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2010
11/27/10
Aloha
State BJJ Championships: Final Conflict
(BJJ & Sub Grappling)
(Kaiser H.S. Gym)
11/6/10
X-1 Island Pride
(MMA)
(Blaisdell Arena)
Man Up & Stand Up Kickboxing Championship
(Kickboxing)
(Filcom Center, Waipahu)
10/30/10
6th Annual Clinton A.J. Shelton Memorial Match Event
(Boxing)
(Palolo District Park Gym, Honolulu)
10/29/10
808Battleground
(MMA)
(Dole Cannery Ballroom, Honolulu)
10/23/10
NAGA
Hawaii
(BJJ & Sub Grappling)
(Radford H.S. Gym)
10/15-17/10
ETERNAL SUBMISSIONS: GI/NO-GI tournament
(BJJ & Sub Grappling)
(Kauai Beach Resort, Kauai)
10/16/10
DESTINY: Undisputed
Beyer vs Manners II
(MMA)
(Waipahu Filcom Center, Waipahu)
Just Scrap
(MMA)
(Hilo Civic Auditorium, Hilo)
10/2/10
Mad Skills
(Kickboxing)
(Filcom Center, Waipahu
9/11/10
X-1: Heroes
(MMA, Kickboxing)
(Blaisdell Arena)
9/10/10
Man Up & Stand Up
(Kickboxing)
(Filcom Center, Waipahu)
9/4/10
DESTINY:New Era
(MMA, Kickboxing)
(Waipahu Filcom Center, Waipahu)
8/28/10
Big
Island Open
(BJJ)
(Hilo Armory, Hilo)
8/14/10
Hawaiian
Open Championships of BJJ
(BJJ & No Gi)
(Kaiser H.S. Gym)
USA Amateur Boxing
(Boxing)
(Lihue Convention Hall, Lihue, Kauai)
8/13/10
Battleground Challenge 2
(MMA)
(Dole Cannery Ballroom)
8/7/10
Just Scrap
(MMA)
(Hilo Civic Auditorium, Hilo)
8/6/10
Mad Skills
(Triple Threat/Kickboxing)
(Waipahu Filcom Center)
7/24/10
The Quest for Champions 2010 Martial Arts Tournament
(Sport-Pankration, Submission Grappling & Continuous Sparring)
(St. Louis High School Gym)
7/17/10
Maui Jiu-Jitsu Open
(BJJ & No Gi)
(Maui War Memorial, Wailuku, Maui)
Mad Skillz
(Kickboxing, Triple Threat)
(99 Market Shopping Center, Mapunapuna)
7/9/10
Man Up & Stand Up
(Kickboxing)
(Filcom Center, Waipahu)
7/3/10
Amateur Boxing
(Boxing)
(Palolo District Park Gym)
6/26/10
Kauai Cage Match 9
(MMA)
(Kilohana, Gaylords Mansion, Kauai)
6/25-26/10
50th
State BJJ Championships
(BJJ)
(50th State Fair,
Aloha Stadium)
6/24/10
Quest for Champions
(Kumite/Grappling)
(St. Louis High School Gym)
6/19/10
Just Scrap
(MMA)
(Hilo Civic Center, Hilo)
6/18-19/10
Select
Combat
(Triple Threat)
(50th State Fair,
Aloha Stadium)
6/12/10
Destiny: Fury
(MMA)
(Blaisdell Center)
6/11-13/10
MMA Hawaii Expo
(Blaisdell Ballroom)
6/11-12/10
3rd
Annual Pacific Submission Championships
(BJJ & Submission Grappling)
(Blaisdell Exhibition Hall)
6/11/10
Legacy Combat MMA
(MMA)
(Blaisdell Exhibition Hall)
6/4/10
X-1:
Nations Collide
(MMA)
(Blaisdell Arena)
6/3-6/10
World
Jiu-Jitsu Championships
(BJJ)
(The Pyramid, University of California at Long Beach, Long Beach,
CA)
5/22/10
Destiny
(MMA)
(Waiphau Filcom Center)
5/15/10
Scrappla Fest 2
Relson Gracie KTI Jiu-Jitsu Tournament
(BJJ & Sub Grappling)
(Island School, Kauai)
X-1 World Events
(MMA)
(Waipahu HS Gym)
Mad Skills
(Kickboxing)
(Waipahu Filcom Center)
Boxing Event
(Boxing)
(Evolution Training Center, Waipio Industrial Court #110)
5/1/10
Galaxy
MMA: Worlds Collide
(MMA)
(Blaisdell Arena)
4/28/10
Chris Smith BJJ Tournament
(BJJ)
(Hilo)
4/23/10
2010 Hawaii State/Regional Junior Olympic Boxing Championships
(Boxing)
(Palolo District Park Gym)
4/17/10
Hawaiian
Championships of BJJ
(BJJ & Sub Grappling)
(Kaiser
H.S. Gym)
Strikeforce:
Shields vs Henderson
(CBS)
4/16/10
808 Battleground
(Waipahu Filcom Center)
4/8-11/10
Pan
Jiu-Jitsu Championships
(BJJ)
(University California Irvine, Irvine, CA)
4/3/10
Man Up & Stand Up
(Kickboxing)
(Waipahu Filcom Center)
Amateur Boxing Smoker
(Boxing)
(Palolo District Park Gym)
3/27/10
DESTINY: No Ka Oi 2: Oahu vs Maui
(MMA)
(Maui War Memorial Gym, Wailuku, Maui)
3/20/10
X-1: Champions 2
(MMA)
(Blaisdell Arena)
3/20/10
Hawaiian Championships of BJJ
(BJJ & Sub Grappling)
(Kaiser H.S. Gym)
3/14/10
Hawaiian Kimono Combat
(BJJ)
(PCHS Gym)
3/10/10
Sera's Kajukenbo Tournament
(Kumite, Katas, Grappling)
(Maui War Memorial Gym, Wailuku, Maui)
3/6/10
Destiny Fast N Furious
(MMA)
(Level 4 RHSC)
2/19/10
808 Battleground
(MMA)
(Filcom, Waipahu)
2/6/10
UpNUp 6: Unstoppable
(MMA)
(Maui War Memorial Gym, Wailuku, Maui)
2/5/10
Man Up & Stand Up
(Kickboxing)
(Waipahu Filcom)
1/30/10
Destiny
(Level 4,
Royal HI Shopping Ctr)
(MMA)
Quest for Champions
(Pankration/Sub Grappling)
(Kalani HS)
1/23/10
Kauai Knockout Championship Total Domination
(MMA & Kickboxing)
(Kauai War Memorial Convention Center, Lihue, Kauai)
1/17/10
X1: Showdown In Waipahu
(Boxing, Kickboxing, MMA)
(Waipahu H.S. Gym)
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November
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UFC
123 at The Palace at Auburn Hills
Today!
By Zach
Arnold
Hawaii
Air Times
4:00 - 5:00PM
Preliminaries on SPIKE Channel 559
5:00 - 8:00PM
UFC 123 on Channel 701
Dark
matches
¦Lightweights:
Tyson Griffin vs. Nik Lentz
¦Lightweights: Paul Kelly vs. TJ O’Brien
¦Lightweights: Edson Mendes Jr. vs. Mike Lullo
¦Welterweights: Karo Parisyan vs. Dennis Hallman
Spike TV matches
¦Middleweights:
Aaron Simpson vs. Mark Munoz
¦Welterweights: Matt Brown vs. Brian Foster
Main card
¦Lightweights:
George Sotiropoulos vs. Joe Lauzon
¦Light Heavyweights: Phil Davis vs. Tim Boetsch
¦Middleweights: Gerald Harris vs. Maiquel Jose Falcao
Goncalves
¦Welterweights: Matt Hughes vs. BJ Penn
¦Light Heavyweights: Quinton “Rampage” Jackson
vs. Lyoto Machida
Source: Fight Opinion
|
BetUS
Best Bets: UFC 123 Rampage vs. Machida
Quinton Jackson +200
Lyoto Machida -260
BJ
Penn -175
Matt Hughes +145
Maiquel
Falcao +210
Gerald Harris -280
Tim
Boetsch +400
Phil Davis -600
Joe
Lauzon +180
George Sotiropoulos -230
Aaron
Simpson +115
Mark Munoz -145
Matt
Brown +110
Brian Foster -140
Nik
Lentz +165
Tyson Griffin -210
Dennis Hallman +135
Karo Parisyan -165
Paul Kelly -165
TJ O'Brien +135
Edson
Barboza -550
Mike Lullo +375
All of us are itching to bet on UFC 123 where Lyoto Machida will
look to step back up the pedestal in the light heavyweight division
when he goes after a win against Rampage Jackson this weekend.
The
biggest question mark about Lyoto Machida is what he’s learned
after losing back-to-back meetings with Mauricio “Shogun”
Rua. Has he learned to step out of the action like he used to?
Can he rely on his karate and elusiveness after getting caught
on the chin by Rua? Is he still smart enough to be one of the
most cerebral fighters in the UFC?
When
you discuss Rampage Jackson, you’re talking about the least
cerebral fighter in the light heavyweight division. Talent, skill,
power and a brazen attitude make him a great draw, but he oversteps
himself in a lot of fights as well. He grows impatient and frustrated
and can be taken out of fights mentally by smart, elusive fighters.
Like Machida, Rampage is also coming off a loss making any bet
on UFC 123 a tough call.
The
fight lines here make stomaching this fight a bit easier. Jackson
is being pegged as a +200 underdog, which reflects how low he’s
fallen in the eyes of the oddsmakers. You can’t dog him
for wanting to cash in on a blockbuster movie like The A-Team,
especially when he was actually pretty good on the big screen.
But his mental focus shifted away from the UFC and fighting in
general, and he’s struggled to recapture it.
Chris
Strait predicts that Machida will frustrate Jackson early on
and take a decisive lead in the points, but he makes a daring
call to bet on UFC 123’s underdog in the main event because
he thinks Machida will step in to one of Jackson’s heavy
hands in the third round.
It’s
hard to argue with that fact aside from one major point –
Machida knows his biggest mistake in his championship bout with
Rua was going after him. He won’t make the same mistake
again, especially if The Dragon is leading on the scorecards.
I
can’t get over one sterling nugget when it comes to Jackson.
While he enters the fight looking like the last guy you’d
want to run in to in a dark alley, he checks out of fights mentally.
That’s why I can’t encourage a puncher’s chance
bet on UFC 123’s main event. I’ve already got Machida
as a decision winner.
Elsewhere
on the card, Matt Hughes fights B.J. Penn and Australian standout
George Sotiropoulos tries to continues his momentum against Joe
Lauzon.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
UFC
123 Preview: The Main Card
by Jason Probst
UFC
123 on Saturday at the Palace of Auburn Hills in Auburn Hills,
Mich., features a light heavyweight showdown between former champions,
a score settler between a pair of legends squaring off for the
final time and key crossroads matches for young and veteran talent
alike.
Here’s
a closer look at the main card, with analysis and picks.
Light
Heavyweights
Quinton “Rampage” Jackson (No. 4 LHW) vs. Lyoto Machida
(No. 2 LHW, No. 8 PFP)
The
Matchup: One could not come up with two more different styles
than those utilized by Jackson and Machida. Despite considerable
wrestling chops and incredible strength, Jackson has become so
striking-oriented since arriving in the UFC that fans that followed
his Pride Fighting Championships exploits barely recognize him.
Rampage
largely depends on big power punches, which seems the perfect
template for a guy like Machida. With a mercurial style, odd
angles and attacks and uncanny movement, Machida will have a
ton of options available to him. He will flit in and out and
side to side, maximizing his advantages. Jackson has always had
trouble with kicks and, in performances like the one he gave
against Rashad Evans at UFC 114, leaves one wondering why he
does not take opponents down more often. He basically let Evans
outhustle him for two rounds before finally stepping it up in
the third. By then, it was too late.
Navigating
Machida’s mix of strikes, foot sweeps and weird combinations
is akin to trying to hit a knuckleball pitcher on a day with
strong winds blowing out. Jackson will chase around the karateka
trying to land his famed right hand counter, but Machida will
prove too quick and elusive. Machida may also score a takedown
or two off his strikes, in which case he will find himself in
a more advantageous top position.
The
Pick: I like Machida in a bout that resembles a snake chasing
a mouse; the snake gets nipped all night and never catches its
prey. Machida by decision.
Welterweights
B.J. Penn (No. 3 LW) vs. Matt
Hughes
The
Matchup: Rubber matches are rare in MMA, especially among two
iconic names like Penn and Hughes. Hughes may not be in immediate
title contention, but, ironically, he has looked better than
ever in recent outings against Renzo Gracie and Ricardo Almeida,
illustrating again how much everyone else has improved in a division
he once dominated. He seems more acclimated to the stand-up game
than he was as champion, and he still has those vaunted wrestling
chops.
The
problem is he is facing Penn, whose guard remains as potent as
anyone’s in MMA. Plus, when Penn is on his game, he can
stifle almost anyone standing. He gave Hughes all sorts of trouble
in their second match before he ran out of gas; an injured rib
was said to be the culprit. However, Penn’s back-to-back
losses to Frankie Edgar have left his immediate future in question.
A third match with Hughes should motivate the Hawaiian to return
to championship form.
The
jump in weight does not figure to pose much of an issue for Penn,
who will always give Hughes fits with his excellent stand-up
and incredible ground game. The longer this one goes the better
it is for Hughes, as Penn has long had problems maintaining his
form, especially at 170 pounds. Hughes needs to use his revamped
stand-up, shooting jabs to counter Penn’s jab -- a weapon
he used to neutralize Sean Sherk at UFC 84. Hughes should also
mix in leg kicks, an underrated and largely underutilized part
of his arsenal, to keep Penn guessing. Penn has never been effective
in checking kicks.
In
top form, Penn has subtle head movement and MMA-oriented boxing
that make him savant-like. Comfortable in the pocket and trading
strikes, he has one of the sport’s best chins. Hughes ought
to use the first round as a warm-up, eventually working to the
clinch and ramming Penn against the cage before taking him down,
following the blueprint set forth by Georges St. Pierre at UFC
94. The jury remains out on whether or not Penn’s losses
to Edgar signal his best days are behind him.
The
Pick: Hughes will have some tough moments and tricky submissions
with which to deal, but he will probably get Penn down at some
point, keeping top position enough to impress the judges en route
to a close and perhaps controversial decision win.
Lightweights
George Sotiropoulos vs. Joe Lauzon
The
Matchup: Sotiropoulos makes grappling exciting, with a potent
and polished ground game that has carried him to a 6-0 record
in the UFC. His win over Joe Stevenson at UFC 110 was the kind
of clinic one would show to a novice on grappling, guard passing
and transitions.
Lauzon
will want to keep this one standing, until he can possibly nail
a takedown off an exchange. While Sotiropoulos’ stand-up
continues the transition from “work in progress” to
“serviceable,” Lauzon is better in this department
and seems to be more comfortable on the feet. The physically
bigger Aussie tends to use his strikes mostly to establish range
for a clinch and eventual takedown.
Two
really strong jiu-jitsu players often cancel one another out
on the ground, so Sotiropoulos, if he can secure top position,
should work to wear down Lauzon and score points. In a three-round
fight, a one- or two-takedown advantage is often enough to make
the difference in the eyes of the judges. Neither man has a distinct
wrestling advantage, so striking on the transitions will likely
set up the takedowns. That will give Lauzon room to work his
hooks and occasional kicks.
This
one will come down to a few small advantages exploited by either
fight. Expect both of them to spend time on their backs, with
some lengthy scrambles and transitions.
One
minor complaint: athletic commissions need to take a position
on the attire worn by fighters like Sotiropoulos. Long shorts,
when combined with knee and ankle pads, are comparable to gi
pants, which are not allowed. They definitely make a tactical
impact on the ground game, giving the wearer an advantage if
he knows how to use them, which Sotiropoulos clearly does. MMA
does not need any more controversies, so a ruling on this is
overdue. Either limit fighters to shorts of a certain length
if they wear knee and ankle pads, or allow gi pants.
The
Pick: Though Lauzon is a better striker, Sotiropoulos will prove
a little too big and imposing if and when he gets top position.
He will have enough in his repertoire to earn a decision.
Middleweights
Gerald Harris vs. Maiquel Jose Falcao Goncalves
The
Matchup: With a gaudy record, Goncalves, a UFC newcomer, only
has two victories outside the first round. He is definitely a
guy who fights like he is double-parked. Unbeaten in the UFC
and riding a 10-fight winning streak overall, Harris has made
a name for himself as a rising prospect with excellent all-around
skills. Wrestling remains a staple for Harris, who was one of
the favorites on Season 7 of “The Ultimate Fighter”
before he ran into Amir Sadollah.
A
Chute Boxe Academy product, Goncalves generally comes out aggressive.
Harris will certainly look to take away his confidence early
in the fight, and he will want to plant Goncalves on his back
with a takedown in the opening round if he can. “Big Rig”
has not had a fight reach the second round in more than two years
and has not gone the distance since 2004, so Harris figures to
have a decided advantage in terms of conditioning.
The
Pick: Goncalves has a lot to chew on for a first-time bout, and
he either lands something huge in a first-round TKO or gets ground
down en route to a stoppage from a steady diet of Harris’
ground-and-pound. Count on the latter.
Light
Heavyweights
Phil Davis vs. Tim Boetsch
The
Matchup: Though they both possess college wrestling experience,
Davis’ pedigree ranks several notches up the chain. He was
a four-time All-American at Penn State University, meaning he
finished in the top eight nationally in his weight class, and
won a national championship in 2008.
Boetsch’s
brawly style stands in stark contrast to most former college
wrestlers who seem more comfortable working on the ground, at
least early in their careers, until their stand-up develops.
Perhaps best known for his ragdoll toss of David Heath at UFC
81, he has won four fights in a row and will need every bit of
that momentum to take out Davis.
Davis
only loses this fight if he makes a boneheaded mistake and gets
caught with a heavy kick or punch. Boetsch’s best chance
is to lure Davis into exchange, perhaps timing one of his kicks
with a solid punch. Only seven fights into his professional MMA
career, Davis continues to develop his striking, but he will
not need it here. He figures to take down Boetsch and work from
the top.
The
pick: Davis by third-round TKO in an impressive performance that
catapults him to contender status.
Source: Sherdog
|
UFC
123: B.J.
Penn Says
Fighting Gives Him Something To Live For
by Damon
Martin
To say that the co-main event at UFC 123 is the biggest fight
of B.J.
Penn’s
career might not be much of an understatement.
No,
it’s not for a title or even a guaranteed shot at the title,
but for the iconic Hawaiian fighter coming off of back-to-back
losses for the first time in four years, Penn knows that he needs
to win on Saturday night.
After
the second consecutive loss Penn suffered at the hands of Frankie
Edgar at UFC 118 in August, he went home to Hawaii and realized
that without fighting he’s not the same person. So he rededicated
himself to training and got motivated for a November return to
the Octagon.
“There’s
not much to do in Hilo. When I got home after the (Edgar) fight
there was a couple of days, I trained for a couple of days when
I just hung out and I didn’t have anything to do,”
Penn explained. “I drove around the town one day and I was
like ‘man, there’s nothing to do, and I would rather
be training to fight in the Octagon.’
“I
think once you’ve been where (I’ve) been, a lot of
other stuff just seems boring. This is the only thing that keeps
me not feeling like I have something to live for.”
The
dedication that kicked in for Penn that day carried over when
UFC president Dana White came calling with the opportunity for
the Hawaiian to step back into the cage in November.
“As
soon as Dana gave me that text, he said, ‘you want to take
a fight with Matt Hughes?’ I started shaking all over my
body and I was like I’ve got a reason to live for a couple
more months,” Penn said.
Mixed
martial arts and fighting have been a part of Penn for pretty
much his whole life, and to taste defeat the way he did made
him re-evaluate things, but never to the point where he considered
walking away from the sport.
The
trilogy with Hughes actually served as the ultimate motivation
because, as Penn explains, he was ready to face anyone the UFC
gave him, but when the former UFC welterweight champion’s
name came up, he was smiling from ear to ear.
“I
probably would have, coming off two losses, I probably would
have accepted anyone Dana offered me, but in offering Matt he
kind of offered me a gift because I always hoped me and Matt
would (fight) again,” Penn commented.
He
stated several months ago that he was just getting back to the
art of fighting and putting the rest of the talk to bed when
it came to titles, championships, or legacies.
It
appears Penn has eased back on that just a little because he
knows with a win over Hughes at UFC 123, it’s going to be
hard not to look ahead to another run at the belt, but there’s
still work to do.
“We’ll
see what Dana says. I know I’ve always had a goal to be
a welterweight champion again,” he commented.
Penn
will try to take that next step when he faces Matt Hughes in
the co-main event of UFC 123 in Detroit on Saturday night.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
Lyoto
Machida training with Steven Seagal
Before
his fight against Chael Sonnen, Anderson Silva had some training
with the actor and fighter Steven Seagal. This time, the TV show
“Passando a Guarda”, of the manager Jorge Guimarães,
shows scenes of the training between Seagal and the former champion
Lyoto Machida, who will fight next Saturday against Quinton Jackson.
On the internet, there’s a joke about the “cold feet”
of Seagal, once Anderson had to suffer for 23 minutes vefore
conquering the win over Sonnen, and now it might “attack”
Machida. On an interview conceded to TATAME, Anderson rejected
the joke. “It’s a bad joke, he’s a great master
and a great teacher that stood there with me, gave me his hand
all the time, and helped me a lot. On the beginning of my trainings
he showed me some techniques that worked and he deserves the
respect of all of us. He’s a great master a good person.
I think people have to be respectful”, affirmed the middleweight
champion.
Source: Tatame
|
Laid
back, Lyoto hides strategy and Rampage criticizes judges
by Carlos
Eduardo Ozório
The
pre-event press-conference for Saturday’s UFC 123 event
was held this Wednesday in Auburn Hills, Michigan.
The
mood was laid back between the event’s headliners, Lyoto
Machida and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, who drew laughs
from the stars of the co-main event, BJ Penn and Matt Hughes.
“I
want my belt back, that would be nice,” admitted Rampage,
the former champion of the light heavyweight division.
Lyoto,
who once held the title himself, wants it back but is focused
only on Saturday’s fight.
“Of
course I want to the belt back, but I’m not thinking about
that right now. I’m only thinking about my next fight,”
he says.
Both fighters are coming off losses, but that doesn’t bother
them.
“I
don’t care about the pressure. I feel I had a good performance
in my last fight. I like fighting and putting on a show. It’s
one of the reasons I fight, I like entertaining people and having
exciting fights. I always respected Lyoto, but I want to have
exciting fights and not fight for points,” says Jackson,
who took the opportunity to criticize MMA judges in the USA,
where they are governed by boxing commissions.
“I
love MMA, but I feel we don’t have the best judges. MMA
is different, there are boxing, wrestling, Jiu-Jitsu techniques…”
he continues.
The
crowd will likely be against Lyoto on Saturday, but it’s
nothing that worries him.
“I’m
used to it because I always fought away from my country and my
city. The truth is that I feel at home fighting here, even though
I’m not,” he says.
Asked
whether the pointers Junior Cigano game him in training to face
Rampage, Machida preferred to keep it a mystery.
“I’d
rather not say, because now it’s part of my strategy. You’ll
see on Saturday.”
Machida’s
dry response didn’t escape the humor of Rampage, who joked
with the reporter, provoking laughs.
“The
first question was good, you were doing well, but you should
have stopped!”
UFC
123
Auburn Hills, Michigan, USA
November 20, 2010
Quinton
“Rampage” Jackson vs. Lyoto Machida
Matt Hughes vs. BJ Penn
Joe Lauzon vs. George Sotiropoulos
Tim Boetsch vs. Phil Davis
Maiquel Falcão vs. Gerald Harris
Matt Brown vs. Brian Foster
Mark Munoz vs. Aaron Simpson
Dennis Hallman vs. Karo Parisyan
Edson Barboza vs. Mike Lullo
Paul Kelly vs. T.J. O’Brien
Nik Lentz vs. Tyson Griffin
Source: Gracie Magazine
|
411mania
Interviews: Rich 'Ace' Franklin
by Jeffrey
Harris
411 speaks with the former UFC Middleweight Champion and current
UFC light heavyweight fighter, Rich Franklin about his role in
the movie Hamill, friends fighting friends, his upcoming fight
with Forrest Griffin, and much more.
While
at the AFI Fest premiere of the new movie Hamill, 411mania.com
was able to catch up with attending actor Rich Franklin (28-5,
MMA; 13-4, UFC), the former UFC Middleweight Champion. Franklin
will be facing Forrest Griffin (17-6, MMA; 8-4, UFC) in a light
heavyweight showdown on Super Bowl weekend at UFC 126 which is
shaping up to be an absolute barn burner, blockbuster of a card.
Jeffrey
Harris: What is your part in the movie Hamill?
Rich
Franklin: I play a small part. I'm the Purdue coach [Coach Pruitt].
So I cut Matt [Hamill] from the wrestling team, and I was on
set for a couple of days. It will be interesting to see how the
whole thing turns out.
Jeffrey
Harris: So how close are you with Matt?
Rich
Franklin: Matt and I, we're both from Cincinatti. We've known
each other for a long time. Matt and I met before he was training
for the '04(?) Olympics and it was about that time we had just
met slightly prior to that -- when he was training for the Olympics
and I told him, "When you're done with wrestling you need
to think about doing some MMA." And so fast forward, here
we are in LA and they are making a movie about him and his accomplishments
and what he's had to overcome and his position in life.
Jeffrey
Harris: Now going back, you actually had to fight Matt. How hard
was that for you?
Rich
Franklin: Very difficult. With the history that we had, we trained
together, we weren't lifetime partners, but we had trained together
a dozen times and just good friends. And both of us came from
the same town. We'd been there kind of advising each other as
well even though we didn't do a lot of training together. And
so it was really difficult stepping into the ring, a very awkward
situation for both of us.
Jeffrey
Harris: Fighters fighting friends or training partners is something
fans, promoters, and training partners can all be critical of.
If there was a title on the line would you be willing to fight
a friend or training partner though?
Rich
Franklin: I mean . . . I'd have to be put in that situation.
All I'll say is, I was in that situation with Matt and I didn't
like it. But that's just me personally. However, I would not
let the fan opinion or the media buzz sway whatever decision
I was going to make. The fact that I was uncomfortable fighting
Matt had nothing to do with public perception. It's my character
in general. So it would have to be one of those situations, depending
on the friend, depending on the time. You know and he and I could
talk and say, "It's time to fight and we got to do what
we got to do." It might be one of those deals where if we
were longtime training partners and I said, "Look, I'm not
fighting this guy. I'm not doing it," so it's more complex
than just to answer with a simple answer.
Jeffrey
Harris: You are coming off a great win over Chuck Liddell. You
won the fight with a broken arm. How are you feeling and how
is the arm doing?
Rich
Franklin: The arm is healed up. I'm back to training. I have
Forrest [Griffin] Super Bowl Weekend, February 5 in Vegas. It's
going to be an exciting fight. I've been back to training now
I guess about a month. And taking all that time off, my body
was like what are you doing?! And long story short, I'm basically
back to normal training. I'll start getting ready for Forrest
specifically first or second week of December. And I feel good
man.
Jeffrey
Harris: This is a cool match-up too. This is a fight we have
never seen before. And speaking as a fan, I really want to see
this fight.
Rich
Franklin: Well, I'll tell you what, that's what excites me the
most about the match-up. Forrest and I are both very tenacious
fighters and both of us are very known for our cardio and our
willingness to not quit. So I think that is going to make for
an exciting fight. I like the match-up. For me, February is a
good time for me to come back. Mentally, I'm in a good spot.
I'll be ready to go by then. I know I'm going to come on top
of my game, but I know its not going to be an easy fight either.
So I'm not going to sit here and say anything about how I'm going
to walk through Forrest or anything like that because I know
it's not going to happen that way.
Jeffrey
Harris: With all the huge career wins you have had: beating Evan
Tanner for the belt, beating 205 legends like Wanderlei Silva
and Chuck Liddell, where do you rank some of those particular
wins in your career?
Rich
Franklin: You know really for me, I don't really rank wins as
far as one is more important than the other. I'll say after my
win over Jason MacDonald which is one that's not talked about
a lot was an important win for me because that's a win coming
off right after a loss. And it's important for me to get myself
back on track and those are the kind of wins that really stand
out in my head more than winning the title or beating a big name
like Chuck Liddell or something like that because its more important
to me to prove when I'm down, I can pick myself back up and get
back on track and do what I need to do.
Jeffrey
Harris: Now with a win over Forrest Griffin, he's a big name
and a former champion. And a win over Forrest is really big for
you and definitely puts you closer to the title at 205.
Rich
Franklin: Yeah – I know a win over Forrest will put me if
not into immediate title contention, I'll be within a fight or
two or it would probably put me in like the top 5 of the weight
class, depending on how things play out with everyone else. I
understand this, but I'm one of those people who I really focus
on what is in front of me. I don't put the carriage before the
horse because once you try map out your road, you're going to
find out that road has speed bumps that you didn't see it coming.
So I know what the potential is, but quite frankly I don't get
caught up in the fact that Forrest is a big name, it's a big
win. It's another fight. This is what it boils down to. Strip
Forrest, strip his name out of the equation, I'm fighting a very
tough opponent in February, somebody who is going to bring it.
And I have to be ready. And bottom line, that's what it boils
down to.
Jeffrey
Harris: Do you like Forrest Griffin?
Rich
Franklin: I love him. He's a really good dude. I've known him
for a long time. He's funny. He has a great sense of humor. He's
one of those guys if you don't get his sense of humor you can
watch him and think man, what a jerk. But he's a good dude .
. . every time I listen to him speak I laugh. There are some
times I listen to him speak, and I'm like, "Oh man. Some
people are going to be like, ‘Wow, I can't believe he said
that!'" He's a good-hearted guy, and I really like Forrest.
And I know he feels the same about me, I think he does anyway.
I'm not going to speak for him, but it's going to be odd because
I constantly get mistaken for him. No lie. Even when I'm walking
down the street, people are like, "Oh my God! Forrest Griffin!"
And I'm like, "No, you got the wrong guy." I think
I get [recognized as] Forrest and Jim Carrey more often then
myself *laughs*. Those two combined more often than Rich Franklin.
Jeffrey
Harris: Are there any sponsors you would like to thank?
Rich
Franklin: My sponsor, American Fighter.
Rich
Franklin showed me a picture of his living room which features
a painted mural of the Incredible Hulk and The Thing. This definitely
makes Rich Franklin one of the coolest guys on the planet. Thank
you to Rich Franklin for speaking with us. Remember you can bookmark
411mania.com or save us to your homepage to keep up with all
the upcoming UFC events as well as getting quick, live play-by-play
coverage. You can also follow us on:
Source: 411Mania
|
Urijah
Faber a true professional in WEC curtain call
In his final fight in WEC, Faber shows why he’s come so
far in mixed martial arts
Sam Morris
/ Las Vegas Sun
Urijah Faber put the perfect exclamation point on his WEC career
Thursday, submitting Takeya Mizugaki in the first round of their
main event bantamweight fight at The Pearl at The Palms.
With
the WEC set to merge into the UFC at the beginning of 2011, Thursday
marked the final appearance Faber would make for the lighter-weight
organization.
And
as one might expect, Faber ended his run with the WEC in the
same manner he’s carried himself throughout his entire mixed
martial arts career — as a true professional.
In
addition to dominating Mizugaki, Faber showed in many ways Thursday
why he’s become such a star in the WEC and why his popularity
should only grow in the UFC.
It
started with the 31-year-old fighter making weight for his 135-pound
debut, a mark he hasn’t been at since his days of college
wrestling.
Faber
took the cut as an opportunity to relate more to his wealth of
fans and basically video blogged his entire experience on a website
called eatlikeachamp.com.
By
the time he made the 136-pound limit this week, Faber says more
than 100 fans had joined him and participated in his online weight-loss
drive.
“It
was easier than I expected,” Faber said of the weight cut.
“As soon as I put it in my mind I wanted to be a 135-pounder,
I just needed a real clean diet. I had a lot of fun. I had people
do it along with me. Nutrition has always been a big part of
my life.”
Dropping
weight for the first time in years can sometimes have an impact
on a fighter’s performance, especially in the later rounds.
Faber,
however, seemed perfectly at home in the cage Thursday, despite
some online blogs that questioned how healthy he appeared during
weigh-ins the day before.
“I
definitely don’t think it took anything out of me,”
Faber said. “I could have done that for 40 minutes straight.”
Faber’s
professionalism was on hand at the conclusion of the fight as
well, which ended with Josh Rosenthal calling a stop to the action
after it became obvious that Mizugaki had been unconscious from
Faber’s rear-naked choke.
Instead
of throwing Mizugaki off of him, Faber followed a general rule
a percentage of fighters likely don’t even know exists —
stay still until doctors have stabilized the unconscious fighter.
“The
referee told me that after that happened, Urijah stayed prone
until the doctors arrived, which is the proper thing to do and
the sportsmanlike thing to do,” said WEC General Manager
Reed Harris. “We appreciate that.”
The
submission earned Faber the coveted “Submission of the Night”
award, which is given at every WEC and UFC event and was worth
a $10,000 bonus at Thursday’s card.
Faber
was appreciative of the award but couldn’t help but think
of his Alpha Male teammate Joseph Benavidez, who submitted Wagnney
Fabiano on the night’s undercard.
Feeling
as though Benavidez’s performance was also worth some extra
cash, Faber announced he had decided to split his bonus with
him.
It’s
for reasons like these that those who know mixed martial arts
are excited to see what Faber is capable of with a brand like
the UFC backing him.
It’s
already speculated he would make a great candidate to coach a
season of the reality series “The Ultimate Fighter,”
although no formal plans for him to do so have been announced.
Whatever
is in store for Faber, it should be fun for fans to watch. According
to the star himself, he still has a lot to accomplish in the
sport.
“I’ve
got a list of goals about four pages long at home on a wall,”
Faber said.
Source: Las Vegas Sun
|
Davis
vs. Stephens, Soto vs. Roberts Official for UFC 125
The
Ultimate Fighting Championship has officially added two more
bouts to the promotion’s upcoming January 1st event in Las
Vegas, Nevada, as Marcus Davis (pictured) will make his lightweight
debut against Jeremy Stephens, and welterweight Daniel Roberts
will take on Greg Soto.
Davis
(17-7) will make the drop from welterweight after dropping three
of his last four fights. Most recently, at UFC 118 in August,
Davis was choked out by Nate Diaz.
Stephens
(18-6) has battled to split decisions in his last two outings,
defeating Sam Stout in May, before losing to Melvin Guillard
at UFC 119 in September.
Roberts
(11-1) is coming off back-to-back victories over Forrest Petz
and Mike Guymon, after being knocked out by John Howard in March.
Soto
(8-1) has gone 1-1 thus far in his Octagon career. In March,
he was disqualified for illegally upkicking Matt Riddle, before
returning to the winning column in August, by working his way
to a unanimous decision win over Nick Osipczak.
UFC
125 will feature two title fights, as lightweight champion Frankie
Edgar will look to avenge his previous loss to Gray Maynard,
while featherweight champ Jose Aldo will face challenger Josh
Grispi.
Source: Full Contact Fighter
|
J-Lau’s
Stress Test
by Jack Encarnacao
He
had been through a knee injury, invasive surgery, grueling rehab,
a tough loss, an opponent’s withdrawal, a falling out with
his brother and the most intense victory of his career. That
was now behind him. Joe Lauzon plopped down on his couch in his
hometown, about an hour’s drive south of Boston, where the
night before he had manhandled Gabe Ruediger in a leading candidate
for “Beatdown of the Year.”
“That
day, on Sunday, was the first day I really just relaxed in like
a year and a half,” Lauzon said, recalling the day after
UFC 118 in August. “I had one day to kind of be happy and
just rest and be stress-free.”
Rest,
however, was not what the bosses had in mind for Lauzon, who,
with the Ruediger win, tied Nate Diaz for the second-most career
UFC performance bonuses earned behind Chris Lytle. Lauzon shot
off an appreciative text message to UFC matchmaker Joe Silva
for the opportunity to fight on home turf, especially after his
originally scheduled opponent, Terry Etim, fell through late.
Silva’s response was punctuated by a proposal that shook
Lauzon out of any complacency that was setting in.
“‘Hey,
no problem, you know, you put on a great fight, things like that,”
Lauzon recalled the text reading. “Then he was, like, ‘What
do you think about Sotiropoulos?’”
Ah,
stress. Welcome back. It’s as if you never left.
Before
he could fully digest the celebratory sandwiches he picked up
from Burger King at 3 a.m. on the drive back from the TD Garden,
Lauzon was booked at UFC 123 on Saturday against George Sotiropoulos
-- the Australian grappler riding a seven-fight winning streak
and thought to be a fight or two away from lightweight title
contention. It was quite a step up for Lauzon, who had lost soundly
to Sam Stout prior to the win over Ruediger.
“It’s
a bigger jump than what I was expecting, but I’m all for
it,” Lauzon said in a phone conversation from his hotel
room in Detroit, the city outside of which UFC 123 will take
place. “It’s not an opportunity I’m going to squander.”
Lauzon,
26, wracked up a reputation on the New England fight scene for
aggressive and hard-nosed floor work, as adept at pounding foes
from the top as snatching ill-intended leg locks. Then, he famously
received an abrupt call to face former lightweight champion Jens
Pulver at UFC 63 and knocked out the former champion with a perfectly
timed left hook. The 7-to-1 underdog upset earned Lauzon a spot
on “The Ultimate Fighter 5” as a member of Team B.J.
Penn, as it opposed Team Pulver.
A
subsequent loss to Kenny Florian set him on a new course, one
that skidded during and after his win over Jeremy Stephens in
the UFC Fight Night 17 main event in February 2009. Lauzon felt
his knee give out a bit as he shot for a takedown during the
fight, and it locked during training a few days later. Friends
carried him from the gym and drove him to the hospital, where
righting his ailment proved so challenging he had to undergo
anesthesia.
“It’s
real tough when your leg is stuck at a specific angle and you
can’t do much about it,” he said. “I had two nurses,
two big dudes, basically one pulling my heel out and the other
guy basically jumping on my knee to get my leg straight.”
Weeks
after the emphatic armbar win over Stephens, Lauzon found he
could barely move. He went under the knife to repair his torn
anterior-cruciate ligament, the third knee surgery of his career.
He could not walk for about a month and a half.
“I was in complete shock,” he said. “A month earlier
I’m fighting in the main event on a Fight Night, a packed
place down in Tampa, [Fla.], in great shape. And then a month
later, I’m sitting in a bed unable to turn my leg in my
bed because the weight of the covers and the sheet is too heavy
on my foot.”
Cognizant
of athletes who re-aggravate ACL injuries by training too hard
too early, Lauzon took his time. He rehabbed hard, doing double
circuits to the point he would sweat as hard as he does in camp.
He worked from March to August until he started to feel sufficiently
comfortable in training. Still, he had to be careful to not overexert
himself, as he fought off takedowns and scrambled. He felt he
had to halt training as soon as he fatigued and hoped it would
not cost him against Stout at UFC 108 in January.
“We
were pretty good skill-wise, but the conditioning aspect just
wasn’t there,” Lauzon said. “But we figured for
the Stout fight [we] we’re going to take him down early.
We thought we were 100 times better than him on the ground, and
we can take advantage and catch a submission. And that was almost
how the fight went.”
Stout
escaped a close kimura, one Lauzon claims had his corner grabbing
his sponsor banner and preparing to enter the cage in celebration
until a crowd eruption let them know the deal was far from sealed.
Lauzon was spent shortly after that, taking bruising strikes
from the sharp kickboxer for the remainder of their bout.
The
New Year was hardly off to a smooth start, and it certainly was
not where Lauzon expected to be in 2010 after beating Stephens
on Spike TV. Then, a public spat with his temperamental younger
brother, Dan Lauzon, provided another distraction. Joe, citing
what he said was his brother’s lax training habits, withdrew
as his corner man for his fight against Efrain Escudero at UFC
114 in May. They are blood, so they eventually made up, but their
identity as brothers-in-arms needed to be adjusted going forward.
“If
he specifically asks me for input on something, then I’ll
let him know what I think,” Lauzon said. “If he doesn’t,
then I’m cool letting him go down his own path and making
his own decisions.”
Dan
was cut from the UFC after he lost to Escudero. Lauzon will corner
his younger brother for his next fight on Dec. 2 in Rhode Island.
His
knee and personal issues patched, Lauzon has sights set firmly
on Sotiropoulos in a battle between two of the division’s
most interesting grapplers. Sotiropoulos is renowned for perfecting
his spider guard-heavy game with names like Enson Inoue, Matt
Serra and Eddie Bravo. For the past year, Lauzon has worked with
the lesser-known but equally credentialed Abmar Barbosa. A black
belt under Robert Drysdale, Barbosa shocked the sport jiu-jitsu
world in April, when he dismantled heavily favored Kron Graice
in the Pan American Games, winning an 11-0 romp and taking silver.
Sizing
up Lauzon’s gritty, home-grown grappling to that of Sotiropoulos,
Barbosa believes the differences are clear and work to his charge’s
advantage. Instead of free rolling and experimentation, Lauzon
said the pair worked specific positions time and again until
he was improving his position consistently.
“Joe
Lauzon is explosive,” Barbosa said. “I respect [Sotiropoulos]
a lot. I know his jiu-jitsu is good ... [but] his is only good
for half guard or only closed guard. [Lauzon] can stay comfortable;
I make him comfortable in every position.”
Fellow
Lauzon cornerman Steve Biccari, a longtime New England circuit
boxer who also has competitive experience in kenpo karate, kickboxing
and jiu-jitsu, sees a similar contrast.
“Their
games are opposite,” said Biccari, whose gift for gab led
Lauzon to tab him his “Director of Motivational Quotes.”
“Sotiropoulos’ game is very good on the bottom; he’s
got a rubber guard. Joe doesn’t really use the rubber guard;
that’s not really his game. Sotiropoulos seems to move well
on the outside when he’s boxing; Joe’s more of a banger
on the inside. I’m not saying one’s better than the
other, but I say their games are opposite, and they’ll make
for a good fight.”
If
Lauzon has his way, it will be as fair a fight as possible. He
has generated some headlines with comments about Sotiropoulos’
compressed shorts and knee and ankle braces, which some have
accused the Australian of using to gain unfair traction with
his guard. Lauzon intends to inquire with Michigan athletic commission
officials about the legality of such wear. If it is up to him
-- which, when it comes to opponent’s gear, it has been
in some states in which he has competed -- Lauzon said he will
not allow the equipment in the cage.
“I
would give it a lot more thought if it was someone that, you
know, he’s got a bad knee or he’s had surgery on his
knee,” Lauzon said. “This is, well, you know what,
it’s going to be to my advantage to have a better grip,
so I’m going to wear these and I’m going to take advantage
of a gray area in the rules to give myself that added advantage.
And I’m all for getting every added advantage you can, but
at the same time, it’s going to be my advantage if he doesn’t
wear them. And if I can stop him from wearing those, why should
I let him?”
Keep
that stress at bay.
Source: Sherdog
|
Where
did Jiu-Jitsu really came from?
The story of the gentle art in Brazil is much confuse. Many years
after the coming of the Japanese Mitsuyo Maeda (Conde Koma) to
our country, almost 100 years ago, people say complete different
things about the origin of Jiu-Jitsu in Brazil, which has become
an internationally known sport, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. People tell
the same story from different perspectives, but there was anything
on the original documents to prove the facts.
Obstinate to uncover the truth behind this messy story, TATAME
Magazine prepared an exclusive article about the origin of Brazilian
Jiu-Jitsu, and how this story blends with Judo’s. “The
mysteries and confusing stories were fed by fragmental versions
which, in the absence of scientific research, ignorance and even
passional manipulations replace the truth story”, affirms
Tufy Cairus, digger of the history of Jiu-Jitsu and Judo in Brazil
and expert on the trajectory of Conde Koma.
Do
you really know the truth of gentle art’s story?
Source: Tatame
|
Hiroyuki
Takaya to Challenge Bibiano Fernandes for DREAM Featherweight
Title at Dynamite!!
By Daniel
Herbertson
K-1 and DREAM promoter FEG today announced the first bout for
their annual "Dynamite!!" event to be held on New Year's
Eve at the Saitama Super Arena in Japan. DREAM Featherweight
Champion Bibiano Fernandes will defend his strap against Hiroyuki
Takaya in a rematch of the 2009 Featherweight GP Final where
Fernandes took a narrow split decision.
Due
to pay disputes with DREAM Bibiano Fernandes has been relatively
inactive over the past twelve months and has only defended his
DREAM belt it once, another split decision against Joachim Hansen.
Three
months after his loss in the Featherweight GP Final, Hiroyuki
Takaya again suffered defeat by way of a first round knockout
to Michihiro Omigawa at Dynamite!! 2009. "The Streetfight
Bancho" bounced back in 2010 however to claim two impressive
first round knockouts over Chase Beebe and Joachim Hansen and
has received a significant promotional push over the last two
years.
The
Fernades/Takaya rematch has been in the works for some time,
much to the disgust of Michihiro Omigawa. The Yoshida Dojo product
revealed in an interview with MMAFighting.com that he feels he
deserves the title shot due to his KO over Takaya and wins over
fellow top-ten featherweights Sengoku Champion Marlon Sandro
and Shooto Champion Hatsu Hioki. Omigawa has threatened to look
to the UFC for fights if he wasn't granted a title shot or at
least an interesting fight at Dynamite!!
Dynamite!!
2010 - December 31 at Saitama Super Arena, Saitama, Japan
DREAM
Featherweight Title Match
Bibiano Fernandes vs. Hiroyuki Takaya
Source: MMA Fighting
|
Bags
packed for Cali, Cobrinha comments about surgery and returns
to training
by Carlos
Eduardo Ozório
Four-time Jiu-Jitsu world champion of the featherweight division,
Rubens “Charles” Cobrinha announced his joy over Twitter:
“I’m back in training following surgery. I feel better
than ever.
GRACIEMAG.com
had a chat with the black belt, who spoke of his injury and return
to the dojo.
“The
truth is that I hurt my knee for years ago. I had an injured
meniscus and every year I thought about operating, but I didn’t
manage to because of commitments. Fortunately, I managed to now.
I operated twenty days ago and I’m already managing to train
normally. Of course, I’m not yet one-hundred percent, but
I’ve never felt so good. I thanks my wife, Daniela, and
doctors John “X”, Aaron Schauble and Deborah Pearson,
who helped me make my decision,” says Cobrinha.
“I
managed to train and compete, but the injury bothered me a lot.
Sometimes I’d have to stop training because of my knee.
Now I won’t have that problem anymore, I’ll be able
to train one-hundred percent,” he adds.
Cobrinha
attacks Megaton's back. Photo: Regis Chen.
Cobrinha took advantae of his time off the mat to remember old
times. What once was a livelihood now becomes therapy.
“I
worked making pastries for a number of years. So, whenever I
have time, I go to the kitchen and make cakes and pies. It’s
therapeutic for me. I also had more time to study English,”
he recounts.
With
the knee problem out of the way, now the fighter is focused on
other projects.
“Now
I want to recover well and I don’t have a single competition
lined up this year. I have a project brewing and I should move
to California this year, to open an Alliance gym in those parts,”
he says in closing.
Source: Gracie Magazine
|
Rolles
Gracie Inks Deal with Shine
Shine
Fight Promotions has announced today that decorated jiu-jitsu
competitor and MMA heavyweight Rolles Gracie, has signed with
the organization. No date or opponent has yet been confirmed
for Gracie’s promotional debut.
"
Rolles Gracie is one of the best grapplers in the world. He is
consistently working on developing his game and he is ready to
show his true capabilities in ring. If there is one thing history
has taught us , it is that an in shape, ready to go Gracie, is
a very dangerous thing," Shine Fights COO Jason Chambers
was quoted saying in a press release from the promotion.
“I
am very excited to be a part of the Shine organization,”
Rolles said. “I've been waiting for the right opportunity
to come my way, and I am confident that this is going to be a
great partnership. I'm looking forward to doing big things with
Shine.”
Gracie
signs with Shine having gone 3-1 to date thus far in his MMA
career. After earning three straight submission victories in
MMA competition, the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Judo black belt
was stopped by Joey Beltran at UFC 109 in February. The bout
marked Gracie’s only Octagon appearance.
The
6’4, 250lb. heavyweight’s grappling credentials include
include No-Gi American National Ultra-Heavyweight Champion, No-Gi
Pan-American Champion, and 3-time Pan-American Champion.
Source: Full Contact Fighter
|
UFC
123 at The Palace at Auburn Hills
Tomorrow
By Zach
Arnold
Hawaii
Air Times
4:00 - 5:00PM
Preliminaries on SPIKE Channel 559
5:00 - 8:00PM
UFC 123 on Channel 701
Dark
matches
¦Lightweights:
Tyson Griffin vs. Nik Lentz
¦Lightweights: Paul Kelly vs. TJ O’Brien
¦Lightweights: Edson Mendes Jr. vs. Mike Lullo
¦Welterweights: Karo Parisyan vs. Dennis Hallman
Spike TV matches
¦Middleweights:
Aaron Simpson vs. Mark Munoz
¦Welterweights: Matt Brown vs. Brian Foster
Main card
¦Lightweights:
George Sotiropoulos vs. Joe Lauzon
¦Light Heavyweights: Phil Davis vs. Tim Boetsch
¦Middleweights: Gerald Harris vs. Maiquel Jose Falcao
Goncalves
¦Welterweights: Matt Hughes vs. BJ Penn
¦Light Heavyweights: Quinton “Rampage” Jackson
vs. Lyoto Machida
Source: Fight Opinion
|
UFC
123 Preview: The Prelims
by Jason Probst
Bookmakers
do not offer betting lines on predicting “Fight of the Night,”
but if they did, the UFC 123 “Rampage vs. Machida”
prelims would have some alluring choices on Saturday at The Palace
of Auburn Hills in Auburn Hills, Mich.
Brian
Foster-Matt Brown is a lock to be exciting; ditto for Tyson Griffin-Nik
Lentz. Meanwhile, Karo Parisyan-Dennis Hallman pits two talented
veterans against one another in a must-win crossroads match.
Throw in two newcomers in Edson Mendes Barboza Jr. and Mike Lullo,
and you have a set of fights that would make Bill Laimbeer and
Rick Mahorn proud.
Let
us get to the picks.
Middleweights
Aaron Simpson vs. Mark Munoz
The
Matchup: With two elite college wrestlers colliding, fans know
this one figures to provide stirring theater. The psychological
aspect in a wrestler-versus-wrestler match brings with it all
sorts of subplots -- namely, answering the question as to who
is the better wrestler. Think Mark Coleman-Dan Severn, Randy
Couture-Tito Ortiz and Matt Hughes-Frank Trigg.
Simpson
has looked like a solid UFC-caliber middleweight, despite the
fact that he only has eight professional fights under his belt.
In a close decision win against Tom Lawlor, Simpson showed the
kind of resilience and striking ability rarely seen in most former
collegiate wrestling standouts at this phase in their careers.
Against Chris Leben at “The Ultimate Fighter 11” Finale,
he did well early on, only to fall prey to “The Crippler”
and his trademark hailstorm of blows, which usually fly when
he looks to be dead on his feet.
Munoz
has rebounded from a brutal promotional debut against Matt Hamill
at UFC 96, soldiering his way down to the 185-pound division.
He put together a streak of three consecutive wins until he ran
into the human roadblock that goes by the name of Yushin Okami.
Munoz’s striking is developing, and his ground-and-pound
is top-notch. Ask Ryan Jensen and Kendall Grove. However, Munoz
still has issues on his feet and has been quite hittable throughout
his career.
The
key for Munoz against Simpson will be using his hands to set
up the takedown. He will occasionally try for follow-up shots
when opponents stuff his first one simply because he is such
an accomplished wrestler that he can get away with it. Check
his first fight in the WEC with Chuck Grigsby in which Munoz
simply willed himself to a takedown after failing on his first
try. Munoz will probably not go this route out of respect for
Simpson’s skills, at least not early.
Simpson
has a stout right hand and decent footwork, so it becomes even
more critical that Munoz set up a solid shot. Munoz tends to
switch back and forth between southpaw and conventional stances,
which could be a clue to his tactics. Takedowns are easier from
the southpaw position, as the opponent’s leg rests half
a step closer, but it works both ways.
The
Pick: Simpson and Munoz should provide an exciting fight, and
I believe Munoz answers some questions and grinds out a third-round
stoppage via ground-and-pound. It will not be pretty or easy,
but it has always been fun to watch two great wrestlers go at
it.
Welterweights
Brian Foster vs. Matt Brown
The
Matchup: Brown could start a fight in an empty room. “The
Ultimate Fighter” Season 7 alum is one of the best bangs
for your buck, consistently bringing an action fight, win or
lose.
Brown
excels at finding ways to punish opponents from virtually any
position. He will pound the body from inside their guard, nail
them with a knee from the clinch, whatever’s available.
His first-round stoppage of Pete Sell was one of those performances
that showed how dangerous he can be when allowed to get in his
groove. Foster, meanwhile, has had mixed results in the Octagon,
submitting to Chris Lytle and Rick Story, while knocking out
Brock Larson and Forrest Petz.
Ideally,
this one will feature plenty of stand-up action, as their styles
seem to negate each other on the ground. Look for Brown to start
fast and want to get back in the win column -- though he’s
3-3 in the UFC, he’s too much of a fan favorite to be worried
about getting released if he loses this one; Foster’s response
will determine what kind of fight it turns into. If he stands
and slugs, Brown can win via late stoppage or decision. If Foster
can take it to the ground and work the margins between positional
advantage and striking without losing position, he can pull off
a decision.
The
Pick: Foster does just enough of the latter, with Brown having
several good moments en route to a close decision defeat.
Lightweights
Tyson Griffin vs. Nik Lentz
The
Matchup: Two high-energy, imposing 155ers collide here. This
is what makes this division so much fun, and we have not even
had the WEC crew arrive yet with the merger. Lentz is on the
rise, going 3-0-1 in the UFC, while Griffin, once one of the
division’s rising contenders, has hit a rough streak.
A
decision loss to hot prospect Evan Dunham preceded Griffin’s
last outing in which he fell prey to the numbing punching power
of former Pride Fighting Championships lightweight titleholder
Takanori Gomi in the first stoppage loss of his career. Those
two bouts are not enough to assume Griffin has lost some of his
luster, especially when one considers he was a late substitution
against Gomi. With his back to the wall, he definitely needs
a turnaround performance to continue ascending the ranks.
Lentz
is a stout wrestler with less-polished stand-up than Griffin,
though he will throw his shots fearlessly. This match should
have an up-tempo pace, with Lentz trying to assert himself through
punches in an effort to close the gap, force clinches and take
it to the mat. Griffin may not be as strong a wrestler as Lentz,
but his grappling for MMA may prove a tad better. He mixes in
strikes with takedowns quite well and has shown himself to be
an excellent overall athlete with a head for the game.
The
Pick: This is definitely one of those flip-a-coin matches so
typical of the lightweight division, and I think it comes down
to the wire, with Griffin getting the better of the striking,
Lentz spending more time on top and the judges giving Griffin
a razor-thin decision.
Lightweights
Edson Mendes Barboza Jr. vs. Mike Lullo
The
Matchup: Two UFC first-timers in the 155-pound division meet
in this one. Lullo replaced the injured Darren Elkins on short
notice, which is a helluva way to get one’s foot in the
door. Barboza wields potent muay Thai skills with aggression
to spare. Almost all Octagon rookies experience some sort of
adrenaline dump when they step in there for their debuts. With
both guys dealing with the stress at the same time, it should
be interesting.
That
said, Barboza will look to keep it on the feet or in safe positions
on the ground, pounding away from the top. At 5-foot-11, he is
impressively big for a lightweight, packing muscle on to a long
frame and looking more like a welterweight. He also can kick
effectively with either leg, with slam-bang quickness.
Lullo
has rebounded from a pair of decision losses in his first two
bouts, putting together a streak of eight consecutive wins. That’s
the kind of trait you like to see in a fighter, showing pluck
and willingness to improve. He seems to have a decent submission
game, as well. This is a short-notice fight, however, and the
mental adjustments required for a UFC greenhorn are as taxing
as the physical preparation, if not more so.
The
Pick: Since Barboza has had more lead time to make those adjustments,
he becomes the pick here. Barboza by second-round stoppage.
Welterweights
Karo Parisyan vs. Dennis Hallman
The
Matchup: For those who appreciate the finer points of grappling,
this is a viewer’s delight. Parisyan’s blend of judo
and incredible core strength make for picturesque throws, and
Hallman’s ability to find submission attempts and create
transitions and scrambles differentiate him from most fighters.
A grappler-versus-grappler style match is what we have here,
and it figures to become a fast-paced chess game, which means
it will come down to conditioning if it goes deep.
Both
men have similar storylines coming into a must-win bout. They
are veterans with unquestioned talent, but their conditioning
has often been a question mark. Parisyan is extremely tough against
foes who cannot out-strength him, while Hallman’s recent
performances -- a last-second KO loss to John Howard in a bout
he was dominating and a one-sided decision win over American
Top Team’s Ben Saunders -- suggest he’s taking conditioning
seriously. Neither man is a big stand-up threat to the other,
as they rely on strikes to set up clinches and takedowns.
In
the clinches, look for Parisyan to try and assert his superior
strength, while Hallman will look to create scrambles and go
for submission attempts that open up better positions on the
ground. This one could come down to the kind of whirlwind transitions
and mat action that made Parisyan’s bouts with Diego Sanchez
and Nick Diaz great viewing fare.
The
Pick: Given Parisyan’s equal doses of talent and hot-and-cold
performances, the pick here is Hallman by a close decision.
Lightweights
Paul Kelly vs. T.J. O'Brien
The
Matchup: In the qualifying round for Season 12 of “The Ultimate
Fighter,” O’Brien was blitzed by Marc Stevens, which
is an unfortunate way to make your debut on the big stage. With
15 of his 16 wins by submission (including 10 by triangle choke),
there’s a lot more to his career than one bad showing in
which he made a mistake. It’s a fickle sporting public in
front of which athletes perform, to be sure.
That
said, Kelly is experienced in the Octagon and has shown a consistent
fire and willingness to stick his nose into the mess. At 6-foot-2,
O’Brien will be five inches taller and will be looking to
take it to the ground. Kelly should be able to mix in kicks and
combinations but will have to consistently get away clean and
evade O’Brien’s reach, which he can use to pull guard
to take it down.
The
Pick: I like Kelly’s experience in this one, as he grinds
out a second-round stoppage.
Source: Sherdog
|
Rampage
Jackson’s biggest concern at UFC 123 is having an exciting
fight
By Zach
Arnold
ARIEL
HELWANI: “I noticed at the press conference, you’re
in a very good, right? You seem to be in a very good mindset
going into this fight. Can you talk about that a little bit?”
QUINTON
“RAMPAGE” JACKSON: “Yeah, because I’m very
confident. I trained very hard. I always train like it’s
a championship fight so I’ve trained five rounds and my
camp went really well and I’m, man, things are going good,
you know. I’m just really happy.”
ARIEL
HELWANI: “It was very personal between you and Rashad (Evans).
This time, not so much. You know, not all that trash talking,
just sort of a mutual respect there. Do you perform better when
you don’t have to deal with that other stuff, the talking
back and forth?”
QUINTON
“RAMPAGE” JACKSON: “Well, I don’t know. That
has nothing to do with it. I don’t care. I don’t care
about that type of stuff. Whether a guy’s cool or not, that
has nothing to do with it.”
ARIEL
HELWANI: “You’ve done a lot of media for this fight.
You were on The Late Show with Craig Ferguson. What was that
experience like?”
QUINTON
“RAMPAGE” JACKSON: “Man, that guy was funny as
hell. Craig Ferguson, you the man. He’s funny. I could tell
he didn’t know much about MMA and I was almost calling him
out like, you don’t even know who I am, do you? But, you
know, I didn’t want to call him out on live TV but he’s
a cool guy.”
ARIEL
HELWANI: “Do you think you turned him into a fan?”
QUINTON
“RAMPAGE” JACKSON: “Well, I don’t know. I’m
pretty sure he might be interested to watch it if he has time.”
ARIEL
HELWANI: “You talked about potentially getting some other
opportunities outside of fighting. Any projects you could talk
about?”
QUINTON
“RAMPAGE” JACKSON: “There’s nothing that
I can talk about. I focused solely on this fight. I didn’t…
I haven’t even talked to my agents and stuff like that.”
ARIEL
HELWANI: “Just curious about the last fight. You said that
there was something that happened that you probably shouldn’t
have taken the fight. Are you able to elaborate as to what that
was?”
QUINTON
“RAMPAGE” JACKSON: “I just, you know… I kind
of learned something from watching Randy Couture. I noticed that
he don’t make excuses and I do. I do make excuses for all
my losses because I got excuses for all my losses. But I just
really choose not to talk about it this time. I just felt obligated
to take the fight because I couldn’t take the fight in Memphis
because I had to, you know, do the movie. I’m a big fan
of A-Team and Mr. T and B.A. Baracus and I never was a big fan
of MMA. I just started fighting, you know. I’ve seen it
and stuff before I started but I wasn’t like a big fan so
I felt like, you know, I had to go with, I couldn’t not
take the movie. So… When things happen in camp and stuff
like that and I was thinking that maybe I should pull out of
the fight but I didn’t. I just did it for the fans and I
tried my best and I almost won, you know, I’m happy with
that.”
ARIEL
HELWANI: “You said on Sportscenter (Thursday) that part
of you fears that the fight might be boring just due to his style,
in your opinion. Is there a possibility that, you know, because
of his style and your desire to make it an exciting fight you’re
sort of playing into his hand there, you sort of have to not
make yourself be too over aggressive, you know what I mean?”
QUINTON
“RAMPAGE” JACKSON: “Yeah, I just have to see when
I get in there. That’s what I do. I make my little tweaks
and this and that at fights sometimes, you know what I’m
saying. This is one of my worries about this fight. It’s
not a worry of winning or losing because at this point in my
career, you know what I’m saying, I really don’t, I
always want to win, you know, I want to win really bad but I’m
not going out there not to lose, you know, I’m not going
to go fight not too lose, I’m not in that mindset so it’s
like one of those things, like they asked me what my worries,
what are my concerns are, am I concerned about his karate. I’m
not concerned about myself. The only thing I’m concerned
about the fight being an exciting fight for the fans because
I think without the fans, you know what I’m saying, there
would be no sport so why not try to put on a great show for the
fans here…”
ARIEL
HELWANI: “Finally, this was the first time we got to talk
since you were on WWE RAW. Just curious about, you know, how
you enjoyed that experience and I know you’ve always been
a wrestling fan as a child. Did it sort of, you know, maybe get
those creative juices flowing that maybe you try that one day?”
QUINTON
“RAMPAGE” JACKSON: “Man, that was like a childhood
dream come true. If I wasn’t an MMA fighter I probably would
have been a pro-wrestler. That was really fun, like the guys
are so cool there like The Big Show, he taught me how to do the
chokeslam correctly and the guys there are really cool. Ted DiBiase
Jr. man, those guys are they’re like really down to earth
and really cool people. It was a real treat.”
ARIEL
HELWANI: “Do you think you’ll ever do it?”
QUINTON
“RAMPAGE” JACKSON: “Well, yeah, if they have me
I’d like to do something. I can’t do what they do,
they go on tour like all year and stuff like that, I’ve
got kids. I don’t like traveling that much. So I can be
like one of those special come-here-every-now-and-then type of
guys. I couldn’t do the whole thing that they do all the
time.”
Source: Fight Opinion
|
Primer:
UFC 123
by Jake Rossen
Scheduling
Quinton Jackson and Lyoto Machida as the main event for Saturday’s
UFC 123 is almost certainly a nod to Jackson’s ratings winner
of a program against Rashad Evans last summer; why else top a
show with two fighters coming off losses? It’s more of a
I’m-still-here declaration than a lot of forward progress.
It also has the potential to be a bit of a bore, with counter-striking
(Machida) moving laterally around a self-conscious offensive
fighter (Jackson).
It might also be good. But it’s all just billing, and the
real headliner for many will be a third bout between B.J. Penn
and Matt Hughes. Hughes has experienced a late-career resurgence,
while Penn is looking for a new path after Frankie Edgar more
or less temporarily ran him out of the 155-pound division.
If
Hughes wins, it might be time to consider his place as one of
the few former champions who keep a steady pace instead of fading
out. If Penn wins, he might be motivated to test his chances
against bigger men who don’t have the speed to buzz around
him like an insect infestation. Either way, it’s a fight
with more at stake than anything else on the card. And isn’t
that why we watch?
What:
UFC 123: Rampage vs. Machida, an 11-bout card from the Palace
at Auburn Hills in Detroit, Mich.
When:
Saturday, Nov. 20, at 10 p.m. ET on pay-per-view, with a live
preliminary special at 9 p.m. ET on Spike
Why
You Should Care: Because Machida’s reaction to his first
career KO loss (vs. Mauricio Rua last spring) will either embolden
or deflate his karate gi; because Jackson appears serious about
conditioning in a way he was not for the Evans fight; because
Phil Davis remains a viable wrestling prospect at 205 pounds
and may one day enter the rare air of Jon Jones or Ryan Bader;
and because Hughes hasn’t been sitting on his reputation.
He continues to get better.
Fight
of the Night: George Sotiropoulos vs. Joe Lauzon, two terrific
submission fighters who have the ring energy to emulate Diego
Sanchez vs. Karo Parisyan.
Hype
Quote of the Show: "I just hope Machida comes to fight and
considers the fans and puts on an exciting fight." -- Jackson
on Machida’s duties to the audience. Worth mentioning: Jackson’s
fight with Evans was not exactly a stash of fireworks.
Questions:
UFC 123
Is it impossible for Jackson to win a decision?
Want
to catch the eye of a judge? Hustle. At best, a blizzard offense
seems to earn points on the scorecard; at worst, it can muddy
the issue enough to keep your chances high.
Lyoto
Machida is a volume striker -- he comes in, throws, and backs
out. On the way, you might catch him and you might not. But his
first instinct is preservation: he’s not going to settle
in and “exchange” in the way we’ve come to think
of it. Not without something rabid in front of him.
That
makes Jackson’s job very difficult on Saturday. If he slows
down in the face of that frustration, Machida is going to burn
a hole in the Octagon mat with his shuffling. And if it goes
the distance, Jackson is in real danger of having his power shots
devalued in the comparison. It goes against common sense, but
Jackson’s best chance may be to chase, confront and test
chins rather than play for points. MMA’s cards have worse
odds than in Bingo.
Karo
"The Heat" ParisyanWhich Karo shows up?
The
go-to media story for Saturday’s undercard is Karo Parisyan’s
return to the promotion after being ousted due to what Parisyan
deemed “panic attacks,” and his employers call “unreliability.”
An 11th hour dropout in 2009 sealed it; Parisyan was left to
fend for himself in smaller shows.
He
did, but only once, and now insists his problems are behind him.
It’s telling the UFC would regulate Parisyan to a prelim
slot when he’s been as good a guarantee of excitement as
anyone in the sport. While he may feel pressure to distance himself
from his reputation, Parisyan should know that fans enjoy a good
comeback story much more than a tragedy. If he believes he’ll
be fine, he probably will be.
Who
really holds the advantage in Hughes/Penn III?
Look
at the results of their first two fights and you’ll find
lots of asterisk-exposition: Penn won the first meeting in 2004,
but Hughes didn’t expect a lightweight to be such a threat;
Penn was winning the rematch in 2006, but allegedly injured his
ribs and allowed Hughes to deliver the only in-cage stoppage
of Penn’s career.
Penn
was left to the lightweights, where he won and defended a world
title; Hughes showed signs of age and effectively passed the
baton to Georges St. Pierre. Both men have taken steps forward
and backward to varying degrees. (Fighters run hot and cold --
what a revelation.) Hughes may have early difficulty taking Penn
down, as ever, but a new variable is Hughes’s increased
confidence standing. Maybe he won’t be in such a rush to
ground the fight. And if not, the pressure is off. But Penn,
down two fights in 2010, and facing a substantially bigger opponent,
is not going to have a relaxed locker room. In this fight, he
who has fun wins.
Red
Ink: Jackson vs. Machida
Machida finds himself in a substantially different role Saturday.
Prior to the Mauricio Rua loss, Machida was undefeated and trading
heavily in a broadly-drawn story that cast him as an enigmatic
traditional martial artist. There was lots of footage of kata
forms on a beach -- in silhouette -- and reverential talk about
budo. Techniques of karate, which had previously been good to
get a fighter into traction, were enough to win a world championship.
That
got wiped off the table as soon as Rua knocked him out, fast
and early. Instead of Machida, Invincible Karate Man, he’s
been demoted to Karate Contender. Instead of defending a reputation,
he’s trying to reestablish one.
That’s
pressure. And while it seems like Jackson is in the same boat
-- he dropped one to Evans and has to continually answer questions
over whether he even wants to fight -- we know that he’s
a proven commodity under duress. How else can you explain his
textbook KO of Wanderlei Silva in 2008, after Silva had annihilated
him twice and after he careened his truck off the road in a widely-publicized
meltdown? If Silva couldn’t get into Jackson’s head
at that point, no one else has much of a chance.
Either
way, both men should feel a little reckless: there’s very
little shame in losing to another top-shelf athlete. Jackson
and Machida are on the title bubble; Jones or Bader could pop
it. A decisive win can mean more than just a bonus -- if you
want to stand out in this division, it helps to finish.
What
It Means For Machida, a chance to prove his constitution will
hold up following a KO loss; for Jackson, an opportunity to prove
his MMA IQ hasn’t suffered from being on film sets.
Wild
Card: Steven Seagal. That’s right -- Steven Seagal; Machida
trained with him in all ranges -- including the ways of DVD residuals.
Who
Wins: Jackson is a calculating brawler; Machida is calculating,
period. Unless Jackson can put him on his heels the way Rua did,
it’s going to be a long night of air punching. Machida by
decision.
Source: Sherdog
|
Hughes
Prepares For Battle With Penn
by Steve McLaughlin
On
Saturday, Nov. 20, Matt Hughes of Hillsboro will be starring
in the co-main event of UFC 123 at The Palace in suburban Detroit
before a crowd of 20,000 or more.
His
opponent is B. J. Penn, a submission specialist from Hawaii,
who comes in with a record of 15-6-1, and a fighter who has played
a pivotal role in the career of Matt Hughes.
In
many ways, the upcoming fight between Penn and Hughes recalls
the highs and lows of both of their professional careers.
When
they first met at UFC 46 in January 2004, Hughes was at the top
of his game, considered by many to be the best pound for pound
fighter in the world. He was riding a string of 13 victories,
nine of them coming over a ten month stretch in 2001. He was
unstoppable.
Penn
was the 26-year-old upstart, a 155 pound lightweight moving up
in class to take on the 170 pound welterweight champion.
The
mixed martial arts world was stunned when Penn pulled off the
upset with a first round win as he forced Hughes to submit via
a rear naked choke.
Following
that fight, their careers went in different directions. Although
he stayed active, Penn failed to defend his UFC title and it
was stripped from him. More than two years passed before he would
fight in the UFC again.
Hughes
immediately went back to the training room and put together a
string of five consecutive victories including a win over George
St. Pierre at the “War of 04” in October 2004, where
he reclaimed the vacant welterweight title.
In
their rematch at UFC 63 on Sept. 23, 2006, Penn had the upper
hand winning the first two rounds. However, by the third round,
Hughes had physically worn him down and was able to overpower
him, winning by TKO in the third round and retaining the welterweight
title.
Although
no championship titles are on the line this time around, that’s
not to say that this fight is insignificant. Putting future contracts,
awards, endorsements and titles aside, there is an incredible
amount of pride riding on this, the rubber match between the
two.
At
31, Penn remains in the hunt for a championship title in either
of two weight divisions and a decisive win over Hughes could
put him that much closer to another big opportunity.
At
37, Hughes is still a top-10 contender in the welterweight division
and an impressive win over Penn could move him up the ladder
for another shot at the title.
Both
Hughes and Penn have tremendous respect for each other and know
that their skills will be put to the test. Both are going in
fully prepared for the fight of their lives.
Las
Vegas odds makers give Penn a slight edge. He is the younger
of the two and has outscored Hughes in three of the four rounds
in which they have battled.
Yet
in making Hughes the underdog, odds makers are discounting the
intangibles, his intensity, his competitive nature, and his experience.
Already
a member of the UFC Hall of Fame, Hughes has compiled a record
of 45 wins and 7 losses. He will be making his record setting
24th UFC appearance and hoping to add to his record 18 UFC victories.
“I’ve
been able to turn off the pressure,” Hughes said. “Once
the title was removed and I had two losses in a row, the pressure
was removed.
“I’m
having fun training, traveling, and fighting. I still love to
compete, I feel really good, and I’m having fun. I’m
living a dream.”
Hughes
will be fighting for the third time this year.
“I
did have a lot of obligations this fall and did plan to take
some time off but when this fight came along, I took it,”
he said. “I was still in good shape from my previous fight
and I’ve been staying active. Plus, one more paycheck this
year will make my wife very happy."
“I
always knew this fight would happen,” Penn said. “I
have a score to settle with Matt. There’s no lack of motivation
for me to beat Matt Hughes. I’ve brought in some good sparring
partners to help me prepare for ‘the Legend,’”
he added, referring to Hughes. “Matt is a great opponent.
I’m excited about this fight.”
On
Saturday evening, UFC 123 can be viewed live on pay-per-view.
UFC programming is broadcast in 19 different languages to 147
countries and territories around the world reaching up to 430
million homes. Check local listings for time and availability.
Source: The Journal News
|
Jon
Fitch has new attitude about UFC title shot
According to Jon Fitch, he has no one to blame but himself for
his current exclusion from the UFC’s welterweight title
picture, and he wants to do something about it.
The
former Purdue wrestler, who is ranked No. 2 behind UFC champion
Georges St. Pierre in The L.A. Times' November MMA rankings,
has won his last five bouts in a row since dropping a shutout
unanimous-decision loss to the French Canadian champion at UFC
87 in 2008. Still, Fitch’s name wasn’t mentioned when
UFC President Dana White spoke about the promotion’s future
plans for the robust 170-pound division in October.
Fitch
outscored Brazilian striker Thiago Alves in their rematch at
UFC 117 in August, but said he was in the dark about his next
assignment until he asked his manager Bob Cook to approach the
promotion a few weeks ago.
The
32-year-old Indiana native requested bouts with former Strikeforce
champion Jake Shields, a recent UFC acquisition, or St. Pierre
– regardless if he bests Fitch’s teammate Josh Koscheck
at UFC 124 on Dec. 11 in Montreal.
The
UFC came back with Jake Ellenberger, a capable 24-year-old wrestler
who has stopped his last two opponents in the Octagon, but isn’t
currently ranked in the division. Fitch will meet Ellenberger
at UFC 126 in February, while Shields – despite a sluggish
split-decision victory over Martin Kampmann at UFC 121 last month
– has been earmarked to face the winner of St. Pierre-Koscheck
next.
“I’m
not going to cry about it,” said Fitch. “If I’ve
failed to convince the UFC, Dana White, and the fans that I’m
overwhelmingly the No. 1 contender and that I absolutely should
be fighting for the belt, then I take that as my own responsibility.
It’s my own fault. If people are dissatisfied, then I’m
going to correct that.”
Has
Fitch been seemingly put on ice by the promotion because of his
unwillingness to fight American Kickboxing Academy stablemate
Koscheck? Both Fitch and Koscheck have publicly stated that they
will not face off under any circumstances, which has become a
bone of contention with White. (The UFC did not respond to an
e-mail for comment on this story.)
“We’re
professional athletes. We’re the ones that make that decision
to put ourselves at risk and in the position of bodily harm.
We should have the right to choose who we get to do that harm
to,” said Fitch. “Motivation is a huge thing in fighting.
If you’re not motivated to fight somebody, it’s going
to be a bad fight.”
Fitch
contended that hesitations over teammates facing one another
is nothing new to the fight game and he doesn’t believe
it’s the reason why he was passed over.
“It’s
never been given or hinted as a reason,” said Fitch, who
also squashed talk that a brief contract dispute with the promotion
over merchandising rights in 2008 might be at the root as well.
“I have no idea. I really don’t know what they’re
thinking. My only thinking is that if I’m not overwhelmingly,
in the fans’ opinion, the guy who deserves it, then I have
to win them over.”
To
achieve this, Fitch said he’s had to come to terms with
how he’s been perceived as a fighter up to this point.
“It
kind of was a little bit of a recent revelation [for me],”
said Fitch, who’s gone the distance nine times during his
13-1 run in the promotion. “There wasn’t an overwhelming
rush of support after the Alves fight. That was kind of eye-opening.
I handily beat the No. 3 [fighter] in the world, and people are
still not willing to thrust me into competition with GSP. Something’s
missing.”
Fitch
said he hasn’t thought of himself as a commodity in the
past, though that’s quickly changing.
“It
comes down to making money,” he said. “If they don’t
think they can make money off you, then they’re not going
to give you those fights.”
AKA’s
resident jiu-jitsu coach, Dave Camarillo, said he understands
Fitch and the UFC’s dilemma.
“Fitch
is not rogue in his thinking. The coaches are all on board,”
said Camarillo. “He won his last five fights, but they were
all by decision. I don’t disagree with the UFC management,
but I think Jon’s there. I just don’t want it to be
a situation where the title shot drifts away from him.”
Camarillo,
who describes Fitch as a “strategist” in the cage,
said the fighter plans to visit his Guerrilla Jiu-Jitsu Academy
in Pleasanton, Calif., for one-on-one sessions that focus on
finishing opponents by submission.
At
AKA, Camarillo said he’s seen a marked difference in Fitch
already.
“I’ve
noticed an improvement,” he said. “I think its more
of a mentality switch. If your mentality is too conserve, you’ll
be conservative. If you take more chances in practice, your submissions
will get better.”
Fitch,
who got married on Sept. 4, credited his wife, Michele, with
encouraging his new attitude toward his career.
“She
keeps me focused on the tangibles, the things I can change,”
said Fitch. “Lately, I’ve been feeling on another level
athletically, mentally physically, everything. My jiu-jitsu’s
gone to another level. I’m finishing a lot more guys in
practice right now. My striking is at a new level, my movement,
my power – everything’s just much higher than it has
been in the past five years.”
Camarillo
said a St. Pierre-Fitch rematch would not resemble its predecessor.
“There’s
no way he’ll have the same fight he did with GSP a next
time,” said Camarillo. “But we have to see who wins
on December 11.”
If
Koscheck prevails, Fitch believes the UFC welterweight division
could still provide him with challenges.
“Jake
Shields, GSP, and Carlos Condit,” said Fitch. “I’d
still want to fight those guys regardless of Koscheck winning
the belt or not. If Koscheck holds onto the belt for a while,
than I could look at moving up a weight class.”
--
Loretta Hunt
Source: Los Angeles Times
|
Freddie
Roach accuses Antonio Margarito of using ephedra
By Zach
Arnold
As
I noted elsewhere online Saturday night, even atheists might
believe in a God after the beating Manny Pacquiao put on Antonio
Margarito. What made Saturday’s night fight even more the
spectacle is when Pacquiao’s trainer, Freddie Roach, accused
Margarito of using Hydroxycut and ephedra in a pre-fight drink.
Texas and their standards of drug testing got put in the spotlight
once again.
As
much as I’d like to say that Floyd Mayweather will eventually
fight Manny Pacquiao given his legal troubles and money issues,
I think Saturday night’s performance all but closed the
door on Mayweather ever accepting such a fight. Who would be
next for Pacquiao? Try Shane Mosley.
There
was so much interest in Saturday night’s fight between Pacquiao
and Margarito that Kevin Iole reported that Dana White allegedly
paid Bob Arum a large amount of cash to get a satellite feed
of the fight in Germany. Which, in many ways, is about as symbolic
of a gesture as you could come up with to talk about what a deplorable
card UFC 122 was and why nobody wants to talk about, let alone
even remember that they watched it in the first place. It was
that bad. I actually felt some decent vibes about Yushin Okami
after reading an excellent Sherdog article on the man, but it
appears his personality is diametrically opposite to his fighting
style in terms of entertainment.
As
for UFC 122, Dana White called Marquardt a choker and blamed
it on Greg Jackson for fighting for points rather than a finish.
Source: Fight Opinion
|
Bocek
Ready For "Good Test" Against Hazelett
By Kelsey Mowatt
Fans
in attendance at the upcoming UFC 124 card in Montreal, Quebec,
could be treated to a world class grappling clinic on December
11th, as accomplished jiu-jitsu competitor Mark Bocek will face
fellow jiu-jitsu black belt Dustin Hazelett. Then again, anything
can happen in mixed-martial-arts, and often fights billed as
a contest between two experts in one discipline, ends up featuring
something completely different. In any case, Bocek (pictured)
is confident he’ll be ready when the two meet next month.
“
I think Hazelett is a good fighter; black belt under Jorge Gurgel,
he has some tricky submissions,” Bocek said about Hazelett
(12-6), who will be moving down to lightweight, after dropping
back-to-back fights against Paul Daley and more recently Rick
Story. “He will be a good test and I look forward to it.”
Like
Hazelett, the 29 year-old Bocek will be looking to get back in
the winning column, after losing by unanimous decision to Jim
Miller this past March. The judge’s decision put an end
to Bocek’s (8-3) three fight winning streak, which saw the
lightweight tap-out Alvin Robsinson, David Bielkheden and Joe
Brammer.
“I
don't feel that I lost to Miller,” Bocek said when asked
what he took away from his competitive bout with Miller. “I
learned to not leave it in the hands of the judges.”
After
going 1-2 in his first three Octagon appearances, Bocek is now
3-1 in his last four UFC bouts, a run of success which is likely
tied to his decision to begin training with American Top Team.
As a result, Bocek has once again headed south to Florida, to
prepare for his upcoming tilt with Hazelett.
“I
have been training with Marcelo Garcia and American Top Team;
I will be ready for this fight,” Bocek told FCF. “Training
has been going very well and I feel very good.”
And
as far as the Nova Uniao black belt’s prediction for the
December 11th bout?
“Impossible
to make predictions,” Bocek responded. “I can just
guarantee that I will be ready for everything that he brings.”
UFC
124 will be hosted by Montreal’s Bell Centre, and will feature
UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre vs. challenger Josh
Koscheck in the main event.
Source: Full Contact Fighter
|
Freddie
Roach Accuses Antonio Margarito of Ephedra Use Prior to Pacquiao
Fight
By Larry
Brown
With
the bad blood between the Antonio Margarito and Manny Pacquiao
camps, you figured something would happen before the two even
stepped in the ring. And I’m not even talking about Margarito
making fun of Freddie Roach for Parkinson’s Disease. This
time, the camps have traded pre-fight accusations.
According
to Yahoo! Sports’ Kevin Iole, Roach complained that Margarito
took ephedra prior to the fight and demanded an instant urinalysis.
Margarito for his part did not sit quietly; his trainer Robert
Garcia demanded a re-wrap of Pacquiao’s gloves, which actually
were approved by the commission. Steve Cofield of Yahoo! Sports
heard from Max Kellerman that it was a piece of prepped rolled
tape that was placed in Pacquiao’s gloves.
So
what was the story behind the ephedra accusations? From Iole,
“I saw them try to give [Margarito] Hydroxycut and caught
them,” [Freddy Roach associate Billy] Keane told Yahoo!
Sports via text message. “He had coffee loaded with Splenda
and sugar. The doctor said it was his choice to take the pills,
but it would probably come up in the [post-fight urinalysis].
I did not see him take any pills.”
Numerous
reports online have suggested Margarito was drinking coffee with
splenda and now there have been reports of hydroxycut and ephedra
being mixed in. Even if nothing happened, you have to figure
at the least Roach is floating the accusations to try and get
inside Margarito’s head. Given the way Margarito folded
against Mosley following the loaded gloves incident, it’s
not a bad strategy.
Source: Larry Brown Sports
|
Urijah
Faber talks about the art of taking a punch
By Zach
Arnold
Steve
Cofield clipped some audio from last week’s Pro MMA radio
show which featured Urijah Faber. I had the show in my catalog
of audio to review, so here’s a few items from that interview
for you perusal.
Would
winning a UFC belt mean more than a WEC belt?
“Um…
you know, really if I were to break it down, no, but… on
a bigger level, you know when I first started in this sport seven
years ago my goal on my wall was to be a, uh, a world champ in
the UFC or the WEC or in the UFC or PRIDE and PRIDE is gone.
The UFC is the place to be and I’ve always wanted to have
that belt, so I think, yeah, you know, deep down you know in
my own head I think, yeah, I want that UFC belt. It means a lot
to me but, you know, I don’t really fight because of belts.
I fight because of uh… you know something that’s inside
of me and something that I’m inspired by outside of material
things but to have the symbolism of the UFC belt and put it next
to my WEC belt and my King of the Cage belt and my Gladiator
Challenge belt and everything else is going to be and my vintage
vintage WEC belt that was before Zuffa, you know, it’s an
exciting thing for me so I’m ready.”
Can
Brock Lesnar learn to accept getting punched during MMA fights?
“I
would say that I’m not sure how much it’s actually
missing but he hasn’t had enough of it and that’s a
ton of straight sparring. You know, when we train and our training
camp is extremely high-level and really thought-out. We have
a bunch of different trainers in a bunch of different areas.
But, um… you know, even two and a half years ago when my
head trainer Master Thong came in and started working with the
team, he just kept saying, ‘Hey, no scared! You can’t
be scared, you can’t be scared!’ and he would let us
hit him in the face over and over again and we all thought he
was crazy. I mean, he would literally have us unload on his face
and he was kind of a genetic freak as it is and he’s had
200+ Muay Thai fights and boxing fights and MMA fights and stuff
like that but uh… the bottom line is … getting hit
is not the coolest thing to have done to you but it’s not
that big of a deal and it takes a ton of sparring and some great
defense and knowledge of what it’s like to get hit in order
to be able to get used to it. So, I heard rumors that Lesnar
wasn’t letting guys punch him in the space during sparring
and I don’t know how many sparring sessions he did where
he wasn’t able to use take downs but he needs to do some
straight sparring. Even at this point, we spar twice a week straight
boxing. We spar a couple of times a week with just kickboxing
and, you know, transition that into MMA at the end of a practice
or sometimes, you know, mix it all together in situations but
you got to really get used to that. I mean, the worst punches
are the ones you don’t see coming and if you don’t
see any punches coming because you’re ducking your head
that’s the worst-case scenario so I think he’s got
room for improvement. I think he’s still going to be a great
fighter as long as he decides to do that but he needs to get
in there and accept, hey, I’m going to get hit and there’s
guys that are better punching than I am and he needs to put in
the time like everyone else.”
You
can get comfortable with getting hit through experience even
if your natural reaction is to kind of turn and run away or back
away?
“Oh,
100%, you know, and we’ll been there where Lesnar was. I
mean, unfortunately for him (millions are watching), it was me
five years ago that was comfortable as he was and I worked on
it over time and but with a great, great training camp you know
I’ve got guys like TJ Dillashaw who’s been here 11
months and Chad Mendes has been here two years and Micah Ferguson
who is a wrestler who is not used to getting punched, all these
guys aren’t used to get punched and with the right uh…
techniques and the right experience and the right nurturing environment
in getting hit if there is such a thing, I mean it’s a pretty
simple thing.
“I
just kind of didn’t like the fact that he had so many eyes
on him and had so much influence in this sport and he came off
so bad for this sport after his fight with (Frank) Mir but I
think he’s grown a lot and I would be willing to help him
out if he was really into learning. You know I think there’s
some things, just simple things that would help him out and I
mean he shouldn’t be losing to guys that are 40 pounds lighter
than him.”
Source: Fight Opinion
|
Back
in training, Shogun bets on Lyoto over Rampage
by Carlos
Eduardo Ozório
Since undergoing knee surgery and spending a long spell away
from the octagon, the current light heavyweight champion of the
UFC is back to training wholeheartedly. Still somewhat limited
in movement, Mauício Shogun nevertheless is already training
for his return to combat. Watching closely all the goings on
in his division in the UFC, Shogun breaks down the fight between
his last opponent, Lyoto Machida, and Quinton Jackson, another
who has figured as number one in the light heavyweight division
in the past. Check out what the champ had to say to GRACIEMAG.com:
How’s
training going?
Everything’s
under control, it all went according to plan. It’s been
five months and a week since the operation, so enough time has
passed and I’m back in training. I can’t do everything
one hundred percent yet, but I’m already going at it strong.
What
has this time away been like? What did you do to keep up to date?
I
spent many hours in physiotherapy and I made the most of the
time to be with my family and my daughter, who turned ten months
old yesterday. But I was going to the gym to watch training the
whole time. Now I’m back to training, so I’m happy.
Lyoto will face Rampage this Saturday at UFC 123. What do you
expect for this bout between ex-champions?
They
are two top athletes. Lyoto is really good and it’s hard
to pick up on his game. Rampage is really strong, has a dangerous
hook. But I feel Lyoto will win this one. Either way, it’s
a fight I want to watch.
Have
you started studying your likely next opponent Rashad Evans yet?
I
haven’t focused on anyone yet, if just because the fight
with Rashad isn’t confirmed yet. But it should be against
him, there’s a good likelihood. That’s why I’m
training normally for anybody. A month and a half out from the
fight, I’ll start focusing on it.
Are
you anxious to get back in there?
I’m
taking it easy, no pressure. I’d like to say how my fans
are my true motivation. I’ll give my best to get in the
octagon and pay them back for all the affection I’ve received
from them all this time I’ve been away.
Source: Gracie Magazine
|
BJ
Penn Considered
Training With Hughes Before UFC 123 Fight Offer
By Mike
Chiappetta
DETROIT -- Today, BJ
Penn looks
at Matt Hughes as an obstacle on the way to rediscovering his
mojo. Not long ago, Hughes might have been a tool to help him
find it.
Shortly
after a workout at the Detroit Athletic Club just 48 hours before
his UFC 123 fight with Hughes, the former two-division champion
revealed that in recent months, he thought about training with
his former (and now current) rival.
"I
had no clue we'd fight again," said Penn, who said he's
walking around at 168 pounds about 24 hours before weigh-ins.
"It's great to see he's doing well. He's someone I looked
up to and Matt's back and looking great. I was planning on training
with him before this whole thing but when I was offered it, I
opted to take the fight."
After
losing two straight fights, BJ Penn decided to shake things up.
Most notably, Troy Mandaloniz became his head trainer, replacing
Rudy Valentino in the role. And in his continued quest to learn
and improve his all-around MMA game, it appears the idea to work
with Hughes was a legitimate possibility.
Ironically,
about one year ago, the careers of the two were in exact opposite
spots. Penn (15-7-1) had steamrolled through Diego Sanchez in
a lightweight title defense and many people believed he was the
best pound-for-pound fighter on the planet. Meanwhile, some people
were calling for Hughes to retire after losing three of four.
Yet now Hughes is in the midst of a career rebirth while Penn
is simply trying to get back into the win column.
The
legendary Hawaiian said he'd always hoped that he and Hughes
would get a chance to finish out their respectful rivalry and
produce a winner once and for all, but believed that with every
passing day, the possibility of it was fading.
"I
kind of did give up on it," he said. "I always pictured
us fighting in Aloha Stadium with 40,000 screaming fans. But
then I didn't know what I'd do after I lost two fights to Frankie
[Edgar]. When I got the call I got chicken skin; I was ecstatic.
I went outside and screamed, 'It's happening!'"
Penn's
last foray into welterweight waters didn't end well. In January
2009, he was defeated by Georges St. Pierre, who earned a TKO
stoppage after Penn's corner would not let him come out for the
fifth round.
While
many wonder how a win or loss would effect Penn's place in the
history books, Penn said that long view is something he no longer
concerns himself with.
"I
think every fight I'll always be surrounded by the legacy question,"
he said. "I kind of gave up on the legacy thing for now.
I just want to fight as much as I can. I'm 31. Some people say
I'm young, some say I'm getting older. I just want to enjoy it
and fight as much as I can."
Source: MMA Fighting
|
Ribeiro
and Shivers Ready for Friday's Pivotal Bouts
Friday’s Strikeforce Challengers card is an important day
in the careers of both Vitor “Shaolin” Ribeiro (pictured
above) and Wes Shivers, as each man is in need of a big win.
Ribeiro (20-4) will be looking to reassert his presence in the
upper rankings of the lightweight division, after dropping back-to-back
bouts against Lyle Beerbohm and Shinya Aoki. While Shivers (7-1)
will be looking to demonstrate that he can indeed compete on
the big stage that is Strikeforce, after fighting just once since
September, 2008.
Both
men participated in an open media workout at Knock Out Fitness
in Flowood, Mississippi, earlier in the week, and discussed Friday’s
card. Ribeiro will be facing Justin Wilcox (9-3) in the main
event, while the former NFL player Shivers, will take on heavyweight
Goldman Butler (1-4).
The
event will be hosted by the Jackson Convention Center in Jackson,
Miss., and it will be broadcast on Showtime.
Here
is some of what Ribeiro and Shivers had to say at Wednesday’s
workout.
“This
fight means a lot to me. I’m really happy to be the main
event in this show and I think that’s what motivated me
to train so hard the last few months. I’m just working on
a few things today and sparring a bit, but I feel great and I’m
ready to go for Friday."
“(Wilcox)
sounds like a very powerful wrestler who has good hands. I’ll
be ready to use my game plan, though, based on what I know about
him."
“I
left my last fight to the judges, so I’m going to try to
not make that mistake again and finish the fight in three rounds.
If I can’t, I’m going to dominate the three rounds
and not leave any doubt in anyone’s mind about who won.”
“A
lot of people are saying this guy doesn’t have a good record
and they’re underestimating him. I’m not doing that
by any means. I know the guys he’s fought and I know they’re
super tough and that he’s tough. He wouldn’t have taken
this fight if he wasn’t ready so I’m coming in there
prepared for a war."
“When
I got the phone call to fight in Strikeforce, it was a big deal
to me. Besides the fact that this is in my home state, I’ve
always prided myself in being a local guy who has tried to help
the sport grow here and to be a part of a major organization
when it comes to my hometown means a lot to me."
“I’m
going to go in there showing how hard I worked for this fight
and you never know where that could go with Strikeforce. I’m
hoping to establish a home with them. This fight may have opened
a door for me.”
Some
of the other bouts scheduled for Friday’s Challengers card
include former Ovince St. Preux (7-4) vs. Antwain “The Juggernaut’’
Britt (11-4), Marius Zaromskis (13-5) vs. Waachiim Spirit Wolf
(8-7-1), Jan “Cuddles’’ Finney (8-8) vs. Liz “Girl-Rilla’’
Carmouche (5-0) and Caros “The Future” Fodor (3-0,
1 NC) vs. Derek “The Pretzel’’ Getzel (2-1).
Source: Full Contact Fighter
|
Dave
Meltzer on critics of Mir/Lesnar III: Don’t ’screw
up the best thing for growth’
By Zach
Arnold
I
would encourage you to read this in full. Let’s set the
stage on this and bring some context into the discussion.
Originally,
news broke that Josh Gross was leaving Sports Illustrated to
go to ESPN. This brought up Josh’s last column for SI where
he talks about how UFC should air their foreign events live on
TV in the States because virtually everywhere else gets live
feeds. That’s debate #1.
Debate
#2 is when Dave sounds off about people who don’t want to
see Frank Mir vs. Brock Lesnar III. Dave admits that he has no
desire to see that fight but that people (like MMA writers) who
criticize the fight being booked are hurting ‘the growth
of the business’ because they ‘don’t get business.’
Debate
#3 ends up more or less being a discussion about what the role
of an MMA writer should be — cheerleader or objective analyst?
pro-business or pro-fighter? Realpolitik (UFC mainly) or utopian
(cover UFC and major independents equally)?
There’s
so much ground to cover in the comments that Dave Meltzer made
about Josh Gross that I want you to read his commentary and then
cherry pick at any of the points raised and debate on them.
Quick
personal thoughts — no MMA writer should concern themselves
with pushing ideas simply because ‘it will grow business.’
If you want to be a hack, get into PR — it pays more, too.
No shame in it, but you can’t do both (despite the fact
that a few writers do it now, ineffectively). As far as the live
vs. delayed argument, there’s a simple compromise: have
Spike air the broadcast live and then air the delayed broadcast
for the originally scheduled slot. Not hard. As far as Lesnar/Mir
III, the only real purpose I see in that fight is more or less
a ‘loser leaves town’ match. If Lesnar lost to Mir
again, it could be the type of loss that discourages him from
future fighting. If Mir loses, his stock declines further.
Since
there seems to be some discussion about UFC 122 (more because
of the way the event was aired and produced), here’s an
article talking about some of the results coming up if UFC really
pushes the pedal to the metal with the amount of shows they run
internationally in the next couple of years.
Source: Fight Opinion
|
Drysdale
justifies Griffin’s belt
by Nalty
Junior
Last week, Robert Drysdale promoted one of his most illustrious
students to the rank of black belt in Jiu-Jitsu: former UFC light
heavyweight champion Forrest Griffin.
GRACIEMAG.com
contacted Drysdale at his gym in Las Vegas, where MMA beasts
like Frank Mir, Martin Kampmann, and Griffin go daily to brush
up on their Jiu-Jitsu.
The
truth is that Forrest squashes 95% of the black belts out there”
Robert Drysdale
Did
Forrest deserve his black belt? What’s your assessment of
his Jiu-Jitsu?
Drysdale:
Perhaps all I need to say is that I’ve seen a lot of world
champion black belts get worked over by Forrest in the gi. I’ve
also seen an ADCC champion train with him for ten minutes and
not score a single point. Forrest has competed in the gi before,
and he’s even beaten big-name guys with Jiu-Jitsu C.V.s
What
prompted you to give Forrest his black belt now?
What
defines a black belt? Each teacher has his own criteria –
they’re rarely the same for everybody. Mine are the following,
in this order: character, discipline, technique, results. And
Forrest qualifies according to all of them. He has character,
trains more than anyone else I know, and his showings in the
UFC attest to his technique and results.
What’s
Griffin like as a student?
He
trains every day, loves the sport, and is disciplined and humble,
always asking questions and looking to learn new things. It would
be easy for a guy in his position, a UFC star, to put himself
on a pedestal and think there’s nothing left to learn –
which happens with a lot of people, especially in MMA. But no,
the guy comes to class, does the positions with the white belts,
doesn’t complain, and never asked for special treatment.
Besides technique, his head is that of a Jiu-Jitsu black belt.
He
even ventures a spider-guard every now and again” Drysdale
Does
Forrest train in the gi much?
Sometimes.
Of course, he has no intention of competing in the gi, which
is why it would make no sense for him to train exclusively in
the gi. But the gi teaches us certain things that we wouldn’t
learn without it, and Forrest understands that perfectly well.
He even ventures a spider-guard every now and again.
You
gave a brown belt to Martin Kampmann, another star who demonstrated
a solid ground game in is latest fights, against Paulo Thiago
and Jake Shields… What’s your assessment of his technique?
Martin
has been training with me for some time now, he was one of my
first students here in Vegas. He also has an open mind and likes
to learn. I’ve rarely seen someone evolve so quickly. His
Jiu-Jitsu is obviously focused on MMA, but he is always adding
new positions and submissions to his game. He has a positive
attitude and contributes a lot to the academy.
Why
does so much controversy always arise on the internet when an
MMA star gets his Jiu-Jitsu black belt?
I
think people expect everyone to take the same path to black belt.
Most start as teenagers, train exclusively in the gi; some are
competitors, others not, but most have a similar story. When
someone is promoted and got there by anything other than the
traditional route, it causes suspicion and resentment. But the
truth is that Forrest squashes 95% of the black belts out there.
What
was the experience of being head Jiu-Jitsu coach at Xtreme Couture
like?
It
was cool, I got to train with people with styles that are totally
different from what I’m used to. I made friends and learned
a lot about the sport. I got to help a number of athletes and
I think I can say that I had a positive influence on several
fighters here in Vegas. I also have a great relationship with
Randy Couture and everyone at Xtreme Couture. I still spar over
there twice a week, but now I teach exclusively at my own academy,
Drysdalejiujitsu.com.
How
are Jiu-Jitsu and MMA coming along?
They
are two different sports that evolve differently. There are their
similarities, but one needs to recognize that pure Jiu-Jitsu
doesn’t work on its own anymore. That talk has fossilized,
it’s from the nineteen eighties. There’s a lot to learn
from the other styles, like wrestling, sambo, boxing, muay thai,
judo.
Any
thoughts of competing in the gi in 2011?
I
dedicated eleven years of my life exclusively to competitive
Jiu-Jitsu. I competed at the Worlds, the Brazilian Nationals,
the ADCC, State Championship, Brazilian Team Nationals, etc.
I competed against the best in the world. I won some and lost
others. But to be honest, I’m not interested in competing
anymore. I’m almost thirty years old and don’t intend
to dedicate the rest of my youth to a career competing for fun.
I have other objectives and goals.
Any
final message for the Jiu-Jitsu community and GRACIEMAG.com readers?
Train,
have fun, compete, make friends, train in different styles, try
new positions, keep away from inter-academy rivalries and politics,
as they’ll just hold you back in life. Focus your energy
on your evolution as a fighter and not childish rivalries. Recognize
how we’re all beginners and have much to learn, regardless
of belt color.
Source: Gracie Magazine
|
Hawaii
Ladies Boxing!
Our girls will be boxing live on www.usaboxing.org/live at 4:15 p.m. Hawaii
Time tomorrow (thursday) it's free. My Team boxes against Hungary's
#1 team. USA has the top 4 boxers, Hungary, Poland, and Spain
brought their #1s. Couple of World Champions. Poland's 2 boxers
are ranked #3 in the World. Our team has a day off on friday
then box at the same time on saturday also live.
Lucia Rijker came and talked to our boxers yesterday.
Today Laila Ali hung with us and took pictures and talked to
our boxers.
Not sure who tomorrow.
Thanks, and wish us luck!!
Source: Bruce Kawano |
Hughes
and Penn eager for trilogy
fight
The
term “legendary trilogy” is a staple in boxing. Even
people with little knowledge of the sport know about three-fight
classics like Muhammad Ali vs. Joe Frazier, “Sugar”
Ray Leonard vs. Roberto Duran, Erik Morales vs. Marco Antonio
Barrera and Arturo Gatti vs. Mickey Ward.
Mixed
martial arts doesn’t yet have that kind of trilogy heritage,
partly because when B.J.
Penn and
Matt Hughes go into the cage for the third time at UFC 123 on
Saturday at the Palace in Auburn Hills, Mich., it will be only
the sixth time in company history that a rivalry has spawned
a third fight.
Hughes,
37, a UFC Hall of Famer who was the sport’s dominant welterweight
from 2001-2006, has enjoyed a resurgence in his career. He’s
feasted on an array of Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belts, a close
decision over Matt Serra, finished Serra’s mentor –
an aging Renzo Gracie, and then choking out Gracie’s other
most famous protégé, Ricardo Almeida.
After
the Almeida fight, Hughes indicated he was checking out of the
sport for awhile and wasn’t looking for any fights until
well into 2011. “I was definitely going to take a break,”
said Hughes. “I’d spent the whole year training, fighting,
away from my family. So I wanted to spend some family time. And
of course fall is hunting time, so I wanted to hunt as well.
But when he [UFC president Dana White] comes with the name B.J.,
I kind of felt like I needed to take the fight.
“B.J.
and I were one and one, and we’ve got to see who can win
this last match. So, yeah, it’s a big fight for me. I can
postpone everything else and worry about B.J.”
Penn,
who is coming off consecutive losses to current lightweight champ
Frank Edgar, also didn’t need much encouragement to take
a rematch with Hughes.
“Dana
tried to put together a fight with me and a few guys, and I guess
that fell through. Then Dana offered me the fight with Matt,”
said Penn (15-7-1), a former welterweight and lightweight champion.
“He said Matt’s got some obligations, but he’ll
put those on the side to put together another great fight with
you, and I was really excited.” Saturday’s fight should
hinge on two major dynamics: age and size. Hughes is a little
more than five years older than Penn, and for the past few years
he’s been considered on the downside of his career. Penn
shocked a lot of people over the weekend when he said he was
165 pounds, meaning he’s five pounds under the weight limit
without having to cut weight. Hughes, like most welterweights
at this level, will weigh in around 170, but would likely be
180-185 pounds when the cage door shuts, a significant size advantage.
Hughes
and Penn first met Jan. 31, 2004, when then-welterweight champ
Hughes was riding a 13-fight winning streak and was thought to
be almost unbeatable. Penn’s talent was no secret at the
time, but he had twice failed to win the lightweight title. For
the Hughes fight, Penn was challenging a dominant powerhouse
one weight class up. But as it turned out, Penn dominated the
fight and became UFC welterweight champion.
“Dana
White called me up and said I’ve got a 155-pounder who wants
to move up to fight you,” remembered Hughes. “I was
licking my chops. I really thought I would get a hold of B.J.
Penn, throw him to the ground violently and punch him until the
referee decided he had enough. It didn’t happen that way.
I got put on my back, and he threw a big overhand right that
stunned me.”
Penn
dominated every aspect of the short fight, winning via choke
in 4:39. Penn, after failing in his two prior tries at the title,
was so excited that he kissed Hughes on the lips before celebrating.
“After
the fight, I was in astonishment that I lost,” Hughes recalled.
“B.J. could have kissed me on the lips 20 times as I was
still trying to figure out what happened.”
The
rematch came through an odd twist of circumstances. Penn had
a falling out with Zuffa over signing for a fight in Japan, left
the organization, was stripped of the championship, and Penn
wound up in a court room battle that was more arduous than any
of his fights in the cage.
On
the other hand, Hughes picked himself up like the first Penn
fight had never happened and won five straight, including first-round
stoppages of Georges St. Pierre (where he won the vacant welterweight
title for a second time), Royce Gracie, Joe Riggs and Frank Trigg.
When
Penn returned, he was matched with St. Pierre to determine Hughes’
next challenger, and Penn lost via a close verdict. But St. Pierre
was injured, so on Sept. 23, 2006, in Anaheim, Calif., Hughes
and Penn had a rematch.
It
started off almost exactly like the first meeting. Penn once
again dominated the first round so thoroughly that he got the
label of being the best one-round fighter in the world. Hughes
did perfect set-ups and shots for takedowns, but Penn’s
uncanny balance frustrated Hughes, who couldn’t get him
off his feet.
“At
the end of the first round, my corner said, ‘Your stand-up
is fine, don’t worry about taking him down,’ ”
recalled Hughes. “I was thinking, ‘Even if I lose this
fight, I’m going to take B.J. down.’ ”
That
didn’t work out for the best either. In the second round,
Hughes finally got his takedown. But the end of the second round
was almost identical to the end of Round 1 in the first fight.
This time, Hughes found himself caught in a triangle with about
15 seconds left in the round.
“I
was in a bad spot and I knew it,” Hughes said. “I actually
prayed, ‘God, get me to the next round, and I’ll take
over from there.’ ”
Hughes
survived the round, and Penn, who also suffered a rib injury
during the fight, was out of gas. Penn became a punching bag
in Round 3, Hughes crucifixed his arms and starting firing punches
to Penn’s open head that he could no longer protect, and
the fight was stopped.
“When
people ask me,’What’s your favorite fight?’ I
tend to say ‘B.J. II,’ ” said Hughes. “I
overcame the guy who beat me before.”
Hughes
(46-7) has mentally psyched himself up by saying that in his
mind, losing this fight would be the equivalent of not two, but
three blemishes on an otherwise impressive record.
“There’s
some added motivation here because the way I feel is, if I were
to lose this fight with B.J., it’s losing three fights,”
said Hughes. “But if I win this fight, it’s like winning
three fights.”
This
isn’t the first time Hughes has been involved in a trilogy.
He squared off three times with current champion St. Pierre in
a series featuring arguably the two top fighters in the history
of the welterweight division. In that one, youth ending up being
served as St. Pierre finished Hughes in the final two meetings
and took his spot as one of the great champions in the company’s
history.
The
company’s two most memorable trilogies to date are Randy
Couture vs. Chuck Liddell, with Liddell winning the final two
matches; and Ken Shamrock vs. Tito Ortiz, which were three one-sided
matches won by Ortiz.
The
others weren’t as memorable. Couture had three fights with
Vitor Belfort, dominating two. The lone loss was something of
a fluke, when the seam of Belfort’s glove sliced his eyelid
early in the first round, and the fight had to be stopped for
his safety.
Andrei
Arlovski and Tim Sylvia had three heavyweight title fights in
2005-06. This trilogy was largely considered a bust, but it’s
something of an unfair rap. Arlovski won the first meeting spectacularly
in the first round. The second fight was going the same way,
with Sylvia knocked down and nearly finished. Then out of nowhere,
Sylvia caught Arlovski on the chin in a first-round knockout.
But their third meeting came during the Ortiz vs. Shamrock II
show, which at the time was the biggest pay-per-view event in
company history. The two put on a five-round waltz that many
more people saw than the prior two fights. Sylvia won a decision,
but the fight largely ruined the memory of the two previous explosive
encounters.
Source: Yahoo Sports
|
“I’ve
never seen Belfort beating Anderson”
The
quote above is of Rafael Feijão, current Strikeforce light
heavyweight champion, who trained and followed some sparring
sessions between Vitor Belfort and Anderson Silva, back to the
time when they trained together at Black House. “I’ve
had the opportunity of training with both of them and to see
them training with each other. I’ve never seen Vitor beating
Anderson”, said ‘Feijão’, on a chat with
TATAME, betting on a win of Anderson on the duel, which is scheduled
for February 5 in Las Vegas, United States.
“I
believe a lot on Anderson’s game, not because he trains
with me, but because he’s a hard guy to fight against, and
I taste a bit of it every single day. He’s a very versatile
guy, changes his style a lot, has the capacity of playing any
kind of game, he can play standing up or on the floor”,
commented Feijão, pointing out the superiority on the
heart item. “He proved on his last fight he handles to be
hit for 23 minutes and still win the fight. Heart is everything.
On a fight, the guy has to have a heart, be a warrior and, on
this last item, Anderson is way ahead”.
Coming
from a rib injury, aggravated during the fight against Chael
Sonnen, Anderson need to stay off the trainings for a while,
but Feijão tells that the champion already is training
normally in Rio de Janeiro. “We were training together since
before I went to Cuiabá, but he was still feeling his
rib a little. But he’s fine now”, comments Rafael,
believing that the duel will be unforgettable. “He will
be on his peak, it’ll be the fight of the year. On the two
or three initial minutes, Vitor is dangerous for anyone. Anderson
is an athlete, complete. I’m crazy to see how this fight
will be like, it’ll be a great fight”, concluded.
Source: Tatame
|
“Tá
Danado” celebrates quick submission
UFC
122, which happened Saturday afternoon in Germany, started in
great style. Pushed by the local fans, the Brazilian Carlos Eduardo
“Tá Danado” Rocha, who currently lives and teaches
Jiu-Jitsu on the country, gave a real show against Kris McCray.
In a little bit over two minutes of fight, he took the fight
to the ground, got a beautiful sweep and got rid of the opponent,
who was on his back, attacking his knee and got the tap out.
“I’ve
trained a lot with Master (Roberto) Gordo and here it is”,
celebrates “Tá Danado”, pupil of Dárcio
Lira, on a chat with TATAME, directly from Germany, commenting
about the help of the Brazilian trainings for the bout. “It
was really tough, but it helped me a lot this living with experienced
people, like Zé Mário Sperry, Leo, Eduardo Pachu,
Cesário, Pato and all of the team of Gordo Evolve Jiu-Jitsu”,
comments.
Despite
getting to UFC with eight wins in eight fights, seven of them
being conquered on the first round, the Brazilian tells he wasn’t
hoping for a quick win. “I was prepared for the whole 15
minutes, but I’ll always finish. I’m very happy because
I had the fans in my favor. It was great, I really felt at home”,
celebrated the tough guy, revealing the possibility of training
in Brazil again to achieve his goal: “I want to get up there,
among the champions”, concluded.
Source: Tatame
|
Yushin
Okami Has Unfinished Business With Anderson Silva
It’s
been over four years since Yushin Okami met Anderson Silva at
Rumble on the Rock in Hawaii in the first round of their 175-pound
tournament, but the Japanese fighter still believes the two have
unfinished business.
After
snatching a takedown in the opening round, Okami looked to open
up his offense from the top, but Silva fired back with an illegal
up-kick that absolutely floored him While it has to be considered
one of the nastiest kicks ever in MMA, it was also illegal because
Okami’s knees were on the mat.
Okami
was laid out on the mat, hurting for several minutes, and simply
could not continue. Silva was disqualified and lost the fight.
That was the last time Anderson Silva ever tasted defeat.
Following
the fight, Silva said that he never completely had the rules
properly explained to him before the bout started, and did not
know the kick was deemed illegal. Okami went on to the finals
of the tournament where he lost to Jake Shields, but there was
always some bad blood left brewing between the two fighters.
Fast
forward to 2010 and Okami’s win over Nate Marquardt, and
the Japanese fighter is now in line to fight for the UFC middleweight
championship. While Okami will fight the winner of Anderson Silva
vs. Vitor Belfort, it’s very clear who the new No. 1 contender
wants to fight when he gets his title shot.
“Fighting
against Anderson Silva is one of my goals,” Okami said after
the win at UFC 122. “I would like to fight against the middleweight
champion Anderson Silva, so I hope he wins the next fight.”
Strong
words from Okami, who will likely be sitting front and center
when Silva meets Belfort in February at UFC 126, knowing he’ll
get the winner later in 2011.
Silva
has never backed down from wanting a bit of revenge on Okami
too. Following their first fight, rumors abounded close to the
Silva camp that they believed Okami was milking the stoppage,
and could have continued, but chose not to.
Whether
the fight was four years ago or not, that past is soon going
to be dug up if Yushin Okami and Anderson Silva do indeed meet
for the UFC middleweight title next year.
Source: Yahoo Sports
|
Rampage
Keeps It Simple In Describing Lyoto Machida: He’s Boring
It’s
pretty clear heading into the main event of UFC 123 how Quinton
“Rampage” Jackson would describe his opponent Lyoto
Machida.
Boring.
Jackson
has never shied away from throwing out his opinion about the
former light heavyweight champion, and even before the two were
scheduled to fight he was never a huge fan of Machida’s
style in the cage.
Now
that the light heavyweights are set to lock horns this weekend
in Detroit, Rampage has made it clear that he’s not going
to change his opinion about Machida just because he’s fighting
him now.
“Why
would it change because I’m matched up with him? Why would
I change how I like his fighting style just because I’m
matched up with him?” Jackson said recently.
It’s
Machida’s “karate point” style that drives Jackson
crazy. While he respects the Brazilian for what he’s able
to do in the Octagon, that doesn’t mean he’s going
to be in the front row leading his cheering section. He also
believes that what Machida does in MMA mirrors what happens in
the sport of boxing and that’s definitely not what Rampage
wants for the sport.
“I’m
prepared for a fight. I’d rather fight people who’s
going to put on a show like me and stand and bang. I feel like
those people are true warriors, the true fighters like the way
B.J. Penn fights and Matt (Hughes) fights. I like watching guys
like that fight. Other guys I’m not a fan of them at all,”
Jackson stated.
“I
just feel like I have a fighting spirit, a true warrior spirit.
When you step in the octagon, you fight. It’s not like boxing
where guys are trying to outpoint each other and go for a decision.
We’re MMA fighters, we’re the best athletes in the
world. I just hate to see our sport change into boxing where
people just not even fighting anymore. I can’t even watch
a boxing match anymore.”
Machida’s
style has caused problems for past opponents, regardless of how
aggressive he’s been in fights. With an 8-1 record in the
UFC, Machida has proven just how lethal his attack can be, but
Jackson refuses to fear his opponent in any way.
“I’m
not worried about anything,” he said. “I trained really
hard for this fight in all aspects. The fight’s going to
go the way it’s going to go, and I’m not going to worry,
I’m just going to fight. Fighting my fight, not worrying
about anything that Machida does.”
What
Machida does, according to Rampage, is stay away from his opponents
and not get hit.
“I’ve
watched tapes of him fight. I can’t stay up he’s so
boring, I go to sleep,” Rampage told CBS Late Late Show
host Craig Ferguson recently. “He stays like eight feet
away from his opponent, and he’s got the record for getting
punched the least out of all MMA fighters… cause he’s
never there for you to punch him.”
Rampage
hopes to remedy that statistic when he faces Machida in Detroit
at UFC 123.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
Jon
Fitch Throws His Name In To Coach The Ultimate Fighter
The
“Ultimate Fighter” bug has apparently bitten another
UFC star.
Welterweight
Jon Fitch spent time on the 12th season of “The Ultimate
Fighter” when he was brought in as a guest coach and training
partner to help out close friend and American Kickboxing Academy
teammate Josh Koscheck.
While
Fitch’s time on the show was brief, it gave him a taste
of how the show works and what it’s like to work with a
team of young, hungry up and comers. The experience was enough
in that short time that he asked UFC president Dana White to
consider him as a coach for a future season.
“It
would be cool, I’d really like to do it. I actually talked
to Dana about it, and told him that I was interested if ever
the opportunity came around,” Fitch told MMAWeekly Radio
about coaching on the show.
Fitch
went out to Las Vegas to help the current crop of fighters train
and prepare, and when he had to go back to San Jose, Calif.,
to get back into his own training camp, he knew that he had the
desire to go and coach a team of his own some day.
“Just
the week that I got to spend with the guys, it’s hard to
give your knowledge and give effort and time to some guys and
then have to walk away,” Fitch said. “So I really wanted
to keep going back, but I had to get ready for Thiago Alves,
so I had to get back to AKA and train.”
That
was during filming of the series, which took place several months
prior to it airing on Spike TV. Fitch is currently back in camp
getting ready for his Feb. 5 showdown against Jake Ellenberger
at UFC 126, but with one of the best winning percentages in UFC
history, the former Purdue wrestler is never too far away from
title contention.
Depending
on how things shake out in the next several months in the welterweight
title picture, with his teammate, Koscheck, facing Georges St-Pierre
and then Jake Shields getting the next shot, Fitch may have to
wait a while to battle for the belt, but that doesn’t mean
he won’t try other avenues like “The Ultimate Fighter.”
Source: MMA Weekly
|
Anderson
Silva vs Georges St-Pierre, Who Is Pound-for-Pound Best?
Pound-for-Pound
Best Fighter on the Planet
It’s
an elusive title that typically compares fighters that have little
to no chance of fighting each other because of their respective
weight classes.
In
boxing, it’s very difficult to argue that Manny Pacquiao,
after his recent drubbing of Antonio Margarito, isn’t the
current pound-for-pound best boxer in the world, if not the best
in boxing’s storied history. He has now won world titles
in eight different weight classes ranging from 112 to 150 pounds.
That’s a fairly wide swing in combat sports.
The
argument, however, rages on in the mixed martial arts world.
While
several names dot the fringe of the argument – Jose Aldo,
Fedor Emelianenko, Frankie Edgar, Jon Fitch – the focus
centers on two men, Anderson Silva and Georges St-Pierre.
St-Pierre
has lost just twice in his career in 22 attempts, once to Matt
Hughes and once to Matt Serra. He has avenged both, even defeating
Hughes twice following the initial loss. He’s also bested
the likes of B.J. Penn, Josh Koscheck, Thiago Alves, Dan Hardy,
Jon Fitch, and numerous other top tier fighters.
Silva’s
record currently sits at 27-4, but he hasn’t lost a fight
in more than four years, dating back to before he set foot in
the Octagon. His streak sits at 13 straight victories over the
likes of Chael Sonnen, Demian Maia, Forrest Griffin, Rich Franklin,
Dan Henderson, and Nate Marquardt.
Most
fans and pundits sit whole-heartedly on one side of the fence
or the other. You’re either solidly in St-Pierre’s
camp, saying he is the pound-for-pound best, or you’re singing
the praises of Silva.
One
man who is squarely on the side of Anderson Silva is UFC president
Dana White.
“The
thing is about Anderson Silva, the guy hasn’t lost since
2006, and he’s actually moved up in weight class and beat
guys at 205, too. When people try to argue with me that this
guy isn’t the pound-for-pound best fighter in the world,
it’s crazy,” said White recently.
He
makes a solid point. While St-Pierre has defeated many of the
top fighters in the world, they have all been in his weight class
at 170 pounds. The current UFC welterweight champion hasn’t
moved up or down over the course of his career. Silva has.
Winning
the Shooto 167-pound divisional title in just his sixth professional
fight, by defeating vaunted Japanese fighter Hayato “Mach”
Sakurai, Silva has fought at several different weights. He moved
up and captured titles at middleweight, dropped back down to
compete at 176 pounds, and even bounced up for a couple of fights
at 205 pounds, including his utter destruction of Forrest Griffin,
a former UFC light heavyweight champion.
In
an argument about the pound-for-pound best, it’s difficult
to argue against a guy that has fought, like Manny Pacquiao in
boxing, at so many different weights.
“Even
a fight where he’s getting beat for 4.75 rounds and then
pulls out the armbar and wins the fight, that’s the stuff
that makes you a legend,” added White, referring to his
recent win over Chael Sonnen at UFC 117. “This guy has won
by knockout, he’s won by submission, he’s won every
way you could possibly win.
“And
the other thing people don’t give this guy credit for, he’s
36 years old. I think some people think this guy’s 26 or
something. He’s 36 years old and he’s still dominant.
Every fight he’s had hasn’t been a highlight reel knockout
or whatever, but the guy continues to win and beat the best in
the world.”
So
does St-Pierre, but again, Silva has done it in multiple weight
classes, more often than not with devastating results.
Fans
– and UFC CEO Lorenzo Fertitta – have long yearned
for a showdown between Silva and St-Pierre, and unlike many fighters
that are considered among the pound-for-pound best, these two
could actually fight some day.
At
170 pounds, St-Pierre is rather large for his weight class, and
Silva, currently ruling the roost at 185 pounds, has fought down
that low before. Whether he would or could do it again remains
to be seen, but even a catchweight superfight wouldn’t be
out of the realm of possibility for these two kingpins.
But
until that fight happens, or one or the other of them falters,
the argument will rage on…
Who
is the pound-for-pound best mixed martial arts fighter on the
planet?
Source: MMA Weekly
|
MMA
Top 10 Rankings: Faber Moves Over, Okami Moves Up
MMA
Top 10 World RankingsThe latest MMAWeekly.com World MMA Rankings
were released on Wednesday, November 17. This system ranks the
Top 10 MMA fighters from all across the world in each of the
seven most widely accepted weight classes.
Taken
into consideration are a fighter’s performance in addition
to his win-loss record, head-to-head and common opponents, difficulty
of opponents, and numerous other factors in what is the most
comprehensive rankings system in the sport.
Fighters
who are currently serving drug-related suspensions are not eligible
for Top 10 consideration until they have fought one time after
the completion of their suspension.
Fighters
must also have competed within the past 12 months in order to
be eligible for Top 10 consideration unless they have a bout
scheduled within a reasonable time frame.
Below
are the current MMAWeekly.com World MMA Rankings, which are up-to-date
as of November 17.
HEAVYWEIGHT
DIVISION (over 205 pounds)
1. Cain Velasquez
2. Fabricio Werdum
3. Fedor Emelianenko
4. Brock Lesnar
5. Junior Dos Santos
6. Shane Carwin
7. Alistair Overeem
8. Frank Mir
9. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
10. Brett Rogers
LIGHT
HEAVYWEIGHT DIVISION (205-pound limit)
1. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua
2. Lyoto Machida
3. Rashad Evans
4. Quinton Jackson
5. Forrest Griffin
6. Ryan Bader
7. Jon Jones
8. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira
9. Thiago Silva
10. Randy Couture
MIDDLEWEIGHT
DIVISION (185-pound limit)
1. Anderson Silva
2. Yushin Okami
3. Nathan Marquardt
4. Demian Maia
5. Dan Henderson
6. Robbie Lawler
7. Jorge Santiago
8. Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza
9. Michael Bisping
10. Hector Lombard
WELTERWEIGHT
DIVISION (170-pound limit)
1. Georges St-Pierre
2. Jon Fitch
3. Jake Shields
4. Josh Koscheck
5. Thiago Alves
6. Paul Daley
7. Nick Diaz
8. Martin Kampmann
9. Carlos Condit
10. Matt Hughes
LIGHTWEIGHT
DIVISION (160-pound limit)
1. Frankie Edgar
2. Gilbert Melendez
3. Shinya Aoki
4. Gray Maynard
5. B.J.
Penn
6. Eddie Alvarez
7. Tatsuya Kawajiri
8. Kenny Florian
9. Ben Henderson
10. Jim Miller
FEATHERWEIGHT
DIVISION (145 pound-limit)
1. Jose Aldo
2. Manny Gamburyan
3. Mike Brown
4. Josh Grispi
5. Marlon Sandro
6. Diego Nunes
7. Michihiro Omigawa
8. Bibiano Fernandes
9. Chad Mendes
10. Joe Warren
BANTAMWEIGHT
DIVISION (135 pounds or less)
1. Dominick Cruz
2. Brian Bowles
3. Scott Jorgensen
4. Joseph Benavidez
5. Miguel Torres
6. Urijah Faber
7. Brad Pickett
8. Demetrious Johnson
9. Masakatsu Ueda
10. Damacio Page
Source: MMA Weekly
|
UFC
122 Postmortem: Okami Wins, Marquardt Frozen
For
his efforts against the dangerous Nate Marquardt Saturday at
UFC 122 in Germany, Yushin Okami may have earned himself a nice,
warm spot on a bench; the No.1 ranked middleweight -- at least
for as long as Chael Sonnen tries to restore his name amid steroid
allegations -- in the UFC has been promised a title shot against
Anderson Silva. But when and how that happens wasn’t part
of the guarantee.
Silva
fights Vitor Belfort in February; if he and Georges St. Pierre
both win their respective bouts (St. Pierre fights in December),
there’s absolutely no better time to make that pound-for-pound
fight happen. If fans get what they want, Okami might be a year
away from contention.
Does
he continue to fight, as Chuck Liddell did when Tito Ortiz ran
around in circles years ago? Or does he take a cue from Rashad
Evans and find a comfortable chair until he’s delivered
what’s been promised? A title shot and especially a title
win can be a lucrative achievement. But “inactive fighter”
is an oxymoron. If you’re fit to fight, go fight.
Next
for Okami: A long vacation: even if Silva is ready post-Belfort,
a title shot would still be six months away.
Next
for Marquardt: Tumbling back down the ladder; maybe Yoshihiro
Akiyama, in what would likely be an exciting kiss-off for the
latter.
Next
for Amir Sadollah: Continuing to occupy a strange negative zone
of credible striking with relatively little wrestling or explosiveness;
the winner of next weekend’s Dennis Hallman/Karo Parisyan
bout.
Awards
Truth-Stretching
Award Mike Goldberg, for declaring Okami “the last man to
beat Anderson Silva.” Technically true? Yeah, yeah. But
Silva disqualifying himself for throwing an illegal kick is an
important detail to leave out.
Tape-Delayed
Reaction Award Spike, for using the stuttered broadcast from
Germany as an excuse to stretch round breaks from one minute
to two. Because Axe commercials get that much funnier the eighth
time around.
Commitment
Award Bruce Buffer, for addressing the crowd in German. The man
will remain the most entertaining microphone presence in fighting
until Manny Pacquiao decides to sing his own national anthem.
Bad
Omen Award B.J. Penn, for telling Joe Rogan -- and everyone watching
-- that he’s returned to a more basic training regimen.
Possible translation: I’m my own best coach.
Has
the UFC mastered the art of the hard sell?
Anderson
Silva taking on Yushin Okami might be a necessary fight, but
it’s not one that will freeze Ticketmaster’s server.
Sometimes sports and entertainment veer off in opposite directions.
Because
fights like this present themselves as difficult to sell, there’s
often a strange sympathy afforded to promoters, as though they
got stuck with a particularly obscure Pictionary clue to decipher.
But practice makes a good tutor: in footage leading into the
fight with Nate Marquardt Saturday, careful editing make Okami
look like a stunt man; a strong co-main can virtually shut down
complaints. The criticism over January’s Frankie Edgar/Gray
Maynard main event? Muted since WEC/UFC featherweight Jose Aldo
was added. Those weight classes might wind up being the promotion’s
artificial sweetener.
Is
Greg Jackson hurting the cause?
UFC
President Dana White blasted Marquardt post-fight for playing
too conservative a game, dropping the idea that trainer Greg
Jackson was partially to blame. “I mean, Nate Marquardt
sat here tonight and said that he thought he won the fight. Where
the [expletive] is his corner?” (White was quoted by MMAJunkie.com.)
“You go into the last round and you're getting outstruck
by a wrestler, and you think you won the fight? And this is consistent
with the Greg Jackson camp.”
Jackson’s
fighters have the same identifying threads you could apply to
certain director trademarks: none fight foolishly, and most value
winning over pleasing the crowd. Even Melvin Guillard, who fought
like he was shot out of a cannon pre-Jackson, looked sedated
in his most recent fight. It’s hard to mount much debate
in a win, but when you bore in a losing effort, you have no leverage.
Grabbing
your own shorts: bad rule?
Krzysztof
Soszynski earned a decision over Goran Reljic, but the door was
open for a finish when Soszynski worked a bread-and-butter Kimura
on Reljic’s arm in the first round. Obstacle: Reljic kept
his arm out of danger by grabbing a fistful of his own shorts.
It’s
a legal maneuver. Should it be? Typically, anything artificial
that could disrupt the natural course of a bout -- grabbing the
fence, holding on to your opponent’s shorts or gloves --
is prohibited. Equipment is necessary, obviously -- the Greeks
were far less shy about that sort of thing -- but they shouldn’t
become variables in a fight. Reljic should’ve kept his hands
off himself.
Notes
•
The UFC paid Jorge Rivera both his show and win money despite
opponent Alessio Sakara dropping out of the fight due to illness,
according to MMAJunkie.com. If Rivera still insists on complaining,
he was probably lined up for Knockout of the Night, a $60,000
bonus that went to Karlos Vemola for spaz-hammering Seth Petruzelli.
It would be surprising to see Petruzelli in the UFC again.
•
On the heels of a countrywide blackout on television, the UFC
saw a 30% dip in attendance for their second show in Germany.
•
Inevitably, far more people will have paid for the Antonio Margarito/Manny
Pacquiao fight in Texas Saturday than watched the UFC for free
on basic cable. And thanks to Pacquiao’s win -- catharsis
for any feeling human loathing Margarito for his loaded gloves
and mocking of Parkinson’s sufferers -- boxing’s Last
Big Fight with Floyd Mayweather remains viable. The numbers,
though, aren’t sport-specific: it’s that Pacquiao is
one of the two biggest draws in combat sports at the moment.
No other prizefighter in any sport wins a head-to-head ratings
battle with him.
•
Worth a double take: Joe Rogan calling Amir Sadollah’s muay
Thai “some of the very best” in the sport. Sadollah
is good, but reserve that comment for strikers who can actually
finish.
Source: Sherdog
|
Faber
drops Mizugaki on an exciting WEC
The
last but one edition of WEC before its fusion with UFC was a
great show for MMA fans, and who leaded the American party was
Urijah Faber, who put the Japanese Takeya Mizugaki to sleep on
the second round. Among the Brazilians, 50% success rate with
the win of Raphael Assunção. Check below the best
moments of WEC 52:
FABER
DEBUTS IN GREAT FASHION
Former
champion of the featherweight, Urijah Faber decided to change
to a lighter division due to the drubbing José Aldo made
him go through, and he proved that the new weight class fit him
quite well. Chosen to confront the Japanese Takeya Mizugaki,
the Californian did a nice job and, in the end of the first round,
he tried to fit a guillotine choke. The Japanese got down in
order to escape, but opened the way for Faber to grab his back
and fit some hooks. Mizygaki stood up, but it was a matter of
time of Urijah to fit a rear naked choke. The Japanese didn’t
tap out and fell asleep at 10 seconds for the round to finish.
WAGNNEY
SUBMITTED ON THE SECOND ROUND
The
only Brazilian on the main card of the event, Wagnney Fabiano
suffered the second loss by submission of his career. Having
his opponent replaced at the last minute, Wagnney stood up on
most part of the first round with Joseph Benavidez, going to
the floor only on the second round. The Brazilian had to work
hard to escape from two guillotine chokes, passing his opponent’s
guard, but his opponent managed to change the scene and attacked
him on the neck for the third time, and got the win on this one.
Keeping
the tradition of exciting fights, the other bouts of the main
card cheered the people up in Las Vegas. With a beautiful high
kick, Erik Koch brought Francisco Rivera down in only 96 seconds
of combat. On a busy fight, Demetrious Johnson showed a sharp
guillotine choke against Damacio Page, winning on the third round.
On one of the less busy fights of the show, Chad Mendes dominated
the “guardian” Javier Vazquez with his ground and pound,
and now remains unbeaten with nine wins and dreams of a title
shot against José Aldo.
RAPHAEL
ASSUNÇÃO BACK FOR THE WINS
The
Brazilian Raphael Assunção needed a win to remain
on the event after two negative results, and had a hard one on
his way. With only one loss on his professional record, suffered
against the next challenger for the belt, LC Davis was a tough
guy on the Brazilian’s way up, but he took care of it. After
almost submitting his opponent with a guillotine choke and an
armbar on the initial round, Raphael controlled the way things
go on the following rounds, getting the win on a unanimous decision.
Among
the preliminary bouts, Michael McDonald and Dustin Poirier kept
alive their tradition on WEC of making exciting fights for the
fans. The first, with an excellent ground game, only needed less
than three minutes to submit Clint Godfrey with an armbar. Next,
Dustin beat quickly Zack Micklewright, getting the win by TKO
in 53 seconds. Six seconds before the last round ended, Anthony
Njokuani got a knockout over Edward Faaloloto.
FULL
RESULTS:
WEC
52
Las
Vegas, Nevada, United States
Thursday,
November 11 of 2010
Main
card:
-
Urijah Faber submitted Takeya Mizugaki with a rear naked choke
at 4min50s of 1R;
-
Chad Mendes beat Javier Vazquez on na unanimous decision of the
judges;
-
Erik Koch beat Francisco Rivera by TKO at 1min36s of 1R;
-
Joseph Benavidez submitted Wagnney Fabiano with a guillotine
choke at 2min45s of 2R;
-
Demetrious Johnson submitted Damacio Page with a guillotine choke
at 2min27s of 3R;
Preliminary
card:
-
Raphael Assunção beat LC Davis on a unanimous decision
of the judges;
-
Anthony Njokuani beat Edward Faaloloto by TKO at 4min54s of 2R;
-
Dustin Poirier beat Zack Micklewright by TKO at 53s of 1R;
-
Michael McDonald submitted Clint Godfrey with na armbar at 2min42s
of 1R;
-
Cub Swanson beat Mackens Semerzier on a split decision of the
judges;
-
Yves Jabouin beat Brandon Visher on a unanimous decision of the
judges.
Source: Tatame
|
Krzysztof
Soszynski Believes He Broke His Hand Against Goran Reljic At
UFC 122
Krzysztof
Soszynski showed up at the “UFC 122: Marquardt vs. Okami”
post-fight press conference with his right hand bandaged and
feels he broke it somewhere in the second or early third round
in his unanimous decision win over Goran Reljic in Oberhausen,
Germany on Saturday.
Krzysztof Soszynski at UFC 110
Krzysztof
Soszynski at UFC 110
“I’m
pretty sure it’s broken. I hurt it at the end of the second
round or right at the start of the third,” Soszynski told
the media following his UFC 122 win. “My hand was on fire
during the third round. It was on fire. I couldn’t feel
anything in it the whole third round. I was just swinging away
trying to finish him.”
Soszynski
won the stand-up exchanges throughout the fight and took over
in the third round with a possible broken weapon.
“The
Polish Experiment” didn’t know exactly when or what
strike injured his hand, just that it happened either at the
end of the second round or the start of the third.
“I
have no idea,” responded Soszynski when asked when he felt
he broke his hand. “All I know is the third round I couldn’t
feel a thing. I have no idea what punch it was. It was right
at the beginning of the third round or at the end of the second.
The whole round it was terrible. I just couldn’t feel a
thing. I was just winging away as much as I could as hard as
I could.”
Soszynski
will get his hand examined later and MMAWeekly.com will report
the diagnosis and prognosis as it becomes available.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
Nate
Marquardt Not Sure What Went Wrong, But Still Vows Title Run
Following
his loss to Yushin Okami at UFC 122 on Saturday, former top middleweight
contender Nate Marquardt didn’t offer up excuses for why
he didn’t win, but he also wasn’t sure why things went
down the way they did.
Falling
prey to the Okami style of attack, Marquardt definitely had his
moments in the 15-minute fight, but was tentative for much of
the bout, never truly letting his hands go to land any significant
damage.
Looking
back on the performance, Marquardt believes he did enough to
win the fight, but also understands that he didn’t see exactly
what the judges saw sitting cageside.
“I
felt great coming into this fight. I felt like I had a great
camp, mentally I felt ready, felt like I had a great game plan,
and honestly in the fight I felt like I was landing the harder
shots and when he was catching me it wasn’t really affecting
me. The judges perceive it as he’s controlling the fight,”
Marquardt said. “I felt I did enough to win, but I wasn’t
a spectator, I was in the fight, so it’s hard for me to
say.”
Time
after time in the fight, both Marquardt and Okami landed their
fair amount of strikes with the Denver based fighter also hitting
a few takedowns. For Okami’s part, he stayed the more aggressive
fighter throughout, and pushed the pace for much of the three
rounds.
Marquardt
believes that when damage was being done, he was the one doing
it, but not enough to sway the judges to his side.
“Inside
the fight I felt like I was winning. I was landing the harder
shots, I rocked him like three times, I was getting takedowns,”
Marquardt explained. “I don’t know what went wrong
at this point. I have to watch the tape, and I have to study
it with my coaches and really figure out what happened.”
Having
the right strategy and following the strategy are two different
things as well, and Marquardt knows there were times in the fight
that he didn’t pull the trigger when he probably should
have.
“I
think part of it was I didn’t put the combinations together
as much as I usually do, that could be part of it. I’m really
not sure at this point,” said Marquardt.
The
last two fights that Marquardt has had with a title shot on the
line, he’s come up just short. Never deterred, Marquardt
still has a fire inside of him to one day be the UFC middleweight
champion. So, for now, he’ll get back on the horse and face
the next tough opponent that gives him a chance to get back to
the top.
“Either
way, I’m still one of the best and I’m going to get
back in there and be the champ one day,” said Marquardt
in closing.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
Yushin
Okami Has Unfinished Business With Anderson Silva
It’s
been over four years since Yushin Okami met Anderson Silva at
Rumble on the Rock in Hawaii in the first round of their 175-pound
tournament, but the Japanese fighter still believes the two have
unfinished business.
After
snatching a takedown in the opening round, Okami looked to open
up his offense from the top, but Silva fired back with an illegal
up-kick that absolutely floored him While it has to be considered
one of the nastiest kicks ever in MMA, it was also illegal because
Okami’s knees were on the mat.
Okami
was laid out on the mat, hurting for several minutes, and simply
could not continue. Silva was disqualified and lost the fight.
That was the last time Anderson Silva ever tasted defeat.
Following
the fight, Silva said that he never completely had the rules
properly explained to him before the bout started, and did not
know the kick was deemed illegal. Okami went on to the finals
of the tournament where he lost to Jake Shields, but there was
always some bad blood left brewing between the two fighters.
Fast
forward to 2010 and Okami’s win over Nate Marquardt, and
the Japanese fighter is now in line to fight for the UFC middleweight
championship. While Okami will fight the winner of Anderson Silva
vs. Vitor Belfort, it’s very clear who the new No. 1 contender
wants to fight when he gets his title shot.
“Fighting
against Anderson Silva is one of my goals,” Okami said after
the win at UFC 122. “I would like to fight against the middleweight
champion Anderson Silva, so I hope he wins the next fight.”
Strong
words from Okami, who will likely be sitting front and center
when Silva meets Belfort in February at UFC 126, knowing he’ll
get the winner later in 2011.
Silva
has never backed down from wanting a bit of revenge on Okami
too. Following their first fight, rumors abounded close to the
Silva camp that they believed Okami was milking the stoppage,
and could have continued, but chose not to.
Whether
the fight was four years ago or not, that past is soon going
to be dug up if Yushin Okami and Anderson Silva do indeed meet
for the UFC middleweight title next year.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
Rolles
Gracie to face seasoned opponent
With
three submission wins and one loss (precisely on his shot at
a career in the UFC), Rolles Gracie is back to training full
on for his next commitment. On January 8 the black belt will
make an appearance at Shine Fights.
Rolles
will have across the cage from him the experienced Mike Ciesnolevicz,
who holds a record of 18 wins in 23 fights (4l, 1nc) and has
been through major promotions like the UFC and the IFL.
Another
former UFC fighter confirmed for the show is Efrain Escudero,
a The Ultimate Fighter reality show winner.
Source: Gracie Magazine
|
Murilo
Bustamante receives yet another black belt
In
November 1991, Murilo Bustamante became one of the most notorious
figures in Jiu-Jitsu. On the 26th of the month, the Carlson Gracie
black belt overcame Marcelo Mendes in an epic encounter against
representatives of the luta livre style, at a time of heated
rivalry between the two modalities.
Time
went by and MMA events and teams became professional. The Brazilian
Top Team – between athletes and trainers – now has
a number of luta livre black belts, among them Milton Vieira,
Sérgio Babu, and Eraldo Paes.
“The
world goes full turn and I feel honored for this tribute. These
days professionalism is the name of the game and I have lots
of luta livre kids here at BTT. There was a challenge fight and
I represented Jiu-Jitsu, but I never had anything personal against
anyone. To me it’s a great honor and a tribute,” remarks
Bustamante.
The
black belt will be awarded by Coach Eduardo Paes and certified
by black belt Daniel D’Dane. Other illustrious figures will
be promoted too.
“His
diploma is ready and signed by me and Eraldo, it just has to
arrive in Rio. There will be others promoted as well, like Rousimar
Toquinho,” says D’Dane.
Source: Gracie Magazine
|
UFC
122 main-card recap: Okami decisions Marquardt, earns title shot
OBERHAUSEN,
Germany UFC middleweight contender Yushin Okami didn't exactly
bring the thunder, but the durable Japanese brute did outmatch
the highly respected Nate Marquardt over the course of their
15-minute affair.
In
a contest arranged to determine the next challenger to the UFC's
middleweight crown, Okami stifled Marquardt for three rounds
and was awarded a unanimous-decision victory.
The
bout served as the main event for Saturday's "UFC 122: Marquardt
vs. Okami," which took place Saturday at Konig Pilsener
Arena in Oberhausen, Germany, and aired via same-day tape delay
in the U.S.
The
opening round saw Marquardt establish top position early after
stuffing an Okami takedown attempt. The advantage would be short-lived
after Okami was able to pull free from a Marquardt guillotine-choke
attempt and take his turn in the dominant position.
There
was little action on the floor, and Okami elected to return to
feet. On the way, he evaded Marquardt's attempt to finish the
fight with a leglock. After some brief exchanges on the feet
and in the clinch, Okami scored a late takedown that appeared
to help him seal the round.
The
second-round was equally well-matched with each fighter looking
to take the other to the canvas. Okami was driven to a sitting
position briefly, but neither was able to work to an advantageous
position. A flurry in the final seconds saw both fighters land
significant strikes, though it seemed to favor Marquardt slightly,
and it appeared the fight would be decided in the final frame.
With
the grappling game proving a relative stalemate, Okami turned
to his much-improved striking skills in the final frame, and
the gamble paid off.
Working
a stiff jab, Okami cut Marquardt and grabbed the momentum. Marquardt
wouldn't go away quietly, and he stood and traded in the pocket
while also mixing in a successful takedown. However, Okami popped
right back up and resumed his punching pursuit. When the final
bell sounded, Okami was awarded a unanimous-decision win, with
scores of 29-28, 30-27 and 29-28.
Prior
to the fight, UFC president Dana White promised the winner of
the UFC 122 matchup a shot at the middleweight title, and Okami
will now wait for the winner of a February bout between current
champ Anderson Silva and top contender Vitor Belfort.
Okami
(26-5 MMA, 10-2 UFC), who has won six of his past seven fights,
owns a 2006 win over Silva, though it came via technicality after
"The Spider" was disqualified for landing an illegal
upkick from which his opponent could not continue.
Meanwhile,
Marquardt (30-10-2 MMA, 9-4 UFC) must go back to the drawing
board once again after dropping a No. 1 contender fight for the
second time in his past three trips to the cage.
Siver
wows countrymen in first-round stoppage
While
UFC middleweight sluggers Jorge Rivera and Alessio Sakara were
expected to meet in the evening's co-main event, the Italian
boxer was forced to withdraw from the event at that last moment
after suffering flu-like symptoms. UFC officials said Sakara
wanted to compete despite his condition, but the promotion was
forced to pull the fighter when he was vomiting backstage mere
hours before he was scheduled to compete.
To
fill the role, the UFC turned to lightweight bangers Dennis Siver
and Andre Winner, who were expected to deliver fireworks. In
the end, it was the German native who provided the fight's highlights.
After
a few brief exchanges on the feet, Winner leaped in to strike,
but Siver delivered a perfectly timed counter-left to the chin,
and Winner hit the deck. Siver looked as if he's finish the fight
with his fists as a right scored to Winner's dome on the way
to the floor, and the ground and pound came hard and heavy. Referee
Kevin Mulhall gave Winner every chance to recover, and Sive switched
to plan B.
In
a slick transition indicative of Siver's abilities as a complete
mixed martial artist, the German used his left leg to trap Winner's
left arm and transitioned around to his opponent's back with
both hooks firmly in place. The rear-naked choke was applied
instantly, and Winner's fate was sealed.
The
Brit relented as long as possible in the precarious position,
but he was forced to submit at the 3:37 mark of the opening round.
After
starting his UFC career 1-3, the streaking Siver (17-7 MMA, 5-4
UFC) is now 6-1 in his past seven overall outings. Winner (11-5-1
MMA, 2-3 UFC) has now dropped two-straight fights.
Sadollah
outpoints Sobotta
Welterweight
prospects Amir Sadollah and Peter Sobotta were each looking to
return to the win column after recent setbacks, but in the opening
minutes, it became clear who would walk away with their hand
raised.
The
winner of "The Ultimate Fighter 7," Sadollah's vaunted
Muay Thai attack was simply too much for Sobotta over the course
of 15 minutes.
Sobotta's
best opportunity to change the flow of the fight may have been
in the opening round when he was nearly able to take the back
in a scramble on the feet. But Sadollah patiently peeled Sobotta
off his back and resumed his striking approach.
Sabotta
remained game in his counter-attack, but the quality and volume
of the standup fell to Sadollah. A moderate-paced matchup throughout,
the victor was clear at the final bell, and Sadollah was correctly
awarded the unanimous decision with a clean sweep of all three
rounds.
Despite
remaining in control throughout, Sadollah praised his opponent's
effort.
"He's
a super-tough guy and definitely on his way up," Sadollah
said.
Sadollah
(4-2 MMA, 4-2 UFC) has now earned victory in three of his past
four fights. Sobotta (8-4 MMA, 0-3 UFC) is winless in three trips
to the octagon and is likely facing a release.
Soszynski
overpowers Reljic in gritty three-rounder
Sporting
a history of tough three-round contests, light heavyweights Krzysztof
Soszynski and Goran Reljic didn't fail to live up to their reputations.
The
opening round saw Soszynski moving forward for most of the frame
with an impressive mix of low kicks and stiff punches, including
a left that staggered Reljic briefly. Sensing he was falling
behind on the feet, Reljic scores a successful takedown yet it
was Soszynski who went on the attack from his back by immediately
looking for a kimura.
Reljic
survived, but he could do nothing from the top other than defend.
The
second frame proved more of a stalemate. Reljic nailed an early
takedown, but his respect for Soszynski's submission skills left
him unable to commit to an attack. When returned to the feet
by the referee, the two were left jockeying for position in the
clinch.
With
the fight potentially in the balance in the final frame, Soszynski
turned up the heat. Reljic again tried for the takedown, but
Soszynski stuffed the attempt. Reljic tried to roll for a knee,
but Soszynski pulled free. When Reljic returned to his feet,
he was staggering sightly and visibly fatigued.
Soszynski
poured on the attack in the closing minutes by delivering several
heavy ground-and-pound blows when Reljic willingly dropped to
his back to avoid being blasted with a knee. Reljic covered well,
but Soszynski still found his mark on occasion. When the final
bell sounded, Soszynski was awarded a unanimous-decision win,
30-27 on all three judges' cards.
"That
boy is tough," Soszynski said following the win. "You
never what the judges are going to score. … I think that
third round sealed the deal for me."
With
the win, Soszynski (25-11-1 MMA, 4-2 UFC) rebounds successfully
from a disappointing loss to Stephan Bonnar in July. Meanwhile,
a gritty Reljic (8-3 MMA, 1-3 UFC) loses for the third time in
three outings and faces a likely release from the promotion.
Ludwig
outlasts Ospipczak to earn split
The
evening's first televised contest featured welterweights Duane
"Bang" Ludwig and Nick Osipczak. Promoted to the main
card following the cancellation of the Rivera vs. Sakara matchup,
the two fighters started went toe-to-toe for 15 minutes in what
would end up a split-decision affair.
Osipczak
took clear control of the first frame by rocking Ludwig on the
feet and grinding away from top position on the ground. The exchanges
left Ludwig's brow bleeding, and he seemed to be facing an uphill
battle against the larger Osipczak.
The
second round proved tougher to score. The two traded shots on
the feet, and Ludwig seemed to be edging out his foe slightly
in the standup. Osipczak looked to reverse that momentum with
a takedown, though he couldn't truly capitalize on the position
and referee Marc Goddard returned the pair to the feet. MMAjunkie.com
scores the round in Osipczak's favor, but the edge was slight,
at best.
After
briefly starting the final round without his mouthpiece, Osipczak
slowed considerable in the final five minutes. He retreated for
much of the round with his hands down by his side. Unfortunately
for Ludwig, he couldn't land the necessary big bang. Knees and
punches came in punches as Osipczak feebly covered up against
the cage, but a tiring Ludwig simply couldn't seal the deal.
Nevertheless,
it appeared Osipczak may have done enough to take the fight.
Only one judge agreed, and even that score was puzzling. Instead,
Ludwig took the fight via split decision with scores of 28-29,
29-28 and 29-28.
The
win was the first for Ludwig (20-11 MMA, 3-2 UFC) in the UFC
since 2006. While impressive early in the matchup, Osipczak (5-3
MMA, 2-3 UFC) has now dropped three consecutive fights by decision,
including two split results.
SEE
ALSO: UFC 122 preliminary-card recap: Matyushenko tops Ferreira
in a head-scratcher
Source: Yahoo Sports
|
UFC
122 Results & Review: Dennis Siver Subs Andre Winner
Dennis
Siver entered the Octagon at UFC 122 in Oberhausen, Germany to
the cheers of his countryman. He left to a standing ovation.
Siver
took on Englishman Andre Winner in a stylistic match up that
promised to be exciting.
The
two threw big shots early with bad intentions while mixing in
kicks. Winner’s reach and speed was winning the exchanges
but it was Siver’s punching power that dictated the outcome.
Winner
moved in with a combination and got caught with a counter left
hand that sent him crashing to the canvas. Siver swooped in with
strikes and nearly finished the fight with punches. It wouldn’t
have been a bad stoppage had the referee decided to intervene
but he didn’t.
Siver
then took Winner’s back, trapping an arm in the process
and sunk in a rear naked choke that forced the Brit to tap out
at 3:37 of the first round.
Siver’s
been on both UFC fight cards in Germany and has two wins in those
events.
“It
was my duty to win here,” Siver said following the fight
to the excited German crowd.
Known
for his striking, it’s sometimes forgotten that Siver has
a purple belt in jiu-jitsu, but he reminded everyone of that
with the finishing choke.
“At
the moment I train a lot of jiu-jitsu, and I wanted to try it
out here in the ring and see if it works or not,” said Siver.
Siver
has now strung together three wins in a row and has showed marked
improvement each time out. For Winner, he’s now dropped
back to back fights in the UFC.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
UFC
122 Review: Yushin Okami Earns Decision Win, Title Shot
It’s
been a long time coming for Yushin Okami, but he will finally
get his title shot.
In
the main event of UFC 122, Okami defeated Nate Marquardt by unanimous
decision to position himself as the No. 1 contender to face the
winner of the upcoming title fight between Anderson Silva and
Vitor Belfort.
Okami
is known for having a stifling style that can take almost any
fighter out of their game, and he did that once again to Marquardt
on Saturday. Time and time again, Okami pushed forward with his
lead punch then moved in for the clinch.
It
looked like Marquardt was trying to counter the Japanese middleweight,
but just couldn’t connect with the perfect punch to put
his lights out. The biggest struggle throughout the fight for
Marquardt was getting his timing right and not throwing much
in the way of combinations without having Okami grab hold of
him like glue.
Okami
spent the majority of the fight doing exactly what Okami does
to most of his opponents. He simply frustrated Marquardt and
never let the former King of Pancrase have any breathing room
to open up his offense.
Regardless
of Okami’s style, Marquardt did have his moments and in
the third round of a close fight he snatched a quick takedown
to possibly sway the judges with just minutes remaining. Okami
popped right back up again, and believes it didn’t play
into the decision at all.
“I
didn’t take any damage so I didn’t think much of it,
but I’m glad I won the fight,” Okami commented about
the takedown in the third round.
The
judges all agreed after the final horn sounded giving Yushin
Okami the unanimous decision win, and now positioning him as
the top contender for the UFC middleweight belt.
“Nate
was a great fighter, I thought I deserved it and I’m ready
for the championship,” Okami said after his hand was raised.
Okami’s
record currently reads that he has the last win over UFC middleweight
champion Anderson Silva, albeit from a disqualification in their
2006 fight. Since that time, Okami has been gunning for a chance
to finish what they started in Hawaii several years ago. Silva
still has to get past Vitor Belfort in February, but Okami put
up no illusions about whom he wanted to fight with the gold on
the line.
“I
want to fight Anderson for the championship,” Okami stated.
“I want to become the middleweight champion.”
Source: MMA Weekly
|
UFC
122 Postfight Awards and Bonuses Net $60,000
UFC
122: Marquardt vs. Okami may be a “free” event that
airs on tape-delay in the United States and England, but the
fighters that scored the post-fight bonuses made out with pay-per-view
type bonus checks to the tune of $60,000 each.
Dennis Siver UFC Fight Night 21
Dennis
Siver
Dennis
Siver, fighting on his home turf in Oberhausen, Germany, wowed
the crowd with his “Submission of the Night” performance,
sinking a rear naked choke on Andre Winner to earn his bonus
check.
Karlos
Vemola scored his “Knockout of the Night” bonus early,
defeating former “Kimbo Killer” Seth Petruzelli with
a brutal brand of ground and pound for a first-round TKO finish.
Also
picking up some extra money on the untelevised portion of the
fight card, another German, Pascal Krauss, and his opponent,
Mark Scanlon scored “Fight of the Night” honors and
$60,000 apiece. Krauss also walked away with a unanimous decision
victory.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
Where
did Jiu-Jitsu really came from?
The
story of the gentle art in Brazil is much confuse. Many years
after the coming of the Japanese Mitsuyo Maeda (Conde Koma) to
our country, almost 100 years ago, people say complete different
things about the origin of Jiu-Jitsu in Brazil, which has become
an internationally known sport, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. People tell
the same story from different perspectives, but there was anything
on the original documents to prove the facts.
Obstinate
to uncover the truth behind this messy story, TATAME Magazine
prepared an exclusive article about the origin of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu,
and how this story blends with Judo’s. “The mysteries
and confusing stories were fed by fragmental versions which,
in the absence of scientific research, ignorance and even passional
manipulations replace the truth story”, affirms Tufy Cairus,
digger of the history of Jiu-Jitsu and Judo in Brazil and expert
on the trajectory of Conde Koma.
Do
you really know the truth of gentle art’s story?
Source: Tatame
|
UFC
boss says he’ll rethink Lesnar vs. Mir III
OBERHAUSEN,
Germany – Brock Lesnar (5-2 MMA, 4-2 UFC) and Frank Mir
(14-5 MMA, 12-5 UFC) may not be completing their trilogy just
yet.
Just
one day after suggesting Lesnar vs. Mir III is a fight that "kind
of makes sense" in the heavyweight division, UFC president
Dana White now admits feedback received on his Twitter account
is leading him away from arranging the matchup.
"People
have been saying on my Twitter that they're not happy with that
fight," White told MMAjunkie.com. "It's something I
need to rethink."
Following
Lesnar's heavyweight title loss to Cain Velasquez in October,
reports began to surface in a number of locations that Lesnar
vs. Mir III was in the works.
At
a Friday Q&A session with the UFC Fight Club, White said
those reports were a bit premature as he had not spoken to Lesnar
since the former champion's UFC 121 defeat. However, he did seem
intrigued with the notion.
"That
fight kind of makes sense," White said on Friday. "So,
we'll see."
But
since White made that statement, fans have taken to the Internet
to express their displeasure in the potential fight. While the
UFC president believes it's unwise to pay too much attention
to Internet message boards, White says those that took the time
to address him on his official Twitter account have made their
feelings known loud and clear.
"I
usually don't gauge things by the Internet; the internet is [expletive]
stupid," White said. "My Twitter I do.
"On
my Twitter, there are 1.2 million people that care about this
thing and everything else, and you don't get the goofy [expletive]
that you get on the Internet."
Lesnar's
October loss snapped a four-fight win streak that instantly catapulted
him to the pinnacle of the sport's heavyweight division. Before
meeting Velasquez, he earned victories over Heath Herring, Randy
Couture, Mir and Shane Carwin.
Lesnar
and Mir have shared a sometimes intense rivalry since they first
met at UFC 81. Mir won that bout by first-round submission, and
the two sniped at each other in the press after Lesnar became
heavyweight champion by defeating Couture at UFC 91.
The
two then met at UFC 100, and Lesnar avenged the loss when he
knocked out Mir in the second round. In subsequent interviews,
Mir pined for a rubber match, though he went silent after he
gave an interview in which he wished death on Lesnar. White publicly
chastised Mir and said it wouldn't happen again.
Mir
most recently defeated Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic in
the main event of UFC 119 a bout that largely was panned for
its lack of action.
Source: Yahoo Sports
|
UFC
122 Result & Review: Duane Ludwig Decisions Nick Osipczak
It
was an emotional return for Duane “Bang” Ludwig who
came back after an 8 month layoff due to injury to get a split
decision win over Nick Osipczak at UFC 122 on Saturday.
Ludwig,
who suffered a severely broken ankle in his last fight, came
out firing like he hadn’t been away at all, tagging Osipczak
with some big shots in the opening moments of the fight.
The
aggressiveness that Ludwig displayed almost cost him the fight
though as Osipczak was able to land a big punch of his own that
dropped the Denver based fighter, which put him on the canvas
with the Brit in full mount. Ludwig survived but not without
a nasty cut over his eye.
As
the fight drew on it was obvious that Ludwig was all about the
stand-up, while Osipczak quickly started to try to drag the fight
to the canvas. The two had a very close second round, but Ludwig
had no ideas of making the third round nearly as close.
Punishing
Osipczak in the body and then to the head, Ludwig just dominated
the Brit in the final five minutes of the fight, doing everything
except finishing the fight. When the judges scores were read,
Ludwig to the better end of a split decision, putting him back
in the win column in the UFC.
“I
lost the first one for sure, the second one could be a draw,
the third one I won just because of the pressure,” Ludwig
said. “Nick’s good.”
Following
surgery and a long comeback trail, Ludwig had to be one of the
happiest people in Germany on Saturday night, getting a win and
doing it on the main televised card.
“I’ve
been out for a while, I just wanted to give some pain back to
somebody,” Ludwig stated. “I definitely deserved this
win.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
UFC
122 Results & Review: Krzysztof Soszynski Gets The Win
Goran
Reljic returned to the light heavyweight division after an unsuccessful
run in the 185-pound division against Krzysztof Soszynski at
UFC 122, but came up short losing by unanimous decision.
It
played out like a kickboxing bout early with Soszynski getting
the better of the exchanges, but Reljic showed his takedown ability,
putting Soszynski on his back. Soszynski immediately went for
his signature submission, the kimura, and nullified Reljic’s
ability to do anything from the top position.
In
the second round Reljic timed Soszynski moving forward and ducked
under and got a takedown early. Unable to do damage or improve
his position, the referee stood the fight up and the two engaged
in a clinch battle against the cage. Soszynski went for a standing
kimura but Reljic quickly escaped.
The
first two rounds were close and heading into the third, it appeared
it was anyone’s fight.
In
the final round Soszynski took over the fight, dominating Reljic
on the ground. Reljic shot in for a takedown and Soszynski stuffed
it, trapping him on the ground. The rest of the round Soszynski
battered Reljic with hammer fists and punches sealing the deal
on the judges scorecards who all scored the bout 30-27 in his
favor.
Soszynski
gave Reljic props following the win. “That boy’s tough,”
said Soszynski. “He’s one tough Croatian.”
Soszynski
admitted he was worried that Reljic’s takedowns may have
stood out in the minds of the judges.
“I
really was. You never know what the judges are going to score,”
stated Soszynski. “I felt like I had him standing. He took
me down, but that third round sealed the deal for me.”
Soszynski
got a much needed win coming into UFC 122 off a loss to Stephan
Bonnar. For Reljic, that’s three loses in a row, putting
his status on the UFC payroll in jeopardy.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
UFC
122 Results & Review: Amir Sadollah Dominates a Decision
Amir Sadollah kept it simple at UFC 122.
Move
forward, punish his opponent on the feet, and stuff the takedown.
The strategy worked to perfection, as Sadollah routed German
Peter Sobotta on his way to a unanimous decision win.
With
both fighters coming off losses there had to be a certain sense
of urgency, but Sadollah didn’t seem to let any pressure
enter his head, putting on a workman like performance.
Sadollah
worked over Sobotta’s legs and body with kicks and used
surgical precision to make every punch count and not waste any
throughout the fight. The German tried to stick in there going
for takedowns and winging back punches, but nothing much connected
as he had to play defense for the biggest part of the fight.
Showing
toughness was Sobotta’s best quality for the 15-minute bout,
and Sadollah paid him a compliment for taking the amount of punishment
that he did while still moving forward.
“I
kind of expected that, he’s just a super tough guy,”
Sadollah commented about his opponent.
The
victory gets Sodallah back on track, and gives him the fourth
win of his career.
“I
don’t have anything peppy to say, I’m just very happy,”
Sadolloh said with a smile after the win.
As
for Peter Sobotta, the German has now lost three fights in a
row in the UFC and will likely get his walking papers following
the UFC 122 event.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
Who’s
the next middleweight challenger?
The
land of beer and sauerkraut, Germany will be the stage of the
122nd edition of UFC this afternoon. With two Brazilian debutants
on its card, Alexandre “Cacareco” and Carlos Eduardo
“Tá Danado”, the show will have as its main
event the bout between Nate Marquardt and Yushin Okami, a bout
that will define the next challenger for the middleweight belt,
against the winner of the fight between Anderson Silva and Vitor
Belfort.
On
the undercard, Cacareco will finally have his debut on Ultimate.
With seven wins in a row by submission, the athlete of Chute
Boxe goes for Vladmir Matyushenko, and he’s confident. “The
emotion is huge, any athlete wants to be on the best event on
earth… I’ve almost fought him twice, but the events
didn’t happen. He’s a tough guy, doesn’t let it
go easily… He’s rough meat”, said the fighter
to TATAME, excited with a great opportunity he is having. “Apart
from Anderson Silva, who is ‘the’ guy, it’s the
weight class with more stars, like Shogun, Rashad… It’s
a pleasure and a dream come true to fight on this weight class”.
Unbeaten
for eight times, Carlos Eduardo “Tá Danado”
Rocha was also scaled for the event, but differently of the foreigners,
he’ll have the fans’ support in Germany, the country
where he’s currently living in. Ready for Kris McCray, finalist
of the reality show of UFC, Carlos is optimist. “I know
he’s coming from Wrestling, has great takedowns, but it’s
not that surprising, it doesn’t make me scared of him. I
could tell his ground game sucks, he only takes the guys down.
There’s nothing surprising that he might do”, affirmed
the pupil of Dárcio Lira to TATAME.
Source: Tatame
|
Forrest
Griffin promoted to black belt by Drysdale
The
UFC has a new Jiu-Jitsu black belt in its ranks.
Former
light heavyweight champion Forrest Griffin (17w, 6l) was promoted
to the highest rank by Professor Robert Drysdale, our GMA.
Source: Gracie Magazine
|
Could
Minotouro return to better days against Tito Ortiz?
Antonio
Rogério Minotouro has starred in some of Jiu-Jitsu’s
greatest moments in MMA, but now his struggle is of a different
nature. According to Dana White on a post on MMAJunkie.com today,
the Brazilian will face Tito Ortiz at the March 2011 UFC event.
The show will likely be UFC 128, and may be held in Abu Dhabi
for the second time.
Both
are coming off losses. And even worse, in lackluster appearances.
Rogério versus Tito will practically be a battle to keep
their jobs.
Could
Minotouro return to his better days? Look back on some of the
great moments from the Jiu-Jitsu black belt’s career and
leave your opinion below, if you dare.
Source: Gracie Magazine
|
UFC
122 Results & Live Play-by-Play
Kris
McCray vs. Carlos Eduardo Rocha
Round 1
The fighters exchange combinations and McCray gets the takedown.
Rocha reverses and ends up in side mount. McCray gets back up
and takes Rocha down again. McCray ends up in side control and
turns Rocha. McCray goes for a rear-naked choke, but Rocha turns.
Rocha goes for a kneebar and McCray taps out. The official time
is 2:21 of the opening period.
Karlos
Vemola vs. Seth Petruzelli
Round 1
Both fighters come out swinging. Vemola gets in close and slams
Petruzelli to the ground. Petruzelli uses the rubberguard to
get back up. But Vemola immediately slams him down again. Vemola
ends up in Petruzelli's guard and almost gets caught in a triangle.
He steps out but goes right back in Petruzelli's guard. Petruzelli
almost gets an armbar, but Vemola gets out. Petruzelli gets up
and Vemola takes his back and drags him back to the ground. Vemola
lands punches and elbows till referee Leon Roberts steps in to
stop the fight. The official time of Vemola's TKO win is 3:46
of round one.
Rob
Kimmons vs. Kyle Noke
Round 1
Botch fighters come out aggressive. Noke takes Kimmons down but
he gets right back up. Noke clinches and gets another takedown.
He ends up in half guard. Noke tries to get his leg free while
hammering Kimmons with elbows. Kimmons gets Noke into full guard,
but Noke continues with punches and elbows. Noke gets into half
guard but Kimmons sweeps and ends up in side mount. Kimmons throws
elbows to Noke's back. Noke rolls out and gives up his back.
Both fighters work for position as the round ends. 10-9 Noke.
Round
2
The fighters exchange combinations. Noke closes in, gets the
clinch and drags Kimmons to the ground. Noke gets full mount
and works for an armbar. He gets Kimmons' back, sinks in a rear-naked
choke and Kimmons has to tap out. Noke takes the submission win
at 1:36 of round two.
Pascal
Krauss vs. Mark Scanlon
Round 1
Scanlon hits Krauss with a combination, Krauss counters with
a low kick. Scanlon takes Krauss down and almost catches him
in a guillotine. Krauss gets up and the fighters clinch against
the cage. Fighters break and return to the center of the Octagon.
Both fighters land crisp punching combinations. Scanlon goes
for a takedown but gets stuffed. Krauss pushes Scanlon against
the cage and gets the takedown. From half guard, he nearly passes
into full mount but Scanlon gets back up and to his feet. Krauss
gets another takedown and ends up in half guard. Krauss works
punches and elbows from half guard as the round ends. 10- Krauss.
Round
2
Scanlon comes forward with a combination. Krauss answers with
a low kick. Scanlon charges after Krauss and pushes him against
the cage. Krauss turns and and gets a takedown. Again he ends
up in half guard. Scanlon tries to hold him down as Krauss throws
punches to the body. Scanlon gets full guard and goes for a leg.
He doesn't get it and Krauss ends up in full mount. Ground-and-pound
from Krauss. Scanlon gives up his back and Krauss goes for the
choke, but Scanlon turns out of it. The round ends with Krauss
raining down punches from the guard. 10-9 Krauss.
Round
3
Jab by Krauss, low kick by Scanlon. Scanlon comes in with a combination
and gets the takedown. He lets Krauss get back up, but takes
him right back down. Again he stands back up and Krauss follows
him to the center. Scanlon hits his opponent and goes for a guillotine
as Krauss attempts a takedown. Krauss gets out and starts to
work the body of Scanlon from the guard. Scanlon goes for the
sweep. Krauss steps out and jumps into side control. He starts
to rain down punches and elbow the face of Scanlon to steal the
round. 10-9 Krauss.
Official
scores: 30-27 across the board for the winner by unanimous decision,
Pascal Krauss.
Vladimir
Matyushenko vs. Alexandre "Cacareco" Ferreira
Round 1
Jab by Matyushenko. Ferreira goes for takedown but doesn't get
it. Instead Matyushenko takes him down, but Ferreira is right
back up. The fighters clinch and Matyushenko drags his opponent
down. Matyushenko gets into full guard and works his ground-and-pound.
He's landing big elbows and punches until referee Kevin Mulhall
steps in to stop the fight at 2:20 of round one. There was some
controversy in the cage as to whether the elbows were illegal,
but Matyushenko's TKO victory stands.
Duane
Ludwig vs. Nick Osipczak
Round 1
Marc Goddard in the cage to officiate the first match of the
televised card. Osipczak flicks out a leg kick and Ludwig counters
with a blocked head kick. A few more leg kicks by Osipczak causes
Ludwig to retaliate with a hard one of his own. Head kick connects
for Ludwig up against the fence, and Ludwig begins punching away.
Osipczak recovers quickly, though, and clinches up, landing a
few solid knees. Osipczak eats a combination, a kick to the body,
and another combination from Ludwig. Solid right hook connects
for Osipczak, but Ludwig is keeping busier and mixing up his
strikes. Ludwig gets rocked by a combination and Osipczak pounces,
mounting “Bang” at the base of the fence. Ludwig survives,
but he’s bleeding from his right brow and Osipczak is still
in mount. Ludwig briefly escapes to his feet, and Osipczak drags
him right back down, where he finished out the round with some
solid punches and elbows.
Jordan
Breen scores the round 10-9 Osipczak
Tomasz Marciniak scores the round 10-9 Osipczak
Guilherme Pinheiro scores the round 10-9 Osipczak
Round
2
The fighters exchange leg kicks early, the greater volume coming
from Ludwig. Stiff right hand by Osipczak, but Ludwig presses
forward and continues to pour on the kicks. They clinch up and
Ludwig drives a knee up the middle, while Osipczak digs to the
body with a punch. Push kick by Ludwig, then a combination. Ludwig
sticks his left jab in Osipczak’s face, but “Bang”
is now cut above both eyebrows. Osipczak scores a takedown with
90 seconds to go and pounds away for a minute before Goddard
puts the pair back on their feet, where the round ends.
Jordan
Breen scores the round 10-9 Osipczak
Tomasz Marciniak scores the round 10-9 Osipczak
Guilherme Pinheiro scores the round 10-9 Ludwig
Round
3
The fighters are stopped just as soon as the round is started
-- Osipczak forgot his mouth piece and is rebuked by the ref.
Ludwig continues to land right kicks to the body of an increasingly
tired-looking Osipczak. Now a leg kick and a left hook by “Bang.”
Ludwig knees to the body and scores with a nice two piece. Osipczak
just covering up with his back against the fence now, and Ludwig
smells the blood. Standing elbows and knees from the clinch by
Ludwig, then five straight punches and a kick to the body connect.
With a minute left, Osipczak is just getting lit up, but still
not going down. More combinations and head kicks from the American,
and he tries to score a takedown just as the fight ends. The
horn blows and Ludwig, whether by momentum or intention, finishes
the takedown anyway.
Jordan
Breen scores the round 10-9 Ludwig (29-28 Osipczak)
Tomasz Marciniak scores the round 10-9 Ludwig (29-28 Osipczak)
Guilherme Pinheiro scores the round 10-9 Ludwig (29-28 Ludwig)
Official
scores: 30-28 Osipczak and 29-28 (twice) for Ludwig. Duane Ludwig
takes the split decision.
Krzysztof
Soszynski vs. Goran Reljic
Round 1
British ref Marc Goddard is back in the cage for this light heavyweight
tilt. The fighters trade kicks early, with Reljic going to the
body while Soszynski connects to the legs. Soszynski times a
body kick and lands a right straight, but Reljic responds with
a stiff right of his own. Soszynski steps in with a right straight
and Reljic wings hooks in return. Reljic changes levels and grabs
for a high double-leg, pushing Soszynski across the cage, but
the Soszynski stays up and they clinch against the fence. Reljic
just presses Soszynski into the cage and Goddard breaks them
up. After a few kicks from Soszynski, Reljic goes for the same
takedown and scores this time. With Reljic in his half-guard,
Soszynski immediately turns to his right and works for a kimura
on his man’s left arm. Thirty seconds left and Reljic recognizes
that he’s in trouble, and finishes out the round defending
the lock while landing a number of shots to the body of Soszynski.
Jordan
Breen scores the round 10-9 Soszynski
Tomasz Marciniak scores the round 10-9 Soszynski
Guilherme Pinheiro scores the round 10-10
Round
2
The second stanza opens up with a nice left hook and body kick
by Soszynski, and Reljic dives for another takedown. Soszynski
closes his guard and ties up, inching his legs up the body of
Reljic as his controls the Croatian’s wrists. Boos from
the German crowd with three minutes left as there’s not
much happening, and Goddard restarts them on the feet. Soszynski
is a step ahead of Reljic’s takedown attempt this time and
pushes Reljic into the fence himself. Soszynski with the underhooks
as they jockey for position with 90 seconds left. Some thudding
punches to the body by Soszynski, then knees to the thighs of
Reljic. Goddard splits them up with 20 seconds remaining and
Reljic looks for a takedown, but Soszynski stuffs it and scores
with a few more inside knees as the period ends.
Jordan
Breen scores the round 10-10
Tomasz Marciniak scores the round 10-10
Guilherme Pinheiro scores the round 10-10
Round
3
The pair touch gloves to start the final frame and Reljic fires
off a hard one-two over the top. Soszynski counters a left leg
kick with a right straight, and then stuffs Reljic’s tired
takedown with ease. Soszynski grabs a waistlock and punches to
the head of a turtling Reljic, who’s clinging to Soszynski’s
left leg. More and more punches from Soszynski, and finally Reljic
has to roll to avoid more punishment. Reljic can’t get the
leglock, but does put Soszynski in his guard. Soszynski stands,
though, and Reljic shoves him into the cage at the waist. Soszynski
is kneeing to the body and setting up a standing kimura to the
left arm of Reljic while Reljic continues to attempt to drag
him down. Soszynski grabs the Thai clinch and Reljic, sensing
a knee coming, flops to guard. Soszynski tees off with hard punches
to the grounded Reljic to close out the fight.
Jordan
Breen scores the round 10-9 Soszynski (30-28 Soszynski)
Tomasz Marciniak scores the round 10-9 Soszynski (30-28 Soszynski)
Guilherme Pinheiro scores the round 10-8 Soszynski (30-28 Soszynski)
Official
scores: 30-27s across the board for Soszynski, the winner by
unanimous decision.
Amir
Sadollah vs. Peter Sobotta
Round 1
Refereeing this welterweight contest is Leon Roberts. Early leg
kicks by Sobotta before Sadollah rushes in for the clinch. Sobotta
reverses and briefly muscles Sadollah into the fence before they
disengage. Sadollah clinches again and lands a couple knees inside,
then a short left elbow over the top. Sobotta reverses, then
breaks off with a combination. Sadollah is pressing in from the
middle of the Octagon with sharp combinations. Sobotta takes
Sadollah’s back standing and the two work along the perimeter
of the cage as Sadollah tries to trip Sobotta or turn around.
He does the latter, but Sobotta still has hold of a leg and is
bullying him against the cage. Sobotta turns his hips and attempts
a toss, but Sadollah stands his ground. Sadollah punching away
to the head of Sobotta, who’s preoccupied with his high
single-leg. Sadollah breaks loose and finishes up the round with
a flurry.
Jordan
Breen scores the round 10-9 Sadollah
Tomasz Marciniak scores the round 10-9 Sadollah
Guilherme Pinheiro scores the round 10-9 Sadollah
Round
2
Sadollah landing leg kicks at will and flicking his right hand
out. Body kick scores for Sobotta, but Sadollah seems to land
five strikes for each one Sobotta connects with. Head kick-right
straight combo from Sadollah as Sobotta misses another winging
punch. Teep kick by Sadollah backs Sobotta up, and the German
gets a takedown. Sadollah pops right back up and gets back to
work with his volume striking. Sobotta tries another takedown,
but winds up beneath Sadollah, defending from half-guard. Sadollah
backs out and allows Sobotta to stand with less than a minute
left. Leg kicks, right straights and a knee to the midsection
from Sadollah as the round ends.
Jordan
Breen scores the round 10-9 Sadollah
Tomasz Marciniak scores the round 10-9 Sadollah
Guilherme Pinheiro scores the round 10-9 Sadollah
Round
3
Sadollah immediately resumes his steady stream of leg kicks.
Right hand lands for Sobotta, his best strike in a while. Sadollah
lands a left straight that stuns Sobotta, and the German shoots.
Sadollah stuffs and they clinch against the cage until Sobotta
breaks off with a spinning elbow strike. Another nice right hand
from Sobotta, but Sadollah’s leg kicks are starting to take
a visible toll. One minute left and Sadollah charges in with
a combo as Sobotta fires off a wild overhand left counter. Sobotta
catches a body kick from Sadollah, but can’t capitalize.
Leg kick by Sadollah is countered by a Sobotta left hand, and
Sadollah pushes him back with a teep kick as time runs out.
Jordan
Breen scores the round 10-9 Sadollah (30-27 Sadollah)
Tomasz Marciniak scores the round 10-9 Sadollah (30-27 Sadollah)
Guilherme Pinheiro scores the round 10-9 Sadollah (30-27 Sadollah)
Official
scores: 30-27s across the board for Amir Sadollah, the winner
by unanimous decision.
Dennis
Siver vs. Andre Winner
Round 1
American Kevin Mulhall refs this lightweight bout. Both men come
out firing, trading leg kicks and swinging punches with bad intentions.
Winner tagging Siver with his left hand and getting a little
more pop on his leg kicks. The Brit lands a hard left kick to
the head of Siver, then stuffs a takedown attempt and makes Siver
pay with a few more left hooks. Inside leg kicks from Siver as
he tries to navigate the size difference. Nice right hook by
Siver, then throws a trio of kicks to the leg and head. Siver
dodges a three-piece from Winner and drops him with a left hand.
Winner is in serious trouble. Siver lands a few hard hammerfists
on the floor, but can’t get the stop, so he takes Winner’s
back. He struggles for a moment to sink in a rear-naked choke,
but then adjusts and gets the tap. The end comes at 3:37 of the
opening round.
Alessio
Sakara vs. Jorge Rivera
Sakara has been forced off the card due to illness. The bout
has been scrapped.
Nate
Marquardt vs. Yushin Okami
Round 1
Referee Leon Roberts oversees tonight’s middleweight main
event. The southpaw Okami moves forward and tags Marquardt with
a jab. They hit the mat and Marquardt immediately tries a guillotine,
but Okami rolls loose. Okami is holding on to both of Marquardt’s
arms and pushes off of the American’s hips with butterfly
guard. Marquardt advances to half-guard on Okami’s right
side and Okami looks to shrimp free. Marquardt tries the guillotine
again, and this one allows Okami to reverse into Marquardt’s
half-guard against the base of the cage with two-and-a-half minutes
left. With Okami trying to advance on the top, Marquardt tries
a heel hook and gets Okami to retreat to the feet. Both men feinting
until Okami lands a nice left and changes levels, putting Marquardt’s
back to the cage. They battle inside for the takedown. Marquardt
connects with a knee up the middle and Okami doubles over again,
finishing the takedown just before the round ends.
Jordan
Breen scores the round 10-9 Okami
Tomasz Marciniak scores the round 10-9 Okami
Guilherme Pinheiro scores the round 10-9 Okami
Round
2
Okami shoots and Marquardt sprawls well. Marquardt tries a single-leg
of his own which Okami defends. Now, Okami drops for a takedown
against the fence, but can’t find the space, so they clinch.
A knee up the gut by Okami, and Marquardt answers in kind. Marquardt
slams Okami to the ground and Okami sits up against the base
of the fence. Okami works to his feet, then bends for a takedown.
Marquardt defends and the crowd boos the tactical battle with
two minutes remaining in the second frame. Marquardt working
wrist control on Okami’s left arm as Okami doggedly goes
after the takedown. Okami finally gives it up and they stand
toe-to-toe. Okami lands a left, then rushes in with a flying
knee and eats a counter left from Marquardt. Okami tags Marquardt
with a popping left jab at the buzzer.
Jordan
Breen scores the round 10-9 Marquardt
Tomasz Marciniak scores the round 10-9 Marquardt
Guilherme Pinheiro scores the round 10-9 Marquardt
Round
3
Marquardt is sporting a cut on his right cheek early in the final
round. Okami pushing forward and looking for an angle on Marquardt,
who lands a solid right hand down the pipe. Good-looking one-two
by Okami as he backs Marquardt into the fence. Right jabs from
Okami peppering the face of Marquardt, who responds with some
leg kicks. Marquardt comes forward with a combo, but Okami is
evading the punches. Some punches land for Marquardt now, but
there’s not a whole lot behind them. Takedown by Marquardt
with 90 seconds left, and Okami tries to control his opponent’s
left arm. Okami gets free and the pair stands, where Okami continues
to load up on his jab. Marquardt bullies Okami into the fence,
lands a knee. They split, and Marquardt lands one last right
hand as the final round ends.
Jordan
Breen scores the round 10-9 Okami (29-28 Okami)
Tomasz Marciniak scores the round 10-9 Okami (29-28 Okami)
Guilherme Pinheiro scores the round 10-9 Okami (29-28 Okami)
Official
scores: 29-28, 30-27 and 29-28 for Yushin Okami, the winner by
unanimous decision.
Source: Sherdog
|
Manny
Pacquiao wins on dominating performance
By TIM
DAHLBERG
Associated Press
ARLINGTON,
Texas -- Manny Pacquiao more than made up with speed what he
lacked in size.
Giving
away both pounds and inches, boxing's little superstar turned
Antonio Margarito into a bloody and nearly blind fighter with
a dizzying array of punches Saturday night in a lopsided decision
victory that wasn't close from the opening rounds on.
In
a spectacular performance before a delighted crowd of 41,734
at Cowboys Stadium, Pacquiao cemented his claim to being the
best fighter in the world by dominating the bigger but slower
Margarito almost from the opening bell. Pacquiao won round after
round, opening a cut on Margarito's cheek, closing his right
eye, and turning his face into a bloody mess.
The
punches came quickly, and they came often. Margarito was plenty
game as he tried to stalk Pacquiao around the ring, but every
time he got close Pacquiao would land a four- or five-punch combination
that snapped his head back and stopped him in his tracks.
The
beating was so thorough that the congressman from the Philippines
turned to referee Laurence Cole several times in the 11th round,
imploring him to stop the fight. It went on, though, even though
Margarito had no chance to win.
"I
can't believe that I beat someone this big and this strong,"
Pacquiao said. "It's hard. I really do my best to win the
fight."
Pacquiao
moved up in weight yet again to take on Margarito, a natural
welterweight with a reputation for ruggedness in the ring. And
rugged he was, though he took a beating all night long at the
hands of a faster and seemingly more powerful opponent.
"There
was no way I was gong to quit. I'm a Mexican, we fight until
the end," Margarito said.
Pacquiao
won every round on one scorecard, 120-108, and was ahead 119-109
and 118-110 on the other two. The Associated Press had it a 120-108
shutout.
"We
didn't lose a round," said Pacquiao's trainer, Freddie Roach.
"I wish they would have stopped the fight."
That
almost happened, but Cole allowed it to go on even as Margarito
kept taking such a beating that he went directly to a hospital
afterward for treatment of his cuts. There wasn't any way Margarito
was going to win the fight, but he could still see out of one
eye and wanted to continue.
"I
told the referee, 'Look at his eyes, look at his cuts,'"
Pacquiao said. "I did not want to damage him permanently.
That's not what boxing is about."
Ringside
punch stats reflected Pacquiao's dominance, showing him landing
474 punches to 229 for Margarito. But it wasn't just the sheer
volume of punches, but the power in which they came at almost
every angle.
Roach
predicted before the fight that Pacquiao would carve Margarito
apart because he was simply much too quick for his opponent.
He did just that, starting from the first round when he landed
an early flurry up the middle that seemed to set the tone for
the fight.
It
wasn't entirely easy, though. Pacquiao said Margarito hurt him
in the middle rounds with shots to the head and the body, though
he was unable to land more than one of two punches at a time.
When he did manage to land, more often than not Pacquiao was
there to fire right back with volleys of his own that found their
mark almost every time.
"Manny
is the best fighter in the world," said Margarito's trainer,
Robert Garcia. "He is just too fast — very, very quick."
While
there was no controversy in the ring, there was a dispute in
the dressing room before the fight when a member of Pacquiao's
camp saw a weight-loss supplement in Margarito's gear and demanded
his blood be tested immediately for possible banned substances.
Texas boxing officials ruled that would not be necessary, and
the fight went on.
Roach
also made sure he was in the dressing room to watch the hands
of Margarito, who is still banned in California for a hand wrapping
scandal, get wrapped. But it was Margarito's corner who demanded
Roach also rewrap his fighter's hands in a display of gamemanship.
Once
the fight started it didn't matter. Pacquiao landed some big
left hands early, cutting Margarito beneath the right eye and
causing it to swell. By the middle of the fight he couldn't see
out of that eye and his left eye began closing, too.
The
fight was for the WBC 154-pound title even though the contract
weight was 150 pounds. Margarito weighed 150 at Friday's weigh-in,
but was 165 on the unofficial HBO scale before the fight while
Pacquiao, who had been 144.6, was 148 pounds.
Pacquiao
also gave away 4½ inches in height and was at a six-inch
reach disadvantage, but that didn't matter either.
Pacquiao
earned a guaranteed $15 million, though he is likely to make
millions more on his cut of the television revenues. He planned
to give a concert at Lake Tahoe on Tuesday and then return to
his political duties in the Philippines.
"I
have another job after this," Pacquiao said. "I'm going
back to the Philippines to do my other job and be a public servant."
Source: Associated Press
|
Rampage
Finds New Focus And Training Leading Into UFC 123
by Damon
Martin
Over the years, former UFC light heavyweight champion Quinton
“Rampage” Jackson has gained a reputation for being
one of the most fiery and explosive fighters before, during and
after a fight. As he heads into his UFC 123 match with Lyoto
Machida, the best word to describe Rampage’s mood for this
fight is subdued.
Gone
are the days of the loud shouting matches with Rashad Evans,
Jackson is now solely focused on the task at hand and that’s
getting past another former champion in Machida.
Jackson
is honest when talking about the fight with Evans that something
was off that night, but it wasn’t just that night in particular.
It was something that happened in the weeks leading up to the
fight that he knew would result in a loss.
“I
know exactly the reason why I lost that fight,” Jackson
said on Thursday. “I knew I lost that fight before I even
stepped in the cage. The day I lost that fight was a couple of
weeks before the fight even started, so it didn’t have nothing
to do with the movie tour or anything.”
While
the former Pride fighter wanted to keep what happened to himself,
Jackson admits that sometimes fights happen even when you’re
not 100% mentally or physically, but you still go out and perform.
“Sometimes
we fight even when we shouldn’t fight. I owed it to my fans
to fight, no matter what the outcome was,” Jackson stated.
Looking
to get back to full time fighting following the loss to Evans
and a brief tour for his movie “The A-Team”, Jackson
pulled up camp from his home team in England with the Wolfslair
and returned home to California to get ready for Machida.
Rampage
chalks it up to needing to spend time at home because no matter
how much he wants to fight and win this upcoming bout, some things
are just more important in the big picture.
“I
just bought a new house and I just decided to train right down
the street from my house cause I’ve been traveling a lot
and doing movies. Right after the fight with Rashad, I went on
a tour with the movie. I just wanted to train and see my family,
see my kids,” Jackson said.
“It’s
not always about me. My kids miss me and when you spend a lot
of time away from your kids, they get used to not seeing you,
and I just want to be close to my kids.”
A
happy fighter with his family may be just the medicine Jackson
needed as he gets ready for his main event fight at UFC 123.
Whether the fire is boiling over for Rampage before fight night
is inconsequential.
What
matters most is that Jackson is prepared and truly ready for
the challenge that lay ahead in Detroit on Nov 20.
“There’s
a lot of things different,” Jackson said about training
for Evans and now getting ready for Machida. “I’ve
been more focused and had a lot of time to train. I took a long
time off not training, and your body goes into shock when you
go into a hard camp. So this time my body’s doing good and
this time I’m more prepared.”
He’ll
look to show off the preparation when he faces Lyoto Machida
in the main event of UFC 123 next weekend in Detroit.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
Stitch
Duran's Making Comebacks possible book Drive
Stitch Duran makes comebacks possible. Through the years he has
fixed cuts that have lead to some of the biggest wins in MMA
history. His new book, FROM THE FIELDS TO THE GARDEN: THE LIFE
OF STITCH DURAN, begins with him keeping Forrest Griffin in the
fight at UFC 76 so he could finish Shogun Rua for a stunning
win.
This
past summer we stood in shock with our hearts pounding as Brock
Lesnar pulled off the arm triangle after being battered by Shane
Carwin in round one, and our jaws hit the floor when Anderson
Silva subbed Chael Sonnen after four rounds of being pummeled.
Stitch was integral in both fights. He fixed a deep cut over
Brock’s left eye and spent the whole fight working to keep
Anderson’s face from looking like the elephant man. Afterward,
each man thanked Stitch and Anderson hugged him for a good ten
seconds.
Many
other champions have thanked Stitch through the years. Now he
hopes that the fans will demonstrate the power of the MMA community
and thank him by heading to Amazon and grabbing a copy of his
new book between 5:00 and 8:00 PM EST on Friday Nov 5, and spreading
the word through the social media sites. As Stitch says, “With
the help of MMA fans everywhere on Friday night, I’m gonna
kick the shit out of Keith Richards (no. 1 ranked book on Amazon),
but I’ll fix him up afterward too.”
Stitch
has done it all and seen it all in combat sports, and he shares
much of it in FROM THE FIELDS TO THE GARDEN: THE LIFE OF STITCH
DURAN.
I
would have provided an excerpt, but the “search inside”
function is now working on Amazon. Check it out and you can read
some of the book.
Quote
from Bruce Buffer:
I
just finished Stitch's book and give a complete "Thumbs
Up" as a fun and informative read with tons of MMA and boxing
stories for all UFC and fight fans to enjoy. Stitch is a one
of a kind icon in our sport and like many of us who have been
in MMA for years, has many very cool behind the scenes stories
to share. From the fields where he grew up to the Octagon in
which we work together, his story is interesting to the end and
there are still many years left to go. Stitch is my long time
friend and co-worker and I have even more respect for him after
enjoying his book and learning more about the man himself.
Stitch
Trivia:
Did
you know...
Stitch
grew up on a migrant camp
He
used to go smudging, a very dirty job in the middle of the night
to heat up tomato fields so they wouldn’t be ruined. It’s
been outlawed for about 40 years now.
Stitch
was awarded his Kru (master trainer) in Muay Thai and was given
the paperwork nearly 30 years after the fact
Don
King once tried to hustle Stitch out of training expenses
The
first time Stitch ever wrapped an MMA fighter’s hand it
was for a UFC belt
Stitch
worked closely with Woody Harrelson in Play it to the Bone
Stitch
has enjoyed vodka with Fedor in the locker room after a victory
Brock
was almost unable to fight at UFC 87 because the glove ripped
when Stitch was putting it on and they only had one extra pair
of the specially made monster-sized gloves
Nick
Diaz has no problems giving Stitch hugs
With
his father looking on, Lyoto Machida once bowed to Stitch and
said, “In the ring, you are my father.”
Stitch’s
book is now available at Amazon, FROM THE FIELDS TO THE GARDEN:
THE LIFE OF STITCH DURAN
Originally
the title was From Migrant Camp to Madison Square Garden: The
Life of Stitch Duran
It
was changed when his sister Dorothy came up with the new name.
The fields refer to Stitch’s youth, and the garden is of
course Madison Square Garden
You’ll
find all of the above stories and many more in the book, a must
read for every fight fan!
Source: By The Numbers
|
André
Galvão
By Guilherme Cruz
The last months were complicated to André Galvão.
Recently moving to the United States, the world champion of Jiu-Jitsu
is far from his family in order to establish his life in America,
where he plans to live indefinitely. Meanwhile, André
accepted a fight against the unbeaten Tyron Woodley on Strikeforce,
but the last minute invitation and the wrong preparation has
lead to a defeat. The instability of the event made the fighter
and his manager decided not to renew his contract with the show
so he could join the trials for the next season on The Ultimate
Fighter, reality show of UFC. On his participation of the trials,
which had almost 300 athletes, was a success. “There were
many guys, it was crowded, there were about 300 guys there and
it was a success”, tells Galvão. On an exclusive
interview, André tells he’s one step away of entering
the house, just like the Brazilian Vitor Vianna, but they still
have to wait – and cheer a lot – for the final approval.
“It’s not that great fighters joined the show’s
cast, like Diego Sanchez, Forrest Griffin and Rashad Evans, and
had disputed or even got the UFC title, it’s a growth that
you have in there”, affirmed.
How was this experience of participating of TUF’s trials?
It was pretty cool, there were many guys there, it was crowded.
I don’t know, I think it’s a great opportunity of knowing
who on these events, it was nice. We went through a test, we’ve
shown some of our Jiu-Jitsu skills, they raffled some guys, and
you had to do the grappling with the guy. I did it with an American,
it was quick, about one and a half minute. Then we started to
do gauntlet and then there was an interview. If you passed one
test, they’d give you another one. On my group there were
20 people, and there were only 5 left for the interview. I was
one of them, I was interview and they’ve approved me, but
maybe they like other guy better on the interview… Now I
don’t know if I made it or not. I’ll just have to wait
for them to call me.
What did you think about this experience? Did you talk to Dana
White or somebody from UFC?
Man, I met Dana White a while ago, when I was with Wanderlei,
he used to go to UFC’s gym to train, and Dana was always
there, so we talked to each other… On the last years, I
was always with Anderson, I was his corner, so he knew me. When
I got there, we’ve shaken hands, but we didn’t chat.
It was nice, a good experience and now let’s see how it
goes.
How do you see this possibility of joining the reality show’s
cast?
I think it’s pretty cool. It’s not just about being
there, which is a good thing for itself, but UFC takes care of
you. I think the first thing is that they take care of you, take
good care, warn you in advance when you’ll fight… Actually,
I’ll really know when I’m there. There’re fighters
I know that went there and still are there, like Koscheck, who
started there and now will have the title shot against St. Pierre…
Forrest Griffin and Rashad Evans, who were champions. I think
it’s about the growth, the living, and what is nice is that
after you’ve been there, you’ll see how much you’ve
grown. It’s a great thing, an incentive.
For joining the reality show’s cast you have to speak good
English… Are you good at it?
I’m training (laughs). The interview is exactly about that,
they want to know your English level. I speak English, I can
get things, I can read, I understand what people say and I communicate
well. They’ve approved me on the test and let’s see
if they’ll let me get in there with my English level, but
I can speak good English. There are guys there that can’t
(laughs). I think I’m a purple belt on English, fourth grade
on the purple belt (laughs).
Vitor Vianna, who trains with Wanderlei, has also participated
on this trial. Did you get to talk to him or know about his results?
I’ve talked to him, we trained together back at Brasa, and
he did the same tests I did, and on my last test he was there
too. He was with Michael Costa, who unfortunately didn’t
pass, but Vitor did. His group was the second or the third to
go through the test, he tried as a middleweight and passed and
was pretty happy when they called me for the interview, he was
waiting for me. We celebrated a lot.
Everybody was surprised when you went for this trial because
you had a contract signed with Strikeforce. Did they cancel the
contract or did you ask to leave?
Man, actually, my managers took care of it, Ed (Soares), Joinha
and Strikeforce. I don’t know exactly if they wanted to
keep me or not. But we’ve come to the conclusion it’d
be best for me to try this, since I’ve lost, it was my last
fight on the contract… It wasn’t about the show, I
had a five-fights contract with them. I’ve done two fights
on Dream and three on Strikeforce, and they work together. It
was my fifth fight, and I had to do these five fights until March
of 2011, and when it ended, they called Ed and Joinha and asked
them if they’d sign another contract because it was opened,
I could go somewhere else. My managers decided to take me off
Strikeforce and try to get to TUF’s house. I hope I’ll
be on UFC soon.
What did you learn from this time you’ve spent on Strikeforce?
You have to prepare yourself for each opponent you have, and
I’ve always done that. What happened was this: they’ve
always called me at the last minute, about four weeks before
the fights. The only fight I did trained, being aware about it
with two months in advance, was my first fight, the others, against
Macaco and this last one, they’ve warned me at the last
minute, and I accepted it because when I left Dream to fight
on Strikeforce there’re eight months without fighting, they
left me eight months doing nothing, and that disturbed my training
because I thought I’d fight in September and I didn’t,
and I’m a MMA fighter, I live from it…
They came and said to me I’d only fight in December, so
that changed my preparation a bit. The last fight I accepted
because I didn’t knew when I would fight again, so I preferred
to fight. I’ve learned we have to know about the fights
in advance, about eight weeks before it so that you can prepare
yourself properly and also that you need some time off between
the fights, it’s pretty important.
This
fight I did, I have just fought Macaco and then they called me,
and it’s complicated because you need some time to rest,
but we only learn from our mistakes. Now I have to focus from
now on on my exchange because I keep changing my coaches all
the time. I trained with Rogério and Distak and there
were good fights, and the fights I’ve lost I didn’t
train with them, but I’ve changed a lot coaches. I’ve
trained Muay Thai with (Daniel) Woirin, Boxing with other guy…
Each fight I trained with a different coach and that disturbed
me a bit too. I’ve found a Boxing coach and started training
with him so that I can have a good foundation here, focus on
my exchange because the fight begins on standing up.
Source: Tatame
|
Q&A
with UFC's Vladimir Matyushenko
By Andrew
Plante
Tim Heitman for ESPN.com
Vladimir Matyushenko, who will take on Alexandre Ferreira on
Saturday in an UFC 122 light heavyweight bout, answered questions
from ESPNDallas.com about his career and upcoming fight.
What
did you learn in your loss against phenom Jon Jones back in August?
Matyushenko:
The one thing I learned is that you can’t stay in a certain
position too long these days. They’ll take advantage very
quick, especially Jon Jones. He’s a really good athlete
and he doesn’t miss a chance. I was on my back. I should
have just gotten out of there, by getting on my feet or taking
his back. The game has become more dynamic than it used to be.
It’s become so much faster.
You’ve
faced some elite fighters like Tito Ortiz, Antonio Rogerio Noguiera
and Andrei Arlovski. Compared to your experiences with those
fighters, is Jon Jones among the elite in the light heavyweight
division? Is he the real deal?
Matyushenko:
He’s definitely a good athlete. He’s taking this game
pretty seriously. I talked to him after the fight. Nice guy.
He’s very professional. Some people are saying he’s
not very experienced, but he learns very fast. He’s on top
of his game.
What
about your opponent for UFC 122? Is Alexandre Ferreira just a
one-dimensional submission fighter? Or do you feel that there
is more to his game than many suspect?
Matyushenko:
I take every opponent seriously. He hasn’t fought in almost
a year. You never know what is going to happen in that year.
Maybe he’s been training with his striking or learning other
things. But definitely he’s strongest at the submission
game, although I’ve never been submitted before and I’ve
fought against pretty good submission guys. I think striking
is going to be key for me to win this fight.
What
has training camp been like in preparation for Ferreira?
Matyushenko:
It’s always business as usual in my camps, but there are
little adjustments for the opponent I’m facing. But I usually
train with a little bit of everything, because you never know
who you might face. If your opponent gets injured you might ended
up matching up against a fighter with an entirely different style.
Ferreira
is really short for a light heavyweight, being 5-foot-7. What
issues will he have to deal with against you being that you are
6-foot-1?
Matyushenko:
He’s certainly under height. He’s stocky and short,
but that is not necessarily a disadvantage in wrestling. There
are a lot of good wrestlers that are short and stocky. I’ve
wrestled before too; I know my defense for that. If I focus only
on my striking, it may open gaps in my takedown defense. It’s
going to be an interesting fight.
You’ve
been fighting for 13 years. You have 29 fights to your name.
What has motivated to stay involved in such a tough sport for
so long?
Matyushenko:
I’m pretty self driven. Not a lot of the members of my family
are athletes. Most of them back in Russia are doing their own
thing in Belarus. I always wanted to be somebody, and my dream
has come true. I grew up in a little town in Russia. When I go
back there, people are still doing the same things. It’s
cool to be a fighter. That’s my motivation.
You
earned a light heavyweight title shot against then-champion Tito
Ortiz at UFC 33. Since that time, you’ve gone 14-3. Being
that you are now 39 years old, do you have plans for a final
run at the belt?
Matyushenko:
Anything is possible. It’s a long ways away. I’m not
self-delusional. The division has become so competitive. Step
by step. I have to win this fight, and then we’ll see who
is my next opponent. You never know in MMA. You always have to
be in shape. Somebody gets hurt, you might get an opportunity
to fight the best. Anything is possible.
Source: ESPN
|
Ultimate
Fighter Season 12 Ratings Consistent Through Week 9
Sometimes
consistency is truly the key when it comes to television ratings,
and if that’s the case then the “Ultimate Fighter”
season 12 has been as solid as a rock for Spike TV this year.
The
reality show drew in 1.8 million viewers for episode 9 of the
series, which falls in line with most of the ratings for the
show all year.
The
series once again drew large numbers in the coveted 18-34 male
demographic as well as the 18-49 male demographic.
TUF
12 has continued to pull in strong and consistent ratings throughout
the first 9 weeks of the show focusing on coaches Georges St.
Pierre and Josh Koscheck as they work with the latest group of
fighters hoping to make it into the UFC.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
The
story behind the Margarito video making fun of Freddie Roach
By Zach
Arnold
A
discussion amongst the Yahoo Sports MMA/boxing writers.
STEVE
COFIELD: “If anyone should be sensitive to Freddie Roach
and this awful thing that’s happened to him with Parkinson’s,
you know we don’t know for sure that the fight game, boxing
does it to you but there’s pretty good evidence, if anyone
should be sensitive to that it should be boxers and people around
boxing and there was a video [Tuesday] night that got out on
Fanhouse where (Antonio) Margarito and one of his training partner’s,
Brandon Rios, are doing Freddie Roach Parkinson impressions,
shaking, contorted faces, stuttering… Just stupid. Childish!”
KEVIN
IOLE: “It was horrible. I mean, it was beyond stupid. I
mean, and you know, I know Dave is outraged over Margarito even
having the fight but this would make somebody even way over the
top on that. I mean, and then they had, it was worse because
of the lame excuse he had at the press conference when he said,
well I wasn’t making fun of him, I didn’t even know
he had this disease.”
STEVE
COFIELD: “Yeah.”
KEVIN
IOLE: “This is Roberto Garcia talking. He said I didn’t
know he had this disease and I was just talking, he goes, I thought
he maybe had something from his boxing career. Well, yes! That’s
what he has. And Freddie’s Parkinson is actually trauma-induced
Parkinson’s and it’s a Parkinson’s that came from,
you know, from too many years in the ring and being hit too often
so it’s really a sad thing that they did and it showed just
a complete lack of class on the part of all three men.”
STEVE
COFIELD: “Am I going too far saying, you know, it says a
lot about Margarito I think.”
KEVIN
IOLE: “I think it does, too. I mean, I was critical, highly
critical of him in my column this morning on Yahoo Sports after
watching it and I just don’t see how, you know, how Margarito,
you know, thinks he can just explain this away because he cannot.”
STEVE
COFIELD: “The other part of it is when you watch the video,
and they pulled it down, although I was able to screen cap some
shots of them doing their Freddie Roach Parkinson’s impression
so they’re up on the boxing blog up on Yahoo… the beginning
of the video is another disturbing trend, you know, as if it’s
not bad enough to sit there and mock on a guy with this awful
disease, they continue to make light of the incident that got
them in hot water in the first place and that is the plaster
substance on his hands, you know, in the 24/7 they’re putting
Cinderblocks on this hands. This video starts out with some kind
of like hammer thing, some steel thing like, GUYS, IT’S
NOT FUNNY. I don’t like, just you’re not letting it
go now!”
KEVIN
IOLE: “Yeah, I agree, I mean, I just don’t understand.
Like, just forget about it, conduct yourself as a professional
with class and dignity and eventually you will restore your reputation.
But I mean this joking around he’s doing about it, I mean
he’s making a fool out of himself and people are laughing
at him, not with him.”
STEVE
COFIELD: “From a media philosophy standpoint on that video
that had Margarito and one of his training partners mocking on
Freddie Roach for having Parkinson’s, um… if you were
in charge of a web site and the video was up there, would you
pull the video?”
KEVIN
IOLE: “No.”
STEVE
COFIELD: “Because I just want to tell people, Fanhouse had
it up, my guess is Fanhouse put pressure on the blogger and they
may have gotten calls from Camp Margarito and promoters to pull
that video down.”
KEVIN
IOLE: “I can tell you what happened because it was taken,
it was taken down by Lem Satterfield who is their boxing editor
and he took it down at about 4 in the morning. He had just gotten
up to get ready to fly to the airport. He lives in suburban Baltimore
to fly to the airport to come to Dallas today. I talked to Lem
at length at the press conference and he yanked it, he said he
saw it and it disgusted him and he just thought to take it down
because of that. So that’s why he took it down. I think
he regrets having taken it down now just because you realize
there was significant news value to it. My only objection to
it was that the ‘reporter’ and I use that in quotes
because he certainly is not a real reporter that did the interview,
prodded them into it and you know that’s not the role of
a journalist to be doing something like that and he was like
doing the ‘ol, hey, he said this about you and he said this
about you and he was really prodding them into it. It doesn’t
excuse them for saying it but the reporter in that case was unprofessional
and got them to say that by the way he was interviewing them.
If I was in charge and I saw that video, of course I would put
that video up and it would stay there. I would have been angry
only from the standpoint that my ‘reporter’ would have
behaved so abominably the way this ‘reporter’ who did
that interview did.”
STEVE
COFIELD: “It is a news item, you’re right, and it was
out there so I think it’s kind of silly and naive to think
that no one saw it and it’s just going to go away. It was
reposted, it got reposted, it was edited because I think there
was a more offensive impression later in the video, that was
up for a couple of hours and then as you said in quotes the ‘journalist’
then I think pulled the, hey, that’s my video because someone
else posted it, that’s my video copyright you know whatever
infringement, rights deal and pull it down, so it got pulled
down a second time.”
KEVIN
IOLE: “Yeah, it’s just too bad, I mean it’s really
bad and I think people need to see that to what idiots these
guys are and how they conduct themselves.”
Source: Fight Opinion
|
After
Latest Win, March Likely Next Fight for Drysdale
By Kelsey Mowatt; video courtesy www.drysdalejiujitsu.com
For
quite some time, many MMA and jiu-jitsu enthusiasts intently
followed the career of Abu Dhabi champion Robert Drysdale, wondering
if and when the decorated grappler would make his pro MMA debut.
In July, Drysdale made it official, tapping out Bastien Huveneers
in the first round at an Armaggedon Fighting Championship event
in Victoria, British Columbia. This past weekend, the Vegas fighter
returned to the West Coast city and recorded another first round,
submission win over Clay Davidson, to extend his record to 2-0.
So far, Drysdale has been able to deliver on the hype that has
followed him from the jiu-jitsu world into MMA.
“Not
really,” Drysdale told FCF, when asked if he knew much about
Davidson, who trains with the UFC’s Rory MacDonald and had
lost just once before facing the BJJ champ. “I heard he
was a tough guy and was on a five win streak... that was it.”
While
it’s likely Drysdale’s services would have been welcomed
by most MMA promotions in and around Nevada State, the fighter
elected to sign with the AFC, an upstart promotion whose management
team includes veteran fighter Jason Heit. According to Drysdale,
his third pro bout will once again be under the AFC banner.
“I
think in their next show March 12th,” said Drysdale, when
asked when he expects to fight next. “But nothing confirmed
yet.”
So,
in many respects, 2010 has been another banner year for Drysdale,
as it will end having seen him make a successful transition into
professional MMA. As far as his aspirations for 2011, Drysdale
offered this statement, when asked for his thought about the
upcoming campaign.
“Fight
as much as possible and remain undefeated,” Drysdale stated.
“I'm training hard and this win only motivates me even more!”
Source: Full Contact Fighter
|
Nogueira
vs. Tito Ortiz in the works for 2011
By Guilherme Cruz
With two wins in three fights in the UFC, Rogério “Minotouro”
Nogueira revealed he wanted to return to the as soon as possible,
but it looks like he’ll have to wait until 2011. According
to souces close to his camp, Nogueira will face the former UFC
light heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz, who lost four of his last
five fights, in 2011. TATAME.com called Rogerio, who didn’t
confirmed the news, but revealed he also head Ortiz’s name.
“I’ve heard some rumors of this fight, but there’s
nothing signed. In my last fight they said about (Quinton) Rampage
and they changed to Ryan Bader”, Nogueira said. Stay tuned
for more news about the UFC.
Source: Tatame
|
Muay
Thai King's Cup Line-Up Announced
by Fraser Coffeen
This year's line-up for the big King's Cup show in Bangkok has
been announced. This annual event features some of the top Muay
Thai names in a one night, 8 man tournament scheduled for December
5. Very good line up this year:
Cosmo
Alexandre (2009 King's Cup champion)
Yodsaenklai Fairtex
Vuyisile Colossa
Jesse Miles
Jordan Watson
Marcus Oberg
Marco Pique
Dzhabar Askerov
The
obvious early favorites are Cosmo and Yod. A year ago, Yodsaenklai
would have been the hands down favorite to win, but with 3 losses
in 2010, he's no longer the clear top. This will be a great test
of just where he lies, as he holds previous wins over a number
of these fighters. Can he defeat them again, or will this tournament
show just how far he has slipped?
The
other name to watch here is Vuyisile Colossa. While not as big
an international name as most of the others, Colossa does have
the distinction of being the only participant to hold a win over
Yod. Since snapping Yod's two year undefeated streak early this
year, Colossa has won 4 in a row, including a Wu Ling Feng championship
victory. I'm glad to see him involved here as he deserves a shot
at stiffer competition.
Even
outside of those names, fighters like Oberg, Pique, and even
Watson could be spoilers. It's really anybody's tournament, and
should provide for a great night of action.
Source: Head Kick Legend
|
UFC
122 on 11/13 in Germany
Konig Pilsener Arena
Today!
By Zach Arnold
Hawaii
Time 7:00PM
SPIKE Channel 559
This
airs on tape delay via Spike TV.
¦Light
Heavyweights: Seth Petruzelli vs. Karlos Vemola
¦Lightweights: Duane “Bang” Ludwig vs. Nick
Osipczak
¦Welterweights: Amir Sadollah vs. Peter Sobotta
¦Lightweights: Dennis Siver vs. Andre Winner
¦Middleweights: Jorge Rivera vs. Alessio Sakara
¦Light Heavyweights: Krzysztof Soszynski vs. Goran Reljic
¦Light Heavyweights: Kyle Noke vs. Rob Kimmons
¦Light Heavyweights: Vladimir Matyushenko vs. Alexandre
Ferreira
¦Welterweights: Pascal Krauss vs. Mark Scanlon
¦Welterweights: Kris McCray vs. Carlos Eduardo Rocha
¦Middleweights (eliminator): Nate Marquardt vs. Yushin
Okami
Source: Fight Opinion
|
The
Sport That Won’t Go Away
There once was a time when boxing ruled Hawaii. Certainly football,
whether high school or collegiate, has always been a popular
draw, but believe it or not, there was a time when big bouts
would be the talk of the Islands. And the stars weren’t
limited to one race, ethnic background or island of origin.
By Steve Murray
Thought to be a dying sport because of MMA, it turns out MMA
is actually driving more people into the ring
There
once was a time when boxing ruled Hawaii. Certainly football,
whether high school or collegiate, has always been a popular
draw, but believe it or not, there was a time when big bouts
would be the talk of the Islands. And the stars weren’t
limited to one race, ethnic background or island of origin. Whether
you were Polynesian, Asian, haole or from Maui, Oahu or Kauai,
there was always someone to root for.
But
those days are long gone. Weakened by uninteresting fighters
and cable television, and given the death blow by mixed martial
arts, the sport seems to have wilted away.
Not
so, says Bruce Kawano, president of Amateur Boxing of Hawaii.
As it turns out, boxing is not finished. In fact, it is getting
bigger, and MMA has actually helped.
At
gyms, opulent and otherwise, men and women, no matter the age,
are skipping rope and exchanging blows. Kalakaua District Park
Boxing Gym in Kalihi is one such place. Inside its well-worn
doors are the sights and sounds of training. Leather hits leather
as a young teen, under the watchful eyes of his coach, rotates
at the waist to deliver an even more powerful upper cut. In another
section, a mother chases down her energetic child just after
going the distance with a heavy bag, and in an adjoining ring
a grade-schooler, nearly invisible behind his seemingly oversized
practice gloves and head gear, goes through his first few lessons.
For the great majority of fighters at this gym, and the approximately
35 other clubs throughout the state, boxing is recreation, a
form of exercise that satisfies the competitive juices.
For
a select few, the hours of daily training could be their ticket
to something bigger.
Justly
Laquihon could be one of those rare ones. The McKinley High School
junior began fighting at the age of 8 and currently boasts a
15-1 amateur record, including winning two consecutive Ringside
World Championships at the 106-pound division.
“It’s pretty much been my life,” says the 16-year-old,
who dreams of following in the footsteps of his hero, Manny Pacquiao.
“I want to be a professional, but if that doesn’t work
out I’ll have my education.” Laquihon, who is carrying
a 3.5 GPA, plans to attend either UNLV, for its closeness to
the fight industry, or Oregon, for its medical programs. He hopes
to be a nurse practitioner. But first things first. The next
step is the 2011 Junior Olympics.
“That
is the most important event for all amateur boxers. If you win
that you may get a spot on the Olympic team, and that is something
I want to do. I want to represent the U.S. It is something I
always dreamed of. It just stokes the fire for me to work harder.”
Talk
of the Olympics brings not only a smile to his face, but to his
prideful father who introduced his son to the sport.
Laquihon,
whose family emigrated from the Visayas region of the Philippines,
is well-aware of the legacy of Fillipino boxers in Hawaii and
elsewhere.
“I
really feel that pride. Even though I am from Hawaii, just that
feeling of representing Filipinos is important. I look at Pacquiao’s
impact on the Philippines and want to do that too. I don’t
know if I can, but I want to be great.”
The
history of boxing in Hawaii goes back to the games of the Makahiki
festivals, where the contests were part of the annual celebrations
for the god Lono.
Source: Midweek
|
UFC
122 Preview: The Main Card
by Jason Probst
UFC 122 is a case of middleweights aplenty, with not a heavyweight
on the card.
That
said, this one offers some good match-ups that will help shape
the title picture at 185 pounds. And the fact that it’s
in Germany means that there will surely be some excellent beer
at the afterparties.
What
else could you want?
Nate
Marquardt vs. Yushin Okami
This
middleweight showdown is a showcase of two of the middleweight
division’s best. The success of either man will come down
to one factor: how much time Marquardt spends on his back.
Compared
to most guys competing at the elite level of MMA, Okami has been
remarkably successful given how one-dimensional he seems at times.
Content to let his stand-up consistent of flicking jabs and little
more standing, he remains an exceptionally tough out given his
strong wrestling and resilient conditioning.
Marquardt’s
task is clear: he’ll have to circle, strike effectively
without offering game-breaking openings for the clinch -- where
Okami excels -- and mix in judiciously chosen kicks. Marquardt’s
hands are pretty good and his confidence with them will be crucial.
If
he’s taken down, Marquardt would be best advised to work
to stall position and get a referee stand-up, as Okami is very
tough to sweep and dislodge once he’s on top of you. This
could be the exact kind of fight where fans debate what counts
in fight scoring: a few takedowns followed by little top action
and damage versus a more active and effective striker on the
feet.
Either
way, neither fighter is likely to finish the other given the
style match-up, unless someone catches the other and explodes
with a fight-ending flurry. I like Marquardt here in a tough
decision win; he’s the better athlete and has more options,
though his takedown defense and ability to get back to his feet
will likely be put to the test by Okami, who has spent his camp
training with the last man to beat Marquardt, Chael Sonnen, at
Team Quest in Oregon.
Jorge
Rivera vs. Alessio Sakara
Say
this for Alessio Sakara: he comes to bang, and UFC matchmaker
Joe Silva is happy to oblige him. With a dance partner like the
rejuvenated Rivera, this will be the kind of bout where you warn
the guy going to the fridge that he’d better skip the food
run and stay put.
Sakara’s
hands are very capable and Rivera is always willing to entertain
a slugfest, even when he’s seemingly outgunned. One thing
that makes Sakara’s hands so good is that he’s eminently
relaxed in the pocket, popping off clean punches and setting
down on them. It’s a highly unnatural act to plant your
feet and swing at someone trying to tee off on you, but “Legionnarus”
does it extremely well, especially with his counter left hook.
Rivera
is tough, but has a little less head movement and may be at a
technical disadvantage in a stand-up war. However, he has loads
of persistence, which served him well in his impressive upset
beatdown of Nate Quarry. Rivera is one of those guys that just
keeps coming and this should play into Sakara’s game. Look
for the Italian to pick his spots effectively on the feet and
get the better of the ground game, if it goes there, en route
to a decision win.
Dennis Siver vs. Andre Winner
These
days, lightweights seem to bring the best bang for your buck,
with nary a bad matchup made and with WEC merging into the UFC
and bringing even more 155-pound talent, it’s only going
to get better. Siver-Winner is the kind of fight that sorts out
the men from the boys, with the winner in potential position
to get into the lightweight title race.
As
MMA continues to evolve, fighters like Siver and Winner have
increasingly become the norm: better athletes make for better
fighters overall, even if they lack a world-class pedigree in
a core art like muay Thai, wrestling or jiu-jitsu. Winner has
steadily progressed since losing in the TUF 9 finale to Ross
Pearson, and though he hit a speed bump in a decision loss against
tough Nik Lentz, the bout was more of a learning experience than
a case of being exposed. He still has a lot of physical ability
and a headiness that suggest a good grasp of tactics.
Siver,
meanwhile, explodes with potent roundhouses and puts everything
into his strikes, with a compact frame built to trade shots.
Expect some good back-and-forth stand-up action with Winner showing
smooth striking but Siver landing the heavier shots.
The
key for Siver is forcing heavy exchanges as opposed to a finesse
game, which is where Winner could outpoint him from range. Winner
is also very good at making the subtle transitions between clinching
and dirty boxing, as well as at attacking with knees in the clinch.
The
guess here is that Siver might be a little too strong in the
clinch and on the mat and will grind out a tough decision win.
Conversely, it might turn into a bar fight on the feet. Either
way, it should prove typically entertaining lightweight fare.
Source: Sherdog
|
Manny
Pacquiao vs. Antonio Margarito Thoughts: Margarito, Camp and
Elie Seckbach Looking Like Fools
by Brent Brookhouse
2 months ago: Boxer Antonio Margarito walks along the ground
level suites with an unidentified woman as he appears at a preseason
NFL football game between the Dallas Cowboys and the Miami Dolphins,
Thursday, Sept. 2, 2010, in Arlington, Texas. Margarito is scheduled
to fight Manny Pacquiao on Nov. 13 at Cowboys Stadium. (AP Photo/LM
Otero)
The story of the week is combat sports has turned from any of
the actual fights on the IFC, WEC, MFC, UFC or boxing cards into
the story of Antonio Margarito and his training partner Brandon
Rios making fun of Freddie Roach's Parkinson's disease. The story
and the resulting fallout has given us a glimpse into lifecycle
of a modern news story and the dark side of both athletes, management
and media.
Late
Tuesday night a video was published on AOL Fanhouse's boxing
page which depicted Antonio Margarito and training partner Brandon
Rios mocking the speech and movement patterns of Manny Pacquiao
trainer Freddie Roach. Roach suffers from Parkinson's Disease,
a condition no doubt linked to his very physical time as an amateur
and professional boxer. In addition, Margarito's trainer Robert
Garcia made light of the controversy surrounding the attempt
to load Antonio's gloves prior to the fight with Shane Mosley.
I'll rely on Bad Left Hook, the site that was the original to
pursue the story aggressively. to give the timeline of their
real-time updates from the night/early morning that the video
was released:
Update
(12:15am EST): You will notice if you attempt to play the video
below that it is now "private." The video has apparently
been taken down. I don't want to jump to any conclusions about
that, and don't know if that decision came from the Margarito
camp or the original uploader of the video or what. Nothing I
say below has changed, though. It still happened.
Update
(12:21am EST): Re-linked the video, but this one has been edited
to make it appear as though Margarito is doing a "scared"
impression of Roach. Brandon Rios' impression of Roach, which
couldn't be covered up or turned into something it's not, has
been entirely removed.
...
Update
(12:46pm EST): The edited version, officially uploaded by Elie
Seckbach/FanHouse, has also been pulled.
What
happened from this point onward is a mess of lies, half-truths
and excuses that makes everyone but Roach and Pacquiao look bad.
I don't think we need to go into the reasons that the Margarito
camp look bad in the original vide so let's look at AOL Fanhouse's
role in all of this.
Elie
Seckbach, the man who made the original video, is not some nobody.
He won a Mark Twain award in 2009 for his work, so there is every
reason in the world to hold him to a higher standard as a professional.
So with that in mind, the questions to Seckbach become:
-
Prod Margarito and his camp into making outlandish statements?
He's not responsible for what they said, but he very clearly
was trying to get something juicy.
-
Once the video was up and started to generate controversy, why
was the video than re-edited to make everyone involved look better?
How is that any part of Elie's job?
-
Why was the edited version then pulled completely? And what is
it back up now?
There
is a lot of confusion over all of this and Kevin Iole and Steve
Cofield discussed the situation in a recent video. Thanks to
Fight Opinion for their having transcribed the video:
STEVE
COFIELD: "Because I just want to tell people, Fanhouse had
it up, my guess is Fanhouse put pressure on the blogger and they
may have gotten calls from Camp Margarito and promoters to pull
that video down."
KEVIN
IOLE: "I can tell you what happened because it was taken,
it was taken down by Lem Satterfield who is their boxing editor
and he took it down at about 4 in the morning. He had just gotten
up to get ready to fly to the airport. He lives in suburban Baltimore
to fly to the airport to come to Dallas today. I talked to Lem
at length at the press conference and he yanked it, he said he
saw it and it disgusted him and he just thought to take it down
because of that. So that’s why he took it down. I think
he regrets having taken it down now just because you realize
there was significant news value to it. My only objection to
it was that the ‘reporter’ and I use that in quotes
because he certainly is not a real reporter that did the interview,
prodded them into it and you know that’s not the role of
a journalist to be doing something like that and he was like
doing the ‘ol, hey, he said this about you and he said this
about you and he was really prodding them into it. It doesn’t
excuse them for saying it but the reporter in that case was unprofessional
and got them to say that by the way he was interviewing them.
If I was in charge and I saw that video, of course I would put
that video up and it would stay there. I would have been angry
only from the standpoint that my ‘reporter’ would have
behaved so abominably the way this ‘reporter’ who did
that interview did."
Did
you catch that? "it was taken down by Lem Satterfield who
is their boxing editor and he took it down at about 4 in the
morning." says Iole. Now, Kevin is a good guy and he has
ZERO reason to lie about what he was told by Satterfield so I
have no doubt Lem said it to him. However, the original, unedited
video was pulled no later than 12:15am and was replaced with
the edited version no later than 12:21am.
Now
the site has re-posted the unedited video with a message that
says "Editor's Note: The above video was previously pulled
in error. We apologize, and it is now available, in full."
I'll leave it up to you all to figure out how a video was pulled,
edited to change the story, reposted and pulled again all "in
error." It's pretty difficult for me to believe that they
accidentally edited the video to make Margarito appear as though
he was saying Roach was scared and then completely left out Brandon
Rios' more grotesque display.
And
now we've got the "I didn't know" defense being employed
by Margarito and friends, exactly like when he "didn't know"
his gloves were being wrapped with a lump of plaster in them.
From AOL Fanhouse again:
"Two
of my fighters were joking around, making fun of Freddie Roach.
We already talked about it. This was nothing to do with the disease
that Freddie Roach has. We know that it's something that we don't
wish on anybody," said Garcia.
"I
would never allow that type of behavior in my gym. We just wanted
everyone to know that this is something personal between Team
Pacquiao and Team Margarito," said Garcia. "I just
want to make that clear."
...
"And
I said, 'You know the disease that Freddie Roach has,'"
said Garcia. "He didn't know Freddie Roach had a disease.
He thought that it was from those 13 losses that Freddie Roach
had as a boxer. It has nothing to do with his disease, I just
want to make that clear."
Scott
Christ follows up with this at Bad Left Hook:
So
what Garcia is saying is that Rios believed that Roach did not
have a disease, but that he has tremors "from those 13 losses"
that Roach suffered in his boxing career. Now without meaning
to be combative about this, is Rios an idiot? I think that's
a fair question at this point. Does he think you get tremors
if you lose over 10 fights and that it isn't anything neurological?
Are we supposed to buy that?
So
Rios has enough inside knowledge about Roach to know he lost
13 times during his pro career but not that one of the most widely
covered men in the sport has Parkinson's? And even if he didn't
know it was Parkinson's, it is clear that he thinks Roach has
some sort of neurological disorder from his time in the ring.
Is it better to make fun of a guy who has an unspecified mental
issue than it is one who has Parkinson's?
Look,
the bottom line here is that Antonio Margarito's name is beyond
saving. He can knock Manny Pacquiao out in two rounds Saturday
night and people are simply going to wonder how he cheated. He's
now dragging a talented prospect in Brandon Rios down with him.
Margarito, Rios and Garcia have made sure that no part of Saturday
can potentially be about the redemption of Antonio as a man,
it's now about wanting to see Manny Pacquiao make history at
his expense. Did it maybe help sell tickets? Sure, but it's a
one way ticket for Margarito from here.
And
Fanhouse? Look, their boxing coverage is routinely among the
best in the sport. Lem Satterfield is one of the best guys working
the boxing beat today. Unfortunately their association with Elie
Seckbach forced AOL and Satterfield into doing damage control
that, in turn, made the entire site look bad. We can't ever take
Seckbach seriously as a legitimate member of the media again.
Hopefully Fanhouse has it in them to do the right thing, cut
ties with someone in Seckbach who hurt their brand and go back
to providing outstanding content.
Source: Bloody Elbow
|
WEC
52 Bonuses Score Fighters An Extra $10,000
by Jeff
Cain
Urijah Faber, Erik Koch, Cub Swanson and Mackens Semerzier were
each awarded $10,000 bonus checks for in-cage performances following
WEC 52, which took place at the Pearl at the Palms in Las Vegas
on Thursday.
Cub
Swanson swinging on Mackens Semerzier
Fight
of the Night honors went to Swanson and Semerzier for their preliminary
fight card back and forth war. Swanson was awarded a split decision
in the closely contested and crowd pleasing fight. The bout was
shown before the co-main event on the television broadcast of
WEC 52 on Versus.
Erik
Koch earned Knockout of the Night for his first round technical
knockout of WEC newcomer Francisco Rivera. Koch landed a left
high kick to Rivera’s head, knocking him to the canvas,
where Koch finished him with punches on the ground.
Urijah
Faber submits Takeya Mizugaki
Submission
of the Night came in the main event when Urijah Faber quickly
took Takeya Mizugaki’s back and choked him unconscious with
a rear naked choke. The former featherweight titleholder made
his bantamweight debut and took home the Submission of the Night
bonus money, which he said at the post-fight press conference
that he would split with his teammate, Joseph Benavidez, who
submitted Wagnney Fabiano.
Total
bonus money awarded after WEC 52 was $40,000.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
Matyushenko
Bridges Past to Present
by Tristen Critchfield
As
a 13-year mixed martial arts veteran with 29 professional fights,
Vladimir Matyushenko has been witness to the sport’s rich
past and its increasingly bright future.
In
2001, the Belarusian dropped a unanimous decision to Tito Ortiz
in a light heavyweight title bout at UFC 33. Nearly a decade
later, he was victimized by the lethal elbows of 205-pound phenom
Jon Jones, a man many believe to be a future champion, at UFC
Live 2 in August.
What
differences stand out between now and then? The former freestyle
wrestling standout known as “The Janitor” has improved
-- and so has everyone else.
“It’s
a little bit of different times and different techniques,”
Matyushenko said. “The game improved so much, and I think
I’m a better fighter than I was then, but the young generation
comes up even better than that. I have to keep up with that.”
Nothing
was more indicative of the sport's evolution than the efficiency
with which Jones finished the former International Fight League
light heavyweight champion. The 23-year-old Jackson’s Mixed
Martial Arts representative quickly took the 39-year-old Matyushenko
to the ground, secured a crucifix from side control and finished
the fight at 1:52 of the first round.
Matyushenko
entered the fight as a heavy underdog but said Jones did not
show anything unexpected. The key was the young fighter’s
ability to beat the veteran to the punch.
“Like
I said before the fight, he didn’t surprise me at all. He’s
a fast, explosive, tall guy,” Matyushenko said. “He
just showed that he did his homework, actually beat me on my
own level. It’s not like I did it wrong. I was just a little
bit slower.”
The
loss ended a three-fight winning streak for Matyushenko. Shortly
thereafter, the UFC inked the California resident to a new four-fight
deal that begins against Brazilian standout Alexandre “Cacareco”
Ferreira at UFC 122 “Marquardt vs. Okami” on Nov. 13
in Oberhausen, Germany. It will serve as the promotional debut
for Ferreira, a Chute Boxe Academy product who has earned 17
of his 18 victories via submission.
Alexandre
"Cacareco" Ferreira“He’s short and stocky.
He goes low and takes people down, or even if he’s been
taken down, he goes for guillotines,” Matyushenko said.
“I like to keep it on my feet, but if we have to go on the
ground, we can go on the ground. I’m not afraid of it.”
Matyushenko
-- who owns victories over Vernon White, Pedro Rizzo, Antonio
Rogerio Nogueira, Tim Boetsch and Jason Lambert -- will be in
the unfamiliar position of favorite against the newcomer.
“From
my last fight, experience is not everything,” he said. “Even
if it’s his first fight in the UFC, a fight is a fight.
It can be an advantage; it can [also] not be.”
Dating
back to his pre-MMA days -- he was given his moniker by a member
of the U.S. wrestling team because of the ragged attire he wore
while cleaning the mats the night before a meet in which he defeated
two of the Americans’ best wrestlers -- Matyushenko has
been somewhat overlooked and underappreciated. Many people were
less than enthusiastic when he was selected to face Jones, in
part because he was not a household name.
In
the past, Matyushenko said he preferred to focus on training
rather than grant interview requests. A new approach to self
promotion has begun to give him a new level of familiarity with
fans, and vice versa.
“It
happened a while ago, because I think I was underestimating media.
I liked to be in shape,” he said. “That’s why
a lot of people didn’t know me. Now things have changed,
and I work with a really good management company. And I changed
my ways. I have a lot of interaction with my fans. I think it’s
changing more and more now.”
Before
too long, fight fans might see Matyushenko’s personal contribution
to the future of MMA in the flesh. His son, Roman, recently returned
from the Air Force and is pursuing a career in the sport.
“I
wish he was in training with me for the Jones fight,” Matyushenko
said. “He’s a big guy with a long reach. He’s
gonna grow up, and he’s gonna be a good heavyweight. And
he wants it.”
At
the start of a new UFC contract, Matyushenko does not appear
ready to pass the torch yet.
“I
want to win this one and redeem myself in the eyes of my fans
and myself,” he said. “Then I have a few more fights.
There’s a lot of good guys in the 205 division, so there
will be no shortage. Whatever the UFC offers me, I will always
take it.”
Amir
Sadollah vs. Peter Sobotta
In
a division where the extremes of weight-cutting seem to give
many fighters an invaluable edge, both of these guys are cut
from a different cloth. Neither relies on an overpowering size
advantage, instead falling back on smooth stand-up and classic
technique on the feet and ground.
Sadollah
ran into the bigger, stronger Dong Hyun Kim in losing a decision
in his last appearance. Prior to, he had used his stand-up and
precise tactics to rack up wins over Brad Blackburn and Phil
Baroni. However, the TUF 7 winner was sidelined with a lengthy
stretch of unfortunate injuries before returning to the Octagon
more than a year after his second submission win over C.B. Dollaway
to win the reality show.
Sobotta
has lost two decisions in as many UFC bouts, but don’t be
fooled: he is a good matchup for Sadollah. Sobotta has very good
kicks and a willingness to let combinations fly. It will be crucial
whether Sadollah is content to match strikes on the feet or if
he uses his improving takedowns to try and plant the German on
the mat.
Sometimes,
a guy’s ego can get the better of him in a fight, especially
when he’s favored to win against an opponent perceived to
be outclassed. However, Sadollah has seemed too smart for that
in his career, knowing what to do and when to do it.
I
like Sadollah by late stoppage or decision here, as he seems
to make very nice adjustments once he gets a feel for what the
other man is trying to do. His performance against Blackburn
showed how much progress he’s made in dealing with increasingly
tough competition; the loss to Kim merely showed that he can
be taken down and controlled, but it hardly told us anything
we didn’t already know.
Sadollah’s
a cerebral fighter and an exciting one to watch, a rare combination
that keeps both casual fans and purists happy.
Krzysztof
Soszynski vs. Goran Reljic
This
is a definite style clash, with the smooth-kicking Reljic taking
on the no-frills Soszynski. Like MMA’s most famous Croatian,
Reljic has a great head kick and dangerous striking. He may have
been too big to cut down to 185, where he lost close decisions
to C.B. Dollaway and then Kendall Grove. Returning to 205 pounds
should be a better fit.
With
a record of 24-11, Soszynski has taken on all comers at both
205 pounds and heavyweight and doesn’t do a lot of things
flashy or with spectacular highlight-reel mojo. He just comes
in shape and grinds it out, win or lose.
The
key here will be how much room Soszynski gives Reljic to operate.
Given enough space to use footwork and set up angles, Reljic
will be able to land strikes, particularly his left roundhouse
kick, which he lets loose like a clean-up hitter going for a
fastball with the bases loaded.
Soszynski
should try to catch Reljic’s kicks to try to set up takedowns,
where he can work strikes to the body and head to slow him down.
In boxing, you beat a jabber by outjabbing him and in MMA, you
give a kicker pause by countering him with a good one to the
legs. Soszynki’s stand-up will never have him confused for
Peter Aerts, but if he can use well-timed low kicks, that will
throw off Reljic’s rhythm, stunting his offense and allowing
Soszynski to set up the takedown.
The
pick here is Reljic by decision, though. He should have just
enough offensive variety and advantages in speed and striking
to pull it out, surviving a few tough moments on bottom of Soszynski.
Source: Sherdog
|
After
Filho, ‘Pezão’ wants the top of the UFC
By Erik Engelhart
Marcos Rogério de Lima, known as “Pezão”,
already is a reality on MMA. The Sao Paulo native is unbeaten
in nine fights, being eight of them by knockout, and most on
the first round. If “Pezão” is blunting on his
MMA career now, on KickBoxing the tough guy has done 79 fights,
conquering important titles like the intercontinental of WAKO
and he was two-time world champion.
“Pezão” started practicing Jiu-Jitsu on Infight,
in 2004, and currently trains with Marcos Barbosa. The MMA debut
came in 2009, and from then on the fighter has been knocking
out all of his opponents, except for Paulo Filho, who “Pezão”
beat on First Class 5, on a unanimous decision. Big Foot analyzed
his career until now and believes that the win over Paulo decided
the way to go on his career.
“We’ve set a strategy to fight him and I did a good
fight, trained a lot of Wrestling, which is what gives you your
foundations. A striker that wants to wants to fight standing
up must know Wrestling to keep himself standing up, and a grappler
has to train a lot of Wrestling in order to take his opponent
down. I trained hard and, when I was taken down for the first
time, I didn’t panic, I knew I would be able to reset and
I tried to block his attempts of takedowns. If the fight went
to the ground, like it went, I’m ready to fight Jiu-Jitsu
with him, because nowadays I feel comfortable fighting in any
situation”, commented Marcos.
After
the greatest win of his career, “Pezão” dreams
with higher flights. “If I have to fight Jiu-Jitsu with
Paulo or any other fighter, I’ll fight because I’m
here for it, this is my job, but I know I have a lot to evolve
on MMA. People are saying things about me going to UFC, we have
about three people talking to my manager and I’m ready for
their call. They can put me against e new comer or with Arona,
Shogun, Rashad Evans that I’ll fight the same way because
it’s my job and I make a living from it”, concluded
Marcos.
Source: Tatame
|
Okami
and the ‘Many Power of Wrestling’
by Mike Whitman
GRESHAM,
Ore. -- There is not a lot of traffic on a Saturday in Oregon.
The pavement of I-84 is slick, and fresh rain peppers my foggy
windshield. I pull up to the Extended Stay America, a small establishment
with three floors and about 50 rooms, one of which currently
belongs to UFC middleweight contender Yushin Okami.
To
casual fans, Okami remains “the Japanese guy” in the
UFC. Hardcores are interested in Okami for the fact that he has
been on the precipice of a title shot for what seems like ages.
He will meet Nate Marquardt in the UFC 122 main event on Saturday
at the Konig Pilsener Arena in Oberhausen, Germany, with a shot
at the UFC middleweight crown on the line.
An
Unexpected Gift
My
knuckles rap against Okami’s hotel room door, and instantaneously
there is a high-pitched acknowledgement of my presence from behind
the thick slab of wood. When it opens, I’m greeted by two
of the biggest brown eyes I’ve ever seen: “Hi, Mike!”
It’s
not Okami; it’s his girlfriend, who will act as translator
for our interview. A petite Japanese woman, she extends her hands
and smiles so intensely I think her face might not be able to
bear the strain. Okami stands behind her, smiling gently. His
6-foot-2 frame is clad in black sweats. He appears fatigued from
his morning workout.
The
room is modest, equipped with a kitchenette and a prehistoric
20-inch television. The couple has made this small room its home
for the last two weeks. Each day, Okami’s counterpart makes
him breakfast, lunch and dinner in this tiny space, keeping him
on weight.
Okami’s
girlfriend leads me toward a small table and informs me that
it will be my place to sit. She carefully explains that she will
sit across from me at the table and that Okami will sit on the
bed next to us. Their politeness and formality are so endearing
that I have to stifle a chuckle as I take off my coat.
I
ask Okami’s girlfriend to spell out her name so I have it
straight. She obliges but then shoots me a sideways glance: “You
not use my name, OK?” I consent, and her unease vanishes.
She produces a digital handheld translator from her purse, as
Okami nods in approval.
After
being dominated by Chael Sonnen a year ago at UFC 104, Okami
decided to come to Team Quest to train with his former foe. It
shows a level of humility and insight not often seen in MMA.
Okami could have trained at any number of places to address the
holes in his game but opted for Oregon. It marks his third consecutive
fight camp here, coming off wins over Lucio Linhares and, most
recently, Mark Munoz. In August, Okami’s defensive wrestling
completely shut down any offense from Munoz, a former NCAA national
champion.
My
first question: What has Okami learned from losing to Sonnen
that will help him against Marquardt?
Sapped
from his workout, he battles valiantly to answer, hunched over
his knees and staring at the carpet, murmuring. Finally, he unfurls
what seems like a long, thoughtful response in Japanese. His
girlfriend squints and nods for what seems like ages.
“He
can’t say it in one word,” she says. “Many, many
feelings.”
Chael
SonnenI wonder if watered-down translations are the best I’m
going to get, so I change subjects to address his most obvious
improvement -- wrestling. I probe how training with Sonnen and
former Olympic Greco-Roman silver medalist Matt Lindland has
affected him.
“Many
techniques, many information. He get many … power of wrestling,”
his girlfriend responds. She struggles more with her translator,
furiously searching for something that will make more semantic
sense. However, her broken English becomes an unexpected gift.
Many
power of wrestling. One could not invent a more appropriate sentence
to describe Okami’s last performance against Munoz. Power
is knowledge, control, the ability to dictate where the fight
takes place and the accompanying confidence swell that comes
with such ability. I can see it in his boxing, his submissions
and his takedowns. Many power of wrestling; I know exactly what
he means, though it once meant something entirely different to
Okami.
Identifying
an Idol
The
oldest of three boys, Okami was a New Japan Pro Wrestling fanatic
as a child. Years later, due to the phonetic similarities of
his given name, UFC matchmaker Joe Silva would christen him with
the nickname of NJPW superstar Jushin “Thunder” Liger,
one of the legends of Japanese puroresu.
The
second the word “puroresu” leaves my mouth, something
awakens inside Okami. The 29-year-old lights up like a kid in
a candy store. Suddenly, we no longer need his girlfriend to
translate. His posture straightens, as he moves to the edge of
the mattress. I make several guesses at his possible heroes of
the squared circle, but the name he produces is unfamiliar to
me: Shinya Hashimoto.
A
star for New Japan from the 1980s through his departure from
the promotion in 2000, Hashimoto died in 2005 from a brain aneurysm
at just 40 years of age. Okami holds the deceased Hashimoto in
the highest regard. When I inquire a bit more about his hero,
Okami diverts from his Japanese in order to make the point crystalline.
“Super
famous Japanese wrestler!” he exclaims.
Why
Hashimoto? Portly and physically unimpressive, Hashimoto battered
his foes with an impressive array of kicks and submissions. Though
he was not a “shoot-style” professional wrestler, Hashimoto
routinely used head kicks and triangle chokes. Like Okami, he
was a high school judoka. It is not hard to surmise how Okami
might have gravitated to him, sparking an early interest in MMA
before he was aware of it.
Okami
tried to follow in Hashimoto’s footsteps, seeking to become
a professional wrestler. However, after two failed tryouts with
NJPW, he landed at Wajutsu Keishukai Tokyo; he was fighting amateur
MMA not long after.
Unlike
the exaggerated characters of professional wrestling, Okami remains
guarded, reticent to discuss anything resembling fight strategy.
I try to wear him down, rephrasing my questions, hoping he will
let something important slip. He does not, and his defense proves
just as hard to penetrate here as in the cage. Outside of the
hotel room, however, the information comes easier.
‘Pickin’
Strawberries’
For
two days prior to the interview, I scout Okami at Team Quest.
He has been enduring two- and sometimes three-a-days to prepare
for Marquardt.
He
spends the morning developing his conditioning and technique
one-on-one with Lindland. On some evenings, he treks across the
river to Team Quest’s second facility to work more on his
boxing. In the afternoon, Okami takes part in the fight team
workout, a hellish 90-minute practice designed to test a man’s
resolve. It looks about as fun as getting dropped in a trash
compactor.
Walking
into Team Quest for the first time, I am struck by the facility’s
size, or lack thereof. The air is hot and sticky. Grappling dummies
are stacked haphazardly in the corner of the space. Exposed rafters
hang over the heads of roughly a dozen men. Okami is among them,
jabbing off an attacking southpaw. Today is a boxing day.
“Hey!
Hey!” hollers Sonnen. “Let’s get Yushin with somebody
orthodox!”
The
men move with the precision of a hockey team changing lines.
Fighters are soaked and worn out, but next, they must do their
bag work. On command, Okami and the rest of the group rifle one-twos
into heavy bags. Sixty seconds in, the pain shows on all of their
faces. Okami punches faster, though his body pleads with him
to stop. The room becomes an opera of grunts, groans and screams.
Part of the Family
The
conductor of this madness is Team Quest boxing coach Clayton
Hires. A compact 5-foot-8, Hires’ claim to fame is a unanimous
decision nod over Floyd Mayweather Sr. in 1984. As the drill
wears down the fighters, Hires shouts encouragement, specifically
to Okami: “Do it for your country! USA! … Japan!”
“Yushin
has the tendency to sort of sit down and stand flat-footed. Sometimes
he looks a little bit like James Toney when he takes that stance,”
Hires says afterward. “He can’t stand flat-footed like
that, because Marquardt is a dragster. You know what I mean?”
When
I mention Marquardt’s fight with Demian Maia at UFC 102,
Hires’ eyes widen and he nods.
“That’s
what I’m talking about,” he says. “If you wait
on him, then he’s pickin’ strawberries. You’ve
got to take the fight to him.”
Building
a Kinship
A
day later, the fighters trade in their gloves for rash guards.
Three men rotate in while one guts it out for three consecutive
rounds against fresh competition. Okami’s turn in the meat
grinder kicks off against hulking 205-pound amateur Brandon Pitts;
then he battles Lindland to a stalemate.
Okami’s
third partner is Sonnen, the man who made him look amateurish
when they fought 13 months ago. Sonnen’s appeal of his positive
test for a banned substance following his August bout with Anderson
Silva is pending, but he is in the gym, training ferociously.
Sonnen
is like a sandstorm -- blinding, suffocating, constantly on the
attack. Okami’s base is stout. He uses Sonnen’s aggression
against him, slipping out the back door and securing a gut wrench
on the man who nearly dethroned Silva in August.
“Lift,
Yushin!” Lindland screams from the other side of the room.
“Lift!”
Okami
hoists the world-ranked middleweight above his head, slamming
him on his face. Few people do such things to Sonnen.
After
practice, Okami and Lindland sit side-by-side. The Japanese fighter
navigates through his limited English to invite the Olympic silver
medalist to lunch the next day with him and his girlfriend as
a show of gratitude for allowing him to again train at Team Quest.
Yushin’s
lack of English is a source of great amusement for his new teammates.
Sonnen jokingly plays Pictionary with him; others simply poke
fun.
“He
says ‘Yes’ more than anyone you’ll ever meet.
You could tell that guy anything, and he’d say ‘Yes,’”
says one fighter. “You could ask him to do a thousand pushups.
You could ask him to jump off a building, and the guy would say
‘Yes.’”
Singular
Focus
Back
in the hotel room, Okami laughs heartily after I inform him of
his team’s gag at his expense, vowing to one day return
the favor in Japanese.
“He
feels it’s like a family, because everybody is very kind
to him,” says his girlfriend. “Training is different,
because it’s so intense, but in his heart, they’re
like a family.”
I
ask him if he would ever fight Sonnen again, given the opportunity.
“It’s
kind of complicated, because now Chael is his friend,” his
girlfriend says. “If it were for the championship, then
it would be a good fight, and it would be meaningful. If it’s
not for the title, then it wouldn’t be worth it to fight
Chael [again].”
The
conversation loosens, so I decide to press.
“What
would Yushin say to someone who calls him a boring fighter?”
I ask.
They
both laugh -- Okami’s girlfriend as she listens to the question,
Okami as he answers it. He is aware of such accusations and does
not seem to care. His desire to show a more dynamic, complete
attack seems to be more for his own pride than for entertainment
value.
After
about an hour, Okami rubs his eyes and readjusts his weight on
the bed. The interview takes twice as long because of the translation
process. I shift gears, probing his personal life, only to find
that it barely exists outside the realm of MMA.
Okami’s
leisure activities are frustratingly standard, and personality
questions get me nowhere. His favorite movie is “Rocky,”
and his choice of music is the “Rocky” soundtrack.
Desperate, I go for broke, asking him to tell me the saddest,
most heartbreaking event he has ever experienced in his life.
His
pause monumental, he looks left, then right. He sighs, furrowing
his brow. After 30 seconds of deafening silence, I can stand
it no longer.
“I
guess it wasn’t that sad, huh?” I quip.
Okami
has suffered no major trauma in life. By his account, he had
a content, happy childhood. He might simply be withholding information,
as he withheld his strategy for the Marquardt fight, but I do
not get that sense.
If
something does stand out about Okami, it may be that he is the
last man to hold a victory, albeit a controversial one, over
Silva, the reigning middleweight king. In Rumble on the Rock’s
175-pound tournament in 2006, Silva was disqualified after landing
an illegal upkick to Okami’s jaw. Silva has referred to
the incident as a “cheap, cowardly way of winning.”
Even so, a rematch with the Brazilian juggernaut does not appear
to be on Okami’s mind. He tells me solemnly that he only
ever considers his next fight.
I
jokingly mention his response sounds like something Ryu from
the “Street Fighter” video game series might say. It
excites something within him, maybe the same part of him that
found kinship with another Japanese headband-wearing fighter,
a fighter named Shinya Hashimoto.
Source: Sherdog
|
Poor
Ricco Rodriguez: Former Champion Battling Weight in Israel
by JonathanS
nowden
Whispers were in the wind that former UFC heavyweight champion
Ricco Rodriguez was on the fast track back to the Octagon. But
after failing to make weight for today's fight in Israel, failing
by a whopping ten pounds, it's safe to say the Ricco Rodriguez
train has once again been derailed.
A
gifted grappler, Rodriguez had seen his life fall apart, a victim
of the fast life, overeating, and a general lack of giving a
crap. Once a plump 300-plus pounds, Rodriguez was attempting
to reinvent himself as a light heavyweight. Riding a nine fight
win streak, the future looked bright for the former champ who,
seven years removed from his title loss, is still just 33 years
old.
The
real victim in all this, according to ESPN's Jake Rossen isn't
the perpetually troubled Rodriguez. It's his opponent Daniel
Tabera a professional who met his obligations and will now have
to fight a heavyweight instead of a fighter at 205 pounds:
Rodriguez
came in heavy, paid his opponent 20 percent of his purse and
apologized. Great, right? But no amount of money or kind words
is going to substitute for the fact that Dan Tabera now has to
deal with a guy who seemingly didn't put in quite the same effort
to make weight as he did. A similar incident happened several
weeks ago, when Murilo Rua took a catchweight fight against a
guy who showed up heavy. It's a predatory thing to do: No fighter
wants to waste time and training, so they're likely to accept
the fight anyway. Rua did, and lost.
Making
weight is one of the responsibilities of a professional fighter.
Eleven years and 55 fights into his career, Rodriguez knows this.
Now even if he manages to beat Tabera, a tough Spanish fighter,
there will be a pall over the victory. Taber, the sport, promoters,
and the fans deserve better. Rodriguez deserves better too. It's
time for the former champion to reinvent himself yet again -
this time as a lithe and in shape heavyweight looking to take
it to the big boys in the division. There is a future for Ricco
Rodriguez in MMA. It's just not in the light heavyweight division.
Source: Bloody Elbow
|
Filho-Sasaki
Announced for Bitetti Combat 8
by Gleidson
Venga
Brazilian
promotion Bitetti Combat has announced three bouts for its eighth
edition on Dec. 4, a tribute card celebrating the 100th anniversary
of Sao Paulo soccer club Sport Club Corinthians Paulista at the
team’s home arena, Alfredo Schurig Stadium.
Wednesday,
promoter Amaury Bitetti and his new partner, Fernando Chacur,
announced a pair of Brazil-versus-Japan middleweight bouts, as
Brazilian 185-pounders Paulo Filho and Thiago “Jambo”
Goncalves meet Grabaka teammates Yuki Sasaki and Eiji Ishikawa,
respectively.
In
a lightweight affair, Cristiano Marcello will look to avenge
his controversial May loss to Costa Rica’s Alejandro “Mandarina”
Solano Rodriguez.
“We’ll
put much more out there,” said Bitetti. “We'll announce
more fights with international athletes and of course, with fighters
from Sao Paulo.”
The
Filho-Sasaki match-up was originally slated for Feb. 25’s
Bitetti Combat 6 card. In a bizarre twist of events, the embattled
Filho reportedly failed to appear at the weigh-ins, resulting
in the cancellation of the bout.
Filho,
32, is coming off of an Oct. 23 unanimous decision loss to hot
light heavyweight prospect Marcos Rogerio “Pezao” de
Lima in Sao Paulo. In his first bout of 2010, the 34-year-old
Sasaki was knocked out on Nov. 5 by South African Xavier Lucas
in Sydney, Australia.
Goncalves
is coming off a July loss to Canadian Cory MacDonald by split
decision, the Brazilian’s only loss in his last 12 bouts.
Ishikawa, winner of five of his last six fights, defeated South
Korean A Sol Kwon in Deep in July.
Marcello
and Rodriguez met at Bitetti Combat 7 in May. Marcello dominated
early proceedings, but in round two, was staggered by a Rodriguez
flurry. Referee Osiris Maia stopped the fight with Marcello still
on his feet, seemingly unhurt, igniting controversy and paving
the way for a rematch.
Source: Sherdog
|
The
Ultimate Fighter 12 Episode 9 Recap: Two Advance To Semifinals
by Jeff
Cain
Two fighters advanced to the semifinals and one step closer to
a UFC contract in Episode 9 of “The Ultimate Fighter 12:
Team GSP vs. Team Koscheck.”
The
quarter final match-ups were announced last week and the first
two competitors to face off were Team GSP’s Jonathan Brookins
and Team Koscheck’s Sako Chivitchian.
Brookins
has emerged as one of the favorites to win the show and having
defeated Chivitchian training partner and friend Sevak Magakian
in Episode 6, Chivitchian was extra motivated heading into the
bout.
“Jonathan
fought my friend Sevak in the house and he pulled off the victory.
It’s going to be a bigger demand for me personally right
now to go in there harder and to go in there and just prove him
wrong, that you know what, you might get away with it once, but
not twice,” said Chivitchian.
Brookins
anticipated a game Chivitchian to show up on fight day.
“I
think he’s super tough. I think he’s a really talented
guy. I think anytime you go and you fight somebody after you’ve
fought one of their friends, they’re going to come at you
hard with more ferociousness, like a vendetta,” said Brookins.
“They’re going to come after you, so I’m expecting
him to come out really tough and definitely come out swinging.
It kind of makes me excited.”
Georges
St-Pierre cut back the training sessions of Team GSP to one a
day and geared toward “tactical” training.
Josh
Koscheck worked on positional control with Chivitchian focused
on not giving up his back to Brookins, who defeated Magakian
by rear naked choke. Chivitchian also drilled getting up from
the bottom with the game plan of wanting to keep the fight standing.
JONATHAN
BROOKINS VS. SAKO CHIVITCHIAN
Chivitchian
was the aggressor early, but Brookins clinched and executed a
throw taking the fight to the ground. Brookins took Chivitchian’s
back and patiently worked for a rear naked choke submission.
He eventually secured it and forced Chivitchian to tap out with
2:53 remaining on the clock.
Jonathan
Brookins became the first semifinalist and the first person to
give Chivitchian a loss.
Following
the fight, UFC president Dana White described Brookins as, “The
real deal.”
The
next quarterfinal match-up was Team GSP’s Cody McKenzie
vs. Team Koscheck’s Nam Phan.
McKenzie
was confident he’d come out the victor but his coach, Georges
St-Pierre, wasn’t so sure.
“I
think Cody will have a big problem with Nam Phan,” said
the UFC welterweight titleholder. “I think Nam Phan is better
at jiu-jitsu than Cody, and standing up Nam Phan is definitely
much better than Cody as well.”
St-Pierre’s
game plan for McKenzie was to put Phan against the fence and
take him down from there.
“Cody
has one thing that he does very well. It’s his guillotine
chokes, but now everybody knows it because he’s done it
two times in a row,” said St-Pierre. “I’ve been
designing a strategy for Cody, which is putting Nam Phan against
the fence and putting him on his back where his jiu-jitsu and
his striking will be neutralized. That’s what Cody needs
to do if he wants to win.”
McKenzie
felt Phan would be one of his toughest fights considering Phan’s
experience.
“It
definitely will be one of my toughest fights ever,” predicted
McKenzie. “I’ve always had trouble with guys who have
been doing this sport for a very long time because they’ve
seen everything. They’ve seen all my little tricks, and
mostly I’m just a tricky fighter and they’ve seen it
all.
“I
ain’t planning on tricking him. I’m planning on getting
in there and grinding it out.”
Coach
Koscheck, who has been in a friendly rivalry with McKenzie throughout
the season, told Phan he better beat him or not come back.
“He’s
definitely a guy I want to see get his (expletive) kicked,”
stated Koscheck.
Phan
assured his coach that he’d be the winner.
Preparing
Phan for McKenzie, Koscheck drilled guillotine defense.
“We’re
not getting guillotined in this fight,” said Koscheck. “And
if Nam does, I’m hitting him over the head with a chair.”
Phan’s
game plan was to keep the fight standing and finish with a knockout.
Although Phan has a black belt in jiu-jitsu, he felt his stand-up
would be more than enough to come away with the win.
Phan
categorized McKenzie as dangerous and wasn’t taking the
match-up lightly. He called it “the biggest fight of my
life,” and admitted to being very nervous.
“Someone
like Cody McKenzie is very dangerous in the fact that he doesn’t
do everything traditionally. The techniques he does are not correct,
but they work, so I have to be very careful and not underestimate
him whatsoever and go out there and destroy him,” said Phan.
CODY
MCKENZIE VS. NAM PHAN
Phan
gestured to McKenzie asking if he wanted to touch gloves before
the bout and McKenzie shook his head no, as he did in his last
fight with Marc Stevens.
McKenzie
shot across the Octagon and went after Phan with strikes before
dropping for a takedown. Following the game plan, McKenzie pushed
Phan to the cage and landed knees to the legs of the Team Koscheck
member.
Phan
fended off the first three takedown attempts, but was eventually
put on his back. McKenzie landed punches to the body and head,
but Phan scrambled to his feet and circled away from the cage,
taking the center of the Octagon.
McKenzie
again pushed him to the fence and landed knees to the body and
thighs, controlling Phan in the clinch.
With
a minute remaining, Phan freed himself from the clinch and began
landing punches. McKenzie slowed dramatically and looked sluggish
from fatigue. McKenzie pushed through, pressing forward to win
the round on MMAWeekly.com’s scorecard.
Phan
opened up with is strikes in the second round, firing off multiple
kicks, high and low and landed several body shots.
McKenzie
stuck to the game plan of putting Phan against the cage, but
Phan was the fresher fighter and McKenzie’s strategy began
to unravel.
A
two-punch combination ending in a left hook to the body sent
McKenzie to the canvas. Phan jumped in and McKenzie could only
cover up and the referee stopped the fight with just over two
minutes remaining.
Nam
Phan advanced to the semifinals and Josh Koscheck excessively
celebrated yet again.
Next
week the remaining two quarterfinal bouts take place and the
semifinal match-ups are announced.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
UFC's
Plan to Invade Japan
by Mike Hackler
From "The Secret Files of Pride":
On
New Years Eve, 2006, the announcement had come that Mirko Crocop
would begin fighting in the UFC. Being such a superstar in Japan,
the fans reacted very hard to this news. The UFC had been prospering
and mixed martial arts in the United States was beginning to
grow rapidly. In Japan, mixed martial arts was in crisis mode
and this sudden announcement could not have made it any clearer.
The sale of PrideFC to Zuffa, and the "Mirko Shock"
had JMMA in dire straits.
Mirko's
decision to fight in the UFC came from his desire to step up
as a fighter and fulfilling his dream of conquering both Pride
and the UFC. What is not known, however, in 2005 there had been
plans for Mirko to fight for both Pride and the UFC.
This
same year, the UFC had plans to make its long awaited re-entry
into Japan and Mirko would be the representative for Pride. The
tentative event had been scheduled for June 12th at the Yokohama
Arena.
This
was a huge break for the UFC, to break into the Japanese MMA
market, and they felt they needed to push into the hotbed to
grow their brand. The UFC had been in Japan in 1997 at the same
Yokohama venue but further attempts at penetrating the Japanese
market proved unsuccessful.
Preceding
the Crocop event, Dana White announced at the August UFC 49 event
that he would again bring the show to Japan. Randy Couture won
his main event fight that night and promptly called out Wanderlei
Silva to come to the octagon, proposing a double title match.
Questions
remained. Would Silva go without notice as the PRIDE champion
and meet Randy in the octagon? Pride's cooperation with the UFC
returning to Japan was evident. Pride was also in experiencing
their "glory days" at this time (2004).
The
UFC was not convinced the cooperation with Pride would be there
and abandoned their plans for the December 2004 event. Again,
they re-planned, and this time aimed for a June 2005 event.
Negotiations
went along very smoothly at first. The UFC had received cooperation
from Japan's top boxing promotion who also had a lot to do with
WOWOW's broadcasting of the UFC events. With the backing of a
major sports newspaper company, they planned to bring UFC 53
back to Yokohama. The plans went as far as reserving the arena.
With
all the chips falling in place, there was one major factor that
executives were having trouble working around. The lack of a
Japanese superstar in the UFC would hurt any potential draw as
Japanese fans are very loyal to their countrymen. Thus, the perfect
fit - Mirko Crocop, who's manager Imai had been working with
the boxing organization.
In
August of that year, it had been determined that Crocop would
get his chance at the then champion Fedor Emelianenko. At such
an important time, Mirko to switch courses and enter the octagon
would prove to be a huge decision for the kickboxer.
It
went without saying, even though Mirko would be fighting in the
UFC, his move to the organization would not be an issue. DSE
president Sakakibara had given the fighter his blessing to fight
for the UFC, thus things began to move forward.
With
Mirko being such a star and a huge draw for Pride, the decision
was difficult for Sakakibara. Imai contacted Sakakibara saying,
"If it's only one time, it should be alright. Just for Mirko,
maybe we don't have a choice". Sakakibara agreed, paving
the way for a UFC event in Japan with Crocop as the headliner.
Then,
the whole thing was put on hold. The UFC expected to make no
money on the event. Sponsors were not interested in the event,
and the UFC cancelled it, yet again.
Dana
and Lorenzo's view on the way things operated was not very optimistic.
While they had the help of a well known Japanese promoter, a
large venue for the fight, the risk reward tradeoff was too great
for the executives to make. To pay the expenses for the fight,
they would have needed to fill the Yokohama Arena. For that simple
reason, Mirko had to be in the mix. Mirko being in the mix, however,
would put the expenses of the event through the roof.
The
UFC couldn't escape the problems they were facing. On one hand,
they could return to Japan, lose money, go home and having nothing
to show for it. If they had gotten a live broadcast on terrestrial
TV, they may have been able to scrape by with just the TV rights,
but the UFC was such an unknown event in mainstream Japan, and
WOWOW as their only pay TV provider, it was impossible to conceive
they would be able to make any money.
The
decision was finally made. The UFC would not go forward with
an event in Japan. Mirko's UFC debut became "phantom".
If Mirko would have won the belt, would the landscape of MMA
been different today?
This
is a translation from the book, "Pride: The Secret Files"
Source: Head Kick Legend
|
Wand
remembers Arona, but wants Belfort: “I’m going to get
you”
by Carlos
Eduardo Ozório
Wanderlei Silva’s desire to face Vitor Belfort is nothing
new. The two fought at UFC Brazil, in 1998. On the occasion,
Belfort knocked Wand out in just forty-four seconds. The fighter
from Curitiba has been craving revenge ever since.
Waiting
on word about his next fight, Wanderlei is nostalgic about the
old days of Pride:
“You
know, I felt something was missing. Then I discovered what it
is: I need a rival. I’ve never trained as hard as I did
during the days of Arona,” he said over Twitter.
Nevertheless,
soon thereafter he fired off:
“But
now I want to get my hands on Belfort. I’m training for
you. I’m going to get you, you’ll see.”
Source: Gracie Magazine
|
Disastrous
and historically all-time TV ratings low point for K-1
By Zach
Arnold
Monday’s
World MAX tournament show in Tokyo at Ryogoku Kokugikan that
aired on Tokyo Broadcasting System from 9 PM to 10:54 PM JST
drew an all-time record low TV rating of 7.6%. The one fight
that drew a rating on the show was Satoshi Ishii vs. Katsuyori
Shibata, which drew a 12.1% rating. K-1 front man Sadaharu Tanigawa
said that ‘the absence of a new star’ is what has led
to K-1 drawing low ratings.
Source: Fight Opinion
|
Vinny
Magalhaes Confirmed for Dec. 10th M-1 Challenge
By FCF
Staff; photo courtesy M-1 Global
M-1
Global has announced that former “Ultimate Fighter”
competitor, Vinny Magalhaes (pictured), will take on the veteran
Alihan Magomedov, at the promotion’s upcoming December 10th
event. M-1 Challenge XXII: “Gallicchio vs. Zavurov”,
will be hosted by the Druzhba Arena in Moscow, Russia, and will
feature a world welterweight title fight between Tom Gallicchio
and Shamil Zavurov.
Magalhaes
(4-5) has not competed since March, when he lost by unanimous
decision to Pedro Galiza at Shark Fights 9. Prior to that, the
decorated jiu-jitsu competitor earned back-to-back submission
victories over Chris Davis and Mike Nickels, after being released
from the UFC in April, 2009.
“M-1
Global is excited to have Magalhaes participating in our 2010
close-out event,” Evgeni Kogan, Director of Operations for
M-1 Global was quoted saying. “Vinny brings an unparalleled
element to mixed martial arts in Europe. His submission skills
are unlike anything the Russians have seen and this will be a
considerable test for Magomedov.”
According
to the M-1 Global press release, Magomedov is a “Russian
National Pancrase and Hand-to-Hand Combat champion”, who
will enter the bout carrying a 12-1 record.
Here
is the line-up to date for the December 10th M-1 Challenge. The
event will be streamed live on the official M-1 Global site.
Under
Card Bouts:
Vinny Magalhaes (4-5) vs. Alihan Magomedov (12-1) Light Heavyweight
Luigi Fioravanti (18-8) vs. Shahrijar Abassov (23-1) Middleweight
Mikhail Zayats (12-5) vs. David ‘Square’ Tkeshelashvili
Light Heavyweight
Daniel Vizcaya (3-1) vs. Victor Nemkov (9-3) Light Heavyweight
Additional bouts to be announced
Championship
Bouts
Welterweight Division:
Tom ‘Da Tank’ Gallicchio, M-1 Selection Americas 2010
champion (15-5) vs.
Shamil Zavurov, M-1 Selection Eastern Europe 2010 champion (17-1)
Middleweight
Division:
Magomed ‘The White Wolf’ Sultanakhmedov, M-1 Selection
Eastern Europe 2010 champion (28-4) vs. Rafal ‘Kulturysta’
Moks, M-1 Selection Western Europe 2010 champ (5-2)
Light
Heavyweight Division:
Tomasz ‘Giraffe’ Narkun, M-1 Selection Western Europe
champion (4-0) vs.
Vyacheslav ‘Slava’ Vasilevsky, M-1 Selection Eastern
Europe champion (9-1).
Source: Full Contact Fighter
|
UFC
122: Loss To Chael Sonnen Only Fueled Nate Marquardt’s Desire
by Ken
Pishna
Nate Marquardt came away empty handed in his attempt to wrest
the UFC middleweight belt from around Anderson Silva’s waist
at UFC 73 in 2007.
He
used that faltering to refocus his game. Despite a controversial
split decision loss to Thales Leites at UFC 85, he then reeled
off an impressive string of knockout wins over Martin Kampmann,
Wilson Gouveia, and Demian Maia.
Marquardt
was right back in line for another shot at his ultimate goal,
the UFC middleweight championship, but had it plucked from his
grasp at UFC 109 by Chael Sonnen.
Rebounding
with a first-round destruction of Rousimar Palhares in September,
Marquardt finds himself one fight away from that coveted return
shot at the gold. He faces Yushin Okami in Saturday’s UFC
122 main event in Oberhausen, Germany.
He
doesn’t value the championship anymore than he ever has
because of stumbling – he’s always placed the highest
value on attaining the title – but his missteps have added
fuel to the flame.
“When
I lost to Chael, I kind of realized that I had lost a little
bit of my fire to train and just go out and do my best because
my dream is to be the champion. I think (losing to Sonnen) reignited
my fire,” Marquardt said at Thursday’s UFC 122 prefight
press conference in Germany.
“I
got that now, that’s how I can know I’m gonna go out
and perform my best (against Okami).”
Should
he not falter against Okami, he’s been promised the winner
of the UFC 126 title fight between Anderson Silva and Vitor Belfort.
Having lost to him in 2007, Marquardt wouldn’t mind if the
shot came against Silva, but the focus of his objective doesn’t
waver.
“Honestly,
I don’t care. My dream is to be the champion. I have a very
tough opponent in front of me and that’s what I’m focused
on,” he responded when asked whom he would rather face.
With
the Silva-Belfort fight nearly three months away, Marquardt knows
that he’ll likely be on the sidelines for some time before
that shot comes, should it be his. Again, he doesn’t falter.
“As
soon as the winner of that can fight, that would be my preference
(for a title shot). If I have to wait, that’s fine too,”
he stated confidently. “I have enough experience that if
I take a six to eight month layoff between fights, I still train
all year round, I’ll be in shape.”
First,
he’ll zero in on Okami at UFC 122 on Saturday night.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
UFC
122 Available To Half Billion Potential Viewers Worldwide
by Jeff Cain
“UFC 122: Marquardt vs. Okami,” the Ultimate Fighting
Championship’s second trip to Germany, will be available
to a half billion potential viewers.
“The
UFC is becoming very international if you haven’t been paying
attention, and this event is no different. This event will probably
be the most widely distributed event on television since Germany
hosted the World Cup,” said UFC Managing Director of International
Development Marshall Zelaznik at the UFC 122 pre-fight press
conference.
“The
event will be seen in over 140 countries. It will be available
to a half a billion people and has 13 different nations represented
on the card. It will actually be distributed in 19 different
languages,” he added.
The
event will not be seen on television in Germany, however.
The
UFC television deal was blocked in Germany when licensing was
retracted by the TV licensing authority in Bavaria, a move the
UFC feels was unjust. The UFC filed a lawsuit against the licensing
authority and is currently tied up in litigation expected to
take six months to a year to come to a conclusion.
The
event airs on Spike TV in the U.S. on tape delay and live in
the U.K. on ESPN and is available in Germany online at Spox.com,
the official German media partner of the UFC. The deal is similar
to the Yahoo Sports partnership in the U.S.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
Sign-ups
for ADCC North American tryouts end Saturday
This coming Saturday, November 13 is the last day to get in on
the first of two North American tryouts for the classic ADCC
submission wrestling world championship 2011, where thousands
of dollars will be up for grabs for the winners.
The
qualifying tournament will take place November 20 at Belleville
High School, in New Jersey, USA.
Saturday
is the last day, so be sure to secure your spot by clicking here
now or sending an email to info@adccna.com.
Source: Gracie Magazine
|
UFC
103: Return of ‘The Phenom’
Vitor
Belfort was one of the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s
early stars, earning the nickname “The Phenom” not
long after his debut as a hard-hitting heavyweight in 1997. But
at UFC 103, Belfort was returning to the promotion and looking
to establish himself as a contender at middleweight.
He
accepted a catchweight bout at 195 pounds against former middleweight
champion Rich Franklin after there was an outcry among hardcore
fans against the UFC’s original plan for the main event.
The UFC had initially announced that Franklin would meet Dan
Henderson in a rematch of a close fight from UFC 93, which Henderson
won by split decision.
When
the public made its feelings known, UFC president Dana White
replaced Henderson with Belfort for the card at the American
Airlines Arena in Dallas. But he made it at 195 as an accommodation
to Franklin, who had moved to 205 pounds and didn’t feel
he was able to make 185 any more. Still, it took Belfort several
tries to make weight.
But
Belfort had no problem with Franklin in the fight. After a slow
beginning, Belfort hit Franklin with an overhand left that dropped
Franklin. Belfort followed him to the mat and finished Franklin
with several hard shots, forcing referee Yves Lavigne to stop
it at 3:02 of the first.
After
the fight, White conceded that Belfort was in the title mix at
middleweight, but was reticent to make any definitive statements
about his future. But after his first UFC win in more than five
years, Belfort was relieved and said he just wanted to remain
active.
The
middleweight division had a number of top contenders vying for
a shot at champion Anderson Silva, including Henderson and Nathan
Marquardt, but Belfort punched his way into consideration with
the win over Franklin.
Source: Yahoo Sports
|
Welterweight
champ Askren still improving
Throughout
its history, mixed martial arts’ welterweight division largely
has been controlled at the top by fighters whose prime goal was
to get their opponents on their back and damage them from there.
Matt
Hughes used his powerhouse style of wrestling to become the division’s
star from 2001 though 2006. His heir apparent, Georges St. Pierre,
has used a takedown and ground-and-pound style while dominating
the past four years. Jon Fitch has used a grinding-out, wrestling-based
style to compile the second-best win-loss record in the UFC’s
history. Josh Koscheck, St. Pierre’s next opponent, was
a former NCAA wrestling champion. And the next championship contender,
Jake Shields, has won 15 fights in a row along with championships
in two organizations through a style based on takedowns, control
on the ground and submissions.
That’s
what makes the introduction of newly crowned Bellator welterweight
champion Ben Askren to MMA so intriguing.
With
the exception of Cael Sanderson, Askren was arguably the best
college wrestler of any weight class in the United States over
the past decade. And in less than two years in MMA, he become
a welterweight champ.
“It
was OK,” said Askren (7-0) about his Oct. 21 title win over
Lyman Good (10-1) in Philadelphia. “I’ve got a lot
of room for improvement. He was pretty tough. He didn’t
quit.”
Unlike
the aforementioned fighters who mix in a stand-up game to set
up their takedowns, Askren spent five rounds playing a game where
he would move in, take punches if he had to, lock up his opponent,
then take Good down. What made it so impressive is that Good,
who came into the fight unbeaten, is a physical specimen known
for having freaky strength. Good also got in some perfectly timed
sprawls, particularly late in the fight, that at first seemed
to thwart the takedown. But Askren would keep driving and moving,
and even with his opponent showing strong takedown defense, Good
eventually ended up on his back for most of every round.
“He’s
maybe the most confident fighter I’ve ever encountered in
the past 20 years,” said Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney of Askren.
“This is a guy who had never thrown a punch in his life
18 months ago. When his stand-up gets to 30-40 percent of his
ground game, he’ll be unstoppable.”
“What
makes St. Pierre’s wrestling work is that people have to
fear his stand-up,” Askren noted. “Right now, nobody
fears my stand-up.”
And
while Askren didn’t finish Good, his game is not the oft-criticized
wrestlers “lay-n-pray” game. Like in his heyday as
one of college wrestling’s biggest stars, Askren’s
constant movement, his completely unorthodox “funk”
style of wrestling – based on creating and coming out on
top in scrambles – resulted in constantly getting the dominant
position. And his top-control game had him mounting Good for
long periods of time. Despite fighting at a fast pace for 25
minutes, he did not tire. Not that the fight wasn’t without
rough moments: Askren took a lot of shots that left his face
lumped up, but he still won an obvious decision.
Askren’s
wrestling style, which goes against the fundamentals of what
would be taught in that sport, was more beneficial than a standard
wrestling style in his transition to Jiu Jitsu and the ground
aspect of MMA.
Noting
that he immediately fell in love with Jiu Jitsu after college,
his moves on the ground are more like those of a grappler than
folkstyle wrestler, which was his background. And these new grappling
skills are enhancing in his strengths as a takedown machine.
Askren
earned his title shot during Bellator’s second season when
he won an eight-man tournament where opponents, including the
far more experienced and favored Dan Hornbuckle, also could not
stop what everyone knew was coming.
“Hornbuckle
was a world-class fighter, and he never had more than 10 seconds
of advantage time the entire fight,” Rebney said.
Coming
into the sport, Askren’s mentality was similar to Brock
Lesnar’s, probably because they came from a similar level
of college wrestling success. Askren went 153-8 between 2004
and 2007 at the University of Missouri, notching 91 pins –
the third-highest total in the history of Div. I wrestling. He
was second in the nation as a freshman and a sophomore at 174
pounds. As a junior and a senior, he went 87-0, winning two national
titles. He was the 12th wrestler in history to reach the NCAA
finals all four years.
He
also won the Hodge Trophy as both a junior and a senior, meaning
he was not only the best wrestler in his weight division, but
also was considered the best wrestler in any weight division.
He and Sanderson remain the only wrestlers in history to have
won the trophy more than once.
“That
was always my goal at the beginning of the season – to be
the best wrestler in the country and win the Hodge Trophy. More
than winning the national title,” Askren said. “Because
you couldn’t win the Hodge Trophy unless you won the national
title.”
While
still involved in wrestling as an assistant coach at Arizona
State, MMA is now his primary sport, and he’s not considering
going for the 2012 Olympics. Askren had a disappointing 2008
Games. He dropped to 163 pounds and earned a spot on the U.S.
team, but lost in the second round and placed seventh overall.
He did attempt a comeback after starting in MMA, but decided
that competing in two completely different sports at the same
time wasn’t going to work.
“Maybe
if you’re 213 pounds or a heavyweight, where it’s not
as technical, you can do both,” he said. “I don’t
want to say it’s impossible, but it’s very difficult.”
He
joined Bellator in April, having only three fights under his
belt and all on smaller shows. Rebney noted he proposed a schedule
to Askren that would get him several fights against opponents
of his same experience level, giving him time to learn the sport
before putting him in a tournament.
“The
170-pound tournament was stacked for us,” said Rebney, who
indicated Askren will likely have a non-title superfight in the
spring, then defend his championship later in the year against
the winner of an eight-man tournament. “We wanted to build
him up, but he wanted to fight the best guys right away. He said
he thought he could beat anyone.”
Source: Yahoo Sports
|
Joseph
Benavidez Ready for WEC 52: I Eat Black Belts For Breakfast
Joseph
Benavidez is scheduled to fight Wagnney Fabiano at WEC 52, and
the Team Alpha Male member has no problem taking this fight on
short notice. The world’s No. 4 ranked bantamweight took
the place of the injured Brian Bowles, stepping up to the challenge
without a second guess.
After
losing a close split decision to Dominic Cruz in their Aug. 18
title fight, Benavidez, refocused and determined, felt that getting
back in the fold of contention was to remain the highest of priorities.
The
wrestling standout has made it clear that he’s ready for
the chance to step in the cage, and being prepared is something
he makes a habit of.
“I’m
always training,” Benavidez told MMAWeekly Radio. “Anytime
I can take a fight, I feel good doing it. I was in shape, and
(there is no better way) to get back on track than beating a
great opponent, and showing people that I’m still one of
the best in the world by going out there and beating another
guy who is considered one of the best in the world.”
One
must take advantage of opportunities when they present themselves.
It’s true, striking when the iron is hot is the best time
to strike, and Joseph Benavidez knew this when he was offered
the chance to scrap with Fabiano. This is only obvious when he
says, “the opportunity came, and sometimes those are the
best opportunities.”
After
his last fight, Benavidez said that he took some time off to
spend with family. In addition, he made his way to the UFC Fan
Expo in Boston and made some appearances for Amp Energy.
The
vacation didn’t last long, though.
Benavidez
made his way back home to get in the swing of things, again training
like he was just weeks away from a fight. Like most professional
athletes, he dealt with his recent loss and seemed to use it
as motivation to showcase his grit and determination in his next
bout.
“After
a loss, definitely… can’t wait to be in the winning
column again,” said Benavidez. “I want to go out there
and show people what I’m made of.”
Come
Nov. 11, he’ll get his chance to prove his skill set is
top-notch against jiu-jitsu black belt Wagnney Fabiano. Benavidez
has done well against jiu-jitsu practitioners, which allows him
to see this pending bout as one in his favor.
“I
love the match-up,” he said. “My three most impressive
fights have been against black belts in jiu-jitsu. I like to
say I eat black belts for breakfast. They’re just great
match-ups for me.”
Benavidez
holds nothing back when it comes to breaking down his opponent’s
offense. He doesn’t see Fabiano having the same success
with him that the Brazilian fighter has had with his past opponents.
“Basically,
all his fights in the WEC, he’s gone in there and laid on
people,” Benavidez said of Fabiano. “He gets the takedown,
and he looks like a monster on top, but I’m like a greased
pig out there. No one (is going to) lay on me, so if that’s
what he wants to do, he’s (going to) have a tough enough
time getting me down, (let alone) laying on me.”
Source: MMA Weekly
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Urijah
Faber Expects to Finish Takeya Mizugaki in Bantamweight Debut
Urijah
Faber’s quest to conquer the bantamweight division begins
on Nov. 11 against top ten ranked Takeya Mizugaki at The Pearl
at the Palms in Las Vegas. He expects to finish the notoriously
tough Japanese fighter inside the fight’s allotted 15 minutes.
Faber
and Mizugaki were first scheduled to face off at WEC 50 on Aug.
18, but a knee injury forced Faber out of the bout. Instead of
finding a replacement to fill in for Faber, the promotion opted
to reschedule the match up to headline WEC 52.
Faber
spoke with MMAWeekly Radio about the knee injury, the postponement
of the bout, and his recovery.
“It
was severe enough to where I was forced to be out, but it was
a six week recovery. I didn’t have to have surgery,”
said Faber of the injury. “It was lucky that I didn’t
have to do surgery. It was kind of a unique little injury, but
I’m all good now.”
“The
California Kid” was craving to get back in the cage and
ardent to make his 135-pound debut, but took the setback in stride.
“I
was excited to get back in. I was feeling amazing with my training
regiment and getting the weight down and stuff like that,”
said Faber. “Basically I was eager to get back in there,
but it’s all good. Those things happen.”
The
Alpha Male trained fighter expects an exciting fight and noted
he and his opponent both wanted the match-up.
“I
think it’s a good fight for me and I think Mizugaki wanted
the fight also, so that’s always good because it’s
nice to have someone that’s eager to fight me as well,”
he said. “It makes for a very exciting fight.”
Discussing
his opponent, Faber classified Mizugaki as tough, technical,
and hard to finish.
“He’s
a really tough dude. He’s pretty technical too. Even though
he has a long reach he still keeps his arms in real tight. He’s
always trying to throw power punches, body shots to power punches
up top. He’s got some good grappling. He’s got some
upper body stuff that’s pretty good,” stated Faber.
“He
seems to stay out of jiu-jitsu pretty good. He doesn’t like
to be on bottom. He likes to be on top. He’s a well-rounded
fighter, but more than anything he’s just got that fighting
spirit, so it’s going to be a good fight.”
Mizugaki
has only been finished one time in his professional mixed martial
arts career, but Faber considers himself a “finisher.”
“I
know he’s going to try to stick around for the full 15 minutes.
I’ve faced a lot of guys and finished that don’t get
finished very often. I’d have to go back and look who exactly,
but it’s quite a few,” said Faber. “Yeah, he’s
going to stay there as long as he can, and if that’s 15
minutes then so be it, but I’m trying to take him out.
“I’m
a finisher,” he added. “I was the first guy to submit
Jeff Curran and I think Raphael Assuncao was in that same category,
Dominick Cruz, and a couple of other ones. Those are all tough
guys and I finished them. I’m a finisher, dude. I go in
for the kill.”
Source: MMA Weekly
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Paul
Daley’s Wild Ride to Strikeforce and His Path To A Title
Shot
Paul
Daley may never forget the moment he threw a punch at Josh Koscheck
after their fight was over, because that was the last time he
would step into the UFC Octagon. Fighting like life can be about
second chances though, and so now Daley gets an opportunity to
fight in the Strikeforce cage for the first time ever this December.
Still
rated as a top ten welterweight, Daley has a tough road to climb
when it comes to his public perception after UFC president Dana
White ousted him from the promotion, but Strikeforce saw something
in the British bomber to bring him in.
Strikeforce
CEO Scott Coker explained the organization’s decision to
sign Daley, and while he believes the occurrence with Koscheck
was a one time deal, they will still watch over him to make sure
nothing like that happens again.
“It’s
an emotional time, these guys get heated up. Paul’s a good
kid. He’s not a bad guy doing malicious things throughout
his whole career,” Coker told MMAWeekly Radio. “We
just take it on a case by case basis, but I think he learned
his lesson. It’s up to him to control himself, and we’re
going to give him the opportunity.
“That
said, we’re definitely going to keep our eye on him and
make sure he abides by the rules and the regulations with the
commissions that we’re promoting in and along with the Strikeforce
rules.”
Daley’s
return will come in December against former middleweight slugger
Scott Smith, who will be making his welterweight debut. With
his status as a top welterweight from day one in Strikeforce,
many believe that with a win Daley could earn a shot at champion
Nick Diaz.
Coker
doesn’t completely rule out that scenario, but says internal
discussions have put Daley in at least one more fight before
he’d get the chance to face Diaz for the belt.
“The
fight that we’re discussing internally if Paul gets past
Scott maybe he and Evangelista Cyborg could fight,” Coker
said. “We could put that fight together in relatively quick
fashion, maybe next year in the next three or four months, we
can put that fight together and the winner of that fight could
fight Nick Diaz.”
Diaz
just finished up his first official Strikeforce title defense
defeating K.J. Noons in a five-round fight, and Coker believes
he’s going to take some time off before returning in 2011.
As
for Daley, he’s never been overly apologetic for anything
he’s done in the past, but he will likely live with that
moment of infamy forever. Now his job is to make a new lasting
memory. Perhaps one with a gold strap and the title of Strikeforce
champion could do the job.
Source: MMA Weekly
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A
Confident Jorge Rivera Expects an Exciting Fight at UFC 122
Jorge
Rivera considers himself an entertainer and expects to put on
a good show for the crowd at UFC 122 at the Konig Pilsener Arena
in Oberhausen, Germany, against Italian Alessio Sakara.
“I
get my job. I get what I’m supposed to do. I’m an entertainer
and that’s what I want to do. I want to entertain the people,”
Rivera recently told MMAWeekly Radio. “When my name is on
the card and you’re watching at home I want you to be like,
‘I can’t wait to see this fight. I know he’s going
to come and bring it. It’s going to be exciting and I can’t
wait to see him do it.’ That’s who I want to be.
“I
want tough fights against tough opponents that are going to be
crowd pleasing fights,” he added.
The
38-year-old athlete has logged exciting fights over his career
spanning the last nine years, finishing his last two opponents
by technical knockout, and believes the stylistic match-up with
Sakara will result in an exciting performance.
“I
think we match up awesome. It’s going to be a good stand-up
war. It if goes to the ground it’s going to be good there
too,” said Rivera. “I think both of our ground games
are underrated. I know he’s a brown belt. I know he trains
at American Top Team. I know he’s solid. I’ve been
training my jiu-jitsu now for four years… I’ve improved
my game greatly. If you’re sleeping on it, you will get
caught. I cannot wait. I don’t care where it goes.”
Rivera
is riding a three-fight win streak and attributes his recent
success to the people around him and his state of mind.
“It’s
a combination of things. It’s life. It’s your approach
and attitude toward what your job is and the people you surround
yourself with,” said Rivera about his recent success. “I’ve
surrounded myself with people that I know love me and have my
best interests in heart and have been able to push me to the
next level.
“I
love where I’m at. I love the people that I’m training
with. I’m confident in them,” he continued. “When
I step into that cage on Saturday I ain’t going away. I
know I’m ready. If he’s not ready I’m going to
smash him. If he is ready we’re going to have to fight.”
Confidence
goes a long way in fighting. Legendary boxer Mike Tyson emphasized
the importance of confidence when he visited Team GSP on “The
Ultimate Fighter 12: Team GSP vs. Team Koscheck. Sometimes confidence
is everything and Rivera’s confidence is high heading into
the UFC 122 main event.
“I’m
very, very happy about where I am right now,” said Rivera.
“I’m confident that I can go in there and compete against
anyone. And I’m not just saying that. I know it’s true.”
Source: MMA Weekly
|
WEC
52: LC Davis Knows His Back Is To The Wall
LC
DavisA sense of urgency probably best sums up the theme to the
upcoming Nov. 11 WEC 52 featherweight bout between L.C. Davis
and Raphael Assuncao.
Both
fighters are coming off losses, and with the merger of the WEC
and UFC, roster spots could very well be on the line.
This
fact is not lost on Davis, who recently told MMAWeekly.com, “You’re
only as good as your last fight. Nothing’s guaranteed with
Zuffa – you could lose two in a row and could be gone –
so I’m looking to go out there and perform to the best of
my ability.”
Davis
also feels he’s not the only one that feels the same way
heading into the fight.
“I’m
thinking I’m going to see the best Raphael there is,”
he stated. “His back’s against the wall, my back’s
against the wall, and that’ll make for two hungry fighters
going out there and giving it all they’ve got.
“I’m
expecting a hard a fight – I’m expecting a war –
and I’m reading for whatever he brings.”
While
Assuncao comes from a Brazilian jiu-jitsu background, he’s
shown he’s more than willing to brawl if it comes down to
that. According to Davis, he plans to use that aggression against
Assuncao.
“I’m
more of a technical striker, while he throws more looping shots
and hooks, so mainly I’ve got to beat him with my technical
skills and straight punching,” said Davis.
“I
feel I have a little reach on him, and with the straighter punches
I’ll be more accurate. I don’t want to get caught up
in exchanges; I want to get in and out. If I don’t force
the pace and work into his game plan, it should be a good night.”
Should
Davis come out of Thursday’s fight on the winning end, it’s
full steam ahead to the next level.
“I’m
hoping to win this fight and go 3-1 this year and make a name
for myself in the UFC next year and make a run for the title,”
commented Davis. “I feel like I’ve fought some of the
toughest guys in the division so far, and I think I’m definitely
on my way towards (title contention).”
On
the cusp of becoming a major player in the featherweight division,
Davis knows he has to win and make people see that he belongs
in the new era for the weight class in the UFC.
“I’d
like to thank God first and foremost, Clinch Gear, TCB, Denaro
Sports Marketing, my friends and family, and everyone who helped
me prepare for this fight,” he closed out. “I look
to make all you guys proud on Nov. 11.
“I’m
looking forward to eventually fighting under the UFC banner,
but first things first, I have to take care of business Thursday
night and all that will take care of itself.”
Source: MMA Weekly
|
Aloha
State Championship
Kaiser High School, Honolulu, Hawaii
November 27, 2010
This
is the third leg of the Hawaii BJJ Triple crown.
The
event will offer prizes in cash for some divisions.
For
more info, go to hawaiitriplecrown.com.
Source: Romolo Barros
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