UFC on Versus 2 on Aug 1 in Utah, UFC 117 on Aug 7 in "northern California"

[drunkaholic707]

The Ultimate Fighting Championship has contacted Utah's state athletic commission and reserved Aug. 1 for a UFC on Versus event at Salt Lake City's EnergySolutions Arena.

That's the word from the Utah Athletic Commission's Bill Colbert, who confirmed the plans with MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) and Scott Sherman of The Salt Lake City Tribune.

MMAjunkie.com first reported last week that the UFC planned to host a show in Utah. However, the date we initially reported – Aug. 7 – instead will feature a traditional UFC pay-per-view event, UFC 117, in "northern California," a source close to the organization said.

That "northern California" city may be Oakland; the show is expected to feature UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen. Although bout agreements have not been signed for the title fight, a source close to one of the competitors said the 19,500-seat Oracle Arena could host the PPV-televised fight.

Soon after the organization's first Versus-televised event, which took place March 21 in Broomfield, Colo., UFC president Dana White said the UFC planned to a host second one on Aug. 1 in Oakland, Calif. Instead, the UFC heads to Salt Lake City to make its Utah debut with UFC on Versus 2, and Oakland is expected to feature a major PPV event.

No fights are currently booked for UFC on Versus 2, which will be the second of two contracted UFC-Versus events in 2010.

The UFC has not officially announced either show, and officials could not immediately be reached for comment.


so it looks like ufc 117 is gonna be in oakland hopefully its a good line up

 

[SLRider510]

hellll yea... id rather see a PPV event than a versus event... either way its gonna be good to see a lil octagon action 3 bart stops away from home.

 

[Triple Threat]

if anderson silva is in

im cashin out for some good seats

 

[MOREBASS]

Yeah, much rather see a PPV event here. There are a gang of MMA and UFC fans here in The Bay, and I think they could possibly sell the Oracle out with a stacked card.


This is long overdue. MMA is huge here, and gyms are popping up everywhere. I'm cashing out too. Let's do this.

 

[drunkaholic707]

is bellfort still injured? i rather have him and silva fight like they were suppose to at 112 then silva and sonnen

 

[BROWN GUERRERO]

UFC needs to sign Badr Hari if Anderson wants to act like a lil bitch. I'd still pay to go see him tho. :hurt:

 

[SC_408]

TBIB

 

[drunkaholic707]

Chael Sonnen confirms he'll face Anderson Silva at UFC 117 in Oakland

Chael Sonnen (24-10-1 MMA, 4-3 UFC) will get his shot at champion Anderson Silva (26-4 MMA, 11-0 UFC) on Aug. 7 at UFC 117 in Oakland, Calif.

The mercurial middleweight confirmed the upcoming bout at a UFC Fight Club Q&A session on Friday, though he did say one condition existed for the fight.

Sonnen is in for the contest, but he's giving the champion a chance to back out.

"That is true on one condition: if diplomacy fails," Sonnen said. "I am giving Anderson Silva the fair chance to back out. But as sure as night follows day, if he does not heed my warning, I will declare war, and on Aug. 7 at 7 p.m. his 15 minutes of fame will come to an abrupt halt."

Sonnen earned his shot at the middleweight title with a February win over fellow contender Nate Marquardt. Due to injuries suffered in the contest, Sonnen was unavailable to face Silva at UFC 112 earlier this month, so Demian Maia took the fight, instead.

Sonnen actually lost to Maia at UFC 95 in February 2009, but he has since rattled off three-straight wins over Marquardt, Yushin Okami and Dan Miller.

Meanwhile, Silva pushed his UFC record to 11-0 with a lackluster unanimous-decision win over Maia. While Silva has soured some fans with his inability to finish some of his recent opponents, he's still widely regarded as the best fighter in mixed martial arts.

While Sonnen has earned mixed results during his seven-year career, the Oregonian said pedigree has little to do with what will happen in the contest. Instead, he insists what is essentially a striker vs. grappler affair will come down to a test of will.

"He is a fantastic fighter," Sonnen said. "I am not delusional to his skill set. ... I don't care if he is better. He is better, but I'm tougher.

"For 25 minutes, we're going to find out who's tougher. Seven minutes in, we're both going to be tired. Ten minutes in, we're both going to be hurting. Fifteen minutes in, we're both going to want to be out of there, but one of us is going to stick around and grind it our for 25 minutes,