UFC 89: Bisping & Leben Make Weight

All UFC 89 fighters made their weight today at the NIA for Saturday’s card in Birmingham.

“Count” Michael Bisping (16-1) 185 pounds v “Crippler” Chris Leben (18-4) 186 pounds

“I’m glad you guys let me into your country,” main event fighter Leben said at Thursday’s press conference.  “I was a little worried on the plane.”

Leben was originally scheduled to fight Bisping in London 7 June, but opted to put to rest legal issues in Oregon stemming from an earlier DUI arrest to ensure a legal UK visa.

But, the pressure is squarely on the shoulders of Brit Bisping, who told the press, “I am on a quest.  Losing this fight for me is not an option.”

Leben, wearing tight cornrows, chided his opponent, saying, “It seems to me that, when Michael Bisping fights, self-preservation is top on his list.”

A brawl would certainly benefit Leben.  Bisping’s stand-up style is a bit more circle-and-poke, while Leben is happy to plant and throw bombs.

“We’re going to be lettin’em fly!  We’re going to be having fun doin’ it,” Leben promised, which usually means they’ll knock their heads together shooting for takedowns at the opening bell.

But, let’s hope not.

Eighth-ranked “Dean of Mean” Keith Jardine (13-4-1) 205 pounds v “The Truth” Brandon Vera (9-2) 203 pounds

At the pre-fight press conference Thursday, a very serious Vera turned to Jardine and challenged, “We’re going to be together for 15 minutes in the Octagon and I hope, I hope we get to find out a lot about each other before one of us goes to sleep.”

Jardine agreed, and quipped, “He’s got a real pretty style; and, me, I got a real awkward, real mean style.  So, it’s kind of going to be kind of like a beauty and the beast type thing.”

Jardine is coming off a 36-second knockout loss to seventh-ranked “Axe Murderer” Wanderlei Silva (32-81) in May; and, Vera made a disappointing debut at 205-pounds in a unanimous decision “W” over Reese Andy (7-2) in July.

Vera, a former heavyweight, summed up the meaning of the fight: “Me and Keith are both at a point in our career right now where we get either to take one huge step forward or end up taking two or three steps back.”

“Irish Hand Grenade” Marcus Davis (14-4) 169 pounds vs. “Tellys” Paul Kelly (7-0) 169 pounds

Davis will try to come back strong from a loss to “Quick” Mike Swick (12-2) in June versus Kelly, who Davis called “a brawler.”

Davis put down the weights for this fight in favor of getting back to his boxing background.

“I’m going to make-up for it in technique and speed.  Being able to fight off angles and stuff like that.  It might look like I’m right in front of him, but I’m actually not going to be right in front of him,” Davis said.

Kelly, of Wolfslair Academy, revealed, “You never know where it’s going to be.  It’s MMA.  You know?  I can’t guarantee I’m going to put Marcus on the mat.  We’ve worked on what we think he’s going to do.”

Ninth-ranked “African Assassin” Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou (5-2) 205 pounds v “Banha” Luis Arthur Cane (8-1) 206 pounds

“Lights Out” Chris Lytle (25-16-5) 170 pounds v “Relentless” Paul Taylor (9-3-1) 170 pounds

Akihiro Gono (28-12-7) 171 pounds v “Outlaw” Dan Hardy (19-6) 169 pounds

Shane Carwin (9-0) 264 pounds v “Old Skool” Neil Wain (4-0) 254 pounds

David Bielkheden (12-6) 156 pounds v “Joker” Jess Liaudin (12-10) 155 pounds

Terry Etim (10-2) 155 pounds v “Hands of Stone” Sam Stout (13-4-1) 155 pounds
 
David Baron (16-2) 155 pounds v Jim Miller (11-1) 155 pounds

“Dog” Samy Schiavo (10-5) 156 pounds v Per Eklund (13-3-1) 156 pounds