Zimooya

Source: http://mmajunkie.com/

The Ultimate Fighting Championship will scrap a UFC 101 bout between former UFC light heavyweight champion Forrest Griffin (16-5 MMA, 7-3 UFC) and top contender Thiago Silva (13-1 MMA, 4-1 UFC) in favor of a Griffin vs. Anderson Silva (24-4 MMA, 9-0 UFC) match-up.

Sources close to the organization today told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) a meeting was held last week to discuss the Anderson Silva vs. Griffin bout.

UFC President Dana White has since confirmed with Yahoo! Sports that the fight has been signed.

Anderson Silva, fresh off a heavily criticized title defense over Thales Leites at UFC 97, will now move up a weight class for the non-title fight with Griffin.

Although not officially announced by the organization, UFC 101 takes place Aug. 8 at the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia. The event also features a UFC lightweight title fight between title-holder B.J. Penn and top contender Kenny Florian.

Rumors of the potential Anderson Silva vs. Griffin bout began showing up last week after some cryptic emails were sent to a variety of MMA news outlets. The flames were fanned when seemingly unsubstantiated reports of the rumored fight were posted on a few MMA message boards over the weekend.

Although the fight is now signed, a source close to Thiago Silva told MMAjunkie.com the fighter was unaware his fight with Griffin had been scratched. Even as of this morning, the fighter was apparently under the impression he was still scheduled to fight Griffin at UFC 101.

MMAjunkie.com first reported in March that the UFC had lined up the Thiago Silva vs. Griffin fight, which many considered a bout that would determined the light heavyweight division’s No. 1 contender after Quinton Jackson. Jackson is scheduled to fight the winner of a UFC 98 bout between current champ Evans and Lyoto Machida later this summer.

The source isn’t sure if Thiago Silva will remain on the UFC 101 card with a new opponent or if he’ll be shifted to another event.

As for Anderson Silva, UFC officials wasted no time scheduling him for his next fight. He most recently fought on April 18 as a headliner for UFC 97. He entered the fight as a significant favorite, and though he won a lopsided unanimous-decision victory, Anderson Silva was criticized for what seemed a conservative game plan in which he opted not to follow Leites, a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt, to the ground.

UFC President Dana White called the fight “embarrassing” and “disappointing,” and he openly questioned if Anderson Silva needed another challenge at 205 pounds. The fighter, who picked up a UFC record ninth straight victory with the Leites win, moved up to 205 pounds in July 2008 for a non-title fight with James Irvin, and the Brazilian striker has made no secret of his intentions to move up a weight class again in the future.

The UFC has obliged.

Source: http://www.gamespot.com/

Capcom’s Captivate 09 event featured a slew of games, but the highlight of the show was undoubtedly Dead Rising 2. The original game was one of the Xbox 360′s early standouts and a knowing homage to American zombie movies, and it’s hard to believe that the game is now almost three years old. Capcom R&D head and Dead Rising 2 producer Keiji Inafune has entrusted development of the sequel to Canadian studio Blue Castle Games, which was on hand at Captivate 09 to walk us through the game.

Dan Brody, CEO and general manager of Blue Castle, gave us a tech demo that offered highlights of a few key features that will be in the sequel. Like in the game’s predecessor, anything and everything can be used as a weapon, but the team is keen to up the ante with even more zombies and new weapons. Brody talked about maintaining the constant feeling of dread and being “out of your element.”

Dead Rising 2 introduces you to a brand-new location, the Vegas-like Fortune City, and a new hero, motocross champion Chuck Greene. The demo that we saw started out on a street where 1,000 zombies were enjoying a night out on the town, and moved into a small gaming lounge filled with rows of slot machines, card tables, and undead patrons. Taking control of Chuck, Brody picked up a baseball bat and begun laying into some hapless undead. Chuck will have plenty more weapons at his disposal, and we saw him taking hold of an electric guitar, machine gun, chair, roulette wheel, and even a slot machine.

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Source: http://www.upi.com/

The Italian town of Pollica will soon offer Web cam services that enable people worldwide to check on the graves of their loved ones, Mayor Angelo Vassallo said.

Vassallo said because of numerous requests from tourists to be buried in the southern Italian town, the decision was made to sell tombs equipped with video and audio equipment, the Italian news agency, ANSA, reported Thursday.

The mayor said the technology will include a camera that pans the town’s graveyard while offering glimpses into the area’s scenery.

“We’ve decided to sell 150 tombs and, what’s more, give them the long-distance technology needed for distant relatives to commune with their dear departed,” the mayor said.

”A Web cam will be operational ’round the clock and there’ll also be a new sound system to give them a feel of the meditative atmosphere.”

Source: http://www.crispygamer.com/

HQ and Zuffa have released a playable demo for UFC 2009 Undisputed via Xbox LIVE Marketplace and PlayStationNetwork. The playable demo will allow you to play an exhibition bout with former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua. The demo will also include a portion of the game’s Tutorial Mode, which should educate players about UFC 2009 Undisputed’s gameplay controls, as well as the sport of mixed martial arts.

The full version of the game is scheduled for release on May 19, 2009 for Xbox 360 and PLAYSTATION 3.

Source: http://www.vancouversun.com/

The Iceman finally came north, to fight before the Canadian fans he said “have always been great.”

As it turns out, they likely witnessed Chuck Liddell’s swan song at UFC 97 Saturday night.

“Were do I go from here? Going out to drink tonight,” the aging UFC legend said after being knocked out in the first round by Mauricio (Shogun) Rua. “This could have been the last time.”

It was hardly a huge surprise, but Liddell all but announced he is done, at age 39. He did so matter-of-factly, sincerely, but without a lot of emotion.

“That’s probably safe to say, but I’m not going to make any decision until I go home and talk to all my people, my friends,” he said.

If Liddell’s legend came out of Saturday night’s event a little tarnished, so did the reputation of UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva, so often touted as the best pound-for-pound fighter in the business.

Silva won by unanimous decision over Brazilian countryman Thales Leites. But he went the distance. The Bell Centre crowd began booing in the second round. And UFC president and frontman Dana White was not pleased.

“I did not like the fight at all, period, on either side,” White said.

Was he embarrassed? “A little,” he said.

There was an attitude about Silva in the ring; every time Leites hit the ground, he would stand over him, hands on hips, taunting him. And when they stood up to exchange blows, more often than not Silva had his arms at waist-level — as if daring Leites to engage him.

Silva spent the news conference early Sunday morning alternately apologizing, and defending himself.

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