Well per usual I'm hyping up the latest UFC Pay Per View, which I'm sure makes all the dreamers here very excited. We've got another night of great knockouts, quick submissions, and true dedication to a sport with UFC 61: Bitter Rivals.

What makes tonight event somewhat special, at least to me, is that Tito Ortiz " The Huntington Beach Badboy " is once more going to take Ken " The Worlds Most Dangerous Man Shamrock " to the cleaners. It's going to be retirement for the MMA " legend " Ken Shamrock tonight as Tito is geared to give him his worst beating yet.

In their last outing Shamrock was destroyed for 3 rounds and offered little if any competition for Ortiz, and there's no reason why tonight would be any different. At 42, Shamrock is out of his prime ( He never had one anyway ) and in no condition to fight a dedicated and prepared 31 year old Ortiz, who IS is his prime. Shamrock doesn't have near the game that Ortiz does, the dedication to train, or the heart. This event is going to be a one way ticket to retirement for Shamrock, and I for one cannot wait to see him finally leave the world of MMA.

The main event of the evening is former UFC Champion Andrei Arlovski rubber matching with Tim Sylvia. These two just fought only two events ago, but the punch that dropped Arlovski to the ground and allowed Tim to pound him out was deemed as a lucky sucker punch ( Arlovski leaned in a bit to far with a wide right hook, giving Tim direct access to the chin of Arlovski ) and many fans feel that Arlovski is still the heavy weight champion.

I believe that Arlovski should have this main event, Sylvia just has heavy hands and not nearly the game that Arlovski brings to the table. I see him either being knocked out or KO'd by Arlovski sometime in the first round. These are dedicated fighters who love to have quick finishes to their fights if at all possible.

The rest of the card isn't anything amazing... Since UFC President Dana White has decided that there be a PPV event every month, the depth of fighters is getting strung out, leaving a lot of more amatuerish fighters to fill the ranks. I'm not complaining though, because this means that MMA is growing, expanding, and soon enough there WILL be good enough fighters to fill in the spots for monthly PPV's.

There is the return of Frank Mir, who after having an embarassing loss to Maricio " PeDePano " Cruz ( A Jiu Jitsu world champion, but was making his MMA debut ) is looking for redemption in the Octagon. Whether or not he can perform, even against another sort of MMA newbie in Dan Christianson is still in question. Mir used to be one of the top HW contenders in the UFC until a motorcycle accident snapped his leg in several different places. After having reconstructive surgery and allowing time to heal, Mir has come back to the Octagon... But I honestly think his injury was too severe to allow him to compete with the new heavyweights in the UFC division. Unfortunately, I think his career has been ended early.

Anyway, per usual I encourage everyone to get out there and watch this in some form or another. I know most bars these days are playing UFC PPV events, and it's 40 bucks if you and your friends want to get together and order it on PPV. MMA is truely the greatest sport of today, and is replacing boxing as the most watched combat sport. These men are true warriors who dedicate their lives to learning various martial art disciplines and put it all on the line against one another in the UFC's Octagon. It's truely a sight to behold and appreciate.

I was surprised by both the main event fights.

I would have thought Shamrock would have at least lasted a round or two, though I didnt think he would take the win. He was flat out embarassed, and to me thats kind of a shame.

And I thought Arlovski would have won in rather easy fashion, yet they put on a rather boring boxing match.

The event wasn't the best in UFC history, but it was worth it strictly for the announcement that Pride FC's Wanderlei Silva is fighting Chuck Liddel.

American MMA " fans " will finally get a taste of what a true champion is in the MMA world. Wanderlei is going to beat Chuck silly, and prove that the talent pool in the UFC needs some work.

I'm personally glad that Shamrock was stopped, and in a quick and impressive fasion. While a lot of people claim there was early stoppage, Shamrock's curling into a ball and eating elbows could only last so long. Even if Herb Dean let another 5 seconds roll off, that's another 5 unanswered BRUTAL elbows right to Shamrock's face.

It's a sign that the old man needs to retire for good, Tito showed everyone what a joke he is and has always been.

I was dissapointed with Arlovski to be honest... I wanted him to win, only because Tim is a no talent with heavy hands. AA should have taken some of his sambo skills with him to this fight and got it to the ground. Obviously it's been proven that Sylvia has been weak there in the past.

On a side note about the bouts... Frank " I need Jenny Craig " Mir was a total joke. I don't think he's even taking fighting seriously anymore, and he won a very razor thin decision to a really crappy fighter. He needs to either get serious, or go away.

It's alright though... There's more news surrounding the possibility that Pride heavyweight champion and arguably the best fighter in the world today, Fedor Emelienenko ( My personal favorite. ) could possibly see some UFC action.

I'd love to see that strictly to see Fedor dismantle the UFC heavyweight division and once more show that UFC needs to find some new talent.

Shamrock went down in a quick and embarrassing fashion. Silva is an animal. Chuck might not even last the first round. I mean Liddel was defeated by Rampage Jackson, who was destroyed by Silva not once, but twice. I'm thinking Silva is either gonna knock Chuck out with them knees or just take him out when he gets him to the ground. Then again Chuck did beat Tito Ortiz. I wonder if big Pride FC fighters will challenge UFC fighters more often?

Yeah, but Tito's victory or Wanderlei was ages ago when they were both fresh new fighters. Wanderlei is worlds above what he used to be as a fighter.



That's the word... Ever since Pride lost its contract with Fuji TV ( I think that's what they're called ) It looks like they've been turning stateside for assistance. They need to turn up the heat and get another TV sponsor soon, and if it's in america that's all the better.

I'm all for it personally... I'd like to see Mirko Cro Cop and Fedor Emelienenko tear apart the UFC.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0O7VrZeJ7Gg

The blood was lovely. The rest of the entire event didn't impress me.

Isn't wasn't the best UFC card... But I don't care because they're doing PPV events monthly now, they're doing another Ultimate Fighter, and they're getting america tuned into the greatest sport of our time. It'll only be a matter of time before we have another wealth of new fighters present before us, another generation of MMA greats who all were tuned on to the sport by UFC promoting and having frequent fights on PPV and cable television.

Something tells me you know very little of the fight game anyway Channing, if all you're impressed by in that event was some blood.

I look at it much like boxing. Unless there is some blood or serious injury it's not my cup of tea. May be old fashioned but just a devasting batter bores me.

Has nothing to do with my knowledge of the fight game.