(Thanks to MMAWeekly)
Ok here goes:
April is going to be fucking Huge for the UFC - coming of a great event @ 68 and the inevitable press coverage of the 'new' champ Randy Couture they should have a great buzz for the next UFN which should be a great night of fights and which itself is coming off a good last show with a brutal KO finish in the main event and its highest ever ratings. That in tun should lead to a high audience for TUF5 which Dana has promised will be the best series yet with the best TUF fight yet (in fairness the ltweights aren't known for being boring). That in turn should help the PPV buys for 69 and 70 which symbiotically should create extra buzz and therefore ratings for TUF5!
I predict a highest ever UFN rating and either the highest or second highest debut for a TUF. If the series is as good as Dana is promosing it could even outdraw TUF3, if it doesn't I still feel it will be the 2nd highest rated TUF series which is certainly a bounce back from TUF4s low.
UFC FIGHT NIGHT 9: APRIL 5, 2007 ON SPIKE TV
The Palms in Las Vegas, Nevada
Main Card Bouts:
-Joe Stevenson vs. Melvin Guillard
-Kenny Florian vs. Dokonjonosuke Mishima
-Antoni Hardonk vs. Frank Mir
Preliminary Bouts:
-Drew Fickett vs. Keita Nakamura
-Wander Braga vs. Kurt Pellegrino
-Kuniyoshi Hironaka vs. Jeff Joslin
-Naoyuki Kotani vs. Thiago Tavares
-Wilson Gouveia vs. Seth Petruzelli
-Roan Carneiro vs. Anthony Torres
IMO thats a great lead in. The main card looks very good, The lightweight fights have significance in the division rankings (in the UFC anyway) and should both be fun. Mir/Hardonk looks to be Mirs last shot and its should also be good, either a good sub for Mir or a brutal KO for Hardonk looks likely. If Hardonk wins he should be viewed as a serious contender IMO. Not that Mir is a great test now but he is a former champ and still has some name value. If Mir wins it sets up Sylvia/Mir 2 nicely. The undercard looks solid also.
...
UFC 69: APRIL 7, 2007 IN HOUSTON, TEXAS (Toyota Center)
Main Card Bouts:
-Georges St. Pierre (#1 Welterweight in the World)* vs. Matt Serra
-Diego Sanchez (#4 Welterweight in the World)* vs. Josh Koscheck (#9 Welterweight in the World)*
-Mike Swick vs. Yushin Okami
-Kendall Grove vs. Alan Belcher
-Roger Huerta vs. Leonard Garcia
Preliminary Bouts:
-Heath Herring vs. Brad Imes
-Thales Leites vs. Pete Sell
-Luke Cummo vs. Josh Haynes
-Pete Spratt vs. Marcus Davis
Will have good hype from TUF and UFN + the hype surrounding Randy and the last PPV. Always like watching GSP and Serra did win TUF4. I actually like this fight but I can't see Serra winning, neither guy are boring though. Diego/Kos is a good fight, despite wanting to see them fight other fighters more this is a legit matchup and should be good. Swick.Okami is also a good matchup. Am also intigued by Herring/imes just out of curiosity. The rest of the matchups are not very meaningful but could be entertaining.
...
IFL: April 7, 2007 in Moline, Illinois
-Superfight: TBA
-Quad City Silverbacks (coached by Pat Miletich) vs. Nevada Lions (coached by Ken Shamrock)
-Seattle Tiger Sharks (coached by Maurice Smith) vs. Chicago Red Bears (coached by Igor Zinoviev)
The Lions Vs Silverbacks is interesting. Kens team looked good Vs Franks but Pats team are a different beast, it has to be a degree of vindication if Ken can coach a team that beats Pats after all the trash he endured after the TUF3 debacle.
...
PRIDE: APRIL 8, 2007 IN JAPAN
-Kazuyuki Fujita vs. TBA
Note: Pride is planning to air this event live on United States pay-per-view outlets, although the start time has not yet determined. The event will also be replayed in the usual Sunday night timeslot.
Could be Prides swansong
Still no matter what happens its virtually unmissiable just to see what happens next in the crazy world of Pride.
...
IFL: April 13, 2007 in Uncasville, Connecticut (Mohegan Sun)
-Superfight: TBA
-New York Pitbulls (coached by Renzo Gracie) vs. Portland Wolfpack (normally coached by Matt Lindland, but will be coached on this night only by Dan Henderson, due to the fact that Wolfpack coach Matt Lindland will be in Russia fighting Fedor Emelianenko)
-Tucson Scorpions (coached by Don Frye) vs. Tokyo Sabres (coached by Ken Yasuda)
...
BODOGFIGHT: APRIL 14, 2007 IN ST. PETERSBURG, RUSSIA
-Fedor Emelianenko (#1 Heavyweight in the World)* vs. Matt Lindland (#1 Middleweight in the World)*
-Aleksander Emelianenko (#9 Heavyweight in the World)* vs. Eric Pele
-Eddie Alvarez vs. Nick Thompson
-Julie Kedzie vs. Julia Berezekova
-Mike Brown vs. Rodrigo Damm [according to BodogFight's February 13th television show]
-Roman Zentsov vs. Cain Velasquez [according to BodogFight's February 27th television show]
-Daniel Puder vs. TBA
... Fedor Vs Lindland - need I say more? Ok then, Alex/Pele should be a throwdown and the TV series comes to a conclusion + Puder fighting again. Good show IMO, something for everyone.
...
UFC 70: APRIL 21, 2007 IN MANCHESTER, ENGLAND AT M.E.N. ARENA
-Mirko Cro Cop (#2 Heavyweight in the World)* vs. Gabriel Gonzaga
-Andrei Arlovski (#7 Heavyweight in the World)* vs. Fabricio Werdum (#8 Heavyweight in the World)*
-Ryoto Machida vs. Forrest Griffin
-Michael Bisping vs. Elvis Sinosic
-Assuerio Silva vs. Cheick Kongo
-Dennis Siver vs. Jess Liaudin
-Alessio Sakara vs. Victor Valimaki
-David Lee vs. TBA
Another Huge UFC event, the UK is going to go wild for this! The marketing is already bigger than I would have expected!!! CroCop/Gonzaga, Andrei/Werdum, Lyoto/Forrest...3 great matchups. Bisping fighting again, Sakara/Valimaki is a good matchup as is LiaUDIN/sIVER + I like seing Kongo fight, I hope he has developed a sprawl!
...
WOW WHAT A FUCKING AMAZING MONTH!
And This month isn't finished yet with:
WEC (2ND SHOW UNDER ZUFFA OWNERSHIP): MARCH 24, 2007
Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada
-Rob McCullough vs. Rich Crunkilton
-Urijah Faber vs. Dominick Cruz
-Joe Riggs vs. Hiromitsu Miura
-John Alessio vs. Carlos Condit
-Brock Larson vs. Erik Apple
-Eddie Wineland vs. Chase Beebe
-Brian Stann vs. Steve Cantwell
-Tiki Ghosn vs. Dave Terrel [note: this is the KOTC veteran, not the David Terrell who is a UFC and Pancrase veteran]
-Jesse Moreng vs. Micah Miller
-Scott Norton vs. Alex Serdyukov
-Cub Swanson vs. Tommy Lee
Highlights from this show may air during the summer as part of the Versus Network's coverage of the WEC.
Really good looking event.
Not to mention:
IFL: March 17, 2007 in Los Angeles, California
-Superfight: TBA
-Los Angeles Anacondas (coached by Bas Rutten) vs. San Jose Razorclaws (coached by Frank Shamrock)
-Southern California Condors (coached by Marco Ruas) vs. Tokyo Sabres (coached by Ken Yasuda)
A California derby between 2 bitter enemies, 1 fan favourite in Bas and 1 Uber-Heel in Frank.
Anything I have missed in April???
