The Battle of Heights: Stefan Struve vs. Pat Barry at UFC on Versus 6

Verbal agreements are in place for the tallest and shortest heavyweights in the UFC to face off at UFC on Versus 6 this October 1st. The 6-foot-11 Stefan “Skyscraper” Struve and 5-foot-11 Pat “HD” Barry will make for a foot difference in height (see picture).

“Yes me and @HypeOrDie are gonna have à battle october 1st in Washington! Good luck brotha let's have some fun in there!,” Tweeted Struve.

Struve (21-5) is coming off a first round knockout loss at UFC 130 against Travis Browne. Struve had been on a two fight winning streak heading into the bout with Browne and it currently 5-3 inside the Octagon. The tall Dutchman has a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and kickboxing background but it will be the BJJ that will be the key for him in this bout.

Barry (6-3) is also coming off a brutal knockout in his last bout at UFC Live as Cheick Kongo came back from nearly being KO’d himself to pull off one of the biggest comeback in MMA. Barry hasn’t been able to find any consistency in the UFC, going 3-3 thus far but always entertains. Barry an his heavy leg kicks will be pivotal for him against the lanky Struve, but he will have a serious reach disadvantage to go along with the height.

UFC on Versus 6 takes place Oct. 1 at Verizon Center in Washington, D.C. The nights main card will air on Versus and will be headlined by a bantamweight title fight between Dominick Cruz and Demetrious Johnson.

This article was originally posted at http://www.mmavalor.com

BAMMA Looks to Take Their Show to Ireland

It’s been over two years since the UFC graced the shores of the Emerald Isle, but with no current plans in place to return to Ireland, another promotion is eyeing a show there instead.

Rising British promotion BAMMA, whose next show will be BAMMA 7 in September in England, are in talks to bring a show to Dublin sometime hopefully in the next 18 months.

BAMMA Vice President Liam Fisher revealed the news when speaking with MMAWeekly Radio.

“It’s funny, we’ve planned our schedule for 2012 and we’re working on 2013 as well at the moment. We want to be totally far ahead, we want to make sure we get the exact dates and venues that we want for our schedule, and the O2 in Dublin is definitely one of the venues we’ve been speaking to,” Fisher stated about the promotion’s intentions to land in Ireland.

Irish fans have been clamoring for a major promotion to come back there after the UFC put on two shows there in 2007 and 2009, but have not returned there since.

UFC President Dana White has talked about going back there many times, but the busy schedule for the promotion hasn’t left a window open to return to Ireland in a couple of years.

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Dana White Wants UFC vs. Strikeforce Fights ‘As Soon As Possible,’ but Roadblocks Exist

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While most remain hopeful that UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre will face Strikeforce champion Nick Diaz later this year, putting on fights that crossover between the two promotions is currently left in limbo.

Several sources over the last few weeks have stated that St-Pierre and Diaz would meet with the welterweight title on the line, but UFC president Dana White has maintained all along that it’s not a done deal.

While he stopped short of saying it wouldn’t happen, right now there are still hold ups that are preventing the UFC and Strikeforce from producing fights between the promotions.

“We literally have nothing done on that yet,” White answered when asked about the crossover fights.

Just after Zuffa purchased Strikeforce, White maintained that everything would remain ‘business as usual,’ but over the last few months several changes have been made internally within the newest promotion taken over by the MMA giant.

The matchmaking duties along with virtually all of the day-to-day business of Strikeforce is now under the helm of Zuffa employees, and the majority of Strikeforce’s staff has been let go under the new regime.

As far as fights go, however, White admitted that their goal is to put on the super fights that fans most want to see between the two promotions and it’s something they are currently working on.

“As soon as possible,” White said about a timeline for when the fights could take place.

Apparently, however, there is a wall blocking Zuffa’s efforts to make it happen. While White wouldn’t expand on what it is that’s preventing them from putting together those types of fights, most assume it has to do with Strikeforce’s existing television deal with Showtime.

Strikeforce has a television deal in place with Showtime that runs for at least two more years, but White gave no indication if that’s the specific reason why they are struggling to put together fights pitting the best of the best in the UFC against their counterparts in Strikeforce.

“I don’t even want to get into that, a whole other headache,” White stated.

The possibilities of crossover match-ups are endless, but GSP vs. Diaz appears to be the starting block if the fights can be put together. Only time and negotiation will tell if it will actually happen.

Georges St Pierre and Jose Aldo Retain Belts at UFC 129

With a Canadians in each one of the two title fights at UFC 129, the 55,000 fans in attendance had hoped to be celebrating tonight. Well fans had to settle with only one of their hometown favorites walked out of the Rogers Centre with gold around their waists.

Main event:
170 lbs.: Georges St. Pierre vs. Jake Shields - Georges St. Pierre by Unanimous Decision (50-45, 48-47, 48-47)

Main card (Televised):
145 lbs.: Jose Aldo vs. Mark Hominick - Jose Aldo by Unanimous Decision (48-45, 48-46, 49-46) [Fight of the Night]
205 lbs.: Randy Couture vs. Lyoto Machida – Lyoto Machida by 2nd round KO [KO of the Night]
205 lbs.: Vladimir Matyushenko vs. Jason Brilz - Vladimir Matyushenko 1st round KO
155 lbs.: Mark Bocek vs. Ben Henderson – Ben Henderson by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Preliminary (Spike TV):
170 lbs.: Nate Diaz vs. Rory MacDonald – Rory MacDonald by Unanimous Decision (30-26, 30-27, 30-26)
170 lbs.: Jake Ellenberger vs. Sean Pierson - Jake Ellenberger by 1st round KO

Preliminary (FaceBook):
185 lbs.: Jason MacDonald vs. Ryan Jensen - Jason MacDonald 1st round submission (Triangle choke)
135 lbs.: Ivan Menjivar vs. Charlie Valencia - Ivan Menjivar by 1st round TKO
155 lbs.: John Makdessi vs. Kyle Watson - John Makdessi by 3rd round KO
170 lbs.: Claude Patrick vs. Daniel Roberts – Claude Patrick by Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
145 lbs.: Pablo Garza vs. Yves Jabouin - Pablo Garza by 1st round submission (Flying Triangle) [Submission of the Night]

Fight Night bonus was $129,000