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(All events on Oahu, unless noted)
2011
2/5/11
Garden Island Cage Match 10: Mayhem at the Mansion 2
(MMA, Kickboxing)
(Kilohana Carriage House, Lihue, Kauai)
1/8/11
Hawaii Toughman
(Kickboxing)
(Hilo Civic Ctr)
2010
12/17/10
Destiny & 808 Battleground
All or Nothing - Champion vs Champion
(MMA)
(Dole Cannery Ballroom)
12/3/10
Mad Skills
(Kickboxing)
(Filcom Center, Waipahu)
11/27/10
Aloha
State BJJ Championships: Final Conflict
(BJJ & Sub Grappling)
(Kaiser H.S. Gym)
11/6/10
X-1 Island Pride
(MMA)
(Blaisdell Arena)
Man Up & Stand Up Kickboxing Championship
(Kickboxing)
(Filcom Center, Waipahu)
10/30/10
6th Annual Clinton A.J. Shelton Memorial Match Event
(Boxing)
(Palolo District Park Gym, Honolulu)
10/29/10
808Battleground
(MMA)
(Dole Cannery Ballroom, Honolulu)
10/23/10
NAGA
Hawaii
(BJJ & Sub Grappling)
(Radford H.S. Gym)
10/15-17/10
ETERNAL SUBMISSIONS: GI/NO-GI tournament
(BJJ & Sub Grappling)
(Kauai Beach Resort, Kauai)
10/16/10
DESTINY: Undisputed
Beyer vs Manners II
(MMA)
(Waipahu Filcom Center, Waipahu)
Just Scrap
(MMA)
(Hilo Civic Auditorium, Hilo)
10/2/10
Mad Skills
(Kickboxing)
(Filcom Center, Waipahu)
9/11/10
X-1: Heroes
(MMA, Kickboxing)
(Blaisdell Arena)
9/10/10
Man Up & Stand Up
(Kickboxing)
(Filcom Center, Waipahu)
9/4/10
DESTINY:New Era
(MMA, Kickboxing)
(Waipahu Filcom Center, Waipahu)
8/28/10
Big
Island Open
(BJJ)
(Hilo Armory, Hilo)
8/14/10
Hawaiian
Open Championships of BJJ
(BJJ & No Gi)
(Kaiser H.S. Gym)
USA Amateur Boxing
(Boxing)
(Lihue Convention Hall, Lihue, Kauai)
8/13/10
Battleground Challenge 2
(MMA)
(Dole Cannery Ballroom)
8/7/10
Just Scrap
(MMA)
(Hilo Civic Auditorium, Hilo)
8/6/10
Mad Skills
(Triple Threat/Kickboxing)
(Waipahu Filcom Center)
7/24/10
The Quest for Champions 2010 Martial Arts Tournament
(Sport-Pankration, Submission Grappling & Continuous Sparring)
(St. Louis High School Gym)
7/17/10
Maui Jiu-Jitsu Open
(BJJ & No Gi)
(Maui War Memorial, Wailuku, Maui)
Mad Skillz
(Kickboxing, Triple Threat)
(99 Market Shopping Center, Mapunapuna)
7/9/10
Man Up & Stand Up
(Kickboxing)
(Filcom Center, Waipahu)
7/3/10
Amateur Boxing
(Boxing)
(Palolo District Park Gym)
6/26/10
Kauai Cage Match 9
(MMA)
(Kilohana, Gaylords Mansion, Kauai)
6/25-26/10
50th
State BJJ Championships
(BJJ)
(50th State Fair,
Aloha Stadium)
6/24/10
Quest for Champions
(Kumite/Grappling)
(St. Louis High School Gym)
6/19/10
Just Scrap
(MMA)
(Hilo Civic Center, Hilo)
6/18-19/10
Select
Combat
(Triple Threat)
(50th State Fair,
Aloha Stadium)
6/12/10
Destiny: Fury
(MMA)
(Blaisdell Center)
6/11-13/10
MMA Hawaii Expo
(Blaisdell Ballroom)
6/11-12/10
3rd
Annual Pacific Submission Championships
(BJJ & Submission Grappling)
(Blaisdell Exhibition Hall)
6/11/10
Legacy Combat MMA
(MMA)
(Blaisdell Exhibition Hall)
6/4/10
X-1:
Nations Collide
(MMA)
(Blaisdell Arena)
6/3-6/10
World
Jiu-Jitsu Championships
(BJJ)
(The Pyramid, University of California at Long Beach, Long Beach,
CA)
5/22/10
Destiny
(MMA)
(Waiphau Filcom Center)
5/15/10
Scrappla Fest 2
Relson Gracie KTI Jiu-Jitsu Tournament
(BJJ & Sub Grappling)
(Island School, Kauai)
X-1 World Events
(MMA)
(Waipahu HS Gym)
Mad Skills
(Kickboxing)
(Waipahu Filcom Center)
Boxing Event
(Boxing)
(Evolution Training Center, Waipio Industrial Court #110)
5/1/10
Galaxy
MMA: Worlds Collide
(MMA)
(Blaisdell Arena)
4/28/10
Chris Smith BJJ Tournament
(BJJ)
(Hilo)
4/23/10
2010 Hawaii State/Regional Junior Olympic Boxing Championships
(Boxing)
(Palolo District Park Gym)
4/17/10
Hawaiian
Championships of BJJ
(BJJ & Sub Grappling)
(Kaiser
H.S. Gym)
Strikeforce:
Shields vs Henderson
(CBS)
4/16/10
808 Battleground
(Waipahu Filcom Center)
4/8-11/10
Pan
Jiu-Jitsu Championships
(BJJ)
(University California Irvine, Irvine, CA)
4/3/10
Man Up & Stand Up
(Kickboxing)
(Waipahu Filcom Center)
Amateur Boxing Smoker
(Boxing)
(Palolo District Park Gym)
3/27/10
DESTINY: No Ka Oi 2: Oahu vs Maui
(MMA)
(Maui War Memorial Gym, Wailuku, Maui)
3/20/10
X-1: Champions 2
(MMA)
(Blaisdell Arena)
3/20/10
Hawaiian Championships of BJJ
(BJJ & Sub Grappling)
(Kaiser H.S. Gym)
3/14/10
Hawaiian Kimono Combat
(BJJ)
(PCHS Gym)
3/10/10
Sera's Kajukenbo Tournament
(Kumite, Katas, Grappling)
(Maui War Memorial Gym, Wailuku, Maui)
3/6/10
Destiny Fast N Furious
(MMA)
(Level 4 RHSC)
2/19/10
808 Battleground
(MMA)
(Filcom, Waipahu)
2/6/10
UpNUp 6: Unstoppable
(MMA)
(Maui War Memorial Gym, Wailuku, Maui)
2/5/10
Man Up & Stand Up
(Kickboxing)
(Waipahu Filcom)
1/30/10
Destiny
(Level 4,
Royal HI Shopping Ctr)
(MMA)
Quest for Champions
(Pankration/Sub Grappling)
(Kalani HS)
1/23/10
Kauai Knockout Championship Total Domination
(MMA & Kickboxing)
(Kauai War Memorial Convention Center, Lihue, Kauai)
1/17/10
X1: Showdown In Waipahu
(Boxing, Kickboxing, MMA)
(Waipahu H.S. Gym)
|
|
December
2010 News Part 3
|
Casca Grossa Jiu-Jitsu
is now the O2 Martial Arts Academy with 7 days a week training!
We are also offering Kali-Escrima (stick fighting) on Monday
nights with Ian Beltran & Erwin Legaspi and Kickboxing Tuesday,
Wednesday and Thursday with Kaleo Kwan, PJ Dean, & Chris
Slavens!
Kids Classes are also
available!
Click
here for info!
Take classes from
the Onzuka brothers in a family-like environment! |
Onzuka.com
Hawaii Underground Forum is Online!
Chris, Mark,
and I wanted to start an official Onzuka.com forum for a while
now. We were searching for the best forum to go with and hit
a gold mine! We have known Kirik, who heads the largest and most
popular forum on the net, The Underground for years.
He
offered us our own forum within the matrix know as MMA.tv. The
three of us will be the moderators with of course FCTV808 being
the lead since he is on there all day anyway!
We
encourage everyone from Hawaii and our many readers around world
to contribute to the Hawaii Underground.
If you
do not have a login, it's simple and fast to get one.
Click here to set up an account.
Don't worry about using Pidgin English in the posting. After
all it is the Hawaii Underground and what is a Hawaii Underground
without some Aloha and some Pidgin?
To
go directly to the Onzuka.com Hawaii Underground Forum
click here!
|
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to Advertise on Onzuka.com?
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More than
1 million hits and counting!
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O2
Martial Arts Academy
Your Complete Martial Arts School!
Click here for pricing and more
information!
O2 Martial Arts features Relson Gracie Jiu-Jitsu taught by Relson
Gracie Black Belts Chris and Mike Onzuka and Shane Agena as well
as a number of brown and purple belts.
We also offer Boxing and Kickboxing classes with a staff that
is unmatched. Boxing, Kickboxing, and MMA champions Kaleo Kwan
and PJ Dean as well as master boxing instructor Chris Slavens
provide incredibly detailed instruction of the sweet science.
To top it off, Ian Beltran & Erwin Legaspi heads our Kali-Escrima
classes (Filipino Knife & Stickfighting) who were directly
trained under the legendary Snookie Sanchez.
Just a beginner with no background? Perfect! We teach you from
the ground up!
Experienced martial artist that wants to fine tune your skill?
Our school is for you!
If you want to learn martial arts by masters of their trade in
a friendly and family environment, O2 Martial Arts Academy is
the place for you!
|
Want to Contact
Us? Shoot us an email by Clicking Here!
Follow O2 Martial Arts news via Twitter at:
http://www.twitter.com/O2MAA
UFC
125 on January 1st in Las Vegas at the MGM Grand Garden Arena
Tomorrow
Hawaii
Air Times
Countdown 4:00-5:00PM Channel 559
UFC 125 5:00-8:00PM Channel 701
UFC 125 Prelims: 8:00-9:00PM Channel 27
Dark matches
¦Lightweights:
Jacob Volkmann vs. Antonio McKee
¦Welterweights: Daniel Roberts vs. Greg Soto
¦Featherweights: Mike Brown vs. Diego Nunes
¦Middleweights: Phil Baroni vs. Brad Tavares
¦Featherweights: Josh Grispi vs. Dustin Poirier
¦Lightweights: Marcus Davis vs. Jeremy Stephens
Main card
¦Lightweights:
Clay Guida vs. Takanori Gomi
¦Welterweights: Nate Diaz vs. Dong Hyun Kim
¦Light Heavyweights: Brandon Vera vs. Thiago Silva
¦Middleweights: Chris Leben vs. Brian Stann
¦UFC Lightweight title match: Frankie Edgar vs. Gray Maynard
Source: Fight Opinion
|
UFC
125 Preview: The Prelims
by Jason Probst
Josh Grispi vs. Dustin Poirier
The
Matchup: Originally slated to challenge Aldo for the 145-pound
crown, Grispi switches gears here, as Poirier fills in for the
injured Brazilian superman. It could turn into a break for Grispi,
who, at 22, has a major upside and could use some more seasoning
before he takes on Aldo.
With
slam-bang submissions and improving stand-up, Grispi now faces
Poirier, whose confidence is no doubt surging off his 53-second
knockout of Zachary Micklewright last month at WEC 52. Grispi
reeled off four wins in the WEC, totaling just less than seven
minutes of action. He is a very talented, young fighter with
serious game.
Poirier
has to do something significant early to win this one. If he
falls behind quickly, he will find himself in big trouble, because
Grispi has a penchant for finishes that come out of nowhere.
Look for Poirier to try and do just that, with Grispi settling
into a rhythm and picking his spots to discourage his opponent.
The
Pick: Grispi’s ground game is exceptionally good, but you
would like to see him in a long fight, where he can show his
gas tank and how he adapts to adversity and changing tactical
situations. I think he will have to do some of that here, as
he wears down Poirier en route to a second-round submission.
Lightweights
Marcus Davis vs. Jeremy Stephens
The
Matchup: With an edge in wrestling, Stephens has an extra card
to play in this one, though the bigger Davis drops down after
a long campaign as a welterweight. Both like to slug, planting
their feet and daring the other guy to go shot for shot. Davis’
stand-up is more technical, thanks to his seasoning as a professional
boxer -- strictly on the clubfight circuit -- and his ground
game at 170 pounds was decent.
Early
on, Stephens needs to take away Davis’ confidence and belief
that he’s the bigger, stronger fighter. While Davis would
probably welcome some big exchanges, I’m not sure the combination
of dropping a weight class and his assorted mileage will not
catch up to him here. Plus, Stephens has better takedowns, though
he will probably have a tough time in the clinch with Davis,
who has proven adept in chest-to-chest tieups and striking from
that position.
The
Pick: Look for Stephens to take a round or two to figure out
the hand being dealt in front of him and make adjustments en
route to a comfortable decision win.
Middleweights
Phil Baroni vs. Brad Tavares
The
Matchup: Young buck versus veteran warhorse; you’ve gotta
love it. Baroni brings it every time, but the flip side is that
his stamina often betrays him. He can still hit hard and is exceptionally
strong early in fights. Going back to 185 pounds is a great move
for him, too, as the weight cut to 170 worked against him.
Tavares
absolutely has to take this one with a careful approach and play
the clock while limiting early exchanges. At some point, he will
switch gears, feel confident that Baroni is decelerating and
hit the gas, either scoring a takedown or landing something substantial
on the feet. We are going to find out in this bout what kind
of artillery Tavares can absorb. Don’t blink, as Baroni
will clearly find himself on the chopping block if he loses,
which leaves the “New York Bad Ass” desperate and even
more dangerous.
The
Pick: Baroni is still game and durable even when he can barely
hold his hands up to defend himself, but we will go with youth
and potential here. Unless Tavares makes an epic mistake on the
feet early, he should be able to push the fight to that middle
point where Baroni tends to press hard for everything and run
himself low on gas.
Lightweights
Antonio McKee vs. Jacob Volkmann
The
Matchup: While the “Decision Divas” are out in force
because Georges St. Pierre is going the distance lately, they
may want to hold off and realize everything is relative, at least
where criticism is concerned. That is because McKee makes GSP
look like a prime Mike Tyson. McKee, a strong wrestler who has
labored for years on smaller shows, sports a gaudy 25-3-2 record,
with 18 decision victories. He has pitched more complete games
than Cy Young.
In
fact, my favorite memory of McKee’s career is not in MMA
but rather the 2002 Abu Dhabi North American trials, where he
took on Mark Bocek in one of the elimination rounds. Submission
matches tend to be somewhat tedious affairs for the uninitiated,
and this one was terrible even by those standards. McKee took
down Bocek and then camped out in his guard for what seemed like
years. The highlight was Bocek’s coach, the irrepressible
Marc Laimon, yelling instructions to Bocek for the whole match.
Everyone else sat there listening to Laimon, because it was more
interesting than the match itself.
I
think McKee got the decision but only after a couple judges were
revived in time to turn in their cards. To his credit, Laimon
also coached Roy Nelson that day, in addition to engaging in
an epic match with Dean Lister, losing a decision in a grueling
affair. McKee’s MMA style is pretty much the same, and it
is effective for him. Volkmann is 2-2 in the UFC, and that experience
is probably his biggest edge.
The
Pick: Neither guy is a stand-up artist, so it’s going to
come down to wrestling, a close contest almost assured. I like
McKee by a narrow decision. Brace yourselves, Divas.
Featherweights
Mike Thomas Brown vs. Diego Nunes
The
Matchup: Brown has his work cut out for him here, as an ex-champion
facing a rising star in the once-beaten Nunes. Disregard his
stoppage loss to Jose Aldo and knockout defeat to Manny Gamburyan;
Brown remains an elite fighter, with one of the better overall
ground games in the 145-pound. Style-wise, this looks like a
favorable matchup for him. Nunes is talented, but Brown should
be able to dictate where the match goes.
For
Nunes to win, he needs to upset the apple cart early, perhaps
delivering a rousing haymaker that inspires him to dive in for
the finishing salvo. However, I do not see that happening here.
The
Pick: I think Brown will be a little too strong for Nunes, banging
him around and grinding him down for a late stoppage or comfortable
decision win.
Welterweights
Daniel Roberts vs. Greg Soto
The
Matchup: Roberts has the better grappling credentials, with a
rare blend of championship college-level experience -- he was
an NAIA All-American -- and serious accomplishments on the submission
wrestling circuit, a place where many good wrestlers run into
horrific speed bumps, given the jiu-jitsu element.
Soto
is a tough nut to crack, an expected quality of anyone who trains
under Kurt Pellegrino. His only defeat came in a disqualification
to “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 7 alum Matt Riddle
at UFC 111 in March.
The
Pick: Watch for Roberts to mix it up just a little bit more on
the feet, take it down when he wants to and notch a decision
win.
Source: Sherdog
|
Aoki
vs. Nagashima Special Rules Fight Explained
By Mike
Hatamoto
Japanese BJJ fighter Shinya Aoki will have to survive one round
of striking against K-1 standup fighter Yuichiro Nagashima during
their New Year’s Eve showdown.
As
part of the special rules fight, the first round will be a three-minute
round of standup striking only (where Nagashima will have the
major advantage). In the second round, however, Aoki will have
five minutes to try and submit the K-1 MAX Japan tournament winner
before a possible automatic draw ruling if no one wins.
The
DREAM open finger gloves will be used in round one, so Nagashima
will have a real chance to try and hurt Aoki. Even if he’s
unable to finish the fight, Nagashima still can continue to try
and hurt Aoki in the second round, but must be careful not to
get caught in a submission.
I
think the first round will make this fight interesting, but believe
too many people are counting Aoki out. The shortened three-minute
round will mean less time avoiding a direct striking battle with
Nagashima — and the DREAM lightweight champion has the striking
skills necessary to survive.
I
expect Aoki will get through the first round and have plenty
of time during the MMA round to get a submission victory at some
point.
Source: MMA Opinion
|
Brendan
Schaub Now Draws Mirko CroCop for UFC 128 in New Jersey
by Damon
Martin
The
revolving door of opponents for Brendan Schaub has finally stopped
and he will now face Pride legend Mirko “CroCop” Filipovic
at UFC 128 in New Jersey on March 19.
The
fight was confirmed to MMAWeekly.com by sources close to the
match-up on Wednesday, with bout agreements issued for the March
showdown. Fighter’s Only initially reported the change in
opponent’s for Schaub.
Over
the last few weeks, Schaub has been rumored to face both former
UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir and Dutch fighter Stefan Struve.
Now it appears the former “Ultimate Fighter” finalist
will face off against former Pride Open Weight Grand Prix champion
Mirko CroCop.
CroCop
(27-8-2) will enter the Octagon at UFC 128 in New Jersey after
a devastating knockout loss at the hands of Frank Mir back in
September. The Croatian has struggled mightily during his time
with the UFC going 4-4 overall.
He
will hope to bounce back against one of the top up and comers
in the UFC’s heavyweight division in March when they meet
as a part of the UFC 128 card in New Jersey.
It’s
expected that the fight between Schaub and CroCop would occupy
a slot on the main card for the show taking place on March 19.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
Is
there a legitimate sales pitch for the Shane Mosley/Manny Pacquiao
fight?
By Zach
Arnold
Today was an interesting day in Japan, as all three Kameda brothers
fought at Saitama Super Arena for the “Kameda Matsuri (festival”
event and won their respective fights. Koki Kameda defeated “Japanese
killer” Alexander Munoz by unanimous decision after 12 rounds
for the WBA World Bantamweight title. Daiki Kameda defeated Silvio
Olteanu by split decision after 12 rounds for the WBA World Flyweight
title. (Fightnews completely dumped on this fight as one of the
worst technical bouts ever.) Tomoki Kameda defeated Pichitchai
Twins Gym by TKO in R3. The event was titled “Thank God
it’s BOXING DAY” but no attendance for the show was
given.
The
boxing show drew a 13.8% rating on TBS and got crushed by All
Japan figure skating on Fuji TV which drew a 29% for the women’s
freestyle program.
Speaking
of trying to sell a fight, we have the upcoming Shane Mosley/Manny
Pacquiao fight. As Steve Cofield and Kevin Iole put it, this
is one of those fights where protesting boxing fans are going
to have to talk themselves out of impulse-buying the PPV at the
last minute.
STEVE
COFIELD: “They made the fight. Not a big shocker. Shane
Mosley and Manny Pacquiao going at it. Not a big shocker, but
there’s a lot of anger out there right now. I don’t
know if the response you’re getting is positive. I know
the response I’ve heard on radio and on the blogosphere,
not good.”
KEVIN
IOLE: “Not good. I mean it’s about 4 to 1 against this
fight. Shane Mosley against Manny Pacquiao, people are upset.
And I think it’s going to show in the PPV results. I don’t
think it’s going to be as good as what they think. I…
I wish they would have picked Juan Manuel Marquez. I think they’ve
had two sensational fights. They’re both in the Top 5 pound-for-pound,
Manny Pacquiao obviously number one. You know, Marquez seems
to have had the style of Manny Pacquiao figured out and maybe
the only guy to do that. To me, that would have been the fight
to put on to make. Secondarily since we’ve got this whole
Golden Boy/Top Rank feud that gets into things, you know Andre
Berto’s sitting there, an undefeated Welterweight with speed,
with power… In Top Rank’s defense, Berto hasn’t
beaten a top-level well-known guy yet so you might say, what
has he done to deserve a fight against Pacquiao, you know, that’s
a legitimate argument. I can understand that. But I think most
people understand that Berto has the skill and when you see him
in there, when you project, he’s going to put on a good
fight. I mean, he’s going to force Manny Pacquiao to be
better. And that’s what we want, I mean, ultimately this
is entertainment and it’s about the customers and the people
buying and we want to give them the best possible product. When
you’re at a restaurant you don’t go and if you’re
going to sell a $12 hamburger you go to McDonald’s to buy
it, you try to give them the best burger that you can give. Well,
in boxing, if you’re going to put on the fights you want
to give them the best product and I think it only helps, you
know, repeat business but unfortunately, you know, I don’t
see this, dissing Shane Mosley. Shane Mosley is one of the best
of this era but he’s 40 years old and we’ve seen a
decline in his game. I really am disappointed that this fight
was put together.”
STEVE
COFIELD: “I remember sitting there about a month ago and
both Lou DiBella with Berto was at a press conference along with
Richard Schaefer and his guy Juan Manual Marquez and without
knowing even what was going to go happen, I think they sort of
knew, but without even knowing the final conclusion they were
ready to rip someone’s head off so I cannot imagine what
those two guys are like today and yesterday.”
KEVIN
IOLE: “Lou DiBella… Lou just went off the deep end.
But you know rightly so. You know… and even DiBella admits
the right fight to make was Marquez, you know, but DiBella said,
hey, if you couldn’t get the fight done, my guy’s here,
my guy’s ready for this fight, he’s ready to step up
to the next level and even though in Berto’s last fight
he didn’t fight a very tough opponent, Freddy Hernandez,
he was challenged, hey, let’s see you do something to make
a statement and he went out there and had a dramatic knockout,
really went for it, had a dramatic early knockout. I think that
both Schaefer and DiBella have a right to be angry as do the
fans.”
STEVE
COFIELD: “Absolutely. So it’s going to be Mosley and
Pacquiao, the guy who’s put this together is Bob Arum. Now,
if I tell Bob face-to-face I don’t like the fight, it might
get ugly. He likes you, but you know, you ripped it and you’re
going to continue to rip it so Bob’s reaction to someone
like Kevin Iole who’s a pretty respected, really respected
boxing writer ripping his fight?”
KEVIN
IOLE: “It depends who we’re talking about. Well, I
had a conversation with Bob yesterday and he disagrees with me
but he understands, you know, it’s not a personal thing
and I think that criticism about it is just about, hey, I am
advocating for what I believe is best for the public and best
for the sport of boxing and I understand Bob, Bob makes a couple
of points that I understand because I understand the PPV industry
and sometimes the people in boxing, the fans, don’t understand
how PPV works and Bob is right when he says that it’s really
the casual fans, the fan who maybe watches one or two fights
a year who determine a success or a failure of a PPV because
all of us who are the hardcore fans, you know, the ones who tape
ESPN2’s Friday Night Fights and watch ShoBox, you know,
I have on my DVR I have ShoBox set to automatically record, I
have HBO fights that automatically record, I have ESPN2 set to
automatically record, I have HBO set to automatically record,
so I have all these fights coming on and when I watch the Top
Rank Live fights in Spanish so I’m not the guy that they
have to worry about selling. (The casual fan) That’s the
person who really sells the PPV so I understand where Arum is
coming from, but I think in this case here is where my argument
with Bob is… 1.4 million people bought Mayweather/Mosley
on PPV and they saw Mosley kind of lay an egg, they saw Mosley
not look very good against Floyd Mayweather Jr. and if we’re
saying Pacquiao and Mayweather are the numbers one and two in
the world pound-for-pound and I personally have Pacquiao one
and Mayweather two, how do we expect it to be any different against
Manny Pacquiao? You know, Shane is not getting younger, he’s
going to be only four months shy of his 40th birthday at that
point and I understand styles make fights but I think Shane has
lost enough off of his fastball at this stage that he’s
not the same fighter so the argument that Bob makes doesn’t
carry water only because Shane is a diminished fighter.”
STEVE
COFIELD: “I’ll tell you the big challenge, they get
me every time with the 24/7. What’s the hook this time?
They can’t get me, I know they can’t.”
KEVIN
IOLE: “Well you know what I think they’re going to
do on the 24/7 this time is they’re going to play up the
discontent. I think they’re’ going to talk Shane Mosley
about, hey, are you an old man and they’re going to talk
Nazim Richardson about that, they’re going to talk to fans,
we’re going to you know just like we saw in 24/7 on the
Pacquiao/Margarito fight where they very had on and maybe to
some people said overkill talked about the hand wrap issue with
Margarito, they’re going to do the same thing with Shane
Mosley and they’re going to, you know, discuss how there
was a lot of animosity toward the fight and people didn’t
think he should have gotten the fight and I think that’s
what is going to be the angle and it’s going to be, you
know, Shane Mosley, you know what, I’m going to prove all
of you doubters wrong.”
Source: Fight Opinion
|
Nick
Diaz Signs “Multi-Year” Extension with Strikeforce
Strikeforce
has announced this afternoon that it has signed welterweight
champion Nick Diaz, to what the promotion has described as a
“new, multi-year agreement.” No specific terms of the
contract extension were given.
“I’m
looking forward to continuing my career with Strikeforce,”
the 27-year-old fighter and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt was
quoted saying in a press release from the promotion. “When
I first got here, there weren’t a lot of great 170 pound
fighters for me to fight, but that’s definitely changed.
There’s a lot of really good fighters in the division now
and I’m ready to fight anyone who thinks they can beat me.”
Since
signing with Strikeforce in 2009, Diaz (23-7) has continued to
impress, extending his winning streak to eight and laying claim
to the organization’s welterweight title. In 2010, Diaz
went 3-0, defeating both Japanese star Hayato Sakurai and Dream
champion Marius Zaromskis in the first round, before scoring
a unanimous decision win over KJ Noons in October.
In
his first two Strikeforce appearances last year, Diaz stopped
Frank Shamrock and submitted Scott Smith in April and June respectively.
The
outspoken and highly regarded fighter has lost just once since
2006; in November, 2007, Diaz was retired by ringside physicians
due to cuts he incurred while facing the aforementioned Noons.
Diaz
is scheduled to defend his Strikeforce title against Evangelista
“Cyborg” Santos on January 29th in San Jose, California.
Source: Full Contact Fighter
|
“Blaming
MMA for violence is like blaming Formula 1 for drivers’
imprudence”
Lorenzo Fertitta is one of the driving forces behind the success
of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. After purchasing the promotion
for two million dollars in 2001 and then injecting another 44
million into the company, the UFC is now worth something to the
tune of one billion dollars.
At
forty-one years of age, Fertitta is on Forbes magazine’s
list of youngest billionaires in the USA. The Las Vegas casino
owner figures among Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, Yahoo’s
Jerry Yang, and Google’s Larry Page and Sergey Brin. That’s
how he caught the attention of Valor Econômico, one of
Brazil’s leading economics magazines. Fertitta among other
things addressed the reason’s behind the organization’s
worldwide success.
“Most
sports don’t translate too well into other cultures. But
when you put two guys in a ring and let them use any fighting
style they want, that anyone can understand,” he says.
The
purchase of the event at the time in the doldrums was motivated
more by the passion for the sport than for any belief in it as
a lucrative business. One of the first steps taken was to give
MMA a makeover, changing its image by introducing rules, among
other things.
“My
brother (Frank) and I practiced Jiu-Jitsu and knew some fighters,”
says the businessman, who goes out of his way to disassociate
MMA and violence:
“Blaming
MMA and the UFC for some people’s violent behavior is the
same as blaming Formula 1 for the imprudence of some drivers
on the road,” he says, drawing a simile between two globally-popular
sports.
With
the changes made and investment, the UFC now prospers, whether
in pay-per-view sales, trademark products, television shows or
tickets sales.
“In
the United States we already have three times the pay-per-view
sales boxing does.”
Where
will it end?
Source: Gracie Magazine
|
Undefeated
prospect Gadelha wants to join Strikeforce
Living
on the USA for two months now, the Nova União fighter
Cláudia Gadelha doesn’t stop and keeps smashing other
girls on international mats. Fighting on World NAGA’s last
edition, the athlete stood on the highest place of the podium
of her division on the disputes on gi and no-gi categories, bringing
home the famous belt of the event and the sword.
Confronting
the MMA fighter Jessica Aguilar, from American Top Team, on both
categories, Gadelha didn’t get intimidated and kept showing
her superiority. “For me, it was a great satisfaction to
fight Jessica. I’ve always been a fun of hers because of
her MMA fights. Besides that, NAGA has always been a goal I’ve
had, as their World happens here in Dallas this year, making
my dream easier to come true. God’s being very nice to me
and I can only thank Him, all the team of Nova União,
André Pederneiras, my physical trainer Giulliano Massaras
and Bruno Bastos, who hosted me here”.
Coming
from important conquest like Grappler’s World War, Local
ADCC in Dallas and third place on World No Gi, Claudia doesn’t
think about resting and stick to her hard trainings, sighting
the raise of her perfect professional record of six wins on MMA,
dreaming about her debut on the American octagons. “I’ve
just turned 22 now and since the greatest female show is Strikeforce,
obviously I want it, I dream of being and fighting there. I’m
just waiting for an invitation”, said.
Source: Tatame
|
Update:
‘Rumble’ Fully Recovered from Meniscus Tear
by Mike
Whitman
Yesterday,
Sherdog.com reported that Anthony Johnson will likely make his
return against Dan Hardy on March 19 at UFC 128, an event expected
to take place at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J.
Last
week, the welterweight spoke exclusively to Sherdog.com about
the knee injury that has kept him sidelined since November 2009.
“I
tore my meniscus pretty good. It’s been torn for a while,”
Johnson said. “Every time I’d train, it would keep
tearing and hurting more and more, so I finally got surgery and
had it over with.”
According
to Johnson, who has trained at Cung Le’s Universal Strength
Headquarters for roughly three years, he’s back to 100 percent
and ready for the next challenge in his career.
“I’ve
been training hard for the past four or five months,” he
said. “Everything is going really good for me now.”
Asked
when he would return to the cage, the 26-year-old hinted at what
would later become his probable fight date against Hardy.
“I’m
trying to fight in March or April. I’m trying to get in
as soon as I can. I’m waiting on it right now,” he
said. “I talked to Joe Silva a little bit. Right now we’re
just looking for an opponent.”
Speculation
regarding a possible run at middleweight for the fighter has
been amplified by his knee injury, but Johnson disregarded the
notion, stating clearly that he would stay at 170 pounds.
“I
still have unfinished business at welterweight,” Johnson
said.
The
idea of “Rumble” fighting at 185 holds some water,
as Johnson is one of the larger welterweights in the sport and
has a history of missing weight. The fighter has been rumored
to cut up to 50 pounds before a fight, a huge amount by any standard.
According to Johnson, however, it’s been blown out of proportion.
“No,
[I don’t cut 50 pounds]. I cut down from 210,” said
Johnson. “It’s still 40 pounds, but it’s over
the course of two to three months of preparation.”
At
170 pounds, there awaits a laundry list of tough fights for Johnson,
including his proposed bout with Hardy. While the Georgia native
is keen to compete against all comers in the division, he has
his eye on two bouts in particular.
“I’m
going to get a rematch with Josh Koscheck, no matter what, and
I still want to fight John Howard,” Johnson said. “Those
are my main guys I want to fight, but overall, I’m ready
to fight whoever they put in front of me. I just want to go out
and have fun and do what I love to do.”
Contrary
to reports that he began his martial arts career at age 12, Johnson
said that his wrestling experience at Lassen Community College
in Susanville, Calif., served as his only training before diving
into MMA as an adult.
“I
started martial arts in 2005 or 2006. I didn’t know how
to throw a single punch or a leg kick or anything,” he said.
“Honestly, my neighbor after college kept asking me to come
to his dad’s gym, and I went and checked it out, and I loved
it from the time I threw my first punch. It was just competition.”
From
wrestler to knockout artist, the powerful Johnson credits his
grandfather with providing him the encouragement to follow his
dreams into a combat sport.
“[My
grandfather] always told me that if I wanted to do something
bad enough, to put my mind to it and I can do it. So that’s
what I did. [MMA] is an extreme sport, and I’m really into
that type of stuff. If you can possibly get hurt, I’ll probably
like it.”
Source: Sherdog
|
Bombing
of Planned UFC Event Site in Afghanistan Doesn’t Deter Dana
White
by Ken
Pishna
The Ultimate Fighting Championship has long been a supporter
of the U.S. troops, operating events on military bases specifically
for military personnel and raising money for troop-related charities.
UFC
president Dana White has coveted putting on a show for U.S. troops
in Afghanistan, working hand-in-hand with the U.S. military trying
to make it happen. He thought that everything was nearly in place
to make the event a reality, but then things went awry.
“We
had a place, and the place got bombed really bad,” White
told MMAWeekly.com following the UFC 125 pre-fight press conference
on Wednesday.
The
situation was alarming enough for the U.S. military to put the
UFC’s plan for an event in Afghanistan on the sidelines,
indefinitely.
The
bombing of the anticipated location doesn’t dissuade White,
however. He is still prepared to go into Afghanistan and put
on a show for the troops.
“When
the U.S. military says we can go in, we’ll go."
Source: MMA Weekly
|
UFC
Champion Frankie Edgar’s Secret to Boxing Success: Mark
Henry
MMA
may look like an individual sport of one-on-one combat, but it
really does take a team for a fighter to reach his full potential.
UFC
lightweight champion Frankie Edgar has built a solid team around
him over the last few years, and one very important piece of
the puzzle is his boxing coach, Mark Henry. Over his last few
fights, everyone has noticed Edgar’s marked improvement
in boxing and that in large part is due to the work he’s
done with Henry.
A
fellow resident of New Jersey, Henry owns and operates Pino’s
Pizza and has done so for the last 16 years, but his love of
boxing has always been present as well. A former member of both
the U.S. boxing team and the Army boxing team, Henry was called
by a friend to come in and work with Frankie to help improve
his boxing skills.
It
took some convincing, but eventually Henry went into the school
to hold pads and see where Edgar’s boxing game was at.
“I
remember the day we did it and (his coach) was like ‘man
(Frankie) doesn’t look too good’ and I was like ‘this
kid’s going to be special’ and he turned out to be,”
Henry told MMAWeekly.com.
In
the early part of their relationship working together, Edgar
and Henry only saw each other sparingly. A few sparring sessions
here and there, but no real solid work. That was until Henry
watched Edgar fight Gray Maynard back in 2008, and that convinced
him they needed to work together more often.
“What
happened was before (the first) Gray Maynard fight we were only
hooking up once a week. I hooked up with Frankie after his first
pro fight and we used to only hook up like once a week maybe,
and after he lost to Gray and I said I don’t know what you’ve
been doing but you need to do more boxing, you need to go four
days a week if you want to do this thing serious,” said
Henry.
“You
have the potential, we have to hook up at least four days a week.
Since the Gray loss we hook up religiously three to four days
a week and so it hasn’t always been about the evolution,
it’s just been about putting in the time.”
The
time has carved Edgar into one of the best boxers in MMA. His
footwork and hand speed baffled former UFC lightweight champion
B.J. Penn, who is also regarded as one of the best strikers in
the world. Edgar’s improvement has shown in the gym before
the fights, which is where Henry is most proud of the work they’ve
done together.
“I
have a guy who is especially good, he’s professional, he’s
a local guy, and he’s phenomenal, New York Gold Gloves a
couple times, New Jersey Gold Gloves. He was amateur fighter
of the year and now he’s pro 11-0. This kid’s really
good and he’s one of Frankie’s main sparring partners
boxing-wise. I remember we used to not even be able to go four
rounds with this guy, I’d be afraid of Frankie getting killed
and now he goes out and he’ll go 10 rounds with him,”
Henry revealed.
A
boxing man at heart, Henry only worked with Edgar in the beginning,
but the results have brought more students to learn the “sweet
science.” Henry now trains several fighters including Ricardo
Almeida, Chris Ligori, Roger Gracie, and will soon be working
with Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal.
With
Edgar’s next title defense just days away, Henry is more
motivated than ever to see his prodigy go out and get another
win.
“We’re
the kind of camp we really try to stay humble, but me personally
I’ve kind of wanted this one ever since he lost,” Henry
said about the Maynard rematch. “I’m very competitive
and you’d have to be crazy not to want a chance again at
somebody you lost to. For me personally, I was always kind of
hoping for this.”
The
chance will come on Jan. 1 when Edgar puts his UFC lightweight
title on the line against Gray Maynard in the main event of UFC
125 in Las Vegas.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
Thiago
Alves Ready to Make UFC History with Mike Dolce On Board
On
Dec. 10, UFC fans were introduced to a new fighter. Well, at
least a new and improved fighter, as Thiago Alves made weight
for his UFC 124 fight against John Howard with a smile on his
face, with no problems making the 171-pound limit.
Alves’
long-standing problems with cutting weight have been well documented,
so after his struggles resulted in missing the welterweight limit
for his fight with Jon Fitch back in August, he made a change.
Alves began working with nutritionist and strength coach Mike
Dolce.
As
the Brazilian stepped onto the scale, he had a smile on his face
and energy in his step for the first time in years when making
weight.
“I
was really, really happy. I was very excited. I couldn’t
believe how easy it was,” Alves told MMAWeekly Radio about
the weight cut for the fight. “I was just happy to be there,
happy to be a part of the whole thing and to also be fighting.”
Going
back several years, Alves has never had an easy time making weight
and while his impressive performances generally overshadowed
anything he did before the fight, he was never a happy guy on
Friday.
“You
have no idea how depressed I used to get before, like two days
before weigh-ins,” Alves said. “I was too big before
weigh-ins, it was never easy if you’re a fighter to make
weight, but I was just miserable. This time I was eating, like
we ate five times the day before, just good portions, and I was
like wow I can’t believe it.
“I
was happy, I was good, just not the kind of weigh-in I’m
used to. I was having fun at the whole show, like once you get
there usually you just want to get it over because you want to
start eating again, and you don’t get that feeling that
you get to enjoy anything. This time I had a lot of energy and
I was just loving life.”
The
mistakes that Alves made were crucial according to the fighter,
and Dolce helped to correct those problems on the first day they
began working together.
“It
was just eating and eating a lot of quality food. I used to take
a lot of shakes and drink a lot of stuff that you shouldn’t
be drinking, and a lot of stuff that you shouldn’t be eating
before a fight. It was a learning experience, now I’m really,
really happy to be working with Mike Dolce,” Alves professed.
With
a new outlook on his diet and weight cutting hopefully a thing
of the past, Alves now only has to continue his work at his camp
with American Top Team and become the one man wrecking crew he
believes he’s able to be.
He
even says it may be a rebirth of sorts, and the welterweight
division is about to be introduced to a whole new and improved
Thiago Alves.
“You’re
always starting over again, but you learn from your mistakes
and I’ve learned a lot,” Alves said. “I’m
happy I went through all those things I had to go through to
get to this point today, and I definitely feel the sky’s
the limit now. I can do and be everything I always wanted to
be. I’m just going to go out there and do what I’m
supposed to do and have fun with it.”
As
far as the work he’s done with Dolce, the coach himself
has said that Alves is still only performing at around 80 percent
of his total capabilities and the future is going to be scary
for everyone at 170 pounds. It’s no longer just work they’re
doing, it’s a lifestyle and Alves is on board for the ride.
“It’s
a partnership that’s just started,” he said about working
with Dolce. “It’s the first thing I said when I talked
to him (after the fight), we’re going to make history bro.”
Source: MMA Weekly
|
UFC
Execs Promise Economic Impact with UFC Rio Event in Brazil
Brazil
has hit the international sports trifecta by landing the 2014
World Cup, the 2016 Summer Olympics, and a UFC event coming in
August 2011.
The
Ultimate Fighting Championship will return to Brazil for the
first time since October 1998 on Aug. 27, 2011, and UFC execs
promise a positive economic impact.
“Our
economic impact to a city is anywhere from 15 million dollars
to 50 million dollars,” said UFC president Dana White at
a press conference announcing UFC Rio.
“This
is an international event. People fly in from all over the world
to see UFC events. This is going to be very good for the city
of Rio,” added White. “The event here is going to be
very successful, and I think it’s going to bring people
in from all over the world.”
“We’re
going to bring a fantastic card and a fantastic show, and we
look forward to helping to grow the sport in Brazil, and as Dana
mentioned, make a significant economic impact on the city of
Rio,” said UFC co-owner and CEO Lorenzo Fertitta.
Brazil
boasts a strong economy. It saw record growth in 2007 and 2008,
and was one of the first countries to recover after the global
economic recession that continues in much of the world today.
Tickets
for “UFC: Rio” will go on sale in May. Ticket prices
have yet to be determined.
“We
haven’t figured out what ticket prices are going to cost
yet,” stated White. “We’ve traveled all over the
world. We’ve done events everywhere, and we’ll price
this thing accordingly.”
Source: MMA Weekly
|
Strikeforce’s
Herschel Walker eyes Olympics, fighters’ union in MMA’s
future
A
former pro footballing great, one-time Olympic bobsledder and
current successful entrepreneur (in addition to his role as an
MMA fighter), Strikeforce heavyweight Herschel Walker (1-0 MMA,
1-0 SF) has just about seen it all.
But
with his first taste of MMA behind him and a second helping on
the way in January, Walker has a few things he'd like to see
happen in the fast-growing sport.
First,
Walker would like to see MMA in the Olympics. Second, he'd like
to see the sport's participants develop a fighters' union.
"I
think MMA should be an Olympic sport," Walker told MMAjunkie.com
(www.mmajunkie.com). "I don't know why they don't make it
an Olympic sport. It's like five sports rolled up into one. You've
got karate, judo, jiu-jitsu, boxing and wrestling all rolled
up into one."
Of
course, Walker is not alone in his sentiment. Fans have long
called for the sport to be included in the Olympic Games, but
with MMA just beginning its growth around the globe, there hasn't
been much forward progress. But Walker notes that in addition
to the fact that many of the disciplines involved in MMA are
already Olympic sports, the growing number of participants in
MMA outweigh those of other popular sports.
"There
are more countries that have MMA fighters than countries that
have basketball teams or baseball teams," Walker said.
UFC
president Dana White, unquestionably the most powerful and influential
figure in the sport, has flatly admitted he simply does not have
time to head up a campaign to get MMA in the Olympics, but this
past October he said he would be happy to assist the cause in
a limited role. White did drop some promising hints, as well,
admitting, "It's probably a lot closer than I would have
ever thought."
But
while White and Walker might see eye-to-eye on the Olympic Games,
the UFC boss has been less vocal on a second significant topic
in MMA: fighter organization.
Walker,
who donated his entire debut fight purse to charity, believes
that fighters need to form a union to ensure financial equality
between MMA promoters and the athletes in the cage.
"I
think the fighters in the sport are just now starting to make
good money," Walker said. "The promoters are making
good money, and sooner or later the fighters should start making
good money. Some of them make OK money but not great money. But
the way the contracts are written for the UFC, sooner or later
there needs to be a union. I think a union should come in."
This
past June, UFC co-owner Lorenzo Fertitta was asked about a potential
union and said, quite simply, it wasn't his place to get involved.
"We
have no role," Fertitta said. "So we're not in a position
to say we support it, or we're against it. That's entirely up
to [the fighters]."
While
Walker is familiar with the concept of unionized athletes due
to his time in football, Fertitta argues that MMA is a different
animal.
"One
of the things that's a little bit different is that fighting
in general - I know a lot of people have talked about the same
issue (with) boxing - fighting seems to be such a individual
sport," Fertitta said. "And guys have different needs
and different motivations, and what's good for a guy like Chuck
Liddell is maybe not good for a kid like Paul Kelly coming up.
"They
have different needs and are (at) different times in their careers,
so I'm not sure if it works or not."
While
Fertitta's point is valid, Walker believes a union is necessary
simply as a means to ensure fighters are receiving their just
due.
"I
don't know the dollars, and I'm not going to get into the pockets
of the UFC, but if you start looking at the amount of money they
make, which I don't know the exact amount, but look at the amount
of money they make, if someone audited their books - you can't
tell me in an individual sport you can't have a union and have
a guy that has four or five professional fights and let them
be part of the union," Walker said. "Once you become
part of the union, you can get insurance. You can get certain
benefits that aren't there right now. I don't know why that can't
happen."
Of
course, an MMA union wouldn't provide benefits solely for UFC
fighters. Recent events in regional organizations worldwide -
such as the Costa Rican-based Xtreme Vale Todo organization,
where reports indicate UFC vet Hermes Franca was swindled out
of a victory, as well as a Nemesis Fighting card in the Dominican
Republic where the fighters went unpaid - have left many fans
and fighters wondering if something can be done.
Longtime
veteran Matt Lindland made waves earlier this year when he echoed
much of Fertitta's sentiment while outlining the difficulties
in forming a union.
"Unless
you can get the top athletes, you're not going to [unionize],"
Lindland told veteran reporter Eddie Goldman. "The fighters
[are] all whores; they just fight for the biggest purse, and
it's going to be tough unless you could somehow get all the fighters
to agree to something like that. There's always somebody going
to come up underneath who's not willing to do it.
"There's
enough support (for a union), but these guys outside of the cage
or outside of the ropes are cowards. You know they would not
dare stand up to the powers-that-be."
Walker's
opinion is much simpler.
"I
don't why it shouldn't (happen)," Walker said.
Whether
that a union ever materializes or not remains to be seen. In
the meantime, the world's biggest fight promotion has vowed to
do everything they can to take care of their own.
"We
do the best we can to tend to them," Fertitta said. "Anybody
who gets injured in the UFC, we cover that 100 percent-plus.
We carry more insurance than any promoter in the history of the
world (and) take care of more things - actually take care of
everything for a guy who gets hurt in a fight.
"So
we try to tend to their needs as best we can."
Source: Yahoo Sports
|
Matt
Mitrione Plans A “Damn Good Show” at UFC Fight For
The Troops
Matt
Mitrione needed little by way of publicity to hype his appearance
on Season 10 of “The Ultimate Fighter.”
Having
been a former pro football player for the NFL’s New York
Giants and Minnesota Vikings, Mitrione was already a commodity
of interest, but since making his appearance on the show, he’s
proven himself more hope than hype.
Matt Mitrione and Joey Beltran at UFC 119
Matt
Mitrione and Joey Beltran at UFC 119
In
three fights under the UFC banner, Mitrione has gone undefeated,
finishing off two of his opponents. In return, he has been rewarded
for his efforts by being given a spot near the top of the next
installment of UFC Fight for the Troops on Jan. 22.
“I
think from my time on TUF to now, I think I’ve done pretty
well with things,” Mitrione told MMAWeekly.com. “I
haven’t lost in front of a million people, so that’s
not too bad.
“I’ve
found that I’m good at some things and have a whole lot
of room to develop the things that I’m good at, and a lot
more to develop the things I suck at.”
One
of the areas Mitrione feels he’s improved most on in his
time in MMA is knowing the right time to apply his strength in
a fight.
“I’d
say I’ve probably made the most improvement in muscle control,”
stated Mitrione. “You can’t always swing as hard as
you want to; you sometimes have to gauge it.
“I’m
at that point now that I understand when it’s time for the
big shot and when to go for the finish, or when it’s time
to pot-shot. I think that’s the craft I’ve developed
the most.”
On
the flipside, Mitrione admits that his ground game is still a
work in progress, but he’s understanding the nuances of
it more and more.
“Wrestling
and jiu-jitsu are games of centimeters, and if you don’t
know this exact maneuver or this exact counter, you can go from
escaping something relatively painlessly to fighting your ass
off to catch your breath to breaking something,” he said.
All
of Mitrione’s hard work will be put to the test as he takes
on returning Canadian Tim Hague.
“I
think Tim’s a much better fighter than he’s been able
to show in the UFC,” commented Mitrione. “Personally,
I think he beat (Chris) Tuchscherer (at UFC 109) and I think
he’s looked good in his last two fights – both first-round
knockouts.
“He’s
a good wrestler, scrambles well and is a good jiu-jitsu guy,
so I think it will be a good, fun test for me. I think at least
we’ll get the troops up on their feet with the show we put
on, that’s for damn sure.”
A
win would put Mitrione at the top of the up-and-coming fighters
in the heavyweight division. Still, even with his highly publicized
rise in MMA and his actions in the cage backing him, he understands
he is still a developing fighter and will have to go that route
over the next year or so.
“It’s
really true for me in this situation, because I’m so new
to all this,” he admitted. “There’s a lot I’ve
got to be very careful in what I ask for and wish for.
“I
want to fight very, very good competition. Am I ready to fight
upper echelon, top-tier talent? I don’t know. That’s
what I want to find out. I would love those challenges, but unfortunately
it is one step at a time for me.”
Having
proved himself more than just a crossover flash in the pan, Mitrione
can continue his ascension towards becoming a legitimate contender
with a win at UFC Fight for the Troops on Jan. 22.
“I’d
just like to say I appreciate the interest from the fans, and
I’m flattered that people would want to have their name
on my shorts, so thank you everybody,” he stated, referring
to the sponsors that support him.
“My
whole family has been involved in the military in some form or
fashion my whole life, so I’m honored to be part of it,
and I can’t wait to show that we care about the troops and
put on a damn good show for everyone.”
Source: MMA Weekly
|
Strikeforce:
Trevor Prangley Looks To Roger Gracie To Stay On Track
Halfway
through 2010 it appeared that Trevor Prangley’s career in
big shows might have come to an end.
A
technical draw to Karl Amoussou followed by a surprisingly quick
loss to Tim Kennedy had derailed Prangley’s return to Strikeforce.
He was in need of a serious turnaround.
“I
don’t worry about the loss that much. I’ve been around
the game long enough to know people have lost fights and rebuilt
themselves with a lot of success,” Prangley told MMAWeekly.com.
“You’re
never over until you decide to quit. If you want to keep going,
you can always find a fight and rebuild your career, which is
what I did when I went to Shark Fights.”
And
it was at Shark Fights in September that Prangley was able to
squeak by with a split decision victory over Keith Jardine that
put things back on the right track.
“It’s
always good to get a win, especially against a name like that,”
stated Prangley. “If I had lost two in a row at that point
in my career, I might be stuck fighting in small shows if I wanted
to keep fighting.”
With
the win, Prangley also regained the attention of Strikeforce,
who will feature him on their upcoming Jan. 29 Diaz vs. Cyborg
fight card against the undefeated Roger Gracie.
“It’s
always great when you get another opportunity,” exclaimed
Prangley. “It’s the last fight on my contract and I
just need to get out there and perform.
“It’s
going to be a really tough fight for me. He’s undefeated.
He doesn’t know how to lose yet, so I’m curious to
see how I’ll fare against him. I think it will be a competitive
fight on both of our sides.”
Not
only does Prangley have momentum on the MMA side of his career
in 2010, he also made his big screen debut with a fellow Strikeforce
star.
“I
got an opportunity to make my first movie with Cung Le,”
said Prangley. “That was a pretty good experience. I got
to spend two weeks down in Louisiana on the set of Dragon Eyes
and it was pretty good. It was interesting and I learned a lot.”
While
Prangley is broadening his horizons, his focus still is firmly
affixed on fighting and taking his career one step at a time.
“I’ve
set my goals on championships before and have lost track of the
short term stuff, and that’s where you start falling short
of your goals because you’re so obsessed with reaching the
end, you forget what’s coming in between,” he commented.
“Now,
I’m just thinking about this fight and am not even considering
what’s coming next. All I care about is the fight that’s
in front of me at that time in my life.”
Having
brought himself back from a career low one year to possibly its
highest point the next, Prangley has proven himself resilient.
He’s not ready to give up the fight any time soon.
“I
want to thank the fans that have stuck with me, even when I’ve
had down times, I’ve had lots of support and I appreciate
them,” closed out Prangley. “I want to thank all the
guys that have sponsored me in the past, there’s too many
to mention, but they know who they are.
“The
fans should come check us out. I think it’s going to be
a good fight and Roger is going to take the first loss of his
career. With fights that people don’t think I have a chance
in, I’ve always managed to pull it off somehow, and I don’t
intend to stop now.”
Prangley
and Gracie will fight on the Strikeforce Jan. 29 event featuring
Nick Diaz vs. Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos in the main
event on Showtime.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
Brendan
Schaub vs. Stefan Struve Agreed For Early 2011
Brendan
Schaub has been asking for a fight with former UFC heavyweight
champion Frank Mir, but it appears he’s going to have to
wait. Stefan Struve has been tapped as the next opponent for
Schaub for a fight set to go down in early 2011.
MMAWeekly.com
first reported the proposed match-up between Schaub and Mir a
few weeks back. They were targeted and agreed for an early 2011
fight, but the UFC has opted for another fight instead.
Sources
close to the situation confirmed to MMAWeekly.com on Monday that
Schaub and Struve have now been asked to face off with verbal
agreements in place from both fighters. Sportsnet.CA first reported
the switch on Monday.
There
has been no date determined yet for the heavyweight tilt, only
that it will take place on one of the shows in early 2011.
Struve
comes into the fight against Schaub after his co-main event TKO
win over Sean McCorkle at UFC 124 in Montreal earlier this month.
The Dutch fighter upped his record to 5-2 in the UFC with the
win in December.
Both
Schaub and Struve are considered among the best of the crop of
young heavyweights in the UFC, and this bout should take center
stage in whatever show they end up on.
Mir’s
removal from the bout with Schaub does bring up obvious questions
as to why. The former champion hasn’t fought since UFC 119
in September, and while sources indicated he had already agreed
to the fight with Schaub, it may be curious timing that a slot
has opened up for him to return and coach on the next season
of “The Ultimate Fighter.”
UFC
president Dana White had mentioned Mir along with rival Brock
Lesnar as potential coaching candidates for the reality show,
but as of today there has still be no announcement as far as
who will lead the fighters during the 13th season of the show.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
Penn and Fitch head UFC
PR tour of Australia
B.J.
Penn and
Jon Fitch toured Australia last week to promote their February
27th bout in Sydney. The promotional tour may assist in educating
Aussie fans with mixed views of mixed martial arts.
Via
Fight Opinion:
BJ
Penn, Jon Fitch, George Sotiropoulos, and Kyle Noke went on a
public relations tour yesterday in Australia to promote the promotion’s
upcoming event in Sydney in February. A red hot ticket and business
will be booming. However, in places like Victoria and Melbourne,
you won’t be seeing events any time soon.
The
Victoria paper story on the UFC headline: “Ultimate in blood
and gore” The article focuses on all the stereotypes of
MMA. Cage fighting is banned in Victoria. Melbourne’s Herald
Sun had a similar piece although it quoted George Sotiropoulos.
On
the positive side, 9MSN and The Moonee Valley Leader had articles
which featured UFC fighters. In the 9MSN article, Fitch is featured.
The Moonee Valley Leader focuses on the UFC fighters visit to
a local gym.
Payout
Perspective:
With
the expansion of the UFC to new locations, educating the locals
on mixed martial arts is vital. The 4 stories show the opposing
views of mixed martial arts. Obviously the UFC friendly stories
are slanted since the journalists were given access to the fighters.
The Victoria paper is the harshest critic of the UFC likely due
to the ban in the state. Media tours like this one are necessary
when trying to sway public opinon. The access the UFC provides
is a good way to get its point of view out to the media.
Source: MMA Payout
|
Toughman
Hawaii is Back!
January
8, 2011
Hilo Civic Center
Doors open at 5:30 pm and the fights start at 6:00 pm
Tickets are $25 pre-sale, $30 at the door
Source: Wally Carvalho
|
Report:
Almeida, Pyle Agree to Meet at UFC 128
Ricardo Almeida and Mike Pyle are likely to square off on March
19 as part of the as-yet-unannounced UFC 128, an event likely
to take place at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J.
While
the bout has not yet been made official by the promotion, both
welterweights have verbally agreed to the matchup, according
to a report from MMAWeekly.com.
Almeida
comes fresh off a Dec. 11 unanimous decision win over T.J. Grant
at UFC 124. The victory got the “Big Dog” back on track
after suffering the first submission loss of his career in August,
when Matt Hughes choked him unconscious at UFC 117. Prior to
that defeat, 34-year-old Brazilian had won three straight in
the UFC against Matt Brown, Kendall Grove and Matt Horwich.
Meanwhile,
Pyle will look to extend his win streak to three, having decisioned
John Hathaway at UFC 120 and put Jesse Lennox to sleep with a
triangle choke at UFC 115. A 10-year veteran of the MMA scene,
Pyle has gone 3-2 inside the Octagon since joining the UFC in
May 2009. The submission specialist known as “Quicksand”
also holds notable career victories over Jon Fitch, Dan Hornbuckle
and Gustavo Machado.
UFC
128 is expected to be headlined by the long-awaited light heavyweight
title bout between champion Mauricio “Shogun” Rua and
former titleholder Rashad Evans. Also rumored for the card is
a heavyweight matchup featuring ex-champ Frank Mir and up-and-comer
Brendan Schaub, as well as a duel between highly regarded lightweights
Gleison Tibau and Kurt Pellegrino.
Source: Sherdog
|
No
Christmas for ‘Feijao’
Of
all those who watched Strikeforce “Henderson vs. Babalu
II,” perhaps none was more interested in the main event
than Rafael “Feijao” Cavalcante.
The
Strikeforce light heavyweight champion knew well in advance of
Dan Henderson and Renato Sobral’s showdown -- which ended
with a decisive-first round knockout from Henderson -- that the
winner was likely to receive a shot at his belt in the coming
year.
With
his first title defense now lined up, Cavalcante discussed with
Sherdog.com his thoughts on Henderson, his cornering of training
partners Anderson Silva and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, and his
plans for the holidays (or lack thereof).
Sherdog.com:
You already know who your next opponent will be after Dan Henderson’s
victory over Renato “Babalu” Sobral. What did you think
of the fight? What do you expect from Dan Henderson?
Cavalcante: I expect a war. He’s a tough athlete and has
great knowledge of the ring. Thank God we have three guys on
our team who have fought with him and we’ll build a strategy.
I’m training for this fight for five weeks and certainly
will get there prepared. Again, I will defend Brazil and show
once again that I am proud of being Brazilian.
Sherdog.com:
The fight takes place in late February. You’ll train right
up to the date?
Cavalcante: Yes, I will train until the date of the fight. By
the end of February, God willing, I’ll be well-prepared.
I want to be well-prepared for this fight. Let’s go to war,
because this athlete is very tough.
Sherdog.com:
You won’t have Christmas, New Year and Carnival? You’ll
train the whole time?
Cavalcante: Christmas, New Year and Carnival are over for me.
Sherdog.com:
What do you think of Dan Henderson? You said he has faced fighters
from your team and he is very experienced.
Cavalcante: I think he’s a very experienced fighter and
knows a lot in the ring. He is a complete athlete and very tough.
He is a great wrestler and is showing great evolution in the
standup. On the ground, he’s no fool. We have to get there
well prepared and never underestimate our opponents. Surely,
it will be a tough fight, like all my other fights have been.
I want to show that if I’m fighting for the belt or not,
I’ll always be thinking about my next fight. That’s
my next goal, to defeat Dan Henderson.
Sherdog.com:
Maybe you and [teammate Ronaldo Souza] “Jacare” will
fight on the same event again. Is there any chance of repeating
that special night at Strikeforce in Houston?
Cavalcante: It would be very cool. Hopefully we fight at the
same event, doing our preparation and training together. With
this team of stars that we have -- me, Anderson Silva, Antonio
Rodrigo Nogueira, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, Ronaldo Souza, Andre
Galvao, who is out of the country, but he is a part of our team
and will come here to give me a hand. I will also have Fabio
Maldonado, among others. We have a great team and, for sure,
with this unity and strength, we will bring another victory.
Sherdog.com:
How do you rate this year in your career? It was the year of
the title.
Cavalcante: This year was very good. I reached another goal and
was able to test myself several times. That’s not for anyone
else, but for me. I can really see that what I’m doing is
working, and I’m improving in some aspects. I corrected
several errors and that was most important this year. We have
to look back on everything that has happened and fix what went
wrong to make sure it doesn’t happen again. I think I’ve
been fixing up some things, but I still have a lot to fix. It’s
very difficult to train everything together. When you begin to
train more boxing, your wrestling worsens. You focus on your
wrestling, and then your BJJ gets worse. You have to be constantly
fixing. This is very difficult, but we’ll get it.
Sherdog.com:
Will you do any specific preparation for Dan Henderson? Because
he is a wrestler, will you train any differently? Do you want
to go out to train or bring in someone else?
Cavalcante: I do all my training here at X-Gym in Brazil. We
haven’t discussed the strategy yet, but I’ve already
more or less formed it in my head. I’ll still sit down with
all my training partners and coaches and see what they think.
I don’t have anything specific, but I’ll definitely
do specific training for him.
Sherdog.com:
Just before your fight, Anderson Silva will face Vitor Belfort.
You are going to corner Anderson. What do you expect for this
fight?
Cavalcante: I’ll be there with him and I think this fight
will be a great. Vitor is a very dangerous and explosive athlete.
It’s gonna be a great fight and I hope that Anderson continues
as champion. We have had the opportunity to train together several
times. But at the end of the day, it's Team Nogueira. We all
wear the same jersey and it’s Team Nogueira’s jersey,
and God willing, we're gonna come back only with victories.
Sherdog.com:
Rogerio Nogueira is coming off of a loss and has a very important
fight ahead against Tito Ortiz. You’re going to corner him
also?
Cavalcante: We are training together. We are always together
for everything. Rogerio has evolved a lot since his last fight
and everyone is talking about it. God willing, he will also get
another victory. Tito Ortiz is a tough athlete and is one of
the icons of the UFC.
Source: Sherdog
|
Turnkey
Poll: UFC Best Positioned Emerging Property
MMA
Junkie reports on the latest Turnkey sports poll which indicates
that sports industry executives believe that the UFC is the best
positioned sports property heading into 2011.
It
also led the poll under the question: Which sports properties
are you paying more attention to now than you did at the start
of the year?
The
poll is based on the votes of approximately 1,100 senior-level
sports executives.
Via
MMA Junkie:
The
UFC dominated orgs such as the IZOD IndyCar Series, the X Games,
Professional Bull Riders (PBR), the United Football League (UFL)
and the WNBA. Voters, who come from the pro and college ranks,
could choose from essentially every professional sports organization
outside of veteran leagues such as MLB, NBA, NFL, NASCAR, MLS
and the PGA. The UFC was the only mixed-martial-arts promotion
available as a voting option.
Payout
Perspective:
Polls
such as these lend credibility that the UFC, and mixed martial
arts as a whole, is a viable sport that demands mainstream attention.
A few weeks ago, the Sports Business Journal conducted a similar
poll that gave us contrary results. In the SBJ poll, industry
executives believed that the UFC property had peaked, but was
second in voting under the category of which sports property
had the most growth potential.
I
would argue that you could rely on the Turnkey poll more than
the SBJ poll since Turnkey is comprised of senior-level sports
execs and, more importantly, the questions are much more direct
than SBJ’s. I do think that there is value to these type
of polls as the UFC seeks to expand and hope to garner a shot
at network television. It gives a snapshot of the perception
of the sport and what others in the industry think of MMA as
a sports property.
Source: MMA Payout
|
WEC
53: Payout Perspective
Welcome
to another edition of Payout Perspective: WEC edition. The final
WEC event took place in Glendale, Arizona at the Jobing.com arena.
In the main event, hometown favorite Benson “Smooth”
Henderson faced Anthony “Showtime” Pettis. Fitting
for the WEC, it ended with a flourish with the kick seen everywhere.
Business
Storylines
It’s
Showtime! Pettis claims UFC lightweight title shot
Anthony
Pettis solidified his promotion to the big show by defeating
Benson Henderson. Whatever you want to call the kick, everyone
has seen it and commented on it. We have looked at its promotional
value and the mainstream attention it has drawn.
The
kick is the biggest MMA move to occur in the era of social media.
Don’t think so? Just look at how many times it was looped
on ESPN. It was featured on Top Plays of the Night, commented
on Pardon The Interruption and Pettis was interviewed on ESPN’s
First Take. It was an Internet sensation. It even received a
posting on Deadspin. Not to mention, Pettis’ twitter account
exploded with 4,000 more followers in a day.
For
the WEC, it was an appropriate way to send it off. For Pettis,
it is not hyperbole to think that the kick propelled him as an
overnight sensation. For Henderson, a dominant reign in the 155
pound division ended on the biggest night for the title. An instant
shot at the UFC title and a main event on MMA’s biggest
stage was on the line. But, Pettis looked prepared for Henderson
and implemented a strategy which wore down Henderson (by literally
riding his back for almost one round) one of the best conditioned
athletes in the lightweight division.
Pettis
will be a marketable 155 pounder if he shows well against Maynard
or Edgar. Fans will like his flash, his fighting style and the
anticipation that he will put on a “Showtime” move
at a moment’s notice.
Cruz
defeats Jorgenson—possible TUF coach versus Faber
Overshadowed
by the “Showtime” kick, Dominick Cruz dominated Scott
Jorgenson to win the new UFC Bantamweight title. It’s rumored
that Cruz and Urijah Faber will oppose each other as TUF coaches
in 2011. This would be a great way to introduce the Bantamweight
division and the Cruz/Faber rivalry to the UFC viewers.
Zhang
loses
Tiequan
Zhang lost by unanimous decision to Danny Downes on the undercard.
This is a setback for Zhang, the first fighter from China, as
Zuffa is trying to garner more interest from the China market.
Zhang’s fight was televised live in China.
Versus
Pre and Post Fight Show
Once
again, Versus included a Pre-Fight and Post-Fight Show. Prior
to the pre-fight show, Versus ran the World MMA Awards. A good
lead-in to a night of fights. The Pre-Fight Show served as the
ad hoc retrospective for the WEC. The broadcast did a sufficient
job of previewing the fights while looking back at the best of
WEC. Still, it would have been nice to have had a dedicated hour
to look back at the best fights and fighters.
Promoting
the Fight
Most
of the promotion for the fight centered around hometime favorite
Henderson, which makes his loss more bittersweet. Henderson made
appearances at the Phoenix Coyote hockey game and at a rally
in his honor. His gym, MMA Lab, held daily Ben Henderson contests
on twitter giving away Henderson memorabilia leading up to the
fight.
Bonuses
Fight
of the Night – Henderson v. Pettis – $10,000
Submission
of the Night – Shane Roller – $10,000
Knockout
of the Night – Eddie Wineland – $10,000
These
bonuses will be much more in the UFC. As you may recall, UFC
124 fighters made $100K bonuses–ten times what was dished
out at the final WEC card. Unlike UFC 124, the main event, Henderson/Pettis,
was definitely the fight of the night.
Sponsorship
Watch
-Henderson
sported t-shirt maker Dethrone Royalty while Pettis was a Form
Athletics endorser. After the win, Form Athletics sent out a
press release congratulating Pettis and maybe made a little jab
at Henderson’s sponsor.
Pettis
overcame a nearly 2-to-1 underdog rating, dethroning lightweight
title-holder Ben Henderson in the card’s featured fight
of the night.
Maybe
reading into this, but it would be a funny jab to use dethrone
in describing Pettis’ win. Despite the loss, Dethrone still
has a champion stable of Velasquez and Aldo.
-It
was interesting to see Henderson’s primary short sponsors
as The Gun Store and Iron Bridge tools. The Gun Store as a sponsor
seems a little contrary to Henderson, a devout Christian.
-MusclePharm
continued as a mat sponsor despite a report that it settled a
debt in which it owed the WEC $375K for outstanding sponsorship
debt.
-The
Kenny Powers/Uriah Faber commercials for KSwiss are hilarious.
They are not new, but it shows the marketability of Faber.
Attendance
According
to MMA Junkie, 6,348 fans attended the event at the Jobing.com
Arena in Glendale, Arizona. It is the seventh largest crowd in
WEC history. The top three were WEC events in Sacramento. It
was the promotion’s first time in Arizona.
The
venue was chosen as a result of a fan vote from the “Hometown
Throwdown” promotion sponsored by Amp Energy.
(UPDATE)
Ratings
MMA
Junkie reports that the event scored a strong 0.62 household
rating and an average audience of 615,000 viewers. In addition,
the post-fight show on Versus scored a 0.34 household rating
with an audience of 352,000.
Conclusion
For
the last round of the last fight for an outstanding organization,
it would have been nice if Versus kept with the fighters as they
came out of their corners. Instead, we saw the two fighters in
the center of the ring. It was a small thing, but it’s the
details that would help close out the organization.
I
was surprised that there was little closure to the end of the
WEC. Reed Harris mentioned in more than one interview that he’s
been “too busy” to think about the ending of the WEC.
Yes, this may be true, but it seems like he is ignoring the history
of the situation. Perhaps this was the corporate edict-business
as usual. Definitely, Zuffa could have capitalized on the ending
of the WEC with a retrospective and a bigger lead-up to the event.
It could have released a “Best of” DVD just in time
for the Holidays. Although the WEC 53 pre-show provided some
memories, it seemed like more could have been done.
But,
the story of the night, and what made the night a success was
the “Showtime” kick. It was a good sendoff for the
WEC.
Source: MMA Payout
|
Pros
Pick: Christmas Lists
As
Christmas approaches, kids usually write some sort of wish list
filled with their desires for material objects. With time, those
lists become smaller and smaller until, eventually, as adults,
their motivations change from “I want this for Christmas”
to “What do you want for Christmas?”
All
about the giving spirit, Sherdog.com asked a number of professional
fighters and trainers from across mixed martial arts to reveal
something -- anything -- from their 2010 Christmas wish list.
Shamar
Bailey: For Christmas, I would love for my little brother, who
has been locked up since 2003, to be able to watch me fight for
the first time ever, to get back on his feet and to train MMA
with me -- all in 2011. That would make my year. He is due to
get out in late spring.
Charlie
Brenneman: All I want for Christmas is for my family and friends
to be happy and healthy -- and an autographed Frankie Edgar picture.
Yves
Edwards: All I want for Christmas is a Happy Kwanzaa.
Roy
Arriola: I would like for Santa to rid the MMA universe of all
the negative MMA media wannabe copy-and-paste Web sites. They
are a negative virus and diseased-filled source that only looks
to hurt the sport. Sorry for rambling on. I was having a moment.
OK, aside from saving the world from the virus-filled MMA Web
sites that have no original content, I would like Santa to bring
those hard-working fighters lots of fights, title shots and health,
peace, happiness. I wish all MMA promoters a great 2011 year.
Merry Christmas, everyone.
Keith
Berry: I have all the material things I need, so I gotta say
I just want a ton of fights in 2011, so promoters hit me up.
I guarantee no boring fights. P.S.: a purple belt in jits would
be nice, too.
Robin
Black: For Christmas, I want to work with Bas Rutten on a broadcast
somewhere. That dude is the coolest. And I want to win my fight
Jan. 28. And I want to grow a bit taller ASAP. And I want $14
million dollars. Oh, and world peace and s--t.
Travis
Lutter: Well, if Santa is feeling generous this year, he could
bring me a BMW 1000rr.
Ray
Elbe: I want California’s Proposition 19 to become law worldwide.
That way I can finally find suitable treatment for my suspected
glaucoma.
Roli
Delgado: I just want to get a good training session in since
I am fighting Jan. 14. I’ve been blessed with plenty of
material things, so family time and good training is all I want.
Nam
Phan: I have a very supportive and loving family, good students
and a livelihood that I am very passionate about. Christmas has
come early for me this year.
Miguel
Torres: All I want for Christmas is an empty hand to smack me
in the face to remind me of what I don’t have and that life
ain’t fair. Then I would have learned the most valuable
lesson of all; there is such a thing as luck, but we have to
make it ourselves. Nothing is free in this world. Merry Christmas.
Erik
Paulson: I want this vibrational shift to get over soon. It’s
making me very feisty and edgy. I’m getting ready for the
2012 change of heaven on earth. Sounds weird, but we’ll
see.
Scott
Lighty: I would like a UFC contract; also, an official Red Ryder
carbine action 200 shot range model air rifle. Please?
Brian
Warren: As far as Christmas goes, I got everything I need: healthy
family, bills are getting paid, etc. One thing I always wanted
was to fight in the UFC. Santa, please tell [UFC President] Dana
White I need to hurry up and get in there. Merry Christmas, people,
and God bless.
Seth
Petruzelli: All I want for Christmas is for the people on Sherdog
to stop making fun of me. It hurts my soul.
Duke
Roufus: My wife and I are trying to start a family, so I hope
we are blessed with a baby. I hope Alan Belcher makes a full
recovery. I also want Anthony Pettis to become the UFC champion
and to have another fighter fighting for a UFC championship by
the end of 2011. Dana Claus, please bring the UFC to Milwaukee.
As well, I want to keep growing Roufusport Academy in Milwaukee
and the Roufus Kickboxing Affiliations worldwide teaching our
training methods. I am so blessed to have great people around
me. Happy holidays.
Gary
Shaw: I want to find my dog, Perro.
Martin
Kampmann: I want a Copenhagen-Las Vegas [air travel] route for
Christmas. I’m tired of layovers whenever I go home.
Cub
Swanson: All I want for Christmas is a brand new brush and the
world’s finest shampoos. [This way], I can be Clay Guida’s
official hair coach.
Pete
Sell: For Christmas, I would like an MMA winning streak.
Rory
Markham: I am thankful for a successful mindset. For Christmas,
I just want and look forward to more opportunities to work and
act and fight hard in 2011.
Javier
Vazquez: I have what I want for Christmas: a healthy wife and
family. I’m living the dream, fighting and teaching jiu-jitsu
and MMA. I truly feel like one of the luckiest people in the
world.
Greg
Jackson: I would like a Flux Capacitor to travel through time,
see all the amazing events in history and ride on a triceratops.
Dan
Hardy: All I want for Christmas is for 2011 to be better than
2010, which shouldn’t be too difficult.
Jeff
Monson: Peace.
Michael
Guymon: This X-mas I want a manicure and pedicure, as well as
a massage. So it’s a little gay, but so is asking for rollerblades.
Scott
Epstein: This Christmas I wanna be Christian because [we] Jews
already got our presents for Jew Christmas, and I want more gifts
for non-Jew Christmas.
Doug
Marshall: You know what “The Rhino” wants? My two front
teeth (laughs).
Jason
Von Flue: What do I want for Christmas? What every other former
UFC veteran wants: a long win streak that will land me back in
the UFC by late next year. Oh, and world peace.
Matt
Hamilton: Luckily, there is very little that I want. I certainly
want another year of health for my family. And I guess if I had
to pick one material thing I’d pick Alonzo’s car from
“Training Day.”
Matt
Pena: For Christmas, I would like to see increased revenue sharing
with the fighters. I have so much respect for what the Fertittas,
Lorenzo and Frank, and [UFC President] Dana [White] have done.
They deserve many spoils for their foresight and hard work that
made the UFC the fastest-growing sport in the world. However,
nobody is working harder to make the UFC a success than the fighters.
Now that the UFC is a major brand in sports, it has the worst
revenue sharing by far than any other brand in major sports.
If details about company revenue came out along with what fighters
are actually averaging per fight, it would probably be kind of
embarrassing. I hope this doesn’t cause too much of a stink,
but increased revenue sharing would be something that would be
good for both sides.
Source: Sherdog
|
UFC
Heavyweight Roy Nelson: ‘When you officially get sued, you’ve
officially made it’
Here’s
Roy Nelson, in his own… inimitable way, explaining the lawsuit
that Roy Jones Jr.’s promotional company has filed against
him.
KENNY
RICE: “We’ve pulled out all of our legal documents.
We’re going to try to get this straightened out. Roy Nelson’s
with us. He’s going to straighten this out for us. Here’s
the deal — Roy was getting ready to fight Shane Carwin,
UFC 125, of course Carwin’s injured so they’re trying
to get all of that figured out. The contract issue with Roy and
I believe I’ve got his straight now, it’s with Roy
Jones Jr’s Square Ring. You did a fight for them a little
over a year or so ago, they’re contending now that they
have basically like a first right of refusal, a first right of
negotiations which would mean with Zuffa, with UFC, in terms
of putting you on a card or not putting you on a card. Is that
the gist of this?”
ROY
NELSON: “Um… I think they also said that we, me and
the UFC, teamed up in a conspiracy theory, we you know, like,
it’s… All I know is that officially, you know, when
you officially get sued, you’ve officially made it.”
KENNY
RICE: “You’re officially sued, right?”
ROY
NELSON: “So, I think, this is like really it’s like
nine months old, I mean that’s how long this technically
has been, over two years. This is nine months old but I think
when you get on TV people think you’re TV rich because we
know you guys are very extremely rich.”
BAS
RUTTEN: “Yes, of course.”
ROY
NELSON: “So it’s that TV rich, it’s that stardom.
I think anybody can try to milk something for what it is. But
the one thing I’ve learned out of this whole thing is everybody’s
going to always try to knock you down, you know what I mean?”
BAS
RUTTEN: “For no reason. It’s only good for him. And
he’s trying to stretch it out for as long as he can.’
ROY
NELSON: “Yeah, but the thing is is you got to have that
champion mindset, you know, where it doesn’t matter how
many times people knock you down, it’s how fast you get
back up and how fast you get back in there. So like for me, it’s
just one of those things that just a little speed bump to get
where I have to go.”
KENNY
RICE: “We contacted Roy Jones Jr., by the way, and talked
to his camp and Square Ring and at this time they have declined
to give any additional comment on this because the lawsuit’s
still out there, it’s still going down.”
ROY
NELSON: “Yeah, it’s still one of those things that,
you know, eventually it’s going to work itself out. I mean,
the law, you know, I guess in the United States it’s been
going on for nine months so it’s slow, you know.”
KENNY
RICE: “But you were going to fight at UFC 125, so I mean
something was worked out. If Carwin doesn’t get injured,
you’re fighting him coming up.”
ROY
NELSON: “That was the plan, you know, so I mean you know
things happen, you know, there’s other things that, you
know, pop up in our world of MMA.”
KENNY
RICE: “But they were going to let you fight, though. I mean,
the Roy Jones Jr. people said you could fight at 125.”
ROY
NELSON: “I don’t think they…”
KENNY
RICE: “Oh, they didn’t?”
ROY
NELSON: “I don’t think it had anything to do with Roy
Jones Jr. I don’t think because the thing is with the Roy
Jones Jr. there was never like an injunction or anything like
that so it’s not, has nothing to do with that. I think it’s
just, you know, either to sideline some stuff some you know paperwork
out and then just call it a day.”
BAS
RUTTEN: “You know because it has to be, it’s a very
bad promotion for Roy Jones if he does it. If you’re a fighter,
you know, and we all love the UFC, we all love the fighters in
it, you’re going to start thinking twice to go to that organization.
So that would not be smart if that’s the case now.”
ROY
NELSON: “You know what? It actually doesn’t matter
if you’re going to 12 different organizations or not. In
the world of the US, you can sue anybody.”
BAS
RUTTEN: “That’s it and I can put on a light on an organization
that has just started by doing this.”
KENNY
RICE: “Have you talked to Roy Jones Jr. personally? Fighter
to fighter and said, hey, you know how it is, you can’t
be on the shelf for 8-9 months, I mean when do you fight again
now?”
ROY
NELSON: “I think if it really came down to it I think no
one can really stop you from making a livelihood. I think there’s
some legal stuff that you can maneuver for like, you know, someone
trying to stop you from making an actual living.”
KENNY
RICE: “Do you think you guys should sit down and talk? I
mean, seriously, fighter to fighter, I got to believe he’s
going to understand a little bit more this situation and cut
through the attorneys and the red tape.”
ROY
NELSON: “Well, we can always fight. That’s always another
way.”
KENNY
RICE: “Well, that’s one way to settle it.”
ROY
NELSON: “We can do a thumb wrestling match or whatever.
I mean, it’s one of those things.”
KENNY
RICE: “Rock, paper, scissors with you and Roy Jones Jr.
That would be interesting.”
ROY
NELSON: “We can make it a PPV.”
Source: Fight Opinion
|
Report:
Hardy-Johnson Planned for March UFC Event
Dan
Hardy and Anthony Johnson have reportedly agreed to meet at a
March UFC event.
Exactly
which event will host the welterweight showdown is unknown at
this time; however, a report from MMAFighting.com suggests the
bout could be included on the Spike TV-broadcast UFC Fight Night
24 show, expected to take place on March 26 in Seattle.
Hardy
defeated four straight opponents upon entering the Zuffa LLC
ranks in 2008, including the likes of Mike Swick and Akihiro
Gono, but his career met turbulence in 2010. After losing a lopsided
five-round title bout to champion Georges St. Pierre in March,
the 28-year-old Englishman was knocked out in the first round
of his match with Carlos Condit at UFC 120 in October. Despite
this, “The Outlaw” remains ranked among the world’s
top 170-pounders.
Johnson
will see his first action since November 2009, when he was choked
out by Josh Koscheck in a short-notice match at UFC 106. He was
forced to withdraw from a scheduled March fight with John Howard
after suffering a knee injury in training which required surgery.
Considered one of the UFC’s brightest welterweight prospects,
“Rumble” is 5-3 inside the Octagon, with all five wins
coming by way of knockout.
While
little is known about UFC Fight Night 24 -- including the proposed
venue -- it is likely to be headlined by a light heavyweight
contest between former champion Tito Ortiz and ex-Pride Fighting
Championships star Antonio Rogerio Nogueira.
Source: Sherdog
|
GSP’s
Manager: Animosity with Koscheck Wasn’t Fake
Georges
St. Pierre embraced Josh Koscheck after beating him at UFC 124
and seemed to dismiss Koscheck’s trash talk as hype for
their fight. However, Shari Spencer, GSP’s manager, recently
made it clear that the animosity was real.
“I
don’t think it was pretend, but I do think it’s behind
them, if that makes sense,” Spencer said on the Sherdog
Radio Network’s “Beatdown” show. “I think
there’s a difference when the hype is simply just for the
sake of hype and when it is maybe exaggerated a bit for the sake
of hype but yet the animosity is real. It’s behind them
after the fight. They move on; they’re professionals. I
don’t necessarily agree that it’s all pretend, and
so I think that keeps some legitimacy going. I think there was
true animosity between the two of them. There’s no doubt
about that in my mind.”
St.
Pierre dominated the fight, winning a unanimous decision and
beating Koscheck for the second time. He has now won eight straight
since his April 2007 upset loss to Matt Serra, a defeat that
led some to question St. Pierre’s mental fortitude. Those
days seem long gone.
“I
don’t know that the mental aspect of it was as large as
it was played out to be,” Spencer said. “Dana made
the comment, I think one time, ‘Which Georges St. Pierre
is going to show up?’ Or something along those lines. I
think it was overplayed, but I definitely think that as time
goes on, it becomes more and more difficult to get inside Georges’
head.”
Despite
his dominance since the Serra loss, St. Pierre still has some
critics. Detractors point to the four times he’s gone the
distance in his last five bouts, suggesting he fights conservatively
to avoid another loss. The lack of finishes could be explained
by the stellar competition he’s fought, though. Spencer,
for one, does not sound worried about the impact of another loss
on GSP’s career.
“From
a marketing perspective, I think there are many fighters who
are extremely marketable but that don’t have the record
that Georges’ does and that losses don’t always affect
your marketability,” she said. “He’s also said
that when he lost to Matt Hughes, he ended up getting many more
fans than when he was winning. Randy Couture has a few losses
on his record, and he’s one of the best-loved fighters of
all time. … I don’t think our corporate sponsors are
expecting a win or they’re going to pull out. We don’t
feel that weight at all. Not at all.”
Spencer
has helped St. Pierre become one of the few mixed martial artists
to cross over into the mainstream with sponsors such as Gatorade
and Under Armour. She credits his ability to separate himself
from conventional views on fighters.
“I
think he’s less of a typical stereotype of what the mainstream
thinks of MMA and at one point what I thought of MMA -- that
it’s mainly testosterone-laden, tatted up, pierced guys,”
Spencer said. “That’s what most people still think.
Slowly but surely we’re chipping away at that perception.
Here you’ve got a good-looking, clean-cut guy, wears a suit
at the press conference, doesn’t trash talk. He’s much
more mainstream America than the sport is. I think that’s
why he has that ability.”
In
addition to sponsorship money, St. Pierre also has his own branded
merchandise, which is yet another stream of income. Of course
he’s still a fighter first and will be receiving a percentage
of the pay-per-view revenue UFC 124 generated.
“I
haven’t heard any estimates yet on the pay-per-views. I
would think they did pretty well given the prefight hype,”
Spencer said. “I think I owe Josh Koscheck a really big
Christmas present because he did a great job of making everybody
want to tune in and see the fight.”
Source: Sherdog
|
Velasquez
vs. Dos Santos not scheduled yet
Junior
dos Santos is the next challenger for the heavyweight belt of
UFC, but the athlete, who fights out of Caçador, still
doesn’t know when he’ll return to the octagon. Boxing
coach of the fighter, Luis Carlos Dórea told TATAME that
he’s still in charge of his basic training while Ultimate
doesn’t call him. “I’ve heard some speculations,
people said maybe it’ll be at the end of April in Canada
(Toronto), but nothing has come to us yet. We’re doing the
basic work, the technical part, and now we’re only waiting
to know when it will happen”, tells Dórea.
On
an interview given to TATAME, Cigano told that he’s doing
much different training. After staying on the United States and
then coming to Rio de Janeiro, the fighter will sharpen his bang
with Dórea in Bahia until the official announcement of
UFC, when he intends to return to America. “I’ve trained
with Brandon Vera, who’s a tough guy, hard, used to fight
with heavyweights. The trainings there were very good, we were
very happy, but I have to come back home, recharge my batteries,
put things on their places around here (laughs)… When I
know the date I’ll continue the trainings there”.
Source: Tatame
|
Japanese
MMA falls on hard times
Japan,
which was the business center of mixed martial arts starting
around 1997 and stayed that way for nearly a decade, has been
struggling, unsuccessfully, to remain competitive with the growing
U.S. market over the past five years.
Of
late, the situation has deteriorated to the point the sport itself
has been hanging by a thread, as some fighters aren’t being
paid, others have defected to the UFC, and the annual New Year’s
Eve blowout show has yet to be finalized with less than two weeks
remaining.
When
MMA and kickboxing’s popularity peaked during the heyday
of stars like national icon Kazushi Sakuraba and the freak-show
popularity of former University of Washington football star Bob
Sapp, the scene was beyond the scope of what anyone in the North
American end of the industry could imagine.
The
big fighting stars were household names in the culture and the
biggest events were must-see, network prime-time spectaculars.
When the 6-4, 350-pound Sapp fought Akebono, the 6-8, 468-pound
sumo grand champion on Dec. 31, 2003, 54 million people in a
country of 128 million tuned in.
But
it’s a different world today. Fighting, like many things
in Japanese pop culture, was a fad. The novelty of Sapp, who
was not a top fighter, ran its course. Sakuraba, who is generally
considered a legend in the sport, was physically brutalized over
the years by constantly fighting against bigger men. It became
a sad sight watching him and his popularity faded. Most of the
top foreign fighters left for the more lucrative U.S. market.
Japan’s
trademark New Year’s Eve big events remain, as Dream, the
mixed martial company under the Fighting Entertainment Group
umbrella, which also promotes K-1 kickboxing, is in the midst
of putting together the 10th annual Dynamite! event.
In
past years, Japan’s general public by this point would already
be abuzz in anticipation of the event. The sports fans would
talk about Olympic athletes or people who were stars in other
sports, as well as well-known pro wrestlers, fighting. And the
hardcore fight fans would sink their teeth into matches involving
many of the best fighters in the world.
But
instead of talk about who was going to win what match, this year
most of the talk is about the future, and whether big-time MMA
in Japan even has one.
It’s
not a secret that FEG has been battling financial problems stemming
from the decline in interest in both kickboxing and MMA. Ratings
are down. Attendance is down. Money is beyond tight. Fighters,
who often have to wait months before getting paid after a fight,
are looking to get out.
The
most telling news about the scene was UFC’s signing of Dream’s
biggest drawing card and best known current star, Norifumi “Kid”
Yamamoto, earlier this month, eliminating him from appearing
on the December 31 show.
Yamamoto
(18-3, 1 no contest), who will compete as a bantamweight and
debut on Feb. 5 in Las Vegas against Demetrious Johnson, was
Japanese MMA’s biggest remaining draw. He was a key ratings
draw because of his popularity with younger women fans. He came
from a well-known and respected amateur wrestling family –
his father wrestled in the 1972 Olympics and was later the country’s
Olympic team coach. His two sisters, who both looked like models,
were both world champions in wrestling.
“It’s
pretty bad,” K-1 U.S. representative Michael Kogan said
about Yamamoto depature for the UFC. “It’s not deadly.
But it’s certainly not a good thing. He was a big draw,
both with TV ratings and ticket sales. It’s obviously going
to hurt.”
It’s
telling that Yamamoto, like Yoshihiro Akiyama before him, walked
away from a scene in which they were major celebrities, to start
from scratch in a place where they were not going to be pampered
and where it would be almost impossible to maintain their level
of success and popularity.
Another
Dream fighter, Michihiro Omigawa, arguably Japan’s top featherweight,
although someone who is not a star past the very small hardcore
audience, also just signed with UFC. It’s hardly a secret
in the industry that most of the top MMA names in Japan are making
inquiries about coming to the U.S., where things are more financially
stable.
“Yamamoto
was sponsored by Reebok and everywhere he went he turned heads,”
said Kogan, who felt Yamamoto was given bad advice in leaving
Japan. “It’s not like Jose Aldo walks down the street
in the U.S. and every head turns.”
The
main issue, of course, is money. Veteran Gary Goodridge, who
has fought in Japan for more than a decade, recently noted that
he had yet to be paid for his fight with Alistair Overeem on
last year’s New Year’s Eve show.
Adding
to the air of uncertainty is that after the New Year’s Eve
show, neither Dream nor K-1 have announced any future dates,
although that’s not as bad as it sounds. The major dates
are determined by network availability and it’s usually
in January when the details of the next year’s schedule
and plans start coming out.
There
may be light at the end of the tunnel. Those involved with the
promotion were told at the Dec. 11 K-1 World Grand Prix show,
the annual year-end kickboxing tournament, that new money was
coming in from investors in France and China. This money would
be used to expand into new markets, such as Europe and the Pacific
Rim, and not have to rely so much on the declining Japanese market.
A
few months back, when FEG head Sadaharu Tanigawa talked about
trying to raise capital, he specifically noted that they don’t
plan on expanding into the U.S., feeling that it would be impossible
on their home soil to compete with UFC and World Wrestling Entertainment,
which he called the company’s two leading competitors on
the world stage.
“But
I haven’t seen the money yet,” noted Kogan.
For
now, the company is attempting to finalize the New Year’s
Eve bash at the Saitama Super Arena, just outside of Tokyo. The
show will air live at 3 a.m. Eastern time on the morning of Dec.
31 on HDNet in North America.
Even
with all the obstacles, last year’s event was a big success,
built around the MMA debut of 2008 Olympic super heavyweight
judo gold medalist Satoshi Ishii facing aging 1992 gold medalist
Hidehiko Yoshida. The show drew 35,000 fans live, and the main
event did almost 26 million viewers. But there is no such mainstream
attraction this year on the schedule.
Less
than two weeks before the event, they are attempting to find
a match for Ishii (3-1), who at one point was the hoped-for savior
of the sport. The idea is to find a big-name fighter, perhaps
a kickboxer or pro wrestler from the past, whose name will mean
something, but who wouldn’t embarrass Ishii. Ishii has not
been able to translate his judo skill well into the sport, and
has shown no indications of being a top-level heavyweight. And
he doesn’t have the “it” factor promoters banked
on, as his subsequent matches haven’t drawn nearly the public
interest as his debut.
Promoters
are also attempting to find a match for Alistair Overeem (33-11,
1 no contest), the Strikeforce heavyweight champion who won the
K-1 World Grand Prix. A number of names, including Fabricio Werdum,
Antonio Silva, Andrei Arlovski and Bobby Lashley were brought
up in recent weeks as possible opponents. Werdum is recovering
from elbow surgery. Strikeforce is looking at using Silva and
Arlovski on early 2011 shows on Showtime and wouldn’t allow
them to fight on New Year’s Eve. Negotiations with Lashley
fell apart at the end of last week because of what Kogan called
outrageous financial demands. The biggest attraction they do
have lined up is Sakuraba (26-14-1, 2 no contests), 41, who is
years past the point where he should be fighting, being put in
the position for a last career hurrah when challenging Marius
Zaromskis for the Dream welterweight title. Zaromskis (13-5,
1 no contest), who was knocked out by both Nick Diaz and Evangelista
“Cyborg” Santos this past year in the U.S., is considered
a very beatable champion. Sakuraba, who spent most of his career
as an undersized light heavyweight, has never cut to 170.
They
also have a featherweight title match with Bibiano Fernandes
(8-2) defending against Hiroyuki Takaya (14-8-1), a rematch of
their 2009 title match that was a close split decision and of
match of the year caliber.
The
rest of the show has a wide variety of attractions. For the U.S.
audience, the most interesting is a lightweight battle with former
Strikeforce champion Josh Thomson (18-3, 1 no contest) vs. Japanese
slugger Tatsuya “The Crusher” Kawajiri (26-6-2).
They
are also a number of novelty fights. The two biggest involve
Shinya Aoki, Dream’s lightweight champion, and Gegard Mousasi,
the former Strikeforce light heavyweight champion.
Aoki
has a unique fight with kickboxer Yuichiro Nagashima. They will
alternate four rounds, with one round under MMA rules and the
next round they change gloves and fight under kickboxing rules.
A coin toss will determine what rules they start under and which
man has a huge advantage.
Mousasi,
who has competed in the past as a kickboxer, faces K-1 world
heavyweight champion kickboxer Kyotaro under kickboxing rules.
Source: Yahoo Sports
|
Rankings:
Year of change
In
his 2010 year in review, my colleague Dave Meltzer postulated
that the past 12 months featured a changing of the guard.
A
look back at the final Yahoo! Sports Top 10 poll of 2009 confirms
Meltzer’s theory. Half of last year’s top 10 are no
longer ranked, some of whom are so far off the radar it is almost
tough to imagine they were even ranked. Here’s a look at
where they stand now:
1.
Anderson Silva: The UFC middleweight champ is still on the same
win streak he was a year ago. But his questionable performance
in April against Demian Maia cost him just enough support in
a tight race to lose the top spot.
2.
Georges St. Pierre: Took the top spot in April and solidified
it with his Dec. 11 shutout win over Josh Koscheck.
3.
Fedor Emelianenko: Had just one appearance in 2010 – a quick
loss to Fabricio Werdum – and as such is on a slow slide
down the rankings.
4.
B.J. Penn: Back-to-back losses to Frank Edgar dropped him out
of consideration, but a win over Jon Fitch would likely put him
back in.
5.
Lyoto Machida: A crushing title loss to Mauricio Rua and a tough
split decision against Quinton Jackson has Machida on the outside
looking in.
6.
Jose Aldo: Was a relative newcomer to the rankings at the time.
Now, he seems the heir apparent to the No. 1 spot should St.
Pierre and Silva trip up.
7.
Mauricio Rua: Only fought once in 2010, but that win was his
stunning knockout of Machida.
8.
Brian Bowles: Yeah, he was actually ranked Top 10.
9.
Miguel Angel Torres: Former WEC bantamweight champ got the benefit
of the doubt after being knocked out by Bowles, but a subsequent
loss to Joe Benavidez dropped him out.
10.
Dan Henderson: A recent win over Renato Sobral couldn’t
erase memories of a one-sided loss to Jake Shields.
Will
2011 bring as much change as 2010? Only time well tell. With
that, the results of 2010’s final poll.
This
month’s voting panel: Denny Burkholder, CBSSports.com; Elias
Cepeda, Inside Fighting; Mike Chiappetta MMAFighting.com and
Fight! Magazine; Steve Cofield, Cagewriter and ESPN Radio 1100
Las Vegas; Neil Davidson The Canadian Press; Dave Doyle Yahoo!
Sports; Ben Fowlkes, SportsIllustrated.com and MMAFighting.com;
Josh Gross, ESPN.com; Ariel Helwani, Versus.com and MMAFighting.com;
Kevin Iole, Yahoo! Sports; Damon Martin, MMAWeekly.com; Todd
Martin, freelance; John Morgan, MMAjunkie.com; Franklin McNeil,
ESPN.com; Brad McCray, freelance; Dave Meltzer, Yahoo! Sports;
and The Wrestling Observer; Ken Pishna, MMAWeekly.com; Michael
David Smith, MMAFighting.com; Dann Stupp, MMAjunkie.com; and
The Dayton Daily News.
Scoring:
Ten points for a first-place vote, nine points for second, etc.,
down to one point for a 10th-place vote. Fighters who are under
suspension for usage of performance-enhancing substances or abuse
of drugs are ineligible to be considered for the duration of
their suspensions; fighters who have been inactive for more than
12 months are ineligible for consideration until after the completion
of their next fight.
10.
Jon Fitch
Points: 33
Affiliation: UFC
Weight class: Welterweight
Hometown: San Jose, Calif.
Record: 23-3, 1 no-contest (won past five)
Last month’s ranking: 10
Most recent result: Def. Thiago Alves, unanimous decision, Aug.
7
Analysis: Fitch recently said he felt he deserved a shot at St.
Pierre’s title ahead of Jake Shields. He has a chance to
go out and prove he deserves it when he meets B.J. Penn in February.
9.
Jake Shields
Points: 39
Affiliation: UFC
Weight class: Welterweight (never lost Strikeforce middleweight
title)
Hometown: San Francisco
Record: 26-4-1 (has won past 15)
Last month’s ranking: 9
Most recent result: Def. Martin Kampmann, split decision, Oct.
23
Analysis: Appears on track for the next shot at GSP’s title.
8.
Fedor Emelianenko
Points: 47
Affiliation: Strikeforce/M-1
Weight class: Heavyweight
Hometown: Stary Oskol, Russia
Record: 31-2, one no-contest (lost last one)
Last month’s ranking: 8
Most recent result: Lost to Fabricio Werdum, R1 submission, June
26
Analysis: The Russian legend has only had his hand raised once
in the past 24 months. As such, Emelianenko received votes from
just nine of this month’s 19 voters.
7.
Cain Velasquez
Points: 60
Affiliation: UFC
Weight class: Heavyweight (UFC heavyweight champion)
Hometown: Salinas, Calif.
Record: 9-0 (won past nine)
Last month’s ranking: 7
Most recent result: def. Brock Lesnar, R1 TKO, Oct. 23
Analysis: Buzz is his next title defense, against Junior dos
Santos, could come on the hotly anticipated April 30 Rogers Centre
card in Toronto.
6.
Dominick Cruz
Points: 73
Affiliation: WEC
Weight class: Bantamweight (UFC bantamweight champion)
Hometown: San Diego
Record: 16-1 (has won past seven)
Last month’s ranking: 6
Most recent result: Def. Scott Jorgensen, unanimous decision,
Dec. 16
Analysis: Cruz isn’t likely to rise any higher unless someone
in the top five loses, but he justified his current spot with
a workmanlike victory over Jorgensen.
5.
Frank Edgar
Points: 110
Affiliation: UFC
Weight class: Lightweight (UFC lightweight champion)
Hometown: Toms River, N.J.
Record: 13-1 (has won past five)
Last month’s ranking: 5
Most recent result: Def. B.J. Penn, unanimous decision, Aug.
28
Analysis: Edgar can atone for the only blemish on his record
when he kicks off the New Year with a match against Gray Maynard.
4.
Mauricio Rua
Points: 116
Affiliation: UFC
Weight class: Light heavyweight (UFC light heavyweight champion)
Hometown: Curitiba, Brazil
Record: 19-4 (won previous fight)
Last month’s ranking: 4
Most recent result: Def. Lyoto Machida, R1 TKO, May 8
Analysis: Finally returns to action in March when he defends
his title against Rashad Evans in Newark.
3.
Jose Aldo
Points: 147
Affiliation: WEC
Weight class: Featherweight (WEC featherweight champion)
Hometown: Rio de Janeiro
Record: 17-1 (has won past 10)
Last month’s ranking: 3
Most recent result: Def. Manny Gamburyan, R2 TKO, Sept. 20
Analysis: Still recovering after suffering a compressed vertebrae
in training.
2.
Anderson Silva
Points: 176 (8 first-place votes)
Affiliation: UFC
Weight class: Middleweight (UFC middleweight champion)
Hometown: Curitiba, Brazil
Record: 27-4 (has won past 12)
Last month’s ranking: 2
Most recent result: Def. Chael Sonnen, R5 submission, Aug. 7
Analysis: Was Silva’s performance against Chael Sonnen in
August a matter of Sonnen’s PED usage, or an indication
the 35-year-old Silva is slipping? His February defense against
Vitor Belfort should give an indication as to which.
1.
Georges St. Pierre
Points: 183 (11 first-place votes)
Affiliation: UFC
Weight class: Welterweight (UFC welterweight champion)
Hometown: Saint-Isidore, Quebec
Record: 20-2 (has won past seven)
Last month’s ranking: 1
Most recent result: Def. Josh Koscheck, unanimous decision, Dec.
11
Analysis: 30 consecutive round victories. ‘Nuff said.
Source: Yahoo Sports
|
‘JZ’
Cavalcante wants Thomson rematch in San Jose
Two-time
champion of Hero’s, Gesias Cavalcante debuted on Strikeforce
against the former champion Josh Thomson, but the decision of
the judges didn’t brought the Brazilian a good result, even
he was best for most of the time of the fight. Wanting a better
year in 2011, the lightweight launched to New York, to train
with Marcelo Garcia and Ricardo Libório, and chatted with
TATAME about his future on Strikeforce, looking forwards for
a remath with Thomson. “The next guy I’d like to confront
would be Josh Thomson just to make things clear (laughs). I’d
like to fight on his hometown, in San Jose, just like the previous
meeting we’ve had, because I think it’ll bring me much
more motivation”, guarantees Gesias, who talked about the
fusion between WEC and UFC, UFC’s monopoly on MMA and a
lot more.
How
are things on Strikeforce? Did they tell you when you’ll
fight again?
They’ll
make an edition of the event in January, but the card was already
fulfilled, so the guys warned me I wouldn’t fight on the
next edition of the event. But they’re thinking about me
fighting on their next edition, which I think probably will be
on February, but they haven’t told me about any opponent,
they gave me nothing. They only gave me the hope of fighting
in February.
Are
you back on the trainings after your fight with Josh Thomson,
or are you taking it slowly, waiting for their confirmation?
No,
I’m training… This month I’ve traveled a lot,
it was very good for me because I’ve trained in many different
places, I trained with Marcelo (Garcia) in New York, I’ve
trained in Canada, when I went on an Ultimate’s event, just
enjoying my family (laughs).
What
did you think of your last fight, that had a controversy outcome?
In
my mind, I think I did my job, I did enough to deserve the win.
I’ve dominated the first and the last rounds, lost the second
one, but that’s it… I won’t start pointing out
people to blame, if I have to point out mu finger to someone,
that someone will be myself, for now doing my job completely,
had done only 50%. I’ve had the chance to knock him down,
I’ve had the chance to submit him and I didn’t, so
my focus is to keep improving those aspects of my game and don’t
stay on this “almost there” level… I want to win.
How
were these trainings along with Marcelo in New York?
He’s
a legend. Lucky me, (Ricardo) Libório was there, so with
these trainings I’ve had there… Both Libório
and Marcelo are two endless encyclopedia. It was great training
with them. They are always talking, giving you tips, and then
when you less expect, they come up with something new… It
was very good for me, even because I was on a different place,
with guys I really like. I know Marcelo for a long time now,
it was great. It was a private seminar I had (laughs).
What
do you think about your weight class on Strikeforce? Who do you
think that might be your next opponent?
The
next guy I’d like to confront would be Josh Thomson just
to make things clear (laughs). I hate this doubt that people
now have about that fight. I’d like to fight on his hometown,
in San Jose, just like the previous meeting we’ve had for
me to know the event better, its problems, even because a new
event always brings you something new. A timing gap, the scheduling,
and I had a problem with the Commission there and I didn’t
have time to warm up and do my things, but I was prepared for
it, and my mind was also prepared for it. I’d like to have
this same opportunity again, at the same place, the same judges…
I’d like that, even because I’d like to make it clear
I went there to fight, that I’m capable of beating him,
which I did last time, but they didn’t see it that way.
People
started talking about it on the internet. Did anybody from the
event come to talk to you about this rematch?
No
one from the event came to talk to me, even because Josh will
fight now at the end of the year (Dynamite) and they’ve
thought about him fighting (Gilbert) Melendez, but it turned
out that Melendez won’t fight now, so there’s nothing
set, they don’t know whether they’ll give me this rematch
and the winner might have a title shot, or if they’ll give
my another opponent and let Josh fight Melendez for the title.
I’m like the fans now, I’m just waiting and training,
doing my part. The important is that they give me a date, that
I fight soon, no matter against whom. I’m used to it wasn’t
any different in Japan.
What
did you think about this fusion between UFC and WEC, worshiping
the lighter weight fighters?
That
was great, a very good thing, mainly for the lighter ones, of
145lbs division or below. Even the guys on the lightweight division,
that got mixed up… It’s good to have more competition,
but it’s a bad think though because there’ll be many
cuts. Everybody who was fighting on WEC will now fight on Ultimate,
but I see many people getting fired. Many people will be fired
because there isn’t so many events for all those fighters
to fight. For the guys from WEC it was excellent, but I’d
prefer if WEC had grown by itself and became as huge as Ultimate,
even if both events belong to the same company, Zuffa. In my
mind, as an athlete, I think that, for the sport, it’ll
be better if WEC grow by itself.
And
it all ends in UFC’s hands…
Yeah.
Dana White himself said that now it’s a war. Who fights
has to win. If you don’t win, if you don’t do a good
presentation, you’ll be cut off. There’s no other way.
He’s right, it’s his business, his job. He has done
a lot for the sport, but on the other hand, if you see it on
the human side, they’ll change many things for the athletes.
What
is your expectation for the next year?
I’m
very excited about 2011. I’ll make things all over again,
I’ll feeling fine, I’m feeling like I’m returning
to my timing. I stayed too much time off, returned, fought, and
then spent another year off, so I’m regaining my rhythm
back, by hard rhythm. Whatever they offer me, I’m in. they
can put me against anyone. I’ll test myself. I really like
something Renzo (Gracie) said: “I’ll die old and pooping
my pants out, but they’ll know who I am”, I think exactly
the same. I think that I have to break my barriers. Each fight
I think I was a champion, even on the ones I lost, I was a champion
at some point.
Source: Tatame
|
Big
Foot training to beat Fedor Emelianenko up
Coming
from wins over Andrei Arlovski and Mike Kyle, the last one by
KO, Antonio “Big Foot” Silva is training hard on the
United States for his next bout, that might be against Fedor
Emelianenko.
“We
were thinking about this fight for a long time, and Big Foot
is preparing himself for it. It’ll be, when it happens,
the greatest fight in his career. It’s a hard fight for
anyone, Fedor is a legend, and he deserves to be to known as
one”, comments Alex Davis, manager of the Brazilian. “I
think this bout will happen, that’s our hope. If you want
to be the best, you have to test yourself with the bests. We’re
just waiting the guys from Strikeforce to call us, he’ll
give a great show for you, as usual”.
Confident
on the heavyweight division, Alex believes on a spectacular win.
“I believe on Big foot a lot. I think that, on Werdum’s
fight, Fedor made a little mistake, which Werdum used wisely
to beat him. He’s much more prepared now… On Big Foot’s
case, I hope he can really beat that guy up. Big Foot has plenty
conditions to do it, he proved it on his last couple of fights,
and on the last one he proved how brave he is when he’s
in trouble”, concludes.
Source: Tatame
|
Relentless
Guida is all action
If
you’ve seen Clay Guida fight even once, then it will not
surprise you to learn of the type of a football player he was
as a child.
Guida
grew up in the Chicago area and, like many boys his age, played
youth football. Guida, though, wasn’t your typical defensive
player.
“You
know, I just loved to run around on the field,” Guida said.
“I used to just love to run and go and tackle the guy with
the ball.”
He
chuckles nervously and then continues.
“But
I used to love to run and tackle the guy without the ball, too,”
he said. “I was no different than I am now, I guess. I just
loved to run around and hit people.”
Guida
will get a chance to hit Takanori Gomi on New Year’s night
in Las Vegas during one of the most anticipated fights of UFC
125 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.
Guida,
29, is one of the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s most
popular athletes because of his energetic, frenetic style. He’s
a whirling dervish who has rarely failed to disappoint in terms
of action, if not in terms of results.
He’s
only 7-5 in the UFC and he’s largely come up short when
he’s stepped up in competition.
Guida,
though, is targeting the UFC lightweight title and insists it’s
not a pipedream of an out-of-touch athlete. He’s been so
intent on putting on a show, he says, that he’s often lost
sight of his game plan and chosen to fight his opponent’s
style.
In
no fight was that more clear than in his 2009 loss to Diego Sanchez,
a bout many view as that year’s top match. The bout, which
the UFC put 13th on its list of its 100 greatest matches, began
with Guida charging out of his corner as if he were running the
100-meter dash.
Sanchez
kicked him in the head and landed a series of powerful strikes
before Guida could recover and control most of the last two rounds.
Guida
says he’s worked on being more disciplined and sticking
to the game plan rather than trying to just put on a show.
“What’s
happened in a lot of those fights is very simple: I didn’t
fight my fight,” Guida said. “In the Diego fight, I
fought Diego’s fight for the first minute or so, when he
kicked me in the head, but then I won the second and third rounds.
I implemented my game plan a little bit too late.
“Against
Kenny Florian, I started off pretty good for the first two or
three minutes, but then I started fighting his kick boxing style
as if I was a pro kick boxer, which I’m not. Wrestling is
what got me here, but in a lot of those fights, I got away from
what Clay Guida is and it cost me. But now, I’m focusing
on fighting my fight and 90 percent of the time, I get my hand
raised.”
Guida
did plenty of soul searching after the loss to Florian at UFC
107 in Memphis, Tenn., on Dec. 12, 2009. It was his second loss
in a row and seemed to bump him from the list of title contenders.
The lightweight division is loaded with top talents, and back-to-back
losses are going to make it extraordinarily difficult to get
into the title picture.
It
wasn’t a good time, but Guida said the loss made him take
stock of what he’d been doing.
“I
thank Kenny for that fight, because the loss really caused me
to rededicate myself to this sport, to learning and to improving
and trying to get everything out of myself,” he said. “I’ve
worked on repetition and technique and when I fight my style,
I know I’m a tough guy for anyone to handle.”
He’s
won back-to-back fights since then, submitting Shannon Gugerty
and Rafael dos Anjos. That earned him the fight with Gomi, a
former PRIDE lightweight champion and a man who briefly was regarded
as the best lightweight in the world.
Despite
his own loss to Florian, Gomi is still one of the more highly
regarded lightweights in the world and a win over him carries
a lot of significance. Gomi rebounded from a lackluster performance
against Florian, in which he was tapped to a rear naked choke
in the third round in his UFC debut, to knock out Tyson Griffin
in August in a more typical highlight-reel manner.
Given
that Guida’s goal is to one day wrap the UFC lightweight
belt around his waist, a win over Gomi would be significant in
moving him along that path. His coach, Greg Jackson, has spent
hours working the plan with Guida to prepare him for what is
one of his most important bouts.
“Everybody
is different in how you work with them, but with Clay, we work
on the plan over and over and over until he doesn’t have
a choice and that all he can think about is the plan,” Jackson
said. “Some guys, you can give them a sense of what they
should be thinking about and they can work it in during sparring.
With Clay, we’re constantly talking to him about what he
needs to do to win the fight. We give him a heavy dose of planning.”
The
result, Jackson said, is that Guida is undergoing a metamorphosis.
He will never lose his fan-pleasing style, but he’s no longer
playing to the strength of the opposition and away from his own
strengths.
As
they’ve worked together, Jackson has come to realize that
Guida is far gifted than his 7-5 UFC record would suggest.
“His
last two fights have been good and he’s shown a lot of progress,”
Jackson said. “He’s one of those guys who has great
heart and great determination and that got him to a certain point.
But now, he’s been working on the technical aspects and
becoming more a more technical fighter and that’s helping
him a great deal.
“He’s
an unbelievable guy. He has a great work ethic and he’s
done a great job at trying to develop his talent the right way.”
He’s
not, though, changing his style. He’s always going to be
the Tasmanian Devil of MMA, roaring out of his corner and fighting
at a pace few can imagine.
“I
don’t know any other way,” he said. “I love what
I’m doing and when you’re happy with what you’re
doing, it shows.”
Source: Yahoo Sports
|
Kim’s
Pride Dream Deferred
BUSAN,
South Korea -- It was a rainy Saturday in Seoul. The gym was
nothing extraordinary: mats, heavy bags, a ring and clutter near
the coach’s office. It smelled of the sweaty, worn interior
of boxing gloves, mildew and urinals that did not quite flush
enough. It was empty, save two fighters training diligently.
Perhaps
all that stood out from your average gym fare was the music on
the stereo: the epic, unmistakable thump of the Pride Fighting
Championships fighter parade theme. The playlist shuffled through
appropriate follow-ups: “Sandstorm” by Darude, “Wild
Boys” by Duran Duran, “Age Age Every Knight” by
DJ Ozma -- the entrance tracks of Wanderlei Silva, Mirko “Cro
Cop” Filipovic and Akihiro Gono. Though unmistakably cheesy,
the music did something to raise the level of the workout.
The
date was Oct. 7, 2007. Today, Pride is but a vivid memory. However,
more than three years later, that lanky welterweight on the mat,
Dong Hyun Kim, has turned out to be one of the UFC’s most
promising up-and-coming 170-pounders.
That
day, Kim -- not yet known as the “Stun Gun” -- was
preparing to fly to Japan and rematch then Deep welterweight
champion Hidehiko Hasegawa for the title. Kim had knocked out
Hasegawa two months earlier in a non-title affair, removing him
from consciousness with a brutal slam with just seconds to go
in the fight. Three days later, Kim returned home, winless and
beltless. He and Hasegawa battled to a controversial majority
draw in a fight most felt Kim won. After everyone took their
cut, Kim took home just $300 for his effort.
D. Mandel
The
disappointment was compounded. As he tore through Deep, racking
up a 7-0-1 mark in just 16 months, Kim had been in talks to fight
in Pride over the previous few months. In spite of Zuffa LLC’s
purchase of Pride in March 2007, he remained hopeful he would
get the chance the chance to fight for what was then the biggest
promotion in the world.
“Growing
up, it was my dream to fight in Pride,” Kim says. “In
those days, Pride was much bigger than the UFC, and when I found
out that Pride wanted me to fight for them, I was so happy I
shouted. Then, I waited and waited for a fight, and the delay
went on and on. I was depressed and wasted my time just training
and waiting.”
Though
Kim has told the story countless times, it still clearly bothers
him.
“It
wasn’t like I just got a phone call and found out that Pride
was gone,” he recalls with genuine sorrow. “What I
remember is the waiting.”
There
was a time when you could not turn on Korean television without
seeing a clip of Fedor Emelianenko cresting mid-suplex in Kevin
Randleman’s arms; Quinton “Rampage” Jackson napping
in the ropes, blood spewing from his forehead courtesy of Wanderlei
Silva; or Kazushi Sakuraba battling through some intermediate
stage of snuff movie-type disrepair. That quickly ended with
the death of Pride. Gone were the live events, replays and two-hour
“best of” specials. The golden era of Japanese MMA,
the ramp, the pyrotechnics, the cavernous venues, choreographed
entrances and orchestra-laden opening ceremonies seem like ages
ago.
Gone,
too, was Kim’s contract. The biggest stars of a uniquely
Asian brand of MMA were about to begin their slow drift west.
Kim would be instrumental in changing the perception in Korea
of the UFC as little more than a late-night MMA infomercial.
Today,
“Stun Gun” is a star in his native South Korea, where
he has almost single-handedly created a market for UFC programming.
He is the focus of television specials. He is featured in magazines.
He does Korean-language commentary for UFC events and television
commercials for Reebok. Though “household name” might
be a stretch, Kim is just a tier or two below.
“Growing
up, it was my dream to fight in Pride.”
-- Dong Hyun Kim
As
Kim shuffles down a sidewalk in his home of Busan, a group of
rowdy high school boys spot him from the second floor of their
sports academy. The youths suspend their workouts and wedge their
heads into the space below the windows to yell encouragement.
He gets but a few steps further before some younger girls ask
Kim to sign his autograph in their notebooks, giggling all the
while. A middle-aged man waits on the periphery of the girls.
The most self-conscious of the bunch, he waits patiently, until
the girls have dispersed, to ask for a picture with Kim. The
whole scenario plays out in just a five-minute span.
Yet,
despite his undefeated record, Kim remains a fringe main card
fighter on UFC pay-per-view telecasts. Casual North American
fans know very little about him.
“Some
people call me Asian or Japanese, or Chinese. Korea is a very
developed nation that has produced many great athletes. I am
Korean. Ko-re-an,” he says, enunciating the syllables.
“We’re
always in the top 10 in the medal count at the Olympics,”
Kim says. He then smiles before he pauses and clarifies his statement,
deadpanning: “That’s South Korean, not North Korean.”
Source: Sherdog
|
Ex-UFC
Heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar is who we thought he was
Yesterday,
we celebrated the fifth anniversary of the Fight Opinion web
site. (Quietly.) One of the goals of this web site when we started
was to create a platform that would help educate readers to become
smarter about the business side of Mixed Martial Arts. I think
we’ve successfully been ahead of the curve on a lot of stories
and, in turn, have readers who have gone on to become writers
on various platforms. Remember, five years ago, Fight Opinion
was one of the first hybrid news/opinion MMA sites out there
before blogging platforms like Movable Type and WordPress helped
create the boom we have today. I wrote about MMA long before
Fight Opinion, but we moved into territory where there were only
a couple of online radio shows for MMA (at most). The landscape
back then versus today is completely different.
One
of the stories that I’ve longed warned everyone about is
the career of Brock Lesnar in the UFC. We know his history —
he does something for a little while, makes some money or fame,
and moves on before he gets completely exposed and runs out of
sugar daddies willing to recruit him into something else. In
many ways, he reminds me of having the spirit of Bruiser Brody
(look him up on Google, non-wrestling fans) leaving one place
after another before his welcome is warn out. Lesnar was in WWE
for a few years, then he went to try out for the Minnesota Vikings,
then he went to New Japan, and eventually ended up in UFC.
When
Brock was pummeled by Cain Velasquez, there was the goofy Undertaker
incident that was caught on camera by Ariel Helwani. Immediately,
the rumors started flying about Vince McMahon wanting Brock Lesnar
to appear at Wrestlemania. As we know with Vince McMahon, the
harder it is for him to sign someone the hungrier and more motivated
he gets to make it happen. (Kind of reminds me of someone else
we know as a boss as well.) Anyhow, when Lesnar lost to Velasquez
everyone started talking about when he would come back to training
to redeem himself in the cage. At first, there were indications
Lesnar would get back in the swing of things quickly. Then, he
decided to take a break for hunting season. Now? Keith Harris
notes (from hearing/reading the cryptocity of Dave Meltzer) the
waiting game that Mr. Lesnar is playing. It’s a game that
Dana White wants no part of. However, Mr. White should have thought
of this when he signed Lesnar in the first place to a contract.
What’s intriguing about UFC being relucant to allow Brock
to appear at Wrestlemania is that not only is UFC destroying
WWE in PPV buys but they have also taken away a lot of disgruntled
WWE/wrestling fans who are sick of the McMahon/Kevin Dunn cookie-cutter
production. In one respect, Dana’s objections make complete
and total business sense. On the other hand, why should he be
worried about Lesnar appearing at Wrestlemania if the public
at-large knows that UFC is real and WWE is not so much? Despite
the amazing growth of UFC, I do think the situation with Lesnar
indicates how nervous people in MMA still are to the fact that
the public at-large, or at least the media, is willing to lump
the two into the same business category.
Brock
Lesnar is who we thought he was — and we’ve been saying
it for many, many years on Fight Opinion. In fact, since day
one this site was created. Happy Anniversary, everyone.
Source: Fight Opinion
|
Is
there a legitimate sales pitch for the Shane Mosley/Manny Pacquiao
fight?
Today
was an interesting day in Japan, as all three Kameda brothers
fought at Saitama Super Arena for the “Kameda Matsuri (festival”
event and won their respective fights. Koki Kameda defeated “Japanese
killer” Alexander Munoz by unanimous decision after 12 rounds
for the WBA World Bantamweight title. Daiki Kameda defeated Silvio
Olteanu by split decision after 12 rounds for the WBA World Flyweight
title. (Fightnews completely dumped on this fight as one of the
worst technical bouts ever.) Tomoki Kameda defeated Pichitchai
Twins Gym by TKO in R3. The event was titled “Thank God
it’s BOXING DAY” but no attendance for the show was
given.
The
boxing show drew a 13.8% rating on TBS and got crushed by All
Japan figure skating on Fuji TV which drew a 29% for the women’s
freestyle program.
Speaking
of trying to sell a fight, we have the upcoming Shane Mosley/Manny
Pacquiao fight. As Steve Cofield and Kevin Iole put it, this
is one of those fights where protesting boxing fans are going
to have to talk themselves out of impulse-buying the PPV at the
last minute.
STEVE
COFIELD: “They made the fight. Not a big shocker. Shane
Mosley and Manny Pacquiao going at it. Not a big shocker, but
there’s a lot of anger out there right now. I don’t
know if the response you’re getting is positive. I know
the response I’ve heard on radio and on the blogosphere,
not good.”
KEVIN
IOLE: “Not good. I mean it’s about 4 to 1 against this
fight. Shane Mosley against Manny Pacquiao, people are upset.
And I think it’s going to show in the PPV results. I don’t
think it’s going to be as good as what they think. I…
I wish they would have picked Juan Manuel Marquez. I think they’ve
had two sensational fights. They’re both in the Top 5 pound-for-pound,
Manny Pacquiao obviously number one. You know, Marquez seems
to have had the style of Manny Pacquiao figured out and maybe
the only guy to do that. To me, that would have been the fight
to put on to make. Secondarily since we’ve got this whole
Golden Boy/Top Rank feud that gets into things, you know Andre
Berto’s sitting there, an undefeated Welterweight with speed,
with power… In Top Rank’s defense, Berto hasn’t
beaten a top-level well-known guy yet so you might say, what
has he done to deserve a fight against Pacquiao, you know, that’s
a legitimate argument. I can understand that. But I think most
people understand that Berto has the skill and when you see him
in there, when you project, he’s going to put on a good
fight. I mean, he’s going to force Manny Pacquiao to be
better. And that’s what we want, I mean, ultimately this
is entertainment and it’s about the customers and the people
buying and we want to give them the best possible product. When
you’re at a restaurant you don’t go and if you’re
going to sell a $12 hamburger you go to McDonald’s to buy
it, you try to give them the best burger that you can give. Well,
in boxing, if you’re going to put on the fights you want
to give them the best product and I think it only helps, you
know, repeat business but unfortunately, you know, I don’t
see this, dissing Shane Mosley. Shane Mosley is one of the best
of this era but he’s 40 years old and we’ve seen a
decline in his game. I really am disappointed that this fight
was put together.”
STEVE
COFIELD: “I remember sitting there about a month ago and
both Lou DiBella with Berto was at a press conference along with
Richard Schaefer and his guy Juan Manual Marquez and without
knowing even what was going to go happen, I think they sort of
knew, but without even knowing the final conclusion they were
ready to rip someone’s head off so I cannot imagine what
those two guys are like today and yesterday.”
KEVIN
IOLE: “Lou DiBella… Lou just went off the deep end.
But you know rightly so. You know… and even DiBella admits
the right fight to make was Marquez, you know, but DiBella said,
hey, if you couldn’t get the fight done, my guy’s here,
my guy’s ready for this fight, he’s ready to step up
to the next level and even though in Berto’s last fight
he didn’t fight a very tough opponent, Freddy Hernandez,
he was challenged, hey, let’s see you do something to make
a statement and he went out there and had a dramatic knockout,
really went for it, had a dramatic early knockout. I think that
both Schaefer and DiBella have a right to be angry as do the
fans.”
STEVE
COFIELD: “Absolutely. So it’s going to be Mosley and
Pacquiao, the guy who’s put this together is Bob Arum. Now,
if I tell Bob face-to-face I don’t like the fight, it might
get ugly. He likes you, but you know, you ripped it and you’re
going to continue to rip it so Bob’s reaction to someone
like Kevin Iole who’s a pretty respected, really respected
boxing writer ripping his fight?”
KEVIN
IOLE: “It depends who we’re talking about. Well, I
had a conversation with Bob yesterday and he disagrees with me
but he understands, you know, it’s not a personal thing
and I think that criticism about it is just about, hey, I am
advocating for what I believe is best for the public and best
for the sport of boxing and I understand Bob, Bob makes a couple
of points that I understand because I understand the PPV industry
and sometimes the people in boxing, the fans, don’t understand
how PPV works and Bob is right when he says that it’s really
the casual fans, the fan who maybe watches one or two fights
a year who determine a success or a failure of a PPV because
all of us who are the hardcore fans, you know, the ones who tape
ESPN2’s Friday Night Fights and watch ShoBox, you know,
I have on my DVR I have ShoBox set to automatically record, I
have HBO fights that automatically record, I have ESPN2 set to
automatically record, I have HBO set to automatically record,
so I have all these fights coming on and when I watch the Top
Rank Live fights in Spanish so I’m not the guy that they
have to worry about selling. (The casual fan) That’s the
person who really sells the PPV so I understand where Arum is
coming from, but I think in this case here is where my argument
with Bob is… 1.4 million people bought Mayweather/Mosley
on PPV and they saw Mosley kind of lay an egg, they saw Mosley
not look very good against Floyd Mayweather Jr. and if we’re
saying Pacquiao and Mayweather are the numbers one and two in
the world pound-for-pound and I personally have Pacquiao one
and Mayweather two, how do we expect it to be any different against
Manny Pacquiao? You know, Shane is not getting younger, he’s
going to be only four months shy of his 40th birthday at that
point and I understand styles make fights but I think Shane has
lost enough off of his fastball at this stage that he’s
not the same fighter so the argument that Bob makes doesn’t
carry water only because Shane is a diminished fighter.”
STEVE
COFIELD: “I’ll tell you the big challenge, they get
me every time with the 24/7. What’s the hook this time?
They can’t get me, I know they can’t.”
KEVIN
IOLE: “Well you know what I think they’re going to
do on the 24/7 this time is they’re going to play up the
discontent. I think they’re’ going to talk Shane Mosley
about, hey, are you an old man and they’re going to talk
Nazim Richardson about that, they’re going to talk to fans,
we’re going to you know just like we saw in 24/7 on the
Pacquiao/Margarito fight where they very had on and maybe to
some people said overkill talked about the hand wrap issue with
Margarito, they’re going to do the same thing with Shane
Mosley and they’re going to, you know, discuss how there
was a lot of animosity toward the fight and people didn’t
think he should have gotten the fight and I think that’s
what is going to be the angle and it’s going to be, you
know, Shane Mosley, you know what, I’m going to prove all
of you doubters wrong.”
Source: Fight Opinion
|
UFC
Champ Dominick Cruz: “Urijah Faber’s Become My Biggest
Fan”
by Damon
Martin
Even though Dominick Cruz has solidified himself atop the bantamweight
division, there are still a few challenges ahead for the world’s
top-ranked 135-pound fighter and the biggest one is a rematch
with the only fighter to defeat him, Urijah Faber.
A
Cruz-Faber rematch has been on the tongue of just about everyone
since the champion dismantled Scott Jorgensen during the final
WEC show.
Cruz
says he wants to face Faber next, and would love for the fight
to come at the end of the newest season of “The Ultimate
Fighter.”
“I
definitely want that fight,” Cruz told MMAWeekly Radio about
a rematch with Faber. “It’s something I’ll take
in stride. I prefer to have that fight fighting for ‘The
Ultimate Fighter’ as a coach, that’s something I was
really going for. It’s pretty much up to the UFC. My job
is to fight and to fight the best guys in the world, and I feel
like beating Urijah is just a way to solidify that for myself.”
Faber
defeated Cruz back in 2007 in a featherweight title bout, and
the two fighters have never quite mended fences. Cruz is actually
happy that Faber has so much to say about him because it keeps
his name in the headlines.
“The
bottom line is he’s become my biggest fan in a sense because
I hear ‘Dominick Cruz’ out of his mouth more on any
show ever. In a sense, thank you,” Cruz said to Faber.
The
trash talk has already heated up between the two fighters, and
while Cruz likes to be as detached as possible and leave emotion
out of any fight, he’s going to save up a few extra punches
for Faber if they meet again.
“You
do remember that trash talk when you’re in the fight with
somebody,” Cruz admitted. “You remember everything
that they say to you over the 10-week process of camp, all the
trash that they’re saying and all the negative that they’re
saying about you, and when I go in there and fight, I let all
that out.”
The
biggest factors now are waiting for UFC president Dana White
to make his decision regarding who he wants to coach the 13th
season of “The Ultimate Fighter” and Cruz opting whether
or not to have surgery on his hand.
Prior
to the fight with Jorgensen, Cruz revealed on MMAWeekly.com Radio
that a nagging hand injury that didn’t necessarily affect
his fights was something that he needed to get repaired and it
would likely sideline him for four to six months.
If
the Faber fight is offered or a coaching stint on “The Ultimate
Fighter,” Cruz has some tough decisions ahead of him whether
to have the surgery now or put it off till later.
“I’m
still talking to my coaches about it and we’ve got to see
who’s going to be next on the roster. I just got back from
out of town today so this week we should sit down and probably
get into that stuff for sure,” Cruz said.
The
champion will enjoy his holidays and then wait to hear from the
UFC to find out exactly what the next defense of his bantamweight
title will entail.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
The
MMA media’s version of ant-infested fruitcake: Year-end
awards
By Zach
Arnold
The
Bazzie Awards (Dec 31st on HDNet at 8 PM EST), on HDNet. It’s
the channel’s year-end awards. Here’s the categories
and the nominees they selected.
KO
(Punch of the Year)
- Hector Lombard’s 6-second KO of Jay Silva (Bellator 18)
- Mike Russow finishes off Todd Duffee (UFC 114)
- Cain Velasquez pummels Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (UFC 110)
- Robbie Lawler disposes of Melvin Manhoef (SF Miami)
- BJ Penn gives Matt Hughes a 20-second greeting (UFC 123)
- Marlon Sandro’s 38-second KO of Masanori Kanehara (Sengoku
13)
KO
(Kick of the Year – video package)
- Anthony Pettis has a special greeting for Danny Castillo (WEC
47)
- George Roop sends The Korean Zombie into a deep sleep (WEC
51)
- Maximo Blanco finishes off Chang Hyun Kim (Sengoku 12)
- Tom Watson (MFC 24) over Travis Galbraith
- Cole Escovedo sends Yoshiro Maeda to get some smelling salts
(DREAM 13)
Submission
of the Year (video package)
- Fabricio Werdum vs. Fedor at Strikeforce last June in San Jose
- Scott Jorgensen vs. Chad George (WEC 47)
- Matt Hughes vs. Ricardo Almeida (UFC 117 in Oakland)
- Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen (UFC 117 in Oakland)
- Michelle Waterson with flying armbar on Rosary Califano (Extreme
Beatdown)
- Shinya Aoki achilles’ hold on Crusher Kawajiri (DREAM
15)
- Douglas Lima (MFC 27) triangle arm-bar on Jesse Juarez
Most
Bizarre Moment (video package)
- Paul Daley’s post-fight punch on Josh Koscheck last May
in Montreal
- Strikeforce Nashville post-fight brawl with Mayhem Miller and
the Cesar Gracie camp on CBS
- Krzyszstof Sozysnski ‘checks the oil’ at UFC 122
- Post fight celebration (V3 Fights)
- Jonathan Ivey’s rolls (USA MMA)
- Robin Black vs. Matt Knysh (Aggression MMA)
Female
MMA fighter of the year
- Marloes Coenen
- Megumi Fujii
- Cris Cyborg
- Zoila Frausto
- Miesha Tate
MMA
Fight of the Year (Best Bout – video package)
- Leonard Garcia vs. Korean Zombie (WEC 48 at Arco Arena in Sacramento)
- Chris Leben vs. Yoshihiro Akiyama (UFC 116 in Las Vegas)
- Brock Lesnar vs. Shane Carwin (UFC 116 in Las Vegas)
- Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen (UFC 117 in Oakland)
- Jorge Santiago vs. Kazuo Misaki (Sengoku 14)
- Chris Lozano vs. Jason Dent (NAAFS)
MMA
Fighter of the Year (MVP)
- Jose Aldo
- Frankie Edgar
- Alistair Overeem
- Anderson Silva
- Cain Velasquez
2010
MMA Upset of the Year
- Frankie Edgar vs. BJ Penn (UFC 112 in Abu Dhabi)
- Fabricio Werdum vs. Fedor (Strikeforce last June in San Jose)
- Chris Leben vs. Yoshihiro AKiyama (UFC 116 in Las Vegas)
- Jake Shields vs. Dan Henderson (Strikeforce last April in Nashville)
- John Hathaway vs. Diego Sanchez (UFC 114 in Las Vegas)
- Manny Gamburyan vs. Mike Brown (WEC 48 at Arco Arena in Sacramento)
2010
MMA Fight Team of the Year
- American Kickboxing Academy
- American Top Team
- Jackson’s MMA
- Black House MMA
- Golden Glory
- Team Tompkins/Tapout
2010
MMA Breakthrough Fighter of the Year
- Phil “Mr. Wonderful” Davis
- Frankie Edgar
- Jon “Bones” Jones
- Rory MacDonald
- George Sotiropoulos
Source: Fight Opinion
|
UFC
Champ Frankie Edgar A “Good Fit” To Coach The Ultimate
Fighter
by Damon
Martin
The road from “The Ultimate Fighter” has led many competitors
to the UFC, while a great many active stars have seen their careers
hit new heights while coaching on the reality show.
One
person who has been fighting actively in the UFC for almost four
years, but didn’t come to the promotion by way of “The
Ultimate Fighter” and has yet to coach on the show, is current
UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar.
With
no coaches named for Season 13 of the reality show, Edgar would
be quick to raise his hand in response to UFC president Dana
White if he asked, “Do you want to be a (expletive) TUF
coach?”
“I
think it’s a great opportunity,” Edgar told MMAWeekly
Radio. “Definitely push the image out there and everything.
I think it would be a pretty cool experience to coach some guys,
and try to help out some young guys. Make their dreams come true.”
Edgar
has plenty of coaching experience under his belt already. After
wrestling at Clarion University, Edgar took a job as an assistant
coach at Rutgers University in his home state of New Jersey,
and still works there to this day.
“I’m
at Rutgers University helping the wrestling team already over
there, so I think I’d have a good fit for it,” he said.
The
13th season of the reality show is set to begin taping in early
2011 with episodes to begin airing on Spike TV in March. As the
time winds down to taping, White might just have a close eye
on the Edgar vs. Maynard UFC 125 match-up with the winner paired
opposite Anthony Pettis.
Whether
it’s Season 13 or somewhere down the road, Edgar definitely
wants to get a shot coaching on the show.
“I’m
hoping it does (happen) sooner or later,” he said.
The
New Jersey native will finish out his training camp before heading
out to Las Vegas for his title defense against Maynard. With
a win, he may very well end up coaching on the next season of
the reality show.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
Students
gather in memory of Carlson Gracie
by Carlos
Eduardo Ozório
This
Thursday, some old friends who represented Master Carlson Gracie’s
academy had a get-together. As time went by, some went in different
directions, but the memory of the master and the years lived
together on Figueiredo Magalhães Road in Copacabana shall
never be erased.
The
academy Nova Geração in Leblon was where the meeting
took place. The Master responsible, black belt Carlson Francisco
“Toco” wasn’t there, as he was in the USA. However,
black belts the likes of Amaury Bitetti, Wallid Ismail, Bebeo
Duarte, Sergio Bolão, Marcus “Parrumpinha”,
Marcelo “Playmobil”, Ari Galo, Vinicinho Cruz, Vauvenargues
Marinho and a number of other from the academy, like Vitor Dórea,
“Skinhead”, and Carlinhos “Passa Fome” among
others.
The
folks took the chance to teach techniques, have a few rolls,
and there was no lack of horsing around. One of the most celebrated
moments was the arrival of Wallid Ismail, a bit late. Next to
Bitetti – both promoters of MMA events –, everyone
went wild: “So which is the better event, Bitetti Combat
or Jungle Fight?!” inquired Rafael Dias, bringing everyone
to laughter before an answer could arise.
There
was also a promotion. Bebeo handed a black belt to Fausto Iglesias,
who competed a great deal under Carlson. Others received their
brown belts. Gláucio Motta, from Parrumpinha, and Beto
Satã, from Ari Galo.
There’s
more coming next year!
Source: Gracie Magazine
|
Alistair
Overeem wins 2010 Nikkan Sports MVP award
By Zach
Arnold
Background
information: Every year, Tokyo Sports (and other media outlets
they work with) give out yearly pro-wrestling awards. With the
rise of MMA, they also gave out awards to those who did the cross-over
between the two (think: Bob Sapp). Nikkan Sports, one of the
major sports daily papers in Japan, created their own awards
several years ago but separated wrestling and fight (K-1/MMA)
categories in their award choices. The difference in the voting
process is that the media votes in the Tokyo Sports awards and
the fans vote for the Nikkan awards.
“Konnichiwa.
My name is Alistair Overeem. It’s been a really hard year
but a successful year. I participated in the K-1 GP and won a
championship title. So I’m very proud of that. It was hard
fights. I’ve worked and trained really hard with myself
and the team, but it paid off and we became champion after three
hard fights on December 11th and I’m the most happiest man
on the planet right now. Very proud, very happy to bring the
gold (belt) back home. I have no injuries, so me and the team
decided to stay in Tokyo to do television appearances and PR.
So we are now in Tokyo doing that and because I have no injuries,
I will participate in the Dynamite show December 31 so I look
forward to showing my Japanese fans great fights, a lot more
knockouts, and come to the Dynamite show. Mitene!
“Dear
fans, I would like to thank all of you who voted for me to receive
the [Nikkan Sports] award 2010. Domo arigato.”
Source: Fight Opinion
|
Kid
Yamamoto Draws Mighty Tough Octagon Debut at UFC 126
by Ken
Pishna
Years in the making, Japanese superstar Norifumi “Kid”
Yamamoto will make his Octagon debut at UFC 126, against WEC
transfer Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson.
The
bout is set for Super Bowl weekend at the Mandalay Bay Events
Center.
Roaring
to a 17-1 start in his career, fighting almost exclusively for
Shoot, K-1, and Dream, Yamamoto hasn’t been nearly as successful
recently. He’s 1-2 in his past three fights, losing to current
Bellator featherweight champion Joe Warren and former Sengoku
featherweight champion Masanori Kanehara. He righted the ship
by knocking out Federico Lopez in May, which was also Yamamoto’s
bantamweight debut.
Those
three bouts were spread out over the course of the past three
years due to a Yamamoto knee injury and the volatile mixed martial
arts scene in Japan.
Known
for his explosive striking style and highlight reel knockouts
– 13 of his 18 wins have come via knockout – Yamamoto
has long been on UFC president Dana White’s hit list, once
he was free and clear of contractual obligations in Japan.
That day finally came recently with White announcing Yamamoto’s
signing on his official Twitter account.
His
first bout for the UFC will come with less fanfare than expected.
While fans are calling for a bout between Yamamoto and the likes
of former WEC champions Urijah Faber and Miguel Torres, he will
instead enter the Octagon on the preliminary portion of the UFC
126 fight card to face WEC transfer Demetrious Johnson.
Johnson
may not have the name recognition of Faber or Torres, but he
has proven to be one of the bantamweight division’s toughest
competitors in his short time with the WEC, now transitioning
to the UFC.
Johnson
dropped his first bout in the promotion, to Top 10 fighter Brad
Pickett, but has since won back-to-back fights against Nick Pace
and Damacio Page. Training under legendary coach Matt Hume, Johnson
is eyeing a rough welcome to the Octagon for Yamamoto.
UFC
126, on Feb. 6, features UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva
defending his belt against Vitor Belfort in the main event, as
well as a light heavyweight showdown between Forrest Griffin
and Rich Franklin.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
Joe
Charles: Where is He Now?
by Jason Probst
For
a Los Angeles kid raised as the sparring partner for a martial
arts-dabbling uncle, Joe Charles got plenty of experience fighting
before MMA catapulted him onto the big stage. And he learned
early on that the only person that can tell you “no”
is yourself.
“When
he came home, any time he learned a new kick he’d demo it
on us,” says Charles, a veteran of UFC 4, UFC 5 and Ultimate
Japan. “I loved the fight game. I was into judo, jiu-jitsu,
sambo and wrestling, and I wanted to experience them all before
MMA came out. We’d spar, and he’d throw kicks and punches.
I kept on getting to the point to where I wanted to learn more.
I’d try and practice myself. I got my butt beat in the beginning.”
A
talented high school wrestler and judo competitor, Charles was
prepping to try out for the 1984 Olympics, slated to be held
in Los Angeles, to boot.
“I
was at work and was run over by a forklift in 1982. It broke
my right femur in half. They told me I’d never fight again,”
he says. “I was just trying to walk. I didn’t want
to believe that. So from that day on I was working out in the
hospital every day. I was doing 1,000 situps a day. I was doing
anything and everything I could to keep my confidence up. In
fact, one of my doctors told me to do three steps today and do
four tomorrow in the sand dunes. I was running on the beach.
Every day I’d take another step. It took me until 1986 until
I was able to fight. I wasn’t strong enough. When I threw
a kick I’d fall straight to the ground. That’s why
my ground fighting got better.”
‘One
of Those Crazy Guys’
For
Charles, the thrill of competition was always enough to get him
motivated, seeking the kind of rush that stays with him to this
day. And with a crowd watching the stakes go down, it made even
a birthday celebration all the more reason to entertain while
competing.
“I
was one of those crazy guys. Instead of a birthday party, I’d
throw a grappling bash,” says Charles, 51. “My biggest
one was when I turned 42. It was right after 9/11, in Manhattan
Beach. The number of years you were, that’s how many people
you had to grapple with. If you were a newcomer, you’d fight
for 30 seconds, but if you had been experienced, you got to fight
a couple minutes. Michael Buffer came and refereed our matches.
We put on a show. I did it two years in a row, and then, the
next year, a buddy caught me in an ankle lock in the last two
seconds of our match. I kept going, but after that, I realized
it was time to be an old man.”
Like
many of its earliest competitors, Charles felt the immediacy
of MMA and the void it filled for martial artists like himself.
They had spent years competing in disparate disciplines, with
strategically limited rules, and now the opportunity presented
itself in the original “style versus style” billing
that defined the earliest days of stateside MMA.
However,
he struggled with the scant purses and money available to turn
it into a full-time vocation. By the mid-1990s, opposed by a
consortium of state commissions, politicians and other opponents,
MMA’s explosion on the public consciousness was petering
out due to fewer and fewer places to hold events, dwindling pay
per view sales and availability on carrier networks.
“I
thought it had the opportunity to grow, but they got that controversy
[with it]. Everybody was fighting about who’s gonna take
over,” Charles says. “I was, like, ‘I need to
make a decision. I’m not able to make money and support
my family.’ I always felt it had the opportunity to grow.
I felt it would be bigger than boxing.”
Charles
competed in four of the early UFC events: UFC 4, UFC 5, Ultimate
Ultimate 95 and UFC Japan. As an alternate at UFC 4, Charles
dispatched Kevin Rosier in 14 seconds via armbar.
“It
was a serious rush. Just knowing I had to walk into the ring,
I felt like I was untouchable. I wanted to find out what my true
skills were, where I can go out and take care of business,”
Charles says. “I always felt like I wanted to fight every
gangster that was bad in the street. I felt like I was superhero.
I was, like, ‘I’m living that dream. I’m untouchable.’
When me and Kevin stepped into the ring, I was like in a whole
’nother world. I let everything go and just had a good time.
He hit me [with] a couple punches. I hit him on the chin and
then went for an armbar. He tapped out.
“Going
into my first match, I always felt like I was a tough guy and
had skills. I didn’t realize after winning that match, I
was probably the cockiest person in the town,” he adds.
“I was like, ‘Well, UFC, these guys ain’t nothin’.
I got too cocky, and I’m sitting in the audience with women
[at UFC 5], and it’s five minutes till my next fight. I
should’ve been humble and all that, paid attention to being
in the fight world, instead of paying attention to the fact that
people looked pretty.”
Returning
to UFC 5, he was submitted by Dan Severn in 99 seconds.
“To
me, Dan wasn’t that powerful. I felt like I was having a
great time with him, until I made a mistake,” Charles says.
“We joked about it after the fight. He put his leg over
my head; anything there, I was hitting it. His groin was there,
so I did. He told me after the fight I made him piss blood. He
just got to the back, got a good back choke on me and just held
it. I made my mistake by climbing up the fence. You could grab
it back then. It was a perfect move on his part.”
Charles
defeated Scott Bessac via arm lock at Ultimate Ultimate 95 and
lost to Vitor Belfort by armbar in 1996’s Ultimate Japan.
He also fought sporadically from his 1994 debut through 2000,
compiling a record of 6-13.
Devastating
Loss
The
buzz was what hooked him. It came from stepping into the fight
arena, knowing that all eyes were on him and that the ensuing
combat to take place was entirely of his own making. It was not
an easy addiction to ignore, and he indulged it whenever he could.
“It
was a serious rush. Just knowing I had to walk into the ring,
I felt like I was untouchable.”
-- Joe Charles
“I
told myself at one point that ‘I really have got to get
serious about this. I can’t be training back and forth and
then hanging out with people,’” he says. “I loved
the fight game. People would call me at the last minute, and,
with the opportunities to travel, you felt that was your world
in the first place. That’s what I lived for. Whether they
cheered you on or booed you down, it was a serious rush.”
He
takes the same approach in training people today as a fitness
guru turned businessman. For the past decade, Charles has run
a fitness program called “GI Joe Boot Camp.” Advertised
on his Web site, www.mbbootcamp.com, he is a personal fitness
coach and motivator. Pushing yourself physically is a gateway
toward obtaining that rush he felt during his fighting days.
“You’re
in a whole different world. I try and take people to that same
world. A lot of people never got that chance to experience getting
past the dark side. You got injuries and bruises and you feel
like your life is about ready to go,” Charles says. “Then
you get to that other side.”
And when Joe Charles says give it your best because you owe it
to yourself, you cannot help but listen. He speaks from the heart,
even in times of tragedy. Today, Charles is still dealing with
the fallout from the murder of his son, Shamor, eight years ago.
He was 33.
“He
was into the music industry, and in his poetry, he wrote that
some shady guys would take his life. And one of those guys took
his life,” Charles says. “We don’t know if they
were fighting over another woman or if it was a random drive-by.
It’s an unsolved mystery.”
Shamor’s
three children -- two boys, ages 15 and 11, and a 13-year-old
daughter -- are being raised by Charles, this after living with
his sister, who passed away a year and a half ago.
“My
sister moved into my mother’s house, and when she passed
away, she told me, ‘The only person I know who’d do
the right thing and raise them the right way is you,’”
Charles says. “So they are my focus now. They’re striving
to be better. They want to make mistakes now and then. The biggest
thing is when they want to cuss or fight, I bring out a book
and make them read that book aloud to me. And then the other
ones have to comprehend and read the story along with them. It’s
my moment of peace. It teaches amazing tolerance.
“With
my grandkids, there was always talk of ghetto this, ghetto that,”
he adds. “They came into life with guns and a mouthful,
wanted to show me how [things were done]. I’m gonna learn
this and that. When I first met my grandkids, I wanted to beat
them up and knock them out, but this has taught me I have to
go back and be who I am. I have love and respect. I was, like,
‘I have to start teaching my grandkids that this negative
energy and stuff,’ it’s got to go. They need a strong
role model, someone who understands what direction they’re
going to go. I let them know I believe in myself.”
Confidence
Builder
Self-belief
is the fuel behind Charles’ business, “GI Joe Boot
Camp.” Campers are treated to a motivational workout, beach
runs and the kind of motivational training that kept Charles
going in the toughest times. His “Pushup Challenge”
is a perfect example of how he turned a negative into a positive,
and it’s something he shares with his campers and anyone
else willing to hear him out. It even landed him a stint on Steve
Harvey’s radio show.
Charles’
“Pushup Challenge” may sound simple, but it has become
a serious deal. He discovered it after holding the mid-pushup
motion in Manhattan Beach.
“First,
you drop halfway down in the push-up position. Hold it there,”
he says. “Here’s where the love begins. Count to 30,
then shift and move your hands to the right side. Make a quarter
turn. Count to 30, then make a quarter turn to the left and count
to 30. Then back to the middle and halfway down and count to
30. That’s how I celebrate my birthdays now. On my 50th
birthday, I did it 50 times.
The
challenge has become both a staple and a refuge.
“Something
kept telling me, ‘This is a blessing. You need to start
preaching to people. This is an opportunity,” he says. “Somehow,
it became what I’ve been doing for past eight years. I’m
a motivational speaker. When I lost my son, I was having all
kinds of issues with what happened. I got a phone call the night
before; they told me my son was dead. I still had to take care
of business with my students the next morning. It made me drop
down and do my own pushups.
“My
dudes came up and gave me a hug, and we dropped down and did
the pushups together for a solider we lost,” he adds. “So
I found out like the grappling bash. We need to drop down and
do that pushup, out of respect for that other fallen soldier
and still be that soldier that lived for that other day and help
another soldier push up his game. It became a serious message
to me.”
A
producer for Harvey’s radio show heard about the Pushup
Challenge and brought in Charles to put the challenge to the
comedian, live and on-air, in December 2004.
“I
walked in, and Steve Harvey said, ‘I know that nig-a,’”
Charles says. “I’m gonna sit in my chair and behave
myself. We made his producer do the pushup. He was crying like
a baby, and Steve narrated it.”
Pushing
Through Pain
The
key to the challenge remains simple for Charles. It is not about
the pain; it’s about the willingness to push through it.
“Don’t
let these things bother and stand in your way and bother you
another day,” he says. “The pushup meant something
to me. It made me stronger, and I can believe and keep going.”
“The
pushup meant something to me. It made me stronger, and I can
believe and keep going.”
-- Joe Charles
Charles
still keeps wired into the community and, on Nov. 13, held his
“Pier to Pier Run,” taking participants from Hermosa
to Manhattan Beach -- in the sand.
“People
say to me, ‘Joe, you ain’t making any money on that
run.’ I said it wasn’t about the money,” he says.
“It was about the love I’ve got for the community,
about giving and sharing the love. It’s the kind of thing
people don’t do enough today.”
Charles
has also given away money to people for each of the pushups they
could do.
“I’ve
given away $8,000 in cash, given away 50 five dollar bills, to
inspire another person, to make them want to come out and pass
this along to other people,” he says. “People need
to get away from the negative things in their life. Whether it’s
art, work, fighting, dancing, everyone needs to find their diversion
and their dream, to release the negative things about them. I
had mine, too. Once you find that release, it’s like, damn!
Welcome to the other side. You got past the dark side.”
Source: Sherdog
|
One
Man's View: Quick, Inept Stoppages Need to be Addressed
by Jason
Probst
Stefan
Struve’s technical knockout stoppage of Sean McCorkle at
UFC 124 “St. Pierre vs. Koscheck 2” at the Bell Centre
in Montreal illustrated another bothersome trend in MMA of late:
the mounted-and-punching-the-trapped-opponent situation. Once
there, the guy on bottom is obviously still cognizant yet cannot
escape, so he covers up because that is the only option available
to him. It’s actually fairly hard to land a clean blow on
someone in this position, but the advantage is one can keep trying,
and shots of varying effectiveness are going to get through.
What
I do not like are the quick stoppages that result, almost always
with the guy on bottom complaining immediately afterward.
To
his credit, McCorkle did not protest, but the situation and the
stoppage could have been perceived far differently if he had
made a stink. The irony of including this one as an example is
that McCorkle did not whine and took his loss like a man. However,
we’ve all seen people take a lot less punishment and get
stopped, which illustrates another hazy area in the sport’s
officiating. Two fights -- Fabricio Werdum vs. Brandon Vera at
UFC 85 and Johny Hendricks vs. Amir Sadollah at UFC 101 -- come
to mind.
Context
is everything. In Sadollah’s case, he was an unbeaten fighter
in the opening seconds of a match who got caught, went down and
deserved to be finished cleanly. In Vera’s, Werdum had him
effectively mounted, but Vera was rolling and riding with shots.
He could not escape, but he was not taking an onslaught of clean
punches. This is what makes the cross-mount position with the
arm trapped so much more interesting; envision what Matt Hughes
did to B.J. Penn in their second fight for a perfect example.
You can smash away much cleaner from that position because the
bottom man has nothing with which to block. Referees seem to
like it, as well, because they seem to let the fights go until
the guy on bottom supplies enough visual displeasure with the
situation that anyone in their right mind would intervene.
There’s
also the plain stupid stoppage where the referee seemingly panics
as soon as a guy hits the ground and starts taking punches or
the threat of damage materializes. See Mizuto Hirota’s TKO
over Mitsuhiro Ishida in Shooto for a perfect example.
In
my book, the masterpiece stoppage from a mounted fighter pounding
a guy on the bottom is the Kenny Florian-Joe Lauzon bout at UFC
Fight Night 13. Florian had Lauzon trapped and hammered away
with more than 100 punches, elbows and assorted bad intentions,
but Lauzon intelligently covered, rolled, bucked and remained
clearly aware.
However,
Florian maintained the position for what seemed an eternity,
finally breaking down Lauzon and making it clear nothing was
going to change. The affair was settled. Then the bout was stopped.
And nobody complained. Regrettably, cool-headed refereeing like
this is often the exception and not the rule, outside of major
states where podunk commissions run things. I know this. Having
covered boxing for a decade, I can tell you that it’s often
the same suspects appearing, merely at new crime scenes.
Then
there’s the situation in which the third man in the ring
calls a halt to a bout thinking a fighter is out from a submission
when he could have checked the guy’s arm or overall body
language to see if he was limp. See Mac Danzig’s loss to
Matt Wiman at UFC 115 or Ben Askren’s premature win over
Ryan Thomas at Bellator 14. In those cases, a panicking referee
saw a bad position instead of taking the proper steps to establish
if the eventual loser was conscious or not.
Listen,
none of us are here to see people get permanent brain damage.
If a guy on the bottom is trapped and getting dealt shots, let
the shots go until a referee intervention is the de facto answer,
not something that’s at all debatable. Personally, I think
if a referee has jumped in to stop a fight when a guy hits the
ground and the man on the bottom can voice a protest within one
second of the stoppage, then it was premature.
Referees
are there to protect the fighters. We know this, which is exactly
why they do not intervene when Anderson Silva gets someone in
a brain-jarring muay Thai clinch or when Matt Hughes and Tito
Ortiz would pin their opponents’ heads against the cage
in their primes to cannonade shots off their skulls. Fighter
safety is paramount. That’s why I’m not entirely clear
on why there’s this insanely protective concern for a guy
who happens to be somewhere between Queer Street and Hazy Avenue
taking, God forbid, a couple shots to the head. I mean, after
all, it’s only a cage fight, right?
The
lingering problem with these kinds of stoppage is that they leave
a bad taste in everyone’s mouth. The sad part of it all
is that if refs let it go a shot or two more, the controversy,
in most cases, would be entirely eliminated because the losing
fighter would have definitely been finished, probably finding
out via replay, which spares everyone the post-fight drama.
Perhaps
it sounds churlish and cruel? This ain’t curling, folks.
Let them fight, and be finished proper.
Source: Sherdog
|
Todd
Duffee Likely To Get Crack at Alistair Overeem at Dream’s
Dynamite!!
by Ken
Pishna
A day after Dream officially announced that Strikeforce and K-1
World Grand Prix champion Alistair Overeem would fight on its
Dynamite!! 2010 fight card, all signs are pointing toward former
UFC fighter Todd Duffee as his opponent.
Dream
still lists Overeem with an opponent to be announced, but MMAFighting.com
says that multiple sources have confirmed that both Overeem and
Duffee’s camps have agreed to the fight. MMAWeekly.com sources
indicated that they believed the two would meet on New Year’s
Eve at the Saitama, Japan event, but fell short of fully confirming
the bout.
Overeem
(33-11) has won eight of his last nine bouts, with his fight
against Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic being declared a
no contest. He won the 2010 K-1 World Grand Prix kickboxing title
earlier this month, but has been under heavy scrutiny for the
sparse defense of his Strikeforce heavyweight championship.
Overeem won the Strikeforce title by stopping Paul Buentello
with knees to the body in November of 2007. He has defended the
belt only one time since, scoring a technical knockout over Brett
Rogers in May of this year. There has not been any solid information
declaring when his next title defense will take place.
Scoring
six knockouts in the first six fights of his career, Duffee (6-1)
was one of the most highly touted prospects on the UFC roster.
Following the most unlikely of comeback knockouts at the hands
of Mike Russow at UFC 114, Duffee was unexpectedly cut loose
by the promotion.
UFC
president Dana White later said that Duffee’s termination
was due to an attitude problem.
Duffee’s
manager, Alex Davis, in November, told MMAWeekly.com that he
expected his fighter would return to the Octagon at some point.
“I
think Todd at some point will be back in the UFC,” Davis
said. “I think that’s what he wants.”
A
win over Top 10 ranked Alistair Overeem would be a huge step
in that direction for Duffee, but possessing less than a quarter
of Overeem’s experience, particularly in big fights, it
is no small task laid out before him.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
Is
UFC Heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez the fighter of the year
for 2010?
By Zach
Arnold
Mike
Chiappetta says that you have to pick Mr. Velasquez because Cain
was a 2-to-1 underdog to Brock Lesnar for their Anaheim title
fight last October. His other contenders for Fighter of the Year
include Frankie Edgar, Anthony Pettis, Nick Diaz, and George
Sotiropoulos. I think Dominick Cruz deserves mention, but my
pick is Jose Aldo. By far the biggest splash this year. He’s
got an aura about him amongst the fans that is truly unique.
As
for Fight of the Year in MMA in 2010, your guess is as good as
mine. Here’s an argument in favor of Chael Sonnen vs. Anderson
Silva from Oakland last August. MMA Ratings is your hook-up for
all sorts of results and rankings of past fights in 2010 and
is a great resource if you’re looking for a tool to pick
a fight and defend your pick.
Georges
St. Pierre is now #1 on Sherdog’s P4P list. However, don’t
tell The Toronto Sun that St. Pierre is Canadian athlete of the
year.
The
“TBA” slot in the Alistair Overeem fight on the Dynamite
show is rumored to be Todd Duffee.
Tito
Ortiz says that his fight against Antonio Rogerio Nogueira will
happen in Seattle on March 26th on Spike TV. Tito says it won’t
be his last fight in the UFC, but…
Gray
Maynard said that he didn’t see Anthony Pettis do his Showtime
kick initially because he doesn’t have cable. Must be a
Roku guy. Check out this interview with Duke Roufus talking about
last Thursday’s fight. The last ever WEC show on Versus
drew a 0.62 cable rating or 615,000 viewers.
The
Australian market for UFC is red hot. The Sydney Morning Herald
has an article titled ‘Ultimate fighting: barbaric or new
boxing?’ Nothing you haven’t read before 1,000 times,
but you can sense the media in the country is trying to come
to grips to why UFC’s second show coming up in Australia
sold out so fast.
Rich
Bergeron argues that UFC’s current bonus system for paying
fighters is not fair.
Strikeforce
1/29 San Jose (HP Pavilion) card line-up so far: Nick Diaz vs.
Evangelista Cyborg for the Welterweight title, Jacare Souza vs.
Robbie Lawler for the Middleweight title, Herschel Walker vs.
Scott Carson, and Roger Gracie vs. Trevor Prangley.
Source: Fight Opinion
|
Onzuka.com
Wishes You & Yours A Very Merry Christmas!
Would you have made the same choice?
At
a fundraising dinner for a school that serves children with learning
disabilities, the father of one of the students delivered a speech
that would never be forgotten by all who attended. After extolling
the school and its dedicated staff, he offered a question:
'When
not interfered with by outside influences, everything nature
does, is done with perfection.
Yet
my son, Shay, cannot learn things as other children do. He cannot
understand things as other children do.
Where
is the natural order of things in my son?'
The
audience was stilled by the query.
The
father continued. 'I believe that when a child like Shay, who
was mentally and physically disabled comes into the world, an
opportunity to realize true human nature presents itself, and
it comes in the way other people treat that child.'
Then
he told the following story:
Shay
and I had walked past a park where some boys Shay knew were playing
baseball. Shay asked, 'Do you think they'll let me play?' I knew
that most of the boys would not want someone like Shay on their
team, but as a father, I also understood that if my son were
allowed to play, it would give him a much-needed sense of belonging
and some confidence to be accepted by others in spite of his
handicaps.
I
approached one of the boys on the field and asked (not expecting
much) if Shay could play. The boy looked around for guidance
and said, 'We're losing by six runs and the game is in the eighth
inning. I guess he can be on our team and we'll try to put him
in to bat in the ninth inning.'
Shay
struggled over to the team's bench and, with a broad smile, put
on a team shirt. I watched with a small tear in my eye and warmth
in my heart. The boys saw my joy at my son being accepted.
In
the bottom of the eighth inning, Shay's team scored a few runs
but was still behind by three.
In
the top of the ninth inning, Shay put on a glove and played in
the right field. Even though no hits came his way, he was obviously
ecstatic just to be in the game and on the field, grinning from
ear to ear as I waved to him from the stands.
In
the bottom of the ninth inning, Shay's team scored again.
Now,
with two outs and the bases loaded, the potential winning run
was on base and Shay was scheduled to be next at bat.
At
this juncture, do they let Shay bat and give away their chance
to win the game?
Surprisingly,
Shay was given the bat. Everyone knew that a hit was all but
impossible because Shay didn't even know how to hold the bat
properly, much less connect with the ball.
However,
as Shay stepped up to the plate, the pitcher, recognizing that
the other team was putting winning aside for this moment in Shay's
life, moved in a few steps to lob the ball in softly so Shay
could at least make contact.
The
first pitch came and Shay swung clumsily and missed.
The
pitcher again took a few steps forward to toss the ball softly
towards Shay.
As
the pitch came in, Shay swung at the ball and hit a slow ground
ball right back to the pitcher.
The
game would now be over.
The
pitcher picked up the soft grounder and could have easily thrown
the ball to the first baseman.
Shay
would have been out and that would have been the end of the game.
Instead,
the pitcher threw the ball right over the first baseman's head,
out of reach of all team mates.
Everyone
from the stands and both teams started yelling, 'Shay, run to
first!
Run
to first!'
Never
in his life had Shay ever run that far, but he made it to first
base.
He
scampered down the baseline, wide-eyed and startled.
Everyone
yelled, 'Run to second, run to second!'
Catching
his breath, Shay awkwardly ran towards second, gleaming and struggling
to make it to the base.
By
the time Shay rounded towards second base, the right fielder
had the ball. The smallest guy on their team who now had his
first chance to be the hero for his team.
He
could have thrown the ball to the second-baseman for the tag,
but he understood the pitcher's intentions so he, too, intentionally
threw the ball high and far over the third-baseman's head.
Shay
ran toward third base deliriously as the runners ahead of him
circled the bases toward home.
All
were screaming, 'Shay, Shay, Shay, all the Way Shay'
Shay
reached third base because the opposing shortstop ran to help
him by turning him in the direction of third base, and shouted,
'Run to third!
Shay,
run to third!'
As
Shay rounded third, the boys from both teams, and the spectators,
were on their feet screaming, 'Shay, run home! Run home!'
Shay
ran to home, stepped on the plate, and was cheered as the hero
who hit the grand slam and won the game for his team
'That
day', said the father softly with tears now rolling down his
face, 'the boys from both teams helped bring a piece of true
love and humanity into this world'.
Shay
didn't make it to another summer. He died that winter, having
never forgotten being the hero and making me so happy, and coming
home and seeing his Mother tearfully embrace her little hero
of the day!
A
wise man once said every society is judged by how it treats it's
least fortunate amongst them.
|
Illustrating
absurdity: Why Strikeforce should never consider a Heavyweight
tournament
By Zach
Arnold
This
is not a new topic of discussion for us on the site. I’ve
repeatedly stated that Strikeforce should absolutely steer clear
of running a Grand Prix-style tournament after they failed to
pull off a Middleweight tournament when Jake Shields vacated
his belt and went to UFC.
Remember
the proposed Middleweight tournament by Scott Coker? First, it
was initially rumored to be 16. Then it came down to 8, with
the idea being that it would be broken up into two brackets.
Then came the issues reportedly about whether or not to pay fighters
for three bouts or for two bouts if they won the tournament (based
on the idea of one tournament match on one show and the semi-finals
and finals on a second show). Strikeforce took a concept in which
their deepest division could have produced a tournament and instead
completely gave up on the idea when the logistics proved to be
challenging. That, along with the fact that state athletic commissions
aren’t supportive of the idea of a multi-fight one-night
tournament format. So, instead of running a tournament over three
shows to crown a new champion, they just decided to book a title
match between Tim Kennedy and Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza.
After that was announced, then came another tease that perhaps
a #1 contender’s tournament would end up taking place. Naturally,
it didn’t happen. Five months after his Middleweight title
win in Houston, Jacare will defend the belt against Robbie Lawler
on January 29th in San Jose. That’s right, Mr. Lawler will
be fighting less than two months after his St. Louis fight.
Which
brings us to the constant rumors about Strikeforce planning a
heavyweight tournament in 2011. Stop the insanity. If you couldn’t
pull off a Middleweight tournament with fighters who are largely
based in the States, how do you expect to pull off a tournament
with both domestic and foreign fighters who have proven to be
anything but easy in contract negotiations? Quietly, a report
surfaced yesterday that Fedor may not end up fighting on the
January 29th show for Strikeforce after all. Huh, how about that?
Between this news and the fact that Josh Barnett still isn’t
licensed to fight in California and Alistair Overeem has K-1
obligations and you’re looking at a Heavyweight tournament
consisting of guys like Brett Rogers and Antonio “Bigfoot”
Silva. In other words, if Strikeforce tries to put together a
Heavyweight tournament, it will fall apart before it even begins.
There
are two major questions that need to be answered before fans
even care about such a tournament. First, what does M-1 want?
Does M-1 sense that they can end up being a content provider
to Showtime? If so, why would they cooperate with Strikeforce?
Second, why should fans care about a Strikeforce heavyweight
tournament when most American MMA fans think that the best heavyweights
in the world are currently fighting in the UFC?
In
addition to those questions, ask yourself the following —
what would the point of the tournament be? Alistair Overeem is
the champion. He last fought for the promotion seven months ago.
He’s largely forgotten by the casual fans and if fans know
of his presence it’s more or less due to his presence in
K-1. Fabricio Werdum, the man who beat the great and mystical
Fedor, has almost been invisible. Most of the fans who saw him
beat Fedor have either forgotten about him or haven’t though
enough about him to care about seeing him since the promotion
he works for barely mentions him. Remember the MMA writers who
screamed at others who suggested that Werdum should fight Overeem
for the title instead of rematch with Fedor again? Six months
later, memories of Fedor’s loss to Werdum do not produce
the same kind of emotional response from fans that it did at
the time. (For a litmus test, ask MMA fans that you know about
the Carwin/Lesnar fight and you’re likely to encounter the
same kind of passion about the way Josh Rosenthal handled the
fight now as you saw when it happened last July.)
Strikeforce
didn’t capitalize on the momentum of Werdum’s upset
win. So, the idea of doing a rematch between Fedor and Werdum
is largely in the ‘neutral’ category today.
At
this point, all I want to see from Strikeforce is competency.
Forget about booking a tournament. Forget about any elaborate
plans for 2011. Produce the fights that people want to see and
do so in a timely manner. This is a results-oriented business.
The rematch between Fedor and Werdum, if there was going to be
one, should have happened before the end of 2010. It didn’t.
The fact that Fedor’s camp is even negotiating with Strikeforce
and showing strength after the loss to Werdum is amazing. Nobody
knows when Werdum or Overeem (or Barnett) is going to fight next.
Who’s left?
It
was recently pointed out on Twitter than Shane Del Rosario, a
man who Scott Coker loves to tout as a future ace in Strikeforce,
has only fought twice in two years for the promotion. In contrast,
he fought three years in one year for Gary Shaw under the Elite
XC banner.
Ditch
the idea of a tournament. Start booking the fights that fans
want to see and book fights that are actually meaningful. Book
competitive fights with no delays. No more excuses. No more tournaments
until you’ve earned the public’s trust.
Source: Fight Opinion
|
Keith
Jardine Documents Corruption At Nemesis Fighting, U.S. Secret
Service Involved
by Damon
Martin
The nightmare surrounding the Nemesis Fighting show in the Dominican
Republic on Dec. 11 is still unfolding as more details emerge.
The latest advancement is the U.S. Secret Service’s involvement
in the investigation.
Keith
Jardine, who fought and won during the show, has made a personal
commitment to make sure the promoters who scammed the fighters
either pay up or do some jail time for their part in the disastrous
show that took place.
The
UFC veteran is taking much of the responsibility simply because
he knows a lot of the fighters that competed that fateful night,
stayed on the card due to his involvement. He’s hopeful
the work he’s doing now will at least help some of the fighters
out from the financial strain caused by promoters Tim Fields
and Bob Fill.
“I
know some people stayed on this card because I was on it, and
they would ask John (Madrid, Jardine’s manager) ‘Well,
Keith’s still on it right?’ and they would stay on
the card because of me, and that makes me feel really bad,”
Jardine told MMAWeekly Radio. “So I’m doing my best,
doing my part to gain control of the production of the fights
to maybe get it on pay-per-view and get all the money to pay
the fighter’s purses.”
As
MMAWeekly.com first reported, the Nemesis Fighting show went
downhill in a hurry, almost from the moment the fighters arrived
on the island. According to Jardine, the lies from the promoters
started from day one and the fighters just didn’t know about
it until later.
“I
was even told that they had fights before and that’s why
I got into it to begin with, but then found out it was their
first fight,” Jardine said. “Obviously, it’s not
like any of them even tried. There was no commission, I mean
I’m sure you’ve heard all the things, it was just incredible.”
As
Jardine entered the arena and saw what he described as maybe
50 people in attendance, something was obviously wrong. He spotted
a familiar face and tried to get ready for his fight.
“I
came into the arena and I saw what was going on, then I went
back and saw Eliot (Marshall) was sitting there, and I was sitting
with them just kind of watching this thing happen, and it was
kind of a weird thing. You’re trying to focus for your fight,
but then you realize something is up, I’ll be lucky to get
paid,” Jardine disclosed.
The
music for the first fight hit and no one walked out. As a matter
of fact, it took more than five minutes for the first fighter
to enter the arena because no one was in the back telling the
fighters to get ready or be prepared to walk out. Once they made
it to the ring, the fighters went to the wrong corners because
again the promotion had failed to assign things properly.
Jardine
went back to the dressing rooms, which he described as essentially
closets, to get his hands wrapped and start warming up. The only
problem, there were no gloves for him to put on to get ready
for his fight.
“They
didn’t have enough gloves to go around. We had to share
gloves,” said Jardine. “It was just endless things
that went on.”
That
problems only compounded with the fact that the fighter’s
own coaches had to wrap their hands to get them ready to compete,
and Jardine ended up using a pair of Affliction gloves that he
brought with him because there were no gloves to use when he
was in the final stages of preparations.
The
fights went on, Jardine was successful, but the real battle came
the next day.
“(The
next) morning I went to breakfast around 10:30 or something like
that and sat down with some of the guys and Tim Fields, one of
the promoters. The nerve of this guy to sit down and have breakfast
like nothing’s wrong. He even talked to me about a potential
another fight coming up, and at the same time he’s planning
his getaway with whatever money he can get,” Jardine stated.
“So
I’m sitting with Tim Fields and he says ‘well, I’m
going to go up to the room. We’re going to do something,
and get the money together, and we’ll meet you guys at this
little arena in 15 minutes.’ So we go there and the guys
start collecting in this arena. 15 minutes turns into a half
an hour, which turns to 45 minutes, which turns into an hour.
And I joked with the guys and it was just a joke, ‘You know
what, these guys are pretty smart. They get us all sitting here,
while they’re making their way out the back door.’
It turns out that’s what they were doing.”
While
the fighters were sitting in the arena waiting for the promoters
to come and pay them, they were in fact getting ready to leave
the hotel. It was during this time that hotel rooms were canceled
and many fighters were left without a place to stay.
That
also included Seth Petruzelli, who was there to commentate the
show. He ended up sleeping in Jardine’s room once his was
yanked out from under him.
As
the fighters realized something was going on, Jardine’s
teammate at Jackson’s MMA, Isaac Vallie-Flagg, went into
the hotel and caught the promoter on his way out of town.
“He’s
all packed, everything on top of his suitcase ready to go, he’s
got his shoes on without any socks, and he’s out of town,”
Jardine described. “Isaac just caught him, so he started
writing everybody’s checks at that point.”
The
checks were no good anyway, but it bought him enough time to
promptly skip town.
Since
returning home to New Mexico, Jardine and his manager have been
working around the clock to try and secure the footage of the
fights to show on pay-per-view to try and get some money back
for the fighters. Jardine says he doesn’t even care if he
gets paid at this point, he just wants to help the other fighters
involved.
“My
No. 1 thing is to get the production and find a way to recoup
the money for these fighters. I’m sure there is a way because
of the story behind it. If that doesn’t happen, by all means,
I want to see these guys in Federal prison and I’m going
to get their names out there so they can never work any kind
of scam again,” said Jardine.
“I’m
not in this for myself at this point.”
Jardine
met with the U.S. Secret Service and despite the show being held
in the Dominican Republic, it sounds like criminal charges are
absolutely a possibility for Fields, Fill, and others involved
with the promotion.
“I
met with the Secret Service actually and they’re really
eager to help us out,” Jardine said. “They think the
criminal charges should be pretty easy against these guys.”
He
admits it’s going to be tough for all the fighters involved
on this card to enjoy their holidays with no paychecks and no
idea when or if they will get paid at all. It’s primarily
that fact that pushes Jardine forward to make sure the promoters
involved pay up or sit in jail.
Repeated
attempts to contact Fields and the promotion from MMAWeekly.com
have not been returned, but we will continue to follow and update
this story with more information when it becomes available.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
Report:
Ortiz-'Minotoro' Moved to UFC Fight Night 24
by Mike
Whitman
The
rumored light heavyweight attraction between Tito Ortiz and Antonio
Rogerio Nogueira planned for UFC 128 in Newark, N.J. will now
reportedly serve as the main event for UFC Fight Night 24, going
down March 26 in Seattle.
Ortiz
first hinted at the bout's change in location overnight, stating
that he would not be fighting in New Jersey, but he would still
be facing Nogueira in March. The bout's new status as Fight Night
24 main event was first reported by MMA Junkie on Tuesday morning.
Neither the bout nor the event has been officially announced
by the promotion.
A
former UFC light heavyweight champion, Ortiz has fallen on hard
times as of late, losing four of his last five bouts. The lone
non-loss in that span was a draw to contender Rashad Evans at
UFC 73 in 2007. Ortiz's last victory came at the expense of an
aging Ken Shamrock in their third fight in 2006. Since besting
Shamrock, “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy” has dropped
contests to former champions Chuck Liddell, Lyoto Machida and
Forest Griffin. Ortiz most recently lost a clear-cut unanimous
decision to his onetime “Ultimate Fighter” protege
Matt Hamill at UFC 121 in October.
Nogueira
also comes off a loss, as he was outpointed by up-and-comer Ryan
Bader at UFC 119 in September. A winner of seven of his last
eight bouts, “Minotoro” looked strong in his UFC debut,
knocking out Luiz Arthur Cane and earning “Knockout of the
Night” at UFC 106 a year ago. His second bout with the promotion
was not as impressive, as he edged out newcomer Jason Brilz with
a controversial split decision. Both Nogueira and Brilz were
awarded “Fight of the Night” bonuses for their efforts.
Source: Sherdog
|
GSP
Wins Sportsnet Canadian Athlete of the Year for a Third Time
By FCF
Staff
Just
days removed from his dominant, unanimous decision win over Josh
Koscheck at UFC 124, UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre
has been named Sportnet’s Canadian Athlete of the Year for
the third year in a row. According to the Canadian sports television
network, St. Pierre edged out National Hockey League superstar
Sydney Crosby in the online fan voting, which determines each
year’s winner.
"Winning
the Rogers Sportsnet Canadian Athlete of the Year award for the
third time means a lot to me," St-Pierre was quoted saying
on the official Sportsnet site. "This year there were a
lot of nominees that I really respect, so I am honoured that
the fans chose me. Thanks to all my fans for their support."
St.
Pierre competed twice in 2010, scoring a UD win over Dan Hardy
in March, before defeating his long time rival and fellow “Ultimate
Fighter” coach Koscheck earlier this month. The 29 year-old
Montreal resident has won eight straight bouts.
Some
of the other Canadian athletes St. Pierre surpassed in voting
included baseball’s National League MVP winner Joey Votto
and the NHL’s Conn Smythe Trophy winner Jonathan Toews.
With
the win, St. Pierre moves ahead of basketball star Steve Nash
in consecutive Canadian Athlete of the Year victories, who was
awarded the Sportsnet honor in 2005 and 2006.
Source: Full Contact Fighter
|
Minotauro
asks to fight at UFC Rio
by Carlos
Eduardo Ozório
Recently operated for hip and knee injuries, Rodrigo Minotauro
is already showing signs of recovery. He’s doing so well
the black belt is already thinking about his return to the cage,
as he stated over Twitter.
“Without
a doubt, UFC in Brazil, in August, is in my plans,” says
Mino.
Furthermore,
alongside brother Minotouro, the fighter will open the doors
to his training center in Rio de Janeiro to hold the 1st Team
Nogueira Camp 2011.
For
further information visit www.minotaurosports.com.br.
Source: Gracie Magazine
|
14-15
match card planned for 2010 K-1 Dynamite event
By Zach
Arnold
If
you recall Mr. Tanigawa’s comments a couple of months ago,
the plan was to trim to fight card down to 12-13 matches. in
the end, we’ll get a voluminous card.
¦DREAM
Heavyweights: Satoshi Ishii (w/ Santa suit) vs. Jerome Le Banner
¦IGF rules (pro-wrestling) match: Bob Sapp vs. Wakakirin
¦DREAM Heavyweights: Sergei Kharitonov vs. Tatsuya Mizuno
¦DREAM Heavyweights: Alistair Overeem vs. TBA
¦Celebrity fight: Katsuaki Furuki (Twitter) vs. Andy Ologun
¦Featherweights: Kaoru Uno vs. Kazuyuki Miyata
¦Lightweights: Josh Thomson vs. Tatsuya Kawajiri
¦DREAM/K-1 Mixed rules fight: Shinya Aoki vs. Yuichiro
Nagashima (the crazy okama)
¦Welterweights: Marius Zaromskis vs. Kazushi Sakuraba
¦K-1 MAX Rules Lightweight fight: Akiyo “Wicky”
Nishiura vs. Tetsuya Yamato
¦DREAM Featherweight title match: Bibiano Fernandes vs.
Hiroyuki Takaya
¦K-1 Heavyweight rules match: Kyotaro vs. Gegard Mousasi
¦Featherweights: Hideo Tokoro vs. Kazuhisa Watanabe
¦Welterweights: Hayato “Mach” Sakurai vs. Jason
High
¦Open-weight fight: Minowaman vs. Hiroshi Izumi
Source: Fight Opinion
|
Hazelett
Released by UFC
by Mike Whitman
Wiry
jiu-jitsu ace Dustin Hazelett has been released by the UFC.
The
news was first announced by MMA Weekly on Tuesday, and Sherdog
has confirmed the story with a source close to the fighter.
Hazelett
has been cut on the heels of three-straight losses inside the
Octagon. “McLovin” was most recently on the wrong end
of Mark Bocek's “Submission of the Night” performance
at UFC 124 on Dec. 11.
After
mounting Hazelett early in round one, the Canadian deftly applied
a topside triangle and then rolled to his back, where he finished
the choke and the fight.
The
bout marked Hazelett's return to the lightweight division after
back-to-back losses at welterweight. Prior to that defeat, Hazelett
suffered knockout losses to welterweight standouts Rick Story
and Paul Daley.
Before
the three consecutive losses, The Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt
was on a roll, winning back-to-back fights and earning three
post-fight bonuses in the process. Hazelett finished both Josh
Burkman and Tamdan McCrory with armbars in 2008, earning “Submission
of the Night” for both performances.
Additionally,
Hazelett received “Fight of the Night” honors for his
bout with Burkman at “The Ultimate Fighter 7” finale.
Source: Sherdog
|
UFC
125: Gray Maynard Talks TUF 13 and Welcoming Anthony Pettis
by Damon
Martin
Gray Maynard isn’t the type of fighter to hand pick his
opponent.
It’s
that attitude that explains why he doesn’t really care who
he’d face if he defeats Frankie Edgar to win the UFC lightweight
title at UFC 125 in January.
Currently,
final WEC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis is in line to fight
for the belt next. While Maynard admits if he was coming into
the UFC for the first time he’d want a little more experience,
he’s happy to accept the challenge.
“I
mean, if I was them, I would want (more time) of course just
because that’s a huge switch over,” Maynard told MMAWeekly
Radio about the WEC champion getting a title shot for his first
fight in the UFC. “Just kind of ease your way into it, that’s
how I would (do it). But it ain’t up to me, whatever they
do I’ll take that fight.”
Maynard’s
career has been guided by one very simple principle.
“That’s
all it is, who and when,” Maynard stated on his fight preferences.
Maynard
admits he has yet to see Anthony Pettis’ highlight reel
“Showtime kick” that everyone was talking about after
his win over Ben Henderson. He’s heard all about it, however,
and looks forward to seeing it soon.
“That’s
great for the sport, and great for him. I’m pumped to see
it,” Maynard said.
The
other big rumor floating around his title fight against Frankie
Edgar in just over a week is the winner could be selected to
coach “The Ultimate Fighter” opposite Pettis for the
13th season of the reality show.
“(Dana)
hasn’t said, ‘hey, Gray do you want to be a coach?’
so I try not to jump to conclusions,” Maynard commented.
He
of course got his start in the UFC during the fifth season of
“The Ultimate Fighter,” and when prompted with the
question of going home again for the reality show, he sounded
less than enthusiastic about ever staying in the TUF house again.
“To
a (expletive) home,” Maynard joked about the TUF house.
“If you coach you don’t have to do that and stay there,
so it’s not that bad actually. I coached a couple years,
it wasn’t that bad.”
So
living in the house, no, but coaching fighters on the show, yes.
Before any steps back to “The Ultimate Fighter,” Maynard
will try to wrap up his first UFC championship on New Year’s
Day when he tries to go 2-0 against Frankie Edgar at UFC 125.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
Hermes
Franca Not Happy With No-Contest and Has No Intentions of Fighting
for XVT Again
by Damon
Martin
Hermes Franca had a good night turn bad recently after what looked
like an easy unanimous decision win turn into a nightmare after
a promoter apparently switched the judges’ decision, handing
him a loss.
The
event, XVT 5, which took place in Costa Rica on Dec 19 featured
Franca in the night’s main event against Ferrid Kheder.
After a three round fight, everyone was ready to hand Franca
the win, but apparently the promoter had different ideas.
“To
tell the truth, I’ve had bad decisions before, I knew I
won this fight, my corner was there, and there wasn’t a
lot of action or a lot of scrambles. It was a little bit of stand-up
so I knew I won the stand-up, when it went to the ground I took
his back, stayed there the whole time, and punched him. It wasn’t
a scramble to say whoa who won? I knew it,” Franca told
MMAWeekly.com in an exclusive interview.
“After
the fight I was happy, but I knew something was wrong. Everybody
was like surprised, and Dave Jansen was my corner, he was my
training partner, and he was like ‘Hermes you won’
and he saw the final card in the announcer’s hand. That
promoter, Jean-Francois he changed, when the referee raised my
hand, and you have to see the video of the referee’s face,
it was shocking, he refused to raise the other guy’s hand.”
The
promoter Jean-Francois Billon claims no such action took place.
In an e-mail to MMAWeekly.com on Tuesday, Billon responded by
saying, “Ferrid and Hermes are great fighters, I really
appreciate both of them and that’s true the announcement
was confusing. (A) judge told me Ferrid (won) that’s it,
but nobody want a finish with any doubt. It’s a decision…of
course XVT don’t want people think we have interest for
a fighter.”
Following
the fight, Franca says he also spoke to one of the judges and
their version of the story was much different than Billon’s.
“One
of the judges came to me and said ‘Hermes, I’m sorry’
and I said do me a favor give me the scorecards, so he gave me
the scorecards,” Franca explained. “Of course it’s
just a piece of paper, it’s not official, no names no nothing,
anyone can do that, but he gave them to me. I was like ‘why
didn’t you guys do something?’ He laughed and never
gave me any answer.”
According
to the scorecards that Franca was handed, he won the fight across
the board. The Brazilian also spoke to some local officials from
Costa Rica, who while not involved with this particular show,
painted a bad picture of everything that went down last Sunday
night.
“A
couple guys have been working hard to make MMA big (in Costa
Rica) and they didn’t work with the show. He’s trying
to collect more information about the judges, trying to see if
they judge can write a statement officially stating Hermes won
all the rounds 10-9. But a couple guys they’re scared, the
promoter make revenge against them and a couple guys still didn’t
get paid,” said Franca. “That’s the whole problem.”
Franca
says he deposited his pay from the show into his back account
yesterday and as of yet has had no indications that he won’t
receive his purse for any reason.
The
controversy over the fight hit the internet almost immediately
and since that time Billon has changed the ruling of the fight
to a no-contest. He also went on to say that the fighters have
agreed to a rematch down the road.
“Fight
will be no contest and both fighters agree verbally to a rematch
this time on 5 rounds as it should be as soon as possible,”
said Billon in an e-mail. “We feel sorry if fans are disappointed
but we (will) fix it and now we have the most expected revenge
(fight) for the world title as ever.”
The
only problem…Franca has never spoken to the promoter and
has no intentions of fighting for them again.
“They
changed it to a no-contest and I told them that’s not what
I wanted because the thing is I want everybody to understand
it’s not like a bad decision. It’s not about the referee,
it’s not about judges, it’s about the guy who stepped
in the cage and said ‘change it, change it, it’s not
Hermes, it’s Ferrid (Kheder). Unfortunately, all of the
judges they can do nothing,” said Franca.
“Not
from him, nobody called me to offer me (the fight). No way I’m
going to fight under this organization anymore. Maybe we can
fight, but not under this promoter.”
Franca
gave a telling analogy about what just happened to him, compared
to another organization and how outraged everyone would be if
this was the case. He adds that he has nothing bad to say about
the fans or the people in Costa Rica and would be happy to fight
there again, just not under these circumstances.
“It’s
nothing against Costa Rica, I know everybody was so upset at
the judges, it’s not about the judges. It’s just about
this guy, that’s it,” Franca stated.
“It’s
like can you imagine after Georges St-Pierre and (Josh) Koscheck
fight, just an example, Bruce Buffer says ‘the winner is
GSP’ and Dana White steps in the Octagon and says ‘no,
no, no, it’s Koscheck because I say so.’ That’s
my situation right now.”
After
the initial correspondence from Billon, he has not returned any
further messages from MMAWeekly.com.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
Josh
Thomson: After I fight Kawajiri at Dynamite, he should fight
me in Strikeforce
By Zach
Arnold
(Why
did you want to fight Crusher Kawajiri?)
“It’s
him. It’s his fighting style. It’s his heart, his spirit,
like everything about him, he’s a great fighter. Always
respected him. I can’t say enough about him. I think he’s
a great person. I had an opportunity to meet him a couple of
times, really quiet, seems very humble. What a great fighter,
you know, and he brings it every time he fights and those are
the type of guys that I think everybody wants to fight and if
you don’t want to fight those guys then you’re in the
wrong sport or in it for all the wrong reasons and this opportunity
was given to me and there’s a lot of talk of him coming
to Strikeforce, you know, some time next year. So, I figured
I might as well fight him now in his hometown, in his backyard,
in his promotion, and in front of all the Japanese fans and all
of everybody and when he comes here hopefully I get an opportunity
to fight him here in a cage in my hometown and on a big stage
here, so I think it goes both ways. Like I said, it all comes
down to just keeping a relationship with DREAM and with the other
promotions as well as just trying to bond a relationship with
them to make sure we can interchange fighters and make sure that
it benefits both promotions.”
(Your
thoughts on how you are perceived and where you want to go in
your fighting career?)
“Yeah,
you know, I think I spent too much energy and too many [thinking
about] the rankings and stuff. I’m over it now. I mean,
really, like, you’re really just speaking into deaf ears
and it’s kind of stupid so… I think you’ve noticed
that I’ve kind of just taken a step back from doing the
media stuff and really focus on my training and my fighting and,
you know, I think anything a fighter can do is just really just
focus on themselves and focus on the team that they’re with
and try to make everybody around them better and, uh… you
know, and just do that, you know. Let you your fighting do your
talking and like I said I’m pretty much over it. So, I’m
ready to step up my game and, you know, a fight like this is
just something that you couldn’t pass up and whether it’s
two week notice or whatever, three weeks notice, whatever it
is, you know… I’m coming to that point of like, hey,
I’ve fought all the best guys I possibly can that are available
to me and, you know, once this fight’s done and hopefully
I come out on top and when I come out on top that, you know,
there’ll be another Gilbert (Melendez) fight possibly or,
you know, potentially another fighter, you know, that is at the
top so like I said before, I only want to fight the best guys
and fighting the best guys is whoever is available to fight at
the time, so right now Kawajiri was available to fight. I have
to make myself available because these opportunities don’t
come very often and so I’m just stepping up to capitalize
on this opportunity, you know. That’s what you have to do
as a fighter. Josh Koscheck spoke some words of wisdom me one
time and it stuck with me ever since and that was probably about
a year ago is that, you know, you’re a fighter, you know?
You can’t make any money unless you fight. So, for those
people who don’t want to fight or don’t want to take
fights then you just keep nickel-and-diming it through your life.
Well, as long as you’re training constantly and you’re
fighting constantly, you’re only going to get better and
a mental thing for you is just to stay busy and if you’re
always fighting, you’re always training which means that
you are getting better, so and in the process you’re making
money. You can’t make any money unless you fight, so that
was something that always stuck with me in the last year so I’m
looking for every possible fight I can possibly find. There was
no way that I was going to let this opportunity pass.”
Source: Fight Opinion
|
Fistic
Medicine: Reader Questions, Feedback
by Matt Pitt
My thanks for your e-mails and questions, as they have made this
column more fun and satisfying than I had hoped or expected it
could be.
If
building up the neck muscles is so important to enduring a punch
to the head, how do you work those muscles out?
Flexion bridge maneuvers and flexion curls. Any exercise that
involves bending the neck forward against resistance. Heavy weights
should not be used. This is a good, simple Web site: http://www.exrx.net/Lists/ExList/NeckWt.html.
That
article about Dementia Pugilistica was really disturbing. Is
there anything new about the disease?
In terms of basic science, there has been no watershed development,
but evidence of the dangers of CTE is mounting. The autopsy results
of NFL player Chris Henry are concerning: Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy
present in a 28-year-old wide receiver. UFC heavyweight and former
NFL lineman Matt Mitrione says, “I guarantee you I have
brain damage.” He would know. An Ivy League footballer commits
suicide and shows extensive brain damage at autopsy. Eventually,
the evidence will be impossible to ignore.
I
train in MMA and boxing. What are the risks for me ending up
with severe brain injury?
No one knows but presumably much lower than a professional fighter.
Risk of CTE is a function by the number and severity of brain
injuries. We assume the timing of repetitive injuries, the parts
of the brain affected and an athlete’s genetics play a big
role, as well, but no one knows how to quantify these risks for
a population or individual. I wouldn’t give up a sport I
loved, but I would keep my eyes open. And my chin down.
Wait,
wait, wait -- there really is such a thing as glass jaw syndrome,
and it can be cured?
An October 2009 article in “Dental Traumatology” suggests
so. It was a small study, but it came out of a well-reputed university.
I’m not entirely sure the proposed mechanism is legitimate,
but that is the beauty of science: hypotheses can be supported
or debunked in time.
Why
don’t you answer any questions?
I do. The articles on Staph Aureus, Women’s MMA, Mouthguards
and Cauliflower Ear were prompted by readers’ questions.
A few others were “prompted” by my editor.
So
why didn’t you answer my question?
Either because I haven’t gotten to it yet, or, just as likely,
because I’m wholly ignorant. I make a point of basing my
articles on published research and established science. If I
can’t find research to answer a question, I’m hesitant
to add just another opinion to the blogosphere.
What
makes liver shots so devastating?
I have some thoughts on the matter, and there’s a tremendous
amount of information about liver injuries in the medical literature.
However, to date, I haven’t found articles that address
liver trauma from hand-to-hand combat trauma, pain associated
with liver trauma or how a liver blow debilitates an opponent
so effectively. When I find it, I’ll publish it. In the
meantime, I think you’ll appreciate this:
You’re
ignorant and an alarmist. Modern steroid regimens are totally
different from what the GDR did in the 1960s. Modern steroid
use is safe, is it not?
You may be right, possibly on all counts, but I doubt you have
the evidence to prove it. The German sport system compiled detailed
data on every aspect of athletes’ performance but virtually
none regarding their health. We know there are risks to steroid
use, but we don’t know -- quantitatively -- what those risks
are. If we know there are rocks beneath the surface of the lake,
how much more do we need to know before choosing to jump in?
A lot of the people jumping are kids.
What
techniques can I use to maximize my adrenaline response for a
fight?
Stepping into a closed cage with a man willing and able to badly
hurt you should evoke a robust sympathetic response. More difficult
is controlling it: mental discipline, yoga, visualization, training
and experience.
Explain
to me again how marijuana can be a performance-enhancing drug?
There are canaboid receptors in the brain. During times of stress,
the brain releases chemicals that stimulate a sense of calm and
well-being, which is vital for an animal whose intelligence is
arguably its best hope for survival. Marijuana -- specifically
delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol -- exogenously stimulates these
same receptors.
Your
article didn’t make it clear. In your opinion, can women
do MMA?
Can they fight professional MMA? Yes, clearly. Can they do so
safely? This is not a safe sport for anyone who participates
in it. As long as promoters match fighters of roughly equal ability,
my read of the literature does not suggest women are in greater
danger. Can they fight at an “acceptable” level? De
gustibus non est disputandum.
What
can I do to limit my risk of getting MRSA?
As far as you’re concerned, don’t shave immediately
before training; shower immediately after; don’t share personal
equipment; wear a rash guard; avoid opponents with visible red
patches of skin or large red pimples; and avoid opponents with
long nails and coarse 5 o’clock shadow that will open microscopic
skin wounds. As far as your gym is concerned, clean the mats
and gear religiously, and promote a culture of caution that encourages
self-policing.
Jared
Hess’ knee blew out on the first takedown of the fight against
Alexander Shlemenko at Bellator 20? How is it possible he fought
the whole fight on a bad knee?
Forrest Griffin is adamant that there is a difference between
fighters (like him) and mixed martial artists (like a whole lot
of us). Hess is a fighter.
Do
Chuck Liddell, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and (insert fighter’s
name here) have CTE? Is that why their games are slipping?
I’m not their doctor. I’m not their friend or family
member. I have an opinion, but it’s a fundamentally ignorant
opinion -- it doesn’t belong in print.
I
think Cauliflower ear is sexy!
So do a whole lot of commenters on the Sherdog.com Facebook page.
This seems like a great opportunity for Sherdog to set up a dating
Web site. Contact Jordan Breen if interested.
Source: Sherdog
|
UFC
126 Makes Several New Bouts Official for Super Bowl Weekend Card
UFC 126 set to go down on Super Bowl weekend in February has
almost the entire card filled up now as the promotion made several
rumored bouts official on Tuesday.
The
headlining fight between middleweight champion Anderson Silva
and challenger Vitor Belfort leads the way, with the co-main
event pitting former champion Forrest Griffin and Rich Franklin
against each other.
New
fights confirmed for the UFC 126 card include two highly touted
Japanese stars making their way to the Octagon as Michihiro Omigawa
meets Chad Mendes in a featherweight match-up while Norifumi
“Kid” Yamamoto takes on Demetrious Johnson in a 135lb
fight.
Also
confirmed for the card is a bantamweight fight between Miguel
Torres and Antonio Banuelos as well as lightweights Paul Kelly
facing Sam Stout.
Paul
Taylor meets Gabe Ruediger on the undercard as well as Mike Pierce
taking on UFC newcomer Kenny Robertson.
Main
card fights will also showcase Jake Ellenberger vs. Carlos Eduardo
Rocha, and the light heavyweight showdown between young guns
Jon Jones and Ryan Bader.
With
10 fights officially announced, the undercard has room for one
more potential bout to bring the card to 11 fights.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
Sengoku
12/30 Tokyo, Ariake Colosseum fight card
By Zach
Arnold
New
fights added to the event. The card line-up as currently constituted:
¦SRC
Featherweight title match: Marlon Sandro vs. Hatsu Hioki
¦Welterweights: Ryo Chonan vs. Dan Hornbuckle
¦Middleweights: Kazuo Misaki vs. Mike Seal
¦Middleweights: Yuki Sasaki vs. Mamed Khalidov
¦Lightweights: Maximo Blanco vs. Won Sik Park
¦Featherweights: Masanori Kanehara vs. Yoshiro Maeda
¦Lightweights: Kazunori Yokota vs. Jadamba Narantungalag
¦Heavyweights: Yoshihiro Nakao vs. Dave Herman
¦SRC Welterweight GP Series: K-Taro Nakamura vs. Yasubey
Enomoto
¦SRC Bantamweight Asia Tournament 2010: Akitoshi Tamura
vs. Taiyo Nakahara
¦SRC Bantamweight Asia Tournament 2010: Manabu Inoue vs.
Shunichi Shimizu
¦Megumi Fujii vs. Emi Fujino
¦Rin Nakai vs. Mika “Hari” Harigai
¦Amy Davis vs. Misaki Takimoto
¦Roxanne Modafferi vs. Hitomi Akano
¦SRC Jacket match (Lightweights): Yukio Sakaguchi vs.
Jung Jin Suk
¦SRC Jacket match (Lightweights): Sotaro Yamada vs. Kim
Lee Sak
¦SRC Jacket match (59 kg): Kiyotaka Shimizu vs. Ichiro
Sugita
¦Kickboxing match (70 kg): Buakaw Por Pramuk vs. Hiroki
Nakajima
¦Kickboxing match (Heavyweights): Kazuki Ozawa vs. Lee
Chang Seob
¦Kickboxing match (70 kg): Yusuke Ikei vs. Shintaro Matsukura
¦Kickboxing match (70 kg): Yutaro Yamauchi vs. Gou Yokoyama
¦Kickboxing match (61.23 kg): Hironobu Ikegami vs. Yuji
Tanaka
¦Muay Thai match (86.18 kg): Fabiano Cyclone vs. Andrew
Peck
¦Muay Thai match (73 kg): Musashi Miyamoto vs. Hiroki
Komata
¦Muay Thai match (60 kg): Kanongsuk Weerasakreck vs. Genki
Yamamoto
¦Muay Thai match (52 kg): Arashi Fujiwara vs. Mutsuki
Ebata
¦Women’s Muay Thai match (mini-flyweights at 47.62
kg): Erika Kamimura vs. Chiharu
Source: Fight Opinion
|
Megumi
Fujii: New Life After A Loss
by Tony Loiseleur
Before ending up on the losing end of a split decision to Zoila
Frausto in the final round of Bellator’s 115-pound women’s
tournament, Megumi Fujii was owner to one of the most impressive
undefeated records in MMA. While she’ll tell you that she’s
dealt with losses in previous athletic pursuits like judo, sambo,
and submission grappling, since her August 2004 MMA debut, Fujii
had never dealt with a loss in the way that most fighters in
our sport inevitably have to.
She’s
had a difficult time coming to terms with her October loss and
trying to place existential significance on it. Before it, Fujii
was one of Japan’s staunchest supporters of women’s
MMA, using her record and international recognition within the
sport as leverage to push local promoters into changing paternally
protective rules and paying higher purses for female fighters.
While
she’s still fervent in supporting women’s MMA in Japan,
she admits that a bit of that leverage and appeal is gone now.
“I
was shocked when I heard the decision. I thought I'd won my 23rd
straight victory, and would continue winning more from there
on, getting people to pay attention to women's MMA and broaden
opportunities for women in the sport back home,” she says.
“Before
this, I always wanted to do things that male mixed martial artists
hadn’t been able to and to be recognized for them. That’s
something that I think would inspire other women to come to MMA.”
Conceding
that it was likely a difficult decision for judges to render,
Fujii is nonetheless adamant that the results of her encounter
with Frausto should have been different. Though she holds admiration
for Frausto as an athlete with heart and great strength, Fujii
asserts she was the one that pushed the action in their fight,
scored the most significant damage on the feet.
In
spite of Frausto’s natural weight advantage and big swinging
punches, Fujii also believes she evaded enough punches to counter
and win rounds, citing the damage she delivered in swelling Frausto’s
left eye, lips, and nose. She admits in retrospect however that
she should have been more proactive in pursuing the takedown,
which most onlookers expected from her that evening.
“I
was told that Zoila's strength was striking, and until that point,
people told me that my own striking wasn't good. I wanted to
test my striking against a good striker,” says Fujii. “I
connected far more than I anticipated, so I got carried away
in it that I kept striking.
“There
was Vaseline on my gloves too, so I figured I couldn't get a
good grip for grappling. When we did clinch in the end however,
even though she was bigger, I was surprised that she wasn't as
strong in the clinch as I'd expected and that I could grip her
alright,” Fujii confesses. “In the end, I think I went
by my own discretion a little too much. But, I still don’t
regret fighting the way I did.”
The
lesson Fujii takes away is an unfortunate one, however. In line
with the platitude that certain authority figures in the sport
have relied upon to explain away unpopular decisions rather than
take issue with judges and their inconsistency, Fujii has vowed
to finish fights.
It’s
an odd place to be for the former undefeated dynamo of women’s
MMA. Fujii will claim otherwise, but it’s obvious she’s
still in turmoil from the loss. But, she is still the smiling,
ebullient role model of women’s MMA in Japan, diligently
training alongside her charges at the Abe Ani Combat Club, warmly
offering technical and life advice to her cadre of students.
It’s difficult to imagine that just half a year ago, she
was seriously broaching the notion of retirement.
“I’m
injured and not as healthy as I was before, but I’m very
motivated and want to keep fighting. So long as you have the
will and motivation, the possibilities are endless. I want to
fight for a long time. MMA is my life,” she admits.
She
laments the end of her stellar unbeaten streak, but the loss
could not have come at a better time. Since returning to Japan,
Fujii has taken time off to reflect and heal the injuries accrued
over the course of the tournament, ultimately setting an even
more ambitious goal for the future: a larger undefeated streak
than her previous twenty-two straight wins. She giggles charmingly
at the hope of eventually making it into the Guinness Book of
World Records for such a feat, but in a serious moment, tabs
the woman that defeated her, Bellator 115-pound champion Zoila
Frausto, as the first name she wants to notch en route to twenty-three
plus consecutive wins.
“[Rematching
Frausto] anytime would be fine, but I think it would be better
if we were to do it sooner. She’s very big for 115 pounds
and it’s hard for her to lose the weight because the cut
is drastic. For the sake of her health, I think it’d be
better if we could do it sooner than later,” says Fujii.
The
road to the Frausto rematch will begin with stalwart Valkyrie
veteran Emi Fujino whom Fujii will meet at Sengoku “Soul
of Fight” on Dec. 30.
Fujii's
run in an international promotion like Bellator has coincidentally
boosted her stature in her home country. She not only has a fight
in the second largest promotion in Japan, but on its most important
card of the year. It's an opportunity she's grateful for, but
it continues to reflect the paternal state of women's MMA in
Japan and how vital success abroad is for any female fighter
to maintain a fruitful MMA career.
"I
see Fujino as a very powerful fighter. Her striking is great,
though she originally started out as a grappler long ago. She's
really a total fighter, capable of everything. But, I plan to
play to my strengths as always and submit her anyway," said
Fujii.
With
hopes to continue fighting primarily in the United States and
in Japan during Bellator’s offseason, Fujii finds herself
continuing the work she endeavored in for the past six years
-- literally putting women on the map for the Japanese MMA world.
The contentious loss to Frausto may have taken away some shine
on Fujii’s name, but it’s also given her a new lease
on life in MMA.
Source: Sherdog
|
Lyoto:
“Once you lose, nobody wants to know about you anymore”
By Guilherme
Cruz
The
year of 2010 wasn’t a good one to Lyoto Machida. Unbeaten
until last year, the karate fighter lost his UFC belt to Maurício
Shogun and was defeated on a controversy judges’ call on
a fight with Rampage Jackson. Closing the year with a “not
serious, just old stuff” surgery, Lyoto chatted with TATAME
and commented the defeat, evaluated the judging system of UFC
and argued about the possibility of changing his fighting style
in the future. “People sometimes want something that is
not possible. St. Pierre for instance, plays by the rules, once
you lose people don’t want to know about you anymore. It’s
great to make a good show, if you can do both things, great,
but you can’t always”, tells Machida, hoping to win
again in 2011.
What
surgery did you go through?
That’s
some old stuff, but it’s good to go through this surgery
because it could grow, and I don’t want it. But within a
month I’ll be back to the trainings.
A
month after your loss, how did you digest being defeat?
Each
day that goes by you keep seeing it as a sequence of losses because
you keep distancing yourself to the title, so it’s harder
for you to fight a top guy, like Rashad, who’s on the line
for the belt. I have to seek another fight d o what I want, but
when you’re in the middle of the ranking you never know
what can happen to you. Vitor (Belfort), for instance, fought
once and will dispute the title, because of his background, so
it’s hard to say. But in my weight class I know there’re
other people before me on the line, it happens.
You
lost on a controversy decision… Looking back, do you still
think you won?
Until
these days I hear everybody telling me: “they steal from
you”, but I don’t like to keep saying it because it
ain’t change anything, maybe it make things worse because
I’ll keep thinking about it. Now I’ll do my own game,
win without leaving any doubts. These are things we learn on
the road.
Do
you believe that becoming more aggressive is the way for winning
again?
It’s
hard to say… People sometimes want something and it’s
not always possible. St. Pierre plays by the rules all the time
because he knows that, once you’re losing, nobody wants
to know about you anymore. It’s great to do a great show,
but you can’t do both sometimes. Sometimes you only have
two chances of beating that opponent, so it’s best to keep
a strategic fight and try to win because the level of the sport
is so high. The other guy ain’t silly, he’s also trained.
I can’t say “ok, let’s begin to exchange and see
where it goes”. We want to give fight and give people a
good show, but you have to play on a safety zone. Anderson Silva
himself, in some of the fights he’s been doing, he does
it to win, because he knows the consequences of the losses. We’re
not playing an amateur sport.
You
game style, of counter attacking, is hard to be evaluated on
MMA because of UFC’s type of scoring. Do you agree with
it?
On
their criteria it can be a bad thing for me, but in any other
fighting sport, whether it’s Boxing or Muay Thai, there’s
no such thing. The guy that attacks and the one that counter
attacks have their credits, their shots. Where is there any good
on walking forwards for five minutes and being hit 20 times?
Only because you moved forwards it doesn’t mean you were
effective. Sometimes it’s the wrong criteria to be used.
What
do you hope for 2011?
The
expectations are the highest... 2010 was a great learning year
for me, it’s a part of my journey. I’ve had a great
2007, 2008 and 2009 too… 2010 wasn’t a good one when
it comes to wins, but I’ve learned a lot, I’ve grew
a lot. That’s a part of the process. It’s like it’s
a circuit. On tennis and other sports, you can’t domain
for many years, the number one loses a championships and then
wins another, that’s all part of the sport.
Do
you want to leave a message?
I’d
like to wish a merry Christmas to all my fans… The important
thing is to be healthy and happy for all the guys that are tuned
on MMA.
Source: Tatame
|
Find
out how Jiu-Jitsu helped the champion of Pipeline
by Carlos
Eduardo Ozório
France’s Jeremy Flores made history this month by winning
the most prestigious stage of the world surfing circuit, Pipe
Master, at the dreaded Pipeline in Hawaii. In his last two heats
on the way to the title – he even went up against the greatest
surfer of all times, Kelly Slater, in the semifinal –, Flores
had to draw on some of the main lessons he acquired, believe
it or not, not in the sea, but in the Jiu-Jitsu dojo.
“Never
give up” is the lesson conveyed by Professor Yannick Beven,
a Brazilian who teaches the gentle art and physical education
in France.
“Jiu-Jitsu
shows how one can turn around a match that is all but lost at
any moment. That’s really important in surfing, when we’re
at a disadvantage and need to be patient to wait for the right
wave,” the surfer told the globoesporte.com website.
When Jeremy started practice in the gentle art he was a weakly
kid who stood out in surfing. Examples of fighters who never
abandon the waves are Rickson Gracie, Murilo Bustamante, and
Ricardo Arona among countless others. Illustrious surfers who
like putting on the gi include, besides Jeremy Flores, Kelly
Slater, big-wave rider Rodrigo Resende, and Joel Tudor. Tudor,
after becoming one of the greatest longboard champions around,
went on to compete in Jiu-Jitsu and even participated in the
ADCC.
To
illustrate how the bonds between the two sports are strong, room
had to be made for a dojo at one of the most talked about residences
in Hawaii, the Volcom house, headquarters for some of the greatest
local Hawaiian talent in Pipeline.
Source: Gracie Magazine
|
Nick
Diaz Faces Cyborg, Not Mayhem Miller For Strikeforce on Jan.
29
by Ken
Pishna
Everyone has been waiting for the showdown between Strikeforce
welterweight champion Nick Diaz and Jason “Mayhem”
Miller. The two have had a very public feud since an in-ring
melee involving Miller, Diaz and his brother, and the Diaz’s
teammate Jake Shields.
Everyone
is going to have to keep waiting.
The
plan was to have Diaz and Miller fight on Strikeforce’s
Jan. 29 event in San Jose, Calif., but the two sides could not
agree on terms, mostly centered on weight. Diaz is a welterweight
and Miller is a middleweight.
Strikeforce
on Wednesday confirmed to MMAWeekly.com that Diaz will instead
defend his title against Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos,
the husband of Strikeforce women’s middleweight champion
Cris “Cyborg” Santos. The promotion also confirmed
a reported title fight between middleweight champion Ronaldo
“Jacare” Souza and Robbie Lawler.
The
two bouts will serve as co-main events on Showtime.
Diaz
(23-7) is making the second defense of his title. He defeated
Marius Zaromskis in Jan. 2010 to win the belt and recently defended
it in a rematch with K.J. Noons. Those victories are part of
Diaz’s eight-fight winning streak that dates back to mid-year
2008.
Santos
(18-13), a powerful striker from Rondonopolis, Brazil, has won
back-to-back bouts, including a TKO victory over Zaromskis. He
is an uneven fighter, however, going 5-5 in his last 10 bouts.
Santos faces the biggest opportunity of his career in the title
fight with Diaz.
Souza
(13-2) won the then-vacant Strikeforce middleweight title in
a battle with Tim Kennedy on Aug. 21 at Strikeforce: Houston.
That victory was the latest in a three-fight winning streak for
the Brazilian Jiu-jitsu and Judo black belt. He defeated Joey
Villasenor and Matt Lindland to earn his chance at Strikeforce
gold.
Lawler
(18-6) is coming off of a brutal first-round knockout of Matt
Lindland on Dec. 4 at Strikeforce: Henderson vs. Babalu. He has
alternated wins and losses in his last five fights, also defeating
the likes of Melvin Manhoef and Scott Smith, while losing to
Renato “Babalu” Sobral and former Strikeforce middleweight
champion Jake Shields.
In
other featured televised fights on Showtime, Herschel Walker
(1-0) returns to the cage to face Scott Carson (4-1) in a heavyweight
bout, and Roger Gracie (3-0) will battle Trevor Prangley (23-6-1)
at light heavyweight.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
Daniel
Gracie to Fight in Bellator Season Four
Bellator
Fighting Championship has added another notable name to its roster,
as Pride vet Daniel Gracie has signed with the promotion and
will compete in its upcoming, season four, light-heavyweight
tournament.
“The
Gracie family has truly influenced MMA as we know it today and
I’m proud to say that heritage continues when Daniel steps
into the Bellator cage to try to become our Light Heavyweight
Champion” Bellator Chairman and CEO Bjorn Rebney was quoted
saying in a press release. “A Gracie back in the tournament
format is reminiscent of the days when the Gracie’s dominated
MMA and that’s something I’m excited to see”.
Gracie
(5-2-1) recently returned to MMA competition for the first time
in three years, and tapped out Martin Wojcik with a first round,
rear-naked-choke at Israel Fighting Championship’s debut
card on November 9th. Gracie’s previous bout took place
in November, 2006, when he was stopped by Allan Goes while competing
under the International Fight League banner. The fourth degree
BJJ black belt also holds wins over Wes Sims, Wataru Sakata and
Shinsuke Nakamura.
“This
Bellator tournament is the Gracies getting back to our origins,”
said Gracie. “The tournament is the way the Gracies got
started in MMA. That will give me extra motivation to win this
tournament.”
“I'm
imagining myself winning this tournament, I have nothing but
winning this tournament on my mind right now,” said Gracie.
“Of course I know that anything can happen in MMA, but one
thing I guarantee everyone that tunes in is that I'm going to
put on a great show. You can bet on that.”
No
information as to when Gracie will make his Bellator debut was
given.
Source: Full Contact Fighter
|
Tito
Ortiz: When I fight Little Nogueira, it will not be my last UFC
fight
By Zach
Arnold
Interview
courtesy of fighthubtv.com.
“How
do you think you’re going to fare against him?”
“I’ll
be fighting Little Nog in March in the UFC and my hands are full,
as always. Everyone you fight in the UFC is tough, you know?
I recently lost a decision to Matt Hamill. I’m kind of bitter
and bummed about it, but back to the gym, you know, a week after
the fight, lick my wounds, healed myself, and get back in the
gym but I think it’s going back to my main base and that’s
wrestling. I’m hungry. I want to fight. Little Nog is one
of the best guys in the world, a ranked fighter and you know
he’s great with his hands, great with his wrestling, and
great with his jiu-jitsu and it’s just one of those things.
I just got to prepare and do the right things to make the fight
go my way and, you know, fight my ass off and entertain as I
do in each and every one of my fights.”
“Dana
White recently said in an interview that this was your last shot,
your last chance in the UFC. How do you feel about that? You
feel any added pressure?”
“Um,
no, there’s no added pressure at all. You know, I’m
going to fight no matter what. You know, in his mind, uh, it
may be my last fight. Nah, not at all. I’m going to continue
fighting. Win, lose, or draw, I’m fighting no matter what.
You know, I’m healthy, man. I got a new back, I got a new
neck, you know I went through major back surgery, major neck
surgery, and I wouldn’t have gone through that if I wasn’t
serious about my career. You know I’m only 36 years. I believe
I still have at least three or four more years of solid fighting
and when I start getting knocked out in each one of my fights,
then it’s time for me to hang ‘em up. But, you know,
I’ve never been knocked out unconscious, ever. After every
one of my losses I’ve always stood to my feet and I’ve
always given a hell of a fight every time I’ve fought. Even
the last three, four fights that have been decisions. You know
I lost a split decision to Forrest (Griffin) that I thought I
beat him. You know I [had a draw] to Rashad Evans. In my last
match against Matt Hamill I made a couple of mistakes and did
not defend the takedown. That’s my fault for not wrestling
and like I said I come out, I fight, I entertain, I sell tickets
and I go out and I entertain as I do. I put my heart on the line
every time I fight so this is far from my last fight but I’m
going to win so Dana (White) will have nothing to worry about.”
Source: Fight Opinion
|
Minotauro
doing well post surgery; find out about the fighters injuries
by Carlos
Eduardo Ozório
Anyone who reads GRACIEMAG already knows all about Rodrigo Minotauro’s
ordeal in returning to the octagon. As mentioned in GRACIEMAG
165, Mino had to deal with a knee problem to thereafter take
care of a hip problem similar to the one afflicting tennis player
Gustavo Kuerten in the labrum acetabular, where the femur attaches
to the hip.
As
reported, the black belt underwent surgery last week in the United
States with the same doctor who has treated Georges Saint-Pierre
and a number of others from the sport. His spokesman, Fernando
Flores, says all went well.
He’ll
be back in five or six months” Fernando Flores
Check
out a reprint of what Minotauro had to say about the injury,
the first time he spoke openly about the subject.
“I
have problems with the anterior cruciate ligament in my knee
and my hip. My hip joints have degenerated. Both sides of my
hip have calcified a bit and the cartilage grinds when I open
my legs to move them.”
“In
Gustavo Kuerten’s case, he delayed having surgery and that
aggravated the problem. I think he’s had three operations
so far. In my case, I’m going to resolve the problem at
a less-advanced stage.”
“I have an anterior cruciate ligament injury and that takes
longer to heal; between six and seven months. The hip takes three,
so I decided to do the knee first and do the hip three months
after that. This way both can recover at the same time.”
“I
started feeling it when I was getting ready to fight Fedor way
back. Murilo Bustamante, who coached me at the time, asked me:
‘Why are you replacing guard like that, have you lost your
flexibility?’ At that time, I knew I had an injury and I
sought treatment. I’ve been doing physiotherapy for years,
but now it’s reached a point where there’s no way around
operating. What bothers me is moving my legs, when playing guard.
That’s one of the things that worries me most.”
“I
felt it a lot in the Couture fight, but I’d been doing a
lot of work in the pool, doing ginástica natural and stretching,
and I pulled it off. It wasn’t yet a surgery case, but now
I’ve been to six specialists and they all tell me to operate.
One of them – the most highly-regarded one – told me:
‘Rodrigo, if you fight Frank like this you’ll only
be at fifty percent capacity.’ I left Anderson Silva’s
fight, went to do physiotherapy and could hardly walk. It hurt
like hell.”
After
all that fans must be asking themselves why an established fighter,
with nothing left to prove, insists on fighting. Minotauro gives
the answer:
“I
like what I do. I train really well with guys who are at the
top. If I were always getting bullied around… But I’ve
been doing fine against guys like Cigano, Anderson, my brother…
That makes me believe I can still do it, and I’m going to
prove it.”
Can
anyone doubt someone who survived getting run over by a truck
when he was a kid?
Source: Gracie Magazine
|
Joseph
Benavidez Looking Forward to Book Release and Shooting for March
UFC Debut
by Damon
Martin
Joseph
Benavidez is looking to add to his career accolades. He’s
already been a top title contender, a male model, and now he’s
looking to add author to that list as well.
Before
ever fighting Wagnney Fabiano in November, the Team Alpha Male
fighter declared quite prophetically that he eats black belts
for breakfast. He then promptly submitted Fabiano, who happens
to be a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, in the second round
of their match-up at WEC 52.
Following
the fight, Benavidez mentioned that it was “joe-jitsu”
that got him through the fight, and now he’s decided to
coin the phrase officially as he works on his new book, “A
Complex Living, Breathing Guide to Joe-Jitsu.”
The
lifestyle guide as Benavidez describes it, will have belt levels
and a path for all those who aspire to become experts in Joe-Jitsu.
All jokes aside however, Benavidez isn’t sure why he’s
matched up with so many black belts, but if that’s what
the UFC has in store for him, he’s happy to notch a few
more wins on his belt.
“My
last four wins have been against black belts,” Benavidez
told MMAWeekly Radio. “It’s cool cause even though
I’ve been matched up with black belts my last four fights,
my last four wins, looking back basically I’ve demolished
anyone that’s not named Dominick Cruz, that doesn’t
like run around from me. So I just beat them and they just happened
to be black belts.”
Before
his fight with Fabiano, like many WEC stars, Benavidez was hesitant
to talk too much about a UFC future simply because without a
win he may not have had a UFC future. Now he knows for sure he’s
making the transition and he’s already in the ear of matchmaker
Sean Shelby to get him a fight.
“Now
my next fight’s in the UFC, I’m excited for it. I don’t
have anything to say as far as opponents. There’s a lot
of tough dudes out there and I’ve been trying to get in
Sean Shelby’s ear and my manager’s to try and find
something out, but I’m kind of in a different position right
now where I just fought for the title, and I feel I’ll beat
anyone else there is, so I’m just waiting,” said Benavidez.
As
far as where and when he wants to fight, Benavidez, who has fought
in Japan before, hopes to travel abroad for the UFC. Some fighters
shy away from traveling long distances for fights, but Benavidez
is hopeful to end up on one of the UFC cards with some international
flavor to it.
“I’m
going to ask to travel and fight on one of these international
shows, just to get the experience,” Benavidez stated. “I’m
hoping for March. March is a good month for me, it’s a lucky
month for me. That’s when I fought Miguel Torres last year,
and I believe there’s also three shows in March so I’m
really hoping to get on one of those.”
There
has been no word on potential opponents for Benavidez, but as
a Top 10 ranked bantamweight, there is no shortage of possibilities
for him. Also keep an eye out for Benavidez’s book of Joe-Jitsu
coming very soon to retailers everywhere.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
Toughman
Hawaii is Back!
January
8, 2011
Hilo Civic Center
Doors open at 5:30 pm and the fights start at 6:00 pm
Tickets are $25 pre-sale, $30 at the door
Source: Wally Carvalho
|
The
11 things MMA fans want to see in 2011
Looking
ahead to the new year, Cagewriter is turning it up to eleven.
In no particular order, here are the 11 things MMA needs for
2011.
Fedor
Emelianenko vs. Alistair Overeem: Despite his loss to Fabricio
Werdum, the negotiations just to get Fedor fighting in the U.S.
again have been treacherous, and now it seems that he will fight
Antonio Silva. Meanwhile, Overeem has kept busy making history
in K-1. Strikeforce has two of the best heavyweights in the world
on their roster. It should not be difficult to get them to fight.
Improved
judging: How many fighters need to get screwed by judges before
changes are made in MMA's judging system? As the sport continues
to grow and improve, parity will follow and more fights will
require a judges' call. These fighters deserve competent judges.
A
challenge for Jose Aldo: The featherweight champ looked head
and shoulders above Faber and Manny Gamburyan in 2010. As fun
as it is to watch Aldo beat up on his opponents, someone who
challenges him could be much more fun.
Dominick
Cruz vs. Urijah Faber coaching on "The Ultimate Fighter":
This match-up is full of win. Bantamweights Cruz and Faber are
top-flight fighters, already dislike each other, and both come
from camps that would provide excellent coaches and training
partner cameos. Going with smaller fighters would not only invigorate
the TUF franchise, it would also introduce a larger MMA audience
to the WEC fighters joining the UFC.
Jason
"Mayhem" Miller vs. Nick Diaz: Enough with the trash
talk, the viral videos and the catchphrases. Strikeforce needs
to make this fight happen.
Georges
St. Pierre vs. Anderson Silva: The two have been at the top of
pound-for-pound rankings for years, and are just one weight class
apart. GSP has asked for time to put on weight to fight Silva,
who walks around at more than 200 lbs. UFC, give him time, and
then let's make this fight happen.
Legal
MMA in New York: Seriously, Empire State. Get your act together
and legalize MMA. It's ludicrous for a state with a rich history
of boxing and wrestling not to allow mixed martial arts.
A
rejuvenated Brock Lesnar: Losing his title to Cain Velasquez
exposed Lesnar's distaste for getting punched in the face, a
liability for someone whose job involves getting punched in the
face. It will be fascinating to see how Lesnar reacts to being
an underdog, and watching to see if he has the resolve to come
back should be an interesting storyline.
More
pre and post-fight shows: Here at Yahoo! Sports, there was a
pre-fight show for UFC 121. ESPN's "MMA Live" did pre
and post-fight shows for UFC 116 and 121, and Versus had shows
for the final two WEC events. Every one of these shows added
to the MMA viewing experience.
Gilbert
Melendez vs. Eddie Alvarez: To compete with the UFC juggernaut,
the smart thing for Strikeforce and Bellator would be to team
up to make the best fights. This should start with a bout between
their two lightweight champions. Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney probably
ended any hopes for this bout with overzealous negotiation tactics,
but it still would be a fun fight for fans to watch.
More
Pat Miletich on the microphone: The man is both a legendary coach
and fighter, and now he uses his talents as a commentator for
Strikeforce. Inexplicably, he isn't always included on their
broadcast team. Please, give us more Pat.
Source: Yahoo Sports
|
WEC
53 post-fight: Coaching TUF, bonuses and more
"What
a great way to finish that up!" Reed Harris, general manager
of the WEC, said to start the final press conference for the
WEC, following a blockbuster fight between Anthony Pettis and
Ben Henderson. Harris was referring to the gravity-defying kick
from Pettis that secured his win over Henderson and the WEC lightweight
title. Other notes from the WEC 53 press conference:
--
The fight of the night bonus was given to Henderson/Pettis for
their five-round bout, knockout of the night to Eddie Wineland
for knocking out Ken Stone with a slam, and submission of the
night was to Shane Roller for his rear naked choke of former
champion Jamie Varner. The bonuses were for $10,000.
--
Henderson was emotional after the fight, thanking the WEC and
his home crowd of Glendale, Ariz. He said he didn't remember
the kick, but that he knows it will be on the highlight reel
for a while.
--
"It still doesn't feel real," Pettis said about his
title. He said he has done that amazing kick in practice before,
but felt the pressure to do something big going into the final
round of the fight. Henderson admitted that he was woozy after
the kick, but conscious.
--
Cruz continued to push for a rematch with Urijah Faber, and pointed
out how different he is as a fighter. "I'm a completely
different fighter. My stand-up's better, my wrestling's better,
my ground game's better. I'm on a whole different level than
Urijah," Cruz said.
--
After the final WEC fights, Harris spoke of his fighters like
a proud father. "All these guys are going to make a mark
in the UFC, and I couldn't be prouder," Harris said.
--
"When it first happened, I was happy because I got the knockout,
but then when he wasn't moving, I was worried," Eddie Wineland
said about the frightening knockout of Ken Stone. He said that
he made sure he got word Stone's health after the fight.
--
Though there were plenty of UFC stars on hand in Arizona, Harris
was happiest about having a Bear in attendance. Harris, a native
of suburban Chicago, said that he was excited to see Jim McMahon
at the fights, the quarterback of the Super Bowl XX champion
Chicago Bears.
--
Pettis' first fight in the UFC will be for the UFC lightweight
title with the winner of the Jan. 1 bout between champ Frankie
Edgar and Gray Maynard, but he doesn't care who it is. "I
haven't had time to think about Edgar/Maynard yet," Pettis
said. "I was fighting Ben Henderson, and it's all I cared
about."
--
Cruz said he'd happily accept a coaching gig on "The Ultimate
Fighter" against Urijah Faber. "I would accept it,
and I would be stoked. It would be awesome, because I'd get my
loss back."
--
Harris said that several of the unaired preliminary fights will
be available for free on UFC.com, and the Brad Pickett-Ivan Menjivar
decision will be on Versus.com on Friday. More fights will be
released over the weekend.
Source: Yahoo Sports
|
UFC
124 Medical Suspensions For All 22 Fighters at St-Pierre vs.
Koscheck
UFC
124 Poster Georges St-Pierre vs Josh Koscheck 2The Quebec Athletic
Commission on Saturday released the medical suspensions for UFC
124: St-Pierre vs. Koscheck 2, tabbing all 22 fighters with suspensions
ranging from seven to 60 days.
The
commission revealed no details other than the duration of the
suspensions.
UFC
124 Medial Suspensions:
60-Day
Suspensions:
Josh Koscheck, Joe Stevenson
45-Day
Suspensions:
Joe Doerksen, Dan Miller, Sean Pierson
30-Day
Suspensions:
Pat Audinwood, T.J. Grant, John Howard, Sean McCorkle, Rafael
Natal, Matt Riddle
28-Day
Suspensions:
Georges St-Pierre
21-Day
Suspensions:
Thiago Alves, Jesse Bongfeldt
14-Day
Suspensions:
Ricardo Almeida, John Makdessi
7-Day
Suspensions:
Mark Bocek, Mac Danzig, Dustin Hazelett, Jim Miller, Charles
Oliveira, Stefan Struve
Source: MMA Weekly
|
Jacare
and Robbie Lawler Agree To Jan. 29 Strikeforce Championship Bout
A
Strikeforce middleweight title bout between current champion
Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza and Robbie Lawler is in the
cards for the promotion’s Jan. 29 event in San Jose, Calif.
Multiple
MMAWeekly.com sources confirmed that both camps have agreed to
the bout, but are awaiting a final sign-off from Strikeforce
and Showtime. The probability of the bout was first reported
by MMAFighting.com on Saturday.
Souza
won the then-vacant title in a battle with Tim Kennedy on Aug.
21 at Strikeforce: Houston. That victory was the latest in a
three-fight winning streak for the Brazilian Jiu-jitsu and Judo
black belt. He defeated Joey Villasenor and Matt Lindland to
earn his chance at Strikeforce gold.
Lawler
is coming off of a brutal first-round knockout of Lindland on
Dec. 4 at Strikeforce: Henderson vs. Babalu. He has alternated
wins and losses in his last five fights, also defeating the likes
of Melvin Manhoef and Scott Smith, while losing to Renato “Babalu”
Sobral and former Strikeforce middleweight champion Jake Shields.
Strikeforce
welterweight champion Nick Diaz is also expected to fight on
the Jan. 29 Strikeforce fight card, as is former NFL great Herschel
Walker.
MMAWeekly.com
broke the news of Fedor Emelianenko’s return to the cage
to face Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva, but that bout is now
likely to take place on an undetermined date and at an undetermined
location sometime in February instead of the originally reported
Jan. 29 date.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
Jim
Miller Wants Sotiropoulos, Florian, Sherk Or A Title Shot Next
Sometimes
it takes making a little noise to get noticed, so going into
UFC 124 Jim Miller was determined to make sure everyone paid
attention. After finishing off undefeated prospect Charles Oliveira
with a kneebar in the first round of their fight, Miller took
to the microphone and let everyone know what was on his mind.
“I
want my shot,” shouted Miller.
Usually
a soft-spoken fighter, Miller has seen other lightweights mentioned
as title contenders and top ranked fighters, but somehow his
name has been left out. Even with a 7-1 record in the UFC prior
to his fight in Montreal, he came in as a betting underdog to
his younger and less experienced opponent.
When
Miller grabbed the mic from UFC commentator Joe Rogan, he says
it’s something that ran through his mind beforehand and
then he just took advantage of the moment.
“It
was something I was thinking about, and it was the heat of the
moment, too. I honestly feel that my name should have been in
the talks for the top of the division, and contendership fights,
and title fights, and things like that, and it hadn’t happened,”
Miller said when appearing on MMAWeekly Radio.
“I
want it to be the way I fight that gets me that recognition,
and hopefully it was that performance really. I was just kind
of letting off a little steam after.”
With
an impressive record in and out of the UFC, the fact that his
name wasn’t mentioned among the upper echelon of lightweights
got under Miller’s skin. He hopes the victory at UFC 124
and his declaration afterwards that people will start to pay
attention to the work ethic he’s shown in the cage.
“It’s
a fact. The only guys that beat me, beat me by decision, and
they’re No. 1 and No. 2. Frankie (Edgar’s) only loss
is to Gray (Maynard). Gray’s undefeated. My only two losses
are to them. So why are there five, six, seven guys people always
say between me and those top two guys? I feel that I should be
right up there, and there’s no reason people shouldn’t
have me as No. 3,” declared Miller.
Miller
is up to whatever challenge the UFC lays at his doorstep next.
He wants everyone to understand that during his time with the
UFC, he’s never turned down a fight, and he’s stepped
up to face everyone the promotion has put in front of him. Now
he’s ready to start calling people by name to make sure
people recognize he wants to fight the best.
“I’d
love the next shot at the title. I’d love a shot at (Kenny)
Florian when he’s healthy, or (Sean) Sherk, or I really
would have liked them not to have given (George) Sotiropoulos
(someone) so quickly. I know they’re trying to build up
the Australian market, but to me a fight between me and him makes
sense,” Miller stated.
The
UFC has named Dennis Siver as Sotiropoulos’ opponent for
UFC 127 in Australia, but the promotion has never backed down
from replacing one fighter with another if it made sense. And
if the UFC came calling to ask Jim Miller to step in and fight
on the Australian card?
“I’d
be on that in a heartbeat,” he answered.
The
New Jersey native will head back into the gym to help teammate
Charlie Brenneman prepare for his upcoming fight and wait for
the UFC to call, and he hopes the voice at the other end has
a big fight coming his way.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
UFC
125 Fight Card Features Lightweight Championship
UFC
125 PosterThe Ultimate Fighting Championship next returns with
live action and pay-per-view kicking off 2011 on Jan. 1 with
UFC 125: Resolution.
UFC
125 is headlined by Frankie Edgar’s first lightweight title
defense against a fighter other than the man he defeated to gain
the title, B.J. Penn. His opponent, Gray Maynard, is still a
rematch, however. Maynard is the only fighter ever to defeat
Edgar, doing so by decision in April 2008 at UFC Fight Night
13.
Whoever
holds the UFC lightweight championship following the Edgar vs.
Maynard showdown already has his next opponent set. The winner
will face final WEC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis some
time later in 2011.
Jose
Aldo, the first UFC featherweight champion and final WEC 145-pound
division titleholder, was originally slated to make the first
defense of his title against Josh Grispi at UFC 125, but had
to withdraw due to injury. Grispi remains on the card to face
fellow WEC holdover Dustin Poirier.
A
middleweight bout between former Ultimate Fighter competitor
Chris Leben and former WEC light heavyweight champion Brian Stann
has been moved up the main card with the loss of the Aldo fight.
The
main card is expected to open with an explosive bout between
fan favorite Clay Guida and Japanese great Takanori Gomi, who
once reigned atop the lightweight division.
UFC
125 Main Bouts (On Pay-Per-View):
-Frankie Edgar (13-1; #1 Lightweight)* vs. Gray Maynard (10-0;
#4 Lightweight)*†
-Chris Leben (25-6) vs. Brian Stann (9-3)
-Thiago Silva (14-2; #9 Light Heavyweight)* vs. Brandon Vera
(11-5)
-Nate Diaz (13-5) vs. Dong Hyun Kim (13-0-1)
-Clay Guida (27-11) vs. Takanori Gomi(32-6)
UFC
125 Preliminary Bouts (Non-Televised):
-Marcus Davis (17-7) vs. Jeremy Stephens (18-6)
-Josh Grispi (14-1; #4 Featherweight)* vs. Dustin Poirier (8-1)
-Phil Baroni (13-12) vs. Brad Tavares (6-0)
-Mike Brown (24-6) vs. Diego Nunes (15-1)
-Daniel Roberts (11-1) vs. Greg Soto (8-1)
-Antonio McKee (25-3-2) vs. Jacob Volkmann (11-2)
Source: MMA Weekly
|
Thiago
Alves: “Welterweight Division, Watch Out, I’m Back”
Now
that Thiago Alves is back to his winning ways and making weight,
much to the UFC’s delight, he’s hoping to make a run
through all of the top welterweight contenders.
Outside
of a slight knee injury Alves tweaked during the last couple
weeks of training, he’s healthy and has already plotted
out some dates for when he hopes to return to action.
“I
already talked to Dana (White) and Joe (Silva) and I want to
be back by the beginning of April,” Alves said when appearing
recently on MMAWeekly Radio. “My next fight I want it to
be in UFC Rio on August 27 so if they schedule that, I’ll
(fight) beginning of April and then August 27.”
Alves
knows that with so many Brazilians in the UFC that’s going
to be a tougher ticket to punch, but like fighters from all over
the world, he wants the chance to fight at home as well.
“This
will be like a dream come true, I can’t even express myself.
Being Brazilian, you kind of grew up with MMA developing and
all that, and now that we’re going to have a UFC in Brazil
after this whole time, it’s pretty cool. That’s why
I want to fight there so badly,” Alves said.
“I’m
sure everyone who is Brazilian is going to want to fight on this
card.”
First,
Alves wants to get a fight in April, which could put him on a
couple of different cards, including a possible slot on the huge
show planned for Toronto late in the month. Directly following
his win over John Howard at UFC 124, Alves intimated that he
was hoping for a shot at Jake Shields, but he knows that he’ll
next fight Georges St-Pierre for the title.
If
Shields is out of the picture, Alves just wants to fight the
best in the welterweight division and refuses to call anybody
out by name. They’re all on his list.
“I
just want to fight whoever’s going to bring me closer to
the belt again,” Alves stated. “It doesn’t matter
who it is. Nothing changed as far as my goals, I want to be the
welterweight champion. Whoever’s going to bring me closer,
I’m ready for it.”
The
only two losses that Alves has endured recently were to St-Pierre
and to Jon Fitch, who are ranked No. 1 and No. 2 on the MMAWeekly.com
World MMA Rankings. Outside of that, Alves has proven to be one
of the fiercest competitors in the welterweight division and
whether it’s Carlos Condit, B.J. Penn, Jake Shields or someone
else, the entire weight class is officially on notice.
“It
doesn’t matter who it is, I’ll be ready for it,”
said Alves. “Welterweight division, watch out, I’m
back.”
Source: MMA Weekly
|
Plenty
of training at Guard with Frazatto, Paulo Zulu, and De La Riva
Bruno
Frazatto recently found himself with a great opportunity on his
hands. At a paradise beach town in Santa Catarina state, he was
able to enjoy a seminar alongside Ricardo De La Riva and even
roll with successful model and black belt Paulo Zulu.
“Man,
I really liked De La Riva. I didn’t know him personally
before. He’s real chill, humble, and good people, not to
mention how much he knows about Jiu-Jitsu. His students in attendance
were really funny and we were laughing the whole time!”
he tells GRACIEMAG.com.
Besides
the great time with De La Riva, the Atos rep was able to get
in a few rolls with Paulo Zulu, whose Guard academy is set up
in his own home.
“Zulu
doesn’t mess around, he’s tough as nails. He’ll
give everyone a hard time if he enters his division at tournaments,”
he says.
At
the seminar with De La Riva
Now
with his attention focused on competing, Frazatto is coming off
a win at the World Cup, where he had three matches and beat former
world champion Mário Reis in the final.
“It
was an awesome match, 4-4 on points and 3-2 in advantage points.
Mário is dangerous, and you always have to be careful
with him,” he remarks.
At
the pizzaria with the gang and old De La Riva students like Marcelo
Vanusa
Now
he’s looking ahead to the 2011 season, with the European
Open coming up on the 27th to the 30th of January, in Lisbon,
Portugal.
“Training
is going off. I’m going to spend New Year’s in Rio,
but I’ll be at Ary Farias’s house, so we’ll be
training hard,” he says in closing.
Source: Gracie Magazine
|
Fedor
may be back in January, against Antonio Silva
Fedor
Emelianenko could headline the January Strikeforce show in San
Jose, California, against Antonio “Pezão” Silva,
as reported by MMAWEEKLY.com.
Russia’s
“Last Emperor” is coming off a loss to Jiu-Jitsu black
belt Fabrício Werdum, who cut short an unbeaten streak
of nearly ten years.
Now
“Pezão” is coming off a knockout win over Mike
Kyle on December 4.
Source:
Gracie Magazine
|
Donald
Cerrone Ready for UFC Introduction, Calls Out Cole Miller
After
alternating wins and losses in his prior six fights, Donald “Cowboy”
Cerrone went into Thursday night’s WEC 53 feeling some trepidation
about his future with the UFC now that the WEC ceases to exist.
He
did walk out of the cage with a win, though, and having been
one of the more exciting fighters in the WEC, Cerrone is assured
of a shot in the UFC… no matter what he thought after his
performance on Thursday night.
“I
wasn’t exactly thrilled with the fight,” said Cerrone.
“I’m a striker and that’s what I wanted to do,
I wanted to beat him at his own game. I got the win, so I can’t
complain.”
The
win is a good launch for him into the Octagon, but Cerrone has
already skipped right over that and has re-directed his aim at
a current UFC fighter… “Ultimate Fighter” veteran
Cole Miller.
“That’s
the fight I want. That’s the fight I’ve wanted since
I’ve made my foot in the UFC since I can remember. The Cole
Miller fight is definitely who I’m chasing down.”
Many
fighters will say they only want to fight a guy because it’s
business, they want to fight the best, and so one. Not so with
Cerrone, he has a personal grudge with Miller.
“He
beat Leonard Garcia about three and a half years ago,” Cerrone
explained. “I was there. I was no one then. I had about
five fights. I remember Cole was kind of blah, blah, blah, and
I said all right (expletive), I got you. I got you.”
Cerrone
and Garcia are the best of friends. They own a ranch together
in New Mexico, so Cerrone makes no bones about wanting to avenge
his friend.
Truthfully,
it is probably a good first fight for him in the Octagon, one
that fans will surely want to see. A little feuding never hurts
to sell a fight.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
Carlos
Condit Feels He Is One Or Two Fights Away From A Title Shot
As
a Top 10 170-pound fighter and former WEC champion, Carlos Condit
is getting closer and closer to a shot at the UFC welterweight
championship.
Currently
riding a three-fight win streak, Condit is coming off a knockout
win of former top contender Dan Hardy and is currently prepping
for a fight against Chris Lytle at UFC 127 in Australia in February.
Current
welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre has run roughshod over
the division and while his next fight is already set against
Jake Shields in 2011, Condit is ready to throw his hat in as
a contender.
“I
think I’m coming to that point. I feel like I’m ready,”
Condit said on Wednesday.
He
has faced some of the best in the world already, and with a win
over Lytle he would have dealt with one of the toughest competitors
in all of MMA. Not looking too far ahead, Condit is confident
that with the right streak a title shot can’t elude him
much longer.
“I’ve
got to put the wins together to get my place, and I think in
one or two wins I should be there,” Condit stated.
While
Condit and St-Pierre are both under the tutelage of Greg Jackson,
the New Mexico based fighter has stated in the past that he would
face GSP in the Octagon for a title shot. He also understands
just how dangerous St-Pierre can be as an opponent, but that
wouldn’t stop him from stepping up to the challenge and
facing him for the belt.
“I
think no matter who I step in against there’s always doubt,
there’s always the opportunity for them to knock you out
cold and embarrass you, but you’ve just got to put that
aside and put your best foot forward and go out there and fight
your best fight no matter who it is,” said Condit about
facing GSP.
The
“Natural Born Killer” has stepped up his game since
working with Greg Jackson and striking coach Mike Winkeljohn
in New Mexico, and with a win over Lytle, he may be poised for
another big fight and possibly a shot at the UFC welterweight
belt.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
Ricardo
Almeida Wins With Injury at UFC 124, Wants to Climb Top 10
No
one could have foreseen the outcome of Ricardo Almeida’s
bout with Matt Hughes this past August.
Almeida,
considered one of the sport’s best pure practitioners of
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, lost to Hughes via technical submission,
placing Almeida in the unenviable position of having to win his
next bout or possibly be out of the UFC.
So
it was this past weekend at UFC 124 that Almeida stepped up against
T.J. Grant and delivered a solid, dominating performance, keeping
his UFC dreams alive in the process.
“It’s
the big elephant in the room that I don’t think anybody
wants to talk about. You lose two in a row or have two (poor)
performances in a row, you can get cut. To me, it’s part
of the game, and if T.J. had beaten me and I got cut, I’m
fine with that, because that’s the way it’s got to
be,” Almeida told MMAWeekly.com.
“You
either perform or you don’t, and if you don’t perform,
you don’t belong in the UFC. It’s a reality for a lot
of fighters, and you’ve just got to make sure that when
the fight comes, you’re prepared and ready to do it. I just
focus on what I need to do to win fights and the rest should
take care of itself.”
Luckily,
Almeida was able to avoid such a situation by controlling Grant
much of the fight. Still, being the competitor that he is, Almeida
isn’t 100-percent happy with his performance.
“I
got the win, but I wasn’t really happy that I wasn’t
able to finish the fight,” he commented.
“I
knew that his guard was going to create a little bit of a stalemate
on the ground, (but) I just felt that it was a much higher percentage
win when you’re on top of somebody, punching them, so I
was pretty safe there and could control the action, so I decided
to go there.”
While
Grant’s defense was able to extend the fight to a decision,
an injury sustained by Almeida may have been the true determining
factor to why he wasn’t able to finish.
“I
tweaked my knee pretty bad in the second round,” admitted
Almeida. “When I had his back I tried to roll out and all
his weight came on my knee and it ended up popping.
“So
when I finally had a really good position to finish him in the
third, I just couldn’t quite control him the way I wanted.
Usually I work the body-triangle when I get there, but I couldn’t,
so I actually had to grab my foot with my own hand just to keep
the same kind of control.”
While
an MRI is needed to fully assess the damage to his knee, Almeida
believes it is sprained and most likely will not return to action
until after February.
Injuries
aside, Almeida feels he had a good year overall and has a lot
he can build on for 2011.
“I
trained pretty hard and got better in every aspect of the game,”
he stated. “I had a little setback against Hughes, but I
feel technically and physically I’m still improving and
it puts me in a good position for the new year to come.
“When
I stopped fighting in 2004 in most of the rankings I was ranked
No. 2 behind (Matt) Lindland, and my goal now is to get back
into the Top 10.”
Having
righted the ship, Almeida can now focus on regaining the former
heights of his career and more before all is said and done.
“I
want to thank the fans, without them we wouldn’t be here;
they make the sport what it is,” concluded Almeida. “I
want to thank my family, my training partners, and everyone who
supports me on a daily basis and believes in me – those
are the ones that I fight for.
“Right
now I’m focused on getting a couple good wins, fighting
some big names, and we’ll take it from there.”
Source: MMA Weekly
|
Harris
reflects on WEC’s rich legacy
GLENDALE,
Ariz. – Chris Cariaso was on his knees in his locker room,
about 10 minutes before he’d have to walk to the cage to
face Renan Barao in the opening fight Thursday of WEC 53 at Jobing.com
Arena.
Cariaso
appeared to be in prayer when World Extreme Cagefighting cofounder
Reed Harris entered his locker room for a final pep talk.
“I
need you to set the tone,” Harris said. “You know what
we’re looking for. I know you can do it.”
They
slapped hands and Harris wheeled out of the locker room. Minutes
earlier, he’d visited Barao’s locker room and urged
him “to come up big.”
WEC
general manager Reed Harris conducted his final WEC postfight
news conference on Thursday.
As
much as he tried to downplay it, it was clearly a special night
for Harris, who founded the WEC in 2001 with his long-time friend
and business partner, Scott Adams. On Thursday, the WEC was going
to put on one last show before fading into history, being folded
into the larger, more established Ultimate Fighting Championship.
The
WEC had developed something of a cult following among mixed martial
arts fans. Show after show it delivered, putting on one sensational
fight after another.
Part
of it is that the WEC features the lighter-weight fighters –
at the end, it had only three classes, at bantamweight, featherweight
and lightweight – and the lighter fighters are more athletic.
“The
smaller guys can pull off things that the bigger guys physically
just can’t do,” WEC matchmaker Sean Shelby said.
But
a lot of it comes from the tone that Harris and Adams set from
the very first show, on June 30, 2001, at the Tachi Palace casino
in Lemoore, Calif. Harris had come up with the idea to create
the WEC in 1999, but it took nearly two full years for it to
come to fruition.
MMA
wasn’t as remotely popular a decade ago as it is now and
it was still battling stereotypes. It wasn’t regulated in
more states than it was in states where it was regulated.
The
challenges were many and Harris and Adams knew they had to deliver
exciting fights. They weren’t going to tolerate one guy
pinning another down and holding him there for long stretches.
If you were going to make a living in the WEC, you were going
to have to scrap.
“We
were never going to put two wrestlers in there against each other,”
Harris said. “From the start, we always wanted to make sure
that when we told someone guys were going to fight, they actually
came and would fight.”
Thursday’s
show epitomized the type of card they sought. It was one of the
most sensational shows in the history of the company, with fight
after fight ending in jaw-dropping finishes.
Of
the 11 fights on the card, five ended in the first round, including
the first four, and another ended in the second.
Barao
opened the night by submitting Cariaso with a rear naked choke
at 3:47 of the first. In the second bout, a huge right hand by
Yuri Alcantara knocked out Ricardo Lamas at 3:26 of the first.
Will
Kerr had the better of Danny Castillo for most of the 85 seconds
they fought. Kerr was working several submissions and seemed
to be en route to the third first-round finish in a row when
he got a heel hook on Castillo. But Castillo came down from the
top with several thunderous right hands, knocking Kerr out at
1:25.
The
fourth knockout was the most sensational but also scary. Ken
Stone jumped guard on former WEC bantamweight champion Eddie
Wineland, who carried Stone across the ring. Wineland viciously
slammed Stone, who was out cold upon impact. He was put onto
a stretcher and taken to a local hospital, where he was treated,
released and given the all clear.
“I
put one on his chin and he felt my power and didn’t like
it,” Wineland said. “He jumped guard and tried to guillotine
me. I carried him to the corner and all I saw was ‘Rampage’
in my eyes.”
Former
UFC light heavyweight champion Quinton “Rampage” Jackson
was known for slamming foes into unconsciousness during his days
as one of the top attractions in PRIDE. Wineland’s knockout
brought the crowd to life, but Harris wasn’t thrilled at
first.
A
look of concern creased his face and he dashed into the cage
to check on Stone.
“Safety
is so important and when you see something like that, obviously,
there are some concerns,” Harris said. “When I started
this thing, I remember telling my wife [Laura] that I was going
to do it. And I just got this look back. But later, she told
me, ‘Make sure no one ever gets seriously injured.’
And I told her I would make sure of that.”
He
did, though there were plenty of cuts and broken noses and bumps
and bruises along the way.
The
WEC fighters seemed to embrace the notion of putting on mind-blowing
shows. There was little stalling and fighters were seemingly
playing a game of “Can you top this?” It’s what
set the WEC apart from all other promotions.
“The
content was so good, night after night,” said Urijah Faber,
the former WEC featherweight champion and the promotion’s
biggest star. “You got the best fights, from top to bottom,
every single time. You don’t get excitement like that anywhere
else. It’s going to be nice for us as former WEC fighters
to be added to the UFC and bring that excitement over there.
“Lighter-weight
guys don’t have all the same opportunities that bigger guys
do in professional sport, but fighting is one where we can stand
out.”
Anthony
Pettis (right) took the lightweight title from Ben Henderson
in the final fight.
(Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC)
After
Anthony Pettis wrested the WEC lightweight title from Ben Henderson
in Thursday’s final fight, climbing the cage and unleashing
a “Where did that come from?”-type of kick to Henderson’s
head to decide it, there was a lot of talk about sadness.
Neither
Harris nor Adams, though, were sad. Adams, who left the WEC to
form a company, “Showdown Fights,” returned to watch
the final show. He called it a great night in the promotion’s
history.
“It’s
incredible to be here for the last night of the WEC,” Adams
said. “This is a company I helped put together and start.
I see a lot of the talent that I helped anoint and it’s
an incredible feeling for me to see this. I just love what the
WEC has stood for and I look to see these guys go on in the UFC
and do big things.”
As
Harris, who will remain with Zuffa and work for the UFC in a
yet-to-be-determined capacity, patrolled the hallway outside
the fighters’ locker room Thursday, he spoke of some of
the WEC’s high points.
He
raved about great fights – he could barely stop talking
about a slugfest at WEC 9 on Jan. 16, 2004, when Olaf Alfonso
and John Polakowski battled. There was the first – and only
– pay-per-view card, at WEC 48 earlier this year, which
did more than double internal projections.
On
and on he went. Surprisingly, there wasn’t a touch of sadness
or melancholy in his voice.
“The
UFC bought PRIDE and the WFA [World Fighting Alliance], too,
but we’re the only one they allowed to put on fight cards,”
Harris said. “I like to think it’s because we did things
the right way. It’s great, because now we go forward and
our guys get to be part of the biggest show in the world. They
fought their way to get into this position and it’s a credit
to all of these guys who fought for us. I’m happy to see
this day come, because it’s like a celebration of [the history
of] the WEC.”
Source: Yahoo Sports
|
|