[EmpireWF]

UFC 75 is next Saturday night (Sept. 8th) from London, England. It will air on tape delay in the U.S. on Spike TV at 9 PM eastern.

The big fight card features:

MAIN EVENT LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE UNIFICATION BOUT
UFC Champion Quinton "Rampage" Jackson vs. PRIDE Champion Dan "Hollywood" Henderson

-Mirko Cro Cop vs. Cheick Kongo
-Michael Bisping vs. Matt Hamill
-Houston Alexander vs. Alessio Sakara
-Paul Taylor vs. Marcus Davis

Preliminary Bouts:
-Thiago Silva vs. Tomasz Drwal
-Naoyuki Kotani vs. Dennis Siver
-Anthony Torres vs. Jess Liaudin
-Gleison Tibau vs. Terry Etim


Next Saturday night will be the first fight for Mirko Cro Cop after being knocked out silly months ago by Gabriel Gonzaga. Cro Cop needs a win to get himself back into the UFC heavyweight title picture. Cheick Kongo is a great striker so it should be an interesting contest.

Michael Bisping takes on Matt Hamill in a fight between former Ultimate Fighter teammates. They don't like one another and have talked trash to each other for over a year now.

Can't go wrong with a FREE UFC show and this main event should be great.

[bears9]

Rampage beats Henderson and Cro Cop beats Kongo

[EmpireWF]

I'm going with Dan Henderson beating Rampage. Rampage is a beast, no doubt, and this fight could go either way.

Cro Cop should take Kongo for sure. Cro Cop is coming off the most embarassing loss in his career.

[EmpireWF]

We're now just 3 days away from the big show. I'm pumped for it, where else will you get to see three of the best fighters in the world....for free?

Henderson vs. Rampage should be a great fight. Hendo is the better wrestler. Rampage should be able to score some takedowns. If the fight turns into a boxing war, Quinton will have the advantage. Quinton may be in the prime of his career, since changing trainers. I just can't get away from Hendo's superior wrestling ability though and that's how I see him winning. Whether it goes the distance (five rounds) or ends in a TKO, KO or submission, I don't know. But Dan Henderson will walk away the new UFC light heavyweight champ.

Mirko Cro Cop is a man on a mission. The Croation Anti-Terrorist agent has been training inside a cage, something he didn't do before he lost to Gonzaga. Seriously, does anyone think Kongo stands a chance (besides a punchers chance)?

There's no doubt Michael Bisping is one of the UFC's golden boys in that he's a fan favorite and charismatic and a future draw. Matt Hammil is a great wrestler but Bisping probably has the better all-round game. This should be an interesting contest to see just who can enforce their will.

I'm not familiar with any of the other fighters...again, if you're interested in checking out the UFC, this Saturday night on SPIKE TV.

[EmpireWF]

Here's a solid preview for the Bisping/Hammil fight from the Orange County Register web-site.

An excerpt....

Bisping felt slighted by his coach Tito Ortiz, who made Hamill his first pick, took him under his wing and anointed him a future champion.

Bisping felt like he was a second-class citizen on his own team throughout the competition. Bisping went on to win the light-heavyweight competition and the contract with the UFC, while Hamill was forced out of the tournament early because of injury.

A matchup between Bisping and Hamill never materialized on TUF 3, so the two young fighters will settle some unfinished business when they face each other at UFC 75 on Saturday at 9 p.m. on Spike TV from the O2 Arena in London, England.

[EmpireWF]

UFC 75 weigh-in's occurred earlier today and everyone made weight. Here are the numbers (courtesy MMAJunkie.com):

* PRIDE champion Dan Henderson (204 lbs.) vs. UFC champion Quinton Jackson (204 lbs.)
* Michael Bisping (205 lbs.) vs. Matt Hamill (205 lbs.)
* Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic (220 lbs.) vs. Cheick Kongo (231 lbs.)
* Marcus Davis (169 lbs.) vs. Paul Taylor (171 lbs.)
* Houston Alexander (203 lbs.) vs. Alessio Sakara (205 lbs.)
* Terry Etim (155 bs.) vs. Gleison Tibau (156 lbs.)
* Tomasz Drwal (204 lbs.) vs. Thiago Silva (204 lbs.)
* Dennis Siver (154 lbs.) vs. Naoyuki Kotani (155 lbs.)
* Jess Liaudin (170 lbs.) vs. Anthony Torres (170 lbs.)

[bears9]

With those wiegh in i could almost doubt picking Cro Cop over Kongo

almost

[EmpireWF]

Here's a quick preview of UFC 75 from MMAJunkie editor and Dayton Daily News writer Dann Stupp.

*NOTE* The actual live show starts at 1:30 PM Eastern over in England. The TV won't air until 9 PM Eastern.

Please be considerate of others and if you read the results before the TV airs, please don't post them before the show. Thanks...

[vincesanity82]

wow, Houston Alexander is for real, this guy ends the match early again..he packs a lot of power..this match wasnt even close..

[EmpireWF]

Alexander has soooo much power.

The Marcus Davis fight was really fun to watch. I seriously thought Davis was out when Taylor was reigning down punches early on. Davis eventually locked on the submission and Taylor tapped.

Cro Cop/Kongo is heading to the 2nd round. I'd say Cro Cop won the first with the takedown and mount towards the end.

[EmpireWF]

Cro Cop/Kongo round 2 belonged to Kongo. The takedown and side control for the majority of the round. Cro Cop didn't do much damage.

Joe Rogan on color commentary argued round 1 could be in favor of Kongo too.

So Cro Cop has to win round 3 or go for a KO/TKO to win.

[vincesanity82]

Originally Posted by EmpireWF

Cro Cop/Kongo round 2 belonged to Kongo. The takedown and side control for the majority of the round. Cro Cop didn't do much damage.

Joe Rogan on color commentary argued round 1 could be in favor of Kongo too.

So Cro Cop has to win round 3 or go for a KO/TKO to win.

ive been flipping back and forth between football, nascar, and ufc, kongo has had some nice knee kicks to the jaw..low blow to the jewels there..

[EmpireWF]

Kongo wins via unanimous judges decision, 29-28.

Amazing, Kongo completely dominated the third round. Cro Cop spent most of the five minutes running backwards.

Cro Cop has now lost two in a row...nobody would have expected that.

[EmpireWF]

Originally Posted by vincesanity82

ive been flipping back and forth between football, nascar, and ufc, kongo has had some nice knee kicks to the jaw..low blow to the jewels there..

lol, lot of sports on now...

Kongo kept peppering him with those kicks to the knee. Cro Cop only threw 3 attempted high left kicks I think.

Kongo nailed him twice in the jewels it looked like (the ref then warned him). They showed a close-up of one of the hits...OUCH!

[vincesanity82]

how much were tickets going for empire?