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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief -It was made official by UFC yesterday, UFC 89 will be headlined by Michael Bisbing vs. TUF 1 contestant Chris Leben. The bout will take place in Birmingham, England, on October 18th. FiveOuncesOfPain.com has more information. FULL ARTICLE LINK.
-Per MMAJunkie.com, Rich Franklin will be making the move up to light heavyweight for UFC 88 in Atlanta. He will be facing the 4-1 Matt Hamill, also of TUF fame, in what will most likely be the semi-main event behind the Liddell vs. Evans bout. FULL ARTICLE LINK.
-MMAJunkie.com is also reporting that Jesse Taylor will indeed make his way back into the Octagon at Fight Night 14 on July 19th. After being the first contestant on TUF to be kicked off after the show's completion, he is getting his second chance against CB Dolloway, the TUF runner up who took his place in the live Ultimate Fighter Finale. FULL ARTICLE LINK.
Penick's Analysis: First off, it's good to see that Jesse Taylor is getting another crack at his UFC dream. While I feel that Dana White was wholly justified in doling out the punishment that he did, Taylor still deserves a chance to prove that he can move past that and show everyone that he can handle the spotlight. This is the first step of many to get to that point, but it's good to see that he's going to at least get his day in the Octagon.
I'm very intrigued for the Franklin vs. Hamill fight. I've been a fan of Hamill's since TUF, and I believe he's continued to show improvement with each fight, but this is going to be a tough test for him in the former Middleweight Champion. Franklin's made the move up before, and while this may not be a permanent move, I think he can have some success here. Hamill's going to have a big size and power advantage in this fight, however, so I think it will be a good test for both men, and hopefully a good fight.
As for Bisping and Leben, I'm not sure I buy it as a main event for a pay per view. Granted, they're in Bisping's home country once again, so of course he's gotta be on the show, but for as much as I've liked Chris Leben since TUF, I don't see him as a headliner. Not yet anyway. He's got a couple of wins on the belt after dropping three of four, but I don't know if that's enough to justify headlining a Pay-Per-View. That being said, this has the makings of a great fight, and I think that Leben could catapult himself up the ladder with a decisive win over Bisping. In that same vein, Bisping could continue on his Middleweight path of dominance as well.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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