UFC 166 Live Online & TV Fight Card Info

The UFC 166 live online and televised pay-per-view will take place on October 19, at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. The pay per view event will feature the highly anticipated rubber match between Cain Velasquez and Junior Dos Santos for the UFC Heavyweight Championship.  It's their third meeting, with the championship on the line between them.  The latest UFC 166 event will available for fans to watch on TV and live online with free preliminary matches ahead of the main card, as well.  Let's check out the full schedule and big fights coming up.

To watch the free online preliminary fights, head over and click "Like" on the official UFC Facebook page.  The live streaming online preliminary fights will be available to watch on Facebook, and will begin at 6:15 pm. ET. The fight card is as follows:

UFC 166 Facebook Live Online Prelims 

TJ. Waldburger takes on Adlan Amagov

Tony Ferguson takes onMike "The Wolverine" Rio

Jeremy Larson takes on Andre "Touchy" Fili 

Dustin Pague takes on Kyoji Horiguchi 

After the free live stream online preliminary fights on Facebook, there's more free prelims to watch on TV.  These fights will be televised by Fox Sports 1, starting at 8pm. ET. The fights that will be seen on Fox Sports 1 for cable and satellite viewers are:

UFC 166 FOX Sports 1 Live TV Prelims 

Tim "The Babarian" Boetsch takes on CB "The Doberman" Dollaway

Nate Marquardt takes on"Lightning" Lombard

Sarah Kaufman takes on Jessica "Evil" Eye

George Sotiropoulos takes on KJ. Noons 

As soon as the preliminary fights on Fox Sports 1 are over, the main card of the Pay Per View begins, you can purchase the event through you cable/satellite provider, or online at www.ufc.tv. The fights are scheduled to begin at 10pm. ET.

The five fights on the main card have some very intriguing matchups, and overall, this fight card has the potential to be one of the best UFC pay per views ever.

Gabriel "Napao" Gonzaga takes on Shawn Jordan. This is a fight between two heavyweights on impressive streaks; Gonzaga has won four out of his last five fights, while Jordan has won three of his last four.

John Dodson takes on Darrell "Mongoose" Montague. Dodson is the former #1 contender for the Flyweight championship, and is coming off a tough loss to division champion Demetrious Johnson and is looking to get another chance at the championship. Montague is also looking to throw his name in the title discussion, coming off four straight wins.

Gilbert "El Nino" Melendez takes on Diego Sanchez. Melendez the former Strikeforce Lightweight champion, coming off a controversial decision to then lightweight champion Benson Henderson looks to get back into title contention against The Ultimate Fighter Season 1 champion Sanchez. This fight has the potential to be the fight of the night because of the exciting fighting styles of both fighters.

Daniel "DC" Cormier takes on Roy Nelson (20-8-0). There is a little bad blood in this fight between the undefeated Olympic wrestler Cormier, and the hard hitting Nelson. Cormier will be looking to solidify his position as the number one contender to the heavyweight belt held by Cain Velasquez with a win over Nelson.

Cain Velasquez takes on Junior Dos Santos (16-2-0). In the main event of this pay per view, Junior Dos Santos is looking to avenge his only defeat in the UFC against Velasquez who lost the heavyweight belt to Dos Santos in his only UFC loss, but regained it in the rematch. Dos Santos made quick work of Velasquez in the first fight, and Velasquez dominated him in the rematch. Both fighters are used to each other’s fighting style now, which should make for a great main event.

It's possible that some of WWE's biggest stars may be watching this event, either live in person, live on TV or live online.  Some of the notable pro wrestling stars who are fans of the sport include CM Punk, Brock Lesnar, and The Undertaker.  Lesnar has been a former UFC champion himself.

Remember that UFC 166 starts for viewers to watch on TV or live online at 10 p.m. EST.  The event can be ordered through various cable or satellite providers, or also live online through UFC.TV, Yahoo!, YouTube, and other sources provided by UFC's website.

Bobby Lashley's Pro Fight Debut

Former ECW champion, Bobby Lashley is set to make his debut with the Mixed Fighting Alliance this coming Saturday. He debuts in the "There Will Be Blood" card at Miami's American Airlines arena facing Joshua Franklin. Franklin is also making his pro fighting debut. One man may leave undefeated with the other winless. The question is does Bobby Lashley's WWE background prepare him enough for his new career choice?

Lashley spoke to South Florida Sun-Sentinel about his days in the WWE and how it may impact his pro fighting reputation. According to the article, Lashley came to the WWE because he needed money at the time and wasn't sure "if the opportunity would present itself again". Lashley was a accomplished wrestler for 18 years prior to WWE with hopes of competing in the Olympics. Lashley suffered a bad leg injury when he was an innocent bystander in a bank robbery and that caused his amateur career to come to a screeching halt.

An excerpt from the Sun-Sentinel article:

"It wasn't only about the money in the WWE, I enjoyed the crowds," Lashley said. "I was in WrestleMania representing Donald Trump [in 2007] in front of 85,000 people [at Ford Field in Detroit]. It was crazy.

"I know what people are saying. I think I lost some of my credibility as a fighter, wrestler and competitor being in the WWE. I know I have a lot to lose."

Lashley's now been training to compete in the pro fighting environment and he will follow in the footsteps of other former wrestlers such as Dan Severn, and the recently successful Brock Lesnar. Time will tell if Lashley can mimic the success of Brock by achieving gold in MMA.

Read the Sun-Sentinel article here.

Brock Lesnar Captures Gold at UFC 91

WWE.com gave its congratulations to former WWE champion Brock Lesnar for becoming the first man to capture both the WWE title and the UFC Heavyweight Championship. Lesnar defeated fan-favorite Randy Couture Saturday night in Las Vegas at the UFC 91 Pay-Per-View event. WWE.com gives a brief history of Lesnar's WWE career, practically claiming it paved the way for his UFC win. Despite Lesnar's recent comments indicating some displeasure with his time spent with WWE professional wrestling, the WWE added the following to its congratulatory story:

For his part, Lesnar took the encouragment of the WWE Universe and the hard lessons forged during his fiery time at WWE and showed UFC and the world why he is not only a man of mettle but also a former three-time WWE Champion.

It took Lesnar just 6 months, and only 3 UFC fights to climb from the bottom to the top in UFC, and his victory over Couture was the crowning achievement. It's questionable whether Lesnar really thanks the WWE for this UFC Championship victory, or he credits it mostly to hard work and determination. In his interview, Lesnar mostly thanked God, but we all know Vince McMahon has his connections. ESPN.com analyzed the Lesnar win and suggested that a petition be started for a Couture vs. Lesnar rematch. Couture hadn't fought since August 2007, and ESPN believes another fight might show what Couture's got against Lesnar. Also keep in mind, former WWE star Bobby Lashley will be debuting his MMA skills in a month or so, so we may get a former WWE star vs. former WWE star/current UFC Champ main event on a UFC Pay-Per-View one of these days.

Read full ESPN.com analysis of UFC 91

Read full WWE.com story here.

Brock Lesnar - WWE-UFC Spotlight

Former WWE Superstar Brock Lesnar faces “The Natural” Randy Couture for the UFC Heavyweight Title this weekend at UFC 91 event in a Mixed Martial Arts battle. Lesnar was a multiple-time champion in the ranks of the WWE. He was also a well-decorated All American amateur wrestler prior to his days with the WWE. Many analysts say that Lesnar is continuing to keep WWE in the spotlight bigtime thanks to his MMA career, as he goes under the spotlight with big title matches. Lesnar disagrees and frankly doesn't care what his fights do for the WWE, as he left pro-wrestling with a bad taste in his mouth.

Recent comments from Lesnar regarding MMA & Wrestling (UK Daily Star):

“I’m here to represent the amateur wrestling. I’m an amateur wrestler at heart and I always will be.

“What the fight does for professional wrestling I really don’t care.

“Would there be other amateur or pro wrestlers that could make this transition?

“Absolutely not, because none of them have the background that I do.

“What only matters is next Saturday night and stepping in toe-to-toe and making things happen.”

He added: “In this day and age, you have to be well rounded in this fight game.

“I just can’t rely on my wrestling skills. Randy is a great, dirty boxer, and he’s great inside. I’m focused on a lot of different things and just trying to become well-rounded.”

UFC president Dana White has made comments that this UFC 91 event will be the most successful sports event of all time. White added that he believes WWE fans (including Vince McMahon) will all be buying the PPV to see if a former WWE star can take the title. Kevin Eck of Baltimore Sun's Ring Post blog states:

McMahon probably won’t buy it, but some of his wrestlers, such as The Undertaker and JBL, are big MMA fans and frequent spectators at the major events. Undertaker, along with guys such as CM Punk, Kurt Angle, Samoa Joe and others, have incorporated aspects of MMA into their style.

Eck also discusses how many wrestling web sites now cover MMA, and how Dave Metlzer of the Wrestling Observer newsletter has become an authority on MMA. There's been discussion of former WWE star Bobby Lashley making his debut in MMA next month, adding yet another former pro wrestler to the mix. Kurt Angle, currently with TNA, formerly with WWE, has hinted at his desire to compete in MMA as well. It's hard for either of these industries to overlook the other as the talent may move from spot to spot. Just as the TNA has capitalized on bringing in former WWE stars, UFC may be able to build its audience doing the same trick. However, it's tough to say if a few former WWE stars will ever be able to draw in the type of audience for a UFC event that a Wrestlemania PPV does.

Also see: The UK Daily Star's discussion of the WWE performance in UK.

Looking at the connection between pro wrestling and MMA