Tons Of UFC News: Huge Return, Major Issues, Title Shot?
UFC 80 is scheduled to take place at the Metro Radio Arena in Newcastle, England. World Wrestling Entertainment runs shows there as well. It is an 11,000 facility.
Dana White issued the following comments at a press conference addressing the Randy Couture situation: "I haven't talked to (Couture) at all. His resignation didn't surprise me at all. It's the way he did that surprised me. It was done very Hollywood with his agent releasing a statement. The whole thing was pretty ty. He's up to something. "He lost twice to Chuck Liddell. And then he called me up after a year and said I want to come out of retirement?I'd like to re-work my contract. He just signed a contract that he was thrilled with eight months ago. He never came to me and said can we do a new contract!"
Mauricio "Shogun" Rua has told Tatame.com that he is now walking and looking forward to training again after successful surgery on his right knee. Rua suffered the injury in a loss to Forrest Griffin at UFC 76. Asked about a possible date for his return to the octagon and who he expects to face next, Shogun responded: "In truth I still do not have an official date, but I predict February. Truthfully, I do not choose my opponents, but if it were a recognized name it would be better. A Tito Ortiz or Chuck Liddell, a popular name would be better. But for now I am focusing on getting back to training."
Wanderlei Silva announced on his web site that the UFC will announce the opponent he will fight on 12/29 at UFC 77 this Saturday.
UFC Middleweight champion Anderson Silva has yet to arrive for this Saturday's event at the U.S. Bank Arena. According to sources close to the Silva, he had planned to be in town by now along with the other UFC 77 fighters, but there were delays in the issuance of his work visa. Apparently, due to a recent holiday, government offices in Brazil were closed this past Friday and Monday thus delaying his visa being issued. He evidently did receive the visa on Wednesday and hopes to arrive in Cincinnati on Thursday. With Silva arriving just two days prior to his fight, as long as there are no further delays, questions are sure to abound as to whether or not it will affect his performance come Saturday night.
It looks as if Saturday's heavyweight battle between former champion Tim Silvia and rising up-and-comer Brandon Vera has taken on new significance in the wake of Randy Couture's resignation. With Couture leaving as the heavyweight champion, the now vacated belt is up for grabs; and multiple sources, including Yahoo!Sports.com, have informed us that the fight between Silva and Vera will likely be for a title shot with Antonio Nogueira to take place in early February during Super Bowl weekend. Please note that nothing has been confirmed as of yet. We'll keep you posted as this story develops.