| If you're a mixed martial arts fan, you're probably | | | | This event isn't nearly as interesting as it could be. |
| sick of that headline. You're sick of hearing how | | | | The main thing that does make it interesting is |
| Lorenzo J. Fertitta and Frank J. Fertitta have | | | | the 10th anniversary and resignation of |
| purchased PrideFC from it's former Dream Stage | | | | Sakakibara, all in the same show. Expect and |
| Entertainment owners and ousted former CEO | | | | emotional show with a lot of "Pride Past" clips. If |
| Nobuyuki Sakakibara. You want to hear more | | | | you're not a Pride fan, you soon will be, watching |
| about what is possible the biggest month in Mixed | | | | this show would be excellent research into what |
| Martial Arts history, April 2007. | | | | the Pride fighters bring to the table. Unfortunately |
| There are four shows worth mentioning in April, in | | | | it's being shown live at 3:00am my time, bring on |
| addition to season 5 of "The Ultimate Fighter". | | | | the coffee! The feature bout will be Sokoudjou vs |
| These shows are: | | | | Arona. Sokoudjou KO's little Nog in his last outing |
| April 5, 2007 - Ultimate Fight Night 9 | | | | and Arona is a perennial contender. Perhaps he |
| This show features a bout between Joe | | | | has the most to win by the UFC owners |
| Stevenson and Melvin Guillard. These two 155 | | | | purchasing pride. His solid ground game could be |
| pound fighters are at the cusp of becoming | | | | trouble for a lot of the UFC's current 205 pound |
| superstars in the UFC lightweight division. A win in | | | | division. |
| this bout, then perhaps one more and one of | | | | Pride is also featuring a freak show match |
| these guys might be ready for a title shot. There | | | | between Butterbean and Zulu, personally, I'm not |
| is also another interesting match on this card, | | | | interested. |
| featuring the return of Kenny Florian after his | | | | April 21, 2007 UFC 70: Nations Collide |
| beat down, courtesy of UFC lightweight champion | | | | Finally, the show which will determine the future |
| Sean Sherk. Kenny Florian is facing | | | | of the UFC heavyweight division. Mirko Cro Cop |
| Dokonjonosuke Mishima. | | | | vs Gabriel Gonzaga will determine who meets |
| April 7, 2007 - UFC 69: Shootout | | | | Randy Couture for the title. Look for Cro Cop to |
| Everybody is waiting to see what Georges St | | | | dominate this one, but as always in MMA, never |
| Pierre has in store for Matt "The Terror" Serra. | | | | count any fighter out of any fight. There are a |
| St Pierre completely dominated Matt Hughes in his | | | | number of other interesting names on this card. |
| last outing, earning him the UFC welterweight belt. | | | | Look for Michael Bisping "Ultimate Fighter" season |
| Serra on the other hand, barely squeaked by | | | | 4 winner facing Elvis Sinosic in a match, seemingly |
| Chris Lytle to get the season 4 "Ultimate Fighter" | | | | designed to set up Bisping for a future title shot. |
| title at 170. This could be an interesting match, but | | | | Andrei Arlovski will face Fabricio Werdum which |
| most expect another St Pierre blow out. | | | | could end up being the fight of the night. Cheick |
| The most interesting match of UFC 69 will put | | | | Kongo will try to redeem himself after a decision |
| Diego Sanchez' undefeated record on the line | | | | loss when he faces Assuerio Silva. Let's hope |
| against super-wrestler Josh Koscheck. These guys | | | | Cheick comes out swinging. |
| have met before, but Josh was a pure wrestler | | | | That's it, a great month of great fights, and I |
| at that point, he's had a couple of years of MMA | | | | barely even mentioned the big UFC - Pride |
| experience now, let's see who's better now. | | | | purchase. For those of you sick of the UFC - |
| Other big names on that card include Mike Swick, | | | | Pride headlines, you'd better get used to it, it's |
| Kendall Grove, Heath Herring, Brad Imes and | | | | here to stay and will remain the big story in MMA |
| expect a great match between Josh "I never | | | | for months. |
| quit" Haynes and Luke Cummo. | | | | Take it easy and enjoy the fights! |
| April 8, 2007 - Pride 34 Kamikaze | | | | |