My tickets arrived the other day. Going to see Arctic Monkeys the night before in the same arena and making a weekend of it.

People are quick to bash the card, but Taylor v Njkouani, Pickett v Barao, Omigawa v Young and Leben v Munoz should be great fights. Remember, it's not always the cards with big names that produce the best fights!

Very true....Hopefully there will be some great wars and ill be happy..Abit of a waste of time having Leben Munoz as the first 5 round non title fight though...cant see it lasting 2 rounds either way!

Its a shame Hathaways pulled out injured and probably to late to bring a decent replacement fight on to the card..id expect Etim will make up the main card now.

Jimmy Manuhwa declined a UFC contract to continue his progression in the Gypsy Fight League, sorry UCMMA. Well he defended his belt well at the weekend with a quick stoppage. Im sure he wanted to fight Sokodjou or Houston Alexander next, didnt even know UCMMA could attract that level of fighter, thought he may have to contend with Bob Sapp or somebody.

Ha,ha...that reminds me that mcguire (john?) whos a gypsy apparently is making his ufc debut on the birmingham card...was this ucmma card your talking about televised? Havent seen it.

Nope, I think it was streamed somewhere for a fee. I think SyFy had it last time it was on, but think they realised what a bum event it was to even think about offering money on it again.

Might be on Sky Sports on replay in a couple of weeks though.

Brad Pickett looks like a and hes making his debut for the UFC in Birmingham, you mean him ?

No not Pickett....im sure his names 'gypsy' john mcquire,fighting on the undercard...i remember seeing him on that ucmma,real cheesy trash talker...just wonder how these fighters get a gig with the ufc.

He fights "Mini Couture" Justin Edwards on the undercard!

Do you know much about this mcguire? Is he worthy of a shot in the ufc?

Has anyone heard whos to be bumped up to the main card now hathaways out? I presumed it would be terry etim.

It is Etim on the main card.

I don't know too much about Maguire. He has a 16-3 record with a notable win over Dean Amasinger and a loss to Tom Watson.

Apart from the BJ Penn vs Nick Diaz fight, last nights mian card was a severe let down.

I had high hopes for Matt Mitrione too, poor performances really.

What was the Cerrone submission like (if anyone has seen it)? I thought he was on the main card for some reason and put him in my treble.

Hes connected with an inside leg kick and then followed that with a high kick which has caught Siver slap on the chin. Hes stumbled around, Cerrone jumped on him, hes ended up giving his back, hooks in and goodnight.

Slick end, but really it could have been fight over when the kick landed, a lot better fighters than Siver would have been knocked out with that one, so fair play for him taking it like he did.

cro cop should have retoired the first time he said i after cigano beat him

Agreed.

Sad to say this, but he just looks an unfit, overweight blob. And I even said that whilst he was stood at the side of Big Country. Crocops heart hasnt been in the fight game since Gonzaga knocked him out in cold in England. Hes not been the same fighter since.

he really hasn't and i'll be honest, i was slightly embaressed watching him fight pat barry.

I was a bit disapointed watching meathead at the weekend, he seems to have something about him, but they say you learn lots from your first loss, so this could be a good thing for him.

Yeah rubbish event saved by a decent scrap by diaz and penn....hopefully next week will be the opposite to that!

The Paul Taylor v Antony Njkouani fight is off Saturday's card, gutted, thought that one would be fight of the night for sure!

Your kidding! Why?? Cant believe weve lost another fight...like you i was really looking forward to that one....whos on the main card now then?

Taylor has been involved in a car crash and has whiplash. Apparently it's too late to get a replacement fighter for Njkouani who is already in the country, he must be fuming!

It's been replaced on the main card by Cyrille Diabatte v Antony Persosh which should be a snore fest.

A weak card made ever weaker!

Very disapointing news...i suppose they have no option but to bump the fight from the undercard up to the main card...

Diabette perosh does sound like a typical grappler v striker match which usually is a bore.

You're not telling me there isn't a lightweight in England that could have stepped in for a shot in the UFC against Njkoauni!

Its abit short notice with 3 days to go,with weight cutting, finding someone in peak fitness and of a decent stanard.....the ufc would get hammered by the fans even more if they threw on any old bum......is there no more lightweights on the undercard that could have took that fight instead??

I hate to slag the card off, but Im glad in a way all the cheap tickets sold out fairly quick before I went to buy any as I chose not to go for any of the others and in a way its paid off. A headline fight which would probably be only at most 3rd top slot on one of the Yank cards. No Hathaway, no Taylor, no Bisping, no Hardy. Sorry but it doesnt nothing to get my taste buds going.

I know were your coming from but big names dont always mean its guna be a great card....look at penn diaz...awful event barring the main event....im just looking forward to the ufc experience/atmosphere and hopefully some good scraps! I think leben munoz has the potential to be a good fight,as does the pickett fight....always like watching etim and if its a stand up war then alves is always entertaining.

Ha,just trying to keep my glass half full!!

Really enjoyed my first live UFC experience. Even the weigh ins were massively enjoyable.

I'd say there was only one really boring fight on the card (Omigawa v Young) with John Maguire v Justin Edwards being the fight of the night for me.

Etim's submission is a true highlight reel moment, that will be played out for years to come and the reaction of the crowd was as loud as anything I've heard at other sporting events.

My true highlight of the night though came after the show. Walking back to the hotel we bumped into Chris Leben getting in a van (presumably to the hospital). Fearing the worst, we asked him for a quick picture. He was an amazingly nice bloke, "Yes sure man jump in, dethrone shirt though...really....urgh?" and then talked to us about the fight...all of this with blood still dripping down his face. He is completely mental, but an awesome bloke....