July’s Chumps and Champs

Wow oh wow, what a month!  This blog will be a recap of what some may call one of the most exciting months in MMA history with all the events, stories and news that broke during July 2008 for MMA.  While not everything was worthy of spotlight, we will highlight those moments for you as well as the Chumps of July.

We know it’s not easy remembering the timeline of events and news for the past in detail so we’ll wrap up the month in one post for you!

July 4th 2008:

Updated “not so” Unified MMA Rules were released.  Creating several additional weight classes that many say to be not needed.  Aside, the allowance of elbows to downed opponents was a big plus on this updated rule list.

July 5th 2008:

UFC 86 went down and fans were awarded a new champion after the Forrest Griffin vs Rampage Jackson fight where Griffin won in a decision against Rampage.

July 7th 2008:

Patrick Cote was to be announced as Anderson Silva’s next victim… err opponent that is set to take place October 25th in UFC 90 in Chicago.

July 8th 2008:

It was rumored much earlier but we posted about it on the 8th that Andrei Arlovski would try his luck in the boxing world.  There hasn’t been much development on this lately but we should have an update for you before the month end.

July 9th 2008:

UFC to drop Xyience as the official nutritional supplement provider and pick BSN as the new provider for fighters.

July 11th 2008:

How could we not mention our post about the hottest female MMA Fighter… we talked about how Gina Carano is easily the hottest female fighter in MMA.  It’s not hard to tell how she’s been labeled as “the face of women’s MMA”.

July 12th 2008:

Cage Rage 27 set off and Phil Baroni was finally back in the win column.  Most of you probably remember the head butt after fight was over by an opponents corner man.  Yeah, that’s how exciting the rest of the event was.

July 13th 2008:

Versus TV network gained the rights for Contender giving it rights to the boxing show as well as the Muay Thai version.  The show was set to air on the 31st of July and has had a couple airings so far.

July 15th 2008:

Sad day for MMA fans as Rampage Jackson was arrested for hit and run and later confirmed delirious claiming to be god.  Details and information is still coming forth regarding this such as it’s been blamed on energy drinks.

July 18th 2008:

We rumored it on the 18th of July that UFC/Zuffa would buy out IFL.  This became finalized recently but the details are still foggy on what will become of the IFL fighters.

July 19th 2008:

We finally got to see Fedor Emelianenko on the spot light in Affliction: Banned against Tim Sylvia.  Fedor made Sylvia look like a lack luster opponent with his quick win by rear naked choke.

Also on the same night, UFC Fight Night 14 was set to air with Anderson Silva vs James Irvin.  This fight didn’t last much longer than the Fedor fight with Silva knocking out Irvin in 1 minute.

Possible one of the greatest nights in MMA with the fights from Affliction: Banned and UFN 14.

July 26th 2008:

Just a week after UFC and Affliction had their fights, Elite XC took off with a Robbie Lawler vs Scott Smith II.  The result of the second was no different that the first with Lawler winning.  Overall, CBS did a better job with airing than their first event but the fights may have been one sided.  Only time will tell where Elite XC will go with their production.

July 27th 2008:

We posted about the show that National Geographic produced regarding MMA that will star big MMA names such as Randy Couture, Dean Lister, Tito Ortiz, and Bas Rutten.  This is set to air August 24th 2008 and we’ll make an updated post with information on the show to keep you updated and remind you to tune in.  We’ll try to make it available to watch here as well.

July 30th 2008:

James Irvin was tested positive for Methadone and Oxymorphone.  Can you blame the guy after the beating he took from Anderson Silva?

We here at MMA Chump took a server overload from the increased popularity of the site near the end of the month.  We saw it as a good problem and took preventive steps from it occurring in the future.  We dare you to make it a problem again!

You can look forward to these monthly reviews on a consistent basis and closer to the beginning of the next month in the future.  We anxiously look at improving our user base and information available at MMA Chump and would love to hear your thoughts and discussion in the forums.

Last 3 posts by Mat Houchens

• Gina Carano is Back! Carano vs Cyborg August 15
• Kimbo Slice on TUF 10
• Affliction 3 Press Conference June 1

Other Posts

• Rampage Arrested Again
• UFC coming to Tennessee and Florida
• Elite XC “Unfinished Business” Fighter Salaries