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UFC Welterweight Jake Ellenberger

From MMAJunkie:

MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) learned of the change from sources close to the bout, though the UFC has yet to make an official announcement.

The Kampmann vs. Saunders bout was slated for the main card of UFC 111, which takes place March 27 in Newark, N.J. It's currently unknown if the organization will adjust the bout order following the change.

Kampmann was forced to withdraw after suffering an undisclosed injury in training. Sources close to the fighter assured MMAjunkie.com that the injury was not severe and that Kampmann could return as soon as May, but there was simply no way for the Danish striker to remain on the March card.

I hope Kampmann recovers from whatever the injury is, but I'm HYPED that Ellenberger is getting this opportunity. I was really impressed with his performance against Carlos Condit on short notice, and he put away a tough Mike Pyle at UFC 108. A win against Saunders on this card would give him even more exposure and credibility. Saunders will have a huge reach advantage, but Ellenberger has dynamite in his hands and could be a little more powerful overall than Saunders. Excellent replacement. Who you got?

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Erin Toughill Talks About How She's Going To Beat Cyborg Santos Decisively In Strikeforce. However, she'll be given a 'warm up' fight before the Santos fight.

HT: Fightmagazine.com

about 10 hours ago Kelvin Hunt 1 comment 0 recs

Dustin Chovanic Talks Life, MMA, And Taking It To The Next Level

by EVeezy on Feb 9, 2010 10:45 PM EST Comment 2 comments

Promoted To Frontpage From Fanposts By Kelvin Hunt

In a small corner of the fighter's locker room, I found Dustin Chovanic calmly relaxing on a couch. I walked in the small room and immediately I felt strangely at ease. The energy in the room was so strangely calm, I felt I had to whisper my questions to him so I would not disturb the calm energy that seemed to be beaming from Chovanic and his trainers. Before you read this interview go back and read SlickRick00's interview with him. To me it is very ironic that Chovanic nickname is the "villain," there could not be a nicer guy. Based on the 30 minutes I spent with him, I think that nickname is just his houmor shining through. After over 20 years of competing at the highest level in sport karate and kickboxing, Chovanic has decided to leave all of that behind and has taken a major and successful leap into MMA.

Continue reading this post »

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A Sneak Peak At UFC 110: Nogueira vs. Velasquez

by Kelvin Hunt on Feb 9, 2010 6:00 PM EST in News Comment 5 comments

SBN coverage of UFC 110: Nogueira vs. Velasquez

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DirecTV Subscribers Might Be In The Dark As UFC On Versus 1 Nears

by Kelvin Hunt on Feb 9, 2010 5:00 PM EST in News Comment 9 comments

Well, all those DirecTV subscribers that thought the they would get to watch Jon Jones vs. Brandon Vera in March might cry themselves to sleep tonight. It's being reported that DirecTV and Versus probably will not be reaching an new TV agreement any time soon:

At this time, we are not optimistic that an agreement will be in place with DirecTV in time for the start of the NHL Stanley Cup playoffs

Those of you that are Hockey fans(all one of you Matt) know that the playoffs start sometime in April. So if the agreement isn't in place by then, well we'll just be S.O.L. as MMA fans wanting to see the UFC on Versus on March 21st. Luckily for me, TWC still carries Versus, but I'm still pissed off they they cut off my HDNet. I'll tell you, we MMA fans just can't catch a break at times can we?

HT: Cagewriter

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UFC 109 Prelims Ratings A Hit, Are They Influencing UFC PPV Buys?

by Kelvin Hunt on Feb 9, 2010 4:00 PM EST in News Comment 7 comments

The numbers are in for the UFC 109 prelims, which came it at an average of 1.7 million viewers. Here's how the ratings have stacked up since the UFC first started airing preliminary fights on Spike TV at UFC 103:

Here’s a breakdown of the ratings thus far.

Event HH 18-34 18-49 Viewers

103 1 1.5 1.3 1,400,000

104 1.1 1.3 1.3 1,400,000

106 1 1.2 1.1 1,300,000

108 1 1.4 1.3 1,500,000

109 1.2 1.6 1.6 1,700,000

Having an average of 1.7 million people has to affect the PPV buyrate somewhat. The only thing we don't know is how many of those 1.7 were planning on buying the PPV event anyway? I do know this, that if the UFC Prelim fights that air are really entertaining, that could certainly influence someone to purchase the PPV. The thought process goes like this.

"Man, those two fights were off the chain and there's more fights after this? Oh man, I gotta watch those jawns. Let me order this PPV and see what's up."

So even with somewhat less intriguing events like UFC 108 and 109, it's possible that the UFC is getting PPV buys that they wouldn't normally get.

HT: MMAPayout

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MMA Fashion Apparel Poll

by _Felix_ on Feb 9, 2010 3:26 PM EST Comment 25 comments

Promoted To Frontpage From Fanposts By Kelvin Hunt

via www.hotchickswithdouchebags.com

If any of you recall in my recent FanPost on the Strikeforce: Miami event that I attended, I made note about the large number of people that were wearing Affliction or TapOut. The day following the event, I was considering going to a GSP/Affliction signing in Miami where you had to have made a purchase of $50 or more within the month of January, day of signing included. Due to time constraints, I was not able to make it. However had I been able to, I no doubt would have dropped the $50 on a GSP t-shirt just to have him sign (not to wear).

Poll