A Look at Topps UFC 2011

By: Clay

Here's a glimpse of the first release from Topps and the UFC for 2011. I know this is a little dated, as this set has been out for sometime...enjoy. By the way, I did pull a Matt Hamill relic which was promptly sold on EBAY as well as two patch cards of Machida and Matt Hughes. As you can see below, the Couture base card photo is from the fight with James "Mush Mouth" Toney and the Hughes photo was taken probably seconds before BJ Penn knocked him out.

Upcoming Noteworthy MMA Fights

By: Clay

April 9th
Strikeforce: Diaz vs Daley
Nick Diaz (24-7) vs. Paul Daley (27-9-2)
Gilbert Melendez (18-2) vs. Tatsuya Kawajiri (27-6-2)

April 30th
UFC 129
Georges St-Pierre (21-2) vs. Jake Shields (26-4-1)
Jose Aldo (18-1)vs. Mark Hominick (20-8)
Lyoto Machida (16-2)vs. Randy Couture (19-10)
Ben Henderson (12-2) vs. Mark Bocek (9-3)

May 28th
UFC 130
Frankie Edgar (13-1-1) vs. Gray Maynard (10-0-1)
Quinton “Rampage” Jackson (31-8) vs. Matt Hamill (10-2)
Frank Mir (14-5) vs. Roy Nelson (15-5)

June 4th
UFC UF 13 Finale
Anthony Pettis (13-1)vs. Clay Guida (28-11)
Jonathan Brookins (12-3) vs. Jeremy Stephens (19-6)

June 11th
UFC 131
Brock Lesnar (5-2) vs. Junior Dos Santos (12-1)
Shane Carwin (12-1) vs. Jon Oliv Einemo (6-1)
Mark Munoz (10-2) vs. Demian Maia (14-2)

June 18th
Strikeforce Heayvweight Grand Prix Quarterfinals
Alistair Overeem (34-11) vs. Fabricio Werdum (14-4-1)
Josh Barnett (29-5) vs. Brett Rogers (11-2)

More From the Wacky World of Chael Sonnen

By: Clay

This Chael Sonnen excerpt is taken from Fighters Only. Bring the pain, Chael!

"I happen to know, from one of my very highly-placed sources at the UFC, that Michael Bisping's 'goodwill account' is seriously overdrawn with the company. He's on very thin ice wearing really sharp skates, if you know what I mean. So, there are only TWO possible outcomes for him: He can fight me, or he can get released," Sonnen stated.

"He needs to fight me to keep his job. But...and this is a big but...I don't have to fight Michael Bisping to keep my job. If I decide not to fight him, they'll set me up with some other contender I can ridicule, then pound into fine powder. But Bisping's got me, or he's gone. I hold the "whip hand" in this deal; so if he wants to feed his family without going on the 'dole', he better apologize."

"Spitting on Jorge Rivera's cornermen brought disgrace to himself, to the sport, and to all fighters, me included. That's why, first and foremost, Michael Bisping owes me an apology," Sonnen said.

"Once he agrees to do that, I'll decide what form his apology should take. I may want a singing apology. I may want him to choreograph and perform a little "apology dance". I may make him kiss my ring like I'm the Pope, or kneel before me like I'm the King and he's being knighted. I'm not sure what I'll decide on...but he does owe me an apology."

God damn that Chael Sonnen is one crazy rascal. If there's one guy who knows how to sell a fight, it's The Rock. But if there's another guy, it's Chael Sonnen. If this fight does happen, it could possibly be a middleweight title contenders match.

Topps UFC Cards

By: Guido

I bought a box of Topps UFC a month ago and damn near completed the base card set. Kali was there to open half the packs with me. I must say, her knowledge of sports cards has grown rapidly and she loves the thrill of pulling something big (inserts and short prints, as I wouldn't consider myself big). I pulled the GSP auto and a Forrest Griffin mat relic. She pulled a Josh Neer mat relic Gold #068/199 complete with some kind of debris smeared across the mat(dried blood hopefully) and the Dan Miller auto. I also had to break down and purchase a Clay Guida blue ink auto off ebay. Only $20 so that was a pretty good deal I figured. Not to mention that I purchased the Hobby Box for only $92 with shipping.

I also got a few repeats of Fight Poster Review and Bloodlines insert set. The cool thing about the Bloodlines is that the write up on the back of the card is in English and whatever the native language is of that fighter. Pretty sweet.