UFC 84 Card

UFC 84 Bouts (officially announced):
-B.J. Penn vs. Sean Sherk
-Keith Jardine vs. Wanderlei Silva
-Lyoto Machida vs. Tito Ortiz
-Wilson Gouveia vs. Goran Reljic
-Thiago Silva vs. Antonio Mendes
-Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou vs. Kazuhiro Nakamura

UFC 84 Bouts (unannounced):
-Rousimar Palhares vs. Ivan Salaverry
-Dong-hyun Kim vs. Jason Tan
-Terry Etim vs. Jeremy Stephens
-Shane Carwin vs. Christian Wellisch

Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou vs. Kazuhiro Nakamura rumored for UFC 84

Credit MMAMANIA

Light heavyweights Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou (4-2) and Kazuhiro Nakamura (11-7) will look for their first wins inside the Octagon when the two Pride FC veterans lock horns at UFC 84 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, on May 24, according to MMAWeekly.com.

Both fighters lost to Lyoto Machida in their respective debuts under the UFC banner. In fact, Sokoudjou lost via submission (arm triangle choke) in round two of his bout with Machida at UFC 79: “Nemesis” back in December 2007.

It was a hard trip back to reality for the “African Assassin” after two impressive back-to- back knockout wins against top 205-pound fighters, Ricardo Arona and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira while competing for Pride FC.

The Team Quest fighter— a decorated Judo practitioner—is up against a tough opponent who shares a similar fighting background.

Nakamura trains under Hidehiko Yoshida — a 1992 Judo Olympic gold medalist who is also a Pride FC veteran. He (Nakamura) lost to Machida via unanimous decision and after the bout was suspended for three months because of a positive test for marijuana.

The Japanese fighter has been tested against some of the top talent in the sport throughout his career, competing against standouts such as Murilo Bustamante (win), Kevin Randleman (win), Igor Vovchanchyn (win), Dan Henderson (loss), Wanderlei Silva (loss), Josh Barnett (loss) and Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua (loss).

This is an important fight for Sokoudjou and Nakamura because a loss could send one of them packing and looking for a new employer.

The rumored fight card is as follows:

B.J. Penn vs. Sean Sherk (UFC lightweight title)
Tito Ortiz vs. Lyoto Machida
Wanderlei Silva vs. Keith Jardine
Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou vs. Kazuhiro Nakamura
Rashad Evans vs. Thiago Silva
Wilson Gouveia vs. Goran Reljic
Ivan Salaverry vs. Rousimar Palhares
Jason Tan vs. Dong-hyun Kim
Terry Etim vs. Jeremy Stephens

Wanderlei confirms Jardine as next opponent

full article at Wanderlei's blog

In his latest blog Wanderlei talks about his training with Couture and improving his wrestling and cage tactics. He also mentions that despite training with Baroni, its to no offense to Ninja Rua ( both fighters are in the 185lbs division of EliteXC) but just to improve his own game. He also confirms his next fight with Keith Jardine at UFC 84, this event is not to be missed, I'll see you there!

'Ultimate Fighter' personality draws three years probation

Credit
By Angelica Martinez
UNION-TRIBUNE BREAKING NEWS TEAM

5:03 p.m. February 21, 2008

SAN DIEGO – Reality TV personality Jon Koppenhaver was sentenced to three years probation Thursday and had assault charges reduced in Superior Court.
Koppenhaver, 26, a trainer at San Diego's Undisputed Fitness and Training Center, faces a year in jail if he violates probation. He is also known as “War Machine” on Spike TV's reality series “The Ultimate Fighter.”



He pleaded guilty in December to felony assault in the choking of a man outside the fitness center. Those charges were reduced to a misdemeanor.
The professional cage-fighter choked a Las Vegas man unconscious and hit him in the face Sept. 2.

The victim, Darren Zatkow, testified in court last December that he was visiting San Diego when he was assaulted outside the fitness club after calling a group of shirtless men “tough guys.”

Zatkow said he was grabbed from behind in a chokehold and lost consciousness. He was punched in the face while he was on the ground and suffered facial fractures and nerve damage.

Judge Frank Brown said in December that Koppenhaver's plea agreement could result in a misdemeanor punishment. Zatkow and the prosecutor said that was acceptable.

“I'm not interested in destroying somebody's life,” Zatkow said previously.

Prosecutor David Williams III said he agreed to have the charges lowered because Zatkow did not oppose the lower charges and Zatkow's injuries were not as serious as initially thought.

Koppenhaver's career as a professional fighter was not a factor in having the charges lowered, Williams said.

In addition to probation, Koppenhaver was ordered to complete 30 days of public works service, such as picking up trash along the road, Williams said. Brown also ordered Koppenhaver to stay away from Zatkow and pay $2,300 in restitution

Jon “War Machine” Koppenhaver (5-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC), a cast member from “The Ultimate Fighter 6” who posted a Fight of the Night and Knockout of the Night performance at the show’s live finale, will next fight May 24 at UFC 84.

The 26-year-old fighter mentioned the in a recent MySpace bulletin. A possible opponent was not named