THE TORCH: THE #1 WORLDWIDE BRAND IN COMBAT ENTERTAINMENT COVERAGE - OVER 250 MILLION VIEWS & LISTENS PER YEAR REREACHING MORE FANS EVERY WEEK THAN ANY OTHER INDEPENDENT SOURCE • VIA THE WEB, MOBILE, PRINT NEWSLETTER, AND ITUNES
The UFC will bring a pay-per-view event back to Las Vegas for the first time since UFC 116 on January 1, 2011, as MMAJunkie.com reports that UFC 125 will emanate from the MGM Grand Garden Arena.
It will serve as the UFC's annual "year end" event, though it will technically kick off the 2011 schedule.
The UFC will return to Las Vegas first in December for The Ultimate Fighter 12 finale, though that event will take place at the much smaller Pearl at the Palms Casino and Resort and will air on Spike TV. UFC 125 will be the 18th UFC event at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in its 17 year history.
Penick's Analysis: There were some reports that the UFC was looking to run on New Year's Eve on Friday night so as to avoid college football on Saturday, but that will not be the case. It would have been a big mistake to run an event on New Year's Eve when people will be out partying and gathering, waiting for the ball to drop. Running against college football won't be a huge deal, as MMA fans will tune in for a good card if they provide one.
ALERT: Every Tuesday night, listen to the MMATorch Livecast from 9-10:30 p.m. ET or listen now to the most recent shows by clicking here. Listen live this coming Tuesday as Jamie Penick, Rich Hansen, and Matt Pelkey discuss the latest MMA happenings. Online listen at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/mmatorch or call into the show at 646-716-8090 to either just listen or participate.
"There's still a large contingent of people, that they just want to see these guys almost die, or the other guy almost die and come back, and sometimes fights are like that. Certainly they are. But sometimes you get technical masterpieces too, and to hate a beautiful, technical fight - you're not really a fight fan...
Diaz has a granite chin, possesses perhaps the best recovery in the sport, his pace and conditioning are second to none and he sets records with the volume of his punches almost every time he steps into the cage. Nick Diaz is simply designed to fight the way he fights, and not many other fighters are...
"There was a lot of poison going on around there and I'm really disappointed because we had a good thing going. It was a good thing and I think people's egos got in the way. Well, not people just Javier, his ego got in the way, and too many cameras in the gym and him trying to build himself up and his brand, his AKA brand...
PART OF THE USA TODAY UFC GROUP