**Official "UFC 73: Stacked" Thread**

[IX_Equilibrium]

Date: July 7, 2007
Location: Sacramento, Calif.
Venue: ARCO Arena
Broadcast: Pay-Per-View
Weigh-ins: July 6 (airing on ESPNews)


MAIN CARD

Champion Anderson Silva vs. Nate Marquardt (for middleweight le)
Heath Herring vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
Rashad Evans vs. o Ortiz
Champion Sean Sherk vs. Hermes Franca (for lightweight le)
Kenny Florian vs. Alvin Robinson


UNDERCARD

Stephan Bonnar vs. Mike Nickels
Jason Gilliam vs. Chris Lytle
Jorge Gurgel vs. Diego Saraiva
Mark Bocek vs. Frank Edgar

[LEONARD]

Tonight on e is "All Access: Sean Sherk" and "Countdown to UFC 73"

Main Card Bouts:
-Anderson Silva (#2 MW) vs. Nathan Marquardt (#7 MW) - 2nd round KO
-Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (#2 HW) vs. Heath Herring - 2nd round sub
- o Ortiz (#9 LHW) vs. Rashad Evans - UD
-Sean Sherk (#10 LW) vs. Hermes Franca - 2nd round KO
-Kenny Florian vs. Alvin Robinson - 2nd round TKO

Preliminary Bouts:
-Frankie Edgar vs. Mark Bocek - 3rd rd sub
-Chris Lytle vs. Jason Gilliam - 1st round KO
-Jorge Gurgel vs. Diego Saraiva - UD
-Stephan Bonnar vs. Mike Nickels - 2nd round KO

(EDIT 7-5-07...changed from Florian to Robinson and Edgar to Bocek )

Rashad says he's going to KO o...whoever started the "Sugar" thing for Rashad needs to have their ass kicked...
http://www.mmaweekly.com/absolutenm/...articleid=4250

[LEONARD]

o interview
http://www.411mania.com/MMA/columns/56401
http://ufctakedown.com/2007/07/01/ti...o-reckon-with/

Some of the good stuff…
“Last year, I won 3 of my 4 fights, and I had two knockouts and one decision but I’m still dominant and I’m still in the le contention. I’m someone to reckon with. I’m not someone who gets beat by people. Look at my last nine years of compe ion. I’ve only lost to two people. I lost to heavyweight world champion Randy Couture, and I lost twice to Chuck Liddell. Those are the only two people I’ve ever lost to. I am still a name to be reckoned with.”

“The times that I’ve worked with Dana. He’s always tried to tell me to say things I’ve never said because it didn’t sound good and it wasn’t things that I wanted to say. I know that Chuck has always said “Yes Dana” and he’s always listened to what Dana says and is pretty much Dana’s puppet. That’s the way I’ve seen it, that’s the way I say it. I’m gonna speak the truth, I’m not gonna hold anything back, and that’s just the way I am.“

“For her to do what she did with Club Jenna and taking up the whole adult industry and selling it to Playboy and makin the revenue that she did out of it, just see the business stuff that does on the outside of it by getting into mainstream movies and stuff, and she’s been in a lot of things to grow her icon name: Jenna Jameson helped me do the same and I’m kinda following the same model.“

“Me and Rampage said we’ll never fight each other, ever, you know? But if the money that we’re getting paid for the fight comes to numbers we’ve always wanted, we’re not gonna say no… When Rampage gets the bout it could be a multi-million dollar fight so we could look at it as, “Hey we’re gonna make a lot of money and entertain the fans.”

“Big paydays like that are the ones that are gonna take care of it. I gotta look out for my future. UFC is gonna be here forever. o Ortiz is not gonna be here forever as fighter, but maybe as a business man.“

“I have one more fight with the UFC and I’m a free agent. Have to see what the UFC is gonna offer me. What they wanna give to me, and how important am I to their company. They’ve showed me plenty of times before that I’m not really that important to the company if they’re gonna make money with or without me.”

[SAtoDallas]

I like some MMA but am not familiar with all the players. Is this card really worth paying for, or would I be better off talking someone else into getting it and watching it there?

[LEONARD]

I like some MMA but am not familiar with all the players. Is this card really worth paying for, or would I be better off talking someone else into getting it and watching it there?

5 top 10 fighters is pretty solid for a UFC card. Including 2 le fights, o vs undefeated Rashad, and Big Nog's UFC debut. I'd never miss it...or UFC 74, which already has 7 top 10 fighters on the card.

I am however a LITTLe concerned with the potential for a 5 rd somewhat boring Sherk vs gas'd Franca fight and maybe a 3 rd decision with Ortiz - Evans with a lot of "laying". Nate can make a boring fight too, but I don't see him doing that with Silva. All in all, can't miss this one IMO...

If you don't want to pay for it, watch it at a bar or Hooters...
http://www.ufcdaily.com/2007/07/01/w...-watch-ufc-73/

[SAtoDallas]

Hey Leonard,which league has the superior talent UFC, Pride , Elite etc. My guess is UFC or Pride but like I've stated earlier I'm not hardcore MMA and what are the differences in the rules.

[LEONARD]

The UFC owners bought Pride, so that mess of talent is where the best are. There are some top fighters scattered in other orgs though...or in limbo...

HW - Fedor and Barnett are in limbo, Aleks is fighting for M-1 in a few weeks
#1: Fedor Emelianenko
2. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
3. Mirko Cro Cop
4. Josh Barnett
5. Randy Couture
6. Gabriel Gonzaga
7. Tim Sylvia
8. Andrei Arlovski
9. Fabricio Werdum
10. Aleksander Emelianenko

LHW - Silva, Sok, Arono, Lil Nog and Nakamura are in limbo. Silva will probably end up in the UFC.
#1: Mauricio "Shogun" Rua
2. Quinton Jackson
3. Chuck Liddell
4. Dan Henderson
5. Wanderlei Silva
6. Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou
7. Ricardo Arona
8. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira
9. o Ortiz
10. Kazuhiro Nakamura

MW - Lindland is everywhere but the UFC, Trigg signed with Elite XC, Lawler fights for a couple smaller org's, Filho is in the WEC, Kang is in limbo, not sure about Misaki
#1: Matt Lindland
2. Anderson Silva
3. Paulo Filho
4. Rich Franklin
5. Dan Henderson
6. Denis Kang
7. Nathan Marquardt
8. Robbie Lawler
9. Kazuo Misaki
10. Frank Trigg

WW - Shields fought last for K-1, Condit in the WEC
#1: Matt Serra
2. Georges St. Pierre
3. Matt Hughes
4. Josh Koscheck
5. Karo Parisyan
6. Diego Sanchez
7. Jon Fitch
8. Jake Shields
9. Akira Kikuchi
10. Carlos Condit

LW - Gomi, Melendez, Kawajiri, Aoki, Hansen, Ishida are in limbo...Sakurai and Sherk are in the UFC. Ribeiro and Kid are K-1.
#1: Takanori Gomi
2. Hayato Sakurai
3. Gilbert Melendez
4. Tatsuya Kawajiri
5. Shinya Aoki
6. Vitor "Shaolin" Ribeiro
7. Joachim Hansen
8. Mitsuhiro Ishida
9. Norifumi "Kid" Yamamoto
10. Sean Sherk

This is just a sample as it's MMAWeekly's top 10 rankings...take them for what they're worth.

[Evan]

Just like Leonard I fear some three to five round "brawl and stalls."

The only one I am 100% about is Stephan Bonnar murdering Mike Nickels.

I am still unsure about Hermes and Sean.

Great to see K-Flo..

Wondering where this will leave Heath if he loses.

[dallaskd]

Main Card Bouts:
-Anderson Silva (#2 MW) vs. Nathan Marquardt (#7 MW)
-Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (#2 HW) vs. Heath Herring
- o Ortiz (#9 LHW) vs. Rashad Evans
-Sean Sherk (#10 LW) vs. Hermes Franca
-Kenny Florian vs. Alvin Robinson

Preliminary Bouts:
-Frankie Edgar vs. Mark Bocek
-Chris Lytle vs. Jason Gilliam
-Jorge Gurgel vs. Diego Saraiva
-Stephan Bonnar vs. Mike Nickels

[dallaskd]

Wondering where this will leave Heath if he loses.

no shame in losing to Nog. no one would be suprised.

[Evan]

no shame in losing to Nog. no one would be suprised.

True, but it would be his third loss to Big Nog.

I just don't want the UFC to ever cut him, I love the Texas Crazy Horse!

[mardigan]

o said he was going to make Rashad his "nappy haired hoe"

[Evan]

o said he was going to make Rashad his "nappy haired hoe"

Nobody in MMA knows how to play the media better than o.

[LEONARD]

Sherk's training on All Access last night was insane...the guy is officially crazy. You'd watch that and wonder how he ever loses? He was really under-sized at WW. He's a tough fight for anybody at LW just due to his cardio alone. I did pick Franca though...

I love how Nog got no more than 2 min's of the 90 min preview...

and I chuckled that it wasn't mentioned that Nog is 2-0 against Herring...Dana/Joe just said that they had a great fight and Herring wanted a chance at him again.

o interview
http://www.411mania.com/MMA/columns/56401
http://ufctakedown.com/2007/07/01/ti...o-reckon-with/

Mark Bocek interviews...could be the fight of the night IMO. I hope we get to see it live...
http://ufcmania.com/2007/07/02/mark-...win-at-ufc-73/
http://www.sportsnet.ca/mma/article....01_151839_4556

[LEONARD]

If you missed Sean Sherk All Access last night, here it is (NSV file...play in Winamp)

http://www.mediafire.com/?8n5nczkxff0

[Evan]

vbookie....lets hop to it!

[cornbread]

The "Caveman Training" part of Sherk's training regimen. This guy is unreal.

http://www.dailymotion.com/relevance...veman-training

[dallaskd]

If you missed Sean Sherk All Access last night, here it is (NSV file...play in Winamp)

http://www.mediafire.com/?8n5nczkxff0

insane. does the guy have any fun in life?

[Evan]

Nate Marquardt (18-4) Vs. Anderson Silva le Holder (26-6)
Hermes Franca (19-5) Vs. Sean Sherk le Holder(35-2-1)
Heath Herring (27-12-1) Vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (29-4-1)
Mike Nickels (5-1) Vs. Stephan Bonnar (12-4)
Alvin Robinson (9-1) Vs. Kenny Florian (8-3)
Diego Saraiva (9-4-1) Vs. Jorge Gurgel (13-2-0)
Chris Lytle (32-14-4) Vs. Jason Gilliam (11-1)
Mark Bocek (4-0) Vs. Frank Edgar (6-0)

Anyone else notice how hard it is to get an accurate fighter record? Between Wikipedia, UFC.com, Sherdog, the actual fighters site and any other regular site you will get a different record almost every time. Its not off by much, typically one or two and mainly with fighters with a ton of fights who have been around for awhile.

[dallaskd]

im going to change me pick on the sherk-franca fight. ill mix it up and go with hermes, he seems to be very motivated.

[dallaskd]

o said he was going to make Rashad his "nappy haired hoe"

[LEONARD]

o Ortiz on ESPNEWS 'Hot List' - Today at 4:40 CT

Weigh-ins on ESPNEWS Friday at 6:00 CT

'The Pulse' on ESPNEWS Saturday at 12:00 CT (noon) - I think Rogan might be on?

Sherdog predictions
http://www.sherdog.com/news/articles.asp?n_id=8159

[cornbread]

Marquadt, Sherk, o, Nog, Bonner, K-Flo ,Lytle, Edgar

[dallaskd]

Marquadt, Sherk, o, Nog, Bonner, K-Flo ,Lytle, Edgar

dont know why everyone says k-flo. he calls himself ken-flo

[cornbread]

dont know why everyone says k-flo. he calls himself ken-flo

My bad. I get all of those first initial-half last name nicknames mixed up. And despite the cheesy nickname, I think the guy is a great fighter and I hope he subs Robinson.

Robinson looks like he'll be a handfull though.
http://www.sherdog.com/fightfinder/f...ighterID=12212