout against Mark Coleman.

Not many people are giving Mark Coleman much of a chance. These two fighters were supposed to meet almost 12 years ago in UFC 17 but Couture was injured and pulled out. Couture is a five-time UFC champion and he has proven that he can still win big fights as he got a unanimous decision against Brandon Vera at…

NBC’s Poker After Dark will be back on January 4th for a new season featuring thirteen new players and a mixture of regulars from previous seasons.Poker After Dark season 6, recorded in October 2009 at the Golden Nugget Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, will air thirteen new episodes, seven in the traditional six-handed winner-take-all freezeout format and six in cash games. Ali Nejad will return to Poker After Dark to provide commentary, while the popular and beautiful Leeann Tweeden will returns for her third season as the show’s host. Season 6 will kick off on January 4th, in its regular 2:05 a.m timeslot on NBC. The remaining dates will be determined and announced in the following days.

Here’s a preview of some of the matches and the players taking part in each match in the order they will be aired:

Commentators III: Howard Lederer, Gabe Kaplan, Joe Sebok, Ali Nejad, Mark Gregorich, and Kara Scott.

Nicknames: Norway’s  Annette “The Huntress” Obrestad, Mike “The Mouth” Matusow, Antonio “The Magician” Esfandiari, Erick “E-Dog” Lindgren, Phil “The Unabomber” Laak, and Phil “The Poker Brat” Hellmuth.

Cash game ($50,000 minimum buy-in): Brandon Adams, Todd Brunson, Chris Ferguson, Mike Matusow, Antonio Esfandiari, and Phil Hellmuth.

My Favorite Pro: Online amateur qualifiers Craig Ivey from Australia and James Ashby from Alabama, special Full Tilt Poker qualifier professional Jens Voertmann from Germany, along with the 2009 Howard Lederer Charity Event winner professional Steve Bartlett from Michigan, plus World Series of Poker bracelet winners Phil Hellmuth and Chris Ferguson.

He Said, She Said: Erica Schoenberg, Jean-Robert Bellande, David Grey, Karina Jett, Mike Matusow, and Annie Duke.

Cash game ($100,000 minimum buy-in): Phil Hellmuth, Eli Elezra, Doyle Brunson, Tom Dwan, Gus Hansen, and Phil Laak.

Lonesome Shark: Erick Lindgren, James Akenhead, Antonio Esfandiari, Mike Matusow, David Williams, and Brad Booth.

Mixed Martial Arts: Bruce Buffer, Patrik Antonius, Dan Henderson, Randy Couture, Howard Lederer, and Erick Lindgren.

Cash game ($150,000 minimum buy-in): Tom “Durrrr” Dwan, Patrik Antonius, David Peat, Eli Elezra, Gabe Kaplan, and Alan Meltzer.

Charity in Mind: Phil Gordon, Chris Ferguson, Jennifer Harman, Howard Lederer, Andy Bloch, and Annie Duke.

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Officials of the Ultimate Fighting Championship have released the official fight card for UFC 109: Relentless, taking place on February 6th, 2010, at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas.

UFC 109 fight card is headlined by an exciting match featuring UFC Hall of Famers Randy “The Natural” Couture (14-7 UFC) and Mark “The Hammer” Coleman (7-4 UFC).  Couture and Coleman were originally scheduled to meet over a decade ago at “UFC 17: Redemption,” however,  an injury forced Couture to withdraw from the event. Coleman moved to Japan shortly after, to compete in the Japanese promotion PRIDE Fighting Championships, where he won the PRIDE 2000 Open Weight Grand Prix tournament defeating Masaaki Satake, Akira Shoji, Kazuyuki Fujita, and Igor Vovchanchyn.

The event will be co headlined by a welterweight rematch between welterweight contender Josh Koscheck and Brazilian fighter Paulo Thiago. Other fights on the UFC 109 card include former UFC welterweight champion Matt Serra vs. Frank Trigg, and Nate Marquardt vs. Chael Sonnenn.

Tickets for UFC 109 are already available online. For more information, please visit WDIAV Tickets section or click here. UFC 109: Relentless, Saturday, February 6, will be broadcast live on pay-per-view on both Spike and Versus.

UFC 109 Card:

Main Card
Light Heavyweight bout: Randy Couture vs. Mark Coleman
Welterweight bout: Josh Koscheck vs.  Paulo Thiago
Middleweight bout: Nate Marquardt vs. Chael Sonnen
Middleweight bout:  Demian Maia vs. Dan Miller
Welterweight bout: Matt Serra vs. Frank Trigg
Preliminary Card
Lightweight bout: Mac Danzig vs. Justin Buchholz
Lightweight bout: Melvin Guillard vs.  Ronnys Torres
Lightweight bout: Phillipe Nover vs. Rob Emerson
Heavyweight bout: Tim Hague vs. Chris Tuchscherer
Heavyweight bout: Mostapha Al-turk vs.  Rolles Gracie

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November 27, 2009: The November 2009 Independent World MMA Rankings have been released. These rankings are independent of any single MMA media outlet or sanctioning body, and are published on multiple web sites.

In addition to the numerous MMA web sites that publish the Independent World MMA Rankings, you can also access the rankings at any time by going to www.IndependentWorldMMARankings.com.

Some of the best and most knowledgeable MMA writers from across the MMA media landscape have come together to form one independent voting panel. These voting panel members are, in alphabetical order: Zach Arnold (Fight Opinion); Nicholas Bailey (MMA Ratings); Jared Barnes (Freelance); Jordan Breen (Sherdog); Jim Genia (Full Contact Fighter, MMA Memories, and MMA Journalist Blog); Jesse Holland (MMA Mania); Robert Joyner (Freelance); Todd Martin (CBS Sportsline); Jim Murphy (The Savage Science); Zac Robinson (Sports by the Numbers MMA); Leland Roling (Bloody Elbow); Michael David Smith (AOL Fanhouse); Jonathan Snowden (Heavy.com); Joshua Stein (MMA Opinion); Ivan Trembow (Freelance); and Dave Walsh (Total MMA and Head Kick Legend).

Note: Due to the fact that he has not competed in the welterweight division for over one year and has no plans to do so in the foreseeable future, Jake Shields is no longer eligible to be ranked in the welterweight division. He is, however, eligible to be ranked in the middleweight division.

Note: Due to the fact that he has not competed in the heavyweight division for over one year and has no plans to do so in the foreseeable future, Randy Couture is no longer eligible to be ranked in the heavyweight division. He is, however, eligible to be ranked in the light heavyweight division.

November 2009 Independent World MMA Rankings
Ballots collected on November 24, 2009

Heavyweight Rankings (206 to 265 lbs.)
1. Fedor Emelianenko (31-1, 1 No Contest)
2. Brock Lesnar (4-1)
3. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (32-5-1, 1 No Contest)
4. Frank Mir (12-4)
5. Shane Carwin (11-0)
6. Brett Rogers (10-1)
7. Alistair Overeem (31-11, 1 No Contest)
8. Junior dos Santos (9-1)
9. Cain Velasquez (7-0)
10. Fabricio Werdum (13-4-1)

Light Heavyweight Rankings (186 to 205 lbs.)
1. Lyoto Machida (16-0)
2. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua (18-4)
3. Rashad Evans (13-1-1)
4. Quinton Jackson (30-7)
5. Anderson Silva (25-4)
6. Gegard Mousasi (27-2-1)
7. Forrest Griffin (17-6)
8. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (18-3)
9. Dan Henderson (25-7)
10. Thiago Silva (14-1)

Middleweight Rankings (171 to 185 lbs.)
1. Anderson Silva (25-4)
2. Nathan Marquardt (29-8-2)
3. Dan Henderson (25-7)
4. Vitor Belfort (19-8)
5. Demian Maia (11-1)
6. Jake Shields (24-4-1)
7. Chael Sonnen (24-10-1)
8. Yushin Okami (23-5)
9. Robbie Lawler (16-5, 1 No Contest)
10. Jorge Santiago (21-8)

Welterweight Rankings (156 to 170 lbs.)
1. Georges St. Pierre (19-2)
2. Jon Fitch (19-3, 1 No Contest)
3. Thiago Alves (16-6)
4. Josh Koscheck (14-4)
5. Matt Hughes (43-7)
6. Dan Hardy (23-6)
7. Paulo Thiago (12-1)
8. Mike Swick (14-3)
9. Carlos Condit (24-5)
10. Marius Zaromskis (13-3)

Lightweight Rankings (146 to 155 lbs.)
1. B.J. Penn (14-5-1)
2. Shinya Aoki (22-4, 1 No Contest)
3. Eddie Alvarez (19-2)
4. Kenny Florian (11-4)
5. Tatsuya Kawajiri (25-5-2)
6. Diego Sanchez (21-2)
7. Gray Maynard (8-0, 1 No Contest)
8. Frankie Edgar (10-1)
9. Joachim Hansen (19-8-1)
10. Mizuto Hirota (12-3-1)

Featherweight Rankings (136 to 145 lbs.)
1. Jose Aldo (16-1)
2. Mike Brown (22-5)
3. Urijah Faber (22-3)
4. Hatsu Hioki (20-4-2)
5. Bibiano Fernandes (7-2)
6. Raphael Assuncao (14-1)
7. “Lion” Takeshi Inoue (17-3)
8. Wagnney Fabiano (12-2)
9. Manny Gamburyan (10-4)
10. Michihiro Omigawa (8-8-1)

Bantamweight Rankings (126 to 135 lbs.)
1. Brian Bowles (8-0)
2. Miguel Torres (37-2)
3. Takeya Mizugaki (12-3-2)
4. Masakatsu Ueda (10-0-2)
5. Dominick Cruz (14-1)
6. Akitoshi Tamura (14-7-2)
7. Joseph Benavidez (10-1)
8. Damacio Page (12-4)
9. Rani Yahya (15-4)
10. Will Ribeiro (10-2)

The Independent World MMA Rankings are tabulated on a monthly basis in each of the top seven weight classes of MMA, from heavyweight to bantamweight, with fighters receiving ten points for a first-place vote, nine points for a second-place vote, and so on.

The rankings are based purely on the votes of the members of the voting panel, with nobody’s vote counting more than anybody else’s vote, and no computerized voting.

The voters are instructed to vote primarily based on fighters’ actual accomplishments in the cage/ring (the quality of opposition that they’ve actually beaten), not based on a broad, subjective perception of which fighters would theoretically win fantasy match-ups.

Inactivity: Fighters who have not fought in the past 12 months are not eligible to be ranked, and will regain their eligibility the next time they fight.

Disciplinary Suspensions: Fighters who are currently serving disciplinary suspensions, or who have been denied a license for drug test or disciplinary reasons, are not eligible to be ranked.

Changing Weight Classes: When a fighter announces that he is leaving one weight class in order to fight in another weight class, the fighter is not eligible to be ranked in the new weight class until he has his first fight in the new weight class.

Catch Weight Fights: When fights are contested at weights that are in between the limits of the various weight classes, they are considered to be in the higher weight class. The weight limits for each weight class are listed at the top of the rankings for each weight class.

Special thanks to Eric Kamander, Zach Arnold, and Joshua Stein for their invaluable help with this project, and special thanks to Garrett Bailey for designing our logo.

With an apparent gypsy curse hitting the UFC’s heavyweight division hard, select fighters have announced that they’ll be cutting down to 205 to compete and avoid the laundry list of illnesses and injuries that have inexplicably stricken their hefty brethen. At the top of list are Ben Rothwell, Paul Buentello and Cain Velasquez, with Rothwell dropping no less than 60 pounds to make the cut-off. “It’s worth it,” said the Midwest-based striker. “I mean, when I heard Brock [Lesnar] was sick I didn’t think anything of it. But then [Antonio Rodrigo] Nogueira got staph, Shane Carwin hurt his knee, Randy Couture got old, Todd Duffee got leprosy… that’s when I knew something was up, and I just had to avoid it.” Buentello agreed. “Yeah, when Cheick Kongo woke up and it was raining frogs in his house and Mirko Crocop was suddenly sapped of all his talent, it was clear this division is cursed. And until Dana White does whatever he needs to do to appease the gypsies, I ain’t messing with no evil eye-Santeria junk. I’d rather cut down on burritos and take my chances with Lyoto Machida, thank you very much.” Added Velasquez, “Aye carumba.” No word yet on when these new light-heavyweights will be competing or against whom, but it’s safe to say that, if the heavyweight ranks continue to fall prey illness and injury, more fighters will make the switch.

• Aaron Riley: takes a lickin’, keeps on… takin’ a lickin’.
• For a while there, I was worried James Wilks was going to be successful in his effort to hug Matt Brown to death.
• Tough break for Jared Hamman, who got eye-gouged and knocked out in 41 seconds. He’s fortunate the fight didn’t go a minute and a half, though, because with his luck he would’ve torn his ACL and broken a few bones as well.
• Denis Kang is so skilled and dangerous and talented. For one round. Then he’s got nothing.
• Andre Winner didn’t just put Roli Delgado to sleep, he tucked him in and read him a bedtime story.
• Congrats, Dan Hardy! You’re the next man in line to get killed by Georges St. Pierre!
• Randy Couture did nothing to earn that decision. Except, of course, be a multi-time champ, Hall of Famer, legend, spokesman for the sport, etc.

In case you didn’t know, the Pacquiao - Cotto fight ain’t the only big pay per view event this weekend.

Because as far as UFC president Dana White is concerned, he wants a piece of the viewing audience too. And since UFC 105 is in the UK, viewers around the world will get to see it first while they wait for Pacquiao and Cotto get it on. Yes, Dana White is one smart sonuvabitch.

And perhaps what makes him even smarter is the fact that he was able to get Randy Couture inside the Octagon once again. This time, Couture has Brandon Vera, a guy trying to establish himself as a title contender in the light heavyweight division.

Of course, a win over Randy Couture will do just that.

Couture, the former UFC heavyweight and light heavyweight champion, continues to be on top of his game as he faces Vera. Looking impressive even in his losses, Couture uses his base in Greco - Roman wrestling combined with ever improving boxing to grind away at opponents.

Vera on the other hand, has an 11-3 mark and has achieved a measure of success as a light heavyweight after a failed run in the heavyweight division. Vera also possesses a solid ground game and has fought strong grapplers before. Vera has a strong clinch game which will be tested by Couture.

So who’s your pick..?