Tapouts: TUF 5, Penn, TUF 7, UFC 74, and Hughes

News

The Ultimate Fighter 5 finale drew a 2.0 rating (approximately 2.6 million people). This was the second-highest rating for a Spike TV UFC broadcast since The Ultimate Fighter 3 finale last June.


Despite talks of moving back up to 170 lbs, UFC president Dana White said that B.J. Penn would likely get a shot at the lightweight title, facing the winner of Sean Sherk vs. Hermes Franca at UFC 73. No word on if Penn will accept.


Dana White was on ESPNews earlier this week and mentioned that the next weight classes to be featured on The Ultimate Fighter will be heavyweights and light heavyweights. No word on whether both classes will be represented on the seventh season, or if they will follow the current trend on focusing on one weight class per season. The Ultimate Fighter 6, set to debut this fall, will feature welterweights.


Tickets for UFC 74: Respect will go on sale on July 5th. The latest card features UFC Heavyweight Champion Randy Couture defending his title against Gabriel Gonzaga, and Georges St. Pierre taking on Josh Koscheck. Other bouts expected are Patrick Cote vs. Kendall Grove, Diego Sanchez vs. Hayato Sakurai, Tim Sylvia vs. TBA, Joe Stevenson vs. Kurt Pellegrino, and Ryan Jensen vs. Travis Lutter.


Matt Hughes announced on his website, matt-hughes.com, that his next fight will take place on December 29th in Las Vegas. Tthe Wrestling Observer reported last week that Hughes would face Matt Serra for the welterweight title in November at the Continental Airlines Arena in New Jersey.