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(All events on Oahu, unless noted)
2010
November
Aloha State BJJ Championships: Final Conflict
(BJJ & Sub Grappling)
(Kaiser H.S. Gym)
August
Hawaiian Open Championships of BJJ
(BJJ & Sub Grappling)
(Kaiser H.S. 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)
3/10/10
Sera's Kajukenbo Tournament
(Kumite, Katas, Grappling)
(Maui War Memorial Gym, Wailuku, Maui)
3/6/10
Destiny Fast N Furious
(MMA)
(Level 4 RHSC)
2/27/10
Hawaiian Kimono Combat
(BJJ)
(PCHS Gym)
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)
|
|
February
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 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! |
 |
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Club TV
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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
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O2
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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 a 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 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!
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Quote
of the Day
"A
sense of humor is part of the art of leadership,
of getting along with people, of getting things done."
Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1890-1969
|
DESTINY:
Fast n Furious
Event:
DESTINY: Fast n Furious
What: Sporting Event
Start Time: Saturday, March 6 at 5:00pm
End Time: Saturday, March 6 at 10:00pm
Where: LEVEL 4 Night Club @ Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center
|
Dana:
"Gomi can get Penn next if he gets past Florian"
Takanori Gomi will almost certainly face BJ Penn in his second
fight for the UFC, company president Dana White says, provided
he gets past Kenny Florian first and Penn is still the lightweight
champion after he fights Frankie Edgar on April 12th.
In
an excerpt from a forthcoming interview with Japanese magazine
Gong, White says “Kenny Florian is one of the top lightweight
fighters. If Gomi beats Kenny, that's going to get a lot of attention
from many people - including BJ Penn.
“But
BJ has a fight with Frankie Edgar in Abu Dhabi on 4/12 and Gomi
still needs to fight Kenny. So until that happens we can't make
a decision. But I'll tell you, if Gomi beats Kenny, I definitely
will consider a match with BJ.”
Gomi
was the PRIDE FC lightweight champion from early 2006 until the
organisation shut down a year later. He and Penn have fought
once before, with Gomi losing by submission in the third round
of their 2003 match for Hawaiian promotion Rumble on the Rock.
In
fact, Penn has only lost once at lightweight and that was to
Jens Pulver in 2002, a loss he avenged in devastating fashion
after the two appeared as rival coaches on The Ultimate Fighter.
He has since defended the UFC lightweight belt several times
and never looked close to losing it. Most recently, he defeated
Diego Sanchez by TKO to retain the 155lbs strap, and prior to
that he submitted Kenny Florian.
Source: Fighters Only Magazine |
KJ
Noons vs. Andre Dida Confirmed for Dream 13
Several Bouts Added to March 22nd Event
By FCF
Staff
Dream has announced that former Elite XC champion, KJ Noons,
will face veteran Andre Dida at the promotion’s upcoming
March 22nd event in Yokohama, Japan. The event will be aired
on HDNet.
Noons
(7-2) will return to MMA competition for the first time in nearly
2 years, after focusing much of his energy on his boxing career.
Noons last MMA bout took place in June, 2008, when he stopped
the veteran Yves Edwards in the first round at Elite XC’s
“Return of the King” event. The talented striker recently
signed a multi-fight agreement with Strikeforce.
Dida
(6-3-1) will head into the bout in desperate need of a win, as
the veteran fighter has lost 3 straight competing in Japan, albeit
against notable opposition, in “JZ” Cavalcante, Eddie
Alvarez and most recently, Katsunori Kikuno.
Other
bouts that have been confirmed for the Dream 13 card include:
the aforementioned Kikuno(12-2-1) vs. Kuniyoshi Hironaka (16-6),
Ikuhisa Minowa (44-30-8) vs. Jimmy Ambriz (14-12-1), and Ryo
Chonan (16-10) vs. Andrews Nakahara (2-1).
The
March 22nd event will also feature a bout between Dream Featherweight
Champion Bibiano Fernandes and former lightweight champ, Joachim
Hansen.
Source: Full Contact Fighter
|
KJ
NOONS SLATED TO RETURN AT DREAM 13
by Ken
Pishna
Dream on Thursday revealed that former EliteXC lightweight champion
K.J. Noons will return to action at Dream 13 on March 22 to face
Brazilian Andre “Dida” Amade.
It
has been nearly two years since Noons (7-2) last fought in mixed
martial arts competition. Also a professional boxer, he has gone
4-1 in his pugilistic pursuits during that time. Noons is under
contract with American promotion Strikeforce, but considering
the two promotions’ close working relationship – they
often share fighters – it’s not surprising that he
would fight in Japan.
Following
a strong start to his career where he won six bouts and had one
draw with no losses, Dida has skidded out against the world’s
best. He has now lost three straight bouts – to Gesias “JZ”
Cavalcante, Eddie Alvarez, and Katsunori Kikuno – while
fighting only twice in the past two years.
Featherweight
champion Bibiano Fernandes defends his belt against Joachim Hansen,
who is dropping down from lightweight for the shot, in the main
event of Dream 13. Other fights announced for the card, aside
from Noons vs. Amade, include Katsunori Kikuno vs. Kuniyoshi
Hironaka, Ryo Chonan vs. Andrews Nakahara, and Ikuhisa Minowa
vs. Jimmy Ambriz.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
Strikeforce
Confirms April 17 in Nashville, Announcement Next Week
By Michael
David Smith
Mixed martial arts fans have been anxiously awaiting word about
what's next for Strikeforce, which has been rumored to have another
big card on CBS coming up in April. Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker
confirmed Thursday that Strikeforce will have a card in Nashville
on April 17 but said fans will have to wait just a little bit
longer for any details.
"We've
been putting most of our efforts into the fight tomorrow night,"
Coker said of the Strikeforce Challengers card on Friday in San
Jose. "But we'll have some announcements next week, for
sure. ... We will be having a fight in Nashville on April 17,
but the rest of the information we'll be announcing next week."
The
big three cards that have been discussed for the April card are
Fedor Emelianenko vs. Fabricio Werdum, Dan Henderson vs. Jake
Shields and Gegard Mousasi vs. Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal.
On Thursday reports surfaced that Fedor vs. Werdum could be moved
to May, but Coker said he couldn't discuss any specific fights
on any specific dates.
One
date Coker did rule out is April 24, which had been discussed
as another possible Strikeforce date.
"April
24 Showtime is having a big boxing fight so I know we won't be
having a fight on the 24th," Coker said.
In
addition to the fighters mentioned above, Coker mentioned Brett
Rogers, who fought Fedor in November, and Shinya Aoki, the Japanese
Dream lightweight champion who could battle Strikeforce lightweight
champ Gilbert Melendez, as fighters he's excited about getting
into the Strikeforce cage soon.
"For
Brett, I think the fights that make sense for him are Antonio
Silva or Alistair Overeem -- those are the two guys I'd like
to see him fight right now," Coker said. "I think you'll
see Aoki relatively soon. We're working hard to try to make that
happen."
Coker
also said he expects Strikeforce to have a pay-per-view card
before 2010 is out.
"We
have a different business model than the UFC does in the pay-per-view
television business," Coker said. "We're very happy
with Showtime and free television on CBS. But before the end
of the year, in the fourth quarter, we'll definitely have a fight
on pay-per-view."
But
that's in the distant future. In the near future, Coker said,
fans can expect to know what's next for Strikeforce soon.
"Stay
tuned," Coker said. "We're getting things worked out
and we'll probably have some big announcements next week."
We'll
have more from Coker Friday on the Strikeforce Challengers card.
Source: MMA Fighting
|
Transcript
of Frank Mir on radio saying he wants to murder Brock Lesnar
in the Octagon
By Zach
Arnold
I spent some time transcribing Frank Mir’s comments and
you can read the full transcript right here (will be posted shortly).
Well worth your time doing so. The transcript contains all sorts
of context to Mir’s quotes and Mark Madden’s background
(he did the interview for 105.9 The X).
A
couple of things. Take note of what Mir says early on the interview
about THE CHILDREN and how his final quote in the interview can
be juxtaposed to his previous interview thoughts. Also, I am
very surprised UFC PR allowed this interview to remain online.
Given the company’s prominent behavior in media relations
(such as the CNBC special on Ultimate Fighting), I am surprised
that this one slipped through the cracks. I know most of the
company was in Australia for UFC 110, but this kind of PR situation
is one that normally Zuffa jumps all over if it’s something
that makes them look bad. (Saying you want to be the first to
kill an opponent due to “Octagon-related injuries”
is bad, let’s state that clearly.)
With
that, here’s the money quote that Mir says to close out
his interview with Mark Madden. Madden asks Mir why he is one
of the most popular fighters in MMA and why his fan base is so
big:
“I
like to think that just for the reason that I’m pretty candid
when I speak about things. A lot of individuals are so worried
about being politically correct and you know a lot of fighters
you know we’re all together I hear them, “Oh, don’t
say that because you know the fans won’t like you!”
I’m like you know what dude, I’ve realized a long time
ago you’re going to have fans who love you and fans that
hate you and I’d rather go ahead and say what’s on
my mind than to sit there and come up with some PC you know “Oh
you know the guy’s a great fighter and I have a lot of respect
of him!” And if I don’t mean it, then why is it even
coming out of my mouth because whose interested in hearing that?
You see the same cookie cutter responses. “Oh, who do you
want to fight next? Well, whoever the UFC deems me, I just want
to fight anybody!” I’m like man, I’ve heard that
a thousand times! I want to fight Lesnar. I hate who he is as
a person, I want to break his neck in the ring, I want him to
be the first person that dies due to Octagon-related injuries.
That’s what’s going through my mind.”
Update:
Dana White and UFC send out official response regarding Mir’s
comments.
Jordan
Breen completely whiffs here:
If
you are even remotely piqued by Mir saying he wants to kill Lesnar,
you’re are a mark, an idiot, or a crybaby. Or all three.
Seriously.
At
a time when UFC is spending big money on lobbyists to get the
sport legislated in all the States, plus Melbourne (Australia)
and Ontario, the last thing Dana White needs is for Frank Mir
to play right into the stereotypes of the “barbaric”
charges made by politicians. What Mir said was monumentally stupid.
It’s one of those comments that will come back to haunt
him later on, much like the ridiculous “human cockfighting”
comment MMA fans have had to deal with for over a decade.
Source: Fight Opinion
|
Bustamante
and Motosserra in bout of boxing Saturday
by Marcelo
Dunlop
Boxing coach of such great athletes as Murilo Bustamante, Pedro
Rizzo, Marco Ruas, Renzo and Royler Gracie, Zé Mario Sperry
and many others, Cláudio Coelho will hold this coming
Saturday the 27th his traditional Nobre Art exchange.
A
total of 14 fighters will participate in amateur boxing matches
between Nobre Arte athletes. It is a fine chance to catch a close-up
glimpse of UFC stars, since Murilo Bustamante (former middleweight
champion) and Rafael dos Anjos are among the MMA fighters to
participate in the exchange.
“We’ve
been holding these exchanges for a long time. The idea arose
from a need that my students had to put their athletes to fight.
The exchange is nothing but a tough training session for those
who practice boxing and wants to fight,” explains Claudio
Coelho.
Nobre
Art Academy is located in Ipanema’s Cantagalo favela. The
fights start at the 5pm.The community is among those to have
been pacified by military police (a city-wide project).
Check
out the complete card:
55kg:
Alex Pardal (Pasta) vs Rene Barbosa (Cesario)
57kg: Charles (Washington) vs Eduardo Soares (Vinicius Russo)
60kg: Vinicius Barbosa (Cesario) vs Fábio Antônio
(Washington)
64kg: Escobar Leandro “Tatu” (Nenzão) vs Anderson
Nascimento (Washington)
64kg: Anderson Nascimento (Washington) vs Aritano (Giovanni Diniz)
69kg: Brasilia (Gaucho) vs Wiliam Marcelino (Washington)
69kg: Paulo Granja (Nenzão) vs Rafael Damasceno (Ronaldo)
75kg: Juliano Lucio (Vinicius Russo) vs Rogerinho (Tonzano &
Serginho)
81kg: Kadu (Pasta) vs Jeffre Rangel (Nenzão)
81kg: William (Nenzão) vs Cesar Luis (Washington)
81kg: Rafael dos Anjos (Cesario) vs Hernani Perpetuo (Giovanni
Diniz)
91kg: Rafael (Macarrão) vs Eduardo Gladiator (Ronaldo)
91kg: Wendell Negão (Cesario) vs Vitor Pimenta (Tonzano
& Serginho)
100kg: Baiano (Cesario) vs Rafael Macuco (Tonzano & Serginho)
91kg: Murilo Bustamante (Tonzano & Serginho) vs Danilo Motosserra
(Cesario)
Source: Gracie Magazine
|
KAUFMAN
PLANS TO BRING MORE GOLD TO CANADA
by Damon
Martin
Widely
considered the No. 1 fighter in the women's 135-pound division,
Canadian Sarah Kaufman will have the chance to bring gold back
to her country this weekend when she gets the chance to compete
for the first ever Strikeforce women's welterweight title against
Takayo Hashi.
Kaufman
has proven to be one of the toughest fighters in the sport, racking
up wins against some of the best her division has to offer. The
hard work will pay off when she steps into the cage on Friday
to vie for gold.
Competing
against Kaufman will be Strikeforce newcomer Takayo Hashi, who
brings an impressive record and a wealth of experience with her
through fighting in her home country of Japan.
"When
they first mentioned her name, I really didn't know anything
about her. I had heard her name before, and that was because
I had heard that she fought Amanda Buckner. Other than that,
I didn't know much about her," Kaufman told MMAWeekly Radio
recently.
"Found
out she was 12-1, she has a great record, she's beat some notable
opponents, and she was even the Smackgirl 128-pound champion."
Hashi's
having been the 128-pound women's champion in Japan begs the
question will the Japanese fighter have the power and size to
deal with Kaufman, who is a legit 135-pound fighter?
"I
feel really strong at 135 for whomever I'm fighting. The fact
that she can make 128, I really don't think I could make that
weight, so it makes me think she will probably come in fight
time lighter than I will," Kaufman admitted. "That
being said, she's fought other girls at 135 that have been quite
strong. Amanda Buckner was two fights ago for her, and Amanda
Buckner is a strong lady, and she managed to decision Amanda.
So it's nothing that can be taken lightly, but I definitely do
think strength is going to be on my side."
Training
out of Zugec Ultimate Martial Arts in Canada, Kaufman is a well
rounded fighter, but it's no secret that she loves to knock people
out. When speaking with MMAWeekly.com, Hashi said she's seeing
this fight as a stand-up war.
The
thought of a stand-up fight is like a present to Kaufman, who
has no problem striking with Hashi.
"That's
great. I think stand-up fights are exciting and I'm sure if the
opportunity comes, she'll try and take it to the ground, but
every fight starts standing. So if someone's hard to take down
or their timing's a little bit different, it's hard and you have
to be prepared for that stand-up fight," Kaufman commented.
Building
up to the fight that will take place on Showtime Friday night,
Hashi was quick to say that she looks to "crush" Kaufman
and steal her heart in the fight. A little smack talk never hurt
anyone, and Kaufman welcomed the challenge.
She
also plans on shutting down Hashi's plan and giving her a taste
of her own medicine.
"Bring
it on, that's great," Kaufman said in response to Hashi.
"I really don't think that's going to happen, but if she
wants to try and take my heart, I'm trying to do the same thing
to her."
Source: MMA Weekly
|
Minotouro:
“We’re sure he’ll be back”
By Guilherme
Cruz
Rogerio “Minotouro” Nogueira, twin brother of the former
UFC interim heavyweight Champion Rodrigo “Minotauro”
Nogueira, didn’t have a good weekend. Without the passport,
he couldn’t travel to Australia to help the heavyweight
in the fight against Cain Velasquez, and he watched his brother
get knocked out in the first round.
“He
was training a lot to this fight. I’ve seen him training
and he’s great on Wrestling, ground… Everybody always
expect a good fight from him”, ‘little’ Nogueira
said to TATAME.com, believing on his brother’s return after
the sixth loss in 40 fights. “We believe a lot in him and
we’re sure he’ll be back with great fights. It won’t
change anything. You can expect a stronger Rodrigo”.
Source: Tatame
|
MMA
Fighters & Boxing Counterparts
by Jason
Probst
In this three-part series, Sherdog.com’s Jason Probst takes
a closer look at some mixed martial arts athletes and those in
the Sweet Science with whom they share notable traits. Part three
features interim UFC heavyweight champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira,
EliteXC welterweight titleholder Jake Shields and former World
Wrestling Entertainment superstar Brock Lesnar, among others.
Antonio
Rodrigo Nogueira = Kid Gavilan
One
of the top 10 welterweights of all-time, Kid Gavilan combined
stamina, a high work rate and cast-iron chin to outwork his opponents.
At his peak, he was virtually impossible to discourage, especially
in a fast-paced bout. He beat a slew of top fighters in his career,
including Ike Williams, Carmen Basilio, Billy Graham and Beau
Jack, as well as several top welterweight and middleweight contenders.
With his signature “Bolo” punch, he also had a trademark
move that appealed to fans.
Gavilan’s
problem was that he came along at the same time as Ray Robinson,
which was kind of like following The Beatles on the Ed Sullivan
Show. Though Gavilan was competitive in two bouts with the Robinson,
he lost both by decision, including one for Robinson’s welterweight
belt.
After
Robinson moved to middleweight, Gavilan captured the welterweight
crown and enjoyed an impressive reign, registering seven defenses
before abdicating the title and making a failed attempt at the
middleweight belt against Bobo Olson. He probably fought in as
many televised bouts in the 1950s as anyone.
Nogueira’s
Ray Robinson is Fedor Emelianenko. In three bouts -- one of which
was aborted as a no-contest after scant action -- he’s been
beaten handily twice by the Russian. No matter what Nogueira
does as the UFC champion, there will always be a shadow hanging
over his title until the UFC signs Emelianenko and allows the
two men to get it on again. As unlikely as that appears, it’s
even more unlikely Emelianenko would find less success in a cage.
Some guys just have your number.
Mirko
"Cro Cop" Filipovic = Wladimir Klitschko
Physical
gifts make a big difference in fight sports, but the mentality
of a fighter often makes the difference in how readily they are
applied. In the case of both of these men, there’s no question
they’re head and shoulders above their peers when it comes
to delivering a fight-changing blow.
Blessed
with a 6-foot-6 frame and quick hands, Klitschko is probably
the most offensively gifted heavyweight since an in-his-prime
Mike Tyson. He does things that long-armed heavies simply have
not done -- double left hooks that stun foes and blinding counterpunches
that score head-spinning knockdowns and knockouts. Yet his career
arc consistently hits flat spots when you think he’s finally
putting it all together, and he either loses or performs in uninspiring
fashion. For a boxing fan, it’s enough to drive you crazy,
considering the tools he has.
Filipovic,
once a feared Pride Fighting Championships heavyweight, seems
to suffer from the same lack of fire. Since moving to the UFC
in 2007, he’s lost two of three bouts, as well as a no-contest
against Alistair Overeem in Japan, during which he seemed uninterested
in the stakes at hand.
It’s
a stark departure from the path of destruction he blazed in destroying
Hidehiko Yoshida, Josh Barnett and Wanderlei Silva on the same
night before coming stateside. Both Cro Cop and Klitschko have
the physical tools to be dominant on a given night -- but sometimes
they look like they’d rather be punching a clock somewhere
instead of the guy in front them.
B.J.
Penn has owned UFC titles
at 170 and 155 pounds.B.J. Penn = Ezzard Charles
Remembered
largely as a heavyweight champion who decisioned an aging Joe
Louis and battled Rocky Marciano in two gritty defeats, Charles
was probably the best light heavyweight who ever lived. Yet he
never won the title. Blessed with technical wizardry, he had
an intuitive sense of range, timing and precision. Beating Archie
Moore three out of three does not hurt his light heavyweight
credentials, either. But Charles had his big-money fights against
bigger men, including his 1954 battle to a decision loss against
Marciano, where he had the champion badly cut. He probably would’ve
won by technical knockout stoppage today.
Weighing
190 pounds in his prime, Charles gave away size and still was
one of the best in the division in his day. Charles also had
shocking one-punch power in his right hand, and it was said the
“Cincinnati Cobra” lost much of his killer instinct
after Sam Baroudi died following their 1948 match.
Penn
has a similar story. Forever jumping between weight classes,
he’s suddenly bored with the lightweights, despite holding
the belt, and is slated to take on UFC welterweight champion
Georges St. Pierre in a January rematch. If anybody can stop
the Canadian juggernaut, it’s Penn, and it will be even
more impressive considering he’ll be giving away a lot of
natural size over a five-round fight. And while Penn’s stellar
takedown defense and jiu-jitsu make him one of the trickiest
fighters in the game, he also possesses a great chin, clever
defense and good power in his strikes. From a technical standpoint,
he has few equals in the sport.
Jake
Shields = Mike McCallum
In
the early to mid 1980s, boxing fans were treated to the wonderful
foursome of Roberto Duran, Sugar Ray Leonard, Tommy Hearns and
“Marvelous” Marvin Hagler, who all fought one another
in a dizzying series of super fights that never disappointed.
Mike
McCallum was an overlooked dark horse during that period who
was just coming into his own, and by the time he was a big name
in 1987, the foursome had largely disappeared. Hearns moved up
in weight, Hagler seemingly retired and Duran knew better than
to fight him. Leonard was eyeing big-name rematches with Hearns
and Duran, in between picking up a payday against Donnie LaLonde
in 1988.
At
that time, however, McCallum would’ve been a handful for
any of them. He was exceptionally smooth with top-notch skills,
ring generalship and a cool demeanor, backed up by impeccable
timing and a closer’s instinct.
That’s
exactly the kind of fighter Jake Shields has become, as he labors
in EliteXC and takes on longshot challengers. If Georges St.
Pierre continues to rule the UFC’s 170-pounders in his one-sided
fashion, you wonder if Shields will fall into the same no man’s
land McCallum did.
Ricco
Rodriguez = Riddick Bowe
Guy
with tons of ability wins heavyweight title, loses focuses, gets
fat and then drifts out of the picture. Sound familiar?
When
Bowe won the heavyweight crown against Evander Holyfield in 1992,
he was a 235-pound fighting machine, adept at battling in close
-- unusual for such a big man -- or boxing your ears off with
a world-class jab and thumping right hand. After two meaningless
defenses against aged veterans Michael Dokes and Jessie Ferguson,
he plumped up to 246 pounds for a rematch with Holyfield and
lost a close decision that saw him sucking wind down the stretch.
Bowe’s
weight problems dogged him throughout his career, along with
stability issues, and he never regained the title.
Rodriguez
-- a gifted grappler who once tapped Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
in an Abu Dhabi Combat Club submission match -- seemed to represent
the next generation of heavyweight when he beat Randy Couture
for the UFC title in 2002. Losing his first defense to 5-to-1
underdog Tim Sylvia, Rodriguez has since drifted around various
promotions, breaking the 300-pound mark for some fights and losing
to fighters who would’ve been 10-to-1 underdogs against
him in his prime.
He’s
still active today, but, like Bowe, you have to wonder what he
could have accomplished had he stayed in shape.
In this three-part series, Sherdog.com’s Jason Probst takes
a closer look at some mixed martial arts athletes and those in
the Sweet Science with whom they share notable traits. Part three
features interim UFC heavyweight champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira,
EliteXC welterweight titleholder Jake Shields and former World
Wrestling Entertainment superstar Brock Lesnar, among others.
Antonio
Rodrigo Nogueira = Kid Gavilan
One
of the top 10 welterweights of all-time, Kid Gavilan combined
stamina, a high work rate and cast-iron chin to outwork his opponents.
At his peak, he was virtually impossible to discourage, especially
in a fast-paced bout. He beat a slew of top fighters in his career,
including Ike Williams, Carmen Basilio, Billy Graham and Beau
Jack, as well as several top welterweight and middleweight contenders.
With his signature “Bolo” punch, he also had a trademark
move that appealed to fans.
Gavilan’s
problem was that he came along at the same time as Ray Robinson,
which was kind of like following The Beatles on the Ed Sullivan
Show. Though Gavilan was competitive in two bouts with the Robinson,
he lost both by decision, including one for Robinson’s welterweight
belt.
After
Robinson moved to middleweight, Gavilan captured the welterweight
crown and enjoyed an impressive reign, registering seven defenses
before abdicating the title and making a failed attempt at the
middleweight belt against Bobo Olson. He probably fought in as
many televised bouts in the 1950s as anyone.
Nogueira’s
Ray Robinson is Fedor Emelianenko. In three bouts -- one of which
was aborted as a no-contest after scant action -- he’s been
beaten handily twice by the Russian. No matter what Nogueira
does as the UFC champion, there will always be a shadow hanging
over his title until the UFC signs Emelianenko and allows the
two men to get it on again. As unlikely as that appears, it’s
even more unlikely Emelianenko would find less success in a cage.
Some guys just have your number.
Mirko
"Cro Cop" Filipovic = Wladimir Klitschko
Physical
gifts make a big difference in fight sports, but the mentality
of a fighter often makes the difference in how readily they are
applied. In the case of both of these men, there’s no question
they’re head and shoulders above their peers when it comes
to delivering a fight-changing blow.
Blessed
with a 6-foot-6 frame and quick hands, Klitschko is probably
the most offensively gifted heavyweight since an in-his-prime
Mike Tyson. He does things that long-armed heavies simply have
not done -- double left hooks that stun foes and blinding counterpunches
that score head-spinning knockdowns and knockouts. Yet his career
arc consistently hits flat spots when you think he’s finally
putting it all together, and he either loses or performs in uninspiring
fashion. For a boxing fan, it’s enough to drive you crazy,
considering the tools he has.
Filipovic,
once a feared Pride Fighting Championships heavyweight, seems
to suffer from the same lack of fire. Since moving to the UFC
in 2007, he’s lost two of three bouts, as well as a no-contest
against Alistair Overeem in Japan, during which he seemed uninterested
in the stakes at hand.
It’s
a stark departure from the path of destruction he blazed in destroying
Hidehiko Yoshida, Josh Barnett and Wanderlei Silva on the same
night before coming stateside. Both Cro Cop and Klitschko have
the physical tools to be dominant on a given night -- but sometimes
they look like they’d rather be punching a clock somewhere
instead of the guy in front them.
As mixed martial arts heads into the latter half of its second
decade of worldwide exposure, the legacies of the sport’s
pioneers are easily forgotten. Today’s athletes build upon
a hard-learned template of preparation, technical refinement
and know-how, elements largely built from scratch.
Put
in some fights from even five years ago and observe the process
of tactics and how matches unfold -- at times it seems like a
different sport. No phenomenon changes so much as one that goes
from being a niche attraction to a worldwide phenomenon, with
the sum total of human knowledge rapidly accelerating how participants
approach it.
Boxing
has many parallels with MMA, particularly during the vital pre-WWII
era, where the pioneers of the sport helped forge the way. Whether
it was in their public persona, fighting style or approach to
competition, the sweet science and MMA both benefitted from the
earliest pioneers, whose achievements and approach to both sports
mirror one another.
In
our continuing series, here’s a closer look at some of those
similar figures in MMA and the historical boxing figures they
best resemble.
Dan
Severn: John L. Sullivan
Larger
than life, with a thirst for it to match, the great John L. is
universally recognized as the first heavyweight champion and
perhaps the most famous off all bare-knucklers. As much an icon
of late 19th-century America as boxing itself, Sullivan’s
physicality and imposing style were underscored by a gameness
that few could match -- witness his memorable 75-round battle
with Jake Kilrain.
When
Dan Severn materialized at UFC 4, the timing couldn’t have
been better. As a powerful wrestler with a 260-pound frame and
imposing quickness, Severn showed how important a wrestling base
could be. Like Sullivan’s bare-knuckle, near-death experience
with Kilrain in the Mississippi heat, Severn’s 15-minute
battle with Royce Gracie was a riveting thing to watch. In an
era with no stand-ups or rounds, their climactic struggle culminated
with Gracie’s science prevailing -- but only after one hell
of a struggle. Like Sullivan, Severn embodied the natural advantages
of a physical style -- he just never seemed to refine his technical
game to the point where he could adapt to a changing sport.
Fighting
into his 50s, Severn’s best days have been behind him for
some time, but every wrestler in the sport today owes him a thank-you
for representing what many believe is the best core discipline
in the game.
Plus,
both John L. and Severn rocked an awesome moustache -- which
is 10 kinds of awesome.
Igor
Vovchanchyn: Joe Jeannette
As
the original sprawl-and-brawl stylist, Vovchanchyn was years
ahead of his time. He packed considerable power, to boot. His
violent dissections of opponents overshadowed his considerable
skills -- but from a technical perspective, he did things that
basically opened up new areas and methods to strike. Whether
it was a violent upkick at an opponent coming down at him, a
thumping elbow to the head while fighting off a takedown or his
trademark bombs landed in standup exchanges, Vovchanchyn’s
ability to beat you a million different ways had no equal in
his prime.
Given
the circumstances of his career and the timeline of the sport’s
explosion, Igor was a star in the Pride organization yet remains
largely unknown by today’s casual fan. But his contributions
to the sport were considerable. Vovchanchyn showed that you could
be a strike-first fighter, as long as you had the takedown defense.
His offensive mindset helped pull the sport back from a ground-heavy
approach, paving the way for the integrated style we know as
MMA today.
Joe
Jeannette was another great fighter with a timing problem: He
came along in the early 20th century along with several other
great black heavyweights. With the champions of the time drawing
a “color line,” Jeannette, a marvelously gifted fighter
with power in both hands and technical acumen galore, was forced
to fight numerous black contemporaries, many on multiple occasions.
These included stalwarts such as Jack Johnson, Sam Langford (15
times), Sam McVey and Harry Wills. If he’d come along in
a different era instead of 1904-1922, history surely would be
a little different. The same can be said of Igor’s decline
right when MMA started to explode.
Jeremy
Horn: Tommy Loughran
One
of the great light-heavies of the 1920s, Loughran epitomized
refinement, technical know-how and thinking on your feet. The
slick boxer would spend hours watching himself in mirrors, studying
the placement of his hands and feet and fine-tuning every move
until it was second nature. There wasn’t a lot of flash
or knockout machismo in Loughran’s approach. He just picked
apart your ever flaw and made you pay for the smallest mistakes
-- things few other fighters could capitalize on.
Largely
forgotten outside of boxing historians, Loughran helped advance
the pure boxer template that later saw Willie Pep and other high-minded
technicians improve upon. He also was exceptionally effective
against heavies despite his lack of strength and size, including
future champs Jim Braddock and Max Baer. Loughran also lost a
decision in a title shot against behemoth Primo Carnera, but
even then, he was unique in his approach. Knowing Carnera would
throw his 260 pounds of bulk on him in the clinches, before the
bout he smeared his hair in a foul-smelling grease that kept
Carnera from staying in close.
If
Jeremy Horn had been an old-time boxer, that’s exactly what
he would’ve done. Horn’s the best example in early
MMA of integrated disciplines flowing seamlessly into one another.
While most of his contemporaries had a seeming stop-start button
while transitioning between grappling, striking and positional
moves, Horn’s game was wonderfully advanced for its time.
Many moves you see today -- such as the cross-mount palm-elbow
to the face -- were moves he popularized and shared with teammates
like Matt Hughes.
Horn
was also an incredibly active fighter -- much like Loughran,
who had 174 bouts and boxed 1,280 rounds -- with well over 100
bouts, yet he’s only been knocked out twice and submitted
eight times (according to our records at Sherdog -- the likes
of Horn and his exact record remain forever unquantifiable).
Horn
never held a major championship, but his vast experience and
tactical fighting brain made him a walking dictionary for what
did and didn’t work in the sport. On that alone, he’s
a champion like none the sport has ever seen.
Source: Sherdog
|
Reed
Harris: Next Two WEC Events Are 'Pivotal'
By Ray
Hui
WEC general manager Reed Harris is calling the next two events
"pivotal," and he's trying not to keep his eyes past
the promotion's first pay-per-view at WEC 48 on April 24.
"The
next two cards, we got our hands full," Harris said Thursday
on a teleconference for WEC 47." Just like [the fighters]
focus on their fights, we focus on our cards, and we're excited.
These next two events are pivotal events for us, the WEC."
The
WEC is accepting the risk of asking fans to pay for an event
from a promotion that they have been accustomed to watching free
on Versus. However, the WEC is banking on the two title fights
featuring Jose Aldo vs. Urijah Faber and Ben Henderson vs. Donald
Cerrone as well as three relevant fights being enough to match
any UFC pay-per-view. Believing in the quality of the card, the
promotion has no regret in setting the same price as the UFC's
big cards, $44.95.
"The
guys upstairs, Dana and all that, we all believe this could be
one of the best fights of the decade," Harris said. "Everyone
believes this is as good of a fight as any offered on pay-per-view
and we feel strongly that not only will it be a great fight to
watch, but we think it will be a good value by the time we are
done putting the card together, as far as people getting their
money's worth."
Pay-per-view
is a major step for the WEC and success on that level will allow
the promotion to grow. The WEC fighters' salaries currently don't
match the UFC fighters' paydays, and strong pay-per-view buys
would change that.
April
is a busy month for MMA and the reason the WEC selected the April
24 date for the pay-per-view was to accommodate it's biggest
star, Faber, in headlining the event in his hometown. Harris
says WEC 48 will likely be the "biggest event we've ever
done."
"We
had a record pre-sale and tickets are tracking extremely well,"
Harris said.
The
WEC is aiming to run a minimum of eight cards in 2010. The next
card is headlined by Brian Bowles vs. Dominick Cruz on March
6 in Columbus, Ohio. After the pay-per-view, the next card will
be in June, possibly in Canada. Then, Harris said the following
event will be in the beginning of August.
Source: MMA Fighting
|
Monson’s
manager explains absence
by Carlos
Eduardo Ozório
Yet again the expected arrival of Jeff Monson at the airport
in Brazil did not come to pass. This is the second time the fighter
failed to show up for a Bitetti Combat event, and nearly the
second time Glover Teixeira was left opponentless because of
it. Monson’s manager, Alex Davis, explains what happened.
“Jeff
has a pending legal situation in the United States. In order
for him to leave the country he needs authorization from a judge
and an official. This official is enlisted by the American government
to track convicts on release. Jeff managed to get authorization
from the judge, but not the official. Had he come, he would have
been arrested upon returning to the country. He made an effort,
but this is what happened. We’re going to bring him, because
he wants this fight, but we’ll have to do it a good while
in advance. The problem is that Jeff never let us know,”
explains Alex.
He
also went on to explain how the job of being manager isn’t
easy.
“In
MMA there are a lot of things that go on behind the scenes. Bizarre
things. I’m waiting for Jeff and he doesn’t show up,
doesn’t even send an email. That comes with the territory
and we go through millions of situations of the sort.”
Glover
will now be facing Joaquim Mamute.
Source: Gracie Magazine
|
Quote
of the Day
"Good
ideas are not adopted automatically.
They must be driven into practice with courageous patience."
Hyman Rickover, 1900-1986
|
New
Hope JJ Class Cancelled Tonight (2/27/10)
Due to
the Tsunami, New Hope JJ decided to cancel class because everyone's
schedule is probably messed up after today's statewide shutdown.
|
Hawaiian
Kimono Combat
Postponed
Due to Tsunami!
Saturday
2/27/10
Pearl City High School
Registration has to be postmarked by 2/21/10
$50 to enter
$5 spectator fee (kids under 5 are free)
Email info@itsallgoo.com Web: www.itsallgoo.com
BJJ tournament
using IBJJF Rules (same as the world championships)
|
Officials
Clinics
Hello MMA,
Martial Arts, and Boxing Community,
If any club or interested parties want to compete in amateur
boxing or become a judge, referee, or coach.
Email me at bkawano@aol.com
Boxing show
on Feb. 27th in Kapaa, Kauai.
Officials
Clinic in Kapolei on March 6th.
Boxing event on March 13th, in Puna
A tentative Officials or Coaches Clinic on March 20th.
First show on Oahu is April 3rd, at Palolo District Park.
All Coaches, Officials, have to be registered and certified.
Boxers must register locally.
For more contact and registration info go to www.amateurboxingofhawaii.com
Thank You,
Bruce Kawano
Amateur Boxing of Hawaii Interm Manager.
Ringside Board of Advisors.
NMU Task Force Appointed Member.
|
Playing
“Where in the world is Josh Barnett?”
By Zach
Arnold
On the day news broke that Josh Barnett’s appointment with
the California SAC has been pushed back for a fourth time, you
would have thought that he would have been with his lawyers for
the meeting. Instead, he made his scheduled booking for Antonio
Inoki’s IGF event in Tokyo at JCB Hall.
The
next scheduled date is April 20th. At this point, Barnett will
have been out of the loop for nearly a year. In essence, it’s
been like a de facto suspension from fighting.
The
IGF show drew 2,780 paid today. Main notes from the event:
¦Erik
Hammer defeated Daniel Puder in 7'09 with a leg lock.
¦Minowaman defeated Necro Butcher in 9'56 with a modified
ankle hold.
¦Tatsumi Fujinami & Osamu Kido went to a 15 minute
draw with Original Tiger Mask (Sayama) & Yoshiaki Fujiwara.
¦Yoshihiro Takayama defeated The Predator (Remy Bonjasky’s
favorite wrestler) in 9'54 with the Everest German Suplex Hold.
¦Josh Barnett defeated Bob Sapp in 6'29 with a back-drop
suplex. (Photos here).
¦Kensuke Sasaki & Katsuhiko Nakajima defeated Naoya
Ogawa & Atsushi Sawada in 14'26 when Kensuke used a lariat
on Sawada.
The next scheduled date for IGF is 5/9 at Osaka Prefectural Gym.
Source: Fight Opinion
|
Fedor
Emelianenko to Fight in May 20
By Ray
Hui
Fedor Emelianenko will not fight on the Strikeforce card in April,
says M-1 Global.
At
a pre-fight press conference Thursday for Friday's M-1 Selection
Eastern European event in St. Petersburg, Russia, M-1 Global
told TV 100 that Fedor's next fight will still be against Fabricio
Werdum, but in May.
This
would mean that Fedor will not be competing on the yet to be
announced Strikeforce on CBS (or possibly Showtime) card, as
previously expected, and would put an end to rumors of him fighting
Alistair Overeem in Japan.
Strikeforce
has still not confirmed details of the long-talked-about April
card on CBS. Jake Shields and Dan Henderson have both confirmed
their participation, so it now appears that the Strikeforce middleweight
title bout will serve as the main event.
Source: MMA Fighting
|
MIR:
DIDN'T LIKE WHAT I SAID...
PUNCH ME IN THE FACE
by Damon
Martin
Never one to hold back on his opinion, Frank Mir has proven that
getting in your opponent's head can benefit you when it comes
time to fight.
Before
his UFC 107 match-up against Cheick Kongo, he quipped about the
Frenchman's lack of ground skills, and a few other barbs, which
led to Kongo's anger heading into the fight in Memphis last December.
Mir
reversed the situation on Kongo, dropping him with a big punch
early and then putting him away with a guillotine choke on the
ground. The former UFC champion admits that maybe it got into
Kongo's head, but in reality he was just answering a question
honestly and it shocked some people.
"Honestly
it just kind of worked out that way. With Kongo I was being matter
of fact about things," said Mir in an exclusive interview
with MMAWeekly Radio. "I said his ground skills aren't that
great, guys, and because the cameras are on, instead of just
being like they aren't that great, they're not very good, really
is it that far fetched to say that they're probably the worst
in the UFC?
"I
don't understand this whole mentality just because it's true
doesn't mean you have to say it. I'm like, why not? I guess if
I said it about someone's wife or their kids, that's kind of
awful, but I'm saying it about another man who gets to lock himself
in a cage with me and if he didn't like what I said, he gets
to punch me in the face and try to fix it."
Putting
the recent controversy about Brock Lesnar behind him, Mir is
now 100-percent focused on Shane Carwin and their upcoming interim
title fight on March 27 in Newark, N.J. With the fight just a
month away is it too soon for Mir to pick at Carwin's weaknesses?
"In
the Shane Carwin fight, honestly it's not that I'm down playing
anything or not trying to get into his head. I'm looking for
different angles and honestly to my disadvantage, he doesn't
have a lot of fight time on footage. He stays pretty reserved,
and in a lot of ways he's a likeable guy. He's a tough competitor.
He keeps himself kind of on the straight path. There's really
nothing bad for me to say about him," Mir commented.
Being
honest has put Mir in the crosshairs of the media that scrutinize
his words. He says that ultimately he's just telling it like
it is, but he won't be a guy that will just make up something
to stir up controversy.
"At
this point, I don't want to be that fighter that just makes stuff
up just to say something cause then it loses a lot of it's legitimacy,"
said Mir. "It's like you just completely pulled that out
of left field. I don't mind exaggerating something, adding a
little color to it to make it enticing for television or radio,
but if I constantly just go ‘well Shane Carwin, he has no
punching power.' Well bro, that has no truth whatsoever or what
are you talking about Frank?"
The
former UFC heavyweight champion will continue his camp in Las
Vegas before breaking for two days to head out to Columbus, Ohio,
to fulfill his commentary duties with the WEC next weekend. He
will then get back to training for the interim title fight.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
A
talk with Cain Velasquez
by Carlos
Eduardo Ozório
Cain
Velasquez in his victory over Rodrigo Minotauro. Photo: Josh
Hedges
Cain Velasquez shocked the world in his last outing in the UFC
with a stunning knockout of Rodrigo Minotauro, one of the greatest
MMA heavyweights of all times. A man of simple customs, who avoids
the spotlight, the fighter quietly came up the ranks and is now
one of the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s main heavyweights.
The US born son of Mexicans recently spoke with our correspondent
Nalty Jr, for an interview published in NOCAUTE magazine. GRACIEMAG.com
brings you the best from the conversation.
How
long have you been training MMA?
It’s
been three years since I started.
How
did you get your shot at fighting in the UFC?
I
only had two fights and wanted to fight in other events before
the UFC. But it was tough and my manager said, “There’s
no way to wait any longer, it’s time to fight in the UFC.”
He called them, made Dana White an offer and we went to Las Vegas.
Dana watched me fight standing with two fighters and then on
the ground with two more. He liked what he saw and said I was
a UFC athlete.
Which
fighters are role models to you?
I
like watching Fedor’s fights a lot; he’s the best MMA
fighter. I’m inspired by his way of fighting. But I also
find inspiration in my coaches. They always show me what to do
and how to do it. But Fedor has a lot of wins, with good performances,
and that’s why people want to see him fight.
You’re
a wrestler, but have won a lot of fights by knockout…
I
trained a lot of standup, but I always use my wrestling, even
when going for the knockout. I like getting the takedown and
going for ground and pound.
Do
you feel any pressure for being undefeated?
I
don’t. I’m just aware I have to keep training hard.
I don’t care what people say. What I have to do is be prepared
to beat my opponents.
Your
father is really important to you, correct?
He’s
my hero. My father worked hard to give my family everything.
He crossed the border to the United States and was deported seven
times. He’s my role model. My father’s a warrior.
What’s
your breakdown of the UFC heavyweight division?
Now
the category is tough. The UFC always brings in new fighters.
It will just keep getting tougher.
How
do you deal with the attention from the media?
I’m
certainly getting more of that now, but I’m not taken by
it. I’m in a sport and have to concentrate on training to
do well in my fights. I’d rather just keep quiet and focus
on training.
What
do you know about Brazil, where Rodrigo Minotauro is from?
Just
what they tell me. They say it’s a pretty country, that
the food is really good and there’s a lot of good training.
What
do you tell fighters who are just starting out in MMA?
The
first thing is to find a good gym, with all types of training
for MMA and a good team. Have lots of dedication and determination.
It’s not easy. You have to be disciplined and train hard
every day. School is also important. I started wrestling in college.
It’s not just about training. You also need to finish your
studies to be a good fighter and person.
Source: Gracie Magazine
|
BELLATOR
FC UPDATE
Opening
Round Match-Ups Announced for Bellator Featherweight Tourney
By FCF
Staff
Bellator Fighting Championship has confirmed the opening round
match-ups for the promotion’s upcoming, second season featherweight
tournament, which will take place on April 8th and 15th.
In
the first pair of bouts, Joe Warren will take on Eric Marriott
while Georgi Karakhanyan will face Bao Quach; the fights will
be hosted by the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel Casino and Resort in
Hollywood, Florida.
Warren
(2-1) hasn’t fought since October when the renowned wrestler
was defeated by Bibiano Fernandes in the finals of Dream’s
Featherweight Grand Prix. Marriott (17-2) will head into the
bout having won 9 straight bouts.
Karakhanyan
(12-1-1) will meet Quach having won 8 in a row, while the experienced
veteran Quach (17-9-1) has won back-to-back bouts, after losing
to LC Davis at Affliction’s “Day of Reckoning”
event last January.
The
second pairing of bouts will take place on April 15th in Chicago,
Illinois, at the Chicago Theatre. Wilson Reis (9-1) will meet
Shad Lierley (5-2) while Patricio “Pitbull” Freire
(12-0) will fight Will Romero (5-0).
Reis
is coming off wins over Dwayne Shelton and Roberto Vargas, while
fellow Bellator veteran Lierley has won 3 in a row, his last
being a UD victory over Nathan Murdock.
The
undefeated Freire went 5-0 in 2009 with his last win coming in
December, while Romero also kept his record perfect last year,
by adding two more wins to his resume.
The
bouts will be broadcast live on Fox Sports Net. Bellator FC will
also hold tournaments in the 155lb., 170 and 185 divisions during
its second season of competition.
Source: Full Contact Fighter
|
Jose
Canseco's Likely Motive for MMA? He Owes $320,000 in Taxes
By Mike
Chiappetta
Jose Canseco made over $45 million playing baseball and wrote
a book that cracked The New York Times bestsellers list. But
if you're wondering why the former major league slugger is lobbying
hard for a Strikeforce payday against Herschel Walker, it's probably
quite simple: he needs the cash.
The
Detroit News "Tax Watchdog" column reports that Canseco
owes a total of $320,195 in taxes to the Internal Revenue Service
and the state of California.
According
to the paper, Canseco has had four liens against him filed since
July 2008, including one as recently as Jan. 7, 2010. Canseco
owes nearly $200,000 to the state of California and $121,000
to the IRS.
During
his 17-year big league career, Canseco was one of baseball's
most feared sluggers, leading the American League twice in home
runs and bashing 462 total. He won the 1988 A.L. most valuable
player award after posting league bests in home runs (42) and
RBI (124).
As
the result of his gaudy stats, Canseco became one of baseball's
highest-paid players, pocketing millions in salary and endorsements.
In
2002, just months after retiring from the game, Canseco admitted
to using steroids while playing in the majors, and later wrote
a tell-all book, "Juiced" about baseball's steroids
culture.
Since
then, however, he's participated in a reality show, taken part
in celebrity boxing and participated in an MMA match in Japan,
losing to Hong Man Choi in 77 seconds. A follow-up book, "Vindicated"
did not fare nearly as well as his first offering.
Soon
after Walker made his victorious MMA debut for Strikeforce in
January, Canseco began lobbying for a chance to fight him, and
has spent some time training with noted trainer Cesar Gracie
along with fighters Nick Diaz and Nate Diaz, hoping to earn that
opportunity.
So
far, the plea seems to be falling on deaf ears. Walker seemed
offended by the suggestion, while Strikeforce promoter Scott
Coker has said he has no interest in booking a Walker-Canseco
matchup.
Source: MMA Fighting
|
Anderson
Silva
By Guilherme
Cruz
UFC middleweight champion, Anderson Silva will put his title
in line against Demian Maia at UFC 112. Initially scheduled to
face Vitor Belfort, the champion talked to TATAME.com about the
changing on the training, a possible ground fight against Maia
and a lot more. Check below the exclusive interview.
You would face Vitor, but they changed to Demian Maia. You made
your point that you prefer to face foreigners, but there’s
another Brazilian ahead... Do you dislike that?
Everything is fine. It’s a great opportunity, not just form
e but for him too. I’ll do my job, he does his and let’s
see.
Besides Vitor is black belt on Jiu-Jitsu, he plays standing up.
Demian is the opposite. What changes on the preparation?
We’re training, we just have to adapt the game. Some are
black belts, others are brown, purple... I’m whole black,
man (laugh).
On the last fight he changed the strategy and fought standing
up with Dan Miller. Did you watch this fight?
I didn’t, man. I’m very focused on my stuff here, I’m
not seeing anything... I’m avoiding internet, I’m not
giving interviews. I’m very focused to do my work well done
and everything is okay. Winning or losing, I’m not worry
with that. I’m worried about doing my work.
Sylvio Behring, your Jiu-Jitsu trainer, complemented your ground
game a lot and said that if you dedicate to Jiu-Jitsu as you
dedicated to Muay Thai, you would be one of the best of the world...
Master Sylvio is supporting me a lot, as all the team that helps
me a lot. We have André Galvão, (Ronaldo) Jacaré,
(Rafael) Feijão, Ramon (Lemos), who’s coming to help.
I have a lot of people helping me. The results appear with the
work we do. I train Jiu-Jitsu for a long time. I’ve never
fought a big championship as Galvão, Jacaré. The
coolest is to evolute. The goal is to learn always, inside and
outside fight. Ricardo Demente is here too, helping us. He has
a great Jiu-Jitsu. It’s evolution. People can say what they
want to, we’ll do our work. I train, I study... I try to
do what I train, and the result appear.
Before they confirm the fight, Demian said that you’d knock
him out if the fight was standing up and that he’s submit
you if it was on the ground. Do you agree?
It’s not Jiu-Jitsu, it’s MMA. It’s complicated
to say that. Of course each one is better in something. MMA is
a new sport. I think you have to sit your butt on trains, to
read and review, watch the trains... I’ll keep studying
for the rest of my life. It’s working. I’m not worried
about what people will say I want to do my work. It’s MMA,
man. We say a lot of things, but things change close to fight.
A bad sleep night, something said on the wrong time... The right
person have to be by your side.
So, your best train is inside the class...
Man, I’m on the class every day. I have a lot of tough teachers
and that’s nice, this knowledge trade.
André Galvão, who trained Demian for a while on
Brasa, is now training with you...
We’re
training, if it’s God’s willing to me stay as champion,
I’ll stay. If he thinks that it’s enough. I don’t
feel pressure to fight with Demian or any other on this category.
I’m worried about what I’m training each day.
Source: Tatame
|
5
Breakout Performances
by Tomas Rios
Watching Cain Velasquez stop Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira at UFC
110 on Saturday at the Acer Arena in Sydney, Australia, was a
unique experience. The night not only gave us undeniable proof
that Nogueira’s best days are long behind him, but it also
bore witness to Velasquez’s first step toward greatness.
The
good-to-great move eludes virtually everyone, regardless of profession.
It’s why the moment of that transition remains such a significant
step for the few who make it and those who experience it second-hand.
The
brief history of mixed martial arts owns a small handful of those
momentous occasions. After what went down at UFC 110, this stroll
down memory lane highlights bouts that gave rise to some of MMA’s
iconic figures.
1.
Fedor Emelianenko vs. Heath Herring
Pride 23 “Championship Chaos 2” -- Nov. 24, 2002; Tokyo
Say
what you will about Herring’s penchant for preposterous
coiffures, the guy is tougher than a Costco Arctic-frozen steak.
Going into his fight with “The Texas Crazy Horse” in
November 2002, Emelianenko was just some pudgy Russian guy with
all the personality of plywood.
Then
Emelianenko literally tossed Herring to the floor and started
turning his face into a demolition zone. What was really impressive
about the dead-eyed Russian’s onslaught was what it did
to Herring. His Texas-bred toughness reached its breaking point
when he turned his back on Emelianenko in the middle of the fight.
No
one knows if Herring’s brain was firing random signals to
his legs or if he was just looking for a breather from the beating,
but he looked lost in the ring. A merciful doctor’s stoppage
after the first round spared Herring further punishment and gave
Emelianenko’s fists a much-needed rest.
That
was the last day anyone thought of Emelianenko as anything other
than a fine-tuned engine of destruction. A legendary run as Pride
heavyweight champion soon followed, and Emelianenko remains the
division’s gold standard to this day. For all the vulgar
displays of violence “The Last Emperor” has given us
since, nothing quite tops that November night when he made it
clear to the world that destruction has a gut and loves striped
sweaters.
2.
Anderson Silva vs. Chris Leben
UFC Fight Night 5 -- June 28, 2006; Las Vegas
MMA’s
multi-faceted nature demands certain sacrifices; learning so
many unique approaches to fighting means making peace with the
fact that becoming a jack-of-all-trades serves as the universal
glass ceiling. Silva clearly does not care much for this line
of thought.
One
of the few truly technically proficient strikers in the sport,
Silva entered the UFC still saddled by embarrassing submission
losses to Ryo Chonan and Daiju Takase in Pride. Leben seized
upon those hiccups and claimed he would knock out Silva out and
send him back to the Land of the Rising Sun. The “hindsight
is 20/20” adage seems tailor-made for situations like this.
The
fight aired live on Spike TV and provided Silva with the most
exposure he had received on this side of the Pacific. The hot
rumor circulation had the winner receiving a shot at UFC middleweight
champion Rich Franklin. Forty nine seconds after the opening
bell, Leben was splayed out on the canvas after barely landing
a strike and basically functioning as Silva’s personal heavy
bag,
That
caliber of brilliance has become all but assumed of Silva since,
but it was nothing short of unbelievable the first time around.
While many fans believed Silva would outclass Leben, virtually
no one expected such a clinical dissection. Anyone who saw it
live knows that Silva’s legend began the second he landed
his first punch in the Octagon.
Sakuraba's
legend grew in 2000.3. Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Royce Gracie/Igor
Vovchanchyn
Pride “Grand Prix - 2000 Finals” -- May 1, 2000; Tokyo
Sakuraba
fought for 105 minutes in front of an awed crowd at the Tokyo
Dome. In the finals of the 2000 Pride open weight grand prix,
his night began against Gracie in a fight with no time limit.
It
was arguably the most anticipated fight in MMA history and lasted
for six 15-minute rounds. The fight itself has not held up over
time, but that ignores the unbearable tension of watching it
as it happened. Gracie fought for his family’s name, as
Sakuraba tried to become the first man to beat the Brazilian
under his own rules.
More
than an hour and a half passed before Gracie’s corner threw
in the towel and gave a thoroughly exhausted Sakuraba a trip
to the semi-finals of the tournament. Awaiting the Japanese superstar
was Ukrainian heavyweight Igor Vovchanchyn, a man who had not
lost in nearly five years and fought as if his life depended
on winning in as brutal fashion as possible.
Sakuraba,
a glorified middleweight, fought Vovchanchyn to a standstill
for 15 minutes before his corner refused to allow their man to
head out for another grueling round. Mark Coleman went on win
the tournament, but it was Sakuraba who became a mythic character.
All it took was 105 minutes that defied comprehension and human
biology.
4.
Randy Couture vs. Chuck Liddell
UFC 43 “Meltdown” -- June 6, 2003; Las Vegas
The
game was at an end for Couture, just shy of his 40th birthday
and riding a two-fight losing streak that saw him relinquish
the UFC heavyweight title and a chance to regain it. Making matters
worse, he was making a risky move to light heavyweight to take
on Liddell, a mohawked killer. Liddell was an incalculably angry
human being on the verge of punching the universe into a coma
thanks to incumbent champion Tito Ortiz shamelessly ducking him.
This
had all the makings of Couture’s Alamo, a last stand doomed
by impossible circumstances. It turned into one of the most jaw-dropping
displays of fight IQ the sport has ever seen, as Couture not
only outwrestled Liddell but out-struck him with surprising ease.
Every time Liddell tried to measure a kill shot, Couture’s
fist was in his face, short-circuiting his supposedly unstoppable
style.
A
lopsided fight came to an end with a vintage ground-and-pound
assault that gave Couture a TKO win in the third round. Afterward,
Couture held up the UFC light heavyweight title nearly six years
after winning the heavyweight crown. The sight was nothing short
of surreal, and it marked the moment Couture went from being
a memorable heavyweight to a fight sport icon.
5.
Hayato "Mach" Sakurai vs. Frank Trigg
Shooto “R.E.A.D. Final” -- Dec. 17, 2000; Urayasu,
Japan
When
they finally construct a true MMA hall of fame, Sakurai, if any
justice exists in the world, will be enshrined. The sport’s
first great pound-for-pound fighter, Sakurai was something of
an urban legend in America, as fans had to settle for grainy
footage of his fights and the occasional bit of knowledge from
Japanese fight forum members.
For
the lucky few able to see Sakurai’s fights live and the
many that would get clued in later, his battle with Trigg at
the legendary “Shooto R.E.A.D. Final” show is still
remembered as his fistic masterpiece. A difficult first round
with the powerhouse American wrestler seemed only to inspire
Sakurai to new heights, as he repeatedly dropped Trigg with blistering
strikes in the second and ended his night with a barrage of knees
from the Thai clinch.
While
Sakurai’s career was later hampered by injuries sustained
in a car crash, as well as his own enigmatic personality and
approach to training, the fight christened his ascension to the
highest highs of athletic conquest. His moment in the sun proved
to be painfully short, but he accomplished more than most.
Source: Sherdog
|
WEC
3/6 Columbus, Ohio at Nationwide Arena
By Zach
Arnold
Dark
matches
¦Lightweights:
Ricardo Lamas vs. Bendy Casimir
¦Featherweights: Fredson Paixao vs. Courtney Buck
¦Lightweights: Danny Castillo vs. Anthony Pettis
¦Featherweights: Chad Mendes vs. Erik Koch
¦Bantamweights: Scott Jorgensen vs. Chad George
Main card
¦Lightweights:
Bart Palaszewski vs. Karen Darabedyan
¦Featherweights: Deividas Taurosevicius vs. LC Davis
¦Featherweights: Jens Pulver vs. Javier Vazquez
¦Bantamweights: Miguel Torres vs. Joe Benavidez
¦WEC Bantamweight Title match: Brian Bowles vs. Dominick
Cruz
Source: Fight Opinion
|
Quote
of the Day
"The
person who makes a success of living is the one who see
his goal steadily and aims for it unswervingly. That is dedication."
Cecil B. DeMille, 1881-1959
|
X-1
Events presents
CHAMPIONS
2 (4 World Title Matches)
What: Sporting Event
Start Time: Saturday, March 20 at 7:00pm
End Time: Saturday, March 20 at 10:00pm
Where: Blaisdell Arena
Honolulu, HI (USA): X-1 World Events, the top entertainment company
in Hawaii, is proud to announce that on Saturday, March 20th,
2010, they will produce one of the most highly-anticipated fight
events in the history of Islands at it presents “Champions
II,” live from the premiere venue in the heart of Honolulu,
the Neal Blaisdell Arena. For ticket pricing and information,
please visit http://x1events.com/
UFC
and StrikeForce veterans will vie for coveted X-1 gold, as X-1
World Middleweight (185 lb.) Champion and Hawaiian Falaniko “Niko”
Vitale will defend his belt against the controversial Kalib Starnes.
In the co-main event, X-1 World Welterweight (170 lb.) Champion
and Hawaii native Brandon Wolff will defend the strap against
an opponent yet to be determined. Also featured will be several
title fights for vacant X-1 belts, as Ultimate Fighter combatant
Richie Witson and StrikeForce veteran Harris Sarmiento will battle
for the lightweight (155 lb.) belt. Dave Moreno and Kurrent Cockett
lock horns with the X-1 World Featherweight (145 lb.) Championship
at stake, and Bryson Hansen clashes with Riley Dutro for the
X-1 World Bantamweight (135 lb.) Championship.
The
undercard will feature some talented rising stars the Islands.
Exciting young fighters Michael Brightmon, Bryson Kamaka, Dejuan
Hathaway, and others will showcase to the Islands what the Hawaii
fighting spirit is all about.
“We
are excited to bring five world title bouts to Hawaiian fight
fans,” said Mike Miller, Owner/Promoter of X-1 World Events.
“This event will surely excite the crowd, and satisfy the
appetites of everyone in attendance that loves a good scrap!”
The
full fight card includes:
Main
Card
185
lbs. - World Title Match - Champion Falaniko Vitale vs. Kalib
Starnes
170
lbs. - World Title Match - Champion Brandon Wolff vs. TBA
155
lbs. - Vacant World Title Match - Richie Whitson vs. Harris Sarmiento
145
lbs. - Vacant World Title Match - Dave Moreno vs. Kurrent Cockett
135
lbs. - Vacant World title Match - Bryson Hansen vs. Riley Dutro
Undercard
160
lbs. - Pro MMA - Michael Brightmon vs. Bryson Kamaka
155
lbs. - Pro MMA - Dejuan Hathaway vs. Herman Santiago
205
lbs. - Pro MMA - Maui Wolfgram vs. TBA
135
lbs. - Pro MMA - Russel Doane vs. Chad Pavao
145
lbs. - Womens Amateur Title Match - Raquel Paaluhi vs. Lani Fauhiva
170
lbs. - Brent Shermerhorn vs. Scott Endo
170
lbs. - Falo Faaloloto vs. Palema Amone
135
lbs. - Joe Gogo vs. Van Shiroma
X-1
recently presented top comic Eddie Griffin to Island entertainment
fans, and will be putting on a Haiti benefit event in early March.
About
X-1 World Events
Founded
in 2004 by Mike Miller, X-1 World Events is a world-class mixed
martial arts (MMA) promotional company based in Honolulu, HI.
Locally-owned and operated, X-1 delivers exciting live arena-based
entertainment events to fight fans all over the islands. The
events feature some of the MMA world’s most talented fighters,
including UFC, Pride, and Abu-Dhabi veterans such as former UFC
champions Dan “The Beast” Severn and Ricco Rodriguez,
UFC veterans Jeff Monson, Kimo Leopoldo, Chad “The Grinder”
Reiner, “Sugar” Shane Nelson, Brandon Wolff, Wes “The
Project” Sims, Ronald “The Machine Gun” Juhn,
Wesley “Cabbage” Correira, and Falaniko Vitale, as
well as Pride veterans Chris Brennan and Ron “H2O-Man”
Waterman. X-1 World Events can be found online at http://www.x1events.com/
About
Fight of Your Life Communications
Fight of Your Life is the only company that focuses exclusively
on communications within the sport of MMA. Through utilization
of media relationships, sponsorship contacts, writing skills,
and public relations experience, Fight of Your Life raises the
profile of its clients, which increases awareness, draws revenue,
and helps establish long-term viability. Current Fight of Your
Life clients include fight promotions such as Gladiator Challenge,
Jeff Curran’s XFO, X-1 World Events, MMA Big Show, and Shine
Fights. In addition, Fight of Your Life handles management for
rising StrikeForce lightweight title contender Lyle “Fancy
Pants” Beerbohm. Also, Fight of Your Life owner Phil Lanides
covers MMA for Examiner.com, and writes for FightSport Magazine,
and CACombatSports.com. For additional information on Fight of
Your Life Communications, please visit http://www.fightofyourlife.com/
For
additional information on Fight of Your Life Communications,
please visit http://www.fightofyourlife.com/
Source: Event Promoter
|
Hawaiian
Kimono Combat Registration Extended!
Please
turn in registration with payment no later then Friday Feb 26
Same day registration will be possible 9am-9:45 sat the day of
the tournament.$10 late fee included.
Updates and competitors list will be on the site!
Saturday
2/27/10
Pearl City High School
Registration has to be postmarked by 2/21/10
$50 to enter
$5 spectator fee (kids under 5 are free)
LAST DAY TO REGISTER FEBRUARY 26TH *THURSDAY
MAIL Registration Form to:
It's All Goo LLC
95-1032 Ainamakua Dr. # D
Mililani, HI 96789
Email info@itsallgoo.com Web: www.itsallgoo.com
BJJ tournament
using IBJJF Rules (same as the world championships) |
Mayhem
Miller Has No Clue When He's Fighting Next
By Michael
David Smith
As mixed martial arts fans continue to wonder when Strikeforce
will announce its next big fight card, some of Strikeforce's
top fighters are wondering the same.
The
latest to say so is Jason Mayhem Miller, who appeared on the
Adam Carolla podcast and said he expects to fight soon but hasn't
been told a time, date, place, opponent or television network
for the next time he steps into the cage.
"I
have no f**king clue man," Miller said. "Look, it's
either going to be March or April, and I'm just training real
hard right now."
In
the podcast (which was recorded on Wednesday), Miller indicated
that he's been staying in shape and has been told that he'll
get a fight soon, but that he doesn't have any way of knowing
how soon.
"It's
like, 'You're going to fight in March, or maybe April, but just
train. We promise we're going to pay, so get your ass out there,'"
Miller said of how Strikeforce books his fights. "That's
how it is."
A
number of reports have suggested that Strikeforce is leaning
toward Saturday, April 17, as the date of its next big show on
CBS, although April 24 is also thought to be an option, and there's
some talk that Strikeforce might do events on both CBS and Showtime
in April.
CBS
likes Miller because he's an entertaining personality who has
some crossover appeal as the host of MTV's Bully Beatdown, but
it's not clear whether Miller will be back on the network, where
he was last seen losing to Jake Shields in November. For that
matter, nothing at all is clear at this point with Strikeforce,
which is taking a long, long time in finalizing the details of
its next big event.
Source: MMA Fighting
|
Werdum:
“Wanderlei is more mature”
By Guilherme
Cruz
Former UFC heavyweight fighter, Fabricio Werdum helped on Wanderlei
Silva’s training to fight Michael Bisping at UFC 110. In
an exclusive interview to TATAME.com, the Strikeforce fighter
commenter the “Axe Murderer’s” victory.
“I sparred with him at Affliction training center and I
felt he was very well, was no longer that ‘crazy dog’
from the old days,” Werdum said. “He’s more mature,
exploded in the right times. Bisping is no fool, a good guy,
but Wanderlei fought smarter. I liked the fight”.
But Fabricio wasn’t happy with Rodrigo “Minotauro”
Nogueira’s fight in the same event, against undefeated Cain
Velasquez. Werdum, who already fought fellow Brazilian at Pride,
talked about the knockout of the night.
“I
was said with that loss. I didn’t thought it’d be an
easy fight, but I wasn’t expecting this. I thought Velasquez
would take him down all the time, but he was smart,” said
the Brazilian, praising Cain’s game. “He has a good
muay thai, a good boxing… That’s the game I’m
looking for. This is the future of MMA, exchanging , takedown
and working on the ground and pound”.
Source: Tatame
|
Mir
Issues Apology for Lesnar ‘Death’ Comments
by Brian
Knapp
Frank Mir’s mouth has him in hot water with UFC President
Dana White.
In
a recent interview with WXDX-FM, Mir said he wanted UFC heavyweight
champion Brock Lesnar “to be the first person that dies
due to Octagon-related injuries.” The UFC has long touted
its clean history of no fatalities or major injuries despite
the inherent brutality of mixed martial arts.
Mir
has fought Lesnar twice, handing the monstrous heavyweight his
first and only defeat as a professional at UFC 81 in February
2008. Lesnar avenged the loss a little more than a year later,
when he battered Mir en route to a one-sided second-round technical
knockout at UFC 100.
Scheduled
to face the undefeated Shane Carwin for the interim heavyweight
championship at UFC 111 “St. Pierre vs. Hardy” on March
27 at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., Mir could soon find
himself in position for a third match with Lesnar, who continues
to recover from a career-threatening intestinal disorder. Mir,
who also serves as a color analyst for World Extreme Cagefighting,
issued a public apology on Tuesday in wake of the controversial
interview.
“I
would like to apologize to Brock Lesnar, his family, the UFC
and the UFC fans for my stupid remarks,” he said in a statement
released on UFC.com. “I respect Brock, all the other fighters
and the sport of mixed martial arts. I’m sorry that I stepped
out of line.”
White,
meanwhile, denounced Mir’s comments.
“I
was disappointed by Frank Mir’s comments,” White said.
“Frank’s been with the UFC a long time; he’s a
two-time heavyweight champion and a commentator for the WEC.
I think his emotions are running high right now; he has a big
fight coming up next month, and he’s still upset about his
loss to Lesnar. He’s been talked to; he regrets what he
said, and he won’t be saying anything like that again.”
Source: Sherdog
|
The
storyboard post-UFC 110
By Zach
Arnold
Before
we touch on the Australia show, let’s take a look at the
news regarding Strikeforce’s next big event…
One
report states that Strikeforce will run an event in Nashville,
Tennessee on 4/17 with Jake Shields vs. Dan Henderson as the
main event, along with Bobby Lashley (and Herschel Walker?) on
the fight card. Fedor is not expected to appear at the event.
Henderson
vs. Shields should be fine and I don’t see how Fedor on
the fight card would have been a huge plus. Sure, it would be
nice to see him fight Alistair Overeem, but I’ve always
counted on that fight happening in DREAM because of the amount
of money that K-1 could put up to make that fight happen. A suggestion
perhaps — have the fight happen in Japan on the same day
as a Strikeforce CBS event and just air the taped fight on the
CBS telecast that same day.
(BTW,
please do not have the comments section devolve in how much Strikeforce
or Fedor sucks. I may even delete some comments if it devolves
into such a commentating state. Thank you in advance.)
Now,
onto the UFC show in Australia…
There
are good days and then there are bad days. However, I would hardly
characterize this as the golden period lately for Greg Jackson.
Clay Guida didn’t look so sharp, Joe Stevenson continues
his uneven path to nowhere (not sure what can be done with him),
and Keith Jardine is Keith Jardine. Rashad Evans and Georges
St. Pierre are natural talents and for as much praise as their
trainers have received, you either have it or you don’t
when it comes to becoming an elite level fighter like those two
gentlemen are. The trainers can only help so much.
I
remember when George Sotiropoulos last fought in the states and
won, people online were cringing at the prospects of him fighting
someone like a Joe Stevenson or higher-level competition…
and to have it booked in Australia, no less. I’m glad to
see George win in dominant fashion and prove his critics wrong.
He’s deserved the good things that he has earned in the
fight game.
What’s
next for Michael Bisping? Unlike elite fighters like Evans and
St. Pierre, Bisping desperately needs help with training and
he needs to shake things up. I’m not sure where he will
end up, but if he keeps his current situation status quo, he
will not benefit from it at all. With the UFC running less cards
in the UK, Bisping’s value drops significantly. If they
run in the UK twice a year, I’m not sure it’s enough
to have him and Dan Hardy as the two British “aces.”
Yes, Bisping’s opponent was Wanderlei Silva, but Wanderlei
is not nearly as aggressive as a fighter as he was during his
PRIDE days. How damaging do you view Bisping’s loss?
It’s
been a great week for UFC in terms of business and in terms of
fights. Of course, the Aussie big broadsheets will highlight
articles like “Smell the blood!” The sickening roar
for gore and Final blow silences a crowd wired for blood, but
you couldn’t ask for much more if you are Zuffa as far as
the Australian debut was concerned.
However,
it’s been an ugly week for the Fertittas in the American
legal system. Ouch.
Source: Fight Opinion
|
Mike
Brown Wants to “Keep Going” Back to Title Shot By Kelsey Mowatt
Not only will World Extreme Cagefighting’s first pay-per-view
offering on April 24th feature a featherweight title fight between
champion Jose Aldo and former champ Urijah Faber, it will also
include a bout between Mike Brown and Manny Gamburyan, which
could very well determine who will fight for the belt after that.
Brown (23-5), who held the 145lb. championship throughout most
of 2009, has no misunderstandings about how important his next
fight is.
“I
think that will happen,” Brown told FCF, when asked if he
believes the winner of his fight with Gamburyan will earn a title
shot. “Who else would it be you know? I think the winner
of me and Manny will be next because who else is in line right
now? All the other guys that were on line just lost; (Rapheal)
Assuncao just lost, he’s a great fighter, Mackens (Semerzier)
lost, there’s a lot of guys that lost. Wagnney Fabiano lost
and jumped a weight class so a bunch of the guys that are in
the top ten just recently dropped one.”
Gamburyan
(10-4), on the other hand, has won back-to-back fights since
the former “Ultimate Fighter” competitor made the decision
to drop down from lightweight to featherweight and compete in
the WEC. Last June, Gamburyan made his WEC debut a successful
one by earning a Unanimous Decision over John Franchi, and most
recently, he defeated Leonard Garcia by UD in November.
“He’s
a top ten guy,” said Brown, who after losing the featherweight
belt to Aldo in November got back on track in January, by tapping
out Anthony Morrison with a first round rear-naked-choke. “I
just want to keep banging out those top ten fights out and whatever
happens, happens, but those are the ones you want.”
“He’s
a guy with a name and I’m fighting him in a big show,”
Brown added. “Just want to keep going, keep moving ahead.”
Brown
has demonstrated over his WEC tenure that the American Top Team
fighter has added considerable striking and submission skills
to his wrestling base. It will be interesting to see what kind
of strategy Brown attempts to utilize against Gamburyan, a powerful
and stocky fighter, who is also an accomplished grappler.
“I
haven’t really watched the tapes since I found out I was
fighting him,” Brown told FCF. “I haven’t studied
them really close yet. I just got all his tapes over the last
couple of days. I’ll start breaking those down in the next
week or two. I know he throws over hand rights, he’s short,
has a judo background, good submission skills. Pretty straight
forward stuff but I’ll have to watch closely to get the
details.”
Brown
mentioned that the April 24th card, which will be held Sacramento,
California, is a “big show.” After all, not only will
it feature several of the promotion’s more accomplished
competitors in Aldo, Faber and himself, the event will mark the
promotion’s PPV debut.
“I
knew that they could do it,” said Brown. “I mean we’ve
got the best fighters in the world for the little guys. So there’s
no reason why not to. All you need to do is promote it right
and people want to see the fights. They’re great fights.”
And
as far as Brown’s thoughts on the Aldo, Faber bout?
“Well
Aldo has been knocking everyone out, so he just needs to keep
doing what he’s doing,” said Brown, who holds two victories
over Faber. “I think Urijah needs to get it to the ground
and see how he does there. Aldo’s been knocking everybody
out so Urijah’s got to try something different. Faber can
do it, but when you have fights like this you never know what’s
going to happen.”
Source: Full Contact Fighter
|
Paulo
Filho to fight at Bitetti Combat, and Thales, too
by Carlos
Eduardo Ozório
Bitetti Combat is coming up this Thursday, February 25, at the
Nilson Nelson gymnasium in Brasilia. The event’s organizers
continue to work hard and came up with a last-minute surprise
for the public. Paulo Filho, who had been dropped from the card,
is now confirmed to face Japan’s Yuki Sasaki.
Thales
Leites, who would have substituted Paulao, remains in the show,
in an extra bout, a bonus for MMA lovers.
“Sasaki
said he’ll only fight if it’s Paulao. Knowing that,
Paulao said he’ll fight no matter what. He’s in!”
announces Amaury Bitetti.
Thales
Leites, a one-time UFC middleweight title challenger, will not
be left out. His adversary has yet to be announced.
“Thales
is one of the best in the world in his division. Imagine if we
would leave him out after how standup of a guy he was with us,
when he accepted to fight at the last minute. In the end, I think
it will all work out and Brasilia will have an even better event,”
said a vibrant Fernando Miranda.
Tickets
can be purchased on the www.ingressorapido.com.br website, FNAC
(Park Shopping), and Bad Boy stores around Brasilia (Park Shopping,
Conjunto Nacional, Taguatinga Shopping e Alameda Shopping). Há
meia entrada para arquibancada com carteira de estudante ou 1kg
de alimento.
Confira
o card:
Bitetti
Combat 6
Nilson Nelson Gymnasium, Brasília, Brazil
February 25, 2010
Paulo
Filho vs Yuki Sasaki
Glover Teixeira vs Jeff Monson
Fabio Maldonado vs Guto Inocente
Cristiano Marcello vs Emiliano Cobra Vatt
Ediene “Índia” Gomes vs Amanda Nunes
Luiz Firmino “Buscapé” vs Francisco Drinaldo
“Massaranduba”
Danillo “Índio” Villefort vs Cassiano Tytschyo
Yuri Villefort vs Júlio Cesar Merenda
Leandro Batata vs Gustavo “Labareda” Sampaio
Felipe Arinelli “Mongo” vs Luis Cesar “The Lion
Source: Gracie Magazine
|
STRIKEFORCE
IN CANADA AND INTERACTIVE ON FiOS
On the eve of its sixth Challengers event on Showtime, Strikeforce
has announced a pair of media deals that continue to expand its
global reach and multimedia offerings.
Canadian
Sarah Kaufman face Japan’s Takayo Hashi in a main event
battle for the first Strikeforce women’s welterweight (135-pound)
championship. The fight will now be available in Kaufman’s
home country on Super Channel, Canada’s only national pay
television network.
Another
interesting addition to Strikeforce’s multimedia offerings
is being part of the new Showtime Sports Interactive offering.
Part of Verizon’s FiOS TV, Showtime Sports Interactive will
offer Strikeforce Challengers 6 at 11 p.m. ET on Friday night,
which includes voting and polling functionality and fighter profiles.
All FiOS TV customers with a high-definition set-top box who
subscribe to Showtime will have access to the interactive experience.
“Showtime
has been leading the industry with digital enhancements and Interactive
TV for over a decade. With the launch of Showtime Sports Interactive,
we are excited to be joining Verizon at the forefront, bringing
this state-of-the-art feature to Showtime HD,” said Robert
Hayes, senior vice president and general manager of digital media
at Showtime Networks.
“Showtime
continues to innovate and provide value-added features to our
subscribers and our sports programming provides the perfect setting
for the ‘lean forward’ experience that is now possible
with Interactive TV.”
Strikeforce
Challengers 6 airs live in the United States on Showtime at 8
p.m. PT / 11 p.m. ET.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
3
Fights to Watch This Week
by Tomas
Rios
A rare respite from the UFC’s relentless campaign to take
over the universe gives some of the world’s more underappreciated
promotions a chance to shine. This week has a hearty serving
of violence in extremis, and I’ve got the full breakdown
of the fights any fight fan worth his forum post count can’t
afford to miss.
So
get your knowledge on in a big way with a thorough outline of
how you’ll be spending the next few days. Failure to comply
will deny you the opportunity to send me a fresh round of hate
mail for my picks, so just follow me on this one.
Paulo
Filho vs. Yuki Sasaki -- Bitetti Combat 6
Half
the excitement of a Paulo Filho fight is wondering if he’ll
even bother showing up. It’s a sad turn of events for a
man once regarded as one of the sport’s premier middleweights,
but lost in the miasma of chaos surrounding his career is the
fact that he’s gone 3-0 since leaving the WEC.
A
win over sturdy Japanese veteran Yuki Sasaki on Thursday could
be another step in the right direction for Filho. Then again
the drama that accompanied the abrupt news of Filho’s withdrawal
and subsequent return to the card may have been the killing blow
to his chances of returning to a major league MMA promotion.
With
that said, Filho is undoubtedly the better fighter on paper.
His elite jiu-jitsu skills and underrated judo throws make it
virtually impossible to keep him from working his suffocating
top control. Unfortunately, no amount of paper in the world can
properly document the inner workings of Filho’s head, and
that is what makes this fight so appealing.
Sasaki
may not be some all-universe prospect, but he’s got a world
of experience and isn’t about to be scared by fighting on
Filho’s home turf. If Filho doesn’t have his marbles
firmly in hand, Sasaki will be all too happy to show the Brazilian
enigma why being of sound mind is a big part of making it as
a professional face-smasher.
The
popular opinion is that even if Filho manages another impressive
win, he’s simply screwed up one time too many to ever make
it back to the bright lights and big stage. To anyone who follows
that line of thought, please remember that Junie Allen Browning
got two fights in the UFC despite displaying the mannerisms of
a cartoonish sociopath. The idea of Filho returning to his old
self should be enough to get all of you hyped up on “Paulao”
restarting his grappling train of pain.
If
rooting on Filho doesn’t make you want to cancel your Thursday
plans, there’s always dusting off your vintage Pancrase
T-shirt and pretending that Sasaki was your favorite fighter
back in the day. Just keep dropping references to Team Grabaka
and try not to confuse Sasaki with Sanae Kikuta.
Edwards
will take on Noble.Derrick Noble vs. Yves Edwards -- MFC 24
Possibly
the illest option on this weekend’s platter features UFC
expatriates Derrick Noble and Yves Edwards in a lightweight bout
Friday that could decide the next man to challenge incumbent
MFC lightweight champion and resident wrestle-saurus Antonio
McKee. Considering both fighters are on the back end of their
careers, the chance to hold a title again could be the reviving
elixir they so desperately need.
The
MFC lightweight title was once within reach for Noble, but a
loss to McKee sent him tumbling down the ranks and now he has
to take on one of the few fighters in the division who can handle
his slick striking game. Anyone who saw Noble’s crackling
fight with Thiago Alves at UFC 59 knows how nasty Noble can get
on the feet, but he often leaves himself open to counters by
going into “HULK SMASH!” mode.
Rocking
the defensive skills of a kamikaze is no way to approach Edwards,
who also has the submission savvy to turn Noble into human origami.
The trade-off here is that Noble has the power to starch the
Bahamian thug-jitsu impresario, who has never been known for
having an adamantium chin.
One
way or another, this is your striking special of the weekend,
as the idea of both men making it to a judges’ decision
is about as likely as democrats and republicans making nice for
more than two seconds. The smart money is on Edwards’ reach
and superb timing, but if Noble can get inside on him, this fight
takes on a completely different dimension.
While
Edwards’ clinch game was once a feared part of his repertoire,
he’s no longer a clinical killer from up close, which only
makes Noble’s job easier. How Edwards uses his reach to
dictate distance will be key. He can ill afford getting into
a phone booth with Noble and letting the chips fall where they
may.
As
anyone who has been following MMA for any period of time knows,
no one is quite sure what thug-jitsu is, but it sure does work
and Edwards has a justified reputation for delivering violence
in unhealthy doses. Noble brings equal amounts of violent goodness
to the fistic buffet, so make sure your Friday evening is clear
of any worldly demands.
Sarah
Kaufman vs. Takayo Hashi -- Strikeforce Challengers 6
The
long-awaited bout between undefeated Canadian TKO machine Sarah
Kaufman and Japanese grappling guru Takaya Hashi finally comes
to fruition Friday, and it will crown the first Strikeforce women’s
bantamweight champion. A major bit of female fistic history and
a quality scrap to boot should have the lot of you plunking down
the extra change for that Showtime subscription.
The
fight itself comes down to a classic style clash. Hashi’s
ADCC-proven ground game will depend on her ability to take down
Kaufman before the striking-centric Canadian can turn her brains
to mush. Not exactly the most aesthetically pleasing image, but
MMA has never been about appearances.
While
Hashi certainly has the game to tap Kaufman out, top-shelf wrestling
seems to be the main component missing from Hashi’s game.
That’s bad news considering her striking just isn’t
good enough to survive more than a few moments on the feet with
Kaufman, who will be in headhunting mode from the opening bell.
How
Hashi will adapt to facing someone with big-time KO power and
the game to make it sing is what will decide her chances. By
the same token, Kaufman will be in for a serious test if she
ends up on the mat with the bantamweight division’s resident
grapple-god.
For
anyone legitimately interested in feMMA or just looking to see
something other than Cristiane Santos turning her opponents into
chum, this is a can’t-miss fight of the highest order. It’s
not every day you get to see a sport take a huge leap forward,
and while Don King did his best to ruin the legitimacy of female
combat sports, fighters like Kaufman and Hashi could go a long
way toward making the public forget about those dark days.
Game-changing
possibilities aside, this is still one of the best fights you
could put together in feMMA today. If that doesn’t capture
your imagination, I’m going to have to ask you to start
watching curling so you can be reminded just how good MMA has
been to you.
Update
notice: this item was updated at 3:40 p.m. ET to correct an error.
The entry stated that Kaufman was American, when in fact she's
Canadian.
Source: Sherdog
|
Quote
of the Day
“Cherish
all your happy moments: they make a fine cushion for old age.”
Christopher Morley, 1890-1957
|
X-1
Events presents
CHAMPIONS
2 (4 World Title Matches)
What: Sporting Event
Start Time: Saturday, March 20 at 7:00pm
End Time: Saturday, March 20 at 10:00pm
Where: Blaisdell Arena
|
Hawaiian
Kimono Combat Registration Extended!
Please
turn in registration with payment no later then Friday Feb 26
Same day registration will be possible 9am-9:45 sat the day of
the tournament.$10 late fee included.
Updates and competitors list will be on the site!
Saturday
2/27/10
Pearl City High School
Registration has to be postmarked by 2/21/10
$50 to enter
$5 spectator fee (kids under 5 are free)
LAST DAY TO REGISTER FEBRUARY 26TH *THURSDAY
MAIL Registration Form to:
It's All Goo LLC
95-1032 Ainamakua Dr. # D
Mililani, HI 96789
Email info@itsallgoo.com Web: www.itsallgoo.com
BJJ tournament
using IBJJF Rules (same as the world championships) |
Rampage
Signs, Jackson vs. Evans Official for UFC 114
Former
UFC light-heavyweight champion Quinton "Rampage" Jackson
has ended his holdout and signed on to face Rashad Evans in the
awaited culmination of their long feud at UFC 114 in May.
The
signing was first reported by Yahoo! Sports' Kevin Iole, who
was informed of the news by organization co-owner Lorenzo Fertitta
in Australia.
Jackson,
who is in Sydney for the weekend's UFC 110 event to corner Wolfslair
teammate Michael Bisping, met with Fertitta and Dana White to
settle their ongoing issues, which began when Jackson postponed
his anticipated Dec. 2009 bout with Evans in order to film the
big-budget action movie "The A-Team."
Jackson
(30-7) and Evans had filmed the most recent season of "The
Ultimate Fighter" as opposing coaches, and were supposed
to fight at the conclusion until Hollywood came calling. Jackson
put his fighting life on hold to take the B.A. Baracus role made
famous by Mr. T. Not surprisingly, the UFC was not happy with
the decision and even reportedly filed a lawsuit relating to
the situation. Jackson soon responded with his displeasure and
said he would likely retire.
Ironically,
Jackson may now be able to use his return fight as a vehicle
to publicize his movie. UFC 114 takes place on May 29, just two
weeks before "The A-Team" opens nationwide.
By
the time he steps in the cage, it will have been a 14-month layoff
since his last bout, a unanimous decision over Keith Jardine
at UFC 96.
Source: MMA Fighting
|
White
on GSP vs. Anderson, Rampage & More
SYDNEY,
Australia -- UFC President Dana White met with UFC Fight Club
members Friday at Acer Arena prior to UFC 110 to discuss a variety
of topics. Quick notes on what White said follow:
•
Ben Rothwell has a stomach virus that was diagnosed as soon as
he landed in Australia.
•
B.J. Penn is pretty close to cleaning out the lightweight division,
and White is a believer in people moving up after they have done
this. Penn would need to beat a top-ranked contender before getting
another shot at GSP, though.
•
Frankie Edgar is the guy that White is most impressed with in
the lightweight division, and that’s why he deserves the
shot at Penn. White was very impressed with Edgar in his win
over Sean Sherk.
•
White said Nick Diaz is hard to work with and doesn't work well
with athletic commissions, but he likes him.
•
He’s interested in Gegard Mousasi and thinks he is one of
the best in the world, but he has two contracts right now, so
White will take a closer look at him when they are done.
•
He’s confident that the UFC will eventually get Fedor. He
said the problem with M-1 is that they are more interested in
building M-1 as a promotion than building Fedor.
•
White said that Stephan Bonnar and Forrest Griffin are not going
anywhere and they are like his kids. They will always fight in
the UFC regardless of their records.
•
Wanderlei Silva is also always going to be in the UFC no matter
what happens.
•
White thinks that Anderson Silva is too big for GSP. Forrest
walks around at 230 pounds, and White said Anderson is about
the same as Forrest. He is just too big for GSP, but there are
lots of interesting matches at light heavyweight for Silva.
•
He thinks that Shinya Aoki is overrated because he hasn't faced
consistently tough competition like fighters do in the UFC.
•
He said he’s happy for Quinton “Rampage” Jackson
and thinks “The A-Team” movie will do really well.
If his movie looked like the other movies that fighters have
been starring in, White said he would have been mad at him. He
will be back fighting soon.
•
The UFC is not interested in Bobby Lashley right now.
•
White respects James Toney but said he doesn’t know what
the UFC could do for him.
•
White likes Kimbo Slice -- he wasn't what he expected -- but
White doesn't consider him a legitimate contender.
•
The next three countries for the UFC are China, South Korea and
India. Lorenzo Fertitta will be going overseas for the next three
weeks to work on getting a TUF season in those countries.
•
The UFC is working to get into Japan, but it isn't easy. White
doesn’t know if the Pride brand could be resurrected.
•
Brazil wasn't a target for future expansion initially, but since
the country secured the Olympics, the UFC is now very interested
in holding an event there.
•
Given the interest that Australia has shown already in the UFC,
there will be at least one show a year in Australia from now
on.
•
White said he laughs when people call Strikeforce “big.”
He said their model doesn't work. White doesn't want them to
go away, but he said they are going to fail because they are
trying to be too big and are poorly organized.
•
He thinks that the WWE is a totally different business model
with a different fan base. White doesn't think that they are
hurting each other apart from sharing PPV dates.
•
White said eventually he thinks knees to the head of a grounded
opponent will be legalized and he personally likes them. He said
perhaps after everything is standardized and fears about the
sport have passed, it will be possible.
•
He said Herb Dean is the best referee in the history of the sport.
The possibility of getting a helmet cam for referees is slim,
but White said that if they ever did get it, Steve Mazzagatti
could fit the camera inside his head because there is a lot of
room in there.
•
There will be no changes to any of the divisions and no new divisions,
including heavyweight. Boxing has too many champs, and White
doesn't want the UFC to go down the same path.
•
The UFC won't do rankings. White doesn't like rankings but instead
likes to put on the fights that the fans want to see.
Source: Sherdog
|
UFC
110: George Sotiropoulos Beats Joe Stevenson
Australia's
George Sotiropoulos thrilled the fans in Sydney by defeating
Joe Stevenson by unanimous decision at UFC 110.
Sotiropoulos
took the fight to the ground and got on top of Stevenson early
in the first round, and it was an excellent display of jiu jitsu
-- and an excellent display of understanding by the Australian
fans, who cheered the Aussie Sotiropoulos when he improved his
position. Although Stevenson landed a solid upkick at one point,
Sotiropoulos controlled the first round.
Early
in the second round Sotiropoulos rocked Stevenson with a punch,
and after that he managed to pepper Stevenson with punches that
Stevenson couldn't seem to answer. Eventually Stevenson took
Sotiropoulos down, but Sotiropoulos was comfortable on the ground
and quickly got into an advantageous position, even coming close
to submitting Stevenson with an omoplata. It was a good second
round for Sotiropoulos.
The
third round was closer, with Stevenson getting into some better
positions on the ground while Sotiropoulos knew he just had to
play defense and win the decision, which is exactly what he did,
winning 30-27 on all three judges' scorecards.
Sotiropoulos
improved his record to 12-2. Stevenson falls to 31-11.
Source: MMA Fighting
|
MELBOURNE
LIKELY NEXT STOP FOR UFC IN AUSTRALIA
The Ultimate Fighting Championship’s first trip to Australia
was an all-around success for the promotion, who plans to make
the land down under an annual stop, and their return will likely
be in Australia’s second most populated city, Melbourne.
“If
you’ve ever known how we do it, when we come in and we’re
as successful as we were in this market, we make it an annual
event, so we’ll be coming back here obviously,” UFC
president Dana White to the media at the UFC 110 post-fight press
conference in Sydney.
“The
next place we’d love to go would be Melbourne,” added
White.
Mixed
martial arts is legal in Victoria, the state that Melbourne resides,
but fighting in a cage is not. White feels confident that’s
simply a temporary road block.
“It’s
not legalized there, but after such a successful event here,
hopefully we can turn that around real quick,” commented
White. “It’s the same thing we go through everywhere
we go. It’s an education process. It’s about changing
laws and that never happens too fast, so we’re on it.”
“I
think they (the laws) are eventually going to get changed,”
said Aussie lightweight and UFC 110 winner George Sotiropoulos.
“It’s just the trend that’s going to happen. This
is a professional sport. People just need to be educated. I think
they look back at UFC 1 and that they think that’s what
the UFC is, or mixed martial arts, but this is a professional
sport with rules and it’s regulated. People just need to
be educated.”
“We
believe that when you move into a new territory or country and
when you expose everybody to it, they’ll get into it. We
believe in the product that much,” said the UFC president.
“We
also believe when you bring a live event, the 20,000 people that
were here will leave and infect another 30-40,000 people with
what they saw, and it’s been proven with all the other places
that we’ve gone, so it was our strategy here (in Australia)
too.”
“Our
first trip to Australia was very successful,” continued
White. “
UFC
110 made an impression on Australia and Australia impressed the
UFC.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
Changes
pay dividends for ‘new’ Silva
SYDNEY
– It was a joyful week for Wanderlei Silva, who was given
a hero’s welcome everywhere he went in Australia. The Ultimate
Fighting Championship star was given a nearly unprecedented standing
ovation at the weigh-in for UFC 110, as fans roared their approval
and many of them bowed to show him respect.
On
Saturday (Sunday in Australia), Silva shed a few tears after
defeating Michael Bisping in a tough, highly technical match
in the co-main event of UFC 110 before a raucous crowd of 17,431
at Acer Arena.
A
last-second knockdown led to the unanimous decision victory for
Silva. Bisping won the first round, and Silva took the second.
The third was hanging in the balance when Silva knocked down
Bisping with one of his patented overhand rights with about 7
seconds left in the fight.
That
led to a 29-28 score by all three judges. It also led to an outpouring
of emotion for Silva, who had lost five of his last six and then
hadn’t fought in eight months after recovering from plastic
surgery. He had scar tissue removed from his forehead and had
his nose rebuilt so he could breathe better. Because of how many
battles he had engaged in, Silva found it difficult to breathe
through his nose prior to the surgery.
He
dropped to middleweight for the first time and was a much better
match size-wise. When it ended, all the pent-up emotion came
pouring out.
“In
life, we all have bad moments,” Silva said. “Everybody
has bad moments, but if you believe in God and work hard, the
good moments are going to come.”
Silva
went on his losing streak because he kept insisting on throwing
caution to the wind and trying to put on the greatest fight in
history each time out. He approached a fight like he would a
long drive contest, swinging as hard as he could and not worrying
about the consequences.
He
and Bisping traded nasty words and it seemed almost certain that
they would engage in another toe-to-toe slugfest.
“That
was a very technical fight and who expected that after all the
[expletive] each of them had been talking,” UFC president
Dana White said.
Bisping,
who was cast as the villain and entered the cage to a chorus
of boos, worked behind his jab and used his lateral movement.
He didn’t have a mark on him after the fight and didn’t
sustain the kind of punishment a Silva opponent nearly takes,
win or lose.
Silva
nearly choked out Bisping with a guillotine at the end of the
second round and then almost knocked him out in the closing seconds
of the fight.
“It’s
tough to lose it in the final seconds like that,” Bisping
said softly.
Silva
likely will get a vacation in his native Brazil and then a bout
against Japanese star Yoshihiro Akiyama in his next outing. Silva
jokingly begged White to bring the bout to his homeland so he
could fight in front of friends and family. White said he may
be able to make Silva’s dream come true at some point in
the near future. The 2016 Summer Olympics are going to Rio de
Janeiro, and White said that has increased the UFC’s interest
in putting a show in Brazil.
Silva
would own the country for the week the fight was in town, but
it’s not much different than the reaction he gets everywhere.
He
puts so much of himself into every fight that people love him,
win or lose.
“There’s
losing fights and then there’s losing fights like Wanderlei
was losing them,” White said. “He goes out and fights
balls to the wall every time. He’s one of the guys who will
tell you he’s more interested in putting on a great show
than anything else.
“The
people love him for it. It’s what happened in boxing with
Arturo Gatti. He wasn’t the greatest boxer, but you knew
that every time out, he was going to give you everything he had.
Wanderlei is the same way.”
It
wasn’t close to a Fight of the Night effort on Saturday,
but Silva had nothing to apologize for this time around.
“This
fight, I wanted it very badly,” he said, beaming. “For
a lot of reasons, this meant a lot to me, and I just can’t
tell you how pleased and happy I am now because of it.”
Source: Yahoo Sports
|
MMA
Top 10 Heavyweights: Cain Velasquez Has Arrived
Cain
VelasquezThe main event of UFC 110 represented a generational
shift in the UFC heavyweight division, with Cain Velasquez, in
just his eighth professional fight, knocking out Antonio Rodrigo
Nogueira, who has been one of the sport's elite heavyweights
since Velasquez was in high school.
But
where does that leave Velasquez in our rankings of the top 10
heavyweights in MMA? And does Nogueira still make the rankings
at all? Find out below.
(Editor's
note: The individual fighter's ranking the last time we did heavyweights
are in parentheses.)
1.
Fedor Emelianenko (1): We still don't know when we're going to
see the best heavyweight in the world again, although an April
bout with Fabricio Werdum seems likely.
2.
Brock Lesnar (2): The UFC heavyweight champion will finally return
to the Octagon in July, and I think he'll pick up right where
he left off, showing that he's the best heavyweight other than
Fedor.
3.
Frank Mir (3): His fight with Shane Carwin at UFC 111 could earn
him the opportunity for a third fight with Lesnar. I'd see that
one playing out a lot like his second fight with Lesnar.
4.
Shane Carwin (5): If he can beat Mir he'll be an interesting
stylistic match-up with Lesnar, but it's hard to see him winning
the UFC heavyweight title: He's not as big as Lesnar, as strong
as Lesnar or as explosive as Lesnar.
5.
Cain Velasquez (8): Yes, he has officially arrived. We already
knew that Velasquez -- an All-American wrestler at Arizona State
-- was good on the ground. Now we know he can beat an elite opponent
on his feet as well. Velasquez may get a title shot before the
year is out.
6.
Alistair Overeem (7): It's hard not to lose patience with Overeem,
the Strikeforce heavyweight champion who has been fighting high-quality
opposition in kickboxing while taking squash matches in MMA.
But he's such a powerful athlete and such a dynamic striker that
it's also hard not to think he's among the half dozen best in
the world.
7.
Junior dos Santos (9): His bout with Gabriel Gonzaga on March
21 should tell us a lot about dos Santos. He's still a little
raw, but dos Santos is two years younger than Velasquez and has
a very promising future ahead of him.
8.
Brett Rogers (10): No word yet on whom Strikeforce will give
Rogers in his return fight after his loss to Fedor. An Overeem-Rogers
bout would be great but is probably not in the cards.
9.
Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (4): Yes, I still think Nogueira is
Top 10. But probably not for much longer. It's sad to see the
great ones get old.
10.
Fabricio Werdum (NR): Has a chance to move way up on this list
by beating Fedor. But not a very good chance.
Source: MMA Fighting
|
Consider
the torch passed.
The
undefeated Cain Velasquez handed Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira a savage
beating in the UFC 110 “Nogueira vs. Velasquez” main
event on Saturday at the Acer Arena in Sydney, Australia. Velasquez
brought a decisive end to the one-sided heavyweight match, as
he buried the Brazilian legend under a volley of violent strikes
2:20 into the first round.
Velasquez
never let Nogueira get out of the gate. He landed thudding leg
kicks throughout the brief encounter and then went to work upstairs.
The American Kickboxing Academy thoroughbred leveled Nogueira
with a two-punch combination before finishing him with five unanswered
punches on the ground.
“I
trained hard for this fight, for the stand-up part of it,”
Velasquez said. “We were planning on pushing the pace wherever
we could. Stay on the outside, work the stand-up, and, when the
takedown was there, take it. Just kind of keep him off balance
the whole time.”
The
blitz left the durable Nogueira in a helpless state and forced
referee Herb Dean to intervene on his behalf. Still the only
man to hold championships inside Pride and the UFC, the Brazilian
legend had nothing but praise for Velasquez. In what many will
see as a career-defining performance, the 27-year-old Salinas,
Calif., may have launched himself to the front of the line of
challengers awaiting heavyweight titleholder Brock Lesnar’s
return.
“Of
course, I’m disappointed about this fight,” Nogueira
said. “He had fast hands tonight, and he deserved to win.
He was an upcoming guy. He’s one of the best fighters in
the heavyweight division.”
Silva
vs. Bisping.
Former Pride Fighting Championships middleweight king Wanderlei
Silva halted a two-fight skid with a unanimous verdict over “The
Ultimate Fighter” Season 3 winner Michael Bisping in the
co-main event. All three cage-side judges scored it 29-28 in
the Brazilian’s favor.
Silva
finished the three-round duel with a flurry, as he put an exclamation
point on the victory in the last 10 seconds. He swarmed Bisping
against the cage, dropped him with a winging right hand behind
the ear and closed the fight with power punches on the ground.
To that point, the result of the middleweight bout appeared very
much in doubt.
Back
under the wing of longtime mentor Rafael Cordeiro, Silva worked
patiently through the match, leaning heavily on leg kicks and
end-of-the-round flurries.
“He’s
an unbelievable coach,” Silva said. “For me, he’s
the best coach in the world. He’s very, very important.”
Bisping
had his moments, too, as he scored with multiple takedowns, straight
right hands and his most efficient offensive weapon -- the jab.
However, it was not enough in the eyes of the judges. The 30-year-old
Wolfslair Academy product had won four of his previous five fights.
“It
was an absolute pleasure stepping in here with somebody like
Wanderlei,” Bisping said. “I grew up in this sport
watching him fight. I know there was a bit of bad blood leading
into the fight, but, truly, I do have absolute respect for the
guy.”
In
his first appearance since June, Silva pieced together enough
offense to edge the Englishman on the scorecards, including an
attempted arm-in guillotine choke that capped the second round
and seemed to turn the tide in his favor. Bisping believes Silva’s
final burst was the difference.
“I
feel the reason he got the decision was the knockdown right at
the end,” he said. “I’m bummed out about it, but
Wanderlei is a great opponent.”
Sotiropoulos
vs. Stevenson.
George Sotiropoulos made the most of his showcase opportunity.
Utilizing
a multipronged attack on his feet and on the ground, the Australian
stayed perfect inside the Octagon in a unanimous decision victory
against former lightweight title contender Joe Stevenson. Scores
were 30-27 across the board, the crowd exploding into thunderous
applause as the decision was read.
“That
was a very close fight,” Sotiropoulos said. “I know
I won the striking and the ground. I got a couple of reversals
on takedowns and a couple of takedowns myself.”
Sotiropoulos
set the tone from the start, as he dominated round one on the
mat. He mounted Stevenson, planted a mouse between his eyes with
an elbow from the top and threatened with an armbar. The 32-year-old
kept Stevenson on his heels in the second, as he staggered “The
Ultimate Fighter” Season 2 winner with a left hook inside
the first minute, escaped an attempted straight ankle lock and
cinched an anaconda choke as the horn sounded.
“I
was very aware of his submissions, his foot locks and his guillotines,”
Sotiropoulos said. “I didn’t feel any danger at any
time.”
Now
based in Vancouver, Wash., Sotiropoulos peppered Stevenson with
punches early in the third round and weathered a pair of takedowns,
as he posted his sixth consecutive win and established himself
as a viable threat at 155 pounds.
Bader
vs. Jardine.
Keith Jardine threatened to interrupt Ryan Bader’s climb
up the light heavyweight ladder, but “The Ultimate Fighter”
Season 8 winner had other plans.
Bader
ended a competitive bout 2:10 into round three, when he wobbled
Jardine with a straight right hand, followed with a flying knee
and put away the Jackson’s Mixed Martial Arts veteran with
a clean left hook. The 26-year-old remains unbeaten through 11
professional appearances.
“I
just tried to implement my game plan, kind of stay safe in my
own comfort zone,” Bader said. “I’ve been working
on my boxing a lot with the Lally Brothers at [Arizona] Combat
[Sports].”
A
two-time collegiate All-American wrestler at Arizona State University,
Bader controlled round one with takedowns, ground-and-pound and
the occasional power punch. Jardine seemed to bounce back in
the second, as he neutralized his opponent’s wrestling advantage
with his sprawl, landed his trademark leg kicks and held his
own in the standing exchanges.
Known
for his awkward style, the 34-year-old Jardine has lost three
consecutive fights, the last two by knockout.
Cro
Cop vs. Perosh.
Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic needed two full rounds to
dispatch late replacement Anthony Perosh, as he won for the third
time in four fights. Referee Herb Dean halted the match in between
rounds two and three after Filipovic opened a vertical gash on
the Australian’s forehead with an elbow from inside his
guard.
Filipovic
sprawled flawlessly throughout the 10-minute encounter, stuffed
every one of Perosh’s attempted takedowns and battered the
Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt with straight left hands and right
uppercuts. The 37-year-old Perosh, who replaced former International
Fight League standout Ben Rothwell on short notice, spent much
of the fight on his heels, as the Croatian advanced upon him.
Still, he stayed in the fight after the cut, even as blood streamed
down his face and onto his chest.
“I
was shocked [that he continued],” said Filipovic, the 2006
Pride Fighting Championships open weight grand prix winner. “I
appreciate his courage and his guts.”
Source: Sherdog
|
Quote
of the Day
“Be
not ashamed of thy virtues; honor's a good brooch to wear in
a man's hat at all times.”
Ben Jonson, 1572-1637
|
UFC
110 FIGHTERS TAKE HOME $50,000 BONUSES
The Ultimate Fighting Championship made its first appearance
in Australia on Sunday at the Acer Arena in Sydney. The promotion
handed out its usual post-fight awards with each winner taking
home a healthy $50,000 bonus.
Cain
Velasquez captured the Knockout of the Night bonus, moving from
rising contender to the next in line for a title shot behind
the winner of Frank Mir vs. Shane Carwin. He floored Antonio
Rodrigo Nogueira with a right hook-left hook combination that
earned him his eighth victory with no defeats.
Home
country hero George Sotiropoulos earned one of the biggest wins
of his career with a dominating performance over perennial UFC
title contender Joe Stevenson. Their performance was enough to
earn them each a Fight of the Night bonus.
Chris
Lytle scored the Submission of the Night with his knee bar of
H.I.T. Squad fighter Brian Foster. The bout was part of the preliminary
fight card, but with no five-round bouts on the roster, made
its way to the pay-per-view portion of the event.
UFC
110 POST-FIGHT AWARDS:
Fight
of the Night:
–Joe Stevenson and George Sotiropoulos
Knockout
of the Night:
–Cain Velasquez
Submission
of the Night:
–Chris Lytle
Source:
MMA Weekly
|
SILVA
VS AKIYAMA COULD BE ON TAP
When UFC 110 was originally conceived, one of the first fights
expected for the card was a middleweight bout pitting former
Pride champion Wanderlei Silva against noted Judo champion and
Japanese fighter Yoshihiro Akiyama.
Plans
changed, however, and "Ultimate Fighter" season three
winner Michael Bisping was slotted against Silva instead. Since
that time, Akiyama has been sitting on the sidelines waiting
for his time to fight.
With
Silva getting the win over Bisping in Australia, UFC president
Dana White was quick to point out that Akiyama doesn't want just
any fight... he wants Wanderlei Silva.
"Akiyama
wants to fight Wanderlei very bad," White said. "It's
a big fight that he wants. He wants this fight. We offered him
another fight and he said he wants Wanderlei."
There
is no timetable for if the fight will actually be Silva's next
challenge, as the Brazilian literally just finished his first
bout at 185 pounds, but White says it's possible.
"Wanderlei's
sitting here with stitches in his chin, and a black eye and everything
else so he's going to go home, relax, heal, and then we'll talk
to Wanderlei and see when he's ready again," commented White.
"But yeah, Akiyama wants that fight really bad."
Never
one to back down from a challenge, Silva's mood went from a smile
to a grimace. He was quick to respond now that the gauntlet has
been thrown.
"Akiyama,"
said Silva when asked who he wants to fight next.
White
knew that the pot had been stirred, and Silva looks like he's
on a mission.
"It
just pissed him off that I said Akiyama wants to fight him, so
now he wants Akiyama," White said about Silva's next challenge.
Source:
MMA Weekly
|
HERO
OF THE DAY, SOTIROPOULOS HAPPY TO BE IN MIX
Fighting in front of a hometown crowd can be a blessing or a
curse.
For
George Sotiropoulos it brought out the best fighter he's ever
been in the UFC. He dominated former top ranked lightweight contender
Joe Stevenson en route to a three-round decision in his home
country of Australia.
The
Aussie reporters were quick to ask UFC president Dana White following
the event if Sotiropoulos was possibly lining himself up with
a title shot in the near future.
"Everybody
that knows anything about MMA knows how good Joe ‘Daddy’
Stevenson is, and he got dominated tonight by Sotiropoulos,"
said White. "He looked unbelievable. No matter how good
you are sometimes there are a lot of other factors that play
into your fight like nerves and being in his hometown for the
first time, and he stepped up tonight."
Impressed
as he was, White still had to pay respect to champion B.J. Penn.
He believes, however, with hard work and some good wins, Sotiropoulos
will be heading towards title contention soon.
"He's
in a very competitive division, and the champion in that division
is the best he's ever been, one of the best ever in MMA history,"
White stated about Penn. "I think tonight was a huge step
for (Sotiropoulos). He's a guy who came off ‘The Ultimate
Fighter’ and to go in there and face competition like Joe
Stevenson and do what he did to Joe Stevenson tonight is huge
and very promising for his future.
"If
he continues at the pace he's on now, I wouldn't be surprised
if you saw him in a title fight within the next year."
Still
riding the high from winning in front of his home country crowd,
Sotiropoulos spoke about his title aspirations and how he hopes
to build on this win for the future.
"I
don't think I've earned a title shot yet, but I think I'm well
on the way," said Sotiropoulos. "I like competing,
I love fighting, and I'm just happy to be in the mix like Dana
said."
With
a bevy of top lightweights out there, Sotiropoulos may soon find
himself in the cage with another contender such as Gray Maynard
or Sean Sherk depending on how timing works out. For now, he'll
just enjoy being the hero of the day in Australia.
Source:
MMA Weekly
|
Anderson
on Demian: “For me it changes nothing”
Previously
scheduled to face Vitor Belfort on the 10th of April, at UFC112
in Abu Dhabi, Anderson Silva has had his opponent switched on
him. A shoulder injury sidelined Belfort and replaced him with
Jiu-Jitsu black belt Demian Maia. Although he prefers to keep
quiet about his upcoming fight, when puts his middleweight belt
on the line, he did have a chat with GRACIEMAG.com.
What
did you think about the opponent change, does it change anything
for you?
No,
it changes nothing for me.
You
were in Abu Dhabi and saw the installations for the first event
to take place there, in an outdoor arena. How important is this
expansion to the UFC, the fighters and the style?
It’s
a new experience for me, for the other athletes who will perform
there, and especially for the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
I feel everything it adds to both Zuffa and us fighters is rewarding.
Change is always a bit scary, but the expectations are great
and we are waiting to see whether it will indeed be a great event
and draw the expected audience. I hope it will be a success.
Let’s wait and see.
What
is the pressure of being UFC champion, one of the most important
and carefully-followed fighters in the world like?
Truth
be told, contrary to what many think, I’m not worried about
it, man. My concern has always been and will always be, while
actively fighting, to provide as best I can for my family. I
train to do a good job, and have time for my family. No payout,
belt or anything can buy that.
Two
of your friends will be in action on Saturday, Rodrigo Minotauro
and Wanderlei Silva, who face Cain Velasquez and Michael Bisping,
respectively. What do you expect from these battles?
Those
are two tough fights, but they are very well prepared and I believe
that everything will be OK. They are well prepared and may God
be with them.
Source:
Gracie Magazine
|
Bader
scores third-round knockout of Jardine
Despite
seeming gassed, Ryan Bader pulled out a knockout of UFC veteran
light heavyweight of Keith Jardine at 2:10 of the third round.
Bader
easily controlled the first round, with effective wrestling and
punch combos, but that didn't fly in the second round. Jardine's
kick, which was effective in previous wins, did some damage in
the second round.
Bader
was starting to look tired as he entered the third round. That
changed when Bader threw a flying right knee that hit Jardine's
chest and followed up with a left hook that made Jardine slump
to the ground.
This
extends Bader's undefeated record to 11-0, while Jardine falls
to 15-7-1. This is Jardine's third loss in a row.
Source:
Yahoo Sports
|
Strikeforce
champ Gegard Mousasi not a fan of “King Mo’s”
crown
Muhammed
"King Mo" Lawal (6-0 MMA, 1-0 SF) is chomping at the
bit to make a fight with Gegard Mousasi (28-2-1 MMA, 2-0 SF)
at the second installment of "Strikeforce on CBS,"
which is expected for April.
All in good time, Mousasi assures.
"[Lawal] is confident," Mousasi recently told MMAjunkie.com
(www.mmajunkie.com). "But I'm more than happy to show him
he's going to pay in the cage. I'm just more motivated to beat
him, just because he likes himself so much. I think he's in front
of the mirror 24 hours (a day)."
Mousasi last week broke from Strikeforce promotional partner
M-1 Global and may have signed a long-term fight contract with
the San Jose, Calif.-based promotion on his own as recently as
last month.
As Mousasi vs. Lawal hovers in the "rumors" section
of the fight world, Lawal recently told MMAjunkie.com Radio that
the Dutch-Armenian could forge his signature to get things moving.
"Just write, 'M-O' and 'X,'" Lawal said. "If he
wants to put the little crown and 'King Mo' inside, he can do
that, too. That's how ready I am for this fight. That's how bad
I want it."
Sign the fight, yes, Mousasi said. The crown, not so much.
"I don't know about the crown," he scoffed.
Then he thought for a moment.
"Maybe he's a nice guy," Mousasi continued. "Personally,
if you get to know him, maybe he's a nice guy. But for me, now
I have to fight him and I don't have to like him. And he's challenging
constantly and blah, blah, blah, so I don't have to like him."
Lawal, a former Division I All-American collegiate wrestling
champion, said that he was supposed to fight Mousasi on two occasions:
at "M-1 Global: Breakthrough" this past August, and
"Dynamite!! 2009: DREAM vs. World Victory Road" on
New Year's Eve.
Mousasi disputes Lawal's claim that they were supposed to fight
at "Breakthrough," though he concedes turning down
Lawal as a potential opponent on the New Year's Eve event (in
addition to Lawal, Mousasi was also offered fights with Jorge
Santiago, Yosuke Nishijima and Kevin Randleman before settling
on Gary Goodrige).
"I was doing the exhibition fight," Mousasi said of
the M-1 Global card. "M-1 couldn't afford to pay me."
"I never said no. They offered these fights (on New Year's),
and for a fight like [Lawal], I want to be prepared very well."
Which,
in kind, Lawal said he wanted when he claims the fight was broached
to him in August.
Mousasi chalks Lawal's confidence up to his undefeated record
and said the bluster won't hold after they fight.
"Once you get knocked out once in your life, you're not
the same fighter," Mousasi said. "He even challenges
Fedor (Emelianenko) with six fights, so I don't know what to
say about that.
"He's
confident because he's never lost. I want to see how he reacts
when I punch him, and how he fights then."
The Strikeforce light heavyweight champion still believes his
wrestling deficit on paper is not enough to stop him from smashing
Lawal.
"I have a good chin, and he's basically a wrestler with
punches and ground and pound," Mousasi said. "I have
the same ground and pound, even better, with submissions. His
wrestling is the only thing that he's better. But I would say,
in the clinch I would knee him, and I have my boxing, so I'm
not worried."
Source:
MMA Junkie
|
Dana
White: 'Akiyama Wants to Fight Wanderlei Real Bad'
Just
a couple of hours after Wanderlei Silva showed he still has some
fight left in him with a victory over Michael Bisping at UFC
110, UFC President Dana White said he expects Silva's next fight
to come against the Japanese star Yoshihiro Akiyama.
According
to White, Akiyama has been sitting out since his Octagon debut
at UFC 100 in large part because he's hoping to fight Silva.
"Akiyama
wants to fight Wanderlei real bad," White said, adding that
when the UFC offers Akiyama other opponents, "He says he
wants Wanderlei."
It's
not clear yet how soon such a fight would happen, although it
has been speculated that a June date between Silva and Akiyama
would make sense.Silva was cut in his fight with Bisping and
will likely need some time off, but he didn't appear to be seriously
injured.
A
bout between Akiyama and Silva would be a big one, especially
for the UFC's efforts to establish a foothold in Japan, where
Akiyama is one of the most popular home-grown fighters, and Silva
is one of the most popular foreign fighters.
And
it's a fight that Silva -- who always looks for perceived slights
from his opponents to get him motivated -- seems to want.
"That
just pissed him off that I said Akiyama wants to fight him,"
White said. "So now he wants to fight Akiyama."
Source:
MMA Fighting
|
Quote
of the Day
"Faithless
is he that says farewell when the road darkens."
J.
R. R. Tolkien, 1892-1973
|
PASSING
OF THE TORCH: VELASQUEZ KO'S NOG
It may have been a passing of the torch in the heavyweight division
as young lion, Cain Velasquez, knocked out legendary former Pride
and UFC champion, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira in the first round
of their heavyweight main event at UFC 110.
Coming
from an impressive background in wrestling, Cain Velasquez looked
more like a seasoned kickboxer on Sunday afternoon in Australia
as he beat Nogueira to the punch over and over again in their
fight.
The
Brazilian looked slow tossing his jab out as the American Kickboxing
Academy heavyweight threw a series of combinations that continuously
tagged Nogueira early.
As
the fighters stepped in for an exchange, Velasquez uncorked a
huge right hand that rocked Nogueira, and the Arizona State alum
followed up with a left before the former Pride champion dropped
to the mat. Quick to follow up, Velasquez blasted away with a
few more quick shots as Nogueira went limp and referee Herb Dean
rushed in for the stoppage.
A
very humble Cain Velasquez showed great respect for his opponent
after getting the biggest win of his young career.
"I'd
just like to thank Nogueira, I look up to him," Velasquez
stated after getting the win. "We were planning on just
push the pace wherever we could. Stay on the outside, work the
stand-up, and when the takedown was there take it. Just keep
him off balance the whole time."
Facing
a hungry young heavyweight, Nogueira stumbled in his quest to
get back to a title shot, but still got a warm ovation from the
Australian crowd for the legend that he truly is.
"He had the fast hands tonight, and he deserved to win,"
Nogueira said with humility following the loss.
It
may be a phrase popularized in professional wrestling by Ric
Flair, but it seems only fitting with Velasquez's huge win over
Nogueira. "To be the man, you have to beat the man."
That's exactly what the former All-American wrestler did, while
vaulting himself to title contention in the heavyweight division.
Source:
MMA Weekly
|
VELASQUEZ
READY FOR TITLE SHOT, DANA AGREES
It was a monumental night for Cain Velasquez at UFC 110. He knocked
out Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira to place himself on the perch as
a title contender, and a shot could come as soon as later this
year.
With
Shane Carwin and Frank Mir set to do battle in a five-round interim
title fight next month at UFC 111, UFC president Dana White reiterated
the winner of that bout would be the next top challenger, but
confirmed Velasquez is ready for his shot as well.
"The
heavyweight division is more exciting than it's been in years.
It just keeps getting better and better," White said. "Obviously
it's great that Brock Lesnar is back now so we'll see what happens
with Frank Mir and (Shane) Carwin. See who wins that and if the
guys come out unscathed, they'll fight for the title, if not
then Cain Velasquez will get that slot."
White
went on to praise Velasquez for his performance over a fighter
he called possibly the greatest heavyweight of all time in Nogueira.
"Cain
Velasquez went out and absolutely finished him, and looked completely
dominant," White commented. "In my opinion, better
than he's ever looked. The kid gets better every time he fights."
While
always remaining humble, Velasquez did speak up about his place
as a top contender in the heavyweight division.
"I
think so," Velasquez answered when asked if he thought he
deserved a title shot. "Whatever the UFC says, I'm going
to be ready for it."
The
world's attention will now turn to the March 27 fight between
Carwin and former champion Mir. If the winner of that bout can't
go during the summer then Velasquez will get called up to face
Lesnar.
Source:
MMA Weekly
|
GARCIA
CONFIRMS FIGHT WITH ROOP AT WEC 47
It’s been only 72 hours since Diego Nunes had to withdraw
from his WEC 47 bout against Leonard Garcia due to injury, but
the Zuffa machine keeps rolling.
Garcia
confirmed to MMAWeekly.com an earlier MMAJunkie.com report citing
sources that said George Roop has been tapped to step into the
cage with him on March 6 in Columbus, Ohio.
“It’s
a great fight for me,” Garcia told MMAWeekly.com. “I
like the match-up a lot and really appreciate George taking the
fight on such short notice.”
Looking
to get back on track, Garcia (13-5) lost to Manny Gamburyan at
WEC 44 in November. He has gone 3-2 since dropping from 155 pounds
in the UFC down to 145 pounds in the WEC.
Roop
(10-6) is making a quick turn, coming off a loss to Eddie Wineland
at WEC 46 in January. It will mark Roop’s third bout at
145 pounds.
Brian
Bowles will attempt to defend his WEC bantamweight title from
Dominick Cruz in the main event at Nationwide Arena.
Source:
MMA Weekly
|
Is
Chael Sonnen better than Anderson Silva?
Every
time a ranking is updated, people argues about positions. Although,
the American website “Fight” crossed the limits. After
the victory over Nate Marquardt, the American Chael Sonnen went
to the top of the category ranking, leaving Anderson Silva, UFC
champion and record breaker of victories and titles defenses
on UFC, behind.
But
it wasn’t just the ranking of the middleweights that made
people talk. On the category above, Lyoto Machida is on the deserved
first place, but Maurício “Shogun” Rua, next
contender of the title, is only on seventh. Before him, they
putted Randy Couture, who submitted Mark Coleman.
On
featherweights, José Aldo, WEC champion, was the third,
leaving the top to the compatriot Bibiano Fernandes, Dream’s
GP champion. The Japanese Michihiro Omigawa got the second place.
At least they didn’t put Brock Lesnar as number one of heavyweights.
This place is still safe with Fedor Emelianenko.
Source:
Tatame
|
Wand
comments on UFC 110 win
Accustomed
to mauling his opponents, Wanderlei Silva went through the worst
phase of his career. Coming off back-to-back losses, he dropped
five of his last six appearances. However, at UFC 110, which
took place this Saturday in Australia, the “Axe Murderer”
again triumphed in grand style when he overcame England’s
Michael Bisping by unanimous decision.
“He
is a tough fighter, but I believe I really won, because I got
good positions and a knockdown in the final round. Perhaps if
I had had a few more seconds in the second round, I would have
finished,” Wand said, referring to the snug guillotine he
sunk at the tail-end of the second stanza.
“He
didn’t tap because he really is a great fighter and congratulations
to him because he put on a great fight for the fans. That is
important,” he said.
I
went through hard times in my career” Wanderlei Silva
After
the positive result and applause from the public, the Brazilian
was overjoyed.
“I’m
very happy because I trained so much for this fight. I went through
hard times in my career and now I managed to win. It is a very
important moment for my career,” he said.
The
Brazilian demonstrated fluid muay thai skills in his appearance
against Bisping, which was somewhat reminiscent of his days of
glory in the Pride ring. For this presentation, Wand counted
on the help of his first master, Rafael Cordeiro, and showed
signs of what the work they do together can yield.
“Rafael
Cordeiro is the best coach in the world; he’s incredible,”
praised the fighter, still in the octagon.
Before
the match there was much rivalry between Silva and Bisping, with
strong statements made to the press. After the challenge, the
Englishman left that aside and praised the winner.
“Wanderlei
did a great job and I have to congratulate him, because he had
a great fight. I lost tonight, but I want to continue fighting
tough fighters,” said Bisping.
Source:
Gracie Magazine
|
Cain
do: Velasquez vaults to the top
SYDNEY
– Dana White couldn’t have scripted UFC 110 any better
had he tried.
The
Ultimate Fighting Championship’s first show in Australia
was a smashing success, and its top prospect gave the UFC president
yet another elite heavyweight to throw into the mix.
Cain
Velasquez more than lived up to his billing as a potential champion,
stopping the nearly unstoppable Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira on Saturday
(Sunday in Australia) in the first round to firmly thrust himself
into the heavyweight championship picture before 17,431 stunned
fans at Acer Arena.
“I
was totally blown away by him,” White said of Velasquez,
who knocked Nogueira down with a perfect right-left-right combination
and then finished him with five powerful hammer fists on the
ground.
It
capped a near-perfect night in which the fights were good, the
crowd was amazing and the contenders moved into focus.
The
only thing that was missing was one of the fighters walking to
the cage to Men at Work’s “Down Under.”
The
stands were nearly full for the first fight, which started just
after noon local time. When Igor Pokrajac walked to the cage
to open the show, fans stood in unison and roared at the top
of their lungs.
They
managed to get even louder when Sydney resident James Te Huna
was introduced. He sent them into near-delirium by stopping Pokrajac
in the third round.
Another
Australian, George Sotiropoulos, also received a hero’s
welcome.
“I
was blown away at the reception,” Sotiropoulos said.
Sotiropoulos
edged Stevenson in a fast-paced match that was spent mostly on
the ground and was given Fight of the Night honors. But Velasquez
managed to trump even that great fight with his performance against
Nogueira.
Nogueira
is among the three greatest heavyweight fighters in mixed martial
arts history and is renowned for his ability to absorb punishment.
He was no match for Velasquez, however, who outboxed him, showed
great patience and was ferocious in going for the finish when
the opportunity presented.
Velasquez’s
coaches preached patience to him and didn’t want him to
get ahead of himself or abandon the game plan. But even though
Nogueira landed the first punch of the fight and opened a cut
on the bridge of his nose that required a few stitches to close,
Velasquez didn’t panic.
“He
got hit right away and he kept his composure,” said Dave
Camarillo, Velasquez’s jiu-jitsu coach. “We were very
impressed that he’s now displaying the experience he didn’t
have. He’s really showing it, where he didn’t show
it in the [UFC 99] fight with [Cheick] Kongo.
“You’re
speaking to a true martial artist, and his best weapon is his
mind.”
Perhaps,
but it doesn’t hurt that he is by far the best-conditioned
big man in the game, that he’s highly athletic, strong and
unbelievably competitive.
This
is a guy who oozed with potential from the moment he turned professional
after a high-profile wrestling career at Arizona State. He faced
significant pressure when he was compared to some of the all-time
greats upon debuting in the UFC at UFC 83 in 2007 after only
two fights.
Velasquez
showed something new in every fight, adding depth and breadth
to his game each time out. On Saturday, he put it all together
in a performance that puts him alongside Shane Carwin and Frank
Mir as the primary challengers to champion Brock Lesnar.
Velasquez
said he “was kind of surprised” that he was able to
put away a legendary figure like Nogueira so quickly and so thoroughly.
“I
put a lot of time in, and it felt great to come through after
all the time I put into it,” Velasquez said. “Everything
is coming together the way I planned. It didn’t come easy.
It’s been a lot of hard work, but I felt good about the
way it all came together.”
The
UFC’s heavyweight division is by far the best it ever has
been, which says something about the quality of the newcomers.
In
addition to Velasquez, Mir and Carwin, Junior dos Santos always
is a quality contender, and dos Santos will be in the championship
mix if he defeats Gabriel Gonzaga next month in Broomfield, Colo.
Veteran
Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic, who put together perhaps
his best performance in what thus far has been a lackluster UFC
career by stopping late replacement Anthony Perosh, conceded
he was impressed by the talent matchmaker Joe Silva has stockpiled
in the division.
“The
young lions are definitely coming,” Filipovic said. “The
heavyweight division is better than it’s ever been.”
White
clearly agreed with that. Five years ago, there wasn’t a
quality champion and there was no depth.
Now,
there are a string of main-event quality fights that can be made
and more than a half-dozen legitimate contenders.
“Five
years ago, there is no comparison to the way it is now,”
White said. “We had nobody like Cain. Nobody. All we had
then was Tim Sylvia and Andrei Arlovski and that was it. The
division was terrible. It sucked and [Sylvia] and Andrei kept
knocking each other out.
“Now,
you go down the list and you see guy after guy and you go, ‘He’s
the real deal. He’s the real deal. He’s the real deal.’
We’re full of them right now. I can’t wait to see some
of these fights. It’s going to be sick.”
The
winner of the Mir-Carwin fight at UFC 111 next month is slated
to get the next shot at Lesnar. Lesnar is expected to return
in either July or August from his bout of diverticulitis, which
has sidelined him since last July at UFC 100.
However,
if the Mir-Carwin winner isn’t ready, White said the shot
instead would go to Velasquez.
Velasquez
is a low-key sort who said, “I’m getting better,”
when asked what message he sent to Lesnar with his knockout.
But
Velasquez clearly is confident. He’ll give up 25 or 30 pounds
to Lesnar, as well as a few inches, but he isn’t going to
turn down the title shot.
“I’d
have to fight a smart fight, and my coaches and I would have
to come up with a game plan,” Velasquez said. “Really,
with that kind of guy, super big, strong, with a lot of power,
it’s going to be a way and you have to keep fighting till
the end. You have to tire those big guys out, which is easier
said than done.
“But
that’s how I’d see me going up against them, trying
to get them tired and then edge out the win at the end. But it’s
tough.”
It
will be tough for Velasquez facing the many massive, athletic
men in the division. Have no doubt, though, that he’s a
tough match for any of them.
“I’ve
been saying it for a long time, but maybe now people will start
looking at this kid and realize how good he is,” White said.
“I call him ‘The Terminator’ because he never
quits. He’s got a lot going for him. He’s going to
be tough to beat, man. He really is.”
Source:
Yahoo Sports
|
Nogueira-Velasquez
piece of heavyweight puzzle
From
the day weight classes were instituted in the Ultimate Fighting
Championship in 1997, the light heavyweight division usually
had the biggest stars, the best-selling fights and had the most
fan interest.
But
with the emergence of Brock Lesnar and the signing of a cast
of new stars, most notably Cain Velasquez, Junior Dos Santos
and Shane Carwin, in 2008, the balance of power has shifted in
favor of the heavyweights.
The
company’s biggest money fight of 2008 (Lesnar vs. Randy
Couture) and 2009 (Lesnar vs. Frank Mir) was at heavyweight,
and the company has never had anywhere near the current talent
depth in the division.
But
it’s a division filled with question marks, between fighters
untested in certain aspects, and those who have been tested,
but questions remain where they stand today. They are questions
that will only begin to be answered on Saturday night (Sunday
afternoon local time) at UFC 110 in Sydney, Australia.
Velasquez
(7-0) faces Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (32-5-1, 1 no contest).
It’s by far the biggest test of Velasquez’s career,
as much because of the style match-up as the fact he’s fighting
the biggest-name opponent of his career.
Thus
far in his UFC career, Velasquez has shown great takedown ability
and control on the ground, along with the best conditioning in
the division.
While
those who have trained with him laud his stand-up ability, there
has been little evidence of it in his UFC fights. His weakness
appears to be power in the punches, yet, six of his seven fights
have ended via TKO, mostly due to relentless pounding on the
ground.
In
his 11-year career, Nogueira has faced a slew of legendary fighters.
After an awful showing against Frank Mir 13 months ago, there
were serious questions whether Nogueira was shot. His body has
been beaten up over the year, and he’s battled staph infections
twice. But an impressive win over Couture on Aug. 29 came on
a night where all the things he appeared to have lost came back.
What makes the Nogueira-Velazquez match-up so intriguing is that
Nogueira is as dangerous a heavyweight as there is when put on
his back, and that’s the position Velasquez has put everyone
he’s faced.
Will
Velasquez go with his usual winning formula, or will we see if
his stand-up game is what it is purported to be? And Nogueira
is no slouch in that department, either, having shown good technical
stand-up.
While
Nogueira-Velasquez will likely answer questions about both fighters’
place in the pecking order, it is only the first piece in a puzzle
that will be put together over the course of the year.
Champion
Lesnar (4-1), who is still inexperienced, has never been tested
in a long, competitive fight. Because he’s never taken the
kind of shot several of the contenders are capable of delivering,
it’s unknown how he will react if and when he is hurt. Lesnar
has been dominant, but until he fights again, nobody will be
able to tell what his career-threatening bout with diverticulitis
has done to his raw power – a trait that he needs to remain
on top.
The
highest stakes match until Lesnar’s return is Mir vs. Carwin
on March 27 in Newark, N.J. – a five-round fight for the
interim championship, with the winner getting the next crack
at Lesnar, likely in the summer.
The
34-year-old Carwin has an impressive record on paper. He’s
11-0, winning every fight in 2:11 or less. But aside from a win
over Gabriel Gonzaga, he’s untested against top competition.
What we know is that he’s very strong and very athletic,
having been a Division II All-American linebacker in college
football, as well as national champion in wrestling. And he hits
hard. He’s got the best one-punch knockout power in the
division.
But
Carwin’s stand-up skills aren’t the best. He can be
hit. Gonzaga connected with a hard punch that broke his nose
and had Carwin in trouble early. While training partner Nate
Marquardt has repeatedly said that Carwin’s conditioning
will be an asset if he needs it, there are always questions when
a fighter has never even been pushed to the latter stage of a
single round.
Mir
(13-4) is someone UFC fans should know better than anyone, since
he’s been in the promotion for eight and a half years, with
plenty of ups and downs. But after the loss to Lesnar on July
11 that did such a number on him mentally, Mir has reinvented
himself, changing his entire approach.
In
that fight, Mir came in ridiculously confident that he was better
than Lesnar in every aspect of the game, a confidence born out
of submitting him a year earlier. But in their second meeting,
Mir simply couldn’t contend with Lesnar’s raw power
and was never in the fight.
Now
Mir, the former technician, has turned to training like a power
fighter. He embarked on a completely new program, concentrating
on both beefing up, lifting heavy and attempting to add functional
strength. In his mind, he’s still better than Lesnar at
almost every aspect of the game. Though he may never be able
to out-power Lesnar, he feels that he can be strong enough to
neutralize Lesnar’s power. From there, Mir believes his
other skills will give him the win.
When
Mir fought Cheick Kongo on Dec. 12, he was 25 pounds heavier
than with Lesnar. Even if he added significant strength, the
question remained: Considering his quickness has been a key to
his submission game and his stamina has always been a question
mark, would the added weight work against him?
But
he knocked Kongo down immediately and had him out with a guillotine
at 1:12. The questions weren’t answered on either the quickness
or stamina front, but it was one of the most impressive performances
of Mir’s career.
Carwin
may still have the power edge, but Mir has more stand-up skill.
Still, Carwin only needs to connect once to put anyone away.
And if neither dominates quickly, questions about both fighters’
cardio will come into play.
The
least talked about and youngest of the three emerging contenders,
25-year-old Dos Santos, is actually the most proven. His list
of UFC victims – Fabricio Werdum, Stefan Struve, Mirko Cro
Cop and Gilbert Yvel – is significantly more impressive
than those of Velasquez or Carwin.
A
protege of Nogueira, Dos Santos has shown more stand-up ability
than the others, finishing all four with punches and all but
Cro Cop in the first round. As a Nogueira protegé, the
belief is that Dos Santos is more than capable on the ground.
But thus far, he hasn’t had any need to show his cards since
his stand-up has done the trick.
Dos
Santos’ next test will be on March 21 in Broomfield, Colo.,
against Gonzaga (11-4) – a transplanted Brazilian who now
resides in Ludlow, Mass.
Gonzaga
is one of those fighters whose results don’t match his skill
level. He’s more than 250 pounds in condition, with good
skills both standing and on the ground. He’s looked like
a monster against mid-level fighters, but has lost fights in
recent years to Couture, Carwin and Werdum. But derailing Dos
Santos would immediately put him back in the mix.
The
company’s other name heavyweight, Cro Cop (25-7-2, 1 no
contest), who as recently as 2006 was both Fighter of the Year
and the No. 2 heavyweight in the world, has his back against
the wall in the weekend show against Ben Rothwell (30-7) –
a 6-foot-5 slugger looking to rebound from a loss to Velasquez
in his UFC debut. The winner is going to be several victories
away from contention, but the loser more than likely will never
get there.
Source:
Yahoo Sports
|
Cain
Velasquez Fulfills Expectations, Joins Circle of Elite Heavyweights
On
the day that Cain Velasquez made his UFC debut, a company executive
who shall remain nameless told me something that sounded quite
ludicrous at the time.
"This
guy," he said, "is going to be the UFC champion very
soon."
I
asked him if he meant a championship contender, but he assured
me he meant the champ. After manhandling Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
at UFC 110, Velasquez is on the short list of real contenders
for Brock Lesnar's crown. The former collegiate wrestling All-American
showed the increasing versatility of his game by overwhelming
Nogueira in a standup affair en route to a knockout in just 2:20
of round one.
"I
tried to keep my focus and get in good position to beat him to
the punch," he said. "That's it."
That
really was it; at least he made it look just as simple as that
sounds.
It
all seems so simple for him.
On
the day we first saw Velasquez in the UFC -- on the day an educated
MMA mind told me he was a future champion -- it would have been
fair to think the future was way out in the distance, unreachable
and unimaginable. After all, he had just two pro fights under
his belt, totaling less than six minutes, and had only been training
in MMA for about 18 months.
The
story I heard was that UFC President Dana White saw Velasquez
sparring and was so impressed, he decided to sign him despite
his inexperience. The more people you talk to that spend time
around him, the more impressive he sounds. His AKA coach Javier
Mendez says he's the best student he's ever had, that he picks
things up in an instant and that he can apply them under pressure.
Velasquez
blew away the first crowd that watched him, a soldout Bell Centre
on the undercard of UFC 83, and aside frome a few that questioned
his chin stemming from a pair of Cheick Kongo right hands, he's
been watching his bandwagon grow ever since.
This
win, however, was different.
Nogueira
was no small jump for Velasquez; he was a leap. The Brazilian
is a legend for his ability to snatch victory from the jaws of
defeat. And while there have been other losses on his resume,
there have been none so swift, so brutal, so decisive.
"In
my opinion, Nogueira is the best heavyweight of all time, and
he demolished him," White said. "He's for real, and
he's in the line right now."
While
Fedor Emelianenko fans will take umbrage at White's rankings
(Emelianenko, after all, beat Nogueira twice), the general point
stands. No one would argue that Nogueira wasn't among the top
two or three heavyweights in MMA history, and Velasquez sliced
through him with ease.
"The
right hand, I don't know. It went through him, that's all I felt,"
said Velasquez in describing the win that improved his record
to 8-0. "It was like there was nobody there. I tried to
follow with the left hook, saw him go down and tried to capitalize
on it. He can take punishment and come back. I just tried to
finish him off."
There's
no denying that Nogueira has taken so much fire over the years
that he may not be the same fighter he was when he was universally
considered the sport's best heavyweight, but he still presents
a danger for anyone who opposes him.
Throw
in the fact that this was Velasquez's first main event, that
Nogueira had the crowd in his favor, and you had plenty of reasons
to believe that Velasquez would falter, or crack, or show some
sign of weakness.
They
never came.
And
with that, he rises to elite status, and the transformation of
the UFC heavyweight division continues. The days of the Randy
Coutures and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueiras ruling are unlikely to
return. Youth and size reigns now. Brock Lesnar, Shane Carwin,
Frank Mir, Junior Dos Santos, those are the men at the top of
the mountain.
Velasquez's
name belongs with the others now. He may not have a title, he
may have the least experience. But maybe, as it was first suggested,
it was only a matter of time. A short time.
If
he has Nogueira's blessing, that's enough for me.
"Of
course I'm disappointed, but he had the best hands tonight and
deserved to win," Nogueira said after the fight. "He's
very good, a very new, upcoming guy."
Then
he stopped himself and reconsidered his words.
"He
was upcoming," he continued. "Now he's one of the best
fighters in the division."
Source:
MMA Fighting
|
Quote
of the Day
"The
weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong."
Mahatma
Gandhi, 1869-1948
|
UFC
110 RESULTS AND LIVE PLAY-BY-PLAY
The Ultimate Fighting Championship debuts in the land down under
tonight with UFC 110: Nogueira vs. Velasquez. The main event
pits former Pride and UFC champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira against
rising star Cain Velasquez. A showdown between former Pride champion
Wanderlei Silva and
“The Ultimate Fighter” season three winner Michael
Bisping.
UFC
110 airs live on pay-per-view at 7 p.m. PT / 10 p.m. ET. MMAWeekly.com
will be providing full coverage of tonight’s event, starting
with the preliminary bouts, which are expected to start at approximately
5:00 p.m. PT / 8:00 p.m. ET.
Refresh
this page frequently for the latest results and play-by-play...
UFC
110 PLAY-BY-PLAY:
ANTONIO
RODRIGO NOGUEIRA VS. CAIN VELASQUEZ
R1
– Velasquez starts off strong in the stand-up, landing leg
kicks and a food flurry of punches that tests Nogueira’s
chin. Strong combination to the body, followed by a knee by Velasquez.
Nogueira moves in with a jab, but gets caught by a right hook-left
hook combination that puts him on the floor. Velasquez follows
up with a couple hard punches to the downed Brazilian, knocking
him out.
Cain
Velasquez def. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira by Knockout (Punches)
at 2:20, R1
WANDERLEI
SILVA VS. MICHAEL BISPING
R1
– Not much action to start, but Bisping scores two early
takedowns. He doesn’t do much with the takedowns and Silva
got right back up both times. They trade a few shots before Bisping
again scores a takedown. They are again right back up, trading
at the center of the cage. Bisping lands a hard right hand just
past the middle of the round. Then Silva connects with a right
hand. Silva lands a couple hard leg kicks and a flurry of hands
before Bisping lands a hard right of his own. Silva finishes
strong, shucking off a couple Bisping takedowns and lands a stunning
punch before the bell.
MMAWeekly.com
scores the round 10-9 for Bisping.
R2
– Silva catches a Bisping kick and sweeps him to the mat,
then starts working from the Brit’s guard, grounding and
pounding. Silva stands and kicks Bisping in the body as he makes
his way back to the feet. Silva lands a couple overhand rights
before Bisping scores another takedown, landing in side control.
Silva gets up quickly though. They trade a few blows, Silva landing
more frequently. Bisping shoots and Silva lands a deep guillotine
choke, but can’t finish it before the bell.
MMAWeekly.com
scores the round 10-9 for Silva.
R3
– They trade several shots for the opening couple of minutes,
Silva slightly ahead, before Silva takes a low kick to the groin
for a brief timeout. They start trading more blows, and then
Silva starts egging Bisping on. They exchange a few more punches
and Silva takes a thumb into his left eye and there is another
brief timeout. Silva presses, unleashing a little more wildly
with his hands. He catches another Bisping kick and sweeps out
his post leg. Silva unleashes at the 10-second clacker, connects
with an overhand right behind the ear that puts Bisping on his
back. He follows with several shots to the downed Brit as the
round comes to a close.
MMAWeekly.com
scores the round 10-9 and the fight 29-28 for Silva.
Wanderlei
Silva def. Michael Bisping by Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28,
29-28), R3
JOE
STEVENSON VS. GEORGE SOTIROPOULOS
R1
– Sotiropoulos immediately starts using his reach advantage,
boxing with Stevenson. They clinch and Stevenson pulls Sotiropoulos
down, but the Aussie lands on top. He can’t pass the half
guard, but presses his weight on Stevenson. Stevenson tries to
escape, but Sotiropoulos fires away from standing in guard. Stevenson
lands and upkick, but Sotiropoulos goes back down and passes
to mount. Sotiropoulos scrambles around, nearly securing an armbar,
but then moves back to mount to finish the round.
MMAWeekly.com
scores the round 10-9 for Sotiropoulos
R2
– Stevenson tries to establish his boxing game to start
the round, but goes to one knee courtesy of a Sotiropoulos straight
left. Stevenson moving well, but Sotiropoulos is landing the
more effective shots. Stevenson scores the double-leg takedown
midway through the round, landing in Sotiropoulos’ guard.
The Aussie is nearing an Omo Plata. Sotiropoulos gets the sweep,
gives up the Omo Plata, and then gets back to his feet. Stevenson
immediately puts him back on the mat, but Sotiropoulos moves
from submission attempt to submission attempt. Stevenson falls
back from full guard for a leglock attempt, but Sotiropoulos
is out, locking on an Anaconda choke that he can’t finish
before time runs out.
MMAWeekly.com
scores the round 10-9 for Sotiropoulos
R3
– They start trading right away, Sotiropoulos again landing
more frequently. Sotiropoulos catches a kick for a takedown,
gets caught in a guillotine, but gets out and back to the feet.
Stevenson goes for a takedown from clinch, but Sotiropoulos reverses
it on the way down. They quickly get back to their feet, trading
shots. Stevenson finally manages a strong takedown, landing in
top position. Stevenson stands up and gets caught with two upkicks
before Sotiropoulos gets back up. Stevenson again scores the
takedown, but gets tied up as the round closes.
MMAWeekly.com
scores the round 10-9 for Stevenson; the fight 29-28 for Sotiropoulos
George
Sotiropoulos def. Joe Stevenson by Unanimous Decision (30-27,
30-27, 30-27), R3
KEITH
JARDINE VS. RYAN BADER
R1
– Both fighters head hunting to start off the round. Bader
lands a solid overhand right mid-round, then follows up with
a quick takedown, and starts working from half guard. Bader doing
a good job keeping a strong position, staying heavy, and picking
away at Jardine with punches and forearms. Jardine manages to
tie-up Bader and the ref stands them up to finish the round.
MMAWeekly.com
scores the round 10-9 for Bader.
R2
– They throw a few punches before Jardine lands a hard leg
kick. They clinch up and Bader presses Jardine against the cage,
but Jardine defends the takedown and they take center cage, Jardine
landing a hard right. Good takedown defense so far from Jardine.
Bader misses with a big overhand right, Jardine lands the leg
kick and defends another shot. Bader kicks, misses and falls
down, but is right back up.
MMAWeekly.com
scores the round 10-9 for Jardine.
R3
– The round starts with both trading shots, Bader shooting,
and Jardine stuffing the takedown. Jardine using feints a lot
more now, but not managing a lot of damaging shots. Bader manages
a takedown, but Jardine gets right back up and starts firing.
Bader rocks Jardine with a hard right, catches him with a flying
knee then follows with a left hook that puts Jardine down and
out.
Ryan
Bader def. Keith Jardine by KO (Left Hook) at 2:10, R3
MIRKO
"CRO COP" FILIPOVIC VS. ANTHONY PEROSH
R1
– Cro Cop immediately starts stalking Perosh, not landing
much. Perosh goes for the takedown, but Cro Cop defends the takedown,
nearly securing a guillotine. Back to the center of the cage,
Cro Cop again looking for an opening, lands a left-right combo
followed by another left that have a visible effect on Perosh.
Perosh searching for a way to get Cro Cop down, but keeps eating
hard individual shots, his nose now bloody. Perosh goes to the
ground, but Cro Cop isn’t bated into it. Cro Cop was patient
the entire round, just picking shots, not rushing, but not looking
at all concerned about Perosh.
MMAWeekly.com
scores the round 10-9 for Cro Cop.
R2
– Cro Cop doing a good job sprawling Perosh’s takedown
attempts, forcing the Aussie to stand with him. Perosh gets the
crowd going with a couple inside leg kicks, but Cro Cop sprawls
out on another takedown attempt and starts pot shotting Perosh
on the ground before making him stand up again. Cro Cop sprawls
another takedown, but this time works on Perosh more on the ground,
going into his guard and cutting the Aussie with a sharp elbow
over the right eye. Cro Cop gives a little shake of his head;
kind of surprised that Perosh wants to continue. Hard right from
Cro Cop and Perosh goes down, this time Cro Cop following him
with a more intense attack as the round ends.
MMAWeekly.com
scores the round 10-8 for Cro Cop.
Mirko
“Cro Cop” Filipovic def. Anthony Perosh by TKO (Doctor’s
Stoppage – Cut) at 5:00, R2
STEPHAN
BONNAR VS. KRZYSZTOF SOSZYNSKI
-Krzysztof
Soszynski def. Stephan Bonnar by TKO (Cut) at 1:04, R3
(Per Yahoo! Sports)
CHRIS
LYTLE VS. BRIAN FOSTER
-Chris
Lytle def. Brian Foster by Submission (Knee Bar) at 1:41, R1
(Per Yahoo! Sports)
GORAN
RELJIC VS. C.B. DOLLAWAY
-C.B.
Dollaway def. Goran Reljic by Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28,
29-28), R3
(Per Yahoo! Sports)
IGOR
POKRAJAC VS. JAMES TE HUNA
-James
Te Huna def. Igor Pokrajac by TKO (Strikes), R3
(Per Yahoo! Sports)
UFC
110 QUICK RESULTS:
Main
Bouts (On Pay-Per-View):
-Cain Velasquez def. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira by Knockout (Punches)
at 2:20, R1
-Wanderlei Silva def. Michael Bisping by Unanimous Decision (29-28,
29-28, 29-28), R3
-George Sotiropoulos def. Joe Stevenson by Unanimous Decision
(30-27, 30-27, 30-27), R3
-Ryan Bader def. Keith Jardine by KO (Left Hook) at 2:10, R3
-Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic def. Anthony Perosh by TKO
(Doctor’s Stoppage – Cut) at 5:00, R2
Preliminary
Bouts (Non-Televised):
-Krzysztof Soszynski def. Stephan Bonnar by TKO (Cut) at 1:04,
R3
-Chris Lytle def. Brian Foster by Submission (Knee Bar) at 1:41,
R1
-C.B. Dollaway def. Goran Reljic by Unanimous Decision (29-28,
29-28, 29-28), R3
-James Te Huna def. Igor Pokrajac by TKO (Strikes), R3
CANCELLED
DUE TO INJURY:
-Elvis Sinosic vs. Chris Haseman
Source: MMA Weekly
|
CRO
COP DOMINATES LATE REPLACEMANT AT UFC 110
Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic returned to the Ultimate
Fighting Championship against Anthony Perosh, who accepted the
fight on two days notice when illness forced Ben Rothwell off
the card.
Filipovic
stalked Perosh from the opening bell, logging a dominating performance
at UFC 110.
The
Croatian was able to stuff Perosh’s first takedown attempt
and at that moment, the tale of the rest of the fight was told.
Perosh
desperately tried to get the fight to the ground but Filipovic’s
takedown defense proved too much for the Aussie.
Perosh
was on his heels the entire fight trying to catch Filipovic moving
forward to drop down and secure a takedown. It never happened.
Filipovic
was hesitant to stay on the ground with Perosh through round
one, but implemented a ground and pound assault in the round
2, opening up a cut with an elbow that would eventually stop
the fight.
Referee
Herb Dean called for the doctor to check the cut, but Perosh
was determined to continue.
To
Perosh’s credit, he made it through ten minutes in a fight
with “Cro Cop” on extremely late notice.
“As
you all know, my original opponent canceled the fight, so Anthony
Perosh jumped in and I appreciate his courage and guts,”
Filipovic told the crowd following the fight.
“I
was shocked,” said Filipovic about Perosh deciding to continue
after the cut.
For
“Cro Cop,” it was a much needed win. He had lost three
of his last four UFC fights since winning his debut against Eddie
Sanchez at UFC 67 in Feb., 2007. He improved his UFC record to
3-3 with the win.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
SOTIROPOULOS
MAKES AUSTRALIA PROUD, BADER KO'S JARDINE
It was a proud night for Australia's own George Sotiropolous
as the home countryman looked brilliant in the biggest win of
his young career as he used a quick and dominant ground game
to best Joe Stevenson by decision at UFC 110.
The
first round may have been the best performance that Sotiropoulos
has shown while in the Octagon, as he got Stevenson down early
and worked over the former "Ultimate Fighter" winner
with submission attempts and an aggressive ground attack.
Blitzing
Stevenson with an omo plata applied from the rubber guard in
the 2nd round again put Sotiropoulos in control, while the Aussie's
spirit seemed to rise with the home country crowd. Stevenson
did go for a foot lock that possibly caught the Australian off
guard for a moment, but just as quickly, Sotiropoulos slipped
out and regained control.
Using
a fast jiu-jitsu game to keep Stevenson off balance at seemingly
every turn, Sotiropoulos took a tremendous stride forward in
a stacked lightweight division getting a unanimous decision win
over a former title contender.
"That
was a very close fight, I know I won the striking and the ground,"
Sotiropoulos said as the Australian crowd gave him a loud ovation.
"I got a couple reversals on takedowns and a couple takedowns
myself and Joe also shot in and got a couple. I was very aware
of his submissions, his foot locks and his guillotines, I didn't
feel in danger at any time."
Ryan
Bader wanted a step up in competition, and he got that at UFC
110 when he faced Keith Jardine. How did the former All-American
wrestler answer the challenge? With a knockout of Jardine, midway
through the third round of their lightweight bout on Sunday afternoon
in Australia.
Knowing
that Jardine presents an awkward stand-up attack in all of his
fights, Bader attacked with his wrestling pedigree, taking the
fight down early and pounding away at the New Mexico based fighter.
"I
just tried to implement my gameplan, kind of stay safe in my
own comfort zone, hands up let him do his stuff and kind of worry
about what I'm going to do," Bader said about Jardine's
unorthodox style in the fight.
Realizing
the takedown could cost him the fight, Jardine reacted well in
the 2nd round stuffing Bader's wrestling and looked to turn the
tide by snapping punches and kicks at the former "Ultimate
Fighter" winner.
With
the takedowns not working well, Bader turned to his stand-up
in the third and it didn't take him long to put Jardine on blast.
Clipping the Jackson's trained fighter with a right hand, Bader
flew in with a flying knee and then a devastating left hook that
dropped Jardine cold to the canvas.
"I've
been working a lot of my boxing with the Lally brothers over
at AZ Combat," Bader commented after getting the win.
Now
officially 4-0 in the UFC, Bader has now taken out an established
former main eventer in Keith Jardine, and will likely face top
ten competition in the very near future.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
WANDERLEI
TAKES DECISION OVER BISPING AT UFC 110
In the grudge match of UFC 110, former Pride Fighting Championships
titleholder Wanderlei Silva made his official middleweight debut
against the third season of “The Ultimate Fighter”
winner Michael Bisping.
Silva
pulled out a close unanimous decision over the Brit in a back-and-forth
battle that had it all.
Bisping
came out looking like the faster fighter, bouncing in and out,
landing punches on the Brazilian, mixing it up with takedowns
as well.
In
the closing moments of the first round Silva came on, possibly
stealing the round on the scorecards with a flurry.
Silva
caught a leg kick in the opening moments of the second round
and quickly swept Bisping’s leg for the takedown, but was
unable to capitalize on the dominant position. Bisping later
got a takedown of his own in the round, but the time expired
on the second stanza Silva was working a guillotine choke that
had Bisping in trouble.
Most
of the fight took place on it’s feet where neither showed
a clear advantage until the final seconds of the fight where
Silva caught Bisping with a series of punches sending him to
the canvas.
For
Silva, the win is a step in the right direction to returning
to previous glory. One of the most decorated fighters in mixed
martial arts history, Silva had lost three of his for fights
since returning to the Octagon.
“In
your life you have bad moments. Everybody has bad moments, but
if you believe in God and working hard, good moments they’ll
come,” an emotional Silva told the audience.
Silva
attributed his success to working with his previous trainer Raphael
Cordeiro.
“For
me, he’s the best coach in the world. He’s very, very
important.”
“It
was an absolute pleasure to fight Wanderlei,” Bisping told
the Aussie crowd. “I grew up in this sport watching him
fight. I know that there was bad blood going into the fight,
but I do have absolute respect for the guy.”
“Wanderlei’s
a great opponent,” added Bisping. “I felt the reason
he got the decision was the knockdown right at the end.”
Source: MMA Weekly
|
Thales
Leites replaces Filho against Sasaki
Former
UFC ttile contender, Thales Leites, who recently debuted at MFC
with a unanimous decision victory over Dean Lister, replaces
Paulo Filho at Bitetti Combat’s next edition, scheduled
to February 25 at Brasilia, Brazil.
“Paulão
is taking care of his problems so we came up to this decision.
I think Thales is a great fighter, who recently fought for the
UFC title. He’s trained are crazy to fight”, explains
Amaury Bitetti.
Set
to fight Fabio Maldonado, Valentijn Overeem won’t be able
to fight in Brazil. “He said he’s hurt and can’t
fight, what can I do. It happens and things go out of our control”,
regrets Bitetti, who called the striker Guto Inocente to replace
the fighter.
Source: Tatame
|
Ricardo
Arona comments Fedor vs. Werdum
The
BJJ Black belt Fabrício Werdum will be Fedor Emelianenko’s
next challenge, and Ricardo Arona, the first Brazilian to face
the Russian heavyweight, commented the fight to TATAME.com.
“I
believe that, to beat Fedor, you have to work the explosion,
because if you stay one second on Fedor’s sight he’ll
hit you and you don’t have time to get away. To avoid a
movement of him you have to see where it starts so you have to
be very quick”, Arona said, believing that the Jiu-Jitsu
and speed are the perfect weapon to do it. “You have to
work the Jiu-Jitsu and explosion, to get in and out”.
Source: Tatame
|
Velasquez
takes home knockout of the night bonus
The
“Best of the Night” bonuses for UFC 110, which took
place this Sunday in Australia, amounted to U.S. $ 50,000 each.
For his concussive knockout of Rodrigo Minotauro, Cain Velasquez
secured the extra cash.
The
best fight of the night went to the surprise of the event, Australia’s
George Sotiropoulos, who showed great technique, both in Jiu-Jitsu
and boxing, in overcoming favored-to-win Joe Stevenson –
the latter, despite being beaten, took home the bonus, too.
The
best submission reward went to Chris Lytle, a kneebar 1:41 min
into his fight with Brian Foster.
Source: Gracie Magazine
|
Dana
White: “Akiyama wants to fight Wanderlei”
Wanderlei
Silva will not have his rest too soon. Just after Saturday’s
win overt Michael Bisping, UFC president Dana White, announced
his next opponent: Yoshihiro Akiyama.
“Akiyama
wants to fight Wanderlei. He volunteered and said he wants Wanderlei,”
White told the post-UFC 110 press conference.
Asked
about who he will face next, Wand grinned and replied, “Akiyama!”
The
fight between the two was originally scheduled to take place
at the very Australia event. Now all they that is missing is
setting a new date.
Source: Gracie Magazine
|
Quote
of the Day
"Make
all you can, save all you can, give all you can."
John Wesley, 1703-1791
|
UFC
110 Results
By Bryan Tucker
PPV
Bouts
Cain Velasquez def. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira via first-round
TKO (live blog)
Wanderlei SIlva def. Michael Bisping by unanimous decision (live
blog)
George Sotiropoulos def. Joe Stevenson via unanimous decision
(live blog)
Ryan Bader def. Keith Jardine via third-round TKO (live blog)
Mirko Cro Cop def. Anthony Perosh via second-round TKO (live
blog)
Preliminary
Bouts
Krzysztof Soszynski def. Stephan Bonnar via third-round TKO
Chris Lytle def. Brian Foster via first-round submission (kneebar)
CB Dollaway def. Goran Reljic via unanimous decision
James Te Huna def. Igor Pokrajac via third-round TKO
Source: MMA Fighting
|
Grove
to Fight Munoz at UFC 112
Osipczak vs. Story Also Announced
By FCF
Staff
The UFC continues to round out the card for its upcoming debut
in Abu Dhabi, as the promotion has confirmed two more bouts for
the April 10th event, which will take place at Ferrari World
on Yas Island. UFC 112 is set to feature two title fights, as
middleweight champion Anderson Silva will take on Demian Maia,
while lightweight champ BJ Penn, will face challenger Frankie
Edgar.
Former
TUF competitor Kendall Grove (11-6) will look for his second
win in a row, as he will take on fellow middleweight Mark Munoz.
Grove is coming off a first round submission win over Jake Rosholt
at UFC 106 in November, after losing by UD to Ricardo Almeida,
at UFC 101 last August.
Munoz
(7-1) is coming off back-to-back victories over Nick Catone and
most recently Ryan Jensen, after the accomplished collegiate
wrestler was knocked out by Matt Hamill, at UFC 96 last March.
At
welterweight Nick Osipczak will fight Rick Story. Osipzack (5-0)
has gone 2-0 since competing in the ninth season of “The
Ultimate Fighter”, defeating Frank Lester and most recently
Matt Riddle.
Story
(9-3) has gone 2-1 thus far in the Octagon, after losing to John
Hathaway by Unanimous Decision at UFC 99 last June, Story has
gone on to defeat Brian Foster and Jesse Lennox.
6
bouts have been confirmed for UFC 112 to date; other announced
fights include Matt Hughes vs. Renzo Gracie and Paul Taylor vs.
John Gunderson.
Source: Full Contact Fighter
|
Strikeforce
and others find out UFC is the dominant brand; Film at 11
By Zach
Arnold
Recently,
there were reports regarding the lousy business that the Strikeforce
event did in Florida on Pro Bowl Weekend. The Observer reported
a gate of around $320,000 and only $8,000 of that was on merchandise
sales. $8,000. Holy $^%! When you take a look at the payroll
for fighters on the show and how much some of the talent cost,
it is real hard to see how the math proved to be favorable after
this event was over.
The
number to focus on is that $8,000 merchandise number. That is
atrocious. It’s illuminating on a couple of levels:
1)
Strikeforce has no brand power and people don’t watch the
Strikeforce shows because it’s Strikeforce. This is a long-term
losing strategy. Dave Meltzer in the Observer put it this way:
CBS
seems more like MMA is something they are doing but don’t
seem to have a strong commitment to it, and Strikeforce is just
their current supplier, kind of like boxing promoters who supply
HBO and Showtime with fights. If one of them does well or doesn’t
do well, if they want regular fights, there will always be a
promotion to work with, just like Strikeforce came after Elite
XC went down.
The
quandary SF is in is that a move to PPV will not likely prove
to be a winner if they simply don’t have the brand power
to pull it off. You’re left with CBS/Showtime financing
and if it requires heavy gimmicks to attract some attention,
then you can’t build long-term brand power with constant
short-term fixes (see: Herschel Walker). When various sports
media outlets covered Walker’s fight and the Rex Ryan middle-finger
incident, ESPN commentators and hosts kept calling it “the
Miami MMA show.” Strikeforce as a brand was not on anyone’s
mind.
The
talent pool is already thin enough as it is. The question coming
into SF’s national expansion was whether or not they would
be able to get talent on their own financial terms or if the
price for the talent would be inflated. It appears that the salaries
have been inflated (mostly by SF’s own doing and not so
much due to UFC raiding talent) and that Dana White’s point
about being happy that Dan Henderson signed a huge money contract
with the promotion has some validity. He thinks Henderson and
Fedor are guys that will bankrupt SF. He may very well be right.
2)
I remember doing a long transcription of an interview Dan Henderson
did on Sherdog right after he signed with Strikeforce and he
mentioned that one of the big attractive points he saw with SF
was their ability to let him sell Clinch Gear products at SF
shows. Well, if SF is generating $8,000 for merchandise at a
show, all I can say is that selling Clinch Gear merchandise will
not prove to be a wildly profitable venture for him.
The
concept of booking former UFC talent for bigger non-UFC shows
has always been dicey. There’s a right way and there’s
a wrong way of doing it. In the case of Bellator, they have largely
avoided using ex-UFC fighters, but tonight the promotion announced
Eddie Alvarez vs. Josh Neer for May. Alvarez is one of the golden
boys for Bellator and seeing how Bellator books outside talent
against him in future fights.
UFC
will have some intrigue for their Saturday show in Australia
(not sure how it will do for PPV buys, but I like the show going
in) and then onto Versus in March and Abu Dhabi in April. Based
on the recent Strikeforce show numbers, UFC has nothing to worry
about whatsoever regarding “the competition.”
Source: Fight Opinion
|
UFC
112 Pieces Falling in Place
by Brian
Knapp
“The
Ultimate Fighter” Season 3 winner Kendall Grove will tangle
with Mark Munoz in a middleweight matchup at UFC 112 “Invincible”
on April 10 at the Ferrari World Concert Arena in Abu Dhabi,
United Arab Emirates. Half a dozen bouts have been booked for
the event, which will mark the UFC’s debut in the Middle
East.
The
27-year-old Grove has delivered three wins in four fights, losing
only to former middleweight King of Pancrase Ricardo Almeida.
Based in Hawaii, he has not competed since November, when he
submitted Jake Rosholt with a first-round triangle choke at UFC
106. Other key wins against Alan Belcher, Team Quest’s Ed
Herman and the late Evan Tanner buoy Grove’s resume.
Grove
will have his hands full with Munoz, a former light heavyweight
who has rattled off back-to-back victories since his brutal knockout
loss to Matt Hamill at UFC 96 in March. The 32-year-old was a
Div. I national champion and two-time All-American wrestler at
Oklahoma State University. Part of the World Extreme Cagefighting
exodus in 2008, Munoz last fought in January, when he struck
Ryan Jensen into submission at UFC 108.
Meanwhile,
International Fight League veteran John Gunderson will lock horns
with durable Englishman Paul Taylor in a preliminary lightweight
match.
Gunderson,
30, made his promotional debut a month ago at UFC 108, as he
dropped a unanimous decision to Rafaello Oliveira. Rooted at
Xtreme Couture Mixed Martial Arts in Las Vegas, he has held titles
inside the Sportfight and Ring of Fire organizations. Gunderson,
a proven finisher, has secured 20 of his 22 career victories
by knockout, technical knockout or submission and owns notable
wins against Charles “Krazy Horse” Bennett and recent
WEC signee Bryan Caraway. In 29 bouts as a professional, he has
never been knocked out.
Taylor
finds himself in need of a victory, having lost two of his past
three fights. The 30-year-old former Cage Rage titleholder stubbed
his figurative toe at UFC 105 in November, when he dropped a
unanimous verdict to the unbeaten John Hathaway. Rarely involved
in a dull fight, Taylor has shared “Fight of the Night”
honors three times in seven Octagon appearances. His showdown
with Gunderson will serve as his debut at 155 pounds.
Welterweights
also have a place on the UFC 112 stage, as the undefeated Nick
Osipczak will square off with Rick Story on the “Invincible”
undercard.
A
semi-finalist on Season 9 of “The Ultimate Fighter,”
Osipczak has finished all five of his foes, four of them inside
one round. The 25-year-old London native stopped Arizona Combat
Sports standout Matt Riddle on third-round punches at UFC 105
three months ago and has spent valuable time training alongside
world-ranked welterweights Dan Hardy and Paul Daley at Team Rough
House.
Story,
25, has won eight of his last nine fights and outpointed IFL
veteran Jesse Lennox in a unanimous decision victory at UFC Fight
Night 20 in January. Shaped by the Brave Legion gym in Vancouver,
Wash., he has never been finished. All three of Story’s
defeats have come against opponents -- Hathaway, Nathan Coy and
Mario Miranda -- who were undefeated. His list of victims includes
the well-traveled Jake Ellenberger and “The Ultimate Fighter”
Season 5 quarter-finalist Brandon Melendez.
Two
title fights will headline UFC 112, as middleweight champion
Anderson Silva collides with Brazilian jiu-jitsu ace Demian Maia
and lightweight titleholder B.J. Penn answers the bell against
the once-beaten Frankie Edgar. In addition, future hall of famer
Matt Hughes will meet Renzo Gracie in a featured welterweight
tilt.
Source: Sherdog
|
TRAINER
TALKS NICK DIAZ'S MARIJUANA USE
by Jeff
Cain
Nick Diaz’s trainer, Cesar Gracie, recently spoke candidly
to MMAWeekly.com content partner TapouT Radio about his student’s
use of marijuana and Diaz’s win over Takanori Gomi being
taken away after a positive test.
“People
who don’t like Nick Diaz, that doesn’t make sense to
me because here’s a guy who has never put a syringe in his
(expletive) in his life. He’s a clean fighter. That’s
the way it is,” said Gracie.
“He
wants to smoke a little weed every once in a while. Who am I
to say what a grown man can do? That’s my take on it.”
Gracie
was careful to point out that he’s not endorsing marijuana
use for anyone.
“I’m
not advocating anyone (use marijuana). That’s a personal
choice, like I wouldn’t advocate if you wanted to drink
a beer or not,” he said. “I think it’s the exact
same thing.”
There’s
been a lot made of Diaz’s marijuana use because the athlete
doesn’t hide it and has officially failed one drug test
following a win over Takanori Gomi. That win was later overturned
and ruled a no contest by the Nevada State Athletic Commission,
making history as the first MMA win to be overturned due to a
fighter failing a drug test in that state.
“He’s
got a legal license in California for it, a doctor’s prescription
for his ADHD, so it’s not illegal for where he’s at
here,” Gracie explained.
It
is, however, a violation of state regulations regarding licensing
of mixed martial artists in Nevada and California, which is a
separate issue from Diaz's legal rights regarding his prescription
for the treatment of ADHD.
“Obviously
it’s not a performance enhancing drug, so therefore trying
to take the guy’s win away – all of these guys testing
positive for steroids, and we’ll focus on Nick’s weed
thing forever. Let’s talk about that forever. Oh, we did
steroids, that’s fine. Let’s not talk about that. You
did some cocaine or something,” continued the trainer. “People
have this fetish for the weed thing or something.”
Gracie
spoke at length about Diaz’s win over Gomi being overturned,
and thinks there’s more to the situation than meets the
eye.
“It
doesn’t give you an advantage. I was there for the Gomi
fight and Nick was not stoned for the Gomi fight. That would
have made him too slow. You can’t be completely stoned and
wanting to hang out on the couch or something,” stated Gracie.
“Obviously
he wasn’t stoned for Gomi, but Nevada State with that idiot
over there. I can’t remember his name. The little moron
guy that was only an athletic commissioner guy because his daddy
owned the hotel. He was pathetic and he wanted to make an example
of Nick because, who knows?
“There
are theories. Nick wasn’t in the UFC. The day Nick’s
not in the UFC he’s testing positive. That was kind of a
weird thing because he always smoked the night before (UFC fights).
Then all of a sudden he’s in Pride and he’s testing
positive. Oh we’re going to take your win away,” alleged
Gracie.
“Pride
actually paid him a win bonus after he tested positive. They
said, ‘nah, this is just a bunch of Nevada (expletive),
and he won that fight.’ He got the win bonus and he went
on from there.”
After
testing positive two years ago, Diaz has vowed to not fail another
drug screening and hasn’t, but continues to actively participate
in the use of medical marijuana.
“These
days he takes ten days off and does herbal cleansers or whatever.
He said, ‘hey, I’m not going to test positive again,’
and he hasn’t since. He quits smoking before his fights
now. He got tested in Florida and it came up clean.”
Source: MMA Weekly
|
Shad
Lierley Returns to Bellator for Featherweight Tourney
By Ray
Hui
Former IFL standout Shad Lierley will return for another season
of Bellator, but this time as a competitor in the featherweight
tournament.
With
the Lierley announcement, there is only one competitor left to
be announced for the upcoming Bellator 145-pound tournament.
Lierley,
who has a Division III wrestling background out of NYU, holds
a 5-2 record with all five of his wins as a featherweight and
both his two losses as a lightweight. Further, his losses were
against solid competition in Chris Horodecki and top-ranked Wagnney
Fabiano. Last May, he won a decision over Nathan Murdock at Bellator's
stop in Monroe, La.
The
Alaska-born Lierley made his MMA debut with the IFL promotion
in 2007 and won his first fight in 44 seconds by TKO. Lierley
met former IFL star Horodecki in Lierley's third career fight,
and although Lierley left the fight with the first blemish of
his career, the fight became one of the more memorable ones in
IFL history.
"Shad
Lierley has been part of some great fights. If you ever want
to see an awesome highlight reel watch his fight with Chris Horodecki,
which Shad took at 155 even though he's a legit 145 fighter,"
said Bellator founder and CEO Bjorn Rebney. "He is another
solid addition to our featherweight tournament."
Featherweight
Tournament Participants:
Georgi Karakhanyan
Joe Warren
Patricio Pitbull
Bao Quach
William Romero
Wilson Reis
Shad Lierley
Source: MMA Fighting
|
'Cyborg’
wants to fight as soon as possible
By Guilherme
Cruz
After the first title defense in the Strikeforce, Cristiane “Cyborg”
Santos is crazy to be back to the octagon. Without the official
confirmation of her next opponent, the Brazilian wants to fight
as soon as possible. “I wanna fight in April, but I don’t
know who’s gonna be my opponent. They talked about a girl
(Erin Toughill), but they’ll also do a GP… I wanna
fight before the GP, or I’ll stay out for too long (laughs)”,
said Santos to TATAME.com.
Source: Tatame
|
UFC
Wins Latest Legal Battle
Las Vegas, NV (USA) – Zuffa, LLC, doing business as the
Ultimate Fighting Championship® (“UFC®”), was
awarded a legal victory today against former champion, Ken Shamrock.
Shamrock, who claimed Zuffa had violated certain contractual
provisions of his final fight agreement, was demanding several
hundreds of thousands of dollars in compensation he claimed was
due and owing from the UFC. Following a trial before the Honorable
Susan H. Johnson, the Court entered a sixteen page written decision
concluding that Ken Shamrock was to “take nothing by way
of its Complaint filed April 15, 2008, and judgment is rendered
in favor of Zuffa, LLC dba the Ultimate Fighting Championship.”
Specifically, Judge Johnson ruled that Zuffa (1) did not breach
the contract; (2) that the contract should be interpreted in
manner advocated by Zuffa; and (3) that, in any event, Shamrock
and his attorney/agent Rod Donohoo waived any purported breach
by Zuffa.
The
UFC was again represented by their trial counsel Donald J. Campbell
and J. Colby Williams of the Las Vegas firm Campbell & Williams.
Asked for a comment, Messrs. Campbell and Williams responded
as follows:
“Zuffa
has issued a clear directive that we are to pursue every legal
remedy to ensure that the UFC’s contracts are scrupulously
honored and defended. The resulting judgment in this case is
just one more example of the UFC’s resolve to vigorously
vindicate its contractual rights in the courts.”
When
asked if further proceedings would be likely in this case, Messrs.
Campbell and Williams remarked in the affirmative:
“The
UFC has a clear and unambiguous attorney fee clause in all of
its contracts with fighters to the effect, that in the event
a fighter loses any contractual challenge in court, that fighter
will be responsible for paying our fees. Accordingly, we will
be filing a motion to seek recovery of all of our expenses and
fees which were occasioned by this lawsuit.”
Source: MMA Online
|
Icons
Frazier, Holmes helped usher in boxing's golden age of Ali Story
Highlights
Josh Gross
Joe Frazier went 41 rounds with Muhammad Ali, winning one of
three bouts
Former heavyweight champ Larry Holmes floored an aging Ali 30
years ago
Seated at a small, cloth-covered circular table that seemed insufficient
for its guests, old friends, former sparring partners, Larry
Holmes and Joe Frazier laughed, appraised, remembered and spoke
truth, as they know it.
Boxing
greats from an era that produced so many memories, both fighters
have -- over several decades -- come to terms with the fact that
whatever it was they accomplished in their professional lives,
Muhammad Ali will always be Muhammad Ali.
"Keep
memorializing him," said Holmes, still very much the imposing
figure that stopped Ali for the only time in his career 30 years
earlier. "You say he was the greatest, that's fine by me.
But in my opinion, he wasn't."
Not
Ali?
"Me,"
he said. "Ali was the greatest of all time. He floated like
a butterfly and stung like a bee, but then he met me. I plucked
his wings."
Frazier,
a wheelchair parked at his side, waited before chiming in.
"I
think I'm the greatest," he said softly under a big-brimmed
hat that hid light from his eyes. "We had two good wars,
there's no doubt about that. He won two and I won one. But you
look at him now, you know who won them all. I can deal with that."
"It
was a fight for Joe," Holmes added. "It was a cakewalk
for me."
While
two of the 10 boxers featured in the award-winning documentary
Facing Ali bantered about their lives, their experiences with
Ali, and their place in boxing lore, Derick Murray stood at a
distance, managing to catch only snippets of the exchange --
Frazier can be difficult to understand even when sitting next
to him.
Tall,
slender and well-dressed, Murray obsesses about what makes people
go. Particularly if they're successful. It's what drove him into
filmmaking and storytelling. Having worked with a large enough
sample, the Canadian says he believes there's a common thread
among individuals that excel.
"Never
quit. Perseverance. One-hundred percent. No matter what comes
at you, believe in yourself and go for it," the producer
said. "When you're in the seventh round and you're losing,
you don't walk away."
Murray
and Uganda Rising director Pete McCormack spent, over the course
of several months, three hours to a day with their subjects --
Frazier, Holmes, George Chuvalo, Sir Henry Cooper, George Foreman,
Ron Lyle, Ken Norton, Earnie Shavers, Leon Spinks, and Ernie
Terrell -- all men who gave as much as they could of themselves
against Ali.
"We
didn't want a boxing film," Murray said. "We didn't
even want a sports film. We wanted a film that these 10 boxers
would reveal who they were. Where they came from. What motivated
them. And clearly, for each of them, what it was like to step
in the ring with Ali. We wanted that connectivity to their being."
Traveling
across the country from Pennsylvania to publicize the documentary's
world television premiere Feb. 15 at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Spike TV,
the boxers' presence in a posh Pasadena, Calif., hotel provided
each a rare opportunity to remember the past with someone who
knows what they're taking about.
Long
gone, they said, are the days when boxing regularly appeared
on network television. When champions fought four and five times
a year. When more than a couple boxers were among the most recognizable
athletes in the world. When fighters sacrificed because that's
what they were supposed to do. When trainers were former boxers
who knew what it was like to get clipped with a right hand. Now,
the division they once ruled is overrun by heavyweights with
funny foreign names. Little guys with big attitudes are making
even bigger money.
Things
aren't the way they should be.
"I
love boxing when I see boxing," said Frazier, who celebrated
his 66th birthday in January. "But then you never see boxing.
What is it, that ultimate something? They knock a guy and he
slipped down and he jumped between his legs. You knock a man
down, you go to a neutral corner."
It
was then that I informed the pair of my regular beat covering
mixed martial arts. That information was met with a pause and
some looks before the conversation continued. It was my hope,
I told them, they might have a story or two to about mixed-style
fights. Had a wrestler ever challenged them? Did a karate practitioner
get too brave along the way? What did they make of Ali's foray
to Tokyo in 1976 to take on Japanese pro-wrestling star Antonio
Inoki?
Neither
had much to say in the way of mixed-style matches. And Holmes,
a wrestler and dabbler of karate in his youth, opined that winning
and losing in MMA is "a matter of luck," not skill.
That all that martial arts stuff goes out the window with a solid
punch to the mouth.
MMA,
it seems, is not their thing. But what of the notorious bout
in Tokyo seven months after the "Thrilla in Manilla"
in which Ali made $10 million to face Inoki in a mixed-rules
affair?
"Ali
said it was crazy because he couldn't walk after that,"
Holmes said. "The guy kicked him all in his leg. I didn't
think Ali could beat the guy by wrestling because the guy is
a wrestler. But if the guy stood up and tried to box him, Ali
would put him out."
Frazier,
who went 41 rounds with Ali, said he wasn't aware of the bout.
And even if he was, there's a good chance he wouldn't take the
time to talk about it.
"You
know these guys made each other," Holmes, 60, said as he
looked across the table at the broken-down Frazier. "Ali
made him. He made Ali. You can talk about the "Sugar"
Ray Robinsons, Dempseys, Marcianos, but you have to look at the
three fights with Frazier and Ali. That's what brought boxing
alive, having those kinds of fights."
Frazier
sat quietly for a moment, accepted the compliment from a fighter
whose rib he once busted in sparring, and lightly grabbed my
wrist with meaty hands that are calcified around the knuckles.
"Forty
years down the road," said Frazier, "I'm just happy
to be here."
Source: Sports Illustrated
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Japan’s
BJJ Standout Wins Pro MMA Debut
by Jordan
Breen
It didn't exactly come with the sound and fury expected when
an elite grappler makes the transition to MMA. However, Sunday
in Sapporo, Japan's most accomplished Brazilian jiu-jitsu competitor
made a successful pro MMA debut.
Yusuke
Honma is not a familiar name to MMA fans. Even to grappling fans,
he may lack the cachet of Shinya Aoki, Satoru Kitaoka or Masakazu
Imanari. However, no Japanese competitor has had a higher level
of success in strict BJJ than the 28-year-old Hokkaido native.
After
winning the All-Japan amateur Shooto championships at 123 pounds
in September, Honma made his first pro outing quick and easy
at "Gig North 5" on Sunday. It took him only 67 seconds
to tap opponent Isao Yoshida with a guillotine choke to advance
to the next round of this year's 123-pound Shooto rookie tournament.
In
2007, Honma became the first Japanese competitor to reach a final
in the black belt division at the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu World Championships,
where he was submitted in the rooster class (127 pounds) final
by Bruno Malfacine. A year later, he again reached the finals
at the Mundials, but was defeated by Caio Terra 6-4 on points
after a late sweep. Honma's pair of silver medals at the Mundials
represent the greatest level of achievement in BJJ competition
any Japanese competitor has reached to this point.
Each
September, after the All-Japan amateur Shooto championships are
over, I e-mail Toshiharu Suzuki, the secretary general of the
International Shooto Commission, who has patrolled the ring as
Shooto's lead referee for eons. Though I know he can never be
completely forthright, I'm always interested in his appraisal
of the fighters about to head into Shooto's pro ranks.
"We
promoted 37 people to professional Shooto this year, but the
fighter to pay most attention to is Yusuke Honma," he told
me. "His victory in the championship was without danger
at all."
With
headgear, no ground-and-pound and a position-based points system
on the ground, the rules of amateur Shooto profoundly favor strong
grapplers. Resultantly, many amateur Shooto champions have failed
to find great success in the much rougher pro ranks. For instance,
Ayumu Shioda dominated the amateur Shooto circuit in 2004 with
his BJJ black belt, but has largely struggled to put his grappling
to good use in the pro ranks.
A
67-second pro debut won't tell us whether or not Honma can become
an elite flyweight, but we should get an answer as he continues
on in the Shooto rookie tournament this year.
Source: Sherdog
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Mark
Hominick is “Hungry to Fight”; Nothing Confirmed
By Kelsey
Mowatt
After
returning to action for the first time in nearly 18 months and
winning his first WEC bout on January 10th, it’s understandable
that Mark “The Machine” Hominick is anxious to return
to the cage in search of win number two. Hominick (17-8) returned
to the WEC last month and tapped out Brian Caraway in the first
round with a triangle-choke / armbar.
“Nothing
has been confirmed about a spot on the April 24th WEC, but I
am training and hungry to fight,” Hominick told FCF when
asked if fighting on the promotion’s April 4th pay-per-view
was a possibility. “My manager told me he has been working
on getting me on a card possibly after the WEC PPV but I am open
to anything.”
The
win was Hominick’s second in a row; his last victory prior
to that came in July, 2008, when he submitted Savant Young with
a second round armbar at Affliction’s “Banned”
event. That’s back-to-back submission wins for a fighter
that is more widely known for his Shawn Tompkin’s honed
striking.
“My
teammates were not really surprised that I pulled off a submission
but others that I have talked to were really impressed with my
improvement on the ground,” Hominick noted. “It was
nice to show that I am more of a well rounded fighter and the
year off and hard work paid dividends. The exposure getting on
the televised card was amazing, which really opened a lot of
people's eyes.”
After
defeating Yves Edwards and Jorge Gurgel in a brief UFC stint
back in 2006, Hominick went 0-2 in his first WEC run, losing
to Rani Yahya and Josh Grispi. The Canadian veteran remains as
one of the featherweight division’s more experienced fighters
and is hoping to face notable opposition in his next WEC appearance.
“The
division is so deep so to call out a specific fighter neglects
so many others that are at the top of the division,” said
Hominick when asked about who he would like to fight next. “I
would love to get the opportunity to clean my slate with my loss
to Josh Grispi, but any top level fighters I would happily take
on. It would be nice to face a fighter willing to stand up to
allow me to really showcase what I am made of.”
In
the mean time, Hominick will help prepare his longtime friend
and training partner Sam Stout, who will face Jeremy Stephens,
May 8th, at UFC 113 in Montreal.
“I
think Sam's fight will get to showcase his improvement even more
as a well rounded fighter as well as being an intelligent fighter,”
said Hominick. “Jeremy is very dangerous with his power
and overall aggressive game, so I believe if Sam chooses to outclass
and outsmart him on the feet he will truly show that. I think
on the ground Sam could submit him if it hits there as well.
Not saying it is an easy fight by any means, but a fight that
Sam has the opportunity to win if he fights smart.”
Source: Full Contact Fighter
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Hawaiian
Kimono Combat
Saturday
2/27/10
Pearl City High School
Registration has to be postmarked by 2/21/10
$50 to enter
$5 spectator fee (kids under 5 are free)
LAST DAY TO REGISTER FEBRUARY 26TH *THURSDAY
MAIL Registration Form to:
It's All Goo LLC
95-1032 Ainamakua Dr. # D
Mililani, HI 96789
Email info@itsallgoo.com Web: www.itsallgoo.com
BJJ tournament
using IBJJF Rules (same as the world championships)
|
DESTINY:
Fast n Furious
Event:
DESTINY: Fast n Furious
What: Sporting Event
Start Time: Saturday, March 6 at 5:00pm
End Time: Saturday, March 6 at 10:00pm
Where: LEVEL 4 Night Club @ Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center
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Officials
Clinics
Hello MMA,
Martial Arts, and Boxing Community,
If any club or interested parties want to compete in amateur
boxing or become a judge, referee, or coach.
Email me at bkawano@aol.com
Boxing show
on Feb. 27th in Kapaa, Kauai.
Officials Clinic in Kapolei on March 6th.
Boxing event on March 13th, in Puna
A tentative Officials or Coaches Clinic on March 20th.
First show on Oahu is April 3rd, at Palolo District Park.
All Coaches, Officials, have to be registered and certified.
Boxers must register locally.
For more contact and registration info go to www.amateurboxingofhawaii.com
Thank You,
Bruce Kawano
Amateur Boxing of Hawaii Interm Manager.
Ringside Board of Advisors.
NMU Task Force Appointed Member.
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2010
Open Tournament
Aloha everyone,
This
is to inform you that our 2010 Open Tournament will be held on
Saturday, March 20, 2010. As always, we welcome everyone to participate
as we try to make it "A Positive Experience" for everyone.
Attached is the event flyer for your reference. If you have any
questions, e-mail me or call me at 205-9133. Mahalo.
Sigung
Trent Sera
Sera's Kajukenbo
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