UFC Officially Announces UFC 74: Respect Main Card

The UFC has just sent out a press release finalizing UFC 74's main card. The televised portion of the card now looks as follows:

Randy Couture vs. Gabriel Gonzaga

Georges St Pierre vs. Josh Koscheck

Roger Huerta vs. Alberto Crane

Joe Stevenson vs. Kurt Pelligrino

Kendall Grove vs. Patrick Cote

Ultimate Fighting Championship organization today announced the final two bouts that complete the UFC 74: Respect main card with match-ups between Joe "Daddy" Stevenson vs. Kurt Pelligrino and Kendall "Da Spyder" Grove vs. Patrick "The Predator" Cote.

These fights add to the exciting line-up of fights for UFC 74, including the heavyweight championship fight Randy Couture vs. Gabriel Gonzaga; Georges St Pierre vs. Josh Koscheck; and Roger Huerta vs. Alberto Crane.

UFC 74: Respect will take place live from Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas Saturday, August 25.

Tickets for UFC 74: Respect are on sale now and are priced at $800, $500, $300, $200, $100 and $50. Tickets will be sold at any Mandalay Bay box office and all Las Vegas Ticketmaster locations (Smith's Food and Drug Centers, Macy's stores and Ritmo Latino). To charge by phone with a major credit card, call the Mandalay Bay box office at (702) 632-7580 or Ticketmaster at (702) 474-4000. Tickets also are available for purchase at www.ufc.com, www.mandalaybay.com or www.ticketmaster.com.

UFC 74: Respect is available live on pay-per-view at 10 p.m. EST/7 p.m. PST on iN DEMAND, DIRECTV, DISH Network, TVN, Bell ExpressVu, Shaw Communications and Viewer's Choice Canada for a suggested retail price of $39.95 ($39.99 CAD).

Joe "Daddy" Stevenson 5'7"/155 lbs., fighting out of Las Vegas, Nev. has experienced his share of ups and downs since his pro mixed martial arts debut at the age of 16. But once he earned a spot on the second season of The Ultimate Fighter 2 and subsequently won the series' welterweight title, things have been on a steady upward swing for the ground fighting specialist. The only bump in the road thus far was a hard fought decision loss to Josh Neer in his final fight as a welterweight. At 155 pounds, Stevenson has been unstoppable, taking out veterans Yves Edwards, Dokonjyonosuke Mishima, and Melvin Guillard in three consecutive bouts. "Daddy" will now move on to the fight at hand as he takes on Kurt Pelligrino.

A New Jersey native, Kurt Pelligrino 5'8"/155 lbs., now fights out of Jupiter, Fla. As he was closing in on his first Octagon™ victory at UFC 61: Bitter Rivals last July, he got caught by submission specialist Drew Fickett in the third and final round and was forced to tap out. Pellegrino vowed not to make the same mistake twice, and against Junior Assuncao at UFC 64: Unstoppable three months later, he only took two minutes and four seconds to submit his foe. Then at UFC Fight Night™ in April 2007, "Batman" made a statement as he submitted Nate Mohr at 2:58 of the first round. Now 2-1 in the Octagon, Pellegrino will need to be on his game again when he takes on highly regarded Stevenson at UFC 74.

Kendall "Da Spyder" Grove 6'6"/185 lbs., fighting out of Las Vegas, Nev. is the winner of The Ultimate Fighter 3's middleweight division in 2006. "Da Spyder" has made a seamless transition from reality television star to the big league MMA of the UFC due to talent, size, and most importantly, hard work. He is looking to continue on his positive development as a fighter when he takes on Patrick "The Predator" Cote. Astonishingly tall 6 foot 6 middleweight Grove has the range to give anyone a rough night of work. He followed up his memorable The Ultimate Fighter 3 finale win over Ed Herman last June with a just as memorable one-sided beat down of Chris Price in October. Then at UFC 69: Shootout, Grove continued full force with a second round submission over Alan Belcher. Grove looks to continue his win streak as he takes on Canadian Cote.

Middleweight contender Patrick Cote 5'11"/185 lbs., is part of a new breed of fighters that has taken the MMA world by storm in the last couple of years. He believes that confidence has played a huge role in the emergence of his Canadian countrymen. Cote's own confidence in his abilities has led him to a 10-4 overall record that included a trip to The Ultimate Fighter 4 finale against Travis Lutter last November. Though he fell short against the submission master, Cote came back with a unanimous decision win over fellow banger Scott Smith at UFC 67: All or Nothing. He looks to improve his record with a win over Grove.

The undercard bouts for UFC 74: Respect will be announced in the near future. All bouts are subject to change. For more information about UFC 74 or any upcoming UFC event, visit www.ufc.com or uk.ufc.com.

Source: www.411mania.com