Thankfully it will be a lot easier to get cross organization matches now that they'll basically have the same owners. On the downside, Pride's rule set is at risk. They'll likely keep the ring so the organizations will look different; but I won't be surprised when even the overseas Pride fights make soccer kicks and downed knees illegal as well as switching to a 10-point must system.

It would only be cool if they switched over to Pride's rules because the UFC's sucks compared to Pride.

On sherdog. Looks like a done deal!

To bad Sakuraba is in K-1 now...

Some details about what is going to change. Short version: Pride adopting UFC rules and weight classes, keeping scoring system.

Well UFC and Pride are going to remain seperate organizations so I wouldn't get too worried about it.

The only "safer" part that could be argued is the soccer kicks and stomps, knees to the head on the ground aren't any more dangerous than the other options available. I'd be in favor of legalizing knees only, that would put a quick end to a lot of thee crappy double leg shots that we've been seeing in the UFC.

Since he has a contract with the UFC we can pretty much bet on it. In fact, I believe he's on the card again in April.

That would be an amazing match, I really think this Merger has alot of great oppurtunities

I think Silva has to get some wins under his belt before we see that matchup. 2 vicious knockout losses, the last one to someone moving up a weight class is definitely not a good sign.

Plus Dana doesn't like Wandy. Dana has even said that Silva no longer deserves a shot at Chuck. Maybe they'll fight after UFC 71 when Rampage beats Chuck again.

UFC 69 is going to be held in Houston this Saturday night and no one told me until today?!!?

&(*%(&*%!!!!

EDIT- Oof- Vegas pricing on the tickets! I might have been convinced to put up that kind of money for a Fedor or Lidell fight, but Pierre doesn't shout $450/ticket to me.

Also tomorrow brings UFC Fight Night 9 to Spike TV at 8pm EST. Fight card is as follows:

Main Card Bouts:
-Joe Stevenson vs. Melvin Guillard
-Kenny Florian vs. Dokonjonosuke Mishima
-Antoni Hardonk vs. Justin McCully

Preliminary Bouts:
-Drew Fickett vs. Keita Nakamura
-Kuniyoshi Hironaka vs. Forrest Petz
-Naoyuki Kotani vs. Thiago Tavares
-Wilson Gouveia vs. Seth Petruzelli
-Roan Carneiro vs. Rich Clementi
-Kurt Pellegrino vs. Nate Mohr

My predictions:

Stevenson vs. Guillard
This is definitely a "styles make fights" bout. Stevenson brings a very strong grappling game while Guillard is a viscious striker. I think Stevenson has the edge here, but all it takes is one solid shot from Guillard to turn it around. I say Stevenson by Submission, second round.

Kenny Florian vs. Dokonjonosuke Mishima
While Florian is the favorite here due to having more publicity on this side of the pond, I think Mishima brings a more well rounded game to the table. It's a fairly close matchup but I think Mishima is going to walk away with a decision victory. Also he has the coolest name ever.

Antoni Hardonk vs. Justin McCully
I don't know a whole lot about either fighter. I know Hardonk is a heavy striker and McCully appears to have a heavy submission background. McCully was brought in as a late replacement for Frank Mir who had to bowout due to a training injury. I can't really call this one with any real authority, but I'll give it to Hardonk by TKO.

Drew Fickett vs. Keita Nakamura
This one sounds like an interesting fight. Fickett has a ton of fights under his belt against some decent competition and Nakamura has only had one loss and that was at UFC Fight Night 7. They are both Submission fighters and I suspect Fickett has the edge there so I am going to call Fickett by submission, first round.

I don't know enough about the other Prelim fights to really give any accurate calls though I know Rich Clementi tends to get destroyed every time he steps in the ring so I'd have to give him a very low shot at winning his bout.

Highlight from Florian's bout with Sherk.

I only came into this thread because of the Houston connection.

Yea that'd be my Cats and Dogs comment. I think it's the All Access curse. Every time a fighter has an episode of UFC All Access devoted to them, they lose their next fight. It's like the Madden cover curse.

UFC 70: NATIONS COLLIDE

The thread title is right, this pay per view is coming free to people in the US and Canada on Spike TV, 9pm EST.

The (incredibly stacked) fight card:

The Main Event

Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic (22 - 4 - 2) vs. Gabriel Gonzaga (7 - 1 - 0)
vs

Cro Cop is returning to the Octagon in what should be a gimme. Cro Cop is an absolutely astonishing striker with the most accurate powerful strikes in the entire sport. To top that off he has some incredible takedown defense which means submission fighters (like Gonzaga) have a real hard time with him. He has fought the best of the best and I just don't see Gonzaga bringing anything to the table that Cro Cop hasn't dealt with in the past. Cro Cop via first round KO.

The Sub Events

Ryoto "Lyoto" Machida (9 - 0 - 0) vs. David Heath (7 - 0 - 0)
vs.

Originally Lyoto was supposed to fight Forest Griffen, but Griffen got a severe case of Staph infection in his knee and couldn't make the fight. David Heath had to step in at short notice and really isn't up to Lyoto's level. Heath does have some heavy hands and packs some serious power but Lyoto is just a more well rounded technical fighter who has an answer for everything Heath brings to the table. I don't know if Lyoto will finish him though so I say Lyoto takes this via decision.

Michael "The Count" Bisping (12 - 0 - 0) Vs. Elvis Sinosic (8 - 9 - 2)
vs.

This is a very one sided fight designed to help boost their rising star in TUF3 winner, Michael Bisping. Sinosic is 1 - 5 in the UFC with one lucky win over Jeremy Horn in his first fight and a string of losses since then (though to his credit, they were all tough guys). I don't see Sinosic hanging with Bisping's standup and I doubt he'll get him down. Bisping via first round TKO.

Andrei "The Pitbull" Arlovski (10 - 5 - 0) vs. Fabricio Werdum (9 - 2 - 1)
vs.

This is my candidate for fight of the night. Both are excellent fighters in completely opposite ways. Former heavyweight champ Arlovski packs a nuclear bomb in his right hand and has some decent sambo ground skills. Werdum on the other hand is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu master and has some amazing submission skills. I really can't call this one, it's very very close. It'll come down to whoever can implement their gameplan better then the other guy. Arlovski does have one big advantage though, he is extremely well conditioned whereas Werdum has had problems with gassing out in the past. The longer the fight goes, the better Arlovskis chances become.

Cheick Kongo (9 - 3 - 1) vs. Assuerio Silva (12 - 5 - 0)
vs.

Another interesting bout. Kongo was thought to be the next big thing in the UFC HW division when he displayed some amazing striking skills against some tough guys. This all came to a crashing halt when he fought Marrero who took it to the ground and showed the world that Kongo has no ground skills. At all. Assuerio Silva is a very experienced fighter and has fought some tough guys, he has some good submission skills and if he can get this to the ground he'll sub Kongo with little trouble. Silva via submission first round.

The Undercard

Matt Grice Vs. Terry Etim
Junior Assuncao Vs. David Lee
Victor Valimaki Vs. Alessio Sakara
Dennis Siver Vs. Jess Liaudin
Edilberto Crocota Vs. Paul Taylor

So there's my take on it. For folks who haven't watched a UFC pay per view before, this is the perfect opportunity to give it a try. I mean who can say no to free?