NEWS - MMA in March

The month of March looks to be full of excitement for the mixed martial arts fan. Kicking things off March 1st is UFC 82: "Pride of a Champion" featuring a 185lb. Title bout between MMA's #1 Pound for Pound Champion Anderson "The Spider" Silva and Dan Henderson. Silva has just walked right through his last 4 UFC opponents, including Rich Franklin, Nate Marquardt, Travis Lutter, and Chris Leben. The big question is, "who can stop this guy"?... Dan Hernderson believes he can and he's moving down from light heavyweight to middleweight to try and prove it.

Then on March 5th is the debut of World Victory Road: "Sengoku" from Japan. With a very solid fight card Sengoku looks to thrill fans with their premiere events. Scheduled to appear that night are Josh Barnett vs. Hidehiko Yoshida, Takanori Gomi vs. Duane Ludwig, Kazuo Misaki vs. Siyar Bahadurzada, Makoto Takimoto vs. Evangelista Santos, Ryo Kawamura vs. Antonio Braga Neto, Fabricio Monteiro vs. Nick Thompson, and Kazuyuki Fujita vs. Peter Graham. This should be a great night of fights for former PRIDE fans.

On March 8th Showtime television will bring the UK based Cage Rage promotion into their subscribers livingrooms with Cage Rage 25: "Bring it On!. Returning to action after a short retirement, Ken Shamrock looks to take out Robert Berry and return to his Hall of Fame winning ways. Also on the card is the son of Ken Shamrock, Ryan Shamrock who will be facing Giorgio Andrews. The card also features a female fight between Aysen Berik (sister of Sami "The Hun" Berik) and Aisling Daly, plus 9 other bouts.

Then on March 15 ICON Sport comes at you with "To Hell and Back", featuring a fight between Phil Baroni and Kala Kolohe Hose for the 185lb. Title. The 185lb. Title was recently relinquished by Robbie Lawler. Also on the card will be Ross Ebanez, Brennan Kamaka, Eddie Rincon, the return of Jeremy Williams and more.

Also on that day will be another debut promotion when FEG and Yarennoka bring "Dream" to Japan. The first installment of the "Dream" promotion entitled "Heiwa Dream" will be the first round of a lightweight Grand Prix. With some great matchups already scheduled, expect some great action between Shinya Aoki vs. Gesias "JZ" Calvancante, Tatsuya Kawajiri vs. Kultar "Black Mamba" Gill, and Joachim Hansen vs. Koutetsu Boku. More bouts to be scheduled soon.

On March 26th World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) returns with another action-packed night of MMA action. Probably the most anticipated fight of the night being the rematch between champion Paulo Filho and Chael Sonnen. Their first match ended in a somewhat controversial referee stoppage, Sonnen being stopped but protesting the stoppage. Live from the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas he'll have his chance at redemption. Another highly anticipated fight that night will be between champion Doug "The Rhino" Marshall, as he takes on US Marine Brian "All American" Stann. Both are solid strikers with great standup games, you almost have to predict that someone will be getting knocked out.

And finally, March 29th brings Strikeforce and a very highly anticipated fight between Frank Shamrock and Cung Le. This fight could possibly be one of the fight of the year candidates. Shamrock has such a well rounded style and is comfortable no matter where the fight goes, while Le is known for his "come from anywhere" kicks and an unorthodox but very successful style. This one certainly should be exciting! Also scheduled to appear that night is UFC veteran Drew Fickett, as he takes on the very talented Jake Shields. Look for more info to follow on a great month of matchups.