MMA News and UFC Betting Odds

Highly touted British heavyweight Neil Grove (7-1) will make his debut for the Zuffa-owned promotion against three-fight Octagon veteran Justin McCully (9-4-2) at UFC 95, which is slated to take place at The O2 Arena in London, England, on February 21, according to a recent report.

Grove recently signed a four-fight deal to compete in the UFC. Before that he was a regular on the Cage Rage fight circuit for the last couple of years. While fighting for the British promotion he compiled a solid record (4-1) with the lone loss coming at the hands of Rob Broughton via majority decision at Cage Rage 25: “Bring It On” last March.

All four of those wins were first or second round stoppages due to strikes. In fact, all seven of his career wins have been by some form of knockout. He likes to swing for the fences and is capable of ending a fight at anytime.

McCully, on the other hand, uses a more methodical approach to winning fights. He wears on his opponents with a strong wrestling base and then usually tries to end fights with his solid submission game.

The 32-year-old Team Punishment product has had some decent success as of late. He’s won four of his last five fights, including two of three in the Octagon since returning to action from a three-year hiatus in 2006.

He defeated talented striker Antoni Hardonk at Ultimate Fight Night 9 by unanimous decision in April of 2007, then lost to Gabriel Gonzaga by first round submission at UFC 86: “Jackson vs. Griffin” over a year later. “The Insane One” most recently grinded out another unanimous decision victory over Eddie Sanchez at “Fight For The Troops” in December.

Basically this fight is a match of contrasting styles. So whoever can execute their gameplan the best on February 21 will likely leave London a winner.

UFC 95 is scheduled to be headlined by a lightweight main event between Diego “Nightmare” Sanchez and Joe “Daddy” Stevenson. To check out the latest fight card and rumors click here.

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Justin McCully, MMA News, UFC 95, UFC Heavyweight Division, UFC UK, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)

“I’d fight Nogueira. I had other reasons to turn down that fight last year, but that was a whole different situation. He’s a tremendous fighter. I’ve watched him for years. I saw Danny [Henderson] fight him in the KOK [Rings “King of Kings” tournament in 1999]. I was heading to fight him myself in the KOK that next year.”

– Former heavyweight and light heavyweight champion Randy Couture tells Sherdog.com that he would welcome a fight against the one-time interim division champion, Antonio Rodrigo “Minotauro” Nogueira. “The Natural” balked at the opportunity while he was in a contract dispute with the promotion for most of 2008, saying the fight that he wanted most was one against WAMMA Heavyweight Champion Fedor Emelianenko. Couture and the UFC eventually reconciled and he agreed to fight Brock Lesnar at UFC 91. He lost via technical knockout. Nogueira, too, lost his belt to Frank Mir at UFC 92 in the mini heavyweight tournament that was coordinated to declare an undisputed champion. Pairing Couture against Nogueira is a fight that makes sense, but it wouldn’t happen until summer 2009 at the earliest — Couture is obligated to a six-week production schedule because of his new acting role in “The Expendables.”

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MMA News, Randy Couture, UFC Heavyweight Division, UFC Quick Quotes

“I don’t think I deserve anything. I was asked if I wanted a title shot against Randy Couture and I accepted it. I don’t think that I deserve anything…. This is an opportunity and I’m going to seize the moment and try and take that title away tomorrow night…. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity and I understand that. If there was any other heavyweight in the division that was asked for this opportunity they probably would have also not turned the opportunity down.”

– Brock Lesnar tells ESPNs “First Take” this morning that he is merely taking advantage of an opportunity that was presented to him to challenge Randy Couture for his heavyweight title. With just three professional mixed martial arts bouts to his credit, including an average record inside the Octagon (1-1), several people questioned the decision to grant him a world title shot so soon in his career. But this is a business and UFC President Dana White and all the others at Zuffa know that, deserving or not, Lesnar is going to put butts in seats at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, on November 15. It’s good to see Lesnar is under no illusions and that he is shooting straight from the hip. Who can blame him …he makes a valid point.

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MMA News, Randy Couture, UFC 91, UFC Heavyweight Division, UFC Quick Quotes, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)

Here’s a main card bout we have not talked much about:

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Josh Hendricks, MMA News, UFC 91, UFC Heavyweight Division, UFC Videos, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)

Props: Flex magazine

Note that this edition is now on newstands … just in time for the UFC 91: “Couture vs. Lesnar” clash on November 15. To check out the cover click here.

On a side note, interesting play on words here with “Fight for the Ages.” Lesnar recently conducted an interview during which he indicates that Father Time has finally caught up with Couture. To check out a side-by-side comparison of Couture click here.

What say you … has Couture taken a turn for the worse during his 12-month layoff?

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MMA News, Randy Couture, UFC 91, UFC Heavyweight Division, UFC Photos, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)

Check out two videos of “The Natural” after the jump.

Watch Randy Couture trains for UFC 91: Couture Vs Lesnar on RawVegas.tv

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MMA News, Randy Couture, UFC 91, UFC Heavyweight Division, UFC Videos, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)

Check out a video of Lesnar after the jump.

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MMA News, Randy Couture, UFC 91, UFC Heavyweight Division, UFC Videos, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)

It appears that the UFC 91 hype train has finally left the station … better late than never:

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MMA News, Randy Couture, UFC 91, UFC Heavyweight Division, UFC Videos, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)

The legal team that represents Brock Lesnar recently filed paperwork with the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC), requesting that referee Steve Mazzagatti be removed from consideration as the man who will be in charge of the action during the main event at UFC 91: “Couture vs. Lesnar” at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, on November 15.

Mazzagatti officiated Lesnar’s Octagon debut against Frank Mir at UFC 81: “Breaking Point” earlier this year.

In the opening seconds of the heavyweight bout, Lesnar stormed the former champion and began to maul him with a flurry of strikes. It appeared that Lesnar was on his way to an impressive technical knockout victory; however, the former World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) star landed several questionable — and according to Mazzagatti — illegal blows to the back of the head.

As a result, the action was stopped and Lesnar was docked one point. And when the action restarted Mir survived another blitzkrieg and locked in a fight-ending submission (kneebar) just 91 seconds into the match.

Of course, several fans blamed Mazzagatti and his ruling for the result rather than Lesnar and his inability to defend submissions and/or land legal blows. Regardless, when all was said and done, it was perhaps the most hectic and crazy minute and a half of action inside the Octagon in all of 2008.

So now that Lesnar is paired against heavyweight champion Randy Couture in what is being billed the “biggest fight in UFC history,” he apparently does not want to take any chances with Mazzagatti making the same alleged “mistake” twice and affecting the outcome of his fight.

That’s just fine according to the mustached wonder.

“I’m [not offended] at all,” Mazzagatti said in a recent interview with Dave Farra that is now up on YouTube.com. “He’s a professional — they’re both professionals — and they have to do what they have to do. It’s fine with me. I’m going to enjoy watching the fight”

Talk about taking the high road.

Sherdog.com recently reported that in addition to Mazzagatti, “Herb Dean, Josh Rosenthal and Mario Yamasaki were under consideration to officiate the Couture-Lesnar match.”

NSAC Executive Director Keith Kizer — who praised Mazzagatti for his work inside the Octagon on February 2 — eventually granted the request from Lesnar. Yamasaki is now the man in charge, which hopefully means that Lesnar can now focus 100 percent on Couture come fight night.

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MMA News, Randy Couture, UFC 91, UFC Heavyweight Division, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)

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MMA News, Randy Couture, UFC 91, UFC Heavyweight Division, UFC Videos, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)