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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.
UFC 87: Seek and Destroy
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Date: Aug 09, 2008
Location: Minneapolis, Minn.
Venue: Target Center
Broadcast: Pay Per View
The UFC officially announced the main event for UFC 87: Seek and Destroy this August in Minnesota. Current UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St Pierre will put his belt on the line against Jon Fitch in a welterweight title fight.
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Georges St. Pierre. He is thought by many to be the second best pound-for-pound fighter in the world behind Anderson "Spider" Silva. St. Pierre has a 16-2-0 lifetime professional MMA record, with his two losses coming against Matt Hughes at UFC 50 - The War of '04 and Matt Serra at UFC 69 - Shootout. In both cases, St. Pierre avenged his losses, thrashing Matt Hughes at both UFC 65 and UFC 79 and Matt Serra at UFC 83 - Serra vs. St. Pierre II. St. Pierre seems to be getting better with every match-up - his last three matches have been extremely one-sided affairs, where he was never in any real danger of losing.
It was already widely known that Jon Fitch was next in line for a shot at the welterweight title, we just didn’t know when that fight would happen. Well, August 9 is the date and the fight will be GSP’s first title defense since regaining the belt against Matt Serra at UFC 83 this past April.
Jon Fitch will have his work cut out for him, and you have to assume that St. Pierre will be a major favorite in this match-up.
UFC 87 also features heavyweight Brock Lesnar taking on Herring. Lesnar was originally scheduled to face UFC Hall of Famer Mark Coleman, but a knee injury has forced ‘The Hammer’ to withdraw from the show.
Also on the UFC 87 fight card is a lightweight matchup between Kenny Florian and Roger Huerta. This fight is expected to produce a number one contender for the next shot at the UFC lightweight title which will be up for grabs this Saturday night at
UFC 84.
This should be a great summer for the UFC, as Jackson - Griffin will headline UFC 86, and St. Pierre - Fitch will headline UFC 87.
UFC 87 Fight Card:
Champ Georges St. Pierre vs. Jon Fitch (for welterweight title)
Brock Lesnar vs. Heath Herring
Kenny Florian vs. Roger Huerta
Karo Parisyan vs. TBA
Jason MacDonald vs. Demian Maia
Frankie Edgar vs. Hermes Franca
Dan Evensen vs. Cheick Kongo
Rob Emerson vs. Manny Gamburyan
Steve Bruno vs. Chris Wilson
St. Pierre retains welterweight title
with win over Fitch
Canadian Georges St. Pierre punished
Jon Fitch for five rounds to win a one-sided decision
and retain his welterweight title at UFC 87 on Saturday
night.
St. Pierre (17-2) showed his mixed
martial arts class in winning 50-43, 50-44, 50-44 before
15,082 at the Target Center. Fitch (21-3) was gritty and
game, but could not solve the relentless St. Pierre, who
won the standup game and outwrestled the former Purdue
wrestler.
Cheick Kongo def. Dan Evensen via TKO
(strikes) -- Round 1, 4:55. Kongo was a huge favorite in
this one.
Ben Saunders def. Ryan Thomas via
submission (arm-bar) -- Round 2, 2:28. Saunders was
around a -300 favorite.
Chris Wilson def. Steve Bruno via
unanimous decision. One could argue Bruno could have won
this and gamblers who bet him may have walked off with
nearly $300 for every $100 bet.
Tamdan McCrory def. Luke Cummo via
unanimous decision as well. This, however, was a fairly
even matchup in the eyes of odds makers.
Demian Maia def. Jason MacDonald via
submission (rear-naked choke) -- Round 3, 2:44. Again,
Maia was better than a -200 favorite.
Kenny Florian def. Roger Huerta via
unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27). Florian was
around a -160 favorite heading into this one.
Rob Emerson def. Manny Gamburyan via
TKO (strikes) -- Round 1, 0:12. Emerson was a rare big
underdog to win, paying nearly $300 for every $100 bet.
Brock Lesnar def. Heath Herring via
unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-26). No surprise
here. He was a pretty big favorite.
Georges St. Pierre def. Jon Fitch via
unanimous decision (50-43, 50-44, 50-44). This one
went into round 5.
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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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