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Since the ancient days of gladiators, spectators
have enjoyed the thrill of betting on combative
sporting contests. Every moment of a fight seems
much more exciting when there is money riding on the
outcome. Today is no different, as a growing number
of people are betting on modern-day gladiatorial
contests - mixed martial arts events.
BJ Penn vs. Sean Sherk at
UFC 84 Las Vegas
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UFC 84: Ill Will
Date: May 24, 2008
Location: Las Vegas
Venue: MGM Grand Garden Arena The pay-per-view event includes a
main event lightweight championship bout between title-holder BJ
Penn and former UFC lightweight champion Sean Sherk. Wanderlei
Silva Vs. Keith Jardine, Wilson Gouveia Vs. Goran Reljic, Tito
Ortiz Vs. Lyoto Machida, and Thiago Silva VS. Antonio Mendes
will also be featured on May 24th at the MGM Grand Garden Arena
in Las Vegas. |
 The African Assassin" Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou will face fellow
judoka Kazuhiro Nakamura at May's UFC 84
UFC
84 Fight Odds
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Shane Carwin (8-0, 0-0 UFC) will make his UFC debut against
Christian Wellisch (8-3, 2-1 UFC) at UFC 84 "Ill Will"
Carwin - a Western State College NCAA Division II national
wrestling champion and two-time football All-American - is a top
heavyweight prospect who has gone undefeated in smaller
promotions with the guidance of veterans such as Ron Waterman
and Nate Marquardt.
He's an extremely athletic fighter who has drawn comparisons to
Brock Lesnar. Carwin, however, has more mixed martial arts
experience. In fact, he has finished all of his opponents in the
first round with a mix of knockouts and submissions.
Wellisch started his career with a mild, 6-3 professional MMA
record including a UFC-debut loss to Cheick Kongo at
UFC 62 in
late-2006. Following the loss, Wellisch secured back-to-back
victories inside the octagon over Anthony Perosh and Scott Junk.
The African Assassin" Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou will face fellow
judoka Kazuhiro Nakamura at May's UFC 84.
Sokoudjou burst onto the MMA scene last year with two
devastating knockout wins over highly touted fighters, Antonio
Rogerio Noguiera and Ricardo Arona in the now defunct Pride FC.
However in his recent UFC debut at
UFC 79: Nemesis, he was
defeated by Lyoto Machida by 2nd round arm-triangle choke.
Kazuhiro Nakamura has fought a who's who of Pride veterans,
which is not a surprise considering that prior to UFC 76 it was
the only organization he had fought for. He had mixed results in
Pride going 11-6 in his time there. Just like Sokoudjou,
Nakamura's last defeat was at the hands of Machida at the
UFC
76: Knockout. Nakamura is coming off of a suspension courtesy of
the California State Athletic Commission after testing positive
for marijuana following post-fight testing for UFC 76: Knockout.
UFC 84 Main Card
BJ Penn vs. Sean Sherk
UFC Lightweight Championship
Wanderlei Silva vs. Keith Jardine
Tito Ortiz vs. Lyoto Machida
Wilson Gouveia vs. Goran Reljic
Thiago Silva vs. Antonio Mendes
Preliminary Bouts
Rameau Sokodjou vs. Kazuhiro Nakamura
John Koppenhaver vs.Yoshiyuki Yoshida
Jason Tan vs. Dong Hyun Kim
In the main event of UFC 84: Ill Will on
Saturday night in Las Vegas at the MGM Grand Garden
Arena, B.J. Penn retained his UFC Lightweight Title by
defeating former champion Shawn Sherk.
The fight was stopped by the referee after three
complete rounds, ending with Penn (14-4-1) knocking
Sherk (36-3-1) down and nearly out with a flying knee,
followed by a barrage of punches on the mat. It appeared
Sherk was saved by the bell, but the ref called the
fight off anyway. Sherk didn't dispute the decision.
This highly anticipated fight didn't quite live up to
the billing. The former champ Sherk, who had been
stripped of his title late last year after failing a
steroid test, endured taunts from the fans who twice
started chants of "steroids, steroids." Shrek was unable
to take Penn to the mat despite an attempt in the early
seconds. For the rest of the three five-minute rounds,
Penn capitalized on his reach advantage by landing a
much higher percentage of punches than Sherk. Sherk's
face showed it too, with cuts under both eyes and
swelling on his face. Penn finished the fight without a
scratch.
In the other UFC 84 bouts went as follows:
Wanderlei Silva def. Keith Jardine by TKO (Strikes) at
0:36, R1
Goran Reljic def. Wilson Gouveia by TKO (Strikes) at
3:15, R2
Lyoto Machida def. Tito Ortiz by Unanimous Decision, R3
Thiago Silva def. Antonio Mendes by Submission (Strikes)
at 2:24, R1
Rousimar Palhares def. Ivan Salaverry by Submission (Armbar)
at 2:36, R1
Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou def. Kazuhiro Nakamura by TKO
(Unable to Continue) at 5:00, R1
Rich Clementi def. Terry Etim by Unanimous Decision, R3
Yoshiyuki Yoshida def. Jon Koppenhaver by Submission
(Anaconda Choke) at 0:56, R1
Dong-Hyun Kim def. Jason Tan by TKO (Strikes) at 0:25,
R3
Shane Carwin def. Christian Wellisch by TKO (Strikes) at
0:44, R1
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The Ultimate Fighting
Championship is a test of pure gladiator fighting
skills. The fight occurs inside an octagon that is 32
feet across. The fighters are contained by a 5 foot
link fence. Most participants have martial arts
training in some discipline, however, this is by no
means a requirement. It has a no holds barred
philosophy although some rules have been added
recently.
Although there can be a
lot of blood, fights usually end with joint locks or
choke holds and it is generally the more skilled
opponent that wins. Size is an advantage, but skill in
ending the fights with a finishing move (choke out,
joint locks, etc.) are the best. |
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