Upcoming
Events
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want to list an event on Onzuka.com?
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Us
(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)
7/24/10
X-1
(MMA)
(Blaisdell Arena)
6/3-6/10
World
Jiu-Jitsu Championships
(BJJ)
(The Pyramid, University of California at Long Beach, Long Beach,
CA)
5/15/10
Scrappla Fest 2
Relson Gracie KTI Jiu-Jitsu Tournament
(BJJ & Sub Grappling)
(Kauai)
5/1/10
Galaxy MMA: Worlds Collide
(MMA)
(Blaisdell Arena)
4/17/10
Hawaiian
Championships of BJJ
(BJJ & Sub Grappling)
(Kaiser H.S. Gym)
4/8-11/10
Pan
Jiu-Jitsu Championships
(BJJ)
(University California Irvine, Irvine, CA)
4/3/10
Man Up & Stand Up
(Kickboxing)
(Waipahu Filcom Center)
3/27/10
DESTINY: No Ka Oi 2: Oahu vs Maui
(MMA)
(Maui War Memorial Gym, Wailuku, Maui)
3/20/10
X-1: Champions 2
(MMA)
(Blaisdell Arena)
3/20/10
Hawaiian Championships of BJJ
(BJJ & Sub Grappling)
(Kaiser H.S. Gym)
3/14/10
Hawaiian Kimono Combat
(BJJ)
(PCHS Gym)
3/10/10
Sera's Kajukenbo Tournament
(Kumite, Katas, Grappling)
(Maui War Memorial Gym, Wailuku, Maui)
3/6/10
Destiny Fast N Furious
(MMA)
(Level 4 RHSC)
2/19/10
808 Battleground
(MMA)
(Filcom, Waipahu)
2/6/10
UpNUp 6: Unstoppable
(MMA)
(Maui War Memorial Gym, Wailuku, Maui)
2/5/10
Man Up & Stand Up
(Kickboxing)
(Waipahu Filcom)
1/30/10
Destiny
(Level 4,
Royal HI Shopping Ctr)
(MMA)
Quest for Champions
(Pankration/Sub Grappling)
(Kalani HS)
1/23/10
Kauai Knockout Championship Total Domination
(MMA & Kickboxing)
(Kauai War Memorial Convention Center, Lihue, Kauai)
1/17/10
X1: Showdown In Waipahu
(Boxing, Kickboxing, MMA)
(Waipahu H.S. Gym)
|
|
March
2010 News Part 2
|
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! |
 |
Fighters'
Club TV
The Toughest Show
On Teleivision
Tuesdays
at 8:00PM
Olelo Channel 52 on Oahu
Also on Akaku on Maui
Check
out the FCTV website! |
Onzuka.com
Hawaii Underground Forum is Online!
Chris, Mark,
and I wanted to start an official Onzuka.com forum for a while
now. We were searching for the best forum to go with and hit
a gold mine! We have known Kirik, who heads the largest and most
popular forum on the net, The Underground for years.
He
offered us our own forum within the matrix know as MMA.tv. The
three of us will be the moderators with of course FCTV808 being
the lead since he is on there all day anyway!
We
encourage everyone from Hawaii and our many readers around world
to contribute to the Hawaii Underground.
If you
do not have a login, it's simple and fast to get one.
Click here to set up an account.
Don't worry about using Pidgin English in the posting. After
all it is the Hawaii Underground and what is a Hawaii Underground
without some Aloha and some Pidgin?
To
go directly to the Onzuka.com Hawaii Underground Forum
click here!
|
Want
to Advertise on Onzuka.com?
Click here for pricing and more
information!
Short term and long term advertising available.
More than
1 million hits and counting!
|
O2
Martial Arts Academy
Your Complete Martial Arts School!
Click here for pricing and more
information!
O2 Martial Arts features Relson Gracie Jiu-Jitsu taught by Relson
Gracie Black Belts Chris and Mike Onzuka and Shane Agena as well
as a number of brown and purple belts.
We also offer 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!
|
Want to Contact
Us? Shoot us an email by Clicking Here!
Follow O2 Martial Arts news via Twitter at:
http://www.twitter.com/O2MAA
Quote
of the Day
"One
person with a belief is equal to a force of 99 who have only
interests."
John Stuart Mill, 1806-1873
|
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
|
GroundWarz
|
UFC
Live: Vera vs. Jones Tomorrow
1st Bank Center,
Broomfield, Colorado
3/21/10
By Zach
Arnold
TV:
Versus Channel 210 (Oceanic Cable)
TV start time: 3 PM Hawaii Time
Dark
matches
¦Light
Heavyweights: Eric Schafer vs. Jason Brilz
¦Welterweights: Mike Pierce vs. Julio Paulino
¦Heavyweights: Brendan Schaub vs. Chase Gormley
¦Welterweights: John Howard vs. Daniel Roberts
¦Light Heavyweights: Eliot Marshall vs. Vladimir Matyushenko
¦Lightweights: Clay Guida vs. Shannon Gugerty
¦Middleweights: Alessio Sakara vs. James Irvin
Main card
¦Heavyweights:
Cheick Kongo vs. Paul Buentello
¦Heavyweights: Junior Dos Santos vs. Gabriel Gonzaga
¦Light Heavyweights: Brandon Vera vs. Jon “Bones”
Jones
Source: Fight Opinion
|
Daniel
and Rhalan win Copa America in Lakeland
by Marcelo
Dunlop
Two-time Jiu-Jitsu world champion at black belt (2003/04) Daniel
Moraes was the big winner at the Copa America Submission Grappling
Championships in Lakeland, Florida.
Daniel,
also no-gi world champion in 2008, defended his absolute no-gi
title on Saturday, winning the heavily-anticipated rematch with
TUF 6 fighter Matt Arroyo (Gracie Tampa), runner-up last year
as well.
In the gi tournament, Rhalan Gracie was the highlight. Relson’s
son won the title and was Relson Gracie Academy’s guiding
light. Rhalan overcame black belt Mikey Gomez (Gracie Barra)
with an armbar in the final.
Source: Gracie Magazine
|
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
Source: Event Promoter
|
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
A tentative
Officials or Coaches Clinic on March 28th.
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.
|
HEATED
JACKSON VS. EVANS BOUT HEADS UFC 114
Not only are former UFC light heavyweight champions Quinton “Rampage”
Jackson and Rashad Evans fighting at UFC 114, they are now officially
the headliners.
The
Ultimate Fighting Championship on Thursday confirmed UFC 114:
Jackson vs. Evans will take place on May 29 at the MGM Grand
Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
The
two had been on a collision course ever since Jackson’s
victory over Evans’ training partner Keith Jardine at UFC
96. Their rivalry heated up as coaches on “The Ultimate
Fighter Season 10.” They were supposed to face each other
after that turbulent season, but Jackson’s decision to take
on the acting role of B.A. Baracus in the big screen adaptation
of “The A-Team” television series sidetracked the bout.
Following
an on-again, off-again public war of words with UFC president
Dana White, Jackson scrapped his plans to retire and decided
to come back and face Evans.
“It’s
no secret that Rampage Jackson and Rashad Evans don’t like
each other, and this rivalry has gotten more and more intense
in the last few months,” said UFC President Dana White.
“I can guarantee you that neither one of these guys wants
to lose to each other, this fight is going to be insane.”
The
two got into a nose-to-nose argument in the Octagon following
UFC 96. The situation has only continued to escalate.
“I
really want to knock this guy out,” Jackson (30-7) said.
“I’ve never, ever wanted to knock someone as cold as
I want to knock Rashad Evans out. He’s disrespected me so
much, for so long.”
“I
don’t like all the pre-fight talking, so I can’t wait
until I finally get my chance to shut him up,” said Evans
(14-1-1). “There were a lot of times on the show when I
wanted to hit him right there.”
Though
the UFC has made no other official fight announcements for the
card, UFC 114 is also expected to feature another light heavyweight
showdown between Antonio Rogerio Nogueira and another former
champion in Forrest Griffin.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
Kyra
Gracie boxing; MMA debut in 2011
By Erik
Engelhart
Last week, TATAME.com went to Morro do Cantagalo slum, in Rio
de Janeiro, with the three times BJJ world champion Kyra Gracie,
who was preparing to change her kimono by boxing gloves once
again.
The black belt is training for three months at Nobre Arte gym
and expects to be ready to debut on MMA. “I started to train
boxing because I want to fight MMA and no one better than Claudio
Coelho to be my master”, said, clearing her priorities.
“My focus is still the Jiu-Jitsu, and my biggest goal this
year is the Worlds, but my goal is to keep training more boxing
so next year I can debut on MMA”, said Gracie.
Coelho,
master of Kyra, is satisfied with the quick evolution of the
tough girl and guarantee that, besides she had never boxed before,
she’s good at it. “She really surprised me, she has
a good physical prepare, she’s good on boxing and she’s
a left-handed. We are identifying each other a lot and I’m
pushing the work because I want to make her good on her game
without being hit with punches, I’m doing the best I can
and she has abilities", Claudio said.
Source: Tatame
|
Mir
Buying in Bulk Against Carwin
by Brian
Knapp
Much was made about Frank Mir’s decision to add some 20
pounds of muscle to his frame in advance of his UFC 107 matchup
with Cheick Kongo. However, the brief bout with the chiseled
French kickboxer lasted barely more than a minute and shed little
light on whether or not a bulkier Mir was a better Mir.
That
figures to change when he takes on the hulking Shane Carwin in
the UFC 111 “St. Pierre vs. Hardy” co-main event on
March 27 at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J.
“Carwin’s
been an athlete his size a lot longer than I’ve been at
mine,” Mir said during a Tuesday teleconference to promote
the interim heavyweight title bout. “The greatest indication
of whether [adding more weight has] been beneficial will be whether
or not I can negate some of his strength.”
One
of the more powerful competitors in the heavyweight division,
the undefeated Carwin has not competed in more than a year. He
believes the time off will prove helpful in his quest to reach
the pinnacle of the division.
“The
time off has given me a year of technique to work on,” Carwin
said. “I’ve been able to work on a lot of different
aspects of the game and become a more complete fighter.”
Carwin
last appeared in March 2009, when he knocked out former title
contender Gabriel Gonzaga in 69 seconds at UFC 96. The 35-year-old
Colorado-based heavyweight has stopped all 11 of his opponents
inside one round, but it was his performance against Gonzaga
that caught Mir’s eye.
“The
first time you see people under adversity you find out whether
or not they’re going to make it,” Mir said. “Shane
was in a little trouble early in that fight. He was in a bad
position, with his back on the mat. And within 30 seconds of
being in that bad spot, he won the fight by knockout. That’s
when I realized he was somebody to be reckoned with.”
Carwin
understands the challenge in front of him. Mir, a former UFC
heavyweight champion, holds victories against three of the sport’s
most accomplished big men: current titleholder Brock Lesnar,
two-time former champion Tim Sylvia and Brazilian legend Antonio
Rodrigo Nogueira.
“He’s
a legend in the sport,” Carwin said. “He’s one
of the few fighters who has been around the sport a long time
and evolved with it. I know he’s motivated. I’m glad
I’m going to be fighting the best Frank Mir out there.”
Mir
sees a number of similarities between Carwin and Lesnar, the
man who stopped him with brutal second-round ground-and-pound
at UFC 100 in July. A two-time collegiate national champion in
wrestling, Carwin wields one-punch knockout power in his oversized
hands.
“I
realized the mistakes I’ve been making,” Mir said.
“If I make the same mistakes against Carwin, it’s going
to be a short night also.”
Source: Sherdog
|
Jiu-Jitsu
taken seriously
by Mohamad
Jehad
That
we can go to the farthest-reaching extremes of the planet to
teach Jiu-Jitsu, we all know. From Alaska to Australia, from
the Middle East to the islands of the Pacific, it’s not
easy to find a place where our Jiu-Jitsu has not landed and set
up shop, turning up hundreds or even thousands of supporters.
The
question is: does Jiu-Jitsu take us or do we take Jiu-Jitsu?
Oftentimes
we are taken by the premise that Jiu-Jitsu opens the doors to
the world and we end up getting to know unusual places by either
teaching or competing. In most cases, we believe it is Jiu-Jitsu
that takes us. But what if we start toying with the notion that
we take Jiu-Jitsu with us?
Last
week we witnessed it. When the Abu Dhabi Board of Education promoted
its regional interscholastic Jiu-Jitsu tournaments (in Abu Dhabi,
Al Ain and West Zone), we could see how important it is to spread
Jiu-Jitsu. After a few months, having taken the gentle art to
West Zone, the most inhospitable region of Abu Dhabi, we witnessed
how this sport can be an integrating factor. The schools here,
for the most, are about 100km from each other. The students are
mostly the children of Arab expatriates (not locals), ie 22 different
nationalities. One of these schools is on an island teachers
only have access to by airplane, others are in the middle of
the desert.
However,
the dedication of the school community, and government supporting
Jiu-Jitsu by taking it seriously, can only yield very positive
results.
Source: Gracie Magazine
|
Report:
MMA fighter had a heart attack while weight-cutting
By Zach
Arnold
Jordan
Breen doesn’t want to hear any anti-weight cutting arguments
from anyone. That’s OK. I don’t need to say much after
this story:
Word
is that Sengoku vet “Shin Ramen” Yoon Young Kim had
a mild heart attack while cutting weight for his 3/14 bout with
Yoshitaro Niimi.
Only
details so far are from Alive’s Yoichi Suzuki. Thank God
this is so obscure it can’t fuel idiot anti-cutting folk.
The
long and short of it is that Kim reportedly had a heart attack
while he was in a sauna doing weight-cutting and was taken to
a hospital via ambulance after collapsing.
Smoogy
has an update on the story.
Another
Jeremy Lappen scandal brewing?
Surprise,
surprise, trouble already with amateur MMA regulation in California?
Other
news and notes
Are
we supposed to believe that Brandon Vera’s alleged new-found
attitude is really going to help him beat Jon “Bones”
Jones? OK.
Roger
Huerta signs with Bellator in hopes of getting a chance to fight
Eddie Alvarez. He will lose to Eddie Alvarez should that fight
happen. I give Bellator credit for making the right signing.
The
Tim Sylvia/Wes Sims fight that was proposed for Saint John has
now been moved to Jordan Breen’s home territory in Halifax,
Nova Scotia.
The
news about Comcast and DirecTV reaching a deal to have Versus
on the dish is good for UFC and WEC. I still have questions as
to whether or not UFC can really help the network out in the
long-run.
Frank
Mir says he ‘likes everything about (Shane) Carwin’.
Interested
in Roger Gracie vs. Kevin Randleman for Strikeforce in May?
Iowa
is about to pass legislation to regulate amateur Mixed Martial
Arts in the state. (Stories here, here, and here). Complete text
of the bill can be read here (Iowa Senate File 2286).
Andre
Ward had to postpone his boxing match against Allan Green on
4/24 (part of the Showtime Super Six tournament). No make-up
date has been announced, yet.
Source: Fight Opinion
|
Trainer:
Kim Did Not Have Heart Attack While Weight Cutting
by Jordan
Breen
South Korean fighter Yoon Young Kim appears not to have suffered
a heart attack while weigh-cutting, as was rumored last Friday.
The
23-year-old Kim was scheduled to take on Shooto veteran Yoshitaro
Niimi this past Sunday in Nagoya, Japan, for the welterweight
title of local promotion Heat. However, fellow Korean A Sol Kwon
ended up replacing him on the day of the event. Yoichi Suzuki,
head trainer of Nagoya gym Alive, alleged on his Web site blog
that Kim had suffered a mild heart attack while cutting weight.
However,
Sherdog.com has been informed that the circumstances of Kim pulling
out of the bout have been exaggerated, as he simply passed out
from exhaustion and did not have a heart attack.
Jin
Chul Kim, the head of Team Blue Dragon and Kim's chief trainer,
confirmed to Sherdog.com that the Sengoku veteran was cutting
weight Friday in Busan, South Korea, before leaving for Nagoya.
Kim was 300 grams -- just over half a pound -- over the 170-pound
weight limit, and while trying to pare down, he passed out in
the sauna. He was then pulled from the bout in favor of Kwon,
who fought to a split decision loss with Niimi on Sunday.
His
trainer assured that Kim is now at home in Busan, and in good
health after recovering from his weight-cutting debacle. However,
there is some doubt as to whether or not he will continue to
campaign as a welterweight; despite not being particularly slight
of build, Kim stands 6-foot-4 and has had trouble making the
welterweight limit in the past.
The
colorful Kim gained some measure of cult status last November,
when he fought veteran Akihiro Gono to a unanimous decision loss
in Sengoku. The boisterous Korean assumed the gimmick of "Shin
Ramen," throwing out ramen to fans, and waxing poetic in
interviews about noodles.
Source: Sherdog
|
Thompson
Respects Pamplona; Confident in Victory
By Kelsey
Mowatt
By
the time Nick “The Goat” Thompson steps in to face
Eduardo Pamplona at Shine Fight’s upcoming May 15th event
in Fayetteville, North Carolina, nearly 8 months will have passed
since the fighter’s last bout. For a veteran like Thompson,
who has over 50 pro fights under his belt and fought 8 times
through 2008 and 2009 alone, it’s been tough sitting on
the sidelines for so long.
“The
reason for the layoff is that I couldn't get a fight,” Thompson
recently told FCF. “I have been starving to get back and
I expect to show everyone why, when I was fighting often, I was
considered one of the top welterweights in the world. It may
be out of sight, out of mind but I assure you I have been improving
my skills and expect that to show in my coming fights.”
Indeed,
after exiting from the UFC in 2006, Thompson went 14-1 in his
next 15 bouts, demonstrating that the law school graduate was
a force to be reckoned with in the welterweight division. In
2009, however, Thompson incurred back-to-back losses against
notable opposition in Tim Kennedy and most recently Dan Hornbuckle.
Thompson hadn’t been defeated in consecutive bouts since
2005.
“The
loss to Kennedy was because I was fighting at 185 and I am a
170 pounder,” said Thompson. “Many guys can fight at
both weight classes; I am not one of them. The loss to Hornbuckle,
I can't really explain. I had a great training camp and have
never felt better. Then I got into the ring and just felt off
by a step. In hindsight, there are some tactical changes I should
have made between rounds but would have, should have, could have,
isn't a win. Dan was the better fighter that night and my job
is to prepare so that I am the better fighter if and when we
fight again. As far as that preparation is concerned, I think
changing training philosophies is a drastic and unnecessary change
as my welterweight fight right before Hornbuckle, was a fight
in which I soundly defeated a very tough Paul Daley.”
Up
next, Thompson (38-12-1) will face Pamplona (15-2), who has won
7 straight since losing to Robbie Lawler in February, 2007.
“Pamplona
is a tough fighter,” said Thompson, who recently signed
a non-exclusive deal with Shine. “He is 15-2 and has fought
guys like Robbie Lawler. I am not going to be able to throw anything
at him that he has not seen before. At the same time, he won't
be able to throw anything at me that I haven't seen before. I
expect the possibility that he may be able to out strike me,
that he may have better wrestling than mine or that he may have
better jiu-jitsu than me but he is not going to have all three.
I will find the area in which I am better and exploit it.”
And
as far as Thompson’s prediction for the fight?
“I
think I am going to beat the piss out of Pamplona or any other
opponent in front of me.”
Source: Full Contact Fighter
|
Marius
Zaromskis Agrees to DREAM Return in May
By Ariel
Helwani
DREAM welterweight champion Marius Zaromskis has agreed to return
to action for the Japanese-based promotion at DREAM.15, MMA Fighting
has learned from sources close to the organization. The event,
which has yet to be officially announced by the DREAM, is scheduled
to take place May 30 at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.
No
word on who Zaromskis will face just yet, or even if his 170-pound
title will be on the line.
Prior
to his January Strikeforce title shot against Nick Diaz, the
Lithuanian-born fighter had agreed to face Kiyoshi Tamura at
DREAM.13, but that fight fell through for unknown reasons.
Zaromskis,
who captured the DREAM title after winning the Grand Prix last
July, lost via 1st round TKO to Diaz.
No
other fights have been officially announced for the card, however,
MMA Junkie reports that Renato "Babalu" Sobral will
compete in the first round of the light heavyweight Grand Prix
on the same event. Gegard Mousasi told MMA Fighting in January
that he also hoped to compete in the tournament.
DREAM.13
takes place this Sunday, while DREAM.14 is set for April 24.
Source: MMA Fighting
|
FITCH
& ALVES: A REMATCH 4-YEARS IN THE MAKING
by Damon
Martin
It was June 2006 when Jon Fitch and Thiago Alves last met in
the Octagon. The result was Fitch winning his third fight in
the UFC with a vicious up-kick followed by punches, and the American
Kickboxing Academy fighter had arguably one of the biggest wins
of his young career.
Fast
forward almost four years later, and Fitch and Alves are ranked
almost unanimously by every voting panel as the top two welterweights
in the sport behind Georges St-Pierre. They are finally about
to step in the cage again, with both hoping to get another shot
at the gold.
Fitch
says he actually promised Alves a rematch in November of 2007
after the Brazilian got "Fight of the Night" honors
for a win over Chris Lytle. Now it's finally about to happen.
"I
promised him that night I'd give him a rematch," Fitch said.
"At the time it was I was promising I was going to win the
belt and I was going to give him a rematch as champion, but it
didn’t work out that way. I'm happy to be able to give him
a rematch now."
Since
their first fight, Fitch has won eight out of nine fights with
his only loss being to St-Pierre, while Alves has racked up seven
wins out of eight fights, again only losing to the champion,
St-Pierre. Still, for the common denominators in their fight
careers, looking at their past fight will do little for Fitch's
preparation this time around.
"I
haven't even gone back to watch it. I don’t think there's
anything I'm going to learn from that video or that fight that's
going to help me in this fight," said Fitch.
What
Fitch has done is watched all of Alves' recent fights, and while
the American Top Team fighter has looked virtually unstoppable
in all of those bouts outside of his loss to St-Pierre, it's
the Indiana born fighter's trained eye that catches things that
others might not see.
"I
see things that other people might not. I can't really divulge
all the things that I'm seeing, but I have a good game plan.
I think I'm going to be able to get the job done in New Jersey,"
said Fitch.
The
doorstep to a title shot in the welterweight division is covered
by landmines everywhere, and more top fighters are coming out
every event that want to earn their way to the championship.
The hungry newcomers may have to stay hungry for another day,
because Fitch believes to get to GSP, you have to win a fight
like the one he has at UFC 111.
"I
think this is the fight that's needed," Fitch said. "Respectively,
either one of us is No. 2 or No. 3, depending on who's ranking
you're looking at. Especially if I can stop him, that's something
I've done twice that GSP couldn't do in five rounds. That makes
a strong argument for me getting another title shot."
Title
shot or not, the rematch between Fitch and Alves is one of the
most anticipated fights so far in 2010, but the American Kickboxing
Academy fighter says it's all business, and he will be glad to
shake his opponent's hand when it's all over.
"I
have all the respect in the world for Thiago Alves. He's a tough
guy. It's going to be a tough fight. I have a lot of respect
for him and ATT."
Source: MMA Weekly
|
World
Victory Road: Sengoku Raiden Championship 12 Review and Thoughts
By Ernest
Johann Helwig
World
Victory Road can breathe a collective sigh of relief since Sengoku
Raiden Championships 12 is now in the books and delivered a fairly
good show when all was said and done. Personally, when I read
the lineup for this show I had predicted a very lackluster show
with no real incentive to watch other than the highly anticipated
rematch between Jorge Santiago and Mamed Khalidov but I will
admit I was wrong and this show definitely far exceeded my expectations.
SRC 12 took a huge blow after J-Rock president Kokuho announced
that ASTRA would be hosting Yoshida’s retirement, which
meant that most of the Yoshida Dojo names would not be able to
participate in this show. Without those major names it would
logically affect the attendance which, according to Michael Schiavello,
was 8,000 but don’t hold your breath for any confirmation
on that figure. This show kicks off the Japanese MMA “season”
in a very entertaining and hopefully can set the tone for things
to come.
One
thing that undeniably came out looking great for the foreseeable
future was SRC’s Featherweight division. This division has
been the heart and soul of SRC along with the Lightweights. For
the most part the guys in the division rarely ever have a dull
fight and ever since the GP have been stealing the show in almost
all the cards. One such Featherweight with an incredibly bright
future is Shigeki Osawa who dominated Korean Kyung Ho Kang. Osawa
at this pace seems poised to be an elite fighter. The Yoshida
Dojo wrestler just exudes a sort of cocky confidence on his face
and his demeanor. Similar to what Norifumi KID Yamamoto was like
in his prime but with a fighting style more similar to Tatsuya
CRUSHER Kawajiri. Incredible submission defense, improved ground
and pound, decent striking and obvious impressive takedown ability
make Osawa a huge prospect to follow for the near future.
My
only doubt is that SRC for lack of matchmaking savvy might rush
him into a fight with someone who might impede his growth. Osawa
is still a green fighter with only 6 fights and less than 2 years
fighting MMA. Osawa has been brought along well by WVR thus far.
He won the Sengoku Gold Rush Project for his weight class and
did stumble against Ronnie Mann but he kept up with the crafty
veteran in a decision loss, which will definitely help make him
into a better fighter. Needless to say, SRC is sitting on a potential
superstar and they will be solely responsible for his rise or
demise.
It
was apparent from the beginning of the fight that Osawa would
have the strength advantage and he made complete use of this
tool. Incredibly in the 3rd round he showed everyone this gift.
After going 10 minutes strong with Kang he managed take his back
and preceded to German Suplex him a whopping 3 times! A mind
blowing feat of strength to say the very least and definitely
deserves a spot in the MMA Suplex Hall of Fame. Osawa’s
biggest weakness is in his hands though. He should’ve bulldozed
through Kang fairly easily but just couldn’t find a way
to put him away. His ground and pound is overwhelming but underachieving
and on the feet he seems incredibly susceptible. Also, his aforementioned
submission defense helped him out a lot especially midway in
the fight when Kang had a back body triangle and almost pulled
off the rear naked choke and also in the 1st round when he got
caught in a triangle. He always seems to find a way to muscle
his way out of trouble though. Impressive showing by Osawa but
also expected. Osawa’s wrestling prowess clinched him a
Unanimous decision win over Kang.
Yuji
Hoshino, another great Featherweight, is already primed and tested
against top competition and could sooner or later find himself
fighting tougher competition. He actually got on the microphone
and challenged Hatsu Hioki to a bout. Hoshino has had a great
journey to Sengoku as he actually won the Cage Force Featherweight
GP taking out fighters like Antonio” Pato” Carvalho
and WICKY Akiyo Nishiura in the process. He had a decent performance
against Nick “The Ninja of Love” Denis winning by Guillotine
choke in the 2nd round. It was one of the more competitive bouts
on the card but I think kind of exposed Hoshino as more of a
pretender than a contender. He looked unable to impose his will
on Denis and other than an early takedown, got tenderized on
the feet by body blows and knees to the thighs. Even though he
did manage to submit Denis, I do not see a way Hoshino could
handle someone like Hioki. Hioki is more durable and well rounded
than Hoshino and just isn’t at the level of Denis. Also,
this would be a step down in competition for Hioki, who I believe
is the de facto Featherweight champ.
Finally,
the last impressive Featherweight of the night was Marlon Sandro.
He dished out his 3rd brutal KO in his Sengoku career. This one
only lasting: 09 seconds actually cutting his old record by half!
He had previously demolished Nick Denis in :19 seconds but this
time Tomonari Kanomata suffered a brutal uppercut knockout in
:09 seconds that actually saw him taken out of the ring in a
stretcher and transported to a local hospital for emergency examination.
Sandro is a monster to say the very least and is looking more
and more like his Nova Uniao teammate Jose Aldo in every fight.
You look at his KOs in Sengoku and just the speed and brute strength
in which he knocks his opponents out is just incomparable. We
see knockout artists all the time in MMA but the way Sandro leaves
his knocked out opponents is borderline savage. It’s just
impressive to see how much potential he has and just how much
of a juggernaut he is in his weight class. Sandro is finally
going to get his shot at the champion Masanori Kanehara after
he publicly accepted Kanehara’s challenge during the intermission.
The
most anticipated fight on the show definitely didn’t disappoint
as Jorge Santiago wins by the most razor thin margin against
Mamed Khalidov. Santiago dictated the pace early on scoring on
the feet but more importantly scoring key takedowns to take close
rounds while Khalidov chose to be flashier with his strikes but
didn’t do much damage. Watching the match it seemed like
Santiago would breeze into a decision win but Khalidov seemed
poised to strike back taking the next 2 rounds and leaving the
5th and final round. Khalidov poured it on and picked up the
pace in the 3rd but by doing so completely drained himself in
the process. In the 4th he was miraculously able to sweep and
score some points of his own and squeaked out the round. Going
into the 5th it was very apparent that both men weren’t
necessarily worried about their opponent as much as they were
of their own bodies as the grueling 4 rounds strangely hindered
both men equally. Santiago since the 2nd was almost a non factor
and Khalidov after the 3rd was taking breaks during the fight.
Both men’s cardio, or lack thereof, really mired what I
thought could’ve been one of the early contenders for fight
of the year. The 5 round was really hard to watch since both
men were mostly competing against their own bodies and while
Santiago did slightly more, Khalidov’s inability to attempt
anything was more apparent. It felt like it wasn’t really
Santiago who won that round as much as Khalidov let it slip through
his fingers. Jorge Santiago becomes the 1st fighter in Sengoku
to retain his title by Unanimous Decision.
In
the other bouts of the night Akihiro Gono completely underachieves
and gets a Unanimous Decision win over Diego Gonzalez in a dreadfully
boring contest. Remember that Gono we saw at Dynamite!! against
Sakurai? Well he was nowhere to be found. Maybe it was because
he didn’t have a flashy entrance as we’ve become accustomed
with him. The lunatic styling of Maximo Blanco earned him a brutal
head kick knockout over Chang Hyun “Armbar” Kim. Kim
had to be taken out on a stretcher but during the telecast an
update on his health was given and everything ended up being
alright with him. Yoshihiro KISS Nakao bested SENTORYU Henry
Miller after Nakao managed to just brutalize him from the crucifix
earning a TKO victory. Nova Uniao’s Leonard Santos submitted
Kiuma Kunioku via rear naked choke in the 2nd to get back on
the winning track.
Full
Results:
Featherweight:
Shigeki Osawa def. Kyung Ho Kang via Unanimous Decision
Lightweight:
Leonardo Santos def. Kiuma Kunioku via Rear Naked Choke (Round
2)
Featherweight:
Yuji Hoshino def. Nick Denis via Guillotine Choke (Round 2)
Heavyweight:
Yoshihiro Nakao def. Henry Miller via TKO (Round 2)
Featherweight:
Marlon Sandro def. Tomonari Kanomata via KO (Round 1)
Lightweight:
Maximo Blanco def. Chang Hyun Kim via KO (Round 1)
Welterweight:
Akihiro Gono def. Diego Gonzaliez via Unanimous Decision
Middleweight
Title Fight: Jorge Santiago def. Mamed Khalidov via Unanimous
Decision
A
couple of things to quickly note are that Mizuto Hirota vacated
his Lightweight title and plans to make his return in September.
FEG President Sadaharu Tanikawa was in attendance at the event.
Could this mean a possible co-promotion again? Hopefully, since
Dynamite!! was an incredible show with the DREAM vs. SRC match-ups.
Also, Referee/Judge Ryogoku Wada is Keiji Mutoh aka the Great
Muta’s long lost brother. Sengoku goes on quick hiatus until
June 20th when the 13th show takes place with Kanehara vs Sandro
leading as potential main event but DREAM 12 & 13 and ASTRA
will fill the void for the time being.
Source: MMA Memories
|
WEC
Champ Cruz in Cast for 7 Weeks
by Loretta Hunt
Newly crowned WEC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz’s
right hand will remain in a cast for seven more weeks, said the
fighter’s head trainer Eric DelFierro on Wednesday. MRI
results revealed torn tendons and ligaments, as well as a hair-line
fracture in Cruz’s hand and wrist following his March 6
victory over Brian Bowles at WEC 47 in Columbus, Ohio.
DelFierro
said Cruz also suffered a small break in his foot during his
two-round encounter against Bowles, who also broke his hand in
the bout and couldn’t continue into the third round. However,
an X-ray showed the Cruz’s foot sustained a minor injury
that is healing quickly on its own and no further treatment will
be needed for it.
The
25-year-old Cruz, who hails from the Alliance Training Center
in Chula Vista, Calif., hopes to begin sparring again in six
to seven weeks, said DelFierro. DelFierro anticipates that Cruz
would be able to defend his crown approximately eight weeks after
he resumes full-time training.
In
the interim, Cruz already re-joined his team for a week-long
high-altitude training camp in Big Bear, Calif., to help prepare
Brandon Vera for his light heavyweight bout against Jon Jones
at UFC on Versus 1, which airs this Saturday from Broomfield,
Colo., on the Versus network. Cruz is training Brazilian jiu-jitsu
and still working his strength and conditioning program, said
DelFierro. Cruz’ physician has agreed to replace the fighter’s
cast every week so he can keep his training schedule.
WEC
officials had told Sherdog.com last week that Cruz’ recovery
would likely dictate which 135-pound matchups the promotion will
schedule next. Joseph Benavidez, who Cruz beat by unanimous decision
last August at WEC 42, looms as an immediate challenger after
submitting former champion Miguel Torres in the second round
at WEC 47.
Source: Sherdog
|
Quote
of the Day
"Nothing
is permanent in this wicked world - not even our troubles."
Charlie Chaplin, 1889-1977
|
X-1
Events presents
CHAMPIONS
2 (4 World Title Matches)
Tomorrow
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
|
Tomorrow
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
Source: Event Promoter
|
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
A tentative
Officials or Coaches Clinic on March 20th.
Tomorrow
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.
|
Babalu
chasing Mousasi at Dream GP
by Carlos
Eduardo Ozório
Gracie Barra black belt Renato Babalu is confirmed for the Dream
light heavyweight GP. Still without an opponent, the Brazilian’s
first fight should take place May 30, in Japan.
The
GP offers Babalu a chance at revenge for his loss to Gegard Mousasi
in his last fight, when he lost his Strikeforce belt. The Armenian
is confirmed for the GP, along with Rameau Sokoudjou, who Babalu
has beaten in the past.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
BABALU,
SOKOUDJOU JOIN MOUSASI IN DREAM
by Ken
Pishna
Gegard Mousasi, despite a recent change in his management, told
MMAWeekly.com that following his upcoming Strikeforce title defense
against Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal in April, he intends
to participate in Dream’s light heavyweight tournament.
Joining
him in the 205-pound divisional brackets is the man whose title
he took last August, Renato “Babalu” Sobral. MMAWeekly.com
confirmed the bout with Sobral’s manager, Richard Wilner.
“We
have signed a two fight deal with Dream and are still under contract
with Strikeforce,” said Wilner. “We expect our first
fight for Dream to occur on May 30 in the light heavyweight tourney.”
In
addition to the current and former Strikeforce champions, Rameau
Thierry Sokoudjou will also be part of the tournament. Dream
officials confirmed Sokoudjou’s participation to MMAFighting.com.
A
Pride and UFC veteran, Sokoudjou has losses to Mousasi and Sobral
on his record.
Dream
officials also told MMAFighting.com that they expect Marius Zaromskis
to fight on the May 30 card in Saitama, Japan. There was no word
yet on an opponent or if he would defend his welterweight title.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
Junior
dos Santos:
I'll Surprise Gonzaga With My Speed
By Michael
David Smith
Junior dos Santos is younger than Gabriel Gonzaga, smaller than
Gabriel Gonzaga and less experienced with Gabriel Gonzaga.
But
as dos Santos prepares to battle Gonzaga on Sunday night at UFC
on Versus 1, he says he's confident he's going to win because
he's faster than Gonzaga.
"I
am ready to go wherever the fight takes us, but I believe I will
surprise him with my speed," dos Santos says. "I am
very confident with my stand up."
Dos
Santos certainly has good reason to be confident in his stand-up.
In four UFC fights, he's beaten four opponents (Fabricio Werdum,
Stefan Struve, Mirko Cro Cop and Gilbert Yvel) by doing nothing
fancier than standing in front of them, going on the attack and
landing clean, effective, powerful punches.
But
Gonzaga has pretty good stand-up, too. He has knockout power
in his hands and his feet, and he's also about 25 pounds heavier
than dos Santos. While acknowledging that he'll be the smaller
man in the Octagon on Sunday night, dos Santos emphasized that
speed advantage as the reason he thinks he's going to win.
"I
am not worried about that," dos Santos said of Gonzaga's
size. "Again, I believe my speed will be superior."
Gonzaga
would seem to have a significant advantage over dos Santos if
the fight goes to the ground: In addition to being the bigger
man, Gonzaga is a more decorated jiu jitsu practitioner than
dos Santos. And dos Santos, whose only loss in his MMA career
came via an armbar submission in a 2007 bout in a small Brazilian
promotion, acknowledges that he hasn't been tested on the ground
since signing with the UFC in 2008.
But
dos Santos, who trains in Braziliani jiu jitsu with Antonio Rodrigo
Nogueira and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, says that if he is tested
on the ground, he'll be ready for it.
"I
am very comfortable on the ground, I believe in my jiu jitsu
skills," dos Santos said. "I haven't had to go to the
ground in the UFC yet, but if it happens, I will be ready."
Still,
dos Santos says, his favorite way to win a fight is the way he's
done it in all four fights of his UFC career so far: With his
punching power.
"I
am always looking for the knockout when I fight," he said.
As
the UFC's heavyweight division currently stands, there are at
least three fighters ahead of dos Santos in line for a shot at
the champion, Brock Lesnar: Frank Mir, Shane Carwin and Cain
Velasquez. The winner of the Mir-Carwin UFC 111 fight will get
the first crack at Lesnar, unless he suffers an injury, in which
case Velasquez would step in. So dos Santos is at least one more
win away from a title shot, even if he beats Gonzaga in convincing
fashion. But dos Santos says he's ready for a title shot right
now.
"I
feel that if I have a good victory over Gonzaga, as I have been
doing in my UFC career I will be ready for a title shot. I consider
myself to be up there with the top heavyweights in the UFC now,"
he said.
It
might not come in 2010, but dos Santos believes the time is coming
when he'll be the heavyweight champion of the world.
"My
goal is to be the best one day," he said. "I feel that
I am not yet at my peak and I believe that when I reach that
point, I will be a great fighter."
Source: MMA Fighting
|
Babalu
chasing Mousasi at Dream GP
by Carlos
Eduardo Ozório
Gracie Barra black belt Renato Babalu is confirmed for the Dream
light heavyweight GP. Still without an opponent, the Brazilian’s
first fight should take place May 30, in Japan.
The
GP offers Babalu a chance at revenge for his loss to Gegard Mousasi
in his last fight, when he lost his Strikeforce belt. The Armenian
is confirmed for the GP, along with Rameau Sokoudjou, who Babalu
has beaten in the past.
Source: Gracie Magazine
|
Andre
Dida ready to a war against KJ Noons
By Eduardo
Ferreira
Focused on the K-1 events in 2010, Andre “Dida” Amade
will face former EliteXC titleholder KJ Noons at Dream’s
next edition, on March 22. Talking to TATAME.com at UDL camp,
the fighter commented the fight.
“If the fight as this weekend I’d be ready. I’m
training for a long time. That’s a great match-up, I’m
sure it’ll be a great fight. We’ll go for the knockout
all the time,”, Amade said, eyeing a title shot in the future.
“I’m sure I’ll beat him and, after that, I’ll
face another great fighter and then I’ll have a chance for
the title”.
And
“Dida” also talked Mauricio Shogun’s preparation
to the rematch with Lyoto Machida, on UFC 113. “People underestimated
me in the first fight (as a MMA coach) and I showed I can do
it. It’s another Lyoto, it’s another Shogun and I’m
sure it’ll be another fight. We only know that we can’t
leave it up to the judges. (The strategy) is a secret, you know,
we have our recipe to face everybody”.
Source: Tatame
|
Exclusive:
Huerta on Choosing Bellator
by Loretta
Hunt
Roger Huerta longs for a year like 2007, where the lightweight
added five fights -- all victories -- to his docket. The prospect
of having four bouts in 2010 is the main reason why Huerta signed
with Bellator Fighting Championships instead of with rival promotions
like the UFC and Strikeforce, he told Sherdog.com. Huerta debuts
in the promotion’s eight-man lightweight tournament on April
8 at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Fla.
Huerta,
who passed on a five-fight renewal contract with the UFC in January
2009 to pursue acting interests, said he was attracted to Bellator’s
elimination format. Huerta previously competed in three one-night
tournaments at the start of his career.
“Bellator
provided me with a sense of security,” Huerta told Sherdog.com
on Monday. “I control my own destiny in the tournament.
The winner gets to face one of the best lightweight fighters
in the world -- that’s the goal. If I lose, then it’s
my fault. It’s on me and I can deal with that.”
Huerta
enters the eight-man bracket alongside unknown commodities Chad
Hinton, Ferrid Kheder, Mike Ricci, Janne Tulirita, Carey Vanier
and returning season-one finalist Toby Imada. The eventual tournament
winner will bank $100,000 over three bouts ($10,000/$10,000;
$15,000/$15,000; $25,000/$25,000) during a 12-week span and will
also earn the opportunity to challenge Bellator lightweight champion
Eddie Alvarez in the fall.
Huerta,
the first fighter ever to grace the cover of Sports Illustrated
following his emphatic UFC 69 win over Leonard Garcia in 2007,
was heavily promoted by the UFC in 2007 and 2008. When the popular
26-year-old fighter opted not to re-sign with the promotion,
Bellator and Strikeforce both courted Huerta, who is of Salvadoran
and Mexican decent. Sherdog.com has learned that the bilingual
Huerta was offered additional undisclosed incentives to join
the fledging Bellator’s ranks, which caters to both English-
and Spanish-speaking demographics.
Huerta
said he has little knowledge of the eight-man field he’s
entering but realizes his notoriety could work against him.
“I
know I’ll have a target on my back and that these guys will
be fighting with everything they’ve got when they meet me,”
he said. “I’m going to be facing these guys at their
best.”
In
his final turn in the Octagon, Huerta dropped a split decision
to Gray Maynard at UFC Fight Night 19 in September. Huerta said
his hunger for MMA returned following the bout, and while Jeff
Clark, his manager and a consultant for Bellator, fielded offers,
Huerta used the downtime to improve his game. Huerta spent two
months in Thailand honing his skills.
“My
stand-up is so much better,” said Huerta of the experience.
“MMA fighters can tend to get flat-footed because they’re
trying to defend the takedown. Thai fighting is more on the balls
of the feet, so you’re springier, like Anderson Silva. We
focused a lot on technique, even the simplest details, like turning
my hips with my kicks.”
Moving
back to Austin, Texas, to be closer to his family, has also had
a positive effect on the fighter, he said. Huerta recently began
training with seasoned UFC veteran Yves Edwards and World Extreme
Cagefighting lightweight Kamal Shalorus in a friend’s converted
garage. The makeshift gym has been dubbed “El Garage.”
Bellator
symbolizes a new beginning for Huerta, and he likes the idea
of having more control over it.
“I
know it’s going to be hard because I have to win the three
fights, but I’m giving myself more fights if I win,”
said Huerta. “It’s up to me, and I like the sound of
that.”
Source: Sherdog
|
JORGENSEN
STEPS INTO REMATCH WITH BANUELOS
by Ken Pishna
Little more than a month out from World Extreme Cagefighting’s
first pay-per-view event and there’s already a significant
change to the fight card. Damacio Page re-aggravated an existing
shoulder injury and has been forced out of his bantamweight showdown
with Antonio Banuelos.
Page’s
camp said that the injury was nothing too serious and that he
expects to return sometime over the summer.
Banuelos
won’t be taking a step down in opposition, as WEC officials
informed MMAWeekly.com that Scott Jorgensen will take Page’s
place on April 24 in Sacramento, Calif.
The
bout is a rematch of their WEC 41 fight last June, where Banuelos
won a narrow split decision.
Jorgensen
(9-3) is fresh off a 31-second submission of Chad George at WEC
47 on March 6, his third straight victory. His last defeat was
the decision loss to Banuelos.
Banuelos
(17-5), a longtime student and friend of former UFC champion
Chuck Liddell, is putting a three-fight winning streak of his
own on the line in the rematch.
A
featherweight title bout between champion Jose Aldo and former
champion Urijah Faber heads the WEC 48 fight card in Sacramento.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
Massachusetts
Commission: Double Weigh-Ins at Fighters’ Discretion
by Jack
Encarnacao
For the time being, double weigh-ins will remain on the books
in Massachusetts, but it will be up to fighters whether or not
to adhere to them.
The
state’s athletic commission this past weekend amended its
unusual weigh-in policy, which bars fighters from weighing more
than 1.0625 of their contract weight on fight night. The rule
discourages excessive weight cutting and gains. Under the change,
fighters will not be weighed twice if both agree to waive a second
weigh-in.
“Both
fighters in a particular fight would have to agree,” commissioner
Todd Grossman said. “And if that’s the case, then they
would acknowledge essentially that there’s no restriction
on the amount of weight that their opponent could put on by the
time they face them the next evening.”
The
commission has yet to draw up the verbiage for the double weigh-in
waiver, but it would be included as an option in standard bout
agreements.
The
weigh-in regulation, enacted as a placeholder while the commission
discusses more permanent regulations, caused consternation among
fighters, managers and promoters. Concerns included last-minute
fight cancellations, insufficient time to rehydrate and a disadvantage
for local prospects who go on to compete in states where fighters
are only weighed in on the eve of a fight and then allowed to
gain as many pounds as they can.
Grossman
said the commission, which was activated March 1 and voted its
first draft of regulations last week, reserved its right from
the beginning to revisit them. He said the weigh-in procedure
was tweaked in part because of the feedback to the original version,
which is in place for boxing matches in the state.
“It’s
being done so that the issue can be more fully explored without
turning the entire industry on its head right out the gates here,”
he said. “This needs to be discussed on a national level.
If there is going to be a restriction I think you want to see
if we can accomplish that nationally, not just in Massachusetts.”
Source: Sherdog
|
Quote
of the Day
“The
policy of being too cautious is the greatest risk of all.”
Jawaharlal Nehru, 1889-1964
|
Scrappla
Fest 2
Kauai's
Scrappla Fest 2
Gi & No Gi Tournament
May 15, 2010
Tentative
times:
Kids Rules 930am.
Kids Gi Start 10am.
Kids No Gi Start 11am.
Adult
Rules 12:30pm.
Adults Gi Start 1pm.
Adults No Gi Start 3:45pm.
We
will be running 4-6 matches at the same time to keep the tournament
running smoothly. More info to come about weights and weigh ins.
Thank
you,
Pono
Pananganan
Kauai Technical Institute
ktirelson_gracie@hotmail.com
|
Hawaiian
Triple Crown of BJJ
First Event
is 4/17/10
Kaiser High School Gym
Registration fees:Register early and guarantee a cool competitor
t shirt
Kids: $ 50
Adults: $ 70
We will be accepting registrations the morning of the event with
a $20 late fee.
Weigh-in times:
Kids: 8:30 – 9:30 am
Adults: 9:30 – 11:30 am
Weight class divisions:
http://www.hawaiitriplecrown.com/weigh_in.html
Prizes for Hawaii Triple Crown Champions:
Kids: Championship belt – Gi / Championship belt –
No-Gi
Adults: $1000 + HTC Belt – No-Gi Open Advanced (Absolute)
Division
$500 + HTC Belt – Purple and Brown Belt Division
$250 + HTC Belt – Blue Belt Division
$250 + HTC Belt – No-Gi Intermediate Division
A Justap GI ($120 value) + HTC Belt – White belt Division
HTC fight Shorts + Rash Guard ($100 value) + HTC Belt –
No-Gi Novice Division
2009 Hawaii Triple Crown Champions defend their belts without
charge in the 2010 circuit.
For more information please visit: www.Hawaiitriplecrown.com
or check out MMAHawaii Magazine for our 2-page layout about the
upcoming HTC series .
- Hawaii Triple Crown
|
HAWAIIAN
PIONEER NIKO
VITALE
READY FOR NINJA
One of the pioneers of mixed martial arts in his native Hawaii,
Falaniko Vitale will return this Spring for Shine Fights in their
third installment, “Worlds Collide,” on May 15, in
Fayetteville, N.C.
Vitale
was last seen in action against UFC welterweight Frank Trigg
at “Strikeforce: Payback,” in October of 2008 and has
since been inactive.
After
nearly 10 years in the fight game, it was time for the former
Icon Sport middleweight champion to relax and work on the holes
in his game, which he modestly admits is everything.
“In
the downtime, I’ve just been keeping it up. Its been a long
time since I haven’t fought and I’m just trying to
heal up the body and been training hard on a lot of different
things; going back to my jiu-jitsu, working on my kickboxing
and boxing, working on all the things that I’m not good
at, so pretty much everything,” he told MMAWeekly.com.
It
was in that downtime that Vitale had rearranged his focus. No
longer could he idly participate in the sport and think of it
just as a past time. He had to deliver the kind of focus and
dedication that is required of anyone who is to remain competitive
in MMA today, where there is always someone waiting in the wings
to take your place.
“Fighting
was just like a hobby for me. I would just do the three months
to prepare for a fight, sometimes maybe a month and a half,”
said Vitale.
“It’s
something that I’ve never really put more focus on, but
I’ve been concentrating a lot. I’m also training full
time now. I’ve been able to do that. I’m training three
months more, at least twice a day.”
In
his return to the cage, he will face former EliteXC middleweight
champion and Pride veteran Murilo “Ninja” Rua, whose
brother, Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, is a UFC light heavyweight
contender. Murilo is currently riding a two-fight win streak
with TKO victories over Alex Stiebling and Jason Jones fighting
for Bitetti Combat in his native Brazil. He is arguably one of
the better middleweights in the world outside of the UFC and
Strikeforce promotions, which is what Vitale wants.
“Murilo
has had a great career fighting in mixed martial arts,”
said the Honolulu native.
“He’s
an explosive fighter. I like watching him fight. He has a lot
of heart. One thing about Murilo is that you really, really got
to study him. You can’t take nothing away from him because
he’s pretty good at everything,” Vitale assessed.
“He’s
a tough opponent for me and if I end up winning this fight, it
will probably put me back on the map and hopefully get the call
from different promoters.
“As
far as this fight goes, Murilo is a different animal. I believe
he is one of the top 20 fighters at 185 (pounds) and he’s
definitely somebody that I’m going to have to train hard
for.”
Having
been able to train full-time for the first time in his career,
Vitale is beginning to notice the fruits of his labor. Neither
fighter being gun-shy, he is looking forward to making 2010 his
year and Murilo Rua is his steppingstone in getting back to the
top.
“All
I can say is that I’m going to be ready for this fight and
I’m sure ‘Ninja’ is going to be ready too,”
said the Grappling Unlimited product.
“As
far as all that other stuff, I don’t really care because
whatever I put into it I’m going to get out of it. I’m
just fortunate that I’m able to train full-time now.
“I
think it’s going to be an explosive fight, non-stop action
I think,” said the UFC veteran.
“Ninja
is an all-out aggressive fighter. He likes to come up to you.
I think we’re suitable for a great fight. We match up very
well. We’re pretty much similar opponents and we’re
going to come out there swinging.”
Source:
MMA Weekly
|
MIGHTY
MO SIGNS TO FIGHT BARNETT AT DREAM 13
Dream continues to remain at the top of the Japanese mixed martial
arts since, recently announcing the signing of top heavyweight
Josh Barnett. A longtime favorite for the defunct Pride organization,
now Barnett has an opponent for his March 12 promotional debut.
Siala
“Mighty Mo” Siliga, a prominent K-1 fighter with a
3-1 record in MMA, has signed to face Barnett at Dream 13, according
to his manager, Steve Rusich of Triple Crown Fighters. Sports
Illustrated’s Josh Gross tweeted the probable match-up earlier
this week.
“It’s
a tough match-up, for sure, but it’s a good high profile
fight,” said Rusich.
Barnett
(24-5) is riding four straight victories, but hasn’t fought
in more than a year. He has been mired in the regulatory process
in California after failing to gain licensure due to disputed
drug test results for a planned bout against Fedor Emelianenko.
Mighty
Mo has little experience in mixed martial arts, but won his first
three bouts before dropping his last to Semmy Schilt. That last
bout was also more than a year ago, in fact, about a month prior
to Barnett’s last contest.
Featherweight
champion Bibiano Fernandes defends his belt against Joachim Hansen
in the main event of Dream 13 at Yokohama Arena in Yokohama,
Japan. The event is scheduled to air live in the U.S. on HDNet.
Source:
MMA Weekly
|
GUIDA
PLANS TO POUND GUGERTY THROUGH THE MAT
Many
people don’t recall it, but Clay Guida was the first ever
Strikeforce lightweight champion. But so far, he hasn’t
been able to reach the same pinnacle in the UFC.
Following
a three-fight streak that included victories over “The Ultimate
Fighter” Season 5 and Season 6 winners Nate Diaz and Mac
Danzig, respectively, Guida was derailed from his golden Octagon
dreams. He then dropped back-to-back bouts to Diego Sanchez and
Kenny Florian.
He’s
always a fan favorite, putting his heart on display every time
he steps in the cage, but that’s not enough for Guida. He
wants to on the top of the heap, not a gatekeeper to B.J. Penn.
“We
came of three tough opponents that we beat and then we lost to
arguably the number two and three toughest guys in the world,
being Diego Sanchez and Kenny Florian,” Guida told MMAWeekly.com
as he prepared for his UFC on Versus 1 bout on March 21.
“I’m
not satisfied with that. To me it’s about fighting the toughest
guys and coming out on top. I’m not satisfied with my performance.
I know I could have done better.”
Part
of doing better is going back to his roots. Like many fighters,
Guida attempted a change in strategy to shoot for the top. It
worked for a time, but he realizes now that being the “takedown
machine” that he was in the past might be his best route.
“(Florian)
weathered the storm and waited for me to make a mistake and hit
me on the button,” he recounted.
“I
gotta get back to my old wrestling man, ways of the warrior,
just taking people down and making ’em miserable, putting
’em on their back and pounding them into the ground.”
He
faces Shannon Gugerty at the 1st Bank Center in Broomfield, Colo.,
on March 21. Gugerty is a friend and fighter that he knows well.
And he thinks he knows just how to beat the submission specialist,
be the Clay Guida that fans fell in love with.
“I
think (Gugerty’s) striking is lacking, so I’m gonna
mix it up on the feet a little bit and just put him on his back.
There’s not gonna be any surprises in this fight. You’re
gonna see the Clay Guida of old,” he declared.
“Mark
my words, you’re not gonna see the same Clay in there that
you did last time. You’re gonna see someone else’s
blood instead of mine.”
Source:
MMA Weekly
|
NOONS
OPEN TO 170, REKINDLING FIRE WITH DIAZ
As K.J. Noons prepares for his mixed martial arts comeback at
Dream 13 next weekend, he's hopeful that 2010 will be a busy
year with his next fight stateside in Strikeforce, where he hopes
to renew a heated rivalry.
Noons
shocked the world in 2007 when he defeated Nick Diaz to win the
first ever EliteXC 160-pound divisional title. He did so by blasting
the Californian with devastating strikes that left his face a
bloody mess, forcing ringside physicians to stop the bout after
the first round.
Since
that time, Diaz has gone on a six-fight win streak including
his latest victory over Marius Zaromskis, which earned him the
Strikeforce welterweight title. Noons, who generally fights at
lightweight, doesn't rule out a bout at 170 pounds, especially
if he gets another shot at Diaz.
"I've
always said if I'm not running every single day, I'm 185 just
walking around, so 170 is not out of the question. There's some
other people up there that I wouldn't mind fighting also, too,
so it's definitely a possibility in the future," Noons told
MMAWeekly Radio in an exclusive interview.
The
lightweight division seems like a natural home for Noons, but
he's willing to go up or down in weight to make the best fights
happen, and maybe add a new trophy or two to his collection.
"I
want two more titles," said Noons. "I don't have a
title at 155. I have one at 160. So 155 is looking nice; 170
is looking even better."
Knowing
just how bad Diaz has wanted a rematch with him could fuel a
marquee rematch between the two outspoken fighters, and Noons
says it's something he's been waiting for.
"It
would be great. I don't even know how many wins he's had. He's
beat a bunch of great guys. He's beat a bunch of great names,
but nobody even remembers all those. All they remember is the
fight he's had with me, so I know he's itching to get back in
there."
First
order of business for Noons is traveling to Japan next week for
a showdown with lightweight striker Andre Dida, and then back
to the United States presumably for the rest of his fights in
2010.
Source:
MMA Weekly
|
RYAN
BADER IN NO RUSH TO GET TO THE TITLE
Winning at UFC 110 against Keith Jardine put the light heavyweight
division on notice that Ryan Bader was not only an "Ultimate
Fighter" winner, but also a legitimate threat to any fighter
in the 205-pound weight class.
Picking
up the biggest win of his young career came in devastating fashion
as Bader knocked Jardine out in the third round of their fight
in Australia just a few weeks back. Now home in Arizona, Bader
was happy with the win, but he's not trying to jump ahead of
himself. He feels he still has a ways to go before getting to
the top.
"I'm
in no rush right now," Bader said when asked who he wants
to fight next. "I'm a young fighter. I've said this before,
I don't want to get rushed into a title and not be the best fighter
I can be at that moment."
Currently
4-0 in the UFC, Bader will likely take another step forward in
the light heavyweight division, but he's quick to point out that
he's still learning, and not ready to start calling out anybody's
name just yet.
"I
want to take my time, but at the same time I want to keep moving
up that ladder," he told MMAWeekly.com. "Keith Jardine
was a big step up and I want to keep doing that, chipping away
at guys, and chipping away, and climbing that ladder.
"I
want to take my time, I want to put hours in at the gym, I want
to get those fights, and I definitely want to fight tougher competition
every time I go out."
The
timing for his next fight is yet to be determined, but Bader
said he's currently about return to camp to help teammates get
ready for upcoming fights. He is also dealing with a lingering
hand injury from the knockout punch that floored Jardine, which
also injured the former Arizona State All-American in the process.
Bader
believes he won't be sidelined much longer, and he'll be ready
for the call when UFC matchmaker Joe Silva has an opponent and
a date set for his return.
"It
really doesn't matter to me," Bader said about the timing
of his next fight. "I'm on medical suspension right now,
I just have to get my hand cleared in a couple weeks here.
“I'm
looking to get back in there, get back in training, and I'm going
to be helping Jesse Forbes and Aaron Simpson train for their
fights, so I'm going to be in the mix already helping them, so
when I get the call and the name, I'll be ready to go."
Source:
MMA Weekly
|
JON
JONES PLANS TO OPEN UP ON BRANDON VERA
Continuing
his meteoric rise through the UFC’s 205-pound-division,
Jon Jones will enjoy his first time headlining a fight card when
he meets fellow contender Brandon Vera in what is shaping up
to be a pivotal bout for both men’s careers. The event,
UFC on Versus 1, marks the promotion’s first run with a
live event on a national dedicated sports network.
Vera,
a former heavyweight turned light heavyweight, has in the past
been where Jones is now, and then some. The glitz, the glam of
the UFC’s limelight can be a daunting task for any young
fighter. And while Vera has had his fair share of ups and downs,
he remains a threat, a threat with a name, one who Jones hopes
to add to his already impressive résumé in his
less than two years as a professional mixed martial artist.
“It’s
definitely really exciting to get a guy like Brandon Vera,”
said Jones while speaking with MMAWeekly.com.
“He’s
a tough fighter and he has a really big following. It’s
just going to be great for my career in so many different ways.
Ultimately, my goal is to make it towards the top and I’ve
wanted to get that fight with Brandon Vera. The belt is my dream,
so I know beating him is just part of it.”
Vera
– having fought the likes of Randy Couture, Tim Sylvia,
Fabricio Werdum, and Keith Jardine – provides Jones’
first true taste of the upper echelon of fighters. Having dominated
fellow light heavyweight prospect Matt Hamill (though later the
bout was ruled a disqualification due to the use of illegal elbows,
swaying the result in Hamill’s favor), the 22-year-old native
of Endicott, N.Y., is looking to continue his rise to the top.
In his way is the Filipino, Vera, who Jones feels fits in his
plans to become the best.
“I’m
in this sport to fight the best fighters in the world and he’s
a big part of it, this phase, this chapter in my life,”
said Jones while a guest on MMAWeekly Radio.
“I’m
just really excited to fight him. I really have a lot of pride
in my stand-up. It’s a lot better than you see in the actual
Octagon. You’ve seen about maybe 20 percent of the things
that I have in my head and things that I’ve been training.”
While
fans and media alike have always been impressed with what Jones
has been able to do in his short amount of time in the sport
and with the UFC, he suggests that there is still a lot more
to come. His last two opponents didn’t allow him to release
his full arsenal. But with Vera, Jones is going to be more then
happy to show the other 80 percent that he’s had up his
sleeve.
“My
last two opponents I fought, Jake O’Brien and Matt Hamill,
were both guys who I had to stay aware of their double-leg (takedown)
so it didn’t really allow me to unleash the type of striking
that I wanted to,” said Jones.
“Fighting
a guy like Brandon Vera, I know he’s not big on the double-leg-takedown,
so I will just feel a little more free to flow on my feet and
pull the trigger on a lot more things that I’m dying to
do.”
Source:
MMA Weekly
|
MATT
BROWN: FORTUNE FAVORS THE BOLD
Controlled aggression. Organized mayhem. Reckless abandon.
Matt
Brown has heard all of those phrases when describing his style,
but he believes that there is a method to his madness, and while
riding a 3-fight win streak in the UFC, it's hard to deny that
whatever he's doing, it's working.
Moving
to live in Washington full time and with a baby on the way, Brown
knows there's a lot riding on his fight career to be successful.
Training with legendary MMA coach, Matt Hume, Brown has developed
his style and skills into one of the most dangerous fighters
in the welterweight division.
Still,
Brown believes to be in the fight you have to let the fight swallow
you up, and not concern yourself with too many outside factors
or the performance will end up suffering, and cost you far more
than a loss.
"I
don't think about winning and losing, I come in to fight,"
said Brown in an interview with MMAWeekly Radio. "I do everything
possible in my power to win, but I'd rather lose than run. I'd
rather lose than not fight."
The
willingness to take chances is what has made Brown like dynamite
on fight night, blasting through opponents like Pete Sell and
James Wilks with a deadly combination of power and speed. The
Ohio native believes that taking chances is what gives him the
opportunity to be great, win or lose.
"You
know the old saying "fortune favors the bold" you just
go for it," said Brown. "Enjoy yourself in there, have
fun, and see what happens. Don't concern yourself with winning
and losing, just let it go."
His
upcoming fight against Ricardo Almeida presents another tough
challenge as the Renzo Gracie black belt could be one of the
most accomplished ground fighters to ever step foot in the Octagon.
Brown knows what Almeida brings to the fight, but refuses to
back down, or seem like he's going for a decision win.
"I
do the best I can to keep the fight where I want it. It's not
always on the feet, it's not always on the ground," said
Brown. "To me Ricardo's a dangerous guy, on the ground the
guy's very, very dangerous. I'm not going to go in there and
be afraid of his ground game, I'm not going to run from anything.
I'd rather lose than run."
The
mentality of fighting has made Brown successful so far, but he
also knows that he's got to keep things in check, and getting
wild is not the way to go either.
"It's
very much a challenge for me because if I fight the way I sometimes
have in the past, not necessarily my UFC fights, but I've got
a lot of fights, I know myself and how I fight and sometimes
I put myself in really bad positions and I've been fortunate
to be able to fight my way out of a lot," Brown said. "For
this fight, I see it as a challenge for evolving my style. I
need to really evolve as a fighter, step up and be on my "A"
game."
The
next step in Brown's evolution will come on March 27 when he
faces Ricardo Almeida at UFC 111.
Source:
MMA Weekly
|
STILL
FIGHTING, DIN THOMAS EYES THE SILVER SCREEN
A 12-year veteran of the fight game, Din Thomas has squared against
some the best fighter’s in the world, including current
UFC lightweight champion B.J. Penn and former champions Matt
Serra and Jens Pulver. Nowadays, “Dinyero” is looking
for more opportunities and challenges outside of the fight game.
Having
recently starred in the acclaimed, award winning independent
film “Loren Cass,” written and directed by Chris Fuller,
he has gotten a little taste of what life outside of the cage
is like.
“Man,
I ain’t trying to be no movie star, but I just say no to
nothing. I try to do everything to the best of my ability,”
Thomas told MMAWeekly.com.
“Somebody
wants me to be in a movie, I’ll do it.”
With
other world renowned fighters such as Forrest Griffin, Randy
Couture, and former UFC light heavyweight champion Quinton “Rampage”
Jackson trying out their acting chops in both television and
film, Thomas recognizes the rewards that high profile fighters
could bring to the sport of mixed martial arts, specifically
Jackson, who takes on the roll of B.A. Baracus in the big screen
rendition of “The A-Team.”
“I
think it’s definitely good. It definitely brings some recognition
and some light on the MMA guys,” said Thomas in regards
to Jackson’s big budget movie role.
“But
I think it’s good anytime you (got guys) who come from backgrounds
that are next to nothing, that work hard through fighting, and
end up getting good opportunities, so I’m actually proud
of (Jackson).
“I
wish they called me to be in the next ‘A-Team’ (movie).
I’m waiting for somebody to call me to be in a big budget
movie, but I’m proud of him and being able to make moves
like that in life man, that’s success. I’m hoping that
more guys in MMA can do big things like that.”
Wanting
to be taken seriously, Thomas’ initial intention was to
begin his acting career steering away from any fighting roles.
He didn’t want to be typecast as the “fighter who fight’s
in movies,” but some sacrifices must be made.
“You
know what’s funny, there’s (no genre) I really prefer,
but the only thing that I really wanted to stay away from was
these fight movies,” said the 33-year-old.
“That
was the one thing, as a fighter, you kind of keep away from that.
That’s one thing I want to stay away from. I would rather
do anything other than play a fighter in a movie.”
And
while fighting and movies each has its place, the 145-pound fighter
is able to draw some parallels between the two.
“It
was a lot of fun. I mean, the acting part is fun. I really enjoy
it, the work and the process, because it’s just like fighting.
It’s all about focus and just (being) in the moment.”
The
downtime, much like fighting, is not so much fun.
“The
downtime of being in a movie is the killer. It’s like ‘wait,
wait, wait, wait, wait, location – action!’ Boom, you
shoot like 30 seconds then boom, ‘wait, wait, wait, wait,
wait – action!’ It’s like, oh my God, you’re
killing me with this.”
With
two films in the can – including “Natalie, Queen of
Scots” where Thomas, father or two, plays Reverend Pierce
– Thomas will now focus on fighting for the immediate future,
but looks forward to more acting opportunities, whenever they
may be.
“I’m
not trying to get (my acting career) pushed off forever,”
said the UFC veteran.
“But
like I said, I’m not going to go out there and make that
my main focus. I’m going to do it to the best of my ability.
I’m going to work hard whatever I do, whether it’s
acting or fighting. If somebody gives me the opportunity to act,
believe me I’m going to act my ass off.”
Source:
MMA Weekly
|
Quote
of the Day
"Have
patience with all things, but chiefly have patience with yourself.
Do not lose courage in considering your own imperfections but
instantly set about remedying them - every day begin the task
anew."
Saint
Francis de Sales, 1567-1622
|
X-1
Events presents
CHAMPIONS
2 (4 World Title Matches)
This Saturday!
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
|
Enson
Inoue to Make Comeback at ASTRA
One
Japanese MMA icon exits, and another returns. On the same card
that will feature Hidehiko Yoshida's farewell fight, Shooto,
UFC and PRIDE veteran Enson Inoue will step inside the ring after
a six-year absence.
Inoue,
who turns 43 by fight night, will face Antz Nansen at ASTRA on
April 25 at the Nippon Budokan in Tokyo, Japan.
Inoue
(11-8) began fighting MMA in January 1995 and holds an armbar
win over Randy Couture . He left the sport in 2004 after his
fifth loss in six fights. He's never been known for being the
most skilled fighter, but rather for his gutsy, never-say-die
attitude.
The
former Shooto champion would rather absorb an uncanny amount
of punishment than quit (see PRIDE 10 fight vs. Igor Vovchanchyn),
or go to sleep before he taps (see PRIDE 19 vs. Antonio Rodrigo
Nogueira).
New
Zealand kickboxer Nansen (1-0) won his MMA debut against HIroshi
Izumi last September at Sengoku 10.
Current
Fight Card:
Yuya
Shirai vs. Che Mills
Michihiro Omigawa vs. Micah Miller
Tatsunao Nagakura vs. Akihiko Mouri
Enson Inoue vs. Antz Nansen
Hidehiko Yoshida vs. TBA
Kazuhiro Nakamura vs. TBA
Denis Kang vs. TBA
Source:
MMA Fighting
|
Chinzo
Machida
Chinzo
Machida is confident on Lyoto Machida at the rematch against
Mauricio “Shogun” Rua for the UFC title. Talking to
TATAME.com, Lyoto’s brother commented the preparation, strategy
and the result of the next fight. “I believe in a knockout
by Lyoto, that’s why we’re looking at”, Machida
said, revealing the possibility of coming back to the MMA rings
this year.
What
do you expect from this rematch?
We
can’t predict the fight itself, but Lyoto is more prepared
than the other time, more focused on the fight, stronger. We
changed the concentration on training, we don’t let a lot
of people around him in training anymore, thing that had no reason
to happen. We separated his training, making him more focused.
How
do you think it’s gonna be this fight?
I
believe in a knockout by Lyoto, that’s why we’re looking
at.
How
is his training?
He’s
training well, doing the karate, wrestling, jiu-jitsu, a little
bit of everything, besides muay thai, physical preparation…
We already started the training in January, his hand is 100%
now.
What
did you think about the first fight?
I
thought Lyoto won it, looked for the fight all the time, besides
his characteristic is to counter attack. Shogun didn’t expose
himself, he’s kicking Lyoto, but with few moments of definition.
This rematch can start the same way, but I’m sure it’ll
go a different way. Lyoto wasn’t very satisfied with the
critics and Shogun wasn’t happy with the result either.
It can put both to define the fight, but we’ll only know
it at the fight time. Nobody wants to let it go to decision again.
And
what about you? When will you fight again?
Lyoto
is the main goal now. I’m part of his team and I’m
getting ready. I’m a BJJ brown belt and do my karate, I’m
getting ready to an opportunity, but it depends of my factors.
My father is who manages his training, but I work with him all
the time. I would be a problem if I decide to fight now. If I
have an opportunity, I’d like to test my abilities too.
Source:
Tatame
|
Light
heavyweights swing back into action
From
the moment in 1997 when Frank Shamrock made Olympic gold medalist
Kevin Jackson submit with an armbar in 14 seconds, the light
heavyweight division has been the centerpiece of the Ultimate
Fighting Championship.
Initially
called the middleweight division, for the next 11 years, the
biggest stars, the biggest matches and the most money was drawn
for 205-pound title fights, with the progression of champions
going from Shamrock to Tito Ortiz to Randy Couture to Chuck Liddell
to Quinton Jackson to Forrest Griffin.
Today,
the light heavyweight division may no longer be UFC’s spotlight
weight class. It’s a division in transition, filled with
stars of the past and plenty of potential stars on the horizon.
The
division has more recognizable names who have been headliners
and champions in the past than any other weight class –
Ortiz, Liddell, Couture, Jackson, Rashad Evans, Griffin, Rich
Franklin (champion as a middleweight) and Mauricio “Shogun”
Rua (PRIDE Grand Prix champion).
The
current champ, Lyoto Machida, still has an unbeaten record, although
not in the minds of most of the public, which believed he should
have lost his title Oct. 24 to Rua.
With
Machida out of action since surgery on his left hand, and Jackson
filming the role made famous by Mr. T in “The A-Team”
movie, the two most anticipated fights in the division have been
on hold for months.
But
we are entering a three-month period which should end with a
decisive champion, beginning with Sunday night’s match between
Jon Jones and Brandon Vera. After that, a number of viable contenders
are ready to step to the plate.
The
Machida (16-0) vs. Rua (18-4) title rematch takes place May 8
in Montreal. After going untouched in UFC competition, never
losing as much as a round in his first seven fights, Machida
was considered to be on a different level than anyone else in
the division.
Rua
quickly changed that perception, landing twice as many strikes,
particularly low kicks, although neither came close to finishing
the other in the five-round fight in Los Angeles. Machida won
48-47 on all three judges cards, although most at ringside had
it 49-46 or 48-47 for Rua.
The
rematch is compelling in the sense that unlike the first fight,
where most felt Rua was just Machida’s next victim, it’s
pretty clear it’s a fight either man has the ability to
win.
Even
more anticipated than the title match, due to the television
buildup as rival coaches on “The Ultimate Fighter”
Season 10, is the May 29 match in Las Vegas with Jackson (30-7)
against Evans (19-1-1).
Both
are former champions who haven’t gotten a rematch since
losing the title and the winner would most likely get the next
title shot.
Both
are good wrestlers. Both have knockout power. Jackson likely
has more power in his hands, but Evans has the quickness edge.
Neither, at least in competition, has shown much of a submission
game.
But
there are questions regarding top contender status. Neither ran
through their most recent opponents. Jackson, who hasn’t
fought in a year, didn’t fully clinch his fight with Keith
Jardine until a knockdown in the waning seconds. Evans, who fought
on Jan. 2, won the first two rounds over Thiago Silva, but was
knocked down and in trouble in Round 3, surviving the final two
minutes to win a decision.
Also
on May 29, Griffin (17-6), whose level of popularity a year ago
was so high that he was chosen to be on the cover of the company’s
video game, faces a potential top contender in Antonio Rogerio
Nogueira (18-3).
Nogueira,
33, doesn’t have anywhere near the same in-ring mileage
as his twin brother, Antonio Rodrigo, but has won six in a row
and looked at the top of his game in a first-round knockout of
Luiz Cane on Nov. 21.
The
division is filled with new stars, several of whom are getting
major tests over the next few months.
The
most intriguing prospects are three former college wrestling
standouts and a Swedish knockout artist. Jones is a former junior
college national champion with a 9-1 record, his only loss coming
on a disqualification in a match he dominated. Ryan Bader is
12-0, a former Ultimate Fighter winner and Arizona State All-American.
Phil Davis is 5-0, a former Penn State wrestler who won the 2008
NCAA title at 197 pounds. The other person to watch out for is
23-year-old Alexander Gustafsson, who is 9-0 with seven knockouts,
six in the first round.
The
first of what will be a series of major light heavyweight matches
in the division takes place Sunday night in Broomfield, Colo.,
with Jones facing Vera (11-4). What makes Jones perhaps at the
head of the new class is that he’s gotten to main event
status so fast. He’s only been training in the sport for
two years and has only been training with a major camp, Greg
Jackson’s, for the past few months.
Vera
will be far more than a trial horse. He’s more experienced
as well as more versatile in the stand-up game. He has good wrestling,
and would figure to have an edge if he can keep it standing.
But Matt Hamill had a higher level of wrestling than Vera, and
Jones shocked everyone with the way he threw Hamill around and
dominated him before being disqualified for throwing an illegal
elbow just as he was on the verge of winning their December match
A
sleeper of a match is Gustafsson vs. Davis on April 10 in Abu
Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, matching fighters who have run through
everyone they’ve faced, and have completely different styles.
Gustafsson knocked out Jared Hamann in his UFC debut in 41 seconds
on Nov. 14 in Manchester, England, but is untested against name
opposition. Davis showed a higher level of wrestling technique
than anyone in a division filled with former wrestlers in his
UFC debut, dominating Brian Stann and winning via decision. But
he showed little in that Feb. 6 fight besides wrestling.
Davis
hasn’t shown the versatility of the other fighters but also
has the least amount of time in the sport. His stardom will be
determined by how well he can utilize his wrestling against the
top level fighters, and how quickly he can pick up the rest of
his game.
Bader
has a perfect record, but struggled with Jardine before knocking
him out Feb. 21 in Sydney. His power wrestling translates well
to MMA, and he has knockout power in his right hand. But he did
not look like a world beater against Jardine, struggling when
he couldn’t get the takedown, although Jardine’s awkward
style has made a lot of good fighters look bad.
As
for the old guard, Couture, Liddell, Ortiz and Franklin are longtime
headliners who all are slated for major matches. Right now, Couture
is the only one of the four who may be in line for a title shot
before the year is out. And turning 47 in June, time is clearly
of the essence.
Exactly
what is next for the four, though, depends upon whom you want
to believe. UFC president Dana White over the weekend on his
Twitter account said Couture would face Franklin but didn’t
give a date. Ortiz vs. Liddell, who will be rival coaches on
Season 11 of “The Ultimate Fighter” that begins March
31, had been announced for a match June 12 in Vancouver, British
Columbia. But there was a lot of talk this past week that something
happens during the filming of the show that leads to Liddell
vs. Franklin.
Even
though Liddell has lost four of his past five fights and was
announced as retired by White for most of last year, he and Couture
are still the two most popular fighters in the division, which
is a major factor in a company promoting pay-per-view events
every few weeks.
Source:
Yahoo Sports
|
Bellator
confirms signing of Roger Huerta for season-two lightweight tourney
Former
Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight Roger Huerta officially
has joined Bellator Fighting Championships.
MMAjunkie.com
(www.mmajunkie.com) first reported the expected signing over
the weekend, and during a press conference that today streamed
live on www.bellator.com, Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney made the
official announcement.
Huerta
(21-3-1), one of Bellator's highest-profile signings to date,
joins the season-two eight-man lightweight tournament field.
His first fight takes place at Bellator 13 on April 8 at the
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Fla.
No
opponent was named for Huerta, but Rebney said an announcement
"literally could come in the next few days."
Huerta
looks to win the tournament and a shot at season-one winner and
current champ Eddie Alvarez. Each winner stands to make $100,000
over the three fights.
Huerta's
fights and all of Bellator's main cards from its 12-week seasons
air live on FOX Sports Net affiliates, and highlights shows air
two days later on NBC and Telemundo.
Huerta
returns to the cage for the first time in 18 months. Once of
the sport's top prospects and the first MMA fighter to appear
on the cover of Sports Illustrated, Huerta suffered a unanimous-decision
loss to Kenny Florian, turned down a new deal with the UFC, and
then dropped a split-decision defeat to Gary Maynard before he
announced he planned to put his fighting career on hold while
pursuing an acting and modeling career.
Behinds
the scenes, sources told MMAjunkie.com that Huerta was displeased
with the UFC's restrictive contracts and his own low pay and
planned to explore fighting opportunities in outside organizations.
In September he expressed interest in fighting for Strikeforce
but recently opened talks and signed with Bellator instead.
Huerta
went 6-2 in the UFC and won his first six fights in the promotion,
including a rousing submission win over Clay Guida at The Ultimate
Fighter 6 Finale in 2007.
Other
fighters confirmed for Bellator's season-two lightweight tournament
include season-one runner-up Toby Imada (23-13), Chad Hinton
(6-0), Janne Tulirinta (12-3), Ferrid Kheder (16-5), Mike Ricci
(5-0) and Cary Vanier (7-2)
Source:
Yahoo Sports
|
Liddell’s
fiercest opponent may be himself
LAS
VEGAS – There was a time Chuck Liddell might have had the
strongest chin in mixed martial arts. Hit him with a big shot
and he’d grin maniacally and fire a power-packed punch of
his own in return. Few men could take the blows Liddell could
absorb and remain conscious, let alone upright.
And
now, it seems, neither can Liddell.
The
most popular fighter in the history of the Ultimate Fighting
Championship has been knocked out in three of his last five bouts,
including his last two, and was urged to retire by his close
friend, UFC president Dana White, following a knockout loss to
Mauricio “Shogun” Rua at UFC 97 in Montreal in April
2009.
Liddell
is not a man without options, and he doesn’t need to fight
to make a living. He’s got plenty of money, and White has
promised him a job for life. Yet, despite the warning signs,
he’s opted to return to the cruelest sport.
He’ll
appear as a coach in Season 11 of “The Ultimate Fighter,”
which will debut March 31 on Spike TV, and then will fight bitter
rival and opposing coach Tito Ortiz at UFC 115 on June 12 in
Vancouver.
Fighters
are unlike any other athletes alive and accept risks that few
others would ever consider. There’s something inside of
them that is different from the rest of us that makes them willing
to put their bodies in harm’s way again and again.
Athletes
in other sports who overstay their welcome simply suffer embarrassment.
A pitcher who loses four or five miles off his fastball doesn’t
leave the game with brain damage; he only suffers the indignity
of a bad record and a bloated earned run average. But a fighter
who has been repeatedly knocked out and comes back for more risks
a lot more than just another defeat.
Liddell,
41, who has an accounting degree from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo,
is well aware of the risks any fighter accepts. Despite his recent
losing skein, though, he insists he’s at no greater risk
than he was when he was in his prime and the most-feared gunslinger
in the UFC.
They
all say that, of course.
Sometimes,
they’re right, but overwhelmingly they are not. When they’re
not, even in the best-case scenario, they wind up with something
like pugilistic dementia.
Liddell
took eight months off without so much as hitting a mitt after
his loss to Rua in order to allow his body to heal. He dearly
loves to fight and kept a brutal pace, not only by fighting some
of the world’s best punchers but also by sparring regularly
in the gym. After he was blasted by Rua, he knew a long rest
was in order.
“That’s
one of the reasons I took some time off,” Liddell said.
“It takes time to heal. I didn’t even hit the mitts
until January, and I’ve only had a couple of light sparring
sessions since then. One of the reasons I took some time off
was because I thought I was being hurt by shots that don’t
normally hurt me in the Shogun fight.
“That’s
what prompted me to want to take a year off. I never thought
about retiring. I still think I can beat people. I still think
I can fight.”
In
his defense, he’s faced some of the meanest men any man
could face. He was knocked out by a shot from Quinton “Rampage”
Jackson at UFC 71 that probably would have knocked down a wall.
He
survived a three-round firefight with Wanderlei Silva and was
knocked out in UFC 88 by a lightning-fast shot he did not see
from Rashad Evans.
But
when he was knocked out by Rua, White had seen enough and took
the initiative at the post-fight news conference to announce
Liddell’s retirement.
“He
can still sell out shows and he can still sell pay-per-views,
but he’s done,” White said that night. “He helped
build this company and he helped build this sport, but he’s
done. Even Michael Jordan turned 40, and he was done.”
Liddell
didn’t come out definitively one way or another, but in
the face of White’s unrelenting pressure to retire, Liddell
said at the news conference, “It’s probably the end.”
The
more he thought about it, though, the more he decided he could
still compete. He simply could no longer keep up the pace he
kept as a younger man. Liddell took the rest of 2009 off. He
decided not to throw and, more significantly, not to take any
more punches for the rest of the year.
Last
month, on one of the final days of filming of TUF 11, he looked
very physically fit, broad through the chest and shoulders with
a flat stomach. But a ripped body has nothing to do with how
well a fighter can take a punch.
Liddell,
though, has no concern. He believes he’s done what he needs
to do to protect himself and is convinced he’s still among
the top 205-pounders in the world.
“I
can still beat anybody in the world at my weight, so make of
that what you will,” Liddell said. “The difference
now is, there was a time when I didn’t think anybody could
beat me. Now, it’s a slight shift. I don’t think there’s
anybody I can’t beat.”
Ortiz,
clearly, is one of those men. He’s already knocked Ortiz
out twice and wasn’t interested in facing him a third time
when White initially broached the subject.
“I
didn’t want to give him the exposure,” Liddell said.
White,
though, is as persuasive as he is strong-willed, and he convinced
Liddell to take the spot as a coach on TUF and to fight Ortiz
after the season ended. Liddell reluctantly agreed, but it wouldn’t
be long before he’d be champing at the bit to get his hands
on Ortiz again.
Especially
after Ortiz told reporters at TUF 11 media day that Liddell is
a recovering alcoholic and that White did an intervention to
get him treatment.
“Thank
God that Dana gave him an intervention, and he’s sober now,”
Ortiz said. “He’s been sober since November, and he
looks like a different person. It’s awesome. I’m proud
of him, really proud of him. A lot of people can’t do that.
I kind of went through that myself, but I looked in the mirror
and I realized that wasn’t the life I wanted to lead. Liddell
avoided rock bottom and a disastrous outcome.
“I’m
proud he’s found sobriety. A lot of fighters, and a lot
of people in general, don’t do that. They fall off the face
of the earth, and sometimes they’ll find them in a hotel,
dead, or behind a wheel, dead. Thank God Chuck isn’t one
of those guys. Thank God he found sobriety, and I’m proud
of him, very proud of him.”
Liddell
denies he’s an alcoholic or that White did any sort of intervention.
He conceded he likes to drink and said when he does, he frequently
gets rip-roaring drunk. He said, however, he could start and
stop when he wants.
White
also denied doing any sort of intervention and chalked it up
to “Tito being Tito.”
Liddell,
though, was suddenly eager to fight Ortiz again.
“I
just didn’t want to give him the press, or give him the
exposure from the show, for nothing,” Liddell said of Ortiz.
“Dealing with him for 40-something days, I wasn’t really
too excited about that either. I just don’t like the guy,
and I really didn’t want to be bothered. I finally agreed
and on the first day, he goes out and says I had to have an intervention
and that I’m an alcoholic.
“The
intervention, according to him, was in September. I didn’t
stop drinking until late November when I started getting ready
for the show. It’s one of those things, that as I’ve
gotten older and older, I’ve taken longer to get ready for
fights. I treat my body better and better now as I’ve gotten
older. So what he says, it just isn’t true and didn’t
fit in with anything close to what the facts are.”
Liddell
says he hasn’t had a drop of alcohol since he began training
for the reality series and won’t until after he meets Ortiz
in June. He’s going to come hard after Ortiz when the fight
starts to make him pay for his comments.
“Coming
into this, the only thing that worried me about fighting him
was coming in with that attitude that, ‘Oh, I’ve already
knocked this guy out twice,’ and treating it like a tune-up
fight,” Liddell said. “But I was confident that somewhere
within the span of the show, he would do or say something that
would get me motivated to train the right way. And guess what?
First week, he did. I was like, ‘Done and done.’ I’m
ready to go after him. I’m going to train to bury him. I’m
going to hurt him. I’m going to knock him out.
“I
got him in the third and I got him in the second, now I’m
going for the first. I want the hat trick.”
So
Liddell soldiers on, believing he can reclaim his past glory.
He believes he can get to the top in what is the deepest weight
class in the UFC. If he gets the knockout against Ortiz, as he’s
done twice before, he’ll almost certainly continue to fight.
And he’s going to face increasingly better opposition the
more he wins.
White
tried to save Liddell from himself and force him to retire after
UFC 97. But when Liddell insisted, White essentially threw his
hands up in the air.
“I’m
his friend, not his father,” White said plaintively.
Liddell
insists he’ll walk away when he doesn’t believe he’s
capable of competing. I don’t doubt his sincerity, but the
fighters are usually the last to know when they’ve lost
it.
Liddell
doesn’t believe he has. For his sake, I sure hope he’s
right.
Source:
Yahoo Sports
|
André
Galvão on Anderson vs. Demian
Anderson
Silva and Demian Maia face each other at UFC 112, in Abu Dhabi,
and one fighter knows both very well. André Galvão,
a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu world champion, trained with Maia for a
long time at Brasa team, but trains with Silva since his MMA
debut, in 2008.
“That’s
weird. I’m here since my MMA debut and Anderson always helped
me in all my fights, but this time he’ll fight against Demian,
who’s my friend,” Galvão said to TATAME.com.
“It’s a fight, professional. After that it’s over,
everybody talks with everybody. It’s like a soccer match.
Or course it’s not easy, but Anderson helps me a lot, so
I have to help him too, doesn’t matter who’s the opponent”.
Following
the champion’s training, Andre believes that Demian will
be ready for the fight of his life. “Anderson is training
a lot, he’s in a great phase,” tells. “Everybody
is focusing the training in all areas, that’s not the striker
versus the grappler anymore. If Demian is there is because he
deserves this chance, but the experience counts a lot in this
kind of fight, and Anderson has it. I believe in a great fight”.
Source:
Tatame
|
Jim
Miller Admits Older Brother Dan Would Beat Him Up in Real Fight
Don't
count on a fight between brothers Dan and Jim Miller -- that
is, unless it's an event promoted inside of a New Jersey living
room.
"That
was always a joke," Jim said. "I said if we were going
to do it'd be the Miller brothers' couch wrestling rules which
isn't exactly sanctioned."
Fighting
his brother was one of the many different topics Jim touched
on while appearing live Monday on The MMA Hour with AMA Fight
Club teammates Charlie Brenneman, Rafaello Oliveira and trainer
Mike Constantino.
But
if it were to happen, his older -- and heavier brother Dan would
win, Jim conceded.
"He's
a tough kid," he said. "I wouldn't want to mess with
him. He would definitely beat me up. If we were the same size,
it'd be a tough fight."
The
Miller brothers know one another's styles inside-out. After all,
the two have been training together since 2005 and even made
their MMA debuts on the same card the same year, at Reality Fighting
10 on Nov. 19 in Atlantic City.
"We've
developed our games to try to the beat the other one," Jim
said. "It'd be a fun fight, but realistically he would beat
me up."
There's
another Miller brother, but don't expect him to get in the mix.
When Dan and Jim were beginning the path towards an MMA career,
the other was in veterinary school.
"His
hands are worth thousands of dollars," Jim explained.
Other
Notes:
On
his upcoming fight against Mark Bocek at UFC 111 on March 27:
"He's
got a great ground game, and he poses a threat in submissions,
but I'm no slouch on the ground either. So I'm just going to
walk out and have some fun. Going to let my hands fly and get
at him."
On
not watching film of his opponent:
"I
just let (coach) Mike do the watching and pick things apart ...
If I see the fight, if it's on, I'll watch it, but when I start
watching film, I just get nervous. When I try and go to sleep,
I think about the fight, and then I can't sleep. I just focus
on training and trying to get better."
On
how the WEC's lightweight division stacks up with the UFC's:
"i
think there are definitely a few guys form the WEC that could
throw themselves in there. I think the majority of the division
would find themselves in the deep waters of the upper level of
the UFC. It's a little bit different."
"I've
been lucky that this is going to be my seventh fight with them
in a year-and-a-half. I think if the WEC has more fights, lets
these guys fight more, let them develop more, then they would
have much better shot. I like the WEC, separately. They should
keep WEC and really just promote it more."
Source:
MMA Fighting
|
UFC
111 MAIN EVENT'S INTERESTING GRACIE TWIST
The Gracie connection to MMA spans back to the beginning of the
sport, but a new twist to that connection plays a role in the
upcoming main event for UFC 111 between welterweight champion
Georges St-Pierre and top challenger Dan Hardy.
For
two weeks in February, St-Pierre went to New York City to work
with an old friend by the name of John Danaher, who also happens
to be one of Renzo Gracie's most accomplished black belts, while
also working with Gracie himself and fellow UFC welterweight
Ricardo Almeida.
St-Pierre
has long standing ties with Danaher, but also working with Renzo
Gracie's academy in Manhattan as he prepares for fights, and
working with the team has always pushed him to the next level.
While
on Long Island, British heavy-hitter Dan Hardy arrived earlier
this week to close out his camp with none other than Renzo Gracie
black belt Matt Serra, who will coach Hardy through the final
preparations for the upcoming fight.
Hardy
tells MMAWeekly Radio that working with someone like Serra, who
has been in the cage with St-Pierre multiple times, can provide
valuable insights, and help him get a win over the Canadian later
this month.
"He's
1-1 with GSP, obviously the first time he smoked him pretty quickly,
and then the second time obviously it didn't go his way. You
know he spent some time in there with him, any kind of information
with a guy who's been in there with your opponent is always useful,"
Hardy said. "I can sit down and talk with him, see what
kind of experiences he had, and his opinions on GSP and the way
he approaches the fight.
"It
will just be an interesting experience what he can add to my
game plan."
Just
leaving for home in Montreal a few days back, St-Pierre didn't
seem to care too much that Hardy was working with his old foe,
and welcomes the challenge that the Brit can provide.
"I
don't mind," St-Pierre responded when asked his thoughts
on Hardy training with Serra. "He can train with whoever
he wants. I'm the guy he's going to face in the Octagon, and
on March 27 he's not going to have anyone to be with him. It's
going to be me and him in the cage, and I'm going to take care
of business."
As
for Hardy, he was somewhat upset that St-Pierre left town before
the two had the chance to meet at one of the Gracie family academies
for a sparring session.
"That's
a shame. I was actually hoping to bump into him. Maybe we could
get a training session," Hardy said with a laugh.
The
Gracie family will surely have a winner at UFC 111 whether it's
coming from GSP's training at Renzo's academy, or Hardy working
with Serra. The sparring session two weeks out from the fight
may have been something worth seeing though.
Source:
MMA Weekly
|
LIDDELL
VS. FRANKLIN ON TAP FOR VANCOUVER (UPDATED)
A long anticipated second rematch between former UFC light heavyweight
champions and “The Ultimate Fighter Season 12” coaches
Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz is not going to happen, at least,
not yet.
Liddell
(21-7) is still coming off of a yearlong layoff, but will instead
face former middleweight champion Rich Franklin. The bout is
to be featured at UFC 115 on June 12.
The
possibility of the bout was first reported by Fighters Only for
a date in April, but multiple MMAWeekly.com sources confirmed
the bout has been agreed to for the Vancouver event.
Liddell
and Ortiz have a long history. They have met twice before with
Liddell winning by knockout both times.
Liddell
is, however, coming off of a stretch of losing four of his five
most recent bouts, three of those by way of knockout.
Following
Liddell’s last bout, UFC president Dana White called for
his friend to hang up the gloves.
He
instead took some time off from the fight game, including a stint
on ABC’s “Dancing With The Stars.” Liddell consistently
said that he still felt like he wanted to fight, that the fire
to compete hadn’t yet gone out.
He’s
not getting an easy return bout. Franklin (26-5) has had his
own troubles lately. He is 5-4 in his most recent bouts, including
losing his title to current middleweight champion Anderson Silva.
He is 2-2 since transitioning back to his old weight class of
light heavyweight, including a victory over Wanderlei Silva and
most recently losing to Vitor Belfort in catchweight bouts.
There
had been some speculation about Vancouver being unprepared for
a June 12 date, but Marc Ratner, UFC Vice President of Regulatory
Affairs, recently told MMAWeekly.com that the event was “still
on track.”
There
has been no word yet as to what is next for Tito Ortiz following
his current coaching stint on “The Ultimate Fighter.”
UFC
president Dana White Saturday afternoon refuted MMAWeekly.com
and several other respected news outlets’ reports, tweeting
that the Liddell vs. Franklin match-up was not true, saying they
would instead match Franklin up with Randy Couture.
Ortiz’s
posts on Twitter during filming were sometimes rather critique
however, saying things like, “If things couldn't get worse.
They just did!” “Thinking that life couldn't get any
harder? It just did! Another challenge that god has given me!
WOW.” and “Many things that challenge us in lives will
make us stronger. One thing I can say is don’t ever quit.
Im strong because of my family and fan(s)!!”
MMAWeekly.com
still stands by it sources, believing that White’s response
may be tied to Liddell’s participation on “The Ultimate
Fighter.” Then again, things change rapidly in mixed martial
arts, so we’ll keep you posted as the story develops.
Source:
MMA Weekly
|
Quote
of the Day
"Courage
and perseverance have a magical talisman, before which difficulties
disappear and obstacles vanish into air."
John
Quincy Adams, 1767-1848
|
Self
Defense Club Policy Forum
“Hawai’i
Self Defense Laws: The Legal Perspective.”
What
You Can and Cannot Do
University
Of Hawai’i At Manoa
2515 Dole Street, Honolulu, HI 96822
William S. Richardson School of Law
Classroom
1
Thursday, April 1st, 2010
From 6 Pm to 8 Pm
Come
join us for a discussion regarding self defense as it relates
to the law. There will be a forum of six panelist to answer your
questions regarding the topic at hand.
Speakers
include:
Virginia E. Hench, Professor Of Law, Director Of the Hawai’i
Innocence Project
Christopher Park, Metropolitan Police Sergeant With the Honolulu
Police Department
Franklin Don Pacarro, r., Senior Deputy Prosecuting Attorney
For the City And County Of Honolulu
Jerry
A. Villanueva, Trial Attorney For the Office Of the Public Defender
Edward K. Harada, Trial Attorney For the Office Of the Public
Defender
Victoria S. Marks, Retired Hawai’i State Judge, First Circuit
|
UFC
PRIMETIME HITS SERIES HIGH VIEWERSHIP
The fight between Georges St-Pierre and Dan Hardy may not be
looked at by most as the same sort of super fight that St-Pierre
vs. B.J. Penn was at UFC 94, but it sure is drawing the interest
of Spike TV viewers.
Spike
TV’s telecast of “UFC Primetime” on Wednesday
night, which features behind the scenes build up to the UFC 111
bout between St-Pierre and Hardy, debuted to 1 million total
viewers according to network officials. That’s a bigger
number than any of the three episodes of “UFC Primetime”
featuring St-Pierre and Penn.
The
three episodes of “UFC Primetime” featuring St-Pierre
vs. Penn averaged 789,000 viewers per episode. The highest draw
of St-Pierre vs. Penn was the initial episode that averaged 880,000
viewers.
“UFC
Primetime” featuring St-Pierre and Hardy continues for the
next two weeks on Wednesday nights leading up to the fight.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
HARDY
SAYS ALL THE PRESSURE TO WIN IS ON GSP
Everybody loves an underdog. The NCAA tournament features the
upset wins every year. Buster Douglas defeating Mike Tyson is
almost an annual showcase. And Dan Hardy will look to etch his
name as an underdog overcoming the odds when he faces Georges
St-Pierre on March 27 in New Jersey.
The
brash Brit has no illusions going into the fight against St-Pierre
that he's a heavy underdog. Current betting lines on BetUs.com
have Hardy as a +500 underdog, and he's aware of his status,
but he's ready to defy the odds.
"I'm
being counted out by about 98 percent of people in the world,"
Hardy said when appearing on MMAWeekly Radio. "The betting
lines have got me as a huge underdog, but I'm going into this
fight with nothing to lose at all. That's the difference, I can
go in there and take risks, and I will take risks cause that's
the way I fight. I'm not there to eek out a decision, I want
to knock him out, and that's what I'm planning on doing."
Being
the underdog is something that's worked well for him so far,
and there's no reason to change that way of thinking heading
into this fight.
"I've
got four fights in the UFC now, and every time I was supposed
to get my ass kicked," Hardy said. "It hasn't happened
yet, so the underdog situation works pretty well for me because
I'm coming out on top every time."
Hardy
believes that many fans and critics are looking at his title
shot with similar vision as when Matt Serra first stepped in
to challenge St-Pierre for the welterweight title in 2007. After
the fight was over, Serra was proclaimed as getting the "lucky"
punch, or catching St-Pierre unprepared, but Hardy says there
was no luck involved.
"I
don't believe in lucky shots. If somebody throws a shot, they
mean to land it, and they mean to hurt the guy. And Serra did
exactly that," said Hardy. "He threw a good punch,
he landed it cleanly, and GSP looked like Bambi. His legs were
gone, and you can't take that away from Serra."
Taking
risks and being willing to do things like look for a big punch
is where Hardy believes he has a distinct advantage over the
champion. St-Pierre has been accused of playing it safe since
the loss to Serra, although it's hard to argue with the dominant
wins he's had over some of the sports best fighters. Still, Hardy
says that's the biggest difference between him and St-Pierre.
"He's
a great athlete and he goes in there to win, but the difference
between me and him is, he's a great athlete, but I'm a fighter,"
said Hardy. "My intention is to go in there and have a good
fight, and see what happens, and part of that is taking risks.
I think that's the part that GSP's lost; he's not willing to
take that risk anymore. He don't want to put himself out there
in case he loses his belt again.
"He
doesn't do it impressively, he doesn't dominate anybody, and
give anyone a serious beating, but he gets the job done."
Taking
full advantage of the opportunity, Hardy feels he's more in a
similar position with GSP from 2004, than with Serra when he
fought the Canadian for the title.
"I'm
in a similar situation to where GSP was the first time he fought
Matt Hughes," Hardy commented. "The difference is I've
got a lot more belief in myself, and I'm not looking at GSP like
‘oh he's a legend I can't beat him.’ I'm looking at
GSP like he's the next guy on my record that's going down."
And
Hardy says playing it safe, being the heavy favorite, will ultimately
play against St-Pierre; and that's all going to equal a win for
the Brit at UFC 111.
"He's
under a lot of pressure in this fight, way more than I am,"
said Hardy. "Cause he's fighting a British guy, who's had
four fights in the UFC, come from nowhere, and I'm stepping in
there with a damn good chance of putting him to sleep, and he
knows that. All the pressure is on him.
"If
he loses to me, that's a pretty big dent in his legacy and he
don't want that."
Source: MMA Weekly
|
Leites
mature, wants to be back to the UFC
After
leaving the UFC octagon, Thales Leites defeated Dean Lister and
Rico Washington. With a new home at MFC, where the Brazilian
fights for the title in May 7, Leites celebrates the victories.
“I’m
more mature since I left the UFC, I started to see things with
other eyes, I changed my game to follow the MMA tendency. They
pay you to fight and they want entertainment. If you don’t
entertain them, there’s a big line behind you wanting to
fight. It’s the market. To keep yourself there, you have
to do exciting fights,” comments.
And
he believes it’s possible to remain in the UFC even with
a loss. “Wanderlei (Silva) is there even losing three of
his last five fights. He’s a showman, and that’s what
the UFC wants,” the black belt said, eyeing a UFC return.
“I was upset when I left the UFC, but now I feel more mature
and I’m sure one day I’ll be there again”.
Source: Tatame
|
WEC
GM DOESN'T WANT PULVER TO FIGHT AGAIN
World
Extreme Cagefighting general manager Reed Harris appreciates
everything Jens Pulver has done for his company and the sport
of mixed martial arts, but he doesn’t want to see the 35-year-old
featherweight fight again.
Harris
would rather find other avenues for Pulver to work with the WEC.
“I
don’t think I really want to see him fight again, so I think
I would prefer to look at other options,” Harris told MMAWeekly.com
content partner TapouT Radio.
“Certainly
we love Jens, and Jens had asked some time ago about possibly
coming in and working with us and doing some different things.
And we’re open to all of that, but I haven’t actually
had the discussion with Jens, and I’m hoping to do that
probably in the next week or so,” explained the general
manager.
Pulver
has lost five fights in a row, and seven of his last eight, but
he’s a fan favorite and offers more than just fighting.
He’s commentated for the UFC and WEC, and it seems likely
that will be his future role within the promotion.
“We’ve
had a couple of meetings internally where we’ve discussed
different things, and one of the things that came up was that
a lot of people really liked him in the booth,” said Harris.
“They liked his commentary, and he’s a great ambassador
as well to the sport. I don’t have any problem having him
involved.
“Certainly
with the WEC, he’s a pioneer in the sport. Probably one
of the nicest guys I’ve ever met, and he’s genuine.
He’s easy to work with, which is so important. He gets it.
If Jens Pulver is supposed to be somewhere at 10 o’clock,
he’s there, and a lot of times when guys get as famous as
him they don’t do that stuff. They become just a little
more difficult, and with Jens, he’s just been the same ever
since I met him. He‘s a great guy and I‘m hoping we
can talk to him and get him involved.”
Source: MMA Weekly
|
BARNETT
ADDED TO DREAM 13; BUT NO OPPONENT
Japan’s Dream fight promotion on Friday added more names
to the roster for its March 22 event at Yokohama Arena.
The
big name with all the pop is Josh Barnett, although the promotion
did not announce an opponent for “The Baby Faced Assassin.”
Sports Illustrated’s Josh Gross tweeted that Siala “Mighty
Mo” Siliga is probably going to face Barnett at Dream 13.
A
bout that is set is a featherweight contest between WEC veterans
Cole Escovedo and Yoshiro Maeda.
Escovedo
(15-4) is on a four-fight winning streak since recovering from
a near fatal staph infection. By the time it was detected, the
infection reached his spine, leaving him paralyzed from the waist
down. It took Escovedo nearly three years to fight again, but
he seems to have returned to form, submitting Jeff Bedard with
his patented triangle choke in his most recent fight.
Maeda
(26-7-2), following a year long stretch where he lost three of
four bouts, has recovered with back-to-back wins to close out
2009, including a submission of former WEC champion Chase Beebe
at Dream 12 in October.
A
featherweight title bout between current champion Bibiano Fernandes
and challenger Joachim Hansen heads Dream 13 on March 22 in Yokohama,
Japan.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
WEC
ANNOUNCES SEVERAL NEW FIGHTS FOR PPV CARD
The WEC announced several new fights for the upcoming card in
Sacramento which will serve as the promotion's first effort into
pay-per-view on April 24.
While
all the fights were confirmed for the WEC 48 card, it wasn't
disclosed if any of the fights will make the broadcast or if
they will be undercard fights.
Cub
Swanson (14-3) makes his return to action and faces "The
Korean Zombie" Chan Sung Jung (10-1), who makes his promotional
debut after being thought as one of the top prospects in the
featherweight division.
Going
5-2 in his WEC career, Cub Swanson looks to make an impact in
the ever growing 145lb weight class, while Jung makes his debut
in the United States after spending the majority of his career
in Japan, most recently fighting in Sengoku.
Also
announced for the card, Japanese heavy hitter Takeya Mizugaki
(12-4-2) tries to bounce back from a loss in his last fight against
Scott Jorgensen when he faces grappling wizard Rani Yahya (15-5)
who also suffered a tough loss in his last trip out when he was
TKO'd by current top bantamweight contender Joseph Benavidez.
Tough
British fighter Brad Pickett (18-4) will look to build on his
last win, a submission over Kyle Dietz in December, when he faces
undefeated Matt Hume product, Demetrious Johnson (5-0).
The
final fight confirmed for the WEC card in April features the
return of undefeated featherweight Brandon Visher who tries to
keep his unbeaten streak alive when he faces promotional newcomer
Tyler Toner.
More
fights are expected to be announced for the April card in the
coming weeks. Stay tuned to MMAWeekly.com for the latest WEC
news and pay-per-view information.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
Andre
Dida ready to a war against KJ Noons
Focused
on the K-1 events in 2010, Andre “Dida” Amade will
face former EliteXC titleholder KJ Noons at Dream’s next
edition, on March 22. Talking to TATAME.com at UDL camp, the
fighter commented the fight.
“If
the fight as this weekend I’d be ready. I’m training
for a long time. That’s a great match-up, I’m sure
it’ll be a great fight. We’ll go for the knockout all
the time,”, Amade said, eyeing a title shot in the future.
“I’m sure I’ll beat him and, after that, I’ll
face another great fighter and then I’ll have a chance for
the title”.
And
“Dida” also talked Mauricio Shogun’s preparation
to the rematch with Lyoto Machida, on UFC 113. “People underestimated
me in the first fight (as a MMA coach) and I showed I can do
it. It’s another Lyoto, it’s another Shogun and I’m
sure it’ll be another fight. We only know that we can’t
leave it up to the judges. (The strategy) is a secret, you know,
we have our recipe to face everybody”
Source: Tatame
|
Quote
of the Day
"Make
no little plans; they have no magic to stir men's blood...
Make big plans, aim high in hope and work."
Daniel H. Burnham, 1846-1912
|
ST-PIERRE
GOES OUT OF HIS WAY FOR SUPERCAMP
by Damon
Martin
Training with the best fighters in the world has shown to be
a key to the success for most champions in the world of mixed
martial arts, and there may not be any fighter more willing to
go out and work with the best than UFC champion Georges St-Pierre.
As
the welterweight kingpin prepares for his latest title defense,
against Dan Hardy at UFC 111 in New Jersey, St-Pierre has racked
up the frequent flyer miles to ensure he's had the very best
training going into the fight.
His
home camp in Montreal will always serve as the base of operations
for Team GSP, where he works alongside lead coach Firas Zahabi,
and a cast of top fighters and wrestlers from the area.
Working
in Colorado just a few weeks back, GSP was training with close
friend and training partner Nate Marquardt, while also working
with the rest of the Grudge team including UFC fighters Shane
Carwin, Eliot Marshall, and Brendan Schaub. The room also included
several Team Jackson's fighters like Rashad Evans and Keith Jardine.
From
there the camp moved to New York City and Renzo Gracie's academy
in Manhattan where the training room consisted of Gracie and
another top trainer named John Danaher, while also traveling
to Muay Thai instructor Phil Nurse's gym as well.
Beyond
the trainers, at any given point in New York City, St-Pierre
could be seen rolling and sparring with Kenny Florian, Frankie
Edgar, Ricardo Almeida, and others as he prepared for his March
27 tilt with Hardy.
"A
great variety of training partners, I'm very lucky to have that
circle of friends and training partners, that's what makes me
successful and it's how you surround yourself sometimes that
makes the difference," St-Pierre told MMAWeekly Radio recently.
"They help me out a lot."
The
proof is in the production as St-Pierre is undefeated in his
last six fights, including three consecutive defenses of his
welterweight title. The Canadian believes the camp he put together
for this fight is the best he's ever had, and it will show when
he arrives in New Jersey later this month. Oh yeah, he also just
happens to have one of the greatest strategists in the sport’s
history in Greg Jackson in his corner for his fight.
"I've
never been so ready in my career for a fight," said St-Pierre.
"I'm the best I've ever been, I can't wait to get it on
and get to the next chapter in my career."
St-Pierre
just recently left New York City to complete his camp in Montreal,
along with UFC lightweight contender Kenny Florian, who will
spend two weeks with the Tristar team as he finishes up his camp
as well.
Of
course training isn't fighting, but St-Pierre has definitely
put in the work with all the right people to ensure him the best
possible preparation for his next title defense.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
The
MMA Hour Featuring Jens Pulver and Miesha Tate
By Ariel
Helwani
It's been two months, but The MMA Hour is finally back, and it's
better than ever. Behold episode 31 of the show in our new studio
in New York City. On this edition, we talk to Jens Pulver, who
lost to Javier Vazquez at WEC 47 last weekend, about his fighting
future and whether he believes it's time for him to makes the
transition over to broadcasting.
Later,
we spoke to Miesha Tate, who will face Zoila Frausto at Strikeforce
Challengers VII on March 26. Tate discussed why she dislikes
Frausto, Sarah Kaufman's recent title victory and whether women's
MMA needs Gina Carano to continue her fighting career in order
to grow
Source: MMA Fighting
|
WEC’s
poor ratings show that Strikeforce should not waste their time
going after them
By Zach
Arnold
The
news coming out regarding WEC 47 drawing a 0.46 cable rating
on Versus is bad news for Zuffa and informational news for CBS
& Strikeforce.
First,
the piss-poor rating should be cause for concern with UFC’s
upcoming March 21st rally with Brandon Vera vs. Jon Jones. America
is all about branding and despite years and years of Comcast
trying to push Versus as a major network, American viewers simply
aren’t buying into it. ESPN and its family of networks continue
its dominance and Spike TV had long track records and programming
that built those brands over many years. Versus has tried desperately
with WEC and the NHL to try to boost ratings, but it simply hasn’t
worked. UFC is a strong brand but it’s unlikely that they
are going to build up Versus long-term like WWE helped build
up Spike TV in the late 90s and early 00’s.
Second,
WEC’s poor ratings not only indicate that the company is
in a slide, but it also shows that Strikeforce has won a small
battle amongst the hardcore fans. When Strikeforce on Showtime,
a pay channel, is outdrawing Zuffa’s child on a semi-non-premium
cable channel. So, the idea that Strikeforce should move their
4/17 Nashville event to 4/24 to try to screw with the buyrate
for the WEC debut PPV would be a reactionary one and one that
wouldn’t be productive for Scott Coker. Strikeforce needs
to worry about expanding their base instead of fighting with
Zuffa’s Jr. company over hardcore fans. Running on 4/17
instead of 4/24 also avoids competition against the Super Six
boxing series on Showtime.
Regarding
the paid attendance for WEC’s event in Columbus, Ohio being
over 8,000 — that’s a great number for the company,
but WEC’s main purpose is that as a television property
first and a live gate property second. In many ways, WEC serves
the same function for UFC as DREAM does for K-1 — draw ratings,
make money, and control the television pipeline away from the
competition. WEC drawing low ratings on all non-Urijah Faber
cards will ultimately defeat the purpose (and the push) that
existed for being on Versus in the first place. It just adds
more pressure onto Zuffa’s junior company to pop a good
number on PPV or else face the realities at hand.
The
big question at hand — will the move to PPV essentially
cannibalize the deal with Versus? If WEC fails on PPV and continues
to draw low ratings on Versus, will it force UFC to essentially
merge WEC into their fold and run shows on Versus as UFC (along
with the gluttonous amount of programming already on Spike TV)?
Source: Fight Opinion
|
“Kimbo
Slice” vs. Matt Mitrione Confirmed for UFC 113
By FCF
Staff
Although
rumors surfaced recently speculating that Kevin “Kimbo Slice”
Ferguson might face UFC newcomer James Toney in his next bout,
the UFC has confirmed today that Slice will face fellow TUF 10
competitor Matt Mitrione, May 8th. The bout will take place on
the televised portion of UFC 113, which will be held at the Bell
Centre in Montreal, Quebec.
Slice
(4-1) will be looking for his second UFC win, as in his first
official Octagon bout last December, the Elite XC veteran worked
his way to a Unanimous Decision victory over Houston Alexander.
Mitrione
(1-0) made his official pro MMA debut at the TUF 10 Finale in
December a successful one, by knocking out fellow NFL veteran
Marcus Jones in the second round.
UFC
113 will be headlined by a rematch between light-heavyweight
champion Lyoto Machida and challenger Mauricio “Shogun”
Rua. Machida defended his title by Unanimous Decision in their
first meeting last October, in what was widely considered to
be an extremely competitive affair.
Some
of the other bouts scheduled for UFC 113 include Josh Koscheck
vs. Paul Daley, Sam Stout vs. Jeremy Stephens, and Alan Belcher
vs. Patrick Cote.
Source: Full Contact Fighter
|
Paulo
confirms fight against Kampmann
By Guilherme
Cruz
After 13 victories in 14 fights, Paulo Thiago will face another
tough challenge. After the rumors of a possible fight against
Martin Kampmann at UFC 115, TATAME.com called the Brazilian welterweight
today and he confirmed the bout.
Coming
from a great victory over Mike Swick, the special elite police
officer faces Top 10 welterweight Martin Kampmann. “He’s
a tough guy, winning this ight I’ll walk one more step in
my career,” Thiago said, waiting for the plane to travel
to Sao Paulo, Brazil. “He did a great fight (against Jacob
Volkmann), he’s a well ranked guy… That’s a good
fight for me”
Source: Tatame
|
DANZIG
VS. WIMAN ON TAP FOR UFC 115
by Ken
Pishna
For an event that has been mired in rumors that put it in jeopardy,
the fight card for UFC 115 is starting to fill up rather quickly.
You
can now add a lightweight showdown between Mac Danzig and Matt
Wiman to the roster of the UFC’s first event in Vancouver,
British Columbia, Canada, scheduled for June 12.
The
likelihood of the bout was first reported by MMAJunkie.com. MMAWeekly.com
sources independently confirmed that the bout has been agreed
to, although pen has yet to hit paper.
There
has been some concern recently as to whether or not Vancouver
would be ready for a June 12 event in light of the fact that
the Vancouver Athletic Commission has yet to put regulations
in place. Marc Ratner, UFC Vice President of Regulatory Affairs,
however, told MMAWeekly.com that so far “(UFC 115) is still
on track.”
Danzig
(19-7-1) is looking to follow up his win over Justin Buchholz
with another over Wiman. The recent victory at UFC 109 ended
a three-fight skid for the winner of “The Ultimate Fighter
Season 6.”
Wiman
(11-5) is in much the same boat as Danzig. He defeated Shane
Nelson at UFC 107 to break a two-fight skid.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
M-1
Indicates New Strikeforce Deal Nearly Complete
Evgeni
Kogan, M-1 Global's Director of Operations, talks to Sherdog
about the recent negotiations between his company and co-promotional
partners Strikeforce:
"I
think June, July is realistic (for Emelianenko's return). It's
not 100 percent. Don't take this as a fight announcement, but
I think during the summer. After the CBS show, we thought that
the (Strikeforce) terms needed a little bit tweaking -- nothing
major, just a little bit of tweaking. So, we had a round of negotiations
with Strikeforce. Everything went positively. We're pretty much
at the end. For us, it's really important that the M-1 Global
brand is acknowledged on these co-promotion events. As much as
the partners made a lot of effort to acknowledge the co-branding,
the media basically picked up on the fact that it was Strikeforce
and kind of forgot about everything else, which wasn't the most
ideal for us."
The
most interesting aspect of this comment, at least to me, is the
fact that Kogan seems to believe that the media needs to acknowledge
M-1's role in the co-promotional efforts between his company
and Strikeforce. Whether Kogan believes that or not, it should
be obvious that no amount of negotiations between M-1 and Strikeforce
will result in the media staying on the message M-1 wants delivered.
It's
also interesting to note that Kogan was once a contributor for
Sherdog, and has since risen to power in M-1 operations.
Source: Heavy
|
Minotouro
ready for another ‘easy opponent’
By Guilherme
Cruz
Rogério “Minotouro” Nogueira waited for a long
time to make his UFC debut, but the huge knockout victory over
Luiz Cane made it worthy. Now, the Bahia native fighter faces
the former UFC light heavyweight champion Forrest Griffin. “They
only put easy opponents to face me (laughs),” Nogueira jokes.
“In two fights they only put tough guys, but that’s
it, I’m ready”.
After
becoming a father and with 18 victory in his record, Rogério
knows his responsibilities and goals. “I’m more mature
now, training better… I had great opportunities in my life
that I couldn’t get, but this time I won’t lose them,”
guarantees, ready for any challenge. “I’ll accept any
fight, I won’t waste opportunities”, finished the fighter,
who faces Griffin this May.
Source: Tatame
|
Rachelle
Leah Returns as Octagon Girl at UFC 111
By Ariel
Helwani
Rachelle Leah will reprise her role as a UFC Octagon Girl at
UFC 111 on March 27 in Newark, NJ, the organization announced
Wednesday.
According
to the report, Leah will only return for one night only. No word
on whether she will replace current Octagon Girls, Arianny Celeste
or Chandella Powell.
Leah,
who gave up her Octagon Girl duties a couple of years ago to
host UFC All Access and pursue other opportunities, graced the
cover of Playboy in October 2008.
For
all you Octagon Girl history buffs out there, chew on this: Leah
will be the seventh different woman to work as an Octagon Girl
over the past year.
Source: MMA Fighting
|
L.C.
DAVIS QUIETLY MAKING WAVES IN THE WEC
by Mick
Hammond
While other fighters in the 145-pound division may be getting
all the press and fan adoration, L.C. Davis continues to quietly
go about his business and defeat some of the sport’s toughest
fighters.
Three
wins in a row in the WEC against the likes of Javier Vasquez,
Diego Nunes, and most recently at Saturday’s event over
Deividas Taurosevicius has Davis on the verge of making one of
the best runs in the sport for any fighter at any weight.
“I’m
very happy and grateful I got the victory,” the ever-humble
Davis told MMAWeekly.com. “I thought it was a tough fight.
“It
was a really intense match of two guys that are equally skilled
with similar styles, so I’m pleased and happy I came away
with the win.”
Even
though he’s pleased to have raised his record to an impressive
16-2, Davis isn’t completely happy with his performance
against Taurosevicius.
“I
was a little disappointed with my stand-up,” he admitted.
“I had a hard time judging the distance and I kind of played
too much defense.
“I
just wished I would have pushed the pace a little bit more, been
more aggressive and let my hands go more, so I was a little bit
disappointed with that. I was very pleased with my takedown defense
and my work in the clinch, but I just wish I could have done
a little bit more striking-wise.”
Even
with his third win in three fights for the WEC, Davis is uncertain
where he fits at this point in the division.
“I
think if I would have had a more decisive, dominating victory
over Deividas I think that would have definitely put me a lot
closer,” he said.
“Coming
away with a squeaky close victory I don’t know where it
really puts me, but definitely think it moves me a little bit
more forward and gets me closer to my goal, which is the belt.”
Despite
no indication what’s to come next for him in the WEC, Davis
does admit that he won’t let himself get lost in the shuffle.
“I
don’t want to take a step backwards,” he stated. “I
want to fight the big names; the Mike Browns, Urijah Fabers,
and Jose Aldos; the guys who are thought of as the top guys.
“I
worked too hard to get to 3-0 and get in this position. I just
want to keep moving forward, get closer to that belt.”
While
there may be other fighters who have been given bigger pushes
for lesser accomplishments, Davis is not one to egotistically
draw attention to himself. He would rather his opportunities
come to him the way they always have, through hard work and determination.
“I
want to thank Jaco Clothing, their cups are awesome and they
saved me from a couple groin shots; RevGear, Polanti Watches,
Gamma-O, TCB Fight Wear, Affliction, and Future Clothing,”
he said in closing.
“I
want to tell all my fans to watch out. This is going to be the
year. I’m pushing for the belt and make a name for myself
and get to the top of the division.”
Source: MMA Weekly
|
Report:
Bonnar Loses Appeal Over UFC 110 Loss
By FCF
Staff
The
Combat Sports Authority of New South Wales has decided that the
TKO loss Stephan Bonnar incurred against Krzystztof Soszynski
last month, at UFC 110 in Sydney, will stand. Bonnar incurred
a fight ending cut on his forehead after he and Soszynski clashed
heads in the third round of their February 20th fight. The referee
ruled, however, that Bonnar had been cut due to a strike, and
the bout was awarded to Soszynski.
The
Sports Network’s official site (TSN) reported news of Bonnar’s
failed bid to have the bout ruled a No Contest earlier today.
With
the win being upheld, Soszynski’s record will remain at
19-19-1 while Bonnar’s stands at 11-7. Both fighters have
agreed to have a rematch, however, no date has yet been confirmed
by the UFC.
Source: Full Contact Fighter
|
Quote
of the Day
"The
greatest mistake you can make in life is to be continually fearing
you will make one."
Elbert Hubbard, 1856-1915
|
BJ
Penn Talks About "The Face"
BJ Penn reveals why the eyes are the window to the soul.
By Jonathan
Snowden
It was a surreal moment to be certain. In the fight game you
often see some pretty intense staredowns. These men and women
are prepared to go into a cage and beat the crap out of each
other: emotion is always bubbling just below the surface. Unless
you are Diego Sanchez. Then it is bubbling, exploding, spewing
everywhere and making a mess.
His
staredown with BJ Penn prior to their fight at UFC 107 went beyond
comical, unintentional or not, into a whole new category of hysterical.
He looked like a slightly constopated pit bull, but one that
was about to break out into tears at any minute. And instead
of intimidating Penn, it just made him more confident.
"As
soon as we got together and did the staredown and kind of stood
in front of each other, I already knew from that moment. Nothing's
guaranteed, but I knew I had a good shot at winning that fight,"
Penn told Alexander Oxendine in an exclusive ten-part video interview
at BJPenn.com. "I could just tell, I could just tell his
presence. You can kind of get a lot when you stand in front of
somebody: who they are and what's inside them. I felt very comfortable
going into the fight."
Sanchez
has progressively taken his act to dazzling new heights with
every fight. In the first season of The Ultimate Fighter, he
was loveably wacky. Today, he seems to border on full out insanity.
Is it all an act, or is he just letting media and fans further
and further into Diego-land?
"A
lot of people told me 'Diego is putting on that face to pump
himself up.' I think, maybe that's just the kind of person he
is," Penn said. "Some of that may be true: we're all
fighters and we all have to pump ourselves up and force ourselves
to believe in ourselves. I think he's genuinely a tough person
also. It's probably a little of both. He's good, he's tough,
and he's probably trying to get himself into the fight."
Sanchez
is just one of a dozen topics Penn covers in the nearly hour
long interview. From confronting critics of his mother, to Dana
White's plan for him to move back to welterweight, Penn doesn't
flinch from answering the tough questions. Highly recommended
for a look inside the mind of one of the sport's very best.
Source: UGO
|
UFC
3/21 Broomfield, Colorado (1stBank Center)
By Zach
Arnold
TV:
Versus
TV start time: 9 PM EST
Dark
matches
¦Light
Heavyweights: Eric Schafer vs. Jason Brilz
¦Welterweights: Mike Pierce vs. Julio Paulino
¦Heavyweights: Brendan Schaub vs. Chase Gormley
¦Welterweights: John Howard vs. Daniel Roberts
¦Light Heavyweights: Eliot Marshall vs. Vladimir Matyushenko
¦Lightweights: Clay Guida vs. Shannon Gugerty
¦Middleweights: Alessio Sakara vs. James Irvin
Main card
¦Heavyweights:
Cheick Kongo vs. Paul Buentello
¦Heavyweights: Junior Dos Santos vs. Gabriel Gonzaga
¦Light Heavyweights: Brandon Vera vs. Jon “Bones”
Jones
Source: Fight Opinion
|
THE
NEXT BIG THING: VERA VS. JONES VS. THE HYPE
by Damon
Martin
It wasn't long ago that Brandon Vera was being referred to as
the future of the sport, and possibly the first ever two weight
class champion. Now years after his debut, Vera has settled into
the 205-pound division, and is working his way back to contender
status, while a new lion has entered the arena with much of the
same hype.
After
an explosive first few fights in the UFC, Jon "Bones"
Jones is now being referred to as the future of the light heavyweight
division, and he'll meet Vera in the main event of the upcoming
UFC on Versus 1 show in Broomfield, Colo. While Jones appreciates
the accolades, he's humble enough to realize it's all just words
unless he performs.
"I
try not to think about it at all," Jones said about the
expectations laid at his doorstep. "I work really hard,
I train really hard, and when I'm not training I'm always thinking
about fighting, and studying my opponents, and all kinds of stuff.
So I'm kind of like the MMA geek, and I realize being so obsessed
with this sport, all the other kinds of stuff comes with it.
So I try to keep it real with myself. Ultimately, at the end
of the day, it's about my kids and my family at home."
The
New York native is quick to point out that the hype around a
fighter can be both a blessing and a curse. He explained further
when talking about the quick turn some fans gave UFC middleweight
champion Anderson Silva just last year.
"I
know MMA fans are brutal," said Jones. "Like Anderson
Silva was my idol, he was the man, everyone loved him, he's the
best thing since sliced bread, and then when he couldn't finish
Thales Leites the fans just switched up on him right away. Saying
that he's washed up, saying that he didn't have it anymore, so
I know that MMA fans can be brutal.
"I
can be God's gift to the world or the second coming of Jesus
Christ, and then the next day I can be nothing. So I try to keep
my head on straight, realize what I'm here for, and just try
to improve every day and not really worry about people having
high expectations for me."
Been
there and done that is the best way to describe Vera's turn as
the "next big thing" as the brash young Californian
burst onto the scene with several big wins, including a knockout
of former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir. Now 2-2 in his
last four fights, Vera has had the tables turned on him a little
bit, but he's ready to show people who have forgotten him what
the "Truth" is all about.
"I
did say I was going to hold the light heavyweight championship
belt and the heavyweight championship belt," Vera said about
his early talk when entering the UFC. "I guess this is kind
of a way to re-introduce myself back to the world. I'm not playing
no games, I'm back on track."
With
a chance to rebuild himself in the division, Vera will try to
take the hype away from Jones and prove that he can still be
the next big thing.
Vera
and Jones will square off in the main event of UFC on Versus
1 on March 21 in Broomfield, Colo.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
Aleksander
Emelianenko to Fight Former Olympian
By Ray
Hui
Aleksander
Emelianenko, the younger brother of Fedor, will compete against
former Olympic wrestler Eddy Bengtsson at ProFC: Commonweath
Cup on April 23 in Moscow.
Emelianenko
(15-3), who last fought in March 2009 at a ProFC event against
Ibragim Magomedov (video above), has won his last six fights.
Bengtsson
(4-1) of Sweden competed last November in the Mayor's Cup tournament
in Russia, losing to Red Devil Sports Club fighter and tournament
runner-up Alexey Olenik.
Source: MMA Fighting
|
Roach:
UFC Is Using Toney
By Jake
Rossen
Wednesday, March 10 7:23 pm PT: I still don’t know what
to make of Freddie Roach broaching the topic of MMA. On one hand,
Roach is inarguably a legend of the boxing corner, having forged
steel in an incredible training career. On the other hand, he
dismissed Fedor Emelianenko’s stand-up ability prior to
the fight with Roach pupil Andrei Arlovski. If he watched tape
on Emelianenko before making that comment, it must’ve been
fuzzy.
Because
Roach can make a unique comment on James Toney’s entry into
MMA, it was only a matter of time before someone asked him about
it. And Roach obliged, telling CraveOnline that Toney was being
positioned for a fall.
“I
think they’re using James as a way to say MMA fighters are
better than boxers,” he said. “If he fights a quality
ground guy, once he goes to the ground he’s gonna get killed.
But if a guy chooses to stand up with James, James is gonna destroy
him. That’s why they call him ‘Lights Out.’ I
really don’t think there’s one fighter in MMA that
could stand with James.”
Like
so much of what results from MMA, it depends on the fighter.
If Toney stands and “trades” with Kimbo Slice or David
Abbott, yes, he goes home happy. But boxers are not kickboxers,
and the threat of a foot traveling at velocity towards your thigh,
ribs, or head is not an offense Toney is used to.
We’ve
seen solid boxers flail in K-1 for that very reason. Toney has
two very good hands. They do not necessarily beat two hands,
two feet, two elbows, and two knees.
Source: Sherdog
|
UFC
press conference today in Japan
By Zach
Arnold
The
promotion held a presser today in Tokyo with Jamie Pollack (photo),
counsel for Zuffa, leading the announcement of the fight card
for their 3/31 event at Bojangles Arena in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Pollack’s last time in Japan wasn’t so great —
he was sent by Zuffa to try to head-up the shinsei (newborn)
PRIDE resurrection attempt after the asset sale with Nobuyuki
Sakakibara.
At
today’s press conference at Wald 9 in Shinjuku (Tokyo),
it was announced that the UFC Charlotte event would air on TV
Tokyo, the smallest of the free-to-air broadcast networks in
Japan. In other words, UFC will not make much of a dent in the
Japanese marketplace. TV Tokyo is a pay-for-play station. You
bring the sponsors and pay for the time, you get it. The 3/31
show will air on TV Tokyo on 4/8 in a one-hour slot from 10 PM
to 10:54 PM JST.
Pollack
at today’s presser (photo) said that UFC was aiming to expand
into Japan and that signing “big names” like Gomi,
Okami, and Uno were part of the marketing plan. OK. In usual
grandstanding bluster, the TV Tokyo sports executive at the presser
said he hopes the UFC show will draw a double-digit rating. (A
realistic rating would be in the 4-to-6 % range.)
A
taped video by Dana White was played at the press conference,
saying that the three Japanese fighters (Gomi, Okami, and Uno)
are “Japanese legend fighters.” Which means those fighters
will all fight in the top 3 slots on the card, right? Nope —
Okami fights 3rd and Uno 4th, both dark matches in America.
Source: Fight Opinion
|
Tyler
Stinson Wins Bellator Open Tryout
Kansas Fighter to Compete on Promotion’s April 29th Card
By FCF
Staff
Bellator
Fighting Championship has announced today that 24 year-old Kansan,
Tyler Stinson, was selected as the winner of the promotion’s
open tryout this past weekend. The 16-5 fighter was chosen from
a reported field of 72 athletes that attended the tryouts in
Kansas. As a result of his performance, Stinson has earned a
spot on the promotion’s upcoming April 29th card, which
will take place at the Kansas City Power and Light District.
“This
whole experience was just awesome,” Stinson was quoted saying
in a release from the promotion. “To hear my name called
at the end of the day was just unbelievable. I’m really
almost speechless right now. Bellator is just such a great organization
and I’m excited for the chance to fight in front of my family
and friends in Kansas City.”
Stinson
will head into his Bellator debut having won three straight fights.
Most recently the veteran submitted Jerome Martinez with a first
round armbar at a C3 event on February 13th.
No
announcement was made as to who Stinson will fight on April 29th.
Bellator has also announced that the tryout’s second place
finisher was Leonardo Pecanha (11-6), who is now being considered
for a spot on one of the promotion’s cards in May.
Bellator’s
second season tournaments are scheduled to begin April 8th.
Source: Full Contact Fighter
|
Marlon
Sandro, a Jiu-Jitsu black belt knockout artist
by Carlos
Eduardo Ozório
With
16 wins and one contentious defeat, Marlon Sandro was on fire
at the last installment of Sengoku, in Japan, with his knockout
of Tomonari Kanomata coming just 9 seconds into the match (see
video below). While still in the ring, he was challenged by current
champion Masanori Kanehara, in a fight that should take place
June 20. In a conversation with GRACIEMAG.com, the Jiu-Jitsu
black belt spoke of his burgeoning quality as a knockout-artist,
his next challenge and his teammate Jose Aldo’s upcoming
title defense against Urijah Faber. Check it out:
You
come from a Jiu-Jitsu background, you’re a black belt, yet
you surprise everyone with knockouts. How do you explain that?
Often
I try to do the opposite of what my opponent’s game is.
If the guy is good on the ground, we fight standing; or if he
wants to stand and trade, I take him down. But regardless, I’ve
been doing a lot of standup training. Like I told you before,
I don’t ever want to leave the fight in the judges’
hands (due to the only blemish on his 17-fight record). So whatever
I have to do to get it over with quick, I do. Giovanni Diniz
helped me with my standup and Rafael has been helping me a lot,
too. We work on timing a lot to become more aware in the stand-up
department.
Is
your standup now better than your Jiu-Jitsu? Would you rather
fight standing than on the ground?
Jiu-Jitsu
will always be my main weapon, but these days I like fighting
on my feet a lot. Like I said, it all depends on the fight. If
I fight a striker who doesn’t know much on the ground, I’ll
take him down for sure. If I’m not doing well standing,
let’s go to the ground. It’s all about training a lot
to increase my array of options, to know how to fight standing,
takedown and fight on the ground.
What
are your thoughts on your next challenge, against Masanori Kanehara,
for the belt?
I
was supposed to have fought Kanehara this fight and I didn’t
understand why, after my win, they showed Hatsu Hioki on the
screen. But, after that, Kanehara himself came up and challenged
me in the ring. I think he’s a well-rounded fighter, with
good standup and ground skills, is very flexible. At the end
of last year, he fought Kid Yamamoto and managed two knockdowns,
so it’ll be a good, tough fight. If you want to be among
the best, you have to face the best. He’s the champion and
I’m going to train a lot. I’m already familiar with
his game and I’ll train to fight him standing. I don’t
believe he’ll want to strike with me and I’ll be ready
for anything.
Did
Sengoku change its name?
It
changed. Truth is that they grew and now it’s called Sengoku
Raiden Championships, as a tribute to one of the greatest sumo
wrestlers of all times.
To
finish, what do you expect in the bout between your teammate
Jose Aldo and Urijah Faber for the WEC featherweight belt?
Faber
is a very unpredictable guy and is dangerous for it. There’s
no way to know what he’s going to do. But Jose Aldo will
win. Faber won’t make it past the second round. It’ll
be a tough and dangerous fight and we’re training for all
five rounds, but I believe Junior will get the knockout in the
second round.
Source: Gracie Magazine
|
Arona
"hibernating to come back hunting"
Ricardo Arona was considered one of the best light heavyweight
fighters of the world. But, when Pride ended, in 2007, Arona
decided to stop competing for a while. Since then, the “Brazilian
Tiger” kapt saying that this time off was helping him to
think about everything he had done in his career. The time passed,
he came back to fight two years and a half later, but a knee
injury forced him to postpone his plans one more time.
In
an exclusive interview, published at TATAME Magazine’s latest
issue, the black belt opened his house and talked about his plans
to 2010. “I’m hibernating to come back hunting again,”
Arona said, talking about the possibility of fighting in the
UFC and how will he do to stay tuned on the new techniques in
MMA. “Technique is something you renew all the time, we
have to keep the mind open to learn all the time. Even somebody
that doesn’t know MMA can show you something”, said.
Source: Tatame
|
Antwain
Britt: I'm Fighting 'Feijao' at Strikeforce in May
By Ariel
Helwani
Strikeforce has yet to officially announce their May show, but
light heavyweight Antwain Britt told MMA Fighting Wednesday that
he has agreed to fight Rafael "Feijao" Cavalcante on
the card. Britt said he hasn't been told when and where the fight
will take place, but he believes it will air on the televised
portion of the card.
"I
think it's a good matchup for me," Britt said. "He's
a big, strong guy. Of course, the fight camp he has over there,
he trains with a lot of good guys, so I think he brings a lot
to the table. You got a puncher's chance in this game. You know,
him getting knocked out by Mike Kyle, it showed some of his weaknesses,
but in the big scheme of things, anybody can get caught on any
given day. So any time I train, I train for the most dangerous
guy in the world, and I'm really training hard for this fight."
When
contacted by MMA Fighting, Strikeforce officials wouldn't confirm
or deny the Britt-Cavalcante matchup.
"Feijao,"
8-2, who trains with the likes of Anderson Silva and the Nogueira
brothers, picked up his first Strikeforce win in November after
defeating Aaron Rosa via second-round TKO. He was supposed to
fight for the light heavyweight title against then-champion "Babalu"
Sobral in June, but Sobral had to pull out of the bout on short
notice due to the impending birth of a child. Instead, "Feijao"
was matched up against Mike Kyle, who pulled off a huge upset
when he defeated the Brazilian via second-round TKO.
Britt,
11-3, won his Strikeforce debut against Scott Lighty via doctor
stoppage in December. The win came following a loss to the UFC's
Rodney Wallace on a local card three months prior.
Britt
said handing Lighty his first MMA loss, and considering Lighty's
extensive kickboxing background, boosted his confidence greatly.
"That
was definitely a good fight to get out of the way. Getting that
first win under your belt, once you get that, you can get a little
bit more momentum and fanfare behind you, a lot more hype. You
know, it's fun. You get the interviews and the PR stuff that
comes along with all the hype of beating someone like Lighty,
someone who has as many kickboxing accolades as he does. I'm
just trying to get to the next level and definitely be up for
a title shot before the year's end."
Light
heavyweight champion Gegard Mousasi will be defending his title
against Muhammed Lawal in April, and Britt believes that a dominant
win over "Feijao" should put him in line to fight the
winner of that tilt.
"I'm
in the gym every day training for the most dangerous people.
I got a good group of guys around me. I brought in Vince Borden,
he's a really great jiu-jitsu guy, and dude's been around, so
I get a lot of good looks from a lot of different guys. Mackens
Semerzier from the WEC is coming in, doing a lot of footwork
stuff, and the guys who train here at Hybrid Training Center
in Virginia Beach. So I'm just training for anybody. I definitely
see myself, with a win over 'Feijao,' as the top contender for
the title."
Source: MMA Fighting
|
UFC
111 IS OFFICIALLY SOLD OUT
As the Ultimate Fighting Championship heads back to the East
Coast, the fans have responded once again, and welcomed the UFC
back with open arms.
The
Ultimate Fighting Championship on Wednesday announced that tickets
are officially sold out for UFC 111: St-Pierre vs. Hardy, which
takes place Saturday, March 27 at the Prudential Center in Newark,
N.J.
“I
love every time we go to the East Coast,” UFC president
Dana White said. “The fans always come out and show their
support. We’re coming there with a stacked card and two
championship fights. This time New Jersey – New York is
next.”
In
featured bouts, one of the best fighters in the game today, UFC
welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre, looks to extend his
reign and his six-fight winning streak against British bomber
Dan “The Outlaw” Hardy, and former heavyweight champion
Frank Mir looks to become only the second man in UFC history
to win the championship three times when he takes on number one
contender Shane Carwin for the interim UFC heavyweight title.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
Quote
of the Day
"Only
passions, great passions, can elevate the soul to great things."
Denis Diderot, 1713-1784
|
Source: Event Promoter
|
UFC
3/27 Newark, New Jersey (PPV)
By Zach
Arnold
Dark
matches
¦Welterweights:
Matt Riddle vs. Greg Soto
¦Middleweights: Rousimar Palhares vs. Tomasz Drwal
¦Light Heavyweights: Rodney Wallace vs. Jared Hamman
¦Lightweights: Kurt Pellegrino vs. Fabricio Camoes
¦Middleweights: Ricardo Almeida vs. Matt Brown
¦Lightweights: Nate Diaz vs. Rory Markham
Main card
¦Lightweights:
Jim Miller vs. Mark Bocek
¦Welterweights: Jon Fitch vs. Thiago Alves
¦Welterweights: Ben Saunders vs. Jake Ellenberger
¦#1 Contender’s match (Heavyweights): Frank Mir vs.
Shane Carwin
¦UFC Welterweight Title match: Georges St. Pierre vs.
Dan Hardy
Source: Fight Opinion
|
Georges
St-Pierre Says He's a Changed Fighter, Has No Interest in Third
Penn Bout
By Ariel
Helwani
Georges St-Pierre says that when you see him compete at UFC 111
against Dan Hardy on March 27, you'll notice a very different
fighter. In the video below, GSP talks about how he has drastically
changed his game since defeating Thiago Alves last July.
The
welterweight champion also talks about why he has no interest
in fighting BJ Penn a third time and how he's popularity has
grown in Canada as of late.
Source: MMA Fighting
|
5
Bouts Booked for WEC 48
by Brian
Knapp
Anthony Njokuani will collide with Shane Roller in a pivotal
battle between World Extreme Cagefighting lightweights at WEC
48 “Aldo vs. Faber” on April 24 at the Arco Arena in
Sacramento, Calif. Five fights are now official for the promotion’s
landmark debut on pay-per-view.
Born
in Nigeria, the 30-year-old Njokuani will carry a three-fight
winning streak into the match. He last appeared at WEC 45 in
December, when he flattened former International Fight League
cornerstone Chris Horodecki in the first round. Njokuani, now
based in Las Vegas, has never gone the distance in 15 professional
appearances and holds other notable wins against EliteXC veteran
Muhsin Corbbrey and former IFL standout Bart Palaszewski. In
fact, he was the first man in more than seven years to stop Palaszewski
on strikes.
Roller,
a three-time collegiate All-American wrestler at Oklahoma State
University, has rattled off back-to-back wins. The 30-year-old
Bixby, Okla., native submitted Team Alpha Male’s Danny Castillo
at WEC 44 in November. Only one of Roller’s nine bouts has
reached the judges. A victory over former WEC lightweight contender
Marcus Hicks highlights his resume.
The
bantamweights will also get their turn in the cage, as the world-ranked
Damacio Page locks horns with Antonio Banuelos.
Anchored
at Jackson’s Mixed Martial Arts in Albuquerque, N.M., Page
has won seven of his past eight bouts, losing only to former
WEC bantamweight champion Brian Bowles in that span. The 27-year-old
counts victories against Scott Jorgensen, Stephane Vigneault
and Thierry Quenneville among his 15 career conquests, and his
March 2009 knockout of Marcos Galvao remains one of the most
violent finishes in WEC history. Page has not fought since he
submitted Will Campuzano with a rear-naked choke at WEC 43 five
months ago; it took just 62 seconds.
Banuelos,
who trains alongside UFC hall of famer Chuck Liddell, will ride
a three-fight winning streak into the match. The 30-year-old
Californian last competed in November, when he outpointed Kenji
Osawa en route to a unanimous decision at WEC 44. Victories over
Jorgensen and former WEC featherweight champion Cole Escovedo
highlight his resume. In nine years inside the cage, Banuelos
has never lost consecutive fights.
A
showdown between featherweight champion Jose Aldo and former
titleholder Urijah Faber will headline WEC 48. In addition, WEC
lightweight champion Benson Henderson will defend his crown for
the first time against Donald Cerrone in a rematch of their 2009
“Fight of the Year.” Meanwhile, American Top Team standout
Mike Thomas Brown will take on “The Ultimate Fighter”
Season 5 runner-up Manny Gamburyan.
Source: Sherdog
|
A
possible motive for why UFC signed James Toney
by Zach
Arnold
As
pundits, fans, and MMA insiders debate why UFC decided to sign
James Toney to a five-fight contract on Wednesday, Yahoo Sports
writer Dave Meltzer speculated on the reasoning behind on move
last night on his radio show:
“Strikeforce
was negotiating or at least Dana (White) was under the impression
that Strikeforce was negotiating a Herschel Walker/James Toney
fight for CBS most likely, perhaps for PPV. And so he decided
that I will outbid them and ruin that fight. So I think that’s
what that’s all about because the key to me is that they’re
letting [Toney] box. I mean, like if [UFC] had any you know thoughts
that this guy was really valuable to them, they weren’t
going to sign him to a non-exclusive contract. They’ve never
signed anyone to a non-exclusive contract and they signed him
to a non-exclusive contract. I mean, to me, that tells me it’s
not really something that you know that they’re dying to
have him as much as you know they don’t want the opposition
to have something that you know may click, you know, there may
be… it’s possible that you know you put that fight
on CBS, maybe there will be curiosity and maybe it will do a
rating and maybe CBS would go, “You know what? There’s
something to this MMA and we’re going to run four shows
a year and we’re going to get in this game big.” And
you know CBS is a big enough company to where if they really
want to get in, it can cause headaches for Dana White so I think
that their idea is… I think that everything they’re
doing right now is to try and make sure that you know even if
it costs them short-term money that they widdle down the CBS
rating or keep the CBS ratings low enough to where CBS is not
gung-ho on this and not thinking that this is you know that this
anything big to them and doesn’t fully get behind them and
just kind of goes like “Well, maybe we’ll do a special”
and then you know they get one or two with bad ratings and they
just go, “Well, it didn’t work,” because the ratings
aren’t through the roof by any means, you know no matter
what anyone tries to spin.
“In
fact, they’re bad ratings, although they do decently well
in you know males 18-34, they do decently well in that but it
isn’t that great, you know, I mean it’s not like a
normal hot television show won’t beat it. You know, it’ll
beat those shows that they have because they’re not aimed
at that demo, but you know I mean it’s still you know some
of the lowest-rated programming that they have on, first-run
programming, so I think that this is all part of that and yeah,
Dana White is looking to do a live show on April 17th. I don’t
that they’re going to do it. He said today that it was “maybe”
they would do it. You know and there’s a lot of talk of
you know Wanderlei Silva and Yoshihiro Akiyama as the main event
on that show and the thing there is like, OK, they go head-to-head,
they will lose to the CBS show and they know that they will lose
and some people will go, “Well, God, look at that! UFC lost!”
and I think that their mentality is like, well if we lose but
the CBS show does like a 2.1 rating, CBS is still going to be
squeamish about “Do we really want to do this show again
with a 2.1 rating?” So if they widdle down the rating a
little bit, then it’s a win even though they will lose on
the night and they will lose.
“And
then in retaliation you know, Strikeforce is now looking at maybe
moving. If they run the 17th, then Strikeforce may move to the
24th and that means that they’ve got a free special with
three championship matches going against a PPV from WEC that’s
unproven on PPV and they can hurt WEC if they make that move
so it’s an interesting chess game going on right now and
that’s really what this is all about.”
The
chess match happening between UFC and Strikeforce is one that
may consist of a lot of pyrrhic victories. HBO has two big boxing
fights on the 17th (Edison Miranda vs. Lucian Bute (in Montreal)
and Kelly Pavlik vs. Sergio Martinez (in Atlantic City). The
next weekend on the 24th, Showtime will have two major boxing
fights of their own as part of the Super Six tournament (Carl
Froch vs. Mikkel Kessler (in Denmark) and Allan Green vs. Andre
Ward (in Oakland). It’s unlikely that Showtime would be
pleased with a fight show airing on CBS on the same weekend as
the Showtime boxing matches.
Regarding
the concept of Strikeforce running on the 24th to cause damage
to the WEC debut PPV… that would be a waste of time. The
WEC PPV will struggle to draw a big buy rate, even with Urijah
Faber vs. Jose Aldo on top of the card as the main event. Plus,
getting into a war with WEC is exactly what UFC would like to
see happen. It would, image-wise, make Strikeforce look like
a minor-league promotion going against Zuffa’s second-tier
Trojan horse promotion. In other words, UFC would welcome a fight
where hardcore fight fans would have to pick between Urijah Faber
on PPV versus Jake Shields on free television. Faber is a star
in Mixed Martial Arts. We don’t know how many people will
actually pay to watch him, but the fans that want to see him
will pay to do so and they won’t care that a Strikeforce
show is on CBS.
Source: MMA Memories
|
Nogueira’s
manager rematch with Frank Mir
Manager of some of the best MMA fighters of the world, like the
Nogueira brothers, Lyoto Machida and Anderson Silva, Jorge Guimarães
spoke to TATAME.com about the future of Rodrigo “Minotauro”,
after the first round loss to Cain Velasquez, among other things.
Check below the exclusive chat:
You manage the career of some of the best Brazilian fighters.
How difficult is to deal with a lot o stars?
I feel privileged to work with the fighters I work. The biggest
difficulty is time enough to deal with all of them. That’s
why a good partner and a competent team are indispensable.
Ricardo Arona is still without contract and manager. Did you
talked with him?
Ricardo Arona never called us… I tried to talk with him
last year, Affliction‘s matchmaker Tom Atencio tried everything
to sign him. I never negotiated anything for him.
How you and Ed Soares are dealing with Paulo Filho’s career
in this complicated moment in his life? Do you believe we’ll
ever see him back in a big event?
You can fix anything in this life, you just need to be alive.
Paulo is very talented, has a great family and he only depends
on himself now. Recently, we offered him great opponents in big
events, but he wasn’t 100% to get in action.
How if Paulo’s image in the American and Japanese markets?
It’s not a secret that Paulo is in a bad phase, and undoubtedly
it bad or any athlete in this situation.
After Rodrigo Minotauro’s loss, has the UFC said anything
about his next fight? Did you ask for a specific fight?
The
UFC didn’t say anything yet, it’s too soon. Depending
on the result of Frank Mir vs. Shane Carwin fight, we’d
like to have a rematch with Frank Mir.
Source: Tatame
|
TUF
12 TRYOUTS ON APRIL 1:
155 AND 205 POUNDERS
As “The Ultimate Fighter Season 11” debuts, the hunt
for next season’s cast members begins.
The
UFC and Spike TV on Wednesday announced that they will hold an
open casting call for Season 12 competitors on April 1 at The
Omni Charlotte Hotel in Charlotte, N.C., the day after Season
11 debuts on Spike TV and UFC Fight Night 21 takes place at the
Bojangles Coliseum.
While
Season 11 is comprised entirely of middleweights, Season 12 appears
to be headed back to two weight classes. The open tryouts are
open to both lightweight (155-pound) and light heavyweight (205-pound)
fighters.
The
requirements specify that all applicants must be 21 years of
age or older and have a professional mixed martial arts record
with at least three fights. All applicants will grapple and hit
pads at the tryout, so you are expected to wear the appropriate
workout clothes and bring your own gear.
Registration
begins at 8 a.m. ET, with tryouts beginning at 10 a.m. ET. Fighters
must arrive between 8 and 9 a.m. ET at The Omni Charlotte Hotel.
UFC
president Dana White will oversee the tryouts with executive
producer Craig Piligian, producer Jamie Campione, and Spike TV’s
senior vice president of sports and specials Brian Diamond.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
10
lessons from the game of the year
by Marcelo
Dunlop
Forget
the Super Bowl and upcoming soccer World Cup in South Africa:
the greatest game of 2010 has already taken place in Vancouver.
Canada
and the United States faced off in ice hockey last Sunday, during
the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, in one of those memorable games
that changes the lives of all present in the arena, from players
to spectators.
Brimming
with technique, grit and excitement, the Olympic final that handed
Canada its 14th gold, a record for the Winter Games, was decided
7:40 min into extra time, after the USA took the game into sudden-death
overtime with a dramatic goal, just 20 seconds before time ran
out.
GRACIEMAG.com
put together a list of 10 lessons the historic “MMA on ice”
match inspired:
10)
Every great victor possesses a great defense. If you like to
attack, tirelessly practice defense, and you shall become an
ace in the counter-attack.
9)
Strength, technique, movement and aim are crucial factors in
overcoming a great adversary.
In
ice hockey it’s common for a team to play with a player
less due to some penalty. To withstand the pressure of playing
a man down, there’s no formula other than training and training
a lot the defensive line’s posture with one or two players
fewer. Make your training harder to achieve better results.
7)
An ace is an athlete endowed with lots of technique, talent and
discipline. An idol is one who makes the decisive play at the
most difficult moment.
6)
There’s always time to tie up the score.
5)
Losing to someone is already a first step in beating them next
time around.
4)
Hockey goalies are an inspiration to Jiu-Jitsu players. He’s
compact, closed up tight and leaves no openings as keeper of
the goal on ice. In Jiu-Jitsu, elbows should generally be tucked
up against the body and not left out in the air, waiting to get
caught in a lock.
3)
Slips happen all the time. How you react to a spill is what determines
the end result in the dispute.
2)
“When a man tires is when the fight starts,” Carlos
Gracie used to say. Be prepared for however many overtimes are
necessary.
1)
Always wear your mouth guard.
Source: Fight Opinion
|
Din
Thomas Ready to Trade with Ricardo Mayorga
By Kelsey
Mowatt
Last
week much of the disussion throughout the MMA world focused on
the news that heavyweight boxing champion James Toney had signed
with the UFC, leading to widespread speculation as to who and
what kind of fighter (striker, wrestler etc), the promotion might
match Toney up against first. Well for sometime now, an upcoming
bout between former welterweight and junior middleweight boxing
champion Ricardo Mayorga and UFC veteran Din Thomas, has been
in play for Shine’s May 15th event in Fayettville, North
Carolina. In other words, in Mayorga’s first MMA test, he
will face a well rounded fighter with a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black
belt.
“No,
not really,” said Thomas (25-8), when asked if he was surprised
that Mayorga’s MMA debut would come against a notable competitor,
himself. “The reason why is because he’s a tough guy;
he’s a brawler, he likes to bang it out, he likes to fight.
He’s been in with high level guys and if you’ve been
in with a lot of high level guys it’s hard to go back down
and start over. Plus he’s no spring chicken so it doesn’t
surprise me that he wants to see what he can do right off the
bat.”
Of
course, the question that is always present when contempating
a match-up between a mixed-martial-artist like Thomas, and an
accomplished boxer like the 36 year-old Mayorga (who in addition
to winning several championships went 29-7 as a pro), is whether
or not the MMA fighter will elect to stand and trade with the
boxer, or look to exploit any weaknesses on the ground.
“I
don’t know yet,” said the 33 year-old Thomas. “It
will really depend on my training camp. I definitely want to
stand up with him for a little bit you know what I’m saying?
I aint really just looking to go out there and submit him. I
don’t really know the extent of how much I’m going
to stand up with him. I’m definitely going to pick him apart
and try to figure out where his weaknesses are.”
“I
know he has a lot of them,” Thomas added, who has won 3
straight fights. “We’ve all seen him fight; so we know
he has a lot of weaknesses. I think I can exploit his weaknessess,
and then when I’m ready to get him out of there, I might
just take him down and submit him. I think I want to show the
boxing world what a MMA fighter is capable of. Especially one
that is of my caliber.”
The
debate regarding the well rounded capabilities of MMA competitors
in comparison to the striking skills of professional boxers is
certainly nothing new. Although the debate is old, the discussion
has been heightened more recently, due to the imminent MMA debuts
of fighters like Mayorga and Toney.
“I
think a lot of boxers have a really big ego,” said Thomas,
when asked why he thinks more former boxing champions have made
the decision to test the MMA waters. “They look at a lot
of MMA fighters and see fighters who don’t have really sharp
hands, and they think ‘this is a club fight; I’ll knock
this bum right out.’ But they don’t know that there
is a lot more to it than throwing hands. They don’t know
that you just can’t set up the same way in MMA and look
as pretty.”
“Also
I think part of it is financial,” Thomas furthered. “I
think some of these guys have had their better days in boxing
and it’s a little bit too challenging for them to go get
bigger fights and get paid. They figure they can just come here
and get paid. Not fight as tough a fight; this is what they think.
They don’t know it’s going to be as tough as it will
be.”
Source: Full Contact Fighter
|
Without
Urijah Faber, WEC Ratings on Versus Are Weak
By Michael
David Smith
Saturday night's WEC 47 show on Versus featured promotional videos
for Urijah Faber's upcoming fight, commercials starring Faber
and an interview with Faber. In fact, it felt like Faber was
on the TV screen more than any of the fighters who actually fought
on the card.
The
reason for that is simple: Faber is, by far, the WEC's biggest
draw, and the success of his pay-per-view bout against Jose Aldo
next month will go a very long way toward determining what kind
of promotion the WEC is going forward.
MMA
Junkie passes along the news that WEC 47 got a 0.46 household
rating and 373,000 viewers on Versus, a 42 percent decline in
viewership from WEC 46, which had Faber on the card. Overall,
using the MMA Junkie numbers, in the last two years WEC cards
that had Faber on them have averaged 936,000 viewers on Versus.
WEC cards without Faber averaged 479,000 viewers.
I
expect the WEC 48 pay-per-view to turn a profit for the promotion
because Faber vs. Aldo is an excellent fight, because Zuffa will
do a good job of promoting it and because Faber is very popular.
But if the plan going forward is to have cards with Faber on
pay-per-view and cards without him on Versus, WEC audiences of
less than half a million people will become the norm.
Source: MMA Fighting
|
Caio
Terra, a little guy ruling the land of giants
by Carlos
Eduardo Ozório
Black belt Caio Terra in recent years has been waging fierce
battles against Bruno Malfacine to decide who the roosterweight
king of the Jiu-Jitsu Worlds Championship is. In 2008, Terra
came out best in the final, while the so-called ‘Bad Boy’
secured his double in 2009.While Malfa carries on training in
Brazil, at Alliance, Caio works on the gentle art in the United
States, at Cesar Gracie Academy. And there he makes competition
history – promise of a spine-tingling confrontation at the
2010 Worlds in the race for the gold.
“I
won NAGA here yesterday (last Saturday). In addition to winning
the gi and no-gi divisions, I won the no-gi absolute (there is
no gi absolute). That is, I won everything in the advanced and
purple, brown and black belt,” he told GRACIEMAG.com.
But
the achievements of the kid with the deadly guard don’t
end there.
“The
absolute winner takes home the event’s belt and in the final
I beat an American Division 1 wrestler who beat a bunch of black
belts. I weighed 131 pounds (about 60 kg) and he 257, almost
twice my weight. I became the lightest absolute champion of the
event,” says the fighter, who is also World No-Gi champion.
Source: Gracie Magazine
|
JOSEPH
BENAVIDEZ BELIEVES WEC TITLE SHOT IS HIS
by Damon
Martin
Opinions have been heavy on who Dominick Cruz should face for
his first defense of the WEC bantamweight championship. One person
believes it's a clear-cut choice, and that's Joseph Benavidez.
On
the same night that Cruz defeated Brian Bowles to win the title,
Benavidez was doing his part to solidify his place as the top
contender when he not only defeated Miguel Torres, but submitted
the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt to do it.
WEC
officials have said that they haven't made any decisions yet
about who will get Cruz when he's healthy, but the Team Alpha
Male member is ready to plead his case.
"I
think it should definitely put me in to get a title shot,"
Benavidez said when appearing on MMAWeekly Radio this week. "Mine
and Dominick's fight was amazing, and it was only three rounds,
and like I said I think I had an off night, and I'd love to prove
that I am the best out there."
Benavidez
has a lot of respect for the skills that Cruz brings to the table,
but he also knows that he didn't have his best night when they
fought the first time, and he wants another crack at him with
the title belt on the line.
"He's
a great opponent. We went three rounds, but both of us could
have gone two more rounds," said Benavidez. "So that
would be an even better fight. We got Fight of the Night that
night, and like I said I've gotten a ton better."
Names
like Damacio Page and Scott Jorgensen have also come up when
discussing the bantamweight title picture, but Benavidez will
only be satisfied if one name is placed next to Cruz's when the
next title bout is announced... and that's his name.
"I
definitely think I'm the number one contender. I went out there
and did something that no one's ever done to Miguel Torres, and
I'd be disappointed if I got anything else," Benavidez said.
Now
it's up to the WEC to decide who will get the first shot at the
title, and that job is not an easy one with several contenders
all staking their claim. Time will only tell if Benavidez will
get his shot, or if he'll have to keep going with three-rounders
until a title shot is offered somewhere down the road.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
Quote
of the Day
"There
art two cardinal sins from which all others spring: Impatience
and Laziness."
Franz
Kafka, 1883- 1924
|
Relson
Gracie KTI Kauai Jiu-Jitsu Tournament
Mark your
calendars for May 15. Come to Kauai to compete in the Relson
Gracie KTI tournament!
More
information coming soon!
|
Low
a master on mat once again
UC Davis wrestler overcame rough career start to reach NCAAs
By Kalani Takase
Advertiser Staff Writer
Success
had always been a given for Brandon Low.
The
UC Davis wrestler has a place among the all-time greats in Hawai'i
prep wrestling lore after winning state titles in four different
weight
classes - the only person ever to accomplish that feat.
But,
it was a different story once the 2006 Saint Louis School alum
arrived at Davis' Northern California campus three years ago.
Low
struggled to keep up with his Division I teammates and admitted
to
being "shell shocked" by the jump from high school
to college.
"It
was a big step, especially for someone coming from Hawai'i, where
wrestling isn't given as much respect as states like California
and
Arizona," Low said. "When I got here, I was getting
beat up and I wasn't
used to that - I was used to winning. My first two years were
kind of
discouraging because I wasn't having the same success that I
used to."
Low
took it upon himself to raise his game.
"It
didn't come to a point where I was thinking about quitting, but
it
was at a point where I wasn't confident enough in my ability
and I
started to think that maybe I should concentrate more on academics,"
said Low, who competes at 133 pounds. "But, I made a decision
at the
beginning of last year - the summer before that actually - that
I was
going to give it my all. Everyone had told me that I had a lot
of
talent, but I just had to put in more time, so I stuck with it
and kept
going. I'm a firm believer that hard work pays off."
After
redshirting as a true freshman, Low managed a 5-6 record in 2008.
As a sophomore, he went 16-10, placed fourth at the Pac-10 Championships
and had the most success of any Aggie at the nationals.
"He
went 2-2 at NCAAs last year and that's in a really tough weight
class," UC Davis coach Lennie Zalesky said. "That was
probably the best
tournament of his life up to that point."
Low
is hoping to parlay that success into a strong showing at this
year's NCAA Championships, which will be held March 18 to 20
in Omaha,
Neb.
"I
think that experience will help a lot because that was my first
time
qualifying (for NCAAs) and I had never seen anything like this
tournament," Low said. "It's so professional in how
it's run and the
best of the best are there. The fans are hardcore and you can
see in the
stands where Ohio State is sitting, where Iowa is sitting, where
Iowa
State is sitting and they just erupt when their guys win. I remember
thinking, 'Man, this is big time, this is it, you know.' "
Low
was the top seed at the Pac-10 Conference Championships two weeks
ago, but lost by a point in the final to Cal Poly's Boris Novachkov
-
whom Low beat earlier in the year.
"It's
always disappointing when you don't come out with the victory,
but
I think I wrestled hard and my coach told me the same thing,"
said Low,
who lost 4-3 because Novachkov had accumulated more than two
minutes of
riding time. "It was just a small thing, but it came down
to one point
and the closer you get to the No. 1 guy, the more it becomes
about the
real little details and that's what I'm focusing on."
Zalesky,
a three-time All-American and former assistant coach at
perennial powerhouse Iowa, said he expects Low to fare well at
the
nationals.
"He's
a hard guy to beat, he might end up getting a seed, maybe around
11 or 12 or so," said Zalesky, in his ninth year as head
coach. "I think
he's got a good shot, but he'll definitely have to beat some
good kids.
But I think his chances are as good as anyone."
With
the NCAAs a little more than a week away, Low is determined to
stay
focused.
"I
was just talking to a couple of my older teammates about how
when I
was younger, I would go to wrestling camps and I remember my
dad would
tell me that all sports - not just wrestling - was 80 percent
mental and
20 percent physical and that never made sense to me," Low
said.
"It
took me until coming to college to realize the truth behind that.
You can have all the talent in the world, but you have to have
the
mental toughness to push through fatigue and injuries and just
not let
those things break your strength. Above anything else I would
say that
my mental toughness has improved 10-fold and that's where my
success has
come from."
Source:
Honolulu Advertiser
|
Hawaii's
Lolohea Mahe to make debut in Strikeforce!
FROM CLASSROOM
TO CAGE,
CLOVIS
TEACHER-TURNED-MMA STAR
BEN
HOLSCHER RETURNS
TO STRIKEFORCE ACTION
MARCH
26 AT SAVE MART CENTER
IN
FRESNO, CALIF.
NEW
YORK (March 9, 2010) – A full-time ninth-grade health teacher
and wrestling coach at Clovis High In Clovis, Calif., Ben “The
Teacher” Holscher (5-0) continues to make the grade in mixed
martial arts (MMA) where the 5-foot-11 lightweight (155 pounds)
has passed his initial four tests with flying colors and will
attempt to remain unbeaten when he steps up in class to face
Alex Trevino (4-1) of San Jose, Calif., at the STRIKEFORCE Challengers
event at Save Mart Center in Fresno, California on Friday, March
26.
Juggling
two professions is not easy, but Holscher continues to welcome
the opportunity.
“It’s
a challenge, but I was a college athlete and I grew up on a farm
so time management was ingrained in me a long time ago,”
said the 28-year-old Holscher, who pupiled Johnny Goh en route
to registering a unanimous three-round decision at the STRIKEFORCE
Challengers event at Save Mart Center on Nov. 26, 2009.
“If
I wanted to make my schedule easier, I could just take a few
things off my plate, but I don’t want to do that right now.”
Holscher,
who’ll be appearing in the top non-televised undercard fight
of the evening, will be making his third start for STRIKEFORCE
and his third at Save Mart Center. He was victorious in his debut
for the San Jose-based organization with a 2:47, first-round
submission (rear-naked choke) of Cody Canterbury on May 15, 2009,
at Save Mart Center.
Tickets
for the event, priced from $30, are on sale at the Save Mart
Center box office and select Save Mart Supermarkets, all Ticketmaster
locations (800) 745-3000, Ticketmaster online (www.ticketmaster.com)
and STRIKEFORCE’s official website (www.strikeforce.com).
Save
Mart Center doors will open for the STRIKEFORCE Challengers event
at 6 p.m. PT. The first live, non-televised, preliminary bout
will begin at 6:45 p.m.
Competing
in front of so many fans, family, faculty and students inspires
the popular Holscher.
“It
definitely motivates you because there are a lot of people that
are going to come out,’’ said Holscher, who turned
pro on Nov. 8, 2008. “There are a lot of people looking
at me, especially my students. I don't want to let them down.
I am thankful that I have the opportunity to use my career as
a mixed martial artist to give back to the students who are in
my life.’’
A
former NCAA wresting standout at Chadron State College in Nebraska
where he also was a three-time Academic All-American, Holscher
is in his sixth year of coaching at the high school level.
Prior
to joining the Clovis staff, Holscher, who was named Most Dedicated
Wrestler in all four of his collegiate years, was a volunteer
assistant coach at Chadron State and Fresno State University.
An
enthusiastic, tireless worker, he's also been very involved with
coaching at the club/youth level with experience at the Competitive
Edge Wrestling Academy, the Bulldog/Sunkist Kids Wresting Academy,
and as an assistant at Clark Intermediate in addition to his
year-round involvement with the high school team.
In
the March 26 main event, The Miracle Man, hard-hitting Lavar
Johnson (13-3), a 6-foot-4 inch, 250-pound resident of nearby
Madera, Calif., will face off against highly touted prospect,
undefeated
Lolohea Mahe (4-0-1) of Wailua, Maui .
In
other STRIKEFORCE Challengers fights on SHOWTIME® (11:45
p.m. ET/PT, delayed on the West Coast): “Abongo” Humphrey
(5-1), Atlanta, Georgia vs. George Bush III (5-1), Columbus,
Ohio, at 205 pounds; Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt Luke Stewart
(6-2), San Francisco, Calif., vs. Brazil’s Andre Galvao
(3-1) at 170 pounds; in a women’s match, undefeated Zoila
Frausto (2-0) of Fresno, takes on talented Miesha “Takedown”
Tate (7-2), Olympia, Wash., at 135 pounds; and American Kickboxing
Academy wrestling stud Justin “The Silverback” Wilcox
(8-3), San Jose, Calif., battles Shamar Bailey (10-1), Chicago,
Ill., at a catchweight of 160 pounds.
STRIKEFORCE
Challengers – where champions are born -- is a proving ground
for up-and-coming MMA fighters. The series is designed to provide
today’s top prospects with the opportunity to step-up their
level of competition and demonstrate their ability in a nationally
televised event.
In
March 2009, STRIKEFORCE signed a multi-year agreement to stage
live MMA events on the premium cable television network, SHOWTIME.
The promotion made its live, primetime debut on CBS with the
“Fedor vs. Rogers” mega-fight that it co-promoted with
M-1 Global on Saturday, Nov. 7, 2009, and generated 5.46 million
viewers for the main event between the world’s No. 1 heavyweight,
Fedor Emelianenko, and superstar Brett “The Grim” Rogers.
About
STRIKEFORCE
STRIKEFORCE (www.strikeforce.com) is a world-class mixed martial
arts cage fight promotion which, on Friday, March 10, 2006, made
history with its "Shamrock vs. Gracie" event, the first
sanctioned mixed martial arts fight card in California state
history. The star-studded extravaganza, which pitted legendary
champion Frank Shamrock against Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt
Cesar Gracie at San Jose's HP Pavilion, played host to a sold-out,
record crowd of 18,265. Since 1995, STRIKEFORCE, sanctioned by
ISKA, has been the exclusive provider of martial arts programming
for ESPN and, after 12 years of success as a leading, world championship
kickboxing promotion, the company unveiled its mixed martial
arts (MMA) series with "Shamrock vs. Gracie." In May
2008, West Coast Productions, the parent company of STRIKEFORCE,
partnered with Silicon Valley Sports & Entertainment (SVS&E),
an entity created in 2000 to oversee all business operation aspects
of the San Jose Sharks and HP Pavilion at San Jose.
Source:
Strikeforce
|
GroundWarz
|
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
|
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
|
SANTIAGO
ASSERTS HIMSELF AS SENGOKU CHAMPION
American Top Team fighter Jorge Santiago knew heading into Sunday’s
rematch with Mamed Khalidov that it would not be an easy fight.
The two last met in November of last year at Sengoku Eleventh
Battle, where Khalidov stopped the Sengoku middleweight champion
via TKO in the opening round of their non-title affair.
Sunday’s
battle for the belt wasn’t easy, but Santiago answered the
challenge, avenging the loss with a five-round unanimous decision
to retain his belt.
“I
expected this fight to be a very tough fight, but I know that
I trained very hard with my coach to go all the way. It’s
all about heart, you know,” said Santiago after the fight.
“I am very happy cause I know I had this mind and I was
going to fight with all my heart to save the championship.”
Most
agreed that it was a close fight with both athletes having their
moments to shine, but Khalidov did not take away from Santiago’s
victory, nor his own.
“I
lost and that was the judges’ decision and I really fought
on the highest level in this moment. Sengoku champion, from the
beginning, he was aware and it was very tough fight. I don't
want to complain,” said Khalidov, believing the decision
didn’t take away from another strong performance against
the champion.
Santiago
said that he expected Khalidov to be strong in the early rounds,
but knew that if he was unable to finish the Polish fighter early,
he could push him in the deep waters of the fourth and fifth
rounds. Khalidov had never fought a five-round bout before.
“If
we have the opportunity to finish, finish. If we don’t,
get to the ground game and get him tired... So it was a part
of my plan (to wear him down),” said the Brazilian.
With
the win last November and maybe more so going five full rounds
on Sunday, Khalidov earned a lot of respect from the champion,
but in the end, Santiago walked away proud to have defended his
belt.
“He
proved that he can go far, but today, I proved that I’m
still the champion. I know what takes to be a champion. And I
worked very hard to stay the middleweight champion of Sengoku.”
Source:
MMA Weekly
|
VERA
ON JONES: SOMEBODY IS GOING TO SLEEP
As he heads into his next fight against Jon Jones on March 21,
Brandon Vera is ready to once again prove he has the stand-up
skills to go toe-to-toe with anybody in the sport, but he's also
ready to show some new tricks.
The
California based fighter, who has been working with coach Lloyd
Irvin and training partners like NCAA All-American wrestler Phil
Davis, is ready to prove that if you take him to the ground,
it's a whole new problem.
"You
take me to the ground this year, you're going to get submitted,"
Vera told MMAWeekly.com in a recent interview. "I'll tell
you that much right now."
Working
to get ready for the fight against Jones, Vera is confident that
his next opponent will be willing to stand and trade with him,
but if not, he's ready for any problem he may encounter.
"We're
going to bang man. I don't think he'll take me to the ground,"
Vera commented about Jones. "He's with a new camp, he's
with (Greg) Jackson's and them. They're good game plan people
so he might try to take me to the ground, but I tell you this
much in 2010, my jiu-jitsu game I've been tightening back up."
Despite
his jiu-jitsu game improving, Vera still says that the fans in
Denver are in for a treat when he squares off against Jones because
a knockout is headed their way.
"Jones,
he's got the skills; he'll stand with me. Somebody's going to
go to sleep."
Source:
MMA Weekly
|
WEC
CHAMP DOMINICK CRUZ READY FOR ANYTHING
Broken hand or no broken hand for Brian Bowles, Dominick Cruz
walked away with the WEC bantamweight gold around his waist Saturday
night a happy man.
“His
hand being hurt, he hurt it on my face. So how you gonna give
him credit for that? I mean, my hands hurt too,” Cruz said
at the WEC 47 post-fight press conference. “I was ready
to fight five rounds with a broken leg, a broken hip, broken
face, I didn’t care man. I wanted this belt.”
It
showed. From the opening bell, Cruz moved like a character in
a video game, slipping most of Bowles’ punches and using
good mobility to remain allusive while stinging the champion
with his own assault.
“I
just try to be like a video game,” Cruz recounted. “Whatever
(my coaches) yell, I try to throw it because they see things
from a different angle than I do.”
And
it worked. In between rounds two and three, the cageside doctor
stepped in to recommend a halt to the bout due to a Bowles injury.
The
belt is now firmly around his waist, Cruz is prepared for whatever
the future holds and whoever the WEC throws at him.
“You’re
just gonna see me coming back better and better and better. I’m
not gonna stop.”
Source:
MMA Weekly
|
Promotional
battle heats up outside cage
A
behind-the-scenes chess match has resulted in the Ultimate Fighting
Championship and its top rival, Strikeforce, running head-to-head
television specials on April 17.
Strikeforce
earlier in the week made the official announcement of an event
on CBS, from the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, featuring three
championship matches: Jake Shields vs. Dan Henderson for the
company’s middleweight title, Gegard Mousasi vs. King Mo
for the light heavyweight title and Gilbert Melendez vs. Shinya
Aoki for the lightweight title.
On
Thursday, UFC president Dana White confirmed a live show on the
same date, “Ultimate Fight Night 22,” on Spike TV.
While UFC countered an Affliction pay-per-view show in 2008 with
a live event featuring Anderson Silva, if things don’t change
this time, it will be the first time the two top promotions run
major nationally televised events simultaneously.
No
matches are confirmed for the UFC show, however. Thursday, White
attempted to make Matt Serra vs. Mike Swick, but that will be
impossible since Swick just suffered an arm injury and will likely
need surgery. UFC sources indicated Kimbo Slice vs. James Toney
was under consideration, but the talks hit snags.
No
site has been confirmed for the UFC show, although it is known
at least two locations are under consideration in the state of
Tennessee, including Nashville’s Vanderbilt University.
The
UFC’s announcement, though, may be just the first in a chain
reaction. According to Strikeforce president Scott Coker, he
and business partners at CBS and Showtime will be discussing
the potential of moving their show back a week, – to April
24 – putting it head-to-head with Zuffa’s first-ever
World Extreme Cagefighting pay-per-view show.
“Moving
to April 24th will be discussed,” said Coker. “That
was the first date CBS wanted the show. [CBS vice president]
Kelly Kahl wanted to take the high road and avoid going against
their pay-per-view.”
A
potential issue in moving the broadcast is that Showtime has
a boxing special on April 24 as part of its “Super Six”
super middleweight boxing tournament.
Coker
said Showtime’s research has shown that even though boxing
and MMA are cross-promoted, they draw different fan bases. It’s
an issue in running MMA on CBS on the same night as Showtime
boxing, but it’s not a hurdle that can’t be overcome.
The
Strikeforce promoter expects that the head-to-head maneuvering
is not going to be a one-time deal, because both companies are
running more dates and there are only so many Saturday nights
available, so it’s inevitable that there will be conflicts.
“There
will come a day when there will be a free show, with Fedor Emelianenko
and/or Dan Henderson, going against one of their pay-per-views,”
he said. “That is going to be interesting.”
Unless
UFC has a major television fight lined up for April 17, a special
on CBS will draw more viewers simply because of the numbers advantage
CBS has over Spike. But the equation would change if a major
UFC star headlines the show. If Slice vs. Toney can be salvaged,
that would change the dynamic because Slice is a proven ratings
draw. The match, while not being the slightest bit relevant when
it comes to the upper echelon of MMA fighters, could garner significant
public curiosity.
MMA
is at best marginal programming on CBS. The last Strikeforce
show drew 39 percent lower ratings than CBS usually does in the
same time slot, but it still has value to the network because
it skews far younger and more male-oriented than usual Saturday
night fare. It gives the network an outlet to attract sponsors
who aim at the hard-to-reach male 18-34 demographic.
The
April 17 show is a test, because if it does well without proven
draws Emelianenko, Slice or Gina Carano, it’s a major feather
in the cap of Strikeforce going forward on the network. That
is probably why UFC is looking at countering.
A
live UFC event on Spike is likely to do double, if not better,
than Spike’s prime-time average. If a UFC show can whittle
away a decent percentage of the audience that would have watched
the Strikeforce show, the potential is there for Strikeforce
to get a bad rating. Even if the counter-programming backfires
and UFC doesn’t do well on that night, UFC is Spike’s
highest priority programming and one bad night is not likely
to do any long-term damage.
A
Strikeforce move to the 24th would have its own significance.
Going
against a WEC pay-per-view, even with the Jose Aldo Jr. vs. Urijah
Faber featherweight title fight being the biggest match in WEC
history, is not going to have a major impact on CBS’ ratings.
But the availability of a free show on CBS featuring an interesting
lineup for hardcore fans, the main audience WEC also appeals
to, has the chance to significantly affect the success of a WEC
card billed at $44.95.
WEC
is not established on pay-per-view, and if a free television
show whittles away even a small percentage of viewers who decide
to save money and watch the free show, that could be a devastating
impact on the WEC brand as a PPV entity.
It
should also be noted that UFC and Strikeforce do not draw from
the same audiences. The Strikeforce events on CBS draw an older
audience in general than the audience that watches UFC, which
relates to CBS’s generally older demographics. The cities
where Strikeforce does its best television numbers have little
similarity with the markets where UFC does its best pay-per-view
numbers.
But
if Strikeforce moves its show, and at this point the company
hasn’t, it is almost a sure thing that it will only inspire
another counter from White.
Source:
Yahoo Sports
|
The
Weekly Wrap: Feb. 27 - March 5
The
Weekly Wrap walks readers through the last seven days in MMA,
recapping and putting into context the week's top story, important
news and notable quotes.
Top
Story
A
round of bona fide promotional warfare between the Ultimate Fighting
Championship and Strikeforce began to brew this week, as the
industry leader looked to counter Strikeforce’s announcement
that it would return to CBS on April 17 with three title fights
on the bill.
On
the same week Strikeforce finalized the CBS date, reports surfaced
that the event may be moved to April 24 after UFC President Dana
White confirmed to The Wrestling Observer that the UFC would
likely stage a live card of its own April 17 on Spike TV.
Strikeforce
CEO Scott Coker said in interviews that the CBS date is fluid
and could be changed to oppose the World Extreme Cagefighting
pay-per-view the next Saturday on April 24.
Tickets
went on sale Friday for an April 17 card dubbed “Strikeforce
Nashville: Henderson vs. Shields” at the Bridgestone Arena
in Nashville, Tenn. CBS executive Kelly Kahl told The Wrestling
Observer that the ratings for network’s next Strikeforce
card, promoted through fighter appearances on the network’s
popular “NCIS” program, would determine if the network
commits to quarterly MMA specials.
In
addition to CBS fights, Strikeforce made a slew of big fight
announcements this week, including those for a May 15 event in
St. Louis, Mo. Three title fights –- Henderson vs. Shields,
Gegard Mousasi vs. Muhammed Lawal and Gilbert Melendez vs. Shinya
Aoki –- are set for the April 17 card, likely the only fights
on the telecast considering the time requirements of accommodating
three potentially 25-minute bouts.
On
tap for May 15 are Alistair Overeem vs. Brett Rogers and Andrei
Arlovski vs. Antonio Silva. It is not clear if the Overeem-Rogers
bout will be for the Strikeforce heavyweight title, which Overeem
won in Nov. 2007 but has yet to defend. Coker told MMAJunkie.com
that an announcement is planned for next week about the title
implications of the bout. Prior to the announcement, Silva told
Graciemag.com that he was offered fights against Arlovski and
Rogers and turned down a fight against Josh Barnett for the Dream
promotion in Japan. Arlovski signed a multi-fight, 16-month contract
with Strikeforce on Monday.
Not
much is known about the UFC’s proposed April 17 date, though
there were reports the company was considering staging the card
in the same city as Strikeforce, at Vanderbilt University in
Nashville. Welterweight Mike Swick confirmed he was offered a
fight with Matt Serra on the date, but had to turn it down due
to an arm injury.
Preceding
the chain of developments was an announcement by Fedor Emelianenko’s
management company, M-1 Global, that he will not compete as expected
on the April 17 Strikeforce event. Sherdog.com reported that
Emelianenko could be absent from the April and May events as
his management attempts to re-tool terms of Emelianenko’s
existing contract with Strikeforce. In interviews, Strikeforce
CEO Scott Coker was optimistic that issues with Emelianenko could
be “buttoned up” so the Russian could enter the Strikeforce
cage again late in the second quarter or the summer.
Coker
told ESPN.com’s “MMA Live” that Strikeforce has
a valid contract in place with Emelianenko, but told MMAJunkie.com
that the time had come for “building a model that works
for us and works for M-1 Global.” Emelianenko’s fights
are co-promoted with M-1, and it’s said that 50 percent
of profits or revenue on those cards are split between the parties.
Coker floated pay-per-view as a factor in the Emelianenko talks.
Last
weekend, Emelianenko competed in a sambo tournament in Russia,
which ended up being won by his brother Aleksander. Fedor withdrew
after reportedly injuring his hand, on which he had surgery after
his Nov. 7 win over Brett Rogers in his Strikeforce debut.
Source:
Sherdog
|
Done
Deal: The Return of Mike Tyson to Boxing
The
heavyweight division has been considered boring by most boxing
fans. The safety first, big European heavyweights have not captured
the imagination of the American public, and neither have the
challengers from the states that have given non-efforts or have
been mediocrities to begin with. The 1990s was a great and exciting
time for heavyweight boxing, and now a man that made that decade
and the one before it incredibly exciting is coming back to boxing.
Iron
Mike Tyson, 50-6, 44 KO’s, has been out of the ring since
an embarrassing sixth round TKO loss to Kevin McBride in 2005.
Prior to that defeat, he was stopped by Danny Williams and a
couple fights before that, he was demolished by Lennox Lewis.
Times have changed, however, and Iron Mike is coming back to
the sport that he helped flourish when he was mopping the floors
with heavyweights in the 1980s and 90s.
According
to a source close to Tyson, former Promoter Don King has a tentative
deal for Tyson to return to the ring in late 2010. The initial
plan is to have Tyson-Holyfield III, but there is rumored hesitation
on the part of Iron Mike, and there is a plan B.
A
Connecticut heavyweight named Tony Grano, former cruiserweight
champ, Jean Marc Mormeck, Vinny Maddalone, and Derric Rossy have
all been mentioned as potential first or second comeback opponents
for Tyson.
A
recent wrench may have been thrown in the works of the Tyson
comeback when Don King Aide, Craig Jones, was accused of having
sex with a 13 year old girl after taking pornographic pictures
of her. He apparently has a history of sexual misconduct. This
was important mainly because Jones was working with Tyson and
King, planning the comeback tour. His removal from the plan or
assumed removal, may mean that the comeback pushes to the beginning
of 2011.
The
King-Tyson combination is a winner, despite the fact that King
fighters have reported to be losers financially in the long run.
When Tyson was imprisoned for rape, he was losing popularity.
His defeat to Buster Douglas and mediocre performances against
Razor Ruddock took away the invincibility belief that the public
had. After four years in prison, King resumed control of Tyson
and promoted a Pay Per View showdown with Peter McNeeley.
McNeeley
did not belong in the ring with a top 50 fighter, let alone Mike
Tyson, but the promotion was one of the top promotions in boxing
history and it was in large part due to the genius of Don King.
Even rival promoter, Bob Arum, noted that King’s handling
of the promotion was “genius.”
King
knew matchmaking and put Tyson in with Frank Bruno (WBC Champ)
and quickly got a title around the waist of his popular power-house.
Instead of taking on Lennox Lewis, a fight that Tyson, at that
stage, would have probably lost, King would set up a match with
Bruce Seldon, the WBA titlist.
Seldon’s
weak chin would be the factor that could not be overcome and
everyone knew it, but King still sold the PPV without issue.
It became the Tyson show again, where the people were interested
and didn’t think that any heavyweight could beat him. Even
avoiding Lennox Lewis was overlooked. Tyson was the man at this
point.
Tyson
would lose to Evander Holyfield twice and then have some other
strange things happen throughout his career. His persona became
chaos and the question was no longer: “Who can beat him?”
It became: “What happens if Tyson gets mad?” Unfortunately,
we found out a few times.
We
are now in 2010 and Mike Tyson is still riding high off an appearance
in the movie THE HANGOVER as well as a documentary called TYSON
which exposed the people to a softer side of the former 2-Time
Champ. He appeared on Oprah and SNL (Saturday Night Live). He
was also on a variation of Dancing with the Stars, and in recent
photos, appears to be getting back into shape. The comeback is
obviously looming.
The
point of this comeback may not be to regain a title, but to leave
the sport on a better note. He was out of shape and unfocused
and battling addictions when he lost to Kevin McBride. He now
is mentally better and with the weak division and King’s
knack for matchmaking, we may see Tyson re-appear in the top
10 again and may even find himself in the ring for a title. Stranger
things have happened.
I
welcome the return of Mike Tyson to the ring. None of the current
champions have one tenth of the charisma that Tyson had and his
return to the ring will be a popular one. His following has not
gone away and there are still those that look and say: “He’s
got a puncher’s chance.”
Mike
Tyson does have a puncher’s chance and nothing but good
things can come from this comeback, which is now confirmed. We
will see Iron Mike in the ring in late 2010, most likely, against
a top 40 heavyweight. He will win and we will see a much more
focused and fit Tyson. It’s unlikely that he will make it
back to the top, but it will be fun while it lasts.
Source:
Ringside Report
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Yuri
Foreman and Miguel Cotto bout lined up for Yankee Stadium
Officials
with Top Rank Boxing have reached a preliminary agreement with
the Yankees to stage the WBC 154-pound title match between champion
Yuri Foreman and former welterweight champion Miguel Cotto at
Yankee Stadium on June 5.
Carl
Moretti, Top Rank vice president of boxing, said last night that,
after weeks of negotiations, a deal had been agreed to with the
Yankees and that Top Rank was working on the logistics for the
fight, which will be broadcast on HBO.
"We
have a preliminary agreement with them. Nothing has been signed
or finalized," Yankees COO Lonn Trost told The Associated
Press, calling the deal subject to approval from team higher-ups.
"We do plan, if things go well, to have it on June 5."
Top
Rank promoter Bob Arum was the last man to stage a fight at the
old Yankee Stadium, a heavyweight match between Muhammad Ali
and Ken Norton in 1976.
Moretti
said the stadium will be scaled for 30,000 seats, configured
near the short porch in right field. There will be seats on the
field, with ringside tickets priced at $400. The lowest-priced
tickets will be $50.
One
of the logistical problems is the construction of the ring and
a canopy over it. Top Rank won't be allowed to set up the ring
and the canopy until after the Yankees finish a day game to wrap
up a three-game series against the Orioles on June 3. Moretti
said that will present a time crunch.
"We're
still looking at the logistics and the cost that are involved
in the construction and setting up the ring and the canopy (in
a short time frame)," Moretti said.
Arum
has become enamored of big stadium fights. He is promoting a
March 13 welterweight match between Manny Pacquiao and Joshua
Clottey at the massive Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Tex. More
than 30,000 tickets have already been sold for that fight and
Arum said last week that it could draw over 40,000 fans.
A
longtime Giants season-ticket holder, Arum is also eyeing a fight
between Juan Manuel Marquez and Yuriokus Gamboa at the new Meadowlands
stadium in 2011.
Source:
NY Daily News
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A
look at potential problems for the Strikeforce 4/17 Nashville
event
Let’s
state the obvious: Having three title fights (5 minutes per round,
5 rounds) is going to be a scheduling nightmare if the fights
go the distance. Two of the three could very easily do so —
Aoki/Melendez and Shields/Henderson (most likely). It’s
unlikely Mousasi vs. King Mo would go the distance, but you never
know. If the time frame for the CBS telecast is two hours long,
Strikeforce is going to have to haul ass and rush fighters in
and out of the cage in order to make it on time or have a small
over-run. If the show goes over time by a half-hour or longer,
there’s going to be a lot of pissed off network affiliates
across the country.
The
second problem is the sheer amount of MMA and boxing content
in April. The April 17th date is going to prove to be busy.
In
other words, if you’re looking for a good fight on TV on
April 17th, you got a ton of options to pick from. As for MMA
content in April, you have the UFC show in Abu Dhabi and then
the WEC 4/24 Sacramento PPV.
Without
Herschel Walker, it’s going to be tough to see Strikeforce
pulling a big ratings number on CBS. For certain, Dan Henderson
is a huge star after his win over Michael Bisping, but if we
end up getting the same Jake Shields as the one that showed up
for the Mayhem Miller fight on the last CBS broadcast, this could
be an ugly fight to watch. Plus, Strikeforce will not have Fedor
on this card and they spent a lot of capital on their last CBS
event to build their telecast around him. He dispatched of Brett
Rogers in a tough fight. And now, there’s not going to be
any follow-up. Kelly Kahl admitting on radio to Mauro Ranallo
yesterday that there is a dispute between M-1 and Strikeforce
should sound alarm bells for Scott Coker.
A
lot of boxing insiders like to say that there isn’t a heavy
cross-over between boxing and MMA, but April 17th is going to
be so loaded with shows that if the CBS show gets boring in a
hurry, an MMA fan will have a lot of options in terms of channel
surfing for a good fight.
A
final note — we’re only a month away from the actual
event date for Strikeforce and we’re just getting a card
now. It’s also a card that hasn’t received much media
attention. It’s going to be tough to fill so many seats
in such a short amount of time without papering the crowd. One
of the very solid things UFC does is get fight cards lined up
in advance and get the structure in place. As unpredictable as
MMA can be with all the booking cancellations and injuries, UFC
management generally does a good job of having structure in place
to be able to promote events and get tickets sold for shows in
advance. They blow the hinges off Strikeforce/Showtime in this
regard.
Jordan
Breen raised the question about fan interest in Strikeforce:
Surprisingly
low amount of email over all things Strikeforce. In the past,
days half this major meant major volume. Wonder if fans are tired.
Answer:
Fans are never tired of good fight cards or fight cards with
big stars. March 27th in New Jersey with Georges St. Pierre and
Frank Mir will prove this. There is no substitute for star power
and there is no substitute for PR infrastructure. Comparing the
infrastructure of UFC vis-à-vis Strikeforce is night and
day.
Source:
MMA Fighting
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