The UFC 129 event is scheduled to take place at the 60,000-seat Rogers Centre Stadium, which is the home of the Toronto Blues Jays MLB baseball team. The card is guaranteed to be a sell out no matter who’s fighting on it, but a bonus for Canadian fans is the fact that Georges St-Pierre (21-2) of Quebec, Canada will be headlining the show as the UFC Welterweight Champion is scheduled to take on Jake Shields (26-4-1).

This will be St-Pierre’s second consecutive defence of his title in his home country as he beat Josh Koscheck by a unanimous decision back at UFC 124 in Montreal, Canada in December. Shields is the former Strikeforce middleweight champion and he beat Martin Kampmann in his debut in the octagon. The fight card will also feature some other exciting matchups as there’s a light heavyweight bout scheduled former champion Lyoto Machida and Randy Couture, a UFC hall of famer.

The event is likely to set a new North American attendance record for the UFC as it’s expected that about up to 40,000 fans will attend. However, it all comes down to how the arena is set up. The Rogers Centre once attracted 68,000 fans for a Wrestlemania event, but it’s doubtful the UFC 120 event will match that because of the seating arrangement. The record crowd for a UFC card in North America is 23,152 which was set at UFC 124 in Montreal.

While some fights may change to injuries etc., these are the bouts that are scheduled to take place at UFC 129 in Toronto on April 30:

Georges St-Pierre (21-2; #1 Welterweight) vs. Jake Shields (26-4-1; #3 Welterweight)

Lyoto Machida (16-2; #4 Light Heavyweight)* vs. Randy Couture (19-10; #10 Light Heavyweight)

-Ben Henderson (12-2) vs. Mark Bocek (9-3)
-Ivan Menjivar (21-8) vs. Charlie Valencia (12-6)
-Phil Davis (8-0) vs. Matt Hamill (10-2)
-Brian Foster (15-5) vs. Sean Pierson (11-4)
-Jason MacDonald (24-14) vs. Ryan Jensen (15-7)
-Rory MacDonald (10-1) vs. Nate Diaz (13-6)
-Claude Patrick (13-1) vs. Daniel Roberts (12-1)
-Ivan Menjivar (21-8) vs. Charlie Valencia (12-6)
-John Makdessi (8-0) vs. Kyle Watson (13-6-1)

Penn is already known as a pretty good boxer and he broke the nose of UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre with a well placed uppercut, but he still wants to get better. He also put his boxing skills to good use in wins over Sean Sherk, Diego Sanchez, and Matt Hughes. However, Mayweather wasn’t as impressed with Penn’s boxing ability as many others are. That’s why he’s working closely with him before his bout with Fitch.

Mayweather said he’s teaching Penn how to keep his fights standing up and how to be effective at it. He started showing the UFC fighter some boxing moves and Penn decided it was in his best interests if he spent a couple of weeks with the boxing trainer to learn as much as he can before heading down to Australia. Mayweather said he’d prefer it if Penn spent three or four weeks with him, but believes if he uses the techniques he’s been showing him then two weeks should be enough to help him improve his skills.

Mayweather said he didn’t think Penn was much of a fighter when they first met, but admitted he doesn’t know much about the ground game in MMA. He added that Penn has some power in his punches and he showed improvement after just a few days training together. He said even though Fitch is a good wrestler and about 6 feet tall, Penn should still be able to dominate if he concentrates on boxing.

Penn isn’t the only MMA fighter to work with Mayweather, but all the boxing trainer can teach them, is boxing skills as he said he knows nothing about ground fighting. He’s confident that they won’t need any ground skills though if they use a tight defence and throw their punches properly. Penn has worked with boxing trainers in the past as he’s also worked out with Freddie roach, who trains boxing sensation Manny Pacquiao. Mayweather couldn’t resist taking a shot at Roach by saying that Penn told him he’s never learned as much from anybody about boxing than he has with Mayweather.

The Oregon U.S. Attorney’s Office announced that Sonnen had pleaded guilty to the charge while in court on Jan. 3rd. His sentencing will take place on March 28th and the fighter could receive a maximum prison sentence of up to 20 years. However, it’s believed that Sonnen will cooperate with prosecutors by testifying against others who have been accused of mortgage fraud. This will likely see him receive a pretty light sentence and perhaps a fine.

So far, Sonnen has agreed to pay a U.S. $10,000 fine and will also hand in his real estate license to the state. It’s believed that the government prosecutors are recommending that Sonnen receive just a sentence of two years. That’s a slap on the wrist considering he’s also facing a fine of up to $500,000.

An attorney involved in the case said his office is going to continue to track down people who have committed mortgage fraud and prosecute them because it has contributed to the economic downturn in America and has created havoc in the housing market. He added that these people were entrusted professionals who were depended on to conduct real estate transactions honestly, but instead took advantage of people and broke the law by defrauding lending institutions across America.

Sonnen admitted to handing in a false sales agreement addendum and letter that involved paying a plumbing firm to conduct repairs on a home which Sonnen knew weren’t actually going to take place. Sonnen, a Republican, is a former candidate for the state legislature, but he withdrew from the race last year due to a “legal issue.” Sonnen also spoke of federal government problems last year after his suspension for performance-enhancing drugs was cut down to six months from 12.

Sonnen came close to upsetting Anderson Silva, the UFC Middleweight Champion last August in a thrilling fight, but came up short. The UFC promised him a rematch with the champion, but those plans were shelved after Sonnen’s drug test was found to be positive. This also affects our MMA betting ahead.

It’s unclear how his scrape with the federal government will now affect his MMA career, but it sure doesn’t look like it’s going to help him in any way. The UFC hasn’t announced yet when and if he’ll be reinstated. He was scheduled to take on Yoshihiro Akiyama in UFC 128 in New Jersey on March 19, but that has been scrapped.

Australia seems like a logical choice to expand to as it’s estimated that about 2.6 million citizens (one in nine) participate in or watch some type of combat sport. And like its name suggests, the UFC is the ultimate when it comes to man vs man fighting as it takes place in a caged octagon and features various types of fighting disciplines, such as karate, boxing, wrestling, kickboxing and Jiu Jitsu.

The UFC might not need to market and promote its product in Australia very much with such as big fan base there, but it does and is recognized at being masters at it. It’s this business acumen that makes the UFC one of the fastest growing sports competitions. The organization is believed to be worth about $2.5 billion, but it didn’t happen overnight though as the UFC was actually formed 17 years ago.

It didn’t make much of a splash in the sports world until 2001 though when a sports promotion firm named Zuffa bought it. It didn’t take Zuffa long to get a pay-TV contract with Fox Sports Net and they sold about 150,000 pay-per-views for a November event in 2002.

One of the reasons for its popularity, other than the fights themselves, is the fact the fighters are quite accessible and work at promoting the organization. This has helped the UFC grow in leaps and bounds and over million pay-per-views were sold for a card last July. But in the end, it seems to all come down to a quality product.

This is shown by the competitiveness of the five-hour live events and most people go home happy feeling they definitely got their money’s worth, both live and on television. Making sure the fighters are as evenly matched as possible is a key in this area as it creates interesting and competitive fights.

The February card in Sydney will feature Australian UFC fighters Kyle Noke and George Sotiropoulos and is already sold out. However, there are some skeptics in the ranks still. Ted Tanner, the president of Boxing Australia, said the UFC definitely has novelty value, but prefers conventional boxing over a sport that allows opponents to go for submissions as a way to win a bout. Tanner said the government will need to keep an eye on the UFC to make sure there are no serious injuries. However, there’s never been a death in the UFC and it’s controlled very tightly.

It looks like Australia’s going to be another area of the world that embraces the UFC and about 6,000 females bought tickets to the inaugural show in Sydney. That’s 6,000 out of the 18,000 tickets that were sold. The last big boxing match in Australia between Garth Wood and Anthony Mundine saw a total of 6,000 fans at the same arena.

Koshcheck did well to keep it a stand-up battle as he thwarted most of St-Pierre’s takedown attempts, but he didn’t have an answer for St-Pierre’s strikes. Koshcheck tried a few shots of his own, but he throws his right hand wide in a circular motion and St-Pierre just had to stay on the outside while Koscheck’s fist went whizzing past his head. Meanwhile, the challenger’s right eye was swelling more and more with each shot landed by St-Pierre and it was closed by the time the fight was over.

St-Pierre took him down after about 20 seconds of the fight, but couldn’t keep Koscheck there. The challenger managed to get St-Pierre on his back just before the first round ended. St-Pierre managed a takedown in the fourth and fifth rounds, but Koscheck also got out of them almost instantly. Koscheck attempted some head kicks, but like his punches they were wide of the mark. There was no doubt who the winner was, but the scores of 50-45 across the board made it official. With the win, St-Pierre raised his record to 21-2, while Koscheck fell to 15-5.

On the undercard, Stefan (Skyscraper) Struve (21-4) beat Sean (Big Sexy) McCorkle (10-1). McCorkle slammed Struve to the mat early and was looking for a kimura shoulder lock. Struve escaped by kicking off the wall of the cage. He then utilized a kimura sweep which got him off his back and mounted McCorkle. He unloaded with a barrage of elbows and punches and won by a first-round TKO.

Charles (do Bronx) Oliveira (14-1) suffered the first loss of his promising career to Jim Miller (19-2) as Miller took the fight to the mat as soon as possible. Miller defended an arm bar and got hold of Oliveira with a knee bar. He then won it on submission with an arm bar less than two minutes into the fight.
Mac Danzig (20-8-1) scored a stunning KO over Joe (Daddy) Stevenson (31-12). Stevenson was caught by a perfect left hook from Danzig as he charged towards him and was dropped to the canvas.

Thiago (Pitbull) Alves (18-7) earned a unanimous decision over John (Doomsday) Howard (14-6) as he showed superior technique and landed the harder shots to win all three rounds and the fight by scores of 30-27 across the board.

Joe (El Dirte) Doerksen (46-14) was beaten by close split decision by Dan Miller (13-4).
Mark Bocek (9-3) beat Dustin (McLovin’) Hazelett by submission in the first round with a triangle choke.
Jesse (Water) Bongfeldt (21-7-1) earned a draw with Rafael (Sapo) Natal (12-3-1). Two judges scored it 28-28 and one of them scored it 29-28 for Natal.

Sean Pierson (11-4) beat Matthew Riddle (5-2) by a unanimous decision in a slug-fest.
Ricardo (Big Dog) Almeida (13-4) beat T.J. Grant (16-5) by unanimous decision.

John (The Bull) Makdessi (8-0) got things started when he beat Pat (Awesomely Awesome) Audinwood (9-2-1) by unanimous decision.

However, it ended up being a classic case of too little too late as two of the three judges scored the three-round bout in favour of Jackson. This is because he built up a points lead in the first two rounds due to his aggressiveness. He may not have had Machida in any trouble, but he forced the action.

Machida’s now been bumped from the top-10 list due to his loss. That may seem a little unfair in the eyes of many fans, especially the ones who thought Machida won the fight. But now Dominick Cruz, the WEC bantamweight champion, has taken Machida’s place on the honours list as he enters it in the number 10 spot. Cruz earned a spot on the top-10 list due to his victory over Joseph Benavidez back in August. Cruz beat him in a rematch of an earlier fight by posting a close five-round split decision.

At the moment, the greatest middleweight in UFC history, Anderson Silva, is still at the number one position on the MMA pound-for-pound list. Silva has been one of the best and most dominant fighters over the past several years. He’s also won seven straight fights in his division and is looked up to by most MMA fighters as being the undisputed top MMA artist in the world. Silva is likely to enter the octagon again at UFC 126 to defend his title against Vitor Belfort.

The number two spot on the list is taken by Georges St. Pierre of Quebec, Canada. St. Pierre beat Josh Kosheck by a unanimous decision in august of 2007 and will take him on in a rematch at UFC 124 in his home province as the fight takes place at the Bell Centre in Montreal on Dec. 11th.

The rest of the MMA top-10 list is as follows. Number three-Jose Aldo, number four -Frankie Edgar, number five-Jon Fitch, number six-Mauricio Rua, number seven-Jake Shields, number eight-Rashad Evans, number nine-Gilbert Melendez, and number 10 is Cruz.

Machida, smartly, wanted to stay on the outside during the fight to keep Jackson at a distance. He was also pretty selective with his shots as he didn’t want to be caught off guard in a counter attack and taken down to the mat, Jackson fought back with some flurries and landed the harder shots during the first two rounds and that’s what earned him the decision in the close bout as Machida clearly took the third round. But he’s probably regretting waiting so long to get going now as he came out on the wrong side of the decision. The scores were 29-28, and 29-28 for Jackson and 29-28 for Machida.

The fight started off pretty slowly with Machida throwing a few inside leg kicks. A couple of minutes in, Rampage threw a flurry while Machida was trying to throw a kick and was off balance. This backed him up across the octagon.

Jackson went on the attack in the second round and closed in by clinching Machida. He landed a good knee, but Machida spinned and put Jackson into the cage. Jackson then turned and took Machida down. However, he was up again pretty quickly with his back to the cage. Jackson connected with a fine right uppercut however he missed with the follow-up left hook. Just before the round ended, Machida rocked Jackson with a solid shot, but he was on his feet when the bell ended the round.

Machida was the aggressor in the last round and landed several heavy shots that had his opponent covering up. Machida was wearing him down and looking to finish him off, but Jackson began to fight back and land several blows. Machida then took Jackson to the mat but his attempt to submit him with a kimura failed. Machida took side control then mounted Jackson with about 90 seconds to go and tried to end it with an arm bar.

But Jackson lifted him up and the two men were back on their feet trading shots until Machida clinched him and they were both down on the mat again with Jackson on top of him when the final bell sounded.

After the fight Jackson said he thought Machida took the decision, but the judges and Dana White didn’t agree. It was a good bout and a rematch could be possible in the future.

By Darren Black

This fight is the first appearance of Fedor Emelianenko in front of a broad US audience. It is televised by CBS on Showtime channel and it takes place on Nov 7 at 9pm ET with a Fight Camp preview of fighter backgrounds, stories and training footage aired on Showtime Nov 3rd at 9:30pm ET.

Fedor is a heavy favorite of 6 to 1 on average amongst online sports betting companies due to his stellar career and experience. While virtually unknown to an average US citizen, Emelianenko is a big shining star in MMA aficionado circle with 30-1-0 record, which should be 30-0 IMHO. He lost once early in his career to Tsuyoshi Kosaka due to unfortunate cut early in the fight, and he annihilated him five years later in Pride rematch.

Brett Rogers is a past year sensation American-dream-come-true with a 10-0 MMA record so far with fame for a heavy punch. According to his coach, he has got some new tricks up his sleeve. At +425 for a 100 at this online sportsbook and 30 pounds heavier than Fedor, Rogers does present a certain threat to undefeated champ if he can break passed Fedor’s defense with heavy and fast punches standing up. On the other side of this argument, Fedor is famous for his defense.

On the ground Fedor should be a 100:1 favorite.

Dana White of UFC has been very negatively vocal recently about Fedor not fighting Brock Lesnar with preposterous claims that Fedor is afraid of Brock. Ha-ha – what a load of horse manure. One of possible explanations could be that they don’t agree on the right compensation and this is Dana’s way to provoke Fedor to agree to a lower pay.

This is going to be an interesting fight – brutal force vs. experience and patience.

This post is sponsored by SPORTSBETTING.com