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Opinion & Analysis
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Staff Editorials
CATTELANE - Lesnar, UFC 80, Din Thomas gets busted and more...
By Jerry Cattelane, MMA Torch Columnist
Nov 6, 2007, 12:13
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Some tidbits for discussion and your general perusal...
1) UFC has announced Brock Lesnar will make his Octagon debut against none other than Frank Mir. There is no question that Lesnar has entered the deep end of the pool and that the talent devellopment really thinks he has what it takes to be a contender. I didn't think there would be any shame in letting Lesnar fight a no-name, but in 2007, I guess the thought of getting the name fights in early is a good strategy. On paper, this doesn't look like a bad matchup at all. It'll be interesting to see what Lesnar brings to the cage. It's a little early for me to think about the winner, but my gut has me really leaning towards Lesnar. More on this later. The fight is scheduled for UFC 81 on February 2 in Shawn Ennis' personal Wonderland, Las Vegas.
2) B.J. Penn and Joe Stevenson will face off for the interim UFC lightweight title at UFC 80. That fight will headline UFC 80 across the pond in Newcastle, England. In the meantime, Sean Sherk, the current champion is cooling his jets waiting for his appeal to be finalized in what has been a bizarre trial of events. An inconsistent "chain of command" in handling evidence, mysteriously disappearing defense briefs and erratic protocols regarding the admissibility of polygraph tests have muddled Sherk's appeal greatly. Tom Hamlin wrote a very nice article on this and you can access it here. http://tinyurl.com/2khfzy
3) Din Thomas got arrested after holding an unsanctioned fight in his gym about 2 weeks ago in Port Saint Lucie, Florida. Apparently, over 100 witnesses were on scene. Afficionados of the sport came forward to suggest that such bouts "smokers' are not uncommon. If that is true, it is curious as to why this one got busted up. On the other hand, the liability concern is clear. In any case, it will be interesting to see if this affects Thomas's return to the Octagon at some point in the future when he is done rehabbing his knee.
4) I'm trying to get excited about UFC 78, but it just ain't happening yet. Help me out in my Zone and give me some reasons to plunk down the $50 and blog the show.
5) Shawn and I recorded on Sunday and, hopefully, the podcast will on the site soon. We'll bringing you an interim show and then the UFC 78 preview during the week of November 12. As always, we welcome your opinions.
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