Matt and Neil were cage side at The Palace of Auburn Hills on Saturday night for Donofrio Entertainment’s “Caged Warrior Combat 2″ show. They discuss the show and have an exclusive interview with UFC light-heavyweight James Lee, who will fight Tim Boetsch at UFC 88 in September. They also interview the promoter, Joseph Donofrio, the matchmaker, Matt Flynn, and two of the fighters on the show, Chris Highton and Daron Cruickshank.
Lights Out Radio’s Matt Bishop sat down with Michigan Unarmed Combat Commission Chairman Al Low on Friday to talk about the regulation of mixed martial arts in Michigan.
Lights Out Radio’s Matt Bishop was granted an exclusive interview with Michigan MMA promoter Joseph Donofrio on Friday, the day before his show, “2 Countries, 1 Score to Settle,” was set to take center stage at The Palace of Auburn Hills in Auburn Hills, Mich. Donofrio spoke of his show, making the transition from boxing to mixed martial arts and how he is working to help bring the UFC to Michigan.
Matt and Neil talk about the latest news in mixed martial arts
Matt and Neil review The Ultimate Fighter 7 Finale.
I was thinking about this TUF Finale and this is really the first one in quite awhile where the UFC would be in good shape with either guy winning. Both CB and Amir are extremely popular for one reason (pedigree in CB’s case) or another (determination, toughness in Amir’s case). This isn’t like Bisping-Haynes or Stevenson-Cummo or even Danzig-Speer.
Both of these guys have attributes that make them likeable and thus the fans will be the ultimate winner tonight. That fight should be a barnburner. I can say without hesitation that it’s the first TUF final that I’ve looked forward to seeing with anticipation since Griffin-Bonnar.
(more…)
Matt rolls solo to preview The Ultimate Fighter 7 Finale.
The time to record has come and gone, and due once again to Mr. Bishop’s schedule, he’ll be a one-man show! This season’s The Ultimate Fighter run has come, and will soon come to a close on Saturday the 21st, leaving us with not only a few good fights, but also the newest TUF winner for the UFC to whore out promote. I’m not going to go crazy with this, but here are some thoughts on the card…
Dean Lister vs. Jeremy Horn: WOW, how did this fight end up on the undercard? Do we seriously need to see Dante Rivera vs. Matt Riddle? This should be a fairly competitive fight, given that it will be between two world-class grapplers. With that in mind though, I see Lister as the winner; Horn has looked pretty craptastic in his last few fights, and unless he can make a big turn-around, I expect more of the same. What’s crazy about this fight are the Vegas odds: Horn -135 to Lister’s +105 (according to Sportbook.com). Matt and I had a conversation earlier in the week and I believe that there was an even bigger disparity then, and I immediately began looking for an easy way to put $50 on Lister… which I promptly forgot about. I won’t go as far to say that this is a “for-sure five-star” bet, but those are some sweet odds on a fight that I feel very confident in saying that Lister will submit Horn.
Josh Burkman v. Dustin Hazelett: I really, really hope that we see some knockout’s on the main card, and can squeak this fight in. We’ve got two very good fighters who are both coming off loses: Burkman recently lost to Mike Swick via decision, and Hazelett suffered a knockout loss to Josh Koscheck. I’m not entirely sure how the fight will play out, but I expect Hazelett to submit Burkman some time in the second round. He was impressive against Koscheck, and although Burkman is a favorite to win, I think that Hazelett will have improved enough since his loss to continue his rise in the welterweight division.
According to the Nevada State Athletic Commission, the July 19 UFC show will emanate from The Pearl at The Palms in Las Vegas.
MMAJunkie.com is reporting the event will be headlined by a light-heavyweight bout between current UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva and James Irvin. A lightweight clash between former title contender Hermes Franca and Frankie Edgar is expected to be the co-main event.
UPDATE: MMAJunkie.com is also reporting a heavyweight tilt between the newly re-signed Jake O’Brien and up-and-coming prospect Cain Velasquez has been signed for the card.
Matt and Neil review a big weekend in MMA.
Welcome to the home of Lights Out Radio. This is where you can find the trademark mixed martial arts podcast from hosts Matt Bishop and Neil Wagner. It's Lights Out Radio -- ONLY on the Gimmick Radio Network! Should be a good one!
