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(All events on Oahu, unless noted)
2010
November
Aloha
State BJJ
Championships: Final Conflict
(BJJ & Sub Grappling)
(Kaiser H.S. Gym)
10/15-17/10
ETERNAL SUBMISSIONS: 1st Annual BJJ GI/NO-GI tournament
(BJJ & Sub Grappling)
(Kauai Beach Resort, Kauai)
August
Hawaiian
Open Championships of BJJ
(BJJ & Sub Grappling)
(Kaiser H.S. Gym)
7/24/10
The Quest for Champions 2010 Martial Arts Tournament
(Sport-Pankration, Submission Grappling & Continuous Sparring)
(St. Louis High School Gym)
6/26/10
Kauai Cage Match 9
(MMA)
(Kilohana, Gaylords Mansion, Kauai)
6/11-13/10
MMA Hawaii Expo
(Blaisdell Ballroom)
6/11-12/10
3rd
Annual Pacific Submission Championships
(BJJ & Submission Grappling)
(Blaisdell Exhibition Hall)
6/11/10
Legacy Combat 1
(MMA)
(Blaisdell Ballroom)
6/4/10
X-1:
Nations Collide
(MMA)
(Blaisdell Arena)
6/3-6/10
World
Jiu-Jitsu Championships
(BJJ)
(The Pyramid, University of California at Long Beach, Long Beach,
CA)
5/22/10
Destiny
(MMA)
(Waiphau Filcom Center)
5/15/10
Scrappla Fest 2
Relson Gracie KTI Jiu-Jitsu Tournament
(BJJ & Sub Grappling)
(Island School, Kauai)
Mad Skills
(Kickboxing)
(Waipahu Filcom Center)
Boxing Event
(Boxing)
(Evolution Training Center, Waipio Industrial Court #110)
5/1/10
Galaxy
MMA: Worlds Collide
(MMA)
(Blaisdell Arena)
4/23/10
2010 Hawaii State/Regional Junior Olympic Boxing Championships
(Boxing)
(Palolo District Park Gym)
4/17/10
Hawaiian
Championships of BJJ
(BJJ & Sub Grappling)
(Kaiser
H.S. Gym)
Strikeforce: Shields vs Henderson
(CBS)
4/16/10
808 Battleground
(Waipahu Filcom Center)
4/8-11/10
Pan
Jiu-Jitsu Championships
(BJJ)
(University California Irvine, Irvine, CA)
4/3/10
Man Up & Stand Up
(Kickboxing)
(Waipahu Filcom Center)
Amateur Boxing Smoker
(Boxing)
(Palolo District Park Gym)
3/27/10
DESTINY: No Ka Oi 2: Oahu vs Maui
(MMA)
(Maui War Memorial Gym, Wailuku, Maui)
3/20/10
X-1: Champions 2
(MMA)
(Blaisdell Arena)
3/20/10
Hawaiian Championships of BJJ
(BJJ & Sub Grappling)
(Kaiser H.S. Gym)
3/14/10
Hawaiian Kimono Combat
(BJJ)
(PCHS Gym)
3/10/10
Sera's Kajukenbo Tournament
(Kumite, Katas, Grappling)
(Maui War Memorial Gym, Wailuku, Maui)
3/6/10
Destiny Fast N Furious
(MMA)
(Level 4 RHSC)
2/19/10
808 Battleground
(MMA)
(Filcom, Waipahu)
2/6/10
UpNUp 6: Unstoppable
(MMA)
(Maui War Memorial Gym, Wailuku, Maui)
2/5/10
Man Up & Stand Up
(Kickboxing)
(Waipahu Filcom)
1/30/10
Destiny
(Level 4,
Royal HI Shopping Ctr)
(MMA)
Quest for Champions
(Pankration/Sub Grappling)
(Kalani HS)
1/23/10
Kauai Knockout Championship Total Domination
(MMA & Kickboxing)
(Kauai War Memorial Convention Center, Lihue, Kauai)
1/17/10
X1: Showdown In Waipahu
(Boxing, Kickboxing, MMA)
(Waipahu H.S. Gym)
|
|
May
2010 News Part 1
|
Casca Grossa Jiu-Jitsu
is now the O2 Martial Arts Academy with 7 days a week training!
We are also offering Kali-Escrima (stick fighting) on Monday
nights with Ian Beltran and Kickboxing Tuesday, Wednesday and
Thursday with Kaleo Kwan, PJ Dean, & Chris Slavens!
Kids Classes are also
available!
Click
here for info!
Take classes from
the Onzuka brothers in a family-like environment! |
 |
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Club TV
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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.
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O2
Martial Arts Academy
Your Complete Martial Arts School!
Click here for pricing and more
information!
O2 Martial Arts features Relson Gracie Jiu-Jitsu taught by Relson
Gracie Black Belts Chris and Mike Onzuka and Shane Agena as well
as a number of brown and purple belts.
We also offer 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
Moraes
and Garcia training for BJJ Worlds
World
Champion in 2008, Sérgio Moraes got to the division’s
finale in the following year, but the medal went to his team
partner, Marcelinho Gargia, on the “odd or even” joke.
Focused in another title this year, Serginho wants to repeat
what he did last year and close it up with his partner. To do
so, the athlete flights today to New York, where he will train
with Marcelinho until the CBJJ’s World. “Marcelinho
is an excellent athlete and a great friend. Having a guy to switch
positions on the same weight division as you is very important
and it will be like an early finale”, affirmed Serginho,
on the following chat.
When
will you go to New York?
I
travel today… As soon as I get there, I’ll start my
preparation on the best possible way, and get as good as I can
get, like I always do in the World’s preparations.
How
long will you stay in NY before going to California?
I’ll
stay there until the World begins. There will be four and a half
weeks of hard training… I’m going there so my mom doesn’t
see me crying (laughs).
What
is the difference between training in and outside Brazil?
For
me, in terms of quality, I can’t say much. Here in Brazil
it’s like a cradle. The boys have an impressive level, since
the purple up to the black belt, you can see wonderful fighters.
For me the difference is the focus. I’m not teaching, I’m
leaving the gym with some responsible pupils of mine, so all
of my focus will be around my trainings and how will my body
reacts to it.
What
is the point of this training along with Marcelinho Garcia?
To
sum up our strengths, analyzing how the championship may be so
that we can get there ready and, if it’s God’s will,
we’ll get to the finale. Well, Marcelinho is an excellent
athlete and a great friend. Having a guy to switch positions
on the same weight division as you is very important and it will
be like an early finale (laughs).
How
is your English? Sharp or will you have to bamboozle?
“I
do no (laughs)”... I will have to bamboozle. Tati, Marcelinho
Garcia’s wife, promised to give me some lessons, so I’ll
try to improve my English.
How
is it to fight for a living in the football’s country?
It’s
not easy, but thank God today Jiu-Jitsu lessons and fights and
MMA are my meal ticket. You know fighting is not really respected
here and there are just a few places that make space for us to
train. For example, now I managed to be here in the sport center
of Cohab II in Itaquera, east zone of São Paulo, due to
my record, but it still is very hard. I think that people have
to be aware that it’s one of the sports which is getting
large proportions worldwide. In other countries, Jiu-Jitsu is
a school class and in the country that is a cradle, people don’t
respect it like they should, but I hope someday it changes. We’ve
been growing each year, it’s just a matter of believing.
What
was the biggest dream you could see coming true, due to your
fighting?
To
be black belt world champion of Jiu-Jitsu, it was a dream for
me.
And
a dream you would like to come true?
To
conquer the UFC’s belt, and I’ll go for it until the
end this year, and I pray for God for having this opportunity.
A
message for your fans…
People
from TATAME, if God helps us, Alliance will rule this World,
and I will want to be on the cover, him (laughs). And guys, let’s
stay tuned to the site OLutador.com because now we have a strong
partner. The team from OLutador.com is managing my website, blog,
twitter and orkut so that everyone knows more of my career. And
everybody who admires my work can be sure that you will have
a reward within the mat and the ring, and you can keep hoping
and never give up on me.
Source: Tatame
|
Brilz
wants to test himself against Lil’ Nog
Jason
Brilz, who won 18 victories in 21 combats, was chosen by UFC
to replace Forrest Griffin against Rogério Minotouro on
UFC 114. In an interview to MMAFighting, the American showed
himself excited for this fight. “On this stage of my career,
I don’t mind who I’m fighting against, I just want
to be tested. And Lil’ Nog, for sure, will test me”,
said. In a chat with TATAME, Minotouro had already commented
the fight against a new opponent. “We’ll change the
strategy. Against him I want to fight standing or go to the ground
and try to submit him. It changes from a striker to a wrestler,
but we’re going for it, always trying the knockout”,
said Rogério.
Source: Tatame
|
UFC
OR BUST FOR BRITISH VETERAN PAUL CAHOON
Paul Cahoon started his professional fighting career back in
1998 fighting under Japanese hybrid rules, adopted from the Rings
series that was quite prominent at the time. The differences
to MMA as we know it now are very clear, but the main ones to
know are that there were no direct punches allowed, only open
hand “palm” strikes, and that grabbing a rope meant
you escaped a submission.
Needless
to say, when MMA was starting to gain a foothold in Europe, there
was a vast selection of fighters still competing in the Rings
system. Paul Cahoon was one of them and somehow, time has blurred
the differences – something he isn’t particularly happy
about.
“My
Sherdog record is a mess because of the Rings rules. I don’t
think too many people fighting back then fully understood the
rules,” he explained, before providing some examples.
“I
was in mount once, really beating on this guy, and he bridges,
much like you do now in a cage. I put my hands out to post and
grabbed the rope – that’s a loss. I was smashing Chris
Watts for three rounds. He locked my arms up, so I head-butted
his stomach to release – there’s another loss.”
Cahoon
didn’t actually make his MMA debut until 2001 where he collided
with 19 stone worth of Joop Kasteel, a hero of sorts in his native
Holland.
“He
was so big he couldn’t even put his guard up properly,”
laughed the veteran in hindsight, explaining that his opportunity
came by chance.
“He
had been speaking to Golden Glory at the time about finding an
opponent, but they couldn’t agree on anyone, so they offered
him ‘The English Guy.’ He had already beaten Lee Hasdell
at this point, so didn’t think much of us Brits, but I took
the fight and ended up winning. It’s still probably my favorite
fight and earned me a reputation in Holland as being a crazy
guy.”
Considering
the length of time Cahoon had been training, it’s a surprise
that he was fighting a guy of such caliber, still relatively
green at the time. His training had only really been consistent
since arriving in Holland. Prior to that, he had largely been
floating around without a camp.
“I
first got into the sport watching the UFC, but there were no
clubs or places to train around here, so I started to trial what
I saw with a friend. It wasn’t until I started catch wrestling
with Roy Wood in Wigan that things started to get serious. I
went to America and trained at the Alliance before joining Shamrock’s
Lions Den as their boxing coach, but it didn’t fit with
me.”
Having
returned home to the U.K., he chanced upon Golden Glory through
a friend and went over to Holland to see what it was all about.
The experience started a long association with the team and meant
he was training with high profile talent such as Fatih Kocamis,
Chalid Arrab, the Overeem brothers, Heath Herring, Gilbert Yvel,
Remco Pardoel, and Cor Hemmers.
No
fan of an easy life, Cahoon crafted his trade through tough battles
with a collection of hard men, from Melvin Manhoef to Amar Suloev,
Ibragim Magomedov and Rodney Glunder, learning all the time and
showcasing the heart of a lion.
Will
power is one thing, but bad luck is another. To date Cahoon has
been on and off the bench with a collection of injuries and ailments
that would make most people throw in the towel. It is the reason
behind his inability to stay consistently active and something
that he finally feels he has put behind him.
“While
I was in Holland I had Staph so bad there were holes all over
my body, just like Kevin Randleman. I battled it for a whole
year on antibiotics to shift it, but as soon as one infection
clears up another one materializes.”
As
if the thought of the flesh eating Staphylococcus bacterial infection
isn’t gross enough, try this…
“Developing
Elephantitis in my leg was much less fun though and I was in
hospital for ages on a drip. Once I overcame that I tore out
my cruciate ligament, rehabilitated, and then my meniscus went.”
Needless
to say, Paul Cahoon is just looking towards the future now, putting
the disappointments of his past experiences behind him and focussing
squarely on a career that has new life due to a cut to the middleweight
division, a move that the fighter believes he should have made
earlier in his career.
“I
think back to my Cage Rage days and remember seeing all these
guys the same size as me, but fighting in the division below.
I never really took it in properly, but after fighting Ian Freeman
I realized that cutting had to be considered. I just didn’t
know how to do it before. But looking at all the Americans and
how they do it has really helped a lot. I used to fight at 90kg
without cutting. I still fight at 90kg (light heavyweight), but
I weigh in at 84kg (middleweight). It’s so easy for me to
do I actually considered going to welterweight.”
Cahoon
has shown through two outings at this weight class that the move
suits him and is confident that it doesn’t affect his training
or performance at all. He still trains with the larger guys in
his gym and is comfortable slugging it out with people such as
Rob Broughton and Darren Morris. Given that there aren’t
too many big knockout merchants at middleweight on these shores
at the moment, it is highly unlikely that anyone will be planting
the same kind of power on his chin.
Overtraining
is something else that the fighter has had to battle with before,
and has cost him victory on occasion. Most obvious in his mind
was the encounter with Ian Freeman that cost him the Cage Rage
light heavyweight title.
“I
was totally wiped out after that fight and it took me ages to
watch it afterwards, but when I did I saw that he didn’t
throw anything. It was all scramble and him being smart with
his weight. He is good, serious about what he does, and capable
of cutting a good 10kg cut. I have been working with Geoff Oughton
from Newcastle on this and its paying dividends already.
“This
is all about a new start for me,” he exclaimed, adding that
this weekends Ultimate Challenge encounter with Earl Brown will
serve to continue his focus on making it to the top.
“I
just want to see how far I can go in this sport. I am happy at
this weight. I don’t dwell on my past defeats or anything
like that. I accept that I have been unlucky in the past, but
now I am pushing all the way. I want to get into the UFC and
see what I can do.”
Source: MMA Weekly
|
GSP
& WINNER OF KOSCHECK/DALEY TO COACH TUF 12
It will be a welterweight showdown during the 12th season of
the "Ultimate Fighter" as champion Georges St. Pierre
will take the reigns as coach for the first time ever and he
will compete against the winner of Saturday night's fight between
Josh Koscheck and Paul Daley.
The
announcement was made on Friday by UFC president Dana White.
For
all of the history of the "Ultimate Fighter" reality
show it seems that UFC welterweight champion and arguably the
best pound-for-pound fighter in the world Georges St. Pierre
would have been a coach previously, but it never happened until
now.
The
popular Canadian fighter will head out to Las Vegas in the next
few weeks to begin coaching the next cast of UFC hopefuls. Assured
to be by St. Pierre's side are his head coach from Montreal,
Firas Zahabi, and strength and conditioning coach Jonathan Chaimburg.
The
other coaching vacancy will be filled on Saturday night when
Josh Koscheck battles Paul Daley, and the win will not only mean
a job coaching on the "Ultimate Fighter" but a shot
at St. Pierre's title when the season is over.
Josh
Koscheck, a participant in the historical first season of the
"Ultimate Fighter", commented to MMAWeekly.com about
the coaching position should he be offered the job.
"It
definitely would be fun. I think it would be a great opportunity,
and I would definitely take the UFC up on it," said Koscheck.
His
opponent, British slugger Paul Daley, also said he'd welcome
the chance to coach on the show, although both fighters stated
emphatically that their first job is to win on Saturday night.
"If
I get the opportunity, it's a great opportunity that I'd have
to accept," said Daley. "I'd enjoy it, great exposure,
and a chance to get my face out there a bit more."
Filming
for the show is set to begin in about 3 weeks so following Saturday
night's fights, the winner will take a little time to recover
and then head out to Las Vegas to begin season 12 of the "Ultimate
Fighter" alongside Georges St. Pierre.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
NEXT
WEC PPV UNDECIDED, WILL REMAIN UNBRANDED
The numbers for first ever WEC pay-per-view still haven't been
released, but everyone involved seems to believe it was a success,
and more shows will follow.
UFC
president Dana White said on Thursday that they still haven't
decided 100 percent what they'll do next with the WEC pay-per-views,
but discussions are on going.
One
thing he does know for sure is that the non-branding of the pay-per-views
will continue. At the Aldo vs. Faber event, the WEC logo was
nowhere to be found during the broadcast.
"We're
the pay-per-view team; it will be the same way," said White.
Expectations
were high for the show after Leonard Garcia and Chan Sung Jung
put on one of the most entertaining fights ever in WEC history
just before the pay-per-view started, prompting many fans to
pick up the show to continue the action.
White
still stands by his thoughts about the pay-per-view model as
well, believing that friends gathering together and buying a
fight card is still a cheap form of entertainment in today's
economy.
He
says the numbers for the Aldo vs. Faber pay-per-view justified
the move for the WEC.
There's
been no word on when the WEC will do another pay-per-view card,
but if all of the expectations around the last one come to fruition,
they probably won't wait long.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
CURRAN
SHOCKS HUERTA, ALVAREZ SUBS NEER
BOSTON – The big question after the fights on Thursday night?
Where is Roger Huerta’s head at this stage of his fight
career? Was it an issue of a rhythmic drought? Is his focus on
something other than mixed martial arts right now? Or did he
overlook his opponent, Pat Curran, in this lightweight semifinal
tournament bout? Regardless of the speculation, Huerta and Curran
put on a great show.
The
first round started with Curran landing brutal kicks to the body
of Huerta that generated gasps of pity from the audience. It
was Huerta’s slowest of the three rounds. He seemed to be
waiting for a brawl, but Curran wasn’t interested in playing
into that game.
In
the second round the pace started to pick up. Huerta was given
periods of the “brawl” he wanted from Curran, but during
those periods Curran stayed focused, landed good counter punches,
and even several foot jabs to the head and mid-section of his
opponent.
The
fans seemed to recognize that Curran was the underdog and they
cheered as he escaped Huerta’s back control in the third.
Huerta appeared to recognize he was falling behind on the scorecards
because he was emptying his tank in the final stanza of the fight.
The only problem was he wasn’t landing too many of the punches
he was dishing out, instead getting tagged with Curran’s
counterstrikes.
Whatever
it seemed to be that was getting in the way of the Huerta we’re
used to watching, it didn’t appear to bother him. His post-fight
facial expressions looked to be those of a man who wasn’t
upset with a loss. He smiled as Curran’s hand was raised,
and left the cage in the same manor.
The
man of the night was Toby Imada, who stole the show with his
confident, skill-soaked performance against Carey Vanier. Imada
has been on a continuous up-slope since making his mainstream
debut with Bellator last year, Thursday night was just another
point higher on that slope for him.
The
first round was mainly Vanier’s with his wrestling control
and takedowns. Imada was still there though, with his close kneebar
attempt toward the end of the round. It could have been the right
uppercut that he popped Vanier with as the bell sounded that
acted as his boost to steal the fight in the second round.
Imada
came out for round two pushing the pace hard. It seemed like
he had his opponent all figured out by that point. When he landed
shots, his boxing looked beautiful. He continued to impress as
the fight continued onward, getting crafty as he transitioned
from one thing to another. He landed a few punches, switched
to a head and arm clinch that he used to set-up an unorthodox
body kick, and then launched into a flying leglock, taking the
fight to the ground, all within seconds. Vanier defended the
leglock, but shortly after got caught in an armbar that Imada
refused to let him escape.
Eddie
Alvarez carried out a dominating performance over the always-tough
Josh Neer. Although it wasn’t the flashy showing we’re
used to seeing out of Alvarez, it was still a clean and prosperous
victory.
It
was Alvarez’ effortless wrestling ability that kept him
where he wanted to be in this fight. He stayed postured and avoided
Neer’s up-kick attempts on the mat. Alvarez set up his guard
passes with solid punches to the head of his grounded opponent
and he worked his way to mount several times throughout the fight.
Neer proved why he’s not an easy fight for anybody, with
a sneaky, cage-walk sweep in the first round.
Alvarez
showcased more of his diverse skill-set in the second round after
taking his opponents back and sinking in a rear naked choke.
Neer stood up and defended as long as he could before he crashed
head first into the chain-link cage wall, unconscious.
Out
of all the local fighters on the card, none shined as bright
as up-and-comer Josh Laberge. Now training full-time with the
Lauzon camp in Bridgewater, Mass., Laberge is getting more and
more consistent with each fight. He was no stranger to his opponent,
Dan Bonnell, having already defeated him on the local Massachusetts
circuit. Thursday night’s rematch was almost a replica of
their first fight, just a bit faster and bit meaner.
The
fighters circled each other briefly before Laberge dropped Bonnell
with a quick one-two combination. That was the beginning of the
end for Bonnell as the much stronger Laberge rushed forward,
stuffing his opponent’s frantic takedown attempts. Laberge
landed a punch every chance he was given, until he was able to
rotate around to Bonnell’s back. From there, he pounded
his opponent with brutal right hands to the side of the head
before his opponent went limp and the referee called the fight
at just 48 seconds of the first.
MAIN
CARD BOUTS (Televised):
Cole Konrad def. Pat Bennett by Unanimous Decision (30-26, 29-28,
30-27) R3
Eddie Alvarez def. Josh Neer by Technical Submission (Rear Naked
Choke) at 2:08, R2
Pat Curran def. Roger Huerta by Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28,
29-28) R3
Toby Imada def. Carey Vanier by Submission (Armbar) at 3:33,
R2
SWING
BOUTS:
Greg Rebello def. John Doyle by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27,
30-27) R3
Justin Torrey def. Lance Everson by TKO (Due to Strikes) at 3:55,
R2
PRELIMINARY
BOUTS:
Josh Laberge def. Dan Bonnell by KO (Due to Strikes) at 0:48,
R1
Chuck O’Neil def. Damien Vitale by TKO (Cut Stoppage) at
1:02, R3
Source: MMA Weekly
|
|
4/9/10
Happy Mother's Day |
UFC
113 Results & Live Play-by-Play
Jason MacDonald vs. John Salter
Round 1
Salter lands a one-two and clinches MacDonald into the cage.
MacDonald pushes his way clear after a short struggle and the
two meet back in the center. Salter clinches again and bullies
him back along the cage. The boo birds are out early due to the
grinding nature of the bout thus far. MacDonald tries to get
the crowd back by moving forward. He lands a right shin to the
head of Salter but the wrestler grabs his leg and takes him to
the mat. During the takedown, MacDonald was standing on this
left leg and it snapped in the same fashion Joe Theismann's did
when he was dragged down by Lawrence Taylor many years ago. Referee
Dan Miragliotta steps in to stop the bout when MacDonald yelled
in pain at 2:42 of the first round.
Yoshiyuki
Yoshida vs. Michael Guymon
Round 1
Guymon flurries in to start the round, but Yoshida clinches him
to the cage. The fighters trip and hit the mat and Yoshida has
a weak guillotine on the "Joker." Guymon pops his head
out and the pair stand again in the clinch with Guymon's back
on the cage. The crowd starts to boo quickly and the ref separates
them. Missed head kick by Guymon followed by a bunch of missed
punches. Glancing left head kick from Yoshida followed by outside
trip by Guymon, who controls from the top to end the round and
finishes with a big right to the midsection standing in Yoshida's
guard. 10-9 Guymon.
Round
2
Lunging punches by Yoshida who then jumps to guard with a guillotine
but Guymon escapes and mounts him. Yoshida bucks and rolls back
to his feet. Guymon shoots for a double leg and Yoshida snatches
another guillotine. Single leg grab from Yoshida from the ground
and gets back up. Clinch and scramble, Yoshida gives his back
to Guymon, who attempts a rear-naked choke and Yoshida reversed
him into mount. Guymon scrambles free and Yoshida gets back to
side control and then finishes the round in guard. Guymon 10-9.
Round
3
Right bodycick by Guymon, followed by a nice right. Trading along
the cage nothing really happening until Guymon tags Yoshida with
a sharp right knee. Yoshida takes him down and sits in his half
guard and then goes for side control. Guymon scrambles to the
top and Yoshida shoots for a single, but Guymon pressures him
down. Yoshida gives up his back and Joker working for a choke
and then left elbows to the head. Guymon is trying to choke Yoshida
without hooks, then gets to mount. Guymon sits on Yoshi da and
drops nasty elbows to his head. Guymon is bullying Yoshida, who
has nothing for him. Guymon controls from top dropping the occasional
fist. 10-9 Guymon who drops to his knees and cries with emotion.
Official
scores: 30-27 across the board for Guymon, the winner by unanimous
decision.
Tim
Hague vs. Joey Beltran
Round 1
Beltran keeping his distance early, but Hague bullies his way
inside only to be rebuffed by Beltran. Hague fakes a big right
and drops for a takedown. Beltran easily defends and cracks him
with a right hand. The fighters trade jabs and Beltran finds
the mark with his right again. Hague is slowing down already
with two minutes left in the round. Beltran lands some winging
punches, the flurry leaves Hague bleeding from the nose. Beltran
landing almost everything he throws now. Hague answers with a
couple of his own, but Beltran land even more as they exchange
right up to the bell. Sherdog scores the frame 10-9 for Beltran.
Round
2
Hague pawing with the jab and lands a big right behind it. He
flurries on Beltran along the cage, but he can't find the mark
with the big shot. Beltran extricates himself from the fence
and lands a solid right hand. Hague, looking fresher than the
end of the first, lines up Beltran along the cage again and lands
some big punches this time. Beltran gets the worst of it, but
he punches his way free, landing a hard-right uppercut. The Pace
has really slowed now and looks like sloppy toughman fight when
they do engage. Sherdog.com scores the round 10-9 for Hague.
Round
3
Beltran lands a clean jab on the charging Hague, who answers
with a heavy right hand and a takedown. Beltran easily gets back
to his feet. Hague grabs Beltran and lifts him into the air before
planting him. Beltran avoids Hague's big shots and stands back
up. They trade weak low kicks and slow punches, they are both
running on empty. Hague gets another sloppy takedown and easily
moves to mount on an exhausted Beltran with just over a minute
left. He opens up with punches and the crowd responds. Beltran
sweeps him with 30 seconds to go and stands back up. The bell
sounds ending the heavyweight bout. Sherdog scores the round
10-9 for Tim Hague.
Scores
are 30-27, 30-26 and 29-28 for Beltran, the winner by unanimous
decision.
T.J.
Grant vs. Johny Hendricks
Round 1
Hendricks pushes forward and lands a nice left before shooting
in. Grant lands a hard knee, but can't stop the takedown. Grant
grabs Hendricks' neck and works back to his feet. Grant lands
a stiff right low kick and the two trade punches without much
landing. Hendricks keeps walking Grant down, looking for an opening.
Grant then lands a hard kick to the groin and Hendricks drops
like a ton of bricks. Hendricks takes a brief respite and the
fight resumes. Grant stuffs a takedown. Hendricks lands a nice
combination, punctuated by a left high kick. Grant clinches and
lands a pair of nice rights. Grant flurrying on Hendricks along
the cage, but he answers with some big lefts of his own, one
coming right after the bell. Hendricks apologizes and Grant accepts.
Sherdog scores the round 10-9 for Grant.
Round
2
Hendricks pops Grant with a good left. Grant charges in, grabs
a clinch and tries to knee, but Hendricks catches the leg and
slams him down. Hendricks can't get much going and Grant stands
back up with ease. Hendricks misses badly with a combo and Grant
seizes the opening, landing a flurry of his own before Hendricks
stops him in his tracks with a power double. Grant again works
his way free and gets back to his feet. Grant lands a grazing
left head kick. The two trade shots on the feet as the round
clock ticks down. Sherdog scores the round 10-9 for Grant.
Round
3
Hendricks and Grant trade low kicks and then Grant gets him in
the stones again. Referee Marc-Andre Cote takes a point from
Grant this time. Hendricks lift Grant and slams him after the
restart. Grant gets his guard and Hendricks stands back up and
allows Grant up in the process. Hendricks scores with a one-two.
Hendricks shoots again and gets Grant back to the mat. Grant
tries to scramble back to his feet, but Hendricks sinks him again.
Hendricks stands in Grant's guard and punches. He backs away
and lets Grant back up, but he takes him right back down with
about 30 seconds left. Hendricks opens up on the ground, landing
a nice salvo as the round closes. Sherdog scores the period 10-8
for Hendricks.
Official
scores are 29-27 (twice) and 28-28, giving Hendricks the majority
decision.
Marcus
Davis vs. Jonathan Goulet
Round 1
We start with a head kick by Goulet followed by a mad takedown.
The fighters scramble and get back to their feet. Goulet clinches
Davis against the cage and gets caught in a guillotine, but he
sits up out of it after a struggle. Goulet still has Davis against
the cage -- who stands up -- but Goulet takes his legs out and
brings him back down. Goulet catches a kick and swings Davis
down, then connects with a nice punch to the head and body. Davis
tries a triangle choke, but Goulet muscles him back down. Goulet
trying to pass to mount but ends in guard. 10-9 Goulet.
Round
2
Davis catches Goulet with a right and he goes down, but quickly
recovers and pushes off a pressing Davis to get back to his feet.
Davis gets his money shots, as a few punches punctuated by a
short left drop Goulet for good. Referee Phillipe Chartier steps
in (possibly prematurely) to end it at 1:23 of round two.
Joe
Doerksen vs. Tom Lawlor
Round 1
The fighters trade evenly with Doerksen looking much more aggressive
than he normally does to start a bout. Lawlor catches him with
a crisp left hook and drops the Canadian, but he gets right back
up. Lawlor catches Doerksen with a right and a left and Doerksen
is looking wobbly. Lawlor is teeing off then things even off.
Doerksen is bloody around his left eye and Lawlor is marked up
too. Good right hand by Doerksen and Lawlor misses with a right
of his own and falls down to the cavas off balanced. Doerksen
is on top with his back against the cage. 10-9 Lawlor.
Round
2
The pair trade, with nothing substantial landing. Nice combo
by Doerksen, as he lands a left kick and a left punch. Lawlor
catches Doerksens left leg and takes him down, but Doerksen immediately
jumped to his back, and with only one hook in, elicits a fight-ending
tapout by rear-naked choke at the 2:10 mark.
Patrick
Cote vs. Alan Belcher
Round 1
Belcher starts with a left kick to the body and Cote counters
it with a right hand. Neither man lands flush. Belcher goes back
to Cote’s body with three more kicks. Make it seven. Belcher
then kicks Cote directly on the groin protector. Referee Mario
Yamasaki gives Cote time to recover and we’re back on. Cote
lands a right hand and Belcher goes to the legs. Belcher lands
a clean left hook. Cote opens up and Belcher connects with a
right-handed jab. Cote kicks a low kick. Belcher connects again
to the body and Cote trips him to the canvas. Cote hits the body
and head with his right hand. Belcher holds on with double underhooks
and a butterfly guard from the bottom. Cote passes to half guard
and goes to work on the right arm with a kimura. Cote passes
the head with his right leg and Belcher winces. Belcher fights
to get of danger and Cote gives up position and finds himself
on the bottom in half guard. Belcher passes to side control and
sets up an arm-triangle choke. He lets go elbows the head with
his left arm. The blow opens a cut above Cote’s right eye.
Cote scrambles from the bottom at the end of the round, but he
can’t get to his feet.
Jordan
Breen scores the round 10-9 Belcher
TJ De Santis scores the round 10-9 Belcher
Mike Fridley scores the round 10-9 Belcher
Round
2
Belcher kicks the body to start round two. Yamasaki calls time:
Belcher began the period without his mouthpiece. He’s fitted
with his protection and Belcher gets right back to work with
a right kick to the body. Cote opens up with his hands and lands
a right and a left hook. Belcher gets to the clinch, where he
pushes his opponent against the fence. Belcher knees the body.
Belcher steps back and both fighters land power punches in a
flurry. Cote got the best of the exchange with a right hook.
Belcher knees the body and Cote gets a single leg. Belcher hops
to his feet and Cote works a double against the fencing. Belcher
picks Cote up and powerbombs Cote right on his face. Belcher
transitions to the back and locks on a rear-naked choke with
both hooks. Cote taps and complains that his head was spiked
on the floor. The throw looks clean on the TV replay. The official
time is 3:25 of round two.
Kimbo
Slice vs. Matt Mitrione
Round 1
Mitrione kicks Kimbo in the head with his left foot. Kimbo shakes
it off and throws a right hook that connects. Mitrione throws
another head kick and Kimbo catches it and throws him to the
floor, only to end up on the bottom. Kimbo scrambles to take
the top and Mitrione latches on a triangle choke. It looks deep
at first, but a patient Slice works through it and escapes. Kimbo
punches the head and body from the top until Mitrione uses a
kimura to stand. Little happens on the feet, and Kimbo drags
his prey to the canvas with a single leg. Mitrione works for
another triangle and Kimbo gets out. Kimbo stands and Mitrione
follows. Mitrione roughs up Kimbo’s legs with low kicks.
A kick knocks Kimbo’s legs right out from under him. Mitrione
engages and rolls for an anaconda choke. Slice holds on and survives
the round.
Jordan
Breen scores the round 10-9 Mitrione
TJ De Santis scores the round 10-9 Mitrione
Mike Fridley scores the round 10-9 Mitrione
Round
2
Mitrione goes back to the leg. A fatigued Kimbo clinches and
Mitrione defends. Mitrrione gets space and absolutely brutalizes
the left leg of Kimbo with an outside and inside low kick. Kimbo
takes a deep breath and tries to shoot. Mitrione defends and
tries another anaconda. Mitrione gives it up to knee the body
and left thigh. Kimbo looks very frustrated as Mitrione is having
his way with him. Mitrione hops to the mount and pounds away
with both hands. Kimbo does nothing but cover as referee Mirigliotta
watches closely. Mitrione then works on the left arm with a keylock.
He stretches the arm, but he can’t finish it with his high
position in the mount. He gives it up to return firing on the
head. Referee Mirigliotta has seen enough. He pulls Mitrione
off at the 4:24 mark of round two, giving him the former NFL
player the TKO win.
Sam
Stout vs. Jeremy Stephens
Round 1
Stephens lands a low kick and a hard right hand before tripping
Stout to the canvas. Stout kicks Stephens off and stands to throw
his hands. He gets hit by a hard right hand for his effort. And
another; Stout’s knees buckle from a clean blow on the temple.
Stout recovers and attacks the left leg of Stephens with a hard
low kick. Stout starts to get some momentum going with three
hard lefts to the body. Stephens ends said momentum with a right
hand that drops his foe. It’s a slug fest, and Stephens
is getting the better of it. Stout throws a low kick that is
caught; Stephens clips him with a left hook. Stout is undettered.
He keeps coming forward with clean strikes to the right side
of Stephens’ body and left leg. Stout continues to lunge
in to hit the body, and he’s playing with fire. Stephen’s
is countering it every time with a right hook and he’s landed
it a few times in the round.
Jordan
Breen scores the round 10-9 Stephens
TJ De Santis scores the round 10-9 Stephens
Mike Fridley scores the round 10-9 Stephens
Round
2
Stout kicks the left leg twice in the opening seconds of round
two. Stout works his other leg with an inside low kick. Stephens
explodes with a jumping knee that falls short. He transitions
beautifully to a takedown as he realized Stout was off balanced.
Stout works a kimura on the left arm of Stephens from the guard.
Stout creats anough distance to stand and Stephens welcomes it.
The velocity on Stephens’ punches has tailed off at the
midway point of the round. Stout sneaks in a hard left to the
body that makes Stephens wince. Stout stays patient and works
the left leg and pumps his jab. Stephens shoots and Stout shrugs
it off. Stephens has lost all of his rhythm from the first round
as fatigue sets in. Stephens cracks Stout with a left-hook counter.
Stephens finds somewhat of a second wind as he swings for the
fences in the round’s final seconds.
Jordan
Breen scores the round 10-9 Stephens
Mike Fridley scores the round 10-9 Stout
Round
3
Stout kicks Stephens in the groin. Yamasaki calls time and the
wounded fighter is ready to go. Stout hits the body and kicks
the leg. Stephens jumps into the air for a knee that just misses.
Stout lands a left hook and gets hit with a right-hand counter
shortly after. Stephens connects with another counter right as
Stout tries to set up a low kick. Stephens connects with a sharp
jab and a knee to the chin. Stout lands a low kick and it folds
Stephens over. Stout pounces on the sore fighter and Stephens
flops to the canvas. Stout enters the guard and lands two hard
right elbows. Stephens stands and it seems he’s recovered
from the low kicks. He resumes swinging for the fences and even
takes to the air for a flying knee. Unfortunately for him, none
of it lands. A right hook does connect for Stephens. Stephens
drops levels for a single and he gets it with 20 seconds remaining.
He lets Stout up to look for a knockout, but Stout comes up swinging.
Time expires.
Jordan
Breen scores the round 10-9 Stout (29-28 Stephens)
TJ De Santis scores the round [technical difficulties –
will return for the next bout]
Mike Fridley scores the round 10-9 Stout (29-28 Stout)
Official
scores: 30-27, 29-28 and 28-29 for Jeremy Stephens, who takes
the split decision.
Josh
Koscheck vs. Paul Daley
Round 1
Daley storms out with a flying knee and Koscheck easily gets
out of the way. Daley slips a straight left into the midsection
of his opponent. And another. Koscheck drops levels for a single
and he takes Daley down. Daley tries to scramble to his feet
and he’s rewarded by a big slam from Koscheck. Koscheck
is hitting the face with his right hand from side control. Koscheck
has Daley pinned against the fence. Koscheck knees the body and
ends up in half guard as he fails trying to advance to the mount.
Daley is defending well from the bottom, but Koscheck is able
to sneak an elbow in. Daley gets back to guard, but he loses
it with a blocked upkick. Koscheck weaves around the legs and
returns to side control. Daley gives up his back and Koscheck
engages with a single hook. Koscheck sneaks his arm under the
chin and starts to work a rear-naked choke. Daley explodes and
reverses the position. Daley stands and grazes Koscheck with
an illegal knee. Koscheck falls. A point is taken and Koscheck
says he wants to continue. The fight is resumed and Koscheck
works for a single at the horn. It is then said that a point
was not taken for the foul.
Jordan
Breen scores the round 10-9 Koscheck
TJ De Santis scores the round 10-9 Koscheck
Mike Fridley scores the round 10-9 Koscheck
Round
2
The pair trade right hands, with Koscheck landing better. Koscheck
drops levels, driving Daley into the fence before ripping him
away and powering him back down to the mat. Koscheck instantly
gains side control, but gets sucked into half guard quickly.
Koscheck postures up and throws elbows, but can't land cleanly.
Koscheck pushes down Daley's far knee to take mount, and nearly
gets there, but "Semtex" regains. Koscheck hits the
right side of Daley’s body with his left hand. He mixes
in his right hand to the left side of the body and head. Koscheck
again nearly gets the mount, but Daley is game. Koscheck drags
Daley to the fencing and starts to work for Daley’s back.
Daley has one hook in as he pounds the head with his left hand.
He pulls Daley back and secures his second hook. Koscheck punches
with his left hand while Dlaey holds the right arm to defend
a submission.
Jordan
Breen scores the round 10-9 Koscheck
TJ De Santis scores the round 10-9 Koscheck
Mike Fridley scores the round 10-9 Koscheck
Round
3
Daley comes out swinging and he clips Koscheck with a right hand
and an uppercut. Koscheck circles away and Daley chases him.
Daley sneaks in a right hook and a knee to the chin as Koschecks
works for a single on the left leg. He switches to a double and
pulls Daley to the floor. Koscheck punches the jaw from half
guard with his left hand. He then ties up the head and punches
with his right. Koscheck, in complete control, looks to his corner
for advice. He then gets an elbow in before passing to side control
and mount. Daley is bucking to reverse, but the former wrestling
champion is having none of it. Daley gives up his back briefly
but rolls back over. Daley shows nice leg work in getting to
half guard. Koscheck is resting and the fighters trade barbs
with 25 seconds left. Koscheck puts the stamp on his win with
shots to the body. Time expires and Daley stands and throws a
left hook well after the bell. Referee Dan Miragliotta restrains
Daley and says “Are you kidding me?” The punch connected
with Koscheck’s right eye and opened a small cut.
Jordan
Breen scores the round 10-9 Koscheck (30-27 Koscheck)
TJ De Santis scores the round 10-9 Koscheck (30-27 Koscheck)
Mike Fridley scores the round 10-9 Koscheck (30-27 Koscheck)
Josh
Koscheck takes the unanimous decision with scores of 30-27 across
the board.
Lyoto
Machida vs. Mauricio Rua
Round 1
Shogun picked up where he left off in the last bout, with a low
kick to the front leg of Machida. The champion is alternating
between southpaw and orthodox early. Machida checks a low kick
and lands a right hand. Machida trips Rua to the canvas and starts
to work from half guard. Shogun sweeps and stands, where he pushes
Machida against the fence. Rua charges forward and gets clipped
with a right hand. At the end of the flurry, Rua connects with
a right hand that forces Machida to retreat. Again Machida trips
Rua to the floor. Machida lands a knee to the body and backs
away. Shogun lands a hard right hook on the temple and Machida
collapses. Rua pounces with punches until Machida is out. Referee
Yves Lavigne pulls him off at 3:35 of the first round. "Shogun"
is the new champion. Machida stands and his left eye is busted
up something serious.
Source: Sherdog
|
The
Quest for Champions 2010 Martial Arts Tournament
Saturday, July 24th, 2010
St. Louis High School Gym
Featuring: Sport-Pankration, Submission Grappling and Continuous
Sparring
For more info please contact Kempo Unlimted HI (kunltd@hotmail.com)
Source: Tommy Lam
|
Boxing
Smoker on May 15th
The next boxing show will be on May 15th at 6 p.m. at the Evolution
Training Center in Waipio Industrial Court #110, address is 94-547
Ukee St., Waipahu, HI., 96797.
Boxers from Oahu and Kauai will be competing.
For more info. contact Chanelle Valdez at cvaldez7@hawaii.rr.com
Source: Bruce Kawano
|
Scrappla
Fest 2
Kauai's
Scrappla Fest 2
Gi & No Gi Tournament
May 15, 2010
$50 entry fee
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.
kids ages-weight divisions will be made on sight
5-below
6-7
8-9
10-11
12-13
14-15
16-17
women
125-below
126-140
141-above
menbeginner
white , blue
131-below
132-145
146-159
160-173
174-187
188-201
202-215
216-above
men
advanced, purple and above
159-below
160-180
181-201
202-above
Thank
you,
Pono
Pananganan
Kauai Technical Institute
ktirelson_gracie@hotmail.com
|
Garden
Island Cage Match 9:
Mayhem at the Mansion
Kilohana Carriage
House
June 26th 2010
Tickets
go on sale next week!
Since this venue is a little smaller than the Stadium the tickets
will sell out twice as fast so be sure to get on board quickly!
This an exclusive venue for us and very please to have acquired
this merger.
Sponsorship
packages now available! Please contact me for further information!
Mahalo!
Vance Pascua
808-634-0404
Source: Event Promoter
|
Matyushenko
Relishes Underdog Role Against Jones
by John
Chandler
With
a bout agreement inked and sent back on Tuesday, longtime MMA
veteran Vladimir Matyushenko now has the official task of attempting
to stop the rise of popular light heavyweight prospect Jon Jones
in the main event of UFC on Versus 2, which is slated for Aug.
1 in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Courtesy
of a string of creative and impressive one-sided performances
by Jones, Matyushenko, who has racked up consecutive victories
over Igor Pokrajac and Eliot Marshall since returning to the
UFC, will likely enter the bout as a decided underdog. It’s
a role that he relishes.
“It’s
a good thing. I like to be the underdog,” Matyushenko told
the Sherdog Radio Network’s “Beatdown Show” on
Tuesday. “In this case, it kind of calms me down. It doesn’t
make me angry and stuff, it just motivates me to train and prove
everybody wrong.”
When
the Matyushenko-Jones matchup was first rumored to be taking
place a couple of weeks ago, some fans expressed displeasure
with the pairing and pressured the UFC brass to give Jones a
different opponent, preferably a top-ranked foe that would his
test his mettle.
Despite
all of the negativity, Matyushenko doesn’t feel slighted.
Instead, the 39-year-old former International Fight League champion
is looking forward to the opportunity to show fans that he remains
one of the top fighters at 205 pounds.
Vladdy
embraces the underdog role.
“I don’t think of it as disrespect,” Matyushenko
said of the fans’ reaction. “I think it is people somehow
not being well-educated. These days in the UFC, the promotion
(of fighters) is a lot greater than it was before. Still, the
new generation of fans doesn’t really know who the older
guys are. I’m one of the veterans of the sport and I’m
here to prove that I’m still one of the best guys out there.
That’s why I’m excited to be on the main card again.
I’ll have to be in great shape and prove that I’m one
of the best. I think that’s why the UFC didn’t put
me on television at the start -- They wanted to see what kind
of shape I was in and how I was going to do.
“The
minds of the media and the fans have changed towards MMA. Now
I feel like I can fight for these guys. Back in the day, I used
to think, ‘Man, these are weird people’ but now I get
mail from my fans almost every day. It’s incredible. When
I wake up, I might be feeling sore from training and lazy, but
now it serves as great motivation. I’m fighting for my fans
right now, for you guys and for MMA in general.”
In
Jones, Matyushenko finds himself going to head-to-head against
another talented wrestler, albeit one who sports a dangerous
arsenal of strikes as well. The puzzle Jones presents is one
that Matyushenko, currently training alongside UFC veterans Antoni
Hardonk and Jared Hamman at his gym in El Segundo, CA., is eager
to solve.
“He’s
definitely a talented and athletic guy. He wants to prove himself
and I respect him very much,” Matyushenko said of Jones.
“His style is very interesting and the fans seem to like
it. Somebody has to stop him. It doesn’t seem like the fans
want me to fight him very much but somebody has to do it. Why
not another tough guy?
“He’s
kind of hard to read because I know that he’s a different
kind of wrestler but he also likes to strike. He’s a decent
wrestler. He was able to take Brandon Vera down. It’ll be
interesting though because we are both wrestlers. I’m going
to try to please the fans with this fight. Earlier in my career,
I didn’t really understand that, but these days, I’m
trying to put on a good show. I don’t want to be known as
a boring wrestler, but why change it if it works? When it comes
down to it, you just want to win. My eventual goal is to fight
for a title again and achieve my goal of becoming a UFC champion.
This fight is going to be a big step (in that direction) for
me.”
Source: Sherdog
|
Paulão
out of Bellator
An upset Paulo Filho confirmed the news that reached the GRACIEMAG.com
newsroom. He will no longer fight at the May 13 Bellator show,
where he would have faced Hector Lombard. According to the fighter,
the bureaucracy involved in getting his visa was what held him
back.
“It
seems the event took too long in sending out the letter I needed
to present at the consulate and I’m not sure but it could
be there was some kind of failure on the part of my managers.
So, I won’t get my visa in time. I’m really upset because
I’ve been training a lot. I did everything just right; I
don’t know what to say,” he says.
“It
got me down, but I’m not going to stop training. Something
good will turn up,” he says in finishing.
Source: Gracie Magazine
|
UFC
talent depth issues and Fedor’s fighting future
By Zach
Arnold
I
thought it was interesting to listen to Dave Meltzer say yesterday
that the reason UFC selected Jason Brilz to replace Forrest Griffin
in the fight against Antonio Rogerio Nogueira on 5/29 in Las
Vegas is due to the lack of available roster depth. Too many
shows (Spike, Versus, PPV) has led to conflicts in commitments
with certain fighters on certain cards.
The
news about Fedor vs. Fabricio Werdum on 6/26 in San Jose left
me a little “blah.” The idea, reportedly, is that the
winner of that fight will face the winner of the Brett Rogers/Alistair
Overeem fight on 5/15 in St. Louis. That seems to be a little
bit too long-term booking given the way Fedor’s been fighting
these days. Plus, throw in the fact that DREAM already has been
planning a triangle series with Fedor, Overeem, and Josh Barnett,
and nothing should be taken for granted.
Kevin
Randleman, who recently defended Scott Coker’s matchmaking
as “pure,” may not fight Roger Gracie after all on
5/15 in St. Louis.
Steve
Simmons in The Toronto Sun has an article about Toronto mayoral
candidate Rob Ford wanting to bring MMA legislation forth to
the area shortly. Speaking of Canadian politics, here’s
Georges St. Pierre at Parliament Hill.
I
am amazed at how many news wires picked up the UFC PR about Brock
Lesnar vs. Shane Carwin being officially booked for their July
event. The star power of Lesnar is really huge.
Source: Fight Opinion
|
Eddie
Alvarez: My Philly street fights puts Kimbo’s backyard brawls
to shame
By Zach
Arnold
On Eddie Alvarez’s Wikipedia page, someone listed the following
under Fight History:
“Extensive
street fighting background. Claims to be undefeated in unsanctioned
fights.” [5]
The
number [5] takes you to Alvarez’s Bellator web site profile
which says the following:
Alvarez
was born and raised in Kensington, a Philadelphia neighborhood
notorious for being overrun with drugs, gangs and violence. To
ensure his son’s safety, his father made sure he knew how
to fight; he spent hours guiding his hands and hips to show him
how to deliver the most power into a punch. At a young age, Alvarez
took those lessons to the streets where he toted around two pairs
of boxing gloves and challenged older children to fight. These
battles took place in crowded city streets where the only breaks
in action came when a car drove by or someone got knocked out.
Like Rocky Balboa, another Philadelphia native, Alvarez gained
respect by beating much larger opponents.
Alvarez
made sure to point out during an interview with Sherdog on Monday
that he, in fact, does not edit his Wikipedia page and had no
idea where that claim came from. However, it’s not an assertion
that he’s afraid to run away from.
“I
have a lot more street fights than I did MMA fights, way way
way more. Yeah, I mean, where I grew up my neighborhood was bad
but I didn’t get fights in my neighborhood. I didn’t
starting even getting into fights until like High School, maybe
a little bit after High School but in my neighborhood there’s
never fights, you got to fight and you’ll probably end up
shot or dead after the fight so that wasn’t smart to fight
in the neighborhood I grew up in but when I got out of High School
I started hanging out, a lot of my friends today they still do
the same thing I was doing when I was 18, 19, still getting into
fights and things like that but it’s passed me, I did a
real good job when I was street fighting and Kimbo wouldn’t
have had shit on some of the tapes that I could have made when
I was getting in trouble when I was younger.”
Alvarez
knows a thing or two about bullies, having appeared on Mayhem
Miller’s entertaining Bully Beatdown show on MTV. The Bellator
Lightweight champion explained what parts of the show are scripted
and what parts are real.
“The
producers say to you and they say, you can beat him up, go beat
him up, they tell me don’t slam too hard, not too hard,
you can still slam but don’t because one of the guys got
their ribs broke, I think Wilson Reis’ broke one of the
guys’ ribs slamming him during the first season and no head
kicks. Other than that, you know, show these dudes because the
dudes, the guys who go on the show, I mean they’re not kidding,
they honestly think they can do well against professional fighters,
they do and I’m baffled and I think it should be legal to
do what they do on Beatdown because most commissions won’t
even let me fight a guy who you know even had a couple of professional
fights, you know, the commission wouldn’t let that go, but
yet I can fight a bully?”
Most
of the time on Bully Beatdown, the “bully” ends up
getting his ass kicked. Occasionally, you will see a fighter
Thomas “Wildman” Denny (remember him from his fight
against Nick Diaz?) who struggles against a scrub. Suffice to
say, Eddie Alvarez didn’t want that happening to him on
the show.
“I’m
more nervous about fighting a bully than I am you know someone
like Josh Neer, at least if Josh Neer beats me you know he’s
a reputable guy and I could say, you know, oh he’s been
in the game and you know this and that, but if this bully catches
me I might as well hang it up, so there is… and the fighters
would be lying if they say we weren’t a little bit nervous.
I’m like shit, I’m going to go in there and handle
this guy because if he can put up even a tenth of the fight,
this is a lose-lose situation for me.”
Speaking
of Josh Neer, the former UFC Lightweight fighter will be fighting
Bellator’s Lightweight champion this Thursday in Boston.
(TV: Fox Sports Net/Comcast Sportsnet). As Bjorn Rebney recently
noted in an interview with The Fight Nerd, booking season one
Bellator FC champions in super fights while season two tournaments
are taking place is a risky deal. If one of the season one champions
lose, it makes future booking that much harder.
“Absolutely
and that is more of I’ve said many times part of the time
I wear the promoter’s hat and part of the time I wear the
fan’s hat and the safe road to pursue would be the road
that would Eddie Alvarez sitting back and basically fighting
conceivably fighting nobody or sitting back and waiting for the
tournament to play itself out… but the fan in me would like
to see the Josh Neer/Eddie Alvarez and I don’t think that
it’s fair to an Eddie Alvarez or a Hector Lombard or Joe
Soto to put them on the fence for five-six months and have them
just sit. The life expectancy of these guys in this game is relatively
short. You’re talking about a few years in some instances.
I mean some guys are freaks like Randy Couture who are able to
fight on and on in an never-ending fashion, but for most guys
it’s a pretty short life expectancy. So, to fight a guy
twice a year based on that to me is not fair and as a fan I want
to see Eddie Alvarez, I want to see him challenged…”
Alvarez
is perfectly happy with taking fight bookings rather than sitting
back and waiting for season two’s tournament to play out
— no matter how dangerous the fight is.
“Anybody
who’s a veteran like Josh who’s been around a while
always a risky fight but you know I’m not fighting because
I want to fight shitty… I want to fight guys who want to
challenge me and make me put on the best performance that I put
on or it’s not even worth tuning in.
“I
need to get a fight before the winner of the tournament, I mean
that would have left me waiting around for a full year or something
waiting for the winner of the tournament and I actually would
have liked to fight before this but unfortunately I had to undergo
surgery on my meniscus to get that all straightened out before
I was able to get back in there. I don’t want to come back
injured, you know, and put on a shitty show so I’m 100%
now and I think Josh, regardless of who fights, puts on good
fights. I’ve seen a lot of his past fights against you know
good opponents and he’s a game dude, he sticks around and
he throws a lot of stuff so I think it makes for a great fight.”
Alvarez
is fighting Neer while coming off of knee surgery to repair meniscus
damage, damage that he believes he suffered while fighting extensively
last year in the DREAM ring in Japan.
“I
fought in the DREAM tournament and I kind of tweaked it there,
I just kept… I knew I had to get through the tournament
with it so I just kept fighting through it and fighting through
it and I just kind of procrastinated with the doctor and then
I fought in the Bellator tournament and fought through the injury
there as well, I think it was just the wear and tear. I think
I just tore it a little bit and I should ahve got a fix when
I tore it a little bit. Instead I just kept fighting and fighting
and fighting trying to stack up some money, trying to beat some
good guys and I got an injury. No biggie, I mean it was a minor,
minor setback in what I was trying to do here.”
With
the Alvarez family growing, he needs to keep making some money.
“You
keep making babies, you got to keep making money.”
Part
of making money is winning fights and maintaining a high perception
in the minds of promoters and agents. Hey, I could insert a cheap
plug in here for the Independent World MMA rankings, but that
would be horrible of me to do. Except, of course, if you’re
an agent and you represent someone like Eddie Alvarez, who is
one of the 5 best Lightweights in the entire planet. Some fighters
are complete marks for rankings and other fighters don’t
care about them. Alvarez falls in the latter category, except
of course when the rankings come into play when it comes to the
size of his paycheck.
“I
think rankings are no more than a way to negotiate your pay to
a promotion when you become a free agent. Other than that, the
rankings mean nothing. It doesn’t mean that the #5 guy can
beat the #6 guy or the #6 guy can beat the 1st guy, I mean that’s
just a way for my manager to say to a promoter, “Hey look
my guy’s you know, he’s a high-ranked guy, so this
is what he’s worth.” Other than that, they mean nothing,
that doesn’t mean I can’t beat BJ, that don’t
mean Frankie can’t beat BJ, you know you’ve seen it
happen. In the last two weeks, the 1st and 2nd ranked guys got
beat by what, the 7th and 10th ranked guys, something like that?
It means nothing.”
Where
Alvarez ranks amongst the world’s best Lightweights is up
for dispute, but Bellator FC boss Bjorn Rebney raised eyebrows
when he said that Eddie was in position to be the #1 Lightweight
in the world should he beat Josh Neer on Thursday.
“I
think it can because you know we’ve got, and again this
is my opinion and it’s subjective, BJ (Penn) was #1 in the
world and (Shinya) Aoki was #2 and there’s a good argument
that Eddie was typically #3 in that line on most people’s
rankings so BJ loses a fight and Aoki loses a fight pretty handily
and Eddie is sitting in a position now where he can fight Josh
Neer and ultimately establish himself as #1.”
I
tend to think that 99 out of 100 MMA fans would say that whoever
is the UFC Lightweight champion is the best Lightweight in the
world, which means Frankie Edgar is #1. BJ Penn, who will re-match
with Edgar in Boston, is #2. After that, you can certainly make
a case that Alvarez is somewhere in the #3-#5 range, which is
pretty great for a fighter outside of the UFC. Plus, it doesn’t
help matters that Alvarez lost to Shin’ya Aoki, who got
tooled by Gilbert Melendez last month. However, that’s MMAth.
With
the fight on Thursday against Josh Neer, Eddie Alvarez is happy
to make himself one of the major players in Bellator. Although
his options of fighting in Japan for DREAM are still open, Eddie
is primarily focused on becoming Bellator’s main ace and
building up a promotion in America.
“I
actually finished up all my obligations to DREAM with the Kikuno
fight, that was my last fight on my contract but I’m still
in great relations with Japan, they’re always asking me
to come back and they’re willing to take me back whenever
that is and I love it there, I love fighting there, but I truly
want to build a top organization here in America, I want to help
build Bellator. There’s UFC, there’s Strikeforce, and
I think there’s room to have 3 or 4 top promotions here
in America so I want to help build one of the top promotions
and I want to help build it, they’re my main obligation
right now so I’m signed with them and I’ll be fighting
for them for as much in whoever they want me to fight and until
you know they don’t have any fights for me or something
like that if they’re going to take a break and I want to
keep going then I’m sure Bjorn Rebney, he’s a really
cool guy, he’s willing to lend me out here to try to get
one of the other big names.”
Whether
Alvarez wins or loses against Neer, he will end up facing the
winner of season two’s tournament that includes the likes
of Roger Huerta. Admittedly, Alvarez hasn’t watched much
of the tournament so far.
“If
I have a little bit down time I definitely record them and I’m
going to get around to watching them. I did see one of the Bellator
cards so far, I mean it was a really good card, but to be honest
with you, my main focus is Josh Neer, I’m not looking past
anyone. i want to beat him, I want to dominate him, and I want
to beat him in a dominating fashion and then move on and prove
why I’m the top ranked Lightweight in the world and prove
why I’m the Bellator champion.”
Alvarez,
like many MMA champions, is expected to not only win in strong
fashion in each of his fights but also finish off opponents and
avoid having fights go the score cards. We know about a lot of
the awful MMA judging that currently exists in the business,
but the main reason fans and promoters want to see fighters win
and win decisively is because it’s more exciting and it
leads to bigger paydays. Alvarez has an interesting take on what
average MMA fans want to see when they go to a show and what
their expectations are from fighters.
“I
go back and forth with this as a fighter to be honest with you
because I really like watching guys who are exciting, who throw
caution to the wind, who look like they’re out and not caring,
they’re the guys that I like to watch and they’re the
guys I actually watch the sport for. To be honest with you, I
don’t think anyone gives a shit if I win or I lose except
for me and maybe my family and a couple of my close relatives.
So the majority of the people who tune in to watch me are to
watch me do something crazy, do something exciting, do something
to take risks and make a fight and it’s only a real small,
small percentage like maybe 1, 2% of the people watching really
care if I win or not and I think the promoter’s feel the
same way, the people, the money behind it feel the same way that
the win’s not important as putting on a ridiculous fight
or a ridiculous show so I think, I don’t know I go back
and forth on it. I think you should win and should be able to
do it in an exciting, devastating, high-pace, violent fashion.
I think that’s the key to being entertaining and being a
good fighter is to win and be entertaining, not just to do one
or the other and it’s a hard task to do but that’s
what we’re paid for, I mean that’s what you go to do.”
Hey,
we care, but we also fall into the 1-2% that Eddie is referring
to. Now, when we talk about fighters and their ability to finish
fights, there are certain fighters who fall into a category of
fighting exciting fights for the sake of it (Clay Guida, Jorge
Gurgel, Marcus Davis) and then there are fighters who stick to
a meticulous game plan and exciting or boring, they are more
or less interested in winning at the end of the day (Greg Jackson’s
guys). While the bonus system used by promotions such as UFC
and Strikeforce can produce “sloppy C-level kickboxing”
fights that the fans cheer for, Alvarez thinks that the bonus
system is a big reason why you get such inconsistency in the
sport in terms of fighter performances.
“Here’s
the deal. This is how I feel about the whole thing. If the promoters
are going to mad at the fighters about not putting on exciting
fights and only worrying about the win and they’re going
to get in their face and get mad at a fighter, take away the
win bonus. Pay the guy a flat rate, pay him like an athlete,
pay him like the rest of these guys. Don’t tell him he’s
got to get $500,000 to show up and then whether he wins or not
is the case of $1,000,000, you know how shaky, how nervous I’m
going to be if the difference between me winning or losing is
a million dollars? That’s crazy. I’m going to second-guess
myself and maybe not do things that I’d normally do, so
pay the man a flat rate, what you feel he’s worth, and then
it will take all the pressure off of him and he can go out there
and kick some ass.
“I
never went into a training camp saying, ‘Oh, I’m only
going $30,000 for this one so I’m not going into tonight,
I’m not going to work out tonight because I’m only
getting $30,000 for this fight.’ A real fighter is going
to train to win regardless, it doesn’t matter what he’s
getting paid, $1,000 or $100,000, so just pay him for you think
he’s worth, don’t tell him he’s worth any less
or he’s getting paid less because he lost a fight, that
doesn’t mean he trains any less for that fight than the
other ones he won.”
With
a 19-2 record, Alvarez has won 17 of his fights by submission
or KO/TKO. His track record as a fighter is one of a fighter
that puts it all on the line and is rarely boring.
“You’ve
seen my fights, I’m not a safe playing type of dude. I kind
of you know ready, aim, fire type of person. I get in there and
start mixing it up and don’t worry about it when I’m
in the middle of it.”
With
a win on Thursday night, Alvarez will continue to cement his
position in Bellator as one of the promotion’s top aces
and the face of the #3 company in the North American MMA scene.
Source: Fight Opinion
|
BELLATOR
ADDS ULYSSES GOMEZ TO 135 LBS TOURNEY
Press Release
courtesy of Bellator Fighting Championships
Bellator
Fighting Championships put another piece in place for its upcoming
Season 3 Bantamweight Tournament on Thursday with the addition
of Las Vegas-based submission grappler Ulysses Gomez.
The
26-year-old Brazilian jiu-jitsu brown belt boasts a 6-1 overall
professional record with all of his six victories coming via
submission. He will enter the tournament in the midst of a four-fight
winning streak that includes a five-round unanimous decision
victory over jiu-jitsu black belt Luis “Speedy” Gonzalez
Wednesday night in Fresno, Calif.
“Ulysses
has a great background in jiu-jitsu which could serve him well
in our 135 tournament,” said Bellator founder and CEO Bjorn
Rebney. “He comes to us through the same management team
that provided Joe Soto during Season 1, so their track record
is very impressive. We’re happy to have him and look forward
to watching him fight in our Bantamweight Tournament this summer.”
Gomez
is the third confirmed participant in Bellator’s Season
3 Bantamweight Tournament along with Kansas City’s Danny
Tims and Hawaii’s Mark Oshiro. Bellator Season 3 begins
August 12th and will again be televised LIVE every Thursday night
on FOX Sports Net and during taped Saturday night Bellator highlight
shows on NBC, Telemundo and the cable network mun2.
Gomez
was born in Southern California but moved to Las Vegas at the
age of 12. At around the same time, he saw his first pro MMA
fight and got hooked. He started training in jiu-jitsu and competing
in a variety of local and regional grappling competitions. He
made the transition to MMA in his early 20s and took his first
pro fight in March 2008.
A
father of two, Gomez comes from a family of athletes. His older
brother, Herculez, is a renowned pro soccer player who spent
seven years in the MLS before moving over to Puebla FC of the
Primera Division de Mexico. Ulysses Gomez is known for wearing
the soccer jersey of his brother’s current team as his walk-out
T-shirt before his fights.
“My
brother is a great athlete and a role model to me,” he said.
“My own career, on the other hand, is just getting started
and I think Bellator is going to take me to the next level. I
love the tournament format, I love that they market to Hispanics.
God’s given me the talent, so now I want to make the most
of it."
Source: MMA Weekly
|
NEXT
WEC PPV UNDECIDED, WILL REMAIN UNBRANDED
by Damon
Martin
The numbers for first ever WEC pay-per-view still haven't been
released, but everyone involved seems to believe it was a success,
and more shows will follow.
UFC
president Dana White said on Thursday that they still haven't
decided 100 percent what they'll do next with the WEC pay-per-views,
but discussions are on going.
One
thing he does know for sure is that the non-branding of the pay-per-views
will continue. At the Aldo vs. Faber event, the WEC logo was
nowhere to be found during the broadcast.
"We're
the pay-per-view team; it will be the same way," said White.
Expectations
were high for the show after Leonard Garcia and Chan Sung Jung
put on one of the most entertaining fights ever in WEC history
just before the pay-per-view started, prompting many fans to
pick up the show to continue the action.
White
still stands by his thoughts about the pay-per-view model as
well, believing that friends gathering together and buying a
fight card is still a cheap form of entertainment in today's
economy.
He
says the numbers for the Aldo vs. Faber pay-per-view justified
the move for the WEC.
There's
been no word on when the WEC will do another pay-per-view card,
but if all of the expectations around the last one come to fruition,
they probably won't wait long.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
Update:
Hardy-Hazelett Off for UFC 119
by Greg Savage
Although Dan Hardy and Dustin Hazelett initially committed to
meet in a welterweight bout tentative for September or October
at UFC 119 in Hardy’s home country of England, the bout
was scratched Thursday afternoon due to scheduling conflicts.
Hazelett
has withdrawn from the bout, as he will be getting married in
September, a source told Sherdog.com. Hardy is expected to remain
on the card against a new opponent.
It
will be the 27-year-old Brit’s first bout since dropping
a unanimous decision to champion Georges St. Pierre at UFC 111
in March. Hardy built an impressive UFC resume on his way to
the title shot, amassing a spotless 4-0 record. He notched wins
over notables Mike Swick and Marcus Davis before heavily partisan
English crowds, which propelled him up the welterweight rankings
to his eventual showdown with St. Pierre.
Jordan
Breen contributed to this report.
Update:
This article was updated at 7:43 p.m. ET to reflect Hazelett's
withdrawal from the bout and to add that the event may occur
in October.
Source: Sherdog
|
'Fancy
Pants' vs. 'Shaolin' Still On for May 15 Strikeforce Card
By Ray
Hui
The Lyle "Fancy Pants" Beerbohm vs. Vitor "Shaolin"
Ribeiro lightweight bout will go on as scheduled on the undercard
of the Strikeforce: Heavy Artillery event on May 15 in St. Louis,
MMAFighting.com has learned.
The
match had been in question after Beerbohm posted a strange message
on MixedMartialArts.com late Thursday looking for a lawyer to
help him get out of his contract with Strikeforce.
According
to a source close to Beerbohm, the fighter was upset when he
posted the message at the time and has since decided that he
will put the frustrations behind him to concentrate on taking
on Ribeiro.
Beerbohm
(13-0) is most known for spending a year in jail for drug related
crimes only to find an honest career in MMA in 2007. Beerbohm
made his Strikeforce debut last June, submitting Duane "Bang"
Ludwig with a first-round choke.
Ribeiro
(20-3) is a former Shooto and Cage Rage champion who is coming
over from DREAM for his Strikeforce debut. Ribeiro's last fight
was decision loss to DREAM lightweight champion Shinya Aoki.
Source: MMA Fighting
|
UFC
5/8 Montreal (Bell Centre)
By Zach
Arnold
Hawaii
Air Times:
3:00 - 5:00PM
Channel 701 Oceanic
Countdown show:
Spike Channel 559
3:00 - 4:00PM
Dark matches
¦Middleweights:
Jason MacDonald vs. John Salter
¦Welterweights: Yoshiyuki Yoshida vs. Mike Guymon
¦Heavyweights: Tim Hague vs. Joey Beltran
¦Welterweights: TJ Grant vs. Johny Hendricks
¦Welterweights: Marcus Davis vs. Jonathan Goulet
¦Middleweights: Joe Doerksen vs. Tom Lawlor
Main card
¦Middleweights:
Patrick Cote vs. Alan Belcher
¦Heavyweights: Kimbo Slice vs. Matt Mitrione
¦Lightweights: Sam Stout vs. Jeremy Stephens
¦#1 contender’s match (Welterweights): Josh Koscheck
vs. Paul Daley
¦UFC Light Heavyweight Title match: Lyoto Machida vs.
Mauricio Shogun
Source: Fight Opinion
|
GroundWarz
8 MAN SUBMISSION
GRAPPLING TOURNAMENT
SATURDAY, MAY 8
CHAMPION WINS $800 CASH
CALL 428-9196 TO REGISTER OR REPLY TO THIS POSTING WITH NAME,
NUMBER AND SCHOOL
|
CURRAN
SHOCKS HUERTA, ALVAREZ SUBS NEER
by Paul
Gara
BOSTON – The big question after the fights on Thursday night?
Where is Roger Huerta’s head at this stage of his fight
career? Was it an issue of a rhythmic drought? Is his focus on
something other than mixed martial arts right now? Or did he
overlook his opponent, Pat Curran, in this lightweight semifinal
tournament bout? Regardless of the speculation, Huerta and Curran
put on a great show.
The
first round started with Curran landing brutal kicks to the body
of Huerta that generated gasps of pity from the audience. It
was Huerta’s slowest of the three rounds. He seemed to be
waiting for a brawl, but Curran wasn’t interested in playing
into that game.
In
the second round the pace started to pick up. Huerta was given
periods of the “brawl” he wanted from Curran, but during
those periods Curran stayed focused, landed good counter punches,
and even several foot jabs to the head and mid-section of his
opponent.
The
fans seemed to recognize that Curran was the underdog and they
cheered as he escaped Huerta’s back control in the third.
Huerta appeared to recognize he was falling behind on the scorecards
because he was emptying his tank in the final stanza of the fight.
The only problem was he wasn’t landing too many of the punches
he was dishing out, instead getting tagged with Curran’s
counterstrikes.
Whatever
it seemed to be that was getting in the way of the Huerta we’re
used to watching, it didn’t appear to bother him. His post-fight
facial expressions looked to be those of a man who wasn’t
upset with a loss. He smiled as Curran’s hand was raised,
and left the cage in the same manor.
The
man of the night was Toby Imada, who stole the show with his
confident, skill-soaked performance against Carey Vanier. Imada
has been on a continuous up-slope since making his mainstream
debut with Bellator last year, Thursday night was just another
point higher on that slope for him.
The
first round was mainly Vanier’s with his wrestling control
and takedowns. Imada was still there though, with his close kneebar
attempt toward the end of the round. It could have been the right
uppercut that he popped Vanier with as the bell sounded that
acted as his boost to steal the fight in the second round.
Imada
came out for round two pushing the pace hard. It seemed like
he had his opponent all figured out by that point. When he landed
shots, his boxing looked beautiful. He continued to impress as
the fight continued onward, getting crafty as he transitioned
from one thing to another. He landed a few punches, switched
to a head and arm clinch that he used to set-up an unorthodox
body kick, and then launched into a flying leglock, taking the
fight to the ground, all within seconds. Vanier defended the
leglock, but shortly after got caught in an armbar that Imada
refused to let him escape.
Eddie
Alvarez carried out a dominating performance over the always-tough
Josh Neer. Although it wasn’t the flashy showing we’re
used to seeing out of Alvarez, it was still a clean and prosperous
victory.
It
was Alvarez’ effortless wrestling ability that kept him
where he wanted to be in this fight. He stayed postured and avoided
Neer’s up-kick attempts on the mat. Alvarez set up his guard
passes with solid punches to the head of his grounded opponent
and he worked his way to mount several times throughout the fight.
Neer proved why he’s not an easy fight for anybody, with
a sneaky, cage-walk sweep in the first round.
Alvarez
showcased more of his diverse skill-set in the second round after
taking his opponents back and sinking in a rear naked choke.
Neer stood up and defended as long as he could before he crashed
head first into the chain-link cage wall, unconscious.
Out
of all the local fighters on the card, none shined as bright
as up-and-comer Josh Laberge. Now training full-time with the
Lauzon camp in Bridgewater, Mass., Laberge is getting more and
more consistent with each fight. He was no stranger to his opponent,
Dan Bonnell, having already defeated him on the local Massachusetts
circuit. Thursday night’s rematch was almost a replica of
their first fight, just a bit faster and bit meaner.
The
fighters circled each other briefly before Laberge dropped Bonnell
with a quick one-two combination. That was the beginning of the
end for Bonnell as the much stronger Laberge rushed forward,
stuffing his opponent’s frantic takedown attempts. Laberge
landed a punch every chance he was given, until he was able to
rotate around to Bonnell’s back. From there, he pounded
his opponent with brutal right hands to the side of the head
before his opponent went limp and the referee called the fight
at just 48 seconds of the first.
MAIN
CARD BOUTS (Televised):
Cole Konrad def. Pat Bennett by Unanimous Decision (30-26, 29-28,
30-27) R3
Eddie Alvarez def. Josh Neer by Technical Submission (Rear Naked
Choke) at 2:08, R2
Pat Curran def. Roger Huerta by Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28,
29-28) R3
Toby Imada def. Carey Vanier by Submission (Armbar) at 3:33,
R2
SWING
BOUTS:
Greg Rebello def. John Doyle by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27,
30-27) R3
Justin Torrey def. Lance Everson by TKO (Due to Strikes) at 3:55,
R2
PRELIMINARY
BOUTS:
Josh Laberge def. Dan Bonnell by KO (Due to Strikes) at 0:48,
R1
Chuck O’Neil def. Damien Vitale by TKO (Cut Stoppage) at
1:02, R3
Source: MMA Weekly
|
UFC
113 Main Event Breakdown:
Lyoto Machida vs. Shogun Rua
By Mike
Chiappetta
Depending on if you believe your own eyes, or what stats, judges,
reporters or fans you put your trust in, a case could be made
for either Mauricio "Shogun" Rua or Lyoto Machida as
the winner of their first light-heavyweight championship fight
at UFC 104. While neither side has conceded the debate over the
last six months, at least Saturday's UFC 113 may finally bring
some closure to the issue.
With
a matchup so close the first time around, it is clear that the
changes and adjustments both men make will decide who walks out
of the octagon in Montreal with the belt for good.
Going
into their Oct. 2009 matchup, Machida was nearly a 5-to-1 favorite,
as most people believed that the disciplined counter-striker
extraordinaire would be able to capitalize on Rua's wildness
and activity. But a funny thing happened to "the Dragon"
on the way to world dominance: Rua threw him a changeup. Instead
of the aggressive, wild Rua most expected, we got a patient,
tactical version with a sharp plan and the discipline to execute
it.
By
the end of the first round, it was clear to see that Rua understood
that his greatest strength played directly into Machida's, and
that a new strategy would be the best strategy. Instead of head-hunting,
Rua spent a lot of time on kicks to the body and legs, hoping
to wear the champion down in the late rounds, when he'd be slower
and more susceptible to more traditional attacks. Machida, meanwhile,
landed his own shots occasionally, but for the first time in
his UFC career looked uncertain of his own strategy.
Tactically
at least, Shogun achieved what he wanted to, frustrating the
champion and finding openings that few realized were so readily
available.
In
the end, however, the judges scored it three rounds to two for
Machida. With the benefit of hindsight (as well as a review of
ensuing comments by the ringside judges), it seems likely that
the judges valued Machida's headstrikes above Rua's attack to
the body and legs, and that small distinction could have cost
Rua the world title.
So
what will change this time around? It's impossible to say. The
interesting thing here is both sides firmly believe they won,
so they have little reason to abandon their plan in the second
meeting, and are much more likely to simply add in a few alternations.
That said, one side is going to blink first.
Machida
knows Shogun came within a whisker of ending his title reign,
and Shogun is well aware that if he did just a little bit more,
he'd be the champion right now.
Making
that assumption, I expect Rua to employ a similar game plan,
sprinkled with a bit more aggression in hopes of more decisively
winning rounds.
Machida
is a counterpuncher to the core. That's what he's always been
most comfortable doing, and he doesn't figure to change. He may
be more prepared for what's coming and have a better sense of
Rua's timing, but I don't expect that to make him alter what
he's been doing all these years.
His
sense of distance and timing is unreal and unusual, and because
of that, he's always had a built-in advantage over opponents,
who can't really understand what they're in for until they're
standing across from him. But that advantage is gone this time
around. Unlike every other fighter who's stepped into the cage
with Machida, Rua has the luxury of having experienced his timing,
style and pace. So at least in theory, fighting him a second
time should be easier, not more difficult.
He
also understands how to get to Machida. His leg and body kicks
were effective. Sure, Machida will have a better idea of Rua's
arsenal, but Rua has more to fall back on. He can always threaten
with takedowns (an underrated part of his game), he can mix up
his pace, he can threaten from all sorts of places. Machida can
just react.
The
danger comes if Rua abandons the conservative strategy of the
first fight, overextends himself and goes too far. I don't see
that happening. I think he does enough to win exchanges and then
pulls out to avoid any counters and restart his offense.
There
is one other factor at play here, one that it may be easy to
dismiss or ignore as it has nothing to do with either Rua or
Machida, and that is the judges. The three people who are scoring
this bout are painfully aware of the controversy from the first
fight. In a close round, it's certainly possible that history
affects their scoring, even if it's only on a subconscious level.
After all, nobody wants to see Rua get "robbed" again.
Shogun
has been back from his injury for well over a year. I think he's
back to the athletic form that made him arguably the world's
best 205-pounder five years ago, and his evolved maturity and
discipline are new weapons in his arsenal.
His
performance last October was no fluke; it was a strategic game
plan implemented brilliantly. It was in some ways a Machida-like
performance. Now it is up to Rua to one-up himself. With the
psychological affects of fighting Machida out of the way, I think
he'll do it. Machida is no longer a puzzle to him; he's just
a man who can be hit, who can be hurt, who is human.
Shogun
is the mystery now. He threw more, landed more and made Machida
miss more. It was one fight where the loser left with motivation,
confidence, and a deeper understanding of the fight's dynamics.
It carries over to the sequel, and he won't be denied. Rua by
decision.
Source: MMA Fighting
|
Machida’s
expectations
by Carlos Eduardo Ozório
After the middleweight title fight between Anderson Silva and
Demian Maia that was enshrouded in controversy, but which yielded
an undisputable win for the Spider, UFC fans’ attention
has turned to the next title contest, the rematch between Lyoto
Machida and Maurício Shogun. The bout is set to go down
this Saturday at UFC 113. In the penultimate issue of Brazil’s
NOCAUTE magazine (86), Lyoto spoke of what has changed for the
all-important showdown.
“What
changed is that I know him now. I might not know him entirely,
but I got a feel of what he’s like. It’s one thing
to watch from the outside, it’s another to be in there and
feel the distance, the timing, the strategy. So I already know
his game, as he does mine. Nevertheless, despite the two of us
knowing each other, this is a new fight. A lot can change. Surely,
our strategies will be different. At the level where the sport
is today, this competitiveness, strategy and training count a
lot. It’s not that MMA from years ago, the demands are much
greater,” says Lyoto in analysis.
“The
fact we know each other now makes it easier to train. Of course
we have to close all the angles to not get taken by surprise,
but it makes the work easier,” adds the karateka.
Regarding
his performance, Lyoto hints that, despite his pursuing different
methods, he won’t stray much from his main characteristics.
“It’s
hard to completely change your style. You have to try and correct
the mistakes made and maintain what you did right in the last
fight. I think that will be the key to success in this one. Everyone
is waiting to see who has the better game plan and who will take
the initiative,” he says.
Now
regarding his opponent, he doesn’t rubbish the idea Shogun
may be completely different from when they last faced each other.
“I
watch our fight a lot, but also his other ones. The Shogun who
fought me wasn’t the one people were used to seeing. I felt
that his game was defensive against me. As he is very versatile,
he may change. That’s why I watch all his fights, like the
last time we met,” he says.
As
for the action in their next trip to the octagon, this time around
could make for a more exciting fight.
“I
think a lot may change. Both Shogun and I have some well-defined
fundamentals, our standing games, takedowns and grappling. Hence
we can switch up as we please. We can be more or less offensive
and work in all these realms. The profile of the modern-day fighter
is to be complete, which is why I believe this fight will be
totally different from the last one. It might not be, but I believe
we learned a lot from the first confrontation and we’re
going into a new battle.”
One
thing is for sure, there are a lot of expectations surrounding
this bout!
“It’s
a title fight and, just for that reason, it creates greater expectations.
He wants to be champion and I want to hold on to my title. That
brings about a healthy rivalry and makes for a more anticipated
fight. What new elements will arise now? What has changed? All
that brings expectations, much more than the first time,”
he says in finishing.
Shogun’s
expectations
by Carlos
Eduardo Ozório
It won’t be long now before Maurício Shogun faces
off with Lyoto Machida. This Saturday, at UFC 113 in Canada,
the two will do battle for the light heavyweight belt at UFC
113. In statements reported in Brazil’s NOCAUTE magazine,
and reproduced on GRACIEMAG.com (see here), Lyoto remarked that
nothing has changed for him in the lead-up to this rematch. Now
it’s time to see what Shogun is thinking:
“The
truth is that I see no difference. What I see is that I’ll
have another shot and I’m going to hold on to it tooth and
nail. Surely, that’s a big difference. I’ll go in there
with more desire,” says the Curitiba native.
The
fact that he has faced Lyoto once before and learned more about
his opponent’s game shouldn’t make much difference.
Both now know each other very well.
“In
the same way it favors me, it favors him. Just as I know more
about his game, he knows a bit more about mine now. The truth
is that neither of us gains an advantage,” he explains.
It’s
not Shogun’s first rematch either. But, in regards to the
others, the Pride FC champion points out some positives.
“The
good side of this one with Lyoto is that it was confirmed right
after the first. So I was ready for him, I’d already been
training for his style. Thus I could stick to similar training,
without changing much. Of course I’ll be keen to some things
to surprise him and for him not to surprise me. In this respect,
it’s easier,” he said, with his eyes on Machida.
“The
evolution of MMA these days makes it so you can focus on your
opponent. That’s what I do. I watch the fight with Lyoto
and review what he does well,” he says in finishing.
UFC 113
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
May 8, 2010
Lyoto
Machida vs Mauricio “Shogun” Rua
Paul
Daley vs Josh Koscheck
Jeremy
Stephens vs Sam Stout
Alan
Belcher vs Patrick Cote
Kevin
“Kimbo Slice” Ferguson vs Matt Mitrione
Tim
Credeur vs Tom Lawlor
Marcus
Davis vs Jonathan Goulet
Mike
Guymon vs Yoshiyuki Yoshida
Joey
Beltran vs Chad Corvin
T.J.
Grant vs Johny Hendricks
Nick
Catone vs John Salter
Source: Gracie Magazine
|
Belfort:
“Sonnen will be a great challenge”
By Guilherme Cruz
Vitor Belfort has been chosen to dispute the belt with another
Brazilian, Anderson Silva, but a shoulder injury forced the UFC’s
former champion to take some time off. Recovering from his problems,
Vitor talked to TATAME about Anderson’s next fight, against
the American Chael Sonnen, on UFC 117.
“Each fight is different; I can’t say how it is going
to be… For sure Sonnen will be a great challenge, and I’m
pretty sure the fight will be tied. They are two good fighters,
now is up to us to wait”, said Belfort, who does not consider
himself as a threaten to Anderson’s title on the Ultimate,
praising the work of former challengers to the Brazilian’s
belt, as Demian Maia, Thales Leites, Patrick Cote and Dan Henderson.
“In
a certain way, they were all challenges because everyone has
the chance to become a challenge. Me, for sure, will be one too.
Now I have to wait for my chance and make it worth”, said
the black belt, who is anxious to come back to the hard trainings.
“They said I could work on my fitness, I’m almost released
to train… I’ll be ready in September, but they didn’t
say anything to me… For now I’m just enjoying my time
with my kids (laughs)”, concluded Vitor.
Source: Tatame
|
Georges
St-Pierre, Winner of Koscheck-Daley to Coach TUF 12
By Ariel
Helwani
MONTREAL -- Georges St-Pierre and the winner of UFC 113's Josh
Koscheck vs. Paul Daley fight will be the coaches on season 12
of The Ultimate Figher, Dana White announced prior to Friday's
weigh-ins at the Bell Centre.
"I'm
very pumped for that," St-Pierre said, "and tomorrow
I'll be watching carefully the fight between Koscheck and Daley."
White
announced at Thursday's pre-fight press conference that the winner
of Koscheck-Daley will fight GSP for the title later this year.
The
12th season of The Ultimate Fighter is expected to air in September
on Spike TV.
?"I
figured this would be the perfect place to announce the next
coaches for the next season of The Ultimate Fighter," White
said, considering Montreal is GSP's hometown.
"It's
a big fight for these guys," White said of Koscheck and
Daley. "Not only do they get a shot at the title and a shot
at Georges St-Pierre, they get a chance to coach on The Ultimate
Fighter."
GSP
was an assistant coach on the fourth season of the show, but
never a head coach. He successfully defended his 170-pound title
against Dan Hardy at UFC 111 in March.
If
history is any lesson, GSP will then defend his title against
the winner of Saturday's No. 1 contender fight following the
conclusion of the show in December.
Source: MMA Fighting
|
Leites
Makes Short Work of Taylor
Jimmo Dominates Gouveia for UD Win
By Kelsey
Mowatt
Thales
Leites needed less than three minutes tonight in Edmonton, Alberta,
to tap out fellow UFC veteran Jesse Taylor, as the noted jiu-jitsu
practitioner extended his post-Octagon winning streak to three
at the Maximum Fighting Championship’s 25th event.
The
accomplished wrestler Taylor immediately shot in for the takedown
on the former UFC middleweight title contender, and although
he took Leites to the mat with relative ease, he immediately
was put on the defensive by his opponent’s active and open
guard. As Taylor attempted to punish Leites from the top position,
it became apparent that somewhere in the action the Team Quest
fighter had been cut above his eye, as the American tried to
stay clear of Leites’ armbar and triangle-choke attempts.
Despite Taylor’s efforts Leites had soon ensnared his opponent
in a triangle-choke, and with his left arm also trapped by the
Nova Uniao fighter, the former “Ultimate Fighter” competitor
had no choice but to tap.
Ryan
Jimmo likely silenced some of the pundits that have criticized
the experienced karate competitor in the past for his apparent
lack of aggressiveness, as although the Canadian light-heavyweight
was unable to stop Wilson Gouveia, he punished the UFC veteran
throughout much of their bout.
Gouveia,
who came in 3 pounds over weight yesterday and did not look as
fit as he has in previous UFC appearances, was somewhat tentative
from the opening bell, and aside from landing several hard kicks
to Jimmo’s legs, he offered little offense. In the second
round Jimmo rocked Gouveia with a flurry of strikes, and after
the jiu-jitsu black belt went reeling to the mat, Jimmo blasted
his opponent with elbows and punches. Although Gouveia managed
to outlast the onslaught and make it out of the round, it was
clear that an upset was in the making.
In
round three Gouveia was unable to come up with the stoppage that
he needed, and although Jimmo was also unable to finish off the
American Top Team fighter, he once again outscored his opponent
to win the round. Afterwards Jimmo was announced as the Unanimous
Decision victor, in what is likely the 13-1 fighter’s biggest
win to date.
In
another light-heavyweight tilt that also had title shot implications
riding on it, former MFC champion Emanuel Newton utilized his
advanced wrestling skills to control opponent Dwayne Lewis, en
route to the UD win. Although Lewis threatened with strikes or
submissions on a couple of occasions, Newton was consistently
able to counter with the takedown and score with punches from
the top position. An elated Newton celebrated the victory afterwards,
one which ended the fighter’s three fight losing streak.
Pete
Spratt once again lived up to his reputation as a powerful striker,
as the welterweight punished fellow UFC veteran Luigi Fioravanti
throughout their fight with kicks to the legs and body, before
finishing the ATT fighter with a barrage of strikes in the third
round. Although Spratt’s performance was impressive, it
was announced during the HDNet broadcast that Fioravanti was
recovering from a bout of food poisoning, which may have played
a factor in his somewhat tentative approach.
MFC
25 HDNet Broadcast Results
Thales
Leites def. Jesse Taylor by Submission (triangle-choke) R1 2:27
Ryan Jimmo def. Wilson Gouveia by Unanimous Decision
Emanuel Newton def. Dwayne Lewis by Unanimous Decision
Pete Spratt def. Luigi Fioravanti by TKO (punches) R3 3:02
Gavin Neil def. Richie Hightower by Submission (rear-naked-choke)
R1 2:52
Chase Gormley def. Ryan Fortin by Unanimous Decision
Source: Full Contact Fighter
|
Brazilian
experts talks Lyoto vs Shogun 2
There are few days left before the most expected revenge of the
year and TATAME talked to experts about the duel between Lyoto
Machida and Maurício Shogun, which will happen on Staturday
(8) on UFC 113, on Canada. Wanderlei Silva, Rogério Minotouro,
Anderson Silva, Zé Mário Sperry, Ricardo Arona,
Sérgio Cunha... The team of experts analyzed the confrontation
and the result is really tied. Check below the opinion from who
is inside the fight world and stay tuned to know everything about
UFC 113, which will have a real time coverage of TATAME this
weekend.
Rudimar Fedrigo: “My expectations are that this fight will
be better than the first, I wouldn’t bet on anyone. I believe
the athletes will risk more, the fight will be more intense,
more decisively. I think they won’t change much their strategies.
What will change is their determination. The athlete who search
more the knockout or the submission until the end will be the
winner”
Demian Maia: “because they know each other, I hope the fight
will be more aggressive. On the other fight Shogun went forward
and Lyoto backward, even for their style, but I think Lyoto will
risk more. I didn’t matter how aggressive Shogun was in
the last fight, he has the respect for the unexpected, but he
doesn’t have it anymore. They stood up there for almost
half an hour, now they know each other. I love Lyoto, but I cheer
for Shogun. We used to train together when he has his fight against
Chuck Liddell. But I don’t know who will win”
Wanderlei Silva: “I think Shogun could see that Lyoto couldn’t
hold him... Shogun really is a talent guy, if he’s well
trained it’s hard to catch him and if he’s in a good
shape as he was in the otehr fight, I don’t see him having
much problems. Lyoto has a defensive style, moves very well and
the judges must see it, but I think that fighting is about contact,
otherwise the competition will became a marathon and that’s
not good for the sport… Fighting is a contact sport. But
I think this revenge is going to be very interesting, I’ll
watch it live if I can, the first one was good enough for us
to expect a lot from this. Lyoto could tell he has to do more
than he did for winning this fight. Me, in particular, think
that Shogun won the first fight. Me and the whole world. Only
in Brazil people tought that Lyoto had won, I don’t know
why. Shogun was upset with people from the television... People
from TV has to understand that you have to judge the fight without
being partial, the guy is there to narrate, he can not chose
on side or another, the media has to be impartial or it will
prejudice the show’s interpretation. The outsider who is
watching is manipulated by the commentators speech and that can’t
happen, it’s a thing to be rethink, the commentators has
to be best chosen and can’t chose sides. Whoever is there
narrating has to face it as a job and act in a professional way
or give up for someone that is”
Jayme Sandall, karate coach: “I think Lyoto will win, he’s
very focused and has being working hard. I believe Shogun will
use the same strategy of the kicks and try to play on the counterattack,Lyoto
I think will change a little bit and will focus on his speed,
because he’s really fast and although Shogun is also fast,
Lyoto is faster. I think Lyoto will keep his distance , get closer
and then retrat… Shogun’s also a phenomenon, and for
him the best thing would be to fight in a short distance, while
for Lyoto is the other way around. Honestly I don’t believe
in a knockout on this fight, even because both has never been
knocked out , but I believe Lyoto will will in the judges round
card”
Rogério Minotouro: “It’ll be a great fight.
Shogun is doing just fine, recovering his good shape as he has
during the Pride, is well physically, and Lyoto is in the prime
of his career, a lot confident. I think the fight will be even
better. I can’t predict who will win, because it’ll
be very tied. I want Lyoto to win, but the first fight was ied
and I think he’s coming back better, he could study Shogun
and improve even more. On the other side, Shogun is training,
got very close and let it go, but now he’ll try not to waste
the opportunity. This fight will be awesome”
Bebeo Duarte: “I think Lyoto and Shogun’s fight will
be tied as the first one was, but I don’t believe they’ll
fight in the same way. I think both of them will change their
strategies and bring up some new tactics. It’ll be a huge
fight! I believe Lyoto will win, he won’t get caught by
surprise anymore, he’ll show why he is the champion and
will show his game”
Zé Mário Sperry: “The unpredictability is
the essence of MMA. It is the beauty of the sport. Everything
can happen. Meanwhile, I believe that, by the statistics of the
previous fights, we could see something similar from what we
saw in the last confrontation: a fight won by points, tied, with
a light advantage of Lyoto. Again, it’s by the record, statistically
more positive”
Ricardo Arona: “I believe that, if there’s no aggressiveness,
is a case for the judge to tell the athlete to start fighting.
On Lyoto’s case, even though his strategy is defensive,
I think he has to be more daring and, if the fight is like the
last one, with him going backwards, I think it must be interfered
in order to have more combat. The round has five minutes and
it can’t have just two or three attacks. I can’t say
who will win, because both of them has the star and heart of
a champion, who is in a better moment and dare more, will win”
Anderson Silva: “Each fight is different, each situation
is particular. You can never know your opponent well enough.
Shogun is a great fighter, a very tough one, but of course we
want Lyoto to win. Is a good fight for the two of them”
Chinzo Machiza: “The fight itself is unpredictable, but
Lyoto is more prepared than on the other time, more focused,
stronger. I believe Lyoto will knockout, we are making him ready
for it. It was his first belt defense and that took his focus
away. He can be better than that. We’ve changed a lot. No
one will want to leave the decisions for the judges. Lyoto was
not happy with the critics and Shogun wasn’t thrilled by
the result either. That can motivate them to define the fight,
but we’ll only know that at the time”
Paulo Nikolai: “I would be ungrateful if I pointed one of
them as the probable winner, but I want Shogun to win with a
knockout. I want him to win to finish will all doubts and that
is the world’s opinion. I fight Muay Thai and Shogun defends
it. But Shogun can’t make a mistake, otherwise he’ll
be beaten. He hits to make a damage, is very clever during the
fight. I think he’ll focus more on the combinations, he
has a good timing and is more mature now. I think he will use
another strategy this time”
Thiago Silva: “It’ll be another battle. I like Shogun,
I want him to win... He won once and has all the potential to
do it again. I trained with Shogun and for all I know of him,
he’s a very determinate guy. Lyoto can be prepared for a
bigger Shogun”
Sérgio Cunha: “I think this revenge will be sensational,
even because Lyoto will come back a lot better and so Shogun.
Everyone claimed that Shogun would lose, that Lyoto would easily
beat him, but Shogun won the fight morally, so he’ll come
more confident and Lyoto more aggressive. We will have a better
fight this time”
Glover Teixeira: “Lyoto is really clever and I think he’ll
win again on this fight against Shogun, maybe even easily. I
see Shogun as the second within the division, because Lyoto is
very tactical, make his opponents frustrated, I believe this
will be a easier fight for him. I believe it’ll end on the
fourth round, but if it goes for the judges round card, it’ll
be in favor of Lyoto… But I think Lyoto will submit Shogun
before that”
João Guilherme Bendley, Shogun’s karate sparring:
“I think Lyoto is not changing much his style, because it
worked until now. You can’t change ten years of trainings
in four months, I think he’ll still be defensive because
he does that pretty well, works on the counterattack or going
for it. I think he’ll work on his timing, will be more prepared
just like Shogun, but Shogun will win. I think this fight will
be like the previous one, Shogun’s kicks are precise, I
think this fight will be more aggressive, because both of them
wants to show their abilities”
Glaube Feitosa: “As Lyoto must counterattack, Shogun must
be aware of that and prepared to develop. He must take the counterattacks
knowing it’ll happen otherwise we’ll be caught by surprise.
The ideia is Shogun to through his blows upon Lyoto’s counterattacks.
Shogun has to be the last to punch, a hard thing when we think
about Lyoto, but that’s the goal”
Paulão Filho: “On this fight something different
will happen. I think one of them will go down. On the first fight
there was all that caution and Shogun knows that if that happens
again, he’ll lose again. For the champion to lose by point,
only if the owner of the event is very pissed with him or if
it’s a big difference, thing that didn’t happen on
that fight. I think Shogun must try more, what can be a good
thing for Lyoto, but I think Lyoto is not used to athletes with
so much potential. It’s a fight, man, that I want to see
again. It’s very good to see the level they’ve achieved…
It’ll be a fight to beat all of the pay-per-view records”
Murilo Ninja: “Shogun will go for it all the time. I’m
sure he’ll win this one, he’s very talented. Well trained,
my brother is the best of the world on this weight division”
Daniel Woirin: “I though the fight was tied, and people
focused a lot on the hands, the punches, but Shogun kicked a
lot and annulled Lyoto’s punches. I’d say it was a
draw. It’s very hard to chose one of them. Now they’ll
come with all of their Power for this second fight, it’ll
be interesting. There are always ways, just like Lyoto can find
his own ways, but I think it’s not the decisive thing. The
decisive thing will be their state of mind, because it’s
a lot of pressure they’ve been through. I have a tactic
for the two of them, but I’m not telling, it’s a secret
(laughs)”
Expert’s guess:
Lyoto: 6
Shogun: 6
Don’t know: 6
Source: Tatame
|
Lyoto
Machida
By Guilherme Cruz
UFC’s champion on the light heavyweight division, Lyoto
Machida will risk his belt for the second time against the Maurício
Shogun, and he’s excited about this fight. In an interview
on the April’s edition of TATAME Magazine, the tough guy
from Belém talked about his trainings, what he learned
from his first fight against Shogun , the sparring he looked
for in order to suit his game to Shogun’s and a lot more.
Check below the interview given by the karate fighter.
How were the trainings for the fight?
I’m training since December for this fight. We are focusing
in one priority at a time. Now, we’re doing a lot of specific
trainings and, of course that, training for the second time,
we learn something about the opponent. In some way, it makes
things easier for us to train our strategy, the technique which
will be used, but, as always, we train all of the aspects, both
standing and on the ground.
Do you think he will repeat the strategy he used on the first
fight?
Well, I’m trying to forget it. It’s a new fight. Even
because Shogun is a very eclectic guy and has this ability of
changing. It’s a brand new fight, on which I’m prioritizing
some aspects and we can’t predict what will happen. He has
well settled foundations, well structured, the standing part
and the fall, and I have it too. It depends on the strategy.
Of course you end up repeating some things, it’s normal,
no one can change that much.
What did you learn from your first belt defense?
I learned I have to keep learning. I’ve never belittled
anyone, but we always have to seek something more. It’s
not that I’m accommodated, I’ve always trained everything,
but my life has changed after I conquest the belt, everything
was new for me. My lifestyle, even if I have kept it the way
I wanted, there were things I couldn’t control. The media
invades your privacy too much, makes you feel lost. You want
to give them attention, but sometimes you don’t want to
be bothered. It’s hard to balance and manage all of this.
What have changed in your life?
I’ve been through a lot of situations like that after my
fight against Rashad. And that affects my training focus, even
I don’t want to go through this. I’m not making excuses,
but it was too much for me. I didn’t know how to deal with
it. Nowadays I know how to handle it better, I know how to put
each thing in their due spot.
What are your expectations for this revenge?
I’m hoping that Shogun comes prepared and we manage to make
it a good show on May 8. I’ll do my best and always try
to finish the fight, as it was my goal since the first fight.
Did you look for sparring with a game similar to Shogun’s?
We
always try, but it depends on what you’ll find, it’s
not that easy. I’ve been working for a while with my team,
changed a few sparring now, and people who have helped me to
win the title are still helping me, but I never let go new acquisitions.
I always look for someone who has a similar game and can help
me.
Source: Tatame
|
DALEY:
I'M GOING TO KNOCK KOSCHECK OUT
by Jeff
Cain
Paul Daley heads into his UFC 113 bout with Josh Koscheck with
a lot riding on the line.
At
the UFC 113 pre-fight press conference UFC president Dana White
announced that the winner would get the next title shot against
welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre, but Daley is only focused
on defeating Koscheck.
“Just
this fight and winning, that’s my main focus, and that’s
it,” said Daley.
A
lot has been said about the stylistic match up with Koscheck
coming from an extensive wrestling background and Daley’s
striking ability. Koscheck has shown a tendency to want to stand
and trade in the past, but Daley isn’t concerned with his
opponent’s strategy.
“I’m
not really bothered about what he does or the outcome of what
he does. I just have to go in there and implement my game plan
and win the fight. That’s it. Simple,“ said the heavy-handed
Brit. “If he wants to stand with me he wants to stand with
me. If it comes to takedowns we have a plan for that. If he manages
to get a takedown we have a plan for that, but I’m just
ready to go and do what I’ve got to do.”
“If
Koscheck wants to trade and stand on the (seam), I’m happy
to do that all day. I think it will be a very short, sweet fight
if that is the case,” added Daley.
Addressing
the wrestling aspect of the game, Daley has worked to improve
his grappling for some time, not just in preparation to face
a former NCAA Division I Champion.
“Coming
to the UFC I knew everybody would have seen my early fights and
think, okay, this guy can bang a little bit. If we’re going
to win and win without getting knocked out we’re going to
have to take him down,” commented the 27-year old athlete.
“It’s an ongoing process. It’s not something I
just do for a particular fight.
“It’s
something that I continue to work on, and I’m fortunate
enough to have the best people that I can get a hold of right
now that I’m working with when it comes to the wrestling;
even if it means flying them in from different countries, which
we have. So, we’ll see what happens in the fight.”
Asked
if he was excited for the fight, Daley responded, “I’m
not one to get excited about an individual especially if it’s
a man, especially if it’s a man with blonde hair, dyed blonde
hair, a dyed blonde afro. Let’s get it right. The most important
thing for me is winning. I’m excited about winning.”
But
all jokes aside, Daley knows how big of an opportunity this fight
is for his career.
“Josh
Koscheck is a big name. He’s had all of his fights in the
UFC, so a lot of people know who he is. Knocking him out is going
to be big for me in general,” said Daley.
Daley
has done his homework scouting Koscheck’s previous fights.
While not willing to give any insight into the particulars of
his game plan, Daley didn’t hesitate to provide a prediction
of the fight’s outcome.
“I
know what I know and I’m going to go out there and win,”
stated Daley. “I'm going to knock Koscheck out, you know.
That's it. It's plain and simple.”
Source: MMA Weekly
|
Xande
or Roger, who will be the first three-time champ?
by Carlos
Eduardo Ozório
Amaury Bitetti, Rodrigo Comprido, Márcio Pé de
Pano, Ronaldo Jacaré, Alexandre Ribeiro and Roger Gracie
are all two-time absolute world champions. However, at the 2010
installment of the most important event on the Jiu-Jitsu calendar
has all the makings of being the tournament to produce the first-ever
three-time winner of the most prestigious black belt division.
Roger
Gracie, who won in 2009, has stated several times in the past
that he is in pursuit of a third. Another two-time champion who
has been dedicating himself more to MMA is also in the running:
Xande Ribeiro.
“I
can’t resist. I thought I’d be able to keep out of
it, but I can’t. I’m in the 2010 Worlds!” says
Xande over Twitter, guaranteeing his place in the dispute.
There’s
still time for Ronaldo Jacaré and Pé de Pano to
enter the race, but those two are currently neck deep in MMA.
Rodrigo Comprido, too, may stick his neck out in the quest for
a third, while Amaury Bitetti is fully retired.
Nevertheless,
don’t go thinking the title can only go to one of those
three. Beasts like Ricardo Demente, Rômulo Barral, Bráulio
Estima and even the much lighter Claudio Calasans, among a bunch
of others, are ready to rain on their parade.
So
one question remains: will we have a three-time absolute champion
in 2010? Place your bets!
Source: Gracie Magazine
|
UFC
113: Marcus Davis finds himself in a win-or-go-home situation
By Zach
Arnold
Quietly,
Marcus Davis is fighting on this weekend’s UFC 113 Montreal
card — and his job is perhaps on the line, too.
Publicly,
an accurate reason stated for why his job might be on the line
has to do with his fight record in his last five UFC fights:
loss against Mike Swick (decision), win against Paul Kelly (submission),
win against Chris Lytle (decision), loss against Dan Hardy (decision),
and loss against Ben Saunders (KO).
“It
definitely weighs heavily on me,” Davis said in an interview
with Sherdog last week. “You just don’t know if you’re
going to keep your job or not and you know there are guys that
have lost a lot of fights and continue to keep their jobs, you
know, but… you know guys like Clay Guida for a while there,
man, he was losing so many fights but you know he’s an exciting
fighter and he puts on good shows and people like to watch him
fight. Same thing, you know, Chris Lytle, my buddy Chris, he
went on some string but you know Chris lets it all hang out,
he bangs it out, so there are guys that keep their job who are
that way but you just don’t know with the UFC. Sometimes
UFC will just sit a fighter down and say, “You know, listen,
we got to release you for a little while. Go out and win some
fights and we’ll bring you back.” So you know I don’t
want that to happen so I got to go out there and I don’t
just got to win but I got to win big and show that you know I
want to stay you know employed especially nowadays with the way
it is now.”
His
big test this weekend on the UFC 113 under card is against veteran
fighter Jonathan Goulet, who hasn’t fought in the last 16
months. Let Mr. Davis give you a short preview of coming attractions.
“I’ve
worked out with Jonathan Goulet before and I’m not basing
anything on that workout and obviously on paper that’s the
way it looks and in my head that’s the way it looks but
I’m not taking any chances and I don’t think it takes
rocket science to think of what you know my fight plan’s
going to be and what his fight plan’s going to be and yeah,
this fight could be very well be over quickly or it could end
up being a long, tedious fight. You know I’m hoping for
a quick fight.”
He
better hope for a quick fight and he better hope that he is on
the winning end of it as well. Goulet is fighting in his backyard
in Montreal and the atmosphere is going to be very strong in
his favor. As Davis admitted in the Sherdog interview, he has
issues sometimes with over thinking and being too hesitant in
the cage.
“It’s
got to be one of those [fights] where I don’t wait, I can’t
wait for him to do something, I got to go out there and I got
to make sure to take control of that Octagon immediately and
I dictate the pace that I make him fight my fight and I don’t
want to get wrapped up and you know what he’s doing and
what the crowd’s doing because obviously they’re going
to be screaming, ‘Kill the Irish guy!’ or ‘Kill
the American!’
“I’m
not going to base, I can’t, if I base everything off of
what I think Jonathan’s going to do and I go in there and
I wait for it to happen and it doesn’t happen, then I’m
seeing all the opportunities to capitalize or create opportunity
for myself and I think that fighters tend to do it and when fighters
go in and they say oh the guy’s going to shoot and they
wait for him to shoot, they lose the opportunity to you know
punch a hole in the guy, so that’s not what I’m going
to do. I’m going to go out there, I’m going to react
to the situation at hand, and you know like I keep saying this
fight’s going to be about me using footwork, sharp shooting,
and throwing hard, heavy heavy punches and then you know if I
get him hurt, jump on him and take him out or it’s going
to be you him continuously trying to shoot and take me down and
kind of grinding out a long fight like that with me just defending
take-downs and him trying to keep on my back, trying to cut me.
“I
got to be aggressive and I got to be first. In the case of like
fighting a Dan Hardy, you got to be aggressive and got to be
first whereas I did that, I completely went after and tried to
close the distance and I think it was a wrong decision on the
Saunders fight so that wouldn’t have been a fight that I
shouldn’t have done that, I should have made him, moved
around, made him come to me and then had done the in-and-out
and my angles and stuff to carry that fight longer. So, yeah,
it always depends on who you’re fighting and in this fight
with Jonathan Goulet from what I’ve seen and what I’ve
watched, he’s usually pretty aggressive and he comes out
and he comes out pretty much like open to be hit because he’s
just kind of a little wild and is throwing everything that he’s
got to try to take him out and I’ve got to be there to make
sure that when he does that, I’m there to expose the opportunity
to hit him with a hard shot so he ends up walking into it. He’s
either going to do that or he’s going to come after me like
he did with Luke Cummo or like I thought he was going to do with
Duane Ludwig and just come across the ring and shoot immediately
and try to take me down on the ground, which actually is kind
of like when we did in our sparring. When I sparred with him,
which was once again it was right before the Swick fight, it
was a while before that, I might have hit him once or twice and
then from there on all he kept doing is trying to take me down
and he wasn’t successful at it back then, either. I don’t
know what’s going on in this head, I don’t know what
his plan is, I don’t know if he’s thinking ‘OK,
well, we’re going to go out and I’m going to see what
happens striking’ or if he realizes that might be a big
mistake.
“I
can’t hesitate. I got to go out there and immediately establish
control of this fight and show him that you know that he’s
in a fight, a fight for his life.”
In
many ways, Marcus Davis is a big talker and a big character.
That’s great for the fight game, since colorful personalities
make for great television. He does tend to dramatize things a
little bit too much, occasionally.
“In
the (Chris) Lytle fight I did hesitate and wait around a lot
in the first round because I didn’t think I was going to
have… when we went to that fight, Mark Dellagrotte I mean
after the fight, that fight, we actually broke down in tears…
and it was because he admitted to me that both of us too thought
that you know when I walking down to the Octagon that I walking
down for a execution. He was with me you know the 24 hours before
where I was bed-ridden and I was running to the bathroom and
I was anemic and dehydrated and we had the EMTs in my room and
then we had a doctor in my room and he just said, you know, he
just thought I was going to go out there and get crucified so
that first round when I made it through and I sat down on the
stool I said you know what, I can do this, I actually feel like
I can keep fighting. I was worried that I was not going to have
the energy or anything to do that, so, but you know I paid for
it in the first round, I was hesitant and then I took over the
next two rounds…”
While
his free-speaking ways sometimes provides unintentional comedy
and lionized stories of confidence, it’s also gotten Marcus
Davis in a lot of trouble. While his record in his last five
UFC fights is so-so, a real reason his job is in potential jeopardy
is due to his mouth. After losing to Dan Hardy by split decision
almost a year ago, Davis has been stewing over the loss. He hates
Dan Hardy with a passion and Dan Hardy found it amazingly easy
to tweak him online, including having Underground Forum members
make mock gay magazine pictorials featuring the Irish Hand Grenade’s
face on him. Hardy figured out that Davis was a big mark for
himself and toyed with his mentally. Gamesmanship is one thing,
but everybody knows that Dan Hardy likes to joke around and be
a clown occasionally. It’s proved him great so far in his
career. So, there really was no excuse for Marcus Davis to get
all bent out-of-shape about losing to Dan Hardy.
There
was especially no excuse when Davis made crude remarks about
Hardy on his Twitter account eight months after the fight happened.
Remember this?
@BIGfield948
I hope Hardy dies of aids
Dark&Bad
taste-thought it was fitting aftr he did the gay photos towards
me which is worse IMO this was words those pics are up for life
Would
it have been better if I said hit by a car?
On
these remarks alone, Davis likely should have lost his job. So,
he got very lucky that his employers didn’t fire his ass.
Not only were his remarks stupid and childish, but they were
made right after the remarks Frank Mir made on Mark Madden’s
radio show in which he said that he hoped that he could beat
up Brock Lesnar and cause Lesnar to be the first fight to die
do to “Octagon-related injuries.” Mir ended up being
told to shut up before the Shane Carwin fight and lost his WEC
commentating job. Mir admitted after losing to Carwin that he
was distracted by the fallout from his comments on Madden’s
radio show. Marcus Davis got off a bit easier — he’s
got a chance to save his job if he fights well and beats Jonathan
Goulet. But for all intents and purposes, it is a one-and-done
situation for Mr. Davis in terms of keeping his job in the promotion.
One loss and he’s in big trouble.
To
his credit, Mr. Davis says that win or lose, he will continue
fighting in Mixed Martial Arts even if it means it’s not
in UFC.
“I
would continue to fight. I’m not done yet, by any means…
I was a pro-boxer and I did all that other stuff for years and
years and years, but this MMA game you know everybody says you
know that I’m a veteran because I got whatever, my 13th
UFC appearance or whatever it is coming up, but… you know
you got to look at it like this. I’ve still have only been
doing MMA literally since I did the show, The Ultimate Fighter.
I wasn’t even training in MMA. I was still a boxer in an
MMA sport so I’m continuing to figure things out…”
At
the time of his AIDS comment, I said the following:
“Congratulations
to Marcus Davis for now permanently ensuring that whenever someone
searches his name on the Internet that the phrase “AIDS”
will pop up next to it on most of the top search entries in Google.”
Type his name into Google and find out for yourself right now.
Not
only does Marcus Davis need to re-shape his UFC fight record,
but he also needs to re-shape his public image, too. Saturday
night is a chance for him to try to push the reset button. If
he doesn’t get the job done at UFC 113, he could be unemployed
as early as next week.
Source: Fight Opinion
|
Eight
Man Tournaments and the UFC: Would it work?
Bellator FC’s tournament format is in full swing and it
really creates interesting story lines, kind of like the NCAA
basketball tournament just on a much smaller scale. As Pat Curran
showed us with his upset of Roger Huerta, anything can happen
and an underdog can literally fight his way to the title. It’s
pretty cool to see it decided in the cage and not by a matchmaker.
After
Curran’s victory I started thinking about what an eight
man tournament would look like in the UFC. I took a look at the
Independent World MMA Rankings, by far the best rankings ever
created in the history of MMA rankings and soon they will be
lauded as the go to rankings by everyone on the entire planet,
even people in Pyongyang (yes I am a member of the IW MMA Rankings).
Anyway, back on track... Based on the IW MMA Rankings a UFC light
heavyweight tournament would stack up like this:
(Rampage is excluded because he has been inactive for over a
year)
(1)
Lyoto Machida vs. (8) Jon Jones
(4) Anderson Silva vs. (5) Forrest Griffin
(2) Shogun Rua vs. (7) Thiago Silva
(3) Rashad Evans vs. (6) Antonio Rogerio Nogueira
Now
that’s four very exciting match ups (even Silva/Griffin,
I mean could Silva offer up a second decimation of Forrest or
could Forrest hang in with the dance machine). So basically the
main card of an event would consist of these four fights and
one other fight. Fast forward three and a half months later for
round two. In a twist the tournament offers a consolation bracket
so winners face winners and losers face losers. Anything can
happen in a fight so let’s say round two looks like this
(and Lyoto and Anderson don’t have to fight each other):
Losers
(1) Lyoto Machida vs. (5) Forrest Griffin
(7) Thiago Silva vs. (3) Rashad Evans
Winners
(4) Anderson Silva vs. (8) Jon Jones
(2) Shogun Rua vs. (6) Antonio Rogerio Nogueira
Again,
another exciting four fights. Now all the sudden top dogs Machida
and Evans are fighting in an almost must win situation and the
four winners are looking for a spot in the finals and the million
dollar purse. Fast forward once again three and a half months
later. We’re in the final round of the tournament. Seven
months earlier the top eight guys in the UFC’s light heavyweight
division were vying for superiority, now just two have a chance,
two are in desperate need of victory or else they’ve dropped
three in a row, and four more are looking to finish with a 2-1
mark and remain at the top of the heap. Here’s how our final
pretend event looks:
For
seventh place (meaning they lost twice)
(3) Rashad Evans vs. (5) Forrest Griffin
For
the consolation championship (meaning they lost then won)
(1) Lyoto Machida vs. (7) Thiago Silva
For
third place (meaning they won then lost)
(4) Anderson Silva vs. (6) Antonio Rogerio Nogueira
For
the belt
(8) Jon Jones vs. (2) Shogun Rua
(This tournament has a Cinderella in the finals)
What
we end up with is the majority of the main card for three events
and every fight is intriguing. A tournament such as this would
last seven to eight months and provide a nice gap in between
for others to fight their way in for the next year. It would
also give us consistency regarding the amount of times the champ
fights and tries to defend his belt.
Are
there flaws? For sure: injuries, substitutions, determining who
is in the tourney, pay for the consolation bracket, scheduling
around other commitments like TUF or The A-Team, and I’m
sure there are a gang of others I’m missing. But it’s
fun to consider something of this nature and I know I’d
be super fired up for each round.
Just
for fun, here’s how the opening round of the welterweight
tourney would currently look:
(1)
GSP vs. (8) Paul Daley
(4) Josh Koscheck vs. (5) Paulo Thiago
(2)
Jon Fitch vs. (7) Matt Hughes
(3) Thiago Alves vs. (6) Dan Hardy
And
here’s how the UFC Lightweights would shake out (with WEC
champ Benson Henderson included):
(1)
Frank Edgar vs. (8) Sean Sherk
(4) Gray Maynard vs. (5) Ben Henderson
(2)
B.J. Penn vs. (7) Diego Sanchez (sorry Diego)
(3) Kenny Florian vs. (6) Tyson Griffin
Schedule
for all these eight-man tournaments?
Lightweights
in January, April, July
Welterweights in February, May, August
Middleweights in March, June, October
Light heavyweights in May, August, November
Heavyweights in June, September, December
This
gives us a big tournament event every month and two in May, June
and August. Each tournament event consists of four fights so
the card still has room for six to eight other fights of guys
hoping to make it into the next tournament.
Currently
the UFC is running around 20 events per year. This set up would
still allow room for Fight Nights, Versus events, TUF’s,
or whatever the hell else they come up with.
Personally
I think my thrown together plan is so brilliant that I expect
a call from Dana in the next few days. I’m sure many of
you will think it is so not brilliant that you will call me names
that rhyme with doopid or Goron or bummy, but that’s okay,
when I’m on the UFC 114 video blog enjoying a little Pinkberry’s
frozen yogurt while Dana makes fun of me I’ll be sure to
give you the good ole Tokyo Hey buddy.
Source: By The Numbers
|
UFC
113 Official as Fighters Make Weight
By FCF
Staff
All
of the scheduled participants for tomorrow night’s UFC113
card made weight this afternoon in Montreal, Quebec, green lighting
a card that will see light-heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida
look to defend his title for a second time against challenger
Mauricio “Shogun” Rua.
Today’s
weigh-ins went off without any substantial drama, save Tom Lawlor’s
over the top impersonation of UFC legend Dan Severn, which drew
the praise of host Joe Rogan and hundreds of others in attendance.
Here
are the official weigh-in results for UFC 113:
Light-Heavyweight
Championship
Mauricio Rua (205) vs. Lyoto Machida (204)
Josh
Koscheck (170) vs. Paul Daley (170)
Patrick Cote (184) vs. Alan Belcher (186
Matt Mitrione (253) vs. Kimbo Slice (225)
Sam Stout (155) vs. Jeremy Stephens (155)
Jason
MacDonald (185) vs. John Salter (185)
Yoshiyuki Yoshida (170) vs. Mike Guymon (170)
Joey Beltran (239) vs. Tim Hague (266)
Johnny Hendricks (170) vs. TJ Grant (169)
Jonathan Goulet (169) vs. Marcus Davis (169)
Tom Lawlor (185) vs. Joe Doerksen (186)
Source: Full Contact Fighter
|
Couture's
date with Toney
By Jake Rossen/Sherdog.com
"We've heard [Floyd] Mayweather and others kind of run their
mouths about it, and he's the first one that's actually had the
courage to step up and fight and stand behind what he's talking."
That's
the quote from Randy Couture addressing a possible fight in August
with James Toney. Couture told MMAWeekly Radio that the bout
could be signed within the next few weeks. It's a ridiculous
idea, obviously, with no real diesel engine behind it. Toney
is a fading boxer, and Couture could become completely ineffectual
any day now.
That
doesn't mean it will be boring. I'm almost ashamed to say the
fight actually has something going for it: two sharply contrasted
styles that have very broadly defined limitations.
Because
Couture is more of a clinch fighter than a kickboxer, a match
with Toney that stays on the feet isn't going to be that dynamic.
Toney will have an honest shot at catching him without getting
brain freeze at the potential of a foot in his face. If the fight
hits the ground, Toney won't be getting back up. Pretty simple
story.
That
kind of fight promotion has largely been pushed aside because
of evolution. Fighters with obvious strengths are still capable-to-dangerous
in other facets of the game. But when the differences are this
sweeping, it becomes interesting. Instead of nullifying an opponent's
strength, you have to be proactive in forcing your own. Pure
boxer versus pure wrestler at this level of celebrity hasn't
been done in decades. (And ignoring Ray Mercer's logging of Tim
Sylvia, boxing hasn't had a name puncher against an MMA fighter
since Francois Botha fought current UFC middleweight Yoshihiro
Akiyama in 2004.)
The
most intriguing question is whether or not the UFC can do what
boxing couldn't by making Toney a dependable attraction. (It's
utterly bizarre that a fighter with the style of a narcoleptic
in John Ruiz has been involved in more pay-television attractions
than Toney, a gifted self-promoter.) My feeling is that the UFC's
marketing machine coupled with his mouth will be an impressive,
if not exactly runaway success.
And
if Toney wins? Argh -- not because of Toney's attitude, but because
of the ammunition it would create for men like Mayweather and
Bob Arum, devoted deniers of MMA's level of technique. Couture
is at a point where no fight is a must-win for him, but this
one might be a must-win for his sport.
Source: ESPN
|
Bellator
CEO says Paulo Filho vs. Hector Lombard is still a go for Bellator
18
by Steven
Marrocco
Despite reports Bellator Fighting Championships' CEO said that
as far as he knows, a non-title fight between middleweight champion
Hector Lombard (24-2-1 MMA, 3-0 BFC) and former WEC title-holder
Paulo Filho (18-1 MMA, 0-0 BFC) will still take place.
"I've
been on the phone with all the appropriate people and we've got
everything in line," Rebney today told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com)
of the Bellator 18 "super fight."
Bellator
18 takes place this coming Thursday, May 13, at the Monroe Civic
Center in Monroe, La. The main card airs on FOX Sports Net.
According
to a report from GracieMag.com, Filho said he was unable to get
a visa to travel to the U.S. because of documentation issues.
However,
Rebney today spoke to Filho's representatives, who said that
Filho is traveling from Brazil to the U.S.on Monday and will
have his pre-fight medical paperwork completed the next day.
But there is a Plan B if Filho fails to materialize.
"We've
backed ourselves up; we've done everything we needed to do in
protecting the sanctity of that event, but my hope is that he
shows up," Rebney said. "I think Hector Lombard deserves
this fight."
Rebney
declined to name Filho's possible replacement but said it is
an opponent known to mixed-martial-arts fans.
Filho's
manager, Ed Soares, did not respond to a request for comment.
In February, Soares told MMAjunkie.com that the middleweight
fighter is still battling personal issues that arose after his
WEC fight with Chael Sonnen.
The
Brazilian failed to make weight for the November 2008 title fight
and appeared to have a breakdown inside the cage. He often gazed
away from Sonnen during the bout and talked to himself as it
played out. He ultimately suffered a decision defeat in the bout,
which was changed to a non-title affair when Filho weighed 192
pounds for the 185-pound contest.
"Ever
since that situation with Chael Sonnen, he's been fighting through
[issues]," Soares said.
Filho
spent two months in rehab for a reported chemical dependency
and depression prior to the November 2008 fight with Sonnen,
who's now a current UFC middleweight contender. The WEC's parent
company, Zuffa LLC, released the Brazilian from his contract
following the disappointing performance.
Filho
was rumored to be under consideration for Bellator Fighting Championships
but was not picked up for the promotion's first season. This
past July, he re-emerged in DREAM with a vintage performance
against Melvin Manhoef, whom he submitted with an armbar inside
three minutes. He later moved up to light heavyweight for two
appearances in Bitetti Combat, where he defeated Alex Schoenauer
by decision and Tatsuhiko Nishizaka by submission in September
and December, respectively.
Then,
in February, Filho no-showed the weigh-ins for an expected fight
with Yuki Sasaki at Bitetti Combat 6. In a subsequent interview,
he said the cancellation arose over the money promised to him
in his contract.
In
March, he was photographed with a new tattoo on his face that
resembled the one worn by former boxing champion Mike Tyson.
"There's
only so much we can do," Soares said in February. "We
love Paulo; he's a great person, he's incredible. But he's going
through some issues. He's having some family problems.
"He
put himself back together to fight Manhoef, and he's been winning
some fights, but he's still going through a tough thing."
For
more on Bellator 18, check out the MMA Rumors section of MMAjunkie.com.
Source: MMA Junkie
|
Tim
Sylvia’s Next Opponent, Mariusz Pudzianowski, Fails To Impress
At KSW 13
By Steve Barry
“World’s Strongest Man” Mariusz Pudzianowski is
a beast of a man. He’s one of the few active fighters whose
sheer size rivals UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar. Big
muscles don’t mean much in a ring though if you don’t
know how to use them, and it showed in his second professional
fight yesterday against Yasute Kawaguchi (don’t worry, you’re
not supposed to know who he is) at KSW 13. Pudzianowski managed
to pull off a majority decision win, but it wasn’t pretty.
He charged Kawaguchi like a raging bull out of the gate with
a wild flurry and a hulking throw, but slowed down considerably
after that. The wide looping punches he threw from range were
ineffective, but he was able to outmuscle Kawaguchi in the clinch
and hold top control for long enough to get the win.
Thing
is, we shouldn’t expect Pudzianowski to be an expert at
this point — he’s only fought two professional fights
— but like Brock Lesnar, he comes into this sport with a
big name and consequently big expectations. What he doesn’t
have though is an accomplished amateur wrestling background like
Brock to complement his freakish size and strength. He’s
scheduled to fight Tim Sylvia in two weeks at a Moosin MMA show
in Worchester, Massachusetts. Tim Sylvia’s stock has fallen
drastically since he fought Fedor, but he’s still an accomplished
mixed martial artist with years and years of experience over
Pudzianowski. As long as he can weather the early storm, Sylvia
shouldn’t have too much trouble taking the wind out of Pudzianowski’s
sails.
Source: MMA Convert
|
Brazil’s
best fighter ready to WEC debut
By Guilherme
Cruz
Renan Barão lost in his MMA’s debut, five years ago.
But, since then, the tough guy does not know what it is like
to enter the ring without getting off there with a victory. With
twenty wins on his record, showing he has got the energy to do
six fights a year, Barão finally will have his chance
to fight in the international’s rings. Precisely, on WEC.
“For me it’s like my dream is starting to come true
and I think it came in the right time, because nowadays I feel
much more mature and experienced”, said the young athlete
to TATAME. WEC’s debut is on June, against Clint Godfrey
and Renan knows what he will have to face. “I’m studying
his fights every day, in fact I watched it today with my father
(Netinho Pegado), who is my boxing coach since I was a child.
We noticed he is left handed and likes to fight in the midway
and at a short distance, he also does a good ground game, where
he managed to win a lot of his fights”, explain Renan.
But nothing seems to be a barrier for the guy from Natal, who
was elected by TATAME’s subscribers as the best current
Brazilian fighter, leaving for behind names as Sérgio
Moraes, Dudu Dantas and Carlos Índio. But whoever thinks
Barão only fights MMA is completely wrong. “Besides
my MMA fights, I’ve been fighting in a lot of Jiu-Jitsu
events, Submission and Kickboxing too… In fact, I was state
champion in the brown feather weight division on the last weekend,
and that competition rhythm along with my trainings makes me
even more confident for the battles which will come”, guarantees.
FOLLOWING JOSÉ ALDO
Used to fight in the featherweight division, the athlete decided
to change his category in order not to fight José Aldo,
WEC’s champion and team partner in Brazil. The comparison
between the two of them was inevitable for the American press,
but that does not bother Renan. “I don’t feel pressured
by it, but I would like to make a performance as good as his”,
tells Renan, without expecting much problems with the weight
cut, once he has already fought on the bantamweight division
in Brazil.
“I may lose a bit of my punch due to the loss of lean muscle,
but the absorption of a guy who fights on the bantamweight division
is different from the one that a featherweight division handles,
that’s why I think my blows will have a good impact on this
category”, believes the tough guy, who won five of his fights
by knockout and nine by submission, leaving only six of his fights
to be decided by the judges round card. Watching his friend José
Aldo on the top of WEC, Renan also dreams about the international
acclaim, but knows he has to work hard for it.
“I would like to fight the bests, and if I have the opportunity
to fight for the belt, I’ll grab it with all my power, but
for now my focus is on Clint, who is also a tough opponent”,
guarantees the fighter, analyzing his division on WEC. “I’ve
been watching this division for a while and I could tell there
are a lot of great fighters in it, but Dedé (Pederneiras)
signed a contract of six fights, what will give me enough time
to grow from fight to fight on the event. That’s why it
is so important for me to make a good debut”, said.
Even without thinking about the title, Barão predicts
how it would be like his fight against Miguel Torres, who once
reigned on the featherweight division, and was quoted to fight
Aldo in the past. “For sure I’ll exchange a lot of
punches and kicks, because he’s game is about the hands
and knee. But, as most of my fights, I would test him both standing
and on the ground, in the search of a weak spot”, explains
Renan.
“Hiding” from the featherweights so he would not have
to face Aldo, Renan may have to fight Wagnney Fabiano, another
Nova União’s athlete on WEC, who changed his division
for the same reason. “I’ve been asked this about 20
times(laughs)”, jokes the athlete. “I wouldn’t
like to fight him, because we are team partners, but that’s
up to Dedé, Jair and WEC. I’m just an employee of
the event and that part is not up to me to decide”, explains.
Before
he says goodbye, Barão asked something: “may I thank
a few people? (laughs)”. Permission granted, Renan. “I
would like to thank, at this moment of my life, my professors
Jair Lourenço, Neto Pegado and Dedé, my physical
trainer Adriano Coringa, to Platinum group, Ricardo Farias, the
restaurant Talher, Rip Dorey and everyone from Kimura and Nova
União”, concluded.
Source: Tatame
|
UFC
113 Quote Notebook: Mauricio Shogun, Ed Soares, Lyoto Machida,
and Yoshizo Machida drinking urine
By Zach
Arnold
¦Dave
Meltzer (Yahoo Sports): UFC re-matches are no sure thing
¦Franklin McNeil (ESPN): UFC 113 – Lyoto Machida
is more prepared for Shogun this time around
Sherdog interview by Marcelo Alonso with Machida on how Machida
is prepared for ‘the worst’
How
is training going?
“I’ve
been training a lot since the end of last year. In late December
and early this year, we began to work out and started some cardio
training. Last year I had surgery, and because my arm was in
a cast, I did only part of the movement because I was not allowed
to use my hand. The specific fight training actually began in
January, but I just started using my left hand to punch at the
end of January.”
How
is recovery from surgery?
“The
recovery was 100 percent. I do not feel any pain in my hand,
and this is very good because it gives me a lot of confident.
I had some years when I no longer had much confidence in my hand
because it hurt. Every time I finished a hard training session,
it hurt. When I finished a fight, my hand hurt, and with that
you start to lose confidence. But now, thank God the recovery
is 100%.”
Any
change in strategy for the rematch with Shogun?
“I
expect a tough fight. He is a tough fighter and it will really
be a battle where both fighters will seek to win, but I don’t
know how it will go. It could end on the floor, standing or a
decision by points. I expect a tough fight because we know each
other. The rematch will probably be a fight with both expecting
more and everyone waiting to see what new approaches we will
bring this time. Preparations are being made for us to not be
surprised at the time of the fight.”
Prediction
on the fight result?
“It’s
a fight that I am prepared for the worst. If it goes to the fifth
round, I’ll be prepared. How it will be a tough fight is
difficult to forecast. If you ask me, I would like to finish
the fight in the first round or as soon as possible. Nevertheless,
I’m not thinking in a hasty or reckless way. I am calm to
face another battle.”
Would
you fight Antonio Rogerio Nogueira or Anderson Silva?
“I
am close friends with both, primarily with Anderson as I have
less contact with Rogerio. Anderson is a fight that is totally
discarded for me. First, Anderson is a very close friend and
he fights in a different division. He has no interest in my division
and I feel the same. We do our jobs in our divisions and we help
each other. With Rogerio, it is different because he has his
dreams, his commitments with sponsors and I cannot mess up his
way. I have to understand that in a professional way and know
that it may one day happen. Nevertheless, it isn’t my will
and I believe that it is not his will either. The event, monopoly,
growth and professionalism are leading to that side. We must
discern this. He would not be a fighter I would like to face,
but if the UFC wants, we must accept. If that happens, we’ll
deal with our situation. We both have families and dreams. We
must look to MMA like a professional sport and try to face it
in a better way.
UFC
promotional video featuring Machida
“As
soon as Dana White offered me the rematch, I accepted right away.
After the first, second, third and fourth rounds, I felt like
I was winning the fight. Shogun was playing a very defensive
game so I kept on with my strategy. I didn’t change what
I was planning to do. Any time you have a rematch, there is a
little bit of a different feeling. He knows me a little bit,
I know him a little bit, we’ve faced each other before.
But I’m not coming in expecting him to have the same strategy.
Every fight is different. I need to prepare myself for everything
and that’s exactly what I’m doing. I won’t leave
this fight in the judges’ hands. I will finish the fight.
When the Octagon door closes, everyone needs to watch this fight.
I will prove that I am the true champion. I’m also going
to prove that the Machida era is just beginning and the victory
is in my hand.”
UFC
promotional video featuring Shogun
“The
feeling after the judge’s decision was announced was like
someone tore out my heart. What gave me comfort was to see my
corner men support me, the crowd behind me thinking that I won
the fight. When I went back to the hotel, the amount of care
and support I got from the fans, everybody was telling me I won.
This gave me some comfort and what matters the most is that I’m
going to get a second chance. I was very happy with the offer
of a rematch with Machida. I feel very motivated and I’m
training very hard. For me it was really a reason to celebrate
and I’m going to do my best to come back with the belt this
time. I’m looking to make a statement with this fight and
win it in a decisive way. I’m a fighter that always fights
to finish fights. Everybody that knows me knows that I’m
a fighter who’s always looking for the submissions or the
knockouts on the ground or knockouts standing up. I’m always
trying to finish the fight because I learned that way, I came
from a school that thought that way. So this is my style of fight
and I’m never going to change it.
“For
this fight against Machida, I plan to do the same thing and it
really bothers me that people don’t really give value to
someone who is pressing the fight. I think people should reward
it more because I really don’t understand how a guy that
only walks backwards will be more recognized than someone who
is pressing the fight and who is really trying to engage and
make it a fight.
“Defeating
Lyoto Machida is my wish. It’s my dream. It’s my goal
and I’ll do everything I can to come back and make my wish
come true.”
MMAFighting.com
interview with Ed Soares and Yoshizo Machida, father of Lyoto
Machida
Does
Yoshizo drink urine, why, and what are the benefits?
“The
reason why is because it actually is a health reason. And what
happens is when you eat and all the food that you eat and you
digest, not all of it comes out but when you drink urine in the
morning, it helps flush your system out. So, it basically cleans
your system every day when you drink your urine.”
Does
Lyoto drink urine daily?
“Yeah,
I mean, the reason why… Lyoto did drink his urine every
day up until you know for this fight but you know the reason
he started really drinking his urine is about two or three years
ago he had this cough, he would take medicine, take medicine,
he wouldn’t get rid of it and he asked his Dad, “What
should I do?” and he said, “Hey, drink your urine,
that’s what’s going to keep your healthy,” and
that’s exactly what he did, he drank the urine and within
a few days, a few weeks his cough went away and he didn’t
have that problem any more.”
Why
does Yoshizo believe in drinking urine?
“It’s
like a vaccine you know like you know sometimes when you take
a vaccine for a disease, you know you’re taking of the same
of what you’re trying to fight against and since the urine
comes out of your body then you drink it again, it almost serves
like a vaccine.”
Has
Ed Soares ever drank urine before?
“I’ve
never tried it. My partner’s tried it and he’s tried
to make me try drinking it and I, you know, there was a time
where they were talking about it and I was like, ‘You know
what? I’m going to try it, I’m going to try it’
and I even went and urinated in the cup and it was hot and my
partner said, ‘Hey, it’s better to drink it when it’s
cold’ and I let it get cold and I looked at it and I just
couldn’t bear to do it, I couldn’t bear to do it, but
I am interested in it, it’s amazing to me, I just, I just
haven’t had the guts to do it, yet.
“If
Machida wins, I’ll try my urine. I’ll drink it.”
What
does urine taste like?
“[Yoshizo]
said that you know just depends, sometimes it’s sweet, sometime
it’s salty, it really depends on what you eat. He says that
as a matter of a fact, my urine was very clean and I asked him
why and he says, ‘I’m not sure, but it was very clean
so I drank two cups today.’ He says during the war in Japan,
all the Japanese soldiers would drink their urine to help them
immune from themselves whatever they were trying to fight. There
wasn’t medicine back then so that was their only form of
medicine.”
Then,
Yoshizo calls everyone’s bluff and says he will drink urine
on camera. “if you want, I’ll do it right now and drink
some.”
[Yoshizo
heads the bathroom. Ed's partner comes into the interview and
explains urine tasting.]
“It
all depends what you have eaten the night before, you know, and
sometimes if you have a little bit of this salt of course it
tastes salty. It all depends but you know it’s just a matter
of habit, you know, like right now I mean there’s day where
I think right off the fountain (hot).”
“Now
he’s just going to wash it down with some water, he’s
enjoying himself, and there you have it. Mr. Machida drinking
his urine on a Wednesday afternoon in Montreal.”
Mr.
Machida had some urine dribble down his chin while he drank the
whole cup.
MMAFighting.com
interview with Shogun
Do
you look at this fight in the same way as the first encounter?
“No,
it’s actually another fight, another belt, I certainly have
to approach it differently and think of a completely different
strategy.”
“I
think he will come differently for this fight.”
Why
were there not many takedowns in the first fight?
“Actually,
I didn’t really try to take him down quite often in the
first fight because I was feeling comfortable on my feet so I
didn’t feel like I had a reason to rush for a takedown or
whatever and regarding what I could differently after analyzing
the fight, I think maybe what I can do differently is to be a
little more aggressive and get a little more engaged in the fight
against him.”
For
most fighters, Machida is like a riddle. Did you find him tougher
or easier to fight than when you assumed before you first fought
him?
“No,
Lyoto is a good fighter, a quick fast and agile fighter and I
knew that it didn’t really surprise or impress me because
I had trained with him for a brief while years and years ago
so I knew what kind of skills he could bring to the table. It
was pretty much what I expected.”
How
do you respond to remarks that “the old Shogun is back”
in UFC?
“It
doesn’t surprise me because everyone that’s a professional
fighter, professional athlete will have to deal with those things
forever, I mean, that kind of comparisons and whatever and it
doesn’t really bother me because it’s part of my job
and we have to deal with it.”
The
last time Shogun was in Montreal, he knocked out Chuck Liddell.
What are your feelings on fighting in Montreal?
“I
have great memories from Montreal and I hope to pay back the
care and support from the fans here because the fans here in
Montreal and Canada, they are fanatic and rabid for MMA so I
hope to be able to give them a good showing.”
Source: Fight Opinion
|
Minotouro
no longer faces Forrest and UFC latest
by Carlos
Eduardo Ozório
The UFC carries on bringing a battery of news. New speculated
matchups, some bouts confirmed and then canceled.
One
example is the Forrest Griffin versus Rogério Minotouro
matchup. The fight was set for UFC 114, on May 29, but Griffin
was injured and is off the card. Mino should remain in the event,
however, his opponent is still unknown.
Back
in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, after fighting for other
organizations during 2008 and 2009, Tim Boetsch will have his
work cut out for him when he faces Thiago Silva, who is coming
off a loss to former champion Rashad Evans. The fight is tipped
for UFC 117 this August, in California.
Italy’s
Alessio Sakara is out of July’s UFC 116, where he was supposed
to face Nate Marquardt. According to the fighter’s manager,
the cancellation was due to the death of Sakara’s father.
His return to the octagon could come in August.
It
hasn’t yet been confirmed, but Gleison Tibau has a likely
next opponent after his win against Caol Uno at UFN 21. The new
test for the American Top Team fighter should be Jim Miller,
who is on a four-fight win streak. The matchup is expected for
September.
Source: Gracie Magazine
|
Kimbo
Slice loves Canada
By Zach Arnold
MMAFighting.com interview with Kimbo Slice
How
bad was the weight cut for the Houston Alexander fight and did
it negatively impact you?
“The
weight cut had a lot to do with it man, I get to eat, have my
desserts, you know what I’m saying, so you know I’m
feeling OK you know what I’m saying, I’m ready to fight,
a little anxious you know Saturday’s kind of taking long
to get here but when it get to close to that fight you get that
way.”
Are
you happy with the way preparation went for this upcoming fight
against Matt Mitrione?
“Yeah,
yeah, I’m comfortable with it, you know what I’m saying.
The preparation for every fight is about the same, it’s
intense. I peak right before you know the week of the fight,
I peak to my highest level of my performance and I’m ready
for it.”
Any
relationship with Mitrione on the TUF show?
“It
wasn’t none.”
Does
he like Mitrione?
“I
mean, it’s whatever, you know what I’m saying. I don’t
like or dislike anybody but the person I’m getting to fight
I can’t stand you until after the fight, after the fight
we can do whatever but until then, no, I don’t have too
many words for you.”
Matt
Mitrione KO’d Marcus Jones at the TUF Finale. Is his power
and size his strength?
“No,
his biggest strength is probably be, I hope it would be his ground
game because if he wants to stand and bang, that’s my world.”
If
the fight goes to the ground, are you ready for it?
“If
I see a submission, if he’s slipping then I’m going
to grip. Yeah, if he slips I grip.”
Prediction
of the fight outcome?
“You
know I don’t predict the fights, you know what I’m
saying, but I’m not getting knocked out, I can tell you
that.”
Source: MMA Fighting
|
Nogueira
wants to knock Jason Brilz out
By Guilherme Cruz
On this morning, TATAME got in touch with Rogério Minotouro
and talked about Forrest Griffin’s injury, who would be
his opponent on UFC 114. The UFC light heavyweight fighter has
not been warned about the change, but, hours later, in another
phone call, Rogério confirmed his new opponent: Jason
Brilz.
With
18 wins within 21 fights, Jason beat half of his combats by submission,
but using his wrestling techniques, sport in which he has 63
wins. The American will force Rogério to change his strategy.
“What can I do? Let’s change the strategy. I want to
fight him standing or go to the ground and try a submission.
It changed from a striker to a wrestler, but we are going for
it, I'll go for the knockout”, Minotouro said, in a chat
with TATAME.
Source: Tatame
|
Bellator
Champ Eddie Alvarez Explains His Use for World MMA Rankings
By Mike
Chiappetta
Talk to MMA fighters, and you'll quickly realize that just like
fans, they have many different views of world rankings. Some
will gladly spend time debating them, others put no stock in
them whatsoever, and others use them for motivation.
But
when it comes to Bellator lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez,
well, let's just say that he has an entirely different and practical
use for the rankings.
"People
ask me this all the time. The rankings are more a way for my
manager to negotiate with [Bellator CEO] Bjorn Rebney to make
me more money," he said when asked where he belongs among
the world's 155-pounders. "That's all the rankings mean."
Alvarez,
who on Thursday night defeated former UFC star Josh Neer via
technical submission in a 160-pound catch weight fight, is ranked
among the top 10 lightweights by virtually every MMA site and
publication, and most have him right around the top 5.
Improving
to 20-2 with the win, and in the midst of a five-fight win streak,
Alvarez will now sit back and wait to face the winner of the
Bellator lightweight tournament in his next match.
Toby
Imada or Pat Curran will be the next man to test him. The fight
is not likely to be viewed by most as a major test for Alvarez,
as neither Imada or Curran are big names in the sport, but both
have had their moments. Imada had last year's submission of the
year with an inverted triangle win over Jorge Masvidal, though
he later lost to Alvarez in the finals. And Curran was little
known until upsetting Roger Huerta in a close decision last night.
Still,
Alvarez is smart enough to know that despite their lack of big
reputations, the fight will be dangerous. After all, it all comes
down to rankings, right?
"Everyone's
seen the last couple weeks," he said. "BJ [Penn] got
knocked off by a guy ranked No. 7, [Shinya] Aoki got knocked
off by a No. 5. It happens. Any day, any one of us can beat any
other on any given night.
"I'm
not going to say where I'm ranked," he continued. "I
feel like I can beat anyone in the world right now at this time
in my career. Wherever I'm ranked, hopefully whenever I get out
of my contract I'm ranked really high and I can renegotiate for
a high price. Right now the ranking means nothing."
Source: MMA Fighting
|
Nova
União with fights scheduled in USA and Japan
by Carlos
Eduardo Ozório
The
team led by André Pederneiras now counts three worldwide
MMA belts among the lighter weight fighters. At featherweight,
José Aldo is the current champion of the WEC and Marlons
Sandro, who will have a shot at the Sengoku title on June 20th,
is the champion of Pancrase, while at lightweight, Willamy Chiquerim
is the current World Shooto champion.
New doors have opened in Japan for Jorjão Rodrigues, a
student of Jair Lourenço in Natal, who will face Pancrase
champion Satoru Kitaoka.
Another
Nova União black belt getting ready for action is Marco
Loro, who is set to fight late replacement Diego Ceara, who trains
at Greg Jackson’s.
A
fighter who has been making waves for some time at Brazilian
MMA events, Renan Barão will have his chance in the WEC.
His debut is set for June 20, against Clint Godfrey.
Source: Gracie Magazine
|
MAD
SKILLS
SATURDAY MAY
15, 2010
WAIPAHU FILCOM CENTER
DOORS OPEN AT 6:00
JUMAR
ESCOSIO 155 JUSTIN BURGESS
JOJO
KELLY 175 BARACK HOLT
RICKY
PLUNKETT 145 RYNE YOSHIMURA
JESSIE
PURGANON 160 JESSIE HURST
ALLEN
AUSTRIA 145 JOSEPH CARTER
ISRAEL
ALVAREZ 120 RICKY FAJARDO
JUSTIN
KAI IWASAKI 145 MARK YARCIA
JADA
PERRERA 100 KAMA DA BEBE ASSASIN BANTILAN
RACHEL
OSTOVICH 125 LENA BOOM BOOM COOK
BRYSHANE
BAYUDAN 160 MIKEY WABINGA
FRED
RAMAYLA 140 MARK WILSON
CHEVY
DECASTRO 125 VEE VICKERS
JOE
MOLINA SHW PETE SEFO
EDDIE
LANI 140 JAYAR DUMAOAL
HANS
LEE SHW JARREN KAWALU
DIESEL
VISTANTE 145 FREDERICK WALLER JR
STEVE
200 JEREMY
MATT
STONE 225 DUSTIN CULLASTRO
DANTE
BOY 110 BRENNAN WAIALAE
DAN
CERA 110 BRENTON WAIALAE
TYLER
KOBAYASHI 140 JONAH VISTANTE
KAWIKA
KUPUKAA SHW MANNY
CARLOS
MASUNGSON 125 REX MANUEL
PAUL
AUSTRIA 130 DANIEL ASUNCION
YVONNE
WILLIAMS 100 GIGI
All
matches and participants are subject to change
|
HENDERSON
LOOKS TO RETURN IN NOV/DEC 2010
What do you do if you're the champion of a division and have
seemingly defeated all the top contenders that are working their
way back to title contention? That's the position that WEC lightweight
champion Ben Henderson sits in after defeating Donald "Cowboy"
Cerrone recently to defend his title, with a list of contenders
all jockeying for a position.
Henderson,
who is undefeated in his WEC career, has faced the best of the
best of the lightweights in the promotion and still has a perfect
record under the Zuffa umbrella. The champion isn't sure who
might be next for him, but he knows there are still mountains
left to climb.
Rematches
are always a possibility, but the champ has said in the past
he would hope to face some new competition.
"That's
a good question. I definitely got to pay attention to the rest
of the division, can't overlook anybody," said Henderson
when appearing on MMAWeekly Radio recently. "I've got my
eyes on Anthony Pettis. He had a really good performance. He
has one loss in the WEC. He's coming off a ‘W’ at the
pay-per-view show; he beat Alex Karalexis. Might be one or two
fights away from going for the belt.
"Shane
Roller, he's had a couple really good performances. Yes, I did
face the guy before, yes it lasted all of 1:30, but you know
if that's what the WEC says, I'll get myself ready for that."
What's
going to happen for now is Henderson is going to take some time
off from his fight schedule, head back in the gym, and get married
this August. Time off for Henderson, though, isn't necessarily
what most people would consider time off. He will still be training,
but now it's time for him to work on flaws he still sees in his
game.
"What
I really can't wait to do is get back in the gym and not worry
about fighting anybody in particular, like not go from training
camp to training camp to training camp, but now is my time to
get in the gym and get better in general," he said. "Just
improve my boxing, improve my Muay Thai, improve my jiu-jitsu,
improve my wrestling. I've been fighting under three-and-a-half
years, I have a long way to go."
WEC
matchmaker Sean Shelby told Henderson after the fight that they
would take some time over the next several events to build up
the lightweight division, and find a definitive No. 1 contender.
After
the WEC finds the next in line, then Henderson will put the gloves
back on and get ready to fight later this year.
"We
told them after the Cerrone fight that I'd like a little time
off," said Henderson. "I'm getting married in August,
so now until August I'm not going to have any fights. I probably
won't fight again till late this year, November/December."
As
for a possible move to the UFC, which has been rumored for several
months and at times eluded to by UFC president Dana White, Henderson
admits that he's more than happy to go to the UFC, but he doesn't
make that call. For now he'll just wait for the next opportunity
to defend his title.
"If
the call does come from Zuffa to head on up to the UFC, I'm definitely
not going to turn them down," Henderson stated. "I'd
be wide open to that process."
The
Arizona based fighter will head back into training to help friends
like Efrain Escudero get ready for upcoming fights, and focus
on his wedding coming up this August. Look for Henderson to return
in the late fall or winter of 2010.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
BONES
JONES VS. MATYUSHENKO SET FOR UFC ON VERSUS 2
It's been rumored for the last week, but now it's official that
at UFC on Versus 2 as Jon "Bones" Jones faces off against
Vladimir "The Janitor" Matyushenko in Utah.
The
fight was confirmed to MMAWeekly.com by sources close to the
bout, and Matyushenko himself confirmed the fight in a post on
the Underground Forum.
Viewed
as one of the top prospects in all of MMA, Jon "Bones"
Jones (10-1) has been a virtual wrecking machine since debuting
in the UFC in August 2008. With his only loss coming by way of
disqualification after landing illegal elbows on Matt Hamill,
the New York native has looked unstoppable in his five UFC fights.
His
last trip to the Octagon ended with opponent Brandon Vera being
finished after some devastating elbow strikes, which also resulted
in a cracked orbital bone and a cracked cheekbone for him as
well. Now poised to make a jump into title contention over the
next few fights, Jones will face a wily veteran in Matyushenko.
Russian
born fighter, Vladimir Matyushenko (24-4) is currently on his
second tour of duty with the UFC, where he performed at both
heavyweight and light heavyweight. Matyushenko is now on a 3-fight
winning streak, including two wins in a row in the UFC since
returning there in 2009.
Matyushenko
defeated former "Ultimate Fighter" competitor Eliot
Marshall in his last fight in March, and will certainly get a
tough test for his next bout against Jones.
The
two light heavyweights will battle on the main televised portion
of the card which will be featured as the 2nd show the UFC does
as a part of their deal with the Versus network. More fights
will be added to the show in the coming weeks.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
SAKARA
OUT AGAINST MARQUARDT FOR UFC 116
Just days after a middleweight match-up between Nate Marquardt
and Alessio Sakara was confirmed for UFC 116 in Las Vegas, it
was canceled just as quickly.
MMAWeekly.com
confirmed with sources close to the fight that the bout had been
called off, and a report from F4Wonline.com states that Sakara's
father has passed away and the Italian born fighter will not
be able to compete in the July fight.
There's
been no official word about a replacement opponent for Marquardt,
but all signs point to the Colorado based fighter staying on
the same card with a different match-up.
Sakara
was stepping into the bout at UFC 116 on a 3-fight win streak,
including a TKO in his last fight against James Irvin at the
UFC on Versus show in March.
As
for Marquardt, he'll be looking to get back on the winning track
after he was derailed in his last fight against Chael Sonnen,
losing a unanimous decision to the Team Quest fighter.
MMAWeekly.com
will have more information on Marquardt's next fight as it becomes
available.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
DREAM
EP Keiichi Sasahara Reveals Details on DREAM 14 & 15
DREAM
14 appears to be cursed.
Originally
scheduled for South Korea in April it was was shifted back to
Japan in May after a Korean TV deal could not be secured. Then
this week, DREAM Executive Producer Keiichi Sasahara announced
that DREAM 14 was to be held in a cage for only the second time
in the promotion's history. Now we hear that 2010's Light-Heavyweight
Grand Prix is canceled, then rescheduled and now changed to a
four-man tournament.
Prior
to an MMA Fighting exclusive interview with Sasahara, we attempted
to sort through the rumors and speculation to get back to the
facts regarding DREAM 14 and 15.
Daniel
Herbertson: It came out in the media this week that the light-heavyweight
GP that was scheduled for DREAM 14 has been postponed. Is that
correct?
Keiichi Sasahara: After Shinya Aoki lost in Strikeforce, we decided
to have DREAM 14 in the cage. Then we thought, is it proper to
have the opening round of the Light-Heavyweight GP in the cage?
We decided it wasn't so we postponed the fights until the near
future but the date has not been decided yet.
So
you haven't decided if the Light-Heavyweight GP will be on for
DREAM 15 yet?
No. We may not have the tournament.
It
was rumored that there would be a four-man tournament. This is
not true?
That is one idea that we had. Another idea is that we may have
three light heavyweight matches and the two fighters who did
the best in those matches will go into a title match.
So
who will be involved in these matches or perhaps the tournament?
[Gegard] Mousasi, [Rameau Thierry] Sokoudjou, [Tatsuya] Mizuno,
[Renato Sobral] "Babalu", [Muhammed Lawal] "King
Mo". When I first thought about the Light-Heavyweight GP,
I thought that this tournament was going to be for Mousasi to
shine. But unfortunately he was defeated by King Mo. This will
give Mousasi an opportunity at revenge.
King
Mo vs. Mousasi will be one of the fights at DREAM 15?
That depends on how things are going to be done. If it is a tournament,
than probably yes. If we are just going to have three matches
and then choose candidates for a title match, then it would probably
be a different story.
Aoki
recently posted on Twitter that he would like to fight again
in May. Will we see him at Dream 14?
(Laughs) I ignored that. Aoki is the kind of fighter that wants
to fight a lot. He probably wants to get back into the ring because
he got defeated but is physically ok. But he will not be fighting.
How
about Tatsuya Kawajiri? He posted on his blog last night a photo
and said that he is ready to fight. A lot of people want to see
him in a cage.
When I think about DREAM 14, he is more likely to fight than
Aoki. If Kawajiri will fight, it will be his first ever match
in a cage so when he is victorious he will probably challenge
Aoki and then they will create a story that people can relate
to and he will fight Aoki at a later date.
You
can confirm that Kawajiri will fight in DREAM 14?
Yes, but we don't have an opponent. Who do you think he should
fight?
Well,
a lot of people have been saying that perhaps he should fight
Katsunori Kikuno in a title eliminator if he can't fight Aoki.
They are going to fight at some point but not in May.
Will
Kikuno be fighting at DREAM 14?
That is possible but it is difficult to find an opponent, so
we are not sure at this moment.
KID
Yamamoto was recently pulled from the May 15 Strikeforce card.
He will be fighting in DREAM 14, is that correct?
Yes, he will. He also doesn't have an opponent.
Marius
Zaromskis was rumoured to be fighting at DREAM 14 when it was
to be held in South Korea. Will he be fighting still?
No, he won't be fighting in May. He will probably be fighting
in DREAM 15 in July.
Are
there any other fights that you can announce for Dream 14 or
15?
Well of course Aoki vs. Kawajiri should be happening in the near
future. Nothing has been decided yet but we would like some Heavyweights.
Josh Barnett, Alistair Overeem, Andrei Arlovski. All of those
kinds of fighters, I would like to make those guys fight. Ideally
Josh Barnett vs. Alistair Overeem would be something I can do.
These are just names however.
Until
now, DREAM was focused on the lighter weight classes. Are we
going to be seeing a push towards the heavier weight classes?
We need heavier weight divisions because it is easier to understand
for the people who are not familiar with MMA. But unfortunately,
Japanese people are not capable of winning at the heavier weight
division, even at middleweight or welterweight. At the moment,
we have to work on the lighter weight divisions so that events
can continue in Japan.
In
our exclusive interview with DREAM Executive Producer Keiichi
Sasahara to be posted in the coming week, we discuss the recent
performances of Japanese fighters in the America, the decision
to hold DREAM 14 in a cage and the future of DREAM and Japanese
MMA.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
10
May Tussles Worth Watching
For
the first time in “Tussles” history, nearly as much
star power exists outside the four major promotions as inside
them.
The
May menu features the top grappler on the planet, Braulio Estima,
making his mixed martial arts debut and loads of top-notch title
fights in the British Association of Mixed Martial Arts and Ultimate
Challenge MMA shows in England. Plus, the sport’s fifth-ranked
lightweight, Eddie Alvarez, takes on UFC veteran Josh Neer under
the Bellator Fighting Championships banner. None of those fights
made this month’s cut, however.
As
always, the list focuses not on the well-promoted main event
bouts fans already know to watch but on fights from all over
the planet that are worth seeing. The UFC, Strikeforce, Dream
and Sengoku Raiden Championships are excluded by design.
10.
Koichiro Matsumoto vs. Yoshihiro Tomioka
Club Deep Toyama, May 16 -- Toyama, Japan
The
24-year-old Matsumoto has emerged as one of the most promising
young Japanese fighters rising through the ranks of the Deep
circuit. The third-year veteran started his career at welterweight
and has moved all the way down featherweight. In his second bout
at 145 pounds, he will meet Tomioka, a Deep mainstay better known
as “Barbaro44.” The dangerous knockout artist has had
memorable wars with Kazunori Yokota, Michihiro Omigawa and Katsunori
Kikuno throughout the years and seems certain to put Matsumoto
to the test.
9.
Maciej Jewtuszko vs. Erikas Petraitis
Iron Fist II, May 14 -- Szczecin, Poland
The
main MMA attraction at Iron Fist II -- a boxing, muay Thai and
MMA mixed-fight gala -- will be the clash between Jewtuszko,
an undefeated Polish muay Thai champion, and Petraitis, a Lithuanian
Shooto and Hero’s veteran. “Irokez” has prepared
diligently with his coaches, Piotr Baginski and Robert Siedziako,
for the challenges a submission specialist like Petraitis presents.
The Lithuanian -- who holds wins over Hideo Tokoro and current
Sengoku featherweight champion Masanori Kanehara -- has another
fight on the horizon. On May 29, he will meet Finnish ace Jarkko
Latomaki in Prague, Czech Republic.
8.
Hamid Corassani vs. Danny Batten
Superior Challenge 5 “Pride and Fury,” May 1 -- Stockholm,
Sweden
Originally
scheduled for The Zone Fighting Championship “Evolution”
on March 27, the clash between Batten, the former European featherweight
king, and Swedish superstar Corassani had to be postponed due
to illness of the latter. Batten, a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black
belt, holds wins over Emmanuel Fernandez, Augusto Frota and the
world-ranked Damacio Page but has not fought in 18 months. Corassani,
having enjoyed considerable success fighting at lightweight and
welterweight, now has his sights set on attacking the featherweight
division in his quest of making it to World Extreme Cagefighting.
7. Edilberto de Oliveira vs. Gil de Freitas
Jungle Fight 20, May 22 -- Sao Paulo, Brazil
“Brazilian
Dana” Wallid Ismail, the only South American promoter who
has consistently put on solid events for the past seven years,
has also produced several star fighters, including UFC light
heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida and Strikeforce contenders
Fabricio Werdum and Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza. He has
planned six eight-man tournaments for 2010 in the featherweight,
lightweight, welterweight, middleweight, light heavyweight and
heavyweight divisions. One welterweight quarter-final has already
leaked out, as UFC veteran de Oliveria will put his five-fight
win streak on the line against de Freitas, a dangerous Brazilian
jiu-jitsu black belt who has spent the majority of his career
fighting at middleweight.
6.
Pascal Krauss vs. John Quinn
Cage Warriors 37 “Right to Fight,” May 22 -- Birmingham,
England
Dan
Hardy was 23 years old when he won the Cage Warriors welterweight
championship. He relinquished the title upon signing with the
UFC, and his old belt will be up for grabs when Britain’s
longest-running MMA promotion returns from a 16-month hiatus.
A pair of undefeated European prospects, neither of which has
gone the distance, will duke it out for the vacant championship.
Quinn, in fact, has yet to have a fight reach the second round.
5.
Patricio “Pitbull” Freire vs. Wilson Reis
Bellator Fighting Championships 18, May 13 -- Monroe, La.
Speaking
of undefeated prospects, Freire punched his ticket to the Bellator
featherweight tournament semi-finals with an easy first-round
submission over previously undefeated Canadian muay Thai specialist
William Romero. His task ahead will prove significantly more
difficult, as he will take on Reis, a fellow Brazilian who reached
the 2009 semi-finals before being eliminated by eventual tournament
winner Joe Soto.
4.
Thales Leites vs. Jesse Taylor
MFC 25 “Vindication,” May 7 -- Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Two
fighters who were cast aside by the UFC appear to have found
a new home north of the border. Leites, the former UFC middleweight
title challenger, bounced back from back-to-back losses to Anderson
Silva and Alessio Sakara with a unanimous decision over former
Abu Dhabi Combat Club Submission Wrestling World Championships
absolute division winner Dean Lister. Meanwhile, Taylor, “The
Ultimate Fighter” Season 7 finalist, scored a first-round
submission over fellow UFC veteran Jason Day in February. Now,
they meet each other in the MFC 25 main event, and the winner
figures to move on to bigger and better things.
3.
Tim Sylvia vs. Mariusz Pudzianowski
Moosin MMA “Sylvia vs. Pudzianowski,” May 21 -- Worcester,
Mass.
Two
weeks after he faces Japanese light heavyweight Yusuke Kawaguchi
in his home promotion, KSW, Polish strongman Pudzianowski will
get a golden opportunity to prove himself more than a sideshow
when he faces the former UFC heavyweight champion. The 6-foot-8
Sylvia has lost three of his last four fights, an embarrassing
knockout loss to former Olympic boxer Ray Mercer included.
2.
Ricardo Mayorga vs. Din Thomas
Shine Fights 3 “Worlds Collide,” May 15 -- Fayetteville,
N.C.
There
was no love lost between Mayorga, the former WBC and WBA welterweight
boxing champion, and Thomas, the American Top Team-based UFC
veteran, at their pre-fight press conference. Thomas has some
limited boxing experience, but this fight will be contested under
MMA rules and will serve as Mayorga’s debut. Should Thomas,
a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt, get the fight to the ground,
it figures to end quickly. Mayorga, who has 22 knockouts as a
boxer, will have the proverbial puncher’s chance.
1.
Takeshi Inoue vs. Hatsu Hioki
Shooto “The Way of Shooto 3,” May 30 – Tokyo
This
month’s slice of filet mignon comes in the form of the Shooto
lightweight title fight between Inoue, the defending champion,
and Hioki, his world-ranked challenger. The question as to which
of these two men was superior has remained unanswered for far
too long. Both have performed brilliantly of late, increasing
the hype behind this long-awaited matchup. Too bad it will be
contested over three rounds.
Source: Sherdog
|
Mailbag:
Aldo-Faber and more
Urijah
Faber was barely able to walk when he left the ARCO Arena on
Saturday after losing a bid for the World Extreme Cagefighting
featherweight title in the main event of a magnificent card.
Faber
went to the hospital, not the postfight news conference, after
losing a unanimous decision to Jose Aldo. He has a very bad bruise
on his leg, but is fine and will be able to return.
Faber
showed by the way he handled himself in defeat why he’s
been the WEC’s poster boy for the last several years. He’s
always been an action-first fighter, but he showed his grace
under pressure by posting an incredibly classy six-minute video
on his website in which he spoke about the fight.
He
congratulated Aldo, defended Aldo against criticisms about Aldo’s
failure to finish the fight, explained his game plan, thanked
the fans for their support and promised to fight on.
“It
was a tough fight,” Faber said on his video. “All the
props to Jose Aldo. He’s the toughest dude in the world
at 145 pounds. He did a great job of using his leg kicks to break
me down and that won him the fight.”
Many
wondered why Faber, a one-time collegiate wrestler, didn’t
shoot on Aldo and get him to the ground. Faber said that was
ultimately his plan, but he injured his leg before he could execute
it.
“I
wanted to go out and establish that I could match his speed and
that I also had standup skills, so he had to honor that in order
to set up my takedowns,” Faber said. “You don’t
just go in and take down someone like Jose Aldo without making
sure you’ve set it up. That was my plan.
“…
He got to my leg before I could start doing any of that. That
shut me down real quick. Looking back at it, I could have tried
real desperately for a takedown in the first round, but that’s
going to be hard on a fresh guy who’s (worked on) defending
takedowns every day in practice. It’s just not going to
happen like that. I’m realistic about that. I thought it
was important to stand a little bit and I was immobilized before
I got a chance (to try to take him down).”
Faber
said the criticism Aldo has received for not finishing the fight
is misguided.
“There
are only two people (Tyson Griffin and Mike Brown) who finished
a fight with me in 27 fights,” Faber said. “It’s
not like I’m an easy guy to finish. … The closest he
got was some heavy body shots. I was rocked with some solar plexus
shots, rib shots, kidney shots and liver shots a couple of different
times in the fight. He was trying. It was a rough fight. When
you have the best guys in the world, it’s not real simple
just to decide to finish a fight.”
With
that, let’s get to the mailbag and I’ll respond to
your questions and comments.
Ortiz’
future after the arrest
Do
you think Tito Ortiz’ career is about to end after he was
arrested Monday for beating up (his girlfriend), Jenna Jameson?
I hope UFC president Dana White doesn’t give Tito a second
chance after this.
Evan
Modesto, Calif.
Ortiz
was arrested Monday in the Huntington Beach, Calif., home he
shares with Jameson on suspicion of felony domestic violence.
It’s far too early to say what should occur, but the legal
process needs to play itself out. Ortiz has not been convicted
of a thing. The UFC has the leeway to cut him in a situation
like this, but it’s not fair to do so at this stage. Right
now, it’s only unsupported allegations. Once there are facts,
and charges, and a trial, and a conviction, then something should
be done. But he’s innocent until proven guilty and should
be treated that way.
Will
Faber rebound?
Do
you think Urijah Faber will ever rebound from this lopsided loss?
I just can’t see him reinventing himself after this. I hope
he can. What are your thoughts?
Joel
Engle
Fort Worth, Texas
Faber
is one of the elite fighters in the world and will continue to
be. I don’t think he’ll regain the featherweight title,
because it was proven conclusively on Saturday that Aldo is a
cut above him, but Faber can be a big factor in the featherweight
division in the future. He also said he could drop to bantamweight.
A
minor league for UFC
Do
you think it’s possible that the WEC could turn into a minor
league for UFC? To me it would make a lot of sense to move the
135- and 145-pound divisions to the UFC and have the WEC serve
as a minor league where new prospects can develop and fighters
who are cut by the UFC could get another chance. Additionally,
I think it would help the overseas expansion of MMA by having
a smaller promotion to complement the UFC by having events in
smaller venues/markets. What are your thoughts on the future
of the WEC?
Stephen
Phoenix
I’ve
been on record advocating a merger between the UFC and the WEC,
but I don’t think that’s going to happen any time soon.
Regardless, I don’t think the UFC is interested in running
any sort of developmental league. I think they’re focused
on the top end and they’ll find fighters in promotions run
by others. My expectation is that the WEC will proceed as it
has been for the time being.
Thoughts
on Couture-Toney
I
read on the ‘net that James Toney’s first UFC fight
might be against Randy Couture. I don’t understand why this
would be. Isn’t it the job of the matchmaker to make good
fights? It seems that a logical first opponent for Toney would
be a fighter who is primarily a striker or a fighter who is as
equally one-dimensional as he is, not a well-rounded fighter
like Couture.
Richard
Loggins
Shreveport, La.
I
have very little interest in this fight and think it’s completely
ridiculous. Toney has never stepped inside a cage before and
he’s going to compete with one of the greatest mixed martial
artists of all-time? Please. I don’t get the logic in that.
Couture gains little by beating an MMA neophyte, but he could
suffer badly if he gets beaten by one. But it figures to be a
one-sided match that Couture finishes early.
Aldo
ranked too highly
I
was wondering who decides the pound-for-pound rankings on Yahoo!
Sports? I noticed you guys had Jose Aldo ranked sixth going into
his fight with Faber. Am I the only one who finds that odd? I
think it’s pretty widely accepted that we judge fighters
based on their resumes, not on their potential? I know the man
is vastly talented and the rankings are usually a culmination
of a fighter’s last four or five fights Aldo’s resume
isn’t even really than great. Faber and Brown are the only
Top 10 fighters Jose has beaten and add that to the fact that
the featherweight division is still relatively green. The talent
there has not quite caught up to the mainstream divisions yet.
Russell
Sacramento, Calif.
The
rankings are a vote of around 20 MMA writers from various media
outlets and are compiled by our Dave Doyle. Aldo has won 10 in
a row, is 17-1 overall and has beaten high quality opponents
back-to-back in Brown and Faber. He’s a complete fighter
and he holds a major title. I think he deserves to be where he
is, if not higher.
Where
was WEC branding
The
WEC (Urijah Faber especially) is what got me hooked on MMA. I
was excited for the promotion and the fighters when I first learned
of the PPV show. With that being said, I was somewhat disappointed
with the overbearing UFC promotion on the PPV card. It was simply
not a WEC-promoted fight. Obvious changes like the commentators
and ring announcer aside, there weren’t even any WEC logos
anywhere. Not on the mat, the cage, the gloves, or the screen
graphics. There was a fan with a WEC shirt on near cage side,
but that was it. Bruce Buffer didn’t even mention the title
fights were “WEC” title fights. I feel like I just
watched the death of a promotion that got me to love MMA. I think
it would be smart of the UFC to keep the WEC brand alive, expand
the weight divisions in both the WEC (up to heavyweight) and
UFC (down to bantamweight), and use the WEC as a constant TV
presence and a promotion to build up prospects to bring in the
UFC.
Greg
Niekerk
Chandler, Ariz.
The
lack of WEC branding was so that the preliminaries could be shown
on Spike TV. But UFC president Dana White made the decision to
run it like a UFC pay-per-view show in order to maximize the
pay-per-view sales. I had no problem with how they ran it. I’m
not a big fan of pay-per-view, and would rather see less of it
than more, but running the show as it was did no damage to the
fighters, in my opinion.
Source: Yahoo Sports
|
WORLDS
STRONGEST MAN SAYS, "BROCK WHO?"
Mariusz
Pudzianowski is a busy man. With two upcoming MMA fights (within
only weeks of each other) and many other non-sports related competitions
in his native Poland (from “Dancing with the Stars”
to “Look How They Can Sing”), he loves to stay busy.
His unbelievable determination and mental strength is always
masked by a familiar smile, but don’t make the mistake of
taking him lightly. If you’ve seen his strength, that shouldn’t
be a problem. It’s no wonder why he’s taken the MMA
world by storm.
Mariusz
Pudzianowski, who on May 21 at the DCU Center in Worcester, Mass.,
will make his entrance into U.S. MMA against two-time UFC champion
Tim Sylvia, was in a great mood when we spoke with him on Saturday
afternoon.
“People
always underestimate me and they always pay for it. No matter
what the opinions of these so-called experts are, it makes no
difference to me. I will destroy Yosuke Kawaguchi on May 7 in
Poland, and I will win the fight on May 21 against Tim Sylvia.
Just watch me do it, and enjoy,” said Pudzianowski.
As
usual, one of the most popular Poles in the world and five-time
World’s Strongest Man competition winner pulled no punches.
“When
I announced that before Sylvia I would fight Kawaguchi, people
said that I was crazy. They don’t understand that fighting
is the easiest part of my schedule. I start running at 7 a.m.,
then another couple of hours boxing with big guys to prepare
for Sylvia. Then, a short break and more work in the afternoon,”
he recounted.
“Most
likely, I will start preparing myself for Tim 48 hours after
the fight in Katowice. Depending on how my bloody knuckles and
legs look after the beating I want to administer to Yosuke, maybe
even earlier. I hate breaks, and I love to work. Fighting Kawaguchi
two weeks before my fight against Sylvia makes me a better MMA
fighter and will give me another dimension on May 21. Yosuke
is not a sparring fight by any means, I treat this with all the
attention it deserves.”
One
question you should not ask “Pudzian” is how he, the
man with only two MMA fights under his belt, can challenge Tim
Sylvia, a former two-time UFC heavyweight champion with 31 fights
on his resume.
“This whole MMA ranking stuff is a big pile of B.S. Everybody
is in such love with Brock Lesnar, who came from nothing, zero
MMA experience, and now he’s considered one of the best?
He fought only five times and is now considered Mr. Untouchable?
Why not me then?
“Nobody
knows how hard I’m preparing myself. I’m training with
the best Polish wrestlers; these are top guys. It’s easy
to do when you’re not fighting for money – I’m
already a very wealthy guy with a secured future – but for
the love and new challenge, and always for my fans, here in Poland
and abroad. I would never, repeat never, start fighting in MMA
if I didn’t believe I could be the best. First Kawaguchi,
then Sylvia – sorry guys, you are in my way,” said
Pudzianowski.
I
was too afraid to disagree.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
KOSCHECK
WILL STAND TOE-TO-TOE WITH DALEY
In a world where if you talk the talk, you have to walk the walk,
Josh Koscheck would rather fight than to listen to his opponents
jabber about him.
With
his upcoming fight against British heavy hitter Paul Daley at
UFC 113 just days away, he's avoided the trash talk and just
simply tunes him out.
Koscheck,
who runs two businesses aside from his fight career, believes
that if that's what his opponent needs to get the courage to
step in the cage with him, then have at it.
"There
are bigger things going on in my life than to pay attention to
what somebody's saying about me," Koscheck told MMAWeekly
Radio. "The guy is obviously talking a lot, and that's good,
probably because nobody knows who he is, so he's got to talk
himself up."
Some
fighters view pre-fight trash talking as just a part of the sport,
others use it as motivation. The former NCAA champion wrestler
turned fighter says for him it's just background noise, and he
needs nothing extra to get him up in the morning to go to the
best job in the world.
"I
don't need someone to talk trash for me to get up and get motivated
in the morning," Koscheck said. "I love to fight, the
only time I'm happy is when I'm fighting, and I just think it's
the greatest job on earth."
Breaking
down the fight with Daley, Koscheck says he has watched the Brit’s
UFC fight tapes and believes that ultimately his opponent's were
doomed the second they stepped in the cage with the knockout
artist.
"I
just think that those guys are morons, and didn't have good game
plans. I'm going to come into this fight with a better game plan
than what they did," said Koscheck.
His
strategy could involve a lot of striking. Despite a pedigree
that includes a 2001 NCAA championship for wrestling at 174 pounds,
Koscheck thinks his striking game is more than competent to go
punch-for-punch with Daley.
"I
believe I have just as good of striking as Paul Daley, well maybe
not as good, but I can guarantee you I have as much power. That's
for sure," said Koscheck.
"I'm
going to stand toe-to-toe with Paul Daley, and if he can take
my punches then maybe we'll switch the game plan up, but I plan
on going out and standing toe-to-toe. There's no reason for me
not to. I've been around a long time, I've had a lot of fights,
and I don't have a problem standing up with anybody."
Koscheck
has been in camp for the last 12 weeks, and has no thoughts of
underestimating Daley in his mind. What he does have on his mind
is planting Daley on the mat with a knockout punch.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
IT
WON'T BE PRETTY, BUT IT'LL BE TOM LAWLOR
“It’s gonna be gross. It’s gonna be disgusting.
It’s gonna be vile.”
What
else would you expect from a fighter with the nickname “Filthy?”
Not
known for being really strong in any one area, filthy isn’t
such a bad way to describe Tom Lawlor’s style of fighting.
An
alumnus of the eighth season of “The Ultimate Fighter”
reality series, Lawlor brings a raw, aggressive attitude to the
ring that gives him somewhat of a pro wrestling persona, thanks
in no small part to his vaudevillian appearances at weigh-ins
and eccentric ring entrances, but also do in large part to his
scrappy workmanlike approach to fighting.
It’s
an approach that is rather unique in the UFC and has served to
endear Lawlor to most fans, but come Saturday night at the Bell
Centre in Montreal, he may for once find himself in the throws
of hostility.
Lawlor
steps into the Octagon at UFC 113 across from Canada’s own
Joe Doerksen, who maintains the appropriate nickname, at least
for this fight, of “El Dirte.” So Lawlor will likely
give up his sympathetic status.
“I
don’t get a chance very often to play the heal. I think
it’s mostly because usually I’m the underdog and the
crowd kind of takes pity on me,” he explains. “In this
case, I guess somebody said I’m the betting odds favorite.
This might be my one chance to turn heal.”
You
can just about lay money on that. International MMA fans are
fairly accepting of anyone who puts on a good fight, but Doerksen
is still on home soil and will surely receive strong support
from his rabid countrymen.
That’s
okay though, Lawlor knows it’s never easy in the cage regardless
of who or where you fight.
“A
fight’s a fight. I’m gonna fight somebody that’s
tough, regardless. Joe Doerksen just happens to be a little bit
shorter, little bit thicker than Tim Credeur, just from a different
country. He has more experience,” Lawlor told MMAWeekly.com
recently.
Credeur
was his originally scheduled opponent, which leads to more of
the reason why it will be a hostile situation for Lawlor, who
is returning after a loss to Aaron Simpson in January.
Doerksen
isn’t just fighting on home turf; he’s also fighting
for his career. At 32 years of age and with 56 professional bouts
on his resume, Doerksen has been down the UFC road before, and
it’s a road filled with potholes.
In
his six UFC attempts, Doerksen has only landed on top one time.
Even with as many events as the promotion runs these days, pushing
over 30 per year, a record like that doesn’t earn many return
tickets to the big show, and he knows it.
Riding
hot on a five-fight winning streak, Doerksen needs to make the
most of his shot in the Octagon. If he doesn’t, he could
easily find this road to be a dead end.
Lawlor
isn’t quite in the same straights, but coming off a loss,
he realizes that he has to get back on track as soon as possible.
He didn’t win “The Ultimate Fighter.” He doesn’t
have a background littered with All American credentials. He’s
a hard-nosed scrapper that keeps working to get better and fighting
for his place at the dinner table.
And
that’s just what he’ll do come fight night in Montreal.
Expect Lawlor to step in the cage and scrap.
“I’m
gonna go out there and do my thing whatever my thing is.”
Source: MMA Weekly
|
Sherdog.com’s
Pound-for-Pound Top 10
First
it was Urijah Faber who was supposed to lord over the featherweight
division. Then it was Mike Thomas Brown. Now Jose Aldo has run
roughshod over both of them, and he appears to be in position
to reign with impunity at 145 pounds.
With
a brutally dominant showing at WEC 48 in Sacramento, Aldo took
out the sport's most recognizable featherweight on the promotion's
biggest card to date. To be sure, there were many new fans who
thought they were tuning in to another UFC card last Saturday
night, only to see Aldo batter Faber in thoroughly impressive
fashion.
Meanwhile,
WEC 48 also marked the emergence of the man who will likely be
Aldo's next challenger, Manny Gamburyan. The coming-out party
for the powerful Armenian came at the expense of former featherweight
champion Mike Thomas Brown. Less than halfway into the first
round of their April 24 encounter, "The Anvil" landed
a short right hook that put Brown on the deck. Gamburyan then
swarmed to finish, earning himself a likely crack at Aldo and
erasing Brown's entry on this list.
1.
Anderson Silva (26-4)
Nearly
three weeks removed and with Strikeforce's in-cage brawl in Nashville
now being MMA's primary flak magnet, Silva has managed to escape
further criticism stemming from his UFC 112 performance against
Demian Maia. We also know what's next for "The Spider,"
as Dana White was quick to announce that the middleweight kingpin
would be back in action in August, defending his title against
trashtalking political candidate Chael Sonnen. Though it is a
far cry from the fight with Georges St. Pierre that was teased
prior to the Maia debacle, it is a bout that will assuredly draw
its fair share of hype courtesy of Sonnen's gift of gab.
2.
Georges St. Pierre (20-2)
It
is the kind of nitpicking that can only result when a fighter
is as dominant as St. Pierre. After another complete performance
at UFC 111, with his UFC welterweight title up for grabs, one
would anticipate that GSP’s crushing of Dan Hardy would
have impressed onlookers. Instead, in spite of particularly vicious
armbar and kimura attempts that contorted the arm of “The
Outlaw,” MMA’s welterweight king has been disparaged
as a safety-first top-position wrestler who is content to do
just enough to win fights. Critiques aside, the constant stream
of elite challengers will not stop for St. Pierre, whether they
come from the ever-deep 170-pound division or courtesy of a move
to 185 pounds.
3.
Fedor Emelianenko (31-1, 1 NC)
Emelianenko
was supposed to embark on his next conquest for Strikeforce in
April, this after he had wiped out Brett Rogers in thrilling
fashion in the promotion’s November CBS debut. However,
a contract impasse between Strikeforce and M-1, Emelianenko’s
representation, put the breaks on his appearance. Now his next
bout looks more likely for June or July. In some ways, the delay
may be a blessing in disguise. It will not buy Strikeforce a
world of time, but if Emelianenko had fought and knocked off
Fabricio Werdum as anticipated, it would have left the Russian
with one last obvious foil -- Alistair Overeem -- as we entered
the summer. Now the obvious end of Strikeforce’s short heavyweight
gallery is further off.
4.
Lyoto Machida (16-0)
After
ripping through Thiago Silva and Rashad Evans in consecutive
bouts in 2009, Machida had already ignited complaints about the
inability of other light heavyweights to challenge him before
he even defended the UFC title. His October bout with Mauricio
“Shogun” Rua vividly showed once again the folly of
proclaiming any MMA fighter unbeatable, as Machida’s unanimous
decision victory became the most debated and unpopular decision
of the year. With the Rua rematch slated for May 8 at UFC 113
and a growing number of highly gifted 205-pound prospects in
MMA, Machida’s road to dominating the light heavyweight
division has quickly become a much taller task than previously
anticipated.
5.
Jose Aldo (17-1)
Aldo
entered his April 24 showdown with Urijah Faber as a favorite,
but many expected "The California Kid" to offer the
Brazilian dynamo a real test and force him to fight in a way
he hadn't in the WEC so far. Instead, Aldo crushed and demoralized
Faber in front of his fans in Sacramento. For five lopsided rounds,
Aldo smashed Faber with low kicks, hobbling him into helplessness
in the cage. With the win, Aldo now appears to be untouchable
in the featherweight division, despite only having two outstanding
wins -- Mike Thomas Brown and Faber -- on his docket. With the
perception of his dominance reinforced, Aldo figures to be a
considerable favorite over likely next challenger Manny Gamburyan
whenever they meet later this year.
6.
Jon Fitch (22-3, 1 NC)
With
a straightforward and prosaic fighting style, Fitch is not as
close to another crack at the UFC welterweight title as he would
like to be. However, the former Purdue University wrestling captain
still sports a staggering 12-1 record in the UFC, and in one
of MMA’s greatest divisions. Even if his dream fight is
a rematch with Georges St. Pierre, the high-stakes bout for Fitch
in the interim will be his rematch with Thiago Alves. After two
previous delays, a fight between the former title challengers
is slated for UFC 115 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada,
on June 12, with the winner locking up second fiddle status in
the ever-deep welterweight division.
7.
Frankie Edgar (12-1)
At
UFC 112 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Edgar scored the
most significant win of 2010 so far by dethroning lightweight
kingpin B.J. Penn and taking the UFC 155-pound title. Though
it was not exactly a popular decision, Edgar took all three judges’
scorecards on the back of his aggressive combination punching
and stellar movement. However, the new surprise champion will
have to replicate his feat in order to earn unanimous consideration
as the sport's top lightweight, as the wheels are in motion for
an August rematch between he and Penn in Boston.
8.
B.J. Penn (15-6-1)
From
one controversy to another, Penn lost his UFC lightweight title
and MMA's 155-pound mantle on April 12 with his shocking upset
to Frankie Edgar. While debate still rages over the bout's outcome,
Penn has started his book tour to promote his eye-opening biography.
The book has drawn the particular ire of UFC boss Dana White
for its anecdotes of the Hilo native's past dealings with the
company. Brouhahas notwithstanding, "The Prodigy" will
get his chance for redemption and to regain top status at 155
pounds in August, when he figures to rematch Edgar at UFC 118
in Boston.
9.
Jake Shields (25-4-1)
There
was a time just a few short years ago when Shields was reviled
for being one of MMA's most loathsome fighters to watch. However,
over the last five years, the Cesar Gracie product has transformed
from a drab, peripheral contender to one of the sport's elite.
With his dominant April 17 upset over Dan Henderson, the Strikeforce
middleweight champion now boasts a 14-bout winning streak and
top-five credentials in two separate divisions. The serious question
surrounding Shields now is simply whether he will remain a Strikeforce
commodity or if his future lies in the Octagon against a deeper
roster of competition.
10.
Thiago Alves (16-6)
Alves’
place in the MMA world reminds us of why context is important.
In his last bout, he struggled to win a single minute of 25 against
welterweight kingpin Georges St. Pierre. However, apart from
his loss to St. Pierre, Alves has smashed outstanding welterweights
left, right and center. Arguably he had a better 2008 campaign
-- weight issues against Matt Hughes aside -- than any other
fighter in the sport. However, as of late, he's been beset by
medical setbacks that have twice canceled his slated high-stakes
rematch with Jon Fitch. Clean MRI pending, the fight has been
scheduled for a third time at UFC 115 on June 12.
*With
his April 24 loss to Manny Gamburyan, previously 7th-ranked Mike
Thomas Brown falls outside of the pound-for-pound top 10.
Source: Sherdog
|
Destiny
Featuring Kaleo
Kwan Defending
His State Title
Waipahu Filcom
Doors open 5:30 pm. Fights start at 6:00 pm
$25 presale, $35 at the door!
Main Event:
-155ls (state title match)
Kaleo "Lights
Out" Kwan (O2 Martial Arts Academy) vs Tim "Majik" Moon
-145lbs
(interim amateur title)
Max "Lil Evil" Holloway (Gods Army) vs Travis Beyer
(808 FF)
-155lbs
Ben "Da King" Santiago (Gods Army) vs Tyler Pavao (freelance)
-185lbs
Jon Lucius (freelance) vs Charles Hazlewood (Combat 50)
-Heavyweights
Nalu Lavela (UCS) vs Terrance Taanoa (High Intensity)
-145lbs
Daniel Bachman (Boars Nest) vs Jason Racamara (UCS)
-170lbs
Jason Morinaga (freelance) vs Jon "4real" Ferrell (Hawaiian
MMA, Hilo)
-165lbs
Kenney Dewey (Pain Train) vs Zackory Lavarias-Dumlao (freelance)
-145lbs
Randy Rivera (HMC) vs Treven Mukai (Hawaiian MMA, Hilo)
-Heavyweights
Isaac Uaisele (Kurrupt Ambitionz) vs Joe Noa (All Nu)
-210lbs
Mo (Pain Train) vs Christian Dayondun (All Nu)
-170lbs
Daniel Manpusian (freelance) vs Justin Torres (All Nu)
-140lbs
AJ Pang (HMC) vs Larson Tokeshi (Hawaiian MMA, Hilo)
-125lbs
Josh Kolii (C-Side Soljahz) vs Westly Mossan (freelance)
-150lbs
Aaron Terry (HMC Wahiawa) vs Mikey Wabinga (Team Stand Alone)
-185lbs
Kala Sapla (freelance) vs Joe Enaena(All Nu)
-160lbs
Dean Ramiro (Team Equal Knockz) vs David Carter (freelance)
-160lbs
Ethan Rista (Kurrupt Ambitionz) vs Nick Pait (freelance)
-155lbs
Sebastion Mariconda (HMC) vs Steven Garcia (All Nu)
-145lbs
Zach Close (Boars Nest) vs Charles Matias (freelance)
-170lbs
Lawrence Kaeo (Papakolea BJJ) vs Kalani Ramos (All Nu)
-155lbs
Ryan Clay (HMC) vs Bradley Arakaki(freelance)
-165lbs
Eddie Manu (High Intensity) vs Peda Delacruz (All Nu)
-135lbs
Kelii Palencia (HMC) vs Lawrence Lucius (freelance)
-185lbs
Ernest "Irie Warrior" Mercado (freelance) vs Tyrone
Stovall (All Nu)
-170lbs
Lawrence Matias (freelance) vs Tony Irvin (High Intensity)
-Heavyweights
Olo (freelance) vs Lester Figueroa (All Nu)
-145lbs
(pankration)
Robert Aguirre (freelance)vs Mikela Texeira (All Nu)
-170lbs
Kalau Awong (C-Side Soljahz) vs George Felix (freelance)
-Super
Heavyweight
Keoni Kalepa (freelance) vs Andrew Miram (High Intensity)
-180lbs
Dwayne Uyeda (Team Outlaw) vs Micah Ige (freelance)
-135lbs
(pankration)
Joeseph Eiman (Team Hardheads) vs Thomas Burkett (High Intensity)
-145lbs
Shawn Burroughs (CJ's Gym) vs TBA
|
COTE'S
MISSION IS FOR TITLE, NOT ANDERSON SILVA
The climb to the top of the middleweight division for Canadian
fighter Patrick Cote hit a major bump in the road during his
title fight against champion Anderson Silva in October 2008.
In
the third round of their fight, Cote took a wrong step, an old
knee injury flared, and he buckled as his knee collapsed under
him. He lost the fight just seconds into the third round by injury.
Now
more than 18 months later, Cote is getting back in the cage for
the first time in his hometown of Montreal at UFC 113. He still
has a set goal in mind, but the end result isn't what most would
think... a rematch with Anderson Silva.
"We
have kind of like unfinished business with me and Anderson Silva,
but my goal is not to fight Anderson Silva, my goal is to have
another title fight," said Cote on MMAWeekly Radio Monday
night.
Cote
earned his title shot by winning five fights in a row, capped
off by a victory over Ricardo Almeida, but the knee injury kept
him out of ever finishing his championship run. Now he's been
away for more than a year and the division has moved on without
him, but he's ready to get back to that top contender's spot
again.
Fighting
Silva is really coincidental to Cote, and says calling himself
UFC middleweight champion outweighs any thoughts of revenge or
unfinished business.
"I
really don't care about this guy," Cote said of Silva. "The
thing is he was the champion; that's what I want. I want the
belt; I want to be world champion."
If
their paths do cross again, Cote knows he'll have to work his
way back through a whole new list of contenders, and that's okay
by him.
He
plans on being very active in 2010, and it starts with his UFC
113 fight against Alan Belcher. After that expect Cote to try
to get as many fights in as the UFC will allow. Then he wants
to get the call for another shot at UFC gold.
One
thing that is perfectly clear, while Cote has no love lost on
Silva as a fighter, he's not chasing him like Ahab did Moby Dick.
He's just another name, and if it happens to be attached to the
middleweight title, then he'll be just another opponent.
"If
he's still there when I have another title fight, I'll fight
him. But if it's another one, I'll fight another guy too,"
Cote said. "I'm not running after Anderson Silva, I'm running
after another title fight."
Source: MMA Weekly
|
Camões
wants to be back in the UFC
With
a defeat and a draw on UFC, Fabrício “Morango”
Camões ended up cut of the biggest MMA’s event of
the world. In a chat with TATAME, the Royler Gracie’s black
belt talked about the deception with the cut off, commented his
fights and regretted a possible UFC’s “politic”,
once his manager is the same as Anderson Silva, who was a lot
criticized after UFC 112. “I like to think that, if I had
won my fights, it would have been different, because I’m
doing my best in order to come back to UFC. There’s no point
for me to take sides on this fight. I see it as a team, and we
cannot cheer only if it winning. But, for sure, if it’s
raining on Anderson, it’ll pour on me”, said Camões,
on an exclusive interview which you can read below.
How
did you face the dismissal?
I
was surprised when my friends called me asking about my situation
on UFC. When my manager called me, I could guess what had happened.
I was very sad at first, but that’s life, I have to keep
my head up. I’m doing my best so I can come back to the
event, I want to fight the best and UFC has the best in the whole
world.
Did
you expect to leave UFC after only two fights?
To
be honest, no. I played my game on both fights, and I believe
I’ve been wronged by the arbitration on the first fight,
when they hurried on my punishment from a blow that has not caught
him. I’ve seen it happen another time, and the referee verbally
advertised first and threatened the athlete he would take off
a few points if he did it again and that cost me a draw. After
my Kurt (Pellegrino) fight, I kept watching the other shows and
could see a bunch of other athletes being dismissed, but I was
there at the time. Right after my fight I got dismissed.
What
did they said when they fired you?
I
didn’t got the news from UFC. Ed (Soares) called me and
said UFC had dismissed me, but he would try to do everything
in his power for me to come back until the end of the year, because
he also thought it was not fair. But they didn’t say why…
Your
dismissal and what happened between Ed Soares and UFC, about
Anderson’s fight, have any connection?
Honestly,
I like to think that, if I had won my fights, it would have been
different, because I’m doing my best in order to come back
to UFC. There’s no point for me to take sides on this fight.
I see it as a team, and we cannot cheer only if it winning. But,
for sure, if it’s raining on Anderson, it’ll pour on
me.
What
are your plans now? Have you received any other invitations?
I’m
back to the trainings… I was recovering, had injuries on
my cervical and on my shoulder, spent a week not feeling my arms
and with stiff neck, but now I’m practicing and intend to
fight as soon as possible. It’s good for me to keep on training,
correcting my mistakes, improving and preparing myself to make
better presentations so I can come back to UFC. I think it won’t
be that difficult to fight in another event, I’m waiting,
but I’d love to fight in Brazil as well… It would be
a pleasure to fight in my homeland, but my plan is to make a
few fights so I can come back to UFC before the end of the year.
Is
it your dream to join UFC again?
Absolutely,
I would have never left there and I’m doing everything I
can to come back. I think it was not fair because I fought with
big names of the event, work really hard to get that chance,
it was tough for me to get here, but I won’t let it discourage
me. I now I did a good job on that fight and I’m sure I’ll
have another chance soon.
What
did you think about your fights on UFC?
I
had a draw with Caol Uno, on which I mastered all the fight,
had chances to submit and didn’t take those. On the Kurt
Pellegrino’s fight, I was on his back when I got injured
due to a blow, which it’s not legal by the rules, that is
to through the opponent’s head on the floor. I think that,
even with the defeat, I did well. I know I can improve some things,
but I think I did good fights and the audience liked it…
That’s what matters.
What
do you think you got wrong?
I
should have submitted when I got a chance. I’m working on
it, I was in a sequence of 8 fights without losing. You have
to take every chance you’re given because you never know
when you’ll got another one, but now I have to keep my head
up and keep improving.
Source: Tatame
|
SHANE
ROLLER WANTS A REMATCH FOR WEC BELT
Before the WEC 48: Aldo vs. Faber pay-per-view ever started,
the fight between Shane Roller and Anthony Njokuani was already
thought of as a de facto No. 1 contender's match for a shot at
the lightweight title.
Roller
dominated with a submission victory over Njokuani. Now he's ready
to get the title shot against champion Ben Henderson, who also
happens to be the only fighter to defeat him since moving to
the WEC.
"I
think I've earned it," Roller told MMAWeekly Radio about
getting a shot at the belt. "I've beat some tough guys my
last three wins, and I’m ready to get back in there against
him."
The
two lightweights fought in April 2009, and after dropping Henderson
early with a punch, Roller eventually got tagged himself and
was finished with strikes in the first round.
Henderson
has said in the past that he was hopeful for new contenders in
the lightweight division, but Roller feels he should accept all
challengers as the champion.
"He
said something about he doesn't want to fight someone in a rematch
like that, but who else is there? Who else is he wanting to fight?"
said Roller.
"I've
never seen a champion say he don't want to fight someone. Most
champions say bring on whoever. I want to fight the best. That's
how I'd view it if I had the belt. Whoever's the best, that's
who I'd want to fight. I'd want to be the best, hands down."
The
WEC hasn't offered Roller the shot yet, and Henderson has said
after a very busy year he's taking some time off until his wedding
later this summer. Roller will gladly take the title shot, but
also admitted that spending an extended period away from fighting
doesn't sound too enticing.
One
thing is for sure for Shane Roller, he believes he's earned the
title shot, and now he's just waiting for the offer to come across
his table.
"I
think I'm there, and I deserve it, and I'm ready for the rematch."
Source: MMA Weekly
|
Rogers:
Overeem's Been ‘Hiding’ for Two Years
Brett Rogers seems well prepared to deal with a potential wave
of naysayers who might question why the 29-year-old Minnesotan
has been granted a title shot coming off of a loss.
Rogers
will challenge 30-month absentee heavyweight champion Alistair
Overeem at Strikeforce “St. Louis: Heavy Artillery”
on May 15 at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Mo.
“I
would tell (naysayers) to recognize what’s going on the
organization, recognize my opponents and understand that’s
this isn’t something that just occurred,” Rogers recently
told Sherdog.com in this exclusive video interview. “I’ve
been going after (Overeem) for a good year or so, underground,
online, calling him out to get him to come back to the States
because he's been hiding (in Europe) for almost two years.”
Rogers,
who notched his first career loss to Fedor Emelianenko with strikes
in the second round at the promotion’s November “Fedor
vs. Rogers” effort in Hoffmann Estates, Ill., also commented
on the 6-foot-5 Golden Glory striker’s noticeable weight
gain over the last two years, which Rogers refers to as Overeem’s
“Eastern diet.”
Source: Sherdog
|
Veteran
Canadian Fighters Get Second Chances at UFC 113
Jason
MacDonald and Tim Hague, two veteran Canadian fighters who were
recently released by the UFC, were granted a second chance to
make a run in the organization due to last-minute injuries on
next weekend's UFC 113 card in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The
promotion officially announced the changes late this week.
In
middleweight action, MacDonald will replace Nick Catone against
John Salter, while Hague will replace heavyweight newcomer Chad
Corvin against Joey Beltran.
MacDonald
(24-13), who was released by the organization after losing to
Nate Quarry at UFC 97 last April in Montreal, has won three straight
in three different Canadian promotions. His most notable win
came just last week against veteran Matt Horwich in Edmonton,
Alberta, Canada. He's 5-5 inside the Octagon.
MacDonald
is especially lucky to be receiving another shot in the UFC because
David Loiseau was offered the fight against Salter first, but
when the Régie des alcools, des courses et des jeux (the
Quebec athletic commission) delayed its approval of Loiseau's
license due to an open investigation into the sale of a promotion
he once owned a stake in (XMMA) to a group of individuals who
are being investigated by the authorities, the UFC offered the
fight to "The Athlete" instead.
Loiseau
applied for the new license on Monday and was granted it on Wednesday.
Unfortunately for Loiseau, the UFC had already offered the fight
to MacDonald by the time he was cleared of any wrongdoing.
MacDonald
vs. Salter is scheduled to be the first fight of the night at
the Bell Centre. Salter (4-1) lost his UFC debut to Gerald Harris
in January.
Meanwhile,
Hague (10-3) was released following a somewhat controversial
majority decision loss to Chris Tuchscherer at UFC 109 in February.
He hasn't fought since then. He is 1-2 inside the Octagon.
Beltran
(11-3) won his Octagon debut against Rolles Gracie in February.
It
was also recently announced that Joe Doerksen (44-12), a third
Canadian veteran, was given another chance to fight in the organization
after Tim Credeur was forced to withdraw from his middleweight
fight against Tom Lawlor due to injury. "El Dirte"
last competed in the Octagon at UFC 83 and holds a 1-6 record
in the promotion.
There
are seven Canadian fighters in total fighting on the card.
Source: MMA Fighting
|
DANIEL
ROBERTS VS JULIO PAULINO AT UFC 116
A welterweight contest between Daniel Roberts and Julio Paulino
has been added to the undercard of UFC 116 in Las Vegas on July
3.
The
fight was confirmed to MMAWeekly.com by sources close to the
bout on late Friday evening.
Both
Roberts and Paulino step into the fight in July having lost in
their UFC debuts, but having a great deal of success prior to
entering the Octagon.
Daniel
Roberts (9-1) is an accomplished grappler who has been known
as a submission machine in fights, finishing eight opponents
in a row with his wrestling and jiu-jitsu.
Making
his UFC debut in March as a late replacement to face John "Doomsday"
Howard, Roberts was doing well in the fight until he was caught
with a nasty punch from Howard just two minutes into the first
round, handing him a knockout loss.
Roberts
looks to get back to his winning ways when he faces Julio Paulino
(17-3) who fought on the same March undercard at the first UFC
on Versus show, dropping a decision to powerful wrestler Mike
Pierce.
Paulino
is a well-rounded fighter and has several big wins under his
belt including TKO's over two former UFC fighters in Terry Martin
and Rob Yundt.
The
bout between Roberts and Paulino will be part of the untelevised
undercard for the show taking place in Las Vegas.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
BANTAMWEIGHT
TOURNEY FOR BELLATOR SEASON 3
Bellator Fighting Championships on Friday confirmed its oft-rumored
bantamweight tournament for Season 3, which begins Aug. 12.
The
first fighter confirmed for the 135-pound brackets is Danny Tims,
whose red mohawk and compelling personal story made him a media
darling in his hometown of Kansas City in the run-up to Bellator
16.
He
earned the spot with his victory over Brian Davidson on the local
portion of Bellator 16 on Thursday night.
The
announcement, which was made by Bellator founder and CEO Bjorn
Rebney at the conclusion of Thursday night’s event, makes
it official that Bellator will indeed host a bantamweight tournament
in its third season as has been rumored for some time. Additional
tournament fighters will be announced in the coming weeks.
“Danny’s
win over Brian Davidson included some great back-and-forth action;
it was probably the night’s best all-around fight,”
Rebney said. “With his win, Danny earned a spot in an eight-man
field that already has some hugely talented bantamweights locked
in. We will be announcing more of them in the coming weeks.”
The
22-year-old Tims, a mainstay on the Midwest MMA circuit since
turning pro while he was still a teenager in 2007, improved his
overall record to 9-2-1 with the win over Davidson.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
ALVES
VS. FITCH MOVED TO UFC 117 IN OAKLAND
As badly as Thiago "Pitbull" Alves wants to get back
in the cage and fight again, he'll have to wait just a little
while longer before returning. Originally scheduled to face Jon
Fitch at UFC 111 in New Jersey and then UFC 115 in Vancouver,
the fight has been pushed back to Aug. 7 in Oakland as a part
of UFC 117.
Sources
close to the fight confirmed to MMAWeekly.com on Friday that
while Alves has had no complications following brain surgery,
the promotion just wants to take extra caution and make sure
everything is okay before the fight takes place. AOL Fanhouse
originally reported the move of the fight on Friday.
Alves
was set to fight at UFC 111 in New Jersey, but a pre-fight CAT
scan revealed an anomaly in the fighter's brain that concerned
doctors and he was pulled off the card. Shortly thereafter, the
Brazilian underwent an angiogram to repair the issue.
"They
put superglue between the vein and the artery. That's what the
doctors told me 'just tell everybody you've got superglue in
your brain right now, and you'll be alright.' So that's what
I'm going to tell everybody," Alves explained in an interview
with MMAWeekly.com after the surgery.
As
a precautionary measure, Alves will have another test run closer
to the fight just to confirm the success of the surgery, but
he is already back in full training with his camp at American
Top Team.
The
fight between Alves and Fitch will obviously be a featured bout
on the UFC 117 card, which will be headlined by middleweight
champion Anderson Silva defending his title against Chael Sonnen.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
Ex-UFC
Champ Ricco Rodriguez Hoping for Return at Light Heavyweight
Everyone
deserves a second chance in life, and Ricco Rodriguez is hoping
for his own follow-up shot at the bigtime.
In
2002, Rodriguez was on top of the MMA world when he defeated
Randy Couture to become the UFC heavyweight champion. At the
time, he was just 25 years old and seemed to have the world in
front of him. Three fights and three losses later, Rodriguez
was out of the UFC and his life began to spiral out of control,
but now there's hope that Rodriguez is turning things around
and working towards redemption.
Last
night in Waterloo, Iowa, the now 32-year-old Rodriguez knocked
out veteran journeyman Travis Fulton, earning his sixth straight
win.
Before
the fight, Rodriguez, who at one time weighed over 300 pounds
and has fought at heavyweight for years, told The Waterloo Cedar
Falls Courier that he had plans on changing his weight class.
"This
will shock a lot of people, but I'm really looking forward to
dropping down to 205 and the light-heavyweight division,"
Rodriguez told the paper, who noted that he showed up to the
pre-fight press conference at a "svelte 218."
Rodriguez
told the paper that he still dreams of returning to the UFC and
working towards another shot at the title.
Any
sort of return to a major promotion would mark an impressive
personal redemption tale for Rodriguez, who in Nov. 2006, was
suspended by the California State athletic commission after testing
positive for both cocaine and marijuana in a post-fight test.
At one time, he ballooned to around 350 pounds. He detailed his
personal problems during a stint on VH1's "Celebrity Rehab"
show in early 2008.
With
a winning streak in hand and a 12-2 record dating back to June
2008, Rodriguez, who is now based in Baton Rouge, La., is 41-11
overall.
Source: MMA Fighting
|
HANDS
HEALED, CUB SWANSON EAGER FOR RETURN
Cub Swanson thought a victory over John Franchi at WEC 44 last
November would not only put him back on the winning track, but
also be the springboard towards title contention in the promotion’s
stacked 145-pound division.
What
Swanson ended up getting was bittersweet.
While
he managed to defeat Franchi, Swanson broke both hands during
the fight, derailing his comeback efforts for the time being.
It
appeared he would be able to return for last Saturday’s
WEC 48 against Chan Sung Jung, but it was not to be. As Swanson
told MMAWeekly.com, “It basically boils down to a miscommunication
between me and my doctor.
“He
told me he thought it was a little too soon for me to fight,
but that I could probably pull it off, so I kind of took that
as an ‘okay I can fight.’ But I guess in his notes
he wrote that he didn’t feel I was ready and that I would
re-brake it if I fought that soon, so the WEC told me that if
my doctor writes that I can’t fight, I pretty much can’t
fight.”
Leonard
Garcia was able to step in and defeat Jung via split decision,
in a fight that made Swanson proud of his teammate.
“Me
and Leonard are teammates and I was able to let him know that
I wasn’t able to fight. So he was able to step in there
for me and put on a great fight, especially on short notice,”
stated Swanson.
“I’d
like to fight him, but I think I’d like to see them go at
it one more time. Maybe I’ll fight George Roop for (Leonard).”
With
the communication problem cleared up, Swanson is eager to return
to action as soon as possible.
“I
got cleared the Monday before the WEC, and I sent the doctor’s
notes in to them and they know I’m good to go,” said
Swanson. “I told them I’d like to get in on the June
20 card.
“The
card is almost full, so I’m just kind of saying my prayers
and am trying to get on it; if not, then August, but I’m
hoping for June.”
With
half the year still remaining, Swanson feels he can come in and
make an impact significant enough to get him back into the title
hunt.
“I
feel I had a good showing in my last fight, considering I had
two broken hands, I was still able to have a good fight and finish
him,” stated Swanson.
“I’ve
taken some time off, healed up, and I hope I can continue the
same work; especially with Greg Jackson in my corner, I feel
like I’m going to fight a lot smarter.”
Swanson
feels his injuries allowed him to focus on other parts of his
game, which in turn altered his mindset going into battle.
“It’s
making me be more tactical and think about the fight,” he
commented. “I’m not just going in there and fighting
on instinct. I’ve got a game plan and I know how to use
a game plan right; using what my coaches are seeing outside the
fight.”
Ready
to return to action and showcase a new and improved Cub Swanson,
a year that started off on the wrong foot could very well culminate
in the high point of his career.
“Don’t
forget about me, I’m still around,” concluded Swanson.
“I’ve been in the WEC for over three years now, and
I feel I’m still strong and I’m going to go out there,
put on a good show and keep a high pace. It’s just now when
I do it, it’s going to be very accurate and I think I’ll
be even more devastating now.
“Anybody
who wants to come out, I’ll be at the Submission Ink Tattoo
Convention and Grappling Tournament on Saturday. So anybody that’s
near Ontario (California) come out, I’d love to see you.”
Source: MMA Weekly
|
BELLATOR
ANNOUNCES CONSECUTIVE TEXAS EVENTS
Bellator Fighting Championships on Friday announced it will make
its second 2010 stop in the Lone Star State next month when it
comes to the Majestic Theatre in San Antonio.
The
event – which will be broadcast live and in prime time across
the country on FOX Sports Net and during special weekend highlight
shows on NBC, Telemundo and mun2 – takes place on May 27
at the historic theatre in the heart of downtown San Antonio.
The
fight card for the event includes two semifinal round matchups
in Bellator’s ongoing middleweight tournament: Siberian
striker Alexander “Storm” Shlemenko (28-4) versus former
all-American college wrestler and Bellator Season 1 middleweight
tournament runner-up Jared Hess (11-1-1) along with former competitive
power-lifter Eric Schambari (12-1) versus Southern California
powerhouse Bryan Baker (12-1) in a rematch of their December
2007 fight in the WEC (which Baker won by split decision).
In
addition, the evening will feature a special “Heavyweight
Feature Fight” between 11-3 former UFC star Eddie Sanchez
and EliteXC veteran Ralph Kelly as well as four “Local Feature
Fights” between some of the top rising MMA stars from Texas.
“Bellator
is thrilled at the opportunity to bring our brand mixed martial
arts events and our television partners at Fox Sports Net, NBC,
Telemundo and Mun2 to the thousands of passionate MMA fans in
the San Antonio area,” said Bellator founder and CEO Bjorn
Rebney.
“Our
two Main Event fights feature four of the most exciting middleweights
out there right now including a man, Alexander Shlemenko, who
I believe is one of the top fighters to come out of Russia in
many years. It should be a great night of fights.”
Bellator
Season 2 began on April 8 at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel &
Casino in Hollywood, Fla. Bellator Season 3 begins August 12.
Both seasons run for 12 consecutive weeks.
Bellator
is also hosting an event at the Verizon Theatre in Grand Prairie,
Texas, (just outside of Dallas) one week before the San Antonio
event on Thursday, May 20.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
Hangover
lingers from manic MMA April
The
month of April started with high expectations in the mixed martial
arts world, with seven championship matches on shows put on by
the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Strikeforce, and World Extreme
Cagefighting.
In
the end, there highs and lows, two new champions, and a complete
shakeup at the top of the lightweight division.
UFC
112 on April 10 in Abu Dhabi was the most high profile event.
But the April 17 Strikeforce event on CBS, and the April 24 WEC
pay-per-view card were two of the most important events of the
month, because each had a significant effect on the respective
companies’ future.
It’s
still uncertain how the April 17 show will affect the Strikeforce/CBS
relationship, with its ugly post-fight brawl, disappointing matches
and a lackluster prime-time rating. In a business that is all
about creating superstars, which at its best is a difficult process
based on luck, timing and exposure, it can’t be emphasized
how important having CBS exposure is for Strikeforce.
The
company’s ultimate goal – to compete with the industry-leading
UFC – is based on being able to produce successful pay-per-view
shows. With Showtime, Strikeforce’s main carrier, only available
in a small percentage of the U.S. homes, it’s questionable
if that’s a strong enough platform to build a successful
pay-per-view event.
Meanwhile,
the Zuffa-owned WEC took the dive into the pay-per-view pool
this past Saturday after considering the move for more than a
year. No concrete numbers were available as of press time according
to WEC general manager Reed Harris. Unlike with the dead Affliction
promotion, which had millions of dollars in guaranteed money
on the table and needed hundreds of thousands of buys to be successful,
it was believed WEC would be very happy with 100,000 buys.
That’s
a figure the company likely attained thanks, to strong late promotion
and luck falling on their side in the last 20 minutes before
the show went on the air. Leonard Garcia and Chan Sung Jung delivered
a wild brawl that will be hard to beat for match of the year.
The fight aired live on Spike TV just minutes before the pay-per-view
started.
Viewership
of the fight nearly doubled from start-to-finish, something almost
unheard of, let alone in a fight between two men who are not
major stars. It would be hard to imagine a better scenario to
convince viewers at the last minute that this was a show worth
buying.
“When
I told Leonard he was going to be put on Spike TV, he told promised
me he was going to come through,” Harris said.
But
while the show was an artistic success, the WEC’s business
highs have all been built around Urijah Faber, who incurred the
most brutal beating of his career, in losing a five-round decision
to featherweight champion Jose Aldo Jr. For the first time since
the company was purchased by Zuffa and had a national platform,
Faber is no longer in the championship picture.
Harris
said he and Faber have talked since the fight, mostly about how
he’s feeling and the damage to Faber’s left leg, which
was brutalized by Aldo’s low kicks. Faber described the
damage as being like someone took a baseball bat to his leg.
“He
talked with me a little about going to [bantamweight],”
Harris said. “He’s not going anywhere. If he decides
that’s what he wants to do, we’ll support him. He said
he wouldn’t have any problem making the weight. The fighters
in our organization are the ones who decide what weight class
they are going to fight in.”
Faber
was almost always undersized in fighting at featherweight during
the period he ruled the division. His biggest question regarding
going down to bantamweight is that Joseph Benavidez, one of his
training partners, looks to be the top contender for champion
Dominick Cruz. Cruz’s only career loss was as a featherweight,
challenging Faber for his title three years ago in Las Vegas,
and losing via guillotine submission in just 1:38.
Harris
noted that the reason the WEC name was never used on the broadcast
and in promotion of the event – it was instead billed simply
as “Aldo vs. Faber” – was because it was part
of a deal getting Spike TV to promote the event. He said Versus,
the WEC’s usual carrier, was interested in carrying the
prelims live, but couldn’t, due to its commitment to the
Stanley Cup playoffs.
“At
the end of the day, everyone knew it was a WEC show,” he
said.
Harris
noted that even if the show beats expectations on pay-per-view,
that WEC will be a product that does pay-per-view when the right
match comes along, as opposed to UFC, which has a set schedule
of pay-per-view dates every few weeks, and then plugs in matches
for those dates.
On
the championship front, there were two changes and three significant
upsets in the seven April title matches. The biggest shock was
Frankie Edgar, an 8-to-1 underdog, beating B.J. Penn to win the
UFC lightweight title in a five-round decision in Abu Dhabi.
This would rank alongside Matt Serra’s 2007 win over Georges
St. Pierre as one of the two biggest upsets in UFC championship
history.
Edgar’s
win helped break the lightweight division wide open. Going into
April, most rankings had Penn No. 1, and Shinya Aoki, the champion
of Japan’s Dream promotion as No. 2. Aoki, who was clearly
overrated with that ranking, was dominated for five rounds by
Strikeforce champion Gilbert Melendez in a match that seemed
to emphasize the gap in the quality at the top ranks between
the U.S. and Japan.
Despite
losing, because of his history on top of dominant performances,
most would still consider Penn the best in the division. Where
Melendez truly belongs in the top mix, which also includes UFC
fighters like Gray Maynard and Kenny Florian, may not be able
to be answered.
Melendez’s
contract with Strikeforce is coming due soon, but unlike former
roommate and best friend Shields, Melendez has indicating wanting
to stay with Strikeforce, stating he’s got loyalty to Scott
Coker for giving him so many opportunities.
In
another surprise result, “King Mo” Lawal, in only his
seventh pro fight and just 19 months after his MMA debut, took
the Strikeforce light heavyweight title from Gegard Mousasi,
who had looked unstoppable in a 15-match winning streak that
dated back to 2006.
The
only fight where the champion was the underdog was Jake Shields,
the Strikeforce middleweight champion, against Dan Henderson.
Shields outwrestled the two-time Olympian in wrestling to take
a five-round decision and keep his title.
But
his future as champion is very much in question with his contract
running out, Shields appearing a week later at the WEC show sitting
next to Dana White, who guaranteed he would sign Shields.
Source: Yahoo Sports
|
Favorites
Out Early at K-1 63kg GP
TOKYO,
Japan -- The opening round of the inaugural K-1 World MAX 2010
63kg Japan Tournament got under way in front 3,871 fans at a
sold-out JCB Hall on Sunday, and already this new division is
showing that youth and speed is key.
Despite
their late inclusions, Masahiro Yamamoto and Haruaki Otsuki hold
a large number of the more prestigious titles available in Japanese
kickboxing and were rightfully considered the tournament favorites.
Titles and experience meant little though as they both bowed
out of the tournament early with shocking losses to younger opposition.
Masahiro
Yamamoto was rightfully the odds-on favorite for this tournament,
holding wins over some of the better GP participants and having
demonstrated the ability to win tournaments in Krush in the past.
He was stopped short however when Tetsuya Yamato's power managed
to earn him an extra round with the technician. While Yamamoto
was landing more, especially with kicks, Yamoto's power shots
evened it up and after three rounds two of the judges couldn't
separate the pair.
In
the extra round, the Muay Thai stylist was able to keep his power
going while Yamamoto's speed and footwork failed him resulting
in two knockdowns from punch combinations and also resulting
in the favorite making an early exit after the judges rendered
their final decision.
Noted
for his ridiculous power and cocky style, fan favorite Haruaki
Otsuki looked good early, landing heavily to the liver of Yoshimichi
Matsumoto with punches right from the opening bell. Matsumoto
managed to rally his defense though and get his kicks going leading
up to a moment in the third, where he mounted enough offense
to drop the 36-year-old Otsuki. The trip to the canvas meant
that Otsuki needed to score a knock down himself if he hoped
to win a decision and so he loaded up power shots, testing Matsumoto's
chin almost to breaking point. In the final seconds of the bout,
Matsumoto looked to be getting ready to go down but was saved
by the bell and so, won the decision.
Although
he could not be considered a tournament favorite, prohibitive
fan favorite and lovable loser "Fire" Harada also bowed
out: going down to the big mouthed Koshien graduate Kizaemon
Saiga. Harada's strategy of wading through punishment to attempt
to through powerful but unrefined hooks, proved as it all too
often does, fruitless against faster and more technical opposition.
Saiga
played up his role as the heel, taunting Harada as he bloodied
and bruised him with lighting quick kicks and punches. It was
hard to watch in the later rounds as even the smallest strikes
would cause Harada to lose his footing and slip to the mat and
the pain was evident in the elder man's face as he would get
up and walk in for more. Harada failed to win a single round.
With
Yamamoto and Otsuki bowing out of the running early, Naoki Ishikawa
can now consider himself a favorite after his tough fought win
over Yuto Watanabe. Ishikawa looked good through the three rounds
and although he sustained a massive cut under the lip in the
closing minute, he controlled the bout with his trademark kicks
and knees in close.
In
the evening's main event, Daisuke Uematsu took out the only foreign
GP participant, the "Japanese Killer" Jae Hee Cheon.
Cheon had a breakout year in 2009, taking out Japanese super
stars Norifumi "KID" Yamamoto and Kazuhisa Watanabe.
Uematsu, on the other hand, saw his popularity decline after
FEG PR efforts were shifted to other fighters in this new 63kg
division after some mediocre wins.
Cheon
looked primed for another solid win, rocking Uematsu with punches
early and backing him into the corner and coming close to scoring
a down with punches. The Japanese fighter was able to hang on
however and shortly after collecting his marbles, landed a left-right-left
hook combination that sent the Korean to the canvas where he
was unable to regain his composure in time for the 10 count.
Keiji
Ozaki took a questionable decision over Kosuke Komiyama. As the
referee raised Ozaki's hand, his face and body was battered and
bloody with swelling around Ozaki's eyes. Komiyama looked fresh
and stunned. It wasn't all just looks though, Komiyama landed
more accurate and powerful shots but most definitely threw less
than Ozaki.
Yuta
Kubo should have had DREAM representative Daiki "DJ.taiki"
Taiki questioning his will to continue after three rounds of
kicks to the ribs. DJ.taiki's ribs were purple and he could be
seen wincing with every movement but despite the pain, managed
a last-second rally with punches and middle kicks to leave an
impression with Kubo. He failed to make one with the judges however
rightfully dropping a unanimous decision.
In
the first of only two finishes for the night, Yuki got his second
win over "Kyoken" Yuji Takeuchi with a right high kick
KO at 1:53 of the second round. Kyoken looked to have found a
solid strategy, using his front kick to stay out of range of
Yuki's dangerous low, Yuki's key to victory in their first fight.
Takeuchi would then punch hard as he closed the distance and
was doing well until a three punch combination landed followed
by a missed right high kick. The next one was on the mark and
finished the job.
Although
there were 11 victors tonight in the 63kg tournament bouts, only
eight will progress to the next round. Progression will be based
on how exciting the fights were and fan opinion and a decision
is yet to be made on who will be moving to the next round.
If
anything, tonight's fights were an indication of how well matched
and even these fighters are - as the nine decisions and upsets
so clearly showed. Also, based on excitement alone it is difficult
to single out any one fighter as not being worthy of advancing.
In
the evenings sole non-tournament bout, Yasuhiro Kido dropped
his third straight fight and lost a decision to Iranian Vahid
Rosyani. While Kido appeared to be the greater technician, he
didn't posses the power in his hands to get Rosyani thinking
outside of his kicks. With that, Rosyani was free to work Kido
over with punches and by the end of the third round, Kido had
lost a tooth and another decision.
The
event is set to air on HDNet on May 28.
K-1
World MAX 2010 -63kg Japan Tournament 1st Round - Results
Sunday, May 2nd
JCB Hall, Tokyo, Japan
K-1 MAX -63kg 2010 Japan Tournament 1st Round:
12. Daisuke Uematsu def. Jae Hee Cheon by KO (Punches), Round
1, 1:09
11. Naoki Ishikawa def. Yuto Watanabe by Unanimous Decision
10. Keiji Ozaki def. Kosuke Komiyama by Split Decision
9. Tetsuya Yamato def. Masahiro Yamamoto by Unanimous Decision
(Extra Round)
K-1 MAX 70kg Superfight:
8. Vahid Rosyani def. Yasuhiro Kido by Unanimous Decision
K-1 MAX -63kg 2010 Japan Tournament 1st Round:
7. Yoshimichi Matsumoto def. Haruaki Otsuki by Unanimous Decision
6. Yuta Kubo def. Daiki "DJ.taiki" Hata by Unanimous
Decision
5. Kizaemon Saiga def. Fire Harada by Unanimous Decision
4. Koya Urabe def. Shunsuke Oishi by Unanimous Decision
3. Shohei Asahara def. Shota Shimada by Unanimous Decision
2. Toshiki Taniyama def. Hirotaka Urabe by Split Decision (Extra
Round)
1. Yuki def. "Kyoken" Yuji Takeuchi by KO (Right High
Kick), Round 2, 1:53
Source: MMA Fighting
|
The
Doggy Bag: One Special Rematch
Everyone answers to somebody, so we, the staff at Sherdog.com,
have decided to defer to our readers.
“The
Doggy Bag” gives you the opportunity to speak about what’s
on your mind from time to time.
Our
reporters, columnists, radio hosts, and editors will chime in
with our answers and thoughts, so keep the emails coming.
This
week, readers weigh in on next weekend’s Lyoto Machida vs.
Mauricio “Shogun” Rua rematch at UFC 113, Sherdog.com’s
updated rankings, the brawl on CBS and the upcoming UFC Undisputed
2010 video game title.
Who
do you have in the Machida-Shogun rematch? Normally in MMA, rematches
are pretty obvious: the first fight was a fluke, or by the time
the second fight happens, one guy has really improved and is
obviously better than the other one. I don't think either of
those situations describe this fight. I had the first for Shogun,
and favor him again here. You?
-- Jason from Tempe
Jordan
Breen, FightFinder Czar: First, let me say that I think you articulate
the fundamental failure with most MMA rematches. In the idiom
of boxing, most immediate rematches tend to happen because a
fight was fantastic, and promoters want to squeeze it for every
cent. In MMA, rematches tend to either happen because someone
tipped over the apple cart and promoter wants to correct it (St.
Pierre-Serra 2, or now Penn-Edgar 2) or because the obvious direction
for a fighter is unclear and their fight history makes it palatable
(Liddell-Ortiz 3 before it fell apart, and the general public
being hip to Nogueira-Cro Cop 2). This is neither of those. This
was simply two elite, well-matched fighters whose controversial
and entertaining first bout necessitated a rematch, which is
infinitely more interesting.
Partly
for this reason, I find it hard to size up. On top of that, I
don't know that Rua can fight any better than he did in the first
fight. The gameplan crafted by he and Andre Amado -- to limit
Lyoto's counter opportunities by not using his hands, focusing
instead on kicks, and capitalizing on Machida slowing down --
was a master stroke of strategy. However, if Rua goes out, and
does the exact same thing, will it be as successful? It's difficult
to say.
Furthermore,
we've yet to see Machida go back to the drawing board. Since
Machida really perfected his style around, say 2007, he hasn't
had to fight in any different way. Everything he has done has
worked and led him to success. If Shogun tries to limit good
countering opportunities, stalls Lyoto out, and kicks his legs,
can he show us a new look -- whether it means being more aggressive
with his hands or otherwise -- that will make him look more effective
in the second fight? Again, we've got no precedent with Machida
to forecast that.
At
this point, I am most interested -- and frankly, wishing -- in
whether we get to see the ground game. I think with underrated
clinch takedowns, and great punches and elbows on top, Machida
could really do damage and tire Shogun out instead of fighting
a more measured pace on the feet which doesn't exploit Rua's
historically iffy cardio. At the same time, though everyone loves
him for his striking, Shogun's best asset is what a slick sweep-and-submit
threat he is on the ground. I think a ground battle offers both
guys interesting chances for offense, and would be able to produce
more direct action than we saw out of the first fight.
For
what it's worth, I had the first fight a 48-47 Rua win on my
first watch, and a 48-48 draw on multiple rewatches, with a 10-10
second round. I do favor Machida slightly, because of the fact
that Shogun perhaps has little way to change his attack in the
second bout. However, it's my favorite rematch I can recall in
quite some time, and we can only hope that future rematches in
MMA adhere to such a standard.
Source: Sherdog
|
Lashley:
‘I Don’t Turn Down Opponents’
Bobby Lashley said he isn’t choosy.
The
former WWE champion and four-time All-American wrestler assures
us he's game for any opponent Strikeforce puts in front of him
at Strikeforce’s June 16 event at the Nokia Theatre next
to the Staples Center in Los Angeles. The event will also air
live on Showtime.
“I
fight who (Strikeforce CEO) Scott (Coker) tells me to fight,”
Lashley told Sherdog.com in this recent video interview.
The
33-year-old fighter earned a first-round technical knockout against
last-minute opponent Wes Sims at Strikeforce “Miami”
on Jan. 30 in Miami, Fla., notching his fifth career victory.
A surprised Lashley denied rumors that he’d turned down
other opponents posed to him before Sims.
“At
the time I was only 4-0, so (Strikeforce) was presenting these
guys to (the commission) and they were like, ‘No, he isn’t
good enough for Bobby,’” said Lashley.
Lashley,
who hails from his ATT Altitude gym in Aurora, Colo., spoke about
the Sims matchup, his recent departure from TNA Wrestling and
the difference fans will see in the newly dedicated fighter now
that he’s committing himself full-time to MMA.
Source: Sherdog
|
Fighting
a matter of heart and mind
Mixed
martial arts fans don’t need big bookshelves to fit most
of the literature worth reading on their favorite subject. The
sport, after all, has been in existence fewer than 17 years,
so it is going to take generations to catch up to the rich literary
history offered up by the boxing game.
That’s
not to say there are no MMA books worth reading. No fan worth
his salt should do without Clyde Gentry’s 2005 work “No
Holds Barred: Ultimate Fighting and the martial arts revolution,”
with its meticulous detailing of MMA’s early days. And Sports
Illustrated writer Jon Wortheim’s “Blood in the Cage:
Mixed martial arts, Pat Miletich and the furious rise of the
UFC,” which looks at the sport’s popularity explosion
through the prism of the pioneering Miletich’s career, is
another must-read.
After
that, though, the pickings get slim. The landscape is littered
with quick-hit biographies and glorified message-board material
masquerading as total reads on MMA.
Doing
his best to fill the void, however, is Sam Sheridan. The Harvard
grad already earned his spot on MMA literature’s A-list,
thanks to his surprise 2007 best-seller, “A Fighter’s
Heart: One Man’s Journey Through the World of Fighting.”
Sheridan has returned to the scene with a companion book, “The
Fighter’s Mind: Inside the Mental Game,” which endeavors
to find what exactly makes elite fighters’ brains tick.
In
his first book, Sheridan traveled the globe and learned fighting
in several of the world’s major forms. Among his notable
stints, he trained in Muay Thai at Thailand’s famed Fairtex
gym and fought professionally; learned MMA at Miletich’s
gym and competed in a fight; studied jiu-jitsu in Brazil with
Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira; and boxed under the tutelage of Olympic
gold medalist Andre Ward and his trainer, Virgil Hunter.
While
Sheridan’s journey enabled him to compare and contrast combat
through its manifestations in cultures around the world, the
breadth of the subject matter never quite allowed him to delve
into the specifics of the mental game. So “The Fighter’s
Mind” picks up where the first book left off: What separates
the minds of the world’s elite fighters from mere mortals?
Sheridan,
for instance, sits down with Dan Gable, the American wrestler
who put on one of the most impressive displays in the history
of the Olympic Games. Gable ran the table en route to a gold
medal at the 1972 Munch Games – without dropping a single
point along the way. Most who understand amateur wrestling regard
Gable’s achievement with the sense of reverence it deserves;
but Gable himself was not happy with his performance. Sheridan’s
chat at Gable’s house reveals a perfectionist who appears
to handle all of life’s tasks with the meticulousness he
employed in his preparation for matches.
Gable’s
approach, of course, isn’t the only route to the top, and
Sheridan profiles an array of characters whose insights are as
diverse as their backgrounds. That includes Freddie Roach, whose
brilliant boxing mind has been best evidenced in his career as
a trainer. As a professional fighter, Roach was never quite able
to reach the highest rungs of the boxing world, coming up short
in his championship challenges. But his wisdom has enabled Manny
Pacquiao to reach heights few envisioned when Pac-man began his
pro career. Then there’s Marcelo Garcia, the undersized
Brazilian jiu-jitsu whiz who can’t quite explain what exactly
enables him to routinely submit larger foes.
There
are, of course, certain universal themes which surface regardless
of one’s fighting style. As much as they try to intellectualize
it, many fighters struggle with the notion that in order to succeed,
they have to cause another human being physical harm. And no
fighter, no matter how naturally talented or intelligent they
may be, is going to succeed against elite competition if he’s
not taking his training camp seriously.
Several
of the book’s most insightful moments come from sources
who, at first glance, don’t seem to belong in a book related
to the subject of fighting. Ultramarathoner David Horton, who
once held the record for running the length of the Appalachian
Trail, explains how his Christian faith spurs him to push further
when his body is telling him to quit – thoughts Ward echoes
in relation to his boxing career.
Then
there’s chessmaster Josh Waitzkin, who once sized up his
foes in a Caribbean tournament based on their reactions when
they were stuck outdoors during a sudden rainstorm; incorporated
his observations into match play; and won the tournament.
While
these characters are not literally punching their foes in the
face to achieve victory, they are indicative of the sort of above-and-beyond
thinking that enables the best to achieve at the highest level.
Sheridan’s
work isn’t flawless. Several times, the book meanders off
into complaints about the business of mixed martial arts which
aren’t backed with practical suggestions on how to change
the system without turning it into the boxing model that has
turned fans off to the latter sport for years.
But
that’s nitpicking. All in all, “The Fighter’s
Mind” is an entertaining and enlightening read and is a
worthy addition to any MMA fan’s bookshelf.
Source: Yahoo Sports
|
Glaube
Feitosa
One
of the great Brazilian names at K-1 and Karate, Glaube Feitosa
is focused on the training on the UDL, especially on the preparation
of Maurício Shogun for his fight against Lyoto Machida
on UFC 113. In an interview with TATAME, Glaube commented the
trainings, talked about the expectations for the fight and revealed
the he’s not likely to go back to the rings. “I don’t
have a deadline to go back to fighting, maybe I never come back…
If I retire, I’ll be satisfied”, said the fighter,
on the exclusive chat which you can check below.
How
are Shogun’s trainings on UDL?
Very
good, we’ve been practicing a little and it’s been
a good partnership. I’m new in Curitiba and Shogun has opened
his gym’s doors for me. I got here in Curitiba with my family
in January and I’m adapting pretty well to the city
What
is the focus of the trainings you’ve been given?
I
try to help on the left-handed part, do some mix, since my part
is standing. My business is not ground or MMA, my specialty is
standing up. I started training in UDL for friendship I have
with Shogun, but not exclusively training with him. I train with
the entire team, but when they get together I try to simulate
Lyoto game, exchange bases and both sides win.
Do
you think Lyoto with set a strategy of low kicks, which injured
him so much on the first fight?
For
sure, he hasn’t gotten to the belt out of the blue. It’s
not by chance he’s the champion, he and his crew are very
clever and will try to neutralize this low kicks game, preparing
something for the upper part. I think they’ll settle a strategy
of counterattacks on the punches upon the Shogun’s low kicks.
And
how does Shogun should react to these possible counterattacks?
Since
Lyoto may counterattack, Shogun must be aware of that and prepared
to give him some attacks back. He must take these counterattacks
knowing they’ll happen, so that he’s not caught by
surprise, the idea is to play the Shogun blows upon Lyoto’s
counterattacks. Shogun has to be the last to hit, something hard
when it comes to Lyoto, but that’s the main goal.
What
did you think of the first Lyoto and Shogun’s fight?
Of
course I wouldn’t be neutral because I’ve been training
with Shogun, but I think he won. The fight was really tied, balanced
and on that occasions the tie-breaker is the aggressiveness and
Shogun tried more and indeed was more aggressive.
Many
think that Shogun didn’t do enough to take Lyoto’s
belt...
I
don’t believe on that theory, I think that the athletes
are equivalent from the moment they enter the octagon. The belt’s
owner can’t go there in advantage just because he’s
the champion. Some come and say Shogun was better, but not enough
to take Lyoto’s belt off him. Was he a little better? So
he won the fight.
When
will you come back on the K-1 rings?
I’m
in another phase of my life now. I’ve been fighting for
eleven years, my relationship with the event is a little saturated...
It was done at the end, it’s a joint of several things..
I’m 37 years old, it’s not so pleasurable for me to
leave my family for a whole month, like I used to, for my preparation
in Japan. I got a two-year-old boy, my son Diego, and I’m
more focused on my family right now. I don’t have a deadline
to go back to fighting, maybe I never come back.. If I retire,
I’ll be satisfied.
Have
you received any MMA proposal? This is not an interesting market
for you?
I’ve
never had a concrete offer. I’ve trained with the people,
here in UDL I watch the trainings, but I think it’s too
late to start on a new modality. I think it’s not worth
it to risk it all. MMA is on a high level nowadays and I would
need like two years of preparation and adaptation and, since
I’ll already 37, it’s not worth it.
Source: Tatame
|
MMA
Top 10 Featherweights: Gamburyan Is Aldo's Next Victim
Of
all the champions in the seven weight classes in mixed martial
arts, Jose Aldo is the one I think will remain the champion the
longest. Aldo is only 23, and in his last two fights he's defeated
the last two featherweight champions, Mike Brown and Urijah Faber,
decisively. It's hard to see anyone even threatening him any
time soon, let along beating him.
But
someone has to be next for Aldo, and that someone has to be Manny
Gamburyan, who pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the year
in MMA on the undercard of Aldo vs. Faber. Aldo is first and
Gamburyan is second in my latest ranking of the Top 10 featherweights
in MMA, which is below.
Top
10 Featherweights in MMA
1. Jose Aldo (1): Among the many impressive things about Aldo
since he signed with the WEC has been how frequently he's fought.
In his first 18 months in the promotion he fought six times.
I hope the WEC keeps him active and has him back in the cage
by August.
2.
Manny Gamburyan (7): After his first-round knockout victory over
Mike Brown, there's really no other choice at No. 2. I've always
liked Gamburyan and I think he looks great since moving down
to 145 pounds, but I give him almost no chance of beating Aldo.
3.
Mike Brown (2): He didn't look like himself in his loss to Gamburyan,
and Dana White said afterward that he's having personal problems.
I hope we'll soon see the Mike Brown of old.
4.
Urijah Faber (3): Where does Faber go from here? I don't know.
He's still the WEC's biggest draw, the only fighter on the roster
whose name can sell out an arena, and his name absolutely must
be on the poster if the WEC is going to try another pay-per-view.
But he's lost three of his last five, and I wouldn't give him
much of a chance in a rematch against either Aldo or Brown. The
WEC might want to consider Faber vs. Miguel Torres, which would
ensure a win for one of its reeling former champions.
5.
Hatsu Hioki (4): He's supposed to return in May in a Shooto fight
against Takeshi Inoue, a very good fight that unfortunately won't
be available to North American TV viewers.
5.
Marlon Sandro (6) Sandro needed just nine seconds to win his
last fight, at Sengoku 12 next month. He'll battle Masanori Kanehara
for the Sengoku featherweight title in June.
6.
Josh Grispi (8): If I had to pick one fighter who will eventually
beat Aldo, it would be Grispi, who's 13-1, has finished 11 of
his opponents in the first round, and is -- most importantly
-- only 21 years old and sure to get better. Grispi fights LC
Davis in June.
7.
Masanori Kanehara (9): His battle with Sandro is the best featherweight
fight on the calendar, until WEC schedules Gamburyan vs. Aldo.
8.
Michihiro Omigawa (10): After beating Michah Miller on Sunday,
Omigawa has now won six of his last seven while fighting some
of the best opposition that Japanese MMA has to offer.
9.
Bibiano Fernandes (NR): Beat Joachim Hansen in March to retain
the Dream featherweight title and would be a great pickup for
North American MMA if the WEC can sign him away.
10.
Chad Mendes: After a great win over Anthony Morrison on Saturday
night, the 24-year-old Mendes is now 7-0 and another likely future
opponent for Aldo.
Source: MMA Fighting |
Tim
Sylvia gets the Jiu-Jitsu’s blue belt
Jiu-Jitsu’s
black belts, Pedro Silveira and Rodrigo Uzeda give lessons to
five gyms on the United States. On the last belt exam, almost
200 graduated athletes, between them the former champion of UFC’s
heavyweight, Tim Sylvia, who got the Jiu-Jitsu’s blue belt
from the hands of the Brazilians. The tough guys commented the
work they have been doing on America. “It’s rewarding
for us to see our Jiu-Jitsu bringing benefits not only for the
great champions as well as for the citizens who try to follow
the philosophy of the gentle art as a lever, acting positively
and making much difference in their lives”, commented.
Source: Tatame
|
ASSUNCAO
VS. NUNES ADDED TO WEC 49 EDMONTON
A featherweight bout has been added to the upcoming WEC show
headed for Edmonton on June 20. Raphael Assuncao returns to action
against Diego Nunes in an undercard bout on the card.
The
bout was confirmed to MMAWeekly.com by sources close to the fight
on Friday. Assuncao also announced the fight via his personal
Twitter page on Friday as well.
Raphael
Assuncao (14-2) fell short in his last fight out in the WEC when
he faced Urijah Faber for a chance to get a shot at the featherweight
belt. It was the only time in Assuncao's career where he's been
finished, after reeling off six wins in a row prior to that time.
The
young Brazilian is still recognized as one of the top prospects
in the featherweight division. He'll be looking for redemption
when he steps back in the cage on June 20.
Facing
off against Assuncao will be fellow Brazilian Diego Nunes (13-1),
who gets back in action after having to bow out of his last fight,
scheduled in March, due to injury. The fighter is currently 2-1
in the WEC with his only loss coming by way of decision to L.C.
Davis.
The
bout between Assuncao and Nunes is expected to be on the show's
untelevised undercard for the night's action, which will be capped
off by a main event between former lightweight champion Jamie
Varner and Iranian wrestler turned fighter Kamal Shalorus.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
PITTSBURGH
LOBBYING FOR UFC EVENT
Fighters jockeying to have a fight in their hometown has become
a pretty big part of mixed martial arts lately.
From
Georges St-Pierre fighting for the welterweight title in Montreal,
to Rich Franklin competing in Cincinnati, all the way to the
success shown by Urijah Faber as a huge commodity in the Sacramento,
Calif., area, the hometown fight is a dream for many mixed martial
artists.
The
latest city to start getting the attention of fighters from the
UFC specifically is the Steel City of Pittsburgh, which opens
a new arena later this year. The Consol Energy Center will be
home to the National Hockey League's current Stanley Cup champion
Pittsburgh Penguins, and may be a perfect fit for a UFC event
in the near future.
Greg
Sirb, Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Athletic Commission,
says that the state would be thrilled to have the UFC back after
an extremely successful first bid when the promotion came to
Philadelphia in August 2009.
"UFC
in Pittsburgh would be huge. I am sure it would sell out 15,000
plus," said Sirb. "(The) Philadelphia UFC was the largest
grossing event this commission ever had, people are still talking
about that night."
The
UFC currently has several fighters who grew up around the Pittsburgh
area, as well as surrounding cities in and around Pennsylvania,
including "Ultimate Fighter" winner Mac Danzig and
two former NCAA wrestling champions in Josh Koscheck and Phil
Davis, who both won their titles while wrestling in Pennsylvania.
Koscheck,
who is currently set to face Paul Daley at UFC 113 in Montreal,
believes that if Pittsburgh gets the UFC he will absolutely be
on that card, and maybe even the main event that night.
"I'd
love to be on that card. Hopefully, I'll be the main event on
that card. Pittsburgh, that's my place, I grew up there. I'm
a Steeler. I'm part of the Steel Curtain," said Koscheck.
"It
would be a great thing for the area, and it would be a great
thing for myself. I'd love to be a part of that event, absolutely."
The
American Kickboxing Academy fighter says he hopes to make it
back home around August, and would love to see the UFC come to
town. If they do make the move to come to Pittsburgh, Koscheck
says his participation on the card is a "done deal."
Phil
Davis, who competed at and graduated from Penn State University,
knows that fans in the area that love wrestling would absolutely
support the sport in Pittsburgh. He also says they are passionate
about their athletics like nothing you've ever seen before.
"Pennsylvania
wrestling fans, I'm trying to tell you, it's not a game with
them. Wrestling is not a game. You ever seen somebody get stabbed
over wrestling? I have! I have! It's not a game!" said Davis
with a laugh.
If
the timing works out, the new 18,000-plus-seat arena will open
later this year to kick off the new season of the NHL. Davis
knows that he wants to be on that card, and the fans will definitely
come out for the fight.
"Yeah,
man I'm going to be on that card, and we're going to see some
crazy people come out the woodwork for Phil Davis," said
the Penn State grad.
There's
been no official word from the UFC about a show in Pittsburgh,
but with Pennsylvania's growth in the sport and neighboring areas
sure to bring in fans to the new arena, it's almost a lock that
the Steel City will become a fight town in the near future.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
LIKE
KOSCHECK, DALEY DOWN FOR TUF 12 COACHING
If rumors stand true, the winner of the upcoming fight between
Paul Daley and Josh Koscheck could become the next coach opposite
Georges St-Pierre on the twelfth season of “The Ultimate
Fighter" reality show.
UFC
president Dana White said on Saturday night following the Aldo
vs. Faber pay-per-view that the show has already been cast, and
filming would begin in about five weeks.
While
White's confirmation about the show rules out rumors that Strikeforce
middleweight champion Jake Shields could defect in time to coach
on the show, it doesn't rule out Koscheck or Daley who could
be battling for a coaching spot on the show, as well as a possible
shot at GSP's welterweight title.
Daley
seemed open to it when speaking about it on Tuesday, although
no official offer has been made to him from the UFC.
"I
haven't really heard anything about it, just the same rumors
that people have heard on the Internet," Daley said.
What
“The Ultimate Fighter" has proven is that it can create
a whole new fan base for fighters and coaches, and as past seasons
have shown depending on what's said, fans can find a new favorite
or vilify a fighter for their comments and actions.
British
fighter Michael Bisping received a lot of criticism for his time
on the show when coaching opposite Dan Henderson during Season
9, but Daley is a whole other animal when it comes to outspoken
Brits.
He's
never one to hold his tongue, and he seems like a natural for
the television cameras. If he wins, Daley says he'd happily accept
an invite to do the show.
"If
I get the opportunity, it's a great opportunity that I'd have
to accept," said Daley. "I'd enjoy it, great exposure,
and a chance to get my face out there a bit more."
And
of course a shot at St-Pierre's welterweight title at the end
of the season wouldn't be a bad bonus either. It remains to be
seen if the winner of Koscheck vs. Daley will result in a job
as "Ultimate Fighter" coach or not, but May 8 and UFC
113 may be the day everyone finds out.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
Galaxy
MMA: Worlds Collide Results!
Blaisdell Arena, Honolulu, Hawaii
May 1, 2010
by Chris Onzuka - Chris@Onzuka.com
Main Event:
Heavyweight: 3 Rounds - 5 minutes
Scott Junk (MMAD/The Country Club) vs Fabiano Scherner (Team
Quest)
No contest due to unintentional foul (kick to the groin and Junk
was not able to continue)
Co-Main
Event:
Bantamweight 135 lbs: 3 Rounds - 5 minutes
Keola Silva (Team HMC) def. Tyson Nam (Team Quest)
Split decision [(29-28), (29-28), (28-29)] after 3 rounds.
Welterweight 170 lbs: 3 Rounds - 5 minutes
Preston 'Bruski' Louis (Bulls Pen) def. Brennan Kamaka (808 Fight
Factory)
Submission via arm bar at 0:23 in Round 1.
Middleweight 185 lbs: 3 Rounds - 5 minutes
Eldon 'Sale' Sproat (Freelance) def. Roderick 'RJ' Richter (The
Country Club)
TKO via Referee stoppage due to strikes at 2:14 in Round 1.
Lightweight 155 lbs Grand Prix Tournament: 3 Rounds - 5 minutes
Harris Sarmiento (808 Fight Factory) def Chris Yee (Team Quest)
Unanimous decision [(30-27), (29-28), (30-27)] after 3 rounds.
Lightweight 155 lbs Grand Prix Tournament: 3 Rounds - 5 minutes
Steve Gable (Gracie Barra Escondido) def. Clay Lewis Jr. (4WRD
Fitness)
Rear naked choke at 2:57 in Round 1.
Lightweight 155 lbs Grand Prix Tournament: 3 Rounds - 5 minutes
Jose Salgado (The Country Club) def. Kyle Ka'ahanui (Bulls Pen)
By default, Ka'ahanui did not make weight and was disqualified.
Lightweight 155 lbs Grand Prix Tournament: 3 Rounds - 5 minutes
Kristopher Kyle (808 Fight Factory) def. Jenzen Espanto (Combat
50)
Submission via rear naked choke at 3:32 in Round 1.
Amateur
Bouts: 3 Rounds - 3 Minutes
Light Heavyweight 205 lbs
Zack Pang (Team HK) def Kimo Sanders (Freelance)
Rear naked choke at 2:22 in Round 1.
Amateur Bouts: 3 Rounds - 3 Minutes
Welterweight 170 lbs
Evan Lowther (Gracie Jiu Jitsu Kailua) def. Markus Kindblad (Ultimate
Fight School)
KO via head kick at 0:18 in Round 1.
Amateur Bouts: 3 Rounds - 3 Minutes
Catchweight 160 lbs
Ryan Clay (HMC) def. Chris Templo (Team HK)
Unanimous decision [(29-28), (29-28), (30-27)] after 3 rounds.
|
3rd
Annual Pacific Submission Championships
June 11th
& 12th (Friday & Saturday)
Blaisdell Exhibition Hall
MMA Hawaii Expo
People
have been asking so we've locked in the dates. It will be during
the MMA Hawaii Expo (this expo is not the same as the past 2
years - MMA Hawaii is producing this event).
Registration
will soon be available online at www.grapplingtournaments.com
I've
spoken with Mad Tiger about the failure to produce posted results;
apologies and I will not let this happen as we will be working
on posting live results as the brackets are completed.
Any
feedback from the past two tournaments I welcome as we will work
on it now to assure these problems can be corrected.
This
is a 2-day tournament with Gi and No-Gi divisions for kids, teens,
women, and men. We don't feed brackets but will try our best
to accommodate schools so students from the same academy are
not matched in the first round. Due to the kids, this is inevitable
and we will try our best to make sure the kids receive equal
opportunities.
Registration:
Kids (7-12) - $40/$70 (Gi & No-Gi)
Teens (13-14/15-17)- $50/70 (Gi & No-Gi)
Adults (18+) - $50/70 (Gi & No-Gi)
Any
questions please check out:
www.grapplingtournaments.com
or
email: info@pjjf.net
Source: Event Promoter
|
Scrappla
Fest 2
Kauai's
Scrappla Fest 2
Gi & No Gi Tournament
May 15, 2010
$50 entry fee
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.
kids ages-weight divisions will be made on sight
5-below
6-7
8-9
10-11
12-13
14-15
16-17
women
125-below
126-140
141-above
menbeginner
white , blue
131-below
132-145
146-159
160-173
174-187
188-201
202-215
216-above
men
advanced, purple and above
159-below
160-180
181-201
202-above
Thank
you,
Pono
Pananganan
Kauai Technical Institute
ktirelson_gracie@hotmail.com
|
In
October 2010, Eternal Fight Wear proudly presents...
ETERNAL SUBMISSIONS! 1st Annual BJJ GI/NO-GI tournament on Kauai
Kauai Beach Resort, Kauai
This will be a 3 Day Event.
Friday, October 15th. beginning at 5pm will be weigh-ins with
Live local entertainment, Exhibitions, Door Prizes & more.
Saturday Oct. 16th we will host the GI portion of the event starting
with kids at 10am.
Sunday we will finish off our tournament with the NO-GI portion.
Outer island competitors will be allowed to weigh in on Saturday.
Kauai residents must weigh in on Friday.
NO same day registrations will be allowed.
Cut of for pre-registration is October 7th (for free tshirt)
all other registrations must be in by October 13th (if mailing
registration, it must be postmarked by the 11th) We have locked
in the dates and will be offering special discounted rates at
the hotel. There will be food/beg. for sale at the event. We
will be having superfights as well (TBA). All pre-reg competitiors
will receive a free competitor tshirt. There will be door prizes
each day too! Winners of the matches will receive very nice medals,
we will be awarding team trophies and best -of awards. Absolute
and Superfights winners will be awarded championship belts.
We will be hosted a first ever in Hawaii 'kids absolute' and
as well!!!!
This will be an event Hawaii does not want to miss!!!!
Pre-Reg is be up shortly and we will be notifying you as soon
as it is or updated info add us on facebook: ETERNAL FIGHT WEAR
Any questions you can call me (Shauna) at 808.652.6849 or email
me shauna@hawaiilink.net
Source: Event Promoter
|
Garden
Island Cage Match 9: Mayhem at the Mansion Sponsorship
Hi All,
I am excited to let you all know we have the date set for our
next show :
"
Mayhem at the Mansion", June 26th 2010 - Kilohana Carriage
House
Since
this venue is a little smaller than the Stadium the tickets will
sell out twice as fast so be sure to get on board quickly! This
an exclusive venue for us and very please to have acquired this
merger.
Sponsorship
packages now available! Please contact me for further information!
Looking
forward to working with you all again!
Mahalo!
Vance Pascua
808-634-0404
Source: Event Promoter
|
X-1:
Nations Collide
Blaisdell Arena, Honolul
| |