by MMA-ZONE.com
With the pivotal light heavyweight war between Rashad Evans and Thiago Silva already slated to headline the card, The Ultimate Fighting Championship®(UFC®) confirms the remaining bouts for UFC 108: EVANS VS. SILVA, which is presented by “Bayonetta” on Saturday, January 2, 2010 and live on pay-per-view from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Starting off the New Year in style, UFC 108 will feature a card stacked with explosive battles such as Dustin Hazelett vs. Paul Daley, Joe Lauzon vs. Sam Stout, Jim Miller vs. Duane Ludwig, Junior Dos Santos vs. Gilbert Yvel, Martin Kampmann vs. Jacob Volkmann, Cole Miller vs. Dan Lauzon, Vladimir Matyushenko vs. Steve Cantwell, Mark Munoz vs. Ryan Jensen, Mike Pyle vs. Jake Ellenberger and Rafaello Oliveira vs. John Gunderson.
Tickets for UFC 108 are priced at $600, $400, $300, $200, $100 and $50, not including applicable service charges, are on sale and are available at all Las Vegas Ticketmaster locations (select Smith’s Food and Drug Centers and Ritmo Latino). Ticket sales are limited to eight (8) per person. To charge by phone with a major credit card, call Ticketmaster at (800) 745-3000. Tickets also are available for purchase at UFC.com, www.mgmgrand.com or www.ticketmaster.com.
UFC 108 will be available live on pay-per-view on iN DEMAND, DIRECTV, DISH Network, TVN, BellTV, Shaw Communications and Viewer’s Choice Canada for a suggested retail price of $44.95 ($49.95/Canada) for standard definition or high-definition broadcasts (where available).
On an impressive submission streak, Dustin Hazelett (fighting out of Cincinnati, Ohio/14-4 professional record) followed up his brilliant flying armbar victory over Josh Burkman with another win by armbar against Tamdan McCrory at UFC 91. Now the 23-year-old Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt and Louisa, Kentucky native will look for his sixth UFC win while testing his standup skills against devastating striker Paul Daley (fighting out of Nottingham, England/22-8-2). A World Muay Thai champion with a tremendous international resume, the 26-year-old “Semtex” blasted his way into the UFC with a thunderous first-round TKO against welterweight contender Martin Kampmann at UFC 103 and he plans on a repeat performance against Hazelett.
After arriving on the scene in 2006 with a 48-second dismantling of MMA legend Jens Pulver in his UFC debut, Joe Lauzon (fighting out of Bridgewater, Mass./17-4) has gone on to win four of his next five Octagon bouts. The 25-year-old lightweight has finished Kyle Bradley and Jeremy Stephens in his last two bouts and now faces skilled striker Sam Stout (fighting out of London, Ontario, Canada/15-5-1). The 25-year-old “Hands of Stone” has three UFC wins in his career and is coming off a unanimous decision victory against the durable Matt Wiman at UFC 97.
Winner of four of his first five fights in the UFC, Jim Miller (fighting out of Whippany, N.J./15-2) is making plenty of noise in the lightweight division. In his last two fights, the 26-year-old Sparta, New Jersey-born fighter earned a unanimous decision victory against veteran Mac Danzig followed by a solid TKO win against Steve Lopez at UFC 103. Now Miller turns his attention to knockout artist Duane “Bang” Ludwig (fighting out of Denver, Colo./27-9). A veteran of two UFC fights, Ludwig turned heads with an 11-second destruction of Jonathan Goulet in 2006 and is aiming to keep his unbeaten Octagon streak going.
A fighter that is impressively tearing his way through the heavyweight division, rising star Junior Dos Santos (fighting out of Salvador, Bahia, Brazil/9-1) knocked out Fabricio Werdum and Stefan Struve before forcing a verbal submission due to strikes against feared mixed martial artist Mirko Cro Cop at UFC 103. Now the 25-year-old faces one of the toughest tests of his career against the experienced Gilbert Yvel (fighting out of Amsterdam, Netherlands/36-13-1, 1 NC). A respected PRIDE® veteran, Yvel has fought some of the best fighters in the world en route to 31 KOs in his 36 career wins.
A successful middleweight fighter that has found even greater success in the stacked welterweight division, Martin Kampmann (fighting out of Las Vegas, Nev./15-3) earned a split-decision victory against former World Extreme Cagefighting® welterweight champion Carlos Condit last April after defeating some of the toughest fighters in the 185-pound weight class. But the 27-year-old might be meeting his match on the ground when he faces three-time NCAA Division I All-American Jacob Volkmann (fighting out of White Bear Lake, Minn./9-1). The 29-year-old former Big Ten collegiate wrestling champion will be seeking his first UFC win on January 2nd.
With four UFC wins already under his belt at age 25, Cole Miller (fighting out of Coconut Creek, Fla./15-4) impressed many last year with his submission victory against MMA veteran and Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt Jorge Gurgel. The Augusta, Georgia native followed that up with another submission victory, this time against Junie Browning last April. Now the well-rounded lightweight will touch gloves with 21-year-old phenom Dan Lauzon (fighting out of Bridgewater, Mass./12-2). The younger brother of UFC veteran Joe Lauzon, Dan was thrown into the fire right away when he drew veteran Spencer Fisher as his first UFC opponent in 2006. Lauzon has learned plenty from the experience and will take that knowledge into the Octagon™ when he faces Miller.
There are few light heavyweights more experienced than Vladimir Matyushenko (fighting out of El Segundo, Calif./23-4). The 38-year-old Belarusian impressed many at UFC 103, returning to the Octagon for the first time in six years and earning a unanimous decision victory against Igor Pokrajac. But “The Janitor” will have his hands full when he squares off against UFC up-and-comer Steve Cantwell (fighting out of Las Vegas, Nev./7-3). A former WEC® light heavyweight champion, the 23-year-old had three consecutive wins in the WEC before defeating Razak Al-Hassan by armbar in his UFC debut in 2008.
After making the drop to middleweight, Mark Munoz (fighting out of Vallejo, Calif./6-1) earned a split decision win against Nick Catone at UFC 102. A 2001 NCAA Division I national champion wrestler at Oklahoma State, “The Filipino Wrecking Machine” has worked hard to develop his entire game and looks to become a force in the 185-pound class. But the 31-year-old will need to get by Ryan Jensen (fighting out of Omaha, Neb./15-4) if he is to truly make some noise in the talent-rich division. Coming off an impressive first-round victory over Steve Steinbeiss, the 32-year-old Jensen is well-rounded and ready for a trip to the next level of the division.
Nicknamed “Quicksand,” Mike Pyle (fighting out of Las Vegas, Nev./18-6-1) took his time against his September opponent, Chris Wilson, submitting the vet in the third round of their bout. Now the 34-year-old welterweight and Dresden, Tennessee-born fighter looks to get by 24-year-old Jake Ellenberger (fighting out of Omaha, Neb./21-5). Ellenberger, a retired Marine and former wrestling coach at the University of Nebraska, has 13 wins by KO/TKO and five by submission in his career.
A Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt with a 9-2 mixed martial arts record, Rafaello Oliveira (fighting out of Whippany, NJ) holds three wins by TKO and three by submission in his professional career. A lightweight making his UFC debut, John Gunderson (fighting out of Las Vegas, Nev./22-6) is known for his sharp boxing skills but will need his complete fight game to be on point when he faces the grappling wiz from Brazil.
