UFC 88 Hits Philips in Atlanta September 6th!
Dana White promises: “Most exciting live sports event you will ever see.”
By Jim Terwoord
The big boys from the UFC hit the ATL on Tuesday, June 24th
to announce the worst kept secret in Georgia MMA – the circus comes to town on September 6th in the form of UFC 88: Breakthrough. But it was still nice to hear it right from the horse’s mouth – in this case UFC President Dana White.
White entertained the crowd with a confident, passionate presentation of all things UFC. He talked about how he and  his partners, the Fertitta brothers, bought the UFC, which was almost out of business, for $2 million in 2001. He went on to say how it has now become the biggest pay per view provider in sports, outselling both boxing and professional wrestling. The final installment of season seven of the Ultimate Fighter last weekend drew over 2 million viewers and was the highest rated show on TV Saturday night. But what White really wanted to talk about was the fights.
With Chuck Liddell in tow, along with his UFC 88 main event opponent Rashad Evans, it was an easy sales job. Liddell, who White called the “most famous mixed martial artist on the planet,” reported that he has fully recovered from a nasty hamstring injury and is back in the gym “hitting things again.” Everybody duck!
 Liddell went on to say that he feels great and plans to fight another 2-4 years or as long as his body allows. His training program has evolved over the years from when he was 25 and warmed up for sparring by “lacing up his gloves” to a more measured, but still grinding approach.
Evans, who will carry a 16-0 mixed martial arts record into the UFC octagon against Liddell, displayed a high degree of respect for his opponent. He stated that he has admired Liddell since before he entered the sport and views it as a privilege to fight him. Rashad – be careful what you wish for. But as Evans says: “if you wanna be the man you gotta beat the man.” And he wants to be just like Chuck.
GeorgiaMMA.com questioned White about other fights on the card and Dana dropped a few names – like Dan Henderson, Anderson Silva, Rich Franklin, Matt Hamill and Karo Parisyan. Silva will take part only if he wins his July 19th fight with at 205.
White explained that the process of “opening states” is what delayed the UFC in getting a show to Atlanta. Qualified in only two states initially, the UFC has worked to expand its footprint at home by working with strong athletic commissions across the country. White went on to say that 8,000 tickets have already been sold for UFC 88 already and that he is confident the event will sell out. And the good news if that’s the case: Atlanta will become part of the regular UFC rotation for shows. Don’t ya’ love it when that happens?
Jim Terwoord for GeorgiaMMA.com
GeorgiaMMA.com will cover UFC 88 through the fights on September 6th. Watch the site for more stories.
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