MMA May: UFC 84 headlines huge month

There’s an old saying that “April showers bring May flowersâ€�. That might have to be amended to reflect the torrent of high profile MMA events on tap for the month. 5 promotions running events will keep MMA fans glued to their TV sets. In Japan, DREAM.3 starts things off on May 11^th followed by the other big native promotion, World Victory Road. WVR will have their second event called Sengoku 2 on May 18^th. The action then shifts to the United States, with UFC 84-Ill Will scheduled for the next week. May 31^st brings the highly anticipated debut of EliteXC on CBS and on June 1^st WEC is running a big show from Arco Arena in Sacramento.

While the UFC PPV is considered the biggest event by the US MMA fanbase, we’ll go in chronological order and start in Japan. The May 11^th DREAM.3 event from the Saitama Super Arena in Tokyo features the 2^nd round of their Lightweight Grand Prix Tournament. The big storyline at this point concerns the health and tournament status of Shinya Aoki. Aoki was reportedly injured in his 1^st round win over JZ Calvan. Depending on the source, Aoki’s is either definitely out, considering withdrawal or using the injury to get more money out of DREAM parent FEG. The man Aoki defeated has reportedly been contacted about serving as a replacement and indications are that he’s not interested. Should Aoki not compete it would be a big disappointment since he’s now a favorite to win the event.

The following week World Victory Road has Sengoku 2  also emanating from Tokyo. This card is headlined by an intriguing matchup between Josh Barnett and Jeff Monson. Should this remain standing, Barnett’s height and reach would give him a decided edge. Barnett would prefer to take it to the ground, and there Monson can compete with him.  A Monson win would be a decided upset, but he’s a competent enough grappler that this could be a very entertaining bout. The biggest name on the undercard is former PRIDE standout Kevin Randleman, who’ll fight Ryo Kawamura. Roger Gracie is scheduled to compete but an opponent has yet to be named. 

The DREAM event will be carried live on HDNet and we’ll have live coverage here at THE SAVAGE SCIENCE. The WVR event will be on Japanese TV only, but through some technical wizardry we’ll have what will likely be one of the few sources of English language play by play commentary available.

A week later UFC 84-Ill Will will feature a light heavyweight title bout between Sean Sherk and BJ Penn. Penn is definitely the better all around fighter, but Sherk’s strength and wrestling ability has disrupted the game plan of other “well rounded fightersâ€�. The undercard of the event should also be solid with Wanderlei Silva fighting Keith Jardine and Tito Ortiz vs. Lyoto Machida. In fact, top to bottom this looks like one of the better UFC cards that we’ve seen in awhile.

May 31^st brings a historic event as MMA comes to prime time major network TV with EliteXC on CBS. This show is headlined by former street fighter and current media sensation Kimbo Slice who has another made-to-order opponent in James Thompson. It’s been recently reported that Sumner Redstone, who’s the majority owner of CBS through Viacom, isn’t happy with the decision of CEO Les Moonves to air MMA on the network. Redstone likes to see his name in the papers and he’s qualified his statement by suggesting that it was Moonves’ call but this has to put more pressure on EliteXC to deliver a big ratings number. Gina Carano will also appear on the show. The performance of this event will be a good reflection of how big the Kimbo Slice phenomenon has grown with the general public.

Rounding out the month will be WEC’s show from Sacramento. WEC often gets lost in the shuffle of the other big name promotions, but this UFC owned company may be featuring the best match of all as Urijah Faber defends his WEC Featherweight championship against Jens Pulver. Faber is already considered one of the best in the world pound for pound and has the persona that could make him a superstar. Pulver may be past his competitive prime, but he’s always a tough opponent. This event will air live on the Versus TV network on June 1^st.

As always, we’ll have live round by round coverage of these big MMA events here at THE SAVAGE SCIENCE. Get all the work you need to do around the house done, get all of your other chores up to date because May is going to be the biggest month of the year for MMA enthusiasts.