PHILADELPHIA – The Ultimate Fighting Championship lands in the “City of Brotherly Love” this week. The main event features UFC lightweight champion B.J. Penn making his first title defense in more than a year, this time against challenger Kenny Florian. UFC middleweight champ Anderson Silva takes a trek up to the 205-pound division for a one-off bout against former titleholder Forrest Griffin.
No one had trouble making weight. Penn and Florian are set to square off for the belt, as both tipped the scale at 155 pounds even. The crowd was fairly subdued for Florian, but mixed in a solid smattering of boos for Penn.
“This is my dream. This is what every fighter works for. Everyone wants to fight for that belt. Everyone wants to be a champion. I will perform tomorrow night, for sure,” Florian told UFC commentator Joe Rogan at the weigh-ins.
Answering the ceaseless questions regarding his conditioning, Penn declared, “I’m in great shape. I’m gonna go out and do my best, that’s it.”
But if the crowd at the Wachovia Center was any indication, Silva and Griffin just might steal the thunder from Penn and Florian on Saturday night. Both weighing-in at 205 pounds on the nose for their light heavyweight bout, Silva and Griffin received the loudest ovation from the Philly crowd.
Only his second move up to light heavyweight, Silva looked huge, and relieved, when he saw the scale register 205.
UFC 101 takes place at the Wachovia Center on Saturday night. It airs live on pay-per-view.
You can also follow all of the action on MMAWeekly.com, as we will be providing play-by-play and live results of the entire fight card, with the preliminary bouts scheduled to start at approximately 5:15 p.m. PT/8:15 p.m. ET.
UFC 101 Main Card Bouts:
-B.J. Penn (155) vs. Kenny Florian (155)
-Anderson Silva (205) vs. Forrest Griffin (205)
-Ricardo Almeida (185) vs. Kendall Grove (185.5)
-Kurt Pellegrino (154.5) vs. Josh Neer (155.5)
-Amir Sadollah (166.5) vs. Johny Hendricks (171)
UFC 101 Preliminary Bouts:
-Aaron Riley (154) vs. Shane Nelson (156)
-Tamdan McCrory (170) vs. John Howard (169.5)
-Alessio Sakara (185.5) vs. Thales Leites (185)
-Matt Riddle (170) vs. Dan Cramer (169.5)
-George Sotiropoulos (155) vs. George Roop (154)
-Jesse Lennox (171) vs. Danillo Villefort (170.25)
No one had trouble making weight. Penn and Florian are set to square off for the belt, as both tipped the scale at 155 pounds even. The crowd was fairly subdued for Florian, but mixed in a solid smattering of boos for Penn.
“This is my dream. This is what every fighter works for. Everyone wants to fight for that belt. Everyone wants to be a champion. I will perform tomorrow night, for sure,” Florian told UFC commentator Joe Rogan at the weigh-ins.
Answering the ceaseless questions regarding his conditioning, Penn declared, “I’m in great shape. I’m gonna go out and do my best, that’s it.”
But if the crowd at the Wachovia Center was any indication, Silva and Griffin just might steal the thunder from Penn and Florian on Saturday night. Both weighing-in at 205 pounds on the nose for their light heavyweight bout, Silva and Griffin received the loudest ovation from the Philly crowd.
Only his second move up to light heavyweight, Silva looked huge, and relieved, when he saw the scale register 205.
UFC 101 takes place at the Wachovia Center on Saturday night. It airs live on pay-per-view.
You can also follow all of the action on MMAWeekly.com, as we will be providing play-by-play and live results of the entire fight card, with the preliminary bouts scheduled to start at approximately 5:15 p.m. PT/8:15 p.m. ET.
UFC 101 Main Card Bouts:
-B.J. Penn (155) vs. Kenny Florian (155)
-Anderson Silva (205) vs. Forrest Griffin (205)
-Ricardo Almeida (185) vs. Kendall Grove (185.5)
-Kurt Pellegrino (154.5) vs. Josh Neer (155.5)
-Amir Sadollah (166.5) vs. Johny Hendricks (171)
UFC 101 Preliminary Bouts:
-Aaron Riley (154) vs. Shane Nelson (156)
-Tamdan McCrory (170) vs. John Howard (169.5)
-Alessio Sakara (185.5) vs. Thales Leites (185)
-Matt Riddle (170) vs. Dan Cramer (169.5)
-George Sotiropoulos (155) vs. George Roop (154)
-Jesse Lennox (171) vs. Danillo Villefort (170.25)
