Mixed Martial Arts - Brutal MMA . com

It’s official – it will be Bisping vs Leben on UFC 89 in England.

The event takes place on October 18 at The National Indoor Arena in the English city of Birmingham.

The middleweight bout between England native Michael Bisping (16-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC) and veteran middleweight Chris Leben (18-4 MMA, 8-3 UFC) was announced July 1.

A previous bout has been arranged between the two fighters for UFC 85 in London. Leben, however, was pulled off the June 7 event because he had to serve jail time. Leben violated his probation stemming from an earlier DUI arrest.

Jason Day replaced Leben in that event and suffered a defeat when he was knocked out on the first round by Bisping.

Leben emerged as a middleweight contender when he recently defeated Terry Martin and Alessio Sakara. Prior to these back-to-back victories, he suffered three losses out of his four fights.

UFC 89 tickets go on sale starting July 6 (Saturday). Members of UFC’s fan club can avail of tickets earlier beginning on Wednesday.

Matt Hughes Vs. Thiago Alves

Our earlier predictions on Huges vs. Alves were completely off, we used a bit of personal emotion to target the outcome of the fight.  We have seen Matt Hughes at his best, but he’s way past that.  Hughes is past his prime and should quit now.

Round 1:

Thiago Alves stuffs a few takedowns from Hughes and Hughes pulls guard.  After missing an armbar from the bottom, Hughes eats a hard left hand, then Alves stands up and delivers a knee.  Matt Hughes finally gets a takedown and ends up on top, but has problems controlling Alves.  After some elbows from side control and a butter fly guard from Alves, Alves is back on his feet but is pulled into Hughes’ guard again.

Rounds 1 score: 10-9 (Alves)

Round 2:

Hughes gets pounded with a hard knee at the start of the round.  Matt Hughes right eye is CUT badly, and Alves explodes into another flying knee that dazes the falling Hughes.  Alves jumps on Hughes like a lion with non stop punching.  The fight is stopped at 1:02.

Thiago Alves Wins by Technical Knock Out at 1:02 in the 2nd round

Fabricio Werdum Vs. Brandon Vera

Round 1:

Vera starts the fight with a strong low kick, then the fight is pushed against the cage where Werdum lands a strong right as they  move into the middle of the octagon.  Werdum gets a takedown and gets into Vera’s half guard.  Vera gets back up to his feet.  Vera hits Werdum with a strong right hand that rocks him.  Fabricio Werdum trips Vera and takes a strong mount.  Werdum unloads with non stop strikes.  Vera doesn’t fight back, just covers up, the fight is stopped at 4:40 by the referee.  Everyone believes the stoppage is very questionable.

Fabricio Werdum Wins by Technical Knock Out at 4:40 in the 1st round

Michael Bisping Vs. Jason Day

Round 1:

After a few misses in the start of the round, Day lands a good straight right hand.  Bisping responds by going into a clinch and taking down Day.  Bisping unleashes lefts and rights from the top (ground and pound) but Day is resilient and stays with the fight, Bisping moves to side control.  Day gets to his feet ready to slug, but Bisping takes him down via a double leg takedown.  Bisping is on top and unleashes NON stop punches, Day doesn’t respond and the fight is stopped at 3:42 in the 1st round.

Michael Bisping Wins by Technical Knock Out at 3:42 in the 1st round