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UFC95® Tickets - The O2 London 21 Feb 2009
The Ultimate Fighting Championship®, the pinnacle of mixed martial arts, returns to London's O2 Arena. Don't miss it, get your tickets early! - On Sale Wednesday 19th Nov 2008
UFC93® Tickets - The O2 Dublin 17th Jan 2009
In the light heavyweight main event, former two-division world champion
Dan Henderson will collide with former UFC middleweight king
Rich Franklin in three-round war which will set the tone for the 205lbs division in 2009. - Then, 2005 PRIDE® Grand Prix Champion
Mauricio “Shogun” Rua returns to the Octagon™ to throw down with UFC Hall of Famer
Mark Coleman in a rematch MMA fans thought they would never see. The pair last met in Japan in 2006, with the legendary
Coleman pulling off a stunning upset by breaking
Rua’s arm in the first round
Book UFC Tickets Dublin
NIA Arena 18th October 2008
At a packed National Indoor Birmingham Arena last
Saturday 18th Oct 2008, national hero Michael Bisping passed his sternest test in the middleweight division, scoring a unanimous three round decision over Chris Leben in the UFC 89 main event.
Scores were 30-27 twice and 29-28 for Bisping, who is now 3-0 at 185 pounds. “It was a tough fight,” said Bisping. “That was the whole gameplan, take my time, stick and move, and get a unanimous decision.”
With the crowd roaring, Leben calmly stalked Bisping, landing with a series of kicks to the body and midsection. Bisping took his time getting into the offensive column, eventually scoring with some quick counters as he used all of the Octagon real estate to stay out of harm’s way. Leben wasn’t rattled as he kept trying to push the pace, but as the round progressed, he was starting to eat more and more flush counter shots, leaving his nose bloodied as he went back to the corner.
Bisping continued to keep Leben at bay in the second round, picking and pecking at ‘The Crippler’ and cutting him under the eye as he came in. With under three minutes left, an accidental low kick interrupted the action, but when the fight resumed, the pattern already established remained unchanged, as Leben wasn’t quick enough to avoid Bisping’s counters or to cut off the Manchester resident’s lateral movement. Leben’s desperate measure of dropping his hands and following recklessly after ‘The Count’ did oddly pay dividends in the closing moments of the round though, as he was able to score with a couple of haymakers before the bell rang.
Leben opened the second with a hard left hand, looking to turn the tide, but any momentum was lost when there was a stoppage in the action as Bisping complained of something in his eye. After the brief break, the cat and mouse game continued, and Bisping, unmarked, kept to his disciplined fight plan. With under two minutes left, Leben surprised his foe with a takedown, but when he started to throw ground strikes, it gave Bisping the opening he needed to get back to his feet and get back to the business of keeping Leben at bay with his long-range strikes, which he did until the final bell sounded.
And though it was Bisping’s biggest win yet at 185 pounds, he admits that he’s not ready for the man at the top, Anderson Silva, just yet.
“I don’t think I’m there yet,” said Bisping. “I probably need one or two more solid fights over solid opponents. You’ve got to earn that right. And when I earn that opportunity, I want to be ready.”
With the win, Bisping ups his record to 18-1; Leben drops to 18-5.
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Ultimate Fighting Tickets - Ultimate Fighting was started as a tournament to find the world's best fighters irrespective of their style. The Championship became an immediate hit in the US. Early UFC® fights were initially known as
no holds barred fighting, and contests were often violent and brutal. Political pressures led to the UFC® reforming itself, slowly embracing stricter rules, becoming sanctioned by state athletic commissions, and marketing itself as a legitimate sporting event. Dropping the
no holds barred label and carrying the banner of
mixed martial arts, the UFC® has emerged from its political isolation to become more socially acceptable, regaining its position in pay-per-view television.
The UFC® bouts take place in an octagonal caged enclosure, "The Octagon.". The cage is an eight-sided structure with walls of metal chain-link fence coated with black vinyl. The fence is 6 ft high and sits atop a platform, raising it 4 ft from the ground.
UFC® popularity in the UK has seen a steady increase, prompting Sky Sports to increase the television coverage of the sport. 2002 saw the UK hosting the first Ultimate Fighting contest in Europe, and since then several sell-out events have been held in the UK, including Newcastle.
UFC® 89 BISPING vs LIBEN
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 18 2008