Rich Clementi

UFC Headed to Tampa for February “Fight Night”

The Ultimate Fighting Championship will reportedly be headed to Florida once again for another “UFC Fight Night” card, which is currently slated to take place on February 7 at the USF Sun Dome on the campus of the University of South Florida in Tampa Bay.

Various fighters and officials involved with the event have confirmed the UFC’s choice over the last few days. The organization is expected to formally announce the show at the end of this week with ticket sales likely beginning as soon as this coming weekend.

MMA on Tap has confirmed that the event will be headlined by a pair of co-main events: Former UFC lightweight title challenge Hermes Franca will try to win his second straight fight against “Ultimate Fighter” season six cast member Joe Lauzon and the winner of the aforementioned reality show, Mac Danzig, will face Josh Neer.

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UFC 90: Silva vs Cote Quick Results

Anderson Silva def. Patrick Cote - TKO
Thiago Alves def. Josh Koscheck - Unanimous Decision
Gray Maynard def. Rich Clementi - Unanimous Decision
Junior dos Santos def. Fabricio Werdum - KO
Sean Sherk def. Tyson Griffin - Unanimous Decision
Thales Leites def. Drew McFedries - Submission (rear naked choke)
Spencer Fisher def. Shannon Gugerty - Submission (triangle choke)
Dan Miller def. Matt Horwich - Unanimous Decision
Hermes Franca def. Marcus Aurelio - Unanimous Decision
Pete Sell def. Josh Burkman - Unanimous Decision

UFC 90: Silva vs Cote Weigh-In Results

The official weigh-in results for tomorrow night’s UFC 90: Silva vs. Cote event, which takes place at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois, are below. All fighters successfully made weight with the exception of Josh Burkman, who weighed-in two pounds over the welterweight limit. He will be given one hour to shed the extra weight.

UFC 90 is headlined by reigning middleweight champion Anderson Silva defending his title against heavy-handed contender Patrick Cote. Rising welterweight sensation Thiago Alves will look to continue his winning ways against replacement opponent Josh Koscheck in the co-main event.

Main Card:

Anderson Silva (184 lbs) vs. Patrick Cote (183 lbs)
Josh Koscheck (170 lbs) vs. Thiago Alves (171 lbs)
Fabricio Werdum (256 lbs) vs. Junior dos Santos (234 lbs)
Sean Sherk (156 lbs) vs. Tyson Griffin (155 lbs)
Rich Clementi (156 lbs) vs. Gray Maynard (155 lbs)

Preliminary Bouts:

Thales Leites (186 lbs) vs. Drew McFedries (186 lbs)
Spencer Fisher (155 lbs) vs. Shannon Gugerty (156 lbs)
Dan Miller (185 lbs) vs. Matt Horwich (186 lbs)
Hermes Franca (156 lbs) vs. Marcus Aurelio (156 lbs)
Josh Burkman (173 lbs) vs. Pete Sell (170 lbs)

Report: Clementi-Maynard Likely for UFC 90

Rich Clementi will reportedly take on Xtreme Couture product and “Ultimate Fighter” contestant Gray Maynard at UFC 90: Silva vs. Cote, which will take place on October 25th at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois.

Sources close to the fight have told our friends at MMA Junkie that the two are expected to fight and although bout agreements have not yet been signed, an official announcement could be made in the next few weeks.

Since losing two out of his three fights following the conclusion of “The Ultimate Fighter 4”, Clementi has gone on to rack up a six-fight winning streak. He most recently scored a unanimous decision over Terry Etim at UFC 84 on short notice. Prior to that, he won a split decision against Sam Stout and submitted former training partner Melvin Guillard.

Meanwhile, Maynard, after earning an odd no-contest in his UFC debut, has gone on to win three straight fights. After dispatching of Dennis Siver and Joe Veres, Maynard picked up his biggest career win to date at UFC Fight Night 13 where he won a decision over fellow standout wrestler Frankie Edgar.

Clementi to Replace Emerson at UFC 84

Despite competing this past weekend in a three-round war against Sam Stout, lightweight contender Rich Clementi has agreed to step in for an injured Rob Emerson and take on Terry Etim at UFC 84: Ill Will on May 24th.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship officially announced the change this afternoon on their website.

Clementi used superior striking skills to win a hard-fought split decision over Shawn Tompkins-trained Sam Stout at UFC 83: Serra vs. St. Pierre II this past Saturday. The win was Clementi’s fifth in a row and third consecutive victory inside the UFC.

Etim was originally slated to face Iowa native Jeremy Stephens at the event but Stephens was moved to a different event later this summer due to a minor legal situation concerning the Miletich Fighting Systems product. Etim is coming off of a unanimous decision loss to Gleison Tibau last September.

The kind and extent of Emerson’s injury is currently unknown.

Hometown Hero: St. Pierre Stops Serra in Montreal

One year removed from his original upset loss to Matt Serra, Georges St. Pierre was finally able to avenge the defeat, dominating Serra on the mat over two rounds en route to regaining his UFC welterweight title in UFC 83’s historic main event.

The raucous crowd packed inside Montreal, Quebec’s Bell Centre saw St. Pierre surprise many in the opening seconds of the fight as he opted to take Serra down. After being on the receiving end of an array of strikes, Serra eventually worked his way back to his feet before finding himself on his back once again.

Any chances for another first-round Serra knockout were spoiled in a big way. With a mouse forming under Serra’s right eye, the Long Island native came out from his corner looking to throw down at the start of the second round. St. Pierre unfortunately had a different idea.

St. Pierre scored yet another early takedown. Serra mounted a bit of offense once the fight hit the feet, connecting with a head kick. However with fatigue setting in, Serra was unable to capitalize, allowing St. Pierre to land a handful of stiff jabs before shooting in for a takedown.

Once on the mat, St. Pierre unleashed a barrage of unanswered punches and knees to the body that forced Serra to cover up and referee Yves Lavigne to ultimately stop the fight, handing St. Pierre the title that he likely should have never lost in the first place.

“My strategy going in was to make it a physical fight,” St. Pierre said in his post-fight interview with Kenny Florian, who filled in for usual color commentator Joe Rogan. “I wanted to make him tired as much as I could because I know have the conditioning. I was trying to mix it up as much as I could.”

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UFC 83: Serra vs. St. Pierre II Weigh-In Results

The official weigh-in results for tomorrow night’s UFC 83: Serra vs. St. Pierre II show are below. All fighters successfully made weight.

The event will be headlined by current welterweight champions Georges St. Pierre and Matt Serra unifying their belts in a main event rematch of their fight at UFC 69: Shootout last year, where Serra stopped St. Pierre with strikes to win the UFC welterweight title.

Former UFC middleweight champion Rich Franklin will also be in action, taking on the middleweight winner of the fourth season of “The Ultimate Fighter, Travis Lutter. Additional main card bouts include Nate Quarry vs. Kalib Starnes, Michael Bisping vs. Charles McCarthy, and Mac Danzig vs. Mark Bocek.

Main Card:

Matt Serra (169.5 lbs) vs. Georges St. Pierre (169.5 lbs)
Rich Franklin (185.5 lbs) vs. Travis Lutter (185 lbs)
Nate Quarry (185.5 lbs) vs. Kalib Starnes (186 lbs)
Michael Bisping (185.5 lbs) vs. Charles McCarthy (186 lbs)
Mac Danzig (154.5 lbs) vs. Mark Bocek (154.5 lbs)

Preliminary Bouts:

Jason MacDonald (185 lbs) vs. Joe Doerksen (184.5 lbs)
Sam Stout (155.5 lbs) vs. Rich Clementi (155 lbs)
Ed Herman (185.5 lbs) vs. Demian Maia (184.5 lbs)
Jonathan Goulet (169.5 lbs) vs. Kuniyoshi Hironaka (170 lbs)
Alan Belcher (185 lbs) vs. Jason Day (183.5 lbs)
Cain Velasquez (235.5 lbs) vs. Brad Morris (225.5 lbs)

Screenshots from this afternoon’s weigh-ins featuring St. Pierre and Serra are after the jump, courtesy of Yahoo! Sports.

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St. Pierre, UFC Set to Invade Canada

After years of waiting, the Ultimate Fighting Championship finally made their first trek up to Canada official when they announced UFC 83: St. Pierre vs Serra II during a press conference earlier today at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada earlier this morning.

In attendance at the press conference were UFC President Dana White and current welterweight champions Georges St. Pierre and Matt Serra who will unify their belts in a main event rematch of their fight at UFC 69: Shootout last year, where Serra stopped St. Pierre with strikes to win the UFC welterweight title.

“I’m actually excited to go to Canada and fight St-Pierre in his hometown,” Serra said at the press conference earlier today. “I think this puts more pressure on him than it does me. I know he’s going to come at me hard, but I’m ready for that and I’m preparing for a great fight. I know that’s what I would do if a guy knocked me out like that. But I plan on staying the champ and taking my belt back home to Long Island.”

St. Pierre, a native of Montreal, will be fighting in front of his hometown under the UFC banner for the first time in his career. After originally speculating that St. Pierre would not be ready in time for the event due to his bout against Matt Hughes in December, St. Pierre came away with the interim welterweight belt relatively unscathed, allowing him to partake in the historic event.

“I am at the same point as I was last year when I fought Matt Serra, except this time I am fighting as the contender not the champion,” said St-Pierre. “It’s a dream come true to have this historic UFC event in Canada, I’ve waited my whole life for this opportunity, and especially fighting for – and winning – the world title in front of my people.”

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Report: Goulet-Hironaka, Clementi-Stout in April

Two rumored bouts may now be coming to fruition when the Ultimate Fighting Championship ventures into Canada for the first time in history on April 19th at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada for UFC 84.

Scott White at TKO Xtreme is reporting that both Canadian natives Sam Stout and Jonathan Goulet will be in action at the event. Stout will apparently take on Rich Clementi while Goulet is set to be matched up against Kuniyoshi Hironaka.

If you’ve been hearing Stout’s name a lot lately, it’s because he took on newcomer Per Eklund this afternoon at UFC 80: Rapid Fire. Prior to today, Stout had rebounded from a decision loss at UFC Fight Night 11 to knockout Martin Grandmont at TKO 30: Apocalypse in September. Clementi submitted Melvin Guillard in a controversial and intense bout at UFC 79: Nemesis last month.

Goulet signed a new four-fight deal with the UFC following his submission win over Paul Georgieff at The Ultimate Fighter 6 Finale. Hironaka verbally submitted to Thiago Alves at UFC Fight Night 11 in his last bout.

Guillard to Take Leave of Absence from UFC

Melvin Guillard has stated that he will be taking a short leave of absence from the UFC to fight in smaller promotions and try to get back on track.

Guillard made the comments in a recent interview with The Baltimore Sun:

I’m going to take a few fights outside the UFC to get back some of my wins. Hopefully, it’s not any all-around chumps. I’m not going to take any fights at 155 [pounds] outside the UFC. I want to fight at 170 [pounds]—a weight class above mine outside the UFC. I’m probably scheduled to fight again in the UFC late March, early April if they bless me with that.

Guillard goes on to talk about the controversy behind his feud with Rich Clementi, his made-up rivalry with Joe Stevenson, and his plans for the future. It’s a really good read.

Guillard goes on to say that the UFC has told him that they don’t want him to fight anybody at 155 lbs outside of the UFC, which seems kind of odd to me. Guillard says that he’ll be happy to go back up to welterweight and would even try middleweight if the opportunity presents himself.

Even more strange, Guillard believes that the UFC wouldn’t care if he lost at 185 lbs while on his hiatus. I don’t know about anyone else but a loss is a loss and I’m sure Dana White and Joe Silva won’t be happy either way.