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Today’s news focuses on the results of our BJ Penn versus Sean Sherk, what Urijah Faber thi nks about his upcoming opponent Jens Pulver, the newly announced UFC 87 matches, and Nam Phan looks to hand Evangelista his first loss.
Urijah Faber speaks on Jens Pulver
Current World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) featherweight champion Urijah Faber (20-1) is set to take on former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) lightweight champion Jens Pulver on Sunday 9PM ET, 6 PM PT on the Versus network. This will be the biggest fight in WEC history as the two fighters lock horns. Both fighters are coming off big wins in their last fights and see this as a chance to prove who is the best at 145lbs.
Pulver had this to say in a recent UFC.com interview:
“I don’t think there should be too much pressure on Jens,” said Faber, who recently celebrated his 29th birthday. “He’s kind of in a win-win situation. He’s established himself in the sport and been in this position before. It’s icing on the cake for him. So I would say the pressure is more on me than him and I’m OK with that. I’m just excited for this fight. It’s a chance to fight in front of my hometown crowd and it’s going to be awesome. I imagine I’ll just be pretty hyped up and ready to rock.”
“He’s a good fighter,” Faber said of Pulver. “He’s a dangerous fighter. I feel like he’s more dangerous and well-rounded than people give him credit for. The biggest thing is adjusting to a southpaw, because he’s a southpaw and I haven’t fought many southpaws.”
MMAyou.com has spoken with both fighters in the past and will look to speak with them again after their bouts.
Poll Results - BJ Penn versus Sean Sherk
Out of 1113 people, 829 of our readers got it correct by picking BJ Penn to win. 282 of our readers chose the correct outcome by picking BJ to win by TKO or KO.
New UFC 87 matches announced
In what has been a card of many changes and last minute additions, the UFC announced via its website that a few extra fighters would be added to UFC 87. Among those fighters added were Karo Paryisan, Frank Edgar, Rob Emerson and Manny Gamburyan.
So far the official card is as follows:
*Georges St. Pierre vs. Jon Fitch
*Brock Lesnar vs. Heath Herring
*Kenny Florian vs. Roger Huerta
*Mac Danzig vs. Clay Guida
*Dan Evensen vs. Cheick Kongo
*Manny Gamburyan vs. Rob Emerson
*Karo Pariysan vs. TBA
*Frank Edgar vs. TBA
Nam Phan looks to deal Evangelsita his first loss
SAN JOSE, Calif. —Lightweight (155 lb. limit) Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu wonder Nam Phan (14-4) will attempt to hand knockout artist Billy Evangelista (6-0) the first loss of his career during Strikeforce’s “Melendez vs. Thomson” mixed martial arts mega-event at the HP Pavilion on Friday, June 27th.
The 25-year-old Vietnamese-born Phan, recently promoted to the rank of brown belt, is looking to notch his third consecutive victory after stopping Shad Smith and Saad Awad on October 6, 2007 and February 16, 2008, respectively.
“It should be a great matchup,” said Phan, a resident of Los Angeles, California. “I know (Evangelista)’s pretty good at wrestling and ok at Jiu-Jitsu and he’s got great Muay Thai. I think his striking is better than mine, but my strength is Jiu-Jitsu. I always prefer Jiu-Jitsu and submitting opponents.”
Phan’s only other Strikeforce promoted fight to date, a meeting with June 27th’s lightweight championship challenger, Josh “The Punk” Thomson, recently aired on Strikeforce’s new NBC program, the first-ever 52 week mixed martial arts series on one of the four major TV networks in The United States. Standing toe to toe with Thomson for a good stretch of the bout, Phan held his own, but took enough punishment to convince all three judges to award the win to Thomson.
Evangelista, a 27 year-old native of Parlier, California, is coming off a punishing knockout of Marlon Sims, which unfolded on the Strikeforce co-promoted “Shamrock vs. Cung Le” world championship card that aired live on SHOWTIME on Saturday, March 29. Prior to that, he earned a judges’ decision victory over Clint Coronel during Strikeforce’s historic event at the world-famous Playboy Mansion on September 29, 2007.
“I don’t really have a game plan for Nam Phan and I’ve never seen him fight,” said Evangelista. I know he’s good on the ground, though, so I just need to be prepared for anything that comes.”
Tickets for “Melendez vs. Thomson,” priced from $30, are on sale at the HP Pavilion box office (408-287-7070) as well as at all Ticketmaster locations (408-998-TIXS), Ticketmaster online (www.ticketmaster.com), and on Strikeforce’s official website (www.Strikeforceusa.net).
Strikeforce World Lightweight (155 lb. limit) Champion, Gilbert “El Nino” Melendez (14-1), will defend his crown against number one contender and Bay Area arch-rival, Josh “The Punk” Thomson (14-2), in the main event of the June 27th Strikeforce affair.
In another championship showdown, Bobby Southworth (8-5) will put his Strikeforce World Light Heavyweight (205 lb. limit) title on the line in a rematch with Anthony “El Toro” Ruiz (20-10). Ruiz was declared the winner of their initial meeting on November 16, 2007 after a cut Southworth had sustained during the fight prompted the ringside physician to order a stoppage at the :52 mark of the second round.
HP Pavilion doors will open at 6 PM for “Melendez vs. Thomson” and the first preliminary bout will begin at 6:30 PM. The main card will commence at 8 PM.
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