UFC Announces Main Card for UFC 72: Victory

The UFC announced the main card for UFC 72: Victory on June 16 at the Odyssey Arena in Belfast, Ireland, which features former UFC middleweight champion Rich Franklin going up against Yushin Okami in the main event.

The other matchups on the pay-per-view telecast are light-heavyweight Forrest Griffin against Hector Ramirez of East L.A., middleweight Rory Singer faces Jason MacDonald and lightweight clash between Clay Guida and Tyson Griffin.

Rich Franklin (23-2), of Cincinnati, Ohio, bounced back from his loss to Anderson Silva, which cost him his title, by stopping MacDonald in the second round at UFC 68. Japan's Okami (21-3), who owns a victory over Silva via disqualification, scored dominant victories over Alan Belcher, Kalib Starnes and Rory Singer in 2006, but it was unanimous decision victory over Mike Swick in April at UFC 69 that put him on the map in the UFC's 185-pound division.

Forrest Griffin (13-4), of Las Vegas, is one of the UFC's crowd favorites because of his blood-and-guts style in the Octagon and his popularity from winning the first season of Spike TV's "The Ultimate Fighter." Griffin is looking to re-establish himself as one of the UFC's rising talents in the 205-pound division after suffering a first-round TKO loss to Keith Jardine at UFC 66.

Hector Ramirez (6-2-1), who is trained by Quinton "Rampage" Jackson's trainer, Juanito Ibarra, is looking to mess up Griffin's plans with his explosive right hand.

Jason MacDonald (19-8), of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, has made a habit of knocking off TUF cast members and he gets another one when he takes on TUF 3's Singer. MacDonald submitted TUF 3's Ed Herman with a first-round triangle choke and he got rid of TUF 1's Chris Leben with a modified guillotine choke in the second round.

Rory Singer (12-7), of Athens, Ga., is 2-1 in the UFC.

The matchup between Tyson Griffin (8-1), of Sacramento, and Clay Guida (21-4), of Tinley Park, Ill., has the potential to be the fight of the night.

Tyson Griffin is coming off a controversial decision loss to Frank Edgar at UFC 67, and he's looking to prove he belongs among the elite 155-pounders in the UFC.

Clay Guida is 1-1 in the UFC with a submission over Justin James and a decision loss to Din Thomas.

Source: www.ocregister.com