The Fight Network

**Due to the serious nature of the snowstorm in the Northeast U.S Ring of Honor has cancelled their TV tapings for tonight in Philadelphia. The company will hold their next set of TV tapings on March 5^th and 6^th in Philadelphia.

**The ‘Raw' crew is in Alexandria, Louisiana tonight for a house show while the ‘Smackdown' and ECW crews are in Waco, Texas. All three brands will have a combined show tomorrow afternoon in Lake Charles, Louisiana so as not to conflict with the Super Bowl and people can get home in time for the game.

**TNA ‘Impact' did a 1.2 rating this past Thursday night on Spike, down from their last few weeks.

**WWE ‘Superstars' did a 0.97 rating on Thursday night on WGN America.

**The sequel to Chris Jericho's highly acclaimed ‘A Lion's Tale' book will be released September 12^th in Canada and below is the description of the book, which picks up where the last one left off with Jericho's August 1999 debut in the WWE:

A Lion's Tale documented Chris Jericho's journey from small-time dreamer to big-time superstar, from Winnipeg, Canada, to undisputed WWE heavyweight champion of the world. Having achieved his wildest dreams in A Lion's Tale, Chris Jericho's sequel kicks off just as the fantasy begins to unravel. Faced with endless internal politics on his rise to the top of the WWE company ladder, Jericho has to draw on the super-human resources that got him there in the first place. There are bruising encounters aplenty both inside and outside the ring. He reveals why he temporarily left WWE, includes the inside story of his time in Hollywood, and opens the can of worms that is life on the road with Fozzy. He also re-visits the premature birth of his twins and the pain of his mother's death, as well as the shock of Eddy Guerrero's and the Benoit family deaths. As upfront and outspoken as A Lion's Tale, the sequel is outspoken and direct as the man himself.

**Medallion Press will be releasing the book ‘The Road Warriors: Danger, Death and the Rush of Professional Wrestling' in March. The book is written by Joe Laurinaitis along with Andrew William Wright (who has also produced ‘The Hardy Show' and ‘RVD TV') and the foreword will be written by Paul Ellering.

**Yet another book that will be released in 2010 is being published by the WWE entitled ‘WWE Confidential' and will be written by Aaron Feigenbaum and is set for a December 2010 release.

LAW MMA UPDATE

**UFC 109 ‘Relentless'  takes place tonight from the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada - here is the card for tonight's show:

MAIN CARD

*Randy Couture Vs Mark Coleman
This fight was originally scheduled for UFC 17 all the way back in 1998 but a rib injury to Couture pulled him out of that fight. The two did fight all the way back in University when Couture was with Oklahoma State and Coleman was with Ohio State and Coleman getting the victory in that meeting. The stand up of Couture is far superior with strong foot work and that could allow his dirty boxing strategy to be implemented. Coleman does not have the same quality of stand up but hits hard and will inevitably go for the double leg takedown where possible and try and over power Couture on top.

PREDICTION - Randy Couture by unanimous decision

Nate Marquardt Vs Chael Sonnen
Sonnen has an incredible wrestling base and his recent victory over the very tough Yushin Okami showed his skill level in the UFC middleweight division. Marquardt trains with one of the best camps in the world with Greg Jackson in Albuquerque, New Mexico and also spends time in Denver, Colorado with noted striker Duane Lugwig as well as Montreal with Firas Zahabi, Georges St. Pierre and company. Marquardt has evolved his game significantly since his July 2007 loss to Anderson Silva and I think he will continue that evolution Saturday night and earn another title shot.

PREDICTION - Nate Marquardt by TKO in the 2^nd round

Paulo Thiago Vs Mike Swick
This is the third straight fight for Thiago against a member of the AKA gym with a win over Josh Koscheck in February of last year and a decision loss to Jon Fitch at UFC 100 in July. Thiago was losing his fight to Koscheck and then rocked Kos with a shot that knocked him out but then held his own and went the distance with arguably the #2 welterweight in the world in Jon Fitch. Swick could not execute his game plan effectively with Dan Hardy last November and that loss has been eating at him, feeling he is the superior fighter to Hardy. I think this will be a fight based on effective striking and that is where Swick is best suited for this fight to remain - on the feet. Thiago is now training at Black House with some of the world's best and that new regimen is going to be tested tonight.

PREDICTION - Mike Swick by TKO in Round 3

Dan Miller Vs Damien Maia
I think Maia has one of the best ground games in the world and coming off of his first pro loss (to Marquardt at UFC 102) I feel Maia is going to regain his old form instantly tonight. Miller is himself a BJJ black belt but Maia is perhaps the best jiu jitsu specialist at 185 in the world right now.

PREDICTION - Damien Maia by submission in Round 1

Frank Trigg Vs Matt Serra
These are two tremendous talkers so I don't understand the strategy of leaving these two off of the countdown show - perhaps feeling the exposure given to Swick and Thiago is a long term strategy. Serra is a small welterweight and his ideal fight weight would be 160 - 165 pounds if the UFC implemented a weight class in that range. Serra is most comfortable off of his back but we saw his power at UFC 69 in April 2007 with GSP and can end a fight with his hands. Serra last fought in May of last year in a razor think decision loss to Matt Hughes and almost finished Hughes in the first round of that fight. Trigg was blown out in his UFC return at UFC 103 last September against Josh Koscheck and was contemplating retirement after that loss. It's a big fight for both guys that want to remain relevant at 170.

PREDICTION - Matt Serra by decision

Here is a look at the preliminary card for tonight's UFC 109 event:
*Mac Danzig Vs Justin Bucholz (fight will air on Spike at 9pm EST)
*Melvin Guillard Vs Ronys Torres (fight will air on Spike at 9pm EST)
*Rob Emerson Vs Phillipe Nover
*Brian Stann Vs Phil Davis
*Tim Hague Vs Chris Tuchscherer
*Joey Beltran (late replacement for Mostapha Al-Turk) Vs Rolles Gracie Jr. (son of Rolles Gracie from the legendary Gracie family making his UFC debut)

**The winner of the Marquardt Vs Sonnen fight will receive the next UFC Middleweight Title shot according to UFC President Dana White.

**Dana White also stated to the media this week that the Chuck Liddell Vs Tito Ortiz fight after the upcoming season of TUF is being targeted for UFC 115 on June 12^th (which is tentatively penciled in for Vancouver, British Columbia).

**Former UFC Lightweight Champion Jens Pulver will meet Javier Vasquez on the March 6^th WEC 47 card in Columbus, Ohio underneath the Brian Bowles Vs Dominic Cruz fight for the WEC Bantamweight Title. This is a very big fight for Pulver who has lost his last four fights in the WEC but is arguably the second most popular fighter in the promotion under Urijah Faber.

**Chael Sonnen discusses the business and promotional strengths of the UFC - interesting video.

**UFC 112 ‘Invincible' from Aby Dhabi on April 10^th will be airing live on pay per view in North America with a 1pm EST start time. The card thus far has the following fights officially announced:
*Anderson Silva Vs Vitor Belfort for the UFC Middleweight Title
*B.J Penn Vs Frankie Edgar for the UFC Lightweight Title
*Renzo Gracie Vs Matt Hughes

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